US 4,057,292 AGranted

Trim retainer device for upholstered cushions

AssigneeFlex-O-Lators, Inc.

InventorHarmon W. Arnold

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Abstract

A retainer device for the decorative trim sheets of upholstered cushions, particularly cushions wherein the padding material constitutes thick slabs of molded rubber or synthetic foam, constituting an elongated flexible structure molded in the padding along the base of a groove formed in the upper surface of the padding, and including a series of opposed pairs of resilient claw teeth spaced along the length of the flexible structure, a fold of the trim sheet, or a flexible secondary listing member affixed to the trim sheet, being pressed downwardly into the padding groove to be securely engaged between the pairs of claw teeth. A listing wire or other strand may be included in the listing of the trim sheet, for more secure engagement by the claw teeth, for neater arrangement of the trim sheet, and for greater ease of engagement by the teeth. The retainer also has other uses, all related generally to the attachment of trim sheets to other elements of seating structures.

Claims10

Dependent claims

In combination with an upholstered seat assembly including a pliable trim sheet assembly covering a foam seat cushion pad of said seat assembly, said pad having a deep groove formed in the top surface thereof along a line thereof along which said trim sheet assembly is to be secured thereto, and said trim sheet assembly having a listing portion extending along said line and depending into said groove, a retainer assembly for securing said trim sheet assembly to said pad, said retainer assembly comprising:

a. an elongated support structure molded in said pad generally along the base of said groove, and
b. a series of pairs of resilient claw teeth mounted on said support structure in spaced relation along the length thereof, the teeth of each of said pairs being laterally spaced relative to said groove and meeting substantially at the longitudinal midline thereof, whereby when said listing portion of said trim sheet assembly is pressed into said groove and between said pairs of teeth, it forces the teeth of each of said pairs of teeth resiliently apart, whereupon the elastic recovery of said teeth causes the points of said teeth to engage and retain said trim sheet listing therebetween.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.