EP2110044A1

EP2110044A1 - Extendible table

Info

Publication number: EP2110044A1
Application number: EP09157833A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Riccardo Lucatello
Original assignee: Reflex SpA
Current assignee: Reflex SpA
Priority date: 2008-04-14
Filing date: 2009-04-14
Publication date: 2009-10-21
Also published as: ITUD20080079A1

Abstract

Extendible table comprising a main top (12), at least one extension top (13, 14) able to be selectively moved with respect to the main top (12) between a first position, in which it is below and comprised within the bulk of the main top (12), and a second position in which it is raised and disposed substantially co-planar with respect to the main top (12), and a frame (18) with which the main top (12) and the extension top (13, 14) are associated. The extendible table comprises guide elements (15) associated with the main top (12), supporting the extension top (13, 14) and able to translate the extension top (13, 14) in a direction substantially parallel to the main top (12) between the first position and an intermediate condition removed laterally and lowered with respect to the main top (12), and at least an articulation mechanism (16) by means of which the extension top (13, 14) is constrained to the guide means (15), and is able to allow, in the intermediate condition, a rotation of the extension top (13, 14) around an axis of rotation substantially transverse to the direction of removal and substantially parallel to the main top (12), so as to lift the extension top (13, 14) from the intermediate lowered condition to the second raised position and substantially co-planar with respect to the main top (12).

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention concerns a table of the extendible type, provided with a main top raised from the ground and at least one extension top able to be selectively positioned in at least a condition where it is co-planar and adjacent to the main top, in order to increase the overall supporting surface of the table.
In general, the invention can be applied to any furnishing element whatsoever, provided with a main top and at least one extension top, such as for example a table, a shelf, a desk, a bench or other.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

