WO1998006306A1

WO1998006306A1 - Device for connecting a glass body to a separate stand

Info

Publication number: WO1998006306A1
Application number: PCT/SE1997/001339
Authority: WO
Inventors: Rolf SUNDENÄNG
Original assignee: Sundenaeng Rolf
Priority date: 1996-08-12
Filing date: 1997-08-11
Publication date: 1998-02-19
Also published as: SE9602976D0; SE507433C2; SE9602976L

Abstract

The invention relates to a device for connecting a glass body, which below its bowl-shaped portion is provided with a perpendicularly downwards directed stem without a terminating stand, to a separate stand, preferably made of wood. The solution to the problem is characterised in that the fastening element (2) is made of a flexible material having such a shape and resiliency that relatively liberal measurement variations of the glass stem (1A) may be allowed with maintained attachment security and alignment stability, in that the glass stem extends downwards through a bore (3A, 3D) and into a recess (3B) in the stand member (3), where said connecting member is located, the diameter of said bore being so much larger than that of the glass stem that the bore is running entirely free from the glass stem, said stem having no direct contact with the stand member, but being held in a correct position only by the connecting member, and in that said recess is concentric with and has a larger diameter than the bore (3A).

Description

DEVICE FOR CONNECTING A GLASS BODY TO A SEPARATE STAND

Technical area

The present invention relates to a device for fastening a glass body into a separate stand or foot made of a different material, and more particularly for connecting a glass body, in the form of a bowl, a glass, or similar, which below its bowl-shaped portion is provided with a perpendicularly downwards directed stem without a terminating stand, to a separate stand member, preferably made of wood.

State of the art

Glasses for drinking purposes, without any stand to put the glass down on, are known from ancient remains, since at least the 1000:th century.

In the glass industry, there has since a long time back existed a demand for being able to provide glass products with for example a stand of a different material. Certain attempts have been made to glue glass to tin or another material that can also withstand water. For aesthetical reasons, there has existed a demand for combining glass products with a stand, or similar, made of wood. The desire to combine glass with wood requires that the components must be easily detachable from each other. This is of importance when manufacturing products having a "for everyday use" character and where the glass component needs to be washed after use. Joining two parts is a common fact in order to facilitate production and simplify tools, for example plastic moulding tools. One example is the Swedish Patent No. 110 038, showing a joint which is not permanent but easily detachable. Other systems will be seen in the Swedish Design Application No. 79-0747, showing a snap or turn system, or the Swedish Design Application No. 195/71, where a component is pushed into and held by an appropriate fixed recess. A common, known system is to join according to the notch and tongue or pin and fixed recess principle, as shown in the Swedish Design Application No. 82-0118.

A similar connection system is shown, concerning a plastic cup to be fastened in a cup holder, in the Swedish Patent No. 224 840. However, this arrangement is not suitable for use when fastening e.g. glass to wood, as it requires flexibility of at least one of the components to be connected.

The German Patent Publication No. DE 3839400 Al shows glass bodies of the type discussed by way of introduction, having centrally located stems, directed perpendicularly downwards and being without a terminating stand plate. These stems can be fastened into a separate stand by means of an 0-ring type connecting member, located in a groove turned inside a drilled or turned bore having a diameter adapted to that of the glass stem. This system does not, however, have a satisfactory function in connection with finer types of artisan glass, due to the fact that the O-ring type connecting member only provides an axially acting friction joint, whereas the alignment of the glass in the stand, making the former stand vertically in the latter, has to be effected between the external surface of the stem and the internal walls of the bore. By e.g. crystal drinking glasses, these are for artistic reasons not manufactured in dyes, but are hand-blown, which means the diameter of the glass stem will have too wide tolerances to achieve a clearance-free guidance in the drilled bore of the wooden stand. This will entail that some glasses, having too thin a stem, would have excessive clearance in the drilled bore of the stand and would thus be able to lean in any direction, as they are not guided appropriately, even if the O-ring type member would hold them fixed in d e axial direction. A proper axial fixing is also not warranted with the described O-ring type element, which according to what is described, has too small a cross section in relation to the possible diameter variations of the glass stem. The above is of course totally unacceptable from an aesthetical as well as a functional viewpoint. Other glasses, having somewhat too thick a stem, would be difficult to fit or would not fit at all in the bore of the stand. All this would in turn entail the creation of an unacceptably large amount of production waste. For the above reasons, there exists a need for improving the technology for the fastening of arti- sanally/artistically manufactured glass bodies into separate stands of wood or other materials.

