Patent ID: 8092112

Claim:
In a furniture article comprising a first furniture component and an adjoining second furniture component interconnected together at a joint wherein said first and second furniture components have respective first and second component surfaces disposed contiguous to each other at said joint, the joint comprising a dowel assembly connectable between said first and second furniture components for joining thereof at said joint, said dowel assembly comprising a dowel body fixedly connected to said first furniture component, the dowel body including a support shaft projecting outwardly from said first furniture component into a dowel recess adjoining a slot formed in an end surface of said second furniture component, said dowel assembly including a cam rotatably supported on said support shaft and seated within said slot, said cam having a circumferential cam surface with a non-uniform radius with respect to a longitudinal axis of said support shaft such that the radial distance of said cam surface from said longitudinal axis varies circumferentially along said cam surface, said cam surface engaging an opposed surface within said slot in said second furniture component, said dowel assembly spanning the interface between said adjoining first and second furniture components, and said cam being selectively manually rotatable with respect to said support shaft to selectively adjust a position of contact between said cam surface and said opposed surface to cause a position of one of said first and second furniture components to move relative to the other of said first and second furniture components to effect alignment of said contiguous first and second component surfaces, said support shaft having a shaft end part which projects beyond said cam into said recess in said second furniture component and having fastener formations thereon, a plate member supported on the shaft end part adjacent the cam, and a fastener engaged with the fastener formations to press the plate member against a surface within said recess in the second furniture component to draw said first and second furniture components together so that the dowel assembly serves a joining function.