This invention relates to improvements in and relating to constructional elements used in the construction of furniture, and is more particularly but not exclusively related to such elements for office storage furniture, e.g. cupboards and filing cabinets. It also concerns furniture constructed or assembled using such elements.
In the assembly of furniture, it is frequently necessary to fit a constructional element in such a way that it fits into a space between two surfaces which are fixed and spaced apart. Especially in the construction of office storage furniture, such an element must often be capable of being fitted in one of a number of alternative positions, depending on the precise use to which the article of furniture concerned is to be put. For example, a horizontal element for supporting a shelf or drawer or other internal storage fitting must often be capable of being fitted between two vertical and spaced supports at a variety of different levels, depending on the number, spacing or size of the internal fittings that are to be incorporated. This horizontal element may for example carry a suspension slide, from which a storage fitting such as a roll-out filing frame, roll-out shelf, or roll-out drawer may be suspended.
With conventional constructions, it is difficult to provide an element which can exactly fit into a space between two members, and which can at the same time be easily and quickly fixed without special tools in one of a number of alternative positions.
German Patent Publication DE-A-1529693 describes an item of metal furniture, such as a cupboard, comprising a load-bearing inner frame and skin-type walls. Certain of the frame members can be shortened in overall length to allow them to be fitted into a given space by bending about a hinge. When in position these members can be locked against hingeing by a locking plate which is fixed against a surface of the member adjacent to the surface in which the hinge is located.
According to one aspect of this invention we therefore provide a constructional element for an article of furniture to fit between two spaced surfaces thereof, comprising an elongated beam which has fixing means at opposite ends to enable it to be attached to the two surfaces, a hinge on one surface of the beam and between those two ends so that by folding the beam about the hinge the distance between the fixing means can be altered, the pivot axis of the hinge being parallel to said surface of the beam, and locking means enabling the beam to be locked against hingeing when the fixing means are at a desired distance apart, characterised in that said locking means are located on said surface of the element containing the hinge.
The fixing means preferably comprises at least one lug extending from each end of the beam, more preferably a pair of spaced lugs extending from each end of the beam.
The locking means enabling the beam to be locked against hinging preferably comprises at least a pair of aligned fastening means, one on each side of the beam, to which a rigid element can be fixed. Each fastening means may comprise an opening into which lugs of the rigid element can engage. Preferably, the locking means comprises a rigid element in the form of a suspension slide, e.g. for a drawer or a filing frame.
We also provide an article of furniture comprising such a constructional element to fit between two spaced surfaces, of said article, which element has fixing means at opposite ends to enable it to be attached to the two surfaces, a hinge between those two ends so that by folding the element about the hinge the distance between the fixing means can be altered, and means enabling the element to be locked wherein the locking means include a rigid element which is in the form of a suspension slide enabling support of a furniture storage fitting between two such slides.
We further provide an article of storage furniture having two spaced apart side walls between which a fitment is to be housed, wherein each side wall is provided with a pair of inwardly-directed vertical flanges forming two spaced surfaces and each flange has an internal vertical row of fixing holes and comprising two constructional elements as defined above, said elements having a beam with at least one fixing lug extending from each end of the beam of each of the beams being the lugs engaged in the fixing holes in the flanges of a respective one of the side walls.
An item of office furniture (i.e. a storage cupboard) embodying the invention will now be described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
A storage cupboard 1 includes a side wall panel 2 provided with end flanges 3, 4 forming spaced-apart vertical members. The space between these members 3, 4 can be spanned by a hinged beam 5, which is the constructional element of the present invention. This beam 5, when fitted, is arranged to support a suspension slide 10 which can carry out a roll-out drawer, shelf, or filing frame. The beam 5 has a front wall provided with a hinge line 6, and at each end with a pair of vertically-spaced lugs and parallel top and bottom walls cut away at 11 adjacent to the hinge to permit limited hingeing therabout, as shown in Figure 1, which lugs can fit into correspondingly- spaced holes or slots 8 in the vertical flanges 3 and 4. These vertical flanges include a row of such slots 8 evenly spaced apart so that each end of the beam 5 can be fixed to any desired pair of adjacent slots and so can be fixed between the vertical flanges 3 and 4 at a variety of different heights, to suit the exact use to which the cupboard is to be put.
The suspension slide 10 includes a pair of spaced-apart projecting lugs having downwardly hooked ends (not shown) and the beam 5 has on its front face two corresponding spaced apart openings 9 into which these lugs can be fitted.
In use, the beam 5 is fitted in a horizontal position between the vertical flanges 3 and 4, by folding it about the hinge 6 to the configuration shown in Figure 1 so that the overall length of the beam is shortened, thereby allowing the beam, including the projecting lugs 7, to be inserted between the flanges 3 and 4. The beam 5 is positioned so that the lugs 7 are aligned with the desired holes in the vertical flanges 3 and 4, and then straightened to the configuration shown in Figure 2 so that the lugs become inserted into the holes. The suspension slide 10 is then fitted to the beam 5 in the manner shown in Figure 3, the hooked lugs hooking into the openings 9 in the beam, and, being rigid, prevents any subsequent folding of the beam 5 about the hinge 6, so that the beam 5 remains firmly fixed in the desired position between the vertical flanges 3 and 4. The suspension slide 10 thus constitutes the rigid element mentioned above.
The opposite side wall of the cupboard 1 is a mirror-image of that illustrated and a second beam 5 carrying a second suspension slide 10 is fitted to that side wall and at the same height as that described above. These suspension slides are of conventional type and a fitting such as a roll-out fitting frame, shelf, or drawer can be fitted in known manner to them.
In order to change the position of the beams 5, for example if a different configuration of fittings is to be incorporated into the cupboard, each suspension slide'10 is disconnected from its assembled beam 5 so that the beam can then be folded again about the hinge 6. Folding of the beam in this way enables the lugs 7 to be withdrawn from the holes 8, and the beam can then be moved vertically and the lugs refitted in different holes at the desired new height. The beam is then re-straightened and the suspension slide 10 re-fitted.