GB2048351A - Furniture frameworks - Google Patents

Abstract

Furniture such as shelving, cupboards, tables, consists of a framework formed from hollow bars e.g. of rectangular metal cross-section, joined at their ends, and then attaching panels, shelves, doors and drawer runners to the construction. The framework bars incorporate a channel let into one face of the bar, running along the centre-line of the face for the full length of the bar and extending the full depth of the bar to the wall of the opposite face. The channel is of rectangular cross- section and the sides of the channel are slotted, the slots 5, 6 lying perpendicularly to the long dimension of the channel side. Connectors carrying the brackets, hinges and other supports necessary for the attachment of the panels, shelves, etc., utilise this channel configuration to attach the brackets and hinges to the framework bars. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Improvements relating to frameworks This invention relates mainly, but not entirely, to the design and construction of furniture (including shelving), especially furniture of simple 'contemporary' design such is fre- quently constructed of laminated or veneered chipboard and is sold by retailers in 'flatpack' form for home assembly by the customer. In addition, such furniture will also be constructed by 'd-i-y' (do it yourself) handymen from bought lengths of wood or board.

In constructing such furniture (e.g a cupboard), the major problem is to attach the sides to the top and bottom to form the carcase and then to maintain the squareness of the construction. The connection devices available to the d-i-y handyman require a degree of skill to achieve a neat result and neither these devices, nor those used in factory-made self-assembly units, can be relied on by themselves to maintain the squareness of the construction. Accordingly, it is common practice to attach a sheet of hardboard, or similar, to the rear of the construction and it is this sheet that holds the construcion in square. This is not a wholly satisfactory solution; for some items (e.g. freestanding wall units used as room dividers) a rear panel is undesirable and also the need to include a panel the size of the finished article increases the size of the take-away 'flat-pack'.

Another problem is that the kind of material used (e.g. the aforementioned chipboard) is, generally, not rigid and when loaded (e.g.

when a shelf is loaded with books) will bow unless supported along its length.

A further problem is encountered, particularly when assembly large items. Usually, this kind of article is assembled or part assembled on its side and then it has to be manhandled into an upright position. For a large wardrobe, for example, this can be a considerable task.

A problem encountered by the home handyman in constructing items from lengths of board is that once the carcass is completed and it is required to attach items such as doors, etc., skill has to be exercised to ensure a neat result.

There is, in all cases, the general problem of ensuring that the finished item of furniture is of neat, tidy and pleasing appearance and that the mechanics of the construction are hidden.

Objects of the invention include the provision of a means of constructing furniture which substantially alleviates or overcomes the above noted problems. A further object is to provide a means of construction which is simple and versatile and applicable to all kinds of furniture-kitchen, office, shop, display, exhibition and industriai as well as general domestic furniture.

According to one aspect of the invention, a means of constructing furniture consists of a rectangular metal framework constructed of square secion bars joined at their ends such that the faces of the bars lie either horizontally or vertically and to which framework there may be attached panels, shelves, doors and drawer runners, by means of appropriate brackets, hinges and supports, all of which carry connectors that enable them to be fixed securely to the bars of the framework. The panels, etc., may be constructed of wood, board, chipboard (plain, laminated or veneered), metal, glass or any other suitable material.

Advantageously, the panels and shelves fit into spaces whose edges are delineated by bars of the frame work and are a close fit therein; each panel edge or shelf edge is substantially square and butts against one face of the adjoining bar; the thickness of the panels and shelves used is the same as the width of the faces of the bars and, when assembled, the faces of the bar adjoining the face that butts up to the panel or shelf lie flush with the faces of the panel or shelf. As a result, the bar may appear almost like a continuation of the panel or shelf (allowing for possible differences in surface texture and colour).

Advantageously, the panels, etc., can be attached after the framework has been completely assembled and placed in its desired position.

According to a second aspect of the invention, an improvement to the bars used in building frameworks consists of providing, in each bar, a channel, slot or series of slots or holes along the length of the bar, within or alongside which channel, etc., are sited lugs, holes, slots or other fixing devices, these (if alongside) being restricted to a well-defined area along the length of the bar.

