Universal piece of furniture consisting of panels

Abstract

A multipurpose piece of furniture (1) has four square panels (3, 4, 6, 7), i.e., a first vertical side panel (3), a second vertical side panel (4) arranged parallel thereto, a third panel (6) that is arranged between an edge (5) of the first side panel (3) and an edge of the second side panel (4) at a right angle to the first side panel (3) and the second side panel (4) and that connects the first side panel (3) and the second side panel (4) into a U-shaped piece of furniture. The fourth panel is an intermediate panel (7) that is inserted into the piece of furniture between the first side panel (3) and the second side panel (4) at a right angle thereto and at a right angle to the third panel (6). At their four corners, the first side panel (3) and the second side panel (4) have recesses (33, 34) and/or projections (19, 20, 21, 22), wherein these are recessed in the corner regions of the side panels (3, 4) extending substantially in the shape of an elongated rectangle into the edges (5) of the side panels, or extending out of the edges in the shape of an elongated rectangle and running at a right angle to each other in their directions of elongation at each of the corner regions.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a national stage of international application no. PCT/EP2014/003476 filed on Dec. 30, 2014 and claims the benefit of priority under 35 USC 119 of German Patent Application No. 20 2013 011 496.7 filed on Dec. 30, 2013, which is incorporated herein by reference.

The invention relates to a multipurpose piece of furniture that serves the purpose of not just one specific piece of furniture, but also at least one additional purpose of a normally different piece of furniture depending on the alignment of the piece of furniture relative to the floor at its setup site. Furthermore, at least two such pieces of furniture can be assembled in at least two different configurations relative to each other in order to be adapted to a specific purpose in each configuration. This takes into account different requirements on the piece of furniture, or assembled piece of furniture, in a space-saving and economical manner.

The prior art includes a multipurpose piece of household furniture which is suitable for a system solution for sectional and combination furniture founded on a basic element (DD 96395A1). The multipurpose piece of furniture consists of cube-shaped basic elements that each have three sidewalls of a cube arranged in a U-shape in which an inner surface is affixed at a right angle relative to the three sidewalls such that it spatially divides the interior of the cube at a ratio of ⅓ to ⅔. One element of this multipurpose piece of furniture can be used as a child seat at two different seat heights, as a stool for adults, and as a side table. Furthermore, a plurality of elements can be placed on each other or next to each at different positions such that mounting walls, room dividers and table/seat combinations can be created therefrom. The cube-shaped basic element does not have any special means for aligning and connecting at least two basic elements.

One known module for a furniture and shelf system consists of wall elements that each have the shape of a straight cylinder with a bottom surface, with a top surface and with six lateral surfaces. Four of the lateral surfaces are side surfaces that run in pairs at a 90° angle relative to each other, and at least two of the side surfaces have a recess which runs parallel to their border and extends up to a bottom surface of the straight cylinder. Furthermore, at least one of the side surfaces can have a projection which runs parallel to its border and which can be inserted into the recess of an adjacent wall element in order to connect two wall elements to each other and thereby construct a module. Due to their four side surfaces which run in pairs at a 90° angle relative to each other and have the recesses or projections, such wall elements are cumbersome, which can prevent an easy-to-handle, simple assembly of the module and restrict the economy of space.

The aforementioned object is achieved according to the invention with a basic shape of a universal piece of furniture consisting of panels by designing a piece of furniture with the features of claim 1.

Accordingly, the piece of furniture on which the invention is based comprises four substantially square panels of which one first vertical side panel and one second vertical side panel are arranged parallel at a distance from each other, one third panel that is arranged between an edge of the first side panel and an edge of the second side panel that is parallel thereto and is at a right angle to the first side panel and the second side panel, and that connects the first side panel and the second side panel into a U-shaped piece of furniture. In this piece of furniture, an intermediate panel is securely inserted between the first side panel and the second side panel at a right angle thereto and at a right angle to the third panel. A piece of furniture with great strength is thereby obtained with a relatively small mass or low weight.

The universal piece of furniture according to the invention is designed in a basic shape such that the first side panel and second side panel have recesses and/or projections at their four corner regions. The projections can serve as feet on the basic shape and the assembled shape of the piece of furniture. When assembling a piece of furniture consisting of at least two pieces of furniture with the basic shape, the recesses and projections make it easy to precisely align the individual pieces of furniture with the basic shape, wherein the recesses accommodate the similarly shaped projections and secure against unintentional, mainly horizontal shifting.

The recesses in the corner regions of the side panels are recessed into the edges of the side panels substantially in the shape of an elongated rectangle, and the projections in the corner regions extend out of the edges in the shape of an elongated rectangle. At each of the corner regions, the recesses and/or projections run at a right angle to each other substantially within the plane of the side panels.

Accordingly, the recesses and/or projections are at a maximum distance from each other such that when the piece of furniture is set up, it rests securely on its projections. Furthermore, this arrangement of the projections and recesses is elegant.

The production of the basic shape of the piece of furniture can be streamlined rationalized according to claim 2 in that the first side panel and second side panel have the same shape.

The intermediate panel is preferably arranged in the piece of furniture according to claim 3 such that it divides the interior, delimited by the two side panels and third panel, from the U-shaped piece of furniture into two halves of equal size. When the piece of furniture is set up with the intermediate panel in a horizontal position and the third panel in vertical position, the intermediate panel is situated in this case at about one-half the height of the first vertical side panel and second vertical side panel.

According to claim 4, two projections running at a right angle to each other extend the same distance out of two edges of the side panels. This allows the piece of furniture to be set up such that two projections at a distance from each other of a side panel project downward as feet of the piece of furniture, or are inserted in a side wall of a piece of furniture arranged under them.

Given the parallel arrangement of the two substantially square side panels at a distance from each other, and given their connection by means of the third panel between an edge of the first side panel and an edge of the second side panel parallel thereto into a U-shaped piece of furniture, a spatially cuboidal piece of furniture results in other words, wherein the three sides of the piece of furniture are only delimited by the edges of the panels and are open. The edges or borders of the panels are equal in length.

Preferably, the border length according to claim 6, or the length of the edge, is 50 cm. Given this dimension, the piece of furniture can serve as a chair in its single-piece basic shape when it is set up according to claim 8 with the intermediate panel in a horizontal position and the third panel in a vertical position.

Alternatively, a border length of 38 cm has proven to be favorable, particularly for a stool or table according to claim 7.

When the piece of furniture with an immediate panel is set up in vertical position and with the third panel in horizontal position, it forms a stable stool or can also be used as a side table.

According to claim 10, the two side panels can be securely connected with dowels to the intermediate panel and the adjacent third panel, and the intermediate panel can be connected to the adjacent third panel.

If at least two pieces of furniture with the basic shape are arranged superimposed into an assembled piece of furniture according to claim 11, the usefulness for different purposes can be further increased. According to claim 11, the two pieces of furniture are assembled superimposed such that the projections on the bottom edges of the top piece of furniture engage in each other or, conversely, projections on the top edges of the bottom piece of furniture engage in recesses in the bottom edges of the top piece furniture.

When the piece of furniture according to claim 11 is assembled from two pieces of furniture with the single-part basic shape that are oriented according to claim 9 such that the intermediate panel is in a vertical position and the third panel is in a horizontal position, the assembled piece of furniture is suitable for being a medium-depth bookshelf which is open on two sides, or a room divider. According to claim 3, the intermediate panel is preferably arranged at half the height of the first side panel and the second side panel of each of the two single-part basic shapes.

When, contrastingly, the two pieces of furniture with the single-part basic shape are assembled superimposed such that the intermediate panel is in a horizontal position and the third panel is in a vertical position according to claim 8, the assembled piece of furniture is suitable for being a low bookshelf with a rear wall, or a room divider, or a barstool, or a podium.

Embodiments of the invention will be explained below with reference to a drawing with seven figures which reveal advantageous features. In the figures:

FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a piece of furniture assembled from two superimposed pieces of furniture with a basic shape in which an intermediate panel is situated in a horizontal position between two side panels, and a third panel is situated at the edges of the side panels in a vertical position;

FIG. 2 shows a side view of the first vertical side panel of the bottom piece of furniture with the basic shape, and the first vertical side panel of the top piece of furniture with the basic shape, nearly assembled according to FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 shows a schematic diagram of an almost assembled piece of furniture consisting of two pieces of furniture with the basic shape, wherein the pieces of furniture with the basic shape are arranged with the intermediate panel in a vertical position and the third panel in a horizontal position;

FIG. 4 shows a side view of the first vertical side panel of the top piece of furniture and the first vertical side panel of the bottom piece of furniture of the pieces of furniture with the basic shape according to FIG. 3 and nearly assembled;

FIG. 5 shows a schematic diagram in which the projections and recesses are discernible of a piece of furniture with the basic shape that is also suitable for being assembled into an assembled piece of furniture with another piece of furniture with the same basic shape according to FIGS. 1 to 4 and 6;

FIG. 6 shows a schematic diagram of two pieces of furniture with the basic shape according to FIG. 5 before completing the vertical assembly, from which the association of the projections and the recesses of the two pieces of furniture is discernible;

FIG. 7 shows the design and arrangement of a dowel in an intermediate panel and an adjacent side panel of the piece of furniture according to FIG. 5.

In the drawing, the same parts are provided with corresponding reference signs.

In FIG. 1, there is an assembled piece of furniture that is suitable for being a low bookshelf with a rear wall, or a barstool consisting of a bottom piece of furniture 1 with a basic shape on which is placed a top piece of furniture 2 with the same basic shape.

The bottom piece of furniture 1 and the top piece of furniture 2 each comprise a first vertical side panel 3 and, at a parallel distance thereto, a second vertical side panel 4. A third panel 6 is securely arranged between an edge 5 of the first side panel and an edge of the second side panel 4, which is not shown in FIG. 1, when the piece of furniture 1 is in a position in which the third panel is also vertically aligned. Consequently, the piece of furniture with the basic shape is approximately U-shaped in a bird's eye view.

The piece of furniture with the basic shape is completed with an intermediate panel 7 which is inserted in FIG. 1 in a horizontal position between the first side panel and the second side panel at a right angle thereto, and at a right angle to the third panel 6, for example in grooves which are not shown in FIG. 1.

The top piece of furniture 2 with the basic shape is designed like the bottom piece of furniture 1 and has the first vertical side panel 8 and, at a vertical distance thereto, the second vertical side panel 9. On its parallel, vertical edges such as 10, the first side panel 8 is securely connected by a third panel 11 to the second side panel 9. They form the piece of furniture 2 that is approximately U-shaped in a bird's eye view which, spatially, can be considered a cube, with edges or borders of equal length, and that is open on three sides.

In FIG. 3, the bottom piece of furniture 1 and top piece of furniture 2 are set up or assembled rotated 90° about an imaginary horizontal axis A-A which runs perpendicular, i.e., at a right angle, through the first vertical side panel 3 and the second vertical side panel 4 as well as through the intermediate panel 7. The imaginary axis to the top piece of furniture 2 is not shown.

As a result of this rotated position of the bottom piece of furniture 1 and the top piece of furniture 2, the third panel 6 of the bottom piece of furniture 1, or the third panel 11 of the top piece of furniture 1, is arranged horizontally, and the bottom intermediate panel 7, or the top intermediate panel 12, is arranged vertically.

In the setup of the basic shape of the piece of furniture shown in FIG. 3, said piece of furniture is for example suitable for being a medium-depth bookshelf open on both sides, or a room divider, or a bar table, or a podium.

In FIG. 2, the first vertical side panel 3 of the bottom piece of furniture 1 from FIG. 1, and the first vertical panel 8 of the top piece of furniture 2 from FIG. 1, are depicted enlarged and somewhat vertically exploded before the assembled state. Situated parallel to the first bottom vertical side panel 3 and the first vertical top side panel 4, and at a distance from them, is a second side panel 4 and 9 shaped like the first vertical side panel. The second vertical side panels are therefore behind the plane of the drawing in FIG. 2.

The side panels, in particular the first bottom side panel 3 and first top side panel 8 visible in FIG. 2, are square and can preferably have an a border length of 50 cm.

Instead, a border length of 38 cm has proven to be particularly favorable per se, at least in some applications of the basic shape of the piece of furniture, and for pieces of furniture assembled therefrom.

The first bottom side panel 3 and the first top side panel 8 each have corresponding projections 19-22 and 23-26 in three corner regions 13, 14, 15 and 16, 17, 18 that are formed on edges 27, 28 of the first bottom side panel 3, and edges 29, 30 of the first top side panel 8. The middle projections 20, 21 and 24, 25 formed between the projections 19, 22 of the first bottom side panel 3 and 23, 26 of the first top side panel 8 can be formed as a uniform projection as shown in FIG. 2. The projections such as 19, 20, each extend in the direction of the edge such as 27 from which they project.

Accordingly, each of the two edges that run at a right angle to each other, such as 27, 28 of the side panel 3, is enclosed between two projections 19, 20 and 21, 22.

The two other edges 5, 29, in this case of the first bottom side panel 3, that about each other at a right angle, are each bordered by two recesses 33, 34 and 35, 36.

Analogously, the edges 40, 41 of the first top side panel 8 are enclosed by recesses 42, 43 and 44, 45.

The bottom piece of furniture 1 with the basic shape is depicted diagrammatically in FIG. 5 in a position rotated about the vertical axis in comparison to FIG. 1 with discernible projections and recesses which are designated as in FIG. 2.

In addition, FIG. 5 reveals the arrangement of dowels 46-59 that securely connect the two side panels 3, 4 to the intermediate panel 7 and the adjacent third panel 6, as well as the intermediate panel 7 to the adjacent third panel 6. They run horizontally in this position of the basic shape of the piece of furniture. A detail of the horizontal dowel arrangement between the third panel 6 and the intermediate panel 7 is depicted in FIG. 7. The dowel is in particular a wood dowel with a typical diameter of 5 mm and a length of 30 mm. It extends into the intermediate panel 7 designed as a multilayer panel which is approximately 12 mm thick. The dowel arrangement holds the side panels, third panel and intermediate panels securely together and can be disconnected if needed. The top piece of furniture 2 in FIG. 6 is designed in the same manner.

As can be deduced from FIG. 2, two pieces of furniture with the basic shape to which belong the first bottom vertical side panel 3 and the first top vertical side panel 8 are assembled such that the projections 23, 24 on the bottom edge 38 of the first top vertical side panel 8 engage in the recesses 33, 34 of the first bottom vertical side panel 8, or come in contact with the recesses, such that they cannot be shifted horizontally.

As can be seen in FIG. 2, one side of the projections 23, 24 of the first top vertical side panel and the recesses 33, 34 does not run strictly at a right angle to the direction of extension of the projection or recess, but rather obliquely to facilitate the insertion of the first top vertical side panel 8 into the first bottom vertical side panel 3, even though a precise alignment of the two vertical side panels is achieved. The projections 19-26 and recesses 33-36 and 42-45 are accordingly only basically or approximately rectangular, i.e., trapezoidal.

The above explanations of the first vertical side panels in FIG. 2 apply analogously to the second vertical side panels 4, 9 in FIG. 1.

As can be seen in FIG. 2, of the projections and recesses of the vertical side panels of the configuration depicted in FIG. 2, only the projections 23, 24 and recesses 33, 34 of the vertical side panels have a fitting function for assembling the side panels, or the pieces of furniture provided therewith in the basic shape. The projections such as 19, 11, 20 at the bottom edge such as 27 of the side panels of the bottom piece of furniture with the basic shape contrastingly serve as feet for the assembled piece of furniture.

FIG. 6 depicts the assembly of the bottom piece of furniture 1 with the top piece of furniture 2 in a diagram. This also illustrates how the projections and recesses of the two pieces of furniture engage in each other to precisely align said pieces of furniture in the assembled piece of furniture.

In the position of the bottom piece of furniture 1 and the top piece of furniture 2 depicted in FIG. 3, the first bottom vertical side panel and the first top vertical side panel assume the position depicted in FIG. 4 in which they are rotated 90° clockwise about a horizontal axis which, in FIG. 4, runs perpendicular to the plane of the drawing and is indicated with point A.

Accordingly, in this position of the first bottom vertical side panel 3 and the first top vertical side panel 8, the projections 25, 26 of the latter on the edge 39 engage in the recesses 35, 36 in the edge 30 of the bottom vertical side panel 3 to exert their fitting function.

