EP0680708A2 - Height adjustment system for inclinable working table top - Google Patents

Abstract

The inclined work surface (3) is supported by two identical pairs of legs (10,11). One leg of each pair has the end resting on the ground (D), its central pivot (O) and its upper end (C) not in line. The legs pivot on their central pivot points. The upper end of one leg pivots (A,A') on the front of the work surface. The top of the other legs engage in a rack, under the back of the work surface, and a spring, near their pivot point, holds the legs in position. <IMAGE>

Description

The present invention relates to a device consisting of a work surface mounted on two supports and which can be tilted. The device of the invention can be applied as a table for school, office or business production.

A device according to the invention is of the type where each support comprises two feet articulated relative to each other at a point of their length. This type of table has the advantage of being able to be adjusted in height relatively easily.

Traditionally, we meet tables whose worktop is variable height but with fixed inclination, tables with variable inclination but without possibility of height adjustment or tables whose height and tilt settings are present but are not not independent of each other, which leads to compromises.

The object of the invention is to provide a device as it has just been described but which allows one to independently adjust one of the other height and inclination of the work surface.

To do this, a device according to the invention comprises two feet articulated with respect to each other at a point of their length. It is characterized in that at least one of said feet of each support is such that the three end points on the ground, of articulation and of upper end are not aligned, the work surface being mounted at the upper ends feet of each support.

According to another characteristic of the invention, at least one of the feet of each support is provided, at any point of the support, with a system of rotation of a branch with respect to the other branch of the same foot, thus allowing adjustment of the inclination of the worktop.

According to another characteristic of the invention, it comprises a spring intended to tend to maintain the cohesion of the assembly.

According to another characteristic of the invention, the work surface is pivotally mounted at the upper ends of two feet which correspond on the two supports and is mounted, by means of adjustment and locking means, at the upper ends of the two other feet.

According to another characteristic of the invention, said adjustment and blocking means consist of a rack between the teeth of which the ends of the two corresponding feet can be positioned.

According to another characteristic of the invention, said adjustment and blocking means consist of a slide, the fixed part of which is mounted under the work surface and the movable part of which is integral with the ends of said two feet.

According to another characteristic of the invention, said fixed part consists of a profile provided with an upper longitudinal face and with a lower longitudinal face parallel to said upper face and in that the movable part comprises two pins arranged so that '' they are respectively in contact with said two faces of said fixed part only when the work surface is in its inclined position.

According to another characteristic of the invention, said movable part comprises means for guiding in translation on the fixed part.

According to another characteristic of the invention, the branch of one foot of each support is of greater length than that of the branch of the other foot of the same support.

According to another characteristic of the invention, the end of a foot has a 90 ° reference.

• la Fig. 1 représente le système de réglage de la hauteur à inclinaison constante en perspective constitué de supports (10) et (11),
• la Fig. 2 représente le système constitué du support (2) d'extrémités A et B droit et du support (1) d'extrémités D et C non droit,
• la Fig. 3 représente le système constitué du support (6) d'extrémités A et B non droit et du support (7) d'extrémités D et C droit,
• la Fig. 4 représente le système constitué des supports (8) d'extrémités D et C non droits et (9) d'extrémités A et B non droits,
• la Fig. 5 représente le système dans les positions haute et basse,
• la Fig. 6 représente le système avec les supports (1) et (2) repliée à plat,
• la Fig. 7 est une vue en perspective d'un dispositif selon un autre mode de réalisation de l'invention,
• la Fig. 8 est une vue en prespective d'une glissière selon l'invention,
• les Figs. 9a et 9b sont des vues en coupe selon un plan longitudinal de symétrie d'une glissière selon l'invention, la première en position de réglage de ladite glissière, la seconde en position inclinée du plan de travail dudit dispositif, et
• la Fig. 10 est une vue d'une table selon l'invention en position repliée.

The characteristics of the invention mentioned above, as well as others will appear more clearly on reading the following description made in relation to the accompanying drawings, among which:

• Fig. 1 represents the height adjustment system with constant inclination in perspective consisting of supports (10) and (11),
• Fig. 2 represents the system consisting of the support (2) of ends A and B straight and of the support (1) of ends D and C not straight,
• Fig. 3 represents the system made up of the support (6) of ends A and B not straight and of the support (7) of ends D and C right,
• Fig. 4 represents the system made up of supports (8) with non-straight ends D and C and (9) with non-straight ends A and B,
• Fig. 5 represents the system in the high and low positions,
• Fig. 6 shows the system with the supports (1) and (2) folded flat,
• Fig. 7 is a perspective view of a device according to another embodiment of the invention,
• Fig. 8 is a perspective view of a slide according to the invention,
• Figs. 9a and 9b are sectional views along a longitudinal plane of symmetry of a slide according to the invention, the first in the adjustment position of said slide, the second in the inclined position of the work surface of said device, and
• Fig. 10 is a view of a table according to the invention in the folded position.

