AU2010247552A1

AU2010247552A1 - Piece of furniture covered with a flexible screen

Info

Publication number: AU2010247552A1
Application number: AU2010247552A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Ralf Mueterthies; Lars Schrubke; Michael Schubert
Original assignee: Hettich Holding GmbH and Co OHG
Current assignee: Rehau Automotive SE and Co KG
Priority date: 2009-05-09
Filing date: 2010-05-07
Publication date: 2011-10-27
Anticipated expiration: 2030-05-07
Also published as: TWI586298B; CN102422423B; RU2011149154A; EP2427911B1; TW201041542A; WO2010130658A1; RU2539344C2; ES2589031T3; CN102422423A; JP5789856B2; JP2012525887A; DE102009020627A1; EP2427911A1; AU2010247552B2; KR20120023776A

Abstract

A piece of furniture, in particular a cabinet or composed of several cabinets, and which preferably has insert elements (17), which can be retracted and extended by means of electromotive drives, is to be designed such that the elements for controlling the electromotive drives, the light sources and also the elements containing the information are not preceived as interfering. Thus, surfaces of the piece of furniture are equipped with at least one functional coating (10), which has a planar design and acts as a decor display layer (15) and/or as an information display layer (14) and/or as a touch-sensitive element.

Description

A piece of furniture covered with a flexible screen The invention relates to a piece of furniture, especially kitchen or office furniture, preferably a cabinet, which comprises retractable and insertable insert elements and/or doors to be opened or closed optionally by means of electromotive drives or by means of support of such drives. DE 20 2004 020 492 U 1, DE 102 36 211 A1, DE 102 36 211 A 1, DE 10 2006 060 781 A 1, WO 2007/128341 A2 and US 2004/00 33 375 will be mentioned concerning the state of the art. In the case of furniture, especially furniture which is erected in working spaces such as kitchens, office rooms, workshops and the like, the cabinets are often provided with information for the user. This occurs by way of labels for example which have a disturbing effect. When the information is changed, the labels need to be removed laboriously and new labels with the changed information need to be applied. Cabinets are usually provided with revolving doors, sliding doors, flaps or with retractable and insertable insert elements, which are usually drawers. It is known that such insert elements, flaps or doors can be equipped with electromotive drives which are triggered by the user by way of control elements. It is further known that the interior spaces of such insert elements and furniture can also be equipped with light sources. The invention is based on the object of principally further developing furniture of the kind mentioned above. This object is achieved by the subject matter of claim 1. The invention further provides the method of claim 18. Accordingly, at least one or several surfaces or at least a partial area of a surface of the furniture is provided with at least one single-layer or multi-layered planar functional coating which comprises at least one display layer as a functional layer. Said functional layer can be applied with known coating methods such as spraying for example or within the terms of a veneer. Accordingly, a carcass can also be provided with a functional coating beyond the edges especially in the visible area, with the functional coating further being used for making entries. 2843821_1 (GHMatters) P88399.AU The functional coating can be made up of various individual layers. The functional coatings as proposed here have at least one carrier layer which may comprise an adhesive layer for fixing the functional layer to the furniture surface. A carrier layer can also be applied in the form of a lacquer on the furniture surface beforehand. Furthermore, a protective layer is preferably provided on the side facing away from furniture surface, which protective layer protects the interposed layers from damage by environmental influences. The functional coatings comprise at least one display layer for displaying information or decorations on the respective furniture surface. A configuration with two display layers is possible, wherein one decoration display layer displays the chosen decoration. The other information display layer can be used for displaying information such as a TV image or the illustration within the terms of a computer screen. Instead of the decoration display layer, a permanent decoration layer can be applied in addition to the carrier layer or on the carrier layer. If required it is superimposed by the illustration of the information layer. A touch-sensitive layer can further preferably and advantageously be included in the layer composite. This layer can be used by the user to control functions of the furniture or other appliances. A control of the display layers by the