Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02440489 2003-09-08
Table with fold-away legs
Description
TECHNICAL FIELD
The invention relates to the field of furniture, in
particular tables with fold-away legs.
PRIOR ART
IQ Various technical solutions for tables which have
fold-away legs are known. Such tables are important, in
particular, in the commercial sector, where rooms have
to be furnished in a flexible manner. It is necessary
here for the furniture, including the tables, on the
one hand to be erected easily and quickly but, on the
other hand, also to be easily dismantled again and
stored in the smallest possible amount of space.
Of course, it is also necessary here for the furniture
2Q to be stable, both in the erected state and when
stored, and to have an aesthetically pleasing
appearance, but nevertheless to hare a low .weight and
be as cost-effective as possible to produce.
Furthermore, it should be possible for the furniture to
be erected and stored as quickly and easily as possible
even by unskilled individuals:
The prior-art tables only fulfil these stringent
requirements to some extent, and it is 'thus still very
3Q problematic to improve tables such that they satisfy
the requirements to the greatest possible extent.
DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The obj ect of the invention is thus to improve a table
with fold-away legs such that, on the one hand, the
legs are easy to fold away and to erect, and the table
has an aesthetically pleasing appearance in the erected
state and only takes up a small amount of space in the
stored state but, on the other hand, the production
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outlay and thus the production costs are as low as
possible.
This object is -achieved by the features of Claim 1 and
of the subclaims.
The invention is based on the idea of producing the
articulated connection between the tubular leg and the
articulation socket by a T-bolt which has its
1d crosspiece mounted in a pivotable manner in the
articulation socket, under spring force, and which has
its lower shank screwed to a threaded ring, on the
relatively large-pitched external thread of which the
tubular leg can be moved. by rotation in the
longitudinal direction by means of a leg insert
fastened therein.
It is thus possible for 'the tubular leg, by being
rotated in the anti-clockwise direction, to be released
from its engagement in the articulation socket and
folded away and in the erected state,, by being rotated
in the clockwise direction, to be fixed on the
articulation socket_
It is particularly advantageous here, on the one hand
between the threaded ring and the leg insert, to
provide a spring which, in the released state, forces
the tubular leg away from the articulation socket and,
on the other hand, at the point where the end of the
folded-away leg ends up located beneath the table top,
to provide an arresting saddle with a recess into which
the nose of an arresting body fitted at the end of the
tubular leg is forced by the spring force. Once folded
away, a leg thus latches into the arresting saddle and
remains stored away in a stable manner beneath the
table top.
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BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The invention is explained in more detail hereinbelow
with reference to an exemplary embodiment illustrated
in the drawings, in which:
Figure I shows a table from beneath, with the legs
folded away and arrested at their ends,
Figure 2 shows the illustration from Figure 1 in side
vrew,
Figure 3 shows a section through the articulated
connection according to the invention between
an articulation socket and tubular leg, where
the tubular leg has been released from the
articulation socket and can thus be folded
away,
Figure 4 shows the illustration from Figure 3 with the
tubular leg fixed on the articulation socket,
Figure 5 shows, at the top, an illustration of the
articulation socket and tubular leg in the
folded-away state and, at the bottom, an
enlarged ill ustratioz2 of the region which,at
the top, is designated "A",
Figure 6 shows a perspective illustration of the
T-bolt, and
Figure 7 shows, at the tap, an illustration of the
arresting saddle on the underside of the
table, with the arresting body of the leg
insert latched in, and, at the bottom, an
enlarged illustration of the region which, at
the top, is designated "A"_
METHODS OF IMPLEMENTING THE INVENTION
Figure 1 illustrates a table top 1 in a view from
beneath. Provided at its corners are table -joint
components 2 in which, on the one hand, the
crossmembers 18 axe fastened and on. which, on the other
hand, the articulation sockets 3 are fastened_ The
crossmembers I8 are adhesively bonded to the
table-joint components 2. The table top 2 is fastened
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on the crossmembers 18 and the table-joint components 2
by means of the screws 19. The tubular legs 4 have been
folded away and latched in the arresting saddles 7 (not
shown in this figure).
figure 2 illustrates the table top 1 with the
table-joint components 2 fastened on its underside,
these components retaining the crossmembers 18, on the
one hand, and the articulation sockets 3, on the other
hand. The tubular legs 4 have been folded away in the
articulation sockets 3, the connection 3aetween the
articulation socket 3 and tubular leg 4 being produced
via the T-bolt 8.
