WO2019145489A1

WO2019145489A1 - A modular furniture construction system

Info

Publication number: WO2019145489A1
Application number: PCT/EP2019/051878
Authority: WO
Inventors: Rikke Høgstrup MØLGAARD; Søren Hansen HINGE; Søren HOLM
Original assignee: Lego A/S
Priority date: 2018-01-26
Filing date: 2019-01-25
Publication date: 2019-08-01

Abstract

A modular furniture construction system adapted for resembling furniture constructed from large toy building blocks comprising a number of block elements 1, 2 having in their in use position an upper surface 11 formed by an upper flange 12 continuously extending along its periphery and having a substantially uniform wall thickness so that they form an upper opening 13, and where a set of lower flanges 14 extend at a distance downwardly from the bottom surface and are arranged so that they fit snugly into the upper opening 13, and comprises two sets of lower flanges being separated by a distance 15 of at least twice the wall thickness of the upper flange 12 at a position midways between the shortest side lengths of the rectangular horizontal cross section of the rectangular block elements 1.

Description

Title:

A modular furniture construction system

The prior art:

The present invention relates to a modular furniture construction system, and especially to such system being designed for the purpose of resembling toy building blocks being assembled to form a toy furniture, but made with large sized building blocks so that the construction is useful as a real furniture.

More specifically the invention relates to such a construction system compris- ing a number of block elements having in their in use position an upper sur- face and bottom surface the upper surface and bottom surface being provid- ed with complementary shaped coupling means adapted for interconnecting the block elements on top of each other to form a construction, and where each of the block elements has four vertically extending rectangular and mu- tually perpendicular side faces extending between the upper surface and the bottom surface.

Such furniture construction systems have been suggested in various different embodiments comprising multiple building blocks shaped correspondingly to their toy counterparts. These furniture construction systems provide a high degree of flexibility with respect to building different furniture constructions from a set of block elements.

Alternatively it has been proposed to provide a supporting structure having the aimed furniture functionality and thereafter attaching plane or 3 dimen- sional tiles resembling side faces of building blocks on the supporting struc- ture. Thereby providing a low cost system for constructing a specific furniture. The object of the invention:

On this background it is the purpose of the present invention to disclose a low cost furniture construction system of the above mentioned kind, and of- fering a high degree of flexibility for building furniture looking as if they are formed by large sized toy building elements.

This is obtained by the present invention according to claim 1 , and especially by having the upper surface of the blocks element formed by an upper flange continuously extending along its periphery and having a substantially uniform wall thickness so that they form an upper opening, and where a set of lower flanges extend at a distance downwardly from the bottom surface of the block element and being arranged so that they fit snugly into the upper opening, and where each of a first group of the block elements has a rectangular hori- zontal cross section with the longest side length being double the shortest side length, and the lower flanges comprises two sets of lower flanges being separated by a distance of at least twice the wall thickness of the upper flange at a position midways between the shortest side lengths of the rectan- gular horizontal cross section.

Thereby the block elements are simple and inexpensive to produce but at the same time, due to the option of stacking the blocks elements so that they intersect with one another, giving the same flexibility and stability as if they were designed as existing toy building blocks.

In a preferred embodiment the block elements comprises a second group of block elements having a square horizontal cross section with a side length corresponding to the side length of the shortest side length of the first group of block elements. The system may furthermore advantageously comprises a number of rectan- gular bottom frames, each being shaped like the upper flanges on the first group of block elements respectively.

Furthermore the system may in a preferred embodiment comprise a number of square or rectangular cover elements, each having a plane upper surface having the same side lengths as the upper surface of the second or first group of block elements, and further having a lower surface with a set of low- er flanges extends at a distance downwardly from the bottom surface and being arranged so that they fit snugly into the upper opening of one of the first or the second group of block elements.

In this relation the lower flanges on the rectangular cover elements may also advantageously comprise two sets of lower flanges being divided by a dis- tance of at least twice the wall thickness of the upper flange at a position midways between the shortest side lengths of the rectangular horizontal cross section.

In a preferred embodiment the side faces and the upper flange are formed by four chipboards or wooden boards.

Furthermore the lower flanges may advantageously be attached to the inside of the four chipboards or wooden boards facing each other.

Also the resemblance of a mega sized block system may be improved by having the mutually perpendicular side faces on at least some of the block elements formed by the chipboards or wooden boards covered with a tile of plastic material.

Furthermore the cover elements may for the same reason have a box shaped body part comprising the plane upper surface and the lower surface, and four side faces extending there between, and where the distance be- tween the plane upper surface and the lower surface corresponds to half or one third of the corresponding distance between the upper and the lower sur- face of the blocks elements.

Also the vertical height of the frame may preferably correspond to half or one third of the corresponding distance between the upper and the lower surface of the blocks elements.

