GB2357423A - Furniture assembly - Google Patents

Abstract

A furniture assembly 200 suitable but not exclusive to kitchens, assembled from a kit of parts, has at least two units 220, 221 comprising a single front frame 230 common to the units. The frame has a plurality of apertures 232, 234, 236, 238 in it with each unit having at least one of the plurality of apertures associated with it to provide access to the units and for receiving a respective closure member such as a door or draw on the front face of the frame 230. Side wall elements 240 extend rearwardly from the rear face 231 front frame 230 to define the units and a single common wall 244 is positioned to separate adjacent units.

Description

2357423 Furniture Assembly The present invention relates to a furniture

assembly, and in particular a fitted furniture assembly for a kitchen.

A conventional furniture assembly for providing a plurality of furniture units, utilises a number of individual furniture carcasses, one per furniture unit, each having a front frame, walls, and closure members. The individual carcasses are joined together by their frames to make the complete furniture assembly. However, the use of separate frames for each furniture unit carcass results in a redundancy of parts, a void between adjacent units and ar, unattractive appearance of the complete furniture assembly. Hence it would be advantageous to be able to provide a furniture assembly having the flexibility of previous multiple unit furniture assemblies but with the drawbacks of individual carcass front frames.

According to a first aspect of the current invention there is provided a furniture assembly having at least two units and comprising a single front frame common to the units and having a plurality of apertures therein with each unit having at least one of the plurality of apertures associated with it to provide access to the units and for receiving a respective closure member on a front face of the front frame, and side walls extending rearwardly from the front frame thereby defining the separate units.

The present invention utilises a single common front frame for a plurality of separate furniture units. In this way there are no joints between adjacent units and the resulting units can have wider drawer boxes and internal carcass spaces compared to previous furniture units while taking up the same foot print. Further the provision of a single front frame eliminates the unattractive appearance of separately framed units and the need for fixings or fasteners between separate frames when assembled. Further more a single front frame gives the appearance of a more prestigious single piece of furniture and eases assembly by obviating the need of careful alignment and finishing of individual units.

The furniture assembly can include cupboard units, drawer units, or combined cupboard and drawer units. The furniture assembly can include floor, back and top elements. The furniture assembly can be mounted on a plinth. The furniture assembly can be free standing, stand against a wall or be suspended from a wall.

The furniture assembly can include a housing for an appliance as a one of the plurality of furniture units. The appliance can then act as the closure for that unit.

The furniture assembly is particularly suited for fitted furniture. Once the dimensions of a room have been provided, a furniture assembly according to the invention can easily be designed and constructed taking full advantage of all the available space, to provide the maximal storage volume within the footprint available within that room. The furniture assembly can be of any type of domestic, office or commercial furniture. The furniture assembly is particularly suited to fitted kitchen furniture. The furniture assembly can provide bedroom, bathroom, living room stowage furniture.

The closure member can be a door. The door is preferably mounted on or in the front frame by a hinge. The closure member can be a drawer. The drawer is preferably mounted in the frame by drawer runners attached to the side wall elements of the assembly.

Preferably adjacent units are separated by a single common wall part. The single common wall reduces the number of parts required to provide a plurality of separate units within a single furniture assembly. The redundant elements of conventional furniture assemblies are removed. The common wall between adjacent units can have two wall parts.

Preferably, there is no void between adjacent units. The wall between adjacent units can have no void therein thereby maximising the available storage volume within the furniture assembly for a given footprint width, while still providing separate furniture units.

According to a further aspect of the invention there is provided a kit of parts for assembling into a furniture assembly according to the first aspect of the invention, including a single front frame, wall elements and closure members.

According to a further aspect of the invention there is provided a method of fabricating a furniture assembly according to the first aspect of the invention, including the steps of: determining dimensions for a furniture assembly; fabricating a front frame corresponding to the dimensions; fabricating wall elements corresponding to the dimensions; and fabricating closure members for respective apertures in the front frame.

According to a further aspect of the invention there is provided a method of assembling a furniture assembly according to the first aspect of the invention, including the steps of: erecting the front frame in a room by attaching wall elements to a rear side of the frame so as to leave no void between adjacent units.

An embodiment of the invention will now be describes, by way of example only, and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 shows a perspective exploded view of two combined cupboard and draw carcasses of a conventional furniture assembly; Figure 2 shows a cross sectional plan view along line AA' of Figure 1; Figure 3 shows a perspective view of a furniture assembly according to the present invention; Figure 4 shows a cross sectional plan view along line BB' of Figure 3; and Figure 5 shows a cross sectional plane view of a further embodiment of a furniture assembly according to the invention.

The same parts in shown in different Figures share common reference numerals, unless states otherwise.

Figures 1 and 2 show a conventional furniture assembly of two drawer and cupboard units, designated generally by reference numeral 100.