touch-sensitive layer is also possible. An illumination function can also be integrated in the display layers. Furthermore, the touch-sensitive layer and one display layer can be combined into one layer with both functionalities. The several display layers can also be used to provide the furniture with different colors by means of different OLEDs, which in this case can each be configured to produce only one color. This functional coating can preferably be arranged as a multilayer functional film which provides at least one display function. It can be used itself for illustrating information and or as a design element. The information can optionally also be changed. For this purpose, the functional film (or its triggerable layers such as the display film layer or a touch-sensitive film layer, is preferably connected to a control unit (e.g. the microprocessor) or is provided with the same. It is 2843621 1 (GHMatters) P88399.AU possible that the functional film can be triggered either in a wire-bound manner or in a wireless manner. The variant is especially advantageous when the functional film or films are triggerable externally (e.g. in a wireless fashion), so that they can be loaded within the scope of data transmission with new information (handling information or decoration). They are further preferably provided with an energy source (battery, capacitor) or are connected to such one. The display film layer can be used in an outstanding manner for illustrating a decoration, information or the like, so that preferably it will not impair the visual appearance of a piece of furniture but will optimize the same, other than is the case with labels. The terms of "film" or "film layer" shall be understood in such a way that preferably there is a certain flexibility of the film layer in its entirety, so that it is possible to use the film layer also in the region of slightly curved surfaces. In accordance with an advantageous variant of the invention, the display film layer of the functional film is arranged itself with several layers and comprises at least one information display film layer and at least one design display film layer. It is advantageous if at least the information display layer comprises a data interface. It can also be provided in the design display film layer, but it does not necessarily need to be. The data interface allows at least the input of data to the display in order to change the respective display. When using a design display film layer (especially as an organic light-emitting diode (OLED)), an entire surface of the furniture or an entire piece of furniture can be coated accordingly and the design display film layer will be used to provide the piece of furniture with one or several colors or to display a graphic or the like. The design element can also be arranged as a luminous element in order to achieve a light effect. The information display film layer can preferably be arranged as a display element in order to display information visible to the user such as pictograms, user advice or the like. flIf f~ll~I PMAQQ M I The functional film is optionally provided with a touch-sensitive functional layer, for which purpose it is supplemented by a touch-sensitive film layer, as is known and is used for example for touch-sensitive displays in mobile phones or computers. In this case this layer can be used to make entries in order to thereby change the color or the design for example, to retrieve handling information or to actuate electric devices such as drives or the like, e.g. drives for opening doors or drawers for example. For this purpose, a respective wire-bound or wireless connection to these devices is realized. This layer must also be supplied with power and should comprise a data interface. An OLED is a planar, relatively thin and luminous component made of organic semiconducting materials which can also be produced in the form of films. They are therefore especially suitable for realizing the invention. Due to the material properties of the OLED, bending or similar deformation is possible. Electronic paper, which is also known as e-paper, is a display that provides the impression of printed paper when looking at the same. It can be produced as a flexible film layer. Usually, text and images are displayed without any voltage for maintaining the information after their first display. An electronic paper allows that decorations formed by means of ink, color or the like can be recreated, as is also possible when using paper. Furthermore, light is also reflected as in normal paper. It is especially advantageous that texts or decorations can be displayed in a preferably permanent manner without requiring electrical power for this purpose. Such a display can also be changed at a later time. An electronic paper can be based on OLED technology, but other technologies are also possible. As a result, the displays can be changed according to the user's requirements with very little effort especially in stationary pieces of furniture such as fitted kitchens. It is especially advantageous that the spectator is provided the same decoration from any angle of view, which is caused by the small distance between the imaging element of the OLED to the outer surface. 