Note : Les descriptions sont présentées dans la langue officielle dans laquelle elles ont été soumises.
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Furniture element
The present invention relates to a furniture element according to the preamble
of
claim 1.
Furniture elements such as shelves or racks, in which an inner body or a
support
panel is arranged on or in an outer body so as to be simultaneously
rotationally and
translationally movable, are known, for example, from DE 10 2017 106 170 Al as
well as JP H 10318669 A and US 4 124 262 A, which are unrelated to the genus.
In the design known from DE 10 2017 106 170 Al, such a translational-
rotational
movement takes place by means of a translational-rotational bearing that has
two
plates with raceways formed therein, in which rolling bodies are guided. The
raceways are designed in such a way that they enable a rotational movement of
one
plate relative to the second plate by a predetermined angle.
For translational movement of the plates relative to each other, a slot is
provided in
one of the plates, in which a guide pin of the other plate is guided.
In the case of shelving units, there is often a requirement to protect the
items
stored on them from dirt and to allow good accessibility to the items.
Particularly in
the case of larger and/or higher furniture elements, for example wall cabinets
or the
like, it is necessary for stability reasons to provide adequate support for
the pivoting
movement of the inner body in the area of the top panels of the furniture
element.
However, the installation of an additional translational-rotational bearing in
the area
of these top panels is made more difficult primarily by larger tolerances as
well as
insufficient rigidity of the individual components of the furniture element,
so that
when such an additional translational-rotational bearing is used, there is a
possibility that the rolling bearing elements installed therein can no longer
be
guided safely in the bearing grooves provided for this purpose.
The invention is based on the object of further developing a furniture element
of the
generic type in such a way that the stability of the furniture element is
increased, in
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particular when the inner body is pivoted.
This object is solved by a furniture element having the features of claim 1.
According to the invention, as an alternative, a guide bearing having at least
one
curved guide path arranged on one of the top panels and a guide element
arranged
on the other of the top panels and guided in the guide path is arranged
between the
top panel of the outer body and the top panel of the inner body. It is further
provided according to the invention that the guide bearing has a linear guide
with
connecting parts displaceable relative to one another, one of which is
arranged on
one top panel and the other of which is mounted on the other top panel.
The arrangement of the guide bearing between the top panel of the outer body
and
the top panel of the inner body provides sufficient lateral guidance of the
inner body
in the stationarily held outer body, with which the translational-rotational
movement
of the inner body is supported, wherein high stability in both the vertical
and
horizontal directions is achieved by the linear guide.
In addition or alternatively, such a guide bearing can also be positioned
between the
bottom panels. This means that instead of a torsional-rotational bearing, a
guide
bearing can be arranged in each case between the top and bottom panels.
However,
it is also conceivable to arrange a torsional-rotational bearing between the
top
panels, while the guide bearing is arranged between the bottom panels.
Likewise,
the torsional-rotational bearing can be positioned between the bottom panels
and
the guide bearing between the top panels.
Further advantageous embodiments of the invention are characterized in the
subclaims.
According to a further idea of the invention, a carrier plate is attached to a
connecting part of the linear guide, which is a component of the associated
top
panel, preferably of the outer body, wherein the carrier plate is expediently
screwed
thereto.
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Moreover, it is particularly advantageous to design the linear guide as at
least one
pull-out guide known per se, having a guide rail held in a stationary manner
on the
carrier plate and forming a connecting part and a running rail displaceable
relative
thereto and arranged on the top panel of the inner body. In a known manner,
the
pull-out guide can have rolling bodies in the form of balls, rollers or
barrels, which
are preferably arranged in rolling body cages.
Preferably, two pull-out guides are provided, arranged parallel to and spaced
apart
from each other, whose running rails are connected to each other by a bearing
element. This bearing element serves as a pivot bearing for the inner body or
its top
panel, while the carrier plate, as mentioned, is connected to the top panel of
the
outer body.
To minimize the installation space between the two top panels, the linear
guide is
positioned in a recess in the top panel.
The linear guide, in particular in the embodiment described above, leads to
significantly improved stability in the bond between the outer and inner
bodies,
especially since the top panel of the inner body, to which the running rail is
attached
via the pivot bearing, is thus connected substantially positively to the top
panel of
the outer body carrying the guide rail, while at the same time allowing axial
displaceability.
