Patent Application
20240423361
The present invention relates to a furniture element according to the preamble of claim 1.
Furniture elements such as shelves or racks, in which an inner body or a support panel is arranged on or in an outer body so as to be simultaneously rotationally and translationally movable, are known, for example, from DE 10 2017 106 170 A1 as well as JP H 10318669 A and U.S. Pat. No. 4,124,262 A, which are unrelated to the genus.
In the design known from DE 10 2017 106 170 A1, such a translational-rotational movement takes place by means of a translational-rotational bearing that has two plates with raceways formed therein, in which rolling bodies are guided. The raceways are designed in such a way that they enable a rotational movement of one plate relative to the second plate by a predetermined angle.
For translational movement of the plates relative to each other, a slot is provided in one of the plates, in which a guide pin of the other plate is guided.
In the case of shelving units, there is often a requirement to protect the items stored on them from dirt and to allow good accessibility to the items. Particularly in the case of larger and/or higher furniture elements, for example wall cabinets or the like, it is necessary for stability reasons to provide adequate support for the pivoting movement of the inner body in the area of the top panels of the furniture element.
However, the installation of an additional translational-rotational bearing in the area of these top panels is made more difficult primarily by larger tolerances as well as insufficient rigidity of the individual components of the furniture element, so that when such an additional translational-rotational bearing is used, there is a possibility that the rolling bearing elements installed therein can no longer be guided safely in the bearing grooves provided for this purpose.
The invention is based on the object of further developing a furniture element of the generic type in such a way that the stability of the furniture element is increased, in particular when the inner body is pivoted.
This object is solved by a furniture element having the features of claim 1.
According to the invention, as an alternative, a guide bearing having at least one curved guide path arranged on one of the top panels and a guide element arranged on the other of the top panels and guided in the guide path is arranged between the top panel of the outer body and the top panel of the inner body. It is further provided according to the invention that the guide bearing has a linear guide with connecting parts displaceable relative to one another, one of which is arranged on one top panel and the other of which is mounted on the other top panel.
The arrangement of the guide bearing between the top panel of the outer body and the top panel of the inner body provides sufficient lateral guidance of the inner body in the stationarily held outer body, with which the translational-rotational movement of the inner body is supported, wherein high stability in both the vertical and horizontal directions is achieved by the linear guide.
In addition or alternatively, such a guide bearing can also be positioned between the bottom panels. This means that instead of a torsional-rotational bearing, a guide bearing can be arranged in each case between the top and bottom panels. However, it is also conceivable to arrange a torsional-rotational bearing between the top panels, while the guide bearing is arranged between the bottom panels. Likewise, the torsional-rotational bearing can be positioned between the bottom panels and the guide bearing between the top panels.
Further advantageous embodiments of the invention are characterized in the subclaims.
According to a further idea of the invention, a carrier plate is attached to a connecting part of the linear guide, which is a component of the associated top panel, preferably of the outer body, wherein the carrier plate is expediently screwed thereto.
Moreover, it is particularly advantageous to design the linear guide as at least one pull-out guide known per se, having a guide rail held in a stationary manner on the carrier plate and forming a connecting part and a running rail displaceable relative thereto and arranged on the top panel of the inner body. In a known manner, the pull-out guide can have rolling bodies in the form of balls, rollers or barrels, which are preferably arranged in rolling body cages.
Preferably, two pull-out guides are provided, arranged parallel to and spaced apart from each other, whose running rails are connected to each other by a bearing element. This bearing element serves as a pivot bearing for the inner body or its top panel, while the carrier plate, as mentioned, is connected to the top panel of the outer body.
To minimize the installation space between the two top panels, the linear guide is positioned in a recess in the top panel.
The linear guide, in particular in the embodiment described above, leads to significantly improved stability in the bond between the outer and inner bodies, especially since the top panel of the inner body, to which the running rail is attached via the pivot bearing, is thus connected substantially positively to the top panel of the outer body carrying the guide rail, while at the same time allowing axial displaceability.
According to a further embodiment variant, the guide path, which extends in a curved manner and is preferably provided in the top panel of the inner body, while the engaging guide element is positioned on the facing side of the top panel of the outer body, is adapted to support the movement of the inner body enabled by the translational-rotational bearing.
The guide path is designed as a groove which extends approximately diagonally across the plane in its length and extends in an arc. The groove can be closed or open at its ends.
Such a groove is easy and inexpensive to make in the corresponding top panel.
The engaging guide element, for example a guide pin, can be in the form of a pin, bolt or wheel, wherein a pin or bolt can slide in the guide path. In any case, the translational-rotational movement of the inner body relative to the outer body can be performed almost frictionless.
In a preferred further development, the guide element has an elastic sheathing, which provides damping in the event of the guide element striking a side edge of the guide path.
