US3472572A - Cabinet structure employing grooved and folded laminated panels - Google Patents

Description

Oct. 14, 1969 1.. E. HIMELREICH 3,472,572

CABINET STRUCTURE EMPLOYING GROOVED AND FOLDED LAMINATED PANELS Filed Oct. 30, 1967 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR LOUIS E. H IMELREICH 62. mu ,0 5M

ATTORNEY CABINET STRUCTURE EMPLOYING GROOVED AND FOLDED LAMINATED PANELS Filed Oct. 30, 1967 Oct. 14, 1969 E. HIMELREICH 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 m H m WE R ,L E m H E v S W ATTORNEY Oct. 14, 1969 L. E. HIMELREICH CABINET STRUCTURE EMPLOYING GROOVED AND FOLDED LAMINATED PANELS Filed 061.. 30. 1967 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR LOUIS E. HMELREICH wz. aw

AT'T ORNEY United States Patent 3,472,572 CABINET STRUCTURE EMPLOYING GROOVED AND FOLDED LAMINATED PANELS Louis E.'Hin1elreich, Louisville, Ky., assignor to H. J. Scheirich, Louisville, Ky., a corporation of Kentucky Filed Oct. 30, 1967, Ser. No. 678,935 Int. Cl. A47]: 47/00 U.S. Cl. 312-9259 8 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A base type cabinet structure with a front framing including an upper rail cooperating with stiles formed of grooved and folded laminated side walls and with a lower rail formed of a grooved and folded bottom; the front upper corners of the structure being reinforced by braces respectively joining the upper rail and side walls of the structure and which braces are adapted for connection to a top for the cabinet structure.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention The invention relates to cabinets such as are employed in home kitchens, or elsewhere, and which normally are supported on the floor and are designated base cabinets. Such structures generally embody doors, drawers, interior shelves, and top which may take many different forms, as for example, a simple flat shelving, a sink, a burner or other structure forming the top portion of the cabinet. Such a cabinet may either have a rear wall built into it or may be positioned against the wall of a room serving the purpose of the cabinet rear wall. As disclosed in my copending application, ,Ser. No. 662,936 filed Aug. 24, 1967, and assigned to the same assignee as the present application, cabinets employing laminated stock material with an exposed ornamental layer of such material possess certain advantages in construction procedures and in appearance. The present invention discloses a cabinet structure wherein such advantages are secured and at the same time wherein many different forms of cabinet tops may be employed with the cabinet structure itself.

Description of the prior art Conventional base cabinets require a large amount of carpentry and finishing work particularly with respect to the front framing and the surfaces which are exposed to view. The use of laminated stock materials employing grooving and folding techniques has been suggested in the making of containers and table tops, as exemplified by the Zalkind Patent No. 2,274,765 and the Clements Patent No. 2,149,882 respectively. However, the strength requirements of a base cabinet present problems of manufacture which are not encountered in building such articles as containers nor indeed in the making of a conventional Wall cabinet. In addition to supporting a heavy top, such as a sink, a base cabinet may have to support the weight of a person stepping on the bottom edge of the cabinet or climbing upon the top of the cabinet, as well as supporting shelf loadings within the cabinet. The present invention embodies the use of prefabricated laminated sheets which have flanges, framing rails and stiles integrally formed thereon; which can be readily assembled using simple hardware or by employment of conventional cabinet joints such as mortise and tenons, dowels, lap joints or the like; which provides a strong construction expected in a base cabinet; and which does not require a finishing treatment for the cabinet surfaces.