Summary of the invention

The object of the present invention is to provide a connecting device allowing a glass body and a stand member to be fastened in a stable and aligned manner to each other, whilst at the same time being easily detachable from each other, whereby the connecting device has such a design that, although relatively liberal measurement tolerances on the members can be accepted, it will still be possible to join them, and they will remain exchangeable, i.e. that an arbitrary glass body according to the invention, without adjustment, may be connected with an arbitrarily chosen stand member according to the invention. The above object is achieved by the connecting device according to the enclosed patent claims. Brief description of the drawings

Fig. 1 shows a longitudinal section through a glass body and a separate stand member according to the present invention;

Fig. 2 shows a cross section through the glass body and the stand member, with a connecting member at the arrow-marked section line I-I of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 shows a cross section through the connecting member according to the invention.

Detailed description of a preferred embodiment An embodiment example of the invention is schematically shown in the enclosed drawings. Fig. 1 shows a longitudinal section through a glass body 1 and a separate stand member 3 with an associated connecting member 2. The glass body 1 has a glass stem 1A and a bowl-shaped portion IB. The separate stand member 3 in this embodiment example is a wooden stand. Fig. 1 also shows, that me axial locking between the stem 1A of the glass body 1, the connecting member 2 and the stand 3, is achieved without any use of glue or similar, i.e. only through friction between the members. The connecting member 2 is located in a recess 3B in the stand member, the recess being defined at the top by a horizontal radial wall, into which runs a bore 3A having a smaller diameter than the recess 3B. The stand member 3 in the embodiment example terminates in a bottom plate 4, glued or fixed in any other suitable manner to the stand member 3, after having placed the connecting member 2 in the recess 3B. The horizontal, ring shaped radial surface between the recess 3B and the bore 3 A, and the part 4A of the bottom plate 4 extending into the recess 3B, hold the connecting member 2 in place while push- ing the glass stem 1A down into, respectively pulling it out from, said member.

As was discussed above, the stand member 3 is provided with a bore 3A, into which the stem portion 1A of the glass body 1 is inserted. Contrary to the previous art, the diameter of the bore 3 A is substantially larger than the diameter of the stem 1A, and is not intended to guide or align the glass body 1 relative to the stand member 3. According to the invention, the glass body 1 is only supported and aligned indirectly, relative to the stand member, through the glass stem 1 A fixation in the, contrary to the known art, axially elongated connecting member 2.

In the shown embodiment example, the glass body 1 is also given an even and stable further support by the top end of the stand member 3 being shaped like an annular edge 3C, supporting the bottom portion of the glass body IB. In order to properly define the contact between the edge 3C and the bottom portion IB of the glass body, the stand member is provided with a conically chamfered area 3D between the bore 3 A and the edge 3C, allowing free play for the lowest portion IB of the glass body and the stem 1 A..

Fig. 2 shows a cross section, taken at the line I-I of Fig. 1, through the glass stem 1A of the glass body 1 and the stand member 3, where they are joined by the connecting member 2. Said element 2 allows a stable joint, in spite of certain measurement variations occurring on the glass stem 1A. The connecting member 2 is enclosed in the stand member 3 in such a way that it may expand in the space intended for it. It should be noted that the connecting member 2 does not need to be fixed by glue or similar, which would reduce its mobility and elasticity, so as to impair the connecting or fastening function. As was discussed previously, in connection with Fig. 1, it is instead retained in the recess 3B through the geometrical relations.

