FR2558699A1 - Method for manufacturing and method for assembling a piece of furniture, piece of furniture packaged in batches and final piece of furniture obtained - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for manufacturing a piece of furniture which is required, in particular, to be self-assembled. This method consists in forming mating nesting structures, male 9, 10, 11, 9', 10', 11', 19, 20 and female 7, 8, 13, 21, 12, 12', along edges and faces of panels 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. These structures, adapted in order to permit longitudinal sliding of the male structure in the female structure without the possibility of transverse disengagement, are, in particular, of dovetail shape; they are arranged along the edges and borders of faces of the panels, so that each of them is able to interact via the said structures along at least two opposite sides with the contiguous panels. The piece of furniture may be assembled by the user by successive positioning of the panels with respect to one another, by nesting their mating nesting surfaces.

Description

METHOD OF MANUFACTURE AND METHOD OF ASSEMBLING A FURNITURE,
FURNITURE TO BE ASSEMBLED AND FINAL FURNITURE OBTAINED.

The invention relates to a method of manufacturing a furniture of generally polyhedral shape, in particular rectangular parallelepiped; it extends to a piece of furniture
to assemble yourself, ready to be assembled by a user, and to its assembly process. It also targets the final furniture obtained.

We know that the distribution of furniture to assemble oneself has become common because of the advantages of this type of presentation: reduction in the cost of transport, faculty of mail order, lowering of the cost price of
to assemble yourself furniture (no assembly) ... The furniture I currently existing are generally assembled by means of screw and nut systems, which come to cooperate with holes made during manufacture at appropriate locations.

 However, this type of furniture is relatively long to assemble, requires a certain skill on the part of the operator, and requires a minimum of tools. In addition, the numerous holes to be drilled during manufacture at precise locations are a factor in increasing the cost price of these pieces of furniture, all the more so since defects in the positioning of these holes can make the piece of furniture impossible to then go up. In addition, certain screws are screwed on edges in the panels constituting the piece of furniture and, for certain light materials (agglomerated wood, etc.), there is a risk of the material bursting at the level of said screws. Finally, it should be noted that certain screw heads are visible on this furniture, which affects their aesthetic character.

The present invention proposes palà to assemble oneself
link the aforementioned defects of furniture / existing.

An essential objective of the invention is
to assemble yourself, in particular to supply a new piece of furniture / the assembly of which can be carried out without any screws or the like, without requiring any particular skill.

Another objective of the invention is to reduce the cost price of furniture by eliminating the total
or almost all of the drilling operations which are
necessary to make known furniture.

Another objective is to improve the quali
furniture by eliminating the risk of local bursting of the
material.

Another objective is to improve the appearance
aesthetics of the furniture produced.

The manufacturing process targeted by the invention
tion makes it possible to produce furniture of general polyé shape
drique, in particular hexahedral from panels in the form of
polygons, in particular quadrilaterals, suitable for consti
kill the faces of the furniture; in accordance with this inven
tion, this manufacturing process consists in practicing interlocking structures
conjugate, male and female, along the edges of the panels
and along the edges of their faces called to come to the con
tact of said edges, each male embolism structure and
each female embolism structure being adapted for
toriser a longitudinal sliding of the male structure in the
female structure without possibility of transverse clearance, has to arrange these interlocking structures
along the edges and edges of the faces, so that each
panel can cooperate by said structures along at least
minus two opposite sides, with the adjoining panels,
and to assemble the furniture by positioning
successive panels relative to each other in em
bolt their combined interlocking structures.

By "longitudinal sliding" is meant
a sliding direction parallel to the relevant interlocking structure,
that is to say parallel to the edge or to the edge of the panel which
carries said structure; the direction "transverse" by rap
wearing at a given bottling structure is defined as
direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction mentioned above.

Generally, the furniture has the shape
a rectangular parallelepiped, its panels being rectangle
laires. However, the invention can be applied to manufacture
quer furniture of different polyhedral shapes.

 The nesting structures practiced along the edges and edges of the panels are preferably dovetail-shaped structures (in relief for the male structures and in hollow for the female structures). This type of interlocking has several advantages: ease of realization by means of universal machines (double tenoning chainsaw), good resistance of the elements, easy sliding during assembly, etc. However, other forms of interlocking can if necessary be adopted: section in the shape of a circle sector, rectangular section with reduced width entry ...

