Abstract:
Provided are opaque or fully or partially transparent protective coverings for furniture which can be removable and reusable and which contain a variety of types of permanent or temporary indicia. Also provided are opaque or fully or partially transparent protective coverings for furniture which can be used for protection during transportation or storage also containing a variety of types of indicia which may be permanent or temporary.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    The present invention related generally to the field of protective coverings. In particular, the present invention relates to clear or opaque protective coverings for furniture which have adhering qualities and can be removed and reapplied and which may contain a variety of types of indicia which are permanent or temporary. The present invention also relates to clear or opaque protective coverings for furniture which have adhering qualities and can be removed and reapplied and is used for protection during transportation or storage also containing a variety of types of indicia which may be permanent or temporary. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    Peelable protective films have been disclosed. Particularly applied to the transportation of automobiles, the focus of such films has been to provide significant protection from punctures, abrasion, scratches or other disfiguring processes that can result from road and highway debris that can be kicked-up from the road and alter the finish of an automobile&#39;s body, bumper, glass, and many of its other part. Since the focus of such films has been on protection, esthetic and decorative aspects of the films have not been addressed, see, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,323,239. 
         [0003]    Disposable protective covers have been disclosed in which a film is coated on both sides with a detachably releasable adhesive. One side adheres to an object so as to cover and protect it, while at the same time the other adhesive side adhesively collects dust, hair, dirt and the like to prevent it from moving around. These films are intended to be used once and discarded when the desired amount of materials have been collected and the item being covered has been protected. Such films are not designed to be decorative nor are they designed to be reused, see, WO2007050594A2. 
         [0004]    Bag-like covers for protecting furniture during transportation or storage has been disclosed. As can be expected such protective mechanisms are unsightly as well as preventing the furniture from being used while being covered, see EP 638483B1. 
         [0005]    Decorative adhesive sheets have been disclosed which are designed to be permanently adherent to the surface of an object such as a shelf or a furniture surface wherein it is desirable to hide imperfections and blemishes. Such films are designed to extend the lifetime of furniture. However, such films are not designed to be removed or reused; they are meant to be permanent. In fact these films are generally destroyed or leave residue on the surface if removal is attempted, see EP 569921B1. 
         [0006]    Very little has been done to allow fine furniture to be used for everyday activities such as parties or meals while preventing the furniture from becoming damaged. It can therefore be seen from the above discussions that there is a need for protective coverings for furniture that can be removable, reusable and decorative and that is clear to allow the beauty of the furniture to be seen or opaque. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0007]    The current invention relates to furniture coverings used to protect furniture particularly during times when the furniture is subject to damage. Examples include adult parties where food or alcohol are likely to be spilled onto the furniture and children&#39;s parties such as birthday parties where food and drink are also likely to be spilled onto the furniture. The inventive covering can be opaque or it can be fully or partly transparent so that the covering will not be intrusive, that is, the surface of the furniture will be able to be seen including the grain, color and other features that are inherent in both high grade furniture and mass-produced furniture. Either fully or partially transparent or opaque, the covering may have a basic background color. To add to the enjoyment of the covering, the inventive covering includes selected indicia selectively distributed about the surface of the covering. The indicia include, for example, designs and patterns showing artistic qualities, celebratory indicia such as Happy Birthday, Merry Christmas, and Happy Hanukkah. The inventive covering is temporary and removable, and it may be reused if desired. The covering is also suitable for protecting furniture during handling such as during moving as well as during storage. The indicia in these instances may be informational such as where the furniture is to be delivered, what part of the house it is to be placed and other useful information and may or may not be reusable and the indicia may or may not be permanent. In storage applications the indicia may be informational such as for example the owner, date of storage, address and phone number of owner, etc. The protective covering in this application may be reusable and the indicia may be permanent or temporary. 
         [0008]    In one embodiment, protective coverings for furniture prepared from polymeric sheets that contain indicia are provided. 
         [0009]    In another embodiment, protective coverings for furniture prepared from polymeric sheets that are opaque or fully or partially transparent and contain indicia are provided. 
         [0010]    In a further embodiment, protective furniture coverings prepared from polymeric sheets that are opaque or fully or partially transparent and contain indicia and are permanent or temporary are provided. 
         [0011]    In a further embodiment, protective coverings for furniture of the aforementioned embodiments wherein the coverings are temporary are provided. 
         [0012]    In a further embodiment, protective coverings for furniture of the aforementioned embodiments wherein the coverings are reusable are provided. 
         [0013]    In a further embodiment, protective coverings for furniture of the aforementioned embodiments wherein the indicia are applied as pigmented and/or dye-containing inks to either or both sides of the polymeric sheet are provided. 
         [0014]    In a further embodiment, protective coverings for furniture of the aforementioned embodiments wherein the indicia are applied as photoluminescent pigmented and/or dye-containing inks to either or both sides of the polymeric sheet are provided. 
