ITAN20100135A1 - MOBILE WITH EXTRACTABLE SHELF EQUIPPED WITH ARTICULATED ARM AND DRIVER MEANS. - Google Patents

Description

â € œFURNITURE WITH REMOVABLE SHELF EQUIPPED WITH ARTICULATED ARM AND GUIDE MEANSâ €.

TEXT OF THE DESCRIPTION

The present patent application for industrial invention relates to a piece of furniture with a removable shelf.

As is known in the field of furniture, some types of furniture and in particular the modular ones, include various modules, in the form of shelves, provided with shelves to support various types of objects. Often such modular furniture is developed on several walls. In this case, the shelves of the modules arranged at an angle are difficult to access.

For this reason, the need arose to provide extractable shelves, which can be extracted out of the cabinet in order to facilitate the user in picking up and placing objects on these shelves.

The German utility model DE 20 2007 010 283 U1 describes a shelf with a curvilinear perimeter to exploit the largest possible surface. The shelf must perform a roto-translational movement to obtain its extraction from the cabinet. For this purpose, a guide is provided in the cabinet or under the shelf and a support arm hinged in the cabinet, near a side wall of the cabinet.

However, this movement system involves jams during the roto-translational movement of the shelf due to the conformation and arrangement of the guide and the rotating arm.

Furthermore, it must be considered that many pieces of furniture have an upright strip placed in the front middle wall of the piece of furniture, in front of the column in which the support of the pull-out shelf is hinged. Therefore this upright is an obstacle to the rotation of the support of the extractable shelf.

The purpose of the present invention is to eliminate the drawbacks of the known art, providing a corner piece of furniture equipped with an upright strip and with a removable shelf that is versatile, practical for the user and at the same time able to exploit the largest possible surface. of the shelf.

This object is achieved in accordance with the invention with the characteristics listed in the attached independent claim 1.

Advantageous embodiments of the invention appear from the dependent claims.

The piece of furniture according to the invention comprises an opening and a shelf which can be extracted from said opening to pass from a retracted position within the cabinet to a position extracted outside the cabinet.

The cabinet also includes:

- a column placed inside the cabinet in a central front position,

- an "L" -shaped bracket which provides a short arm rotatably mounted around said column and a long arm, - a crank comprising a first end pivoted to the long arm of the bracket and a second end hinged to the pull-out shelf,

- first guide means integral with the long arm of the bracket, e

- second guide means integral with the lower surface of the removable shelf, cooperating with said first guide means integral with the long arm of the bracket.

The advantages of the piece of furniture according to the invention, which provides an extremely simple and reliable movement mechanism for the extractable shelf, are evident.

Further characteristics of the invention will become clearer from the detailed description that follows, referring to its purely exemplary and therefore non-limiting embodiments, illustrated in the attached drawings, in which:

Fig. 1A is a schematic top plan view, illustrating the cabinet according to the invention, with the shelf inside the cabinet;

Fig. 1B is a view like Fig. 1A, in which the shelf is in the extraction phase;

Fig. 1C is a view like Fig. 1A, in which the shelf is completely extracted;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view, showing an exploded view of the movement mechanism and the removable shelf;

Fig. 3 is a view like Fig. 2, but taken from a different angle;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view illustrating the movement mechanism;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged perspective view illustrating a carriage of the movement mechanism;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view illustrating the overturned pull-out shelf;

Fig. 7 is a second embodiment of the movement mechanism connected to the removable shelf of the furniture according to the invention;

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of the movement mechanism of Fig. 7;

Fig. 9 is a perspective view of a guide of the extractable shelf of Fig. 7; And

Fig. 10 is a perspective view of a trolley of the movement mechanism of Fig. 7.

With the aid of the Figures, the furniture according to the invention is described, indicated as a whole with the reference number (1).

For now, with reference to Fig. 1A, the cabinet (1) preferably has a parallelepiped shape with a rectangular perimeter and has a length equal to double the depth. However, the cabinet (1) can have any perimeter.