 The method of the invention can be implemented using panels made of a wood-based material (in particular wood agglomerate); in this case, the panels preferably include: a base reinforced by a solid frame, a front panel reinforced by a solid frame, an upper panel reinforced by a solid frame, two side panels and a rear panel. Depending on the type of furniture desired, the front panel is formed by its rigid frame in which a door is articulated or by its rigid frame provided with means of drawer supports.

The assembly of the piece of furniture in accordance with the invention is carried out without screws or the like, and consists in introducing through the open end of a female interlocking structure of the base a male interlocking structure of a side panel. , and to slide said panel so as to cause said structures to cooperate along their length, has to repeat this operation for the other side panel, ballast s side panels being arranged so that their female structures are arranged vertically at the rear ,
to set up the front panel and the rear panel, 2d:: causing their nesting structures to slide along a conjugate structures of the two lateral panels,
set up the top purlin by bringing its female interlocking structures to slide along the male interlocking structures of the two side panels.

he assembly based on sockets does not require any particular skill and can be carried out by any person without any tool. It should be noted that the manufacturing process confirms the invention extends to furniture as well
to assemble oneself bles t than to traditional pieces of furniture assembled in factory.

In the first case, the six disassembled panels (provided with their interlocking structures) are superimposed and conditioned in the factory, the assembly operation being carried out in a later phase by the user (or the distributor). The furniture is of interest in the second case because of its short manufacturing time and, also, of its easily removable character.

 Furthermore, according to another characteristic of the invention, locking means adapted to prevent sliding of the last panel mounted relative to one of the adjoining panels are put in place at the end of assembly, these locking means are in particular arranged on the front panel and the upper panel so as to block the latter relative to the first, at the end of its installation.

 The invention extends, as such, to furniture for self-assembly, composed of quadrangulaize panels, provided along edges or at the edges of faces, nesting structures, male or female, of the type defined above .

 Finally, the invention extends, as such, to the furniture obtained after assembly, comprising quadrangular panels, rigidly held to each other by means of structures, male and female, of the above-mentioned type, nested in pairs .

The invention described above in its general form will be better understood on reading the description which follows and on examining the appended drawings which show two embodiments thereof by way of non-limiting example; on these drawings which form an integral part of the present description
- - Figure 1 is a schematic perspective view showing the panels of a piece of furniture according to the invention, before assembly,
- Figures 2, 3, 4 and 5 show schematically the assembly operations of this piece of furniture,
FIGS. 6 and 7 are detailed views of said piece of furniture,
FIG. 8 is a partial section through a horizontal plane,
FIG. 9 is a schematic perspective view, showing, after assembly, a piece of furniture of a different type,
- Figures 10 to 15 are detailed views of variants.

 The piece of furniture shown by way of example in FIGS. 1 to 8 consists of six rectangular panels, manufactured in the factory and packaged in a package to be assembled by the user; these panels include (in the order of their assembly): a base 1, two side panels 2 and 3, a front panel 4, a rear panel 5 and an upper panel 6.

 The base 1 is formed of a solid wooden frame 1a to which is attached a filling element 1b made of wood agglomerate; this element 1b can be fixed to the base by any known means (glued tenons and mortises, nailing, etc.).

 Along its two lateral edges, the base 1 comprises two female interlocking structures 7 and 8 which are formed on its frame. Each of these structures has a hollow dovetail-shaped section, as illustrated in detail figure 6: it comprises a portion 7a of trapezoidal shape which narrows towards an inlet portion 7b of rectangular shape.

 The female interlocking structures 7 and 8 of the base open out at the rear of said base at 7c and 8c, but stop a short distance in front of it, or they are closed (7d, 8d).

 The two side panels 2 and 3 are identical and each formed by a chipboard panel.

 Each of these panels 2 (or 3) comprises, on three edges, three maIes embolism structures, one 9 (or 9 ') along the lower edge, the other 10 (or 10') along the edge before and the third 11 (or ll ') along the upper edge.

 Each of these male interlocking structures has a cross section adapted to be housed in a female structure already described, as shown in Figure 6: this structure has a shape of dovetail in relief, combined with the trapezoidal portion 7a of the female structure; the portion 7b of the latter has a width adapted to the thickness of the panel 2, so that the latter can penetrate said portion.

 The female and male structures are produced either by routing or by knocking down, by means of a chainsaw-tenoner, with a small clearance adapted to allow the longitudinal sliding of the male structures in the female structures.

