DE29803730U1 - Adjustable leg for tables or the like - Google Patents

Description

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PATENT AND LAWYERS MEINKE ₁ DABRINGHAUS UND PARTNER GbR

ADMISSIONED BEFORE THE EUROPEAN PATENT AND TRADEMARK ATTORNEYS' OFFICE

PATENT ATTORNEYS·

■ JULIUS MEINKE, dipl.-ing.
WALTER DABRINGHAUS, dipl.-ing. JOCHEN MEINKE, dipl.-ing.

03 730.0 Lawyer

THOMAS MEINKE

VEST NHELLWE G 67
44137 DORTMUND

TELEPHONE (0231) 14 50 71
FAX (0231) 14 76 70

PO BOX 10 46 45

44046 Dortmund, 19 April 1999

DRESDNER BANK AG DTMD, account no. 1 148 047 (bank code 440 800 SO) POSTBANK DORTMUND, account no. 542 02-463 (bank code 440 100 46)

32/13733 D/S

Applicant: GESIKA Büromöbelwerk GmbH & Co. KG, 59590 Geseke

'Length-adjustable leg for tables or similar.

'Length-adjustable leg for tables or similar'

The invention relates to a length-adjustable leg of the type specified in the preamble of claim 1.

There are a number of known solutions for making the length of table or chair legs adjustable using threaded elements, often using threaded elements that interlock and can be rotated relative to one another. If very fine adjustments are required, comparatively fine threads are used. For larger loads or if there is sufficient opportunity for coarse adjustments, coarse threads can be used, such as trapezoidal threads or comparable threads.

As an example of the adjustability of such legs on furniture, which essentially represent the type of the invention, reference is made to DE-GM 18 94 425, or GM-94 18 001-Ul or FR-I 263 332. Length-adjustable legs or ball sockets for furniture feet are shown in DE-44 34 120-Al or DE-C-458 917.

If, for example, a table is often fitted with only one leg with an adjustment option to enable optimal positioning of the table and a wobble-free position, a problem arises, especially with composite

The aim of tables, such as those often used in offices, such as open-plan offices or office landscapes, is to adjust tables that can be connected to one another to exactly the same height. If such adjustability is to take place before final assembly, the table leg lengths must be laboriously measured, and reworking on site is often still necessary.

A particular problem is to ensure that the table leg lengths can be adjusted reproducibly even for table legs that are in an angled position relative to the floor level and/or the table top, rather than being in a vertical position.

The aim of the present invention is to ensure this reproducible adjustability of table legs even when they are inclined.

This object is achieved according to the invention in that the leg is provided with an optical display device adapted to the respective angular position for identifying the screwing-in or screwing-out depth.

The invention provides the user with the possibility of evenly leveling a piece of furniture, in particular a table, based solely on the optical display device.

to position, regardless of whether the table has vertical, slightly or strongly angled legs, which can vary depending on the furniture model. There are also tables that have both straight and angled legs, depending on the design chosen, here a uniform leg adjustment is possible.

Scales on legs are known in themselves, for example on a tripod, here reference is made to DE-33 41 403-Al as an example.

In the design, it is provided that this optical display device is designed as a scale, which can be a single or multiple scale.

It is particularly expedient to adapt the scale to the respective inclination of the leg in the position of use, as the invention also provides, by indicating a converted screw length corresponding to the angular position by the scale, which corresponds to the height scale in the vertical.

In order to enable adaptation to a cross-sectional shape of the leg that deviates from the circular shape, the invention provides that the leg is essentially teardrop-shaped in cross section with a transition element

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from the teardrop shape to the circular ring shape, whereby the transition element is equipped with the internal thread for the external thread of the inner thread body.

The invention is explained in more detail below with reference to the drawing, which shows in

Fig. 1 a section through the end of a leg,

Fig. 2 a section approximately along line II-II in Fig. 1 and in the

Fig. 3 to 8 side views of tables with table legs according to the invention in different angular positions.

In the following, the leg is referred to throughout as a table leg and generally numbered 1, but it can also be a chair leg, a chest of drawers leg or the like. The table leg 1 shown, for example, is essentially formed from a light metal tube in the shape of a drop. At its lower free end la, the table leg 1 is equipped with a transition element 2, e.g. made of plastic, which is equipped with an internal thread.

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The internal thread is an inner threaded body 3, suitably also made of plastic, which is equipped with a tapered end 4 with an end ball 5 which is fixed in a base plate 6 and thus forms a ball joint.

As can be seen from Fig. 1 and 2, the threaded body has a longitudinal groove 7 into which an optical display device, here a scale 8, is mounted. This scale can be used to visually indicate the depth of the thread of the body 3 screwed into the leg 1.

For illustrative purposes only, two scales 8a on the left and 8b on the right are shown here, which take into account, for example, different angular positions of leg 1 in the position of use. For example, a scale, such as scale 8a, can be intended for a vertical leg, while scale 8b takes into account a 20° inclination of the leg. This means that even if the legs on a piece of furniture have different angular positions, the user can adjust it completely horizontally with the same leg lengths by consulting the respective scale, which then has identical numbers for the same heights.

Fig. 3 ff. show views of generally designated 9

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desks that are equipped with legs arranged at different angles, the respective scales or optical display devices are adapted to these angular positions.

Of course, the described embodiment of the invention can be modified in many ways without abandoning the basic idea. In particular, the invention is not limited to the cross-sectional teardrop shape of the leg shown, nor to the type and material of the transition body or the inner threaded body.

Claims (3)

Expectations: 1. Length-adjustable leg for tables, chairs, chests of drawers, cupboards or the like, wherein the leg is designed as a hollow body at least in its end facing the floor surface with an inner threaded body and an adjusting element with a floor support plate that can be rotated therein, wherein the inner threaded body is fixed to the floor plate via a ball joint and the leg is arranged in predeterminable angular positions on the respective piece of furniture that cannot be changed during use, characterized, that the leg is provided with an optical display device (8) adapted to the respective angular position to indicate the screwing-in or screwing-out depth. 2. Length-adjustable leg according to claim 1, characterized in that the optical display element is designed as a scale (8a, 8b) to indicate the screwing or unscrewing depth. 3. Length-adjustable leg according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the leg (1) is essentially teardrop-shaped in cross section with a transition element (2) of the drop shape to the circular ring shape, wherein the transition element (2) is equipped with the internal thread for the external thread of the inner threaded body (3).