2843821 1 (GHMatters) P88399.AU This decoration appears to be flicker-free as a result of the static display. It can be adjusted to the shape of the respective surface as a result of the flexibility. It is further advantageous that an OLED can be produced in a large variety of sizes, e.g. from a relatively small display for displaying the current weather report for example up to a relatively large display panel or a billboard surface. Finally, the use of OLEDs is energy-saving because no significant energy is required for producing and maintaining a display. Instead, the current flow is only used for changing the content of an image or a decoration. Since the imaging elements are reflective, the image and the decoration can be perceived very well under normal ambient light and even under the influence of sunlight. It is provided in a preferred embodiment that the layer composite of the functional film comprises the display film layer and a layer or film layer forming the touch-sensitive element or the control panel. This arrangement is appropriately and advantageously supplemented by a protective film on the side facing away from the furniture and an adhesive layer facing towards the furniture. This layer composite can be fixed in an especially simple way to a surface of the furniture by means of the adhesive layer. In order to ensure that the adhesive layer is protected before the application of this layer composite to the furniture, is covered for example by a removable cover strip. The embodiment as described above is preferably very thin and flexible and can therefore be fixed to a piece of furniture at a suitable location without having to provide any recesses, cut portions or the like on the furniture component. Moreover, it can also be applied to surfaces arranged in a curved manner. The display film layer can also be arranged in several layers and comprise an e-paper layer for the display of information and an OLED layer in order to achieve a luminous effect. It is provided in a further embodiment that in a piece of furniture with several retractable and insertable drawers at least the front cover of a drawer is provided with at least one functional film. This functional film is preferably arranged on one of the visible edges of the front cover. When the drawer is pushed in, this functional film is then invisible or covered. The effects as already described above can be used in opening the drawer. In this embodiment, the functional film is solely used for informing the user. Since different items are stored in the drawers for example, it is advantageous if the front covers of all drawers are equipped with at least one of the functional films. The embodiment as described above is especially suitable for household furniture. Especially a unit of a kitchen furniture consists of several base cabinets disposed adjacent to one another and one or several wall cabinets arranged at a distance therefrom at the top. It is provided in such a piece of furniture that at least one functional film, preferably several functional films, is installed in the vertical front edges of the worktop the base cabinets. At least one functional film is appropriately associated with each base cabinet. It is alternatively possible that at least one functional film is arranged in each visible side of the front cover of a drawer of a piece of furniture. If a piece of kitchen furniture is concerned, at least one further functional film is visibly arranged on the outside on the front flap or the door of each wall cabinet. Control elements and information displays can thereby be provided in the entire area of the functional coating. As a result, the control elements can be provided in an ergonomically advantageous way for the respective user. The decoration can also be varied at will, so that rustic oak is displayed for one minute and pink the next minute. The user-specific information can be stored in a memory and can be transferred to the functional coating upon recognition or by choice of the user. As a result, the piece of furniture provided with a functional coating can be adjusted to the requirements of the respective user. The invention also provides a method for displaying information and/or the changing designs (or the decoration and/or the color) in a piece of furniture, in which the information is displayed and/or the design of the piece of furniture is changed by means of the functional coating. The color of the piece of furniture can thereby be changed as desired for example. The color of a furniture front can be changed in a simple way for example.

