EP0632979A1

EP0632979A1 - Device for wall-mounting an item of wall furniture provided with a freely removable cover

Info

Publication number: EP0632979A1
Application number: EP94201781A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Carlo Cattaneo
Original assignee: Camar SpA
Current assignee: Camar SpA
Priority date: 1993-06-24
Filing date: 1994-06-22
Publication date: 1995-01-11
Also published as: ITMI931363A0; ITMI931363A1; IT1265125B1

Abstract

A device for wall-mounting an item of wall furniture comprises: a casing (11) to be fixed in an exposed position to the furniture item, from this casing there extending a hook which can be position-adjusted in terms of height and depth along mutually perpendicular planes by respective adjustment means. According to the invention, to said casing (11) there can be fitted a cover (12) arranged to cover the exposed faces of said casing (11) and any spaces between it and the furniture item.

Description

This invention relates to a device for wall-mounting an item of wall furniture in which those parts of the casing containing the adjustment linkages and fixing means which remain exposed are covered by a cover which is freely mountable and removable.
Devices for wall-mounting an item of wall furniture are known consisting of a casing to be fixed in an exposed position to the furniture item, from this casing there extending a hook which can be position-adjusted in terms of height and depth along mutually perpendicular planes.
The hook is intended to be hooked for example to a profiled bar fixed to the wall by wall plugs and can be position-adjusted in terms of height and depth by respective adjustment means which are accessible for example from the opposite side of the casing to that from which said hook emerges.
A device of this type is described for example in EP 0 033 179.
In this type of device the hook comprises a fork fixed to and straddling a support block contained in the casing. In other types of devices the fork is fixed directly to the casing itself.
The means for adjusting the depth of the hook along a horizontal plane consist of a first screw screwed into a nut loosely secured to that end of the fork distant from the hook, whereas the means for adjusting the height of the hook along a vertical plane consist of a second screw which is screwed through said support block to act against one end of a slidable arched sector, the opposite end of which acts on the hook fork.
Another device of this type, in which the adjustment linkages are contained in respective seats in a casing formed in two substantially specularly equal halves is described and illustrated in utility model application No. MI92U 000898 filed in Italy on 15 October 1992 in the name of CAMAR S.p.A.
As is well known to the expert of the art, mounting devices of the aforesaid type have to be fixed to the interior of wall furniture items in the corner defined between the side panel and top panel of the item.
Fixing is by screws or plugs, and it is not always easy to achieve the situation in which the top and one side of the casing abut in a perfectly coplanar manner against the top panel and side panel of the furniture item, sometimes because these latter are not assembled at a perfect right angle. This situation is desirable in order to achieve a system of good appearance which is pleasing to the eye on opening the furniture item.
A further drawback of mounting devices of known type in which the device casing is fixed in an exposed position is the fact that it is not always possible to obtain suitably matching colours for the casing and the interior of the furniture item.
This would require costly and complicated stock management of different coloured devices to satisfy requirements.
The object of the invention is to obviate the aforesaid drawbacks of the known art by providing an improved device for wall-mounting an item of wall furniture which can be positioned in a visually perfect and hence pleasant manner in the corner formed by the side panel and top panel of the furniture item, and be of the desired colour.
Said object is attained by a device having the characteristics defined in the accompanying claims.
The structural and functional characteristics of the invention and its advantages compared with the known art will be apparent from an examination of the following description given with reference to the accompanying drawings, which show one embodiment of a device incorporating the principles of the invention.
In the drawings:

Figure 1 is an exploded perspective view showing a device according to the invention;
Figure 2 is a perspective view of the device of Figure 1 assembled;
Figure 3 is an enlarged view of the device fixed in position in the corner formed between the side panel and top panel of an item of wall furniture;
Figures 4 to 9 are views similar to Figure 3 showing different situations which can arise in the fixing of the device with respect to the side panel and top panel of an item of wall furniture;
Figure 10 is a view similar to Figure 3 showing the device fixed in position and with the relative cover covering those sides of the casing which remain exposed;
Figure 11 is a side view of the device during the fitting of the cover to the casing;
Figure 12 is a view similar to Figure 11 but showing the cover completely fitted to the casing; and
Figure 13 is a view showing the item of wall furniture hooked to a wall, and hence with the mounting device under load.