Advantageously, the bar is fabricated from a metal strip bent along its length into a tube; and the channel, etc., replaces the seam which is the usual result of such a method of fabrication.

Advantageously, the bar will be of square cross-secion and the channel will be located along the centre-line of one face of the bar.

Advantageously, the channel is of rectangular cross-section, in the sides of which are slots arranged perpendicularly to the long dimension of the channel side and which occur at regular intervals along the length of the bar; the slots on one channel side are mirrored by matching slots on the other side.

The channel runs the full depth of the bar, down to the wall of the opposite face.

According to a third aspect of the invention, an improvement to the bars used in building frameworks consists of providing, in each bar, a plurality of channels, slots or series of slots or holes along the length of the bar, within or alongside which channels, etc., are sited lugs, holes or other fixing devices, these (if along side) being restricted to well-defined areas along the length of the bar.

Advantageously, the bar is of square cross section and the channels, etc., are positioned along the centre-lines of the faces of the bar.

According to a fourth aspect of the invention, a means of making a connection to a bar of a framework provided with a channel along its length in the sides of which channel are slots, comprises a screw or lever mechanism (to which is attached that which is required to be connected to the bar) that, when operated, changes the distance between a peg or pegs carried by the mechanism and the body of the connector; in use, the peg is positioned in a slot in the side of the channel and the operation of the mechanism forces the peg against the end of the slot, locking the connector in position.The body of the connector may either be rigidly attached to a further peg which is positioned in the same or a different slot and forced to the end of the slot upon operation of the mechanism (the whole being held by the grip exerted by the two pegs) or the body of the connector may carry lugs, or be so shaped that it locates upon the shoulders of the channel or the face of the bar and is held tight in that position by the peg upon operation of the mechanism.

Advantageously, the bulk of the connector is located entirely within the channel when in the locked position.

Advantageously, the connector is symmetrical in that the peg (or pegs) extends both sides of the locking mechanism, the two ends fitting into matching slots on either side of the channel.

According to fifth aspect of the invention, a means of making a connection to a bar of a framework provided with a channel along its length, comprises a plate (to which it attached that which is required to be connected to the bar) of a width not greater than the depth of the channel and on one side of which are protrusions, such that when the plate is laid against one side of the channel the protrusions locate with holes or slots, etc., in the side of the channel, thus holding the plate fixed in the plane of the plate; the plate then being held against the side of the channel by a wedge inserted between it and the other side of the channel.

According to a sixth aspect of the invention, a means of attaching a panel or shelf of significant thickness to a framework comprises spring loaded pins or levers located within channels, slots or holes formed in the side of the bars of the framework that face the edge of the panel or shelf when it is in position, the pins or levers being capable of being pushed against their springs to lie entirely within the channel thus allowing the panel or shelf to be placed in position, whereupon the spring loading causes the pins or levers to move out from within the channel to locate in holes previously formed in the edges of the panels or shelves thus holding it in position and without any fixing device being apparent when viewing the faces of the panels or shelves.

According to a seventh aspect of the inventin, a means of trimming a channel or slot in a bar to render it more visually pleasing comprises a strip of flexible, resilient, cuttable material which can be pressed into the channel or slot sufficiently to hold the trim strip in place. Advantageously, the strip is mushroom shape in cross-section, so that when the 'stalk' section is pressed into the channel or slot, the 'cap' section covers the channel and any associated holes.

According to an eighth aspect of the invention, a means of making a connection to a tubular rectangular section bar at its end comprises four lugs, projecting from the face to which the bar is to be connected, and shaped and positioned so as to fit snugly inside the tube at each of the four corners, the tightness of the fit being increased when the bar has been placed in position by the lugs being forced against the inside corners of the tube.

