Abstract:
Slat furniture generally of the outdoor type having a pair of laterally spaced apart supports and slats disposed there between and connected thereto and in which the slats individually or in groups are snap fittingly connected to the supports in a rigid manner such that the furniture is rigid without the need for further reinforcement. The slats, or slat units are selectively resilient and connected to the supports by fingers projecting therefrom into recesses in the supports. A snug close fit relation gives rigidity which is further enhance by contiguous slat sections being angularly disposed with respect to one another.

Description:
This application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/376,891 filed on May 1, 2002 whereby the entire application is incorporated in its entirety herein. 

   FIELD OF INVENTION 
   This invention relates generally to outdoor patio type furniture and more particularly to interlock connections between the occupant engageable portion of the furniture and the support for such portion of the furniture. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   Furniture is bulky in the assembled for use state. Transportation thus becomes a problem and as a result thereof many pieces of furniture, particularly patio and outdoor furniture, is manufactured and shipped in a flat knock down state and then assembled at the place of sale or end use. The applicant has for several years designed and made furniture that can be readily assembled when shipped flat. Applicant has successfully for a number of years marketed furniture covered by U.S. Pat. No. 5,387,027 issued on Apr. 1, 1993. The furniture disclosed therein requires no tools or hardware for assembly. The instant application describes and claims improvements providing means for resilience or variable resilience. There are several patents relating to outdoor patio furniture which is considered pertinent to the instant disclosure. 
   Hsiao&#39;s U.S. Pat. No. 6,056,367 issued May 2, 2000 discloses a seat strap made soft by filing with foam but not variable thickness and or width. Holbrook&#39;s U.S. Pat. No. 5,769,500 issued Jun. 23, 1998 discloses non-structural slats that have common edges but requires structural members in addition. Kita&#39;s U.S. Pat. No. 4,910,817 issued Mar. 27, 1990 discloses a resilient seat locked to the chair frame via a metal rod insert. Golzer&#39;s U.S. Pat. No. 4,730,872 issued Mar. 15, 1998 discloses triangular in cross section straps joined to common supports rather than integral. There is edge support only at the top and bottom and not from side to side. Apissomian&#39;s U.S. Pat. No. 4,456,301 issued Jun. 26, 1984 discloses a quick method of attaching straps in pairs only. Dublasky&#39;s U.S. Pat. No. 3,590,901 issued Jul. 6, 1971 and discloses resilient slats held in place individually by a common rod. Hehn&#39;s U.S. Pat. No. 3,399,926 issued Sep. 3, 1968 and discloses common seat elements with a joining bar inserted into a pocket in the seat element. 
   SUMMARY OF INVENTION 
   Disclosed herein are new furniture structures that increase comfort, enhance durability and to do so in ways which can be incorporated in a wider variety of styles. The combination, in seats and backs, of seating, of resilience for comfort with sufficient structural rigidly is of great importance. Doing so in combination with durable, low cost means of connections is important in this work. Lowering cost results from these novel combinations. 
   Most of the furniture disclosed herein has been built and tested by the applicant. The pieces for the furniture are either molded or machined from flat sheets of plywood, plastics material including a titanium resin alloy sold under the Trademark ANDURE® and other sheet goods. Applicant&#39;s experience has led to further innovations to increase quality, broaden compatibility with different styles of furniture, increase durability and/or reduce cost. The titanium resin alloy referred to above is a special formulation of polypropylene developed by the present applicant and which gives long term durability for furniture in outdoor weather conditions. It combines the structure and surface finish of and is essentially identical from the outside to the center of the board. 
