Cross-Reference to Related Applications

[0001] The present application claims priority from Australian Provisional Patent Application No 2019903602 filed on 26 September 2019, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

Technical Field

[0002] The present disclosure relates, generally, to articles of furniture, and, more particularly, to a modular article of furniture.

Background

[0003] Modular articles of furniture can include many modular components with many fasteners for assembling the modular components. This increases the difficulty and time required for a user to assemble and disassemble the modular articles of furniture as required. The fasteners may also be misplaced by the user after disassembling the article of furniture, causing the user to be unable to re-assemble and use the article of furniture until the user has been able to source replacement parts. Storing the many components and fasteners of these modular articles of furniture also requires substantial storage space.

[0004] The many components and fasteners of these modular articles of furniture require large packages for delivery, which occupy a large volume on transportation vehicles, thus requiring more transportation vehicles to be deployed on a given day to ensure that all packages arrive at their destination in a timely manner. Also, these large packages are unwieldly for both delivery company staff and the users destined to receive these packages, thus increasing the risk of injuries which may result from handling such large packages. [0005] Any discussion of documents, acts, materials, devices, articles or the like which has been included in the present specification is not to be taken as an admission that any or all of these matters form part of the prior art base or were common general knowledge in the field relevant to the present disclosure as it existed before the priority date of each of the appended claims.

Summary

[0006] In some embodiments of the disclosure, there is provided an article of furniture, comprising: a flexible member; a pair of substantially rigid supporting members configured to be carried by the flexible member; and at least one substantially rigid bridging member releasably connectable to the pair of supporting members to extend between the pair of supporting members to retain the supporting members in spaced relationship relative to each other, the pair of substantially rigid supporting members and the at least one substantially rigid bridging member, when connected to the supporting members, imparting at least a seat portion to the flexible member.

[0007] The at least one bridging member may define at least one leg. The at least one bridging member may define a pair of legs spaced from each other and interconnected by a bridging portion.

[0008] The article of furniture may include a pair of bridging members each defining a pair of legs spaced from each other and interconnected by a bridging portion.

[0009] Each side of the flexible member may have a pocket associated with it, one of the supporting members being receivable received within each pocket. Each supporting member may be cranked having a first limb to impart the seat portion and a second limb to impart a backrest portion to the flexible member. [0010] Each supporting member may carry a pair of connectors arranged in spaced relationship along a length of the support member, each connector protruding through an opening in an operatively rear surface of the flexible member.

[0011] Each leg of each bridging member may have a receiving formation associated with it for receiving one of the connectors.

[0012] The flexible member is of a flexible material comprising padding and a cover covering the padding.

[0013] Throughout this specification the word "comprise", or variations such as "comprises" or "comprising", will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated element, integer or step, or group of elements, integers or steps, but not the exclusion of any other element, integer or step, or group of elements, integers or steps.

Brief Description of Drawings

[0014] Embodiments of the disclosure will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompany drawings in which:

[0015] Figure 1 shows a front, perspective view of a first embodiment of an article of furniture in the form of an occasional chair, in an erected, operative configuration;

[0016] Figure 2 shows a front, perspective view of a second embodiment of the article of furniture in the form of a dining chair;

[0017] Figure 3 shows a front, perspective view of the chair of Figure 1 with upholstery of the chair omitted to show a pair of supporting members and a pair of bridging members of the chair;

[0018] Figure 4 shows a side view of one of the pair of supporting members shown in Figure 3; [0019] Figure 5 shows a front, perspective, exploded view of the chair shown in Figure 1;

[0020] Figure 6 shows a rear, perspective, exploded view of the chair shown in Figure i;

[0021] Figure 7 shows a side view of the chair in a collapsed configuration with the bridging members removed and omitted from the illustration; and

[0022] Figure 8 shows an end view of the collapsed configuration of the chair shown in Figure 7.

Detailed Description of Exemplary Embodiments

[0023] In the drawings, reference numeral 10 generally designates an article of furniture 10 in the form of a chair. The chair 10 includes a flexible member 12 and a pair of substantially rigid supporting members 14, 16 (Fig. 2) configured to be carried by the flexible member 12. The article of furniture 10 also includes a pair of substantially rigid bridging members 18, 20, which are releasably connectable to the pair of supporting members 14, 16 to extend between the pair of supporting members 14, 16, in use, to retain the supporting members 14, 16 in spaced relationship relative to each other. When the bridging members 18, 20 are connected to the supporting members 14, 16, the flexible member is retained in an extended configuration 54 to form an erected chair 10 having a seat portion 22 and a backrest portion 50.

[0024] It will be appreciated that, in another embodiment (not shown), the supporting members 14, 16 could, instead, be held in spaced relationship by a single bridging arrangement releasably connectable to, and extending between, the pair of supporting members 14, 16.

[0025] As best shown in Figures 3, 5 and 6, each bridging member 18, 20 defines a pair of legs 24, 26 spaced from each other and interconnected by a bowed bridging portion 28. The bridging portion 28 may be welded to each of the legs 24, 26, though the bridging portion 28 may be formed as a single piece with the legs 24, 26 or may be releasably connectable to one or both of the legs 24, 26. The bowing of the bridging portion 28 facilitates flexing of the flexible member 12 when the chair 10 is occupied by a user.

