Patent Publication Number: US-10327557-B2

Title: Modular seating system

Description:
FIELD 
     This relates to the field of modular furniture, and in particular to a new and improved core for a modular seating system. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Traditional furniture designs have typically utilized wood or metal frames to provide stability and rigidity to the shape of the furniture, namely the seat the back end the arm and sufficient structure to support the weight of a user. This traditional approach to furniture design has resulted in durable but generally heavy furniture that is difficult to move and to combine with other furniture to provide versatility in seating arrangements. More specifically seating that Includes upholstery is typically assembled by hand and typically starts with a core made out of plywood boxes so as to create and provide sufficient structure to support the attachment of the upholster cushions and the weight or the user. This type of assembly requires a great deal of manual labour, not only to make the core box, but also to achieve the desired upholstered finish. The upholstery is typically tacked onto the plywood boxes using staples or nails and does not allow for the ability to remove the upholstery. 
     Modular furniture systems are well known in the art and they have typically had a light weight construction and utilized a foam polyurethane core with a fabric cover to the reduce weight of the overall structure. While this construction helps reduce the weight of the furniture and makes it easier to move, it does not provide the required structure and rigidity to the furniture to support a person of average weight that is typically derived from wood or metal. As a result these foamed structures typically break down or degrade over a short period of time and provide insufficient support for the user. 
     Traditional modular furniture systems have also tried to include into one system a variety of seating structures, like individual seating, lounge seating, tables, and shelves for example. The versatility, lightweight aspects, and uniform assembly make modular furniture a popular choice to provide a variety of seating configurations and options to the end user. However to achieve these different configurations or options, existing modular furniture systems often require a different unit design for each aspect of the modular furniture system or different piece of furniture. Therefore each unit design must be individually fabricated to create the final piece of furniture, whether it is a seating unit, table or a seating lounge. As a result each mechanical fabrication of each unit design requires specific positioning, mechanical fastening, and the use of cumbersome tools. As such each unit design is not interchangeable, nor adaptable to form a different piece of furniture. 
     The present invention describes a modular furniture system that provides sufficient and equivalent support to a user as wood or steel, while being light weight, moveable and providing flexibility on the orientation and combination of different types of seating arrangements. 
     SUMMARY 
     In accordance with one aspect of the present invention there is provided a modular seating system including at least two horizontally oriented support members and at least one core base component of recycled plastic having a top and a bottom adapted to engage the horizontally oriented support members, wherein the plastic core base component includes a series of feature attachment points molded directly info the top and the bottom of the plastic core base component, and wherein the bottom of the plastic core base component includes defined receptacles for at least four vertical support members and support webbing. 
     Preferably the bottom of the core base component may further include at least two parallel channels that run the length of core base component wherein each channel is positioned on either side of hollow centre and each Is adapted to receive one horizontally-oriented support member. 
     In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention there is provided a modular seating system including at least two horizontally oriented support member at least one core base component of recycled plastic having a top and a bottom adapted to engage the horizontally oriented support members. The plastic core base component includes a series of feature attachment points molded directly into the top and the bottom of the plastic core base component. The modular seating system further includes a plastic core back component of recycled plastic having a front, a back, a top and a bottom adapted to engage the series of feature attachment points of the plastic core base wherein the bottom of the plastic core base component includes defined receptacles for at least four vertical support members and support webbing. 
     Preferably the core back component may further include a series of slots positioned around the sides and front of the core back component and adapted to receive upholstery webbing. The front of the core back component may also include at least two parallel channels positioned across the bottom from the front to the back of the core back component and each is adapted to receive one horizontally oriented support member. 
     In accordance with another preferred embodiment there is disclosed a modular seating system including at least two horizontally oriented support members, at least one core base component of recycled plastic having a top and a bottom adapted to engage the horizontally oriented support members, wherein the plastic core base component includes a series of feature attachment points molded directly into the top and the bottom of the plastic core base component. 
