EP4606265A1

EP4606265A1 - Internally illuminated box-like furniture with front door

Info

Publication number: EP4606265A1
Application number: EP25159506.2A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Harry Voss
Original assignee: L&s Deutschland GmbH
Current assignee: L&s Deutschland GmbH
Priority date: 2024-02-21
Filing date: 2025-02-21
Publication date: 2025-08-27
Also published as: DE202024100811U1

Abstract

In a box-like furniture (1) comprising

- a body (2), which comprises a base (3), a cover (4) and two side walls (5, 6),
- wherein the side walls (5, 6) each comprise an outer side facing away from the opposite side wall (5, 6), an inner side facing the opposite side wall (5, 6) and a front edge (11),
- and a front door (9), which is arranged close to the front edges (11) of the side walls (5, 6) and is pivotably mounted to one of the two side walls (5, 6) by means of at least one hinge (10),
- and an illuminating strip (12), which is arranged in the interior of the body (2),
extends upright and emits light,

according to the invention, the illuminating strip (12) extends on the inner side of the side wall (5, 6), which is provided with the hinge (10), close to the front edge (11) of this side wall (5, 6) in front of the hinge (10).

Description

The invention relates to a cabinet furniture. In particular, the invention relates to a box-like furniture according to the preamble part of claim 1.
Generic box-like furniture can have many configurations in practice, for example as a box, wall cabinet, sideboard, display cabinet or the like. In order to illuminate the interior of the box-like furniture, it is known to arrange lights inside the box-like furniture. Apart from mounting spotlights, it is also known to use light strips, which has the advantage of uniform light emission over a long length, so that the interior room of the box-like furniture is illuminated as evenly as possible. The illuminating strips can be designed either as rigid profiles or as flexible strips and are each equipped with a number of individual LEDs. In order to illuminate the interior room as completely as possible, it is advantageous to mount the illuminating strip as far forward as possible, i.e. close to the front door, so that the emitted light can illuminate practically the entire interior room.
The problem here is the positioning of the illuminating strip, as explained via the following options.
A first option for arranging the illuminating strip as far forward as possible in the body of the box-like furniture is to align the illuminating strip horizontally and mount the illuminating strip at a compartment shelf close to its front edge. However, due to the required electrical supply cable, this makes it difficult to move the compartment shelf and mount it at different heights, or comparatively complex design measures are required to provide a visually unobtrusive electrical contact at any height of the compartment shelf. In addition, the compartment shelf acts as a separating element, which divides the interior room into compartments arranged one above the other and which also acts as an optical screen, so that depending on whether the illuminating strip is mounted at the top or the bottom of the compartment shelf, the compartment of the box-like furniture at the other side of the compartment shelf is not illuminated.
A second option is to align the illuminating strip upright and attach it to a side wall of the body. If the illuminating strip extends over a correspondingly large height, multiple compartments within the body can be illuminated in this way via a single illuminating strip. To prevent the illuminating strip from colliding with the one or more existing compartment shelves, either the side wall can be machined, for example to accommodate the illuminating strip in a groove of the side wall, or the compartment shelf can be provided with a recess at the edge or be so short that it does not collide with the illuminating strip. The illuminating strip is usually only mounted on the side wall that is free of door hinges. This results in uneven, one-sided illumination of the interior room. On the side wall provided with door hinges, the arrangement of multiple individual illuminating strips, each separated from the other by a door hinge, would lead to a comparatively high installation effort, especially since these multiple illuminating strips must also each be electrically connected to a voltage or current source.
The problem underlying the present invention is that of providing a box-like furniture which is structurally and functionally designed to overcome, at least in part, one or more of the drawbacks complained about above with reference to the cited known art.
In particular, an object of the present invention is to improve a generic box-like furniture by comprising an interior room, which is as uniformly illuminated as possible with the least possible constructive and economic effort.