In the front part of the cabinet (1) there is an opening (2) which preferably extends for a length equal to approximately half the length of the cabinet. The opening (2) is delimited by the front edge of a side wall (22) of the cabinet and an upright strip (21) which extends into the front median part of the cabinet. The upright rail (21) may not even be there. A gauge block (20) is arranged in contact with the front and bottom of the edge of the side wall (22).

A door (23) is hinged along a vertical axis, in correspondence with the median upright strip (21). In this way the door (23) can close and open the opening (2).

A column (C) is mounted inside the cabinet (1) which extends from the bottom wall to the top wall of the cabinet, behind the upright strip (21). Clearly the column (C) could be fixed only to the lower wall or to the upper wall or even to the side wall of the cabinet. An "L" shaped bracket (3) is rotatably supported by the column (C).

With reference also to Figs. 2 - 4, the bracket (3) comprises a sleeve (30) mounted rotatably around the column (C), a short arm (31) and a long arm (32). The sleeve (30) is attached to one end of the short arm (31). The arms (31, 32) are tubular profiles with a rectangular section. The length of the short arm (31) is selected in such a way as to allow a 90 ° rotation of the bracket (3) avoiding that the long arm (32) interferes with the upright rail (21).

An arched rail (4) is attached to the long arm (32) of the bracket. The guide (4) consists of a tubular profile with a substantially elliptical section, in which the major axis of the ellipse is vertical. In this way an upper guide rail (40) and a lower guide rail (40) are defined. One end (41) of the guide is attached to one side of the long arm (32) in a median position, so that the guide protrudes laterally from the long arm, opposite the direction of the end of the short arm (31 ) in which the sleeve (30) is fixed. The guide (4) has a substantially parabola or hyperbola shape and lies on a horizontal plane together with the bracket (3).

A carriage (5) is mounted sliding on the guide (4). With reference to Fig. 5, the carriage (5) comprises a body (50) having a substantially inverted "U" shape. Two rollers (51) are hinged in the body (5), with a horizontal pivot axis. The two rollers (51) are spaced apart so that they can slide respectively on the upper and lower rails (40) of the guide (4). On one side of the body (50) there is fixed a sleeve (52) having a hole (53) with a vertical axis.

Returning to Fig. 4, a crank (6) is hinged to the long arm (32). For this purpose, an inverted U-shaped flange (33) is fixed on one side of the long arm (32), on the opposite side with respect to the guide (4), at the end of the long arm opposite to the one in which the short arm is fixed (31). One end of the crank (6) is hinged to the flange (33) with a vertical pivot axis (65). The other end of the crank (6) carries a sleeve (60) provided with a hole (61) with a vertical axis.

A locking / unlocking device (7) is mounted at the end of the long arm (32) opposite the short arm. The locking / unlocking device (7) includes a tooth (70) which protrudes externally from the end of the long arm (32). The tooth (70) is connected to a slide (71) slidably mounted on the upper surface of the long arm (32). The slide (71) is provided with a latch or latch (72) in the shape of a â € œLâ €. The slide (71) also has a pawl (73) which can slide between two abutment surfaces (34, 35) integral with the long arm (32) which act as a limit switch.

The tooth (70) can move from an extended position outside the long arm to a retracted position within the long arm, by moving the slide (71) and its latch (72). A spring, not shown, urges the tooth (70) into its extracted position illustrated in Fig. 4.

The piece of furniture according to the invention comprises a removable shelf (8).

With reference to Figs. 2 and 6, the shelf (8) has an irregular shape. With reference to Fig. 1A, when the shelf is inside the cabinet (1) it has a linear front edge (80) connected to an arched side edge (81) which continues with a rear edge in which a handle is made (82). The posterior edge continues with an arched lateral edge (83) which is joined to the anterior edge (80) by means of a loop (84). The rear loop (82) serves to overcome the corner (20) of the piece of furniture; while the front loop (84) of the shelf serves to overcome the upright strip (21).

