Life sized furniture templates and method and system for using the same

Abstract

An improved interior design device and an improved interior design method and system that allows the user to visualize how a room will appear by using life sized templates of furniture, pictures and other items placed in the actual room being designed. For the purpose of visualizing the placement of furniture, life size templates of furniture items such as tables, chairs, beds, and the like are provided that the user can place and rearrange as necessary and desired to determine a satisfactory placement in the room. Other life size templates for other items, such as televisions, aquariums, rugs, and the like, also are provided for complementing the basic furniture items for a room. Further, life size picture templates having a weak adhesive on one side also are provided such that the picture template can be adhered to a wall without damaging the wall or the wall covering.

Description

This application claims priority pursuant to 35 U.S.C. 119(e) to co-pending U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/620,535, filed Oct. 20, 2004, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Technical Field

This invention generally relates to furniture arrangement and interior design, and specifically relates to devices and a method and system comprising life-sized two-dimensional templates of furniture, pictures and other items to be arranged in a room for assisting the interior designer in selecting and arranging the furniture and other items to be placed and arranged within a room.

2. Prior Art

Interior design involves the selection and arrangement of among other things the furniture within an indoor space such as a residential or commercial room. Currently, a common method of selecting and arranging furniture within an indoor space is to create a scale model or floor plan of the indoor space and to arrange scale models of the desired furniture on this reduced size floor plan. One either can draw the desired furniture on the reduced size floor plan or cut out scale representations of the furniture pieces to be used and place the pieces on the reduced size floor plan in different possible arrangements.

On the one hand, there are commercially available kits for this process, including pre-drawn furniture representations to scale and lined papers for drawing scale model floor plans. Although these scale model kits are satisfactory for providing an overall picture of how a representation of a room will look, they are not satisfactory for providing a life-sized idea of how an actual room will look. Further, as these kits generally are two-dimensional, they lend themselves only to floor plans.

On the other hand, to the inventors' knowledge, there are not commercially available devices or kits for assisting in the selection and arrangement of pictures for hanging on the wall of a room. Currently, the hanging of a picture is an experimental process in which the picture is held by one person and viewed by another person to determine where the picture should be hung.

Therefore, the present invention is generally directed to a series of devices, namely life size templates of furniture, accessories, and/or pictures, and kits comprising at least two such templates, that can be used and reused simply and easily by both professional and amateur interior designers in creating and representing interior designs, without the difficulty and expense involved in obtaining artistic renditions, without the potential for error involved in using a scale model of a room and scale models of the furniture, accessories and pictures, and with the ability of allowing the designer to visualize the actual room being designed.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides improved interior design devices and an improved interior design method and system that allows the user to visualize how a room will appear by using life sized templates of furniture, pictures and other items placed in the actual room being designed. For the purpose of visualizing the placement of furniture, life size templates of furniture items such as tables, chairs, beds, and the like are provided that the user can place and rearrange as necessary and desired to determine a satisfactory placement in the room. Other life size templates for other items, such as televisions, aquariums, rugs, and the like, also are provided for complementing the basic furniture items for a room. Further, life size picture templates having a weak adhesive on one side also are provided such that the picture template can be adhered to a wall without damaging the wall or the wall covering.

The life size templates of the present invention can be provided in a system form comprising one template representing each category of furniture, accessory, and picture. For example, a kit comprising two or more templates can be provided so that the user can arrange an entire room without having to resort to finding and/or purchasing several individual templates. Similarly, each template of the present invention is designed in a generic fashion to represent a category of furniture and can be cut along pre-existing cut lines to standard sizes in the industry.

The present invention also includes a method for using the life size templates. When a person desires to design the interior of a room, the person utilizes the kit of templates of the present invention. By using the kit of templates, the user can decide what sized furniture and accessories can fit in the room or can determine whether furniture and accessories already owned by the user can fit in a room. Then, the user can determine the best placement for the furniture in the room.

The foregoing and other objects are intended to be illustrative of the invention and are not meant in a limiting sense. Many possible embodiments of the invention may be made and will be readily evident upon a study of the following specification and accompanying drawings comprising a part thereof. Various features and subcombinations of invention may be employed without reference to other features and subcombinations. Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein is set forth by way of illustration and example, an embodiment of this invention and various features thereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A preferred embodiment of the invention, illustrative of the best mode in which the applicant has contemplated applying the principles, is set forth in the following description and is shown in the drawings and is particularly and distinctly pointed out and set forth in the appended claims.

