EP1364598A1

EP1364598A1 - Modular drawer and extruded components from which it is made

Info

Publication number: EP1364598A1
Application number: EP03425044A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Vittorio Petri
Original assignee: Zapet Srl
Current assignee: Zapet Srl
Priority date: 2002-05-21
Filing date: 2003-01-29
Publication date: 2003-11-26

Abstract

A drawer shaped structure, with a quadrangular shaped base (7), made with two separate extruded shaped components (1) and (2), equipped with longitudinal weight reducing cavities and grooves, of which the former is appropriate for creating the pieces forming the side walls (3) and (4), and the latter, with the shape of its traverse section that recalls the letter "L", is appropriate for creating in one case two pieces forming the front and back walls (5) and (6) of the drawer and each of them at least one portion of its base (7), in the other case a piece that forms the back wall (6) and at least one part of the base (7) of the drawer.

Description

The invention concerns a modular drawer and the extruded shaped components with which it is made, to be used in the field of furniture and furnishings in general.
Modular drawers for furniture, combined with side runners, are already known.
Those that are produced in large quantities are often manufactured with structural pieces cut to measure, which are then transformed at their ends to allow their joining, then, with pressure pins and glues or screws, their ends are joined together two by two to form a quadrangular structure on which a panel that forms the base of the same drawer is then fixed.
In a different embodiment, the drawer is made of three sides produced from a shaped component, of a base made from a panel, wedged into grooves placed towards the bottom of the sides, and of a front element also made from a shaped component, which joins the side walls and finishes the facing of the quadrangular structure forming the same drawer.
The single pieces of shaped component, with which the quadrangular structure is made, normally also undergo manufacturing processes by means of which they are adapted to the type of runner guides to which the drawer is then combined.
In particular, the piece of the shaped component forming the back wall undergoes processing in the lower part to allow the insertion and extraction of the drawer within the seat with runner guides which is made to house it.
The manufacturing of the prior art drawers starting from shaped components is therefore laborious. It also requires a base panel normally manufactured by a different company from that which manufactures the shaped components with which the sides of the drawers are made. Said base panel often has colour which does not coincide with that of the side walls and is made of a different material, it may therefore undergo a different dilation from that to which the side walls of the same drawer undergo at varying temperatures. For this reason, when the ambient temperature changes, the drawer undergoes stresses which may cause its deformation, with the consequent difficulty of its running along the guides that support it.
The aim of the present invention is the manufacturing of a drawer which is uniform in the material with which the side walls and the base are made, in order to avoid the risk of its deformation when it is subjected to thermal stresses, and which is also uniform in the type of material and therefore in the colour so as to avoid the need for painting. Another aim of this invention is the manufacturing of the appropriate extruded structural pieces with which to manufacture the drawer, so that its sizes can be easily modified. Another aim is that of manufacturing shaped components whose structure allows the manufacturing of the whole drawer without requiring additional operations - other than their being cut to measure and shaped or bevelled at the ends where they are joined - to be combined with the runner guides, at least with the most common and widespread types.
The invention which has allowed us to reach these results is achieved by a drawer shaped structure, with a quadrangular structural base and whose dimensions are variable, created only with two separate extruded shaped components, equipped with longitudinal weight reducing cavities and grooves. The invention is furthermore achieved by two extruded shaped components, of which the first is appropriate for creating the pieces which form the two side walls, the second shaped component, whose cross-section has a shape that recalls the letter "L", is appropriate for creating the pieces forming the front and back walls of the drawer and each one at least one portion of its base or the back wall and at least one part of the base of said drawer.
A drawer made in this way is convenient because of the uniformity of the material with which it is made, it therefore appears with a uniform colour and, even when it undergoes large variations in temperature, it is submitted to uniform stresses therefore it is not subject to deformations and inflections.
It is also convenient because with only two shaped components one can manufacture its entire structure including its base. The invention is also convenient because starting from two differently shaped components it is possible to manufacture drawers which are identical and also may have different sizes for the same piece of furniture or the same furnishings structure.
It is also convenient because the two shaped components which form the drawer contain grooves and have shapes which are appropriate for their combination with the most common and wide spread runner guides, without requiring supplementary processing for their adaptation to the pieces of the shaped components with which the same drawer is manufactured.
Other advantages will become evident in the detailed description which follows and refers to practical embodiments of the four sided drawer and of the shaped components with which said drawer is made, reproduced only as an example in the drawings in the enclosed tables, in which:

