Steelcase Inc.

William B Raftery

Ronald L Whitwam

Joseph M Wisniewski

Furniture support leg or similar article

Design for a seat

Sofa

Sofa or similar article

The specification discloses a modular furniture system in which a modular furniture assembly is made of a pair of elongated base frames to which a support element is mounted to serve as a chair, seat, table, or the like. Front and rear shrouds are secured over the base frames to mask them from view and end panels are provided to cover either or both sides depending on whether the unit is to be ganged against other units. Upholstery covering is provided which utilizes a unique strip hook for securing to a cross piece on the base frames and which includes front and rear 'button' flanges for slipping into a space between the shroud at the front or rear of the chair and the support member. The 'button' flange or strip is then rotated so that it cannot be removed from the gap into which it was inserted. A unique toggle flange ganger clip is provided for ganging adjacent module units together.

Modular furniture system

Seat

A chair seat structure is formed of a plurality of identically dimensioned planar members and a plurality of plastic connective members having slots to receive and engage the planar members. This construction provides easy handling, economical shipment and storage, and dimensional adjustability of the chair seats during manufacture. In use the chair seats can adjust to uneven floor surfaces which support the frame on which the chair seat is mounted. This adjustability under the weight of an occupant aids in preventing the chair from undergoing discomforting teetering.

Modular chair seat structure

Table

A seating unit including a concavely curved seat element and a concavely curved thigh support flexibly connected by leaf springs, a stop bracket to define a gap therebetween, having a stop bracket and tabs on the thigh support to reduce the gap at the sides of the seating unit, and having arms which mask the gap at the sides of the seating unit. The thigh support resiliently and resistively deflects downward to a point at which it contacts the stop bracket, and the leaf springs lie parallel in the same plane so that the ends of the leaf springs do not separate as the thigh support is deflected.

Seating unit with front flex area

A height adjustable furniture support for a table or the like having a pedestal or base with a substantially vertical column. A reversible collar fits onto and can be secured to the column, the collar also cooperates with and is securable to a support plate to which the table top or other furniture piece is then attached. The combination of the pedestal, reversible collar, and support plate provides a choice of two heights which can differ by more than the overall height of the collar.

Growing community of inventors

Arlington, TX, United States of America

William B Raftery