Another object of the invention is to provide a box-like furniture that allows for simple and cost-effective retrofitting into existing furniture designs, without requiring substantial modifications of the furniture.
A further object of the invention is to provide a box-like furniture configured to ensure uniform illumination of the entire interior room, including multiple compartments separated by shelves.
The above-mentioned problem and objects are at least partially solved by the present invention by means of a box-like furniture comprising one or more of the features specified in the claims.
The present invention concerns a box-like furniture, comprising a body, which preferably comprises a base, a cover and two side walls, wherein the side walls each comprise an outer side facing away from the opposite side wall, an inner side facing the opposite side wall and a front edge.
Preferably, the box-like furniture comprises a front door, which is arranged close to the front edges of the side walls and is pivotably mounted to one of the two side walls by means of at least one hinge.
Preferably, the box-like furniture comprises an illuminating strip, which is arranged in the interior of the body, extends upright and emits light.
Preferably, the illuminating strip extends on the inner side of the side wall, which is provided with the hinge, close to the front edge of this side wall in front of the hinge.
As used herein, the term "extends upright" means that the illuminating strip extends predominantly in a vertical direction, i.e. in a direction parallel to the front edges of the side walls of the box-like furniture.
As used herein, the expression "close to the front edge" means that the illuminating strip is arranged at a small distance from the front edge of the side wall, such that the distance is significantly smaller than the depth of the body of the box-like furniture. Preferably, the distance between the illuminating strip and the front edge is at most approximately 3 cm, even more preferably at most approximately 1 cm.
As used herein, the expression "in front of the hinge" means that the illuminating strip is positioned, in the view of a user standing in front of the box-like furniture, on the side of the hinge that is closer to the front edge of the side wall.
In other words, the invention proposes mounting the illuminating strip at the inner side of the side wall, which is provided with the one or more hinges. In order to ensure that the entire interior room is illuminated as evenly as possible, the illuminating strip extends upright. For the same reason, it is not arranged behind the hinges, which would lead to insufficient illumination of the front portion of the interior room. Instead, the illuminating strip is arranged in front of the hinge, which has been avoided up to now. Surprisingly, the invention overcomes the prejudice that there is no mounting space present for an illuminating strip in front of the hinge.
Rather, a continuous illuminating strip can actually be mounted in front of the one or more door hinges, as in practice the hinges in the foremost portion of the side wall do not lie directly against the inner surface of this side wall, but extend at a small distance from it. In order to support the most economical manufacture of the box-like furniture, the illuminating strip can therefore be mounted directly on the inner surface of the side wall, for example by gluing, without the need to machine the side wall to accommodate the illuminating strip. For example, no groove needs to be milled in the side wall if a correspondingly flat illuminating strip is used, which can be arranged at the small distance comprised by the hinge from the inner surface of the side wall. Such flat illuminating strips have been known in practice for years and are commercially available, for example in the portion of automotive or railway model building.
The directional indications such as front, rear, top or bottom result from the elements mentioned in claim 1 such as the base (= bottom) and cover (= top) of the body, front door (= front) and from the fact that the front edges of the side walls are close to the front door.
In a preferred embodiment, the illuminating strip extends on the inner side of the side wall, which is provided with the hinge, at the front edge of this side wall, in front of the hinge. In other words, the illuminating strip is arranged in correspondence with the front edge of the side wall. In this case, the distance between the illuminating strip and the front edge is substantially zero.
In a preferred embodiment, the illuminating strip comprises a screen, which attenuates or blocks light emitted towards the front and allows a light emission towards the rear.
In other words, the illuminating strip comprises a screen which attenuates or blocks light emitted in the direction towards the front edge of the side wall and the front door, and allows a light emission in the direction towards the rear wall of the box-like furniture.