With reference firstly to Figures 1-3 of the drawings, the device of the invention is indicated overall by 10 and is structurally formed from a casing 11, containing the adjustment linkages and the fixing means, and a cover 12 to be fitted in a freely removable manner to said casing 11.
The casing 11 and the linkages which it contains are not shown in greater detail as they can be of any type known to the expert of the art, for example as illustrated in EP 0 033 179.
According to the invention, with the casing 11 there is associated a cover 12 which can be either of metal or plastics, the purpose of this cover being to cover those sides of the casing 11 which remain exposed when this latter has been fixed to the side panel 13 of an item of wall furniture, in correspondence with the top panel 14 (Figure 3), and to hide from view any gaps present between the casing 11, the side panel 13, the top panel 14 and the back panel 23, as shown in Figures 5-9 of the drawings, and as explained hereinafter.
For this purpose, the cover 12 is formed in the manner of an enclosure with a side wall 15, a base wall 16, an end wall 17 and an outwardly bent flange 18 opposite the end wall 17.
In addition, the side wall 15 and base wall 16 comprise respective elastically yieldable lips 19, 20 to engage in corresponding grooves 21, 22 provided respectively in the upper side and in the hidden side of the casing 11.
The device 10 of the invention is used by firstly fixing the casing 11 to the furniture item and then fitting the cover 12 to the casing 11 in the manner shown in Figures 3 to 9 of the drawings.
Figures 4 to 9 of the drawings clearly show how, by fitting the cover 12 to the casing 11 after this has been fixed to the furniture item, it is possible to take up mounting errors, ie spaces left between the upper side, the hidden side of the casing 11 and the furniture item. The yieldability of the lips 19, 20 is used for this purpose.
Specifically, Figure 4 shows the case in which the casing 11 is fixed with its upper side and hidden side perfectly coplanar (in contact) with the side panel 13 and top panel 14 of the furniture item.
In Figure 5, the arrow indicates the case in which the casing 11 is fixed with its upper side perfectly coplanar (in contact) with the top panel 14, but with its hidden side spaced from the side panel 13.
In Figure 6, the arrow indicates the case in which the casing 11 is fixed with its hidden side perfectly coplanar (in contact) with the side panel 13, but with its upper side spaced from the top panel 14.
In Figure 7, the mutually perpendicular arrows indicate the case in which the casing 11 is fixed both with its upper side and with its hidden side spaced from the top panel 14 and from the side panel 13 respectively.
In Figures 8 and 9, the anticlockwise and respectively clockwise arrows indicate the cases in which the casing 11 is fixed obliquely to the side panel 13 and top panel 14 of the furniture item.
Figure 10 shows the device of the invention fixed in place complete with the cover 12. From this figure it is apparent that the cover 12 completely hides from view the linkages and the means for fixing the casing 11 to the furniture item, and hides any space left between the casing and the furniture item during the fixing.
Figure 13 shows the behaviour of the mounting device when under load (furniture item wall-mounted), in which any resultant movements of the casing 11 from its original fixed position (usually an anticlockwise rotation due to the load) are hidden from view by the cover 12.
The cover 12 can be coloured differently from the casing 11, so as to match the internal colours of the furniture item.
The object defined in the introduction to the description is hence attained.

Claims

A device for wall-mounting an item of wall furniture of the type comprising: a casing (11) to be fixed in an exposed position to the furniture item, from this casing there extending a hook which can be position-adjusted in terms of height and depth along mutually perpendicular planes by respective adjustment means, characterised in that to said casing (11) there can be fitted a cover (12) arranged to cover the exposed faces of said casing (11) and any spaces between it and the furniture item.
A device as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that said cover (12) is freely removable from the casing (11).
A device as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that said cover (12) is completely independent of the casing (11).
A device as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that the cover (12) is formed with a side wall (15), a base wall (16), an end wall (17) and an outwardly bent flange (18) opposite the end wall (17), the side wall (15) and the base wall (16) comprising respective elastically yieldable lips (19, 20) arranged to engage in grooves (21, 22) in the casing (11).