The invention will be explained below in closer detail by reference to the enclosed drawings, wherein: Fig. I shows a sectional view of a functional film composed of a layer composite which is fixed to a furniture component; Fig. 2 shows a sectional view of a further functional film which is made up of a layer composite and which is fixed to a furniture component; Fig. 3 shows a sectional view of a further functional film which is made up of a layer composite and which is fixed to a furniture component; Fig. 4 shows a piece of furniture with several retractable and insertable drawers, with one drawer being withdrawn at least in part; Fig. 5 shows a detail V in Fig. 4 in an enlarged view; Fig. 6 shows a wall cabinet in a perspective view; Fig. 7 shows a piece of furniture with several insertable and retractable drawers in a second embodiment; Fig. 8 shows a detail VIII in Fig. 7 in an enlarged view; Fig. 9 shows a wall cabinet in a further embodiment; Fig. 10 shows a piece of furniture with several insertable and retractable drawers in a further embodiment; Fig. 11 shows a detail X in Fig. 10 in an enlarged view; Fig. 12 shows a wall cabinet in a third embodiment; AAIAW1 1 MHMa l PR39 AU Fig. 13 shows a piece of furniture with several insertable and retractable drawers in a third embodiment; Fig. 14 shows a detail XIV in Fig. 13 in an enlarged view; Fig. 15 shows a piece of furniture with several insertable and retractable drawers in a fourth embodiment; Fig. 16 shows a detail XVI in Fig. 15 in an enlarged view, and Fig. 17 shows a piece of furniture with several insertable and retractable drawers in a fifth embodiment; Fig. 18 shows a detail XVIII in Fig. 17 in an enlarged view; Figs. 19 to 21 show perspective views of a piece of furniture in different states. Fig. 1 shows a sectional view of a functional coating 10 for a surface (area) of a piece of furniture which is arranged as a multilayer composite. The layer configuration in Fig. 1 of a functional coating 1Oa is provided as follows: e Protective layer 12 * Touch-sensitive layer 13 * Information display layer 14 * Decoration display layer 15 * Support layer 16 with adhesive function These layers are connected with the furniture surface 11 by way of the adhesive function of the support layer. Fig. 2 shows a deviating layer arrangement of a functional coating 10b which is arranged as follows: e Protective layer 12 " Touch-sensitive layer 13 * Information display layer 14 " Decoration layer 25 " Support layer 16 with adhesive function The decoration layer 25 is used for permanently displaying a preselected decoration in the background. The display of the information display layer temporarily covers the decoration of the decoration at 25 with its display. Fig. 3 shows a further deviating layer arrangement of a functional coating 1Oc: e Protective layer 12 * Touch-sensitive and information display layer 26 * Decoration display layer 15 * Support layer 16 with adhesive function In this variant, the touch-sensitive layer and the information layer are advantageously combined into one layer as a touch-sensitive and information display layer 26. The functional coating 10 is applied to a furniture surface 11 of a piece of furniture shown in Figs. 4 to 18. The functional coating 10 as shown in the drawings is representative for the previously described variants 1Oa, 1Ob and 1Oc. Further layer sequences and layer figurations are possible for achieving a functional coating 10. Contrary to the illustrations according to Figs. I to 3, this functional coating 10 could also be applied to a curved furniture surface 11. In accordance with Fig. 1, the functional coating 10 preferably comprises at first a protective layer 12 made from a transparent and scratch-proof material on the side facing away from the furniture surface 11. A touch-sensitive element which forms a control element is adjacent thereto in the direction towards the furniture surface 11, which is therefore a touch-sensitive layer 13. U12 1 IC.HU-,II PRR3OQ All This is followed by at least one display layer towards the furniture. The display layer can be a single-layer or be arranged within multilayer configuration again. In this case, it comprises an information display layer 14 which is used for information display and the decoration display layer 15 which is used for displaying a design and which can be arranged as a luminous layer for example. The information display layer 14 (e.g. an electronic paper) which is used for information display is preferably connected to a control device (not shown here) by way of a plug 21 (e.g. USB) or in a wireless manner. It can also comprise a microprocessor. The decoration display layer 15 (e.g. an OLED) which is used for displaying a design is (preferably only) connected to a voltage source, which is merely indicated symbolically by the two poles "+" and "-" (reference numeral: pole 22). If only previously stored information is displayed, voltage supply is sufficient (optionally also by way of a battery or a capacitor) which can also be integrated in the display. The functional coating 10 which is arranged as a functional film for example is attached to the furniture surface I1 by means of a support layer 16 which is arranged as an adhesive layer. The individual layers 12 to 16 are shown on an enlarged scale for reasons of the illustration. The size of this functional coating can be varied according to the respective application up to an illumination of a furniture component covering the entire surface area. Figs. 4 and 5 show a piece of furniture with several insertable and retractable drawers 17. Two functional coatings 10 are applied to the upper horizontally extending edge of a drawer 17, as is shown especially in Fig. 5. Contrary to the illustration, all front covers 18 of the drawers 19 could be provided with at least one functional coating. Fig. 6 shows that a wall cabinet is arranged above the piece of furniture comprising the drawers 17 which is provided in the form of a