Abstract:
A construction kit by means of which a do-it-yourselfer can erect a stable, strong structure whose predetermined geometry is maintained even when the structure is subjected to stresses. The kit includes a plurality of beams, a set of rectangular panels and two end frames. To assemble the structure, the beams are arranged to bridge the end frames and to snap-lock or screw onto the corners thereof to form a skeleton in which the beams are in parallel relation. The beams are profiled to form internal tracks for slidably receiving the panels, each panel being supported between a pair of adjacent beams to create a wall of the structure.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0002]    This invention relates generally to construction kits by means of which a do-it-yourselfer can erect a stable structure, and in particular to a kit of this type whose components can be assembled to create a walled structure whose predetermined geometry is maintained even when the structure is subjected to stresses  
           [0003]    2. Status of Prior Art  
           [0004]    A conventional article of furniture such as a cabinet whose components are made of wood, plastic or composite materials, is usually assembled at a factory by means of screws, bolts or other fasteners, or by gluing the joints. Once the cabinet is finished and in condition to be sold, it must be crated and shipped to a retailer. When the retailer sells the cabinet, he must ship it in its finished state to his customer.  
           [0005]    The cost of crating and shipping finished articles of furniture may in some instances approach its selling price. And the selling price cannot be low because it must cover the cost of assembling the article.  
           [0006]    It is for these reasons that a large share of the furniture market has now been taken over by so-called “knock-down” furniture, such as those sold internationally by the IKEA furniture chain. What the consumer buys is not a finished article of furniture but a kit containing all of its components accompanied by instructions explaining to a do-it-yourselfer what must be done to assemble the components. Also included in the kit are screws and other fasteners necessary to join the components together as well as the tools for this purpose such as a wrench and screwdriver.  
           [0007]    But a do-it-yourselfer is an amateur, not a professional craftsman, and when assembling a knock-down piece, the resultant structure may be somewhat misshapen and unstable.  
           [0008]    One difficulty a do-it-yourselfer is likely to encounter is when erecting a structure having wall panels that must be mounted on frames. If the frames erected by the do-it-yourselfer are not quite rectangular, he will find it difficult to attach rectangular panels to these frames. Thus if a frame is provided with holes to receive screws for mounting a panel, and the panel is provided with matching holes, these panel holes will be out of registration with those in the frame should the frame not be perfectly rectangular.  
           [0009]    A more troublesome aspect of an article of furniture assembled from a kit of parts is the so-called parallelogram effect. When a regular frame defined by parallel end beams attached to parallel side beams has a panel secured thereto is subjected to stresses, as are most articles of furniture, this may give rise to the parallelogram effect in which the end beams assume an acute angle with respect to the side beams.  
           [0010]    To avoid this undesirable effect it is the common practice to reinforce the frame with guy wires extending diagonally in an X-formation from the four corners of the frame to resist its deformation. These guy wires are not only unsightly but they add to the cost of the do-it-yourself article and to some degree defeat its purpose which is to provide the consumer with a kit by which he can assemble an article that will be significantly less expensive than a pre-assembled, factory-made article.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0011]    In view of the foregoing, the main object of this invention is to provide a kit which makes it possible for atypical do-it-yourselfer to erect a structure that is stable and strong and which maintains a predetermined geometry even when the article is subjected to stresses. Thus if the structure to be erected is designed to have a parallelpiped geometry with a rectangular cross-section, then even when erected by an unskilled do-it-yourself it will not have a trapezoidal or other non-rectangular cross-section but will have the proper cross-section.  
           [0012]    Among the significant advantages of the invention are the following:  
           [0013]    A. The components which together make up the article of furniture to be assembled by a do-it-yourselfer are easily joined together so that it takes relatively little time to erect the structure,  
           [0014]    B. The structural beams included in the kit from which the skeleton of the structure is created are profiled to define internal tracks for accommodating the panels forming the walls of the structure,  
           [0015]    C. The structure is highly-resistant to the parallelogram effect and require no guy wires or other reinforcing expedients to prevent this undesirable effect,  
           [0016]    D. The do-it-yourself kit is relatively inexpensive and can be mass-produced at low cost.  