Figure 3 illustrates the articulated connection between
the tubular leg 4 and the articulation socket 3 via the
T-bolt 8, the tubular leg 4 having been detached from
the articulation socket 3.
The articulation socket 3 is fastened on the
table-joint component 2. The T-bolt 8 has its
crosspiece 23 mounted in a pivotable manner in the
articulation socket 3. This allows a pivoting movement
by way of the recess 11 in the articulation socket 3.
The mounting of the crosspiece 23 is brought about by
the pressure of the braking insert 9, which is
subjected to the force of the socket spring 10.
Inserted at the articulation end of the articulation
socket 3 is a ring which consists of polyamide (PA) and
acts as a stacking guard 12 when the tables with
folded-away legs are stored one above the other.
A leg insert 14 is fastened, for example adhesively
bonded, in the tubular leg 4. This insert has an
internal thread into which the threaded ring 13 is
screwed by way of its external thread. The T-bolt is
screwed into the internal thread of said threaded ring.
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In the illustration, the tubular leg 4 has been
released from the articulation socket 3, that is to say
the internal thread of the leg insert 24 does not, in
this state, engage in the external thread of the
threaded ring 13, and the leg insert 14, and with it
the tubular leg 4, can move freely in the longitudinal
direction. The retaining ring 17 Is provided, however,
in order that the tubular leg 4 cannot drop off from
the T-bolt 8.
i0
On the one hand, the leg spring 15, which acts on the
threaded ring 13 via the stop ring 16, causes the
tubular leg to be forced away from the articulation
socket 3, with the result that the tubular leg 4 can
easily be folded away via the recess 11. On the other
hand, however, the leg spring 25 also causes the
tubular leg 4 to be forced, by way of its bottom end,
into the arresting saddle 7.
In order then to fix the tubular leg 4 on the
articulation socket 3, the tubular leg 4 is pushed
counter to the force of the spring 15 and rotated in
the clockwise direction, with the result that the
internal thread of the leg insert 14 engages in the
external thread of the threaded ring 13, and the
tubular leg 4 is moved in the direction of the
articulation socket 3.
This situation is illustrated in Figure 4. In this
case, the leg insert 14, and with it the tubular leg 4,
is brought into abutment with the articulation socket 3
by virtue of its_internal thread being screwed upwards
on the external thread of the threaded ring 13. The
stacking guard 12 is accommodated in a recess of the
leg insert 14.
Figure 5 once again illustrates, at the top, the parts
which have already been indicated in Figures 3 and 4.
Additionally illustrated is a bore 20 which
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accommodates a screw by means of which the table-joint
component 2 is fastened on the table top 1. An
enlargement of the region which, at the top of the
figure, is designated "A" is illustrated at the bottom.
It should be noted here that the external thread 21 of
the threaded ring 13 has a larger pitch than the
internal thread of the threaded ring 13, or the
corresponding thread 25 on the T-bolt. This achieves
the situation where, although the threaded ring 13 is
seated in a fixed manner on the T-bolt 8, only a small
number of revolutions are necessary when the leg insert
l4 is screwed upwards on the external thread 21 of the
threaded ring 13.
The T-bolt 8 illustrated in Figure 6 has, at the top,
the crosspiece 23, which is seated on the upper shank
24, and also has the already described thread 25 and
the Lower shank 26. The groove 27 serves for
accommodating the retain,'_ng ring 17, the function of
which has been described in conjunction with Figure 3.
Figure 7 illustrates the table top 1 with th.e arresting
saddle 7 screwed thereto. The screw, which is not shown
in the figure, is screwed into the bore 28. An
arresting body 5 is fastened, for example by adhesive
bonding, in the tubular leg 4 and has a nose which
engages in a corresponding recess on the arresting
saddle ?. The farce of the leg spring 15, which has
been described in conjunction with Figure 3, forces the
nose of the arresting body 5 into the recess of the
arresting saddle 7, with the result that the nose
latches in automatically when the tubular leg 4 is
folded away.
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List of Designations
1 Table top
2 Table-joint component
3 Articulation socket
4 Tubular leg
Arresting body
6 Sliding screw
7 Arresting saddle
8 T-bolt
9 Braking .insert
Socket spring
11 Recess
12 Stacking guard
13 Threaded ring
14 Leg insert
Leg spring
16 Stop ring
17 Retaining ring
18 Crossmember
19 Screws
Bore
21 External thread of the threaded ring 13
22 Internal thread of the threaded ring 13
23 Crosspiece
24 Upper shank
Thread on the T-bolt 8
26 Zower shank
27 Groove
28 Bore
