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This invention relates to articles of furniture which can be
transported in a collapsed state and can be erected by the user.
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It is well known to sell furniture as a kit of parts which
have to be assembled by the purchaser. Such kits have the
disadvantage that assembly requires the use of tools such as
screwdrivers, spanners, Allen keys, etc., and the user has to
exercise a certain degree of strength and/or skill. Furthermore,
irreversible fixings are frequently used, making it impossible to
collapse the furniture to facilitate transport to another
location. Even if the article can be collapsed, this requires
tools, strength, and skill, and results in a number of separated
parts which can easily be mislaid.
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It would be desirable to be able to provide furniture that
can be erected and collapsed without the need for any tools.
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It would also be desirable to be able to provide furniture
which does not have to be taken apart in order to collapse it to
a form suitable for transport.
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It would also be desirable to be able to provide furniture
which can be assembled without the use of fixing elements such as
screws, bolts, barbed dowels, snap fittings, and other permanent
or semi-permanent fixing means, e.g. nails or adhesives.
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In one aspect the present invention provides an article of
furniture comprising a rigid structural unit which is
collapsible, the unit comprising planar elements connected by
hinges which allow the planar elements to lie substantially
parallel to one another when the unit is collapsed.
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In another aspect the invention provides a kit which is
erectable to form an article of furniture, the kit comprising
planar elements which are connected by hinges and which lie
substantially parallel to one another, the planar elements being
movable to constitute a rigid structural unit during erection of
the article of furniture.
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In another aspect the invention provides an article of
furniture comprising a rigid structural unit which consists of
planar elements and hinges connecting at least some of the planar
elements, the unit being collapsible by movement of the planar
elements to positions in which they all lie substantially
parallel to one another.
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The unit may include at least one hinge having leaves which
are separable, e.g. a hinge having a removable hinge pin.
Preferably, the removable pin has a head at one end. The pin may
have a removable cap fitted on one end, e.g. as an easily
removable press fit or screw fit. Thus the hinge leaves can be
separated by hand, without the need to use any tool.
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The unit may include at least one planar element which is
separable from the remaining planar elements of the structural
unit. Preferably the separable planar element merely rests
against the remaining planar elements and keeps them in the
required position.
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The article of furniture may comprise a plurality of rigid
structural units, which may be stacked and/or arranged side by
side and which may be connected by easily separable connecting
means such as wooden dowels, guide pins, or clips. Alternatively
or additionally, two or more units may be interconnected by
hinges having leaves which are separable (e.g. with a removable
pin as mentioned above).
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The unit will normally include a plurality of upstanding
(preferably vertical) planar elements extending in different
planes, and at least one transverse (horizontal or tilted) planar
element which is supported by the upstanding planar elements.
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In a preferred embodiment the invention provides an article
of furniture, e.g. a table or chair, comprising a rigid
structural unit comprising two similar planar vertical side
elements having front edges which are spaced apart and rear edges
which are connected together by hinge means, two similar planar
transverse elements which extend in a common plane between the
side elements, the transverse elements having respective outer
side edges which are connected by hinge means to the respective
side elements and having respective inner side edges which are
connected together by hinge means, and two similar planar
vertical support elements having respective upper edges on which
the respective transverse elements rest and having respective
outer side edges which are connected by hinge means to the
respective side elements.
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Preferably, the support elements have respective inner edges
which are connected together by hinge means.
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It is possible for one side element, one transverse element,
and one support element to be cut from a single rectangular sheet
of material.
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The planar elements use in the present invention may be made
of any suitable material, such as plywood, wood chipboard,
hardboard, rigid plastic sheet, or sheet metal, for example.
