Self-leveling glide assembly

[0001] The present invention relates to a glide for use with a furniture leg having a releasably attached and reversible floor-contacting pad that enables a user to easily remove and replace the pad without having to replace the entire glide assembly.

[0002] Furniture glides with a self-leveling feature are known in the art and are used to improve the stability of an article of furniture when it is placed on an unlevel surface. The glides on an article of furniture have to bear the load from the weight of the article of furniture. The glide will also bear the additional load of such things as the weight of a user in the instance of a chair, or the load of objects being placed on other articles of furniture.

[0003] In the instance of a desk or table, glides are also subjected to wear created during use of the article of furniture. Glides can become scuffed or broken from the article of furniture being slid across a floor. Once a glide becomes worn or broken, it needs to be replaced so that it does not create additional damage to the furniture or the floor it rests on. It is therefore desirable to have a glide with removable and changeable components. However, the removability feature must be accomplished without significant expense and without sacrificing aesthetics due to the competitive nature of the furniture industry. Further, the glide must be very securely retained so that glides are not accidentally lost.

[0004] Furniture glides can be constructed of a variety of materials depending on the surface that the article of furniture will be supported on. For instance, a floor surface such as carpeting will not be as susceptible to damage caused by a glide, therefore a wear surface made of a hard material would be adequate to use on this type of surface. However, a floor surface such as linoleum or hard wood would be more susceptible to damage caused by a glide scuffing across a floor surface. With this type of floor surface, a soft wear surface would be desired to protect against damage to the floor surface. Even if the above-noted retention problems are resolved, the increased inventory of components can be problematic.

[0005] Additionally, furniture glides may need to be changed from time to time due to wear to the entire glide assembly or due to a desire to change the appearance of the article of furniture. Because of this, it is desirable to have a glide assembly that can be easily removed and a new glide assembly installed without the use of any tools.

[0006] Accordingly, the inventors have designed an apparatus solving the aforementioned problems and having the aforementioned desired advantages.

[0007] In one aspect of the invention, a glide assembly includes a glide housing snap attached to a furniture leg having a recess formed in a bottom portion, and a replaceable pad member releasably connected to the bottom portion and positioned to engage a floor surface. The pad member and the glide housing are each independently replaceable without having to replace the other or increasing the overall height of the glide assembly, such that the component receiving the most wear can be replaced without having to replace the entire glide assembly. Furthermore, in other aspects of the invention, the glide provides more than one wear surface so that as one wear surface becomes worn and damaged, it can be easily replaced with a second wear surface without having to purchase additional components.

[0008] In another aspect of the invention, a glide assembly includes a glide housing attached to a furniture leg and a pad member connected to the glide housing and positioned to engage a floor surface. The pad member having a first side and a second opposite side. The first side includes a relatively hard material and engages the floor surface when placed in a first position, and the second side includes a material softer than the first side and engages the floor surface when placed in a second position.

[0009] In yet another aspect of the invention, a glide assembly includes a glide housing snap attached to a furniture leg and a pad member snap attached to the glide housing. The pad member is positioned to engage a floor surface and includes a first side and a second opposite side. The first side engages the floor surface when in a first position and the second side engages the floor surface when in a second position of the pad member.

[0010] These and other features, advantages, and objects of the present invention will be further understood and appreciated by those skilled in the art by reference to the following specification, claims, and appended drawings.

[0011] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a chair including the glide of the present invention;

[0012] FIG. 2 is an exploded view of FIG. 1 showing a top perspective of the glide housing;

[0013] FIG. 3 is an exploded view of FIG. 1 showing a bottom perspective of the glide housing;

[0014] FIG. 4 is a side view of the glide of the present invention connected to a furniture leg;

[0015] FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the glide taken along line 5-5 in FIG. 4;

[0016] FIGS. 6 and 7 are sectional views of the glide taken along line 5-5 in FIG. 4 showing a two-sided pad member positioned in two different orientations; and

[0017] FIG. 8 is a sectional view of the glide taken along line 5-5 in FIG. 4 showing the angular movement of the glide relative to the furniture leg.

