Classifications

• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A47—FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
  • A47B—TABLES; DESKS; OFFICE FURNITURE; CABINETS; DRAWERS; GENERAL DETAILS OF FURNITURE
  • A47B47/00—Cabinets, racks or shelf units, characterised by features related to dismountability or building-up from elements
  • A47B47/04—Cabinets, racks or shelf units, characterised by features related to dismountability or building-up from elements made mainly of wood or plastics
  • A47B47/05—Cabinets, racks or shelf units, characterised by features related to dismountability or building-up from elements made mainly of wood or plastics with panels on a separate frame, e.g. a metal frame
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A47—FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
  • A47B—TABLES; DESKS; OFFICE FURNITURE; CABINETS; DRAWERS; GENERAL DETAILS OF FURNITURE
  • A47B47/00—Cabinets, racks or shelf units, characterised by features related to dismountability or building-up from elements
  • A47B47/0025—Horizontal connecting members adapted to receive and retain the edges of several panel elements
  • A47B47/0041—Bars
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A47—FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
  • A47D—FURNITURE SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR CHILDREN
  • A47D11/00—Children's furniture convertible into other kinds of furniture, e.g. children's chairs or benches convertible into beds or constructional play-furniture

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a construction assembly consisting of elements to be assembled in a variable or predetermined manner to obtain three-dimensional modular constructions from a limited number of types of identical elements.
• Such a construction set can, among other things, constitute a game allowing the creative spirit of children to be developed. It can be useful for developing the concepts of space, volumes and arrangements. This game can be used as a family, in nurseries, schools, various workshops for children, during psycho-motor skills, speech therapy, etc.
• the invention relates more particularly to a system for assembling panels and uprights for the manufacture of three-dimensional constructions such as toys, furniture, etc.
• the construction set is an original application of the dovetail assembly.
• the elements can be made of wood, in particular for small production runs, or of plastic.
• the system proposed by the invention makes it possible to assemble wooden or wood fiber panels together using wooden uprights, this being rigid and solid, to form open three-dimensional structures (eg under shelves or boxes) or closed (in the form of boxes), and indefinitely expandable.
• the proposed construction assembly makes it possible to obtain structures, in particular closed structures, based on straight parallelepipeds of which all the adjacent elements are capable of sliding relative to one another.
• a construction assembly comprising on the one hand rigid rectangular or square panels comprising on the four edges a longitudinal dovetail profile and on the other hand uprights of square sections comprising on each longitudinal face a groove profiled in dovetail complementary to the profile of said panels.
• the panels and the uprights are made integral by translation of the uprights along the panels to be joined, that is to say by sliding.
• the panels can be identical or not. Preferably, for reasons of compatibility and interchangeability, if they are not identical, their dimensions will be a multiple (2, 3 ..) or a fraction (1/2 ..) each compared to each other. They will however preferably be of the same thickness.
• the method of constructing a predetermined assembly incorporates a relative sliding operation of several panels to an upright and in practice comprises a mental effort combined with a trial and error algorithm which is particularly stimulating for the user.
• the result obtained may be an open or closed parallelepiped assembly, for example a box constituting the storage box for the remaining elements of the game.
• wheel elements comprising a short male dovetail profile capable of sliding in a complementary slots of one of the uprights.
• the wheels are particularly useful because they allow, once installed at the base of the construction, easier handling of this construction which can be relatively heavy, especially since it can serve as a storage box.
• the wheels which can also be made of wood but will preferably be made of plastic, are mounted using a screw and possibly a pin, on a wooden part.
• the latter can be an upright with an ungrooved face or a piece sliding in a groove of an upright.
• the transport of a constructed assembly can also be facilitated by adapting a handle comprising one or, preferably two elements having a dovetail profile adapting to the grooves of the uprights.
• the handle itself can be secured to parallel uprights using one or two ropes secured on the one hand to said handle and on the other hand to two profiled slats in dovetail sliding in upper lateral grooves.
• the absolute dimensions of the elements are medium, intermediate between those found in the toy trade and those available for applications in classic carpentry, eg from 10 to 50 cm in length.