According to a further embodiment variant, the guide path, which extends in a
curved manner and is preferably provided in the top panel of the inner body,
while
the engaging guide element is positioned on the facing side of the top panel
of the
outer body, is adapted to support the movement of the inner body enabled by
the
translational-rotational bearing.
The guide path is designed as a groove which extends approximately diagonally
across the plane in its length and extends in an arc. The groove can be closed
or
open at its ends.
Such a groove is easy and inexpensive to make in the corresponding top panel.
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The engaging guide element, for example a guide pin, can be in the form of a
pin,
bolt or wheel, wherein a pin or bolt can slide in the guide path. In any case,
the
translational-rotational movement of the inner body relative to the outer body
can
be performed almost frictionless.
In a preferred further development, the guide element has an elastic
sheathing,
which provides damping in the event of the guide element striking a side edge
of
the guide path.
Another advantage of such an elastic sheathing is that, in combination with a
narrow point in the area of the guide path, for example before a predetermined
end
position is reached, braking of the movement of the inner body relative to the
outer
body can be achieved in a simple manner.
For this purpose, according to a further idea of the invention, the width of
the guide
path can be designed to be variable along its longitudinal extension. In
addition to
the advantageous use of such a variable width of the guide path as described
above, other areas can also be designed to be widened to such an extent that
such
an area of the guide path can be passed with particularly little resistance.
Furthermore, in the region of at least one end, the guide path can have a
clamping
cam, in particular an integrally formed clamping cam, which enables a user to
haptically determine that an end position of the inner body has been reached.
Such haptic locking can also be achieved if a clamping cam is provided in a
defined
intermediate position of the inner body.
Another variant of the invention provides that the guide element is designed
as a
pin, bolt, wheel or ball bearing with a fixed outer surface, wherein an
elastic or
resilient clamping cam is arranged in the guide path in the region of at least
one
end or an intermediate position.
Furthermore, the inner body can be moved relative to the outer body from a
first
functional position into a second functional position rotated through a
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predetermined angle relative to the initial position, wherein in both
functional
positions the bottom panels and the top panels of the inner body and the outer
body
are aligned in matching geometries relative to one another.
In particular, this allows the furniture element according to the invention to
be set
in different functional positions in combination with other furniture elements
without
the furniture element occupying a different area of the room.
An exemplary embodiment of the invention is described below with reference to
the
accompanying drawings, wherein:
Fig. 1 shows an exploded view of a furniture element according to the
invention;
Figs. 2-4 show a part of the furniture element in different functional
positions, each in perspective illustration;
Fig. 5 shows part of the furniture element, also in an exploded view;
Fig. 6 shows a detail of the furniture element in a top view;
Fig. 7 shows a section through the detail according to the line B-B
in Fig.
6;
Fig. 8 shows the detail according to Fig. 6 in a different functional
position, also in a top view;
Fig. 9 shows a section through the detail according to line A-A in
Fig. 8;
Fig. 10 shows an additional view of the furniture element, also in an
exploded view;
Fig. 11 shows an additional exemplary embodiment of the guide bearing
according to the invention in a solo position in perspective view;
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Fig. 12
shows a detail of the guide bearing according to Fig. 11, also in a
perspective view.
In the following figure description, terms such as top, bottom, left, right,
front, rear,
etc. refer exclusively to the exemplary representation and position of the
furniture
element, outer body, inner body, top panel, bottom panel, guide path, guide
elements and the like selected in the respective figures. These terms are not
to be
understood restrictively, i.e., due to different working positions or the
mirror-
symmetrical design or the like, these references may change.
Fig. 1 shows a furniture element which has an outer body and an inner body
movably mounted therein, which is designed as a shelf with side walls 1, 3
lying
across corners and shelves 7.
The top of the inner body is closed by a top panel 6 and the bottom by a
bottom
panel 5.
In principle, the outer body also has side panels, but only a base panel 2 and
a top
panel 4 of the outer body are shown in the example.
Between the top panels 4, 6 a translational-rotational bearing is arranged, by
means of which the inner body can be moved relative to the outer body.
This translational-rotational bearing consists of a curved guide path 8, as
can be
seen very clearly in particular in Fig. 5, and a linear guide 9, which is
firmly
connected to the top panel 4 of the outer body, and on the other hand to the
top
panel 6 of the inner body, but here displaceable relative to the top panel 4
of the
outer body.