3,472,572 Patented Oct. 1969 r. we

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to a base cabinet structure having side walls, bottom and an optional rear wall inter-fitted and joined together to provide a rigid, open-top structure to which a suitable top member may be easily attached. The side walls include integral stile portions formed of grooved and folded laminated sheets and the bottom includes an integral lower rail for the front framing of the cabinet and which also is formed of a grooved and folded laminated sheet. The bottom is joined to the side walls and provides a rigid structure spacing the rear edges of the side walls even when no rear wall is present as an integral part of the cabinet structure. A top rail for the front framing is attached to the stiles and the front upper corners of the cabinet preferably are equipped with bracing means which are adapted to be joined to a top for the cabinet. The outer lamination of the sheets provide a finished surface which obviates further finishing of the cabinet surfaces after assembly of the parts. Objects of the invention include the provisions of a base cabinet which can be assembled quickly without special carpentry work and which is strong and rigid; and the provision of a front framing which may support a variety of drawer and door arrangements without detracting from the other advantages of the cabinet construction.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The objects of the invention will be more apparent when considered in conjunction with the following description and with respect to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. I is a perspective view of a completed cabinet embodying the cabinet structure of the invention and with portions broken away.

FIG. 2 is a front elevation view of the cabinet structure with the top, doors and drawers removed.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the structure shown in FIG. 2 and with portions broken away.

FIG. 4 is a sectional View taken along line 4-4, FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a typical bottom panel.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view to an enlarged scale taken on line 66 of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a section of the mullion, to an enlarged scale as taken on line 77 of FIG. '2.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view of the upper'rail to an enlarged scale as taken on line 88 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 9 is a sectional view of a foot to an enlarged scale as taken on line 9-9 of FIG. 4.

FIG. 10 is a plan view of a corner brace, and

FIG. 11 is an elevation view of the corner brace of FIG. 10.

DESCRIPTION OF- THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A typical base cabinet embodying the invention as seen in FIG. 1 comprises a pair of side walls 10 and 11 joined at their rear edges to a rear wall 12 and adjacent their lower edges to a bottom 13. The side walls 10 and 11 are suitably grooved and folded at their front vertical edges to provide the stiles 14 and 15 respectively of the front frame of the structure and the bottom 13 is suitably grooved and folded to provide the lower rail 16 of that frame. Upper rails 17 and 18, as later to be described, are joined at their adjacent ends to a central mullion 19 and at their other ends to the respective stiles. When drawers such as shown at 20, 21 are employed, a pair of intermediate rails 22, 23 are likewise mounted as part of the front frame of the structure. Doors 24, 25 supported by suitable hinges 26 are mounted upon the stiles and close against the central mullion. The width of the stiles is not less than twice the thickness of the side wall and is such that ample space is present for mounting the hinges or other hardware without damaging the laminations of the side walls. Preferably, but not necessarily, the lower edges of the side walls extend below the lower rail 16 and a toe rail 27 offset rearwardly from that lower rail serves to enclose the space beneath the bottom of the structure. Any suitable top 28 is mounted upon the cabinet structure as above defined and is fastened to the structure in a manner later to be described.

Referring now to FIGS. and 6, the bottom panel 13 is formed from stock sheet material comprising an outer layer 30 of readily bendable vinyl or similar plastic and having a suitable thickness, for example about 0.006 inch. This first lamination is bonded to a layer 31 of different material such as plywood, fiberwood, composition board or the like which has a much greater thickness, for example about 0.375 inch. By relative movement between the rectangular sheet and a suitable grooving or rabbetting apparatus a miter groove 32 is formed in the second lamination without rupturing the first lamination. This groove extends parallel to, but inboard of, one side edge of the sheet leaving an elongated tab which forms a side flange 33 when the cabinet structure is assembled. Similarly, a groove 34 leaving a tab for side flange 35 is formed at the other side edge of the sheet, and a groove 36 leaving a tab for a rear flange 37 is formed at the rear end of the sheet. At the front end of the sheet, however, a groove 38 is formed parallel to and inboard of the edge of the sheet leaving a tab 39 which is to form an inner section of the lower rail 16 and adjacent this groove a similar groove 40 is formed leaving a triangular strip 41 which is to form the lower end section of that rail, and still farther inboard another groove 42 is formed leaving a strip 43 which is to form an outer section of rail 16.

