AU2019100521A4 - An article of furniture - Google Patents

Abstract

A cushion assembly 10 for an article of furniture includes a body member 14, the body member 14 having a rear portion 16. A support element 18 is mounted to the rear portion 16 of the body member 14. The support element 18 is adjustably mounted relative to the body member 14 to be displaceable between a first position in which at least a part of the support element 18 rests on an operatively top surface of a rest component of the article of furniture and at least a part of the rear portion 16 of the body member 14 bears against the rest component of the article of furniture and at least one further position in which the support element 18 is interposed between the rear portion 16 of the body member 14 and the rest component of the article of furniture. L- L c

Description

Technical Field [0001] This disclosure relates, generally, to an article of furniture and, more particularly, to a cushion assembly for the article of furniture and to an article of furniture including the cushion assembly.

Background [0002] It is becoming increasingly more popular for articles of seating furniture to have greater depth so that an occupant can recline on the article of furniture. However, some people prefer to be seated more upright on the article of furniture with their feet touching the floor.

[0003] In addition, by having an article of furniture of adjustable seat depth, people of different heights can be more easily accommodated with taller people being able to select a greater seat depth and shorter people being able to select a shallower seat depth. With articles of furniture with individually adjustable seat back cushions, each person’s preferences are therefore able to be accommodated.

[0004] Any discussion of documents, acts, materials, devices, articles or the like which has been included in the present specification is not to be taken as an admission that any or all of these matters form part of the prior art base or were common general knowledge in the field relevant to the present disclosure as it existed before the priority date of each of the appended claims.

Summary [0005] In one aspect of the disclosure, there is provided a cushion assembly for an article of furniture, the cushion assembly including a body member, the body member having a rear portion; and a support element mounted to the rear portion of the body member, the support element being adjustably mounted relative to the body member to be displaceable between a first position, in which at least a part of the support element rests on an operatively top surface of a rest component of the article of furniture and at least a part of the rear portion of the body

2019100521 14 May 2019 member bears against the rest component of the article of furniture, and at least one further position, in which the support element is interposed between the rear portion of the body member and the rest component of the article of furniture.

[0006] Those skilled in the art will understand that reference to a “rest component” is a reference either to a backrest or an armrest of the article of furniture.

[0007] It will be appreciated that, when the support element is in the first position and the body member of the cushion assembly is mounted on the article of furniture, the positioning of the body member defines a first seat depth. When the support element is in the at least one further position, the body member is positioned on the article of furniture such that it defines a second seat depth less than that of the first seat depth.

[0008] The body member may define a longitudinal axis and the support element may be an elongate member extending parallel to the longitudinal axis. The support element may be of oval cross-section.

[0009] Each of the body member and the support element may include a cover containing a filling, the support element being in the form of a bolster and being attached to the body member via a portion of its cover being secured to a portion of the cover of the body member to define a hinge arrangement, the filling of the bolster being firmer than the filling of the body member.

[0010] In another aspect of the disclosure, there is provided an article of furniture which includes a base defining a seat;

at least one rest component carried by the base and having at least a portion projecting operatively upwardly from the base; and a cushion assembly, as described above, adjustably arranged on the base to bear against at least the portion of the rest component with the support element being in one of its first position and its at least one further position.

Brief Description of Drawings [0011] An embodiment of the disclosure is now described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:3

2019100521 14 May 2019 [0012] Fig. 1 shows a perspective, front view of an embodiment of a cushion assembly for an article of furniture;

[0013] Fig. 2 shows a perspective, rear view of the cushion assembly;

[0014] Fig. 3 shows a side view of the cushion assembly;

[0015] Fig. 4 shows a rear view of the cushion assembly;

[0016] Fig. 5 shows a perspective view of an embodiment of an article of furniture including the cushion assembly of Figs. 1-4 with a support element of the cushion assembly in a first position;

[0017] Fig. 6 shows a side view of the article of furniture of Fig. 5;

[0018] Fig. 7 shows a perspective view of an embodiment of an article of furniture including the cushion assembly of Figs. 1-4 with the support element of the cushion assembly in a second position; and [0019] Fig. 8 shows a side view of the article of furniture of Fig. 7.

