Roll-up furniture leg floor protector

Abstract

The present invention relates to a furniture leg floor protector. The invention is an improvement over the prior art in that firstly it has a flexible upper sleeve which is stretchable and adapted to receive a leg of many dimensions. This overcomes previous problems with floor protectors which after a certain age and wear, and because of semi-rigid construction, tend to fall off the furniture legs. The invention also presents a method of installing the felt pad on the bottom of the floor protector by means of molding around the pad during molding of the floor protector. This not only fixedly secures the pad to the rest of the floor protector in an integral manner; but also alleviates applying the pads to the floor protector by means of adhesive as a second step in the manufacturing process after molding.

1 . A furniture leg floor protector adapted for use with furniture, comprising: a semi-rigid body of rubber-like material; said body including a lower, circular side wall, a bottom wall, and a lower circumferential lip; said protector further comprising a stretchable flexible circular upper side wall; said lower circular side wall, said bottom wall, said circumferential lip, and said stretchable flexible circular upper side wall being integrally formed together as one during molding; said protector further comprising a pad; said pad being adapted to fit below said bottom wall and within said circumferential lip and be permanently affixed to said semi-rigid body during said molding. 
   
   
       2 . A method of manufacturing a furniture leg floor protector, as claimed in  claim 1 , comprising the steps of: (a) placing said pad in a friction-fitted centralized position on the bottom of an injection mold; (b) injecting a transparent rubber-like material, such as plasticized thermoplastic elastomer, into said mold over and around said pad; and (c) removing said protector with said permanently affixed pad from said mold after cooling and setting. 
   
   
       3 . A furniture leg floor protector as claimed in  claim 1  wherein said pad is a felt-like substance comprised of any one of the group of polyester, wool, nylon, rayon, Teflon, and cotton. 
   
   
       4 . A furniture leg floor protector as claimed in  claim 1  wherein said pad is comprised of a mixture of any two of the group of polyester, wool, nylon, rayon, Teflon, and cotton. 
   
   
       5 . A furniture leg floor protector as claimed in  claim 1  wherein said flexible stretchable circular upper side wall is thinner than said lower circular side wall. 
   
   
       6 . A furniture leg floor protector as claimed in  claim 5 , wherein said upper side wall in a first position is folded downwardly for shipping and handling, and in a second position is folded upwardly to engage a furniture leg during installation. 
   
   
       7 . A furniture leg floor protector as claimed in  claim 5  wherein said upper side wall in a first position is rolled down around said lower side wall during shipping and handling; and in a second position is unrolled to engage a furniture leg frictionally during installation. 
   
   
       8 . A furniture leg floor protector, as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the circumference of a top edge portion of said upper side wall is less than that of said lower side wall. 
   
   
       9 . A furniture leg floor protector, as claimed in  claim 8 , wherein said upper side wall is tapered inwardly and upwardly. 
   
   
       10 . A furniture leg floor protector as claimed in  claim 1  wherein an upper most portion of said upper side wall is thinner than a lower most portion of said upper side wall. 
   
   
       11 . A furniture floor protector as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein an outer side of said upper side wall is concave and an inner side of said upper side wall is convex; and the circumference of a top portion of said upper side wall is less than the circumference of a bottom portion of said upper side wall. 
   
   
       12 . A furniture leg floor protector as claimed in  claim 1  wherein a top portion of said upper side wall is of the same thickness as a lower most portion of said upper side wall. 
   
   
       13 . A furniture leg floor protector as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the thickness of said upper side wall decreases from a lower most position to an uppermost position. 
   
   
       14 . A furniture leg floor protector as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein said pad is round with planar top and bottom surfaces. 
   
   
       15 . A furniture leg floor protector as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein said pad includes a convex lower outer surface. 
   
   
       16 . A furniture leg floor protector as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein said pad includes a central aperture.