1. Technical Field
This invention relates to an assembly between a side member and a rear panel of a piece of
2. Background Art
German published specification No. 198 23 537 A1 discloses a set of shelves built up from very thin walls of plate material. Thus the individual side member consists of one thin plate only and the latter is fastened to a rear plate of the set of shelves by means of relatively small tongues on the plates of the side members, the tongues being slid into the grooves in the rear panel. As each wall of the set of shelves consists of only one layer of plates, the set of shelves has only low carrying capacity. The set of shelves is relatively light, but it is not as stable and strong as desirable.
The object of the invention is to provide an assembly between a side member and a rear panel of a piece of furniture, and which is not only of relatively light weight but which is also stable and strong and easy to set up.
The assembly according to the invention is characterized in that it consists of a flange part of the rear panel inserted sidewards into a locking slot in the side member, the insertion being effected via a longitudinal groove at the access to the locking slot; and the rear panel being secured to the side member by at least one part of the side member extending into at least one withdrawal slot, in the rear panel, or by at least one part of the rear panel extending into at least one withdrawal slot in the side member. Hereby an assembly is obtained which is not only of light weight, but which is also stable and strong and easy to set up.
According to the invention the locking slot of the side member—seen from a horizontal sectional view—may substantially have the shape of a trapeze, and the flange part of the rear panel may have at least one tilted edge face with the same inclination or substantially the same inclination as a tilted wall in said trapeze, and the tilted edge face of the rear panel may abut said tilted wall. Thereby an increased stability of the assembly is obtained.
Furthermore, if the side member is made of a laminate consisting of a central interlayer and a panel plate at each side of the interlayer, according to the invention the locking slot, into which the rear panel is inserted, may be placed off said interlayer, where at least one edge part of said receiving slot may be inserted in a longitudinal groove in the flange part of the rear panel. Hereby an additional stabilization of the flange part of the rear panel is obtained in relation to the side member.
Moreover, according to the invention the rear panel may have a longitudinal projection at at least a part of its width, said longitudinal projection being adapted to interact with a longitudinal withdrawal slot at the edge area of one of the panel plates. Also hereby the assembly is stiffened.
Furthermore, according to the invention the interlayer of the side member may be of light weight material such as cellular material with a thickness of 15-50 mm while the panel plates may for instance be of chipboard or massive bond plate and have a thickness of 15-22 mm. Hereby it is achieved that the assembly provides a considerable stability without being particularly heavy.
Besides, according to the invention the interlayer of said side member may he built up from thin IMF (high density fiberboard), MDF (medium density fiberboard), hardboard or thin, preferably approximately 2.5 mm thick, massive bond plate. Thereby an especially stable assembly is obtained.
Furthermore, according, to the invention a strip of chipboard or massive wood may be provided at the outer edge of the interlayer, and at the center of the interlayer a “Honeycomb” cell-like construction of pulpwood fibers, preferably of Liner quality may be provided. This embodiment has shown to be particularly strong in relation to the weight of the material.
The invention also relates to a piece of furniture, such as a set of shelves, a wardrobe or a kitchen element, and which at least consists of two side members and a rear plate as well as possibly one or more shelves placed on top of each other, said piece of furniture being characterized in that at least one of the assemblies between the side members and the rear plate is adapted according to one or more of claims 1-7. Hereby it is achieved that the piece of furniture gains a sound cohesion without this implying that the piece of furniture becomes much heavier.
The invention is explained in detail below with reference to the drawings, in which
The assembly 1 shown in
As shown in
instead of one or more longitudinal grooves 20 being placed in the rear panel 3, a projection 21, possibly two projections 21 and 21a extending to the edge close to the rear plate (see
The central interlayer 16 of the side member 2 may be of light weight material, for instance cellular material, and have a thickness of 15-50 mm. The panel plates 15 and 17 may for instance be built up of chipboard or massive bond plate. Each panel plate 15, 17 may have a thickness of 15-22 mm.
The light weight material in the interlayer 16 of the side member may be built up from thin HDF (high density fiberboard), MDF (medium density fiberboard), hardboard or a thin, preferably approximately 2.5 mm thick, massive bond plate.
As shown in
As shown in
The assembly according to the invention is particularly well adapted for use in sets of shelves, wardrobes or kitchen elements at least consisting of two side members and a rear panel as well as one or more shelves placed on top of each other. The assembly according to the invention is included in at least one of the assemblies between the side members and the rear panel.
As it appears the invention especially relates to the locking function between the rear panel and the side members in a piece of case furniture.
Specifically, the assembly according to the invention can be set up by providing a single groove 20 at one side of the rear panel 3—said groove being approximately 1.5 mm±0.2 mm deep and 3.2±0.2 nun wide; alternatively a groove 20 can be provided at each side of the rear panel 3, said grooves being approximately 1.0±0.2 mm deep and 3.2±0.2 mm wide. The grooves are provided lengthwise along the rear panel 3, for instance 2.0 mm from the edge of the rear panel.
The object of having grooves 20 at each side of the rear panel 3 (see
Provided that there are grooves 20 at both sides of the rear panel 3, the finished piece of furniture is more stable than if there is only one groove 20 in said rear panel.
On manufacturing a piece of furniture according to the invention, e.g. a set of shelves, the perpendicular locking slots 6 (see
The invention can be changed in many ways without deviating from the idea behind it.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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PA200500773 | May 2005 | DK | national |
This application is a division of copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/921,208 (allowed), which is the U.S. national stage of international application No. PCT/IB2006/001360 filed May 24, 2006, claiming the right to priority of Denmark patent application No. PA 2005 00773 filed May 27, 2005, the disclosures of all of which applications are incorporated herein in their entirety by this reference.
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 11921208 | Nov 2007 | US |
Child | 14268475 | US |