   A particular object of applicant&#39;s developmental work in this field of furniture design has been to find new ways to interlock the various components which make up the structure of the furniture, to minimize the need for fasteners, welds and the like, and to find new ways to utilized materials having low flexural modulus (stiffness). 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     A better understanding of the present invention will be had upon reference to the following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which like numerals refer to like parts throughout the several views and wherein: 
       FIG. 1  in perspective view diagrammatically illustrating the inter-connection of the slats of a piece of furniture and the support structure for such slats in which the slats are the part engaged by the occupant for example while sitting on of the piece of furniture; 
       FIG. 2  is a plan view of a pair of spaced apart parallel straps; 
       FIG. 3  is a plan view of seat or back consisting of a plurality of spaced apart parallel slats; 
       FIG. 4  is a side view of a portion of  FIG. 3 ; 
       FIGS. 5A ,  5 B, and  5 C are each vertical sectional views showing an end portion of a slat at different stages during attachment thereof to a support; 
       FIG. 6  is a vertical sectional view illustrating a snap lock connection of one end of a slat and a portion of the support part of the furniture; 
       FIG. 7  is an exploded perspective view of the components of  FIG. 6  illustrating the interconnecting portions of one end of a slat and a portion the supporting structure; 
       FIG. 8  is a vertical sectional view of an end portion of a slat showing an elongate locking finger on one end thereof; 
       FIG. 9  is similar to  FIG. 8  and shows an open area into which the finger is crushed during insertion of the end of the strap into a recess in the support member; 
       FIG. 10  is similar to  FIG. 8  and illustrates the open area to receive the finger during assembly of the furniture; 
       FIG. 11  is a perspective view showing an alternative embodiment of a slat and support in an assembled state; 
       FIG. 12  is a face view of a seat and/or back portion of a piece of furniture consisting of a plurality of parallel straps spaced apart from one another and means along opposed marginal edges that connect to co-operating means on support members of the piece of furniture; 
       FIG. 13  is perspective view of a seat and/or back similar to  FIG. 12  but of different construction; 
       FIG. 14  is vertical view of a chair component incorporating components and interconnection thereof as provided in accordance with the present invention; 
       FIG. 15  is a side view of a slat connector strip; 
       FIG. 16  is a bottom perspective exploded view illustrated the underside of an end portion of a chair seat and seat support rail; 
       FIG. 17  is plan view of a series of interconnected parallel slats providing a chair seat and/or chair back with end projections for connecting the same to a support structure portion to the piece of furniture; 
       FIG. 18  is an enlargement, in plan view, of a portion of the encircled area of  FIG. 14  at the juncture of the chair seat and chair back; 
       FIG. 19  is an elevational view of a chair leg and seat rail showing further detail; 
       FIG. 20  is a plan view of a tenon on the end of the chair rail that attaches to the chair back and corresponds essentially to  FIG. 18 ; 
       FIG. 21  is an oblique view of an arm chair incorporating components and interconnection thereof illustrated in the various foregoing figures; 
       FIG. 22  is an oblique view of a chair seat and chair back component having a seat support rail on the lower end thereof; 
       FIG. 23  is an oblique view of a chaise lounge type chair incorporating chair components and interconnections thereof provided in accordance with the present invention; 
       FIG. 24  is a plan view the seat and chair back of the chair illustrated in  FIG. 23 ; 
       FIG. 25  is a plan view of a unit for a chaise lounge to provide a storage area; and 
       FIG. 26  is a partial side view of a chaise lounge having the unit of  FIG. 25  mounted thereon and providing a storage area. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
   Referring to the drawings, there is diagrammatically illustrated in  FIG. 1  an assembled piece of furniture  10  comprising a plurality of load bearing straps or slats  11  on which a person or other object exerts force  12 , i.e. by sitting or resting thereon. At least some or all of the slats, as will become more apparent hereinafter, have the opposite ends thereof snap fittingly connected to respective ones of a spaced apart pair of supports  13  that maybe legs, rails or the like portion of a piece of furniture. The interconnection comprises an end portion of the slat projecting into a cavity in the support and with respective inter-engaging formations cooperate to provide a self locking snap in interconnection upon assembly. The cavity in the support shown in  FIG. 1  comprises an elongate groove  15  extending horizontally and a cavity or groove  16  that is vertical or has a vertical portion extending downwardly from the slat forming seat portion of the piece of furniture. If desired the groove  16  can be a continuation of the groove  15  (see  FIGS. 14 and 19 ). The groove  15  can be a straight line as illustrated in  FIG. 1  or have a curvature thereto as illustrated by way of example in  FIGS. 14 and 19 . 