Advantageously, the tubular bar has a rectangular section channel in one face of the bar which may extend the full depth of the tube and in the sides of which channel are slots which are arranged perpendicularly to the long dimension of the channel side. Such a slot occurs, on both sides, at a distance from the end of the bar that is approximately equal to, or may be less than, the length of the lugs, thus the lugs are accessible through these slots. A locking mechanism comprises a lever or screw mechanism fitting into the channel and the pegs fitting into the aforementioned slots By operation of the lever or screw mechanism, the pegs of each pair are forced apart from each other and thus travel to opposite ends of the slot. The part of each peg that protrudes through the slot into the body of the bar impinges on the lug in that corner, thus forcing it towards the corner of the tube. The lug and peg are so shaped that, when forced together in this manner, movement between them along the axis of the bar is prevented. This may be achieved by the peg fitting into a groove in the lug. Advantageously, more than one such set of slots and pegs may occur along the length of the lugs, thus gripping each lug in several places.

According to a ninth aspect of the invention, a joint used in a rectangular framework of bars joined at the ends comprises a body bearing two or more faces, these faces being arranged orthogonally to each other (as are the faces of a rectangular solid), these faces carrying lugs or other means of connection to enable one or more bars to be attached to the face at right angles to it. As a result, each 'bar' of the framework may, in fact, be a number of individual bars runnning in parallel.

This may be useful when, say, only standard section bars are available and the framework strength required is particularly high.

Various possible ways of carrying the invention into effect will now be discovered by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a cross-section, to a large scale, of a framework bar; Figure 2 is a perspective view of one end of a framework bar; Figure 3 is a perspective view of a shelf support, utilising the principle identified as the fifth aspect of the invention, as above; Figure 4 is a cross-section, showing the shelf support in position; Figure 5 is a side view of a connector utilising the principle identified above as the fourth aspect of the invention; Figure 6 is a cross-section, showing such a connector in position, with a hinge (and door) attached to it; Figure 7 is a cross-section, showing a pin connector holding a panel.

Figure 8 is a perspective view of one end of a framework bar with a trim strip inserted in it for part of the trim strip's length; Figure 9 is a perspective view of an end connector; Figure 10 is a cross-section, showing the end connector locking mechanism in position; Figure 11 is a side view of the end connector locking mechanism; Figure 12 is a perspective view of an assembled framework for a cupboard; and Figure 13 is a perspective view of an assembled framework for a table.

These drawings are not necessarily to the same scale.

As illustrated in Figs. 1 8 2, the preferred form of the framework bar is a square tube with a channel 1 in the centre of one face that runs the full depth of the tube and in the sides of which are slots running perpendicularly to the long dimension of the channel side. The shaded areas 2 in Fig. 1 indicate the location of the slots. The slots occur at regular intervals along the channel and in pairs; i.e. one on each side of the channel, e.g. slot 5 in the lower side of the channel is mirrored by slot 6 whose position is indicated by the dotted lines, not in fact being visible from the perspective angle used. The bar is fabricated from steel strip bent along its length at right angles at 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12.

Figs. 3 and 4 illustrate a connector constructed in accordance with the fifth aspect of the invention. A plate 1 3 not significantly wider than the channel depth carries two protrusions 14 shaped to fit the slots in the channel side and also carries the required mechanism (in this case, a shelf support 1 5 incorporating a screw hole 16). In position, a wedge 1 7 fits between the plate and the other side of the channel. The dotted lines indicate the position of the slots in the top side of the channel. The wedge extends the full length of the plate.The shelf 1 8 rests on the support and may be fixed by the screw 1 9. Advantageously, the shelf will lie flush with the top face of the bar as shown and for shelves of different thickness, the shelf support may be "dog-legged' to bring the shelf to the correct height. (For purposes of illustration, Fig. 4 shows a support where the screw hole is in line with one projection, rather than between two projections, as in Fig. 3).

