NL2012268C2

NL2012268C2 - Kitchen island.

Info

Publication number: NL2012268C2
Application number: NL2012268A
Authority: NL
Inventors: Jerry Marten Greef
Original assignee: Spavaldo B V
Priority date: 2014-02-14
Filing date: 2014-02-14
Publication date: 2015-08-17
Also published as: EP2907411A1

Abstract

Kitchen island (1) comprising a working surface (3), a cupboard (7) and a guide system (21, 22) allowing horizontal movement of the cupboard over at least a part of the working surface, e.g., in a direction (A) parallel to a front side (5) of the kitchen island.

Description

KITCHEN ISLAND

The present invention relates to a kitchen island. Kitchen islands are increasingly popular in modern livings. Such kitchen islands stand in the kitchen room at a distance from the walls and usually do not provide the possibility of using upper cabinets. Therefore, storage space is limited with such kitchen islands.

The object of the invention is to provide a kitchen island making efficient use of space for storage without compromising the open nature of the kitchen island.

The object of the invention is achieved with a kitchen island comprising a working surface, a cupboard above the working surface and a guide allowing horizontal movement of the cupboard over at least a part of the working surface, e.g., in a horizontal direction parallel to a front side of the kitchen island.

This way a kitchen island is obtained with substantially more storage space without visually dividing the open kitchen space .

The working surface may typically comprise a cooking range and/or one or more sinks. Below the working surface the kitchen island may be provided with kitchen cabinets and/or kitchen appliances such a refrigerator, a dishwasher, an oven and/or a microwave.

Optionally, the cupboard may be provided with a sidewall extending along a part of one of the sides of the kitchen island. For instance, the cupboard may have two parallel sidewalls extending along opposite sides of the kitchen island, such as a front side and a back side of the kitchen island. Between the sidewalls, the cupboard may for example comprise shelves, cabinets or trays for storage.

Optionally, the sidewalls of the cupboard may comprise wheels or rollers resting on the floor. Alternatively, the cupboard may be carried by the kitchen island and float relative to the floor.

The guide may for example comprise guiding wheels received in corresponding guiding profiles. The guiding wheels may for example be attached to brackets, e.g., attached to an inner side of the sidewalls of the cupboard at a level below the working surface. In this respect, the inner side of the side wall is the side directed to the working surface. The profiles can be hidden from view by vertically extending cover boards. In that case, the brackets can be designed to grip around the lower side of the respective cover board to allow engagement of the guiding wheel with the corresponding guiding profile. Additionally, the brackets can be provided with one or more horizontal guiding wheels on a bottom section of the bracket engaging an inner wall of the cover board. The guiding wheels of the bracket guide horizontal movement of the cupboard in one direction, while preventing movement in any other horizontal direction.

In a specific exemplary embodiment a frame, for instance serving as a light fixture, may be provided for attachment to the ceiling directly above the kitchen island at a distance above the working surface, having a width corresponding to the width of the working surface. The opposite sidewalls of the cupboard may extend to a level above the lower side of the frame to visually enclose the frame sides.

Optionally, the cupboard may be provided with a display in a front side of one of its side walls, such as the display of a tablet computer, a flat screen television or a screen, such as a touch screen, providing a user interface for one or more of the kitchen appliances in the kitchen island.

The invention will be further explained with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Figure 1: shows an exemplary embodiment of a kitchen island according to the present invention;

Figure 2: shows in cross section an upper part of a guiding system of the kitchen island of Figure 1;

Figure 3: shows a lower part of the guiding system of the kitchen island of Figure 1.

Figure 1 shows a kitchen island 1 with a counter 2 providing a working surface 3. A cooking range or stove 4 is integrated in the working surface 3. Below the counter 2 the kitchen island 1 comprises a front side 5 presenting a series of kitchen cabinets 6 for storage of utensils, or for housing kitchen appliances like a dish washer, a refrigerator, an oven or a microwave or the like.

The kitchen island 1 is further provided with a moveable cupboard 7 above the working surface 3. The cupboard 7 can be moved horizontally over the working surface 3 in the direction of arrows A in Figure 1, parallel to the front face 5 of the kitchen island 5. The cupboard 7 has a first side-wall 8, partly overlapping the front side 5 of the kitchen island 1, and a second sidewall 11, which is opposite to the first sidewall 8 and which faces a back side of the kitchen island 1. The two sidewalls 8, 11 extend downwardly to a short distance above the floor and rest on wheels 13, shown in detail in Figure 3.

The cupboard 7 comprises shelves 14 extending between the two sidewalls 8, 11. In alternative embodiments, the cupboard 7 may comprise, e.g., cabinets instead of, or in combination with shelves 14. The level of the lowest shelf 14 is sufficiently high to allow passage of the cupboard 7 over objects like pans or bottles standing on the working surface 3 or over a faucet of the kitchen island 1 (not shown). A rectangular frame 16 with light fixtures 17 hangs down from cables 18 extending from the ceiling directly above the kitchen island 1. The width of the frame 14 corresponds to the width of the kitchen island 1. The two sidewalls 8, 11 extend to a level above the lower side 19 of the light fixture frame 16 and visually enclose the respective sides of the frame 16.

