WO2002062182A1

WO2002062182A1 - Method for production of shell furniture module and furniture manifactured according to the method

Info

Publication number: WO2002062182A1
Application number: PCT/BG2002/000002
Authority: WO
Inventors: Mladen Minkov Tsonev; Angel Ivanov Anev; Anton Kolev Dantchev
Original assignee: Ort Joint-Stock Company
Priority date: 2001-02-06
Filing date: 2002-02-05
Publication date: 2002-08-15
Also published as: EP1357820A1; WO2002062182B1; BG105223A

Abstract

The method for production of a furniture module includes the making of furniture elements, where each furniture element is formed by cutting out a blank from a sheet material and folding the blank to obtain the furniture element. Then the furniture elements are bound to form a closed furniture module. The sheet material used is a three-layer sheet material and the cutting of the sheet material is followed by removal of part of the sheet material in depth to form cuts and by folding the sheet material along these cuts internal and external edges are formed. Then the ready shell furniture elements (1, 2, 3) are bound by a fixture (4, 4'), in which binding the preliminarily bevelled shell furniture elements are fitted on the fixture (4, 4') and are glued so as their external edges meet in a point and thus a shell furniture module (28) is formed consisting of horizontal beams (2, 3) and a leg (1).

Description

METHOD FOR PRODUCTION OF SHELL FURNITURE MODULE AND FURNITURE MANUFACTURED ACCORDING TO THE METHOD

The present invention relates to a method for production of shell furniture module with application in the furniture-making industry for the manufacturing of office furniture, furniture for interior spaces in public and residential buildings.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

There are known methods for production of furniture, furniture constructions or separate furniture elements where the blanks are made from sheet material. These methods use one- layer sheet material which has uniform strength indices and uniform plastic and elastic properties. The one-layer sheet material is cut and folded to form furniture topss, side pieces and legs which constitute closed volumetric furniture modules. For example, the patent description of GB 1,196,445 discloses furniture construction of a table made of sheet material by the above mentioned operations of the method but to achieve the required strength of the furniture piece it needs the putting of a common wall between the volumetric furniture elements. This common wall increases the strength of the furniture construction.

Patent GB 1,205,275 describes the production of furniture pieces made of cardboard or other flexible sheet material which constitute closed volumetric furniture modules. Here the problem of the furniture strength is solved by placing a common wall that closes two neighboring furniture elements.

The known solutions describe furniture made of hollow volumetric elements which, as already explained, do not ensure increased strength and load resistance of the furniture. The following documents may also be given as examples: EP 221 342 Al, DE 3906936.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The object of the present invention is to provide a method for production of a shell furniture module and module construction used for the production of furniture of three- layer sheet material with two outer layers of flexible material and a middle layer of hard material so that the furniture would have as light a construction as possible, minimum material consumption and at the same time high mechanical strength of the construction.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

This aim is achieved by a method for production of a shell furniture module, including the making of shell furniture elements of the type of a leg and bearing beams, where each shell furniture element is formed by cutting out a blank from a sheet material and folding the blank, then the furniture elements are bound to form a shell furniture module. According to the invention, the sheet material used is a three-layer sheet material chosen so that its layers have different plastic characteristics, different hardness and distortion resistance. The cutting of the three-layer material is followed by removal of part of the sheet material in depth to form cuts and thus internal and external edges for folding the blank, and after gluing the outer external edges of the blank and the edges of the cuts shell furniture elements for binding are formed - a leg and bearing beams. The ready shell furniture elements are bound by means of a fixture, where the preliminarily bevelled shell furniture elements are fitted onto the three solid parts of the fixture and are glued in such a way that their binding is realized along their cross-sections to form a common apex. Thus, a shell furniture module is formed consisting of a leg and two bearing beams.

The shell furniture module comprises bound furniture elements of the type of a leg and horizontal bearing beams formed of folded sheet material, and according to the invention it consists of three shell furniture elements made of three-layer sheet material, two of the elements being horizontal bearing beams with cross-section of isosceles triangle and the third element being a leg with cross-section of equilateral triangle. The preUminarily bevelled shell furniture elements are bound by a fixture to form a shell furniture module, with their external edges meeting in a point.