We will explain the principle of the invention based on FIG. 1.

By acting on the angle DOB, equal to the angle D'O'B ', as shown in FIG. 1, it is possible to vary the height of the work surface 3 of the table. According to a characteristic of the invention, a device according to the invention consists of two identical supports 10 and 11 each comprising two feet linked in O and in 0 ', at least one of the feet of each support of the work surface being such that the three ground end, hinge, and upper end points are not aligned.

During the height adjustment, the tilt remains constant. The parallel to the ground AX defines with AC an angle CAX which represents the inclination of the plane.

To facilitate the explanation, we will reason on a couple of supports.

After geometric demonstration, we note that:
CAX = ( 180 ° - DOC ) / 2 in the case where foot 1 of ends D and C is not straight and foot 2 of ends A and B is straight, or
CAX = ( 180 ° - AOB ) / 2 if foot 6 at ends A and B is not straight and foot 7 at ends C and D is straight, or
CAX = ( 180 ° - Doc) / 2 + ( 180 ° - AOB ) / 2 in the case where the legs 8 and 9 of ends C and D and ends A and B are not straight.

According to a particular embodiment, at least one of the supports of each pair of supports can be provided with a system of rotation of one strand of the support relative to the other, at any point of the support, the purpose being to fix the inclination of the worktop.

With reference to the accompanying drawings, the identical pairs of feet (10, 11) linked in O and (11) in O 'are made up of sections, at least one is such that the three end points on the ground, of articulation and of upper end are not aligned. The work surface (3) is articulated to the pivots A and A 'while a rack (4) makes it possible to block the assembly at the height chosen by the user. A return spring (r) connects the supports at R and T. It has the effect of preventing the collapse of the assembly when the rack (4) is not engaged and of facilitating the adjustment by relieving the user of part of the weight.

Thus, the device according to the invention comprises adjustment and blocking means (4) which consist of said rack between the teeth of which the ends of the two corresponding feet can be positioned.

By folding the uprights flat, we obtain a set of minimum dimensions that are interesting for transport or storage, as shown in Fig. 6.

Note that the rack could be replaced by any other indexing or continuous adjustment and blocking device. Likewise, the spring can be replaced by a device having the same effects: gas spring, counterweight, ...

There is shown in FIG. 7 an advantageous embodiment of a device according to the invention applied to a table. This table was represented without its work plan. In this Fig. 7, the same references have been used for the same elements.

The device thus represented comprises a first support 10 consisting of two feet 10a and 10b articulated at a point of their length along an axis xx '. It comprises a second support 11 identical to the first support 10 and comprising two articulated legs 11a and 11b. The lower branches 1a and 1b of the feet 10a and 10b have the same length from the axis xx 'to the ground. Similarly, the high branches 2a and 2b have the same length from the axis xx 'to their upper ends. It is the same for support 11.

While the feet 10a and 11a are rectilinear, the feet 10b and 11b are, according to the invention, bent at the level of the hinge axis xx 'of pivoting with respect to the feet 10a and 11a.

In the embodiment shown, the lower ends of the legs 10b and 11b are interconnected by a bar 5.

The upper ends of the upper branches 2b are connected to each other by a horizontal tube 5 or bar 5 in the middle of which a slide 60 is articulated which will be described below.

The upper ends of the branches 2a have a reference 6 at the end of which is mounted a fixing lug 7 articulated so as to be able to pivot along an axis yy '.

The work surface of the table is fixed on the fixing lugs 7 and on the slide 60. Z axes are shown the axes of the fixing screws necessary for this mounting.

In Fig. 8, a slide 60 is shown according to a preferred embodiment of the invention. We will recognize the bar 5.

On this bar 5, is mounted, pivotally along the longitudinal axis of the bar 5, a plate 61 provided for sliding and locking in a rail 62. As will be seen later, the plate 61 constitutes the movable part of the slide 60 while the rail 62 constitutes the fixed part.