   The slats  11  have sufficient resiliency to provide an enhanced degree of comfort by conforming to the anatomy of a person sitting thereon. This results in part from use of a low flexural modulus, relative to wood, material for the construction of the slats. Central to the invention is the simultaneous ability of these resilient slats  11  to provide the necessary structure to keep the supports adequately oriented to carry out their support function. The slats thus provide both resilience and side-to-side structural support. Popular strap seat furniture requires, for example a pair of aluminum sides held in the proper relation to one another by several horizontal structural bars typically welded to the sides. Contrary to this the invention herein provides either or both of those functions. When one slat is deployed at an angle from the sit on slats, i.e. off-set from the plane of the sit on slats, for example slat  17 , additional stiffening of the support sides  13  is accomplished. 
   Shown in  FIG. 2  are two spaced apart parallel slats  11 , machined or molded, and interconnected to provide a single unit in which the two are joined at the ends thereof by an integral or applied connector  18 . The connecting portion illustrated at  18 A is of reduced thickness i.e. thinned or reduced to such thickness, taking into account the rigidity of the material, as to provide the ability of tilting one strap relative to the next whereby a series of the straps can be bent around a corner for comfort of the occupant and/or accomplish the said additional stiffening. The unit described in the forgoing may have spacers  19  appended to facilitate the spaced relationship of the strap units. 
     FIG. 3 . is a plan view of a seat, or back, as the case maybe, manufactured as a single unit  20  and comprising a plurality of spaced apart parallel slats  11  joined at opposite ends providing respective edges  21  and  22 . The edges maybe integrally formed with the slats or separate side rails attached thereto as for example illustrated in  FIGS. 5A ,  5 B,  5 C, and  13  and to be described hereinafter. Connectors  18 A that are of reduced thickness (obviously in pairs) facilitate tilting one slat relative to the next adjacent slat permitting contouring the unit as maybe desired. An important feature of this invention is the ability to design various portions of seats and/or backs and related surfaces, to have different degrees of resilience and/or contour. By varying the width and/or depth of the slats  11 , different degrees of resilience can result when a whole seat/back unit is machined or molded with uniform thickness. Half inch thick slats, one inch wide are far more resilient than slats of the same thickness which are 1.5 inches wide. By this means the thighs of an occupant can be supported firmly while the same person&#39;s buttocks encounter a more yielding surface and the upper back can be supported less firmly than the lower back of the occupant. Fine tuning can achieve a variety of ergonomic benefits. 
     FIG. 4 , a side view of a portion of the unit shown in  FIG. 3  illustrates a connector  18 A that is of reduced thickness between two adjacent slats and which interconnects the same. 
     FIGS. 5A ,  5 B, and  5 C are vertical sections through a slat support  13  that maybe a rail or other structural support and in the illustrated form maybe considered a rail. The groove  15  in the support is seen in cross-section and from which it will be noted the throat into the groove is narrower than the groove due to a downwardly projecting lip  15 A. The slat  11  has a finger  11 A projecting outwardly from the end thereof. The finger is U-shape in side elevational view and terminates in a free upper outer end  11 B. At the beginning of insertion of the finger  11 A into the groove  15 , as seen from  FIG. 5A , there is an interference fit because of the depth of the folded finger  11 A being greater than that of the throat opening. Upon further insertion the folded over finger  11 A is depressed as seen from  FIG. 5B . When the end of the slat is fully inserted into the groove, as seen in  FIG. 5C , the folded finger  11 A snaps back and the finger terminal end  11 B is in engagement with the bottom face portion of the rail forming a longitudinal rib  14  extending the length thereof whereby the lateral edge of the rib forms an edge or lip  15 A cooperatively engaging the groove  15  thereby locking the slat in the groove  15  of the support. The resiliency of the material causes the formation on the end of the slat to a snap back into a locked position. At the juncture of the finger  11 A and slat  11  there is a step down providing a recessed flat face  11 C. In an assembled state, as seen in  FIG. 5C  the flat face  11 C engages a lower face of the rib  14 . 