The fixture consists of three solid parts lying in space at 90° to one another and having a common apex, where each solid part has a cross-section matching the cross-section of a corresponding shell furniture element for binding.

In another embodiment of the fixture it consists of two solid parts lying at 90° to each other and bound by a connection plate with an opening in the corner part in which opening a bearer is fitted.

The shell furniture module and the furniture produced according to the method are made of three-layer sheet material which consists of two outer layers of flexible material, more specifically aluminium, and a middle layer of hard material, more specifically plywood.

In another embodiment the two outer layers are of plastic and the middle layer is of plywood.

The shell furniture elements for binding can have triangular, rectangular or any other angular cross-section.

Tables, chairs, cabinets with doors, cabinets without doors or two-sided cabinets can be produced according to the method.

The table can be constructed of shell furniture modules of which a top is placed fixed at its four ends by means of distance elements.

The chair can be constructed of shell furniture modules to which a back-rest is joined by means of two distance elements at the two hind ends of the back-rest; two shell furniture elements are placed X-wise on the four legs at a distance of 2/3 from their bottom end onto which a seat is fixed.

The cabinet without doors can be constructed of shell furniture modules to which two rectangular-shaped bodies opened at the top, made according to the method, are fixed. A shell part is formed along the outer edges of each rectangular-shaped body opened at the top and the two bodies are preliminarily bound together by being glued along their vertical walls, a top is placed onto their free ends, the back side of the cabinet is closed by a back and the space formed by the top, the back and the horizontal wall of the body is divided into sections by vertical partitions.

The two-sided cabinet can be constructed of shell furniture modules to which a rectangular-shaped body opened at the top is fixed and a top is fastened to the free ends of the vertical walls of the body and the space between the top and the horizontal wall of the rectangular-shaped body opened at the top is divided by a horizontal partition into two sections closed by backs, with the back of the lower section being opposite to the back of the upper section.

An advantage of the method is that it is suitable for the production of modular furniture which has light construction and high mechanical strength as the bearer frame is made of shell furniture elements bound by a rigid dismountable or non-dismountable connection.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention is better illustrated by the enclosed figures, where:

Figure 1 is an axonometric drawing of shell furniture elements and fixture;

Figure la is an axonometric drawing of a shell furniture module;

Figure 2 is a front view of the shell furniture elements and fixture in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is A-A cross-section from Figure 2;

Figure 4 is top view of the shell furniture elements in Figure 1;

Figure 5 is B-B cross-section from Figure 4;

Figure 6 shows the blank of a leg of the shell furniture module;

Figure 7 is a front view of a table produced according to the method subject of the invention;

Figure 7a: A-A cross-section from Figure 7;

Figure 7b: B-B cross-section from Figure 7;

Figure 8: side view of the table in Figure 7;

Figure 9: axonometric drawing of the table in Figure 7;

Figure 10: a front view of a chair made according to the method subject of the invention;

Figure 11: side view of the chair in Figure 10;

Figure 11a: A-A cross-section from Figure 11;

Figure lib: B-B cross-section from Figure 11;

Figure 12: axonometric drawing of the chair in Figure 10; Figure 13: front elevation of a cabinet without doors made according to the method subject of the invention;

Figure 13a: A-A cross-section from Figure 13;

Figure 13b: scaled view of B from Figure 13a;

Figure 14: axonometric drawing of the cabinet without doors in Figure 13;

Figure 15: axonometric drawing of a body in Figure 13;

Figure 16: front view of a two-sided cabinet made according to the method subject of the invention;

Figure 16a: A-A cross-section from Figure 16;

Figure 16b: scaled view of B from Figure 16a;

Figure 17: axonometric drawing of the two-sided cabinet in Figure 16;

Figure 18: axonometric drawing of a body in Figure 16;

Figure 19: front view of the shell furniture elements and fixture;

Figure 20: A-A cross-section from Figure 19;

Figure 21 : top view of the shell furniture elements in Figure 19;

Figure 22: B-B cross-section from Figure 21.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE SPECIFIC EMBODIMENTS

The application of the method for production of a shell furniture module according to the invention uses three-layer sheet material. The three-layer sheet material is chosen so that its layers have different plastic characteristics, and different hardness and distortion resistance. The preferred material for application of the method is made up of two outer layers of aluminium and a middle layer of plywood.