By means of a suitable blanking operation the respective corners of the sheet are then cut away so that by placing adhesive in the grooves and folding the edges of the sheet a bottom member may be fabricated with depending flanges at its side and rear and with a depending rail at its front. It is to be noted that cutting away of the front corners of the sheet establishes shoulders 44, 45 and 46, 47 which are arranged to abut against and embrace the stiles 14 and 15 respectively. Moreover, when the cabinet structure is to employ a central mullion 19 a router cut may be made in the bottom sheet leaving an aperture 48 into which a mullion supporting member may be inserted. Alternately, the aperture may be omitted and the mullion held in place by means of a conventional wood working joint.

Side Walls 10 and 11 preferably are formed of a stock sheet material such as that described for the bottom member, but of a different configuration, and are suitably grooved and adhesively secured to provide stiles along their front vertical edges and flanges 50, 51 along their rear vertical edges as best seen in FIG. 3. In a preferred form, the side walls are formed without rails at their top and bottom edges, but such rails may be provided whenever desired without departing from the invention.

Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 8, the upper horizontal framing means preferably comprises an elongated rail of rectangular cross section formed of a grooved and folded sheet of material such as used for the bottom and side walls of the cabinet and including a front side portion 52, two triangular end portions 53, 54 and two polygonal shaped rear side portions 55, 56. A plurality of such rails will be used when a mullion is employed in the cabinet front frame, but when no mullion is present a single rail is used. In assembling the cabinet structure flat fasteners 57, 58 using suitable screws extending into the second laminations of the rails and mullion secure the parts together. At their outer ends the rails 17, 18 are preferably secured to the side walls by means of a special brace B as best shown in FIGS. 10 and I1, and which includes apertured walls '60, 61 disposed at right angles and bent upwardly from a horizontal plate 62 having holes 63, 64 therein adapted to receive screws (not shown) for fastening the brace to the underside of the cabinet top. At their upper ends the walls are formed with projecting flanges 65, 66 which, as best seen in FIG. 4, rest upon the upper edges of the upper front rail and the side wall 10, the respective walls also being fastened to that rail and wall. In addition, small projections 67, 68 are struck out normally from the lower edges of the walls of the brace and fit into rabbetted spaces which are formed in the second laminations of the cooperating rail and cabinet wall.

As seen in FIG. 3 similar braces B preferably are employed at all upper corners of the cabinet structure securing the rear wall, the side walls, and the upper framing means into a rigid structure. When drawers are employed with the cabinet an intermediate assembly of rails 70, 71 with fiat fasteners 72, 73 and with corner braces 74, 75 are used. In this arrangement the side walls are provided with rabbetted spaces to receive both the upper flange 66 and the projection 67 of the brace. The mullion preferably, but not necessarily, is also formed of grooved and folded material and includes a wide front side portion 80, two triangular end portions 81, 82 and two polygonal rear side portions 83, 8-4. At its lower end the mullion fits in the recess 48 of the bottom member and is secured to the lower rail 16 as by a flat fastener 85. As will be understood, the described upper and intermediate frame rails and the mullion may comprise any suitable structural material other than grooved and folded sheet without departing from the invention. However, since the ornamental appearance of a cabinet used in the home is important and since the bendable thin lamination 30 not only is attractive but :also provides a smooth corner edge, it is especially suitable for such rail and mullion construction.

