A FURNITURE SYSTEM FOR ARRANGEMENT AGAINST A SLOPING WALL

Abstract: In a furniture system for arrangement against a sloping wall and comprising a number of sections designed as shelves, chests of drawers, cupboards, etc., and separated or limited by vertical partitions (7) at right angles to the sloping wall (1) each partition comprises a number of juxtaposed vertical plate members (8-10) having different heights and an obliquely cut upper edge. On or at their adjoining edge faces the plate members are provided with connecting means allowing a stepwise height displacement of neighbouring plate members relative to one another.

Description: A Furniture System for Arrangement against a Sloping Wall. The invention relates to a furniture system for arrangement against a sloping wall and comprising a number of sections designed as shelves, chests of drawers, cupboards etc and" separated or limited by vertical partitions at right angles to the sloping wall. In residential rooms in top storeys of buildings the furnishing possibilities are very limited by the fact that furniture elements like shelves-, cupboards, chests of drawers and the like in standard construc¬ tions may only be arranged under a sloping wall, if their height is less than the height of the adjoining vertical inner wall. If it is desired to arrange such furniture elements against the sloping wall and the adjoining inner wall, the user will normally only have the option of either the expensive work of an artisan or of his own making of furniture elements directly adjusted to the prevailing dimensions of the room. According to the present invention this problem is remedied by means of a furniture system of the kind referred to, which is characterised in that each par¬ tition comprises a number of juxtaposed vertical plate members of different height and each having an obli¬ quely cut upper edge, said plate members being provided on or at their adjoining edge faces with connecting means allowing a stepwise displacement of neighbouring plate members in the height direction relative to one another. With this construction of the partitions adjust- ent to the prevailing inclination of the sloping wall and the height of the adjoining inner wall may be accomplished by use of a series comprising a limited number of said plate members having different heights OMPI but the same inclination of th.e obliquely cut upper edges. In a similar way, the individual sections in a system having a number of juxtaposed elements may be formed with different depth, in consideration for example of the desired internal height, since the depth may be varied stepwise in accordance with the width of the plate members, and back walls for the individual furniture elements may be arranged against the rear edges of the limiting partitions, whether these are constructed from one or more plate members. As connecting means between the plate members in a partition any kind of conventional connecting means of the kind used for the assembling of plate members in extension of each other may be employed. In a simple embodiment of the invention the connecting means are designed so that one of two adjoining edge faces on neighbouring plate members is provided with a number of dowels for each of which at least two holes are pro- vided at the other edge face, said holes being displaced in the height direction. In an embodiment having partitions on the side faces of which rows of holes are provided for the arrangement of shelf supporting members for the usual adjustable positioning of shelves the connecting means may advantageously be designed for displacement in the height direction in steps equal to the distance between neighbouring holes in the rows of holes or a multiplum thereof. For a furniture system intended to cover the hole length of a sloping wall with an adjoining inner wall or a considerable part thereof the invention opens the possibility of an aesthetically attractive design with a plane front of the entire system independent of the depth of the individual sections in that all par¬ titions are composed of a series of a limited number of OMH plate members, the upper edges of which are obliquely cut with an equal inclination, the highest plate member being incorporated in all partitions, the front edge of each succeeding plate member having the same height as the rear edge of the preceding plate member. Due to the fact that as a result of varying inclination of sloping walls the obliquely cut upper edges of the plate members in the partitions will not engage the sloping wall in heir entire length it is preferred, particularly for partitions which are visible from the outside, such as in case of window niches, that the upper end of the plate members in one or more partitions are covered by a covering strip lying against the sloping wall. The mutual displacement in the height direction between the plate members of a partition may result in a height difference between the lower edges of the plate members. This height difference may be eliminated by sawing away a corresponding part of the lower edge of a plate member, but in order to avoid such a sawing operation the build-up may according to a further deve¬ lopment of the invention be accomplished in that the lower ends of the plate members are inserted into a floor strip of U-shaped cross-section, said floor strip being provided with means for equalizing height dif¬ ferences between the lower edges of the plate members. In the following the invention will be explained in further detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is,, a perspective view of an example of a furniture system according to the invention in a room with a sloping wall, Figs. 2-4 show an embodiment of a partition in the furniture system and the associated plate members as well as the connecting means between them, Fig . 