Figure 1 to 6 show drawings clarifying the formation of a shell furniture module. According to the present method, each furniture element is formed by performing the following sequence of operations: cutting out a blank from three-layer sheet material; removal of part of the sheet material in depth to form cuts 30; folding along the cuts to form internal and external edges and then by gluing the outer external edges of the blank 29 and the edges of the cuts 31 a shell module element 1,2,3 for binding is formed. The shell module elements 1,2,3 thus made have different cross-section, uniform throughout the length of the module element 2,3 or decreasing along the length of the module element 1. Depending on the cross-section, the module elements have different application. The module elements with uniform cross-section along the length make the horizontal bearing beams 2,3 of the shell furniture modules, while the module elements with decreasing cross-section along the length make the legs 1 of the shell furniture modules. The module elements with uniform cross-section along the length of the module element have preferably equilateral triangular cross-section. The cross-section of these module elements can be any other possible regular angular cross-section. The module elements with decreasing cross-section along the length of the module have preferably a cross-section of isosceles triangle, as shown in Figure 3. The cross-section of these elements can be any other irregular angular cross-section.

The shell furniture elements thus made are bound by means of a fixture 4,4'. In one embodiment of the fixture 4 their binding is realized by fitting the preliminarily bevelled shell furniture elements 1,2,3 on the three solid parts of the fixture 4 so that their external edges meet in a point and are then glued. Thus, by binding the shell furniture elements, for instance a leg 1 and two horizontal bearing beams 2,3, the shell furniture module 28 shown in Figure la is formed.

In another embodiment of the fixture 4', shown in Figures 19 to 22, the binding of the preliminarily bevelled horizontal beams 2 and 3 is made by a fixture 4' where beams 2 and 3 are fitted on the two solid parts which have been preliminarily bound by a connection plate 22. In the corner part of the plate there is an opening 23 in which a bearer 24 is fitted and by means of a bolt 25, washer 26 and rubber washer 27 a frame is formed to which a leg 1 and a heel 5 are mounted.

The shell furniture module subject of the invention is made up of a leg 1, horizontal longitudinal bearing beam 2 and horizontal cross bearing beam 3 which are bound by means of a fixture 4. In Figures 1, 2 and 4 it is shown that the horizontal longitudinal bearing beam 2 and horizontal cross bearing beam 3 formed according to the method are bevelled in the area of the binding, and parts of the leg 1 have been removed in the area of the binding so that two triangular planes are formed which make up an angle. In this way the shell furniture elements are fitted on the three solid parts of the fixture 4, lying at an angle of 90° in space and having a common apex. The bevelling of the shell furniture elements is such that it allows their external edges to meet in a point on the fixture 4, and then they are glued. The leg 1 in its narrowest bottom part ends in a heel 5. Figures 3 and 5 show that the cross-section of the leg 1 and the beams 2 and 3 is triangular. In the leg 1 the cross-section is an isosceles triangle that changes with height, while in the beams 2 and 3 it is an equilateral triangle. The binding of the elements making up the module is such that it invariably ensures a vertical position of the edge at the apex of the isosceles triangle and slant of the edges adjacent to its base.

Figures 7 to 9 show a table comprising shell furniture modules made according to the invention and consisting of four legs 1, two horizontal longitudinal bearing beams 2 and two horizontal cross bearing beams 3, correspondingly bound by fixtures. Distance elements 6 are put at the four ends of the module, on which a top 7 is placed.

Depending on the concrete dimensions of the constituent elements, the table can be conference, working or extension table.

Figures 10 to 12 show a chair made according to the method. The shell furniture modules of the chair consist of four legs 1, one horizontal longitudinal bearing beam 2 and two horizontal cross bearing beams 3, correspondingly bound by fixtures. A back-rest 8 is joined to the chair shell furniture modules by means of two distance elements. Two shell furniture elements 9 are placed X-wise on the four legs 1 at a distance of 2/3 from their bottom end, and a seat 10 is fixed on them. Figures 13 to 15 illustrate a cabinet without doors made according to the method subject of the invention. The cabinet consists of shell furniture modules to which two rectangular- shaped bodies opened at the top 11 are fixed. The bodies 11 are also made according to the present method and their ends form a shell part 13. The two bodies 11 are preliminarily glued along their vertical walls on whose free ends a top 12 is placed. The back side of the cabinet has a back 15 and the space between the top 12, the back 15 and the horizontal wall of the body 11 is divided into sections by vertical partitions 14.

