EP1813752A1

EP1813752A1 - A furniture piece including parallel non - coplanar wings

Info

Publication number: EP1813752A1
Application number: EP05022232A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Giuseppe Caimi
Original assignee: CAIMI EXPORT SpA
Current assignee: CAIMI EXPORT SpA
Priority date: 2005-10-12
Filing date: 2005-10-12
Publication date: 2007-08-01

Abstract

A non-coplanar sliding wing furniture piece comprises, on a containing body, a top guide rail and a bottom guide rail, in which top carriage elements and bottom skid elements are engaged, the main feature of the invention being that, on the bottom skid elements, a swinging arm, Which can swing with respect to the skid element is supported, the swinging arm supporting, near a free end portion thereof, a guide roller which can be movably engaged in the bottom guide seats defined by the bottom guide rail.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a furniture piece including non-coplanar sliding wings.
Furniture pieces comprising, at the front thereof, two or more non-coplanar sliding wings are already known: in these prior furniture pieces, at least a sliding wing thereof is arranged outside of at least an inner sliding wing, and slides in a vertical sliding plane spaced from the inner wing or wings.
Prior furniture pieces of the above mentioned construction, however, present a lot of problems, mainly related to the making of their coupling elements.
In fact, since the sliding wings may have very different thicknesses, heights, weights and front positions, these prior furniture pieces are subjected to great size and constructional variations.
Accordingly, because of the above mentioned variations, it is not possible to standardize the machining operations for making said furniture pieces and, more specifically, for providing modular elements to be easily used in designing and constructing sliding wing furniture pieces.

SLUMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the aim of the present invention is to overcome the above mentioned drawbacks, by providing a non-coplanar sliding wing furniture piece, in which the starting assembling and servicing operations can be greatly simplified, owing to their specifically designed coupling elements or fittings.
Within the scope of the above mentioned aim, a main object of the invention is to provide a wing sliding device, allowing to perform the coupling operation by merely tilting both the outer wing and inner wing or wings, to allow the sliding wings to be practically automatically assembled or arranged.
Another object of the present invention is to provide such a non-coplanar sliding wing furniture piece which, owing to its specifically designed constructional features, is very reliable and safe in operation.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide such a non-coplanar sliding wing furniture piece which can be easily made and which, moreover, is very competitive from a mere economic standpoint.
According to one aspect of the present invention, the above mentioned aim and objects, as well as yet other objects, which will become more apparent hereinafter, are achieved by a non-coplanar sliding wing furniture piece, said furniture piece comprising, on a body thereof, a top guide rail and a bottom guide rail, in which are slidably engaged top carriage elements and bottom skid elements, and being characterized in that said furniture piece comprises moreover, on said bottom skid elements, a swinging arm adapted to swing with respect to said bottom skid elements and supporting, near a free end portion thereof, a guide roller which can be removably engaged in bottom guide seats defined by said bottom guide rail.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Further characteristics and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent hereinafter from the following detailed disclosure of a preferred, though not exclusive, embodiment of a non-coplanar sliding wing furniture piece, which is illustrated, by way of an indicative but not limitative example, in the accompanying drawings, where:

Figure 1 is a schematic perspective view illustrating a possible embodiment of a slidable wing furniture piece according to the present invention;
Figure 2 is a further schematic exploded perspective view illustrating an outer wing;
Figure 3 shows a starting assembling step for assembling an outer wing;
Figure 4 shows a starting assembling step for assembling an inner wing;
Figure 5 is a further schematic view showing an inner wing as properly arranged;
Figure 6 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a furniture piece to which an inner wing and an outer wing have been applied;
Figure 7 is a further schematic exploded perspective view showing detent elements for limiting a horizontal sliding movement; and
Figure 8 is a schematic view showing a coupling step for coupling a top carriage element with the horizontal sliding limit or detent elements.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