Figs. 5 and 6 illustrate a connector constructed in accordance with the fourth aspect of the invention. A peg 20 can travel up and down slot 21 by the action of a cam 22 operated by a lever 23 on a hing 24. In position, the peg lies with its ends within the slots 25 in the sides of the channel. When the lever is pressed down, the peg is made to rise by the cam and is forced aginst the top end of the slots. The peg may be grooved such that it grips the end of each slot and therefore holds it in a particular position relative to the peg. As the the peg pushes against the top of the slots, so also the shoulders of the connector 26 are pulled against the edges of the channel and the connector is thus firmly held in an unique position. In Fig. 6, the connector is shown as carrying a hinge 27 to which is attached a door 28 (not shown in Fig. 5).

Fig. 7 illustrates a panel 28 held in position by a pin 29 engaging in a hole in the edge of the panel. When this is being assembled, the pin is pushed back into the body of the connector 30 against the spring 31; the edge of the panel is slid over the pin and the pin will then spring into position when it locates with the hole. In this example, the pin connector is held in position by a plate (32), projections (33) and wedge (not shown) system, as describe above. It will be seen that, as was suggested as being advantageous when the first aspect of the invention was described, the panel edge is square and butts right against one face of the bar; the panel is the same thickness as the bar and the faces of the panel lie flush with the faces of the bar.

Fig. 8 illustrates a trim-strip 34 inserted in the channel of a bar for part of its length. The strip is mushroom-shaped in cross secion, the 'stalk' 35 is a tight fit in the channel while the 'cap' 36 hides the channel completely.

Figs. 9, 10 and 11 illustrate the end connector and its locking mechanism. Fig. 9 illustrates the end connector. In this example, the body of the connector is a cube whose side dimension is the same as the size of the bar (i.e. the same as the face width of the bar), one face of which is equipped with four lugs 37, 38, 39 and 40, each lug carrying a groove. Generally, a connector can have any of its faces so equipped in order to form the various corners required in a framework (This is best shown in Fig. 12). In use, the end of a frame work bar is pushed over the lugs and butts up against the face. The grooves in the lugs then line up with slots in the side of the channel and the pins 41, 42 of the end connector locking mechanism can be slide through these slots 43 to engage in the grooves. Fig. 10 is a cross-section taken parallel to the lug-carrying face at the grooves. Fig.

11 illustrates the locking mechanism. The mechanism is similar in operation to the connector according to the fourth aspect, although it differs in having one fixed pin 42 in place of the locating shoulder. It has a pin that moves in slots 41a in the locking mechanism body and rests against a lever-operated cam 44, which is hinged at 45. Operation of the lever forces the pins apart and hence to opposite ends of the slots in the channel sides, where the ends of the pegs both engage with the grooves in the lugs and push the lugs against the inside corners of the tube. The pegs may be grooved such that they grip the ends of the slots and therefore hole the ends in fixed positions relative to the pegs.

Fig. 1 2 illustrates an assembled framework for a cupboard made up of bars (e.g. 46, 47, 48) of various lengths and corner pieces (e.g.

49, 50, 51) similar to that of Fig. 9, but with two (49), three (51) or four (50) faces of the cube equipped with lugs. In this view of the framework, the channelled face of the bar is visible for some bars e.g. 46, 47; the position of the channelled face of the remaining bars is indicated by the unlabelled arrows. In order to complete this construction, it is necessary to attach brackets, hinges and trim strip to the framework and then attach panels, doors and shelves (although under some circumstances it may be more convenient to attach the hinges to the doors first, because of the simplicity of connecting the hinges to the framework).

These jobs may all be done with the framework in its final intended position. Shelf supports (which may be of the kind shown in Fig.

3) may be attached at points 52, 53, 54, and 55 for the top of the cupboard, although further supports may be placed at additional points along bar 46 and the opposite bar if required; supports for the bottom shelf may be attached at points 56, 57, 58 and 59.

Hinges (which may be of the same pattern as is shown in Fig. 6) may be attached at points 60, 61, 62 and 63. Magnetic door latches may be attached to the top bar by means of an appropriately shaped bracket ending in a 'plate and protrusions' connector (i.e. a connector according to the fifth aspect of the invention). Pin panel connectors (which may be of the king shown in Fig. 7) may be attached at points 64, 65, 66 and 67 for the left-hand side panel; the rear and right-hand side panels also being treated similarly.