     The modular seating system may also include at least one core back component of recycled plastic having a front and a back adapted to engage the series of feature attachment points of the plastic core base component. The modular seating system may further include at least one core armrest component of recycled plastic having an inner side, an cuter side and a bottom adapted to engage the series of feature attachment points of the plastic core base component wherein the bottom of the plastic core base component includes defined receptacles for at least four vertical support members and the bottom of the plastic arm component includes defined receptacles for at least two vertical support members and support webbing. 
     Other aspects will be apparent from the description and drawings provided herein. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
       A detailed description of the preferred embodiments are provided herein below by way of example only and with reference to the following drawings, in which: 
         FIG. 1 a    is a top view of the plastic core base component; 
         FIG. 1 b    is a perspective view of the plastic core base component; 
         FIG. 1 c    is a front view of the plastic core base component: 
         FIG. 1 d    is a side of the plastic core base component; 
         FIG. 1 e    is a bottom of the plastic core base component; 
         FIG. 1 f    is a cross-sectional of the plastic core base component along the lines**; 
         FIG. 2 a    is a top view of the plastic core back component; 
         FIG. 2 b    is a close up view of the plastic core back component of  FIG. 2   d;    
         FIG. 2 c    is a front view of the plastic core back component; 
         FIG. 2 d    is a perspective view of the plastic core back component; 
         FIG. 2 e    is a perspective view of the plastic core back component; 
         FIG. 2 f    is a sloe view of the plastic core back component; 
         FIG. 3 a    is a left side perspective view of the plastic armrest component; 
         FIG. 3 b    is top view of the plastic core armrest component; 
         FIG. 3 c    is a right side perspective view of the plastic core armrest component; 
         FIG. 3 d    is a left side view of the plastic core armrest component; 
         FIG. 3 e    is a right side view of the plastic core armrest component; 
         FIG. 3 f    is a bottom view of the plastic core armrest component; 
         FIG. 3 g    is a cross-section view of the plastic core armrest component along the lines **; 
         FIG. 4 a    is a perspective view of the assembled plastic core base component; 
         FIG. 4 b    is an exploded view of the assembled plastic core base component; 
         FIG. 5 a    is a perspective view of the assembled plastic core back component: 
         FIG. 5 b    is an exploded view of the assembled plastic core back component; 
         FIG. 6 a    is a perspective view of the assembled plastic core armrest component; 
         FIG. 6 b    is an exploded view of the assembled plastic core armrest component; 
         FIG. 7 a  to 7 d    are perspective views of the assembly of the modular seating system. 
         FIG. 8 a  to 8 d    are perspective views of the assembly of the modular seating system; 
         FIG. 9 a  to 9 c    are perspective views of the attachment of screens attached to the modular seating system; 
     
    
    
     In the drawings, preferred embodiments of the invention are illustrated by way of example. It is to be expressly understood that the description and drawings are only for the purpose of illustration and as an aid to understanding, and are not intended as a definition of the limits of the invention 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1 a  to 1 f    and  FIGS. 7 a  to 7 d   , there is illustrated in a modular seating system  10  including at least two horizontally oriented support members  12  and at least one core base component  14  of recycled plastic. The core base component  14  may have a top  18  and a bottom  18  that are adapted to engage the horizontally oriented support members  12 . The plastic core base component  14  may further include a series of feature attachment points  20  molded directly into the top  10  and the bottom  18  of the plastic core base component  14 . The bottom  18  of the plastic core base component  14  may further include defined receptacles  22  for at least four vertical support members  24  and support webbing  28 . 
     The horizontally oriented support members  12  may be further defined as tube shaped, having a diameter ranging from half an inch to 6 inches. Furthermore the horizontally oriented support members  12  may be of varying lengths, and have a maximum span of 120 inches. The horizontally oriented support members  12  may have a variety of profiles, including circular, oval, rectangular or square, and may be hollow or solid by way of example. Furthermore the horizontally oriented support members  12  may preferably be made from steel or an equivalently strong material with a gage of  17  to  11 . 
