WO2006053557A1

WO2006053557A1 - A building system, a plate member, a pin member and a bracket member for use in said building system

Info

Publication number: WO2006053557A1
Application number: PCT/DK2004/000801
Authority: WO
Inventors: Egon Kjaer Jensen; Tommy BINDESBØL
Original assignee: Ekj Holding Aps
Priority date: 2004-11-19
Filing date: 2004-11-19
Publication date: 2006-05-26

Abstract

The present invention relates to a building system (1) comprising a number of plate members (2), and a number of pin members (3), where said plate members (2) are provided with a number of holes (4), wherein said pin members (3) are arranged for the assembly of said building system (1), wherein said holes (4) are arranged in predetermined patterns on edge parts (5) and surfaces (6) of said plate members (2), and said pin members (3) are adapted to connect and maintain plate members (2). The present invention , furthermore, relates to a plate member (2), a pin member (3) and a bracket member (10) for use in said building system (1).

Description

A BUILDING SYSTEM, A PLATE MEMBER, A PIN MEMBER AND A BRACKET MEMBER FOR USE IN SAID BUILDING SYSTEM.

Field of the invention

The present invention relates to a building system comprising a number of plate mem¬ bers and a number of pin members, and where said plate members are provided with a number of holes, wherein said pin members are arranged for the assembly of said building system.

The present invention, furthermore, relates to a plate member, a pin member and a bracket member for use in said building system.

Background of the invention

Building systems for the assembly of shelf systems are typically restricted by the pre¬ determined height and width of the end sections, hence the shelf systems will have a predetermined look and design. Furthermore, it is not possible to use the same build- ing parts from the shelf system to build other kinds of furniture or wall structures.

To assemble do-it-yourself furniture it is known to use fastening means such as special made fittings, adhesive means, e.g. glue, dowels, screws, nails, bolts with nuts, or long screws with perpendicular fittings. These fastening means make it necessary that the person assembling the do-it-yourself furniture must be handy with tools, and have the necessary time to assemble the do-it-yourself furniture or wall structure.

Furthermore, it is a very time consuming and often difficult process to dismantle the do-it-yourself furniture or wall structure, and the building parts can be damaged during this process, rendering it impossible to assemble the do-it-yourself furniture again.

Moving already assembled do-it-yourself furniture or wall structures to another ad¬ dress will be very difficult to do without having excess space in the moving vehicle, which, when rented, will be at a higher cost than a smaller vehicle. Object of the invention

It is the object of the present invention to provide a versatile building system where it is very easy to build numerous different furniture or wall structures with a reduced number of building parts, and which is easy to dismantle for transportation or assem- bly as new and different furniture or wall structures.

This can be achieved with a building system according to the preamble of claim 1 , and wherein the holes are arranged in predetermined patterns on edge parts and surfaces of the plate members and the pin members are adapted to connect and maintain plate members.

It is, furthermore, an object of the present invention to provide a plate member, a pin member, and/or a bracket member for use in said building system.

This can be achieved with:

- a plate member according to the preamble of claim 5, and wherein the plate member is provided with a number of holes, which are arranged in predetermined patterns on edge parts and surfaces of said plate member.

- a pin member according to the preamble of claim 8 and wherein said pin member is provided with one or more preferable pointed end parts, which is provided with a full or partial encircling recess.

- a bracket member according to the preamble of claim 8 and wherein said bracket member is provided with a number of end parts adapted to fit into said holes.

Description of the invention

For providing a building system, which is versatile and very easy and quick to assem¬ ble and dismantle, it is necessary that the building parts are made in accordance with the same basic principle, and that there only are a few different building parts.

When the same basic principle applies to the building parts, it allows the person to easily choose the right building part without having to read a long and extensive man¬ ual before assembling the furniture or wall structure. Furthermore, the versatility will increase, because it is possible to assemble the build¬ ing parts in many different ways, hence it is possible to build a chair, a table, a shelf system, or wall structure from the same basic building parts.

A building system complying with the aforementioned demands comprises a number of plate members, and a number of pin members, and where said plate members are provided with a number of holes, wherein said pin members are arranged for the as¬ sembly of said building system.

To assemble furniture or a wall structure of a number of plate members, the pin mem¬ bers are mounted in holes of adjacent plate members, and will then connect and main¬ tain the plate members in the wanted structure. The holes are arranged in predeter¬ mined patterns on edge parts and surfaces of said plate members, and said pin mem¬ bers are adapted to connect and maintain plate members.

