Interior fitting

Abstract

 A cabinet door, door, shelf end-piece or the like, comprises a closed frame (1) with an interchangeable insert or filler, and with edge grooves for holding thin peripheral edge portions of an insert. To make after-insertion and removal of inserts with raised portions (15) possible, the insert is divided into a plurality of sections (12,13) along at least one dividing line, which when the insert is in place, is oriented essentially transverse to the longitudinal axis of one of the frame members (3) which has a groove opening into the outer edge surface of said frame member (3), at least one of said sections containing the raised portion (15) of the insert, while at least one other section of the same forms an essentially flat member (13) which can be inserted through the groove which opens into said outer edge surface to complete and fix the insert in the frame.

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to an interior fitting, such as a cabinet door,.shelf end-piece, door or the like with interchangeable insert or filler, said insert comprising a closed frame in the form of jointed opposing pairs of frame members, defining a central opening, each of said frame members being provided on its interior edge surface facing said opening with a longitudinal groove for housing a peripheral tongue portion of the essentially board-shaped insert, said insert having at least one raised portion, the thickness of which is greater than the width of the grooves in the frame members, the groove in one of the frame members being so deep that it opens onto the opposite outer edge surface of this frame member.

[0002] The primary purpose of the present invention is to achieve an interior fitting, such as a cabinet door, door, shelf end-piece or the like, which makes it possible, without nails, glue, putty or even tools, to interchangeably after- insert such an insert in the central opening of the already fully assembled frame. The insert in question has raised portions which are thicker than the assembly grooves for the insert on the interior edges of the frame members, i.e. an insert, the width and height of which are greater than the width and height of the central opening defined by the individual frame members.

[0003] To achieve this the interior fitting mentioned in the introduction is characterized in that for after-insertion or removal of the insert into or from the finished frame, the insert is divided into a plurality of sections along at least one dividing line which is oriented essentially transversally to the longitudinal axis of the frame member containing the groove opening into said outer edge surface, at least one of said sections containing the raises portion of the insert, while at least one other section of the same forms an essentially flat member which can be inserted through the groove which opens into said outer edge surface. Such a design of the insert makes it possible to mount in the opening of prefabricated frames of the type described above to selectively and removably mount all different types of separate inserts, such as panels, glassed units with cross bars etc., in order to enhance the estetic value of the interior fittings. If desired, the inserts can be easily interchanged, so as to provide a flexible system.

[0004] If the insert is a panel, it is preferably divided into two sections, one section comprising the entire raised portion, while the other section forms a border. After the section with the raised portion has been inserted, it is locked by insertion of the border through the groove which opens into said outer edge surface. Suitably, the longitudinal edge of the border section can be inserted into a longitudinal groove or slot in the raised portion of the associated section in order to conceal the joint between the sections when in place as much as possible.

[0005] The inventive idea is also applicable to an interior fitting, in which the insert is a cross or sash bar type glazed unit. The insert is divided into several sections, also along at least one dividing line which when the insert is in place is essentially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the member containing the groove opening into the outer edge surface, the sections consisting both of panes of glass with a thickness corresponding to the width of the grooves in the frame members, and of thicker cross bars with longitudinal grooves for holding the edge portions of the panes of glass. The last pane of glass is inserted through the through-groove in the frame to complete and lock the entire unit in the frame.

[0006] As regards the prior art: _DE-B-2 301 213 reveals an interior fitting in the form of a frame and an insert mounted in the central opening of the frame in the form of a panel for example. This design makes it impossible, however, to replace or remove inserts in an already assembled frame, since the assembly of the entire fitting, i.e. frame and insert, is done, as in all similar conventional designs, at the same time.

[0007] PCT-publication WO 81/00589 reveals a glazed unit with cross bars, in which the panes of glass after insertion of the cross bars in the frame are inserted into pocket-like grooves in the bar and frame members, whereafter the panes are fixed with putty or the like. This design does not permit simple, feasible removal or replacement of inserts either, since fixed joints, i.e. a number of putty joints, would first need to be removed.

[0008] DE-A-522 507 reveals a simple frame with a through-slot in one of the frame members, through which slot a flat board can be inserted into the frame, the thickness of said board nowhere exceeding the width of the grooves in the frame holding the board in place. This frame does not of course permit after-insertion of an insert which is thicker than the frame slot.

[0009] Two embodiments of the invention will now be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the back of a finished frame of a cabinet door, in which an insert according to the invention can be mounted. Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the frame along the line II-II in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 shows an insert according to the invention in the form of a panel. Fig. 4 shows a front view of the frame in Fig. 1 with the panel section of the insert inserted in the frame with a border section of the insert shown in a position just prior to insertion through the upper through-groove in the door frame. Fig. 5 shows a cabinet door frame similar to that in Figs. I and 4 but with an insert in the form of a glazed unit with cross bars, the last mounted pane being shown in a position for insertion through the open groove in the upper frame member. Fig. 6 shows a cross-sectional view along the line VI-VI in Fig. 5.

[0010] Fig. 1 shows an example of a frame, in which an insert 2 according to the invention can be after-inserted or removed, in particular a frame for a cabinet door. The frame I comprises an upper frame member 3, a lower frame member 4 and two opposite side members 5 and 6. Frame members 3-6 define a central opening 7 and are provided with grooves 8, 9, 10 and 11, respectively, on their edge surfaces facing the opening 7. In contrast to the grooves 9, 10 and 11, the form of which is shown in more detail i Fig. 2, the groove8 extends in the upper frame member 3 through the entire frame member and forms a through-slot there.