An extendible table is known, comprising a main top and at least one extension top having a first position in which it is disposed retracted under the main top. The extension top comprises at least a second position in which it is removed on one side from the main top and is disposed co-planar and adjacent to said main top.
Here and hereafter in the description, the expression main top should be taken to mean the top of the table in its normal configuration, not extended.
The known extendible table is provided with two pairs of legs, which support the main top keeping it substantially horizontal at a certain distance from the ground.
The known table is also provided with shaped guides to actuate the movement of lateral removal of the extension top with respect to the main top.
In particular, the shaped guides have an arched or inclined development with respect to the substantially horizontal disposition of the main top.
The arched or inclined shape is necessary due to the need to progressively lift, during removal, the extension top from the retracted condition under the main top, to the removed condition substantially level with the main top.
The extension top is also hinged to the shaped guides so that, in the removed condition, it can be rotated by some degrees around an axis substantially orthogonal to the direction of removal.
This rotation is necessary to compensate the inclination of the guides with respect to the horizontal disposition of the main top, and to take the extension top, already raised level, to a condition adjacent to and extending laterally from the main top.
However, the known solution entails relatively high production costs, especially because of the arched or inclined shape of the shaped guides.
Furthermore, the arched or inclined shape limits the possibility of anchoring the guide to the lower surface of the main top, and can thus limit, or at least complicate, the use of particular aesthetic forms of the table.
Moreover, since the possibilities of anchoring the main top to the shaped guide are limited, the main top must be substantially self-supporting and, for some materials, oversized.
One purpose of the present invention is to make an extendible table provided with a main top and at least one extension top, which is simple and economical to make and which can be moved simply and effectively.
Another purpose of the present invention is to make an extendible table whose components have a reciprocal conformation such as to allow the greatest aesthetic conformation possible, without entailing oversizing of the parts.
The Applicant has devised, tested and embodied the present invention to overcome the shortcomings of the state of the art and to obtain these and other purposes and advantages.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is set forth and characterized in the independent claim, while the dependent claims describe other characteristics of the invention or variants to the main inventive idea.
In accordance with the above purpose, an extendible table according to the present invention comprises a main top, at least one extension top and a frame.
According to the present invention, the extension top is selectively movable with respect to the main top between a first position, in which it is below and comprised within the bulk of the main top, and a second position in which it is raised and disposed substantially co-planar with respect to the main top.
According to a characteristic feature of the present invention, guide means are provided, associated with the main top, supporting the extension top, and conformed so as to translate the extension top in a direction substantially parallel to the main top.
This translation is able to allow the the extension top to pass between the first position underneath and comprised in the bulk of the main top and an intermediate condition, laterally removed and lowered with respect to the main top.
Moreover, the frame comprises at least an articulation mechanism by means of which the extension top is constrained to the guide means. The articulation mechanism is conformed so as to allow the extension top to rotate, in the intermediate condition, around an axis of rotation substantially transverse to the direction of removal and parallel to the main top.
In this way, it is possible to lift the extension top from the intermediate condition to the second raised position disposed substantially co-planar with respect to the main top.
With the present invention, therefore, by means of the rotation allowed by the articulation mechanism, the extension top is raised by rotation, until it is taken definitively to the second position.
In this way, since guide means have to be provided that are needed only to remove the extension top laterally, and not to lift it, the guide means can be made with simplified geometries and technologies, reducing to a minimum the costs of making them.
This simplification also allows to potentially increase the possibilities of direct attachment of the main top to the guide means. This is advantageous both for the structural strength of the table, and for the possibility of providing main tops that are not self-supporting, and also for extending the possible conformations of the design of the table.
According to a variant, the articulation mechanism comprises at least a first element attached to one end of the guide means, and a second element on which the extension top is mounted.
The first element and the second element are reciprocally pivoted and at least one of the two comprises at least an angular stop block, able to cooperate with a coordinated angular abutment provided on the other element.
In this way, the reciprocal rotation of the two elements is angularly limited, so as to define univocally the two limit positions - lowered and raised - of the extension top.
According to a variant, the reciprocal rotation of the two elements is angularly limited to an angle comprised between about 150° and about 200°, advantageously about 180°. In this variant, the extension top comprises a supporting surface that, in the lowered condition, mainly faces toward the ground and, in the raised condition, faces upward and substantially level with the main top.
According to another variant, the articulation mechanism comprises relative snap-in members able to define relative snap-in positions, in correspondence with the two limit positions of rotation defined by the cooperation between the stop block and the angular abutment.
According to another variant, the extension top comprises at least a shaped edge, able to cooperate with a mating shaped edge of the main top, so that in the second position the extension top is substantially constrained to the main top.
An example of shaping for the two edges is to provide that each of them has surfaces reciprocally inclined with respect to the relative supporting surfaces of the main top and of the extension top.
Thanks to the cooperation between the two shaped edges any accidental rotation of the extension top with respect to the main top is substantially prevented.
According to another variant, the guide means comprise at least a substantially rectilinear tubular element, inside which one or more linear guides are disposed, made of self-lubricating material, either plastic or metal.
Furthermore, the guide means comprise a slider element disposed sliding inside the tubular element by means of the linear guides, and on which the articulation mechanism is mounted.
According to another variant, the substantially rectilinear tubular element is attached and at least partly adjacent to the lower surface of the main top, so as to support the latter mechanically and to confer greater structural strength on the table.
According to another solution of the invention, the extendible table comprises at least a second extension top movable between the first position and the second position in an opposite direction to the first extension top.
In this solution, the guide means are conformed so as to allow the lateral removal of both extension tops.
According to a variant, the two extension tops are removed simultaneously and in coordination, with the simple action of traction on one of them.
According to another variant, the two extension tops are removed individually and independently, by means of an action of traction on each of them.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of a preferential form of embodiment, given as a non-restrictive example with reference to the attached drawings wherein:

fig. 1 is a schematic view of an extendible table according to the present invention in a first operating condition;
fig. 2 shows the extendible table in fig. 1 in an intermediate operating condition;
fig. 3 shows the extendible table in fig. 1 in an intermediate operating condition subsequent to that in fig. 2;
fig. 4 shows the extendible table in fig. 1 in second operating condition;
fig. 5 shows a first enlarged detail of fig. 4;
fig. 6 shows a section from A to A of fig. 1;
fig. 7 shows a second enlarged detail of fig. 4;
fig. 8 shows a cross section of fig. 7 in an operating condition as in figs. 1 and 2;
fig. 9 shows a cross section of fig. 7 in an operating condition as in figs. 3 and 4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERENTIAL FORM OF EMBODIMENT

