Technical Field

The present invention relates to the technology for making armchairs or sofas having variable , user- selectable configurations , and specifically concerns a quick and easy-to-assemble armchair or sofa with upholstery components .

Prior Art Technology

The prior art in the making of armchairs or sofas , for preferably domestic use, already includes armchairs equipped with seats , leg rests , backrests and headrests that can be configured according to the user ' s needs by means of suitable motorised mechanisms controllable either manually or in servo mode using pushbuttons and/or remote controls .

These armchairs , although of entirely general use, frequently serve the needs of users handicapped to a greater or lesser degree by motor disabilities , for whom they often represent an indispensable and essential aid aimed at normalising their day-to-day lives as far as possible .

Because of their high mechanical and technological complexity, the production-line assembly and configuration of the structural components of such armchairs are laborious tasks which largely take precedence over the configuration of the upholstery, which only comes into play during the assembly process ; not by autonomous means , but rather by means subordinate to and interdependent with the means of assembling the more complex mechanical parts . Once the armchairs have been completely assembled, in all their components , they are stored and then transported as a finished product to their intended location of use.

This state of the art entails several drawbacks, which inevitably affect the cost of the finished product.

Indeed, an obvious first drawback is the high bulkiness of such products, which have negative effects on free production and storage space and, therefore, contribute to an increase in handling and transportation costs of the product as a whole.

In addition, when preventive maintenance must be performed on the finished, in-use product or when mechanical parts need replaced, this cannot always be easily accomplished at the armchair' s place of use. Indeed, the immovable upholstery used in the prior art is an obstacle to all mechanical parts being conveniently reached. In addition, the mechanisms and relative motorising elements, in addition to weighing down the armchair, are placed at the lowest parts of the armchair; therefore, in the absence of adequate lifting equipment (which for obvious reasons are absent in the armchair' s places of use) , it proves inconvenient, laborious and penalising for maintenance personnel to access mechanical parts, including in terms of the actual quality of the intervention.

Therefore, it is quite common for maintenance personnel to be required to transfer the armchair to a duly equipped workshop where the upholstery can be removed, with the appropriate tools, to make it easier to reach the parts of the chair intended for maintenance. In addition to impacting negatively on the economics of maintenance work, this also causes additional inconvenience for users, who must forego the availability of the armchair for timescales often far longer than the time technically required to conduct the actual work. The prior art technique is also familiar from document JP2011055996, which describes a clasp for an upholstery covering for the seat of an armchair . The clasp is designed in such a way that the upholstery covering can be detached and reattached without the risk of damaging the seat cushion .

Another prior art solution, which is described in US 2021 / 137279, describes a fastening clasp for a cushion cover material and a procedure for attaching it . Background of the Invention

The technical purpose of the present invention is , therefore , to provide an alternative solut ion to those in the sector' s prior art by devis ing a solut ion that foresees an armchair structure in which the upholstery and mechanical parts undergo independent manufacturing processes and in which the interconnection between the armchair' s upholstery and its underlying mechanical support structure and setup is as quick and easy as poss ible from both a manufacturing and maintenance perspective .

In the context of this task, one purpose of the invention is to provide an armchair designed in such a way that the structural , mechanical part s can be kept distinct from the upholstery of the armchair, from whence it can be assembled as a finished product and/or disas sembled as needed without the need for tools or instruments , even by users without specialised technical skills , as the end users themselves might be .

Such a solution is also particularly beneficial in terms of cost reduction . In fact , as regards the costs of production, storage , transportation and convenience of use , the armchair or sofa can be handled in detached parts and as sembled direct ly at the place of use .

The smaller volumes of the detached part s of the armchair thus allow for smaller spatial requirement s and significant operat ing economies compared with the prior art .

As for on-site maintenance and related costs , the solution according to the invention also offers additional savings and convenience of use . In fact , where needing to access the structural (mechanical ) parts of the chair, the easy on-site removability of the upholstery components enables preventive maintenance and/or replacements to be performed without first having to transport the chair to a workshop and then use tools or equipment suitable for the purpose, thus making maintenance work les s costly and quicker while minimising inconvenience to the user .

