Furniture element comprising a corner piece

Europàisches Patentamt
(ÏÏ) Publication number:
European Patent Office
Office européen des brevets
®
EUROPEAN
PATENT
(§) Date of publication of patent spécification: 01.04.87
(§) Application number: 82201110.2
0 081
2 4 9
B1
SPECIFICATION
© Int. Cl.4: A 47 B 9 6 / 2 0 ,
E 06 B 3 / 8 2
F 25 D 2 3 / 0 2 ,
(g) Date offiling: 07.09.82
(54) Furniture élément comprising a corner pièce.
(M) Priority: 07.09.81 NL 8104147
(43) Date of publication of application:
15.06.83 Bulletin 83/24
(45) Publication of the grant of the patent:
01.04.87 Bulletin 87/14
(84) Designated Contracting States:
ATBEDEFRGB IT NL
(§) Proprietor: IEPEGEB.V.
75, Mon Plaisir P.O. Box 161
NL-4870 AD Etten-Leur (NL)
® Inventor: Van Gils, Antonius Cornélius Maria
52 Contrabas
NL-4876 VJ Etten-Leur (NL)
(74) Représentative: Hoorweg, Petrus Nicolaas et ai
OCTROOIBUREAU ARNOLD & SIEDSMA
Sweelinckplein 1
NL-2517 GK The Hague (NL)
(3) Références cited:
DE-A-2942974
FR-A-1 202 769
FR-E-85 237
FR-E-92 662
US-A-1 664292
US-A-2214187
US-A-2884 669
CM
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Note: Within nine months from the publication of the mention of the grant of the European patent, any person may
give notice to the European Patent Office of opposition to the European patent granted. Notice of opposition shall
be filed in a written reasoned statement. It shall not be deemed to have been filed until the opposition fee has been
paid. (Art. 99(1) European patent convention).
Courier Press, Leamington Spa, England.
The invention relates to a furniture element
such as a table top, a door panel and the like,
mainly consisting of a box-shaped construction
obtained by bending over sheet material and so
forming a bottom plate and sidewalls at an angle
thereto, wherein at each corner of the box the
proximal rims of the sidewalls are retracted with
respect to the imaginary corner line and wherein
a separate corner piece interconnects said rims,
its outer face blending with the outer face of said
sidewalls and having wings located inwardly of
the sidewalls.
Such a furniture element as disclosed in
DE-A-2,942,974 is used, for example, for cupboard doors or refrigerators, in which the filling
agent has an insulating and stiffening effect. It is
common practice to use sheet material of a
thickness such that it provides sufficient protection for the door panel or table top respectively.
The corner piece in DE-A-2,942,974 is provided
with special edges suitably profiled to engage a
part of the proximal rims of the side wall. Apart
from a rather expensive moulding of the proximal
rim the corner is formed partly in the box structure, requiring further expensive moulding of the
sheet material.
It has. been found that the manufacture of such
kinds of furniture elements is time-consuming
and hence expensive.
The invention has for its object to manufacture
a furniture element of the kind set forth above in a
cheaper manner and provides to this end a
furniture element of the kind set forth above
which is distinguished in that each proximal rim
extends over the full width of its sidewall and is
not stepped inwardly relative to the remainder of
its side wall; in that the part of the outer face of
the corner piece which is located between the
proximal rims is extended in the directions along
the sidewalls by being stepped inwardly and then
continues as a respective wing; and in that said
box construction is filled out with a filling agent,
holding said wings in intimate contact with the
inner face of the sidewalls of the box construction.
A corner piece provided with wings underneath
the side walls of the box structure, is disclosed in
US-A-2,214,187. However the corner piece is
also provided with a profiled edge to engage the
proximal rim, whereas the outer faces of side wall
and corner piece are not flushing.
It is noted that FR-E-85237 discloses a corner
piece for a box-structure, which corner piece is
inserted from the outside in the corner area, so
requiring additional fastening means.
Owing to the wings each engaging the inner
face of the walls, mounting of the corner piece is
very much simplified. By slipping the corner piece
from the inside into the corner of the box and by
subsequently introducing the filling agent, the
corner piece is automatically clamped tight. This
renders any aftertreatment superfluous.
