US3289995A

US3289995A - Chair leg cover

Info

Publication number: US3289995A
Application number: US437199A
Authority: US
Inventors: Taylor Isabel
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1965-01-06
Filing date: 1965-03-04
Publication date: 1966-12-06
Anticipated expiration: 1983-12-06

Description

Dec. 6, 1966 TAYLOR 3,289,995

CHAIR LEG COVER Filed March 4. 1965 \SABEL. TAYLOR mvemrog,

by QWLW,

rrozueys United States Patent Claims. ((51. 248-3451) This invention relates to a simple, inexpensive, removable cover which can be used on the legs of a stemgraphic and other similar type of swivel oifice chair to prevent articles such as foot apparel, handbags, etc. from coming into direct contact with the legs, so prohibiting the formation of scuff marks on the articles.

Many ofiice chairs have legs of a cruciform shape with a castor on each leg and a swivel mounted column located at the junction of the legs, for the chair seat. The legs are usually made of either wood or metal.

In use, this type of chair will be moved mainly towards and away from a desk by the person using it, and during such movement the cruciform legs are liable to rotate with respect to the chair seat, so that the user is unaware of the position of the legs until they are accidentally bumped, usually by the feet of the person. Such an accidental contact with the legs of the chair can often be quite severe and create unsightly and damaging scuff marks on footwear.

This problem is of particular concern to women whose footwear is frequently of a light colour and manufactured of material having a soft, readily damaged finish, which usually cannot be readily re-finished.

Various chair protectors have been designed for use on legs or rungs of chairs but most, if not all, of these known protectors have been designed primarily to protect the chair and not the users footwear. Some are custom made and attached during manufacture of the chair, while others are made as a thick, padded, fairly expensive protector to be attached by the user.

The custom made protectors are normally fitted only on the upper surfaces of cruciform-shaped legs and are not readily removable. They also do not normally cover the other surfaces of the legs or the castors, and, as such, do not cover those parts which cause the scufiing of footwear, etc. These protectors also increase the price of the finished article so adversely affecting their sale.

The separate, padded protectors also do not offer adequate'protection against the scuffing of footwear, and, due to their size, are quite clumsy looking and generally unacceptable as well as being expensive.

Accordingly, there is obviously a need for a cover which is specifically designed to protect the users footwear and which can be sold at such a price that the user of a chair will not mind paying for the cover if not provided by an employer.

The cover should also be of a simple form thereby being easily attached to the chair legs by the user, even if female, Without the use of tools and without any modifications being required to the legs.

As the cover will have to be approved by the employer before being fitted by the user, it will also have to be non-damaging to the chair and of an unobtrusive nature or, at most, tastefully decorative.

The cover of this invention achieves these aims by fully covering the leg surfaces from which scuffing is obtained, as well as shielding the castors.

The cover is simple in design and can be manufactured very inexpensively so buying one will be no problem to the user.

No special tools are required to fit the cover in place, dome fasteners, clips, zippers or any other type of well- 3,289,995 Patented Dec. 6, 1966 known commercially available fastening means being used.

The cover does not require any modifications to be made to a standard chair and when fitted will not damage or mark the legs in any way.

The cover can be made from a thin gauge plastic sheeting, a woven plastic material or other type of material, which can be decorative or transparent so achieving a pleasing result, as well .as being functional.

The ease of fitting the cover in place also encourages its frequent removal for washing or cleaning.

The following drawings illustrate one embodiment of this invention.

FIGURE 1 is an isometric view of the cruciform type legs of a standard office chair.

FIGURE 2 is an isometric view of a cover constructed in accordance with the present invention for use with the type of legs as shown in FIGURE 1.

FIGURES 3 and 4 are views of the pieces used in the manufacture of the cover of FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 5 is an isometric view of the cover of FIG- URE 2 fitted on the legs of FIGURE 1.

Referring to FIGURE 1, there is shown a set of cruciform legs 1 having a castor wheel 2, fitted one near the end of each leg 1. A swivel mounted column 3 is attached to the junction of the legs for mounting of the chair seat (not shown).