In assembling the cabinet structure much of the conventional carpentry work associated with base cabinet manufacture is omitted. When the adhesive in the grooved and folded sheets has set, the various flanges, stiles and rails become essentially an integral strong part of the respective sheets. The rear wall 12, when used, preferably comprises a rectangular flat sheet of the same material as the side walls and with recesses near its top edge to receive the projections of the respective corner braces. As seen in FIGS. 3 and 4, the two vertical edges of the rear wall are embraced and secured as by adhesive to the flanges 50, 51 of the side walls and the flange 37 of the bottom :abuts against and may be secured in any suitable manner to the confronting face of the rear wall. Meanwhile, the cutaway front corners of the bottom 13 embraces, and may be secured in any suitable manner to the lower ends of the stiles 14, 15. Customarily the lower edge of the rear wall and the front wall 16 are disposed above the lower edges of the side walls which, if desired, may rest on the floor. However, the cabinet may be supported upon the flanges 33, 35 of the bottom and, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 9, lengths of cove molding or other form of post may be disposed at the rear corners of the structure and suitably fastened to side walls 10, 11 and to their flanges 50, 51. At such locations the support is then disposed beneath and in contact with the rear wall 12 and the side flange of the bottom. In addition, molding pieces 91 are disposed adjacent the front of the cabinet beneath the side flanges of the bottom and are suitably aflixed to the elongated toe rail 27 the ends of which extend beneath the cutaway lower front edge of the side walls. By means of the described interfitted construction a particularly strong and rigid base cabinet structure results.

As will be appreciated, when no drawers are employed the intermediate rails 70, 71 can be omitted and the doors 24, 25 cover the entire front of the cabinet. When drawers are used, any suitable conventional guides (not shown) may be mounted to the inner surfaces of the side walls, or a conventional center guide rail (not shown) may be mounted between the top of the rear wall and the appropriate top rail 17, 18. It is preferred to use a roller guide assembly such as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4 and which includes a plate 92 with an upper flange 93 and a lower flange 94 embracing the upper and lower edges of the intermediate rail. This plate is mounted as by means of screws against the rear side portions 55, 56 of the rail. A bracket 95 extending from the plate 92 mounts a right hand roller 96 at an elevation suitable for engagement with the lower side edge of the drawer 21, it being understood that a cooperating left hand roller 95A is mounted similarly at the opposite side of the drawer space. A similar drawer roller guide assembly (not shown) is employed for supporting the other drawer 20.

Shelves may be employed with the described cabinet structure and preferably are supported at their side edges by means of clips 97, 98 fastened into holes formed in the second laminations of the side walls. Such a shelf 99 as shown in FIG. 4 preferably is formed of laminated sheet grooved and folded at its front edge to provide the downwardly projecting flange 100. Notches formed in the underside of the folded edge of the shelf receive the clips 97 to hold the shelf against shifting motion.

Various modifications of the above described construction may be employed without departing from the invention. For example, when no rear wall is formed as an integral part of the structure, the flanges 33, 35 of the bottom member are secured to the inside surfaces of side walls 10, 11 and the rear edge of the bottom member abuts against the vertical flanges 50, 51 of these side walls. The structure then is capable of being positioned against a wall of a room and fastened thereto by screws passing through the flanges 50, 51 of the side walls and through the flange 37 of the bottom. Should rear upper corner braces be deemed necessary, a separate upper framing rail (not shown), or rails, may be added to give further rigidity and to provide a mounting to which drawer guiding means may be attached.

The stock sheet material used for the side walls may have a thin vinyl lamination on both sides so as. to improve the interior appearance of the cabinet; the cabinet may have more than one mullion and may have drawers arranged in a vertical tier and with a plurality of vertically arranged intermediate front framing rails; or additional reinforcing means below the bottom of the cabinet may be used.

What is claimed is:

1. An open top cabinet structure adapted to have a top aflixed thereto following assembly of the structure and comprising a pair of side walls and a bottom aflixed to said side walls and spacing the same apart, each of said walls and bottom being formed of a relatively thin, readily bendable first lamination of material attached to a relatively thick second lamination of a different material, said side walls being grooved in the second lamination thereof and folded at their front vertical edges to close the grooving and to form solid flanges having an adhesively secured double thickness of the wall materials extending normally to said side walls thereby to provide stiles of a front frame of said structure, said bottom being grooved in the second lamination thereof and folded at its front horizontal edge to close the grooving and to form a solid flange having an adhesively secured double thickness of the bottom materials extending normally to said bottom thereby to provide a lower rail of said front frame, an upper horizontal framing means attached at its ends to said stiles and serving as an upper rail of said front frame, and means securing said bottom to said side walls adjacent the rearward portions of said side walls.

