NZ207280A - Shelving assembled with pairs of dowels at joints - Google Patents

Description

207280 N.2. PATEHTO O.~rc£ | 2 1 MAY 1985 RECtHVED MEW ZEALAND PATENTS ACT 1953 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION AFTER PROVISIONAL NO: 207280 DATED: 24 February SHELVING K>/~ n-b-^r LAWRENCE ALAN MEAD and CATHARINA MARIA JOANNA STEVERLYNC <( £dc«v\A'v-% iu<J^ f Zealand Citizerflof 09 Qlanfeiaiu ROdil. Runuuiut AuuKlJtw-, N< &VA*«CIC js4, tpso»w. to xt6(ld.-io< hereby declare the invention for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement: 2072 This invention relates to shelving and to furniture systems, especially kit-set furniture.

Various types of kit-set furniture have been proposed, but these generally require assembly by the user into a fixed form utilising gluing, screwing, or the like, or otherwise required especially shaped components which interlock together. Both systems have their limitations.

It is an object of this invention to provide an improved shelving or furniture system, or one which will at least provide the public with a useful choice.

In one aspect, the invention provides a shelving or furniture system including generally rectangular planks or boards, each plank or board having pairs of locating means at or adjacent each corner, and a plurality of spacing members each spacing member having a complementary pair of location means at each end thereof enabling the complementary locating means to be engaged with either a pair of locating means at one corner of a plank or board, or two such locating means one from each of a pair of adjacent locating means on adjoining or abutting planks or boards.

Preferably, the locating means consists of pairs of apertures in the ends of the spacing members and in the corners of the planks, so that dowels or pins can be inserted in the apertures to connect the uprights to the planks. By this means, a spacing member can be connected directly to a single plank, or can be used to connect a pair of adjoining planks together. This enables shelving or other furniture to be readily assembled using modular components.

Other aspects of this invention which should be considered in all its novel aspects, will become apparent from the following description, which is given by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1: illustrates a partial exploded view of a simple shelving system.

Figure 2: is a front elevation of the shelving system of Figure 1. 207280 In the following description with reference to shelving, it will be appreciated that this is one of many examples of furniture which can be constructed utilising the invention.

A kit-set shelving system 10, can be constructed from a series of generally rectangular planks or boards 11, and 12, which are conveniently of a standard size. More particularly, it will be generally convenient to provide these planks of a standard width or depth, and provide them of standard but differing lengths.

As shown in Figure 2, the planks, are spaced apart by spacing members 13. In this arrangement, the planks 11 and 12 are horizontal, and the spacing members 13 are vertical. However, it will be appreciated that other orientations are possible. In addition, short spacing members 14 are generally provided as feet for legs on which the lower shelf 11 or 12 may be supported.

Pairs of locating means are provided at each corner of the planks, and complementary locating means are provided at the ends of the spacing members 13. It will be appreciated that such complementary locating means will be provided at each end of the main spacing members 13, although need only be provided at one end of the short spacing members or legs 14.

As shown, the locating means preferably consist of apertures 15 adjacent the corners of the planks, with corresponding blind apertures 18 in the uprights 13, and 14.

Dowels or pins 16 are provided, so that dowels inserted in the apertures 15 will connect a plank to the appropriate uprights 13 and 14. As it is generally convenient to provide the pairs of apertures through the planks, it is preferred that legs 14 and top caps 20 are used to cover the ends of the dowels. These top caps or legs have holes drilled only in one end.

The removable dowels or pins allows the structure to be easily assembled from the bottom up by connecting plank 11 to legs 14, leaving dowels 16 and 17 projecting above plank 11 for reception of spacing members 13. Then more dowels, plank 21, and top caps 20.

By utilising removable dowels or pins, it will be appreciated that the dowels or pins can be placed in the arrangement 16 shown at the front left corner of Figure 1 so that an upright 13 is positioned with its width K-S" 207280 facing towards the front of Figure 2, and its length facing away from the front of Figure 2. This is best appreciated by looking at the component 13A shown in Figures 1 and 2, where the spacing member is turned through 90 degrees so that is length is facing the front of Figure 2, and thus its width is side-on to the viewer. The length, L, and the width, W, are shown with reference to the foot 14 in Figure 1.

By providing the spacing members 13 and 14 of the same cross-section, and having the apertures therein, 18, of the same spacing as the apertures 15 in the planks, it will be appreciated that the spacing members 13 can function in one of two ways. In the first arrangement shown to the left of Figure 1, the spacing members are connected at one end to one plank, and thus serve to space a lower plank 11 from an upper plank 21, as shown in Figure 2. In the second arrangement shown to the right of Figure 1, these spacing members serve to separate a lower plank from an upper plank, but more importantly serve to connect adjoining planks 11 and 12 together.

This is achieved by omitting the inner dowels, and placing dowels only in the front apertures of the adjoining planks 11 and 12, with the spacing between the planks 11 and 12 such that the dowels 17 will now correspond to the apertures 18 in the upright 13A.

Alternatively, the external dowels could be used and an extra leg placed immediately behind leg 14A, with an extra upright immediately behind upright 13A to make a stronger structure.

By this means, it is possible to provide a versatile system, in which the user can assemble the components in a variety of ways, and can readily disassemble them, either for storage, or for reassembly in other configurations.

