ITPI20080137A1 - INTERCONNECTION SIDE OF MODULAR METAL FURNITURE AND RELATIVE MODULAR FURNITURE. - Google Patents

Description

Description attached to the patent application for industrial invention entitled: INTERCONNECTION SIDE OF METALLIC MODULAR FURNITURE AND RELATED MODULAR FURNITURE.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention refers to a part of metal or partially metal furniture.

In particular, the invention refers to a side for the interconnection of metallic or partially metallic office furniture modules.

The invention also refers to metal or partially metal furniture, in particular office furniture, including said side.

STATE OF THE ART

Modular metal structure furniture is widely used in office furniture for numerous reasons, not least the resistance of these structures with equal weight compared to wooden structures, and the ability to remain unaltered and undeformed over time.

In particular, the furniture for filing, including cabinets, bookcases, filing cabinets, and the like, being designed to have to withstand rather high loads, are mainly made, at least as regards their supporting structure, of metallic material.

In order to contain the costs of large-scale production, as well as for commercial needs, the lines of storage furniture are almost always conceived according to a modular system, and in fact defined storage systems, including a limited number of different structural elements that combined together they make it possible to obtain a certain range of module structures (eg 2 different depths, 2 or 3 heights, 2 or 3 widths). This limited range of module structures allows to obtain a rather high number of diversified modules through the composition with external complementary elements (doors, normal or filing drawers, shutters, rear panels) or internal (shelves, file holder frames, guides).

The individual modules are then placed side by side, linearly, at an angle, or to form specific compositions, to obtain complex filing systems, suitable not only for carrying out the task of containing, but also with less and less function. subordinate to furnish the space.

It is in particular with a view to carrying out this last function that the existing solutions have considerable limits. First of all, it is easy to understand how aesthetically unpleasant the presence of the inevitable interruption lines or spaces between one module and the adjacent one, lines or spaces that often become real steps between one module and another due to a approximate alignment in depth and a non-homogeneous leveling with respect to the floor of the various modules that originates the aforementioned steps in the upper floor of the cabinet. Furthermore, the independence of the structures of the single modules placed side by side, one from the other, entails an overall stability of the cabinet lower than that of a single structure cabinet. Another intrinsic limitation of modular systems is the inevitable presence of superfluous walls. In fact, although modularity brings innumerable advantages, when a modular filing system is composed, a lateral side of a module is facing each other with the opposite side of the other and, as it results easy to understand, the two contact sides are from that moment superfluous as a single partition wall could perform the task of the two sides allowing at the same time a saving in terms of useful space, material and therefore of the overall costs of the filing system.

With a view to optimizing the useful space, but also and above all to improve the aesthetics of modular systems, in particular the linearity and continuity of the design at the front and in the upper part, they have been studied, and are known to the technicians of the sector, solutions of modules for filing systems with a metal structure having walls of small thickness, at least as regards the portions in view with the cabinet mounted of said walls, in which by small thickness is meant a thickness of about 5mm.

However, these solutions only partially solve the problem of saving space and making the furniture in question more aesthetically pleasing, but they do not make any contribution to overcoming the further limits outlined above and tend, on the contrary, to cause an increase in the weight of the structure as the thin edges, and often the entire wall, are made using solid sheet metal with a thickness of about 5mm or even more.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The purpose of the present invention is to propose an interconnection side of modular furniture modules, in particular office filing systems, made at least partially in sheet metal, which allows to eliminate the unevenness that is normally generated in the upper floor and in the front surface. when two modules are placed side by side to form a single piece of furniture.

A further object of the present invention is to propose a side for modular furniture made at least partially of sheet metal capable of increasing the general stability of said furniture.

Another object of the present invention is to propose a structural element, in particular a side, for modular furniture made at least partially in sheet metal capable of reducing the total number of structural elements necessary to compose said furniture, thus allowing savings in terms weight and total cost. Another object of the present invention is to propose a side for modular furniture made at least partially in sheet metal which can be produced by means of an extremely simple production cycle and therefore capable of optimizing production costs.

Another object of the present invention is to propose a side for modular furniture made at least partially in sheet metal able to allow access to said furniture both front and rear without modifying the production cycle of the side itself and therefore maintaining its versatility without affecting costs. productive.

The aforementioned purposes are achieved by means of a side for modular furniture made at least partially in sheet metal comprising a hollow-core wall, provided on both sides with holes and / or grooves and / or hooks and / or guides suitable for connecting and / or supporting elements of modules such as bases, internal and upper shelves, drawers, doors, or other elements.

Advantageously, the side is made up of two coupled half-walls, each of said half-walls being obtained from a single sheet of metal, with a thickness between 0.5 and 1mm, suitably folded so as to obtain a substantially flat external surface and a thickness in proximity of the sides of said sheet of metal approximately equal to half the thickness of the side.

