Furniture, home decor, and other items of manufacture formed of cellular material

Abstract

Articles of furniture and home décor formed of a single panel of unfinished honeycomb cardboard cut in a compressed state along a first plane to have a predefined shape and expanded along a second plane; and fixing means for fixing the cut honeycomb cardboard in an expanded state. In preferred embodiments, the compressed honeycomb cardboard may be cut in the first plane to have the profile of a sofa, a chair, a table, a vase, or a tray, such that when the honeycomb cardboard is expanded it takes on a three-dimensional form thereof.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0001]1. Field of the Invention[0002]The present invention relates generally to articles of manufacture having a lightweight cellular construction and, more particularly, to articles of furniture and home décor formed substantially or entirely of one or more panels of lightweight cellular material.[0003]2. Description of Related Art[0004]There has long been a need for articles of furniture and home décor that are lightweight, inexpensive to manufacture, easily transported, stored, assembled and disassembled, and inexpensive enough to purchase so that they may be discarded after a desired period of use.[0005]Although the manufacture of furniture with lightweight materials that are stable and strong is generally well known, the materials used in such constructions have been somewhat limited. For instance, lawn furniture formed of hollow-core aluminum members or resin materials are well known. Likewise, the concept of providing easily assembled furniture form...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0013]In view of the foregoing, it is an object of the present invention to provide articles of manufacture including but not limited to furniture and home décor formed of a material which has relatively great rigidity and structural strength, which is capable of bearing relatively large loads and stress, and which has an attractive and desirable aesthetic appearance.

[0014]It is another object of the present invention to provide articles of manufacture such as furniture and home décor that are easily manufactured and transported.

[0015]Still another object of the present invention is to provide articles of manufacture such as furniture and home décor that that are lightweight, inexpensive to manufacture, easily transported, easily stored, easily assembled and disassembled, and inexpensive enough to purchase so that they may be discarded after a desired period of use.

Problems solved by technology

Although the manufacture of furniture with lightweight materials that are stable and strong is generally well known, the materials used in such constructions have been somewhat limited.

Although cardboard has found widespread use in many storage and delivery applications, the use of cardboard or other heavy, wood-based types of paper in furniture construction has been somewhat limited.

However, aside from a modest decrease in the manufacturing cost over the use of wood or other conventional materials, the use of cardboard core structures does not result in an appreciable difference in the structure of the furniture from the viewpoint of the purchaser and / or user of the furniture.

Such furniture is no easier to transport, store, assemble and disassemble, and dispose of than furniture formed of more conventional materials.

The use of cardboard as an element of furniture design (rather than core structure) has been limited.

Although the strength of the corrugated cardboard is significantly enhanced by laminating multiple layers, the resulting furniture is costly and is not lightweight or easily transported.

Nor can it be disassembled or easily stored.

Other efforts at producing furniture with reinforced paper or cardboard constructions have been generally unsuccessful.

Many of the resulting articles of cardboard furniture have proven to be of unstable construction and unable to support adequate weight to serve their intended or desired purposes.

To the extent previous designs have satisfied the need for reduced cost, ease of assembly / disassembly, storage, and the like, the resulting designs are aesthetically unappealing.

The resulting furniture has a visual appearance similar to that of a corrugated cardboard crate or box and is generally unacceptable from an aesthetic standpoint.

Heretofore, there have been very few articles of furniture or home décor formed using bare, unlaminated cardboard as a structural material because of the lack of rigidity, structural stability and low level of consumer acceptance of cardboard as an aesthetic element of design.

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