Another aim of the invention is to facilitate serviceability and - at the end of the product ' s useful life - the recovery of materials and sorted recyclability of the armchair ' s component parts , all of which benefit s a circular, low-impact economy .

In accordance with the invention, this solution is achieved by an armchair structure as defined in the claims attached .

Brief Description of the Drawings

The technical characteristics and advantages of the invention will be made clear from the detailed description of an implementat ion thereof with reference to an exemplary, non-limited embodiment of the invention illustrated in the accompanying drawings , wherein :

Figures 1 and 2 are three-dimensional front and rear views, respectively, of the finished, fully assembled armchair in its configuration of use;

- Figure 3 is a three-dimensional view of the chair, shown with some parts removed;

- Figure 4 is an overview of the upholstery detached from the mechanical components in Figure 3;

- Figures 5 and 6 are a view of one detail of the invention and an enlarged -scale view of the same detail, respectively, shown at a first step of the armchair'' s assembly;

- Figures 7 and 8 are a view of one detail of the invention and an enlarged -scale view of the same detail, respectively, shown at a second step of the armchair' s assembly;

- Figure 9 is a view of one detail of the invention shown in a final operation of the assembly shown in Figures 7 and 8;

- Figures 10, 11 and 12 show the assembly steps for the seat and sides of the armchair;

- Figures 13 and 14 show the assembly steps for the backrest and relative headrest of the armchair;

Best Way to Implement the Invention

With reference to the figures in the accompanying drawings, indicated with number 1 in Figures 1-4 is an armchair or sofa that essentially comprises a supporting structure (2) ; fabric upholstery (9) covering the supporting structure (2) ; and stable yet removable means ( 3, 4 ; 7 , 8 ; 19, 20 ) of interconnecting the fabric upholstery (9) to the supporting structure (2) .

In Figure 3, it can specifically be seen that the supporting structure (2) comprises a seat frame (16) of an essentially flat, horizontal shape, beneath which are placed articulated kinematic mechanisms, preferably motorised, to implement the structural configuration of the armchair or sofa (1) as a whole, in a fully known manner .

More specifically, the kinematic mechanisms, which are part of the supporting structure (2) , are provided to support, position and guide a leg rest (9a) in the space in front of the frame (16) of the seat (17) ; to raise, lower and recline the seat frame (16) ; and to support and guide a backrest (23) with headrest (22) and bilateral shoulders (24) . Finally, two static sides (12) , bilateral to the seat frame (16) , complete the armchair or sofa (1) .

Figure 4 shows the fabric upholstery (9) , which is broken down into a series of detached component parts intended to be neatly assembled to the supporting structure (2) with the specific use of the aforementioned interconnecting means (3, 4; 7, 8; 19, 20) .

More specifically, the interconnecting means ( 3 , 4 ; 7 , 8 ; 19, 20 ) comprise pairs of stable but removable connecting elements, actuated by rigid members joined to the rigid and non-rigid parts of the armchair or sofa (1) , which are mutually overlapping, are operatively joined together along at least one first line (tl ; t2 ; t3, t4 ) of relative movement, and finally are disengageable as necessary according to the relative lines (nl ; n2 ; n3 ; n4 ) of motion, preferably transversal and orthogonal to said at least one first line (t 1 ; t2 ; t3 ; t 4 ) of motion.

The interconnecting means (3, 4; 7, 8; 19, 20) are designed to allow the fabric upholstery (9) to be bound to and unbound from the supporting structure (2) of the armchair or sofa (1) to facilitate access to the relative underlying supporting structure (2) of the armchair or sofa, and vice versa, either at any time in the manufacturing phase of the armchair or sofa (1) or during the subsequent useful life of the product.

More specifically, according to a first indicative, non-limiting implementation pertaining to the interconnection of the leg rest (9a) of the armchair or sofa (1) , the interconnecting means may comprise pairs of correspondingly shaped pins (3) and slots (4) .

