Patent Description:
The device according to the present invention responds to the need, felt in the sector, for being able to provide furniture shelves with supporting devices that create a connection with the shoulders of an increasingly miniaturized piece of furniture, so as to minimize the aesthetic impact and possibly disappearing completely from sight when the shelf is assembled.

Even more specifically, the shelf-supporting device according to the present invention allows any hole on the surfaces of the shelf itself to be completely eliminated.

Devices of the type considered herein for the reversible connection of a shelf to the shoulders of a piece of furniture are known in the field, and are commonly called shelf brackets. They are configured for being completely inserted within the thickness of the shelf itself, and have the function of stably but removably supporting and fixing the substantially horizontal shelf of a piece of furniture between two vertical elements of the piece of furniture itself, commonly called shoulders. Said shelves and said shoulders are substantially arranged perpendicular to each other.

The document <CIT> discloses joining means to detachably join adjacent components, furniture or parts thereof with two coupling elements comprising a pin and a receptacle for said pin wherein said coupling elements under influence of a temporary magnetic field actuation from outside of the joining means (<NUM>) interact with the actuation of the magnetic field, being the pin movable between a fixation position and a pre-position.

The document <CIT> discloses a device for selectively locking a door in a closed position against a door frame member. A magnetic bolt is disposed within the throughbore for slidable movement between a retracted position and an extended position in which a portion of the bolt extends outwardly.

The same Applicant has proposed various technical solutions for improving the shelf-supporting devices of the known type, such as those object of <CIT>, nr. <CIT> and nr.

Not even these solutions however are without drawbacks.

In particular, one drawback consists in the fact that the shelf brackets of the known type are not completely invisible when, with the device assembled, the shelf is viewed from above or below, and consequently do not limit the aesthetic impact on the furniture.

More specifically, known devices require the creation of holes in the lower surface and/or in the upper surface of the shelf itself to allow access to the device by means of a tool.

Furthermore, the devices of the known type have proved to be relatively expensive to manufacture, also requiring the use of a manoeuvring tool that must be inserted into a hole formed in the shelf to allow the actuation of means for moving the pin provided in the device. This manoeuvre may not always be easy, and in any case requires locating the hole which should be as small as possible to limit its aesthetic impact. Locating the hole and inserting the tool, especially when the sides of the furniture are already assembled and the operator must intervene on the shelf brackets that are positioned towards the bottom panel of the furniture, is not a simple operation.

In the light of what is specified above, the undertaking of the present invention is to solve the drawbacks affecting shelf-supporting devices known in the state of the art.

Within this undertaking, the objective of the present invention is to provide a shelf-supporting device which has a minimum aesthetic impact and which at the same time allows an easy and fast assembly and disassembly of the shelf with respect to the shoulders.

An objective of the present invention is also to provide a supporting and fixing device for shelves that is more versatile in the design and installation phase of the furniture, in particular as it is able to minimize, if not completely cancel, the aesthetic impact, proving to be invisible both when used with shelves destined for being seen from above by the user, and with shelves destined for being seen from below, allowing any trace of the presence of the device and even the access holes for the tool to be completely eliminated from sight.

The above-mentioned undertaking, as also the above-mentioned objectives and others that will appear more evident hereunder, are achieved by a shelf-supporting device for furniture for the reversible connection of a shelf to the shoulders of a piece of furniture according to the enclosed claim <NUM>.

Further characteristics of the preferred embodiments of the device according to the present invention described in the present application are object of the dependent claims.

Further characteristics and advantages will become more evident from the description of a preferred but non-exclusive embodiment of the shelf-supporting device for furniture for the reversible connection of a shelf to the shoulders of a piece of furniture illustrated by way of non-limiting example with the aid of the attached drawings in which:.

With particular reference to the attached <FIG>, alternative embodiments are described of a shelf-supporting device <NUM>, <NUM>' for supporting furniture shelves suitable for creating the reversible connection of a shelf <NUM> to the opposite shoulders <NUM> of a piece of furniture.

The supporting device <NUM>, <NUM>' according to the present invention is of the type suitable for creating a connection by means of a pin <NUM> associated with the shelf <NUM> and configured for protruding from the transverse edge B of said shelf <NUM> so as to be inserted into a corresponding hole or housing seat <NUM> formed on the shoulder <NUM> of a piece of furniture.

The shelf-supporting device <NUM>, <NUM>' for the reversible connection according to the present invention is configured for being inserted into a seat <NUM> formed within the thickness of said shelf <NUM> and comprises a main body <NUM>, advantageously composed of two coupled half-shells 12a, 12b, with which a connection pin <NUM> is slidingly associated, movable between an advanced operating position in which said pin <NUM> protrudes from said shelf <NUM>, according to what can be seen for example in <FIG>, so as to be able to be inserted into a housing seat <NUM> formed on one of said shoulders <NUM>, and a retracted non-operating position wherein the pin <NUM> does not protrude from said shelf <NUM>, or protrudes so as to be able to be in any case released from said housing seat <NUM>, for example by pushing the shelf itself upwards.

The device <NUM>, <NUM>' according to the present invention is characterized in that the pin <NUM> is associated with axial movement means <NUM> of said pin <NUM> which can be actuated by the user by means of the magnetic interaction between the movement means <NUM> themselves and an external actuation device <NUM>, <NUM>' that the user can move with respect to the main body <NUM> of the shelf bracket <NUM>, <NUM>'.

The axial movement means <NUM> of the pin <NUM> advantageously comprise at least a part or an insert <NUM> made of metallic material capable of interacting with the magnetic field generated by an external actuation device <NUM> comprising a magnet.

