DK1770224T3

DK1770224T3 - Fastening device for securing a fitting on a sink installed in a countertop

Info

Publication number: DK1770224T3
Application number: DK06019426.3T
Authority: DK
Inventors: Christian Bomatter; Rolf Neeser
Original assignee: Franke Technology & Trademark
Priority date: 2005-09-29
Filing date: 2006-09-16
Publication date: 2016-02-29
Also published as: DE102005046861B4; EP1770224B1; PL1770224T3; DE102005046861A1; EP1770224A1

Description

I

Specification

The invention relates to a fastening device for fittings of kitchen sinks, wherein the fastening device is adapted to be fixed on the one hand to a region of the fitting extending below the kitchen sink and on the other hand to an item of furniture carrying the kitchen sink, the fastening device having a horizontal support face for engaging a horizontal portion of the item of furniture, and the fastening device additionally having a vertical support face for engaging a vertical portion of the item of furniture, so that two support faces extending in different planes are available for the item of furniture, the vertical and/or the horizontal support face being arranged so as to be adjustable on the fastening device. A fastening device of this kind is known from EP-A-1 418 282, for example, and consists of a doubly bent sheet-metal retaining plate which can be fixed on the one hand to the underside of the item of furniture, particularly the worktop or countertop, and on the other hand in the region of the screw fixing of the fitting, so that forces exerted on the fitting can be absorbed directly by the worktop without the sink arranged on the worktop being subjected to excessive loading. This is intended to ensure stable fixing of the fitting to the sink, which is also adequate to support particularly heavy fittings, for example for mixer taps with spray hoses, and which makes it possible to reduce the thickness of the material used for the sink without any disadvantages in terms of the stability of attachment of the fitting.

Disadvantages of this known fastening device are, in particular, the material, form and point of attachment in the region of the screw connection for the fitting, with the result that this sheet-metal plate does not achieve any noticeable increase in the stability of attachment of the fitting.

In another embodiment of EP-A-1 418 282, a substantially planar sheet-metal retaining plate is described as an alternative fastening device; this is not attached to the underside of the sink by means of the screw connection of the fitting, which is provided in any case, but is attached level with the underside of the worktop, thus resulting in a horizontal, planar, overall configuration. However, in this case, this sheet-metal retaining plate has to be attached to the fitting by tightening two nuts against each other, as a result of which, due to the undefined height position of the combination of fastening plate and fitting, it may happen that forces are exerted on the fitting, if it is not accurately secured at a particular height, which may cause the orientation of the fitting to deviate from the vertical, or may lead to the rim of the sink which serves to secure the fitting being almost pressed in on one side.

However, even if the sheet-metal plate is positioned at the correct height, in the known fastening device there is still a dimensioning imbalance caused by the fact that it is attached to the sink by means of large-size nuts, whereas the attachment to the underside of the worktop is carried out using a screw which is screwed into the underside of the worktop, the latter normally being made of particle board, and which is subjected to load perpendicularly to the direction of screwing in. In addition, there is also the thin sheet material of the sheet-metal plate, which is by no means torsionally rigid or warp resistant.

Taking this prior art as its starting point, the present invention is based on the problem of further improving the known fastening device in terms of its function, namely stable fixing of the fitting on the sink, the fastening device being adapted to be individually tailored to the position of the portions of the furniture acting as a support.

This problem is solved according to the invention by a fastening device having the features of claim 1, according to which the fastening device has an adjusting element the position of which can be varied in the horizontal direction, and the adjusting element comprises the vertical and/or horizontal support face(s), the adjusting element being arranged so as to be displaceable in the horizontal direction on the fastening device, especially over a range in the order of 30 mm, and being fixable, after continuous adjustment, in various horizontal positions, especially by means of a screw connection.

The fastening device according to the invention comprises two support faces for the furniture, extending in different planes, namely a vertical support face for engaging a vertical portion of the furniture and a horizontal support face for additionally engaging a horizontal portion of the furniture. The fact that the two support faces are inclined towards each other - more particularly at right angles to each other - ensures that the forces to be absorbed by the fixing device are not only exerted through a conventional screw connection used to fix the fastening device to the underside of the furniture, but moreover the fastening device enters into an interlocking connection with the furniture in the region of the two support faces, which does more than relieve the load on the above-mentioned screw connection; rather, thanks to the two support faces, these conventional screw connections also have the function of securing the position of the fastening device relative to the furniture, while the forces are transmitted from the fitting to the furniture through the two support faces mentioned above - namely, when the top of the fitting is pivoted forwards towards the user of the sink, as a result of the large-area horizontal support face, and when the fitting is pivoted backwards away from the user, as a result of the vertical support face.