Advantageously, the side is also provided, at least in the visible front thickness when the cabinet is assembled, with a thin edge, with a hollow-walled wall, having an overall thickness not exceeding 7mm.

Advantageously, the two half-walls are substantially identical and coupled so as to face each other specularly.

Still advantageously in the thickness of the side, support feet of said furniture can be anchored.

The side is advantageously symmetrical with respect to a transversal center plane and with respect to a center plane (16) in the thickness direction.

A modular metal, or partially metal, piece of furniture comprises at least two modules (30, 40, 50) having in common and connected by means of a side with the characteristics described above.

The advantages associated with the use, in modular furniture, in particular office furniture such as filing systems, of a side according to the invention are evident in relation to the possibility of creating modular furniture with particularly linear, clean and well-finished shapes, while maintaining all the advantages of modularity. Further notable advantages derive from the great stability acquired by the furniture structure and from the reduced production and marketing costs.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other advantages associated with the side for modular furniture made at least partially in sheet metal, in particular office furniture, according to the invention, will however be easier to understand by illustrating preferred, non-limiting embodiments, as follows described with the help of the attached drawing tables, in which:

- figure 1 represents a perspective view of a side for furniture according to the invention;

figure 2 represents a front view of the side of fig.1;

- figure 3 represents a side view of the side of fig.1;

- figure 4 represents a side view of the side of fig.1, from the opposite side with respect to the view of fig.3;

Figure 5 is a partial section view from below of the side of Figure 1;

figure 6 represents a front view of a component of the side of fig.1;

figure 7 represents a lateral view, from the internal side, of the component of fig.6;

figure 8 represents a bottom view of the component of fig.6; - figure 9 represents the detail â € œAâ € of fig.7;

- figure 10 represents the detail â € œBâ € of fig.8;

- figure 11 represents the detail â € œCâ € of fig.8;

- figure 12 represents a plan development of the component of fig.6;

Figure 13 represents a front view of the component of Figure 6 in the phase of specular coupling with a substantially identical component;

- figure 14 represents a top view of the two components of fig.12 in the same configuration;

Figure 15 represents a perspective view of the two components of Figure 12 in the same configuration;

- figure 16 represents the detail â € œDâ € of fig. 5;

- figure 17 represents an interconnection side according to the invention installed between two modules of a modular piece of furniture;

- Figures 18 to 20 schematically represent, in top view, modular furniture solutions using the side according to the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED MANUFACTURING FORMS

With reference to fig. 1, the number 10 indicates a side for modular office furniture, of the type, particularly widespread on the market, in which the load-bearing structural elements are made of sheet metal.

The side is made up of a hollow-core sheet metal wall with a maximum thickness of about 40mm and shaped in such a way that the front and rear is provided, along its entire length, with a thin edge, 11, also with a hollow-walled wall, with an overall thickness of about 5mm and a depth substantially equal to the thickness of the furniture doors in which the side is mounted.

The side 10 is inferiorly provided, in thickness, with an opening, 12, useful for the insertion of two feet, 13, whose protrusion from the lower edge of the side itself is adjustable according to prior art methods. With reference to figures 2 to 5, and in particular visible in figures 3 and 4, the two lateral surfaces of the side are provided with exactly specular holes on the two sides, suitable for the insertion of screw means or pins for the ™ anchoring of the various components of the two adjacent modular elements to which the side belongs.

For example, the holes 14a are suitable for inserting screws or pins to support internal shelves, or for fixing drawer sliding guides; the holes 14b are used for fixing the lower base of the modules; the holes 14c are used for fixing hinges for connecting doors; the holes 14d are useful for anchoring rear panels. Still other holes are obviously provided on the two sides of the side since, as usually happens in the design of modular furniture, each component is provided with a drilling that is as universal and standardized as possible so that a large number can be connected to it. of different components in different positions, thus obtaining the maximum number of possible combinations from a reduced number of different components.

Certainly, the number, position and dimensions of the holes depend on choices made in the design phase of the entire modular system, however, what is particularly advantageous and innovative is the symmetry of both the drilling and the overall shape of the side. , both with respect to a vertical axis, 15, of transverse centerline, and with respect to a vertical axis, 16, of centerline in the direction of the thickness of the side 10 itself.

In particular, thanks to the symmetry with respect to axis 15, the side allows the creation of modular elements that can be accessed indifferently from the front and from the rear, for example by connecting doors both front and rear, instead of simple closing panels.

The symmetry with respect to axis 16, together with the fact that the side is made up of a honeycomb wall, allow the connection of the various components of modular furniture both on the right side and on the left side of the side itself, thus obtaining that the side 10 becomes a connection component of two adjacent modules.