FIG. 1 is a schematic of a life size room with representative samples of the templates of the present invention in places about the room.

FIG. 2 is a representative template for china cabinets and servers of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a representative template for chairs of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a representative template for round and oblong dining tables of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a representative template for rectangular dining tables of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a representative template for a picture of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a representative kit comprising several of the life size templates of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

As required, a detailed embodiment of the present inventions is disclosed herein; however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiment is merely exemplary of the principles of the invention, which may be embodied in various forms. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a basis for the claims and as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present invention in virtually any appropriately detailed structure.

FIG. 1 is a schematic of a life size room with representative samples of the templates of the present invention in places about the room. This figure shows how each of the templates, as disclosed in more detail below, can be used. FIGS. 2 through 5 are representative templates for china cabinets and servers, chairs, round and oblong dining tables, and rectangular dining tables of the present invention. These figures give illustrative examples of templates that are contemplated by this invention. FIG. 6 is a representative template of a picture of the present invention hanging on a room wall. This representation is an illustrative example of the structure of such a hanging template. FIG. 7 is a representative of a kit comprising several of the life size templates of the present invention. This figure is an illustrative example of the system of the present invention, which system can be used in carrying out the method of the present invention.

Templates

Referring to FIG. 1, the present invention provides improved interior design devices and an improved interior design method and system that allows the user to visualize how a room 10 will appear by using life sized templates 12 of furniture, pictures and other items placed in the actual room 10 being designed. For the purpose of visualizing the placement of furniture, life size templates 12 of furniture items such as china cabinets 14, chairs 16, tables 18, 20, beds (not shown), sofas 30 and the like are provided that the user can place and rearrange as necessary and desired to determine a satisfactory placement in the room 10. Other life size templates 12 for other items, such as televisions, aquariums 22, rugs, and the like (most not shown), also are provided for complementing the basic furniture items for a room 10. Further, life size picture 24 templates having a weak adhesive 26 on one side also are provided such that the picture template 24 can be adhered to a wall 28 without damaging the wall 28 or the wall covering.

As can be seen in FIG. 1, the templates 12 can be arranged throughout the room 10 as the designer desires. Furniture templates 16, 18, 20, 30 can be arranged on the floor 32 in whatever design desired. Accessory templates such as aquarium template 22 can be placed so as to accent the decor of the room. Picture template 24 can be placed on the wall 28. Each of the templates 12 can be moved and templates 12 can be added or removed until the room has the desired design. Because the templates 12 are life size, the designer will know exactly how much floor 32 or wall 28 area each piece of furniture, accessory and picture will require and how the completed room 10 will look.

Referring to FIG. 2, a representative template for a china cabinet and servers 14 is shown. The actual template 14 is a full size sheet of material, namely 80 inches long by 22 inches wide, as shown on FIG. 2, representing the typically largest china cabinet and servers. Cut lines 40 are placed on the template 14 at common industry dimensions. For china cabinets and servers, these cut lines 40 are placed at dimensions 18 inches in width and 36 inches, 42 inches, 48 inches, 60 inches, and 74 inches in length. Cut lines 40 can be placed at any desired dimensions during the template manufacturing process, and also can be added by the user. To use template 14, the user simply cuts the template 14 to the desired size and places it on the floor 32 of the room 10 at any desired location.

Referring to FIG. 3, a representative template for a chair 16 is shown. The actual template 16 is a full size sheet of material, namely 30 inches long by 27 inches wide, as shown on FIG. 3, representing the typically largest chair. Cut lines 40 are placed on the template 16 at common industry dimensions. For chairs, these cut lines 40 are placed at dimensions 21 inches and 24 inches in width. Cut lines 40 can be placed at any desired dimensions during the template manufacturing process, and also can be added by the user. To use template 16, the user simply cuts the template 16 to the desired size and places it on the floor 32 of the room 10 at any desired location.

Referring to FIG. 4, a representative template for round and oblong tables 18 is shown. The actual template 18 is a full size sheet of material, namely 84 inches long by 48 inches wide, as shown on FIG. 4, representing the typically largest round and oblong tables. Cut lines 40 are placed on the template 18 at common industry dimensions. For round tables, these cut lines 40 are placed at dimensions 42 inches and 48 inches in diameter. For oblong tables, these cut lines 40 as placed at 42 inches in width and 72 inches and 78 inches in length. Cut lines 40 can be placed at any desired dimensions during the template manufacturing process, and also can be added by the user. To use template 18, the user simply cuts the template 18 to the desired size and places it on the floor 32 of the room 10 at any desired location.

