CABINET DOOR WITH INTERCHANGEABLE REMOVABLE PANEL

Abstract

A cabinet door for furniture composed of a supporting frame and a removable panel, which is provided with a back side designed to be disposed against the supporting frame, and a front side.

Description

The present patent application for industrial invention relates to a cabinet door with interchangeable panel.

The cabinet door of the invention has been devised to boost the furniture sector that, in spite of the continuous evolution of design, has always been standardized on consolidated solutions.

In fact, said cabinet door has been devised to satisfy the requirements of inconstant customers who want to change interior decoration frequently in order to get the feeling that they live in a different space.

In order to satisfy such a need they are currently forced to change their furniture either completely or partially, with high costs, considerable inconveniences and significant discomfort.

The purpose of the present invention is to provide a new type of cabinet door able to solve the aforementioned inconvenience.

The cabinet door of the invention derives from a completely new concept that provides for changing the aesthetic aspect of a furniture piece by changing the most significant ornamental aspects of the furniture structure.

More precisely, the cabinet door of the invention is composed of a covering panel removably fixed onto a supporting frame hinged on the front of the cabinet, in such manner that the replacement of the door with another door having identical structure but different color or pattern revolutionizes the general look of the furniture piece.

Such a structural configuration allows to satisfy the aforementioned requirement, without having to purchase new furniture, whenever the user wants to change the external chromatic aspect of a furniture piece without changing its structural configuration.

Such a result can be achieved at low cost also by owners of old furniture, since they simply need to buy new doors according to the present invention and use them to replace the existing doors.

Therefore, the cabinet door of the invention is adapted to be associated with a covering panel that can be interchanged with other panels having a similar structure, which can be ordered when purchasing the furniture or at a later time, having a different aesthetic look in terms of decorative-chromatic features, giving the user the possibility and pleasure to choose the panel mounted on the front of the door from time to time.

For explanatory reasons, the description of the cabinet door of the invention continues with reference to attached drawings, which only have an illustrative, not limitative value, wherein:

FIG. 1 is an exploded axonometric view of the cabinet door of the invention, wherein the supporting frame is hinged on the front of a stylized furniture piece;

FIG. 2 is an axonometric view showing in detail the coupling means, in uncoupled position, used to fix the covering panel onto the supporting frame of the door;

FIGS. 3 and 4 are two axonometric views of the locking means, in non-working and working position respectively, adapted to stabilize coupling between panel and frame of the cabinet door of the invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the cabinet door of the invention comprises a supporting frame (1) hinged on the front of a traditional cabinet (2), and a removable panel (3).

Said supporting frame (1) is of frame type and is composed of four metal sections (1a) joint at right angle in the proximity of the ends.

The removable panel (3) is provided with a back side (3a) adapted to be engaged against said supporting frame (1), and a front side (3b) adapted to remain visible also when the door is closed, touching the front border (2a) of the cabinet (2).

Said panel (3) and frame (1) are provided with coupling means respectively provided on the back side (3a) of the removable panel (3) and the front side of the frame (1), consisting in one or more pins (4,40) and corresponding housings (6,60).

On the back side (3a) of the removable panel (3) two or more pins (4) with enlarged head (4a) are provided, which can be made in one piece with the panel (3)—in case said panel is obtained from molding plastic materials—or obtained in plates (5) fixed on the back of the panel (3), as shown in FIG. 1.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, the front side (1b) of the frame (1), that is the side adapted to be interfaced with the back side (3a) of the removable panel (3), is provided with a set of housings (6), wherein the enlarged heads (4a) of said pins (4) are inserted.

More precisely, said housings (6) consist in holes disposed in such manner that when the removable panel (3) is stopped against the front side (1b) of said frame (1), each enlarged head (4a) completely enters the hole (6) acting as housing for the entire pin (4).

As shown in FIG. 2, each hole (6) has a keyhole configuration with “eye” (6b) from which a vertical slot (6a) branches off in lower vertical direction, being provided with suitable width to allow sliding of pin (4) only, and not of enlarged head (4a).

Because of the presence of such a hole, after completely inserting the pin (4) inside said hole (6), the removal of the panel (3) from the frame (1) can be simply prevented by translating the panel (3) downwards, thus making each pin (4) slide downwards inside the vertical slot (6a) of the hole (6).

Obviously, the stable coupling between each pin (4) and the corresponding hole (6) is guaranteed by the weight of the panel (3), which needs to be raised and moved away from the frame (1) in order to be removed.

Now referring to FIG. 3, said frame (1) preferably comprises, in correspondence of the upper side, a housing (60) adapted to house a corresponding pin (40) and containing locking means (7) adapted to stop the pin (40) inserted into the housing (60) when the pin (40) completes the insertion travel.

According to the preferred embodiment shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, said locking means (7) are contained inside a box-shaped plate (70) that incorporates the housing (60) and is situated in one of the metal sections (1a) of the frame (1).

More precisely, said locking means consist in a striker (7) that can have two positions, a first non-working position in which it does not prevent the insertion or removal of the pin (40) inside the housing (60), and a second working position in which it interferes with said pin (60) to prevent removal.

As shown in FIG. 3, said striker (7) oscillates around a pin with horizontal axis (7a) and is provided with end (7b) for actuation protruding from the frame (1) when the striker (7) is in non-working position, whereas it is disposed flush with the frame (1) when the striker (7) is in working position.

Referring to FIG. 4, when the striker (7) is in working position, with end (7b) flush with the frame (1), a small space (8) is formed, allowing to hold and raise the end (7b) when bringing the striker (7) from working to non-working position.

Finally, it must be noted that said coupling means also act as centering means, and that several embodiments may be devised by an expert of the art who might use a series of pairs of magnets as coupling and centering means, one magnet being disposed on the frame (1) and the other magnet being disposed on the back of the panel (3).

Claims

1. Cabinet door composed of a supporting frame and a removable panel, provided with a back side designed to be disposed against said supporting frame, and front side.

2. Door as claimed in claim 1, wherein said supporting frame comprises a frame composed of four metal sections joined at the ends.

3. Door as claimed in claim 1, wherein said panel and frame are provided with coupling means respectively on the back side of the removable panel and on the front side of the frame.

4. Door as claimed in claim 3, wherein said coupling means comprises two or more pins and corresponding housings.

5. Door as claimed in claim 4, wherein each pin is provided with an enlarged head and each hole has a keyhole configuration with “eye” from which a vertical slot branches off in lower vertical direction, being provided with suitable width to allow sliding of pin only, and not of enlarged head.

6. Door as claimed in claim 4, wherein said frame comprises at least one housing adapted to receive a corresponding pin and locking means near the housing to stop said pin inserted into the housing when said pin has completed the insertion travel.

7. Door as claimed in claim 6, wherein said locking means comprises a striker having two positions, a first non-working position in which it does not prevent the insertion or removal of the pin inside the housing, and a second working position in which it interferes with said pin to prevent removal.

8. Door as claimed in claim 7, wherein said striker oscillates around a pin with horizontal axis and is provided with end for actuation protruding from the frame when the striker is in non-working position, whereas it is disposed flush with the frame when the striker is in working position.

9. Door as claimed in claim 6, wherein said locking means are contained inside a box-shaped plate that incorporates the housing and is situated in one of the metal sections of the frame.

10. Door as claimed in claim 4, wherein the pins are obtained in one piece with the removable part and protrude from its back side.

11. Door as claimed in claim 4, wherein each pin is obtained in one piece with plates fixed on the back side of the removable panel.