Patent ID: 6880215

Claim:
A method comprising the steps of: cutting a blank from a sheet of non-woven fibrous material; forming the blank into a pre-formed cushion shaped as a back for a seating unit; attaching a cushion stiffener to the cushion to provide additional structure to the cushion; providing a back support panel having a stiff thoracic section and a flexible lumbar section, and the cushion stiffener having a vertical length not substantially greater than the thoracic section so that the lumbar section maintains a flexibility; and attaching the cushion stiffener to the support panel to define a back support assembly by engaging first mechanical connectors on the cushion stiffener with second mechanical connectors on the support panel, with the cushion stiffener extending across a substantial portion of the thoracic section, such that the cushion stiffener does not substantially increase the stiffness of the back support assembly in the region of the flexible lumbar section of the support panel.