Referring to FIG. 5, a representative template for rectangular tables 20 is shown. The actual template 20 is a full size sheet of material, namely 102 inches long by 48 inches wide, as shown on FIG. 5, representing the typically largest rectangular tables. Cut lines 40 are placed on the template 20 at common industry dimensions. For rectangular tables, these cut lines 40 are placed at dimensions 36 inches and 42 inches in width and 60 inches, 72 inches, 84 inches, and 96 inches in length. Cut lines 40 can be placed at any desired dimensions during the template manufacturing process, and also can be added by the user. To use template 20, the user simply cuts the template 14 to the desired size and places it on the floor 32 of the room 10 at any desired location.

Referring to FIG. 6, a representative template for pictures 24 is shown. The actual template 24 is a full size sheet of material, namely 102 inches long by 48 inches wide, as shown on FIG. 6, representing the typically largest pictures servers. Cut lines 40 are placed on the template 24 at common industry dimensions. For pictures, these cut lines 40 are placed at dimensions 36 inches and 42 inches in width and 60 inches, 72 inches, 84 inches, and 96 inches in length. Cut lines 40 can be placed at any desired dimensions during the template manufacturing process, and also can be added by the user. A weak adhesive 26, shown in ghost lines along the side and top edges of the template 24, allows the template 24 to be adhered to the wall 28. A weak adhesive such as found on Post-It® brand notepaper has been found to be suitable. To use template 24, the user simply cuts the template 14 to the desired size and places it on the wall 28 of the room 10 at any desired location. The weak adhesive 26 releasably adheres the picture template 24 to the wall 28 without damaging the wall 28.

The templates 12 can be made from any suitable material, such as paper (tissue, kraft, plain, bond, cardstock, etc.), vellum, vinyl, sheet plastic, and the like. It has been found that materials such as tissue paper and other flimsy materials do not stand up to ordinary use in general, and to repetitive use in particular, and can be considered as single use materials. It also has been found that materials such as vellum, while giving an aesthetically pleasing look, are relatively costly. It further has been found that materials such as vinyl and other sheet plastics, while very durable, do not fold into a small enough size to make an acceptable sized kit and also are costly. Materials such as kraft-type paper provide an acceptable strength allowing repetitive use and reuse while at the same time fold down to acceptable sizes to make an acceptable sized kit.

The templates 12 can be made of any desired size and shape to represent any type of furniture, accessory, picture, or any other item that can be placed or contained in a room 10. Further, the templates 12 can have cut lines 40 placed at any desired dimension. It has been found that templates 12 having the dimensions and cut lines 40 shown in the FIGS. represent the majority of the types of furniture, accessory, picture, and any other item that can be placed or contained in a room 10 and these are the preferred dimensions and cut line 40 placements.

Although furniture, accessories, pictures, and other items that can be placed or contained in a room 10 have innumerable shapes and styles, such as for example Williamsburg, Mission, Contemporary, it would be unwieldy to have templates 12 showing all of these shapes and styles. So, while templates 12 can be manufactured with shaped or styled edges or with shapes and styles printed on the templates 12, it has been found to be more practicable to produce the templates 12 in a generic form as shown in the FIGS.

System

The life size templates 12 of the present invention can be provided in a system form comprising one template 12 representing each category of furniture, accessory, and picture. For example, as shown in FIG. 7, a kit 50 comprising two or more templates 12 can be provided so that the user can arrange an entire room 10 without having to resort to finding and/or purchasing several individual templates 12. Similarly, as disclosed previously, each template 12 of the present invention is designed in a generic fashion to represent a category of furniture and can be cut along pre-existing cut lines to standard sizes in the industry.

The kit 50 shown in FIG. 7 represents a cardboard box having dimensions approximately 20 inches long, 14 inches wide and 1.5 inches thick. It has been found that this size box is easy for the user to carry, store, and otherwise deal with. It further has been found that this size box allows the templates 12 to be folded a minimum number of times yet still be small enough for the user to deal with comfortably.