To enable the two support faces to be accurately positioned on the furniture and particularly on the edge of the cut-out for the sink and the adjacent underside, the invention further provides that the vertical and/or the horizontal support face is or are arranged to be adjustable on the fastening device, so that after the positioning they can be secured in this position relative to the fastening device by suitable fastening means, i.e. in particular by a screw connection. For this, the fastening device expediently comprises an adjusting element the position of which can be varied in the horizontal direction, the adjusting element comprising the vertical and/or horizontal support face. In this case, it is usually sufficient if the adjusting element is arranged to be movable on the fastening device in the horizontal direction, particularly over an area of the order of 30 mm, and can be fixed, after continuous adjustment, in different horizontal positions, particularly by means of a screw connection, to enable the fastening device to be individually tailored to the position of the portions of furniture serving as supports.

As for the vertical positioning, the fastening device and, for example, the adjusting element comprising the horizontal support face should be positioned for this purpose on the underside of the furniture or worktop and in this position the fastening device can then be secured at the correct height on the fitting with its other end, by for example engaging interlockingly around the fitting and particularly fixing the latter by means of a clamped connection.

If the fastening device comprises a substantially circular opening for interlocking engagement of the fitting, especially for engagement of a threaded connector which forms the lower end thereof and fits around water pipes, the desired clamping connection can be produced by a simple screw connection and a short adjustment distance, when openings are provided that fit the threaded connector. To simplify the positioning of the fastening device on the fitting or on the threaded connector, it is advisable if the opening is constructed to be broken away in the horizontal direction, to enable water pipes such as pressure hoses, etc., to be threaded through this opening, with the result that the pipes do not have to be disconnected before the fastening device is attached.

The same opening can then be used for an alternative construction of a fitting if there is the option of placing an insert in the opening to reduce the diameter and/or change the shape of the opening in order to adjust to the area of the fitting and/or the water pipes that is or are to be fixed by the fastening device. Thus, for example, some designs of fitting have, on the one hand, threaded rods on the underside of the sink for securing the fitting and the water pipes run parallel to them, so that in certain circumstances two or three openings are provided adjacent to one another in the region of the fastening device, and in this case, then, for example, only one of the openings, namely the one provided for the threaded rod, is used by the clamping connection mentioned previously for securing the fastening device to the fitting, while the other opening or openings should be large enough not to jam the water pipes in place.

The insert is expediently capable of being releasably fastened in the opening, so that it can readily be replaced by other inserts.

The insert, like the area of the fastening device surrounding the opening, should be constructed to be flexible in the horizontal direction, so that the fitting can be secured by means of the clamping connection which reduces the cross-section of the opening, with the interposition of the insert.

It is also advisable for the fixing position of the fastening device on the fitting to be spaced vertically from the kitchen sink and for the fastening device to extend horizontally from the horizontal support face of the furniture to the fitting and to be fixable in this height position.

Not only does this make the mounting of the fastening device very simple, on account of the flat run of the fastening device, but above all the attachment of the fitting to the sink is also improved by the fact that the fastening device does not act on the same region of the fitting as the sink but is spaced therefrom, thereby increasing the corresponding lever arm formed by the fitting. In contrast, the known fastening devices engaging on the underside of the sink in the region of the sink attachment act as larger- or smaller-sized shims or washers for the sink, if need be.

Further features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the appended claims and from the following description of an embodiment by way of example, with reference to the drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 shows a fastening device according to the invention in perspective plan view; Figure 2 shows the fastening device of Figure 1 with the adjusting element extended, in perspective plan view;

Figure 3 shows the fastening device of Figure 1 in perspective view from below;

Figure 4 shows the fastening device of Figures 1 to 3 in the position shown in Figure 2, viewed from below; and

Figure 5 shows the fastening device of Figures 1 to 4 in side view;

Figure 6 shows the fastening device according to the invention in the assembled position, in side view;

Figure 7 shows the fastening device of Figure 6 in cut-away perspective side view; Figure 8 shows the fastening device according to the invention when attached to an alternative fitting, in side view;

Figure 9 shows the fastening device of Figure 8 in cut-away perspective side view; Figure 10 shows a base member of the fastening device according to the invention from the above-mentioned drawings in perspective plan view and Figure 11 shows an insert for use in the fastening device according to the invention from the above-mentioned drawings.