The guide path 8, in which a guide element 18 connected to the carrier plate
10 is
guided, has three sections, namely two outer sections 24 of larger radius and
an
inner section 23 of smaller radius connecting these two outer sections 24,
wherein
the guide path 8 is mirror-symmetrical with respect to an axis transverse to
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longitudinal extension.
As part of the top panel 4 of the outer body, a carrier plate 10 is attached
to the
side facing the top panel 6 of the inner body, preferably by screwing, for
which
purpose screw holes 17 (Fig. 7) are provided in the carrier plate 10.
The linear guide 9 consists of two pull-out guides 12, each with a guide rail
13 and a
running rail 14. The guide rails 13 forming connecting parts are held in a
stationary
manner on the carrier plate 10, while the running rails 14, also as connecting
parts,
are firmly connected to one another by a pivot bearing 15, in which a pivot
pin 16
engages, which is inserted in a bore 19 of the top panel 6 of the inner body.
In this
regard, the pull-out guides 12 may be releasably or non-releasably fixed to
the
carrier plate 10 and the top panel 6 by means of material bonding, form-
fitting
and/or force-fitting. In addition, the pull-out guides 12 may have functional
elements for controlling movement, for damping, for retracting and/or for
extending, thereby providing improved guidance. It may also be useful to
arrange
an additional center rail between the guide rail 13 and the running rail 14.
In this
exemplary embodiment, rolling bodies in the form of balls, which may be
arranged
in rolling body cages, are present within the pull-out guides 12.
Figs. 2 to 4 show different pivoting positions of the inner body relative to
the outer
body, of which only the bottom panel 2 is shown in each case.
Depending on the pivoting position of the inner body, the carrier plate 10,
which, as
mentioned, is firmly connected to the top panel 4 of the outer body, is
displaced
relative to the inner body, with simultaneous rotation of the inner body,
along the
guide path 8.
For unhindered pivoting of the inner body relative to the linear guide 9, the
top
panel 6 has a recess 11, as can be seen in particular in Figs. 6 to 8. The
recess 11
also reduces the overall height.
Fig. 10 also shows a translational-rotational bearing 20 in the area of the
bottom
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panel 2, wherein a bearing plate 21 with a slot 22 is provided for this
purpose, via
which a translational movement of the inner body relative to the outer body is
possible.
For the basic design and mode of operation of such a translational-rotational
bearing, reference is made by way of example to DE 10 2017 106 170 Al, in
which
such a translational-rotational bearing 20 is described in detail.
For the bearing of the inner body to the outer body, the device according to
the
invention consisting of the linear guides and the guide path can be used both
above
and below, as well as in combination with a known translational-rotational
bearing.
In Fig. 11, as a further embodiment variant of the guide bearing, the linear
guide 9
is shown as a linear rolling bearing 25, having a support strip 28 and a
rolling
bearing cage 26 guided axially displaceably thereon, on which the carrier
plate 10 is
mounted so as to be relatively displaceable.
The connection between the linear rolling bearing 25 and the carrier plate 10
is
made by means of the rotary bearing 15, which is designed in the sense of an
anti-
lift device and is connected on the other hand to a retaining plate 30,
wherein the
rotary bearing 15 is guided in a slot 29 of the rolling bearing cage 26, as
well as in a
longitudinal slot 27 of the carrier plate 10, with the simultaneous
possibility of
pivoting in accordance with the guide path 8.
To prevent lifting, the pivot pin 16 of the pivot bearing 15 is provided with
a head
which is located in a circumferential recess of the longitudinal slot 27 of
the carrier
plate 10, but does not protrude.
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List of reference signs
1 Side wall
2 Bottom panel
3 Side wall
4 Top panel
Bottom panel
6 Top panel
7 Shelf
8 Guide path
9 Linear guide
Carrier plate
11 Recess
12 Pull-out guide
13 Guide rail
14 Running rail
Pivot bearing
16 Pivot pin
17 Screw hole
18 Guide element
19 Bore
29 Translational-rotational bearing
21 Bearing plate
22 Slot
24 Outer section
23 Inner section
Linear rolling bearing
26 Rolling bearing cage
27 Longitudinal slot
Retaining plate
28 Support strip
29 Slot
Date Recue/Date Received 2023-07-05