Fig. 1 is the axonometric view of the said drawer;
Fig. 2 is the front view with a different scale and in the axial, direction of the first shaped component with which the side walls of the drawer are manufactured;
Fig. 3 is the front view in the axial direction of the second shaped component with which the front and back walls, as well as the base of the drawer, are made;
Fig. 4 is the view in the axial direction of the two pieces of the shaped component in figure 3, facing each other, and of a compensating strip, used in the manufacture of four sided drawers, whose base is longer than that allowed by the two base wings of the said shaped component in figure 3;
Fig. 5 is the enlarged front view in the axial direction of two portions of the base wings of the shaped component of figure 3 facing each other and combined, one of which is modified at its end to join by juxtaposition with the wing of the portion of the other shaped component for the manufacture of the base of the drawer whose length is shorter than the sum of the lengths of the two original wings;
Fig. 6 is the schematic front view of one piece of the shaped component of figure 2, with the ends bevelled so as to allow its joining with the pieces made from the shaped component in figure 3;
Fig. 7 is the partially exploded top plan view of the four sided drawer manufactured with the shaped components reproduced in figures 2 and 3;
Fig. 8 is the front view in the longitudinal direction of a shaped component, a variation of that shown in figure 3;
Fig. 9 is the front view of the bottom of the drawer in correspondence to its joint, in the event in which it is made with the two shaped components of figure 8 placed one in front the other and where one has undergone a longitudinal cut of its base wing along the line of one of its "L" shaped ribs;
Fig. 10 is the front view of the base of the drawer - in the event in which the front and back walls are made from the shaped component of figure 8 - in correspondence to the joints in the event in which the length of said drawer is longer than double the length of the wing of the shaped component in figure 8 and in which, for the manufacture of the base panel, we use also a supplementary joining shaped component.