5 shows the build-up of a partition with plate members mutually displaced in the height direc¬ tion. Fig.- 6 shows a modification of the build-up in Fig. 5 , Figs. 7 and 8 two different embodiments of rear edge supporting strips for the arrangement on said mem¬ bers of a partition as support for back walls, and Figs. 9-12 a furnishing example. Fig. 1 shows an example of a furniture system according to the invention arranged against a sloping wall 1, in which a window niche 2 is formed and a ver¬ tical inner wall 3 adjoining the sloping wall 1. In the design shown the furniture system comprises two substantially identical shelves sections 4 and 5 and a double cupboard 6. The sections 4, 5 and 6 are separated or limited by vertical partitions 7 at right angles to the sloping wall 1 and the inner wall 3, said partitions being designed for example as explained in the following with reference to Fig. 2-4. As shown in Figs. 2 and 3 each partition 7 may comprise a number of juxtaposed vertical plate members 8, 9 and 10 having different height and obliquely cut upper edges, said plate members 8, 9 and 10 being pro¬ vided on or at their adjoining edge faces with, con¬ necting means allowing stepwise displacement in the height direction of neighbouring plate members relative to one another. In the illustrated, very simple embodi- ment these connecting means are designed as shown in Fig. 3, so that one of the two adjoining edge faces, 11 and 12 respectively on neighbouring plate members 8 and 9 respectively is formed with a number of dowels 13, in this case three, whereas the other edge face 12 for each of the dowels 13 has three holes 14 displaced in the height direction. OMPI If, corresponding to the maximum, normally occurring roof inclination the upper edges of all the plate members 8, 9 and 10 are obliquely cut under an angle of 45° it is achieved with this design of the connecting means that a partition 7 ' built up of such plate members 8', 9' and 10' may as shown in Fig. 5 be adapted to a smaller inclination of the sloping wall 1' than 45°. In this case the obliquely cut upper edges of the plate members 8'-10' will not engage the sloping wall 1' in their entire length and, therefore, the plate members 8 '-10' are covered at their upper ends by a covering strip 15 engaging the sloping wall 1' and hiding the jumps in the height direction. In the illustrated example all the partitions are composed from a series of three plate members, the upper edges of which are obliquely cut under the same angle, the highest plate member 8 being incorporated in all the partitions and the front edge of each suc¬ ceeding plate member 9 and 10 having the same height as the rear edge of the preceding plate member. As a result of this design a co-extensive furniture system as shown for example to the right of the window niche in Fig. 1 may be given an aesthetically attractive design with the front faces of the individual furniture sections 5 and 6 " extending in a common plane, whereas the depth of the individual sections may vary as illustrated in more detail in Figs. 6-9. In the adaptation illustrated in Fig. 5 to an inclination of the sloping wall 1" different from that corresponding to the obliquely cut upper edges of the plate members 8' -10' height displacement of the plate members 9' and 10' will entail a height displacement of the lower edges of these plate members relative to the lower edge of the plate member 8' . The latter height difference may be eliminated by sawing away a part of the lower edge of the plate member 9' corresponding to the height difference between the two plate members and a portion of the double size of the lower edge of the plate member 8' . This sawing operation is quite simple, since it will only have to be made at right angles to the longitudinal sides of the respective plate members. In a design as shown in Figs. 2 and 3 where the partitions 8-10 are provided on their side faces with rows of holes 16 for the arrangement of shelf sup- porting members for the usual adjustable positioning of shelves, the connecting means for the plate members, in this case the dowels 13 and the holes 14, are designed as most clearly seen in the partial view in Fig. 4 for height displacement in steps equal to the distance bet- ween neighbouring " holes in the rows of holes 16. Thereby a height displacement will not result in any change with respect to accurate positioning of the holes in the individual rows of holes 16 relative to one another. Fig. 6 shows a modification of the build-up shown in Fig. 5 in which the lower end of the plate member 8", 9" and 10" in order to avoid the sawing operation mentioned in the foregoing in case of a mutual height difference between the lower edges of the plate members are inserted into a floor strip 17 of U- shape cross-section. The floor strip 17 is provided with means for equalizing height differences between the lower edges of the plate members. Such means may comprise inserts, for example, to be arranged against the bottom of the U-shape cross-section of the strip, but in the embodiment shown, in which the plate members in the same way as in Figs. 2 and 3 are provided with rows of holes 16' the means for equalizing height dif¬ ferences comprise a hole 18 in the floor strip 17 oppo- site each row of holes 16' in the plate members intro¬ duced into the floor strip 17. In this case the indivi- O PI dual plate members are secured relative to the floor strip by means of a pin not shown for introduction into the hole 18 and a hole in the opposed row of holes 16' . For the equalization of level differences of the floor the floor list 17 may in a manner known per se be provided with adjustable feet 19. Figs. 7 and 8 show two