Fully upholstered, ready-to-assemble article of furniture

• US 20030173814A1
• Filed: 02/06/2003
• Published: 09/18/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 05/14/1997
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Blaine L. Wieland, Blair Wieland
• Original Assignee: Blaine L. Wieland, Blair Wieland
• Inventors: Wieland, Blaine L., Wieland, Blair
• Granted Patent: US 6,981,747 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 297/440.1
• CPC Class Codes: A47C 13/005 Modular seating chairs connectible into a row A47C1/124
• CPC Class Codes: A47C 4/021 connected by slotted joints
• CPC Class Codes: A47C 4/028 Upholstered chairs, e.g. metal, plastic or wooden chairs
• CPC Class Codes: A47C 7/546 of detachable type
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/481 Method
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/4995 Nonthreaded
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49963 Threaded fastener

Abstract

A fully upholstered, ready-to-assemble article of furniture which may be custom ordered by a consumer, packaged by the seller for shipment to the consumer by a parcel delivery service, and then assembled by the consumer from the packaged components. The article of furniture includes a frame of a plurality of interlocking, planar frame members which are secured together by fasteners received in push-in connector elements. Upholstery coverings, the design of which is custom selected by the consumer, are attached to the frame and secured to one another by hook and loop fasteners. Foam elements are received within a second plurality of upholstery covers which have large openings for receiving the foam elements to provide cushions for the article of furniture. The frame members, upholstery covers, and foam elements are packaged in first, second, and third containers, respectively, which are each light enough to be shipped for home delivery by a parcel delivery service.

Claims

1. An article of furniture, comprising:

a frame, including a plurality of planar frame members;

one of said frame members including a recess; and

a connector element disposed in said recess, said connector element adapted to receive a fastener for interconnecting said frame members.

2. The article of claim 1, wherein said frame members are made of medium density fiberboard (MDF).

3. The article of furniture of claim 1, wherein said frame members further include projections and cutouts, said projections insertable into said cutouts for connecting said frame members.

4. The article of furniture of claim 1, wherein one of said frame members includes a projecting foot, and a cap disposed on said foot.

5. The article of furniture of claim 1, wherein said frame members form a storage compartment.

6. The article of furniture of claim 1, wherein one of said frame members includes a cutout number.

7. The article of furniture of claim 6, wherein said cutout numbers and said frame members define a sequentially numbered set of frame members.

8. The article of furniture of claim 1, further including an upholstery cover, said upholstery cover adapted to connect to said frame.

9. The article of furniture of claim 8, wherein said upholstery cover includes a pocket which is adapted to slide over a frame member.

10. The article of furniture of claim 9, wherein said upholstery cover includes flaps having hook and loop fasteners.

11. The article of furniture of claim 10, wherein said upholstery cover includes a skirt portion.

12. The article of furniture of claim 11, wherein said skirt encloses a weighted beading.

13. The article of furniture of claim 10, further including a padding element adapted to form a cushion for said article of furniture.

14. The article of furniture of claim 13, further including a second upholstery cover for covering said padding element to form said cushion.

15. The article of furniture of claim 14, wherein said upholstery cover includes a relatively large opening adapted to receive said padding element, and a fastener disposed around said opening for closing said upholstery cover.

16. An article of furniture, comprising:

a frame, including a plurality of planar frame members, said frame members including a seat back panel and an arm panel; and

an upholstery cover covering said frame, comprising;

a seat back cover slidably disposed over said seat back panel, and

an arm cover slidably disposed over said arm panel.

17. The article of furniture of claim 16, wherein said frame members are made of medium density fiberboard.

18. The article of furniture of claim 16, wherein said upholstery cover includes hook and loop fasteners.

19. The article of furniture of claim 16, wherein said upholstery cover further includes a skirt portion, said skirt portion defining a skirt disposed around a lower portion of said frame, said skirt portion including hook and loop fastener.

20. A method of packaging a ready-to-assemble article of furniture, comprising:

providing an unassembled frame, the frame including a plurality of planar frame members;

packaging the frame members in a first container;

providing a padding element adapted to form a cushion for the article of furniture;

packaging the padding element in a second container;

providing an upholstery cover adapted to attach to the frame; and

packaging the upholstery cover in a third container.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein said frame members are made of medium density fiberboard.

22. The method of claim 20, wherein each of the first, second, and third containers have a weight after the packaging of less than 70 pounds.

23. The method of claim 20, further comprising:

providing a push-in connector element and a fastener for connecting the frame members; and

packaging the connector element and the fastener in the first container along with the frame members.

24. A method of assembling a ready-to-assemble article of furniture, comprising:

providing a disassembled frame, including a plurality of planar frame members having interlocking portions, recesses and apertures;

a plurality of push-in connector elements; and

a plurality of fasteners;

pushing the connector elements in the recesses;

connecting the interlocking portions of said frame members; and

securing the frame members by inserting the fasteners through the apertures and into the connector elements.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein said frame members are made of medium density fiberboard.

26. The method of claim 24, further comprising:

applying an upholstery cover over the frame members, said upholstery cover including hook and loop fasteners.

27. The method of claim 26, further comprising:

providing a padding element and a second upholstery cover, said second upholstery cover including a relatively large opening adapted to receive the padding member, and fastener for closing the opening;

inserting the padding member through the opening and into the upholstery cover;

fastening the fastener to close the upholstery cover to form a cushion for the article of furniture; and

placing the cushion on the article of furniture.