         [0015]    In a further embodiment, protective coverings for furniture of the aforementioned embodiments wherein the permanent indicia are applied by embossing or other methods of mechanical printing are provided. 
         [0016]    In a further embodiment, protective coverings for furniture of the aforementioned embodiments further containing one or more additional sheets are provided. 
         [0017]    In a further embodiment, protective coverings for furniture of the aforementioned embodiments further containing one or more additional sheets that are laminated to the polymeric sheet are provided. 
         [0018]    In a further embodiment, protective coverings for furniture of the aforementioned embodiments wherein one or more of the additional sheets contain permanent indicia applied either as ink or by mechanical methods are provided. 
         [0019]    In a further embodiment, protective coverings for furniture of the aforementioned embodiments wherein the indicia are decorative and selectively arranged as designs, alphanumeric indicia, geometric indicia and/or patterns are provided. 
         [0020]    In a further embodiment, protective coverings for furniture of the aforementioned embodiments wherein the indicia are topical, informational and/or celebratory are provided. 
         [0021]    In a further embodiment, protective coverings for furniture of the aforementioned embodiments wherein the polymer sheet is made from polyesters, polyurethanes, polyvinyl chlorides, high and low density polyethylenes, polyethylene terephthalate, polystyrenes, and polyolefins or other polymeric sheet materials are provided. 
         [0022]    In a further embodiment, protective coverings for furniture of the aforementioned embodiments which further contain an adhesive layer which leaves little or no residue when the cover is removed are provided. 
         [0023]    In a further embodiment, protective coverings for furniture of the aforementioned embodiments wherein the surface of covering that is in contact with the surface of the furniture is statically charged are provided. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0024]    The current invention relates to furniture coverings used to protect furniture particularly during times when the furniture is subject to damage. The inventive covering is designed to be temporary while at the same time, adherent to any surface to which it is applied. It can be placed on the surface of furniture, used for its protective purpose and removed. Typical, temporary furniture covering are non-adhesive and tend to slide around on the surface. The inventive covering is designed to be non-slip so that the covering will not slide around or off the surface of the furniture. This is particularly useful in outdoor applications where wind and other conditions tend to lift up or shift around conventional non-adherent coverings. Because the protective covering is adherent, increased protection compared to non-adherent coverings as well as providing a safety factor in that a person leaning on the covering will not slip, are provided. 
         [0025]    The inventive covering can be inherently tacky, such as, for example, when PVC is used as a polymeric base sheet. The inventive covering may be provided with a tacky layer. Providing a tacky layer can be accomplished by applying a low tack adhesive to the underside of the covering during manufacture. Low tack adhesives include, for example, low tack acrylates, rubber-based adhesives, urethanes and others. Suitable adhesives for the current invention are well known in the art. See, for example,  Handbook of Adhesion Technology , second edition by Pizzi and Mittal. It is important to note that low tack adhesive useful in the current invention does not have any residual materials that could be transferred to the surface of the furniture during usage. Method to accomplish this may include, for example, using low tack adhesives that are thermally cured to remove any transferable materials, or cured with electromagnetic radiation (UV or visible radiation) such that transferable low molecular weight molecules are cured into the coating. The material that makes up the covering may itself be inherently tacky such as commercial grade polyvinyl chloride (PVC) or other available plastic covering. 
         [0026]    Other methods of providing a tacky layer include, for example, providing a static surface that allows it to cling to the surface to which it is applied, treatment of the surface with corona discharge which increases the surface tension of the surface allowing improved adhesion between surfaces, and other methods to improve surface adhesion. 
         [0027]    The cover may be easily removed or it may take some effort. Coverings that are more difficult to remove may be used for longer term protection against damage, such as, for example, furniture storage in a storage area, or during transportation from house to house, or from warehouse to furniture store or other transportation situations. In these cases, indicia applied to the protective covering may be used for informational purposes such as, for example, time of delivery, destination and other information. The inventive covering may be made from opaque material or can be made from clear material in which case the furniture being protected can be easily identified through the covering so that mistakes can be minimized. 
         [0028]    The inventive covering is designed to be reusable. It can be routinely washed with mild soap and water without affecting the surface of the covering. The covering can be removed and stored for future use. As such, the covering is made of flexible material so as to have the ability to be rolled, folded, or otherwise stored. The shelf life of the covering is long enough so that it can be stored for a long period of time between uses, such as, for example, a number of years. 
         [0029]    The inventive covering is designed to be protective of the furniture during use. Such protective uses include, for example, children&#39;s parties where spills of drinks can occur or food spills occur, or adult parties where liquid holders such as glasses, bottles, and cups are placed on the furniture surfaces. Therefore the covering is robust enough to allow handling and routine mishandling of the covering. The covering is also impervious to liquids, such as, for example, water, milk, soda, alcohol, and other liquids. 