Detailed Description of Exemplary Embodiments [0020] In the drawings, reference numeral 10 generally designates a cushion assembly for an article of furniture 12 (Figs. 5-8). The article of furniture 12 is shown as a corner unit of a piece of modular furniture. However, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the article of furniture 12 could be any other type of seating furniture or reclining furniture with which a back cushion is used such as a chair, an armchair, a sofa, a chaise, or the like.

[0021] The cushion assembly 10 includes a body member 14 having a rear portion 16 (Figs. 24). A support element, in the form of a bolster, 18 is adjustably mounted to the rear portion 16 of the body member 14 of the cushion assembly 10. The bolster 18 is displaceable between a first position, as shown in solid lines in Fig. 3 of the drawings, and at least one further position, as shown in broken lines in Fig. 3 of the drawings. For ease of reference, the “at least one further position” will be referred to below as the “second” position.

2019100521 14 May 2019 [0022] As illustrated, the body member 14 of the cushion assembly 10 is oblong defining a longitudinal axis 20 (Fig. 4). The bolster 18 is an elongate member extending substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis 20. In the embodiment shown, the bolster 18 is illustrated as being mounted substantially co-axially with the longitudinal axis 20 of the body member 14. However, it will be appreciated that, in other embodiments, the bolster 18 could be arranged with its longitudinal axis operatively above the longitudinal axis 20 of the body member 14.

[0023] In an embodiment, the body member 14 includes a cover 22, which can either be a textile cover or a leather cover depending on the upholstery of the article of furniture 12 with which the cushion assembly 10 is used. The cover 22 contains a filling of a cushioning, yieldable material. In particular, the filling comprises a mixture of feathers and fibres. In an embodiment, the filling is made up predominantly of feathers. In other embodiments, the filling of the body member 44 could be crumbed or solid foam, fibres, feathers, or the like.

[0024] Similarly, the bolster 18 includes a cover 24 containing a filling of a resiliently flexible material. Generally, the cover 24 of the bolster 18 is of the same material as the cover 22 of the body member 14 of the cushion assembly 10. The filling of the bolster 18 is firmer than the filling of the body member 14. Typically, the filling of the bolster 18 is a foam material having the requisite density to provide adequate support for the body member 14 of the cushion assembly, both when the bolster 18 is in its first position and in its second position.

[0025] The bolster 18 is of an oval cross-section. Having an oval shaped bolster 18 improves the stability of the cushion assembly 10 when the bolster 18 is in its first position and provides improved, distributed lumbar support when the bolster 18 is in its second position.

[0026] The cover 24 of the bolster 18 is attached to the cover 22 of the body member 14 via a zip (not shown) extending parallel to the longitudinal axis 20 and located at a position 26 (Fig. 3) on the rear portion 16 of the body member 14. The position 26 is arranged to be slightly below an operatively top end 28 of the bolster 18 to facilitate pivoting of the bolster 18 between its first position and its second position relative to the body member 14. In both positions, the bolster 18 presses, to a slight extent, into the softer filling of the body member 14 of the cushion assembly 10. This serves to locate the bolster 18 relative to the body member 14 of the cushion assembly 10.

2019100521 14 May 2019 [0027] In use, the cushion assembly 10 is, as described above, used with an article of furniture such as the corner unit shown in Figs. 5-8 of the drawings. The article of furniture 12 includes a base 30 on which a seat cushion 32 is arranged. It will be appreciated that, in some embodiments, the base 30 may, itself, be upholstered to define a seat. A rest component 34 is mounted to the base and includes a portion 36 extending operatively upwardly from the seat cushion 32. In the illustrated embodiment of the corner unit, the rest component 34 is a substantially L-shaped element forming an integral armrest and backrest of the article of furniture 12. In other embodiments, the rest component 34 may be either a discrete backrest or a discrete armrest of the article of furniture 12.