           [0017]    Briefly stated, these objects are accomplished in a construction kit in accordance with the invention by means of which a do-it-yourselfer can quickly erect a stable and strong structure, such as a dog house, whose predetermined geometry is maintained even when the structure is heavily stressed. The kit includes a plurality of beams, two end frames and rectangular panels which when assembled create the desired structure.  
           [0018]    To assemble the structure, the beams are arranged to bridge the end frames and to snap-locks or screw onto the corners thereof to form a skeleton in which the beams are in parallel relation. The beams are profiled to form internal tracks for slidably receiving the panels, each panel being supported between a pair of adjacent beams to create the walls of the structure. To disassemble the structure, it is only necessary to release the beam snap locks or remove the screws.  
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0019]    For a better understanding of the invention as well as other objects and features thereof, reference is made to the annexed drawing wherein:  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a structure erected by assembling the components of a kit in accordance with a first embodiment of the invention;  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 2 shows the same structure with one end same removed to expose the interior of the structure;  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 3 illustrates one fame of the structure and a beam joined thereto which supports a wall panel at right angles to the frame;  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 4 is a magnification of a detail of the structure encircled in FIG. 3;  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 5 is a transverse section taken through one of the beams;  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 6 shows the profiled beam when loaded with panels of different thicknesses;  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 7 illustrates the latch of a snap-lock at the corner of a frame included in the structure;  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 8 shows how the beam latches onto the frame;  
         [0028]    [0028]FIG. 9 illustrates a second embodiment of invention in which the structure is a dog house;  
         [0029]    [0029]FIG. 10 shows the dog house structure without its front and rear end frames, and  
         [0030]    [0030]FIG. 11 shows the structure with its end frames detached therefrom. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0031]    First Embodiment:  
         [0032]    Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, shown in these figures is a structure created by assembling the components of a construction kit in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention. The structure illustrated in these figures is a plastic container having a parallelpiped geometry, with a closed bottom wall and an open to wall. It is to be understood, however, that this simple structure is by way of example only, and that more complex, structures can be erected by means of a kit having a greater number of components.  
         [0033]    The components of the kit from which the container is assembled are the following:  
         [0034]    (1) a set of four like structural beams  10 ,  11 ,  12  and  13 ,  
         [0035]    (2) a set of four like rectangular panels  14 ,  15 ,  16  and  17  to form the walls of the structure,  
         [0036]    (3) a closed rectangular end frame  18 ,  
         [0037]    (4) an open rectangular end frame  19 .  
         [0038]    To assembly the structure, beams  10  to  13  are at their opposite ends snap-locked to the respective four corners of end frames  18  and  19  so as to bridge these frames and thereby create the skeleton of the structure in which the panels are trapped between adjacent parallel beams to form four side walls. All components of the kit are preferably molded of synthetic plastic material of high-strength, such as polypropylene or polyethylene. In practice, the beams may be formed of extruded aluminum.  
         [0039]    Each beam, as shown in FIGS.  3  to  6 , is profiled to define outer slats  20  and  21  at right angles to each other, and a diagonal slat  22  extending from the apex of the right angle to divide the beam into a horizontal zone HZ and a vertical zone VZ. Projecting from diagonal slat  22  at an intermediate position in horizontal zone HZ is a narrow ledge  23  which is parallel to outer slat  20 . This ledge creates a narrow track A to accommodate a tin sidewall panel P 1 . Projecting into horizontal zone HZ from the free end of diagonal slat  22  is a broad ledge  24  which is parallel to outer slat  21  to create a wide track B. This track is dimensioned to accommodate a thicker panel P 2  as shown in FIG. 6.  
         [0040]    Should it be necessary to provide a very thick wall panel, such as panel P 3  shown in FIG. 6, then in order for panel P 3  to be accommodated, its edge must be stepped, the lowest step fitting into track A, the middle step into track B, and the third step abutting broad ledge  24 .  
