GB2060747A

GB2060747A - A door for a cupboard

Info

Publication number: GB2060747A
Application number: GB8032791A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: HARLOGATE AG
Current assignee: HARLOGATE AG
Priority date: 1979-10-16
Filing date: 1980-10-10
Publication date: 1981-05-07
Also published as: CA1139347A; PL227315A1; GB2060747B; YU41222B; CH650135A5; DD153574A5; SE8007137L; DE2941794B1; YU263280A; ES267073U; HU184938B; RO86142A; RO86142B; DE2941794C2; CS231151B2; NL8005701A; SE444598B; FR2478185B1; DK437880A; JPS56146564A

Abstract

A door for a cupboard has a plate 14 to which is fitted a box-like corpus 15-19 whose side walls 15, 16 converge in the direction of the aperture which the door closes. The plate 14 is provided with recesses for the accommodation of fittings 12, 11 at all the upper and lower corners, a first lower fitting portion 46 being adapted to be fitted at the bottom plate 17 of the corpus and being supported to be capable of rotation about a vertical axis on a second lower fitting portion 43 adapted to be fitted at the bottom of the door frame by means of a member 46 projecting from out of the corpus, with the height of the first lower fitting portion 46 being variable with respect to the second lower fitting portion 43 and a first upper fitting portion 30 being fastened at the top wall 18 of the corpus, while a second upper fitting portion 29 is fastened at the underside of the upper portion of the door frame 13. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION A door for a cupboard The invention relates to a door for a cupboard, said door having a plate pivotable by means of fittings which forms the leaf of the door and which has a box-like corpus fitted thereto on the side thereof facing away from the plate a preferably closable aperture.

Hereinafter, the term 'door cupboard' means a door for a cupboard.

Such a door cupboard is known (German utility model 19 1 1 213). With this door cupboard the corpus is fitted at the side of the door leaf facing the door opening. Normally, the usual door fittings are not sufficient to accommodate the loads occurring with a door cupboard, so that after a certain period of time the danger will exist that the fittings may get torn off their hinges. Another disadvantage resides in that the known door cupboard is not seated centrally within the door opening which is detractive to its appearance.

Finally, the known door cupboard is not suited to be hinged at all the four sides where-it is possible.

The invention is therefore based upon the problem of providing a door cupboard which is adapted to be hinged at all the sides where it is possible independently of the mounting of a normally usual door leaf, and independently of the material of the door frame, and which is at the same time suited for industrial production.

According to the present invention this problem is solved in that the side walls of the corpus are converging in the direction of the aperture, the plate being provided with recesses at all the upper and lower corners for the accommodation of fittings, a first lower fitting portion being adapted to be fitted at the bottom plate of the corpus and being rotatably supported about a vertical axis at a second lower fitting portion adapted to be fitted at the bottom outside the door opening by means of a portion projecting from the corpus, with the level of the first lower fitting portion being variable with respect to the second lower fitting portion, and with a first upper fitting portion fastened at the top plate of the corpus, while a second upper fitting portion is fastened at the underside of the lower portion of the door frame.

The corpus forms the cupboard for the accommodation of the most various articles, and fixtures and boards may be provided in the interior thereof for adaptation to the respectively intended purpose of use. The back side of the cupboard is formed by the door plate. The corpus in itself, however, does not form the subject matter of the present invention. This is equally applicable also to the design of the closable aperture. Use may be made, for instance, of a trap door, a sliding door, or a swivel door, without the gist of the invention being influenced thereby.

Owing to the fact that the side walls of the corpus are converging in the direction of the aperture, and the corpus and the plate, respectively, are provided with recesses at all the upper and lower corners thereof for the accommodation of fittings, the door cupboard according to the invention may be hinged at all the four sides. This being in contrast to the usual doors, the hinged side of which cannot be changed, and by which a dead space is formed in the wall surface.

Also the configuration of the corpus and the material used for it may, besides, be of any suitable type, and the dimensions are governed by the openings left for the doors in the walls. The depth of the door cupboard may vary between 50 and 600 mm.

What is essential to the invention is that the door cupboard according to the invention which may be industrially fabricated as a unit, may be replaced with all conventional doors while the available door frame remains in the wall opening.

