Protective strips for use in the manufacture of upholstered furniture

Protective strips for use in the manufacture of upholstered furniture include a fastening strip portion, a cover strip portion and a hinge portion which flexibly connects the fastening and cover strip portions to one another. In use, the protective strips may be positioned such that a portion of the upholstery fabric is sandwiched between the fastening strip portion thereof and a portion of the furniture frame to which the fabric is to be attached. Suitable fasteners (e.g., staples, tacks, nails, brads and like fasteners) may then be physically driven through the fastening strip portion and the underlying fabric portion into the furniture frame and thereby fasten the fabric portion physically to the frame. Once the fastening strip portion has been fastened to the furniture frame, the remaining fabric portion may be doubled over the fastened tail portion which in turn causes the cover strip portion to be folded over the fastening strip portion. In such a manner, the heads of the fasteners are physically covered by the cover strip portion so as to prevent contact with the overlaid fabric. As such, rubbing of the fabric against the fastener heads is prevented so as to thereby preclude (or at least substantially minimize) fabric abrasion and wear.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to the field of upholstered furniture. More specifically, the present invention relates to protective strips that are employed to fasten upholstery fabrics to furniture frames.

BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

During the manufacture of upholstered furniture, it is conventional to employ tacks and staples to fasten upholstery fabric to the underlying furniture frame. Various tack strips are known for such purpose. For example, conventional tack strips include a ribbon of metal from which generally triangularly shaped nails or tacks are punched and bent at right angles. See, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,647,610, 6,857,178 and 6,989,186 (the entire contents of each such patent and patent application being expressly incorporated hereinto by reference).

Sometimes tack and/or staple guns are employed so as to fasten upholstery fabric to the furniture frame by means of individual fasteners such as staples, tacks, brads and/or nails. In this regard, a tail portion of the fabric is typically first fastened to the furniture frame by means of the fasteners so that the remaining portion may be folded over, and thereby cover, the fastener heads. It can be appreciated however that over time pressure or rubbing of the covering fabric portion on the tack or staple head will result in fabric wear.

It has been conventional practice to place a paperboard strip against the fabric tail and then drive the individual fasteners through the paperboard strip and fabric tail to secure the fabric to the underlying furniture frame. Such conventional practice has however not been entirely satisfactory Specifically, the fastener heads are still placed in contact with the covering fabric section and thus cause localized fabric abrasion and wear to occur. The likelihood of fabric abrasion and wear is more acute even with such a conventional paperboard strip in those instances where the tack or staple does not fully penetrate into the wood frame of the furniture piece or bends due to improper and/or incomplete installation.

Therefore, it would especially be desirable if upholstery fabric wear due to underlying tack and staple heads could be eliminated if not significantly minimized. It is toward fulfilling such a need that the present invention is directed.

Broadly, the present invention is embodied in a protective strip for use in the manufacture of upholstered furniture comprised of a fastening strip portion, a cover strip portion and a hinge portion which flexibly connects the fastening and cover strip portions to one another. In use, therefore, the protective strip of the present invention may be positioned such that a portion of the upholstery fabric is sandwiched between the fastening strip portion thereof and a region of the furniture frame to which the fabric is to be attached. Suitable fasteners (e.g., staples, tacks, nails, brads and the like) may then be physically driven through the fastening strip portion and the underlying fabric portion into the furniture frame. In such a manner, the fabric portion is attached physically to the furniture frame.

Once the fastening strip portion has been attached to the furniture frame, the remaining fabric portion may be doubled over the fastened tail portion which in turn causes the cover strip portion to be folded over the fastening strip portion. The heads of the fasteners are therefore physically covered by the cover strip portion so as to prevent contact with the overlaid fabric. As such, rubbing of the fabric against the fastener heads is prevented so as to thereby preclude (or at least substantially minimize) fabric abrasion and wear.

These and other aspects and advantages will become more apparent after careful consideration is given to the following detailed description of the preferred exemplary embodiments thereof.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

An exemplary upholstered furniture piece UF shown inFIG. 1employs a protective strip10in accordance with the present invention. In this regard, the upholstered furniture piece UF shown inFIG. 1just happens to be a chair. It is of course to be understood that the protective strip10of the present invention can be employed with virtually any type of upholstered furniture piece. Thus, although reference has been and may be made below to a chair, such a reference is for mere illustration and is not limiting to the present invention.

Staples will be referenced below as a presently preferred fastener to attach upholstery fabric to the furniture frame. The present invention is not limited to the use of staples as any other suitable fastener may be employed and is dependent upon the particular furniture manufacturers' preferences. Thus, as used herein and in the accompanying claims the term “fastener” means staples, tacks, brads, nails and the like that are employed to attach upholstery fabric to the furniture frame. Reference only to staples below is for the mere purpose of description simplicity.

As can be seen fromFIGS. 2a-2c, the protective strip10of this invention is most preferably formed of a thermoplastics material (for example, a polyolefin, such as polypropylene or polyethylene) as a one-piece (unitary) generally V-shaped structure. However, the present invention is not limited to the use of a thermoplastics material to form the protective strips10. Instead, the protective strips10may be formed of virtually any material (for example, a paperboard material) that is capable of functioning in the manner described herein. Thus, reference below to a thermoplastics material is to be understood to be a presently preferred embodiment of this invention and is non-limiting to the same.

The protective strip10of this invention integrally includes a fastening strip portion10-1, a cover strip portion10-2and a hinge portion10-3integrally and flexibly joining adjacent edges of the fastening and cover strip portions10-1,10-2, respectively, to one another. As is perhaps better seen inFIG. 2b, the hinge portion10-3includes a bridge10-3aof reduced material thickness as compared to the thicknesses of the fastening and cover strip portions10-1and10-2, respectively. More specifically, the hinge portion10-3is preferably formed by a generally planar inner surface10-3band a pair of oppositely disposed arcuately convex edge surfaces10-3b1and10-3b2, respectively, which extend along the entire length of the protective strip10. Thus, the hinge portion10-3is formed by means of an essentially recessed channel relative to the fastening and cover strip portions10-1and10-2, respectively.