The corner piece lands itself, moreover, admir-
ably as a protective member against shocks to
which the corners of the furniture element are
exposed, for which purpose the corner of the
bottom plate between the rims of the sidewalls is
also removed and the resultant space is occupied
by the corner piece.
In order to permit of mounting hinges or similar
expedients as near the corner as possible, the
edges of the wings remote from the corner piece
are inwardly recessed.
The filling agent is preferably a foam having a
high insulation value so that the furniture element
is suitable for use in cupboard doors or refrigerators.
The invention will now be described more fully
with reference to an embodiment. The drawing
shows in:
Fig. 1 a perspective front view of a corner of a
furniture element provided with a corner piece
embodying the invention,
Fig. 2 a perspective rear view of the corner of
the furniture element of Fig. 1, the corner piece
being removed from the corner of the box construction,
Fig. 3 a perspective view of the corner piece
employed in the furniture element shown in Figs.
1 and 2.
From Figs. 1 and 2 it will be apparent that the
furniture element consists of a relatively thin
metal sheet which is bent over to form a box
construction in accordance with the desired
shape of the furniture element. This shape may be
rectangular, hexagonal or otherwise polygonal.
The box construction finally has a bottom plate 1.
arid sidewalls 2 at the edges thereof and at an
angle thereto. The proximal rims 3 of the
sidewalls are retracted with respect to the imaginary corner line A-A so that a recess is formed at
the corners of the box construction. In the embodiment shown also the corner of the bottom
plate 1 at 4, mainly located between.the rims 3 of
the sidewalls 2, is removed.
The resultant, recessed part of the box construction is filled out by means of a corner piece 5,
which may have any desired form within the
scope of the appended claims, but in the embodiment shown it has an outerside registering with
the outer side of each sidewall 2. The corner piece
may be rounded off at 6, but it may, as an
alternative, be rectangular as shown at 7 in Fig. 2.
Fig. 3 shows that the corner piece has two
wings 8, the outer side of which comes into
engagement with the inner side of the sidewall 2.
The rim 9 of each wing remote from the corner
piece 5 is inwardly bent, which has the advantage
that auxiliary pieces such as hinges and the like
can be arranged as near the corner of a door
panel as possible (see Fig. 1). The fastening holes
10 are indicated schematically.
Finally it should be noted that the wings 8 may
also be provided with end flanges 11, which will
adjoin, on the one hand, the inner side of the
bottom plate 1 and, on the other hand, the inner
side of flanges 12 extending along the longitudinal rims of the sidewalls 2.
The manufacture of the furniture element can
be carried out in a simple manner by previously
forming the element shown in Fig. 2 by bending
flat metal sheet and by subsequently placing the
corner piece 5 from the inner side in the corners
of the box-shaped construction so that the wings
8 and the flanges 11 come into contact with the
inner side of the box. By subsequently filling out
the hollow space of the box-shaped construction
with a foam (not shown), the corner piece is
anchored. Thus the corner piece can withstand
shocks.
Of course, the invention is not limited to the
embodiment described above and illustrated in
the drawing, but is defined by the appended
claims.
1. A furniture element such as a table top, a
door panel and the like, mainly consisting of a
box-shaped construction obtained by bending
over sheet material and so forming a bottom plate
(1) and sidewalls (2) at an angle thereto, wherein
at each corner of the box the proximal rims (3) of
the sidewalls (2) are retracted with respect to the
imaginary corner line (A-A) and wherein a
separate corner piece (5) interconnects said rims
(3), its outer face blending with the outer face of
said sidewalls (2) and having wings located inwardly of the sidewalls, characterized in that each
proximal rim (3) extends over the full width of its
sidewall (2) and is not stepped inwardly relative to
the remainder of its side wall; in that the part of
the outer face of the corner piece which is located
between the proximal rims is extended in the
directions along the sidewalls by being stepped
inwardly and then continues as a respective wing;
and in that said box construction is filled out with
a filling agent, holding said wings in intimate
contact with the inner face of the sidewalls (2) of
the box construction.
2. A furniture element as claimed in claim 1,
characterized in that the corner of the bottom
plate (1) between the rims (3) of the sidewalls (2)
is removed, and the corner piece (5) has a stepped
back end flange (11) interconnecting the ends of
the wings (8).
3. A furniture element as claimed in either of
claims 1 and 2, characterized in that the rims (9) of
the wings (8) remote from the corner piece (5)
have an inwardly bent-over shape.