The door cupboard according to the invention is also independent of the available fittings, that means independent of whether the door which had been fitted before closed with the aid of a rim portion at its free side, or closed against the.

aperture-defining wall thus forming a step with the wall, or was seated in the wall opening flush with the wall. The reason for this lies in the use of independent fittings which may be fastened even without any consideration being given to the material of which the available door frame is made.

With the door cupboard according to the invention it is furthermore assumed that the load the fittings have to take and which is to be transferred to the stationary construction, is substantial. Provision is therefore made by the invention for a lower fitting portion protruding from the corpus to be supported vertically on a second lower fitting portion which is disposed outside the door opening. With the aid of such a fitting construction it is possible without any further ado to intercept even the loads occurring with a door cupboard. If the door cupboard should yet sag, it is possible because of the relative height adjustment of the two lower fitting portions to lift the door cupboard, so that it is prevented from getting set and thus becoming incapable of functioning.

The arrangement of the fittings with the door cupboard according to the invention results in a pivot point displaced far outside, from which it follows that after opening an optimum door passage width is provided.

The door cupboard according to the invention may be easily fitted also by a layman. For this it is only necessary respectively to fasten the fitting portions at the door cupboard, at the door frame, or at the door bottom with the aid of screws, for example, and then hang the door cupboard in place. The available fittings may be left in their places and concealed by covering caps. The removal of the door cupboard according to the invention is just as easy, in case of moving from one place to another, for example. After the door cupboard according to the invention has been removed, the old door may be hung into the old fittings which are still available, so that the previous status may be brought about again.In the new place the door cupboard according to the invention may be mounted again in the simple manner as described; and the hingeing may take place again at the side where desired, which needs by no means be the same side as that where the door cupboard had been hinged in the previous assembly.

In one embodiment of the invention provision is made for the side wall of the corpus to include the same angle with the plate. By this arrangement it is secured that the door cupboard according to the invention is given a symmetrical appearance which is of importance for the optical impression it makes.

It has already been mentioned above that the second upper fitting portion is to be capable of being fastened at the underside of the door frame.

In this connection, provision is made in another embodiment of the invention for the two upper fitting portions to be of L-shaped configuration, with one leg adapted to be fastened at the upper surface of the top plate of the corpus and the underside of the door frame, respectively, and the other leg extending outside the door opening with the free ends of the other leg being rotatably connected with each other. As the vertical load which at the same time is the main load is accommodated by the fitting adjacent the bottom, the upper fitting only has to accommodate the forces occurring normal thereto which in the first place occur due to the tilting moment of the door cupboard.If, now, the fitting portions are respectively screwed to the upper surface of the top plate and the underside of the door frame, an unobjectionable accommodation of forces will be obtained, so that a secure suspension of the door cupboard will be guaranteed. Preferably, according to a further development of the invention, the first leg of the second upper fitting portion comes to lie closely against the door frame from inside.

Thereby it is possible to fix the position of the pivot point of the upper fitting also with respect to the lower pivot point, it being understood that both pivot points are lying on one and the same vertical line.

It has furthermore been mentioned that the lower fitting takes the main load. In this connection provision is made in a further development of the invention for the first lower fitting portion to comprise two parallel-spaced fastening plates capable of being screwed against the bottom plate from above and from below. By this arrangement, an effective connection is obtained between the fitting portion and the corpus enabling the transfer of great forces.

The relative height adjustment between the lower fitting portions may be accomplished in different ways. In one embodiment of the invention provision is made for this purpose for the outwardly projecting part of the first lower fitting portion to be provided with an inner thread adapted to threadably receive a bearing bolt having an outer thread, said bearing bolt being supported to be capable of rotation about a vertical axis on a bottom plate. Height adjustment of the entire door cupboard accordingly may be effected simply through rotation of the bearing bolt, with at least one counter nut being suitably arranged on the bearing bolt to maintain the respectively adjusted height.

The capability of the door cupboard according to the invention of being easily handled is furthermore improved in that in accordance with another embodiment of the invention the bottom plate is provided with a ball bearing the inner race of which accommodates the lower portion of the bearing bolt.

Same as is the case with the second upper fitting portion, also the second lower fitting portion may comprise a leg coming to lie closely against the door frame from inside. By this arrangement, the lower and the upper pivot point of the fittings may be exactly aligned with each other irrespective of the material and the profile of the door frame.