With reference to figures 6 to 16, it is possible to observe how the side 10 is constituted by the specular coupling of two substantially identical half-walls, 20a and 20b.

Figure 12 shows a flat development of the half-wall 20a obtained from a single sheet of metal sheet with a thickness of between 0.5mm and 1mm, previously drilled and cut and then bent so as to obtain an external surface, 24, substantially flat, a thickness in correspondence of the four sides equal to approximately half of the overall thickness of the side 10, as well as further accessory profiles on the internal area, 25, near the four sides, as shown in figures 6 to 8 and in the relative details of figs. 9-11.

In particular, in figure 12 slots 21 and 22 are visible, which after the folding operation overlap, as shown in the detail of fig.9.

At the opposite transversal end, in correspondence with said slots, there are shaped protuberances, 23, which, as evident from fig. 6, fig. 8, and from the relative detail of fig. 11, after the bending operations are protruding with respect to the overall thickness of the half wall 20.

Figures 13-15 show two substantially identical half-walls, 20a and 20b, facing each other, in an exploded configuration of the side 10. As it is possible to note in particular in fig. 15 the protuberances 23a of the half-wall 20a face the slots 21b, 22b of the half-wall 20b, while the protrusions 23b face the slots 21a and 22a. In this way, when the two half-walls are put together, the protuberances fit into the slots of the opposite half-wall (detail in fig. 16), mutually hooking the two half-walls.

From figures 14 and 16 it is also appreciated the particular constructive simplicity of the structure in which the thin edge 11 is obtained by folding at the transversal extremity near which the slots are made, which therefore on the front side is obtained in the half-wall 20b, while on the rear is obtained in the half wall 20a. Obviously it is superfluous to reiterate that the differentiation between front and rear is only useful for descriptive purposes and is related to the mode of representation, since as already pointed out the side 10 is perfectly symmetrical with respect to the axis 15 of the transverse centerline.

Instead, the two half-walls 20a and 20b differ only in the fact that, while the protuberances 23a of the half-wall 20a have the shape of a hook with an opening facing upwards, the protuberances 23b of the half-wall 23b have the same shape but opening towards the low. This makes a bayonet coupling possible so that, once the two half-walls are put together, it is sufficient to slide them vertically with respect to each other by a small entity to obtain mutual coupling. To make the structure of the side 10 more solid and stable, the two half-walls 20a and 20b can then be made integral by, for example, welding points, since after the first assembly, it will no longer be necessary to separate the two components.

Certainly the difference in the shape of the protuberances 23a and 23b is useful for mutually connecting and referring the two half-walls in an extremely simple and effective way, however, in the design phase, the means suitable for reciprocally referring the two half-walls could also be very different and have, for example, exactly the same shape.

In this hypothesis the two half-walls would be exactly identical and the processing and production cycle of the side, already extremely simple, would be further simplified.

Figure 17 shows a side 10 according to the invention mounted between two modules, 30a and 30b, of furniture, shown in the figure in transparency with a dashed line.

Given the universality of the holes and of the means for mutual attachment of the individual elements in modular furniture systems, the side 10 can be easily installed in place of the normal side sides of said modules. For example, in the modular system of Fig. 17 the side 10 replaces the right side side of the module 30a and the left side of the module 30b. Thanks to the presence of the side 10, the two modules 30a and 30b become part of a single structure which therefore acquires much greater structural solidity and stability. Furthermore, the structural connection between the two modules obtained thanks to the presence of the side 10 allows to solve further important disadvantages intrinsically connected to the use of modular systems.

Firstly, the possibility that the two modules may have imperfections of mutual alignment is completely eliminated. Furthermore, when the piece of furniture is completely assembled, of the side 10 only the thin edge 11, a few millimeters thick, remains visible between the doors 31 of the two adjacent modules, thus guaranteeing a particularly clean line to the piece of furniture, in particular of the anterior surface.

Leveling with respect to the floor is particularly easy and accurate thanks to the presence of the feet 13, adjustable in height and integrated into the thickness of the side 10. These, in fact, being common to both module 30a and module 30b, guarantee perfect alignment in height of the two. modules, thus also allowing the perfect coplanarity of the upper shelves, 32a and 32b.

As is evident, moreover, the presence of the side 10 allows a saving in terms of the total number of components used to make an entire piece of furniture, since, simply, one side 10 replaces two traditional side sides, while two feet 13 integrated into the side they replace four feet anchored, according to the known art, in the base or in the lateral sides of the modules.

