Grommet cover assembly

Abstract

The present invention provides a grommet cover assembly for selectively substantially blocking view of at least one opening in a planar member surface. The assembly comprises a mounting coupler mounted to the planar member surface proximate the first opening and a cover. The cover includes a flat cover member and a cover coupler, wherein the cover member includes at least one supporting leg. The cover coupler links to the mounting coupler to provide a hinged axis the cover member is rotated around. Thus, when the cover member is adjacent the opening, at least a portion of the opening is blocked from view. Methods of use and assembly are also provided.

1 . An assembly for use with a planar member having a first surface and forming at least a first opening in the first surface where a portion of the first surface adjacent the at least a first opening is a surrounding surface, the assembly for selectively substantially blocking view of the opening, the assembly comprising:
 a mounting coupler mounted to the first surface of the planar member proximate the first opening; and   a cover including a flat cover member and a cover coupler, the cover member having first and second oppositely facing surfaces and a lateral edge wherein a portion of the first surface proximate the lateral edge is a peripheral surface, the cover coupler extending from the peripheral surface and linkable to the mounting coupler to support the cover member adjacent the opening and substantially parallel to the first surface of the planar member;   wherein, when the cover member is adjacent the opening, at least a portion of the peripheral surface is spaced apart from and faces the surrounding surface.   
     
     
         2 . The assembly of  claim 1  wherein, when the cover member is adjacent the opening, the peripheral surface along the entire lateral edge of the cover member is spaced apart from and faces the surrounding surface. 
     
     
         3 . The assembly of  claim 1  wherein the mounting coupler includes at least a first hinge member and the cover coupler includes at least a second hinge member linkable to the first hinge member wherein, when the hinge members are linked, the cover member is rotatable about a hinge axis between a closed position wherein the cover member is adjacent and substantially blocking view of the opening and an open position wherein the cover member is angled with respect to the first surface of the planar member and the opening can be accessed. 
     
     
         4 . The assembly of  claim 3  wherein the second hinge member is releasable from the first hinge member. 
     
     
         5 . The assembly of  claim 3  wherein the first hinge member includes a first retainer feature and the second hinge member includes a second retainer feature and wherein, when the cover member is in the open position, the first and second retainer features cooperate to retain the cover member in the open position. 
     
     
         6 . The assembly of  claim 5  wherein the first retainer feature is one of a rib and a recess and wherein the second retainer feature is the other of a rib and a recess. 
     
     
         7 . The assembly of  claim 3  wherein the mounting coupler includes at least two first hinge members and the cover coupler includes at least two second hinge members that cooperate with the two first hinge members to facilitate rotation of the cover member between the open and closed positions. 
     
     
         8 . The assembly of  claim 7  wherein the two first hinge members are separated by a space and wherein the two second hinge members are separated by a space. 
     
     
         9 . The assembly of  claim 1  wherein the lateral edge includes at least a first straight edge portion that extends between first and second straight edge ends, the two second hinge members extend from the peripheral surface adjacent the first straight edge and wherein the two second hinge members are spaced away from the first and second straight end edges. 
     
     
         10 . The assembly of  claim 3  wherein the lateral edge includes at least a first straight edge portion that extends between first and second straight edge ends, the second hinge member extends from the peripheral surface adjacent the first straight edge and the second hinge member is spaced away from the first and second straight end edges. 
     
     
         11 . The assembly of  claim 1  wherein the mounting coupler is mounted to the first surface of the planar member via at least one of adhesive and screws. 
     
     
         12 . The assembly of  claim 1  wherein the planar member is one of a furniture top member and a wall member. 
     
     
         13 . The assembly of  claim 1  further including at least a first leg member that extends from the peripheral surface of the cover member to a distal end, when the cover member is adjacent the opening, the distal end contacting the surrounding surface adjacent the opening. 
     
     
         14 . The assembly of  claim 13  further including at least a second leg member that extends from the peripheral surface of the cover member to a distal end, the second leg member spaced apart from the first leg member, when the cover member is adjacent the opening, the distal end of the second leg member contacting the surrounding surface adjacent the opening. 
     
     
         15 . The assembly of  claim 1  wherein the cover member is one of square, rectangular, circular, oval, triangular and polygonal. 
     