base cabinet. Fig. 7 shows a piece of furniture in the form of a base cabinet for a kitchen. This piece of furniture is also provided with six drawers 17 which are each provided with a front cover 18. In 2aMAA21 1 ICHMatterM PAR399 AU this embodiment, the piece of furniture comprises a worktop 19 covering the drawers 17. Two control elements 23 are positioned on the visible front edge of the worktop 19 above each drawer 17, which control elements respond to contact by the user. The display of the control element occurs by way of the information display layer. The detection of the commands by the user occurs by the touch-sensitive layer. The circumferential edge is provided in this embodiment with a so-called edge band in the form of a functional coating 10. In contrast to the illustrated embodiment, further functional coatings 10 could be applied to the visible furniture areas. Fig. 8 shows the arrangement in an enlarged configuration. The arrangement according to Figs. 9 to 11 differs from the embodiments according to Figs. 6 to 8 in such a way that on the outside to control elements 23 are applied in a functional coating 10 on the flap of the wall cabinet 20. In this embodiment, each front cover 18 is provided on the outside withtwo control elements 23 in a functional coating 10, as is shown in Fig. 10 and in an enlarged view in Fig. 11. The embodiment according to Figs. 12 to 14 substantially corresponds to the embodiment according to Figs. 9 to 11, but with the difference that a decoration, a pattern or the like is achieved by means of the functional coating 10. Preferably, at least one display layer is formed by an OLED which is used or configured as a luminous layer. The number of control elements 23 arranged in a piece of furniture depends on the type of the furniture and the requirements concerning the possible functions. Figs. 15 to 18 show contrary to Figs. 14 and 15 that a variety of information displays 24 can be produced with the functional coating. Figs. 17 and 18 show especially that the control elements 23 could be displayed and used in the information display 24 if required. Control elements 23 and information displays 24 can thus be produced in the entire region of the functional coating 10. As a result, the control elements can be produced in an ergonomically advantageous manner for the respective user. The decoration can be varied at will, with rustic oak being displayed in one minute and pink in the other minute. The user-specific information 294M821 I (CHMaterIa P883D9 AU can be stored in a memory and can be transferred to the functional coating upon recognition or by choice of the user. As a result, the piece of furniture provided with a functional coating can be adjusted to the requirements of the respective user. The functional coating can also comprise a pure decoration film (e.g. a printed paper which is used as a background for the other transparent films). Figs. 19 and 20 each show a perspective view of a piece of furniture 27 in different states. This piece of furniture 27 is a kind of kitchen furniture which is arranged with a display layer as a functional coating which comprises at least one information layer or display layer. The functional coating can further be used to make entries. In this case, this functional coating which preferably fully covers the surface area is used to form a kind of functional field 28 on the surface which comprises display elements such as the temperature display 29 and input fields 30. The functional field can be arranged for example in the manner of a user interface for a kitchen appliance such as an oven. The kitchen appliance can be integrated in the furniture. It can also be installed at another place for example and can be connected with the piece of furniture by way of a wireless or a wire-bound data interface. A camera 31 can optionally be provided. In accordance with a first variant, the functional field 28 is formed at a fixed location on the piece of furniture. This functional field 28 can be arranged in the manner of a touchscreen input field. It can be used to make settings in the kitchen appliance (as a control element) by means of touchscreen input means such as an input window with displaceable bars or the like. Temperatures, time entries and the like are entered in an oven for example. In this case, the functional coating is connected with a control device of the kitchen appliance by way of a data interface. Inputs on the functional field 28 are transmitted to the control device which changes the settings of the kitchen appliance, e.g. by triggering a heating of a heating plate or the like. 2843821 1 (GHMatters) P88399.AU The functional field can also be used to display information such as information on the actual state of the kitchen appliance. A camera in the appliance (which is not the camera 31) can take a snapshot of the interior of the oven and display this image on a display field 32. It is also possible to arrange the functional field for displaying information. It could display the actual temperature of an oven for example. The functional field 28 could be coupled by way of the data interface with further devices such as a computer (PC) and/or with the Internet in order to display information from the Internet or from another storage medium (recipes, instructions, etc). In the case of a functional coating that is arranged over a .respectively large surface area, the functional field 28 can be displayed not only at one location but at different locations or even at a freely selectable position in the functional coating. It can be variable in size, with preferably windowing technique from computer technology being used. It is also advantageously possible to determine the height of a user with the camera 31 and, according to this size, to display the functional field or fields 28 on the surface of the piece of furniture (or a furniture arrangement consisting of several pieces of furniture) at other locations (cf. Figs. 19, 20, 21).