The carcass of each unit 110, includes a wooden front frame 120 defining apertures 124, 126 therein. Wall elements 130 ex-Lend from a back face 128 of the frame. A floor member 132 extends between the side walls from the rear face of the front frame to the rear of the unit. A door 134 with a handle is mounted on hinges (not shown) to the front frame so that it provides a closure for aperture 126. A drawer 136 is received in aperture 124 on drawer runners (not shown) to provide a closure for aperture 124.

The wall elements 130 are offset from the side edges 138 of the front frames. When the units are joined together, as shown in Figure 2, a void 140 is defined between the adjacent units and a visible joint 144 is formed. Screws or some other fixing means are used to secure the units together by their frames.

Figures 3 and 4 show a furniture assembly according to the present invention, designated generally by reference numeral 200. The assembly of provides two cupboard and draw furniture units 210, 220. It includes a single front frame 230 which is common to the furniture units. The frame defines a first aperture 232 for receiving a drawer and a second aperture 234 for receiving a door of the first unit and equivalent apertures 236, 238 for the second unit. Wall elements 240 are attached to the frame and project rearwardly therefrom. The wall elements 240 are attached to a rear face 231 of the frame. A floor member 242 extends between an end wall 243 and a common wall 244, for each unit. The common wall between the adjacent units is provided by a single wall part. The furniture assembly can be mounted on a plinth or stand on directly on the floor.

A respective door for respective apertures 234, 238 are mounted by hinges on the frame and drawers are received in apertures 232, 236 by drawer runners (not shown) attached to the interior surfaces of walls 240. A work surface can then be mounted on top of the furniture unit if acting as a base 6- uit or a top can be provided if serving as a suspended wall nLun 4L-:- The single front frame construction allows a run of multiple units to be provided with a single continuous, common frame. Comnared to conventional assemblies, this allows wider drawer boxes to be used, provides a larger internal carcass space, eliminates the unattractive effect of double framing, eliminates the need for fixings to hold the frames together and gives the appearance of a single piece of furniture while having all the advantages of a fitted, modular furniture system.

Figure 5 shows a further embodiment in which the common wall 250 between adjacent units is provided by two wall elements with no void therebetween. The width of a central vertical frame member 252, substantially matches the width of the common wall. As shown the width of the frame members substantially matches the width of the wall elements behind them so as to maximise the width of the apertures, but this is not essential. The door and drawer fronts can be sized so as to fit within the apertures and present a flush front sur-'ace of the assembly or to be larger than the apertures so as to abut against the front face 254 of the frame.

The furniture assembly can be provided in the form of a kit of parts including a front frame, wall elements and door and drawer parts and appropriate fixings for ease of transportation and subsequent assembly on location.

The furniture assembly is particularly suited to the fab--ication of fitted furniture. The dimensions of a room are measured and the frame and wall parts of the assembly are fabricated with dimensions corresponding to those of the roo--n so that when assembled the furniture fits to that specific room shape and size. Doors and drawers are fabricated to fit the size of apertures provided in the frame. For simplicity of manufacture and stocking, a standard door and drawer aperture size can be used in the frame.

The furniture assembly can be simply and easily erected at a desired location by securing the wall elements so as to be rearwardly facing from the frame with suitable fixings and mounting the doors and drawers on the frame.

The assembly is particularly suited to use in as part of a fitted kitchen and one of the units of the assembly can be a housing for a domestic appliance. The assembly can provide base or wall units and is not limited to kitchen use or to the particular cupboard and drawer furniture units shown in the Figures or to two units.

Claims (10)

CLAIMS:

1. A furniture assembly having at least two units and comprising a single front frame common to the units and having a plurality of apertures therein with each unit having at least one of the plurality of apertures associated with it to provide access to the units and for receiving a respective closure member on a front face of the front frame, and side walls extending rearwardly from the front frame thereby defining the separate units.

2. An assembly as claimed in claim 1, in which the assembly is a fitted kitchen furniture assembly.

3. An assembly as claimed in claim 1, in which the closure member is a door.

4. An assembly as claimed in claim 1, in which the closure member is a drawer.

5. An assembly as claimed in claim 1, in which adjacent units are separated by a single common wall part.

6. An assembly as claimed in claim 1, in which there is no void between adjacent units.

7. A kit of parts for assembling into a furniture assembly as claimed in claim 1, and including a single front frame, wall elements and closure members.

8. A method of fabricating a furniture assembly as claimed in claim 1, including the steps of: determining dimensions for a furniture assembly; fabricating a front frame corresponding to the dimensions; fabricating wall elements corresponding to the dimensions; and fabricating closure members for respective apertures in the front piece.

9. A method of assembling a furniture assembly as claimed in claim 1, including the steps of: erecting the front frame in a room by attaching wall elements to project rearwardly from the frame and so as to leave no void between adjacent units.

10. A furniture assembly substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying Figures.