If the door cupboard according to the invention is fitted at a later time, an adaptation to the given colours of the walls and the floor is easily possible by fitting a covering panel at the outside of the plate and/or at the outside of a closure plate for the corpus. The covering panel may be veneered or painted, may be designed as a mirror or in any other way to obtain the desired adaptation.

Same as is the case with other doors, the door cupboard according to the invention also needs a closure. This closure according to a further development of the invention is suitably accommodated in the recess for a fitting portion which is not being used at the time. For this purpose, the usual door lock and handle sets as well as magnets, ball snaps, or the like, may be used.

In the following, one embodiment of the invention will be described in more detail by way of drawings.

Fig. 1 shows a front view of the door cupboard; Fig. 2 shows a sectional view of the door cupboard taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 shows various sectional views of the door cupboard according to Figs. 1 and 2 from different angles of view according to drawings usual in the joiner trade; Fig. 4 shows a partial sectional view taken of the door cupboard in the lower region thereof; Fig. 5 shows a sectional view of the door cupboard taken of the upper region thereof; Fig. 6 shows the two upper fitting portions; Fig. 7 shows a side view of the fittings according to Fig. 6; Fig. 8 shows a sectional view of the door cupboard taken of the region adjacent the upper fittings; Fig. 9 shows two different views of the lower fitting portions; Fig. 10 shows a sectional view of the door cupboard taken of the region adjacent the lower fitting portions; ; Fig. 11 shows a detail of the lower fitting portions; Fig. 12 shows a view similar to Fig. 8, however, without a cupboard corpus; Fig. 13 shows a view similar to Fig. 10, however, without a cupboard corpus.

In Figures 1 and 2 a door cupboard is generally referenced 10, said door cupboard being hinged in Figure 2 at the left-hand side of an aperture left in the wall. This is accomplished with the aid of a lower fitting 11 and an upper fitting 12, the manner of fastening and the construction of which will still have to be dealt with in the following description. The door frame is referenced 13 in Figures 1 and 2. The profile of said door frame is not particularly important, so that a description of the door frame in detail may be refrained from.

The door cupboard 10 consists of a plate 14 which is designed and arranged in a similar manner as is a usual door leaf. On the side of the plate 14 facing the door opening there is formed the corpus of the door cupboard 10, said corpus comprising two side walls 1 5, 16, a bottom wall 17, and a top wall 18, as well as a closure plate 19. Covering panels 20 and 21, respectively, may be fastened at the outsides of the plates 1 4, 19, which serve for adaptation to the respective furniture and to the colour of the furniture, in particular. They may be fastened with the aid of profile strips 22 (see Fig. 5). The fastening of the covering panels 20, 21, however, forms no subject matter of the invention.

As may be derived especially from Figure 2, the side walls 1 5, 16 are arranged to include the same angle with the plate 14, so that they converge in a direction away from the plate 14. Thereby, a gap of equal width is formed on either side of the door cupboard 10 on the side opposite the plate 14, which has a favourable effect on the appearance of the door cupboard. Besides, a door cupboard 10 designed in this manner may be pivoted outwards to either side.

As may be derived from Figure 4, there is a ledge 23 fitted at the underside of the plate 14 with the aid of a flap 24 which is seated in a recess of the plate 14 and may be fastened therein by screws, for example. An L-shaped profile 25 extending outwards from the flap 24 serves to receive the underside of the covering panel 20.

The ledge 23 is provided with a slot 26 extending continuously in a longitudinal direction which opens towards the underside of the ledge 23 to receive a second ledge 27 which is guided in the slot 26 approximately fitting it and is arranged therein in a manner to be capable of height adjustment. The slot 26 and the outside of the ledge 27 may respectively be formed with knurls, arresting teeth or the like in such a manner that the ledge 27 stays by itself in the respectively assumed position maintaining a minimum space above the bottom 28.

The upper fitting 12 is shown in more detail in Figures 6 and 7. It consists of angle plates forming a first upper fitting portion 30 and a second upper fitting portion 29 having one congruent leg 31, and legs 32 and 33, respectively, which are arranged in a manner not to be congruent. The free ends of the legs 31 have a circular enlargement 34 with an approximately central through bore 35. A rotary pin may be passed through the through bore 34 and fastened therein.

The leg 33 of the fitting portion 29 extends at right angles with respect to the other leg 31 and is provided with openings 36, 37. The leg 32 of the fitting portion 30 is arranged to include an angle slightly larger than 900 with the other leg 31 and is likewise provided with two openings 38 and 39, respectively.

