EP0530157A2

EP0530157A2 - Device for facilitating the fitting of shelves and the like

Info

Publication number: EP0530157A2
Application number: EP92830423A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Christina Masini
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1991-08-08
Filing date: 1992-07-30
Publication date: 1993-03-03
Also published as: ITFI910102U1; IT224485Z2; EP0530157A3; ITFI910102V0

Abstract

A device for facilitating the fitting of shelves and the like comprises: a template on which at least two holes are provided, the interaxial distance between which corresponds to the distance between the holes to be made in the structure to which the shelf or other is fitted for the purpose of anchoring shelf brackets; and on the said template a means for checking the horizontal, vertical or oblique alignment of the said holes.

Description

The invention relates to a device for facilitating the fitting of shelves or other elements to be mounted on walls or any other supporting structure.
To mount shelves or other similar elements on a wall, at least two holes must be made a predetermined interaxial distance apart determined by the position of the means provided on the shelf for its anchoring to the wall. The holes require to be not only a predetermined distance apart but also to be horizontally (or in certain cases vertically) aligned with each other. These conditions mean that shelf-fitting is not always easy, especially for those who carry out such operations with no particular experience, that is for those who wish to do this kind of work as a hobby, without the help of specialists.
The object of the invention is a device which facilitates the fitting of shelves and the like, making this an easy operation even for those who have no particular experience and no access to all the tools normally used by specialists in this kind of operation.
The device according to the invention basically comprises: a template on which at least two holes are provided, the interaxial distance between which corresponds to the distance between the holes to be made in the structure to which the shelf or other is fitted; and on the said template a means for checking the horizontal or vertical alignment of the said holes.
The means for checking the horizontal (or vertical) alignment of the holes may advantageously be a cylinder containing a liquid and a bubble, of the type used in levels. This does not exclude the use of different means, such as plumbline means. Briefly, this device makes it possible to form the holes at the predetermined distance defined by the distance between the holes of the template, and to check at the same time the correct horizontal (or vertical) alignment of the holes that are being made.
For the purpose of making an especially low-cost device, which may if desired be supplied to the user together with the shelf at no extra cost, the template may be made from a sheet material, for example board or the like, on which there is mounted a liquid-filled cylinder containing a bubble or other equivalent means for checking the horizontal alignment of the holes.
Advantageously, and in order to facilitate the packaging of the device with the shelf, the bubble means or equivalent may be mountable on the template by the user at the time of use. For this purpose there may be provided on the template an approximately rectangular oblong slot extending in the lengthwise direction of the template, at the ends of which slot are provided two incisions which define two lips inside which the cylinder forming the bubble means can be fitted. In this case the cylinder may be bonded to a strip which cooperates with the reverse side of the template in order to hold the bubble member in position.
As an equivalent, if the means for checking horizontal alignment of the holes is a plumbline means, a point may be provided on the template from which to swing the plumbline, which may take the form of a bob with a cord for attaching to the template. In this case a reference in the form of a straight line will be provided on the template, with which line the cord from which the weight is suspended lines itself up when the template is horizontal.
A further subject of the invention is a packaging containing a shelf and a device as defined above.
The drawing shows one possible embodiment of the invention, and in particular:

Fig. 1 shows a perspective view of a device according to the invention;
Fig. 2 shows a plan view of the template without the means for checking horizontal alignment;
Fig. 3 shows a section through III-III of Fig. 1 of the device according to the invention;
Fig. 4 shows a way of packaging a shelf with its associated device for facilitating the fitting thereof; and
Fig. 5 shows an equivalent embodiment.

