No tools modular sofa

Abstract

A modular sofa that can be assembled without the use of tools or special assembly skill. The modular sofa includes two identical L-shaped halves which are laid one over the other prior to assembly to create an efficient configuration for receipt within a compact shipping container. During assembly, the L-shaped halves of the sofa are connected together without the use of tools. Each sofa half has a seat box, an upstanding arm fixedly connected to the seat box, and a sofa back detachably connected to the seat box and to the upstanding arm of the seat box without the use of tools. The seat box and the sofa back of each sofa half have a hollow compartment to which manual access is permitted and in which fasteners are located and manipulated without the use of tools during the assembly of the sofa.

1 . A no tools modular sofa comprising:
 a first sofa portion including a first seat box to support the weight of an individual who is seated on said first sofa portion, said first seal box having first and opposite sides;   a second sofa portion including a second seat box to support the weight of an individual who is seated on said second sofa portion, said second seat box having first and opposite sides;   a first sofa arm fixedly connected to and standing upwardly from the first side of said first seat box of said first sofa portion;   a second sofa arm fixedly connected to and standing upwardly from the first side of said second seat box of said second sofa portion, such that said first and second sofa arms are disposed in spaced parallel alignment with one another; and   at least one fastener by which the opposite sides of said first and second seat boxes are attached to one another without the use of tools such that said first and second sofa portions are connected together.   
     
     
         2 . The no tools modular sofa recited in  claim 1 , wherein said first and second sofa portions are identical halves each having an L-shape and being connected together, such that the opposite sides of said first and second seat boxes are attached one to the other. 
     
     
         3 . The no tools modular sofa recited in  claim 2 , wherein said at least one fastener is removable from the opposite sides of said first and second seat boxes without the use of tools so that said first and second seat boxes are detached and said first and second sofa portions are disconnected from one another. 
     
     
         4 . The no tools modular sofa recited in  claim 1 , wherein each of said first and second seat boxes of said first and second sofa portions has a hollow compartment, said at least one fastener extending between the hollow compartments of said first and second seat boxes by which said seat boxes are attached to one another. 
     
     
         5 . The no tools modular sofa recited in  claim 4 , wherein said at least one fastener has a rotatable hand knob connected to a threaded connector pin, said rotatable hand knob being located within the hollow compartment of one of said first and second seat boxes and said threaded connector pin extending between the hollow compartments of said first and second seat boxes. 
     
     
         6 . The no tools modular sofa recited in  claim 4 , wherein each of said first and second seat boxes has a cover lying over and covering the hollow compartment thereof, said covers being removable from said first and second seat boxes without the use of tools to permit manual access to the hollow compartments of said first and second seat boxes. 
     
     
         7 . The no tools modular sofa recited in  claim 1 , further comprising a first sofa back connected to the first seat box of said first sofa portion without the use of tools and a second sofa back connected to the second seat box of said second sofa portion without the use of tools. 
     
     
         8 . The no tools modular sofa recited in  claim 7 , wherein each of said first and second sofa backs has a connector depending downwardly therefrom and each of said first and second seat boxes has a connector receipt opening formed therein, each of the connectors depending downwardly from said first and second sofa backs being located within a respective connector receipt opening by which said first and second sofa backs are connected to said first and second seat boxes. 
     
     
         9 . The no tools modular sofa recited in  claim 7 , wherein each of said first and second sofa backs of said first and second sofa portions has first and opposite sides, the first side of said first sofa back being connected to the first sofa arm of said first seat box without the use of tools, the first side of said second sofa back being connected to the second sofa arm of said second seat box without the use of tools, and the opposite sides of said first and second, sofa backs being connected to one another without the use of tools. 
     
     
         10 . The no tools modular sofa recited in  claim 9 , wherein each of said first and second sofa backs of said first and second sofa portions has a hollow compartment, said modular sofa further comprising a first fastener extending between the hollow compartment of said first sofa back and the first sofa arm of said first seat box and a second fastener extending between the hollow compartment of said second sofa back and the second sofa arm of said second seat box. 
     
     
         11 . The no tools modular sofa recited in  claim 10 , further comprising a third fastener extending between the hollow compartments of said first and second sofa backs and through the opposite sides of said first and second sofa backs. 
     
     
         12 . The no tools modular sofa recited in  claim 11 , wherein said first fastener has a rotatable hand knob connected to a threaded connector pin, said rotatable hand knob being located within the hollow compartment of said first sofa back and said threaded connector pin extending between the hollow compartment of said first sofa back and the first sofa arm of said first seat box. 
     
     
         13 . The no tools modular sofa recited in  claim 12 , wherein said second fastener has a rotatable hand knob connected to a threaded connector pin, the rotatable hand knob of said second fastener being located within the hollow compartment of said second sofa back and the threaded connector pin thereof extending between the hollow compartment of said second sofa back and the second sofa arm of said second seat box. 
     
     
         14 . The no tools modular sofa recited in  claim 13 , wherein said third fastener has a rotatable hand knob connected to a threaded connector pin, the rotatable hand knob of said third fastener being located within the hollow compartment of one of said first and second sofa backs and the threaded connector pin thereof extending between the hollow compartments of said first and second sofa backs. 
     
     
         15 . The no tools modular sofa recited in  claim 10 , wherein each of said first and second sofa backs has a flap lying over and covering the hollow compartment thereof said flaps being removable from said first and second sofa backs without the use of tools to permit manual access to the hollow compartments of said first and second sofa backs. 
     
     
         16 . The no tools modular sofa recited in  claim 1 , further comprising first and second sets of feet connected without the use of tools to respective ones of the first and second seat boxes of said first and second sofa portions. 
     
     
         17 . A method for configuring a sofa disassembly prior to assembly for packaging within a shipping container, wherein said sofa disassembly includes;
 a first sofa portion including a first seat box having first and opposite sides and a hollow compartment located between said first and opposite sides, and a first sofa arm fixedly connected to and projecting from the first side of said first seat box; and   a second sofa portion including a second seat box having first and opposite sides and a hollow compartment located between said first and opposite sides, and a second sofa arm fixedly connected to and projecting from the first side of said second seat box; and   said method for configuring comprising the step of positioning said second sofa portion on top of said first sofa portion such that the hollow compartment of the second seat box of said second sofa portion is spaced above and separated from the hollow compartment of the first seat box of said first sofa portion, the opposite side of said second seat box lays on the first sofa arm projecting from the first side of said first seat box, and the second sofa arm projecting from the first side of said second seat box lays on the opposite side of said first seat box.   
     
     
         18 . The method for configuring recited in  claim 17 , wherein said sofa disassembly also includes a first sofa back to be connected to said first seat box during assembly and a second sofa back to be connected to said second seat box during assembly, said method comprising the additional steps of locating said first sofa back prior to assembly within the hollow compartment of the first seat box of said first sofa portion; and locating said second sofa back prior to assembly within the hollow compartment of the second seat box of said second sofa portion. 
     
     
         19 . The method for configuring recited in  claim 17 , wherein said sofa disassembly also includes a first seat cushion to be laid on said first seat box during assembly and a second seat cushion to be laid on said second seat box during assembly, said method comprising the additional step of laying said first and second seat cushions prior to assembly one on top of the other between the first and second seat boxes of said first and second sofa portions such that said first and second seat cushions are enclosed by said first and second sofa arms projecting from respective ones of the first and second seat boxes. 
     
     
         20 . The method for configuring recited in  claim 17 , wherein said first and second portions of said sofa disassembly are identical halves each having an L-shape.