Hey all:
My name is Chris and I came across this great little forum a couple of days ago. On the bottom of each Eames lounge chair I've encountered, I've seen a label listing the patent numbers. I've looked up about 50 patent numbers now and only once I've come close to one that shows the actual Eames Lounge Chair (shock mount 5295755). I've also looked up "eames" on the US patent site and... hardly anything. Its almost like a conspiracy to conceal the actual design of the chair. I am not a designer, per se, but I do work in Autocad and I am a woodworker, who has also done some work in fibreglass. I am looking for the actual patent number for the Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman... and if anyone has any links/clues as to specs for dimensions, I wouldn't mind hearing from you, either. My last recourse is, of course, to get a fabric tape measure and do the measurements myself, but I have to have access to a lounge chair for that... and I don't have that anymore. Thanks for any help you can offer. I'd really appreciate it.
Chris
PS: and yes, I do know where I can get replacement parts such as the base and I also have a contact who can do great leather work, if need be! And yes, I think I could build a remarkable likeness to one for much less than 3500 dollars... even found out a little about how they molded the plywood... amazingly. Might just have to do a one-off one of these days... white leather, though!!!
The reason you found no...
The reason you found no "Eames" patents when you searched uspto.gov is that USPTO only offers full-text searches for patents issued since 1976. Earlier patents must be searched for on that site by patent number.
Google's patent search is screwed up these days, for some reason, so it won't help you much either.
None of that matters, though, since the only Lounge-specific patent is the one for the shockmounts on the arms:
USA 2,969,831
Switzerland 361,380
Canada 657,512
There's also a more general "Chair Construction with Resiliently Mounted Seat and Back" (US 2,667,210) and "Method of Making Laminated Articles" (US 2,395,468) that you may find interesting.
However, there's no design patent for the Lounge, and even if there were, it wouldn't include the sort of dimensional detail that you're looking for.
If I were you, I'd just search for a 3D model on the web. There are lots of them available for free.
Good luck...
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