         [0041]    Vertical zone V has corresponding ledges, namely a narrow ledge  23 A and a broad ledge  24 A to define a narrow track A and a wide track B. When the structure is being assembled, each of the panels  14 ,  15 ,  16  and  17  is slidably received in a pair of adjacent parallel beams, the panel going into the horizontal zone of these beams forming a horizontal wall, and the panel going into the vertical zone a vertical wall.  
         [0042]    Since the beams are snap locked in the end frames, the panels are entrapped in the beams and act to stabilize the structure. To disassemble the structure, it is only necessary to release the snap locks and thereby separate the beams from the end frames and free the panels from the beams.  
         [0043]    [0043]FIGS. 7 and 8 illustrate a snap lock in a corner  18 C of frame  18 . This corner is provided with a flexible latch arm  25  having a notch  26  therein to create a tooth  27 . When an end of beam  16  is pushed against corner  18 C of frame  18 , the tooth  27  in latch arm  25  then snaps into a slot  28  in the beam end to lock the beam to the corner. To release the lock it is only necessary by means of a button (not shown) to push the tooth of the latch out of the slot in the beam.  
         [0044]    Second Embodiment:  
         [0045]    Illustrated in FIGS. 9, 10 and  11  is a dog house in accordance with the Invention assembled by a do-it-yourselfer from a kit of the components. The kit also provides the screws S necessary to assemble the structure and a screw driver D, as shown in FIG. 10, in practice, instead of screws, other types of fasteners or connectors may be used to connect the beams to comers of the end frames.  
         [0046]    Included in the dog house structure is a gabled roof whose angled sides are formed by rectangular panels  29  and  30 . Panels  31  and  32  define the vertical sidewalls of the structure, and panel  33  the horizontal floor.  
         [0047]    Also provided are front and rear end frames  34  and  35  both having the same rectangular-triangular composite geometry imposed therein by the gable design. Front end frame  34  has mounted therein a wall panel having an arched entry  36  to admit the dog into the house. Rear end frame  35  has a blank wall panel  37  mounted therein to close the rear end of the house. All components of the house are molded of polypropylene or other high strength synthetic plastic. Each end frame has five corners C 1  to C 5 , corners C 1  to C 4  being at the corners of the rectangular section of the frame corner C 5  being at the apex of the triangular section.  
         [0048]    Five horizontal beams B 1  to B 5  are provided which bridge the end frames and are attached thereto by screws S or other fasteners. Beam B 1  bridges corners C 1  of end frames  34  and  35 . Beam B 2  bridges corners C 2 , beam B 3  bridges corners C 3 , beam B 4  bridges corners C 4 , and beam B 5  bridges corners C 5  at the apex of the frames.  
         [0049]    Beans B 1  to B 5  are parallel to each other and in combination with the end frames create the skeleton of the dog house structure. The beams are profiled in the manner previously disclosed in connection with the first embodiment to define internal tracks to slidably receive the panels  29 ,  30 ,  31 ,  32  and  33  which form the walls and floor of the dog house.  
         [0050]    Thus floor panel  33  is trapped between beams B 1  and B 2  at the base of the structure, panel  32  is trapped between beams B 2  and B 4  to form one vertical side wall panel  31  is trapped between beams B 1  and B 3  to form the other vertical side wall. Panel  29  is trapped between apex beam  35  and beam B 4  to form one of the inclined roof walls, while panel  30  is trapped between beams B 5  and B 3  to form the other inclined roof wall.  
         [0051]    The reason the structure is highly resistant to stresses and maintains its predetermined rectilinear geometry is that the panels are not fastened to the skeleton of the structure but are slidable in the beam tracks along a horizontal axis. When a stress force is applied to the skeleton which seeks to produce a parallelogram effect in which the end frames assume an acute angle with respect to the beams attached thereto, this force is transferred to the planar panels trapped between the beams. But the panels will not tolerate the parallelogram effect, for to do so it would be necessary to disrupt the internal structure of the panels. The panels are made of high strength, synthetic plastic material highly resistant to shear and compressive forces and acting therefore to stabilize the structure and to maintain its predetermined rectilinear geometry.  
         [0052]    While there has been shown preferred embodiments of the invention, it is to be understood that many changes may be made therein without departing from its essential spirit.