4. A furniture element as claimed in any one of
the preceding claims characterized in that the
filling agent is a foam.
1. Möbelelement wie z.B. ein Tischoberteil, eine
Türplatte u.dgl., welches im wesentlichen besteht
aus einem kastenförmigen Aufbau, der erhalten
wird durch Abkanten von Blechmaterial und somit Bilden einer Bodenplatte (1) und Seitenwandungen (2) unter einem Winkel dazu, wobei an
jeder Ecke des Kastens die nächstliegenden
Kanten (3) der Seitenwandungen (2) zurückspringen bezüglich der imaginären Ecklinie (A-A) und
wobei ein getrenntes Eckstück (5) diese Kanten (3)
miteinander verbindet dessen Außenfläche in die
Außenfläche der Seitenwandungen (2) übergeht
und welches Flügel aufweist, die innerhalb der
Seitenwandungen liegen, dadurch gekennzeichnet, daß jede nächstliegende Kante (3) sich über
die volle Breite der zugehörigen Seitenwandung
(2) erstreckt und nicht gestuft ist nach innen
bezüglich des Rests der Seitenwandung; daß der
Teil der Außenfläche des Eckstücks, welcher
zwischen den nächstliegenden Kanten liegt, sich
in die Richtungen längs der Seitenwandungen
erstreckt durch einwertige Stufung und dann sich
der jeweilige Flügel fortsetzt; und daß die Kastenkonstruktion mit einem Füllmaterial gefüllt wird,
welches die Flügel in engem Kontakt mit der
Innenfläche der Seitenwandungen (2) der Kastenkonstruktion hält.
2. Möbelelement nach Anspruch 1, dadurch
gekennzeichnet, daß die Ecke der Bodenplatte (1)
zwischen den Kanten (3) der Seitenwandungen
(2) entfert wird und das Eckstück (5) einen zurückgestuften Endflansch (11) aufweist, der die Enden
der Flügel (8) miteinander verbindet.
3. Möbelelement nach Anspruch 1 oder 2,
dadurch gekennzeichnet, daß die Kanten (9) der
Flügel (8), die vom Eckstück (5) wegliegen, eine
nach innen gekrümmte Form haben.
4. Möbelelement nach einem der vorangehenden Ansprüche, dadurch gekennzeichnet, daß das
Füllmittel ein Schaummaterial ist.
1. Elément de meuble tel que dessus de table,
panneau de porte et similaire, formé essentiellement d'une construction en forme de boîte obtenue par repliage d'un matériau en feuille de façon
à constituer une plaque de base (1) et des parois
latérales (2) formant un angle avec celle-ci, dans
lequel les bords proximaux (3) des parois latérales (2) à chaque coin de la boîte sont en retrait
par rapport à la ligne d'angle imaginaire (A-A) et
dans lequel une pièce d'angle séparée (3) relie ces
bords (3), la face externe de cette pièce se fondant
avec la face externe des parois latérales (2) et
comportant des ailes situées à l'intérieur des
parois latérales, caractérisé en ce que chaque
bord proximal (3) s'étend sur toute la largeur de
sa paroi latérale (2) et n'est pas étagé vers
l'intérieur par rapport au reste de sa paroi latérale,
en ce que la partie de la face externe de la pièce
d'angle qui est située entre les bords proximaux
s'étend dans les directions le long des parois
latérales en étant étagée vers l'intérieur et se
continue ensuite en formant les ailes, et en ce que
la construction de boîte est remplie d'un agent de
remplissage qui maintient les ailes en contact
intime avec la face intérieure des parois latérales
(2) de la construction de boîte.
2. Elément de meuble selon la revendication 1,
caractérisé en ce que le coin de la plaque de base
(1) entre les bords (3) des parois latérales (2) est
enlevé et en ce que lu pièce d'angle (5) comporte
un rebord d'extrémité échelonné vers l'arrière qui
relie les extrémités des ailes (8).
3. Elément de meuble selon l'une des revendications 1 ou 2, caractérisé en ce que les bords (9)
des ailes (8) éloignés de la pièce d'angle (5) ont
une forme recourbée vers l'intérieur.
4. Elément de meuble selon l'une quelconque
des revendications précédentes caractérisé en ce
que l'élément de remplissage est une mousse.