EP3011868A1

EP3011868A1 - Assembly system of a wall-cupboard to a supporting structure comprising a rear wall and a front wall, interspaced with respect to each other

Info

Publication number: EP3011868A1
Application number: EP15187269.4A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Carlo Cattaneo
Original assignee: Leonardo SRL
Current assignee: Leonardo SRL
Priority date: 2014-10-03
Filing date: 2015-09-29
Publication date: 2016-04-27
Anticipated expiration: 2035-09-29
Also published as: EP3011868B1; ES2753452T3

Abstract

An assembly system, by means of wall-brackets (27) hooked to respective plates (25), of a wall-cupboard (22) to a supporting structure consisting of two walls (20,21): a first rear load-bearing wall (20) and a second front wall (21), interspaced with respect to said first wall (20) so as to form an interspace (24), characterized in that rigid connection elements (C) are housed in said interspace (24) between said two walls (20,21) and said plates (25) which are assembled outside said second front wall (21).

Description

The present invention relates to an assembly system, by means of wall-brackets hooked to respective plates, of a wall-cupboard to a supporting structure.
More specifically, the present invention relates to an assembly system of a wall-cupboard to a supporting structure consisting of two walls: a first rear load-bearing wall and a second front wall, interspaced with respect to said first wall, so as to form a housing interspace of rigid connection elements between said two rear and front walls, and said plates.
The meaning to be given to the words used herein is the following.
The term wall-cupboard refers to any kind of furniture which extends cantilevered from a supporting structure, at any height from the floor.
The term wall refers to any type of wall or panel, framework, or the like, made of any material, on which a wall-cupboard can be assembled.
The term hanging-bracket refers to any type of device, visible or hidden, which, when fixed to a wall-cupboard, is destined for being hooked to a plate fixed to a supporting structure.
Hanging-brackets of the known type are described, for example, in European patents EP2219495 , EP2303068 , EP2299873 , EP2421406 , to which reference should be made for any further clarifications, and which should be considered as being an integral part of the present description.
The term plate to which the hanging-bracket is hooked, refers to any type of support (plate, bar or the like) made of metal or another material, fixed to the bearing structure, to which a hanging-bracket fixed to the wall-cupboard can be hooked.
Considering what is specified above, as is well-known to skilled persons in the field, the current tendency of interior designers - above all in the design of kitchens -, is to furnish kitchens entirely with wall-cupboards, whether they be actual so-called "suspended wall-cabinets", at a greater height, or so-called "bases", at a lower height but in fact both extending cantilevered from a supporting wall.
In addition to this tendency, there is also the trend, mainly for aesthetical reasons, of furnishing kitchens with a front wall, interspaced from the bearing wall, or rear wall, thus forming an interspace destined for housing connection elements between said rear and front walls.
The supporting structure described above, composed of two walls: a first rear bearing wall and a second front wall, interspaced with respect to the former, has created the technical problem of how to safely assemble wall-cupboards; in other words, how to unload the entire weight of the wall-cupboards onto the rear load-bearing wall alone, leaving the front wall virtually free of load.
The general objective of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned technical problem and, according to the present invention, said technical problem has been solved by providing an assembly system, by means of hanging-brackets hooked to respective plates, of a wall-cupboard to a supporting structure composed of two walls: a first rear load-bearing wall and a second front wall interspaced with respect to said first wall so as to form an interspace, characterized in that rigid connection elements are housed in said interspace between said first rear load-bearing wall, said front wall and said plates, which are assembled outside said second front wall, whereby said second front wall is assembled between said connection elements and said plates without being affected by the load of the wall-cupboard.
This objective is also achieved by means of a system according to the combination of the above-mentioned main claim with one or more of the dependent claims.
The structural and functional characteristics of the present invention and its advantages with respect to the known art will appear even more evident from the following description, referring to the enclosed drawings, which show an example of assembly systems produced according to the innovative principles of the invention itself.
In the drawings:

figure 1 is a vertical sectional view illustrating an example of an assembly system produced according to the invention;
figures 2 and 3 are two horizontal sectional views illustrating the installation phases of the assembly system of figure 1; and
figure 4 is a partially exploded perspective view, illustrating the assembly system of the wall outside the supporting structure.