Figure 1 is a perspective side view of a fastening device according to the invention. The fastening device 1 consists of a plate-shaped base member 2 extending in the horizontal direction in the installed position, and an adjusting element 3, movable relative to the latter in the plane of the base member, said adjusting element 3 comprising a vertical support face 4 and a horizontal support face 5. Both the base member and the adjusting element consist of a stable warp-resistant plastics material.

The sliding movement of the adjusting element 3 is shown in Figures 1 and 2: Figure 1 shows the adjusting element 3 in the retracted position and Figure 2 shows it in the fully extended position, while the associated subsidiary views in Figures 3 and 4 show that the adjusting movement is guided and limited by a slot and screw connection, in which two screws 6, 7 mounted on the adjusting element 3 can be moved along two parallel slot-like grooves 8, 9 along a travel path of the order of about 30 mm in the direction determined by the grooves 8, 9. The screws and the grooves enable the adjusting element 3 to be locked, after continuous adjustment, in the desired position, in which the screws 6, 7 then only have to be tightened against the corresponding nuts 6a, 7a provided on the adjusting element, after which the nuts are pressed towards the screw heads and in this way the adjusting element is secured against the base member 2.

As may be seen from Figure 4, the adjusting element comprises two bores 10,11 which are able to accommodate two fastening screws to enable the fastening device 1 or the adjusting element 2 to be fixed to the underside of a worktop. Moreover, on the top of the adjusting element, a double-sided adhesive film 12 is provided, which performs a first fixing of the fastening element to the worktop before the screws are inserted in the bores 10,11 and tightened.

By virtue of the fact that the vertical support face 4 and the horizontal support face 5 are at right-angles to one another, the fastening device 1 can both rest on the underside of an item of furniture carrying the associated sink and also be pressed with the vertical support face 4 against a cut-out in the furniture for the sink. When the fastening screws by means of which the fastening device 1 can be attached to the underside of the worktop or furniture are then tightened, the vertical support face reliably prevents any tilting of the fastening device in the clockwise direction, based on Figure 1, and the horizontal support face prevents a tilting movement in the anti-clockwise direction.

Besides the base member 2 shown in detail in Figure 10 having a recess 12 for the adjusting element, the fastening device 1 consists primarily of a substantially cylindrical opening 13 of approximately circular cross-section. The fastening device 1 and particularly the base plate 2 can be pushed onto a fitting by means of this opening 13. The opening 13 comprises an encircling rim 13a, which is broken away over its full height, at the end of the base member opposite the adjusting element, in a region 13b, in order to form two clamping jaws 30, 31, which are configured so as to be variable to some extent in their spacing from one another. Because both clamping jaws 30, 31 are engaged by a common clamping screw 24, the tightening of the screw 24 causes the distance between the clamping jaws to be reduced, thereby reducing the cross-section of the opening and enabling the fitting inserted in the opening to be clamped in place.

The use of the fastening device according to the invention is shown in Figures 6 and 7, for example: these Figures show, besides the fastening device 1 according to the invention, a metal sink 14 with a metal fitting platform 15 and a sink bowl 16. The sink 14 is placed on a worktop 17 so as to cover a worktop cut-out 18 and so that at least the sink bowl 16 projects downwardly into the worktop cut-out 18.

The worktop cut-out 18 is delimited by a rim 19 extending in the vertical direction, forming roughly a right angle with the underside 20 of the worktop.

The sink 14 comprises, in the region of its fitting platform 15, a circular opening through which a fitting 21 extends, which runs vertically upwards starting from the sink, as well as downwards. On the upper side or at the upper end of the fitting 21, in particular, water outlet and operating means such as mixing levers etc. are arranged, whereas on the underside of the sink a threaded connector 22 is provided by means of a which a lock nut 23 secures the fitting to the sink 14.

The fastening device 1 according to the invention is pushed onto the threaded connector 22 vertically from below until it reaches a vertical height position in which the adjusting element 3 lies with its horizontal support face 5 flush against the underside 20 of the worktop. In another step, the screw 24 is tightened in order to secure the fastening device 1 to the threaded connector 22, while the rim 13a which surrounds the opening 13 in the base plate abuts on the threaded connector 22 and secures the latter by means of the above-mentioned clamping connection. Then the adjusting element 3 is pushed horizontally in the direction of the worktop edge 19 until the vertical support face 4 lies flat against the edge 19 of the worktop. The screw 6, 7 are then tightened and the position of the adjusting element is secured relative to the worktop 17. The fastening screws can then be screwed through the bores 10, 11 from below, in order to secure the adjusting element 3 and hence the entire fastening device 1 to the worktop 17.

