Patent Application
20250082097
Not applicable.
The subject of this invention is a bookcase equipped with multi-compartment lighting devices with adjustable sections.
The innovation has a particular although not exclusive scope in the industry for production of furnishing elements and, in particular, in the furniture production and sales industry, the specific invention having a special application in the bookcase production industry.
In the furnishing sector, among furnishing elements, furniture assumes a special importance, also in relation to its functional usefulness, being intended to contain objects that are inserted in or placed on the unit, and also from an appreciably aesthetic perspective for the non-strictly intrinsically functional connotation in relation to the units in question, which have the potential to characterize the space in which they are positioned. In the vast category of furniture units, one of the most widely diffused types, especially in the home, is composed of units designed exclusively or primarily to contain books, meaning the units commonly referred to as bookcases. The same structure of a bookcase derives from the connotation that characterizes it since, as can be clearly understood, being primarily designed to accommodate books in such a way that said intended use makes it necessary, in the design of its structure, to award of adequate consideration to the fact that the unit is designed in order to support significant weight in stable conditions, depending on the number of books it is designed to hold. The basic structure of a bookcase is traditionally imparted by the ordered assembly of uprights and shelves that are suitably structured to resist the loads they must support. Said uprights and shelves that make up the basic structure of a bookcase can be made of different materials and can be implemented in different shapes depending on the specific design. If the basic structure of a bookcase is created by intersecting uprights and shelves that may be made of different materials that are fit for purpose, for example, wood, composite panels, metal structures or other, such that, in order to strengthen the structure, there are applied, by means of interlocking joints between the uprights and shelves, rear panels that strengthen the structure in question being also, for this purpose, known reinforcing devices including tie bars that are suitably positioned to be secured to different elements of the bookcase structure and, again for the purpose of reinforcement, there is the facility to use devices of known type fit for purpose, such as, by way of example, squares or brackets that are appropriately fixed to the structure of uprights and shelves.
Among the various models of bookcase possible, some may be of the modular type, being configured to allow the composition of the unit to be customised further. Some known bookcase solutions are structured in such a way that some or all the compartments of which they are composed can be rotated, being configured with radial compartments on circular shelves, this solution allowing a different layout of the books supported by the shelf and different access possibility to the books for the user who, with respect to traditional type bookcases, on the one hand lacks the facility for complete visibility of the books on the shelves, while on the other hand and consequently, access is facilitated, thus allowing the user to deposit and withdraw books while standing in the same position in front of the rotatable shelf. Moreover, with regard in particular to the subject of this invention, prior art also includes bookcases equipped with lighting devices that may be of various types, all designed for illumination of the compartments, said lighting devices used for this purpose being of different types, with the facility for implementation also as accessories to the bookcase. Even though the lighting devices supplied with existing bookcase solutions may be of a variety of different known types, the use of LED lighting devices is a widely adopted practice for the illumination of bookcase shelves. Known solutions involve positioning of one or more lighting devices mounted to the upper part of the bookcase and oriented downwards in the direction of the bookcase front vertical plane.
Also in existing patent literature, various bookcase solutions involving different technical solutions are identified among which the following are mentioned here, merely by way of example:
D1 offers a concise description of a bookcase solution and, in particular, a quadrangular shaped bookcase solution incorporating a bookcase body with doors and legs, wherein said bookcase body is fashioned in wood panels with the front of the bookcase body being partially open, wherein said bookcase body additionally incorporates, in correspondence with the upper part, a shelf that extends over the full width of said bookcase body, below said shelves it being provided that the bookcase body features a series of contiguous shelves with, between the sides of said bookcase body, there being mounted two uprights and horizontal shelves that intersect said uprights. Furthermore, said bookcase incorporates a lower unit equipped with doors and in which said bookcase body is further equipped with supporting legs connected to the base panel of said bookcase body.
D2 offers a concise description of a furniture unit solution constituting a bookcase that incorporates lateral panels and at least one lower panel and one upper panel, additionally with the option of including one or more shelves, wherein the side panels are substantially perpendicular with respect to said top and bottom panels, these latter being reciprocally parallel to one another, with the provision that they can be reciprocally engaged to form a shape other than a parallelepiped. It is also provided that said frame forming the bookcase structure includes two battens that form part of the unit's frame, each of which arranged along and in contact with the corresponding panel, in particular the lateral panel and the bottom panel, in order to create reinforcement ribs and simultaneously connecting elements in such a way as to reciprocally interconnect and secure two bookcase bodies such as to allow the composition of a complex bookcase, starting by joining the prepared modular elements of which it is composed.