The projections 21, 22 in the position depicted in FIG. 4 of the first bottom vertical side panel contrastingly serve as feet for the assembled piece of furniture consisting of the bottom piece of furniture 1 and the top piece of furniture 2 that are each in the basic shape according to FIG. 3.

The connections between the first piece of furniture and the second piece of furniture in the basic shape can be easily separated in order to provide a differently assembled piece of furniture for a desired purpose.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

• 1 bottom piece of furniture
• 2 top piece of furniture
• 3 first bottom vertical side panel
• 4 second bottom vertical side panel
• 5 edge
• 6 third panel
• 7 intermediate panel
• 8 first top vertical side panel
• 9 second top vertical side panel
• 10 edge
• 11 third top panel
• 12 top intermediate panel
• 13 corner region
• 14 corner region
• 15 corner region
• 16 corner region
• 17 corner region
• 18 corner region
• 19 projection
• 20 projection
• 21 projection
• 22 projection
• 23 projection
• 24 projection
• 25 projection
• 26 projection
• 27 edge
• 28 edge
• 29 edge
• 31 corner region
• 32 corner region
• 33 recess
• 34 recess
• 35 recess
• 36 recess
• 37 corner region
• 38 edge
• 39 edge
• 40 edge
• 42 recess
• 43 recess
• 44 recess
• 45 recess 4
• 6-59 dowel
• A-A horizontal axis

Claims

1. A multipurpose piece of furniture, wherein the piece of furniture has four substantially square panels which comprise: a first vertical side panel,a second vertical side panel arranged at a distance from the first vertical side panel and parallel to the first vertical side panel,a third panel that is arranged between an edge of the first vertical side panel and an edge of the second vertical side panel and at a right angle to the first vertical side panel and the second vertical side panel, and that connects the first vertical side panel and the second vertical side panel into a substantially U-shaped piece of furniture, andan intermediate panel that is securely inserted into the substantially U-shaped piece of furniture between the first vertical side panel and the second vertical side panel and at a right angle to the first vertical side panel, the second vertical side panel and the third panel,characterized in thatrecesses and/or projections are formed at corner regions of the first vertical side panel and the second vertical side panel,the recesses and/or projections are recessed into or project out of edges of the first and second vertical side panels in a direction of extension of an edge from which the recesses and/or projections are recessed or project, and substantially in a shape of an elongated rectangle, and run at right angles to each other in directions of extension in the corner regions, whereineach edge of a first pair of two edges that run at a right angle to each other of the first vertical side panel is enclosed between two projections, and whereineach edge of a second pair of two edges that run at a right angle to each other of the first vertical side panel is bordered by two recesses.

2. The piece of furniture according to claim 1, characterized in that the first vertical side panel and the second vertical side panel have a same shape.

3. The piece of furniture according to claim 1, characterized in that the intermediate panel divides an interior of the U-shaped piece of furniture delimited by the first and second vertical side panels and the third panel into two halves of equal size.

4. The piece of furniture according to claim 2, characterized in that two projections extend a same distance out of two edges of the first and second vertical side panels running at a right angle to each other.

5. The piece of furniture according to claim 1, characterized in that the piece of furniture is substantially cuboidal with edges of equal edge length.

6. The piece of furniture according to claim 5, characterized in that the edge length is 50 cm.

7. The piece of furniture according to claim 5, characterized in that the edge length is 38 cm.

8. The piece of furniture according to claim 1, characterized in that the intermediate panel is in a horizontal position and the third panel is in a vertical position.

9. The piece of furniture according to claim 1, characterized in that the intermediate panel is in a vertical position and the third panel is in a horizontal position.

10. The piece of furniture according to claim 1, characterized in that the first and second vertical side panels are connected to the intermediate panel and the third panel by dowels, and the intermediate panel is connected to the third panel by dowels.

11. An assembled piece of furniture consisting of at least two pieces of furniture according to claim 1, characterized in that the two pieces of furniture are assembled superimposed such that projections on bottom edges of a top piece of furniture engage in recesses in bottom edges of a bottom piece of furniture or conversely, projections on top edges of the bottom piece of furniture engage in recesses in bottom edges of the top piece of furniture.