The rail 62 consists of a section of rectangular section which is open in its lower part according to a slot 63. It comprises a longitudinal upper face 62a and a logitudinal lower face 62b which is parallel to the upper face 62a. The free end of the plate 61 penetrates inside the rail 62 passing through the slot 63. Inside the rail 62, the plate 61 is provided with three pins 61₁ to 61₃ projecting on either side of the plate 61. They are arranged in a triangle with the base substantially in the longitudinal axis of the rail 62. The distance between the straight line passing through the two pins 61 pig and 61₂ from the base of the triangle and the rod 61₃ from the top is such in the inclined position of the rail 62, that is to say when the work surface is normally inclined and when the table is in normal use, one of the base rods 61₁ and the top pin 61₃ are in force contact with respectively the lower face of the rail 62 (the one which includes the slot 63) and the opposite face, that is to say the upper face of the rail 62. This position is shown in FIG. 9b. In this position, the friction forces between the rail 62 and the pins 61₁ and 61₃ are such that the plate 61 is wedged in the rail 62.

There is shown in FIG. 9a, the rail 62 which is no longer inclined so that only the pins 61₁ and 61₂ are in contact with the single underside of the rail. The plate 61 is then guided in the rail 62. This position is that taken by the rail 62 when the height of the device of the invention is modified, by moving the feet of the supports 10 and 11 apart or closer.

Note that the function of the rod 61₂ is to provide guiding in translation of the plate 61 in the rail 62. In particular, it does not perform any function when the rail 62 is inclined. It will be understood that it would thus be possible to omit it without harming the wedging function of the plate 61 in the rail 62.

In the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 7, the axis xx 'materialized by the bar 5 and the axes yy' of the front pivoting of the work plane intersect the same circles C and C 'with respective centers O and O'. As we have seen and demonstrated previously, this ensures a constant inclination of the worktop with its height.

There is shown in FIG. 10, another embodiment which differs from that which is the subject of FIG. 6 in that the length of the branches 2a is greater so that the axis yy 'is on a circle with center O of radius greater than that on which the axis xx' is located. Thus, as shown in FIG. 10, the table can thus be folded up with the work surface 3 coming to assume an almost vertical position. In normal position of use, that is to say the work surface slightly inclined with respect to the horizontal, the variation of its height, by bringing the feet 10a and 10b closer or further away, this time results in a variation of the tilt. But this is minimal and only becomes important when the yy axis 'passes over the xx axis'. The advantage which also results from this embodiment lies in the fact that the axis xx ′ can remain close to the work plane 3. In other words, the plate 61 can remain in the rail 62, facilitating the unfolding of the table.

It will be noted that a similar effect could also be obtained if it is the branch 2b which is the longest.

The system according to the invention applies inter alia to any support for school activity, office or production in business.

Claims (10)

1) Device consisting of an inclined work surface (3) mounted on two supports (10 and 11), each support (10, 11) comprising two feet (10a, 10b; 11a, 11b) articulated one with respect to the other at a point (O, O ') of their length, characterized in that at least one of said feet (10a, 10b; 11a, 11b) of each support is such that the three end points on the ground (D, D '), articulation (O, O') and upper end (C, C ') are not aligned, the worktop (3) being mounted at the upper ends of the feet of each support. 2) Device according to claim 1, characterized in that at least one of the feet of each support is provided, at any point of the support, with a rotation system of a branch relative to the other branch of the same foot, thus allowing the inclination of the worktop to be adjusted. 3) Device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises a spring (r) provided to tend to maintain the cohesion of the assembly. 4) Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the work surface (3) is pivotally mounted at the upper ends of two feet (10a, 11a) which correspond on the two supports (10, 11) and is mounted , by means of adjustment and locking means (4, 60), at the upper ends of the other two feet (10b, 11b). 5) Device according to claim 4, characterized in that said adjusting and locking means (4) consist of a rack between the teeth of which can be positioned the ends of the two corresponding feet. 6) Device according to claim 4, characterized in that said adjustment and locking means (60) consist of a slide whose fixed part (62) is mounted under the work surface (3) and whose movable part (61) is integral with the ends of said two feet (10b, 11b). 7) Device according to claim 6, characterized in that said fixed part (62) consists of a profile provided with an upper longitudinal face (62a) and a lower longitudinal face (62b) parallel to said upper face (62a) and in that the movable part (61) has two pins (61₁, 61₃) arranged so that they are respectively in contact with said two faces (62a, 62b) of said part fixed (62) only when the work surface (3) is in its inclined position. 8) Device according to claim 7, characterized in that said movable part (61) comprises guide means (61₂) in translation on the fixed part (62). 9) Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the branch (2a) of a foot (10a, 11a) of each support (10) is of length greater than that of the branch (2b) of the other foot (10b, 11b) from the same support. 10) Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the end of a foot (2a) has a reference (6) at 90 °.

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