D3 offers a concise description of a multi-purpose bookcase solution including a series of bookcase bodies arranged contiguously, being articulated by means of rotational bodies and wherein said bookcase be equipped with at least one motor and at least one controller device, and with the electrical power supply and LED lighting devices, the bookcase bodies being mounted on wheels and being equipped with articulation devices such as to allow them to be moved. Additionally, the proposed solution includes a dehumidifier device, with said bookcase solution being potentially equipped with drawers, so that the set of characteristics of the proposed solution allow the user to obtain two different possible bookcase configurations thanks to the possibility of moving reciprocally articulated components.
D4 offers a concise description of a bookcase implemented in such a way as to incorporate circular surfaces joined by a central supporting unit, the circular base board being equipped with swivel wheels; moreover, the proposed bookcase solution incorporating a plurality of columns positioned in the proximity of the central support body, said columns being arranged in such a way as to be spaced such as to create spatial division designed to form compartments and in which said columns can be equipped in turn with LED lighting devices controllable by the user. The bookcase structure according to the proposed solution allows positioning of books and objects in such a way that they are supported, given that they can also be separated by said columns. Additionally, by means of said lighting devices allowing illumination of books and objects in low visibility conditions, said bookcase also being moveable in a rotary or linear direction in accordance with the user's contingent needs.
D5 offers a concise description of a bookcase solution and in particular of a method for construction of a bookcase wherein the proposed bookcase includes at least one illuminated shelf wherein the lighting devices are of the LED type, where said lighting devices incorporated in the shelf surface, the proposed bookcase being fashioned in such a way as to include a plurality of shelves, in which the LED lighting device is fully embedded into the surface of a panel that increases the thickness of the panel of which the shelf is composed. To allow activation of the LED lighting devices incorporated into the shelf, in the proposed solution they are equipped with the necessary wiring and an activation device based on a proximity sensor said lighting devices having the potential to equip not only the bookcase shelves but also its walls, additionally providing that the LED lighting device can be associated with a light diffuser element composed of an acrylic element or an element in an appropriate different material having light diffusion properties.
All prior solutions of bookcases identified in the tracked prior art have defects and limitations that result in consequent drawbacks.
A first drawback, in the applicant's opinion, characterizing all bookcase solutions as in the tracked prior art, was found to subsist in the identified circumstance whereby all said known bookcase solutions are not provided with technical features compatible with the implementation of multi-compartment lighting created by means of suitable integration of lighting devices, notably LED type lighting devices, in the bookcase.
A second drawback, in the applicant's opinion, characterizing all bookcase solutions as in the tracked prior art, was found to subsist in the identified circumstance whereby all said known bookcase solutions are not provided with technical features compatible with the implementation of multi-compartment lighting provided by means of appropriate integration in the bookcase of lighting devices, notably of the LED type, with such integration being not immediately visible.
A third drawback, in the applicant's opinion, characterizing all bookcase solutions as in the tracked prior art, was found to subsist in the identified circumstance whereby all the existing bookcase solutions, even when configured in such a way as to allow rotation of the surfaces, are not configured to allow semi-rotational positioning of one section of the bookcase with respect to the other.
Another drawback, in the applicant's opinion, characterizing all bookcase solutions as in the tracked prior art, was found to subsist in the identified circumstance whereby all known bookcase solutions are not prearranged to allow at least one bookcase section to semi-rotate relative to the other bookcase section, even if the bookcase is against a wall, preventing a frontal overview of the shelves.
Overall, these introductory considerations reveal a pre-eminent need to find alternative solutions.
This aim and other aims are achieved with this innovation in accordance with the characteristics shown in the attached claims, resolving the illustrated problems by means of a bookcase equipped with multi-compartment lighting devices with adjustable sections including at least one shelf supported by at least one upright and including at least two contiguous compartments, in which at least one shelf or, alternatively or simultaneously, at least one upright, in correspondence with the front edge, is equipped with at least a first oblique wall and at least a second oblique wall, wherein, in front of said oblique walls, in an offset position, there is at least one multi-compartment lighting device equipped with at least one longitudinal channel housing incorporating at least one LED lighting device.
In this manner, multiple benefits are achieved by means of a substantial creative contribution whose effect is an immediate technical advance.
A first beneficial aim of this solution is that of obtaining a bookcase equipped with multi-compartment lighting devices with adjustable sections, whose innovative structure allows implementation of multi-compartment lighting provided by means of appropriate integration of lighting devices in the bookcase structure, especially of the LED type with a diffused light effect of at least two contiguous compartments.
