Integrated angle brace and furniture foot and manufacturing method

Abstract

A hardware leg for both bracing furniture joints and providing an integrated friction reducing foot pad for supporting the furniture item. The leg has an angled bracket portion mountable to individual panels or a pair of corner adjacent surfaces through screw or nail fastener holes, staple engageable nibs or through the penetratable plates of the bracket itself. The bracket and foot pad can be formed integrally through injection molding from a strong, durable, slick, non-scratching plastic material such as graphite impregnated acetal resin. Further, colored dyes can be selected and mixed with the material during molding to provide a leg color matched to the furniture piece.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . (Cancelled).  
     
     
         2 . A hardware leg for furniture comprises: 
 an oblong bracket having an upper end and a opposite lower end; and    a pad mounted to said lower end,    wherein said bracket is sized and shaped to mount to a pair of corner-adjacent surfaces, and,    wherein said bracket and said pad are formed integrally from a first material.    
     
     
         3 . The leg of  claim 2 , wherein said first material is selected from the group consisting of: 
 polypropylene, ABS, polybutylene, polystyrene, and acetal resin.    
     
     
         4 . The leg of  claim 2 , wherein said material comprises graphite impregnated plastic.  
     
     
         5 . The leg of  claim 2 , wherein said material comprises a dye selected to match a color of a piece of furniture.  
     
     
         6 . The leg of  claim 2 , wherein said bracket has a thickness of between about ⅛″ and {fraction (3/16)}″.  
     
     
         7 . The leg of  claim 2 , which further comprises a cushion bonded to a lower surface of said pad.  
     
     
         8 . The leg of  claim 7 , wherein said lower surface is formed to have a socket and said cushion is bonded within said socket.  
     
     
         9 . The leg of  claim 2 , wherein said bracket comprises a first substantially planar face and a second substantially planar face oriented at a first angle to said first face.  
     
     
         10 . The leg of  claim 9 , wherein said first and second faces are oriented substantially orthogonally to each other.  
     
     
         11 . The leg of  claim 9 , wherein said first face is formed to have at least one mounting hole extending therethrough.  
     
     
         12 . The leg of  claim 11 , wherein said mounting hole is substantially cylindrically shaped about a central axis.  
     
     
         13 . A hardware leg for furniture comprises: 
 an oblong bracket having an upper end and a opposite lower end; and    a pad mounted to said lower end,    wherein said bracket is sized and shaped to mount to a pair of corner-adjacent surfaces;    wherein said bracket comprises a first substantially planar face and a second substantially planar face oriented at a first angle to said first face;    wherein said first face is formed to have at least one mounting hole extending therethrough    wherein said mounting hole is substantially cylindrically shaped about a central axis; and,    wherein a second angle is formed between said central axis and a direction normal to said first substantially planar face.    
     
     
         14 . The leg of  claim 13 , wherein said second angle ranges between about 15 and 45 degrees.  
     
     
         15 . A hardware leg for furniture comprises: 
 an oblong bracket having an upper end and a opposite lower end; and    a pad mounted to said lower end,    wherein said bracket is sized and shaped to mount to a pair of corner-adjacent surfaces;    wherein said bracket comprises a first substantially planar face and a second substantially planar face oriented at a first angle to said first face; and,    wherein said first face further comprises a first nib extending from a first edge of said face.    
     
     
         16 . The leg of  claim 9  which further comprises at least one spike extending from an upper surface of said pad.