Orthogonal compression technology
Furniture can be fabricated using a number of modular structural components that are manufactured according to a geometric formula that produces a system of orthogonically interconnectable support members that can be assembled to produce several different articles from the same organization of components. The modular components can be made of exotic hardwoods and by use of the modular components allows for low cost storage and shipping by reduction of bulk normally associated with furniture pieces. The orthogonically coupling joints provide linear compression binding and a balance orthogonal seating geometry.
This invention relates to modular furniture that may be constructed from prefabricated support members by the end user.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONConventional furniture is constructed by combining frame members with various types of webbing, springs, cushioning materials and coverings which is assembled and presented in the finished form to the consumer. Usually, such furniture construction is beyond the capabilities of the average consumer, either in skill level, tools, or both. This final product presupposes that the furniture designer has created a piece that the end user finds attractive and functional and that will fit into the user's living space. Customized furniture can be very expensive because of the costs of design, wastes of surplus materials, assembly and finishing. Thus, the average consumer must search out the type of furniture to met their needs and allowable space.
There are also commercially available products which are disassembled furniture components, together with all the specific fittings, fasteners and instructions, providing the end user with the opportunity to assemble the only piece capable of being constructed from the combination of the components. These pieces are less expensive since the expense of factory assembly, is avoided, but again the size is dictated by the provided construction details.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,141,584 to Cook, Jr., the inventor here, uses a system of pre-drilled support units with a constant square cross section to construct a chair with standardized fasteners. The chair is less expensive for shipping and construction since the necessary materials are reduced and factory assembly is avoided.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,575,223 to Hendel discloses a kit for producing a piece of furniture wherein individual panel elements can be used as side or back panels allowing construction from different components. Panel elements are arranged at right angles and two limb connecting brackets are used in securement.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,589,792 to Niziol discloses furniture construction having adjacent panels coupled together in such a manner as to form outwardly opening openings at the adjacent ends of the adjacent panels and a new and novel comer bracket for detachably coupling a plurality of angularly related furniture panels.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,126,239 to Haxxard discloses a frameless self supporting panel members which expand from a flat configuration into a self-supporting volumetric structure. Selectively placed living hinges allow the panels to be bend into predefined configurations.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThis “Orthogonal Compression” furniture technology has nearly unlimited applicability to the unitized construction of all manner of unusually efficient, attractive, functional, heavy load bearing, rigid, collapsible furniture structures, using a minimum volume of standard materials and processing, of which the following are its specifications; reference being made to the accompanying drawings and table of measures, forming a part hereof. By use of the instant construction technique, exotic hardwoods such as Massaronduba, Ipe Tabac, and Jatoba is made affordable by reducing storage, shipping, and assembly costs. Woods such as Teak, hard Maple, Pine and Poplar can also be used, the lower quality woods working well when the structure is a frame such as a cabinet. The storage can be in component pieces with many sizes interchangeable. The shipping costs are dramatically reduced by shipping unassembled components. Assembly costs can be eliminated for the ease of assembly allows the end consumer the ability to assemble the structure by use of easy to follow instructions.
Accordingly, it is a primary objective of the instant invention to provide a furniture building technology based on orthogonally unitized linear structural components, providing low cost storage, shipping and assembly, and providing a showcase when exotic woods are employed.
It is a further objective of the instant invention to provide linear compression binding components providing a ease of assembly and strength of construction.
It is yet another objective of the instant invention to provide an ideally balanced orthogonal seating geometry.
It is a still further objective of the instant invention to provide a system of Orthogonal Compression materials joinery, which combine to produce any desired heavy load bearing, rigid, efficient furniture structure required by the physical/social needs of man, using, on the average, a significantly smaller volume of structural materials and processing than ever before achieved in the art with any combinations of materials and joinery.
Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with any accompanying drawings wherein are set forth, by way of illustration and example, certain embodiments of this invention. Any drawings contained herein constitute a part of this specification and include exemplary embodiments of the present invention and illustrate various objects and features thereof.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
The orthogonally unitized linear component of
1.1 “λ(n)” is the length of a component. Thus this length is measured in multiples of and may vary with the application.
1.2 is the distance across a square section of the component.
1.3 is a distance equal to ½, for all feasible values of may vary with the application and material of constructions.
1.4 Sets of multiple, nonintersecting compression holes of diameter 1/4 are placed on exact centers at a distance equal to η*, where η=1,2,3 . . . 5 (as required for each embodiment), from each end of the material of length λ, as in
1.5 The sets of nonintersecting compression holes are replicated for all values of at each distance η=1,2,3 . . . N; as shown in
2. One of many feasible linear compression binding components is shown in
2.1 A female component consisting of a smooth barrel of diameter ¼, made of a suitably strong metal synthetic, with standard inside throughout its length=η*); η≧2 as required by the given Orthogonal Compression joint, and a round convex head of approximate diameter=⅓ containing a recessed standard hexagonal socket of width ¼.