Fig. 1 3 illustrates a construction (for, possibly, a glass top table) in which the end connectors are not necessarily cubes and may have more than one bar attached to each face. The connectors 68 and 69 have four bars connected to one of their faces and, as a result, the construction is able to incorporate a strong central column 70 (ringed) comprising four standard cross-section framework bars.

Claims (19)

1. A framework constructed of bars joined at their ends by joints, and to which framework, upon its assembly from its component parts, there may be attached panels, shelves, doors and drawer runners by means of brackets, hinges or other supports, these brackets, hinges or other supports bearing connectors enabling them to be fixed to the bars of the framework at any time (i.e. before, during or after assembly of the framework from the bars and joints).

2. A framework according to Claim 1, where the bars are of square cross-section and joined orthogonally at their ends, such that the faces of the bars lie either horizontally or vertically.

3. A framework according to Claim 2, where the panels, shelves and doors fit into those spaces whose boundaries are delineated by those bars of the framework which lie in any one plane.

4. A framework according to Claims 1 or 2 or 3, one or more bars of which framework are provided with a channel, slot or series of slots or holes along the length of each bar so provided, within or alongside which channel etc., are sited lugs, holes, slots or other fixing points.

5. A framework according to Claim 4, the bars being fabricated from metal strip bent along its length into a tube, the channel, slot or series of slots occurring at that part of the construction where a join or seam would be expected.

6. A framework according to Claim 4, the bars being formed by extrusion from the solid.

7. A framework according to claims 4 or 5 or 6, the bars being of square cross-section, with a channel located along the centre-line of one face of the bar.

8. A framework according to Claims 4 or 5 or 6 or 7, the channel being of rectangular cross-section.

9. A framework according to Claims 4 or 5 or 6 or 7 or 8, the channel extending the full depth of the bar to the wall of the opposite side.

10. A framework according to any one of Claims 4-9, one or both of the channel sides having cut-outs in it.

11. A framework according to any one of Claims 4-9, the channel sides being slotted at intervals along the bar.

1 2. A framework according to Claim 11, the slots being arranged perpendicularly to the long dimension of the channel side.

1 3. A framework according to Claims 11 or 12, the slots being arranged at regular intervals along the length of the bar.

14. A framework according to any one of Claims 8-1 3, where the joints are connected to the bars by four lugs projecting from each face of the joint (a face of a joint being defined as that area of the joint that butts against the end of the bar), the lugs fitting snugly into the inside corners of the tube and being capable of being spread to increase the tightness of the fit.

1 5. A framework according to any one of the preceding Claims, in which two or more identical framework bars are located close to, and parallel to, each other and connect the same two joints.

1 6. In combination with a framework according to Claims 10-13, a connector comprising a screw or lever mechanism (to which is attached that which-is'required to be connected to the framework) that, when operated changes the distance between a peg or pegs carried by the mechanism and the body of the connector, the pegs fitting the slot or cut-out in the side of the channel.

1 7. In combination with a framework according to Claims 10-1 3 or with a combination according to Claim 1 6 a connector comprising a wedge and a plate (to which plate is attached that which is required to be connected to the framework) of a width approximately the same as the depth of the channel, on one side of which are one or more projections such that when the plate is laid against one side of the channel, the projection or projections located with the slots or cut-outs in the channel side and the plate is held in position by the wedge being positioned between the plate and the other channel side.

1 8. In combination with a framework according to Claims 10-13, or with a combination according to Claims 16 or 17, a connector comprising a spring loaded pin or lever mounted in a housing fitting within the channel in the framework bar and attachable to the bar in such a position, the pin or lever normally projecting beyond the channel but capable of being withdrawn to lie within the channel.

19. A framework or framework in combination with other parts substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the panying drawings.