[0018] For purposes of description herein, the terms upper, lower, right, left, rear, front, vertical, horizontal, and derivatives thereof shall relate to the invention as oriented in FIG. 1 from the perspective of a person seated in the chair. It is also to be understood that the specific devices and processes illustrated in the attached drawings and described in the following specification are simply exemplary embodiments of the inventive concepts defined in the appended claims. Hence, specific dimensions and other physical characteristics relating to the embodiments disclosed herein are not to be considered as unnecessarily limiting, unless the claims expressly state otherwise.

[0019] A glide assembly 20 (FIG. 1) embodying the present invention includes a glide housing 22 attached to a bottom of a furniture leg 24 (such as a leg of a chair shown in FIG. 1). In the preferred embodiment, the glide housing 22 is made of nylon and is snap attached to a furniture leg 24 made of a glass filled nylon material. The snap attachment includes an annular protrusion 26 on furniture leg 24 and a groove 28 on glide housing 22 (FIG. 2). Glide housing 22 can be attached to furniture leg 24 by snapping annular protrusion 26 into groove 28. Because of the ease of the snap attachment, the glide housing 22 can be quickly and easily removed from the furniture leg and replaced. In the present invention, the snap connection features are designed with clearance between annular protrusion 26 and groove 28 to permit glide assembly 20 to tilt in any direction through an angle of 3 degrees from vertical to provide for self-leveling of the article of furniture on an uneven floor surface (FIG. 8). At the same time, the clearance is designed to ensure that glide housing 22 will be held securely connected to furniture leg 24. It is to be appreciated however, that the size and clearance between the furniture leg and the glide can be designed such that a greater or lesser angle of movement is permitted.

[0020] Glide assembly 20 also includes a pad member 30 attached to a bottom portion 32 of glide housing 22. In the preferred embodiment, pad member 30 is disk shaped and made of a plastic material such as Acetal. Bottom portion 32 of glide housing 22 defines a recess 34 having a plurality of annularly spaced flanges 36 within recess 34 (FIGS. 3-5). Bottom portion 32 also has a notch 48 formed within the recess 34. Pad member 30 has a radially protruding ring retainer 38 that snap connects to the annularly spaced flanges 36 holding the pad member within the recess. In the preferred embodiment, there are four annularly spaced flanges 36 placed at locations spaced an equal distance apart. Annularly spaced flanges 36 provide a contacting surface for pad member 30 that is approximately at a 45 degree angle so as to ensure pad member 30 remains held in position while at the same time is able to be easily removed by the use of a simple hand tool such as a screw driver. The tool can be inserted into notch 48 to release pad member 30 from the snap connection with the annularly spaced flanges 36. Pad member 30 has a first side 40 having a first wear surface 42 and a second side 44 having a second wear surface 46 (FIGS. 2 & 3). Pad member 30 is designed to be reversible between first and second sides 40 and 44 thereby allowing the user to position the pad member such that either wear surface 42 or wear surface 46 will contact the floor surface. In one embodiment, pad member 30 (FIGS. 5 & 8) is constructed of a unitary material where both first and second wear surfaces are made of the same material. When pad member 30 is constructed of one material, as one side becomes damaged or too worn for continued use, pad member 30 can be removed and reinstalled with the opposite side exposed to the floor surface. This provides for an increase in the useful life of pad member 30 by essentially getting two wear surfaces with one glide. In an alternative embodiment (FIGS. 6 & 7), pad member 30 is constructed having two wear surfaces each constructed of a different material. For instance, wear surface 42 may be constructed of a relatively hard material such as Acetal, while wear surface 46 is made of a material softer than wear surface 42, such as felt, which can be insert molded into the pad member. With this embodiment, the user can place the article of furniture on virtually any type of floor surface by simply reversing the pad member to expose the wear surface desired for the particular floor surface. Further, the snap attachment of pad member 30 to glide housing 22 allows a user to remove and replace pad member 30 as needed and described above, without requiring the removal of glide housing 22.

[0021] In the foregoing description, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that modifications may be made to the invention without departing from the concepts disclosed herein. Such modifications are to be considered as included in the following claims, unless these claims by their language expressly state otherwise.