With reference to figures 1-3 in the drawings, 20 and 21 respectively indicate a rear wall and a front wall of a structure supporting wall-cupboards 22, so-called "bases", assembled at a lower height with respect to a floor P. The supporting structure is also destined for receiving wall-cupboards assembled at a greater height, not shown for the sake of simplicity.
The rear wall 20 can, for example, consist of a wall, whereas the front wall 21 can, for example, consist of panels made of wood, gypsum, plastic material and other materials. The rear wall 20 has a load-bearing function, whereas the front wall 21 has a purely aesthetical function, and also for supporting shelves.
Said walls 20, 21 are interspaced with respect to each other, generally parallel to each other, so as to form an interspace 24.
Connection elements C between said walls 20, 21 and supporting plates 25 of the wall-cupboards 22, are housed in said interspace 24.
Respective hanging-brackets 27 fixed to the wall-cupboards 22 must in fact be hooked to said plates 25 (or to other equivalent supporting means) assembled against the front wall 21. Said plates 25 can, for example, also be of the type described and illustrated in European Patent EP2510833 , or of another known type.
In this way, opposing forces F1, F2 and F3 are created which, if not adequately contrasted, tend to overturn the wall-cupboards towards the outside.
As already mentioned, the objective of the invention is to provide an assembly system capable of resisting said forces F1, F2 and F3 with the cupboard loaded and also, above all with respect to "base" wall-cupboards, when the cupboard is subjected to stress by abnormal loads, such as the weight of a person leaning forcefully against the same cupboard.
With reference to figures 1-4, the technical problem indicated above is solved, according to the invention, by rigidly connecting the rear load-bearing wall 20 to the front wall 21, and also to the plates 25 by means of rigid connection elements C.
According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the position of said rigid connection elements C can be regulated in depth.
For this purposes, the rigid connection elements C comprise a first part P1 fixed to the rear load-bearing wall 20 and a second part P2 fixed to the plates 25.
According to a possible embodiment of the invention, more specifically, said rigid connection elements C can consist of a tubular upright 29 (first part P1) and a plurality of brackets 30 (second part P2) fixed to said upright 29, interspaced at different heights, corresponding to the height of the plates 25.
As can be clearly seen in the drawings, in the example illustrated, said tubular upright 29 has a square section, but it may also have different sections. The upright 29 preferably but not necessarily, rests on the floor P by means of an adjustable foot 31, and is firmly fixed to the rear load-bearing wall 20 by means of dowels 32.
As can be clearly seen in figures 2 and 3, the brackets 30 have an omega-shaped section 30A and are fixed to the upright 29 by means of flanks 30B. Said brackets 30 are fixed to the upright 29 so that the position can be regulated in depth (as indicated by the arrow of figures 2 and 3), by adjustment means comprising pairs of bolts 33 passing through elongated slots 34 of the flanks 30B and circular holes 35 of the upright 29. A coupling of the telescopic type is therefore formed between the upright 29 and the brackets 30.
As can be clearly seen in the figures, according to the invention, the plates 25 are fixed to the respective brackets 30 (at the bases 30C of the omega-shaped section 30A) by means of screws 36. The screws 36 pass freely through pass-through holes 37 of the front wall 21 and are screwed inside threaded holes 38 of the bases 30C of the bracket 30, thus bringing the respective plates 25 against the front wall 21 itself, which is consequently abutted against the brackets 30, as illustrated in the drawings.
Screws of the known self-perforating and self-threading type can also be used, which do not require the provision of pass-through holes 37 and threaded holes 38, through the wall 21 and upright 29, respectively.
Again according to the invention, the assembly system (part P2) also comprises a second upright 50 housed inside the omega-shaped section 30A of the brackets 30.
As can be clearly seen in the drawings, said upright 50 consists of a section which, in the example shown, rests, at the lower end, on the floor P, and on three longitudinal sides, against the walls of the section 30A. The upright 50 is fixed at the rear to the section 30A by means of bolts 51 (screw-nut), and in the front, supports the wall 21. More specifically, the front wall 21 comprises horizontal longitudinal sections 52, interspaced parallelly with respect to each other, provided with a vertical flange 53 which is fixed by means of bolts 54 to the second upright 50. In this way, the wall 21 is firmly fixed to the brackets 30. The position in depth of the bracket 30 with respect to the first upright 29 can be regulated, before being fixing the wall 21, by means of regulation screws 55 acting between the upright 29 and brackets 30, as shown in figure 2.
It should be pointed out that the upright 50 may not necessarily rest on the floor P, and can rest against the section 30A with the rear wall alone.
It is thus evident how the forces F1, F2 and F3 indicated above are completely discharged onto the rear load-bearing wall 20, and onto the floor P through the kinematic chain consisting of: the plates 25, the screws 36, the bracket 30 and the uprights 29, 50, almost completely releasing the front non-bearing wall 21, which is simply abutted against the brackets 30.
The wall-cupboards 22 are hooked to the respective plates 25 by means of hooks 39 of the hanging-brackets 27, in a completely known way.
The term rigid connection elements refers to any structural element, also composite, made of metal or another material, capable of rigidly interconnecting the rear and front walls 20, 21 and the plates 25, on which the hanging-brackets are hooked.
The objective mentioned in the preamble of the description has therefore been achieved.
The protection scope of the patent is defined by the enclosed claims.