     The core base component  14  may be further include at least four sides  30  and a hollow centre  32 . The core base component  14  may therefore have the outline of a square or rectangle by way of example only. As such the core base component  14  includes four inner sides  31  and four outer sides  33 . 
     The core base component  14  may be further defined as an armature that provides sufficient strength to support a person. The core base component  14  may be made from recycled plastic. More specifically this recycled plastic is injection moulded to the desired shape outlined in  FIGS. 1 a  to 1 e    and  FIG. 4 . The top  16  and the sides  30  of the core base component  14  include sloping walls  34  towards the hollow centre  32  to provide additional structure and support to the modular seating system  10 . 
     The series of feature attachment points  20  may include a first series of feature attachment points  19  namely slots  36  positioned around the top  16  and more specifically around the sides  30  of the core base component  14 . The slots  36  act as receptacles or attachment points for upholstery webbing  38  during the construction of the modular seating system  10 . 
     A second series of feature attachment points  21  may include a first series of apertures  3  positioned at spaced intervals around the sides  30  of the core base component  14 . The second series of feature attachment points  21  may also include points of attachment for screens or tables like ridges or clips. 
     The first series of apertures  37  are adapted to engage additional and neighbouring core components of the module seating system  10 . More specifically the apertures  37  are adapted to receive the core back components  50  for example. The insertion of at least two support arms  84 , by way of example only, info the apertures  37  allows for the securement of these additional elements to core base component  14 . These additional elements can vary to include an arm rest table, screen or additional base components. 
     A third series of feature attachment points  23  may be defined as attachment zones  25  that are adapted to accept reciprocating extrusions. The attachment zones  25  may be better defined as a ridges that allow for the connection to extrusions for the easy attachment of upholstery to the core base component  14 . 
     The support webbing  28  on the bottom  18  of the core base component  14  may be positioned along the four sides  30 , and reflects the positioning of the underside of the sloping walls  34 . The bottom  18  of the core base component  14  may further include at least two parallel channels  38  that run the length of the four sides  30 , wherein each channel is positioned on either side of hollow centre and are adapted to receive the horizontally oriented support members  12 . The channels  39  may be positioned on the bottom  18  of the core base component  14  so as to run adjacent the inner sides  31 . As the channels  39  run across the entire length of the four sides  30 , the outer sides  33  include a second series of apertures  40  where the channels  39  exit. As such when the horizontally oriented support members  12  are positioned within the channels  39 , there is a support member  12  on either side of the hollow centre  32 . By running the channels  39  adjacent to each of the inner sides  31 , the core base component  14  may be oriented in different directions, while continually being supported by the horizontally oriented support members  12 . 
     The receptacles  22  may be positioned in the corners where the four sides  30  meet. The four vertical support members  24  may be further defined as seating legs, and may include a variety of shapes and orientations. For example, the vertical support members  24  may be tubular shaped, or round and may be straight or bent. The vertical support members  24  may be friction fit Into the receptacles  22  and secured with fasteners. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 2 a  to 2 f  and 5 a  and 5 b   , the modular seating system  10  may further include at least one core back component  50  of recycled plastic having a front  62 , a back  54 , a top  51  and a bottom  72  adapted to engage the feature attachment points  20  of the plastic core base component  14 . 
     More specifically the front  52  may be further defined as having an upper portion  56  and a lower portion  58 . The upper portion  58  may Include support webbing  80  and support walls  62 . The lower portion  58  may Include at least two support arms  64  that are adapted to engage the second series of feature attachment points  21  of the core base component  14 , namely the first series of apertures  37  around the sides  30  of the core base component  14 . 
     The core back component  50  may further include a fourth series of feature attachment points  53  molded directly across the bottom  72  of the plastic core back component  50 . The fourth series of feature attachment points  53  may Include a second series of at least two parallel channels  55  and are adapted to receive the horizontally oriented support members  12 . 