Advantageously, the screen is designed and arranged in such a way that it attenuates or blocks light emitted towards the front, so that people, who open the door of the box-like furniture, are not dazzled by the light emitted from the illuminating strip. Instead, the screen allows light emission to the rear, i.e. from the illuminating strip into the interior of the box-like furniture, so that its interior room is illuminated by the illuminating strip.
In one embodiment, this screen also attenuates or blocks light, which is directed towards the opposite portion of the opposite side wall. It is possible and even advantageous to emit light inclined to the rear towards the opposite side wall in order to illuminate the interior room of the body. However, the light emission to the opposite portion, i.e. the front portion of the opposite side wall, which portion is located just as far forward as the portion, in which the illuminating strip is located on its side wall, is impaired by the screen, so that even with this design of the screen, people, who open the front door of the box-like furniture, are not dazzled by the light emitted from the illuminating strip.
In one embodiment, the aforementioned screen is formed by an extruded profile, which comprises a cross-section that is essentially J- or U-shaped. One side cheek of this cross-section enables the screen to be mounted at the side wall of the body, and the opposite side cheek of this cross-section of the extruded profile enables the illuminating strip to be shielded to the front and to the side and light to be emitted to the rear when the illuminating strip is arranged, between the two side cheeks of the extruded profile.
In one embodiment, the extruded profile comprises an outer surface that is flat and self-adhesive. By means of this self-adhesive outer surface, the illuminating strip together with the screen can be mounted on the inner side of the side wall without requiring any pre-treatment of the side wall, for example in the form of a clamping groove or in the form of screw holes, which would first have to be made in the side wall. It is also possible to mount the illuminating strip in this way without having to handle additional elements such as screws, nails or the like, so that a quick, uncomplicated and particularly economical mounting of the illuminating strip is possible.
In one embodiment, the box-like furniture comprises a hinge, which is constructed in a known multi-part manner and firstly comprises a base element, which is fixed to the side wall, e.g. is received in a cup hole in the side wall. Secondly, the hinge comprises a connecting element, which provides the connection to the front door by being connected to the base element on the one hand and pivotably connected to the front door on the other hand. Such hinges have been known and widely used in the furniture industry for decades. The base element is located at a distance to the rear from the front edge of the side wall, and the connecting element is supported by the base element in such a way that it extends at a distance from the inner side of the side wall. In this way, a space is provided, which extends in a direction backwards from the front edge of the side wall to the base element, and which extends in a direction transverse thereto from the inner side of the side wall to the connecting element, and which defines a mounting space, through which the illuminating strip can extend.
As used herein, the term "space" or "mounting space" are used interchangeably to refer to a three-dimensional open space delimited by the front edge of the side wall, the inner side of the side wall, the base element, and the connecting element of the hinge, through which the illuminating strip can extend.
In a favourite embodiment, the hinge comprises the base element, fixed to the side wall, and the connecting element, fixed on the one hand to the base element and on the other hand connected pivotably to the front door. Preferably, the base element is attached to the side wall at a distance to the rear from the front edge of the side wall, and the connecting element extends between the base element and the front edge of the side wall at a distance from the inner side of the side wall. Preferably, the illuminating strip extends on the inner side of the side wall and through the space which is defined by the front edge of the side wall, the inner side of the side wall, the base element and the connection element.
Preferably, the illuminating strip comprises a cross-section. As used herein, the term "cross-section of the illuminating strip" refers to a cross-section taken in a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal extension of the strip.
In a preferred embodiment, the space comprises a cross-section. Preferably, said cross-section is configured to have a larger area than the cross-section of the illuminating strip. As used herein, the term "cross-section of the space" refers to a section taken in a plane perpendicular to the inner side of the side wall.