A first pin (85) is mounted on the lower surface of the shelf (8), with a vertical axis projecting downwards. The first pin (85) is placed in a median position of the shelf. The first pin (85) engages rotatably within the hole (61) of the crank sleeve (6). In this way, the crank (6) can pass from a closed position in which it is substantially parallel to the long arm (32) to an open position in which it is substantially orthogonal to the long arm (32).

A second pin (86) is also mounted on the lower surface of the shelf (8), with a vertical axis projecting downwards. The second pin (86) is located near the rear surface (83) of the shelf. The second pin (86) engages rotatably within the hole (53) of the carriage sleeve (5).

A locking block (87) is mounted on the lower surface of the shelf (8) which protrudes downwards. The locking block (87) is arranged in a median position of the shelf (8) near the rear handle (82). The locking block (87) is able to cooperate with the locking / unlocking device (7). That is, the bolt (72) of the locking / unlocking device (7) engages within a seat (88) of the locking block (87), as shown in Fig. 1A.

The operation of the pull-out shelf movement mechanism (8) is described below.

With reference to Fig. 1A, the removable shelf (8) is located inside the cabinet (1). In this situation, the shelf (8) is constrained to the long arm (32) of the bracket, since the bolt (72) of the locking / unlocking device is engaged within the locking block (87).

The user grasps the front part (80) of the pull-out shelf with his hand and pulls in the direction of the arrow (F1). As a result, the bracket (3) rotates around the column (C) and at the same time the shelf (8) rotates around the pins (85, 86) mounted respectively in the sleeves of the crank (6) and of the trolley (5). At the same time the carriage (5) performs a short translation on the guide (4).

Then the shelf (8) performs a movement of revolution around the axis of the column (C) and a movement of rotation around the axis of the pins (85, 86), making a roto-translational movement that makes it partially exit from the opening (2) of the cabinet as shown in Fig. 1B. However, in this situation, a portion of the shelf (8) still remains inside the cabinet, not accessible to the user.

When the shelf (8) is in the position of Fig. 1B, the tooth (70) of the locking / unlocking device is in contact with the gauge block (20) arranged near the front edge of the side wall (22) of the mobile. As a result, the tooth (70) retracts within the long arm (32) and moves the slide (71). Consequently, the bolt (72) of the locking / unlocking device disengages from the seat (88) of the locking block and releases the shelf (8) from the long arm (32).

Therefore the user pulls the side edge (51) of the shelf in the direction of the arrow (F2). As a result, the carriage (5) which supports the second pin (86) slides in the arched guide (4) and at the same time the crank (6) rotates around its pivot axis (65) so that the first pin (85) is move away from the long arm (32). In this way the shelf (8) performs a roto-translational movement which brings it to the position illustrated in Fig. 1C. It should be noted that during this movement, the crank (6) performs a rotation of approximately In this position the shelf (8) is completely extracted from the cabinet and therefore perfectly accessible to the user.

To bring the shelf (8) back into the cabinet, the user pushes the edge of the shelf in the direction of the arrow (F3) and then the shelf (8) performs a roto-translational movement back to the position of Fig. 1B. By continuing to push the shelf towards the cabinet, the shelf (8) rotates around the pins (85, 86) and the bracket (3) rotates around the column (C). As soon as the tooth (70) of the locking / unlocking device detaches from the gauge block (20), it returns to the extracted position and the bolt (72) engages the seat of the locking block (87) again.

With reference to Figs. 7 - 10, a second embodiment of a mechanism for moving a removable shelf according to the invention is illustrated, in which elements equal to or corresponding to those already described are indicated with the same reference numbers and the their detailed description.

In this embodiment a guide (104) is attached to the lower surface of the carriage. The guide (104) has an "L" plate shape with an obtuse angle between the two portions of the "L". With reference to Fig. 9, the guide (104) has two lateral tracks (140). With reference to Fig. 7, the guide (104) has a first end (141) arranged on the rear edge (83) of the shelf and a second end (142) close to the pin (85) engaged in the sleeve of the crank (6).