The drawing:

In the following one or more embodiments of the invention will be described in more detail and with reference to the drawing, where:

Fig. 1 : Is a perspective drawing showing an exploded view of an embodiment of a furniture construction made with blocks elements according to the pre- sent invention.

Fig. 2: Is a perspective view of the furniture construction according to figure 1 , but in an assembled state.

Description of exemplary embodiments:

Fig. 1 shows one embodiment of a furniture item that may e.g. be used as a table with an integrated chair, but it will be apparent to the skilled person that the principle of the invention as described below will apply to the construction of any type of furniture element, such as a bench, a chair, a table, a bed, a sofa, an exhibition stand or any other furniture item by using different num- bers and combinations of blocks elements and other elements according to the invention as defined by the claims.

The furniture item is - in figure 1 - shown in an exploded view, and in figure 2 with a fully assembled state, comprising two different types of block ele- ments 1 , 2, one first type of block element 1 , and one second type of block element 2.

Figs. 1 and 2 shows a block element of the first type 1 and a block element of the second type 2 arranged side by side in lower part of the furniture, and a block element of the first type stacked on top thereof.

Now returning to Fig. 1 , the first type of block element 1 has a horizontal rec- tangular cross section defined by four vertically extending rectangular side surfaces 7, 8, 9, 10, for example provided as wooden boards, being assem- bled edge to edge to form a box with an upper surface 11 and a lower or bot- tom surface. An upper flange 12 of the side surfaces 7, 8, 9, 10 forms the periphery of an upper opening 13. Correspondingly, a bottom of the side sur- faces 7, 8, 9, 10 forms a periphery of the bottom surface. Each of the side surfaces of the first type of block element 1 comprises a height and a length. Block elements of the first type 1 comprises two parallel side surfaces 8, 9, which are longer than the other two side surfaces 7, 10. Preferably the longer side surfaces 8, 9 are double the length of the shorter side surfaces 7, 10.

The second type of block element 2 has a square rectangular cross section defined by four vertically extending rectangular side surfaces, which may also be formed as wooden boards, being assembled edge to edge to form a box with an upper surface and a lower or bottom surface. An upper flange 12a of the side surfaces forms the periphery of an upper opening. Correspondingly, a bottom of the side surfaces forms a periphery of the bottom surface. Each of the side surfaces of the second type of block element 2 comprises a height and a length. Block elements of the second type 2 comprises four side sur- faces, which have the same length. Preferably, the length of the side surfac- es of the block elements of the second type 2 is equal to the length of the shorter side surfaces 7, 10 of the block elements of the first type 1.

Preferably, the heights of all of the side surfaces of block elements of the first type 1 are equal. Preferably, the heights of all of the side surfaces of block elements of the second type 2 are equal. Preferably, the height of all of the side surfaces of block elements of the first type 1 and of the block elements of the second type 2 are equal. In an embodiment the heights of side surfac- es and the block elements of the first type 1 , and the block elements of the second type are equal, and further is equal to the lengths of short side sur- faces of the block element of the first type 1.

At the bottom of each of the longer side surfaces 8, 9 of the boxes forming the first group/type of block elements 1 is arranged two lower flanges 14 be- ing separated by a distance 15 having a width so that the upper flanges 12, 12a of the two block elements 1 , 2 below can shift in between the two flanges 14 on the upper block element 1. The flanges 14 are designed so that they form a snug fit with the upper flanges 12, 12a so that the two of the first group of block elements 1 and the block element 2 forming a second group of blocks elements can be assembled to form a stable brick bond structure as shown in figure 2, and being similar to what is possible using building block based toy construction sets. Two lower flanges 14 are preferably formed along the longer side surfaces 8, 9 of the block elements of the first type 1. A single lower flange may further be formed along each of the shorter side sur- faces 7, 10 of the block elements of the first type 1.

For the purpose of e.g. allowing construction of furniture with a brick bond structure, and at the same time having plane sides, then the second group of block elements 2 has a square horizontal cross section with a side dimension corresponding to the shortest side dimension of the corresponding cross sec- tions of the first group of block elements 1. According to the invention the second group of block elements may also have a lower flange (not shown) formed along each of the side surfaces of the block elements of the second type 2, for the purpose of allowing

- one or more block elements of the second type 2 to fit with the upper opening 13 of a block element of a first type 1 , or

- allowing a block element of the second type to fit with an upper open- ing of another block element of the second type 2 (not shown), or

- allowing a block element of the second type 2 to fit with a frame 4, 6 as described in the following.

The furniture construction system also comprises a set of frames 4, 6. One frame 6 comprises sides 6’ of equal lengths, whereby the frame has square shape. Another frame 4has a rectangular shape, with one set of sides 6’ hav- ing the same length as the first mentioned frame 6, and one set of sides 4’, having a length which is larger than the length of the sides 6’ of the first men- tioned frame. Both are designed so that they form a snug fit on the lower flanges 14.