Each kit 50 can comprise different combinations of templates 12. For example purpose only, the kit 50 shown in FIG. 7 is a dining room kit and comprises the templates shown in FIGS. 2 through 5, namely, templates for china cabinets and servers 14, chairs 16, round and oblong dining tables 18, and rectangular dining tables 20. Representations of these templates 14, 16, 18, 20 are reproduced on the front of the kit 50 for the user's convenience. Other kits 50 can be made for other residential rooms, such as the living room the kitchen, the family room, the bedroom, the playroom, and the like. Further, other kits 50 can be made for non-residential and commercial rooms, such as warehouses, offices, stores, and the like, and would include templates for items such as, but not limited to, machinery, appliances, desks, filing cabinets, work stations, cubicles, and the like.

To use the system, the user simply obtains a kit 50 for each room 10 the user desires to design and follows the method disclosed below.

Method

The present invention also includes a method for using the life size templates 12. When a person desires to design the interior of a room 10, the person utilizes the kit 50 of templates 12 of the present invention. By using the kit 50 of templates 12, the user can decide what sized furniture and accessories can fit in the room 10 or can determine whether furniture and accessories already owned by the user can fit in a room 10. Then, the user can determine the best placement for the furniture, accessories and other items in the room 10.

In use the user obtains a kit 50 for each room 10 the user desires to design. The user removes the templates 12 from the kit 50, cuts the templates 12 to the proper (if the user already has furniture to be placed in the room 10) and/or desired (if the user is trying to decide if a certain item will fit in a room or if the user is trying to decide what items to put in a room) size, and places the templates 12 about the room 10. In this manner, the user can design a room 10 and see how the furniture and other items will look and fit in actual life size.

The templates 12 are made from a relatively sturdy material, preferably kraft-type paper, and can be re-folded and re-stored in the kit 50 box for re-use in re-designing the same room 10 or for designing different rooms 10.

In the foregoing description, certain terms have been used for brevity, clearness and understanding; but no unnecessary limitations are to be implied therefrom beyond the requirements of the prior art, because such terms are used for descriptive purposes and are intended to be broadly construed. Moreover, the description and illustration of the inventions is by way of example, and the scope of the inventions is not limited to the exact details shown or described.

Although the foregoing detailed description of the present invention has been described by reference to an exemplary embodiment, and the best mode contemplated for carrying out the present invention has been shown and described, it will be understood that certain changes, modification or variations may be made in embodying the above invention, and in the construction thereof, other than those specifically set forth herein, may be achieved by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, and that such changes, modification or variations are to be considered as being within the overall scope of the present invention. Therefore, it is contemplated to cover the present invention and any and all changes, modifications, variations, or equivalents that fall with in the true spirit and scope of the underlying principles disclosed and claimed herein. Consequently, the scope of the present invention is intended to be limited only by the attached claims, all matter contained in the above description and shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having now described the features, discoveries and principles of the invention, the manner in which the invention is constructed and used, the characteristics of the construction, and advantageous, new and useful results obtained; the new and useful structures, devices, elements, arrangements, parts and combinations, are set forth in the appended claims.

It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described, and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

Claims

1. A template for representing and visualizing an item to be placed in a defined location, the template comprising a sheet of material the actual size of one of a larger representative sample of the item, wherein the template is styled as a generic version of the item and further comprises at least one cut line printed on the sheet of material at at least one predetermined locations representing the actual size of at least one of a smaller representative sample of the item.

2. The template as claimed in claim 1 wherein said sheet of material is made of kraft-type paper.

3. A system for representing and visualizing at least one item to be placed in a defined location, the system comprising a plurality of templates, each template comprising a sheet of material the actual size of one of a larger representative sample of the at least one item, and a container for containing the plurality of templates, wherein each template is styled as a generic version of the at least one item and further comprises at least one cut line printed on the sheet of material at at least one predetermined location representing the actual size of at least one of a smaller representative sample of the at least one item.

4. The system as claimed in claim 3 wherein said sheet of material is made of kraft-type paper.

5. A method for representing and visualizing at least one item to be placed in a defined location, comprising the steps of:

a) obtaining a template for representing and visualizing the item to be placed in the defined location, the template comprising a sheet of material the actual size of one of a larger representative sample of the item, wherein the template is styled as a generic version of the item and further comprises at least one cut line printed on the sheet of material at at least one predetermined locations representing the actual size of at least one of a smaller representative sample of the item;

b) cutting the template to a proper and/or desired size; and

c) placing the template about the defined location to see how the at least one item will look and fit in the defined location in actual life size.