2. A cabinet structure as defined in claim 1 wherein said bottom is grooved in the second lamination thereof and folded along its horizontal side edges to provide flanges extending to the rearward portions of said side walls.

3. A cabinet structure as defined in claim 1 wherein each of said side walls have cutaway front lower corners providing vertical edges therefor displaced rearwardly of said lower rail of said front frame and a toe rail disposed in contact with said vertical edges of said cutaway corners and extending beneath said bottom.

4. An open top cabinet structure adapted to have a top aflixed thereto following assembly of the structure and comprising a pair of side walls, a rear wall, and a bottom, each of said walls and bottom being formed of a relatively thin, readily bendable first lamination of material attached to a relatively thick second lamination of a different material, said side walls being grooved in the second lamination thereof and folded at their front vertical edges to close the grooving and to form solid flanges having an adhesively secured double thickness of wall materials extending normally to said side walls thereby to provide stiles of a front frame of said structure, said bottom being grooved in said second lamination thereof and folded at its front horizontal edge to close the grooving and to form a solid flange having an adhesively secured double thickness of the bottom materials extending normally to said bottom thereby to provide a lower rail of said front frame, an upper horizontal framing means attached at its ends to said stiles and serving as an upper rail of said front frame, means for securing said bottom to said side walls and to said rear wall, and bracing means secured to the respective side walls and upper framing means at the front upper corners of the cabinet structure and adapted to be attached to the underside of a top for said cabinet.

5. A cabinet structure as defined in claim 4 wherein each of said side walls is grooved in said! second lamination thereof and folded along its rear vertical edge to provide a flange adapted to be secured to said rear wall.

6. An open top cabinet structure adapted to have a top aflixed thereto following assembly of the structure and comprising a pair of side walls and a bottom, each of said side walls and bottom being formed of a relatively thin, readily bendable first lamination of material attached to a relatively thick second lamination of a different material, said side walls being grooved in the second lamination thereof and folded at their front vertical edges to close the grooving and to form solid flanges having an adhesively secured double thickness of the wall materials extending normally to said side walls thereby to provide stiles of a front frame of said struc ture, said bottom being grooved insaid second lamination thereof and folded at its front horizontal edge to close the grooving and to form a solid flange having an adhesively secured double thickness of the bottom materials extending normally to said bottom thereby to provide a lower rail of said front frame, a vertical mullion attached at its lower end to said lower rail, an upper horizontal framing means comprising short rails attached at their respective ends to said stiles and to said mullion and serving as an upper rail for said front frame, and bracing means secured to the respective side walls and upper framing means at the front upper corners of the cabinet structure and adapted to be attached to the underside of a top for the cabinet.

7. A cabinet structure as defined in claim 6 including an intermediate short rail disposed below said upper rail of said frame and attached at its ends to one of said stiles and to said mullion thereby to provide a drawer space, a drawer disposed in said space, and means for guiding said drawer during its movement within said space.

8. A cabinet structure as defined in claim 7 including a door hingedly supported upon one of said stiles and adapted to close upon said mullion, said door covering a portion of the front of said cabinet structure unoccupied by the front of said drawer.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,149,882 3/ 1939 Clements 29-476 2,249,344 7/ 1941 Blechman 312-259 X 2,274,765 3/ 1942 Zalkind 161-111 8 2,649,350 8/1953 Backus et a1. 312-258 3,034,844 5/1962 Anderson et a1. 312-253 X 3,279,873 10/1966 Gronquist 312-259 5 CASMIR A. NUNBERG, Primary Examiner U.S. C1. X.R. 161-109; 312-258

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