This configuration is particularly advantageous when retrofitting the illuminating strip into existing box-like furniture, as the larger cross-section of the space prevents deformation or damage to the illuminating strip during installation, and allows easy insertion without requiring precise alignment or modification of the side wall.
In practice, depending on the design of the respective hinge, such a space comprises a cross-section of a maximum of 4 x 8 mm. Illuminating strips with sufficiently small cross-sectional dimensions are commercially available, so that such an illuminating strip can be easily mounted in the body according to the invention and can extend without interruption over such a height that it passes a hinge.
In a preferred embodiment, the space comprises a cross-section which is maximally 4 x 8 mm in size.
In this context, the values 4 x 8 mm refer to the maximum dimensions of the cross-section of the space in two perpendicular directions.
In many cases, the box-like furniture comprises only a single front door, so that only a single side wall is provided with one or more hinges. The arrangement of the illuminating strip according to the invention results in that box-like furniture comprising a double-leaf front door and, accordingly, hinges on both side walls can be illuminated from the inside without any problems.
According to a favourite embodiment, the front door is designed double-leaf and each of the two door wings is pivotably mounted to a respective side wall by means of at least one hinge.
When a double-leaf front door is provided, it is especially advantageous to arrange illuminating strips on both side walls close to their front edges. This allows the interior to be illuminated more symmetrically and uniformly when both door wings are opened.
The arrangement of the illuminating strip in front of the hinge, along the inner side of the side wall, is also particularly advantageous in the case of double-leaf front doors, as it allows retrofitting into existing furniture designs without requiring modifications to the side walls, regardless of whether hinges are provided on one or both side walls.
In one embodiment the illuminating strip extends essentially over the entire height of the inner side of the side wall. As a result, the most uniform possible illumination of the interior room is achieved. If one or more compartment shelves are arranged in the box-like furniture, all compartments of the box-like furniture can be illuminated in this way.
As used herein, the expression "essentially over the entire height" means that the illuminating strip extends over at least 90% of the distance between the base and the cover of the body.
In this context, "height" refers to the distance between the base and the cover of the body.
Furthermore, in favour of the most uniform possible illumination of the interior room, in one embodiment illuminating strips are arranged on the inner sides of both side walls close to their front edges, so that one-sided illumination with a corresponding shadow is avoided. Preferably, the illuminating strips extend on the inner sides of both side walls close to their front edges.
In a favourite embodiment, one illuminating strip is arranged on the inner side of the first side wall and another illuminating strip is arranged on the inner side of the second side wall, both close to the respective front edges. Providing an illuminating strip on each of the inner sides of the two side walls is particularly advantageous as it allows for uniform and symmetric illumination of the interior room with a minimal number of illuminating strips, thereby reducing the number of components and simplifying assembly. Furthermore, this configuration allows retrofitting into existing box-like furniture in a simple and cost-effective manner.
In a preferred embodiment, the illuminating strip is connected to a power source, preferably at its lower end near the base of the box-like furniture. A power cable can be pre-connected to the illuminating strip before installation, or it can be connected after the strip has been mounted. In both cases, the power cable preferably extends downward and is guided along the inner side of the side wall, for example through the mounting space. This allows for a concealed routing of the power supply cable, facilitating installation and retrofitting without requiring modifications to the side wall.
Preferably, the box-like furniture comprises an activation mechanism configured to turn on the illuminating strip in response to an opening movement of the front door. The activation mechanism can be implemented, for example, by means of a mechanical switch, a magnetic contact switch, or a proximity sensor arranged near the front edge of the side wall. Such an activation mechanism is particularly advantageous in combination with the mounting space arrangement, as it allows the activation component and the strip wiring to be concealed together along the inner side of the side wall, facilitating installation, particularly in retrofit applications.
The invention is explained in more detail below with reference to the purely schematic illustrations. It shows in

