BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION

THIS invention relates to a slide and a method of producing a slide. In particular the invention is concerned with a slide for moving furniture and other heavy objects and a method, of producing such a slide.

Furniture slides are used to assist persons in moving heavy furniture or other heavy objects across floors. Typically a furniture slide comprises a sliding portion, which is produced from a material exhibiting a low coefficient of friction, and a holding portion in which a foot of an article of furniture which is to be moved can be supported. In order to move an article of furniture across a floor, for example a large table, a furniture slide is placed between the floor and each foot of the table. The feet are supported in the holding portions of the slides while the sliding portions face the floor. Due to the fact that the sliding portions are made of a material having a low coefficient of friction, the table can be slid across the floor with more ease than would have been the case had the feet of the table been in direct contact with the floor.

Various types of furniture slides are known. One existing type of furniture slide comprises a sliding portion, produced from polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), and a holding portion produced from rubber. It has however been found that when existing furniture slides are used to move furniture over floors which are covered with tiles or wooden panels, grit tends to become embed in the sliding portion of the slide. As the slide is now moved across the floor the embedded grit will scratch the surfaces of the tiles and wooden panels thereby detracting from their appearance.

It is an object of the present invention to address the above problem. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the present invention there is provided a slide comprising a sliding portion produced from a fabric, the sliding portion having a sliding surface and a bonding surface, and a holding portion which is moulded onto the bonding surface of the sliding portion.

Advantageously the holding portion is moulded by way of injection moulding.

Typically the holding portion is produced from either a thermoplastic polymer or a thermoset polymer.

Advantageously a bonding agent is provided between the bonding surface of the sliding portion and the holding portion.

In an embodiment of the invention the bonding agent is an epoxy-based cross-linking polymer.

Preferably the holding portion is cup-shaped and sized for holding an end portion of a leg of an article of furniture.

More preferably the sliding portion is in the form of a piece of fabric of the type which is normally used for producing a carpet, typically a woven fabric produced from polypropylene, wool, acrylic or polyamide.

According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided a method of producing a slide comprising the steps of:

providing a sliding portion of fabric, the sliding portion having a bonding surface; and

moulding a polymer onto the bonding surface of the sliding portion to form a holding portion. According to a third aspect of the invention there is provided a method of producing a slide comprising the steps of:

providing a sliding portion of fabric, the sliding portion having a bonding surface;

applying a bonding agent to the bonding surface of the sliding portion; and

moulding a polymer onto the bonding agent on the bonding surface of the sliding portion, thereby to form a holding portion for the slide.

According to a fourth aspect of the invention there is provided a composite slide comprising:

a first and second sliding portion produced from a fabric, each sliding portion having a sliding surface and a bonding surface;

a first and second holding portion which is moulded onto the bonding surface of the first and second sliding portion respectively to form a first and a second slide; and

a connector connecting the first slide with the second slide.

According to a fifth aspect of the invention there is provided a method of producing a composite slide comprising the steps of:

providing a first and second sliding portion produced from a fabric, each sliding portion having a sliding surface and a bonding surface; moulding a first and second holding portion onto the bonding surface of the first and second sliding portion respectively to form a first and a second slide; and

moulding a connector for connecting the first slide with the second slide.

According to a sixth aspect of the invention there is provided a composite slide comprising:

a first and second sliding portion produced from a fabric, each sliding portion having a sliding surface and a bonding surface;

a bonding agent applied to the bonding surface of each sliding portion; and

a first and second holding portion which is moulded onto the bonding agent on the bonding surface of the first and second sliding portion respectively to form a first and a second slide; and

a connector connecting the first slide with the second slide.

According to a seventh aspect of the invention there is provided a method of producing a composite slide comprising the steps of:

providing a first and second sliding portion produced from a fabric, each sliding portion having a sliding surface and a bonding surface;

applying a bonding agent to the sliding portion of each sliding surface; moulding a first and second holding portion onto the bonding agent on the bonding surface of the first and second sliding portion respectively to form a first and a second slide; and

moulding a connector for connecting the first slide with the second slide.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will now be described in more detail, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:

Figure 1 shows a perspective view of a slide in accordance with the invention;

Figure 2 shows a side view of a chair being slid across a tiled floor with the use of slides according to the invention, the slides being shown in cross-section;

Figure 3 shows a perspective view of a second embodiment of a slide in accordance with the invention;

Figure 4 shows a top view of a composite slide made in accordance with the invention;

Figure 5 shows a cross-sectional side view of the composite slide of Figure 4 at the line 5-5; and

Figure 6 shows a perspective view of a composite slide which is to be secured to an article of furniture. DESCR1PTION OF THE ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENTS

Figure 1 shows a slide in accordance with the invention, generally indicated with the reference numeral 10. The slide 10 comprises a sliding portion 12 and a holding portion 14. In this embodiment the slide 10 is to be utilised as a furniture slide.