It will be generally convenient to supply the components as kit-sets in four different packs, for a given shelf length: Pack A: Top caps : 4 at 35 mm high Spacers : 4 full length at 325 mm high "Half Spacers" : 8 part length at 153.5 mm high / • / . ■ ,;V 207280 Legs Shelves 4 at 75 ram high 4 at 300 mm deep and 18 mm thick Pack B Top caps Spacers Legs Shelves 4 at 35 mm high 8 full length at 325 mm high 4 at 75 mm high 3 at 300 mm deep and 18 mm thick Pack C: Top caps : Spacers : Legs : Shelves : 4 at 35 mm high 4 full length at 325 mm high 4 at 75 mm high 2 at 300 mm deep and 18 mm thick Pack D: Spacers 4 full length at 325 mm high These packs can be combined together to create different articles of furniture, or packs A to C can be used on their own. It is preferred that the shelves are supplied in two different lengths, preferably 530 mm and 810 mm so that two different versions of each pack can be provided.

It will be appreciated that the spacing between the centres of the apertures 15 or 18, will be the same, but that the dimensions of the planks 11 and 12, and the spacing members 13 and 14 can be varied depending upon the materials available, and the manufacturer's choice of an aesthetic design. This latter, is concerned with the relationship / 2 0 V li 0 6 between the length, width, and height of the uprights, the extent of the corner positioning, i.e., whether the uprights sit exactly flash with the corner, or whether they sit just back from the edges of the plank. In addition, the gap between the planks 11 and 12 will be chosen by the manufacturer to relate to the dimensions of the uprights, and the hole spacing.

If the shelving system is to be made from timber, then it will be generally convenient to base the system around the standard centre spacing of twin boring machines. Machines available in New Zealand have a centre spacing of 32 mm or multiples thereof, and thus the spacing between apertures 15, as well as the spacing between the centre of dowels 17, will conveniently be chosen as for example, 32 mm, to facilitate construction in timber. Thus the size of the uprights 13 will be chosen to contain a pair of apertures 18 spaced apart by 32 mm, and thus the relative positioning of the apertures 15 from the two corner edges will depend upon the desired gap between adjoining planks, and the precise positioning of the uprights in the two modes shown in Figure 1 .

The dowels or pins need not be cylindrical, as square or other polygonal cross-sections could be used. Nevertheless round or fluted dowels are preferred as they provide a snug fit in round holes drilled in the planks and spacing members.

Timber has been mentioned as a preferred material, as the planks can be produced from timber or composite board, and the apertures produced by drilling or the like. It is preferred that the system utilizes timber, and the planks will conveniently be formed from boards glued together to form composite planks. By this means, the planks and uprights can be of the same material to provide a matching system. For example, the system can be of the same material to provide a matching system. For example, the system can be readily produced from pinus radiata. Of course other materials may be used, and the system is not limited to timber or to a system utilizing dowels. For example, the connecting means could utilize planks or boards having preformed male or female connecting members with complementary members on the uprights. In such a case it is preferred that the planks have female sockets and the ends of the upright having a pair of male projections, e.g. dowels glued in place. Nevertheless the removal dowels are preferred.

It will also be appreciated that the system can be used with ■7 - X \,.y "•». •' " -C-- - 7 - O - »7 o & yj 1 shelves, drawers, or other furniture components to suit the customer's requirements. For example, if sides were required, the uprights 13 could be provided with appropriate grooves so that side panels could be slotted into the grooves, before the next horizontal plank was positioned onto the uprights.

It will be appreciated that the dimensions given above are for the purpose of example only as many other dimensions could be used instead.

It will thus be appreciated that the invention allows for a simple yet versatile system, which can be readily assembled or dismantled as required.

Finally, it will be appreciated that various alterations or modifications may be made to the foregoing without departing from the scope of this invention, as exemplified by the following claims. 20V£-a0 m 8 - r-^^l

Claims (9)

WHAT WE CLAIM IS:

1. A shelving or furniture system including generally rectangular planks or boards, each plank or board having pairs of locating means at or adjacent each corner, and a plurality of spacing members each spacing member having a complementary pair of locating means at each end thereof, wherein said complementary locating means can be engaged with a pair of locating means at one corner of a plank or board, and can as an alternative be engaged with two said locating means one from each of a pair of adjacent locating means on adjoining or abutting planks or boards.

2. A shelving or furniture system as claimed in claim 1 wherein the locating means includes apertures in the said planks or boards.

N 3. A shelving or furniture system as claimed in claim 2 and further including dowels or pins capable of insertion in said apertures.

4. A shelving or furniture system as claimed in claim 3 wherein said complementary locating means in said spacing members includes apertures for reception of said dowels or pins.

5. An article of furniture produced from the system of claim 1 including at least two substantially horizontal shelves separated from one another by substantially upright spacing members one at each corner of the shelves, each shelf having a pair of apertures at each corner, each spacing member having a pair of corresponding holes in each end thereof, and dowels interconnecting the spacing members and the shelves.

6. An article of furniture as claimed in claim 5 wherein legs are provided beneath the lowest shelf.

7. An article of furniture as claimed in claim 6 wherein top caps are provided on the uppermost shelf. U

8. An article of furniture as claimed in claim 7 wherein the dowels extend through a shelf to engage a spacing member adjacent one face and a top cap or a leg or a spacing member, adjacent the other face. " 7 • lJ ^ 'V-- .

9. An article of furniture produced from the system of claim 1 wh^rfcin ^ f * fjb ■ V- ' •. • >.• _ v the locating means of a said pair of locating means are spaced apart a distance "D" from one another and are set back from the edge of the plank or board a distance of "D/2 - G/2" wherein "G" is the desired gap between adjoining or abutting planks or boards. An article of furniture as claimed in claim 9 wherein distance D is 32 nun. An article of furniture or a shelving or furniture system substantially as herein described with reference to any one of the accompanying drawings. L 1 C M J S MEAD By their Attorneys JAMES W PIPER & CO ,/V