Claims

An assembly system, by means of wall-brackets (27) hooked to respective plates (25), of a wall-cupboard (22) to a supporting structure consisting of two walls (20,21): a first rear load-bearing wall (20) and a second front wall (21), interspaced with respect to said first wall (20) so as to form an interspace (24), characterized in that rigid connection elements (C) are housed in said interspace (24) between said two walls (20,21) and said plates (25) which are assembled outside said second front wall (21).
The system according to claim 1, characterized in that the position of said rigid connection elements (C) can be regulated in depth.
The system according to claim 2, characterized in that said rigid connection elements (C) comprise a first part (P1) fixed to said rear wall (20) and a second part (P2) fixed to said plates (25), said first and second parts (P1,P2) being interconnected so that the position can be telescopically regulated in depth, by means of regulation means.
The system according to claim 1, characterized in that said rigid connection elements (C) comprise a tubular upright (29) fixed to the rear wall (20) and to said plates (25), and a second upright (50) fixed to the front wall (21).
The system according to claim 1, characterized in that said rigid connection elements (C) consist of a tubular upright (29) fixed to the rear wall (20) and a plurality of brackets (30) fixed to said upright (29), interspaced at different heights, corresponding to the height of the plates (25) and a second upright (50) consisting of a section housed inside a set (30A) of brackets (30) fixed to the upright (29) so that the position can be regulated in depth.
The system according to claim 5, characterized in that said plates (25) are fixed to respective brackets (30) by means of screws (36) that pass freely through pass-through holes (37) of the front wall (21) and are screwed inside threaded holes (38) of the bracket (30).
The system according to claim 5, characterized in that said brackets (30) are fixed to the upright (29) so that the position can be regulated in depth by means of regulation screws (55) acting between said upright (50) and said brackets (30).
The system according to claim 4, characterized in that the outer wall (21) is fixed to said second upright (50) by means of longitudinal horizontal sections (52) of the wall (21) itself, said sections (52) being provided with vertical flanges (53) fixed by means of bolts (54) to said upright (50).
The system according to claim 4, characterized in that said upright (29) rests on a floor (P) by means of an adjustable foot (31).
The system according to claim 4, characterized in that said upright (29) has a substantially square section.