Fig. 1: a perspective view from the front of a first embodiment of a box-like furniture with open front door,
Fig. 2: a cross-section through a first embodiment of an illuminating strip,
Fig. 3: a second embodiment of an illuminating strip,
Fig. 4: a perspective view from above of the inner side of a side wall and a hinge of a second embodiment of a box-like furniture, and
Fig. 5: a perspective view of a detail of the box-like furniture, showing the illuminating strip extending along the inner side of the side wall and passing through the mounting space.

Fig. 1 shows a box-like furniture 1 comprising a body 2 with a base 3, a cover 4, a first side wall 5, an opposite second side wall 6, a rear wall 7, two glass compartment shelves 8 and a front door 9. The front door 9 is pivotably connected to the first side wall 5 by means of two hinges 10 and is shown in its open position in Fig. 1. The two side walls 5 and 6 each comprise a front edge 11 facing the viewer. On their two inner sides facing each other, an illuminating strip 12 extends on each of the two side walls 5 and 6 close to the respective front edge 11, wherein both illuminating strips 12 extend essentially over the entire height of the inner side of the respective side wall 5, 6 and the illuminating strip 12 on the first side wall 5 is partially covered by the hinges 10.
Fig. 2 shows a cross-section of a first embodiment of an illuminating strip 12. The illuminating strip 12 comprises a base plate 14, on which firstly a plurality of LEDs 15 is arranged and secondly a screen 16. The LED labelled 15 contains the actual light-emitting diode as well as a semicircular, light-permeable cover, which determines the outer shape of the illustrated LED 15. The cover also serves to direct the light emitted by the diode in the manner of an optical lens. Depending on whether the cover is made of a transparent or opaque material, the light emission is also focussed or diffused. Limited by the base plate 14, the light emission of the LED 15 can be at an angle of up to approximately 180°. The screen 16 is designed in such a way that the light emission of the LED 15 is only effective over a small section of this possible emitting angle. The screen 16 can not only act as a shield for the LED 15, but also as a reflector, so that the efficiency of the illuminating strip 12 is improved and as much light as possible can be emitted from the illuminating strip 12 into the interior of a furniture body.
Fig. 3 shows a perspective view of a section of a second embodiment of an illuminating strip 12. An LED 15 is designed as an elongated strip, which comprises a continuous cover connecting many individual diodes. In this embodiment, the screen 16 is designed as an extruded profile with an essentially U-shaped cross-section, wherein, however, the two side cheeks of the extruded profile are not of equal length. The side cheek shown at the bottom in Fig. 3 comprises a flat contact surface 17 on the outside, i.e. at the bottom in Fig. 3, which is also self-adhesive, so that the illuminating strip 12 can be glued to the inner surface of the first side wall 5 of the body 2 with this contact surface 17. The opposite side cheek of the extruded profile is not only shorter in cross-section than the side cheek, which forms the contact surface 17, but this opposite side cheek is angled outwards towards its free end. The effect of both measures is that the light emission of the LED 15 in Fig. 3 to the left and also partially upwards is blocked by the screen 16, but the light emission in Fig. 3 to the right and partially upwards is made possible.
Fig. 4 shows a perspective view of the inner surface of a first side wall 5 and of a hinge 10, at which a front door 9 is held. Further downwards, a base 3 is recognisable. The hinge 10 comprises firstly a base element 18 and secondly a connecting element 19. The base element 18 is firmly screwed to the first side wall 5, and the connecting element 19 is detachably held on the base element 18 in the manner of a clip or snap connection, so that the front door 9 can be removed from the first side wall 5 without tools. With the aid of multiple adjusting screws 20, one of which can be seen in Fig. 4, the connecting element 19 can be aligned and adjusted in relation to the base element 18 in order to be able to adjust the position of the front door 9 at the furniture body in this way.
Between the front edge 11 of the first side wall 5 and the base element 18, on the one hand, and between the inner side of the first side wall 5 and the connecting element 19, on the other hand, there is a dashed space 21 as a free space, which represents the mounting space 21, through which an illuminating strip 12 can extend. In the embodiment of Fig. 1, the illuminating strip 12 extends on the inner side of the first side wall 5 in this way between the side wall 5 and the connecting elements 19 of the two hinges 10.
Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a detail of the box-like furniture 1, showing the illuminating strip 12 extending along the inner side of the side wall 5 and passing through the mounting space 21.
In the context of the present invention, the first side wall 5 can represent either the right side wall or the left side wall, as viewed by an observer standing in front of the box-like furniture. For example, in the embodiment shown in Figure 1, the first side wall 5 represents the right side wall, whereas in the embodiments shown in Figures 4 and 5, the first side wall 5 represents the left side wall.

