Abstract:
This invention is directed to templates each consisting of a 2-dimensional sheet of light-weight, flexible material formed in the actual size of the footprint of an article of furniture. The sheets are easily transported from one location to another, and placed on the floor or wall of a room or other space to provide the viewer with an accurate depiction of the size of each furniture item and how multiple items can be arranged within a given space.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     This invention is directed to a furniture visualization apparatus, and, more particularly, to templates each consisting of a two-dimensional sheet of light-weight, flexible material formed in the actual size of the footprint of an article of furniture to assist with visualizing how such furniture would appear in a room or other space of given dimensions.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     One of the difficulties confronted by interior designers, builders, architects and the like is to assist their clients in visualizing how objects will appear within a room or other space. Many people are unable to appreciate how articles of furniture, paintings and other items can be arranged together in a room, and whether their individual and collective size is appropriate for the space. Historically, design professionals have resorted to drawings, typically two-dimensional renditions on graph paper, in an effort to represent the relative size of furniture and other objects, as well as how such items fit together within a room. Drawings of this type provide little guidance for many people.  
         [0003]     The shortcomings of current practices such as described above have been addressed in the prior art. U.S. Pat. No. 1,988,461 to Reeves, for example, discloses a system in which walls are formed to define the boundaries of a room of desired size and shape, and then life-sized, 3-dimensional articles of furniture are placed around the room. The Harris et al U.S. Pat. No. 2,221,766 teaches the use of blanks which fold into the shape of wall cabinets and base cabinets of the type found in kitchens or other rooms. Sheets or stickers which are painted or printed with the actual look of the front of a kitchen cabinet or other piece of furniture are affixed to the assembled blanks to simulate their actual appearance.  
         [0004]     Systems of the type disclosed in the Reeves and Harris et al patents are expensive, inconvenient and impractical. Each design employs 3-dimensional furniture and/or walls which are difficult to store and impractical to transport from one location to another. Further, such furniture must be assembled on site, and then disassembled when a presentation to a client is completed. Using 3-dimensional shapes requires one to stock a large number of items in order to provide a client with an accurate depiction of a sofa, table, chair or other article of furniture of the desired size. This adds significantly to the expense of purchasing such items and storing them.  
         [0005]     U.S. Pat. No. 2,293,441 to Meyer describes a system wherein a 2-dimensional rendition of different articles of furniture is drawn or otherwise provided on each of a number of separate sections of cardboard or the like, and flaps connected to the sections allow them to be held in an upright position for display. Each article of furniture is tiny, not life-sized, and they are positioned around a miniature depiction of a room. While this approach solves the assembly and storage problems identified above, it is difficult for many to visualize how furniture will look in an actual sized room by looking at a miniature scale model. As such, the Meyer system is considered no more effective that the drawings prepared by designers and others for their clients, as noted above.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0006]     This invention is directed to templates for simulating the footprint of different articles of furniture, each of which consists of a 2-dimensional sheet of light-weight, flexible material such as olefin or neoprene formed in the actual size of the footprint of a piece of furniture. The sheets are easily transported from one location to another, and readily placed on the floor or wall of a room or other space to provide the viewer with an accurate depiction of the actual size of each furniture item and how multiple items can be arranged together within a given space.  
         [0007]     In one presently preferred embodiment, each two-dimensional sheet has a top surface, a bottom surface and a peripheral edge. A stabilizing element is mounted to one of the top and bottom surfaces to assist in maintaining each sheet in a fixed position upon a support surface, e.g. a floor or wall. The stabilizing element may be one or more pockets filled with sand or other relatively heavy material, or hook-type fastening material, affixed at selected locations to the bottom surface of the sheets. The hook-type fastening material is preferably employed where the sheets are intended to be placed on a carpeted surface, whereas the sand-filled pockets can be used on wood floors, concrete or other smooth surfaces.  
         [0008]     The top surface of the sheets are formed with spaced markings defining fold lines along which the sheets may be folded to reduce their length in at least one dimension. One or more spacers are mounted to the sheets which extend from their peripheral edge. Each spacer has a length dimension which is sized to permit even spacing of the sheets a desired distance from a wall or other object. Further, one or more bubble levels may be mounted to the sheets, particularly those intended for mounting to a wall for simulating a painting or the like, to allow for leveling of the sheets.  
         [0009]     The templates of this invention provide life-sized footprints of different articles of furniture to aid in the visualization of how a room will look when furnished, while avoiding the pitfalls of the prior art. They are relatively inexpensive, easy to store and transport, require no assembly and can be rapidly placed around a room or other space, in different arrangements, as desired. 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0010]     The structure, operation and advantages of the presently preferred embodiment of this invention will become further apparent upon consideration of the following description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:  
         [0011]      FIG. 1  is a plan view of one embodiment of the templates of this invention;  
         [0012]      FIG. 2A  is a cross sectional view taken generally along line  2 A, B- 2 A, B of  FIG. 1 ;  
         [0013]      FIG. 2B  is a cross-sectional view similar to  FIG. 2A  taken generally along line  2 A,B- 2 A,B of  FIG. 1 , except depicting an alternative stabilizing element according to this invention;  
         [0014]      FIG. 2C  is an enlarged view of the circled portion of  FIG. 2B .  