In accordance with an alternative embodiment of the shelf-supporting device according to the present invention, the means <NUM> for moving the pin <NUM> comprise at least a part or an insert comprising a magnet <NUM>', capable of interacting with the magnetic field generated by a external actuation device <NUM>' made of metallic material.

The axial movement means <NUM> of the pin <NUM> preferably comprise a slide <NUM> slidingly inserted in a housing seat <NUM> formed within said main body <NUM>, and said slide <NUM> comprises a seat 31a for housing said at least a part or insert <NUM> made of metallic material or said at least one magnet <NUM>'.

The shelf-supporting device <NUM>, <NUM>' according to the present invention preferably further comprises elastic means <NUM> acting between said slide <NUM> and said main body <NUM>, configured for keeping the pin <NUM> in the forward position, so that the opposing action of the elastic means <NUM> must be overcome in order to withdraw said pin <NUM>.

Said elastic means preferably comprise a helical spring <NUM> acting between said slide <NUM> and said main body <NUM> along the axial movement direction X of the pin <NUM>.

Said slide <NUM> advantageously has a substantially rectangular configuration and in an opposite position with respect to the pin <NUM>, i.e. from the opposite side from which the pin <NUM> extends, a shank C extends coaxially with respect to the pin <NUM> along the direction X.

The helical spring <NUM> is partially fitted onto said shank C.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the shelf-supporting device <NUM>' further comprises retaining means <NUM> capable of keeping the pin <NUM> in the retracted position against the action of said elastic means <NUM>, as can be seen for example in <FIG>.

Said retaining means <NUM> can be advantageously released by the user by moving the pin itself or the axial movement means <NUM> of the pin <NUM> by means of said external actuation device <NUM>, <NUM>'.

According to a preferred embodiment shown in <FIG>, the retaining means <NUM> advantageously comprise one or more teeth <NUM> provided on said main body <NUM>, in particular on the internal side surface of said housing seat <NUM> of the slide <NUM>, configured for being inserted into corresponding seats <NUM> formed on said slide <NUM>, advantageously in correspondence with the side surfaces of the body of the slide <NUM>.

The configuration of the device, and in particular of the retaining means <NUM> and elastic means <NUM>, is advantageously such that when the device is blocked with the pin in the retracted position as shown in <FIG>, an external action by the user involving the disengagement of the retaining means <NUM> is sufficient for releasing the device and causing the slide <NUM> and the pin <NUM> to advance into an operating position.

In particular, when the device is blocked in the retracted position of the pin <NUM> and of the slide <NUM> as shown in <FIG>, it is sufficient to move the slide <NUM> from the outside by means of the external actuation device <NUM>, <NUM>' causing the retraction or advancement of the slide <NUM> in order to release the retaining means <NUM>.

The elastic means <NUM> are advantageously dimensioned so that once the retaining means <NUM> have been released, the slide <NUM> is pushed by the elastic means <NUM> into the advanced operating position shown in <FIG>.

The force exerted by the elastic means <NUM> is preferably such as to cause the slide <NUM> to move forward causing the teeth <NUM> to pass beyond the seats <NUM> so that a retraction of the slide <NUM> can also cause the release of the retaining means <NUM> and the movement of the pin <NUM> from its non-operating position to an operating position.

As shown in the operating sequence of <FIG>, the engagement of the shelf bracket <NUM>, <NUM>' inserted in the shelf <NUM> with the seats <NUM> formed in the shoulders <NUM> of the furniture can be effected by simply guiding the positioning of the pins <NUM> in correspondence with the seats <NUM> as shown, the action of the elastic means <NUM> will cause the automatic insertion of the pin <NUM> into the seat <NUM>.

With reference to <FIG>, once the shelf <NUM> with the device <NUM>, <NUM>' according to the present invention has been coupled with a shoulder <NUM>, in order to remove the shelf, it is sufficient for the operator to bring the external actuation device <NUM>, <NUM>' towards the shelf bracket <NUM>, <NUM>', from below or from above, and move said actuation device away from the shoulders, as indicated by the arrow in <FIG>, causing the slide <NUM> with which said at least a part or insert <NUM> made of metallic material or said at least one magnet <NUM>' is respectively associated, to withdraw.

The objectives indicated in the preamble of the present description have thus been achieved, namely for providing a reversible shelf bracket, practically invisible from the outside, which can be actuated without the use of any manoeuvring tool and which therefore does not require the creation of holes for allowing the manoeuvring tool to have access in correspondence with the lower and/or upper surface of the shelf itself.

Claim 1:
A piece of furniture comprising a shelf (<NUM>) and shoulders (<NUM>) and a shelf-supporting device (<NUM>,<NUM>') for the reversible connection of said shelf (<NUM>) to said shoulders (<NUM>), said device being configured for being inserted inside a seat (<NUM>) formed within the thickness of said shelf (<NUM>) and comprising a main body (<NUM>) which is slidingly associated with a connection pin (<NUM>) movable between an advanced operating position in which said pin (<NUM>) protrudes from said shelf (<NUM>) so as to be able to be inserted into a housing seat (<NUM>) formed on one of said shoulders (<NUM>), and a retracted non-operating position in which said pin (<NUM>) does not protrude from said shelf (<NUM>) or protrudes so as to be able to be in any case released from said housing seat (<NUM>), characterized in that said pin (<NUM>) is associated with axial movement means (<NUM>) of said pin (<NUM>) which can be actuated by the user through the magnetic interaction between said movement means (<NUM>) and an external actuation device (<NUM>), and wherein the axial movement means (<NUM>) of said pin (<NUM>) comprise a slide (<NUM>) slidingly inserted inside a housing seat (<NUM>) formed within said main body (<NUM>), said slide (<NUM>) comprising a seat (31a) housing at least a part or insert (<NUM>) made of metallic material or at least one magnet (<NUM>').