It is understood that the drawings are only exemplifying to facilitate the comprehension of the invention without constituting in any way any limitation.
The invention consists therefore in a drawer-shaped structure manufactured only with two different extruded shaped components 1 and 2. It also consists of shaped components 1 and 2 from which two structures are respectively obtained. Two structures, or first pieces which originate the side walls 3 and 4 from component 1 and two structures or second pieces, shaped like an "L", which originate front and back walls 5 and 6, from component 2, each one of these second pieces also forms at least a portion of base 7 of the drawer.
The first two pieces, which form the side walls of the drawer 3 and 4, are therefore obtained from a first extruded shaped component 1. The two second pieces - which constitute the front and back walls 5 and 6 and, each of said second pieces, a portion of the base 7 of the drawer - are obtained from a second shaped component 2, whose cross section profile recalls the shape of an "L" with a long base wing 8.
The first two pieces which form the two side walls 3 and 4 of the drawer are identical, while the second two pieces, which form the front and back walls 5 and 6 and, each of them, at least one portion of the base 7 of the drawer, normally have the base wings 8 of differing lengths. In fact, one of said wings 8 is like the one indicated in figure 3, or in figure 8, of the enclosed drawings, the other wing 8 is shorter and is obtained by cutting the original one, reproduced in figure 3 or in figure 8, so that the end of said cut wing has the length and shape appropriate to interact with the uncut one. For example, in the case in which one uses the shaped component of figure 3, said cut wing is appropriately modified to overlap over step 9 of the first wing. Whereas, in the event in which the shaped component in figure 8 is used, said cut wing is adapted so as to be appropriate for notched coupling with the end 40 of the said first wing, that is, the one that has not been changed. In the first case the support step 9 is appropriate for putting on the same level the two wings 8 which generate the base 7 of the drawer, when the total length of the latter is shorter than twice the length of base wing 8 of the original shaped component 2, reproduced in figure 3.
While in the event in which the total length of base 7 of the drawer is more than double the length of the base wing 8 of the shaped component 2 in fig. 3, as shown in fig. 4, the compensation strip or extension 10 is used and this can be obtained also from the base wing 8 of the same shaped component 2.
Said base wing 8 of the shaped component in fig. 3 normally presents, in its lower part, the ribs 11 capable of increasing its rigidity and of allowing the free end to create the support step 9 on which the wings of the two facing shaped components join as per the type reproduced in fig. 3 and which create walls 5 and 6 as shown in figure 5.
In particularly long drawers, in the event in which one always uses the shaped component of fig. 3, base 7 is therefore produced by using the support steps 9 of the two facing pieces which generate the front and back walls 5 and 6 along with a compensation strip 10, appropriate for joining the two support steps 9 and for forming a uniform base 7. In a second solution the shaped component 2, reproduced in figure 8, is again formed by an erect body, normally with a profile that thins out toward the top, supplied with internal weight reducing cavities 27 and 28 and at least one groove 33 on the external face of said erect body, close to its base.
It is also formed from the base wing 8 with a length decidedly longer than the height of the erect body, with which it generates at least one part of the base of the drawer and normally, and any how in the majority of the cases, more than half of the entire base of the said drawer.
Differing from the shaped component reproduced in fig. 3, in its lower part, said base wing 8 is equipped at least with protruding ribs 42 which generate coupling grooves 43 aimed towards the free end of said base wing 8. At one end the latter is equipped with protruding filler 40 for coupling. The thickness, length and position of filler 40 are appropriate for its mortise coupling with a corresponding piece of the same shaped component, placed in a facing position to the first and obtained from it through a longitudinal cut along the edge of a longitudinal joining rib 43.
The base wing 8 of said second shaped component 2 is nearly flat at the top, or it has slight undulations or slight ribs at different levels whether said second shaped component is of the type reproduced in fig. 3 or whether it is of the type reproduced in fig. 8.
At the bottom of said second shaped component there are strengthening ribs distributed repeatedly at fixed distances. The distance between said ribs is advantageous if it is of 50 mm, therefore allowing, the production of drawers, of any size and of variable length, with intervals equal to the distance between said ribs, at least for the total length in the drawer base being constructed that is less than double the length of the base wing 8 of the same second shaped component. In the solution reproduced in fig. 8 said ribs 42 are normally shaped like an "L" so as to generate the coupling grooves 43.
Said ribs 42, as well as the protruding filler 40 at the end of the said second shaped component are shaped to allow them to form a mortise type joint.
In said embodiment the protruding filler 40, at the end of the base wing 8, is normally preceded by a full piece 44 whose thickness is equal to the maximum thickness of the base of the drawer which makes for a very strong base in correspondence to the same joint.
In the case in which the length of the drawer should need to be longer than double the length of the base wing 8 of the said second shaped component, in the embodiment indicated in fig. 8, a supplementary joint panel 50, shaped like two facing letters "C" will be used, as shown in fig. 10.
The shaped component 2, in both cases, therefore in the solutions reproduced in fig. 3 and in fig. 8, allows the production of four sided drawers with a base 7 having a variable length: in one case, that of relatively short drawers, by shortening one of the wings 8; in a second case, that of long drawers, by using a compensation strip 10 or the supplementary joint panel 50, to be placed between facing shaped components 2 to complete base 7 of the same drawer.
