Paper-based elongate structures suitable for use as lumber substitutes, articles of manufacture made thereof, kits of materials including such structures, and machines and methods for making the same. Elongate structures according to the invention include a hollow outer portion formed of corrugated fiberboard sheet material and an accordion-folded inner support formed of corrugated fiberboard sheet material. The hollow outer portion has four outer surfaces that define a rectangle when viewed in cross-section transverse to a longitudinal axis of the elongate structure. The accordion-folded inner support is enclosed within the hollow outer portion. The inner support includes a plurality of first spaced-apart peaks that contact a first inner surface of the hollow outer portion and a plurality of second spaced-apart peaks that contact an opposing second inner surface of the hollow outer portion. The accordion-folded inner support structure improves the beam strength, crush resistance and lateral strength of the elongate structure.

Systems of a footrest are described, along with a process for making the footrest. The footrest may include a base with at least four side walls connected by a bottom side. The base may be folded into a flat or box shape. The footrest may also include a container lid connected by a bottom lid and a top lid, and the base may be configured to join with the container lid. The base may also fit inside the container lid when folded, and the bottom lid of the container lid includes at least two semi-circular shaped depressions.

Chairs, stool assemblies, and systems for constructing furniture. Such a chair including structural members having hinge joints at ends thereof pivotally coupling each of the members to one or more adjoining members. The chair is configured to be arranged in a collapsed configuration wherein all of the members are in the same plane and define a substantially planar shape, and configured to be arranged in an expanded configuration to define a seat, armrests, support legs, and leg braces of the chair. Such a stool assembly includes at least first and second stools configured to be stackable such that the seats of the stools abut face to face and in combination define a composite base. Such a system for constructing furniture includes multiple joints each having slots configured to receive and retain structural members and configured to be assembled with the structural members to form a piece of furniture with the multiple joints defining corners of the piece of furniture.

A chair including structural members having hinge joints at ends thereof pivotally coupling each of the members to one or more adjoining members. The chair is configured to be arranged in a collapsed configuration wherein all of the members are in the same plane and define a substantially planar shape, and configured to be arranged in an expanded configuration to define a seat, armrests, support legs, and leg braces of the chair. A stool assembly includes at least first and second stools configured to be stackable such that the seats of the stools abut face to face and in combination define a composite base. A system for constructing furniture includes multiple joints each having slots configured to receive and retain structural members and configured to be assembled with the structural members to form a piece of furniture with the multiple joints defining corners of the piece of furniture.

Disclosed herein are folded sheets of material for use as a structural member and assembly thereof. According to an aspect, a sheet of material defines one or more tabs, slots, and a plurality of fold lines. The fold lines are spaced such that folding the sheet along the fold lines places the slots in substantial alignment for receiving the at least one tab such that a structural member having a web formed in an interior thereof is formed.

A flexible article is provided having a core formed from a plurality of laminar panels that are inter-connected to provide an expandable structure upon movement of the panels away from each other. Opposite ends of the core terminate in a pair of end panels whereby the end panels may be moved apart to expand the expandable structure. A passage extends in a direction between the end panels and intersects the panels, At least two tubes connected with a connector are located within the passage, and the connector includes two ends that are respectively friction fitted with ends of the tubes.

An article of flexible furniture having a core formed from a plurality of laminar panels of a flaccid material and each panel having a pair of oppositely directed major faces, adjacent faces of said panels being inter-connected to provide a cellular structure upon movement of abutting faces away from each other, a pair of supports at opposite ends of said core and connected to respective ones of said faces, said supports being self-supporting to provide rigidity to said core whereby said supports may be moved apart to expand said cellular and extend the length of said partition.

Among other things, a piece of furniture is formed from three separate precut pieces of flat cardboard. A first one of the pieces has a bottom edge to rest on a floor with the first piece rising vertically from the bottom edge and has at least one slot at an upper edge of the first piece. A second one of the pieces has a bottom edge to rest on the floor with the second piece rising from the bottom edge and having at least one slot at an upper edge of the second piece. A third one of the pieces has a crease across the piece and at least two slots along at least one edge that is parallel to the fold. The piece of furniture is formed by mating the one slot in the first piece with one of the slots of the third piece, folding the third piece of cardboard at the crease, and mating the one slot in the second piece with another one of the slots of the third piece, with the third piece folded along the crease.

A freestanding extensible wall for partitioning an area of a room, said wall having a base, a top, oppositely directed surfaces extending between said base and said top, said base, top and surfaces defining a core, said core comprising a cellular structure having multiple voids extending from said base to said top upon movement of said oppositely directed surfaces away from each other, said base having a width of at least 10 centimeters and placed on a floor, and said core having a height of at least 1 meter, whereby opposite ends of said core may be moved apart to expand said cellular structure and extend the length of said core and to form at least a substantially straight freestanding wall configuration, while maintaining its vertical extent.

The present invention relates to a construction kit for a collapsible frame structure (1), wherein the construction kit is characterized in that the construction kit comprises flat components of type A (15, 25, 35) and components of at least one type B (20, 30, 40, 45), which are each formed in the shape of rectangles, which each have two long sides and two edge sides, wherein the components of type A (15, 25, 35) and of type B (20, 30, 40, 45) each have a thickness D and each have an identical length L and an identical width W, the components of type A (15, 25, 35) and of type B (20, 30, 40, 45) are each subdivided into n equally large sections of length L/n, which are bounded by n+1 sectional boundaries, wherein the edge sides of the components of types A and B (20, 30, 40, 45) form the respective outer sectional boundaries and the central vertical line between the long sides of the respective components forms the central sectional boundary, wherein the central vertical line is an axis of symmetry S, and wherein, in the components of type A, on a long side of the respective component, n2 slots are arranged along a partial length of the respective sectional boundaries and are located between the edge sides and the axis of symmetry S, and wherein, in the components of type B (20, 30, 40, 45), n4 slots are arranged along selected sectional boundaries and are located between the edge sides and the axis of symmetry S, wherein, starting from a long side, some of the n4 slots are arranged along a partial length of the respective sectional boundaries, and, starting from the other long side, the other n4 slots are arranged on the respective other sectional boundaries, and wherein, starting from a long side, at least 2 of the n4 slots of the components of type B (20, 30, 40, 45) are each arranged along the sectional boundaries and are directly adjacent to the axis of symmetry and, furthermore, starting from the other long side of the component, at least 2 of the n4 slots of the component of type B (20, 30, 40, 45) are arranged along the sectional boundaries and are adjacent to the respective edge sides, and n is 8, 10, or 12. The invention further relates to a method for producing an installation assembly (2) of the construction kit according to the invention and a method for the production thereof.