Abstract:
A floor protector for the legs of a chair or table including an insert receivable in the bottom of the leg which includes a removable floor protector retaining member. A floor protector of a pad of a soft floor protective material is removably mounted in the retaining member having a portion extending downwardly from the retaining member in contact with the floor or the like on which the chair or table is disposed. The pad can be quickly and easily replaced when worn. At least one shim is provided for compensating for the stability of the chair or table legs with respect to the floor on which it sets.

Description:
RELATIONSHIP TO PRIOR APPLICATIONS 
   This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 10/163,980, filed Jun. 5, 2002, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,626,405, entitled Replaceable “Floor Protectors.” 

   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Field of the Invention 
   The invention relates to floor protectors; and, more particularly, to replaceable floor protectors for the legs of chairs and tables to protect floors from damage. 
   2. General Background and State of the Art 
   It is well known to provide a glide at a bottommost portion of a furniture table leg to facilitate the sliding movement of the furniture across a floor. Glides are known to take a variety of forms, but may typically include an upper portion adapted to be attached to the leg of a piece of furniture such as a chair or table; and a lower portion having a smooth, low friction bottom surface for contacting the floor. U.S. Pat. No. 5,010,621 issued to Bock on Apr. 30, 1991, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,170,972 issued to Guell on Dec. 15, 1992, disclose typical furniture glides as are known in the art. 
   Some tables and chairs may also have some sort of cap or the like which fits onto the table or chair leg and can be replaced when worn. These glides and caps may mark up wood floors or the like as the chair or table is moved across the wood floor. In some cases, the chair or table legs or the floor may be uneven requiring some compensation for the same to make the chair or table stable. 
   There is a need for a flooring protector which can be fitted to the leg of a chair or table and can be renewed or replaced when worn which compensates for uneven chair or table legs. Such protector may be a felt pad or the like and quickly and easily replaceable. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   It is an object of this invention to provide a replaceable floor protector for the leg of a chair or table to protect floors which compensates for the unevenness of the chair, table or floor. 
   It is still another object of this invention to provide such a protector in the form of a removable pad so it can be replaced when worn and one or more shims for varying the angularity of the chair or table leg with respect to the floor. 
   These and other objects are preferably accomplished by providing a floor protector which fits onto the legs of a chair or table and includes an insert receivable in the bottom of the leg. The insert includes a removable floor protector retaining member. A floor protector of a pad of a soft floor protective material is removably mounted in the retaining member having a portion extending downwardly from the retaining member in contact with the floor or the like on which the chair or table is disposed. The pad can be quickly and easily replaced when worn. One or more removable shims are provided for compensating for the unevenness of the floor or chair or table legs. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  is an exploded view of the device of the invention as applied to a chair leg; 
       FIG. 2  is an alternative way of securing the device of the invention to a chair leg; 
       FIG. 3  is a view taken along line  3 — 3  of  FIG. 1 ; 
       FIG. 4  is an assembled view of the parts of  FIG. 1 ; 
       FIG. 5  is an exploded view of an alternative embodiment of the invention; 
       FIG. 6  is an exploded view of a portion of the device of  FIG. 1  showing a shim that can be inserted into position to compensate for unevenness of the chair or table leg or the floor on which it sits; and 
       FIG. 7  is a view similar to  FIG. 4  showing the shim of  FIG. 6  in operative position. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
   Referring now to  FIG. 1  of the drawing, a portion  13  of a conventional chair or table leg is shown. This leg  13  may have a hole  14  therein due to a prior floor protector having been inserted therein. Hole  14  may also be threaded having previously received the threaded shaft of a floor protector. Also, leg  13  may not have any hole therein as will be discussed. 
   A floor protector assembly  10  in accordance with the teachings of the invention is shown in exploded view in FIG.  1 . Assembly  10  includes a main body portion  11  having a clip  100  with a pair of spaced prongs  101 ,  102 , each having a head  120 ,  121  respectively terminating in sharpened points receivable in spaced holes  103 ,  104  respectively of body portion  11 . Nail  12  has a pointed end  30  receivable in hole  107  and a head  110  which can either be driven into the bottom of leg  13  forming hole  14 , or inserted into hole  14  if hole  14  already exists. Alternatively, as seen in  FIG. 2 , wherein like numerals refer to like parts of the embodiment of  FIG. 1 , instead of nail  12 , a screw  31  extending from main body portion  11 ′ (similar to portions  11 ) may be screwed into threaded hole  32  in leg  13 . 
   Referring again to  FIG. 1 , main body portion  11  may be cylindrical (see  FIG. 3 ) and threaded on its outer periphery  21 . A floor protector  14 ′ is provided having an upper flange portion  16  and an integral downwardly extending floor protector portion  15 . Portion  15  may be comprised of a soft but relatively rigid material, such as felt, so as to resist wearing but provide a protection for the floor on which the chair or table rests. As also seen in  FIG. 1 , flange  16  may be circular in cross-section having a main body section  108  greater in outer diameter than the diameter of portion  15  and an integral lower section  109  similar in outer diameter to that of portion  15  for reasons to be discussed. 