The connecting member 2 is shown in cross section in Fig. 3. Said connecting member 2 might best be described as a tubular or hollow cylindrical member having a tubular wall folded to form a number of ridges, in the shown embodiment example five external ridge tops 2 A, and likewise five internal ridge tops 2B. The tops or circumferential edges 2A of the external ridges comprise segments of a circle, in an unaffected condition having a slightly smaller diameter than the stand member recess 3B, so as to make the connecting member 2 easy to insert into the recess.

The inwards directed tops or edges 2B of the internal ridges form segments of a circle having a diameter adapted to the topical diameter of the glass stem 1 A to be fitted into the stand member. Independently of the size of the connecting member, said member shall be shaped in such a manner that the diameter of the circle that can be inscribed within the internal ridge tops 2B when the connecting member, in an unloaded condition, is inserted into the recess 3B, is smaller than the smallest, within above-mentioned suitable manufacturing tolerances for arti- sanally manufactured glass, occurring diameter of the glass stem 1A. The ridge tops 2B are those parts of the connecting member 2 coming into contact with the glass stem 1 A and providing, through the resilience of said connecting member, a frictional force holding the glass stem. The wall thickness of the material in the ridge tops 2B may be the same as that of the ridge tops 2A, but preferably, the connecting member is manufactured with a reduced material thickness in the ridge tops 2B and in those essentially radial walls connecting said ridge tops. With this design, the expansion ability and mobility needed to provide the desired connection function between the glass stem 1A, the connecting member 2, and the stand member 3, is achieved. The device functions in the following way: The glass body 1 is provided with a downwards directed, elongated glass stem 1A, that is inserted through the bore 3A of the stand member 3 and on into its recess 3B, housing the connecting member 2. The lower end of the glass stem 1 A is pushed all the way through the connecting member 2, whereby the internal ridge tops 2B of the connecting member 2 are expanded to a larger diameter by the glass stem 1 , providing a stable clamping between the glass stem 1A and the fastening member 2, at the same time as the external ridge tops 2A of the fastening element 2 will expand, due to the elastic deflection of the intermediate ridge walls caused by the glass stem, and be pressed against the peripheral wall of the recess 3B of the stand member 3, creating a stable clamping between the fastening element 2 and the stand member 3. As the ridge tops 2A and 2B have a relatively large axial length, the fastening element also aligns the glass stem to be parallel with the centreline of the recess 3B, i.e. with that of the stand member 3. In the embodiment example shown, the glass body 1 is pushed down into the stand member 3 all the way until the bottom portion of the bowl-shaped member IB engages the upper edge 3C of the stand member, which eliminates any remaining minor inclination and provides a perpendicularly aligned position of d e glass body 1 in the stand member 3. The length of the glass stem 1A is, as is clearly seen from Fig. 1, adapted to the vertical length of the stand member in such a manner that its lower end is hanging freely, without any contact with the stand member 3 or its bottom plate 4, when the lower portion IB of the glass body engages the top edge 3C of the stand member. The glass body 1 is now fixed and aligned in this position without any other measures than having pushed the glass stem 1 A into the connecting member 2.

The external ridge tops 2A of the connecting member 2 have, as was discussed above, a larger diameter than the bore 3 A of the stand member. This entails that when removing the glass body 1, the glass stem 1A may be pulled out from between the ridge tops 2B of the fastening member 2, whilst the connecting mem- ber is retained in the recess 3B.

The stand member 3 is terminated at the bottom end by a bottom plate 4, in the embodiment example glued to the stand member 3. The stand member 3, as discussed above, is sufficiently long, or any stud 4A on the bottom plate 4 is sufficiently short, as not to reach the glass stem 1A when the glass body 1 is com- pletely inserted into the stand member. The bottom plate may, as shown in the left hand half of the illustrated embodiment example of Fig. 1, be designed to consist only of a stud 4A, in the example inserted and glued into the lower part of the recess 3B in the stand member 3, flush with the bottom end surface of the stand member 3. The bottom plate 4 may also, as shown in the right hand half of the illustrated embodiment example, comprise a lower portion having a larger diame- ter and an upper portion consisting of said stud 4A, and be glued to the lower end surface of the stand member 3.