     The plastic core back component  50  may further include a fifth series of feature attachment points  74  molded directly into the front  52  and the back  54  of the plastic core back component  50 . The fifth series of feature attachment points  74  may include a second series of slots  68  positioned around the front  52  and more specifically around the sides  66  of the core back component  50 . The slots  68  act as receptacles or attachment points for upholstery webbing  38  during the construction of the modular seating system  10 . 
     A sixth series of feature attachment points  70  may be defined as a second series of attachment zones  57  that are adapted to accept reciprocating extrusions. The sixth series of attachment zones  70  may be better defined as clips that allow for the connection to extrusions for the easy attachment of upholstery to the core back component  50 . 
     Referring to  FIGS. 3 a  to 3 g  and 6 a  and 6 b   , the modular seating system  10  may further include at least one core armrest component  80  made from recycled plastic. The core armrest component  80  may Include an inner side  82 , an outer side  84 , a top  83  and a bottom  86  adapted to engage the series of feature attachment points  20  of the plastic core base component  14 . 
     The plastic core armrest component  80  includes a seventh series feature attachment points  88  molded directly into the inner side  82 , the outer side  84  and the bottom  86  of the plastic core armrest component  80 . The seventh series of feature attachment points  88  may also include a third series of at least two channels  94  positioned across the bottom  86  of the plastic core armrest component  80  and run the width of the bottom  86  of the plastic core armrest component  80 . The channels  94  are therefore able to adapt to engage the horizontally oriented support members  12 . The bottom of the plastic armrest component  80  may include defined receptacles  88  for at least two vertical support members  90 . 
     A eighth series of feature attachment points  91  may be defined as a third series of attachment zones  93  that are adapted to accept reciprocating extrusions. The third series of attachment zones  93  may be better defined as ridges or clips that allow for the connection to extrusions for the easy attachment of upholstery to the core armrest component  80 . 
     Referring to  FIGS. 4 to 9   c , in assembly, the modular seating system  10  includes first assembling the core base component  14 . Typically this assembly includes positioning the upholstery webbing  38  within the slots  36  across the top  16  of the core base component  14 . Molded foam  75  is then positioned around the top  16  and required sides  30  of the core base component  14 . The desired upholstery may them positioned around the foam. The upholstery may further include the reciprocating extrusions or complimentary points of attachment  76  to the third series of feature attachment points  23  or attachment zones  25 . For example the attachment zones  25 , when defined as a ridge, allows for an attachment point  76  for the connection to an extrusion on the upholstery for the easy attachment of upholstery to the core base component  14 . 
     Where a single core base component  14  is being assembled, four vertical support members  24  may be positioned in the four individual receptacles  22  thereby providing support for the core base component  14 . When the modular seating system includes more than one single core base component  14 , the bottom  18  of the core base component  14  is positioned over the two horizontally oriented support members  12 . More specifically the support members are positioned within the parallel channels  39  that run across the bottom  18  of the core base component  14 . 
     The horizontally oriented support members  12  may be the length of the core base component  14  or they may extend beyond the bottom  18  of the core base component  14  out of the apertures  37  positioned on the sides  30  of the core base component  14 . The lengths of the support members  12  may customized to the desired length of the modular seating system  10 . 
     When assembling a chair or seating structure requiring a back, the plastic core back component  50  may be assembled first separately. Typically this assembly includes positioning the upholstery webbing  38  within the second series of slots  68  positioned around the front  52  and more specifically around the sides  66  of the core back component  50 . Molded foam  75  is then positioned around the front  52 , the sides  66 , the top  51  and the back  54  of the core back component  50 . Additional support may added at the back  54  in the form of a board  77  if required. 
     The desired upholstery may them positioned around the foam. The upholstery may further include the reciprocating extrusions or complimentary points of attachment to the sixth series of feature attachment points  70  and the second attachment zones  57 . For example the attachment zones  57  when defined as a ridge allows for an attachment point for the connection to an extrusions on the upholstery for the easy attachment of upholstery to the core back component  50 . The extrusions on the upholstery may be integrally part of the upholstery itself or added mechanically to the upholstery. 