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The invention will be described further, by way of example
only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
- Figure 1 is a front view of an article of furniture in the
form of a chair;
- Figure 2 is a side view of the article;
- Figure 3 is a plan view of the article;
- Figure 4 is a side view of the collapsed article;
- Figure 5 is a view showing how planar elements of the
article may be cut from a rectangular sheet;
- Figure 5a is a perspective view of a hinge for use in the
article;
- Figures 6 to 9 are views corresponding respectively to those
of Figures 1 to 4 and diagrammatically indicating the locations
of the hinges in the article;
- Figures 10 to 14 are views similar to those of Figures 1 to
5 respectively but showing an article of furniture in the form of
a table or stool;
- Figure 15 is a diagrammatic, cut-away, perspective view of
the article as shown in Figures 10 to 12, viewed from the front
and above, indicating the locations of the hinges;
- Figure 16 is a perspective view of a bureau;
- Figure 17 is a perspective view of the bureau with its doors
open;
- Figure 18 is a perspective view of three structural units
which each form part of the bureau;
- Figure 19 shows a hinge with separable leaves, used to
connect the bureau units together;
- Figure 20 shows the parts of the hinge of Figure 19
separated;
- Figure 21 is a front view of an article of furniture in the
form of a table, desk, or stool, with a rectangular top;
- Figures 22 to 24 are respective rear, side, and plan views
of the article of Figure 21;
- Figure 25 is a section on line XXV-XXV in Figures 21 and 22;
- Figures 26 and 27 are perspective views showing two
successive steps in the collapsing of the article of Figures 21
to 25;
- Figure 28 is a diagrammatic plan view showing a first hinged
corner arrangement;
- Figure 29 shows the arrangement of Figure 28 when folded
flat;
- Figure 30 is a diagrammatic plan view showing a second
hinged corner arrangement;
- Figure 31 shows the arrangement of Figure 30 when folded
flat;
- Figure 32 is a perspective view of a cabinet unit;
- Figure 33 shows the cabinet unit when collapsed, without its
top;
- Figure 34 is a front view of an article of furniture
comprising a plurality of cabinet units;
- Figure 35 is a front view of a bookcase unit;
- Figures 36 to 38 are respective side, plan, and perspective
views of the bookcase unit;
- Figure 39 is a perspective view of the collapsed bookcase
unit;
- Figure 40 is a section on line XL-XL in Figure 35;
- Figure 41 shows how the planar elements of the bookcase unit
may be cut from a rectangular sheet;
- Figure 42 shows a bookcase comprising two of the bookcase
units;
- Figure 42a shows an alternative arrangement of the bookcase
of Figure 42;
- Figure 43 is an enlargement of the detail XLIII in Figure
42a;
- Figure 44 is a perspective view of a foldable top piece of
the bookcase;
- Figure 45 shows the top piece folded flat;
- Figure 46 shows a base part of the bookcase; and
- Figure 47 shows the base part folded flat.
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The article of furniture shown in Figures 1 to 3 is in the
form of a chair (in particular an armchair, as illustrated)
constituting a rigid structural unit which can be safely sat upon
but which is, however, collapsible as will be explained below.
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The chair consists of planar elements which are permanently
connected by hinges. In particular, the chair has two vertical
side elements 1 which diverge forwardly at an angle of about 60°.
Two transverse elements 2 extend in a common plane between the
side elements 1. In the embodiment illustrated, the common plane
slopes rearwards at an angle of less than 10° to the horizontal.
Two vertical support elements 3 have bevelled upper edges 3a on
which the respective transverse seat elements 2 rest. The chair
also includes two seat back elements 4.
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Figure 5 shows how the elements 1 to 4 may be cut from a
single rectangular sheet of suitably strong rigid sheet material
(e.g. plywood).
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The planar elements 1 to 4 are connected together by hinges
6, one of which is shown by way of example in Figure 5a as having
two leaves 7 with knuckles 8 which are permanently connected by a
hinge pin 9. In particular, the rear edges of the side elements
1 are connected by three (optionally two) hinges 6a. The outer
side edge of each seat element 2 is connected by two hinges 6b to
the corresponding side element 1 and the inner side edges of the
seat elements 2 are connected together by two hinges 6c. The
outer side edge of each support element 3 is connected by two
hinges 6b to the corresponding side element 1 and the inner side
edges of the support elements 3 are connected together by two
hinges 6e. The inner side edges of the two seat back elements 4
are connected together by two hinges 6f and, intermediate its
edges, each seat back element 4 is connected to a corresponding
side element 1 by two hinges 6g.
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It is to be noted that the support elements 3 do not extend
in the same plane. Accordingly, although the structure of the
chair is rigid in normal use, the chair can be folded and
collapsed by lifting the seat, i.e. by raising the inner side
edges of the seat elements 2. In the collapsed condition, shown
in Figure 4, all the planar elements 1 to 4 lie parallel to one
another.
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The same principle can be applied to an article of furniture
in the form of a triangular table or stool, as shown in Figures
11 to 15. The article has two side elements 11 whose rear edges
are connected together by two hinges (not visible) and two
co-planar horizontal top elements 12 whose outer side edges are
connected to the side elements by hinges 6b and whose inner side
edges are connected together by hinges 6c. The top elements are
supported by vertical support elements 13 whose outer side edges
are connected by hinges 6d to the respective side elements 11 and
whose inner side edges are connected together by hinges 6e. As
before, the article can be folded flat by lifting the top
elements 12.