Each of the terminal edges10-1aand10-2aof the fastening and cover strip portions10-1and10-2, respectively, is most preferably rounded so as to present a smooth surface to the overlying upholster fabric when affixed to the furniture frame.

As shown inFIG. 2c, the hinge portion10-3allows the fastening and cover strip portions10-1and10-2, respectively, to be folded over onto one another into a “closed” condition so as to establish a generally interior V-shaped space104. As can be seen, the interior space10-4establishes in cross-section a relatively narrow region adjacent the terminal ends10-1aand10-2a, and a relatively wider region adjacent the hinge region10-3. The relatively wider region of the interior V-shaped space10-4thus serves to accommodate the heads of the fasteners that are driven through the fastening strip portion10-1and covered by the cover strip portion10-2. In addition, the relatively wider region of the interior V-shaped space10-4accommodates misshapen fasteners that may occur when they are bent or deformed due to being improperly driven into the furniture frame through the fastening strip portion10-1. When covered by the cover strip portion10-2, therefore, a relatively smooth surface is presented to the fabric material.

The length of the protective strip10is not critical. Thus, the protective strip10can be provided to furniture manufacturers in an indefinite length (e.g., in roll form) or may be pre-cut to lengths that may be convenient. Preferably, however, it is currently envisioned that the protective strips10of this invention will most conveniently be supplied to furniture manufacturers as a roll of indefinite length (e.g., up to several thousand feet). The furniture manufacturer may then simply withdraw the protective strip10from the roll and cut it on site to desired custom lengths using conventional scissors or shears to suit the particular furniture being made.

As shown inFIGS. 3 and 4, the protective strips10of this invention are employed to fasten the upholstery fabric F1to the furniture frame F2. Specifically, a tail (hidden) section F1aof the upholstery fabric F1is sandwiched between the fastening strip portion10-1of the protective strip10and an underlying portion of the furniture frame F2. Staples S are driven physically through both the fastening strip portion10-1and the sandwiched tail section F1aof the fabric F1into the frame F2. In such a manner, the fabric tail section F1ais fastened physically to the furniture frame F2.

The remaining (visible portion) of the fabric F1is tautly doubled over the fabric tail section F1a. The cover portion10-2of the protective strip10is thus folded over the heads of the staples S. Moreover, as discussed previously, the interior generally V-shaped space10-4(seeFIG. 4) established when the protective strip10is in a closed condition as depicted inFIG. 3will allow the fastener heads and misshapen fasteners to be accommodated without causing undesirable deformation of the cover strip portion10-2. In such a manner, the heads of the staples S do not directly contact the fabric F1but instead are physically covered by means of the cover portion10-2. As such, localized regions of the fabric F1are not subject to wear due to contact with the heads of the staples S.

In use, as depicted in accompanyingFIGS. 5 and 6, the fabric tail section F1ais placed against a desired section of the furniture frame F2. A desired length of protective strip10is positioned in general alignment with the frame F2so that the fastening strip portion10-1overlays the fabric tail F1a. Staples S may then be driven through the fastening strip portion10-1and the fabric tail section F1aso as to fasten each to the underlying section of furniture frame F2. Such a condition is depicted inFIG. 5. Thereafter, the remaining fabric F1may be folded over the fabric tail F1a (arrows A1inFIGS. 5 and 6) so that its other end may be fastened in a similar manner to an opposed section of the furniture frame (not shown) and thereby tautly stretch the fabric F1between its fastened ends. Folding the fabric F1over the fabric tail F1ain turn causes the cover strip portion10-2to be folded over the fastening strip portion10-1. As described previously, such flexible folding of the cover strip portion10-2over the fastening strip portion10-1is facilitated by the hinge portion10-3. In such a manner, the heads of the staples S (or tacks not shown) are physically covered by the cover strip portion10-2so as to prevent contact with the overlaid fabric F1. As such, rubbing of the fabric against the staple heads (or tack heads) is prevented so as to preclude (or at least substantially minimize) fabric wear.

It will of course be appreciated that the protective strips10in accordance with the present invention may be used with any fasteners instead of, or in addition to, the staples S as depicted in the accompanying drawing FIGS. Thus, staples, tacks, nails, brads and like fastening means may be employed with equivalent desired results.

AccompanyingFIG. 7depicts schematically one presently preferred fabrication technique for making the protective strips10of the present invention. In this regard, it is preferred that the protective strip10be produced in a continuous manner using conventional thermoplastic extrusion equipment well known to those skilled in the art. More specifically, thermoplastic pellets (e.g., polyethylene, polypropylene, or the like) may be introduced into a hopper of a conventional extruder20so as to form a melt which is extruded through a die22configured to form the protective strip in a profile shown inFIG. 2b. The extruded protective strip10may then be introduced immediately into a cooling water bath24so as to cool the same prior to winding into a roll26. Suitable sizing and forming tools (not shown) may be positioned within the cooling water bath24so as to maintain the shape and configuration of the protective strip10as it is being cooled and solidified. Prior to being wound into a roll26, however, it is preferred that the cooled protective strip10be flattened by means of opposed rollers28a,28bwhich serve to fold the cover strip portion10-2onto the fastening strip portion10-1and pull the protective cover strip10through the cooling water bath24. Once a desired length of the protective strip10(e.g., several thousand feet) has been wound into the roll26, it may be cut by means of opposed cutters30a,30b(e.g., conventional manually operated shears) so that a new roll may be formed.