         [0015]      FIG. 3  is a plan view of an alternative embodiment of a template herein;  
         [0016]      FIG. 3A  is a cross sectional view taken generally along line  3 A- 3 A of  FIG. 3 ;  
         [0017]      FIG. 4  is a plan view of still another embodiment of the templates herein depicting fold lines spaced along the top surface thereof; and  
         [0018]      FIG. 5  is a plan view of yet another embodiment of this invention in which horizontal and vertical bubble levels are mounted thereto. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0019]     Referring initially to  FIGS. 1-2C , a furniture template  10  is shown which comprises a two-dimensional sheet  12  of a light-weight, flexible material formed in the actual size of the footprint of an article of furniture such as an end table, cabinet or the like. The sheet  12  has a top surface  14 , a bottom surface  16  and a peripheral edge  18 . In the presently preferred embodiment, the sheet  12  is formed of Tyvek, a readily commercially available olefin sheet material, neoprene or similar flexible materials.  
         [0020]     The template  10  is intended to be placed upon a support surface such as a floor to simulate the footprint of an actual-sized article of furniture and thus aid in the visualization of such item in a room or other space. In order to assist in retaining the template  10  in position on the support surface, the sheet  12  is provided with one or more stabilizing elements  20  mounted preferably to the bottom surface  16  of the sheet  12 . In the embodiment of  FIG. 2A , the stabilizing element  20  is shown in the form of a closed pocket  22  connected by adhesive, stitching or the like to the bottom surface  16  about the peripheral edge  18  of the sheet  12 . The pocket  22  may be filled with sand, lead weights or essentially any other material which adds weight to sheet  12  and helps hold it on a support surface.  
         [0021]     Alternatively, as shown in  FIGS. 2B and 2C , the stabilizing element  20  may comprise one or more strips  24  of hook-type fastening elements  25  mounted to the bottom surface  16  in the same positions as the pocket  22 . It is contemplated that the strips  24  will be employed when the templates  10  are placed upon carpeting, fabric or the like so that the hook-type fastening elements may engage and interlock to some extent with the fibers of the carpet or fabric and help maintain the template  10  in place. The template  10  with the pocket  22 , on the other hand, is more useful on smooth support surfaces such as concrete or wood floors.  
         [0022]     While the stabilizing element  20  of  FIGS. 1-2C  is shown affixed to the bottom surface  16  of sheet  12  around its peripheral edge  18 , it should be understood that stabilizing elements  20  may be positioned essentially anywhere along the bottom surface  16 . With reference to  FIGS. 3 and 3 A, another furniture template  26  which is round in shape is shown. Template  26  is formed of a sheet  28  of the same material as sheet  12 , with a top surface  30 , bottom surface  32  and peripheral edge  34 . A number of stabilizing elements  36 , formed in the same way as pockets  22  or strips  24  of  FIGS. 1-2A , are mounted at discreet locations to the bottom surface  32  by adhesive, stitching or other permanent means. The stabilizing elements  36  perform the same function in the template  26  of this embodiment as the stabilizing elements  20  of  FIGS. 1-2B .  
         [0023]     Other features of the furniture templates of this invention are depicted in  FIGS. 4 and 5 . In  FIG. 4 , a template  38  is shown comprising a sheet  40  of the same material as in  FIGS. 1-3A  formed in the footprint of a sofa or bed. The top surface  42  of the sheet  40  has a number of spaced markings  44  defining fold lines along which the sheet  40  can be folded to vary the length of template  38  and thus simulate sofas of different length, for example. Spacers  46  protrude from the peripheral edge  48  of the sheet  40 , and although three are shown in  FIG. 4  it should be understood that more or less may be employed. The purpose of spacers  46  is to assist in evenly positioning the template  38  a desired distance from a wall or object. Markings  50  are provided on each spacer  46  to define fold lines allowing the user to change the length of the spacers  46 , and, hence, the position of the template  38  relative to a wall or the like. The template  38  may included stabilizing elements (not shown) of the same type as employed in the previously described embodiments.  
         [0024]     The template  38  of  FIG. 4  further includes one or more connectors  52  protruding from its peripheral edge  48  at the locations shown in the drawing. The connectors  52  may comprise a magnet, magnetic material, snaps, hook and loop fastener material and the like. Each one of a number of templates  38  (or templates  10  and  26 ) include connectors  52  to enable adjacent templates  38  to be joined together for display. This allows the designer to depict furniture of different length (for example sofas), or different width (for example beds), using multiple templates  38  connected together side-by-side or end-to-end.  
         [0025]     In  FIG. 5 , a template  54  is illustrated which is formed of the same sheet material as in the previous embodiments. The template  54  has a beveled top surface  56  and is provided with bubble levels  58  and  60 , allowing it to be leveled on a wall in either the vertical or horizontal orientation to simulate the appearance of artwork or the like.  
         [0026]     While the invention has been described with reference to a preferred embodiment, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents substituted for elements thereof without departing from the scope of the invention. In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the teachings of the invention without departing from the essential scope thereof.  
         [0027]     For example, the templates  10 ,  38  and  54  are depicted as having a generally rectangular shape whereas the template  26  is round. It is contemplated that the templates herein could be essentially any shape required to simulate the appearance of the footprint of a particular article of furniture.  
         [0028]     Therefore, it is intended that the invention not be limited to the particular embodiment disclosed as the best mode contemplated for carrying out this invention, but that the invention will include all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims.