DE29800385U1 - Shelf kit - Google Patents

Description

Eisenführ, Speiser & Partner !..· ^: .. ^: .:.". ' ·..· .·. * ü ^:: .. ^: Berlin-Bremen

Patent Attorney Patent Attorneys

European Patent Attorneys European Patent Attorneys

Dipl.-Ing. Jutta Kaden Dipl.-Ing. Günther Eisenführ

Dipl.-Ing. Dieter K. Speiser

Friedrichstrasse 56 Dr.-Ing. WernerW. Rabus

D-10117 Berlin Dipl.-Ing. Jürgen Brügge

Tel. 0 30-203 99 54-0 Dipl.-Ing. Jürgen Klinghardt

Fax 0 30-203 99 54-9 Dipl.-Ing. Klaus G. Göken

Patent Attorney Dipl.-Ing. Mark Andres

Attorneys at Law Ulrich H. Sander Christian Spintig Sabine Richter Rainer Böhm

Hamburg

Patent Attorneys Jochen Ehlers Berlin, 02 January 1 998 Di _P l,Ph _ys . Frank Meier

Munich

Our reference: W 8026 JKB Silent Attorneys

Dipl.-Phys. Gerhard Liedl

Authors: Wiegand, Lorenz; Schütt-Peschke, Stephan Pa^nwatt'"'" ⁹ - ^{RainerFritsche}

Official reference number: New registration Dipl.-Chem.Dr. Peter Schuler

Alicante

European Trademark Attorney Dipl.-Ing. Jürgen Klinghardt

Wiegand, Lorenz; Schütt-Peschke, Stephan

Shelf kit

The invention relates to a modular shelf kit, which essentially consists of two basic elements and can be plugged together in height and width to form almost any shelf variant. The basic elements, designed as supports and shelves, have slot-shaped cuts that enable a detachable plug-in connection without any additional elements or connecting parts.

Furniture with a wide variety of plug connections is already known, but these have the disadvantage that they either require additional plug or connecting parts or cannot be varied in size and designed as desired. In other known plug connections, the grooves or slots provided for the plug connections must be made over a critical cross-sectional area of the components, which can lead to material weakening and even breakage, making such constructions unusable for very thin materials such as plywood or similar. In other such constructions, the grooves have a complicated shape that can only be produced with extensive mechanical and technical effort and therefore make production significantly more expensive.

DE-OS 38 18 554 discloses a shelf kit consisting of side walls and shelves, in which the front surfaces of the side walls have horizontal grooves and the underside of the shelves have vertical grooves. The shelves

are attached to the side walls using aluminum angle rails, whereby the aluminum angle rails engage with the horizontal leg in the grooves of the side walls and with the vertical leg in the grooves of the shelves. The disadvantages of this design are the necessary additional connecting elements in the form of the aluminum angle rails and thicker material, which require additional costs and assembly effort, as well as the lack of variability in height, i.e. side walls of different heights have to be manufactured for different heights. The shelves manufactured according to this design principle are always provided with side and intermediate walls, so that access is only possible from the front and back, but not from the sides. This is also a disadvantage in many applications, such as shelves for trade fairs and exhibitions.

The plug connection according to DE-OS 16 54 628 also requires an additional plug-in part with the associated disadvantages mentioned above.

DE-OS 197 OO 608 describes a connection between a multi-layered wood veneer panel and another part, in which a groove is milled into the wood veneer panel, the base and side surfaces of which intersect the layers of the wood veneer panel. Another part can be inserted into this groove. The connection is designed as a press fit or as a connection that is created during use due to the load. This connection technology was developed specifically for multi-layered wood veneer panels, which have to be joined together in a specific arrangement in relation to the groove, and is therefore hardly suitable for other materials.

Furniture/shelves with plug-in node connections are known from DE-OS 42 07 221 and EP 0 153 426, in which vertically arranged uprights and horizontally arranged supports are detachably connected to one another by plug connections. The supports are connected at their ends by a straight overplating and then received in a cross groove formed at one end of the upright. A shelf or similar can then be supported on the frame formed by the supports and uprights or on devices provided on the frame. The disadvantage here is that the shelves cannot be connected directly to the uprights, but third elements, namely the supports, are required in order to obtain a stable and stiffening construction. In addition, relatively thick uprights are required in order to be able to form the cross connection, so that increased material requirements are required. The shelves, table tops or similar are normally located in this construction

only on the frame and for their secure attachment, e.g. when using light panels, additional fastening elements are required. According to the solution according to DE-OS 42 07 221, the levels are also not firmly connected to each other.

The invention is based on the object of developing a shelf kit of the type described at the beginning, which can be produced cost-effectively, time-saving and with little technical and mechanical effort, can be easily assembled even by laymen and is also constantly variable.

The object is achieved according to the invention by a shelf kit made of vertically arranged supports and horizontally arranged shelves, each of which is provided with slot-shaped incisions for producing a detachable plug-in connection between supports and shelves, in which the supports have slot-shaped incisions on at least one longitudinal edge with a width corresponding to the thickness of the shelves to be accommodated and the shelves have slot-shaped incisions on two opposite edges with a width corresponding to the thickness of the supports to be accommodated, which can be connected to one another in a stiffening but detachable manner in the form of a straight overplating, whereby each support can be plugged together with at least two and at most four shelves and each shelf with at least four and at most eight supports.

The shelf kit according to the invention creates a shelf system that can be assembled and designed in an almost unlimited variety of ways from just two different basic elements without the use of tools and without additional aids and connecting means. The basic elements in the form of the supports and floors are assembled by a connection in the form of a straight overlay that stiffens the supports and plates, so that the resulting shelf is inherently stable and stable at least up to a certain height without any additional stiffening or wall fastening means. Such high load and diagonal stability in combination with thin plate-shaped materials, extremely simple construction and extremely inexpensive and simple production has not yet been achieved by any of the known technical solutions, although this has been a long-standing need. Another significant advantage of the solution according to the invention is that the shelf constructed from the shelf kit remains variable at all times because disassembly and reassembly is possible essentially without wear of the connecting parts and the shelf is also adjustable in height and width.

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Width/length can be extended or reduced almost as desired. Each shelf can be connected to a maximum of eight supports, which in turn can each be connected to a maximum of four shelves. This maximum connection is achieved in the middle of the shelf, while on the sides and at the top and bottom of the shelf only two shelves are connected to four supports, although the shelf length and/or height can be extended or reduced at any time.

It goes without saying that the supports and floors can be of different dimensions, but dimensioning in a grid dimension has proven to be particularly advantageous. By providing additional slot-shaped cuts in the grid dimension, additional intermediate floors, partition walls or supports can be easily inserted.

Further advantageous embodiments of the invention are set out in the subclaims.

The invention is explained in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings using exemplary embodiments.

Fig. 1 shows a perspective view of a

Shelf kit according to one embodiment of assembled shelf.

Fig. 2 shows the basic elements according to the invention carrier and

Floor according to an embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 3 shows the basic elements according to the invention carrier and

Floor according to another embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 4 shows the basic elements according to the invention carrier and

Floor according to yet another embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 5 shows the basic elements according to the invention carrier and

Floor according to yet another embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 6a to 6d show the assembly of a shelf from the inventive

basic elements, partly in exploded view.

Fig. 7a, 7b show a possible embodiment of additional elements according to the invention.

Fig. 8 shows an embodiment of the inventive

assembled shelf with side and intermediate walls, partly in exploded view.

Fig. 9 shows the assembly of a shelf from the inventive

appropriate shelf kit as a corner shelf with intermediate and side walls.

Fig. 10 shows an enlarged view of a part of the shelf from

Fig.1.

Figure 1 shows a shelf 1 assembled according to the invention in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention. The shelf 1 is formed from two basic elements, namely the vertically arranged supports 2 and the horizontally arranged shelves 4. The supports 2 have slot-shaped incisions 3 on their two long sides 2a, 2b, which are each arranged close to the narrow sides 2c, 2d of the supports 2 and opposite each other at the same height. The shelves 4 also have slots 5, which are arranged so as to be compatible with the slots 3 of the supports 2. The width of the slots 3 is equal to the thickness of the shelves 4 and the width of the slots 5 is equal to the thickness of the supports 2, so that the slots 3 and 5 of the supports 2 and shelves 4 can be inserted into one another and to a certain extent can be fixed. The narrow sides 2c, 2d of the supports 2 are provided with grooves 6 on both sides, so that a step 7 is formed in the middle, which serves as a stop for an additional side or intermediate wall, as will be described later.

Figures 2 to 5 show possible designs of the basic elements 2, 4 with different designs of the slot-shaped incisions 3, 5.

As Figure 2 shows, the support 2 is provided with a slot-shaped incision 3 on both long sides 2a, 2b near the narrow sides 2c, 2d, i.e. with a total of four slots 3, the width b of which corresponds to the thickness d of the bases 4 (see

Fig. 10). The slots 3 on the opposite sides 2a, 2b are aligned with each other. The base 4 is provided on its side edges 4c, 4d near the corners to the front sides 4a, 4b with parallel notches 5 arranged close to one another, the widths b of which correspond to the thickness d of the supports 2 (see Fig. 10). Thus, there are a total of eight notches 5 on the bases 4, into which the supports 2 are inserted in a detachable connection when the shelf is assembled. The shelf structure constructed from these basic elements 2, 4 according to Fig. 2 can be seen in Figs. 1 and 6 to 10 and is described in more detail below.

The mutual distance between the cuts 3 and 5 will depend on the materials used and in any case must be chosen so that no excessive weakening occurs there, which could lead to the material breaking. The same applies to the distance between the cuts 3, 5 and the side edges. Here too, it is desirable to arrange them as close to the side edge as possible, but this must not lead to excessive weakening of the material. The distances will therefore depend on the properties of the material chosen for the supports 2 and bases 4 and on the design requirements (desired design) of the user and are therefore variable. In any case, however, the cuts on the supports 2 and bases 4 must correspond with one another and the break resistance at the cut points and in their surroundings must be ensured.

For the material used in the preferred embodiment, a high-quality birch plywood approximately 6.5 mm thick with a transparent film coating, the following dimensions of the incisions have proven to be advantageous: length of the incisions approximately 1.5 to 2 cm, preferably 1.7 cm; width of the incisions 6.5 mm; distance to the side edge approximately 2 to 3 cm; width between two parallel incisions approximately 2 cm.

In Figure 3, the support is provided with a slot-shaped notch 3 on both long sides 2a, 2b, as in Figure 2. The associated base 4 is provided with a double-width notch 3 on the side edges 4c, 4d near the four corners of the end faces 4a, 4b. In this embodiment, which is not shown in the assembled state, two supports 2 would be inserted into such a double-width notch (b = 2d) lying next to one another, with one support 2 establishing the connection to a lower base 4 and the second support establishing the connection to an upper base 4. In the

Additional shelves 4 could be inserted into the opposite notches 3 of the support 2, which would then be on the same level. For the upper and lower shelf ends, a modified support element 12 is necessary in this variant, which is a shortened support with opposite notches 3.

Figures 4 and 5 show further preferred embodiments of the basic elements 2, 4 according to the invention.

Figure 4 shows a modification of the embodiment according to Figure 2, in which instead of the slots 3 on both long sides 2a, 2b of the support 2, two parallel incisions 3 arranged closely next to one another with a width that corresponds to the simple base thickness d (b - d) are arranged on only one long side 2b of the support 2. The base 4 accordingly also has on its end faces 4a, 4b near the side edges 4c, 4d two slot-shaped incisions 5 arranged closely next to one another, which have a width b corresponding to the thickness d of the support 2. In this embodiment, the supports 2 are inserted with their incisions 3 facing each other from the front or back into the incisions 5 of the bases 4.

As Figure 5 shows, the support 2 is provided with a double-width cut 3 (b = 2d) on one of its long sides 2b near the narrow sides 2c, 2b instead of the parallel cuts 3 arranged closely next to one another. The base 4 is accordingly provided with a double-width slot-shaped cut 5 on its end faces 4a, 4b near the side edges 4c, 4d, so that the base 4 has a total of four cuts 5. The width b of the double cuts 3, 5 is twice the thickness d of the bases 4 or support 2 (see also Figure 10), so that two bases 4 or two supports 2 are inserted into the cuts 3 or 5 and form the stable, but detachable connection between the supports 2 and the bases 4. For the lower and upper shelf ends, additional support elements 13 are required in this variant, which are shortened supports with only one double-width slot 3. In this variant too, the supports 2 are inserted with their notches 3 facing each other from the front or back into the notches 5 of the shelves 4.

Figures 6a to 6d show one possibility of constructing a shelf from the shelf kit according to the invention with the preferred elements shown in Figure 2.

Figure 6a shows the smallest unit 10 of such a shelf 1, consisting of four supports 2 and two shelves 4. On the left side of Figure 6a, the shelves 4 are already inserted into the slot-shaped recesses 3 of the supports 2, while on the right side of the figure they are shown in a state not yet inserted. After inserting the two right-hand supports, this smallest shelf unit 10 already forms a stiffening and inherently stable construction that can be extended in all four directions.