     
         16 . The assembly of  claim 1  wherein the cover coupler is releasable from the mounting coupler. 
     
     
         17 . The assembly of  claim 1  wherein the space between the peripheral surface and the surrounding surface is between one eighth of an inch and one inch. 
     
     
         18 . The assembly of  claim 17  wherein the space between the peripheral surface and the surrounding surface is between one quarter of an inch and one half of an inch. 
     
     
         19 . The assembly of  claim 1  wherein the portion of the peripheral surface that faces the surrounding surface includes at least one sixteenth of an inch of the first surface adjacent the lateral edge. 
     
     
         20 . The assembly of  claim 19  wherein the portion of the peripheral surface that faces the surrounding surface includes at least one quarter of an inch of the first surface adjacent the lateral edge. 
     
     
         21 . The assembly of  claim 1  for use in substantially blocking view of at least a second opening in the planar member that is proximate the first opening wherein the surrounding surface includes the portion of the first surface of the planar member that surrounds the first and second openings. 
     
     
         22 . An assembly for use with a furniture member having a first substantially flat surface and forming at least a first opening in the first surface where a portion of the first surface adjacent the at least a first opening is a surrounding surface, the assembly for selectively substantially blocking view of the opening, the assembly comprising:
 a mounting coupler mounted to the first surface of the furniture member proximate the first opening; and   a cover including a flat cover member and a cover coupler, the cover member having first and second oppositely facing surfaces and a lateral edge wherein a portion of the first surface proximate the lateral edge is a peripheral surface, the cover coupler extending from the peripheral surface and linkable to the mounting coupler to support the cover member adjacent the opening and substantially parallel to the first surface of the planar member;   wherein, when the cover member is adjacent the opening, at least a portion of the peripheral surface faces the surrounding surface.   
     
     
         23 . The assembly of  claim 22  wherein when the cover member is adjacent the opening, the peripheral surface faces and is spaced apart from the surrounding surface thereby forming a space for cables to pass between the first surface of the cover member and the first surface of the furniture member. 
     
     
         24 . The assembly of  claim 23  wherein the space between the peripheral surface and the surrounding surface is between one eighth of an inch and one inch and wherein the portion of the peripheral surface that faces the surrounding surface includes at least one sixteenth of an inch of the first surface adjacent the lateral edge. 
     
     
         25 . The assembly of  claim 23  wherein the space between the peripheral surface and the surrounding surface is between one fourth of an inch and one half of an inch and wherein the portion of the peripheral surface that faces the surrounding surface includes at least one quarter of an inch of the first surface adjacent the lateral edge. 
     
     
         26 . The assembly of  claim 22  wherein the mounting and cover couplers include complimentary first and second hinge members. 
     
     
         27 . The assembly of  claim 23  wherein the mounting and cover couplers are complimentary first and second hinge members, respectively, that facilitate rotation of the cover member between a closed position wherein the cover member is adjacent the first surface of the furniture member and an open position in which the cover member is angled with respect to the first surface of the furniture member and the opening is accessible. 
     
     
         28 . The assembly of  claim 22  wherein the lateral edge includes at least a first straight edge portion that extends and has a straight length dimension between first and second ends, the second hinge member has a length dimension that is shorter than the straight length dimension and the second hinge member extends along a portion of the straight edge portion and is spaced apart from each of the first and second ends of the straight edge portion. 
     
     
         29 . The assembly of  claim 22  wherein the furniture member is a table top member and the opening is a passageway through the top member. 
     
     
         30 . A cover assembly for use with a furniture member having a first substantially flat surface and forming at least a first opening in the first surface where a portion of the first surface adjacent the at least a first opening is a surrounding surface, the cover assembly comprising:
 a flat cover member having first and second oppositely facing surfaces and a lateral edge; and   a coupler linked to and extending from the first surface of the cover member and linkable to the first surface of the furniture member to support the cover member over the opening and substantially parallel to the first surface of the furniture member with the cover assembly located completely outside the opening.   
     
     
         31 . The assembly of  claim 30  wherein the coupler is adhered to the first surface of the furniture member. 
     