Movement of the cupboard 7 is guided by means of a guide 21, 22 shown in detail in Figures 2 and 3. The sidewall 8 has an inner side 23 facing the front side 5 of the kitchen island 1. A horizontal upper bracket 25 is attached to the inner side 23 of the sidewall 8 of the cupboard 7 at a level just below the working surface 3 {see Figure 2). Similarly, a lower bracket 26 is attached to the inner side 23 of the lower edge of the sidewall 8 of the cupboard 7. The two brackets 25, 26 have a J-shaped cross section comprising a longer vertical leg 27, 28, a shorter vertical leg 29, 30 and a bottom 31, 32 connecting the two vertical legs of the respective bracket 25, 26. The longer vertical legs 27, 28 are attached to the sidewall 8 of the cupboard having the bottom 31, 32 of the bracket 25, 26 pointing in the direction of the opposite sidewall 11 of the cupboard 7.

The bottom 31 of the upper bracket 25 is smaller than the bottom 32 of the lower bracket 22. The longer vertical legs 27, 28 of the brackets 25, 26 are connected to the inner side 23 of the sidewall 8. The upper bracket 25 is positioned at a level just below the level of the working surface 3 and is hidden from view. The lower bracket 26 is positioned at the lower side of the sidewall 8.

As shown in Figure 2, a cover board 33 extends downward from the outer edge of the working surface 3. At a distance behind the cover board 33 is a vertical sidewall 34 of the counter 2. The bracket 25 grips around the lower edge of the cover board 33, with the shorter vertical leg 29 of the bracket 21 extending into a space 36 between the cover board 33 and the sidewall 34 of the counter 2. The shorter vertical leg 29 is provided with a guiding wheel 37 which is received in a horizontally extending guiding profile 38 attached to the sidewall 34 of the counter 2 to form a guide for the horizontal movement of the cupboard 7.

As shown in Figure 3, the kitchen cabinets 6 have a bottom 41 resting on a support beam 42 and a door 43 aligned with the cover board 33 extending from the edge of the working surface 3. A lower cover board 44 extends downward from the front edge of the cabinet's bottom 41. The door 43 has a lower end at the same level as the lower end of the lower cover board 44.

The lower bracket 26 grips around the lower ends of the door 43 and the lower cover board 44. The shorter vertical leg 30 of the lower bracket 26 is provided with a guiding wheel 46 received in a horizontally extending guiding profile 47 connected to the support beam 42.

The shorter vertical leg 30 of the bracket 26 is at a distance from a back side 48 of the lower cover board 44. A rotatable horizontal guiding wheel 49 is attached to the upper side of the bottom 32 of the bracket 26 and engages the back side 48 of the lower cover board 44 to provide further guidance of the horizontal movement by the cupboard 8.

The rear sidewall 11 is provided with a similar guide.

At the front side of the kitchen island the side wall 8 of the cupboard is provided with an integrated tablet computer 50. The tablet can for example be loaded with one or more apps communicating with sensors in one or more kitchen appliances in the kitchen island, such as temperature sensors in an oven or integrated monitoring cameras.

Claims

A kitchen island according to claim 1, wherein the guide is adapted to guide the cupboard in a direction parallel to a front side of the kitchen island.

Cooking island according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the cupboard comprises a side wall that overlaps at least one side, for example the front side, of the cooking island.

Cooking island according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the cupboard comprises two opposite side walls which partially overlap opposite sides of the cooking island.

Cooking island according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the side walls of the cupboard are provided with wheels or rollers on their undersides.

Cooking island according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the guide comprises guide wheels which are included in corresponding guide profiles.

A cooking island according to claim 6, wherein the guide wheels are attached to brackets mounted on an inner side of the side walls of the cabinet at a height below the working surface.

Cooking island as claimed in claim 7, wherein the guide profiles are hidden from view by cover plates with a bottom edge, wherein the brackets grip around the bottom edge of the cover plate which covers the associated guide profile.

9. Cooking island according to claim 8, wherein the brackets have a bottom side with an upper surface on which a horizontal guide wheel is arranged for co-action with an inside of the relevant cover plate.

Cooking island according to one of the preceding claims, comprising a rectangular light fitting at a distance above the work surface with a width corresponding to the width of the work surface.

A cooking island according to claim 10, wherein the cabinet comprises side walls which extend upwards to a height above the underside of the light fitting.

Cooking island according to one of the preceding claims, in which the cupboard (7) is provided with a front display of one of the side walls (8, 11).

A cooking island according to claim 12, wherein the display is the screen of a tablet computer, a flat screen television or a screen, such as a touch screen, for providing a user interface for one or more kitchen appliances.