 In addition, each side panel 2 or 3 comprises a female interlocking structure 12 (or 12 ′) along a front edge, not contiguous to the edges carrying the male structures 9, 10 and 11.

 The front panel 4 is formed of a solid wooden frame 4a on which is hinged a door 4b.

 Along its opposite vertical edges, the frame 4a carries two female interlocking structures 13 and 14 of the type described above, which open towards the rear and open on both sides in the upper part and in the lower part.

 In addition, as illustrated in the detail section 7, the frame 4a carries in its upper cross member a locking member 15 called to cooperate, at the end of assembly, with a conjugated socket 16 carried by the upper panel 6. This member 15 comprises in the example a hollow body 15a fixed in the frame 4a, a closing washer 15b- secured to the body and pierced in its center, a movable locking rod 15c secured to a pusher 15d and a spring 15e.

The body forms an interior cavity of a shape adapted to accommodate the pusher 15d; said body and said pusher comprise latching means, of a type known per se, making it possible to give the pusher two stable positions: one as shown, in which the locking rod 15c protrudes through the bore of the washer 15b, otter in which the rod 15c retracts into said washer. The passage from one position to the other is effected by a push on the pusher 15d (the latching means generate a rotation thereof, which allows, at the same time, to ensure the stability of the two aforementioned positions and the passage from one position to the other by a simple push: these latching means known per se are provided in particular on certain ball-point pens).

 PJr elsewhere, as shown in Figures 7 and 8, the door 4b of the front panel 4 is formed by a frame 17 of solid wood and by a removable filling element 18, for example decorated plywood panel.

This door is articulated on the frame 4a by hinges of the conventional type (not shown) which are fixed to the frame 17.

 Oven to easily change the filling element 18, the frame 17 has a peripheral groove on edge, which is open towards the quarry on the lower and upper edges (Figure 7) and which, on the contrary, forms on the edges lateral a groove for holding the periphery of the element 18 (Figure 8). On one of the side edges, this groove has an increased depth to allow the filling element 18 to be released. Thus, it is possible to very easily modify the decorative appearance of the door 4b, either by turning the element 18 over, or by replacing it with another element.

 The rear panel 5 is formed by a neati panel made of agglomerated wood and has on its two vertical lateral edges two male interlocking structures 19 and 20 of the type described above.

 Finally, the upper panel 6 is formed by a solid wooden frame 6a, in which a filling element 6b made of wood agglomerate is fixed. At its front part, this element 6b is provided with the socket 16 already mentioned, in a position suitable for coming opposite the locking rod 15c of the member 15, when mounting the upper panel 6.

 @e upper reed 6 has two female nesting structures (which can be seen at 21 and 22 in Figure 5 drawn with torn away). These female structures of the finished type are arranged along the two opsed side edges of the panel 6, on the frame 6a thereof. These structures 21 and 22 open at the rear of said panel 6 and stop a short distance in front of it, where they are closed.

 The various elements of the furniture described above are to be assembled yourself, by superimposing them in a package, in order to be assembled by the user, without any screws, bolts or any tools.

 The mounting process is described below with reference to Figures 2, 3, 4 and 5.

 The operator first sets up the side panels 2 and 3 on the base 1 (Figure 2). He introduces the male structure 9 of each side panel, through the rear open end 7c (or 8c) of the female structure 7 (or 8) of the base 1. He then slides the side panel until it come up against the front 7d (or 8d) of the female structure 7 (or 8).

 The operator then sets up the front panel 4 (FIG. 3), by bringing the female structures 13 and 14 thereof above the well-formed structures 10 and 10 ′ of the side panels, by engaging these female structures on these structures and sliding the panel downwards until it contacts the base 1.

 The rear panel 5 is then put in place (FIG. 4) by bringing the male structures 19 and 20 of this panel above the female structures 12 and 12 ′ of the side panels, by introducing these male structures into these female structures and by sliding the panel down until it contacts the base 1.

 Of course, the two preceding operations, illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4, can be carried out in the reverse order.

 The operator then sets up the upper panel 6 (figure 5). It presents this panel from the front so that its female structures 21 and 22 are located opposite the upper male structures 11 and 11 ′ of the two lateral andxes, it engages said female structures on said Maltese structures and it slides the panel 6 horizontally backwards until the front part of its female structures 21 and 22 abuts against the front part of the male structures 11 and 11 '.