   A retainer  17  is provided, also circular in cross-section, having an upstanding vertical peripheral wall  20 . Wall  20  is threaded on its interior at threaded portion  33  and is integral with a lower horizontal wall  18 . Wall  18  extends inwardly from wall  20  and has an opening  19  therethrough. 
   The assembled parts are shown in FIG.  4 . It is to be understood that nail  12  is driven or otherwise inserted into leg  13  with prongs  101 ,  102  entering the bottom of the leg  13  and preventing the parts from rotating with respect to leg  13 . Head  110  is inserted in the like configured slot  111  in flange portion  16  and heads  120 , 121  are inserted into spaced slots  122 ,  123  on each side of slot  111 . Floor protector portion  15  is secured to the bottom of flange portion  16  in any suitable manner, as by gluing. It can thus be seen in  FIG. 4  that a substantial portion of the floor protector portion  15  protrudes downwardly in opening  19  past wall  18  as seen. Wall  20  is now threaded onto threaded peripheral wall  21  of the main body portion  11 . 
   The protector portion  15  thus protects the floor from damage due to the leg  13  moving thereon. When worn, portions  15  and  16  can be quickly and easily replaced. Alternatively, portion  15  may be removably attached to portion  16  in any suitable manner, such as by screws, so pad  15  need only be replaced. 
   The invention can be used on any chair or table leg and may be of any suitable configuration to accommodate the same. As seen in  FIG. 4 , the assembled parts are secured to the leg  13  with no side movement between the assembled parts and leg  13 . 
   However, glides or the like are well known in the furniture art that swivel to accommodate uneven surfaces or the like. This is shown in  FIG. 5  wherein like numerals refer to like parts of  FIGS. 1 ,  3  and  4 . In this embodiment, a cup  40  is shown having an opening  112  adapted to receive leg  41  of a chair or the like. A member  42  is provided swivelly connected to cup  40  via swivel connection  43  as is well known in the art. Thus, connection  43  may include a ball  50  fitting into a socket  51 . Member  42  is threaded on its outer periphery  113  so as to threadably receive thereon the threaded portion  33  of retainer  17 . Flange portion  114  is otherwise identical to flange portion  16  but slots  111 ,  122 ,  123  have been eliminated. The assembled parts are similar to the parts shown in FIG.  4  and further description is deemed unnecessary. 
   It can be seen that there is disclosed a quick and easy device for protecting floors and the like, such as wood floors, marble floors, etc., from scuffing due to chair and table legs moving over the floor. 
   The device can be attached to anything resting on a floor, such as chairs, tables, sofas, couches, etc. as broadly defined, chair can mean anything one can sit on resting on a floor and table can mean a platform having legs or supports resting on a floor. 
   Any suitable materials may be used, such as plastics, metals, etc. The cup  40  may be of resilient material, such as rubber, to fit on legs of various cross-sections. Any suitable dimensions may be used. For example, main body portion  11  may be about 1″ in diameter and about 1″ or so in length, including nail  12 . 
   Protector  14 ′ may have an upper portion  16  of a rigid material, such as plastic, and an integral lower portion  15  of a cushioning material, such as felt or the like. 
   There are times where the stability of the chair or table with respect to the floor on which it sits is a problem due to unevenness of the floor or the chair or table legs. As particularly contemplated in the present invention, and as seen in  FIGS. 6 and 7  wherein like numerals refer to like parts of  FIG. 4 , a shim  200  ( FIG. 6 ) is provided having a generally circular outer periphery  201  and a plurality of holes  202 ,  203  and  204  adapted to receive prong  101 , nail  12  and prong  102  therein, respectively (see FIG.  7 ). As seen in  FIG. 6 , shim  200  has a varying thickness so that it is wider or thicker on one side from the other. This thickness tapers or varies relatively evenly from the wide side to the thinner side, as seen in FIG.  7 . 
   Thus, as seen in  FIG. 7 , when shim  200  is placed between chair leg portion  13  and retainer  17  and main body portion  11 , the angularity of the assembled parts (and thus the chair leg) is varied from the vertical so that differences in floor contours or leg stability can be compensated for. 
   It should be understood that one or more such shims may be so used if the leg involved is not stable with respect to the floor with only one shim. 
   Thus, there is disclosed a floor protector assembly that can compensate for differences in legs of chairs or tables or the floor contour itself. 
   Although a particular embodiment of the invention has been disclosed, variations thereof may occur to an artisan and the scope of the invention should only be limited by the scope of the appended claims. 
   While the specification describes particular embodiments of the present invention, those of ordinary skill can devise variations of the present invention without departing from the inventive concept.