A modular furniture system that provides for the presence of a side according to the invention, combines the advantages of structural stability and clean lines typical of single-structure furniture with the versatility of modular systems. In fact, a piece of furniture made up of a series of side-by-side pieces of furniture connected to each other by means of a side according to the invention can be modified by adding or subtracting from it one or more modular elements by simply replacing side sides of the known technique with sides according to the invention. the invention and vice versa.

Finally, thanks to the specularity of the side 10 not only with respect to a center plane in the thickness direction, but also with respect to a transverse center plane, it is possible to make furniture without substantial distinction between the front side and the rear side, to be used therefore also as real dividing walls.

For example, figs 18-20 schematically show three possible compositions of furniture in which sides 10 according to the invention are used. The cabinet of fig.18 comprises three modules 30 which are the same, at least in plan dimensions, connected to each other by two sides 10. The cabinet can be left open or provided with doors on both sides and therefore be used as a partition wall. The piece of furniture of fig.19 comprises three modules 30 and a corner module 40, connected to each other by three sides 10. As can be easily understood, the composition is particularly suitable for use as a corner solution. The piece of furniture of fig.20 comprises three modules 30 connected to a hexagonal module, 50, by means of three sides 10. This type of composition could be used, for example, to divide a work environment into three areas. Again, the modules 30 could be made accessible from both sides.

Obviously, those of figs. 18-20 are only some examples of the furniture compositions that can advantageously exploit the versatility of a side according to the invention.

Furthermore, with respect to the one described above, modifications can certainly be made to the side according to the invention itself, and variations can be envisaged, without compromising the advantages connected with the invention.

First of all, the specularity of the side could be envisaged only with respect to the centerline plane in the direction of the thickness, while the versatility of the symmetry with respect to the transverse centerline could be renounced in favor of solutions aimed at specific uses.

Certainly, modifications in the shape, dimensions and connection means 14 suitable for allowing the connection and / or support of the various components of modular elements can be provided to adapt the side to the realization of specific modular elements such as filing cabinets, filing cabinets, or still others.

Furthermore, in particularly simple versions, feet may not be integrated directly into the side.

The honeycomb wall that constitutes the side could not be obtained from two separate sheet metal sheets but, for example, from a single sheet subjected to processes of cutting, drilling, bending and possibly welding.

Finally, further accessory elements of various types such as brackets, plates or other reinforcing elements could be connected to the side; a T-shaped profile can be housed at the top to allow quick and precise positioning of the upper panels, while further accessory elements can be housed in the lower opening to constrain and support the feet 13 and the module bases.

These and other variants and modifications of a practical-applicative nature can be made to the side for modular furniture according to the invention while always without prejudice to the advantages outlined above, and always remaining within the scope of protection provided for by the claims that they follow.

In fact, the above description of specific embodiments is useful to illustrate the basic concept of the invention, in such a way that experts in the field can implement it by modifying and adapting the above embodiments to the various applications; such adaptations and modifications will therefore be considered as equivalent to the exemplified embodiments. It is understood that the expressions or numbering used have a purely descriptive purpose and to aid in the understanding of the inventive concept and therefore not limitative.

Claims (1)

CLAIMS 1- Side for modular furniture made at least partially in sheet metal characterized in that it comprises a hollow core wall (10), provided on both sides with connection means (14) suitable for allowing the connection and / or support of components of modular elements (30, 40, 50) such as bases, internal and upper shelves, drawers, doors, or other components. 2- Side panel for modular furniture according to claim 1 characterized in that it is substantially constituted by two coupled half-walls (20a, 20b), each of said half-walls being obtained from a single sheet of suitably folded metal sheet. 3- Side for modular furniture according to the preceding claim characterized in that said sheet metal is folded in such a way as to obtain a substantially flat external surface (24) and a thickness near the sides of said sheet metal equal to approximately half of the thickness of said side. 4- Side for modular furniture according to claim 2 or 3 characterized by the fact that said side (10) is provided with at least one thin edge (11), with a hollow-walled wall, having an overall thickness not exceeding 7mm. 5- Side for modular furniture according to claim 2 or subsequent, characterized in that said sheet of metal has a thickness of between 0.5mm and 1mm. 6- Side for modular furniture according to claim 2 or subsequent, characterized in that said two half-walls (20a, 20b) are substantially identical and coupled so as to be facing each other specularly. 7- Side for modular furniture according to one of the preceding claims, characterized by the fact that in the thickness of said side (10) feet (13) supporting said furniture can be anchored. 8- Side for modular furniture according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it is symmetrical with respect to a plane (15) of transversal center line of said side. 9- Side for modular furniture according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it is symmetrical with respect to a center plane (16) in the direction of the thickness of said side. 10- Modular metal, or partially metal, cabinet, characterized in that at least two modules (30, 40, 50) constituting said cabinet have in common and are connected by means of a side according to one of claims 1 to 9.