   The member  13  shown in  FIG. 5  maybe the support illustrated in  FIG. 1  or the marginal edges  21  and  22  of the unit shown in  FIG. 3 . 
     FIGS. 6 to 10 , illustrate a cavity, for example, cavity  16  in  FIG. 1 , in a slat support structure  13 . The cavity has a lip  15 A providing a restriction at the entry into the cavity. The end of the slat has a reversely bent or U shaped finger portion  11 A intermediate a pair of flat planar faces  11 D.  FIG. 6  illustrates the slat end and support in an assembled inter-locked state and  FIG. 7  shows the end of the slat prior to insertion into the cavity.  FIGS. 8 to 10  illustrate different forms of a folded upon itself finger on the end of the slat. The central finger is a catch deployed between two flat faces  11 D the latter of which stabilize the joint.  FIG. 8  illustrates the crush lock methodology. 
   Referring to  FIG. 11  there is illustrated a slat  11  having simply a groove  11 E disposed transverse to the length of the slat and in one face thereof. There is one such groove adjacent each of the opposite ends of the slat. The groove  11 E is suitably dimensioned and so located such that the end of the slat can slidably fit into the groove  15  with the groove  11 E receiving therein the lip  15 A in the groove  15 . 
   Referring to  FIG. 12  there illustrated a unit  30  that is a combined seat and back for a piece of furniture. The unit comprises a plurality of spaced apart slats  31  joined together at marginal edges  32  and  33 . Projecting outwardly from these marginal edges and at positions spaced longitudinally therealong are attachment fingers  11 A as shown in  FIG. 5  or  7  or the equivalent there of. 
     FIG. 13  is a perspective of the unit shown in  FIG. 12  but in which the common edge  32  (only one of the two marginal edges is shown but both would be the same) is replaced by a separate rail  34  having a series of slat spacers  35  projecting therefrom. 
     FIG. 14  is a vertical side elevational view of a chair portion  40  showing a front leg  41  and seat support unit  42  detached from a vertical member that provides a rear leg  43  and back support  44 . There is a groove  45  in a side face of the seat support portion  42  suitable for receiving the connecting end portion of seat slats. At the juncture of the rear leg  43  and back support  44  there is a mortise  46  to receive a tenon  47  on the end of the seat support  42 . There is a groove  48  (corresponding to groove  15  previously described) in a side face of the chair back support  44 . When groove  48  is filled with a common set of slats, the lower most one fills a locking notch  49  to lock the tenon  47  into the mortise  46 . 
     FIG. 16  is a perspective view looking up under a seat  50  and a portion of a seat support rail  51  illustrating a further embodiment of a locking relationship between slats and a support therefore. The locking portion of the support  51  of a seating structure such as a chair, chaises lounge, bench, table, chest, etc. has a locking groove  52  to capture and hold captive locking fingers  53  on the edge of the seat. There is a notch  54  in the seat member  50 . The seat member has slits  59  appropriately located for appearance and/or providing a desired selected resilience. In this optional embodiment of the invention, the common locking edge of the seat and/or back or other support structure is interrupted with indents  55  providing spaced apart projections or support blocks  58  which engage blocks  56  on support  51  when the parts are assembled and in a locked into position state. This accomplished by inserting seat  50  sideways until locking fingers  53  enter into locking notches, are then pushed upward until locking notch  53  occupies the upper portion of locking notch or groove  52  after which the seat  50  is slid horizontally until support blocks  58  rest on top of blocks  56  thus to comprise a fully lock relationship between the seat and the seat support  51 . 