Figures 5 and 8 show the manner in which the fitting portions 29, 30 are fastened. The fitting portion 29 has its leg 33 lying in close contact against the inner surface of the door frame 13, with its leg 31 lying in close contact against the outer surface of the door frame 13, and is tightly screwed in this position against the top portion of the door frame 13 from below. A slot 40 in the plate 14 makes it possible for the fitting portion 29 to project thereinto. The other upper fitting portion 30 also extends inside the slot 40 said fitting portion being for the rest fastened by screws on the upper surface of the top wall 18, i.e.

flush with the associated side wall 16, as may be seen from Figure 8. Accordingly, the leg 32 of the fitting portion 30 is arranged at the same angle with respect to the plate 14 as is the side wall 1 6.

A rotary connection is established between the fitting portions 29 and 30 via the through bore 35 with the aid of a suitable screw 41 or the like.

Figure 9 shows, at one time, a top plan view of the lower fitting 11 and, at another time, a side view thereof. It comprises a lower fitting portion 43 which is designed as an L-shaped plate having a narrow leg 44 and a wider leg extending at right angles thereto for a bottom plate 45. The other fitting portion 46 is likewise formed approximately in an L-shape comprising a rigid arm 47 having a bearing eye with inner thread 48 at the free end thereof. The other leg is formed by two parallelspaced fastening plates 49, 50 extending from the arm 47. The fastening plates 49, 50 are provided with through bores 52. The space between the plate sections 49, 50 approximately corresponds to the thickness of the bottom wall 1 7 of the corpus of the door cupboard 13.

As may be seen from Figure 11 , the bottom plate 45 of the fitting portion 43 is provided with a through bore 53 having a journal 54 of a potshaped holding element 55 extending thereinto, said element holding a ball bearing 56 in an upper recess. The inner race of the ball bearing 56 accommodates a lower portion 57 of a bearing bolt 58 the outer thread of which may be threaded into a threaded bore 48 of the bearing eye. To fix the adjusted height of the bearing eye there are counter nuts 59 and 60, respectively, provided at the bearing bolt 58. A screw driver slot 61 is provided at the upper end of the bearing bolt 58.

The fastening of the lower fitting portions 43 and 46 may be seen from Figure 10. The L-shaped plate 43 is fixed at the bottom with the aid of screws 63a, with the legs lying in close contact against the inner surface and the outer surface, respectively, of the door frame 13, in order to fix the pivot point in its position, as is the case also with the upper fitting. The fastening plates 49, 50 are respectively pushed from the side above and beneath the bottom wall 17 via a slot formed in the plate 14, and are threadedly fastened at the bottom wall 1 7 with the aid of screws 63 (see also Fig. 3). It will be noted that the angle of the side 64 of section 49 of the fitting portion 46 coincides with the angle of the side wall 1 6 and that the side 64 comes to lie in close contact against the side wall 16 from inside.

The mounting of the door cupboard as described above is as follows: To begin with, the second upper fitting portion 29 is fastened by means of screws beneath the available door frame 13 according to Figure 8.

Either before or afterwards the first upper fitting portion 30 is threadedly connected to the top wall 18 via the slot 40 provided in the plate 14.

Furthermore, the second lower fitting portion 43 is threadedly connected to the bottom 28 in the manner as shown in Figure 10. The first lower fitting portion 46 is pushed into the slot 40 available in the plate 14 and is threadedly connected to the bottom wall 1 7 of the corpus with the aid of screws 63 and nuts 65 (see Figure 3). Following this, the bearing bolt 58 is screwed into the bearing eye having an inner thread 48.

Then the door cupboard 10 is placed into the ball bearing 56 via the bolt 58. Then the bolt 58 is rotated until the upper fitting portions 29, 30 are tautly lying in contact against each other.

Thereupon the screw 41 is inserted which may be provided with an inner thread to accommodate a screw with outer thread from the opposite side (not shown). By rotation of the screws together there results an articulated connection between the fitting portions 29, 30. Following this, the counter nuts 59, 60 are tightened.

In case the door cupboard should sag later on, the counter nuts 59, 60 will be loosened and the door cupboard 10 lifted again by rotating the bolt 58.

The design and manner of fastening of the door closures has not been dealt with in the above description, because they are prior art.