As illustrated in the accompanying drawing, 1 indicates a template made from a sheet material, for example board or other particularly low-cost and sufficiently firm material. Near the ends of the template 1, two holes 3 and 5 respectively are formed: these may be of different diameters for the purposes explained below. In any position on the template 1 (approximately in the middle position in the example shown) a slot 7 of approximately rectangular oblong form extending in the length-wise direction of the template 1 is provided. Extending perpendicularly from the long sides of the slot 7 are incisions 9 which form lips 11 of sheet material which will hold a bubble member 13 of cylindrical form as a means of checking the horizontal position of the template 1.
The member 13 is bonded to a strip 15 which cooperates with the rear side 1P of the template 1 to hold the member 13 in place. The said member is thus held in place by inserting it between the lips 11 in such a way that it projects from the front face of the template 1, while the strip 15 is placed proud against the reverse side 1P of the said template.
In the embodiment illustrated, the device is therefore made up of two detachable parts, namely the template 1 on the one hand, and the bubble member 13 with its strip 15 on the other. This facilitates the packaging of the device together with a shelf M (see Fig. 4), so that the shelf can be sold in a complete pack with the device according to the model. For this purpose the template 1 may be laid on the large surface of the shelf M, while the cylindrical bubble member 13 with its strip 15 is mounted along that edge of the shelf M which is intended to be applied to the wall to which the shelf is fitted. In this way, therefore, the bubble member 13 can be accommodated in a slotted hole 21 formed in the back of the shelf M provided for fitting purposes.
The shelf M has in addition to the slotted hole 21 a cylindrical hole 23. Hidden shelf brackets pass into the holes 21 and 23 and are anchored to the wall in corresponding holes.
For the fitting of the shelf, the procedure is as follows. The bubble member 13 is fitted to the template 1 as shown in Fig. 3. When the point at which the first shelf bracket is to be positioned has been determined, a first hole is made in the wall. At this point, when the first shelf bracket has been inserted into the hole just made, the template 1 is positioned in such a way that one of the holes 3 or 5 of the template is pushed onto the fitted shelf bracket. The template 1 is next brought into the horizontal position, its horizontal alignment being checked by means of the bubble member 13, and a mark is drawn on the wall in the position of the second hole of the template. The template is then removed from the first shelf bracket, the second hole is made where the mark appears on the wall, and the second shelf bracket is mounted: at this point it will be in alignment with the first shelf bracket along a straight horizontal line, at a distance therefrom corresponding to the distance between the holes in the shelf. Any slight positioning errors are compensated for by the elongated form of the hole 21 of the shelf M.
In order to use the same template 1 for fitting shelves of even widely varying dimensions, the holes 3 and 5 in the template may be made to different diameters. In this way, the same template can be used for fitting shelf brackets of varying diameters according to the thickness of the shelf. Hence, if a small shelf is to be fitted, using shelf brackets having a correspondingly small diameter, after the first shelf bracket has been fitted the template 1 is pushed onto the said shelf bracket using the hole of lesser diameter. On the other hand, if the shelf brackets that are to be fitted are of greater diameter, the template will be pushed onto the first shelf bracket fitted using its own hole of greater diameter. As to the distance between the holes, the same template 1 can be used to fit shelves of varying dimensions since it is sufficient for the distance between the shelf holes to be constant irrespective of the dimensions of the shelf, at least within certain ranges of length of this shelf.
Fig. 5 shows a template accomplishing the same function as that of Figs 1 and 2, in which the means for determining the alignment of the holes consists of a plumbline member 41. The plumbline 41 comprises a bob 43 attached by a cord 25 to the template 1. The cord may be attached to the template using an incision in the template.
On the template reference lines 27, 29, 31 are formed at predetermined angles. The holes are in horizontal alignment when the cord 25 is aligned with reference line 27. Reference lines 29 and 31 are used to check nonhorizontal conditions of alignment of the holes, for example in order to create more complex compositions of shelves upon a wall. In this case the template is used to facilitate the making of holes in varying geometrical designs.

Claims

Device for facilitating the fitting of shelves, consoles and the like, comprising: a template on which at least two holes are provided, the interaxial distance between which corresponds to the distance between the holes to be made in the structure to which the shelf or other is fitted for the purpose of anchoring shelf brackets; and on the said template a means for checking the horizontal, vertical or oblique alignment of the said holes.
Device according to Claim 1, characterised in that the said template has a seat for the fitting of the said means for checking the alignment of the holes.
Device according to Claim 1 or 2, characterised in that the said template is made from a sheet material.
Device according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterised in that the said means for checking the horizontal or vertical alignment of the holes is a bubble means.
Device according to Claims 2 and 4, characterised in that the said seat is formed by a slot in the sheet material and by two incisions which define limbs for holding the bubble means.
Device according to Claim 5, characterised in that the said bubble means is attached to a sheet cooperating with the slot and the limbs formed in the template for holding the bubble means in position.
Device according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterised in that the holes in the template are of different diameters.
Device according to Claim 1, 2 or 3, characterised in that the said means for checking the alignment of the holes is a plumbline means.
Device according to Claim 8, characterised in that reference lines are provided on the said template for checking the alignment of the holes on one or more predetermined inclinations.
A pack containing a shelf and device according to one or more of the preceding claims.