In Figure 6b, two further supports 2 have been added to the basic unit 10, into which a base 4 and two further supports 2 are then inserted in the manner shown to form another unit 10a. To form the next shelf level 10a, fewer elements are required compared to the basic unit 10, namely four supports 2 and a base 4. The unit 10a increases the height of the shelf, while the additional units 10b and 10c added in Figure 6c increase the length of the shelf in both directions. The figures clearly show that to build and extend the shelf, only the plug connections between supports 2 and bases 4 have to be made and the entire construction is assembled one after the other in a modular manner. The highest height (tower) is built first and then elements are added to the sides of the already built shelf units, to which elements can then be added in height. Parts can also be removed later and added elsewhere if necessary. For the side attachments 10b, 10c, fewer elements are required compared to the basic unit 10, namely two supports 2 and two shelves 4. As can be seen, the supports 2 are always inserted alternately offset into the recesses in the shelves 4 for each shelf level. This means that if the first support is arranged in the first recess in the shelf, the support leading upwards or downwards is inserted into the parallel second recess next to it and also at the following corresponding shelf. The support leading away from the second shelf, which is to be added next, is then inserted again into the free first recess. The supports are thus arranged parallel to one another at the connection points over a small edge area.

In Figure 6d, the shelf is shown completely assembled except for the last shelf 4 and the last supports 2, whereby the shape shown does not necessarily represent the final state of the shelf, but could be further enlarged. In the size shown, the shelf consists of a total of twelve units 10 to 101.

Figures 7a and 7b show additional elements 8 and 9, which can be used in addition to the basic elements 2, 4 to increase the variability of the shelf. Fig. 7a shows a wall element that can be used as a side or intermediate wall between the support 2 and the floor 4 (also subsequently in the finished structure). This can be used to obtain a more closed shelf structure if desired. In addition, these wall elements 8 provide additional stability, especially in the case of very large and high shelves, and improve stability. As can be seen, the wall element 8 also has slot-shaped incisions 11 on the upper and lower sides, which serve to engage with the part of the support 2 that is above the floor 4. As already mentioned, the supports 2 preferably have grooves 6 on both side edges of the narrow sides 2c, 2d in order to form a step 7 in the middle, which forms a stop for positioning and for better holding of the wall elements 8. The wall elements 8 are of such a width that they fit between the supports 2 arranged offset on the floors 4, whereby the notch 11 is only formed on one side and engages the protruding part of a support 2 at the top and bottom in order to ensure a secure stand. The wall elements could also be provided with a grip hole to make it easier to pull them out again.

In Fig. 7b, a special form of base is designed to be able to make a corner shelf. In the present example, the base 9 is designed as a square with a tapered corner, which can be easily produced by beveling one end of the normal base 4. The base 9 could also be triangular. In the present example, one leg 9a of the base 9 is provided with two parallel notches arranged next to one another, each of which serves to accommodate a support 2. However, two parallel notches could also be provided at both ends of the leg 9. The opposite leg 9b is designed like the normal base 2.

An example of the design of a corner shelf with the shelves 9 is shown in Figure 9. Here it can be seen that only one support 2 is inserted into the pointed part of the shelves 9, so that easy access to the shelf is achieved. In this corner shelf variant, the side and intermediate walls 8 shown in Fig. 7a are also installed.

Fig. 8 shows a shelf made from the shelf kit according to the invention as per Fig. 2 with partially already inserted side and intermediate walls 8. As can be seen, this gives the shelf a more closed structure, which for some

applications, and at the same time obtains an even more stable structure, which can be particularly supportive for very large and high shelving structures, so that wall fastenings or other reinforcements are not necessary. The side and intermediate walls 8 do not have to be inserted in the entire shelf, but can also be provided on parts of the shelf depending on requirements or structural requirements. For example, only external walls or only intermediate walls can be inserted.

Fig. 10 again shows part of an assembled shelf in an enlarged view in order to show the connections of the basic elements 2 and 4 more clearly. It is of particular importance for the invention that the slot-shaped incisions 3, 5, 11 in width b each correspond to the thickness d of the bases 4 and supports 2 or, in a modification, correspond to twice the thickness d (b = 2d) in order to realize the connection between the elements in the desired way. It is not absolutely necessary that the bases 4 and supports 2 have the same thickness d, but this is advantageous for manufacturing reasons because the slot-shaped incisions can then all be made with the same dimensions and thus with one machine setting. The slots are relatively short and, for manufacturing reasons and because they can be easily plugged in, are preferably rectangular, but can also have other shapes. The length of the slots 11 must correspond to the projection of the supports 2 over the floors 4 and must be adjusted accordingly.