A second beneficial aim of this solution is that of obtaining a bookcase equipped with multi-compartment lighting devices with adjustable sections, whose innovative structure allows not only multi-compartment lighting with integrated LED lighting devices and diffused light, but also to achieve the effect of integrating said lighting devices in such a way that they are not directly visible.
A third beneficial aim of this solution is that of obtaining a bookcase equipped with multi-compartment lighting devices with adjustable sections whose innovative structure allows semi-rotated positioning of at least one section of the bookcase relative the other section of the same, with said semi-rotated positioning made possible by the presence of devices that allow easy positioning in predetermined positions.
Another beneficial purpose of this solution is that of obtaining a bookcase equipped with multi-compartment lighting devices with adjustable sections whose innovative structure allows semi-rotated positioning of at least one bookcase section relative to the other bookcase section, also in the event where said bookcase is in standing against a wall, thus offering a frontal prospect of the shelves and the objects placed upon them.
These and other benefits will become evident from the following detailed description of several preferential construction solutions with the aid of the attached schematic drawings, whose execution details are provided merely by way of example and without limitation.
With reference also to the representations in
In greater detail of the described construction example, as shown in particular in
In the described construction example, the reciprocal connection between right-hand side (21) and left-hand side (22), base panel (23) and upper panel (24) makes it possible to create a bookcase base unit (2) in the shape of a parallelepiped, however with the possibility that bookcase base unit (2) could have a different shape as far as compatible with the intended use and the specific construction design. Additionally, bookcase base unit (2), as per the described construction example in
The bookcase (1) as per the innovation that is the subject of this invention is fashioned such that in addition to said bookcase base unit (2) there is also a bookcase central unit (3), in the described construction example and preferably, as shown in
Furthermore, bookcase central unit (3) is equipped with shelves (6) that are mounted in parallel between shaped base panel (33) and shaped upper panel (34), said shelves (6) being suitably positioned orthogonally to said uprights (5) with which bookcase central unit (3) is equipped, in the described example said shelves (6) are three in number and they are positioned equidistantly. In this manner, the reciprocal positions of said uprights (5) and said shelves (6) result, in known manner, that bookcase central unit (3) to acquires a series of compartments (10) able to accommodate objects. Necessarily, due to the shape of bookcase central unit (3) and especially to the shape of shaped base panel (33) and shaped upper panel (34), also said uprights (5) and shelves (6) must be implemented in such a way as to be compatible with said shapes, especially with regard to the portion of shaped base panel (33) and shaped upper panel (34) in correspondence with the part that incorporates the oblique rear side (331, 341). The bookcase central unit (3), as shown in detail in
Innovatively, interposed between bookcase base unit (2) and bookcase central unit (3), bookcase (1) as at the innovation that is the subject of this invention, is equipped with a first positioning plate (8), preferably metal, which latter is appropriately engaged to the top of the first upper panel (24) using known threaded fixing devices. In greater detail, as illustrated in
In the described example, engagement locations (9) of first positioning plate (8) are four in number, arranged in opposing pairs, and they correspond to the position assumed by the corresponding engagement locations (9) fitted to the bookcase base unit (2) upper panel (24), with which the first positioning plate (8) is to be engaged. The shaped base panel (33) of bookcase central unit (3), appropriately equipped with engagement locations (9) arranged in such a way as to allow positioning of the bookcase base unit (2) and the first positioning plate (8) to occur at predetermined positions defined by positioning of engagement locations (9) with which the shaped base panel (33) of bookcase central unit (3) is likewise engaged with said first positioning plate (8).
In the example, as shown in
The bookcase (1), as represented in the diagrams in
In order to allow bookcase central unit (3) to be set in a semi-rotated position relative to bookcase upper unit (4), it is envisaged that, as illustrated in particular in
Viewing the described example in detail, as illustrated in
Given the described structure of bookcase (1) as per the innovation that is the subject of this invention, bookcase central unit (3) can also be set in a semi-rotated position relative to both bookcase base unit (2) and to bookcase upper unit (4), said position being allowed by fixed and predetermined positions imposed by the predetermined location of engagement locations (9). The solution that is the subject of this innovation also includes the possibility of semi-rotated positioning not only of bookcase central unit (3) relative to bookcase base unit (2) and to bookcase upper unit (4), but also of semi-rotated positioning of bookcase base unit (2) relative to bookcase central unit (3) and/or bookcase upper unit (4) relative to bookcase central body (3) in accordance with the positions permitted by engagement locations (9) as at first positioning plate (8) and the second positioning plate (11), and by engagement locations (9) with which shaped base panel (33) and shaped upper panel (34) of bookcase central unit (3) are equipped and by positioning of engagement locations (9) with which upper panel (24) of bookcase base unit (2) and lower panel (43) of bookcase upper unit (4) are equipped.