Figures 16 to 18 show a two-sided cabinet made according to the method subject of the invention. The two-sided cabinet consists of shell furniture modules to which a rectangular-shaped body opened at the top 21 is fixed. A top 16 is fixed to the free ends of the vertical walls of the body 21; the space between the top 16 and the horizontal wall of the rectangular-shaped body opened at the top 21 is divided in two sections by a horizontal partition 17. The sections are closed at the back side of the cabinet by means of a back 18, 19, with the back 18 of the bottom section being placed opposite the back 19 of the upper section. The body 21 also has a shell part 20 at its ends.

Claims

PATENT CLAIMS

1. Method for production of a furniture module, including the making of furniture elements of the type of a leg and a bearing beam, where each furniture element is formed by cutting out a blank from a sheet material and folding the blank to obtain the furniture element, then the furniture elements are bound to form a closed furniture module, characterised in that the sheet material used is a three-layer sheet material and the cutting of the sheet material is followed by removal of part of the sheet material in depth to form cuts and by folding the sheet material along these cuts internal and external edges are formed, then the outer external edges of the blank and the edges of the cuts are glued and thus a shell furniture element for binding is formed, then the ready shell furniture elements (1,2,3) are bound by a fixture (4,4'), in which binding the preliminarily bevelled shell furniture elements are fitted on the fixture (4,4') and are glued so as their external edges meet in a point and thus a shell furniture module (28) is formed consisting of horizontal beams (2,3) and a leg (1).

2. Method according to claim 1, characterised in that the fixture (4) consists of three solid parts lying in space at 90° to one another and having a common apex, where each solid part has a cross-section corresponding to the cross-section of a shell furniture element for binding.

3. Method according to claim 1, characterised in that the fixture (4') consists of two solid parts lying at 90° to each other and bound by a connection plate (22) with an opening(23) in the corner part in which opening a bearer (24) is fitted.

4. Method according to claim 3, characterised in that the horizontal bearing beams (2,3) and the fixture (4') form a frame to which the leg (1) is fixed by means of the bearer (24) and a bolt (25).

5. Method according to claim 1, characterised in that the shell furniture elements (1,2,3,) for binding may have triangular, rectangular or any other angular cross-section.

6. Method according to claim 1, characterised in that the three-layer sheet material comprises two outer layers of plastic material, more specifically aluminium, and a middle layer of hard material, more specifically plywood.

7. Method according to claim 1, characterised in that to the shell furniture modules are mounted furniture elements such as topss (7) and bodies (11,21), made of the above-mentioned three-layer sheet material.

8. Shell furniture module, including bound shell furniture elements of the type of a leg and horizontal bearing beams formed of folded sheet material, characterised in that it consists of three shell furniture elements (1,2,3) made of three-layer sheet material, where two of the elements (2,3) are horizontal bearing beams with cross-section of isosceles triangle and the third one is a leg (1) with cross-section of equilateral triangle, where the preliminarily bevelled shell furniture elements are bound by a fixture, with their external edges meeting in a point, to form a shell furniture module (28).

9. Shell furniture module according to claim 8, characterised in that the fixture (4) consists of three solid parts lying in space at 90° to one another and having a common apex, where each solid part has a cross-section corresponding to the cross-section of a shell furniture element for binding.

10. Shell furniture module according to claim 8, characterised in that the fixture (4') consists of two solid parts lying at 90° to each other and bound by a connection plate (22) with an opening (23) in the corner part in which opening a bearer (24) is fitted.

11. Shell furniture module according to claim 8, characterised in that the horizontal bearing beams (2,3) and the fixture (4') form a frame to which the leg (1) is fixed by means of the bearer (24) and a bolt (25).

12. Shell furniture module according to claim 8, characterised in that the shell furniture elements for binding may have triangular, rectangular or any other angular cross- section.

13. Shell furniture module according to claim 8, characterised in that the three- layer sheet material comprises two outer layers of plastic material, more specifically aluminium, and a middle layer of hard material, more specifically plywood.

14. Use of a shell furniture module for production of furniture such as tables, chairs, and cabinets.