         [0030]    When the inventive covering is used for protection for storage or transportation, the covering is designed to withstand scratches, abrasion, bumping and other handling occurrences. 
         [0031]    Selected indicia include, for example, celebratory indicia which may be applied to the covering, such as, for example, birthdays, graduations, weddings, religious celebrations such as, for example, christening, confirmations, bar mitzvahs, bat mitzvahs, and others. Selected indicia may also include, for example, topical indicia which may be applied to the covering, such as, for example, holidays such as Christmas, Chanukah, Kwanza, Easter, New Years, and other holidays, as well as sports indicia such as favorite sports teams, professional as well as college, high school, local sports teams. Sports events such as Super Bowl® or College Bowl games, World Series® and baseball playoffs, Stanley Cup® playoffs and final, PGA® events such as The Masters®, The US Open® as well as tennis events such as The US Open®, Wimbledon®, NASCAR® events, Kentucky Derby® and other events may be represented on the inventive cover. 
         [0032]    It is envisioned that the inventive covering may be capable of being trimmed to fit a particular surface, such as, for example a circular, oval, square, rectangular or a uniquely shaped surface. The covering may also be trimmed to allow a desired overhang. For ease of trimming the covering may be accompanied by grid patterns of a certain dimensions. 
         [0033]    When the indicia are permanent they are impervious to liquids or cleaning materials such as soap or other household cleaning product. 
         [0034]    In certain applications, such as, for example, protective covering for storage or protective covering for transportation the indicia may be permanent or temporary. The indicia on protective coverings used in transportation may be informational such as where the furniture is to be delivered, what part of the house it is to be placed and other useful information. The protective covering may or may not be reusable. In storage applications the indicia may be informational, such as, for example, the owner, date of storage, address and phone number of owner and other information indicia. Temporary indicia may be removed and reapplied as desired. When the protective cover is a reusable cover and indicia are desired, the indicia can be removed and new indicia may be applied with new information for different storage or transportation applications. It is also envisioned that the protective covering, if there are permanent indicia, may be writable and erasable such as what is used in white board applications so that people may write messages or make drawings, etc, which may later be removed while maintaining the permanent indicia. Thus the protective covering may be capable of both permanent and temporary indicia. 
         [0035]    The permanent indicia may be composed of inks composed of pigments, polymers, wetting agents, other coating agents, all well known in the art and is suitable for application to polymeric sheets. In certain applications the indicia may include phosphorescent pigments, fluorescent pigments or dyes, or both. The indicia may be applied by a number of methods, such as, for example, printing with ink, which may be applied via such methods as offset printing, ink jet, gravure and others. Other methods of obtaining indicia on sheets other than the printing of ink may be used in the current invention. These indicia may be applied by imprinting, hot stamping, and other processes. The indicia may be applied to either one side or to both sides of the covering allowing for more detailed indicia. 
         [0036]    The protective covering may have transparency in its un-printed state so that the surface of the furniture can show through, such that the covering can be perceived as invisible. Many pieces of furniture are expensive and are not used for general purposes for fear of damaging the piece. Some of these pieces of furniture have a beauty aspect to them in that the grain, stain and other treatments make them valuable and worthy of protection. However it may be desirable to use and show off these pieces during various occasions. At the same time it may be desirable not to hide the beauty of these pieces. A transparent covering will allow the furniture surface to be seen while protection of the surface is maximized. When indicia are applied to the surface of the covering, the perception may be that the indicia are applied directly to the surface of the furniture. It is envisioned that the protective covering may have both permanent and temporary indicia. 
         [0037]    The properties that apply to the protective covering material also apply to the indicia applied to the protective covering material. Inks that might be used as indicia that are permanently attached to the surface of the protective covering are resistant to cleaning, do not have transferrable residue, are flexible enough to resist rolling or folding for storage, are color fast enough to withstand long periods of storage, and withstand the materials they would normal come into contact with during service. 
         [0038]    The present invention includes protective coverings that are comprised of a polymeric sheet and an additional sheet which may or may not include indicia on the additional sheet. The additional sheet may be laminated to the polymeric sheet, for example, by lamination with adhesive or heat. The indicia of the additional sheet are of the same or similar compositions as used on the polymeric sheet and may be applied in a similar manner. Both sheets may be transparent and each may contain indicia. 
         [0039]    Polymeric sheets suitable for the current invention include, for example, sheets made from polyacrylates, polymethacrylates, acetates, other polyesters, acetals, high and low density polyethylene, polypropylene, other polyolefins, polyethylene terephthalates, polyurethanes, polyvinyl chlorides, polystyrenes, polycarbonates, polyimides, polyetheretherketone, and other polymeric films.