     FIG. 17  is a plan view of the seat  50  shown in  FIG. 16 , with corresponding numbers, showing the locking notch  54 , locking fingers  53 , slits  59 , side notches  55 , and adds a view of a connector  18 A of reduced thickness which permits easy bending of the two slates shown on the right side of the part to a different angle such as vertical when the seat is horizontal or to the horizontal when the part is configured as a primarily vertically oriented chair back. 
     FIG. 19  is an elevational view of the chair leg/rail  41 ,  42  of  FIG. 14  differing therefrom in that there are alternating notches  57  as in  FIG. 16  for a seat support member. 
     FIG. 20  is a plan view of the tenon  47  on the end of the seat support  42  shown in  FIG. 19  and is essentially the same as  FIG. 14 . 
     FIG. 21  is a perspective view of an arm chair  60  comprising a space apart pair of members  61 , each of which is substantially planar, providing arms, legs, back support and leg stretcher. Each of these members is either machined from a single panel of sheet goods or is assembled from individual components. A unit  62  of slats provides the seat and back for the chair and maybe assembled and connected to the supports in a manner as described in the foregoing. 
     FIG. 22  is a perspective view of a unit  70  which is a chair back  71 , chair seat  72  and a seat support rail  73 . The unit attaches to the support structure by a slat  74  at the top, a slat  75  in the middle and optionally a slat  76  at the front of the seat and one below the member  73 . These slats attach via pins  77  or by any of the means described herein. The novelty here is that these straps form a relatively small portion of the surface making up the seat or back of the structure. Most of the contact points with the body are sling members which are substantially perpendicular to said slats. The result is a sling configuration which offers a different approach to comfort and make possible the use of the present invention in designs which requires this orientation for any reason. 
     FIG. 23  is a perspective view of an elongate chair  80  known as a chaise lounge. There is a seat portion  81  that is contiguous with a back member  82 . At the juncture of the seat and back there is a thinned portion that functions as a continuous hinge  83  permitting the raising and lowering of the back to various angles without the use of other pivoting hardware and to provided bending of other element during assembly. 
     FIG. 24  shows the seat  81  and back  82  of  FIG. 23  in plan view but with added integral back support flaps  84  connected via areas of reduced thickness functioning as a continuous hinge  85  and an end flap  86  connected via hinge line  87 . The arrangement is one of simplicity for manufacture especially when cut from sheet goods using a CNC router. 
     FIG. 25  is a plan view of a structural storage compartment unit  90  for an elongated seating unit like the chaise lounge  80  of  FIG. 23 . The unit  90  has a series of slats joined by integral locking edges  91  that are indented on both sides as at  92  to permit space for the wheels  93  of the chaise lounge. A series of slats also serve as a lockable storage compartment below the back of the chaise lounge when flaps  95  are bent up along their thinned hinge lines  96  and installed as seen in  FIG. 26 . 
     FIG. 26  is an elevational view of a portion of a chaise lounge having the unit  90  of  FIG. 26  in place thereon with the flaps  95  upturned. There is a downward bulge as at  97  giving valuable structural rigidity creating stiffening between the two sides of the chaise. With the added rigidity the cost of having a wheel to wheel axle can be avoided. The storage area is closed when the chaise back is fully down and suitable locking means can be readily attached. 
   The foregoing detailed description is given primarily for clearness of understanding and no unnecessary limitations are to be understood therefrom, for modification will become obvious to those skilled in the art upon reading this disclosure and may be made upon departing from the spirit of the invention and scope of the appended claims. Accordingly, this invention is not intended to be limited by the specific exemplifications presented hereinabove. Rather, what is intended to be covered is within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.