A FURNITURE ARTICLE COMPOSED MAINLY OF PLATE MEMBERS AND A FITTING MEMBER FOR ASSEMBLING SUCH PLATE MEMBERS

Abstract: In a furniture article, particularly a shelves system or a cupboard, which is composed of plate members (1, 2) perpendicular to each other, the joints between the plate members are carried out by providing each plate member (1, 2) at each end edge thereof with at least two slit-like incisions (5) perpendicular to the end edge, and for each of said incisions a bore (6) extending perpendicular to the end edge surface and centrally in the incision (5) and terminating in the end edge surface and by using cross-, T- or L-shaped assembling fitting members (7) shaped as flat mainly plane members of a plate material having arms (8) for individual arrangement in an incision (5) in a plate member, said arms being formed with local protuberances (9) for fixation in the bore (6) at the incision (5) concerned.

Description: A furniture article composed mainly of plate members and a fitting member for assembling such plate members. This invention relates to a furniture article, in particular a shelves system or a cupboard, composed mainly of plate members that are mainly perpendicular to each other and interconnected at adjoining end edges by means of cross-shaped, T-shaped or L-shaped assembling fitting members, each plate member comprising at two opposite end edges at least two slit-like incisions per¬ pendicular to the end edge, and said assembling fitting members being shaped as flat, substantial plane elements provided with arms adapted to fit into an incision in each respective one of a number of plate members to be connected in alignment of and/or perpendicular to each other. In a known rack system in which horizontal shelves elements and vertical supporting and partition members are connected by fitting members of the type concerned, each fitting member is provided with a number of arms suitable for connection of two to four plate members, said arms having a cross-sectional profile substantially bent to U-shape. The assembling of the horizontal and vertical members of the system is carried out in that said fitting members are placed at the front and rear of the arrangement so that the arms of each fitting member with their U-profile grip around the front and rear edges, respectively, of each individual plate member, following which they are secured to said plate members by nails or screws inserted through pre- drilled holes in the arms of the fitting member. In practice, said prior system has only been uti- lized in open shelves arrangements with uncovered front and rear sides, particularly for use as cheap do-it- yourself shelves arrangements for workshops, store rooms and the like, where the esthetically unfavourable visi¬ bility of the fitting members does not play any role. In spite of the simplicity aimed at, the manufac- ture of the fitting members with armsia the shape of U- profiles is far from being un uncomplicated process, and in use of the fitting member for securing the horizontal and vertical members two nails or screws per arm of each fitting member are generally required, whereby the assembling of comparatively large frame systems becomes rather time-consuming. According to Norwegian published patent appli¬ cation No. 134,343 an attempt has been made to eliminate the said undesired visibility of the fitting members at the front and rear sides of a shelves arrangement by suggesting arms in the form of squeezers having I-shaped or 21-shaρed cross-section which, however, causes the same productional complications as the above mentioned prior fitting members and a comparatively markable visi- bility of the fitting members in the corners between the interconnected plate members. The object the invention is to provide a fur¬ niture article of the above mentioned type which elimi¬ nates the drawbacks of the prior system referred to, since the fitting members are not mounted in the im¬ mediately visible front and rear sides of a shelves arrangement but are only slightly visible at the corners between interconnected plate members. At the same time the fitting members ensure a reliable and stable connec- tion between the plate members and have a simple form which is easy to manufacture, thereby providing in addi¬ tion for use of the fitting member also in the assembling of other furniture articles than shelves arrangements, in particular in cupboards for use in kitchens and as wardrobe cabinets. With this object in mind a furniture article according to the invention is characterized in that for each of said incisions the plate members have a bore terminating in the end edge surface and extending sub- stantially in the centre of the incision, the axis of said bore being perpendicular to the end edge surface, and in that each arm of the fitting member is provided with at least one local protuberance to be fixed in the bore at the incision concerned in the plate member. Besides the above captioned advantages the design of the fitting member according to the invention entails that the manufacture of the fitting members may be carried out by simple punching and pressing operations or by die-casting. In most cases the fitting member is applied as it is without the need of particular measures for fixing it to the plate members. The invention further relates to a fitting member for assembling plate members, perpendicular to each other, of a furniture article of the above mentioned type, said fitting member being formed as a cross-, T- or L-shaped, flat and substantially plane member having arms to fit into individual incisions extending perpen¬ dicular to an end edge of a plate member to be assembled with one or more adjacent members. In accordance with the above, such a fitting member is according to the invention characterized in that each arm of the fitting member is formed with at least one local protuberance to be fixed in a bore at the incision concerned. In certain cases where it is necessary or advant¬ ageous to reinforce the assembling between a horizontal and a vertical plate member, e.g. when connecting bottom and lateral walls in upper-cupboards, a further develop- ment of the fitting member having a T- or L-shaped plane configuration may be used when assembling one " or more horizontral outer wall members with vertical outer wall members or partition wall members, said further develop¬ ment being characterized in that the arm of the fitting member adapted to fit into an incision provided in said vertical outer wall or partition wall members comprises an expansion bushing extending into the outer edge of the arm or arms perpendicular thereto and adapted to receive an expansion member. The invention will now be explained in the fol¬ lowing with reference to the schematical drawings, in which Fig. 1 shows a simple box-shaped furniture article according to the invention, Fig. 2 illustrates the form of a plate member to be used in the furniture article in Fig. 1, Fig. 3 shows an embodiment of a fitting member in a cross-shaped design, Fig. 4 shows a larger arrangement of shelves and/or cupboard, Fig. 5 shows a further development of the fitting member, and Fig. 6 is a modification of the fitting member in Fig. 3. As an example of a furniture article according to the invention Fig. 1 illustrates a box-shaped bookshelf composed of two horizontal plate members 1 and 2 and two vertical plate members 3 and 4. According to the invention each plate members 1 to 4 is provided at two opposite end edges with two slit-like incisions 5 perpendicular to a the end edge in question and located at a determined distance equal for all the plate members from the front and rear side of the plate member. Dependent on the width of the plate members 1 to 4 the number of incisions at each end edge may for instance be increased to three or more. The incisions 5 may be carried out as simple saw grooves and the plate members may either be delivered with pre-formed incisions or the incisions may be pro¬ vided by the user when assembling the plate members 1 to 4. As illustrated in Fig. 2 a bore 6 terminating in the end edge surface concerned is provided for each respective incision 5 in the plate members 1 to 4, the axis of said bore being perpendicular to the end edge surface and extending approximately centrally of the incision. The plate members are assembled by means of cross-, T- or L-shaped fitting members, a preferred embodiment of a cross-shaped fitting member 7 being illustrated in Fig. 3. Thus for the simple boxlike article in Fig. 1 in which each of the four joints comprises only two plate members perpendicular to each other L-shaped fitting members are used. As illustrated in Fig. 3 the fitting members 7 are shaped as flat, substantially plane members of rigid sheet material, preferably aluminium or a plastic mate¬ rial, such as nylon, and are provided with a number of arms 8 adapted to fit into an incision 5 in each of a corresponding number of plate members- Each of the arms 8 comprises at least one local protuberance 9 adapted to fit into the bore 6 at the incision 5 con¬ cerned. In the embodiment shown in Fig. 3 the protuberan¬ ces 9 are semi-cylindrical which has proved to result in a good fixation in incisions as at 5 in Fig. 2, and with a view to a simple manufacture by punching and pressing the fitting member 7 is symmetrically composed of two uniform members 7a and 7b having their local, semi- cylindrical protuberances 9 protruding from opposite sides of the composed fitting member so that two oppo- site protuberances altogether fit into the bore ' 6 of the incision 5 concerned. Fig. 4 shows an example of the composition of a larger arrangement of shelves or cupboards having a bot- torn 10, a top wall 11, vertical outer wall members 12 and 13, horizontal shelves 14 and vertical partition members 15 with the use of cross-shaped fitting members 7, T-shaped fitting members 16a and 16b and L-shaped fitting members 17. At the cross-shaped fitting members 7 and the T-shaped fitting members 16a for connecting two horizontal members with one vertical member each of the arms of the fitting member is, as illustrated in Fig. 3, provided with two local protuberances 9, while at the T-shaped fitting members 16b for assembling two vertical members with one horizontal member and at the L-shaped fitting members 17 it is usually sufficient to provide one protuberance in the arm adapted to be con¬ nected with the horizontal member. With a view to transfer of the vertical forces of the structure the assemblings comprising two aligned horizontal members, in connection with at least one ver¬ tical member, as illustrated in Fig. 1, are at the assemblings 18 and 19 carried out in such a manner that the horizontal members