List of reference numerals 10 Functional coating S1I Furniture surface 12 Protective layer 13 Touch-sensitive layer 14 Information display layer 15 Decoration display layer 16 Support layer 17 Drawer 18 Front cover 19 Worktop 20 Wall cabinet 21 Plug 22 Pole 23 Control elements 24 Information display 25 Decoration layer 26 Touch-sensitive and information display layer 27 Furniture 28 Functional field 29 Temperature display 30 Input fields 31 Camera 32 Display fields 2843821_1 (GHMatters) P88399 AU

Claims

1. A piece of furniture, especially kitchen or office furniture, preferably a cabinet, which comprises retractable and insertable insert elements and/or doors to be opened or closed optionally by means of electromotive drives or by means of support of such drives, characterized in that at least one or several surfaces or at least a partial area of a surface of the piece of furniture is provided with at least one single-layer or multi-layered planar functional coating (10) which comprises at least one display layer (14, 15) as a functional layer, with said functional layer further being usable for making inputs.

2. A piece of furniture according to claim 1, characterized in that the at least one display layer (14, 15) preferably comprises at least one planar arranged organic light-emitting diode layer and/or an electronic paper layer.

3. A piece of furniture according to claim I or 2, characterized in that the functional coating comprises at least one touch-sensitive layer (13) in addition to the display layer (14, 15).

4. A piece of furniture according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that the functional coating comprises a protective layer (12) made of a transparent and preferably scratch-proof material on the side facing away from the surface (11) of a piece of furniture.

5. A piece of furniture according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the functional coating comprises at least one decoration layer (25) in addition to the display layer (14, 15).

6. A piece of furniture according to one or several of the preceding claims, characterized in that the functional coating (10) comprises a support layer (16) on the side of the piece of furniture which faces away from the furniture surface (11).

7. A piece of furniture according to one or several of the preceding claims, characterized in that the display layer of the functional coating is arranged with several layers. 2843821 1 (GHMatters) P88399.AU

8. A piece of furniture according to one or several of the preceding claims, characterized in that the display layer of the functional coating is arranged with several layers and comprises at least one information display layer (14) and at least one decoration display layer (15).

9. A piece of furniture according to one or several of the preceding claims, characterized in that the display layer (14 and/or 15) comprises a data interface.

10. A piece of furniture according to one or several of the preceding claims, characterized in that the display layer (14, 15) of the functional coating is arranged with several layers itself and comprises an electronic paper layer and an OLED layer.

11. A piece of furniture according to one or several of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least one of the functional coatings is arranged on a visible edge of the front cover (18) of at least one insertable and retractable drawer (17).

12. A piece of furniture according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least one of the functional coatings (10) is applied to the visible surface of at least one front cover (18) of at least one insertable and retractable drawer (17).

13. A piece of furniture according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least one of the functional coatings (10) is applied to the visible surfaces of all front covers (18) of the insertable and retractable drawers (17).

14. A piece of furniture according to one or several of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least one of the functional coatings (10) is applied to the visible surface of the front flap of a wall cabinet (20).

15. A piece of furniture according to one or several of the preceding claims, characterized in that one or several of the functional coatings (10) is applied to at least one visible edge of a worktop (19) of a piece of furniture. 2843621_1 (GHMatters) P88399AU

16. A piece of furniture according to one or several of the preceding claims, characterized in that the functional coating (10) is arranged as a functional film.

17. A method for displaying and/or entering information and/or for changing the design in a piece of furniture according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the information is displayed and/or is entered and/or the design of the furniture is changed by means of the functional coating.

18. A method according to claim 17, characterized in that the functional coating is used to display at least one functional field (28) at a fixed location or at variable locations, which functional field preferably comprises display elements and/or input fields (30) in a piece of furniture (27) with the display layer as the functional coating which comprises at least one information layer or display layer (14), and the functional coating can further be used to make entries. 284321_1 (GHMatters) P88399.AU