Each slot (4) has two distinct, intercommunicating component partitions (4a, 4b) . In a narrow, linear-shaped first partition (4a) , the pin (3) is bound to said slot (4) with freedom to translate in a guide, longitudinally to the first line (tl) of relative motion; in the enlarged second partition (4b) , preferably circular-hole shaped, between the transversal dimension of the pin (3) and the width dimension of the second partition (4b) , a mechanism is present such that the pin (3) is unbindable from the slot (4) in penetration of the second partition (4b) with a relative motion transversal (nl) to the first line (tl) of motion.

The pins (3) are borne, preferably, by a rigid board (27) contained within the leg rest (9a) . These comprise a body (5) elongated in a line transversal (nl) to said first partition (4b) and which is interposed to, and bounded by, end elements (6) transversal to said elongated body (5) . Such end elements (6) protrude from it preferably in the form of an enlarged head radially prominent from the body (5) of the pin. Such end elements (6) are capable, therefore, of geometrically interfering with a contour of the first partition (4b) ; and, as such, are capable of keeping the pin (3) and slot (4) bound to one another while having relative freedom to slide along the latter.

Returning to Figure 3, it can be seen that the interconnecting means also comprise an alternative embodiment, comprising skids (7) and guides (8) elongated longitudinally to at least a second line (t2;t3;t4) of relative motion. Said skids (7) and said guides (8) are fixed, indifferently and reversibly, on one side to the supporting structure (2) and on the other side to the fabric upholstery (9) in such a way as to leave free relative mobility to said supporting structure (2) and to said upholstery (9) according to at least one said second line (t2;t3;t4) of motion.

Preferably, the interconnecting means made according to this alternative embodiment are borne respectively by the supporting structure (2) of the armchair or sofa (1) and by relative counterfacing members (11) of the sides

(12) ; and, at the rear of the armchair or sofa (1) , they are likewise borne by rear members of the supporting structure (2) that counterface with overlapping members

(13) of a frame (14) of the backrest (23) of the armchair or sofa ( 1 ) .

Figures 5, 6 and 7 show that at the seat frame (16) , the fabric upholstery (9) comprises a layered element (15) in a single body, preferably stuffed. The layered element (15) unitarily covers the leg rest (9) and the seat (17) frame (16) by binding, on one side, to the leg rest (9a) and, on the opposite side, to the same seat frame (16) .

In fact, by looking comparatively and sequentially at Figures 7, 8 and 9, it can be seen that the interconnecting means (3, 4; 7, 8; 19, 20) between the fabric upholstery (9) and the seat (17) frame (16) are designed to be bindable and unbindable by tear action.

In this case, the line of enclosure will be identified, for example (reference (t4) ) , as one of the directions of motion in which an edge of the element (15) wraps around the seat frame (16) , while the tearing direction can be identified as the opposite direction, marked with reference (n4) . As regards the specific local formation of the interconnected means, this can be identified in the form of two overlapping members (19) and (20) , which can be joined by pressing one onto the surface of the other.

On the other hand, Figures 10, 11 and 12, observed sequentially, show the sides (12) of the armchair or sofa (1) being assembled to the supporting structure (2) of the armchair or sofa (1) by the engagement of the skids (7) in the corresponding guides (8) .

Figures 13 and 14, on the other hand, show the sequence of assembly of the fabric upholstery (9) pertaining to the back upholstery (21) . Here too, the interconnecting means are notably of the tear-open type.

At the rear of the armchair or sofa (1) , the fabric upholstery (9) has zipping means (26) , which can be quickly opened to render immediately accessible the underlying supporting structure (2) of the armchair or sofa (1) on the rear side of the armchair or sofa (1) .

The invention fully achieves the previously stated purposes and also provides the additional significant benefit of allowing the total implementation, or the total removal, of the covering upholstery (9) without employing tools of any kind and without risks of damage or to personal safety, to enable: not only complete and convenient access to the supporting structure for maintenance purposes, but also for mere dust removal and sanitisation purposes, thus benefitting hygiene in the environment in which the armchair or sofa (1) is commonly used .

These actions can be repeated, with no limitations whatsoever, throughout the entire life of the product, without compromising the functionality and/or aesthetics of the entire product or its component parts, all of which having the benefit of a more reliable product even under particularly tough and/or not particularly attentive conditions of use by the end user.