Another advantage of such an elastic sheathing is that, in combination with a narrow point in the area of the guide path, for example before a predetermined end position is reached, braking of the movement of the inner body relative to the outer body can be achieved in a simple manner.
For this purpose, according to a further idea of the invention, the width of the guide path can be designed to be variable along its longitudinal extension. In addition to the advantageous use of such a variable width of the guide path as described above, other areas can also be designed to be widened to such an extent that such an area of the guide path can be passed with particularly little resistance.
Furthermore, in the region of at least one end, the guide path can have a clamping cam, in particular an integrally formed clamping cam, which enables a user to haptically determine that an end position of the inner body has been reached.
Such haptic locking can also be achieved if a clamping cam is provided in a defined intermediate position of the inner body.
Another variant of the invention provides that the guide element is designed as a pin, bolt, wheel or ball bearing with a fixed outer surface, wherein an elastic or resilient clamping cam is arranged in the guide path in the region of at least one end or an intermediate position.
Furthermore, the inner body can be moved relative to the outer body from a first functional position into a second functional position rotated through a predetermined angle relative to the initial position, wherein in both functional positions the bottom panels and the top panels of the inner body and the outer body are aligned in matching geometries relative to one another.
In particular, this allows the furniture element according to the invention to be set in different functional positions in combination with other furniture elements without the furniture element occupying a different area of the room.
An exemplary embodiment of the invention is described below with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:
In the following figure description, terms such as top, bottom, left, right, front, rear, etc. refer exclusively to the exemplary representation and position of the furniture element, outer body, inner body, top panel, bottom panel, guide path, guide elements and the like selected in the respective figures. These terms are not to be understood restrictively, i.e., due to different working positions or the mirror-symmetrical design or the like, these references may change.
The top of the inner body is closed by a top panel 6 and the bottom by a bottom panel 5.
In principle, the outer body also has side panels, but only a base panel 2 and a top panel 4 of the outer body are shown in the example.
Between the top panels 4, 6 a translational-rotational bearing is arranged, by means of which the inner body can be moved relative to the outer body.
This translational-rotational bearing consists of a curved guide path 8, as can be seen very clearly in particular in
The guide path 8, in which a guide element 18 connected to the carrier plate 10 is guided, has three sections, namely two outer sections 24 of larger radius and an inner section 23 of smaller radius connecting these two outer sections 24, wherein the guide path 8 is mirror-symmetrical with respect to an axis transverse to longitudinal extension.
As part of the top panel 4 of the outer body, a carrier plate 10 is attached to the side facing the top panel 6 of the inner body, preferably by screwing, for which purpose screw holes 17 (
The linear guide 9 consists of two pull-out guides 12, each with a guide rail 13 and a running rail 14. The guide rails 13 forming connecting parts are held in a stationary manner on the carrier plate 10, while the running rails 14, also as connecting parts, are firmly connected to one another by a pivot bearing 15, in which a pivot pin 16 engages, which is inserted in a bore 19 of the top panel 6 of the inner body. In this regard, the pull-out guides 12 may be releasably or non-releasably fixed to the carrier plate 10 and the top panel 6 by means of material bonding, form-fitting and/or force-fitting. In addition, the pull-out guides 12 may have functional elements for controlling movement, for damping, for retracting and/or for extending, thereby providing improved guidance. It may also be useful to arrange an additional center rail between the guide rail 13 and the running rail 14. In this exemplary embodiment, rolling bodies in the form of balls, which may be arranged in rolling body cages, are present within the pull-out guides 12.
Depending on the pivoting position of the inner body, the carrier plate 10, which, as mentioned, is firmly connected to the top panel 4 of the outer body, is displaced relative to the inner body, with simultaneous rotation of the inner body, along the guide path 8.
For unhindered pivoting of the inner body relative to the linear guide 9, the top panel 6 has a recess 11, as can be seen in particular in
For the basic design and mode of operation of such a translational-rotational bearing, reference is made by way of example to DE 10 2017 106 170 A1, in which such a translational-rotational bearing 20 is described in detail.
For the bearing of the inner body to the outer body, the device according to the invention consisting of the linear guides and the guide path can be used both above and below, as well as in combination with a known translational-rotational bearing.
In
The connection between the linear rolling bearing 25 and the carrier plate 10 is made by means of the rotary bearing 15, which is designed in the sense of an anti-lift device and is connected on the other hand to a retaining plate 30, wherein the rotary bearing 15 is guided in a slot 29 of the rolling bearing cage 26, as well as in a longitudinal slot 27 of the carrier plate 10, with the simultaneous possibility of pivoting in accordance with the guide path 8.
To prevent lifting, the pivot pin 16 of the pivot bearing 15 is provided with a head which is located in a circumferential recess of the longitudinal slot 27 of the carrier plate 10, but does not protrude.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 2021 101 535.9 | Jan 2021 | DE | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/EP2022/051324 | 1/21/2022 | WO |