The sliding portion 12 of the illustrated embodiment is provided by a fabric, specifically a woven fabric typically used for producing carpets, and comprises a sliding surface 16 and a bonding surface 18, which is provided by the rear of the sliding surface. The fabric of the present embodiment is wool, but it will be appreciated that a range of fabrics could be used, typically polypropylene, wool, acrylic or polyamide. The bonding surface 18 is located on the opposite side of the sliding surface 16 as shown.

The holding portion 14 is cup-shaped and is provided by a thermoplastic polymer mould, here in the form of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, commonly referred to as ABS. The holding portion 14 includes a base 20, which is attached to the bonding surface 18 of the sliding portion 12, and a holding edge 22 which extends from the base 20 and spans the perimeter of the base 20 as shown. The cup-shaped holding portion 14 is sized such that it can support an end portion of a leg of an article of furniture which is placed on the base 20. The bottommost portion of the leg of the furniture is encircled by the holding edge 22.

To produce the slide 10 of the invention a sliding portion 12 is provided by cutting a required sized portion from a suitable sheet of fabric, in this embodiment a piece of woven fabric from a sheet normally used as a carpet. The sliding portion 12 is hereafter located inside an injection moulding machine whereafter a thermoplastic holding portion 14 is injection moulded onto the bonding surface 18 of the sliding portion 12. Once the injection moulding process is completed, the completed slide 10 is removed from the injection moulding machine and a fresh prepared sliding portion inserted before the injection moulding process is repeated. Figure 2 shows a chair 24 having legs 26. The feet 28 of the legs 26 are located inside holding portions 30 of slides 32 of the invention. Sliding portions 34 of the slides 32 are in contact with a tiled floor 36. In order to move the chair 24 across the tiled floor in the direction of the arrow 38, a user exerts a pulling force in the direction of the arrow. Due to the flexibility of the fabric of the sliding portions 34, grit will not readily become embedded between the sliding surfaces of the sliding portions 34 and the surface of the floor, thereby limiting the possibility of grit scratching the tiles of the floor 36.

.Although specific mention has been made to the use of a thermoplastic polymer in the described embodiment it will be appreciated that the holding portion could also be produced form a thermoset polymer. Examples of thermoset polymers include urethane formaldehyde, phenol formaldehyde, melamine formaldehyde, unsaturated polyesters, epoxy based polyesters and elastomers such as rubber.

It is further envisaged that a layer of a bonding agent can be provided between the sliding portion and the holding portion of the slide. In one embodiment the bonding agent is an epoxy-based cross-linking polymer. Typically a slide having an epoxy-based cross-linking polymer as bonding agent will be produced by firstly providing a sliding portion having a bonding surface. A layer of the epoxy-based cross-linking polymer is hereafter applied to the bonding surface of the sliding portion. Finally a holding portion is moulded onto the bonding agent on the sliding portion.

Figure 3 shows a second embodiment of a slide in accordance with the invention, generally indicated with the reference numeral 40. The slide 40 includes a sliding portion 42 and a holding portion 44, the holding portion 44 being injection moulded onto the sliding portion 42. The holding portion 42 of this embodiment includes attachment means 46, here in the form of a screw. In order to secure the slide 40 to a leg of an article of furniture, a hole can be drilled in the bottom of the leg whereafter the screw 46 can be screwed into the leg. Figure 4 and Figure 5 show a composite slide made in accordance with the present invention, generally indicated with the reference numeral 50. The composite slide 50 comprises four slides 52.1 , 52.2, 52.3 and 52.4 which are connected to each other via connectors 54. The connectors 54 provide pre-marked cut lines such that the slides 52.1 , 52.2, 52.3 and 52.4 of the composite slide 50 can be cut and separated from each other. This feature has the advantage that a supplier need only stock a single sized composite slide which a user may then cut to a suitably sized section for his specific application. This is illustrated in Figure 6 of the drawings where the user has removed slides 52.3 and 52.4 from the composite slide 50 so that only slides 52.1 and 52.2 can be secured to an item of furniture 56.

In the embodiment'of Figures 4 to 6 each slide 52.1 , 52.2, 52.3 and 52.4 includes a hole 58.1, 58.2, 58.3 and 58.4 which can receive attachment means 60, typically a screw, for securing the composite slide to, for example, an article. It will be appreciated that the slides 52.1 , 52.2, 52.3 and 52.4 need not include a hole but could also include adhesive layers by which the slides could be secured to the article of furniture. .

The composite slide will typically be manufactured in the manner as described above but with the exception that when moulding takes place connectors will also be moulded which connect a number of slides to each other.

Although not specifically mentioned in the description above, it will be appreciated that non-woven fabrics such as felts could also be employed to produce slides in accordance with the invention.

By providing a furniture slide having a fabric sliding surface in accordance with the invention, the problem of scratched tiles and wooden floor panels as highlighted in the background portion of the specification is addressed.