Furthermore, bookcase central unit (3) is at least expected to be innovatively equipped with multi-compartment LED lighting devices (12) such as to provide simultaneous lighting of at least two contiguous compartments (10) and at least bookcase central unit (3). Viewing the described construction example in greater detail, as particularly represented in
Viewing the described construction example in greater detail, lighting profile (13) is implemented in such a way as to be preferably of identical thickness to that of shelf (6), although also with the option of implementing the thickness of lighting profile (13) and its shape in accordance with specific aesthetic requirements dependent on the bookcase (1) to be constructed. In the example, lighting profile (13) is of length at least equal to the length of shelf (6) which is equipped with said lighting profile and connected by means of a known method at least to uprights (5), which form the contiguous compartments (10) to be lit, providing additionally that lighting profile (13) is positioned in such a way as to be set back from first oblique wall (61) and from second oblique wall (62) of the shelf equipped (6) with said lighting profile, additionally providing that LED lighting device (14) integrated in longitudinal channel housing (131) of lighting profile (13) is facing first oblique wall (61) and second oblique wall (62) of shelf (6). In this manner, multi-compartment lighting device (12) with which at least some compartments (10) of bookcase central unit (3) are equipped, is embodied by the contribution of lighting profile (13) integrating LED lighting device (14) which, once activated, due to its frontal position, directly and frontally lights first oblique wall (61) and second oblique wall (62) of shelf (6) in such a way that the light emitted by lighting profile (13), by means of LED lighting device (14) and with the contribution of the aforementioned oblique walls (61, 62) of the shelf, assists in diffusing light to the two compartments (10), contiguously positioned one over the other, wherein shelf (6) equipped with multi-compartment lighting device (12) constitutes a partition element.
The innovation that is the subject of this invention provides for the possibility that multi-compartment lighting device (12) may also be configured to equip at least one upright (5) of bookcase central unit (3) with, in this case, upright (5) that is implemented, entirely or partially, in such a way as to conform to the implementation of shelves (6) of bookcase central unit (3), in such a way as to incorporate, in correspondence with the front edge of upright (5), a first oblique wall and a second oblique wall both implemented in conformity with the matters described concerning shelf (6) of bookcase central unit (3), which incorporates multi-compartment lighting device (12). In greater detail, it is envisaged that, with reference to integration of multi-compartment lighting device (12) in upright (5), lighting profile (13), equipped with longitudinal channel housing (131) which incorporates LED lighting device (14), is set back from the front edge of upright (5), equipped with the first and second oblique wall, where said lighting profile is connected in known manner to said upright (5) and/or to one or more shelves (6). Furthermore, the solution that is the subject of this invention provides the possibility that multi-compartment lighting device (12) can equip one or more shelves (6) of bookcase central unit (3) and one or more uprights (5) of said bookcase central unit (3), providing also the possibility that multi-compartment lighting device (12) can also be fitted to bookcase base unit (2) and/or bookcase upper unit (4). In compliance with the foregoing description, the solution as at this invention may be implemented at least in such a way as to create a bookcase (1) equipped with multi-compartment lighting devices, incorporating at least one shelf (6) supported by at least one upright (5) and including at least two contiguous compartments (10), characterized by the fact that at least one shelf (6) or at least one upright (5), in correspondence with the front edge, be equipped with a first oblique wall (61) and at least a second oblique wall (62), wherein in front of said oblique walls (61, 62), in a position set back from said oblique walls (61, 62), there is at least one multi-compartment lighting device (12) incorporating at least one lighting profile (13) equipped with at least one longitudinal channel housing (131) in which at least one LED lighting device (14) is integrated, additionally allowing the facility to position at least part of the units (2, 3, 4) of which the bookcase may be composed in accordance with predetermined locations, also in semi-rotated positions.
Additionally, it is envisaged that the first oblique wall (61) and second oblique wall (62), with which shelf (6) and/or upright (5) are equipped, are implemented in a material other than the material of the shelf (6) or upright (5) equipped with said oblique walls, in particular with the possibility of being implemented in a diffuser and/or reflective material of a known type.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 202023000003741 | Sep 2023 | IT | national |