[0011] Fig. 3 shows an example of an insert according to the invention in the form of a panel 2, which is divided into two sections 12 and 13, one section 12 of which comprising thin peripheral border portions 14a, 14b and 14c with a thickness corresponding to the width of the grooves 8-11, and a raised panel portion 15 on the front of the insert 2. As can be seen in Fig. 3, if desired a corresponding or different raised portion can also be made on the back of the insert, so as to make the insert 2 reversible for selective insertion in the cabinet door frame 1. The section 12 can be provided on its edge facing section 13 with a slot or groove 16 for receiving one longitudinal edge of the section 13.

[0012] With reference to Fig. 4, we will now describe how the insert 2 can be mounted in the frame 1. First, section 12 is inserted with its edge portion 14b from below into the groove or slot 8 in the upper frame member 3 (see arrow A) until the lower edge portion 14c of section 12 is placed directly over the groove 9 in the lower frame member 4, whereafter the section is pressed downwards in the direction of arrow B. Section 12 is then slid laterally in the direction of arrow C until the edge portion 14a strikes the bottom of the associated groove in the frame side member 6. Finally, the second section 13 of the insert is inserted through the slot 8 in the top member 3 and into the groove 16 in section 12 and the groove 11 in the frame member 5 until the lower edge of the section 13 strikes the bottom of the groove 9 in the lower frame member 4. If required, the sections can be tensioned against each other by means of suitable wedges or the like (not shown in the drawing) to lock the sections in the frame and make the joint line between the border portions 14b and 14c of section 12 and the adjacent upper and lower portions of section 13 as inconspicuous as possible.

[0013] Although this embodiment of the insert according to the invention has been described in connection with mounting in a frame of a cabinet door, it is of course possible to apply the same idea to frames for other types of doors, shelf end-pieces and other interior fittings.

[0014] Fig. 5 shows another embodiment of the invention, in which the insert consists of a cross bar type glazed unit, which consists of four panes of glass 17, 18, 19 and 20, and cross bars 21, 22, 23 and 24, each of which has a groove 25 (Fig. 6) on opposite longitudinal edges for holding the edges of the panes.

[0015] When installing this glazed unit, pane 18 for example can be inserted first into its grooves in the frame members, whereafter the bar 22 is slipped over the free side edge of the pane. Pane 19 is then inserted into the bar 22 and its grooves in the frame pieces. The bars 21 and 23 are then put in place above the panes 18 and 19, and the pane 17 is then inserted into the grooves in the bar 21 and in the associated side and top members of the frame 1. Finally, the bar 24 is put in place and pane 20 is inserted through the open slot in the upper frame member to complete the glazed unit and lock the individual components to each other. If desired, bars 21 and 23 or bars 22 and 24 can be made in one piece to facilitate assembly. The grooves 25 in the bars 21-24 and the grooves in the frame and/or edge portions of the panes 17-20 can also be provided with friction locking means (not shown) or the like to prevent play and rattling between the parts of the entire unit.

[0016] As in the embodiment of the insert described first, the glazed unit can also be inserted into a frame for another type of door or other interior fitting.

[0017] The invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, but can be varied within the scope of the following claims. Thus it is possible to mount several inserts according to the invention in a single frame, which can be the case for large frames, such as door frames and shelf end frames. In this case spacers are mounted between pairs of adjacent inserts, said spacers being provided with corresponding grooves or slots on their opposite side edge surfaces.

Claims

1. Interior fitting, such as a cabinet door, shelf end-piece, door or the like with interchangeable insert or filler, said insert comprising a closed frame (1) in the form of jointed opposing pairs of frame members (3,4,5,6), defining a central opening (7), each of said frame members being provided, on its interior edge surface facing said opening, with a longitudinal groove (8,9,10,11) for housing a peripheral tongue portion of the essentially board-shaped insert (2;17-24), said insert having at least one raised portion (15;21-24), the thickness of which is greater than the width of the grooves in the frame members, the groove (8) in one of the frame members (3) being so deep that it opens onto the opposite outer edge surface of this frame member, characterized in that for after-insertion or removal of the insert (2;17-24) into or from the finished frame (1), the insert is divided into a plurality of sections (12,13; 17-20,21-24) along at least one dividing line which is oriented, when the insert is in place, essentially transversely to the longitudinal axis of the frame member (3) containing the groove (8) opening into said outer edge surface, at least one of said sections containing the raised portion (15;21-24) of the insert, while at least one other section of the same forms an essentially flat member (13; 17-20) which can be inserted through the groove (8) which opens into said outer edge surface.

2. Interior fitting according to Claim 1, in which the insert has the form of a panel (2) with a raised central portion (15), characterized in that the insert is divided preferably into two sections (12,13), one section (12) containing the entire raised portion (15), while the other section forms a border (13).

3. Interior fitting according to Claim 2, characterized in that the longitudinal edge of the section forming a border (13) can be inserted into a longitudinal groove or slot (16) in the raised portion (15) of the associated section (12).

4. Interior fitting according to Claim 1, in which the insert when assembled has the form of a glazed unit with cross bars, characterized in that the insert is divided into a plurality of sections (17,24,20;18,22,19) also along at least one dividing line, which, when the insert is in place, is oriented essentially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the frame member (3) containing the groove (8) opening into said outer edge surface, the sections consisting firstly of panes of glass (17-20) with a thickness corresponding to the width of the grooves in the frame members (3-6), and secondly of thicker cross bars (21-24) with longitudinal grooves (25) for housing the edge portions of the panes.

Drawing