To make sure that the furniture or the wall structure remains a rigid construction when loads or stresses are applied to the furniture or the wall structure, it is necessary to fixated the pin member in the holes in the plate member, hence said pin members are maintained in said holes with releasable locking means, which are adapted to be mounted in locking holes arranged substantially perpendicular to said holes for receiv¬ ing said pin members. The locking means are provided as releasable locking means because it should be possible, without extensive efforts, to dismantle the furniture or the wall structure.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention each of said locking means com¬ prises at least one locking pin, which is adapted to engage with the end parts of the pin member, and then prevent the unwanted removal of the end parts of the pin member out of the holes in the plate member. The locking pin is mounted after the assembly of the plate member with the pin members, and is mounted in the locking holes. The locking pins are e.g. screws or pointed screws, nails or bolts, which are mounted into the locking holes, and at least a part of the locking pin will then engage with the end parts of the pin member. When building furniture or a wall structure it can be necessary to make a construction where a plate member is a floating plate in order to enhance the design, or for practical reasons. Therefore said building system furthermore comprises a number of prefabri¬ cated bracket members, whereupon a plate member can be positioned.

In order to be able to adjoin plate members with pin members, said plate member is provided with a number of holes, which are arranged in predetermined patterns on edge parts and surfaces of said plate member.

The hole has a depth that ensures that at least the end parts of the pin members are received, so it is possible with the locking pin to securely maintain the pin members to the plate member. Furthermore, the depth of the holes determine the loads and stresses which the pin member/plate members can sustain.

The predetermined pattern of the positions of the holes allows easy and quick assem¬ bly of plate members, because the holes are positioned with the same distance or posi¬ tion on every plate member in the building system.

Furthermore, the holes are, in a preferred embodiment of the present invention, posi- tioned symmetrical on either the edge or surface of the plate member, hence there is no up and down part of the plate member, which makes the assembly very easy and quick.

The holes on the edge parts of the plate members allow the adjoining of plate members either in line, in corners or parallel. The holes on the surfaces of the plate members allow the adjoining of plate members on top of an underlying structure or out from a plate member.

The plate member can have various dimensions, so it is possible to assemble a furni- ture or a wall structure of any kind or size, but to make the building system easy to use the plate members are typically provided in systems where either the height or the width is the same of all the plate members, e.g. a wall structure where the adjoined plate members have the same width, but have different height, which can be used ef¬ fectively full as a room divider, or as a side wall in a exhibition stand.

To be able to securely maintain the end parts of the pin members in the holes of the plate members, said plate member is provided with a number of locking holes, which are arranged substantially perpendicular to said holes, and which are adapted to re¬ ceive the locking pin, which engages with the end parts of the pin members.

The locking holes can have a different dimension, thereby making a clear visible dif- ference between which holes are used to the locking pins, and the end parts of the pin members, hence making it very easy and quick to understand how to assemble the fur¬ niture or wall structure, and how to making it a rigid construction.

To be able to make different designs of the furniture or wall structures, said plate member is one or more of the following: a wood plate member, a chipboard plate member, a cardboard plate member, a metal plate member, a glass plate member, a ceramic plate member or the like. Furniture or wall structures can be made of one type of plate member, or be a mixture of different plate members, e.g. a table with legs of chipboard and a surface glass plate.

Alternatively, one plate member can be made up from two or more materials, which can be used practically, e.g. as a window in a wood plate wall structure, or as a design feature, e.g. as a glass plate in wood plate furniture.

To connect and maintain the plate member in the wanted position, pin members are used, which are adapted to be received and maintained in the holes of the plate mem¬ bers. To be able to fit the pin member into the holes of the plate member without dam¬ aging the hole or the surrounding edge or surface of the plate member, the pin member is provided with one or more preferably pointed end parts. Furthermore, the preferable pointed end parts are provided with a full or partial encircling recess, which is adapted to engage with the locking pins mounted substantially perpendicular on the part of the pin member received into the hole. The engaging of the locking pin and the full or partial encircling recess will ensure that the pin members are fully securely maintain in the holes, hence the plate members are fastened in a rigid construction.

To able to comply with the depth of the hole in the plate members, or to allow a dis- tance between the plate members, said pin member is provided with an approximately straight pin part, which is the either positioned inside two adjacent holes or is visible, and making the furniture or wall structure more airy, and providing an lighter visual design.