• the elements formed are thus of a dimension and a solidity allowing their use as stepladders, seat, storage box, coffee table, shelf, bookcase etc.
• the use of wood fiber panels, and more particularly MDF or HDF allows precise profiling of the male dovetails of the edges.
• the assembly can then be done from all sides. The corners of the panels are removed in order to allow the assembly of the uprights in all directions, in particular perpendicular to their planes.
• the panels and uprights according to the invention can be obtained by methods and using conventional tools in carpentry.
• the female dovetail profiles can thus be obtained in a first step by a straight grooving in the edges with a router followed by a dovetail milling pe with a suitable router thus producing the widening operation of the base. Any acute angle can be eliminated simultaneously or after the milling operation.
• Fig. 1 illustrates a small square panel on side 1.
• Figs. 2a and 2b constitute a plan view and a side view of a large rectangular panel.
• Figs. 3a to 3d represent different views of uprights.
• Fig. 4 illustrates a box of which all the components are capable of sliding relative to their adjacent elements.
• Figs. 5 to 8 illustrate different types of constructions according to the invention
• Fig. 9 illustrates a particular embodiment of the invention, consisting of a shelf
• Fig. 10 schematically illustrates in plan some dimensional characteristics of an example of a shelf.
• Figs. 11 and 12 illustrate in plan boards adapted to the construction of the shelf according to FIGS. 9 and 10.
• Fig. 13 is a top view of a door for a shelf.
• Figs. 1 to 8 illustrate different elements of the invention, more particularly applied to a construction toy. Many identical characteristics are found, however, for obtaining furniture, which constitutes another important aspect of the invention.
• the large panels 1 are rectangular of length L and width 1 (fig. 2).
• the panels of small sizes 2, of identical thickness, are square and of side 1 (fig. 1).
• Each panel (1,2) is profiled in the shape of a dovetail 3 on the four edges
• the profile is identical for each panel and depth x.
• the width of the base of the dovetail profile corresponds to the thickness of the panel e, or slightly less than e.
• the corresponding uprights 5 are of square cross section with sides of length y.
• these uprights are of three different lengths: A, C, D (5, 5 ′, 5 ").
• the four sides of these uprights can be grooves (fig. 3a, perspective view 3d) in length, in the middle, to form a dovetail groove 6 with a depth slightly greater than x, eg x + 2/10 mm, to allow easy sliding
• certain amounts may only have two or three grooves (see fig. 3).
• the sides of the abovementioned panels or any other element having a complementary male dovetail profile can be inserted by sliding.
• the uprights Preferably have a cross section with rounded corners to avoid any edges that could injure a child.
• a simple building game will include:
• Figure 4 very schematically illustrates a construction obtained with this game composed of the aforementioned elements namely the panels 1 and 2 and 3 types of uprights 5 of length A, D, C (5A, 5D, 5C). The last square panel is removed, and two adjacent uprights of the upper face of the parallelepiped obtained are removed.
• FIG. 5 illustrates an assembly similar to that of FIG. 4, closed, with two pairs of wheels.
• FIG. 7 illustrates a child seat and FIG. 8 a vehicle, namely a truck.
• the wheels are supported on uprights 5B not grooved on one side.
• the scale of the elements of the game and the solidity of these therefore allow the useful overall construction, the chair can indeed serve as such, the truck can roll and support the weight of an adult.
• the sets of figs. 5 to 8 can be obtained (wheels and handles excepted) from the types of elements already indicated, namely four lengths (5A, 5B, 5C, 5D) of uprights and two types of panel.
• Fig. 8 illustrates a first example of a shelf.
• the side panels 81 may have only three dovetail profiles. If there are four, two front vertical uprights (not shown) can be provided.
• a horizontal median panel 82 forms a board of the shelf. Note that the horizontal panels cannot slide forward, being blocked in the groove of the adjacent rear upright.
• the two rear uprights (83) may have only two dovetail grooves perpendicular to each other.
• the other uprights are horizontal uprights, separating the side and rear panels which will have been slid and having at least three grooves perpendicular to each other. Four grooves are however present for these uprights of FIG. 8.
• a multi-storey shelf model is proposed without a horizontal "upright".
• the basic shape will be closed on three sides (bottom, left side, right side) thanks to panels of thickness at least equal to the greatest width of the dovetail.
• the shelf is assembled without nails, screws, glue or other means of fixing.
• the shelf is made up of 4 vertical uprights, a number of horizontal boards and vertical panels connecting the dovetails together by dovetail. The horizontal boards rest on the vertical panels. Provision is also made for horizontal crosspieces at the base, and possibly at the top, of the assembly.
• four vertical uprights 10 of square or rectangular section with sides Y or Y and Z respectively are proposed.
• the edges of the uprights are preferably rounded along a radius r.