Finally, it is remarked that the fitting portions 29, 30, 43, 46 as shown are suited for hingeing the door on either side. For this purpose they need only be rotated respectively through 1800 to be inserted through the slot available in plate 14 on the respective other side.

In Figures 12 and 13 those parts which are similar to the parts described in the above Figures are provided with the same reference numerals.

Besides, it will be enlarged essentially only on the modified features.

The door plate 14 has fitted thereto an additional plate 14a, which is several times the thickness of plate 14. As shown at 14b, the plate 14a is beveled on one side, this being correspondingly the case also on the other side.

While the fitting portions adjacent the wall are similar to the ones of the above-described embodiment, those adjacent the door are modified. The upper fitting portion 30a is provided with a section 23a screwed against the plate 14a from above, said plate being, besides, a little lower in height than plate 14. The width of section 32a corresponds to the thickness of plate 14a. Section 32a is beveled in correspondence with side 14b.

The lower fitting portion 46a is fastened corresponding to the fitting portion 30a, preferably to the underside of plate 14a, by means of screws (not shown).

The room door according to Figures 12 and 13 offers the possibility of being adapted to replace any built-in door without any further ado independently of whether the door to be replaced was hinged on the one or other side. With the aid of this door it is therefore possible also to change the direction of opening with respect to a built-in room door.

Claims

1. A cupboard door comprising a plate pivotable by means of fittings which forms the leaf of the door and which has a box-like corpus fitted thereto on the side thereof facing the door opening, said corpus comprising a preferably closable aperture on its side facing away from the plate, characterised in that side walls of the corpus are converging in the direction of the aperture, the plate being provided with recesses for the accommodation of fittings at all the upper and lower corners, a first lower fitting portion being adapted to be fitted at the bottom plate of the corpus and being supported to be capable of rotation about a vertical axis on a second lower fitting portion adapted to be fitted at the bottom outside the door opening by means of a member projecting from out of the corpus, with the height of the first lower fitting portion being variable with respect to the second lower fitting portion and a first upper fitting portion being fastened at the top wall of the corpus, while a second upper fitting portion is fastened at the underside of the upper portion of the door frame.

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2. The cupboard door according to claim 1, wherein the side wall of the corpus include the same angle with the plate.

3. The cupboard door according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein both upper fitting portions have an L-shaped configuration with one leg being adapted to be fastened at the upper surface of the top wall of the corpus and the lower surface of the door frame, respectively, and the other leg extending outside the door opening and with the free ends of the other leg being rotatably connected with each other.

4. The cupboard door according to claim 3, wherein the first leg of the second upper fitting portion comes to lie in close contact against the door frame from inside.

5. The cupboard door according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the first mentioned lower fitting portion comprises two parallel-spaced fastening plates adapted to be screwed to the bottom plate from above and from below.

6. The cupboard door according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the outwardly protruding rigid arm of the first lower fitting portion is provided with an inner thread adapted to threadingly receive a bearing bolt provided with an outer thread, and wherein said bearing bolt is supported on a bottom plate to be capable of rotation about a vertical axis.

7. The cupboard door according to claim 6, wherein at least one counter nut is provided on the bearing bolt.

8. The cupboard door according to claim 6 or claim 7, wherein the bottom plate comprises a ball bearing the inner race of which accommodates the lower portion of the bearing bolt.

9. The cupboard door according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the second lower fitting portion comprises an L-shaped plate adapted to be fastened at the bottom and wherein a leg comes to lie in close contact against the inside of the door frame.

10. The cupboard door according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein there is a covering panel adapted to be fitted on the outside of the plate and/or on the outside of a closure plate for the corpus.

11. The cupboard door according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the upper and/or lower recesses respectively not occupied by a fitting portions serve for the accommodation of a door closure arrangement.

12. A door comprising a door plate and lower and upper fittings for pivotably suspending the door leaf, comprising a relatively thick second plate fitted on one side of the said plate the sides of which are converging, said second plate being provided with recesses at all the upper and lower corners for the accommodation of fittings, a first lower fitting portion being adapted to be fitted at the underside of the plate and being supported for rotation about a vertical axis at a lower fitting portion adapted to be fastened at the bottom outside the door opening by means of a projecting member, the height of the first lower fitting portion being variable with respect to the second lower fitting portion, and a first upper fitting portion being fastened at the upper surface of the second plate, while a second upper fitting portion is fastened at the underside of the upper portion of the door frame.