Furniture
AssigneeTiffany and Tiffany, Designers, Inc.
InventorsH. Robert Tiffany, III, Barbara Yaseen Tiffany
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A furniture piece including a plurality of rib units, each-rib unit having a pair of substantially parallel faces, at least one functional surface, and a leg or supporting member. When arranged in a predetermined, face-to-face relationship and secured by one or more connecting rods, the functional surface of each rib unit defines a surface of a furniture piece, such as a chair or bench seat, while each leg or supporting member is offset from the neighboring leg or support member according to a pattern which, when combined with the legs or supporting members of the other rib units, provides support for the entire furniture piece and its occupant.
Claims16
A furniture piece, which comprises:
- a plurality of rib units, each rib unit having
- at least one functional surface having at most one supported end, and
- at most one supporting member, the supporting member having a first end and a second end, the first end of the supporting member being contiguously attached to the functional surface at the supported end, and the second end of the supporting member extending downwardly from the supported end;
- and
- interconnecting means for securing each of the rib units to at least one other of the rib units,
- wherein a composite of the functional surfaces of the rib units defines one or more surfaces of the furniture piece,
- the first end of the supporting member of each rib unit is immediately adjacent to the first end of the supporting member of at least one other of the rib units, and
- the second end of the supporting member of each rib unit is closer to the second end of the supporting member of an adjacent one of the rib units than to the second end of the supporting member of any non-adjacent one of the rib units.
A furniture piece, which comprises:
- a plurality of rib units having at least one functional surface and a single supporting member;
- and
- interconnecting means for securing each of the rib units to one or more of the other rib units,
- wherein a composite of the functional surfaces of the rib units defines one or more surfaces of the furniture piece,
- each supporting member emanates consistently downward among the rib units from the same side of the furniture piece;
- and
- each supporting member is fixed at an angle to a functional surface wherein the angle varies from one rib unit to another such that a composite of the supporting members provides support for the furniture piece and its load.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.