Abstract:
A furniture system may be provided so that stone components may be more easily assembled and installed. The furniture system may comprise a piece of stone and a piece of wood attached to a side of the piece of stone.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    The present invention generally relates to a stone component assembly system, and more specifically relates to stone components of furniture having wood attached to one side that may be more easily assembled and installed. 
         [0002]    Currently, stone materials, such as granite, quartz, and marble are popular materials for use as countertops in the kitchen, in the bathroom, and throughout houses and hotels. 
         [0003]    However, these stone materials are often difficult to assemble and install. Typically, a wood or metal frame system may need to be built by a professional installer during the installation to receive a stone countertop on top of the frame system. However, building and using such a frame system may be expensive and increase the chances that the countertop installation might not finish on schedule. 
         [0004]    As can be seen, there is a need for a way to more easily assemble and install stone materials. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0005]    In one aspect of the present invention, a furniture system may comprise a piece of stone; and a piece of wood attached to a side of the piece of stone. 
         [0006]    In another aspect of the present invention, a method for constructing furniture may comprise disposing a first piece of stone and a second piece of stone perpendicularly from each other, the first piece of stone having a first piece of wood attached to a side of the first piece of stone, and the second piece of stone having a second piece of wood attached to a side of the second piece of stone; and attaching a corner bracket to the first piece of wood and the second piece of wood to attach the first piece of stone to the second piece of stone. 
         [0007]    These and other features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following drawings, description and claims. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0008]      FIG. 1  shows a perspective view of a vanity, and a shelf in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0009]      FIG. 2  shows a partial exploded view of the vanity and the shelf of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0010]      FIG. 3  shows an exploded view of the vanity and the shelf of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0011]      FIG. 4  shows a plan view of the vanity and the shelf of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0012]      FIG. 5  shows a front elevation view of the vanity and the shelf of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0013]      FIG. 6  shows a side elevation view of the vanity and the shelf of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0014]      FIG. 7  shows a partial plan view of the vanity of  FIG. 1 ; and 
           [0015]      FIG. 8  shows another partial plan view of the vanity of  FIG. 1 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0016]    The following detailed description is of the best currently contemplated modes of carrying out exemplary embodiments of the invention. The description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, but is made merely for the purpose of illustrating the general principles of the invention, since the scope of the invention is best defined by the appended claims. 
         [0017]    Various inventive features are described below that can each be used independently of one another or in combination with other features. 
         [0018]    Broadly, embodiments of the present invention generally provide ways to more easily and quickly assemble and install stone materials as part of a vanity or other furniture. 
         [0019]    With reference to  FIGS. 1-8 , embodiments of the present invention may comprise a shelf  40 , a countertop  50 , and a base  60  to form a completed vanity  10 . 
         [0020]    A countertop  50  may comprise a countertop surface  18 . Further, a backsplash  24  and a cutout  32  for fitting a sink may also be part of the countertop  50 . The countertop surface  18  may be made of a hard stone material, such as granite, quartz, or marble, or may be made out of any other suitable material such as metal, wood, or other stone materials. The backsplash  24  may be situated so that it contacts a wall  34  and may be made of the same materials as the countertop surface  18 , although the backsplash  24  may also be made of any other suitable materials. 
         [0021]    The base  60  may be kitchen cabinets, vanities, table bases, or any other suitable pieces of furniture. One or more legs  16  may contact the ground  36  and may support an upper base comprising a front apron  20 , a back wall cleat  12 , and side aprons  14  that may be connected via corner braces  22  to form a rectangular area upon which to accept the countertop  50  onto the base  60 . 
         [0022]    The side aprons  14  and the front apron  20  may be a piece of stone, such as a rectangular slab of granite, marble, cultured marble corian, or other stone, engineered stone-looking plastic, stone product, or cement product, having a piece of wood attached to at least a portion of one side of the piece of stone, so that the side aprons  14  may each have a stone side  14   a  and a wood side  14   b  while the front apron  20  may also have a stone side  20   a  and a wood side  20   b.  The wood sides  14   b  and  20   b  may be of a rectangular shape, and may be attached to the side aprons  14  and the front aprons  20  respectively via glue or any other suitable methods of attachment. In an exemplary embodiment, the wood sides  14   b  and  20   b  may be about ¾ inches thick, or may be of any other appropriate thickness. The corner braces  22  may be galvanized L brackets that may be screwed into wood via #8×¾-inch screws. 
         [0023]    To assemble the vanity  10 , the one or more legs  16  may be placed on the floor  36 . Alternatively, instead of the legs  16 , the side aprons  14  and/or the front apron  20  may extend to the floor and act as legs or supports for the vanity  10 . The back wall cleat  12  may be made of wood, and may be attached to the wall  34 , such as by screwing the back wall cleat  12  to the wall  34 . Side aprons  14  may be placed between each of the legs  16  and the back wall cleat  12  and may be secured to the back wall cleat  12  via corner braces  22  screwed into the wood side  14   b  of the side apron  14  and the back wall cleat  12 . The side aprons  14  may be secured to the legs  14  via silicone or any other appropriate adhesive. 
         [0024]    The front apron  20  may be placed between the legs  16  so that it may be situated perpendicularly to the side aprons  14 , and may be secured to the side aprons  14  via corner braces  22  that may be screwed into the wood side  20   b  of the front apron  20  and the wood side  14   b  of the side aprons  14 . The front apron  20  may be secured to the legs  14  via silicone or any other appropriate adhesive. Silicone may also be used to seal any joints on the countertop  50 , the base  60 , or between any other components, in order to ensure a watertight fit. 
         [0025]    The countertop surface  18  may be placed on top of the base  60  and may be secured to the base  60  via silicone or any other adhesive. The backsplash  24  may also be secured to the wall  34  via silicone or any other adhesive. 
         [0026]    The shelf  40  may comprise a shelf surface  30 , shelf legs  26 , and a shelf reinforcement beam  28 . The shelf surface  30  may be a flat slab that may be of a suitable size and shape. For example, the shelf surface  30  may be of a rectangular shape. The shelf legs  26  may be placed in order to evenly support the shelf surface  30 . For example, the shelf  40  may comprise a pair of shelf legs  26  that are equidistant from the end of the shelf surface  30 . The shelf reinforcement beam  28  may run down the middle and along a portion of the length of the bottom of the shelf surface  30 . The shelf reinforcement beam  28  may help to reinforce the shelf surface  30 . 
         [0027]    To assemble the shelf  40 , a large rectangular piece of material, such as granite or other stone material, may be used as the shelf surface  30 . The shelf reinforcement beam  28  may be affixed to the shelf surface  30 , such as via silicone or any other suitable adhesive. A pair of shelf legs  26  may then be affixed both to the shelf surface  30  and/or the shelf reinforcement beam  28 , such as via silicone or any other appropriate adhesive. 
         [0028]    It should be understood, of course, that the foregoing relates to exemplary embodiments of the invention and that modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims.