Patent Grant
11937693
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention relate to a furniture element, in particular a shelf or rack.
Furniture elements, such as shelves or racks in particular, in which a support plate and a shelf guided thereon and simultaneously movable in rotation and translation are arranged are known, for example, from JP 10318669 or DE 10 2017 106 170 A1.
In particular, the support plate described in the latter publication has proven itself in practice.
To move the shelf disclosed there, it is necessary to pull a side wall or a handle attached to it to rotate and advance the shelf.
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention are directed to further develop a furniture element, such as a shelf or a rack, in such a way that the operation of a movement of the shelf from an initial position to an unloading position or an opening movement of a rack closed by side walls in the initial position to a position in which shelves of the rack are accessible by a user is further simplified.
The furniture element according to the invention, in particular in the form of a base or a rack having at least one layer level, has a carcass or a shelf and a bottom panel.
A base in this case means tray floors, turntables, and shelves in household appliances.
Support surfaces of the carcass and bottom panel facing one another each have at least one running groove in which rolling elements are guided.
The carcass can be moved relative to the bottom panel from an initial position to an intermediate position and further to an open position and back.
In the intermediate position, the carcass is rotated relative to the bottom panel in one direction of rotation and displaced in a predetermined direction.
A mechanism for opening and/or closing with a force accumulator supporting an opening and/or closing movement of the carcass is arranged on a surface of the bottom panel facing away from the carcass.
Such a furniture element is characterized by its easily actuatable opening, where only a small amount of pressure needs to be applied to the carcass of the furniture element to move the carcass from the initial position, supported by the force of the force accumulator, to the opening position.
According to an advantageous embodiment variant, the mechanism is arranged on a surface of the bottom panel facing away from the carcass.
In accordance with an advantageous further development of the invention, a guide channel is provided in the bottom panel that determines the direction, in which a guide element is displaceably mounted and the mechanism is coupled to the guide element.
In addition, the force accumulator is fixed to the bottom panel and coupled with the guide element to support a sliding movement in the guide channel.
As a result, the entire mechanism of the mechanism is mounted under the bottom panel, invisible to the viewer.
In accordance with an advantageous further development, the mechanism comprises a pin projecting from the surface of the bottom panel remote from the carcass and a control disk rotatably mounted on the guide element and having a plurality of control elements for controlling movement of the control disk relative to the pin.
The pin and the control disk controlled by it ensure structurally simple, reliable control of the opening movement of the carcass of the furniture element.
In accordance with a further advantageous further development, the control disk is designed as an annular disk having a central opening surrounding the guide element. The control elements are arranged, in particular formed, on an annular surface facing the bottom panel.
First control elements are preferably designed as circular catch elements spaced at equal angular distance from each other with a recess open towards the center of the control disk.
This makes it possible, in particular, to fix the carcass in the position as well as in a predetermined open position.
A second control element is preferably designed as a toothed ring arranged between the first control elements and the central opening with teeth arranged at equal angular distance from each other and directed towards the first control elements.
The teeth and an imaginary central perpendicular of the recesses of the first control elements are aligned in an angular range of 60 to 120°, particularly preferably approximately at right angles to each other.
This makes it possible to control the control disk in a simple manner in such a way that a decoupling of the control disk from the pin caused by pressing the carcass from the initial position against the opening direction is accompanied by a slight rotational movement of the control disk.
After subsequent release of the carcass, the opening movement of the carcass can take place, assisted by the force accumulator, with the pin passing between two adjacent first control elements, thus allowing the carcass to be moved further in the opening direction.
According to an advantageous embodiment variant of the invention, the force accumulator is designed as a torsion spring.
Such torsion springs can be manufactured inexpensively and mounted on the furniture element.
According to a preferred further development, the force accumulator, which is designed as a torsion spring, is fixed with a first end to a bore on the surface of the bottom panel facing away from the carcass.
This enables the force accumulator to be mounted on the bottom panel in a simple and cost-effective manner.
According to a further preferred further development, the force accumulator, which is designed as a torsion spring, is fixed with a second end in a bore in the surface of the guide element facing away from the carcass.
To avoid an undesirable increase in the height of the furniture element, the surface of the bottom panel facing away from the carcass has an indentation in which the mechanism is inserted.
According to a preferred embodiment variant, the guide element is part of a fixing device for vertically fixing the bottom panel to the carcass of the furniture element, which leads to a reduction in the necessary components of the furniture element.
According to a further alternative embodiment variant of the invention, a guide channel is provided in the bottom panel which determines the direction and in which a guide carriage is displaceably mounted. Such a guide carriage serves in particular to further stabilize and further improve the smooth running of such a rotatable furniture element.
The displaceable mounting of such a guide carriage in the guide channel of the bottom panel is also conceivable in principle without a mechanism for opening or closing the carcass with a force accumulator supporting an opening and/or closing movement of the carcass.
In an alternative embodiment variant, this mechanism for opening and/or closing the carcass with a force accumulator supporting an opening and/or closing movement of the carcass is designed as an ejector or push-to-move mechanism with a plunger coupled to the force accumulator, with which the guide carriage can be pushed away from a starting position along the guide channel.
The use of such a push-to-move mechanism makes it possible in particular to design the furniture element without an actuating handle and to initiate the opening movement of the furniture element by pushing it in against the intended opening direction. The use of a push-out mechanism that can be activated in another way is also conceivable.
According to a further preferred embodiment variant, the guide carriage is designed as part of a fixing device for vertical fixing of the bottom panel to the carcass.
According to a preferred further development, this fixing device has a roller bearing arranged on an underside of the guide carriage facing away from the carcass, having at least two rollers arranged one behind the other in the longitudinal direction of the guide channel.
The rollers have circumferential v-shaped grooves into which v-shaped webs project from opposite side walls of the guide channel, which v-shaped webs form running surfaces for the rollers.
The interaction of these rollers arranged one behind the other with the v-shaped webs ensures, on the one hand, reliable vertical securing of the guide carriage.
In addition, the support width of this translational-rotational mechanism is further increased by the multiple rollers arranged one behind the other, so that reliable guidance is ensured even when using heavier furniture elements, especially in a range of masses above 50 kg, without causing the furniture element to tip.
According to a further preferred embodiment variant, a bearing neck projecting into an opening in the support panel is integrally formed on an upper side of the guide carriage facing the carcass of the furniture element in order to rotate the support panel and thus the carcass of the furniture element relative to the bottom panel, and a rolling bearing ring inserted into the opening is fitted onto the bearing neck.
According to a further preferred embodiment variant, a stop is arranged on one end face of the guide carriage, which abuts against the plunger of the ejector or push-to-move mechanism when the guide carriage approaches.
Such an embodiment variant of the guide carriage allows a small number of components of the bearing.
In the following, preferred exemplary embodiments of the invention are explained in more detail 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, the carcass, the bottom panel, the guide element, the pin, the control disk, the control element and the like selected in the respective figures. These terms are not to be understood restrictively, i.e., different working positions or the mirror-symmetrical design or the like can change these references.
In
The furniture element 1 further has a bottom panel 2 arranged on the carcass 3.
Support surfaces 21, 31 of the carcass 3 and of the bottom panel 2 facing one another have respective running grooves 22, 62 in which rolling elements 51 are guided, which serve to support the carcass 3 in a translationally and rotationally displaceable manner relative to the bottom panel 2.
The operation of a corresponding furniture element is described, for example, in DE 10 2017 106 170 A1 or in DE 10 2018 108 977 A1.
This furniture element can also advantageously be equipped with a mechanism for opening and/or closing described below.
As shown in
As shown in
In this case, the bottom panel 2 together with the rolling elements 51, the rolling element cage 5 and the support panel 61 or the running grooves 62, if these are provided in the underside of the first shelf 31, together form a translational-rotational bearing 6.
With such a translational-rotational bearing 6, the carcass 3 can be displaced relative to the bottom panel 2, for example, out of a corner of the room 4 in a direction A and essentially simultaneously rotated by turning about a position-variable axis of rotation from the initial position shown in
The proportions of translation and rotation in the overall movement can vary over the course of the movement.
To enable the translational movement, the bottom panel 2 comprises a guide channel 23 that predetermines the direction A of the translation and in which a guide element 71 is displaceably mounted.
The guide element 71 is preferably part of a fixing device 7 for vertical fixing of the bottom panel 2 to the carcass 3 of the furniture element 1.
In addition to the guide element 71, which is held rotatably and displaceably in the guide channel 23, the fixing device 7 has a screw 72 that is fixed in the underside of the lower shelf 31 and, in the case of the support panel 61 arranged between the bottom panel 2 and the carcass 3, is screwed through a central opening 63 of this support panel 61 into a screw hole provided for this purpose in an upper side of the guide element 71 facing the carcass 3.
The guide channel 23 extends approximately diagonally in the surface of the bottom panel 2, thereby enabling the carcass 3 of the furniture element 1 to be moved out of a corner of the room 4.
In this context, it is of course also possible to have an overall rotated arrangement of the translational-rotational bearing 6 with a guide channel 23 extending parallel to a side edge of the bottom panel 2, for example, by means of which a carcass 3 of a furniture element 1 could be displaced forwards away from a rear wall, for example, perpendicularly to the rear wall, and simultaneously rotated.
As shown in
In the preferred embodiment variant shown here, the mechanism is designed as a so-called push-to-move mechanism with which, by pressing lightly against a front surface or side wall 32 of the carcass 3, the mechanism is unlocked from a basic position shown in
In addition to the force accumulator 9, which is fixed to the bottom panel 2 and is preferably in the form of a torsion spring, the mechanism comprises a pin 10, which projects from the surface of the bottom panel 2 facing away from the carcass 3, and a control disk 8, which is rotatably arranged on the guide element 71 and has a plurality of control elements 82, 83 for controlling the movement of the control disk 8 relative to the pin 10.
In addition to the embodiment of the force accumulator 9 as a torsion spring, as shown in
The force accumulator 9 shown in
A part of a first leg 91 of the torsion spring 9 directly adjoining this first end is thereby placed under a counter web 27 extending from a frame 25 of the bottom panel into an indentation 24 of the bottom panel in such a way that the first end 93 of the force accumulator cannot disengage from its position inserted into the bore 26.
The counter web 27 is preferably designed thinner in the area of its free end 28 than the foot of this counter web 27, which is close to the frame 25.
The indentation 24 serves to accommodate the mechanism, which is thus invisibly accommodated in the bottom panel 2 and protected from dirt. This results in a low overall height of the bottom panel 2.
The force accumulator 9, designed as a torsion spring, is fixed with a second end 94, which forms the end of the second leg 92, in a bore 73 in the surface of the guide element 71 facing away from the carcass 3.
As shown in
The control elements 82, 83 are arranged on an annular surface facing the bottom panel 2, and in the preferred embodiment variant shown here are integrally formed on the latter.
First control elements 82 are designed as circular catch elements spaced at equal angular distance from each other with a recess 85 open towards the center of the control disk 8, which is bounded by two legs of a respective first control element 82.
An imaginary central perpendicular of the recess 85 is not aligned radially to the center of the opening 84, but at an angle to it.
A second control element 83, as shown in
The teeth 86 and an imaginary central perpendicular of the recesses 85 of the first control elements 82 are preferably aligned in an angular range of 60 to 120°, in particular approximately perpendicular to each other.
It is also conceivable to attach feet (not shown) to the surface of the bottom panel 2 facing away from the carcass 3, especially if the bottom panel does not have an indentation 24 shown in
In this regard,
By coupling the control disk 8 to the guide element 71, a translational movement of the guide element 71 together with the carcass 3 in direction A, shown in
In the position shown in
In this case, the guide element 71 is pressed together with the control disk 8 in a direction opposite to the direction A, so that the one first control element 82 is moved away from the pin 10, so that in this position the pin 10 is positioned between the first control element 82 and the second control element 83 formed as a toothed ring.
When the carcass 3 is pressed further into the limit switching position, shown in
The force accumulator 9, which is designed as a torsion spring, is in its maximum tensioned position.
The user can then release the carcass 3. As a result of this removal of pressure by the user, the force accumulator 9 in the form of a torsion spring acts and presses the guide element 71 together with the control disk 8 along the guide channel 23 in the direction A. This causes the carcass 3 to move into the intermediate position shown in
In the process, a side edge of one of the first control elements 82 abuts against the pin 10, causing a slight rotation of the control disk 8.
The first control element 82 slides along the pin 10 during further movement with slight rotation of the control disk 8, as shown it
After passing the first control element 82, the pin 10 disengages from the mechanism, thereby releasing the carcass for translational-rotational movement to the intermediate position shown in
The release position is shown in
To fully open the carcass 3 from the intermediate position shown in
In this process, an outer edge of one of the first control elements 82 abuts the pin 10, causing the control disk 8 to rotate or align.
In the representation shown in
In this position, the force accumulator 9 is unleaded, so that for the further movement of the carcass 3 into the open position, the user must again press against the carcass 3 against the direction A.
By pressing against the carcass 3 against the direction A, the pin 10 again gets between two teeth 86 of the second control element 83 when the control disk 8 is pushed further, as shown in
The user feels this by the fact that no further movement of the carcass takes place when further pressure is applied, since this is blocked by the contact of the pin 10 with the second control element 83.
If the user then releases the carcass, this removal of pressure in turn activates the force accumulator 9, which presses the carcass 3 together with the guide element 71 and the control disk 8 in direction A, as shown in
As shown in
In this process, the control disk 8 is rotated until the pin 10 is fully engaged in the recess 85 of one of the first control elements 82, as shown in
If the carcass 3 is to be transferred back to the closed position, the movement sequence described above runs in the same order.
Accordingly, to initiate the movement of the carcass 3 into the closed position, the carcass 3 is unlocked by pressing.
This ensures that the carcass 3 cannot leave the end positions without manual operation and is supported into the open or closed position during movement.
Alternatively, the mechanism could be designed to optionally have only one locking in one end position and only one support in the opening movement or in the closing movement.
With reference to
As shown in
The rolling elements 151 are also accommodated in a rolling element cage 150 for loss prevention. In contrast to the embodiment shown in
A guide channel 123 is also provided centrally and diagonally to two side edges of the bottom panel 120 which are aligned at right angles to each other.
A guide carriage 171 is displaceably mounted in this guide channel 123.
The guide carriage 171, as part of a fixing device 170, has on its upper side facing the support panel 161 or the carcass 130 of the furniture element 110 a bearing neck 172 projecting into an opening 163 in the support panel 161, which is preferably integrally formed on the upper skis of the guide carriage 171.
This bearing neck 172 serves as an axis for a rolling bearing ring 177 inserted into the opening 163 of the support panel 161, in particular a ball bearing ring, by means of which a simple rotational movement of the support panel 161 relative to the guide carriage 171 and thus relative to the bottom panel 120 is made possible.
On the underside of the guide carriage 171 facing away from the support panel 161, there is a roller bearing having at least two rollers 174 arranged, in particular fixed, one behind the other in the longitudinal direction of the guide channel 123.
Each of these rollers 174 has a circumferential v-shaped groove 175 into which protrude from opposite side walls of the guide channel 123 v-shaped webs 124 forming running surfaces for the rollers 174.
The v-shaped grooves 175 of the rollers 174, which are guided along the v-shaped webs 124 in the guide channel 123, result in an extremely stable and constant sequence of the translational-rotational movement of the furniture element 110. The fixing device 170 is secured against unintentional loosening at the top and bottom in each case by a fixing element, in particular a detachable fixing pin 176, 178. This makes it possible to assemble and disassemble the furniture element in a simple manner.
In this embodiment variant, the translational-rotational mounting is also preferably configured such that the guide carriage 171, analogous to the guide element 71, moves from an initial position in which the furniture carcass 130 is in an initial position relative to the stationary portion of the furniture item 100, during an opening movement, moves along the guide channel 123 to opposite ends of the guide channel 123, and moves from the opposite end of the guide channel 123 back to the initial position to reach an open position.
As shown in
With this ejector or push-to-move mechanism 140, the guide carriage 171 can be pushed away from an initial position or an open position along the guide channel 123 after activation thereof, thereby initiating the translational-rotational movement of the support panel 161 and thus of the furniture element 110.
As shown in
The plunger 142 thereby protrudes into the guide channel 123, as shown in
As a result, by approaching the guide carriage 171, the plunger 142 can be pressed against the force of the force accumulator 141, for example in the form of a compression spring, into a housing accommodating the force accumulator 141 and pressed into a latching position via a latching mechanism known from the prior art.
To activate the push-to-move mechanism 140, the plunger 142 must be pushed further into the housing from the position shown in
When the push-to-move mechanism 140 is triggered, the guide carriage 171 is pushed away along the guide channel 123, thus causing the carcass 130 of the furniture element 110 to open.
In this case, the plunger 142 interacts with the guide carriage 171 in such a way that not only an opening movement of the carcass 130 of the furniture element 110 from an initial position, but also a closing movement of the carcass 130 of the furniture element 110 is supported, i.e., both directions of movement are supported with only one ejector or push-to-move mechanism 140.
Such an initial position is shown by way of example in
In the open position shown as by way of example in
In both the initial position shown in
According to a further preferred embodiment variant, a stop 173 is arranged on one end face of the guide carriage 171 to repel the guide carriage 171. When the guide carriage 171 approaches the plunger 142 of the ejector or push-to-move mechanism 140, the stop 173 abuts the plunger 142.
To illustrate the movement of the furniture element 110,
The position of the furniture elements 110 with furniture carcass 130 according to the position shown in
Although the invention has been illustrated and described in detail by way of preferred embodiments, the invention is not limited by the examples disclosed, and other variations can be derived from these by the person skilled in the art without leaving the scope of the invention. It is therefore clear that there is a plurality of possible variations. It is also clear that embodiments stated by way of example are only really examples that are not to be seen as limiting the scope, application possibilities or configuration of the invention in any way, in fact, the preceding description and the description of the figures enable the person skilled in the art to implement the exemplary embodiments in concrete manner, wherein, with the knowledge of the disclosed inventive, concept, the person skilled in the art is able to undertake various changes, for example, with regard to the functioning or arrangement of individual elements stated in an exemplary embodiment without leaving the scope of the invention, which is defined by the claims and their legal equivalents, such as further explanations in the description.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 2019 113 251.7 | May 2019 | DE | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/EP2020/060510 | 4/15/2020 | WO |
| Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| WO2020/233911 | 11/26/2020 | WO | A |
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| Number | Date | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 502941 | May 2011 | AT |
| 19810007 | Sep 1999 | DE |
| 102017106170 | Sep 2018 | DE |
| 102018108977 | Oct 2019 | DE |
| 1925238 | Aug 2009 | EP |
| H10318669 | Dec 1998 | JP |
| 2019042922 | Mar 2019 | WO |
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| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20220225763 A1 | Jul 2022 | US |