With reference to the attached drawings, an extendible table 10 according to the present invention comprises a main top 12 and two extension tops respectively first 13 and second 14, disposed on opposite sides of the main top 12.
In the extendible table 10 according to the present invention, the respective extension tops 13 and 14 can be moved between a first position, in which both extension tops 13 and 14 are retracted below the main top 12 (fig. 1), an intermediate condition, in which both extension tops 13 and 14 are laterally removed (figs. 2 and 3) outside the bulk of the main top 12, and a second position, in which both extension tops 13 and 14 are adjacent and co-planar to the main top 12 (fig. 4), to define a single extended surface of the table 10.
In this case, each extension top 13 and 14, in the first position, has a supporting surface facing downward, whereas in the second position its supporting surface faces upward and is substantially aligned and level with the upper surface of the main top 12.
Each extension top 13 and 14 comprises a connection edge 21 (fig. 5) having an inclined shape. The main top 12 comprises respective connection edges 22, shaped in a complementary way with the relative connection edges 21, to prevent the two extension tops 13 and 14 from rotating accidentally once positioned in the second position.
The extendible table 10 comprises a frame 18 (figs. 1-6) provided with two first legs 30 disposed at a first side of the extendible table 10, and two second legs 31 disposed at a second side of the extendible table 10, opposite the first side, to support the main top 12 and keep it distanced and substantially horizontal with respect to the ground.
Furthermore, the table 10 comprises a guide member 15 which, on one side, is attached to the lower surface of the main top 12 and, on the other side, is constrained on opposite sides to the two extension tops 13 and 14. According to the invention, the two extension tops 13 and 14 are constrained to the guide member 15 by means of relative articulation mechanisms 16.
In particular, the guide member 15 comprises a tubular element 19 with a quadrangular section, which is attached longitudinally and in a median position below the main top 12, and two sliders 20 disposed sliding on opposite sides inside the tubular element 19.
The first two legs 30 and the second two legs 31 are attached to a lower external surface of the tubular element 19.
On the external end of each slider 20 a relative articulation mechanism 16 is mounted, whereas on the internal end of each slider 20 at least a stop element 29 is mounted, able to prevent the slider element 20 from coming completely out of the tubular element 19.
The sliders 20 are oblong in shape and, in a particular form of embodiment of the table 10, can be made of glass.
Inside the tubular element 19 two C-shaped linear guides 24 are provided (fig. 6), which cooperate laterally with the edges of the sliders 20 in order to guide and facilitate the linear sliding thereof inside the tubular element 19.
The two linear guides 24 are advantageously made of self-lubricating material such as Teflon®, nylon® or other polymer, or also of metal material such as bronze or other.
Each articulation mechanism 16 comprises (fig. 7) a first articulation element 23, substantially cylindrical in shape, and two second articulation elements 25 hinged on opposite sides to the first articulation element 23, so as to be able to rotate reciprocally with respect to the latter.
In particular, the first articulation element 23 is attached, by means of an attachment plate, to the relative extension top 13 or 14, whereas the two second articulation elements 25 are attached to the end of the relative slider 20.
In this way, the rotation is guaranteed of the extension top 13, 14 around an axis of rotation substantially transverse to the direction of movement of the slider 20, and hence the direction in which the extension top 13, 14 is removed from the main top 12.
The first articulation element 23 comprises laterally two stop blocks 26 each disposed in a determinate angular position and each facing toward a relative one of the two second articulation elements 25.
Each second articulation element 25 comprises a relative abutment wall 27 disposed in a determinate angular position, so as to cooperate with the relative stop block 26 and define the reciprocal limits of rotation between the two second elements 25 and the first element 23.
In this case a rotation limit of about 180° is provided, so as to allow each extension top 13, 14 to take its supporting surface from the condition facing the ground, in the first position, to the condition aligned and level with the main top 12, in the second position.
We shall now describe how the extendible table 10 according to the present invention passes from the first position to the second position and vice versa.
With reference to fig. 1, the extendible table 10 according to the invention is normally in its first position, in which the two extension tops 13 and 14 have their relative supporting surfaces facing toward the ground and are below and comprised within the bulk of the main top 12.
By exerting traction on one or both the extension tops 13, 14 toward the outside of the main top 12, the slider/sliders 20 is/are made to slide along the linear guides, exiting from the tubular element 19.
The rectilinear conformation of the tubular element 19 is such as to allow a movement to remove the extension tops 13 and 14 in a direction substantially parallel to the main top 12.
Once the stop elements 29 stop the sliding elements 20 from sliding, the extension tops 13 and 14 are in an intermediate condition in which they are removed from the bulk of the main top 12, but on a lower level than it (fig. 2).
Subsequently, the extension tops 13 and 14 are rotated by 180° to be raised to the level of the main top 12, and to take their supporting surface facing upward and substantially aligned with the main top 12.
As we said, the rotation is limited by the angular position and the reciprocal collaboration of the stop block 26 and the abutment wall 27 of the articulation mechanism 16.
From this intermediate condition, the user exerts a thrust on the extension tops 13 and 14 so as to cause a short sliding movement, in closure, of the relative sliders 20, until the connection edges 21 of the two extension tops 13 and 14 are taken to cooperate with the respective connection edges 22 of the main top 12.
It is clear, however, that modifications and/or additions of parts may be made to the extendible table 10 as described heretofore, without departing from the field and scope of the present invention.
For example, it comes within the field of the present invention to provide that the articulation mechanism 16 is provided internally with relative snap-in members, not shown, able to keep the relative extension top 13, 14 in the first or second position reached.
It also comes within the field of the present invention to provide that the two sliders 20 are kinematically connected, for example by a rack system, in order to actuate a simultaneous and coordinated movement of the two extension tops 13 and 14, allowing the user to act only on one of them.
It is also clear that, although the present invention has been described with reference to specific examples, a person of skill in the art shall certainly be able to achieve many other equivalent forms of extendible table, having the characteristics as set forth in the claims and hence all coming within the field of protection defined thereby.