A guide carriage (105) is mounted on the long arm (32) of the bracket, in an intermediate position, on the upper surface of the long arm. With reference to Fig. 10, the carriage (105) comprises a plate (150) on which two rollers or wheels (151) with vertical axes are mounted. The rollers (151) are spaced apart so that they can roll on the guide rails (140) of the guide (104).

A pin (152) protrudes from the bottom of the plate (150) in an intermediate position with respect to the axes of the rollers (151). The pin (152) is pivoted with a vertical axis on the long arm (32) of the bracket.

It must be considered that both embodiments use the same movement system, i.e. first guide means (4; 105) integral with the long arm (32) of the bracket which cooperate with second guide means (5; 104) integral with the carriage .

Numerous variations and modifications of detail can be made to the present embodiments of the invention, within the reach of a person skilled in the art, however falling within the scope of the invention expressed by the appended claims.

Claims (8)

CLAIMS 1) Cabinet (1) comprising an opening (2) and a shelf (8) which can be extracted from said opening to pass from a retracted position within the cabinet to a position extracted outside the cabinet, characterized by the fact that it also includes: - a column (C) arranged inside the cabinet in a median front position of the cabinet, - an "L" -shaped bracket (3) which provides a short arm (31) rotatably mounted around said column (C) and a long arm (32), - a crank (6) comprising a first end (65) hinged to the long arm (32) of the bracket and a second end (60) hinged to the pull-out shelf (8), - first guide means (4; 105) integral with the long arm (32) of the bracket, e - second guide means (5; 104) integral with the lower surface of the extractable shelf (8), cooperating with said first guide means (4; 105) integral with the long arm of the bracket. 2) Furniture (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the first end (65) of the crank (6) is hinged at one end of the long arm distal to the short arm (31), so that the crank (6) can move from a closed position in which it is substantially parallel to the long arm (32) to an open position in which it is substantially orthogonal to the long arm (32). 3) Furniture (1) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that it comprises a locking / unlocking device (7) arranged on said long arm (32) of the bracket cooperating with a locking block (87) fixed on the lower surface of the pull-out shelf (8). 4) Furniture (1) according to claim 3, characterized in that said locking / unlocking device (7) comprises a tooth (70) which protrudes from the end of said long arm (32) of the bracket, said tooth (70 ) being connected to a slide (71) provided with a latch (72) which engages in a seat (88) of said locking block (87) fixed to the lower surface of the extractable shelf (8); a gage block (20) being arranged near the front edge of a wall (22) of the furniture which defines the opening (2) of the furniture, so that said tooth (70) can come into contact with said gage block (20) to operate the slide (71). 5) Furniture (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said first guide means (4) comprise a guide (4) which protrudes laterally from a median portion of one side of the long arm (32) of the bracket; and said second guide means (5) comprise a carriage (5) which slides on said arched guide (4), said carriage (5) being hinged to a vertical pin (86) which protrudes below from the extractable shelf (8). 6) Furniture (1) according to claim 5, characterized in that said arched guide (5) is a tubular section with a substantially elliptical section that forms an upper guide rail (40) and a lower guide rail (40) ; and said carriage (5) comprises two rollers (51) with horizontal axes, which roll on said guide rails (40) of the arched guide (4). 7) Furniture (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that said first guide means (105) comprise a guide carriage (105) hinged in a median portion of the long arm (32) of the bracket; and said second guide means (104) comprise an L-shaped guide (104) with an obtuse angle fixed to the lower surface of the extractable shelf (8), said guide (104) being able to slide in a guided manner within said guide (105). 8) Furniture (1) according to claim 7, characterized in that said guide (104) is a plate-shaped section having two lateral guide rails (140); and said carriage (105) comprises two rollers (151) with vertical axes, which roll on said guide rails (140) of the guide (104).