Referring to FIGURE 2, the cover is comprised of a piece of flexible material having arms 4 joined to a central portion 5. The arms have side poftions 6 with skirt portions 7, end portions 12 and tabs 8. attached to the lower edge of the side portions. The central portion 5 is apertured at the centre 9 to allow for passage of the column 3 there-through, and a slit 10 runs from the aperture, through the centre portion 5, and a side portion 6, to an outside edge of the cover, to allow for ease of fitting. The tabs 8 are shown to be fitted, in this embodiment, with dome fasteners 11 as are the joining piecesalong the slit 10, but it can readily be appreciated that any type of commercially available fastener, such as hooks and eyes, zippers, etc., can be used to achieve the same result.

FIGURES 3 and 4 show the pieces that can be used if the cover is to be fabricated in manufacture. One piece of material of the shape of FIGURE 3, and 8 pieces of the shape of FIGURE 4 are used and the assembly, to form a cover, can be accomplished by stitching, heat fusing or other similar means.

Alternatively, the cover can be formed from a single piece of material by die pressing, for instance, or any other type of process which is common in the field of plastics.

Further embodiments could include a cover for the legs 1 in which the tabs 8 extend the full length of each leg, and are arranged with fasteners so that the legs 1 will be totally enclosed when the cover is fitted.

Further, the fastening means 11 could be arranged along the upper or side surfaces of the cover when fitted to the legs 1.

Also, as the protection is required from scufiing on the legs 1, the objects of this invention could be achieved by suitable covers made to specifically enclose only the legs 1, the central portion 5 of the cover being omitted. With this multiple cover arrangement provision can easily be made for chairs having various numbers of legs and various leg arrangements.

The above are preferred embodiments only of the present invention and it can readily be appreciate-d that other forms of cover fall within the ambit of the present teachings as claimed.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. For use on a set of chair legs, a manually attachable cover for protecting the chair users apparel from damage resulting from said chair legs, comprising a central portion provided with an aperture and an outside edge, at least one pair of top portions extending outwardly from said central portion, each of said top portions being provided with side portions and an end portion extending substantially at right angles to said top portion, means joining said side portions, a slit traversing said joining means and forming a continuation of said first mentioned slit, and fastening means preventing opening of said slit.

2. A chair leg cover as set forth in claim 1 wherein means are provided to secure said top and side portions to said chair legs.

3. A chair leg cover as in claim 2 wherein said securing means includes tabs attached to said side portions having dome fasteners thereon.

4. A chair leg cover as in claim 1, wherein said top portion and said end portion is in one piece and said side portions are attached to said top portion and end portion.

5. A chair leg cover as in claim 1, wherein said top portion is in the shape of a cross.

6. A chair leg cover as in claim 5, wherein said top portion and said end portions are in one piece and said side portions are attached to said top portion and end portions.

7. A chair leg cover as in claim 1, wherein said cover is fabricated from a flexible sheet material. I

8. A chair leg cover as in claim 1, wherein said cover is fabricated from flexible plastic.

9. A chair leg cover as in claim 1, wherein said fastening means consists of tabs with securing means on said tabs, said securing means being dome fasteners.

10. A chair leg cover as in claim 1, wherein said cover is fabricated from one piece of flexible material.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,217,754 10/1940 Johnson 248-l88.7 2,603,909 7/ 1952. Pettibone 248345.1 2,913,208 11/1959 McKinley 258--188.7

CLAUDE A. LE ROY, Primary Examiner.

J. F. FOSS, Assistant Examiner.

Claims

1. FOR USE ON A SET OF CHAIR LEGS, A MUNUALLY ATTACHABLE COVER FOR PROTECTING THE CHAIR USER''S APPAREL FROM DAMAGE RESULTING FROM SAID CHAIR LEGS, COMPRISING A CENTRAL PORTION PROVIDED WITH AN APERTURE AND AN OUTSIDE EDGE, AT LEAST ONE PAIR OF TOP PORTIONS EXTENDING OUTWARDLY FROM SAID CENTRAL PORTION, EACH OF SAID TOP POR TIONS BEING PROVIDED WITH SAID PORTION AND AN END PORTION EXTENDING SUBSTANTIALLY AT RIGHT ANGLES TO SAID TOP PORTION, MEANS JOINING SAID SIDE PORTIONS, A SLIT TRAVERSING SAID JOINING MEANS AND FORMING A CONTINUATION OF SAID FIRST MENTIONED SLIT, AND FASTENING MEANS PREVENTING OPENING OF SAID SLIT.