WO1991000035A1

WO1991000035A1 - Fitting cabinet with a rectangular body

Info

Publication number: WO1991000035A1
Application number: PCT/NO1990/000109
Authority: WO
Inventors: Knut Stein; Sigbjørn VIKAN
Original assignee: Knut Stein; Vikan Sigbjoern
Priority date: 1989-06-27
Filing date: 1990-06-27
Publication date: 1991-01-10
Also published as: NO892663L; AU5838190A; NO167353B; NO892663D0; NO167353C

Abstract

A fitting cabinet is provided with a rectangular cabinet body (1) comprising side walls (2, 3), a top wall (6) and a bottom wall (5), which walls if desired, may be provided with suitable openings, and an open front wall for access to the cabinet. The cabinet body (1) is manufactured from a plastic material with a small wall thickness, and along the edges in the front wall plane side flanges (7, 8) are formed. Necessary brackets (9, 10) for door hinges, shelves, ledges, connecting members, etc. are formed on the inside of side flanges (7), if desired, with cooperating member (10) for the bracket being provided on the rear wall (4).

Description

Fitting cabinet with a rectangular body..

The invention relates to a fitting cabinet with a rectang¬ ular cabinet body, comprising side walls, top and bottom walls which, if required, may be provided with suitable openings, and an open front wall providing access to the cabinet.

Fitting cabinets are much used for fitting out various rooms in private homes, like bathrooms, kitchens, as well as various kinds of storage rooms. A large additional range of application is office and storage facilities, and workshops where cabinets are not to be mounted on the floor, but are preferably screwed onto a wall.

Most cabinets of this kind are at present either built from wooden material or plastic laminates or wooden laminates with an open or filled core zone. The traditional thickness of material corresponds to what is commonly used in connection with wooden material.

On this basis such fitting cabinets will be comparatively heavy and production of wooden material or laminated materia will also require relatively extensive operations. Another disadvantage, which is especially apparent in case of laminated material, is the problem of fastening brackets, hinges, etc. If too sturdy fastening means are used the appearance of the cabinet walls may be affected, which is inconvenient if the cabinet is suspended or stands by itself.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a fittin cabinet the body of which is of a different and substantiall more light-weight structure, and which may be manufactured in a simple and inexpensive manner. Furthermore, the cabinet body to be provided should be stable with regard to shape an it should have an appearance which is not second to previously used cabinets. This object of the invention is achieved with a fitting cabinet of the above-mentioned kind which is characterized by features apparent from the claims.

5 It may be said that the fitting cabinet according to the invention differs essentially from existing fitting cabinets due to the fact of using a body which is preferably cast in one piece from plastic and thus may be designed with considerably thinner walls and is more light-weight than

10 previously known cabinet bodies. Such casting of bodies may be carried out by the aid of suitable moulds in an inexpens¬ ive manner in an industrial scale. Casting may e.g. be carried out in a divisible mould or in so called collapsible moulds. By using plastic material the cupboard body will be

15 completely water-proof and will not be affected in the ^{~ '}- course of time by being used, e.g. in a bathroom, as may be the case with wooden material. As to appearance the same kinds of doors may be used as in previously known fitting cabinets, so that the overall impression will be unchanged

20

An essential advantage, which is achieved by use of cabinet bodies cast in one piece from plastic, is that any emission of gas, e.g. formaldehyde gases which may occur in connection with chipboards, will be avoided. The material is also easy

25 to cleanse and there is no applied or laminated surface, so that peeling is avoided.

In the special design according to the invention the necessary fittings will also to a high degree be hidden

30 behind the flanges on the front wall, so that the whole fitting cabinet will have a pleasing appearance. By fastening all brackets on the front face inside said flanges a rigid structure independent of side walls is also obtained. The side walls are thus not influenced by screw holes or the like

35 and the surfaces may be kept plane, and free-standing or freely suspended cabinets will maintain their smooth appearance. The rear wall of the cabinet may be provided with reinforcements for mounting on a wall, as known per se. The invention is disclosed in more detail below with reference to two embodiments shown in the drawings, illustrating various features of the invention. In the drawing:

is a perspective view of a lower wall cabinet which is designed according to the invention and is diagrammatically shown; is a diagrammatical elevation showing the principle of providing fastening brackets; is a side elevation showing the positioning of hinges and brackets for shelves; is a corresponding side elevation showing positioning of connecting brackets; shows various elevational views illustrating the fastening bracket for a door hinge and how it is placed; shows corresponding elevational views of a connecting bracket; shows various elevational views of a profile ledge for use in mounting slidable shelves, and drawers, respectively; is a section through a cabinet body showing the design of top and bottom flanges; is an elevational view in perspective showing a second embodiment of the invention in the shape of a built-in lower cabinet for a bathroom, and is a sectional view of the cabinet body in

Figure 9, shown in a view corresponding to

Figure 8.

In the drawing a fitting cabinet according to the invention is generally designed by numeral 1. This is a rectangular cabinet comprising side walls 2 and 3, a rear wall 4, and a 35 bottom wall 5 and a top wall 6. The front wall is open and surrounded by four side flanges 7 and 8 which all sit in the front wall plane. On the rear face of said side flanges, i.e the one facing into the cabinet, various brackets necessary for utilization of the cabinet are provided. In the embodi¬ ment shown in the drawing brackets for fastening the hinge are designated by numeral 9 and bosses for shelves respec¬ tively ledges for shelves and possible drawer members are designated by numeral 10. Said members and their positions will also appear from Figure 2. The cabinet body is entirely designed of plastic with thin walls. An illustrative wall thickness of 2-3 mm may be indicated, whereas a normal wall thickness of corresponding fitting cabinets is 16 mm. Cabinet body 1 may be manufactured by casting in one piece from plastic, e.g. of the polyester kind. Polycarbon plastic (PC plastic) is especially preferred. Casting may be carried out in a divisible mould or by the aid of a so called collapsible mould, permitting the necessary bracket members as well to be cast in one piece with the cabinet body.