The shelf kit according to the invention enables simple and cost-effective production of shelves and other furniture. The basic elements/slots can be milled in large numbers in a box. This means that several panels can be cut to the desired size on top of each other and then grooved in a box. The shelf is constantly variable in structure even after assembly and can be stored in a box or similar to save space when not in use or for transport. The parts can be added to at any time. The shelf can be easily and simply adapted to changing design requirements by simply swapping parts around. It can be made larger or smaller and can even be used as a stable, independent piece of furniture in the smallest unit with four supports and two shelves. The simplicity of the construction allows assembly and disassembly without any tools and without great effort and can also be carried out by inexperienced laypeople without technical knowledge. This satisfies a long-standing need for an inexpensive, easy-to-use

and yet variable shelving furniture.

Claims (12)

Protection claims 1. Shelf kit consisting of vertically arranged supports and horizontally arranged shelves, each of which is provided with slot-shaped incisions for producing a detachable plug-in connection between supports and shelves, characterized in that the supports (2) have slot-shaped incisions (3) on at least one longitudinal edge (2a, 2b) with a width (b) corresponding to the thickness (d) of the shelves to be accommodated and the shelves (4) have slot-shaped incisions (5) on two opposite edges (4a, 4b; 4c, 4d) with a width corresponding to the thickness (d) of the supports (2) to be accommodated, which can be connected to one another in a stiffening but detachable manner in the form of a straight overlay, whereby each support (2) can be plugged together with at least two and at most four shelves (4) and each shelf (4) can be plugged together with at least four and at most eight supports (2). 2. Shelf kit according to claim 1, characterized in that the supports (2) have a slot-shaped incision (3) opposite one another on their two longitudinal edges (2a, 2b) near their two ends (2c, 2d), the width (b) of which corresponds to the thickness (d) of the base, and the bases (4) have two parallel slot-shaped incisions (5) arranged closely next to one another on each side edge (4c, 4d) near the end faces (4a, 4b), the width (b) of which corresponds to the thickness (d) of the support. 3. Shelf kit according to claim 1, characterized in that the supports (2) have a slot-shaped notch (3) opposite one another on their two longitudinal edges (2a, 2b) near their two ends (2c, 2d), the width (b) of which corresponds to the thickness (d) of the base (4), and the bases (4) have a slot-shaped notch (5) opposite one another on each side edge (4c, 4d) near the end faces (4a, 4b), the width (b) of which corresponds to twice the thickness (d) of the support. 4. Shelf kit according to claim 1, characterized in that the supports (2) on their one longitudinal edge (2b) near their two ends (2c, 2d) each have two closely spaced, parallel slot-shaped incisions (3) the width (b) of which corresponds to the thickness (d) of the base (4), and the bases (4) on their opposite end faces (4a, 4b) near the side edges (4c, 4d) each have two closely spaced, parallel slot-shaped incisions (5) the width (b) of which corresponds to the Thickness (d) of the supports (2). 5. Shelf kit according to claim 1, characterized in that the supports (2) on their one longitudinal edge (2b) near their two ends (2c, 2d) each have a slot-shaped incision (3), the width (b) of which corresponds to twice the thickness (d) of the base (4), and the bases (4) opposite each other on each end face (4a, 4b) near the side edges (4c, 4d) each have a slot-shaped incision (5), the width (b) of which corresponds to twice the thickness (d) of the supports (2). 6. Shelf kit according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the supports (2) and floors (4) consist of a thin material. 7. Shelf kit according to claim 6, characterized in that the supports (2) and floors (4) are made of plywood panels. 8. Shelf kit according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the slot-shaped incisions (3, 5) of the supports (2) and floors (4) are identical and their length in relation to the width of the supports is not more than one third. 9. Shelf kit according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the slot-shaped incisions (3, 5) have a length of approximately 1 to 3 cm. 10. Shelf kit according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a third kit element in the form of an intermediate or side wall (8) can be inserted between the floor (4) and the supports (2), which is provided on its upper and lower edge with a slot-shaped incision (11) which can be connected in the form of a straight overlay to a support (2). 11. Shelf kit according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the supports (2) are formed on their narrow sides (2c, 2d) with a recess (6) on both sides for stopping the intermediate or side wall (8). 12. Shelf kit according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a square or triangular base (9) is formed to form a corner connection.