Claims

Extendible table comprising a main top (12), at least one extension top (13, 14) able to be selectively moved with respect to said main top (12) between a first position, in which it is below and comprised within the bulk of said main top (12), and a second position in which it is raised and disposed substantially co-planar with respect to said main top (12), and a frame (18) with which said main top (12) and said extension top (13, 14) are associated, characterized in that it comprises guide means (15) associated with said main top (12), supporting said extension top (13, 14) and able to translate said extension top (13, 14) in a direction substantially parallel to said main top (12) between said first position and an intermediate condition removed laterally and lowered with respect to said main top (12), and at least an articulation mechanism (16) by means of which the extension top (13, 14) is constrained to said guide means (15), and is able to allow, in the intermediate condition, a rotation of said extension top (13, 14) around an axis of rotation substantially transverse to the direction of removal and substantially parallel to the main top (12), so as to lift said extension top (13, 14) from the intermediate lowered condition to said second raised position and substantially co-planar with respect to the main top (12).
Table as in claim 1, characterized in that said articulation mechanism (16) comprises at least a first element (23) attached to one end of said guide means (15), and a second element (25) on which said extension top (13, 14) is mounted.
Table as in claim 2, characterized in that said first element (23) and said second element (25) are reciprocally pivoted and at least one (23) of the two elements comprises at least an angular stop block (26), able to cooperate with a coordinated angular abutment (27) provided on the other (25) of the two elements, in order to limit angularly the reciprocal rotation of the two elements (23, 25).
Table as in claim 3, characterized in that said angular stop block (26) and said angular abutment (27) are reciprocally disposed so as to limit the rotation of said two elements (23, 25) by an angle comprised between about 150° and about 200°.
Table as in claim 4, characterized in that said angular stop block (26) and said angular abutment (27) are reciprocally disposed so as to limit the rotation by about 180°.
Table as in any claim from 3 to 5, characterized in that said articulation mechanism (16) comprises relative snap-in members able to define relative snap-in positions, in correspondence with the two limit positions of rotation defined by the cooperation between said angular stop block (26) and said angular abutment (27).
Table as in any claim hereinbefore, characterized in that said extension top (13, 14) comprises a supporting surface which in the lowered condition faces mainly toward the ground and, in the raised condition, faces upward and is substantially level with said main top (12).
Table as in any claim hereinbefore, characterized in that said extension top (13, 14) comprises at least a shaped edge (21) able to cooperate with a coordinated shaped edge (22) of said main top (12), so that in said second position said extension top (13, 14) is substantially constrained to the main top (12).
Table as in claim 8, characterized in that said shaped edge (21) of the extension top (13, 14) and said shaped edge (22) of the main top (12) include shapings with surfaces reciprocally inclined with respect to the relative supporting surfaces of the main top (12) and the extension top (13, 14).
Table as in any claim hereinbefore, characterized in that said guide means (15) comprise at least a substantially rectilinear tubular element (19), inside which one or more linear guides (24) made of self-lubricating material are disposed, and at least a slider element (20) disposed sliding inside said tubular element (19) by means of said linear guides (24), and on which said articulation mechanism (16) is mounted.
Table as in claim 9, characterized in that said tubular element (19) is attached at least partly adjacent to the lower surface of said main top (12), so as to mechanically support the latter and to confer greater structural strength on the table (10).
Table as in any claim hereinbefore, which comprises at least a second extension top (14) movable between the first position and the second position in the direction opposite the first extension top (13), characterized in that said guide means (15) are conformed so as to allow the lateral removal of both extension tops (13, 14).
Table as in claim 12, characterized in that said guide means (15) are conformed so as to allow the simultaneous and coordinated removal of the two extension tops (13, 14).
Table as in claim 12, characterized in that said guide means (15) are conformed so as to allow the individual and independent removal of the two extension tops (13, 14).