2.2 A male component consisting of a standard outside threaded shaft matched to the inside thread and length of the female component, with a similar round convex head and recessed hexagonal socket.
A dynamic suspension orthogonal seating geometry is depicted in
The three piece rotating joint is constructed of two orthogonal structure elements having pin hole centers at specified locations, a third component having one center at its specified location, and two sets of joint pins of the type illustrated in
The three piece joint is constructed with three orthogonal structural elements having compression hole centers (on opposing sides of the square) at 1ζ and 3ζ in each of its three structural members and two sets of compression hardware.
The three piece rigid joint has the property of fully orthogonal stability achieved with any high density material. The load bearing capacity of a rigid joint is geometrically greater than the sum of the capacity of each part. It seems this property holds for any material and any value of , all other specifications contained herein held constant. Thus, my Orthogonal Compression technology makes possible the most efficient structures ever achieved in furniture construction, for any given load bearing structural requirement. This gain in efficiency is especially significant with wood.
The rigid Orthogonal Compression joints can be constructed in variations from the three or four compression joints providing strength yet creating a unique ornamental arrangement.
The wide variety of unusually efficient, comfortable, and attractive structures realizable from my Orthogonal Compression furniture Technology is demonstrated in the linear equations for two ideal embodiments referenced to Table 1 (
A variety of other useful embodiments of Orthogonal Compression technology provide extensions of these original two to a person skilled in the art, and I ask that all such extensions be considered a part of these letters patent. The standard component numbers in the plans for the two basic Orthogonal Compression joints as well as the two ideal embodiments in
All measures in multiples of from one end of a structural component.
- Read specifications and apply from left to right. The notation conventions are:
- > repeat exactly on opposite end of material;
- /means rotate 90° for next center;
- + means move material laterally without rotation to next indicated distance from the end.
By way of example,
By way of further example,
The two embodiments described by the equations in Table 1 (
All patents and publications mentioned in this specification are indicative of the levels of those skilled in the art to which the invention pertains. All patents and publications are herein incorporated by reference to the same extent as if each individual publication was specifically and individually indicated to be incorporated by reference.
It is to be understood that while a certain form of the invention is illustrated, it is not to be limited to the specific form or arrangement herein described and shown. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes may be made without departing from the scope of the invention and the invention is not to be considered limited to what is shown and described in the specification and any drawings/figures included herein.
One skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the present invention is well adapted to carry out the objectives and obtain the ends and advantages mentioned, as well as those inherent therein. The embodiments, methods, procedures and techniques described herein are presently representative of the preferred embodiments, are intended to be exemplary and are not intended as limitations on the scope. Changes therein and other uses will occur to those skilled in the art which are encompassed within the spirit of the invention and are defined by the scope of the appended claims. Although the invention has been described in connection with specific preferred embodiments, it should be understood that the invention as claimed should not be unduly limited to such specific embodiments. Indeed, various modifications of the described modes for carrying out the invention which are obvious to those skilled in the art are intended to be within the scope of the following claims.
Claims
1. A construction system for fabricating a plurality of pieces of furniture comprising several modular components of rigid material of differing lengths and thicknesses, the length of said components being multiples of a standard length, the sidewalls of said components being multiples of a standard width, the end portions of each of said components including multiple non-intersecting compression holes, and a plurality of compression binding components, said plurality of compression binding components inserted through said non-intersecting compression holes forming an assembled unit having several joints, said joints being oriented orthogonically to equalize compression and expansion forces.
2. A construction system of claim 1 comprising at least a second group of non-intersecting compression holes intermediate the end portions of said components, said second group of compression holes placed at multiples of said standard length whereby intermediate joints may be formed oriented orthogonically to equalize compression and expansion forces.
3. A construction system of claim 1 comprising said joints being composed of three components, said components arranged such that said non-intersecting compression holes in each component are aligned, said binding components inserted through said aligned non-intersecting compression holes in each component whereby each of said components is interconnected.
4. A construction system of claim 1 comprising said joints being composed of four components, said components arranged such that said non-intersecting compression holes in each component are aligned, said binding components inserted through said aligned non-intersecting compression holes in each component whereby each of said components is interconnected.
5. A construction system of claim 1 comprising approximately 103 components, said components adapted to be assembled into furniture, said furniture being one of the group consisting of a chair, table, bench, or a cabinet.
6. A construction system of claim 1 comprising said thickness of said component being square in cross section.
Type: Application
Filed: Sep 15, 2005
Publication Date: Mar 15, 2007
Inventor: Victor Cook (New Orleans, LA)
Application Number: 11/228,140
International Classification: A47B 91/00 (20060101);