 At this instant, the locking rod 15c of the member 15 (which was in the retracted position) comes to be positioned opposite the socket 16. By opening the door, the operator presses, from inside the cabinet, on the lSd button and the upper panel are locked.

 The whole piece of furniture is thus blocked without risk of accidental displacement of one element with respect to another, as long as the rod remains protruding in the socket, in the locked position. For disassembly, simply press the pusher 15d again to retract the rod 15c.

 It is easy to assemble the furniture which is done by a simple interlocking and sliding game, without screws or similar member.

 It should be noted that, once assembled, the piece of furniture dot the elements are maintained and blocked with respect to each other by their interlocking structures, forms a non-deformable whole; the solid wood frames of the base 1, of the front panel 4 and of the upper panel 6 contribute to imparting excellent overall rigidity to the piece of furniture. In addition, no functional organ appears on the visible faces of the piece of furniture, which has the traditional appearance of a dismountable piece of furniture made entirely in the factory.

 Of course, the piece of furniture is internally provided with conventional arrangements, in particular shelves carried in a conventional manner by dowels, cleats, cleats or other known means, provided internally on the side panels 2 and 3.

 Figure 9 shows schematically another type of furniture, manufactured and mounted in a similar manner to the previous one, but provided with drawers. The front panel is then constituted by a rigid frame 23 provided with means for supporting the drawers, such as spacers 24; the side panels carry guide and support strips for said drawers.

 Of course, other types of furniture can be produced by the method of the invention, which extends to all possible variants.

 Thus, it makes it possible to produce furniture possibly having an upper or lower drawer, and preserving an empty volume for embedding a device, oven, dishwasher, washing machine. It also makes it possible to produce pieces of furniture suspended by their rear part using hangers. For certain pieces of furniture, the upper panels will be adapted to act as a worktop (solid wood, laminated chipboard with laminated or solid edges).

 Furthermore, FIGS. 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15 illustrate variants of interlocking structures capable of equipping the furniture in accordance with the invention. The structures shown in FIGS. 10 to 14 are executed by knocking down, while that of FIG. 15 is profiled by routing and routing.

A self-assembly
It should be noted that the piece of furniture delivered / can if necessary be assembled definitively by its user by placing glue on the interlocking structures before their installation.

Claims (17)

