WO1998036663A1

WO1998036663A1 - Modular furniture

Info

Publication number: WO1998036663A1
Application number: PCT/HU1998/000017
Authority: WO
Inventors: János TERBE
Original assignee: Terbe Janos
Priority date: 1997-02-20
Filing date: 1998-02-20
Publication date: 1998-08-27
Also published as: HU9700488D0; HUP9700488A1; HU219510B

Abstract

The present invention relates to modular furniture folded from resilient sheet material blank provided with fold lines, the furniture comprising at least two double sheet side walls (1, 2), a back panel (3) and load bearing shelves, wherein the inner sheets of the side walls (1, 2) are provided with openings adapted to receive the ends of the shelves, said back panel and said side walls (1, 2) are folded from a single blank (6), there is at least one spacer wall (1A, 1B, 2A, 2B) between the sheets of each side wall (1, 2) on both edges thereof, said openings are polygons, one side of each polygon being co-linear with one side of the other polygon and tubular frame members are folded at the edges of the shelves, having polygonal cross sections corresponding to the openings in the side walls (1, 2) and there is a double sheet along one side of each frame. The openings and the cross sections of the frame members are preferably triangles and/or rectangulars, the spacer walls (1A, 1B, 2A, 2B) between the two sheets of the side walls (1, 2) are rectangular and closing-stiffening sections (7, 8) are provided on opposite ends of the side walls (1, 2). According to a preferred embodiment, locking flaps (10) extend from the neighbouring edges of the closing-stiffening sections (7, 8) and spacer walls (1A, 1B, 2A, 2B). The furnitures according to the invention are preferably made of laminated paper or paperboard.

Description

MODULAR FURNITURE

This invention relates to modular furnitures folded from resilient sheet material blank provided with fold lines, The furniture comprising at least two double sheet side walls, a back panel and load bearing shelves, wherein the inner sheets of the side walls are provided with openings adapted for receiving the ends of the shelves.

Though modular furnitures folded from resilient sheet material (mainly laminated paper or paper board) blank are well-known, they generally are not rigid enough for general use. The load bearing shelves or panels are multilayer sheets or sheets strengthened with metal or plastic. Other shelves have rather complicated structures. In some cases, adhesive materials are used for strengthening the construction. Representative of such furnitures are those disclosed in the US PS 5, 678,706 or 5,681 ,641 , GB 2,281 ,586 or EP 0,166,848.

The object of the present invention is therefore to provide furnitures folded from resilient sheet material blank, which is convenient to use, assemble and disassemble and at the same time have a strength, which enables load bearing similar to that of the conventional furnitures.

The present invention provides therefore a modular furniture folded from resilient sheet material blank provided with fold lines, the furniure comprising at least two double sheet side walls, a back panel and loa bearing shelves, wherein the inner sheets of the side walls are provided with openings adapted to receive the ends of the shelves, said back panel and said side walls are folded from a single blank, there is at least one spacer wall between the sheets of each side wall on both edges thereof, said openings are polygons, one side of each polygon being co- linear with one side of the other polygon and tubular frame members are folded at the edges of the shelves, having polygonal cross-sections corresponding to the openings in the side walls and there is a double sheet along one side of each frame. The openings and the cross-sections of the frame members are preferably triangles and/or rectangulars, the spacer walls between the two sheets of the side walls are rectangular and closing-stiffening sections are provided on opposite ends of the side walls. According to a preferred embodiment, locking flaps extend from the neighbouring edges of the closing-stiffening sections and spacer walls.

The furnitures according to the invention are preferably made of laminated paper or paperboard.

The invention will be further described with reference to the drawings, which illustrate embodiments of the invention and in which

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of several modules of the furniture,

Fig. 2 is a flap bank, which makes up one of the modules,

Fig. 3 is a flap bank, which makes up one shelf,

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a part of the completed furniture, partly in section,

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a part of another embodiment and

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a part of a further embodiment.