different examples of the arrangement of a back wall to obtain a varying depth of the individual sections of the system. In both cases a rear edge supporting strip mounted on one of the plate members of a partition is used as support for the back wall. In the embodiment in Fig. 7 in which the individual plate members 20 and 21 are provided with rows of holes 22 corresponding to the rows of holes 16 in Figs. 2 and 3 the rear edge sup¬ porting strip 23 is designed for arrangement against the side face of a plate member with means for connec¬ tion with the holes in the row of holes 22, for example to be introduced in said holes or corresponding holes in which case the rear edge supporting strip is secured to the plate member by the introduction of loose, adapted pins in corresponding holes in the strip 23 and the row of holes in the plate member, respectively. Fig. 8 shows a rear edge supporting strip 24 designed for direct, arrangement on the rear edge of the rearmost plate member 25 of a partition and being addi¬ tionally designed in this example as a double strip for the support of back walls for two neighbouring sec- tions. In this case the rear edge supporting strip of T-shaped cross-section is provided with connecting means for engagement with the connecting means on the rear edge of the plate member normally serving for the connection of plate members with one another. The strip 25 may be provided for example with holes or dowels for engagement with corresponding dowels or holes on the rear edge of the plate member such as shown in Figs. 3 and 4. Figs. 9-12 show a furnishing example for the furniture system according to the invention with a number of cupbpards and shelves sections 26-33 arranged with the front faces extending in common plane, but with varying depth of the individual sections such as clearly shown in the horizontal sectional view in Fig. 11. Figs. 9 and 10 show the furniture system seen from the front with and without cupboard doors respectively whereas Fig. 11 is a sectional view along the line A-A in Fig. 9 and Fig. 12 shows a number of vertical sec¬ tional views illustrating clearly the varying depth of the individual sections. OMPI

Claims: PATENT CLAIMS 1. A furniture system for arrangement against a sloping wall (1, 1' ) and comprising a number of sec¬ tions (4-6, 17-24) designed as shelves, chests of drawers, cupboards etc. and separated or limited by vertical partitions (7) of right angles to the sloping wall (1, l 1 ), characterised in that each partition (7) comprises a number of juxtaposed vertical plate members (8-10, 8 '-10' ) of ' different height and each having an obliquely cut upper edge, said plate members being pro- vided on- or at their adjoining edge faces with con- - necting means (13, 19) allowing a stepwise displacement of neighbouring plate members in the height direction relative to one another. 2. A furniture system as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that one (11) of two adjoining edge faces on neighbouring plate members (8, 9) is provided with a number of dowels for each of which at least two holes (14) are provided at the other edge face, said holes being displaced in the height direction. 3. A furniture system as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the partitions (7) are provided on their side faces with rows of holes (16) for the arrangement of shelf supporting members, characterised in that the connecting means are . designed for displacement in the height direction in steps equal to the distance between neighbouring holes i said rows of holes (16) or a multiplum of said distance. 4.A furniture system as claimed in any of claims 1, 2 qr 3, characterised in that all partitions (7) are composed of a series of a limited number of plate mem¬ bers (.8-10, 8 '-10'), the upper edges of which are obli¬ quely cut with an equal inclination, the highest plate member (8, 8') being incorporated in all partitions, the front edge of each succeeding plate member (9, 10, 9', 10' ) having the same height as the rear edge of the preceding plate member. 5. A furniture system as claimed in any of claims 1-4, characterised in that the upper end of the plate members (8'-10') in one or more partitions are covered by a covering strip (15) lying against the sloping wall. 6. A furniture system as claimed in claim 4, characterised in that the lower end of the plate mem¬ bers (8", 9", 10") are inserted into a floor strip (17) of U-shaped cross-section, said floor strip being pro- vided with means for equalizing height differences bet¬ ween the "lower edges of the plate members (8", 9", 10"). 7. A furniture system as claimed in claims 3 and 6, characterised in that said means for equalizing height differences comprise a hole (18) in the floor strip (17) opposite each row of holes (16' ) in the plate members (8", 9", 10") inserted into the floor strip and a connection member for insertion into said hole (18) and a hole in said row of holes (16' ). 8. A furniture system as claimed in any of the preceding claims, characterised by a rear edge sup¬ porting strip for arrangement on a plate member in a partition as abutment for a backwall. 9. A furniture system as claimed in claim 8, characterised in that said rear edge supporting strip (24) is provided with means for connection with holes in the rows of holes (22) in the plate members (20, 21). 10. A furniture system as claimed in claim 8, characterised in that said rear edge supporting strip (25) is provided with connecting means for engagement with said connecting means on the rear edge of a plate member.

Inventors: BERNEKE ERIK SOEFELDE, BERNEKE, ERIK, SOEFELDE
Applicants: RASMUSSEN HOLDING AS V KANN, V. KANN RASMUSSEN HOLDING A/S
Application year: 1984
Main classification: A47B47
IPC codes: A47B47, A47B81, A47B87