     
         32 . The assembly of  claim 30  wherein the coupler offsets the first surface of the cover member from the first surface of the furniture member so that a space exists between the first surface of the cover member and the first surface of the furniture member. 
     
     
         33 . The assembly of  claim 30  wherein at least a portion of the first surface of the furniture member adjacent the opening is a surrounding surface and a portion of the first surface of the cover member adjacent the lateral edge is a peripheral surface and, wherein, when the cover member is adjacent the first surface of the planar member, the peripheral surface faces the surrounding surface. 
     
     
         34 . The assembly of  claim 30  further comprising a mounting coupler linkable to the first surface of the furniture member, wherein the cover coupler extends from the first surface of the cover member and links to the mounting coupler. 
     
     
         35 . The assembly of  claim 34  wherein the mounting and cover couplers include complimentary first and second hinge members that facilitate rotation of the cover member between a closed position adjacent the opening and an open position wherein the cover member is angled with respect to the first surface of the furniture member and the opening is accessible. 
     
     
         36 . The assembly of  claim 30  wherein the coupler is adhered to the first surface of the furniture member. 
     
     
         37 . A method for providing a cover for an opening in a substantially flat first surface of a planar member, the method comprising the steps of:
 forming an opening in the first surface of the planar member wherein the portion of the first surface of the planar member surrounding the opening is a surrounding portion;   providing a flat cover member, the cover member having first and second oppositely facing surfaces and a lateral edge, the portion of the first surface of the cover member adjacent the lateral edge being a peripheral surface; and   mounting the cover member to the first surface of the planar member with at least a portion of the first surface of the cover member facing the opening and substantially parallel to and spaced apart from the first surface of the planar member.   
     
     
         38 . The method of  claim 37  wherein the step of providing a flat cover member includes extruding the cover member. 
     
     
         39 . The method of  claim 38  wherein the steps of providing a flat cover member and mounting the cover member include extruding a cover member and a cover coupler member integrally formed with and extending from a portion of the peripheral surface of the cover member and mounting the cover coupler member to the first surface of the planar member. 
     
     
         40 . The method of  claim 39  wherein the step of mounting the cover coupler includes providing a mounting coupler, mounting the mounting coupler to the first surface of the planar member and linking the cover coupler to the mounting coupler. 
     
     
         41 . The method of  claim 40  wherein the cover coupler and the mounting coupler include a cover hinge member and a mounting hinge member and the step of extruding the cover member and the cover coupler includes extruding the cover coupler adjacent an edge of the cover member where the cover coupler extends between first and second ends 
     
     
         42 . The method of  claim 41  wherein the method further includes the steps of, after extruding the cover member and the cover coupler, removing at least a portion of the cover hinge member. 
     
     
         43 . The method of  claim 41  wherein the step of removing at least a portion of the cover hinge member includes removing portions of the cover hinge member at each of the first and second ends of the cover coupler. 
     
     
         44 . The method of  claim 41  wherein the step of removing at least a portion of the cover hinge member further includes removing a central portion of the cover hinge member, thereby creating first and second spaced apart cover hinge members, and wherein the step of providing a mounting hinge member includes providing first and second mounting hinge members; and wherein the step of linking the cover coupler to the mounting coupler includes linking the first and second cover hinge members to the first and second mounting hinge members, respectively. 
     
     
         45 . The method of  claim 37  wherein the step of mounting the cover member to the first surface of the planar member so that the first surface of the cover member is spaced apart from the first surface of the planar member includes mounting the cover so that the first surface of the cover member is spaced from the first surface of the planar member by one eighth of an inch to one inch. 
     
     
         46 . The method of  claim 40  wherein the step of providing a mounting coupler includes molding the mounting coupler. 
     
     
         47 . A method of installing a cover for an opening in a substantially flat first surface of a planar member, the method comprising the steps of:
 mounting a mounting coupler to the first surface of the planar member adjacent the opening;   linking the mounting coupler to a cover coupler attached to a cover member; and   rotating the cover member between a closed position, wherein the cover member is adjacent and substantially blocking view of the opening, and an open position, wherein the cover member is angled with respect to the first surface of the planar member and the opening can be accessed.   
     
     
         48 . The method of  claim 47  wherein the cover coupler and the mounting coupler include a cover hinge member and a mounting hinge member.