[0028] The portion 36 of the rest component 34 defines a planar top surface, or land, 38 extending substantially horizontally. When the bolster 18 is in its first position, as shown in Figs. 5 and 6 of the drawings, an under, or inner, surface 40 of the bolster 18 rests on the land 38 to provide a first seat depth Di between a front of the cushion assembly 10 and a front 42 of the base 30 of the article of furniture 12.

[0029] A part of the rear portion 16 of the body member 14 of the cushion assembly 10 below the bolster 18 bears against an operatively inner surface 44 of the portion 36 of the rest component 34 of the article of furniture 10. This, in combination with the positioning of the bolster 18 on the land 38 of the rest component 36, improves the stability of the cushion assembly 10 relative to the article of furniture 12. In addition, the inner surface 44 of the portion 36 of the rest component 36 is shaped to provide lumbar support to an occupant resting against the body member 14 of the cushion assembly 10.

[0030] If it is desired to reduce the seat depth of the article of furniture 12, the cushion assembly 10 is removed from the rest component 34 of the article of furniture 12. The bolster 18 is pivoted about the position 26 so that it adopts the second position as shown in broken lines in Fig. 3 of the drawings. The cushion assembly 10 is then placed against the surface 44 of the rest component 36 so that the bolster 18 is interposed between the rear portion 16 of the body member 14 of the cushion assembly 10 and the surface 44 of the portion 36 of the rest component 34.

[0031] With the bolster 18 in the position illustrated in Figs. 7 and 8 of the drawings, a second seat depth D2, less than the seat depth Di, is defined between the front of the seat cushion 10 and

2019100521 14 May 2019 the front 42 of the base 30 of the article of furniture. Further, the oval shape of the bolster 18 serves to impart lumbar support to an occupant of the article of furniture 10.

[0032] It is therefore an advantage of the described embodiment that, by providing a bolster 18 which is displaceably arranged relative to the body member of the cushion assembly 10, a seat depth of the article of furniture 12 can be easily varied. In addition, by making the bolster 18 with a firmer filling than the body member 14 of the cushion assembly 10, improved stability is imparted to the cushion assembly, both when the bolster 18 is in its first position and in its second position. Still further, the oval shape of the bolster 18 assists in, firstly, improving stability of the cushion assembly 10 when the bolster is in its first position as well as when it is in its second position. In that second position, the oval shape of the bolster 18 also facilitates the provision of lumbar support to the occupant of the article of furniture.

[0033] It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that numerous variations and/or modifications may be made to the above-described embodiments, without departing from the broad general scope of the present disclosure. The present embodiments are, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive.

Claims (5)

1. CLAIMS:

   1. A cushion assembly for an article of furniture, the cushion assembly including a body member, the body member having a rear portion; and a support element mounted to the rear portion of the body member, the support element being adjustably mounted relative to the body member to be displaceable between a first position, in which at least a part of the support element rests on an operatively top surface of a rest component of the article of furniture and at least a part of the rear portion of the body member bears against the rest component of the article of furniture, and at least one further position, in which the support element is interposed between the rear portion of the body member and the rest component of the article of furniture.
2. 2. The cushion assembly of claim 1 in which the body member defines a longitudinal axis and in which the support element is an elongate member extending parallel to the longitudinal axis.
3. 3. The cushion assembly of claim 1 or claim 2 in which the support element is of oval cross-section.
4. 4. The cushion assembly of any one of the preceding claims in which each of the body member and the support element includes a cover containing a filling, the support element being in the form of a bolster and being attached to the body member via a portion of its cover being secured to a portion of the cover of the body member to define a hinge arrangement, the filling of the bolster being firmer than the filling of the body member.
5. 5. An article of furniture which includes a base defining a seat;

   at least one rest component carried by the base and having at least a portion projecting operatively upwardly from the base; and a cushion assembly, as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, adjustably arranged on the base to bear against at least the portion of the rest component with the support element being in one of its first position and its at least one further position.