Reference sign:

1: box-like furniture
2: body
3: base
4: cover
5: first side wall
6: second side wall
7: rear wall
8: compartment shelf
9: front door
10: hinge
11: front edge
12: illuminating strip
14: base plate
15: LED
16: screen
17: contact surface
18: base element
19: connecting element
20: adjusting screw
21: space

Claims

A box-like furniture (1), comprising
a body (2), which comprises a base (3), a cover (4) and two side walls (5, 6), wherein the side walls (5, 6) each comprise an outer side facing away from the opposite side wall (5, 6), an inner side facing the opposite side wall (5, 6) and a front edge (11),

and a front door (9), which is arranged close to the front edges (11) of the side walls (5, 6) and is pivotably mounted to one of the two side walls (5, 6) by means of at least one hinge (10),

and an illuminating strip (12), which is arranged in the interior of the body (2), extends upright and emits light,

wherein the illuminating strip (12) extends on the inner side of the side wall (5, 6), which is provided with the hinge (10), close to the front edge (11) of this side wall (5, 6) in front of the hinge (10).
The box-like furniture (1) according to claim 1, wherein the illuminating strip (12) comprises a screen (16), which attenuates or blocks light emitted towards the front and allows a light emission towards the rear.
The box-like furniture (1) according to claim 2, wherein the screen (16) also attenuates or blocks light, which is directed towards the opposite portion of the opposite side wall (5, 6).
The box-like furniture (1) according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the screen (16) is formed by an extruded profile, which has an essentially J- or U-shaped cross section.
The box-like furniture (1) according to claim 4, wherein the extruded profile has a contact surface (17), which extends planar and self-adhesive.
The box-like furniture (1) according to any one of claims 2 to 5, wherein the illuminating strip (12) comprises a base plate (14), on which firstly a plurality of LEDs (15) is arranged and secondly the screen (16).
The box-like furniture (1) according to any of the preceding claims,
wherein the hinge (10) comprises a base element (18), which is fixed to the side wall (5, 6),

and a connecting element (19), which is connected on the one hand to the base element (18) and on the other hand is connected pivotably to the front door (9),
wherein

the base element (18) is attached to the side wall (5, 6) at a distance to the rear from the front edge (11) of the side wall (5, 6),

and the connecting element (19) extends between the base element (18) and the front edge (11) of the side wall (5, 6) at a distance from the inner side of the side wall (5, 6),

and wherein the illuminating strip (12) extends on the inner side of the side wall (5, 6) and through a space (21), which is defined by the front edge (11) of the side wall (5, 6), the inner side of the side wall (5, 6), the base element (18) and the connection element (19).
The box-like furniture (1) according to claim 7, wherein the space (21) comprises a cross-section configured to have a larger area than a cross-section of the illuminating strip (12).
The box-like furniture (1) according to claim 7, wherein the space (21) comprises a cross-section, which is maximally 4 x 8 mm in size.
The box-like furniture (1) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the front door (9) is designed double-leaf and each of the two door wings is pivotably mounted to a respective side wall (5, 6) by means of at least one hinge (10).
The box-like furniture (1) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the illuminating strip (12) extends essentially over the entire height of the inner side of the side wall (5, 6).
The box-like furniture (1) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein illuminating strips (12) extend on the inner sides of both side walls (5, 6) close to their front edges (11).
The box-like furniture (1) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein one illuminating strip (12) is arranged on the inner side of the first side wall (5) and another illuminating strip (12) is arranged on the inner side of the second side wall (6), both close to the respective front edges (11).
The box-like furniture (1) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the illuminating strip (12) is connected to a power source, preferably at its lower end near the base (3) of the box-like furniture.
The box-like furniture (1) according to any of the preceding claims, comprising an activation mechanism configured to turn on the illuminating strip (12) in response to an opening movement of the front door (9).