     The two support arms  64  of the lower portion  58  of the front  52  of the plastic core back component  50 , may be positioned within the apertures  37  of the top  16  of the core base component  14 . The two support arms  64  may then be secured with fasteners to the core base component  14 . 
     When assembling a chair or seating structure requiring arms, the inner side  82  of the plastic core arm component  80  may be positioned towards the core base component  14 , whereby the horizontally oriented support members  12  that extend beyond the core base component  14  engage the channels  94  that run the width of the bottom  86  of the plastic core armrest component  80 . 
     When assembling a chair or seating structure requiring arms, the vertical support members  90  may be moved from, the receptacles  22  that are part of the plastic core base component  14  to the receptacles  88  of the plastic core armrest component  80 . The two vertical support members  90  are therefore positioned in each of the receptacles  88  positioned in each plastic core armrest component  80  on either side of the core base component  14 . Additional upholstery may be adhered to the core base component  14 , the core back component  50  and the core armrest component  80 . 
     The modular seating system  10  can further Include other components such as tables and privacy screens that can attach directly to the core base component  14 . Specifically the second series of feature attachment points  21  may also include points of attachment for screens or tables like ridges or clips, namely a third series of apertures  104  that can engage with a screen. More specifically a privacy screen  100  may defined as a panel having reciprocating attachment points  102  that connect and secure the panel to modular seating system  10 . 
     The modular seating system  10  allows for complete flexibility with regards to the orientation and configuration of the various plastic core base, hack and armrest components. More specifically the plastic core base can be oriented in any way as it has the series of feature attachment points  20  positioned on all sides of the plastic core base  14 . This allows for creative positioning of the bases relative to the back, vertical support members, tables, screens, and armrests. The lightweight nature of the core components or armatures allows for easy lifting, assembling and manipulating of the components. 
     The use of the feature attachment points  20  allows easy engagement by the user whether to either position a core component or remove and attach upholstery. The modular seating system  10  therefore becomes similar to a “plug and play” concept where there is dramatic flexibility in the configurations of the modular seating system  10 . Furthermore the modular seating system  10  allows for easy removal of the upholstery either for cleaning or changing. The attachment zones allow for the various attachment mechanisms to be molded directly into the upholstery and corresponding or reciprocating zones of attachment like a ridge on the core component. 
     The molding of the core components in recycled plastic makes each component very cost effective in comparison to traditional wood or steel components. Typically the components can be injection molded with various feature attachment points  20  according to the component being made. The resulting component therefore acts as a supporting armature that can easily support the weight of a user without buckling of breaking. However the cost of producing each component is extremely low while allowing for significant increased flexibility of the end product both in positioning and combining with other components and with upholstery options. 
     The preceding discussion provides many example embodiments. Although each embodiment represents a single combination of inventive elements, other examples may include all possible combinations of the disclosed elements. Thus if one embodiment comprises elements A, B, and C, and a second embodiment comprises elements B and D, other remaining combinations of A, B, C, or D, may also be used. 
     The term “connected” or “coupled to” may include both direct coupling (in which two elements that are coupled to each other contact each other) and indirect coupling (in which at least one additional element is located between the two elements). 
     Although the embodiments have been described in detail, it should be understood that various changes, substitutions and alterations can be made herein. 
     Moreover, the scope of the present application is not intended to be limited to the particular embodiments of the process, machine, manufacture, composition of matter, means, methods and steps described in the specification. As one of ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate from the disclosure of the present invention, processes, machines, manufacture, compositions of matter, means, methods, or steps, presently existing or later to be developed, that perform substantially the same function or achieve substantially the same result as the corresponding embodiments described herein may be utilized. Accordingly, the appended claims are intended to Include within their scope such processes, machines, manufacture, compositions of matter, means, methods, or steps 
     As can be understood, the examples described above and illustrated are intended to be exemplary only. The invention is defined by the appended claims.