If the approximately straight pin part is visible, it is necessary that the pin member is made of a material which is visibly pleasing, and appropriate in the context of the furniture or wall structure at hand, hence the pin member is made of e.g. stainless steel, aluminium, hard wood, or the like.

In any furniture or wall structure it is necessary to make directional changes of e.g. two plate members to be able to assemble the plate members to apply the design of the furniture or wall structure. Therefore, said pin member is provided with a pin part with one or more angle parts, where these angel parts either can be very sharp, or more rounded, depending on the desired design of the furniture or wall structure.

If it is necessary to position two plate members in a corner arrangement, where the two plate members join in an angle, the pin member is provided with -a pin part with one angle part. If it is necessary to position two plate members parallel, but offset, the pin member is provided with a pin part with two angle parts.

The pin members can, furthermore, be used as part of the furniture or wall structure, e.g. as shelves or edge marks. It could then be desired that the pin part of the pin mem¬ ber has another dimension, or cross-section, to enhance the visible design of the furniture or wall structure, hence said pin member is provided with various dimen- sions and cross-sections. The only important thing is that the end parts of the pin members has the same dimension and cross section as the end parts of all the others pin members, whereby it is possible to mount every pin member in the same type of holes in the plate member, without having to drill special holes to comply with pin members with other dimensions or cross-sections.

Pin members can e.g. have a circular and/or triangular, rectangular or other polygonal cross-section or a combination of the aforementioned cross sections for the making of a visibly enhanced and special design of the furniture or wall structure. Likewise, the dimension of the pin members can be equal with the end parts, larger than the end parts, or smaller than the end parts for the making of a visibly enhanced and special design of the furniture or wall structure.

In one embodiment of the present invention the pin member is provided with one pointed end part, and the other end is rounded off with an end plate. This pin member can be used e.g. to provide support for a floating plate member, or as a leg raising the plate member from the underlying surface.

In a second embodiment of the present invention the pin member is provided with two pointed end parts. This pin member may be used to connect two plate members in line, or in a corner.

In a third embodiment of the present invention the pin member is provided with three or more pointed end part. This pin member can be used to connect e.g. three plate members in a tee-cross structure, or four plate members in a cross structure.

hi an embodiment of the present invention the furniture, e.g. a table or a shelf system, is wanted with a floating plate, which makes the design more appealing, and increases the numerous different ways it is possible to assemble the furniture. The floating plate must have a number of supports, and therefore the building system is, furthermore, provided with a number of bracket members, which are provided with a number of end parts adapted to fit into said holes. By having end parts of the bracket members similar to the end parts of the pin members allow for the bracket members to be used ran¬ domly with the plate members without having to provide special drilled holes. If the building system is provided with number of bracket members for holding a plate, e.g. a floating plate, it is necessary to ensure that the floating plate is not dam¬ aged by the bracket members, or can slide off the bracket members. Therefore said bracket member is provided with a padded part, which can be padded with plastic, rubber, textile such as felt or cloth, or the like.

The locking means comprises a locking pin mounted in the locking hole, which is ar¬ ranged perpendicular to locking hole, wherein an end part of a pin member is posi¬ tioned. The locking pin engages with the encircling recess of the end part of the pin member, thereby preventing the pin member from being pulled out of the locking hole.

The present invention is in the aforementioned especially adapted to do-it-yourself furniture and wall structures, but can be used in other kind of structures, e.g. sculp¬ tures, road barriers, building toys, boxes or the like.

Short description of the drawings

The invention is described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 shows a building system as a table according to the present invention,

Fig. 2 shows a building system as an another table according to the present invention, Fig. 3 shows a building system as a sculpture according to the present invention, Fig. 4 shows a number of pin members according to the present invention, and Fig. 5 shows a plate member according to the present invention.

Detailed description of the invention

Fig. 1 shows a building system 1 as a table, comprising a number of plate members 2 connected with pin members 3. The plate members 2 make up the support for the glass plate member 17. The pin members 3 have different dimensions, so the thin pin mem- bers 3 a connect and maintain the plate members 2 in position, while the thin pin mem¬ bers 3b furthermore make up shelves under the glass plate member 17. On the surface 6, it is possible to see the holes 4 positioned in a predetermined pattern. Fig. 2 shows a building system 1 as another table, comprising a number of plate mem¬ bers 2 connected with pin members 3. In the upper edge parts 5 of the plate members 2 a number of bracket members 10 are mounted for support of the glass plate member 17. The bracket members 10 are provided with end parts (not shown), which are mounted in holes (not shown) at the upper edge parts 5 of the plate members, and each bracket member 10 is provided with a padded part 16 to prevent the sliding of the glass plate member 17. The long pin members 3c are mounted in holes at the surfaces of the plate member 2 positioned at the ends of the table for ensuring a rigid construc¬ tion of the table.