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Figures 16 and 17 show a bureau comprising three rigid
structural units 21 to 23 which are releasably connected
together. The units 22 and 23 are mirror images of one another,
and therefore only one will be described in detail. The unit 22
has two side walls 24,26, a rear wall 27, and a front panel 28
which are permanently connected by hinges. A door 29 is
permanently hinged to the outer side wall 24. The unit 22
contains removable shelves 31,32 which are supported by simply
resting on the hinges in the unit.
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The upper unit 21 has a top wall 33, a rear wall 34, a base
wall 35, and a door 36 which are permanently connected by hinges.
Vertical partitions 37 are permanently hinged to one of the walls
33 to 35. The unit 21 also contains removable shelves 38.
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For the sake of simplicity, the permanent hinges, which
allow collapsing of the units 21 to 23 by folding to a flat form,
are not shown in Figures 16 to 18. Each unit 22 and 23 is
connected to the corresponding end of the upper unit 21, by three
separable hinges 39, one of which is shown in Figure 19. The
hinge 39 comprises two leaves 41,42 which can be separated from
each other by withdrawing from the hinge knuckles a pin 43 having
a head 44 at one end. In order to prevent the pin 43 from being
lost, it can then be reinserted into one of the sets of hinge
knuckles and retained there by a cap 46 which is a simple
friction fit on the end of the pin. The pin 43 can easily be
removed manually by pulling off the cap 46 and pushing the pin 43
upwards, whereupon the head 44 can easily be grasped and pulled.
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Figure 21 to 25 show an article of furniture in the form of
a table, desk, or stool. The article has two side walls 51, a
rear wall 52, and a front element 53, all permanently connected
together by hinges 6 as described above. The article also has a
top element 54 which simply rests on the hinges 6 and is
removable to allow folding of the hinged elements 51 to 53. As
shown in Figure 26, the top 54, when removed, can be placed
immediately below the front element 53, so that in the collapsed
article as shown in Figure 27 all the planar elements 51 to 54
lie parallel to each other in a compact arrangement. Figures 28
and 29 illustrate one form of hinged corner arrangement in the
erected condition and collapsed condition respectively, and
Figures 30 and 31 similarly illustrate another form of hinged
corner arrangement (in which the edges of the planar elements 51
to 53 are bevelled).
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Figure 32 shows a cabinet unit 61 similar'to the article
shown in Figures 21 to 25. The unit includes side walls 51, a
rear wall 52, and a front panel 53 which are permanently
connected by hinges 6. A removable top 54 again rests on the
hinges. The unit also has a door 56 which is permanently
connected to one of the side walls 51 by two hinges 6a. When the
top is removed, the unit can be folded as shown in Figure 33.
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Figure 34 shows an article of furniture comprising stacks of
units arranged side by side. Some of the units are cabinet units
61 as described above. Other units 62 are similar to the units
61, but without the door, and with or without a removable shelf
63. Each stack rests on a rectangular base 64 comprising four
boards which are permanently hinged together, e.g. in the manner
indicated in Figures 28 and 29 or 30 and 31.
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Figures 35 to 40 show a rigid shelf unit 71 which may be
stacked with one or more similar units to form a bookcase. The
unit 71 includes a planar vertical front element 62 and planar
vertical side elements 73 permanently connected by hinges 6. The
upper and lower edges of the side elements 73 are provided with
guide holes 73a and guide pins 73b to facilitate stacking. A
removable shelf 74 rests on the front element 72 and has grooved
wings 74a which engage with slots in the side elements 73 so as
to hold the side elements in position.
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When the shelf element 74 is slid out rearwardly, the shelf
unit 71 can be collapsed by folding the side elements 73 inwards,
whereupon the shelf element 74 can be accommodated in a position
in which it is co-planar with the front element 72 as shown in
Figure 39, resulting in a compact arrangement for storage and
transport. Figure 1 shows how the elements 72 to 74 may be cut
from a single rectangular sheet.
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Figure 42 shows a bookcase comprising a stack of two shelf
units 71, with a separate top piece 76 and base piece 77. Figure
42a shows how the top piece 76 may be arranged in a different
way. The top piece 76 comprises two planar parts 76a,76b
permanently connected by hinges 76c which allow the parts 76a and
76b to be moved to any position between the fully open obtuse
angled position shown in Figure 44 and the collapsed position
shown in Figure 45.
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Finally, the base piece 77 comprises a front element 77a and
two side elements 77b permanently connected by hinges 6 which
allow the base piece to be collapsed by folding to the flat
arrangement shown in Figure 47.
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It will be appreciated that all the articles of furniture
described above can be erected and collapsed by hand without the
use of any tool.