Upholstered furniture piece having upholstered arm panels

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10117521-B2
Application number	US-201615299316-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 20, 2016
Priority date	Oct 20, 2015
Publication date	Nov 6, 2018
Grant date	Nov 6, 2018

Abstract

A sofa with an upholstered arm panel has an arm frame with a layered composition comprising an underlayment material layer, a fiber material layer positioned on top of and contacting the underlayment material layer, and a covering upholstery material layer positioned on top of and contacting the fiber material layer. The underlayment material layer is comprised a planar sheet of Ethylene-vinyl acetate closed cell foam. The EVA foam extends forwardly on the arm frame to create a forward extending lip. The use of EVA foam reduces the number of structural and cushioning materials, fasteners, and labor currently required in arm panel construction.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An upholstered sofa comprising:
a sofa frame including a seat base and a right arm panel frame and a left arm panel frame attached to the seat base, wherein each of the left arm panel frame and the right arm panel frame includes:
a vertical front arm stump panel having an inwardly facing side and an outwardly facing side;
a vertical back arm stump panel having an inwardly facing side and outwardly facing side;
a top end and a bottom member disposed between the front arm stump panel inwardly facing side and the back arm stump panel inwardly facing side; and
an inner panel affixed between the inwardly facing side of the front arm stump panel and the inwardly facing side of the back arm stump,
wherein a plurality of wooden slats are disposed and affixed between the inwardly facing side top end of the front arm stump panel and the inwardly facing side top end of the back arm stump panel so that the wooden slats are spaced apart and follow a profile of the top end of the front arm stump panel and the top end of the back arm stump panel, the arm panel frame further comprising a horizontal wood slat affixed between the inwardly facing side of the front arm stump panel at a terminus adjacent the top end and the inwardly facing side of the back arm stump panel at a terminus adjacent the top end;

a flexible, compressible underlayment material of a planar sheet of an Ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer, the underlayment material having a first edge, a second edge, and a front edge, the first edge attached with a plurality of fasteners to the horizontal wood slat, the second edge attached with a plurality of fasteners to the inner panel, and the front edge of the underlayment material positioned to extend past the outwardly facing side of the front arm stump panel; and
a finishing material having a first edge, a second edge separated by a back edge and a front edge, the finishing material fixedly attached with a plurality of fasteners at the first edge and at the second edge to the arm panel frame bottom member, the back edge fixedly attached with a plurality of fasteners to the outwardly facing side of the back arm stump panel, and the front edge fixedly attached with a plurality of fasteners to the outwardly facing side of the front arm stump panel.

2. The upholstered sofa of claim 1 , comprising a vertically oriented edge roll having a top end and a bottom end, the top end butted against the second edge of the underlayment material and fixedly attached to the outwardly facing side of the front arm stump panel with a plurality of fasteners.

3. The upholstered sofa of claim 1 , comprising a low melt fiber material disposed between the underlayment material and the finishing material, the low melt fiber material being disposed on top of and contacting the underlayment material, wherein the low melt fiber material has a first edge, a second edge, and a front edge, the second edge and the front edge both extending beyond the corresponding underlayment material second edge and front edge, the low melt fiber material fixedly attached with a plurality of fasteners at the first edge to the horizontal wood slat and at the second edge to the inner panel, and the front edge fixedly attached with a plurality of fasteners to the outwardly facing side of the front arm stump panel.

4. The upholstered sofa of claim 1 wherein the Ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer has a thickness of about 8 mm±0.5 mm, a molecular weight of about 2,000 g/mol and a hardness of about 50 A to about 55 A based on the Shore durometer hardness test.

5. The upholstered sofa of claim 1 wherein the underlayment material is a foam.

6. The upholstered sofa of claim 1 wherein the box frame left side and box frame right side are comprised of the arm panel frame inner panels.

7. The upholstered sofa of claim 1 , wherein the vertical front arm stump panel and the vertical back arm stump panel of the arm panel frame includes a top end having a curvature extending at least 200 degrees and a downward face.

8. The upholstered sofa of claim 7 , wherein the curvature extends at least 270 degrees.

9. The upholstered sofa of claim 1 , wherein the wood slats include rectangular cross-sections.

10. The upholstered sofa of claim 1 , wherein the seat base includes an upright back rest portion attached to the seat base, and a right arm panel frame and a left arm panel frame attached to the seat base and back rest portion wherein the seat base and back rest are disposed between the right arm panel frame and the left arm panel frame, wherein the seat base has a rectangular shape and forms a box frame having a left side, a right side, a front side, and a back side defining an open interior space, wherein the back rest portion is affixed to the back side of the seat base and between the right arm panel frame and the left arm panel frame so that the back rest portion is in an upright position.

11. A method of assembling an upholstered sofa comprising:
receiving a sofa frame having a rectangular seat base with an upright back rest portion integral with the seat base, and a right arm panel frame and a left arm panel frame integral with the seat base and back rest portion wherein the seat base and back rest are disposed between the right arm panel frame and the left arm panel frame, wherein the seat base has a rectangular shape and forms a box frame having a left side, a right side, a front side, and a back side defining an open interior space, wherein the back rest portion is affixed to the back side of the seat base and between the right arm panel frame and the left arm panel frame so that the back rest portion is in an upright position, wherein the arm panel frames each comprise a vertical front arm stump panel having an inwardly facing side, an outwardly facing side, and a top end having a curvature extending at least 180 degrees and a downward face, the arm panel frame further comprising a vertical back arm stump panel having and inwardly facing side, an outwardly facing side, and a top end having a curvature extending at least 180 degrees and a downward face, the arm panel frame further comprising a bottom member integral with and disposed between the front arm stump panel inwardly facing side and the back arm stump panel inwardly facing side, wherein a plurality of wooden slats, having rectangular cross-sections, are disposed and integrally affixed between the inwardly facing side top end of the front arm stump panel and the inwardly facing side top end of the back arm stump panel so that the wooden slats are spaced apart and follow the curvature of the top end of the front arm stump panel and the top end of the back arm stump panel, the arm panel frame further comprising a horizontal wood slat, with a rectangular cross-section, integrally affixed between the inwardly facing side of the front arm stump panel at a terminus adjacent the downward face of the top end and the inwardly facing side of the back arm stump panel at a terminus adjacent the downward face of the top end, and the arm panel frame further comprising an inner panel integral with and affixed between the inwardly facing side of the front arm stump panel and the inwardly facing side of the back arm stump panel opposite the attachment member;
receiving a flexible, compressible underlayment material comprised of a planar sheet of an Ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer foam, the underlayment material having a first edge, a second edge, and a front edge, attaching the first edge with a plurality of fasteners to the horizontal wood slat, attaching the second edge with a plurality of fasteners to the inner panel, and positioning the front edge of the underlayment material to extend past the outwardly facin

Assignees

• Ashley Furniture Ind Inc

Inventors

• Lewis James Allen
• Stokes Philip Lee
• SUDDUTH James Anthony
• Holley Jimmy Dale

Classifications

• A47C31/02 Primary

  Upholstery attaching means · CPC title

• A47C17/86

  Parts or details specially adapted for beds, sofas or couches not fully covered by any single one of groups A47C17/02 - A47C17/84 · CPC title

• A47C7/54 Primary

  Supports for the arms · CPC title

• B68G7/05

  Covering or enveloping cores of pads {(in plastics material using a matching die B29C63/025)} · CPC title

• A47C17/02

  Sofas, couches, settees, or the like, without movable parts · CPC title