 and to assemble the piece of furniture by successive positioning of the panels with respect to each other by fitting their conjugate interlocking structures.  11 - Method for manufacturing a furniture of generally polyhedral shape from panels (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) in shape This polygons suitable for constituting the faces of the furniture, characterized in that it consists of to practice conjugate interlocking structures, male (9) and female (7), along the edges of the panels and along the edges of their faces called to come into contact with said edges, each male embellishment structure (9) and each female interlocking structure (7) being adapted to allow a longitudinal sliding of the male structure in the female structure without the possibility of transverse clearance, has to arrange these interlocking structures along the edges and edges of the faces, so each panel can cooperate by said structures along at least two opposite sides, with the adjoining panels,  2 @ - Method according to claim 1, ca characterized in that the interlocking structures practiced along the edges and edges are dovetail-shaped structures, in relief for the male structures (9) and hollow for female structures (7).  and one practices on each of the other four panels 19 3 u,; two interlocking structures (7, 8; 13, 14; 19, 20; 21, 22) along two opposite sides of each of said paa @ eaux.  we practice on two identical panels (2, 3) called to come opposite to each other, four interlocking structures (9, 10, 11, 12; 9 ', 1019 l 12') along the four ribs of each of said panels,  3 / - Method according to one of claims 1 or 2 for the manufacture of a piece of furniture in the shape of a rectangular elephant paral from rectangular panels, characterized in that  two female interlocking structures (7, 8; 13, 14; 21, 22) are practiced on each of the three other panels (1; 4, 6).  two male interlocking structures (19, 20) are practiced on one of the other panels (5),  three male structures (9, 10, 11; 9 ', 10', 11 ') and a female interlocking structure (12, 12') are practiced on each of the two aforementioned panels (2, 3),  4 @ - Method according to claim 3, 'characterized in that  5 / - Method according to one of claims 3 or 4, in which panels are used in a wood-based material, said panels comprising a base (1) reinforced by a solid frame (la), a front-end (4) reinforced by a solid frame (4a), an upper panel (6) reinforced by a solid frame (6a), two side panels (2, 3) and a rear panel (5).  6 / - Method according to claims 4 and S taken together, characterized in that one practices  two female interlocking structures (7, 8) along the lateral edges of the base (1),  two female interlocking structures (13, 14) along the lateral edges of the front panel (4),  two female embalming structures (21, 22) along the lateral edges of the upper panel (6),  three male embossing structures (9, 10, 11; 9 ', 10', 11 ') along the upper, front and lower edges of each side panel (2, 3), and a female interlocking structure (12 , 12 ') along the rear edge of each of said side panels,  . two male interlocking structures (19, 20) along the side edges of the rear panel (5).  7 / - Method according to one of the claims 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6, characterized in that one sets up locking means (15, 16) adapted to prohibit at the end of mounting the sliding of the last mounted panel (6) relative to one of the adjoining panels (4).  8 / - Manufacturing process according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the dismantled1 panels provided with their nesting structures J are superimposed and packaged in the factory, the assembly operation taking place in a later phase.  9 / - Furniture to assemble yourself characterized in that it includes quadrangular panels (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6), provided along the edges or at the edge of the faces, embellishment structures males (9) and females (7), each male interlocking structure (9) and each female interlocking structure (7) being adapted to allow a longitudinal sliding of the male structure in the female structure without possibility of disengagement transverse.  10 / - Furniture to assemble yourself according to claim 9, characterized in that the interlocking structures are constituted by dovetails, in relief for the male structures (9) and in hollow for the structures females (7).  11 / - Furniture to assemble yourself according to one of claims 9 or 10, characterized in that it comprises six panels of generally rectangular shapes  a base (1) reinforced by a rigid frame (la), provided with two female interlocking structures (7, 8) along two opposite edges,  a front panel (4) reinforced by a rigid frame (4a), provided with two female interlocking structures (13, 14) along two opposite edges,  an upper panel (6) reinforced by a rigid frame (6a), provided with two female interlocking structures (21, 22) along two opposite edges,  two side panels (2, 3), each with three male interlocking structures (9, 10, 11; 9 ', 10', 11 ') along three edges and a female interlocking structure (12, 12 ') along a front edge, not contiguous to said edges,  a rear panel (5) provided with two male interlocking structures (19, 20) along two opposite edges.  12 / - Furniture to be assembled on the floor according to claim 11, characterized in that the female folding structures (7, 8; 21, 22) of the. base (1) and the upper panel (6) open at the rear of these panels and are closed at the front thereof.  @ 13 / - Furniture to assemble yourself according to one of claims 11 or 12, characterized in that the front panel (4) and the upper panel (.6) include locking means (15, 16), adapted to be able finally cooperate in mounting the upper panel (6).  14 / - Furniture to assemble yourself according to one of claims 11, 12 or 13, wherein the front panel (4) is formed by a rigid frame (4a) on which is articulated a door (4b).  15 / - Furniture to assemble yourself according to claim 14, characterized in that the aforementioned door (4b) comprises a frame (17) provided with a peripheral groove on edge, and a removable filling element (18) held by its periphery in said groove, the latter being adapted to allow the withdrawal of said filling element (18).  16 / - Furniture to assemble yourself according to one of claims 11, 12 or 13, wherein the front panel is formed by a rigid frame (23) provided with means (24) for supporting drawers.  17 / - Method of mounting a piece of furniture to my  ter itself according to one of claims 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 or 16, characterized in that it consists  inserting through the open end of a female interlocking structure (7, 8) of the base (1) a male interlocking structure (9, 9 ') of a side panel (2, 3), and sliding said panel so as to cause said structures to cooperate along their length,  to repeat this operation for the other side panel, said side panels being arranged so that their female structures (12, 12 ′) are arranged vertically at the rear,  placing the front panel (4) and the rear panel (5), causing their embedding structures (13, 14; 19, 20) to slide along the conjugate structures (10, 10 '; 12, 12 ') of the two side panels (2, 3),  in positioning the upper panel (6) by causing its female interlocking structures (21, 22) to slide along the interlocking structures "ales (11, I1 ') of the two side panels (2, 3).  18f - Furniture produced by implementing the method according to one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that it comprises panels (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) rigidly held together, by means of combined male and female structures (7 8; 9, 10, 11, 12; 9 ', 10', 11, 12 '13, 14; 19, 20; 21, 2), said interlocking structures being arranged along the edges of the panels and along the edges of their faces and embossed two by two, and having shapes, in particular in dovetails (9, 7), adapted to prohibit their transverse release.