The positions of individual fastening means, i.e. brackets are adapted for the intended use, and arranged to permit both left-hand and right-hand hinged cabinets by turning the cabinet around. Such positions are indicated in Figure 3, where brackets 9 for hinges are also shown. The brackets for hinges are provided with holes for screws.

If several cabinets are to be provided side-by-side, they should be connected by the aid of connecting means, e.g. in the shape of male and female members to be screwed together from the inside of two adjacent cabinets. For this purpose connecting brackets 13 with holes 12 are provided. These brackets are in the same manner as the remaining brackets provided on the rear of the front wall flange. On the side where door hinge brackets are provided, a hole 12 may be provided in the door hinge bracket, as indicated in Figures 3 and 5, which hole has the same function as hole 12 in bracket 13.

Figures 5 and 6 show detailed elevational views of the door hinge bracket and the connecting bracket. As apparent from said figures bracket 9, and 13, respectively, is provided spaced apart from the side wall 3, respectively 2, forming a part which is independent of the wall surface and will thus not affect it, which goes for the casting process as well. Connecting bracket is provided very close to the side wall, but still with a clearance so that a break through in the wall may be achieved in a desired place when a connection is effected.

To provide shelves, or ledges supporting shelves, drawers, or the like, profile ledges as shown in Figure 7, are preferably used. They are placed on bosses 10 on the rear face of flange 7 and on the rear wall 4, respectively. Said bosses are indicated in Figure 7. Ledges are designated by numeral 14 and comprise a main member 15 which is U-shaped and is placed over bosses 10. In order to keep them in place, a retaining member may be provided at one end side of the ledge requiring the ledge to be slipped over boss 10. This is shown in the bottom left hand side of Figure 7. On one side profile ledge 14 is provided with a horizontal flange 16 on which a slidable shelf or drawer may rest with the U-shaped portion hidden behind flange 7, and thus not visible from the outside. This results in a very simple and elegant design for providing ledges for slidable members.

As illustrated in Figure 8, the top flange and the lower flange of the wall instead of being extended towards the cabinet opening may face in the other direction and thus form external flange portions, which offers an attractive finish by being bent at an angle and extended across the upper and lower wall surface, respectively. This extended portion of the flanges is designated by numeral 17. Rein¬ forcements are preferably provided between top wall and bottom wall, respectively, and flange 17.

Figures 9 and 10 illustrate another embodiment of the invention, in which the fitting cabinet is designed to be a lower cupboard. The design is essentially the same in this case as shown in the previously mentioned figures. The cabinet is designated by numeral 1'. Top flange 8' (and correspondingsly the lower flange) is in this case extended upwards only, and corresponding flanges are run around the whole edge of the cabinet body, with intermediate reinforcing ledges 18. This embodiment is intended for mounting, e.g. a tabletop, or the like, and may also be connected with other cabinet elements, e.g. with a higher cabinet, by aid of suitable means.

Many modifications in addition to those illustrated are possible within the scope of the invention. It is thus not necessary to have all wall faces forming closed faces as shown in the figures. For use in e.g. a bathroom there may be cutouts in the top faces for a washstand or the like. Also the rear wall may be provided with openings for pipe connections or the like. These concepts are known per se to persons skilled in the art.

Claims

CLAIMS :

1. A fitting cabinet with a rectangular cabinet body, comprising side, top, and bottom walls (2, 3, 5, 6), which if desired, may be provided with suitable openings and an open front wall for access to the cabinet, with the cabinet body being manufactured from a plastic material with a small wall thickness, c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n that the cabinet body is formed in one piece, that along the edges in the plane of the front wall side flanges (7, 8) are provided with substantially the same wall-thickness as the side walls, and that all brackets (9, 10, 13, 14) for door hinges, shelves, ledges, connecting elements, etc. are fastened to or formed, respectively, on the rear side of and hidden by the side flanges, if desired with the cooperating member of the brackets provided on the rear wall.

2. A fitting cabinet according to claim 1, c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n that the door hinge bracke (9) is a sheet-like member which is provided at the edge of side flange (7) , projecting into the cabinet body, in parallel with the side walls (22, 3) at a distance from the latter and with sufficient thickness to provide a hold for the hinge screws.

3. A fitting cabinet according to claim 1, c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n that on the inside of flanges (7,8) at the side wall, and at a corresponding position on the rear wall (4) bosses (10) are formed at suitable mutual distances for mounting stationary shelves and/or ledges for slidable shelves/drawers.

4. A fitting cabinet according to claim 3, c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n that between bosses (10) which are placed at the same level, profile ledges (14) are mounted, which sit over bosses (10) with an U-shaped portion and a width corresponding to the flange width, with a vertical face contacting the side wall and a horizontal flange (16) projecting into the cabinet space.

5. A fitting cabinet according to claim 1, c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n that on side flanges (7,8) are provided sleeve shaped members directed towards the side wall for passing through members for connecting two cabinet bodies.

6. A fitting cabinet according to claim 5, c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n that the sleeve shaped members are incorporated in the hinge bracket.

7. A fitting cabinet according to claim 1, c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n that bottom and/or top flanges (8) extend in the opposite direction of the cabinet space and are bent at a desired distance to form top, and/or bottom faces (17) which if desired, may be reinforced.

8. A fitting cabinet according to claim 1, c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n that the cabinet body with brackets is moulded in a divisible mould or a collapsible mould from plastic of the polyester type, preferably from polycarbonate plastic.