The furniture modules in Fig. 1 are book-shelves of different width and height. Each of the book-shelves consists of side walls 1 and 2, back panel 3 and shelves 4. The shelves are hold by openings 5 provided in the side walls.

With reference to Fig. 2 the side walls and the back panel are made up of a single blank 6, which is folded at fold lines to form the side walls 1 and 2 including spacer walls 1A, 1 B and 2A, 2B and closing-stiffening sections 7 and 8.

Preferably, the blank shown in Fig. 2 includes pairs of foldable locking flaps 9 extending from the top of the back panel 3 and closing-stiffening sections 7 and 8 respectively. There are further locking flaps 10 on the top of the closing-stiffening sections adapted to be received by slots 11 , when the sheets of the side walls are folded and closed by closing-stiffening sections 7 and 8.

Referring now to Fig. 3, the shelves are made from a rectangular blank 12 consisting of a load bearing panel 13 and adjoining frame forming panels 14 on each of two opposite edges of the said load bearing panel. Each group of the frame forming panels consists of four panels being adapted for folding along fold lines parallel with said opposite edges into a rectangular tubular frame member, each folded frame member having a double sheet 15 along one side thereof as shown in Fig. 4.

Fig. 4 shows the details of the assembled side wall-shelf assembly. The opening shown in Fig. 4 is consisting of a straight slot 16 and two rectangular cut-outs 17 corresponding to the cross section of the shelf. It is to be noted, however, that the frame members and the openings can be of several other shapes as well. Fig. 5 shows for instance another side wall-shelf assembly, wherein the frame members have triangular cross sections corresponding to the openings in the side walls. Furthermore, the outer spacer wall 1 B is not perpendicular to the side wall as was the one on Fig. 4.

According to another embodiment shown in Fig. 6, the load bearing panel is provided with frame members contacting each other along their edges at 18. This type of the load bearing shelf can be used for holding binders, books etc. The side wall shown in this Figure has only one spacer wall 1A at the back panel 3, and on the other side there is an edge 19 corresponding to the triangular cross section.

The basic advantage of the present invention is that the furnitures produced by folding the sheet blanks is aesthetic and at the same time has a load bearing capacity similar to that of the conventional furnitures. It is easy to assemble and disassemble, storing and transporting is convenient.

From the foregoing it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that changes other than those described previously may be made in the size, shape and arrangement of parts described here in before without departing from the spirit of this invention and the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

C L A I M S

1. A modular furniture folded from resilient sheet material blank provided with fold lines, the furniure comprising at least two double sheet side walls, a back panel and load bearing shelves, wherein the inner sheets of the side walls are provided with openings adapted to receive the ends of the shelves, characterized in that

- said back panel (3) and said side walls (1 , 2) are folded from a single blank (6),

- there is at least one spacer wall (1A, 1 B, 2A, 2B) between the sheets of each side wall (1 , 2) on both edges thereof,

- said openings (17) are polygons, one side of each polygon being co-linear with one side of the other polygon and

- tubular frame members (14) are folded at the edges of the shelves (4), having polygonal cross-sections corresponding to the openings (17) in the side walls (1 , 2) and there is a double sheet along one side of each frame member (14).

2. The modular furniture according to claim 1 , characterized in that the openings (17) and the cross-sections of the frame members (14) are triangles and/or rectangulars.

3. The modular furniture according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the spacer walls (1A, 1 B, 2A, 2B) between the two sheets of the side walls (1 , 2) are rectangular.

4. The modular furniture according to any of the claims 1 to 3, characterized in that closing-stiffening sections (7, 8) are provided on opposite ends of the side walls (1 , 2).

5. The modular furniture according to claim 4, characterized in that locking flaps (9) extend from the neighbouring edges of the closing-stiffening sections (7, 8) and spacer walls (1A, 1 B, 2A, 2B).

6. The modular furniture according to any of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that it is made of laminated paper or paperboard.