The present invention thus provides a connecting device allowing the glass body and the stand member to be fastened in a stable and aligned manner to one another, and yet allowing them to be easily detachable from each other, even if relatively liberal measurement tolerances are allowed on the components, mal ing them individually interchangeable, i.e. in such a manner that an arbitraiy glass body according to the invention, without adaptation, may be joined with an arbitrarily chosen stand member according to the invention. This allows for example the use of stand members of different colours and shapes together with the same glass body, and/or glass bodies of different colours and shapes together with the same stand member.

Numerous variations and modifications of the various members according to the present invention are conceivable within the scope of the invention, which will only be limited by the accompanying patent claims.

Claims:

1. A connecting device for the detachable joining of a glass body, (1) equipped with a protruding stem (1A), and a separate stand member (3), in the shape of an elastic connecting member (2), enclosed in a bore in said stand member (3) and intended for clasping and for retaining, through friction, said glass stem (1A), characterised in that said connecting member (2) is made of a flexible material having such a shape and resiliency that relatively liberal measurement variations of the glass stem (1A) may be allowed with maintained attachment security and alignment stability, in that the glass stem extends downwards through a bore (3A, 3D) and into a recess (3B) in the stand member (3), where said connecting member (2) is located, the diameter of said bore (3 A, 3D) being so much larger than that of the glass stem (1A) that the bore is running entirely free from the glass stem, said stem having no direct contact with the stand member (3), but being held in a correct position only by the connecting member (2), and in that said recess (3B) is concentric with, and has a larger diameter than the bore (3A).

2. The device according to claim 1, further characterised by said connecting member (2) centring the glass stem (1A) in the stand member (3) and the bowl- shaped lower portion (IB) of the glass body resting on an edge (3C) of the stand member (3), the edge (3C) being concentric with, and situated in a plane perpendicular to, the centre axis of said bore (3 A), at a diameter substantially larger than that of the glass stem (1A).

Claims

3. A device according to claim 1 or 2, characterised by the frictional forces between the glass stem (1A) and the connecting member (2) in the stand member (3) being of such a magnitude as to allow easy attachment and detachment of the glass body, e.g. for cleaning or for exchanging the glass body or the stand member.

4. A device according to claim 1, 2 or 3, characterised by the connecting member (2) being designed like a cylindrical, hollow body having a folded or corrugated circumference, so as to define a suitable number of internal, ridge type axial top edges (2B), directed towards the centre of the cylinder and intended for clasping said glass stem (1A) to create an axially elongated frictional joint, said ridge tops forming segment sections of an internal cylindrical circumference, in the unaffected condition having a slightly smaller diameter than the smallest occurring diameter of said glass stem (1A), and so as to define an equal number of external, ridge type axial top edges (2 A), directed towards the circumferential surface of the recess (3B), and intended for creating an axially elongated clamp joint with said surface, said ridge tops forming segment sections of an external cylindrical circumference, in the unaffected condition having an only slightly smaller diameter than that of said recess (3B), and by, when said glass stem (1A) is forced in through the hole inside the ridge tops (2B), the elastic connecting member (2) flexing outwards in such a way that the ridge tops (2A) are pressed into engagement with the circumference of the recess (3B), thereby creating a stable, axially elongated frictional clamping joint between the glass stem (1A), the connecting member (2) and the stand member (3).

5. A device according to claim 4, characterised by the internal ridge tops (2B) of the connecting member (2), as well as the intermediate, essentially radial ridge walls, being manufactured from a somewhat thinner material than the external ridge tops (2A) of the connecting member (2), in order to achieve a high elas- ticity and adaptability.

6. A device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised by the stand member (3) being made of wood.