Fig. 3 shows a building system 1 as a sculpture, where six plate members 2 are con¬ nected with pin members 3, which are mounted in holes (not shown) in the edge parts 5 of the plate members 2. The thick pin members 3b are mounted in holes (not shown) in the surfaces 6 of the top and bottom plate member 2, and provides strength to the sculpture if any load is positioned on the surface 6 of the top plate member 2. On the surface 6, it is possible to see the holes 4 positioned in a predetermined pattern.

Fig. 4 shows a first pin member 3 with two pointed end parts 11 , each provided with an encircling recess 12, which is adapted to engage with a locking pin (not shown). The pin member 3 comprises a strait pin part 13, hence the shown pin member 3 is used for connecting adjacent plate members (not shown) in line, either closely together or separated with a gap.

Fig. 4 furthermore shows a second pin member 3 with two pointed end parts 11, each provided with an encircling recess 12, and with a pin part 13 provided with an angle part 14, hence the shown pin member 3 is used for connecting plate members (not shown) in a corner.

Fig. 4 furthermore shows a third pin member 3 with one pointed end part 11 with an encircling recess 12 and one blunt end part 18, hence the shown pin member 3 is used e.g. for providing support for a floating plate member (not shown), or as a leg raising the plate member (not shown) from the underlying surface (not shown). Fig. 5 shows a plate member 2 with four edge parts 5 and two surfaces 6, wherein holes 4 are positioned in a predetermined pattern, and the holes 4 are symmetrical po¬ sitioned on the plate member 2, thereby rendering up and down or left and right obso¬ lete during assembly of the furniture or wall structure.

Claims

1. Building system (1) comprising a number of plate members (2), and a number of pin members (3), where said plate members (2) are provided with a number of holes (4), wherein said pin members (3) may be arranged for the assembly of said building system (1), characterized in that said holes (4) are arranged in predetermined patterns on edge parts (5) and surfaces (6) of said plate members (2), and said pin members (3) comprise means for connecting and maintaining plate members (2) in mutual fixed positions.

2. Building system (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that said pin members (3) are maintained in said holes (4) with releasable locking means (7), which are adapted to be mounted in locking holes (8) arranged substantially perpendicular to said holes (4) for receiving said pin members (3).

3. Building system (1) according to claim 2, characterized in that each of said locking means (7) comprises at least one locking pin (9).

4. Building system (1) according to any one of the claims 1-3, characterized in that said building system (1) furthermore comprises a number of prefabricated bracket members (10).

5. Plate member (2) for use in said building system (1) according to any of the claims 1-4, characterized in that said plate member (2) is provided with a number of holes (4), which are arranged in predetermined patterns on edge parts (5) and surfaces (6) of said plate member.

6. Plate member (2) according to claim 5, characterized in that said plate member (2) is provided with a number of locking holes (8), which are arranged sub- stantially perpendicular to said holes (4).

7. Plate member (2) according any one of the claims 5-6, characterizedin that said plate member (2) is one or more of the following: a wood plate member, a chip- board plate member, a cardboard plate member, a metal plate member, a glass plate member, a ceramic plate member, or the like.

8. Pin member (3) for use in said building system (1) according any one of the claims 1-4, characterizedin that said pin member (3) is provided with one or more preferably pointed end parts (11), which are provided with a full or partial encircling recess (12).

9. Pin member (3) according to claim 8, characterized in that said pin member (3) is provided with an approximately straight pin part (13).

10. Pin member (3) according to claim 8, characterized in that said pin mem¬ ber (3) is provided with a pin part (13) with one or more angle parts (14).

11. Pin member (3) according to any one of the claims 8-10, characterized in that said pin member (3) is provided with various dimension and cross-sections.

12. Bracket member (10) for use in said building system (1) according any one of the claims 1-4, characterized in that said bracket member (10) is provided with a number of end parts (15) adapted to fit into said holes (4).

13. Bracket member (10) according to claim 12, characterized in that said bracket member (10) is provided with a padded part (16).