• the length of the uprights is equal to the height of the shelf.
• Each upright is milled in a dovetail on the two adjacent faces which will be inside the piece of furniture. So when the 4 uprights are arranged vertically so that they define a rectangular parallelepiped, the grooves look at each other (see fig. 10).
• the groove is preferably located at the center of the faces of dimensions X and Y but they can also be offset from these centers.
• the depth of the dovetail is x, the smallest width (head) is a and the largest width is b.
• the shelf is closed on both sides and on the bottom thanks to profiled panels in dovetail complementary to the countersunk grooves in the uprights, on the 2 edges which will constitute the height between 2 horizontal boards 11.
• a panel 12 playing the role of cross is slid between the two uprights on the left; this operation is carried out from top to bottom by introducing the dovetail profiles of the crosspiece into the 2 corresponding female dovetails.
• the cross is a panel profiled on 2 vertical edges and whose height is low (eg 7 cm).
• the cross-member will rest by gravity on the lower end of the dovetail of a vertical upright, at distance V from the ground. It will be understood that this distance V can also be obtained when the grooving on the uprights is complete from one end to the other. In this case, it suffices to slide an additional element of length V filling a section of the groove at the lower ends of the uprights.
• a board 11 of thickness R (for example 18 mm), of length S and of width T. is placed on the four cross-pieces. The four corners of this board are removed (see figs. 11 and 12).
• the cut can be rounded along a radius r 'identical to the radius r used to round the edges of the uprights.
• a panel is slid on each side (2 panels of identical height) and a bottom panel (height identical to the 2 side panels).
• a second board can then be laid and so on.
• the height of the panel that is to say the distance separating the two boards, is the same.
• the uprights To finish the shelf, at the top, after installing the last horizontal board, the uprights must protrude from the latter by the height of the 4 crosspieces (12 ", 12 ''',13",13''') which will finish the shelf (in our example 7 cm).
• These crosspieces can be of the same height as the base crosspieces. This last operation allows the two front uprights to be held directly together.
• edges 14 of the horizontal boards are visible on the rear, left and right sides of the shelf; the dimensions will in fact be chosen so that these edges are in the same plane as the vertical panels (flush with them).
• the horizontal planks can extend beyond the side panels, thus providing lateral storage surfaces in the form of cantilevered wings by relation to the parallelepipedic assembly.
• These wings can be profiled according to a particular design, oval, rounded, etc.
• Doors can be installed by any known means, e.g. using simple pivots 16 such as those used in the manufacture of old furniture.
• the horizontal boards 11 'between which the doors are installed and which receive the pivots, are provided wider than the other horizontal boards, of a dimension corresponding to the thickness of the doors plus, for example, 2 mm.
• the corners removed on the front part of these boards will have a length (see fig. 12) 102 (j + e) + door thickness f + 2 mm
• the pivots 16 'female parts are installed in the front corners of the lower and upper horizontal boards 11' 11 "which frame and hold the doors.
• the male parts of the pivots 16 are embedded in the respective lower and upper edges of the doors 15 (fig. 12).
• the free grooves of the front uprights, grooves facing each other and used for mounting the sleepers can also serve as a guide for a conventional slatted shutter closing the shelf to its lower end, with or without a lock.
• Wooden parts can be added to the construction assembly to fill part or all of the grooves not used in the uprights or to block certain elements, eg certain panels, wheels, or handles, at determined positions. These parts, e.g. in the form of a slat, have a male dovetail profile corresponding to the female dovetail profile of the uprights.
• the dovetail profile can be replaced by an equivalent profile, ie a fixing profile allowing only the translation in one direction of two elements, one relative to the other.
• the cross section of the uprights comprising at least two grooves profiled in dovetail can also be of non-rectangular shape, for example circular or ellipsoidal.
• the invention relates more generally to any new element, taken separately or in combination, disclosed in the present description.

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• Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Wood Science & Technology (AREA)
• Assembled Shelves (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=3890786

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (3)

Cited By (2)

Families Citing this family (5)

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• 1998
  • 1998-10-19 AU AU97304/98A patent/AU9730498A/en not_active Abandoned
  • 1998-10-19 EP EP98951119A patent/EP1022968A1/de not_active Withdrawn
  • 1998-10-19 WO PCT/BE1998/000156 patent/WO1999020153A1/fr not_active Application Discontinuation

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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