DE29807238U1 - Fitted kitchen and wall cupboard - Google Patents

Description

F:\UBDHF\DHFANM\33 09001

Applicant:

PRO REHA

Trading company for nursing articles

and Rehabilitation Aids mbH & Co. KG

Neckartalstrasse 162

70376 Stuttgart

3309 001 21.04.1998

gt-p /

Title: Fitted kitchen and wall cupboard Description

The invention relates to a wall cupboard that is adjustable in height and can be lowered from a highest position close to the wall to a lowest position far from the wall, with the wall cupboard being held on two rails arranged at an angle to the side. The invention also relates to a fitted kitchen with a wall cupboard that is adjustable in height.

The individual right of disabled people, people in need of rehabilitation or elderly people to continue living at home and to carry out at least some of the frequent activities themselves can only be met if the domestic facilities are adapted to the reduced mobility

· with ··«

of these people. In particular, the kitchen equipment must be adapted to the reduced reach of wheelchair-bound people.

There are fitted kitchens in which a work surface with a built-in heating surface and/or sink can be adjusted manually or electrically in height between approx. 70 and 100 cm, and can therefore be accessed by wheelchair. The wall cabinets can also be adjusted in height using a hand crank or with the help of counterweights or an electric motor.

US Patent 5,076,649 describes a wall cabinet device with an outer housing on the sides of which two slide rails are arranged diagonally downwards towards the front. An inner wall cabinet slides on these rails and can be lowered from an upper starting position near the wall to a lower position at a distance from the wall. The up and down movement is carried out by means of an electric motor with a threaded spindle, whereby the motor is arranged at the top and in the middle of the housing and the spindle is directed diagonally downwards and forwards. The drive is carried out via a threaded part that engages the inner wall cabinet. The disadvantage of this known wall cabinet is the space required by the spindle, which is located in an inner housing separated by partitions in the

Inside the wall cupboard so that it does not come into contact with the goods stored in the cupboard. Another disadvantage of this well-known wall cupboard is that if the left and right sides of the wall cupboard are not equally loaded, it can easily become jammed. It should also be avoided that the wall cupboard hits dishes or other goods on the worktop when it is moved downwards.

The invention is therefore based on the object of eliminating these disadvantages.

This object is achieved according to the invention by a wall cupboard with the features of claim 1 and a fitted kitchen device according to claim 4. Advantageous further developments of the invention emerge from the subclaims.

By using two electric motors on both sides of the wall cabinet, its movement is controlled synchronously and jamming caused by tilting is avoided. Even if the left or right elements of the wall cabinet are loaded on one side, the weight differences are electronically compensated. By arranging the motors on the side, no space is taken up inside the wall cabinet, i.e. in the

Zone that is within reach of the disabled person is lost. Since the suspension parts of the wall cupboard are located on the side and outside the cupboard walls, the inner part of the wall cupboard can be designed in a commercially available manner. The lateral arrangement of the covered lifting device makes it easier to coordinate the movements of the wall cupboard and the worktop. A further advantage is seen in the fact that the wall cupboard according to the invention can be made very wide without there being any risk of it jamming.

The invention will now be explained in detail using an embodiment, with reference to the accompanying drawing. It shows:

Figure 1 is a front view of the fitted kitchen according to the invention;

Figure 2 a cross-section through the fitted kitchen with two positions of the worktop and the wall cabinet; and

Figure 3 is a schematic view of the lifting mechanism.

On the left and right of Figure 1 you can see the attached tall cabinets 1 and 2 with recessed and raised

Bases that allow the footrests of a wheelchair to be driven underneath. The tall cabinets 1 and 2 are equipped with various kitchen appliances, such as dishwashers, refrigerators, drawers, etc., the composition of which is not part of the subject matter of the invention. Between the tall cabinets 1 and 2 there is a worktop 3 with a hob and sink and above this a wall cabinet 4 with four doors. Between the tall cabinets 1 and 2, i.e. to the left and right of the worktop 3 and the wall cabinet 4, there are two covered elements 5 and 6 that contain a lifting device for the worktop 3 and the wall cabinet 4.

In each paneled element 5 and 6 there is a spindle motor 8 for the wall cabinet 4 and a spindle motor 9 for the worktop 3. The spindle 17 and slide rail 18 belonging to the motor 8 are arranged at an angle, as shown in Figure 3. Two spindle slides 10, 11 slide on them, each of which has a pin 12, 13. The pins 12, 13 are inserted into two holes in a vertically arranged sheet 14, to which two support profiles 15, 16 are welded, on which the wall cabinet 4 rests.

The motor 9, which is provided in the lower part of the covered element, has a vertically aligned spindle

••••Φ·· . · » .4

19 and slide rail 20. The worktop 3 is attached to a spindle sleeve in a corresponding manner.

The two motors 8 for the wall cabinet 4 in the left and right paneled elements are electronically synchronized. The two motors 9 for the worktop 3 are also electronically synchronized. The adjustment speed of the slides or sleeves is between 2 and 30 mm/per second with a maximum tensile and compressive force of 3,000 N.

The worktop 3 is adjustable between a lower, lowest position TA and an upper position HA. Taking into account the space required by a wheelchair or elderly people who have difficulty bending, these values are between 70 cm and 100 cm respectively. The lower edge of the wall unit 4 moves between a lowest position TH and a highest position HH, which are 110 cm and 140 cm respectively. Starting from the highest position near the wall, the wall unit 4 moves approximately 150 to 200 mm closer to the operator when it moves to the lowest position.

In order to prevent the wall unit 4 from hitting objects on the worktop 3 in its highest position HA in its lowest position TH, the lowering movement of the

Wall cabinet 4 is limited by the position of the worktop 3. The lower spindle slide of the wall cabinet lifting device has a contact pin pointing downwards: when the lower edge of the wall cabinet 4 comes within 30 cm of the worktop 3, the lowering movement switches off automatically.

The kitchen equipment according to the invention can be further developed in a consumer-friendly manner. For example, the height of the kitchen wall cabinets 4 can be adjusted using a hand switch and motor-operated lowering; several, e.g. four, positions preferred by the consumer can be stored. The height of the worktop 3 can also be stored.

Claims (7)

Protection claims 1. Height-adjustable wall cupboard (4) which can be lowered from a highest position (HH) close to the wall to a lowest position (ZH) far from the wall, the wall cupboard (4) being held on two laterally inclined rails (18), characterized in that the up and down movement is effected by two drive motors (8) which are mounted on the rails (18), the synchronization between the two drives (8) being controlled by synchronizing means. 2. Wall cabinet according to claim 1, characterized in that the two motors (8) are electronically synchronized spindle motors. 3. Wall cabinet according to claim 2, characterized in that the drive of a respective motor (8) is transmitted to the wall cabinet (4) via two spindle slides (17, 18) attached to the suspension of the wall cabinet (4). 4. Fitted kitchen with a height-adjustable worktop, characterized in that above the • · it«·· «til A wall cupboard (4), in particular of the same width, is arranged on the worktop (3) according to any one of claims 1 to 3. 5. Built-in kitchen according to claim 4, characterized in that paneled elements (5, 6) are provided in which the lifting devices (8, 9) of the worktop (3) and/or the wall cabinet (4). 6. Fitted kitchen according to claim 5, characterized in that the paneled elements (5, 6) are provided laterally next to the worktop (3) and/or the wall cupboard (4). 7. Fitted kitchen according to claim 5, characterized in that the lowest attainable position (TH) of the wall cabinet (4) is determined by the current position of the worktop (3) via a spacing mechanism.