are assembled at their adjacent end edges with mutual abutment, while each vertical member is placed so that its end edge surface covers the abutment line between the horizontal members. With the design of plate members and fitting mem¬ bers according to the invention a very stable structure is obtained in most cases without making use of separate securing members as nails or screws for mounting the fitting members. Due to the fact that the incisions 5 and the fitting members 7, 16 and 17 are withdrawn from the front and rear sides of the arrangement and are thereby only slightly visible from the outside, an estheticly attractive construction is obtained which is also suited for furniture articles of more fashionable, veneered plate members. The structure directly offers the possi- bility of mounting backings and cupboard doors. In certain cases, in particular when mounting bottom plates in upper cupboards to be mounted on walls, it is necessary or preferred to reinforce the stability of the assemblings by means of the fitting members according to the invention. Fig. 5 illustrates a further development of a T- shaped fitting member 20 for obtaing such a reinfor¬ cement, the arm 21 adapted to fit into an incision pro¬ vided in a vertical partition wall member comprises an expansion bushing 24 for receiving an expansion member, e.g. a screw, said bushing extending into the outer edge of the arms 2 perpendicular thereto and adapted to be connected with horizontal outer wall members. In the modification illustrated in Fig. 6 the local protuberances 9a have a smaller thickness than shown in Figs 3 and 5 so that they becomes slightly resilient. Moreover, the protuberances 9a have an obli¬ quely cut upper surface decreasing in height in the direction from the centre of the fitting member towards the free end of the arm 8a. After mounting in the grooved incisions at the end edges of the plate members to be connected with each other, protuberances of this design will act as barbed hooks and ensure a further improved stability of the connectiob between the plate members.

Claims: PATENT CLAIMS 1. A furniture article, in particular a shelves system or a cupboard, composed mainly of plate members (1 to 4, 10 to 15) that are mainly perpendicular to each other and interconnected at their adjoining end edges by 5 means of cross-shaped, T-shaped or L-shaped assembling fitting members (7, 16a, 16b, 17), each plate member (1 to 4, 10 to 15) comprising at two opposite end edges at least two slit-like incisions (5) perpendicular to the end edge, and said assembling fitting members being 10 shaped as flat, substantial plane elements provided with arms (8) adapted to fit into an incision (5) in each respective one of a number of plate members to be con¬ nected in alignment of and/or perpendicular to each other, characterized in that for each of said incisions 15 (5) the plate members (1 to 4, 10 to 15) have a bore (6) terminating in the end edge surface and extending sub¬ stantially in the centre of the incision (5) the axis of said bore being perpendicular to the end edge surface, and in that each arm (8) of the fitting member (7, 16a, 20 16b) is provided with at least one local protuberance (9) to be fixed in the bore (6) at the incision (5) con¬ cerned in the plate member. 2. A fitting member 2 for assembling plate mem¬ bers, perpendicular to each other, of a furniture 25 article, said fitting member being formed as a cross-, T-or L-shaped, flat and substantially plane member having arms (8) to fit into individual incisions (5) extending perpendicular to an end edge of a plate member to be assembled with one or more adjacent members, 30 characterized in that each arm (8) of the fitting member (7, 16a, 16b, 17) is formed with at least one local pro- truberance (a) to be fixed in a bore (6) at the incision (5) concerned. 3. A fitting member as claimed in claim 2, 35 characterized in that said protuberances (9) are substantially semi-cylindrical. 4. A fitting member as claimed in ' claim 3, characterized in that the protuberances (9a) are elasti- cally resilient and of comparatively small thickness and have their top surface obliquely cut off with decreasing height in the direction from the central point of the fitting member towards the free end of the arm concerned. 5. A fitting member as claimed in claim 3, characterized in that it is symmetrically composed of two uniform members having cross-, T- or L-shaped plane configuration and being formed by a punching or pressing process the local protuberances from respective ones of said members protruding from opposite sides of the com¬ posed member. 6. A fitting member as claimed in any of claims 2 to 5, having T- or L-shaped plane to be used when assembling one or more horizontal outer wall members with vertical outer wall or partition wall members, characterized in that the arm of the fitting member adapted to fit into an incision provided in said ver¬ tical outer wall or partition wall members comrprises an expansion bushing (24) extending into the outer edge of the arm or arms perpendicular thereto and adapted to receive an expansion member.

Inventors: POULSEN NIELS STIG, THELANDER FINN, POULSEN, NIELS, STIG, THELANDER, FINN
Applicants: POULSEN NIELS STIG, THELANDER FINN, POULSEN, NIELS, STIG, THELANDER, FINN
Application year: 1986
Main classification: A47B47
IPC codes: F16B12