The system according to this embodiment of the invention also comprises cover elements of a first type 3, and cover plate elements of a second type 5, each having a box shaped body part with a horizontal cross section corre- spond to the horizontal cross section of the first and the second group/types of block elements 1 , 2, and having side faces 8a, 10a all having a height be- ing 1/3 of the corresponding height of the side faces 7, 8, 9, 10 on the block elements 1 , 2. The cover elements 3, 5 has a plane upper surfaces 16 forrn- ing platforms to be used e.g. for sitting or resting, as a table board or as a display stand platform (e.g., for displaying an assembly of toy building blocks of a toy construction set). In the latter case it may be provided with a glass cage (not shown) for enclosing the items displayed in the display stand. Even though the block elements 1 , 2 and the lower frames 4, 6 and the cover elements 3, 5 does not look anything like existing building blocks of a toy construction set, then figure 2 shows the completely assembled furniture item where the lower frames 4, 6 resembles building plates of an existing toy con- struction set having (non existing) coupling knobs arranged on to for engag- ing with (non existing) coupling skirts underneath the block elements 1 , 2.

The block elements 1 , 2 resembles building blocks of the same toy construc- tion set also having coupling knobs arranged on top for engaging with (non existing) coupling skirts of the uppermost building elements of the toy con- struction set.

It will be apparent to the skilled person that the principle of the present inven- tion may be used also with block elements having other dimensions than the above mentioned, e.g. a large square block element with a square horizontal cross section, andhaving a cross section corresponding to two of the first group of block elements 1 arranged side by side, i.e. having four side surfac- es with a length corresponding to the side length of the longer side surfaces 8, 9 of the block elements of the first type 1 , or having a further group/type of block elements having a cross section of two or more block elements 1 , 2 arranged in each other’s extension.

Claims

Claims:

1. A modular furniture construction system comprising a number of block elements having in their in use position an upper surface and bottom surface, the upper surface and bottom surface being provided with complementary shaped coupling means adapted for interconnecting the block elements on top of each other to form a construction, and where each of the block elements has four vertically extending rectan- gular and mutually perpendicular side faces extending between the upper surface and the bottom surface and wherein the upper surface is formed by an upper flange continuously extending along its periph- ery and having a substantially uniform wall thickness so that they form an upper opening, and where a set of lower flanges extend at a dis- tance downwardly from the bottom surface, and are arranged so that they fit snugly into the upper opening of another block element, and where each of a first group of the block elements has a rectangular horizontal cross section with the longest side length being double the shortest side length, and where the lower flanges comprises two sets of lower flanges being separated by a distance of at least twice the wall thickness of the upper flange at a position midways between the shortest side lengths of the rectangular horizontal cross section.

2. A modular furniture construction system according to claim 1 wherein the block elements comprises a second group of block elements hav- ing a square horizontal cross section with a side length corresponding to the side length of the shortest side length of the first group of block elements.

3. A modular furniture construction system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the system further comprises a number of rectangular bottom frames, each being shaped like the upper flanges on the first group of block elements respectively.

4. A modular furniture construction system according to one or more of the preceding claims, wherein the system further comprises a number of square or rectangular cover elements, each having a plane upper surface having the same side lengths as the upper surface of the sec- ond or first group of block elements, and further having a lower sur- face with a set of lower flanges extends at a distance downwardly from the bottom surface and being arranged so that they fit snugly into the upper opening of one of the first or the second group of block ele- ments.

5. A modular furniture construction system according to claim 4, wherein the lower flanges on the rectangular cover elements comprises two sets of lower flanges being divided by a distance of at least twice the wall thickness of the upper flange at a position midways between the shortest side lengths of the rectangular horizontal cross section.

6. A modular furniture construction system according to one or more of the preceding claims, wherein the side faces and the upper flange are formed by four chipboards or wooden boards.

7. A modular furniture construction system according to claim 6, wherein each of the lower flanges are attached to the inside of the four chip- boards or wooden boards facing each other.

8. A modular furniture construction system according to claim 6, wherein the mutually perpendicular side faces on at least some of the block el- ements formed by the chipboards or wooden boards, are covered with a tile of plastic material.

9. A modular furniture construction system according to claim 4, wherein the cover elements has a box shaped body part comprising the plane upper surface and the lower surface, and four side faces extending there between, and where the distance between the plane upper sur- face and the lower surface corresponds to half or one third of the cor- responding distance between the upper and the lower surface of the blocks elements.

10. A modular furniture construction system according to claim 3, wherein the vertical height of the frame corresponds to half or one third of the corresponding distance between the upper and the lower surface of the blocks elements.