With reference to the number references of the above mentioned figures, the non-coplanar sliding wing furniture piece, which has been generally indicated by the reference number 1, comprises a container or holding body 2, which can have any desired configuration, and which is provided, at a top portion thereof, with a top guide rail 3 and, at a bottom portion thereof, with a bottom guide rail 4.
The top guide rail 3 which is restrained or fixedly connected to the top base portion of the container body 2, comprises a seat or recess 10 for an outer wing, and a seat or recess 11 for an inner wing, which seats are arranged in an adjoining relationship with a rigid fin element 12 for the outer wing and a rigid fin element 13 for the inner wing.
In said rail 3 are slidably engaged top carriage elements, comprising inner top carriage elements 20 and outer top carriage elements 21.
Said carriage elements are respectively coupled to the inner wing 30 and outer wing 31, through top coupling brackets, respectively indicated by the reference numbers 32 and 33.
Each of said carriage elements 20 and 21 comprises a related roller element 34 and 35, respectively, slidably engaging with said fins.
At the bottom, inner bottom skid elements 40 and outer bottom skid elements 41 are provided, said skid elements being coupled to a bottom edge portion respectively of the inner wing 30 and outer wing 31, through a coupling inner plate 42 and a coupling outer plate 43.
Said coupling plates 42 and 43 comprise, respectively, an inner beveled portion 44 and an outer beveled portion 45, on which an inner swinging arm 46 and an outer swinging arm 47 are respectively provided.
Said swinging arms, in starting assembling steps, and as is schematically shown in figure 3 and in figure 4, are arranged spread or spaced away from one another and so located as to interfere with the bottom guide rail 4.
More specifically, the bottom guide rail 4 comprises an outer wall 50, a middle wall 51 and an inner wall 52 defining an inner bottom guide seat or recess 53 and a bottom outer guide recess 54.
In assembling the furniture piece, the arm being in a spread apart position, and for assembling an inner wing 30, the inner guide roller 60 supported by said swinging arm 46, engages with the middle wall 51 and causes said swinging arm 46 to turn thereby engaging in the seat or recess 53 therefor.
Likewise, as the outer wing 31 is assembled, the outer guide roller 61, supported by said swinging arm 47, engages with the outer wall 50 thereby causing said swinging arm 47 to turn and engaging the guide roller in the recess or seat 54.
For disassembling the wings, a reverse operation is carried out: more specifically, with respect to the inner wing, the guide roller is disengaged by the inner wall 52, causing the above mentioned turning movement, whereas the guide roller 61 is engaged with the middle wall 51, thereby causing said swinging arm to swing and consequently disengaging the latter from the roller.
Thus, it is possible to perform very easily the above mentioned assembling and disassembling operations: moreover, the wings can be always held in a perfectly guided relationship, due to the fact that they are held at their bottom portions by the friction provided by said swinging arms with respect to their swinging pivot pin.
To properly limit the sliding movement of the wings, a detent element, generally indicated by the reference number 70, and shown in figures 7 and 8, is moreover provided: said detent element comprises a plate 71 which can be engaged in the seats 10 and 11 defined by the top guide rail 3 and supporting a fork element 72, of a resiliently yieldable type.
Said fork element 72, in particular, can be engaged with a peg 73 to be coupled to the top carriage elements, thereby providing the desired locked relationship.
In this connection it should be apparent that the above mentioned detent elements 70 can be arranged both at a left and at a right position, with the possibility of accurately adjusting the sliding movement both of the inner wing and of the outer wing.
From the above disclosure it should be apparent that the invention fully achieves the intended aim and objects.
In particular, a furniture piece has been provided, in which is possible to quickly and easily apply both inner and outer wings, with a further possibility of performing an easy disassembling operation to in turn perform maintenance or servicing and control operations.
Moreover, the possibility of coupling the wings by a simple swinging movement with respect to the guide rail restraining the wings at the top thereof, provides very easy assembling and disassembling operations for respectively assembling and removing the wing.
The invention, as disclosed, is susceptible to several modifications and variations, all coming within the scope of the invention.
Moreover, all the constructional details can be replaced by other technically equivalent elements.
In practicing the invention, the used materials, as well as the contingent size and shapes, can be any, depending on requirements.

Claims

A non-coplanar sliding wing furniture piece comprises, on a body thereof, a top guide rail and a bottom guide rail, in which are slidably engaged top carriage elements and bottom skid elements, and being characterized in that said furniture piece comprises moreover, on said bottom skid elements, a swinging arm adapted to swing with respect to said bottom skid elements and supporting, near a free end portion thereof, a guide roller which can be removably engaged in bottom guide seats defined by said bottom guide rail.
A furniture piece, according to the preceding claim, characterized in that said top guide rail comprises a seat for an outer wing and a seat for an inner wing, said seats adjoining a rigid fin element for the outer wing and a rigid fin element for the inner wing.
A furniture piece, according to claim 1, characterized in that said top carriage elements comprise inner top carriage elements and outer top carriage elements respectively coupled to said inner wing and outer wing by top coupling brackets.
A furniture piece, according to claim 1, characterized in that said bottom skid elements comprise bottom inner skid elements and bottom outer skid elements, coupled to a bottom edge portion of said inner wing and outer wing.
A furniture piece, according to claim 1, characterized in that said bottom skid elements comprise a coupling plate for coupling to an edge portion of a related wing, and that said coupling plate includes a beveled portion, supporting a swinging arm.
A furniture piece, according to claim 1, characterized in that said bottom guide rail comprises an outer wall, a middle wall and an inner wall, said outer, middle and inner walls respectively delimiting a bottom inner guide seat and a bottom outer guide seat.
A furniture piece, according to claim 6, characterized in that said guide roller is adapted to respectively engage with said middle wall and outer wall.
A furniture piece according to claim 1, characterized in that said furniture piece comprises moreover a detent element arranged in the top guide rail, said detent element comprising a plate element adapted to be engaged in the seats defined by the guide rail and supporting a resiliently yieldable fork element to be engaged with a peg element coupled to said top carriage elements.