The two shaped components 2, the one reproduced in fig. 3 and the one reproduced in fig. 8, are equivalent. Both have on the upper part of the base wing 8 light strips or lines which generate cross lines on the base of the assembled drawer, aimed at masking the joint line where the ends of the base of shaped component 2 are coupled with the remaining extremity of the base of an equivalent shaped component facing the first one. In the event in which said second shaped component 2 is the one reproduced in fig. 3, said juxtaposition, thanks to the shape of the base of said shaped component, generates a line that is nearly invisible, in the case in which the weight introduced into the drawer is light or weighs in particular on the part corresponding to the coupling of the bases of the two facing shaped components, when it is on the upper face.
When instead the weight introduced into the drawer is heavy and/or weighs on the base which, in correspondence to the joint, is placed on the lower face, said base inflects and is distanced from the one on the upper level along the joint line causing, in this way, the distancing of the two parts or bases showing therefore the composite shape of the same base with an evident aesthetic flaw.
The shaped component in fig. 8, more expensive than the one reproduced in fig. 3, eliminates said defect thanks to the wedged joint and in particular the mortise type in correspondence with the same joint.
Independently from the specific shape of the base wing 8 of said second shaped component 2, the first shaped component 1, from which the pieces that form the side walls 3 and 4 of the drawer are obtained, has on its lower part the longitudinal groove 12 appropriate for lodging the side edges of the base wings 8 of the drawer base 7.
In its body, said first shaped component 1, has weight reducing longitudinal cavities 13 and at least one tubular rib 14 with a hole 15 whose size is appropriate for interacting with the connecting screws 16.
The external surface 17 of said first shaped component 1, is nearly flat and at the bottom it is prolonged into wing 18 ending in the quadrangular thickening 19 aimed towards the midline of the same shaped component and appropriate for defining the longitudinal groove 12 on the bottom.
The size of wing 18 and of the quadrangular thickening 19 is appropriate for coupling with the most common drawer runner guides, so as to produce said coupling without the requirement of any particular adapting operations and/or supplementary add-ons.
The profile of the cross section of said first shaped component 1 normally thins out towards its top 20.
From the internal face, i.e. the one that faces the inside of the drawer, said first shaped component 1 presents the protruding wing 21 which will be aimed towards the base 7 of said drawer and is sized so as to press the side edge of wing 8 of said second shaped component 2 - with which base 7 of the same drawer is made - against the quadrangular thickening 19 of the said first shaped component 1.
In the exemplified four sided embodiment shown in the drawings, said first shaped component 1 presents two longitudinal tubular ribs 14 to allow, in two distinct points, the joining with screws 16 of the side walls 3 and 4 with the front and back ones 5 and 6 obtained from said second shaped component 2. In correspondence to the holes 15 of the said first shaped component 1, on shaped component 2 there are grooves which are defined by ribs 30 and 31, with said grooves sized so as to allow only the passage of the central part of the body of screws 16, which are normally of the self threading type, to facilitate their passage and at the same time the penetration of their thread into ribs 30 and 31 giving strength to the coupling.
The external surface 25 of the second shaped component 2, that is the one that will face the external part of the drawer, is nearly flat. The cross-section profile of the wall made with said second shaped component 2 normally thins out towards the top 26. At its bottom end, on the inside, the side is prolonged with the very long wing 8 and is normally capable of forming about half of base 7 of the more commonly sized drawers. Said wing 8 is in any case at least twice as long as the height of the external surface 25 of said second shaped component 2.
The body of said second shaped component 2 has weight reducing longitudinal cavities 27 and 28 and couples of adjacent ribs 30, 31, each couple in an appropriate position for defining one of the holes 23 and 24 for the passage of the screws 16 with which the adjacent walls of the drawer are joined.
On the external surface 25, of said second shaped component 2, near base 7, there is the longitudinal groove 33, while on the base, at least in some embodiments, there is the longitudinal groove 34. At least the first of said grooves is appropriate for combining with the common hidden runner-guides of drawer guiding devices.
On the body of said second shaped component 2, in particular on the surface that will face the inside of the drawer, we normally have the thin longitudinal grooves 35 placed in positions corresponding to holes or longitudinal cavities 23 and 24. Said thin grooves 35 are appropriate for aiding the correct positioning of the screws with which the finishing plate of the drawer is fixed to the front wall 5 of the same drawer.
Wing 8 of said second shaped component 2, with which base 7 of the drawer is made, has longitudinal ribs 11 or 41 and 42, while the erect body of said shaped component contains the longitudinal cavities 27, 28, 23 and 24, as well as at least groove 33. The latter, on the base of the back wall 6 of the drawer, is particularly useful since it allows its introduction and extraction from the guide equipped lodging aimed at housing it.
In the embodiment in which the drawer is equipped with two side walls, the back wall and the facing which generates the front wall of the drawer, said second shaped component 2, with which wall 6 is made, will have wing 8 which is long enough to produce the entire base 7 of the drawer, or said wing 8 will be combined with an extension 10 or 50, combining on one side with step 9 of wing 8 or with filler 40, while on the other side it will be fixed to the same finishing plate, and the sides will be lodged in grooves 12 of side walls 3 and 4 made with the first two pieces obtained from said first shaped component 1.
In a different solution, or in a different use, side walls 3 and 4 could constitute the front and back walls of the drawer.
In production the details of the invention may undergo variations, which in any case fall within the protection area as defined by the following claims.

Claims

A modular drawer produced with extruded shaped components, characterised by two first pieces obtained from a first extruded shaped component (1), with which the side walls (3) and (4) are made, and by one or two second pieces, obtained from a second extruded shaped component (2), with which the back wall or the front and back walls (5) and (6) are produced, by the fact that said second pieces have a cross section profile that recalls the shape of a letter "L" with a long base wing (8) and by the fact that each of the said second pieces with said base wing (8) originates at least one part of the base (7) of the drawer.
The modular drawer, as claimed in claim 1, characterised by the fact that the two first pieces that form the side walls (3) and (4) of the drawer are identical.
The modular drawer, as claimed in claim 1, characterised by the fact that the two second pieces that form the front and back walls (5) and (6) of the drawer have the base wings (8) of differing lengths and ends that are capable of coupling together when the total length of the base (7) of the drawer is less than double the length of the wings (8) of the second shaped component (2) with which they are made.
The modular drawer, as claimed in claim 1, characterised by the fact that the two second pieces that form the front and back walls (5) and (6) of the drawer have the base wings (8) of the same size and use a compensation strip or extension (10) or an supplementary joint shaped component (50) when the length of the base (7) of the drawer is longer than double the length of the base wing (8) of the second shaped component (2) with which the front and back walls are made.
A modular drawer made from the extruded shaped component (1) and (2), characterised by two first pieces which are identical, made from the first extruded shaped component (1) with which the side walls (3) and (4) are produced, by a second piece made from the second extruded shaped component (2) with which the back wall (6) is made, by a finishing plate with which the facing of the drawer is made, as well as being characterised by the fact that the second piece made with the second shaped component (2) has a cross section profile which recalls the shape of a letter "L" with one long base wing (8) which forms at least one portion of the base (7) of the drawer.
The modular drawer, as claimed in claim 5, characterised by the fact that the base (7) of the drawer is produced from a combination of the wing (8) emerging from the base of the back wall (6) and a compensation strip or extension (10) or by a supplementary joint shaped component combined at least with the wing (8) and with the grooves (12) on the side walls (3) and (4).
A first shaped component with which the two side walls of the drawer in claims 1 and 5 are produced, with its erect body equipped with weight reducing longitudinal cavities and characterised by at least one tubular rib (14), with a hole (15) having appropriate dimensions to interact with connecting screws (16) as well as, in the bottom part being characterised by a longitudinal side groove (12) appropriate for lodging the side edge of the base (7) of the drawer.
The first shaped component, as claimed in claim 7, characterised by an external surface (17) which is nearly flat, by a lower wing (18) ending in a quadrangular thickening (19) aimed towards the mid-line of the shaped component, and by the fact that said thickening (19) limits the longitudinal groove (12) at the bottom.
The first shaped component, as claimed in claim 7, characterised by a wing (18) ending on a quadrangular thickening (19), with said wing and said quadrangular thickening sized so as to be coupled with the most common drawer runner guides.
A second shaped component, with which to produce at least one wall and the base of the drawer in claims 1 and 5, characterised by an "L" shape produced by an erect body with external surface (25) which is nearly flat and by a wing (8) whose width is decidedly over the height of the erect body.
The second shaped component, as claimed in claim 10, characterised by a wing (8) whose width is at least twice the height of the erect body.
The second shaped component, as claimed in claim 10, with the erect body characterised by weight reducing cavities (27) and (28) and by at least one couple of adjacent ribs (30) and (31) and in positions that are appropriate for defining the passage of the junction screws (16).
The second shaped component, as claimed in claim 10, with the erect body characterised by at least one longitudinal groove (33) on the external surface (25) near its base.
The second shaped component, as claimed in claims 10 and 13, characterised by the fact that the groove (33) is sized appropriately for combining with the hidden runner guides of the most common devices for slide drawers.
The second shaped component, as claimed in claim 10, with the erect body characterised by grooves or prints (35) on the surface that is to face the inside of the drawer, placed in positions corresponding to cavities (23) and (24).
The second shaped component, as claimed in claim 10, characterised by longitudinal ribs (11) or (41) and (42) on the wing (8).
The second shaped component, as claimed in claim 10, characterised by a base wing (8) equipped on its lower part at least with protruding ribs (42) which form coupling grooves (43) aimed towards the free end of said base wing (8) and, at the end of said base wing (8), furnished with a protruding coupler filler (40), the latter with a thickness, length and position appropriate for a mortise joint with one of the coupling grooves (43) of a corresponding piece of shaped component positioned facing the first.
The second shaped component, as claimed in claim 10, characterised by the fact that the base wing (8) is nearly flat or with slight undulations or ribs.
The second shaped component, as claimed in claim 10, characterised by the fact that the base wing (8) has strengthening longitudinal ribs (41) and (42), of which at least the ribs (42) are distributed at fixed distances.
The second shaped component, as claimed in claim 10, characterised by the fact that the distance between the protruding ribs of the lower surface of the base wing (8) is normally of about 50 mm.
The second shaped component, as claimed in claim 10, characterised by the fact that the protruding filler (40) at the end of the base wing (8) and the coupling grooves (43), formed from the ribs (42), are shaped to produce in the drawer a mortise type joint.
The second shaped component, as claimed in claim 10, characterised by the fact that the protruding filler (40) is preceded by a full piece (44) having a thickness equal to the maximum thickness of the base (7) of the drawer.