Figures 8 and 9 show an alternative embodiment wherein, using the same fastening device 1, a fitting 25 is attached to the fitting platform 15 as follows: a threaded rod 26 extending downwards from the fitting 25 is acted upon, not directly by the rim 13a of the opening, but by an insert 27 pushed into the opening 13, the exact shape of this insert being shown in Figure 11, in particular.

This insert 27 has a substantially cylindrical opening 28 with a substantially circular cross-section for the threaded rod, as well as another opening 29 of roughly oval cross-section through which a water pipe 30, for example, may extend (cf. Figure 9). The insert 27 is broken away on one side in an area 28b, in order to render it sufficiently flexible that the clamping force of the screw 24 leads to a corresponding clamping action on the threaded rod 26 by the rim 28a of the opening 28. For this purpose, the opening 28 is also broken away on one side, so as not to impede the above-mentioned clamping movement.

To summarise, the invention has the essential advantage of providing a fastening device with two support faces oriented in different directions, which, thanks to a particularly advantageous adjustment mechanism, ensures a durable and interlocking connection of the fastening device to the item of furniture in question and particularly to the worktop cut-out and to the underside of the worktop.

Claims

An attachment for kitchen sink fittings, wherein the fastener can be attached on one side to an area of the fixture (21, 25) extending below the kitchen sink (14) and on the other to a furniture (17) supporting the kitchen sink (14 ), in which the fastener in the mounted state always has a horizontal support surface (5) for engaging a horizontal part (20) of the furniture (17), and in which the fastener (1) in the mounted state always has a vertical support surface (4) for engagement with a vertical part (19) of the furniture (17) so that two support surfaces (4, 5) extending in different planes are available for the furniture, the vertical and / or the horizontal support surface (4, 5) being arranged to be adjustable on the fastener (1), characterized in that the fastener (1) has an adjusting element (3) whose position can be varied in the horizontal direction and the adjusting element has a vertical ale and / or horizontal support surface (4, 5), and the adjusting element (3) is arranged to be displaceable in the horizontal direction of the fastener (1), in particular over an area of the order of 30 mm, and is infinitely fixed in different horizontal positions, particularly by means of a screw connection (6, 6a, 7, 7a).

A fastening device according to claim 1, characterized in that the fastening device (1), by means of its free end facing the supporting surfaces (4, 5), interlocks one another around the luminaire (22, 25) and in particular secures the latter by means of a clamping connection.

Fastening device according to at least claim 2, characterized in that the fastening device (1) has a substantially circular opening (13) for interlocking engagement with the luminaire (22, 25), in particular for engagement with a threaded connection (22) forming the lower part. end thereof and surrounding water pipes.

Fastening device according to at least claim 3, characterized in that the opening (13) is constructed with an opening edge (13a) which is partially broken through in the horizontal direction. 5

Fastening device according to at least claim 2, characterized in that the fastening device (1) secures the luminaire (22, 25) by means of a clamp connection, wherein the clamp connection is made by means of a screw connection 10 (24).

Fastening device according to at least claim 3, characterized in that an insert (27) is provided in the aperture (27) to reduce the diameter and / or modify the shape of the aperture (13) to fit with the area of the luminaire (22, 25) and / or the water pipes to be secured by the fastener (1).

Fastening device according to at least claims 6, 20, characterized in that the insert (27) is releasably fastened in the opening (13).

Fastening device according to at least claim 6, characterized in that the insert (27) has a relatively small opening (28) for a threaded rod (26) of the luminaire (25) to be fastened and a further opening (29), in particular a relatively large opening, for passage of the water pipes (30).

Fastening device according to at least claims 6, 30, characterized in that the insert (27) is designed to be flexible in the horizontal direction, so that the luminaire (25, 26) is fastened by the fastening device (1), with intermediate placement of the insert, by using a clamp connection.

Fastener according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the fastening position of the fastener (1) on the fixture (22, 25, 26) is spaced vertically from the kitchen sink (14). 5

Fastener according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the fastener (1) is constructed in such a way that it extends horizontally from the horizontal support surface (20) of the furniture (17) to the fixture (22, 10 25) and is fixed at that height position.