[0026] As best shown in Figure 4, each supporting member 18, 20 is cranked, having a first limb 46 to impart the seat portion 22, and a second limb 48 to impart the backrest portion 50 to the flexible member 12. The seat portion 22 is imparted by the first limb 46 due to the operatively substantially horizontal arrangement of the first limb 46, which is somewhat angled and/or curved to impart a natural seating position to the occupant of the chair 10. Similarly, the second limb 48 imparts the backrest portion 50 to the flexible member 12 due to the operatively upwardly extending arrangement of the second limb 48, which is also somewhat angled and/or curved to impart seating comfort to the occupant.

[0027] An elliptical receiving formation, or socket, 33 (Fig. 4) is defined at the free end of each of the first and second limbs 46, 48. Each elliptical socket 33 receives an end cap 35 (Fig. 3). The end cap 35 is an elastomeric member, such as rubber, for protecting the fabric of the flexible member 12. It will be appreciated that the elliptical receiving formation 33 may be of any other suitable shape or configuration to receive the end cap 35.

[0028] It will be appreciated that, in other embodiments, the limb 48 may be omitted with the limb 46 carrying both connectors 30, 32 so that the article of furniture functions as a stool.

[0029] Figures 5 and 6 show each of the supporting members 14, 16 carrying a pair of connectors 30, 32 arranged in spaced relationship along a length of the supporting member 14, 16, with each connector 30, 32 protruding through an opening 34 (Fig. 6) in an operatively rear surface 36 of the flexible member 12. As shown most clearly in Figure 4 of the drawings, the connector 30 projects from the limb 46 of the supporting member 14, 16 and the connector 32 projects from the limb 48 of the supporting member 14, 16. Each leg 24, 26 of each bridging member 18, 20 has a receiving formation 38, in the form of a socket, associated with it for receiving one of the connectors 30, 32.

[0030] Each connector 30, 32 includes a ball 37 (Fig. 4) which is received in a detent mechanism (not shown) in the socket 38 of each leg 24, 26. When the bridging members 18, 20 are connected to the supporting members 14, 16, in use, each ball 37 is held captive by the detent mechanism of the associated socket 38 to inhibit detachment of the bridging members 18, 20 from the supporting members 14, 16.

[0031] The flexible member 12 is of a flexible material comprising padding and a cover 13. A pocket (not shown) is defined in the cover along each side 40, 42 of the flexible member 12 and each pocket receives one of the supporting members 14, 16 within it. Each side 40, 42 of the flexible member 12 carries piping 44. In the embodiment illustrated in Figs. 1 and 3 to 6 of the drawings, the flexible member 12 further includes transversely extending seams 45 in the cover 13, with both the piping 44 and the seams 45 adding texture and aesthetic qualities to the chair 10. Figure 2 shows an alternate embodiment of the article of furniture in the form of a dining chair with the seams 45 omitted. It will, however, be appreciated that, if desired, the dining chair could also be provided with the seams 45.

[0032] In use, the flexible member 12 carrying the pair of supporting members 14, 16 will initially be packaged or stored in a collapsed configuration 52 as shown in Figures 7 and 8. To assemble the chair, the user extends the flexible member 12 from the collapsed configuration 52 by moving the pair of supporting members 14, 16, carried within the flexible member 12, apart to extend the flexible member 12 to a configuration in which the flexible member 12 is substantially taut, as shown in Figures 5 and 6. The user then connects each of the pair of bridging members 18, 20 to the pair of supporting members 14, 16 by applying a force to each bridging member 18, 20 such that one of the connectors 30, 32 is received in the socket 38 of each leg 24, 26 of each bridging member 18, 20. The bridging members 18, 20 are then retained in position by the ball 37 of each connector 30,

32 engaging the detent mechanism in each socket 38.

[0033] To disassemble the chair 10, the user disconnects each of the bridging members 18, 20 from the pair of supporting members 14, 16 by applying a force to the bridging members 18, 20, for example, by pulling on the bridging portion 28. This causes disengagement of the ball from the detent mechanism of each socket 38 to enable the connectors 30, 32 to be withdrawn from the sockets 38 of each leg 24, 26. The flexible member 12 is folded into the collapsed configuration 52 for storage and/or transportation purposes.

[0034] Advantageously, the flexible member 12, carrying the supporting members 14, 16, may be collapsed into the collapsed configuration 52, thereby allowing these parts, as well as the pair of bridging members 18, 20, to be stored in a manner that occupies less storage volume than if the chair 10 were not collapsible. In addition, the collapsed configuration 52 allows the chair 10 to be packaged and sent to the user in a smaller package than would be required if the chair 10 were not collapsible. This allows for safer and more efficient handling by delivery personnel and/or the user.

[0035] The chair 10 may also be formed from three separate components, these being the flexible member 12 carrying the pair of supporting members 14, 16, and the pair of bridging members 18, 20. Having these three components with no fasteners required for assembly, decreases the likelihood of the user misplacing these parts, and increases the ease of assembly of the chair 10, thereby decreasing the expected time required to assemble the chair 10.

[0036] It will be appreciated that in some embodiments, the pair of supporting members 14, 16 may be releasably connectable to the flexible member 12, for example, using hook and loop fasteners attached to the flexible member 12 for receiving the pair of supporting members 14, 16. [0037] It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that numerous variations and/or modifications may be made to the above-described embodiments, without departing from the broad general scope of the present disclosure. The present embodiments are, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive.