Reciprocal blocking device for mobile panels

Abstract

 The reciprocal connecting device reciprocally connects two substantially bidimensional panels positioned adjacently, wherein each panel has two front opposite surfaces and four lateral surfaces, at the side, with said two dimensions which define the height and width of the front surfaces, whereas a third dimension, having a lower value with respect to the previous ones, perpendicular to said surfaces, defines the extent of the panel sides.
Said device comprises a supporting plate (1), having at least one substantially straight side with the ends connected by a perimetric edge (2), a semicircular groove (7), obtained in the depth of said supporting plate, closed at the ends, with the concavity facing said straight side and the ends situated near said side, a disc (8), equipped with a central pin (9) arranged on said supporting plate (1), with said pin (9) housed and freely sliding in both directions within said groove (7), and at least one cavity (3), situated in said support, on the trajectory of said movable disc along said groove, suitable for housing a plug (4) protruding from said cavity, which can be freely inserted into, and extracted from, said cavity (3).

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to movable structures, hereinafter defined more simply as "panels", used as temporary walls for delimiting work or relaxation spaces for temporary use or in any case such as to not require permanent structures and with an adequate sturdiness.

[0002] Examples of these modes of use are stands set up for fairs, exhibitions, congresses and similar meeting places, or single rooms obtained in a much wider area (open space) to guarantee a certain degree of privacy to those working in this area. These rooms are generally created by delimiting a space with walls consisting of single panels, which are extremely light to allow them to be easily and rapidly assembled and dismantled, which are inserted between a pair of parallel guides, one on the level of the floor, the other at a convenient height. Each wall of the room therefore consists of a series of adjacent panels, blocked with respect to horizontal sliding by means of vertical plinths which delimit the wall sideways.

[0003] These walls however have a drawback consisting in the fact that they are not capable of producing a stable surface on the lying plane. Due to their considerable surface dimensions, normally with a width ranging from 50 cm to 1 metre, a height of 2 to 3 metres, compared to a thickness of a few cm, the above panels are, in fact, extremely flexible. For this reason they can easily move with respect to each other, perpendicularly to their lying plane, creating a wall which has a very low resistance to impact and with an irregular and, in particular, stepped surface. Each pair of adjacent and non-coplanar panels, in fact, creates a step along the separation line of the panels. Furthermore, as each panel is separated from the adjacent panels, it can be easily removed: this possibility, which is essential for guaranteeing easy and rapid moving in the assembly and dismantling phase of the wall, can be undesirable when the wall is functioning and must be solid, stable, single and not dismountable.

[0004] Unfortunately, these characteristics have so far proved to be incompatible with those linked to easy assembly and dismantling.

[0005] The Applicant realized that this technical problem could be solved with a particular connection system capable of stably connecting two adjacent panels, with low production and installation costs, easy assembly, functionality and reliability, capable of providing structural solidity to a panel wall, without jeopardizing the advantageous structural characteristics of the same panels.

[0006] In one of its aspects, the invention therefore relates to a connection device for the reciprocal connection of two adjacent panels, according to the characteristics specified in the characterizing part of the first claim.

[0007] Further characteristics and advantages of the invention will appear more evident from the detailed description of a preferred, but non-limiting, embodiment of a connection device according to the present invention. This description is presented hereunder with reference to the enclosed drawings, provided for purely illustrative and therefore non-limiting purposes, wherein:

• figure 1 illustrates a perspective view of the connection device according to the invention, open to allow a view of the connection mechanism;
• figure 2 illustrates a plan view of the coupling between two connection devices belonging to two adjacent panels;
• figure 3 illustrates a perspective view of a pair of adjacent panels, before coupling, showing the connection device of each panel;
• figure 4 illustrates a side view of a detail of the connection mechanism of the device of figure 1.

[0008] With reference to figure 1, the connection device comprises a supporting plate 1, equipped with at least one substantially straight side.

[0009] An edge 2, extending along the perimetric portion of said support, preferably continuous, connects the ends of said straight side to each other: said edge protrudes from the surface of said support and has a height "y" preferably ranging from 0.3 to 0.6 mm.

[0010] A relief 5, preferably having a height "y", extending for a limited portion of the side around its centre, is preferably also present along the straight line of the support. Pegs 6, perpendicularly oriented towards the surface of the reliefs, parallel to the lying plane of the support 1, protrude from the reliefs 2 and 5.

[0011] These pegs 6 are arranged so as to be inserted into corresponding holes situated in a counter-support (not illustrated) complementary to the support 1.

[0012] Preferably, both the support 1 and the corresponding counter-support contemporaneously have pegs 6 and housing holes for said pegs in reciprocally complementary positions.

[0013] The coupling between support and counter-support thus creates a box which can be easily and rapidly assembled and dismantled, open towards the outside at least in correspondence with the portions of straight side included between the relief 5 and the end portions of the edge 2. Support and counter-support form the walls of said box.

[0014] The above plate 1 is preferably semicircular, this definition referring to any perimetric profile comprising a substantially straight section whose ends are connected to each other by a curved section, not necessarily part of a circle. Elliptic, parabolic, catenary profiles and the like are all, in the scope of the present invention, circular profiles.

[0015] The surface of the support 1 inside said box is crossed by a groove 7, which is semicircular, closed at the ends, with the concavity facing the straight side of the support. A plate 8, having a thickness preferably not less than the height "y" of the edge 2, equipped with a central pin 9 is positioned on said support, with the pin 9 housed in the groove 7.

[0016] Said plate moves along a trajectory governed by the movement of said pin inside said groove: along said trajectory, at least one pin 4 is envisaged, but preferably two, suitable for housing a plug 4 leaving said cavity.

[0017] The plate 8 preferably has the form of a radius disc "r", freely rotating around its pin 9: the value of "r" (figure 2) is greater than the distance d₁ between the end of the groove 7 and the straight side of the support, and lower than the distance d₂ between the axis of the groove 7 and the straight line of the support, measured along the central line of said side.

[0018] In this way (figure 2) when the pin 9 is in a central position with respect to the longitudinal development of the groove 7, the disc 8 remains completely inside the box whereas it partially protrudes from the box when the pin 9 is in correspondence with an end of said groove 7.

[0019] The above edge 2 preferably has a semicircular form which preferably follows the curved portion of the profile of said plate: the groove 7 and the edge 2 are preferably parallel to each other. The distance between said edge and said groove preferably corresponds to the radius of said disc. In this way, the edge 2 delimits a path in which the disc 8 moves. In this case, the above cavities 3 are preferably situated along the linear development of the edge 2 and are open at the sides to house a plug 4 radially extending from the cavity.

[0020] The counter-support wall of the box is also preferably equipped with grooves and cavities facing those of the support 1.

[0021] Figure 2 illustrates two adjacent devices, with the box open (only one support for each device is shown), the one on the left with the disc 8 in an end position (the central position is also shown with the dashed line), the one on the right with the disc 8 in an intermediate position between the central and end position. It can be easily observed how the disc 8 moves inside the box along the groove 7, guided by its pin 9, sliding inside said groove. This movement however is hindered in one or both directions, from the centre towards the ends of the groove when the plug 4 is inserted in one or both of the cavities 3, as, by protruding radially from the cavity 3, it interferes with the edge of the disc 8 (right support in figure 2) moving along its trajectory, blocking the above movement of the disc 8 towards the corresponding end of the groove.

[0022] The above plugs are preferably made of an elastically compressible material, for example they can consist of an O-ring made of an elastomeric material, housed in the above cavity 3. Alternatively, in the place of the cavity 3 and corresponding plug, there can be a lamella (not shown) integral with the support and in an interference position with said trajectory of the disc 8, but elastically movable from said interference position.

[0023] Figure 3 illustrates two panels 10, forming part of a temporary wall, during the assembly of said wall. The above panels are substantially bidimensional structures having two front surfaces 11, opposite each other, and four side surfaces 12, on the flanks.

[0024] The two prevalent dimensions define the height "h" and the width "1" of the front surfaces 11, whereas a third dimension, lower by various orders of magnitude than the previous values, measured perpendicularly to said surfaces, defines the measurement of the sides of said structure, i.e. the thickness of the panel.

[0025] The above panels are possibly arranged with a longitudinal movement, side-by-side inside a pair of parallel guides 20, one positioned at the level of the floor, the other at a convenient height.

[0026] When the wall is completed, the possibility of the horizontal sliding of the panels is blocked in any known way, for example by means of two lateral plinths, not illustrated herein so as not to complicate the drawing. The upper guide is preferably situated at a greater height of h so as to allow the extraction of a panel from the inside of a wall by lifting the panel upwards until the base of the panel is above the edge of the lower guide and can be extracted with an orthogonal movement to the surface of the wall.

[0027] In the flanks of each panel facing the adjacent panels, there is a slit 13 in which the box of the device according to the invention is housed, with the straight side adhering to the surface of the side of the panel. The downward movement of the disc 8 has been previously prevented in one of the two facing boxes (14 in the right panel) by the insertion of the plug in the relative cavity. In the left panel, figure 3, the movement of the disc inside the box is left free so that the panel has the disc protruding outwards from the side; when the adjacent panel approaches this former panel, it is evident that the disc 8 is inserted in the side of the latter and precisely inside the window present on the straight side of the box situated inside the corresponding slit 13, left free as a result of the blocking of the movement of the corresponding activated disc, as already mentioned, with the use of the relative plug. In this way, a blade (the disc) is inserted between the two panels, capable of blocking any relative shifting between the two panels in a perpendicular direction to their front surfaces. Without the blockage of the movement of one of the two adjacent discs, both of the discs would fall downwards into the respect box and would settle side-by-side exactly along the separation interface between the two panels, leaving the two panels free to move with respect to each other.

[0028] If a panel is to be removed from the wall to substitute it with a different panel or to create an opening in the wall, it is sufficient to insert a thin rigid blade between the two adjacent panels and lift it upwards. The blade will interfere with the edge of the disc protruding from the side of the panel lifting the disc itself, which is therefore compelled to re-enter its own box following the movement of the pin 9 in the groove 7, thus freeing the panel from the connection with the adjacent panel. The panel which has become independent can be lifted from its guide 20 and extracted from the wall without any difficulty. Alternatively, provided the disc is made of a magnetic material, its moving can be generated from outside the panel with a magnetic or electromagnetic device. For inserting a panel into the corresponding space in a wall already formed, the inverse procedure is followed: it is sufficient to keep the disc inside its box during the insertion of the panel into the wall. As soon as the panel is in line with the adjacent panels, the discs 8, fall downwards by gravity, protrude from the side of the relative panel and are inserted in the side of the adjacent panel blocking the panel which has just been inserted in the preformed wall. If, for some reason, the side of a panel is to be left free from the blocking disc, it is sufficient to open the box of the device and insert a pair of plugs 4 into the corresponding cavities 3. The above plugs block the movement of the disc in both directions towards the ends of the groove and the disc therefore remains blocked in the centre of the box in whatever direction the box is inserted into the side of the panel.

[0029] Alternatively, upon opening the device, the elastic plugs described above (and the equivalent lamellas) can be permanently inserted into the device: the positioning of the disc 8 in the centre of the groove, or its moving from said position towards the ends of the groove, can be easily achieved by inserting a thin blade, for example a knife or screwdriver, inside the above window and with this, force the disc 8 to move along the groove towards the central position or vice versa, by overcoming the elastic resistance of the plug or lamella, which will immediately return to a non-deformed position or to its place, after the passage of the disc, thus guaranteeing the blocked or free movement of the disc, according to the new position of the disc with respect to the plug or lamella.

[0030] The use of a single device for each side of the panel, or which can be transferred from one panel to another or from one side to another of the same panel, is particularly convenient for production costs, facility and versatility of use, the grooves and cavities 3, however, can also be directly positioned on the internal sides of the front walls of the panel, obviously guaranteeing the possibility of inserting or removing the plugs 4 from the outside.

[0031] Figure 4 illustrates the disc 8 of the device according to the invention, from the side. The pin 9 protrudes from both surfaces of the disc: as already mentioned, the groove 7 which guides said pin during the movement of the disc is preferably present on both walls of the box or panel.

[0032] The invention has numerous advantages.

[0033] No modification is required to the panels normally used in the art except for the positioning of a slit on its sides which face the adjacent panels, for the insertion of the device of the invention.

[0034] On the contrary, the walls produced with panels equipped with the device according to the invention are rigid and absolutely flat structures, whereas the simplicity and rapidity of the assembly and dismantling of said structures remain unaltered.

[0035] In the present description, all the possible structural and dimensional alternatives to the embodiments of the invention specifically described, are not normally illustrated.

[0036] These variants however should be considered as being equally included in the protection scope of the present patent, as these alternative forms can, in themselves, be easily identified from the description provided herein of the relationship which links each embodiment with the objective of the invention.

Claims

1. Device for the reciprocal connection between two adjacent structures, characterized in that it comprises

- a supporting plate (1), having at least one substantially straight side with the ends connected by a perimetric edge (2),

- a semicircular groove (7), obtained in the depth of said supporting plate, closed at the ends, with the concavity facing said straight side and the ends situated near said side,

- a plate (8), equipped with a central pin (9) arranged on said supporting plate (1), with said pin (9) housed and freely sliding in both directions within said groove (7),

- at least one cavity (3), situated in said support on the trajectory of said movable plate along said groove, suitable for housing a plug (4) protruding from said cavity, which can be freely inserted into and extracted from said cavity (3).

2. The connection device according to claim 1, characterized in that said plate comprises a disc (8) freely rotating around its pin (9).

3. The connection device according to claim 1, characterized in that said perimetric edge (2) is parallel to said groove (7) and delimits a run in which said disc moves.

4. The connection device according to claim 3, characterized in that the distance between said perimetric edge (2) and said groove (7) is equal to the radius of said disc.

5. The connection device according to claim 1, characterized in that said cavity (3) is obtained in said perimetric edge.

6. The connection device according to claim 1, characterized in that said plug (4) in said cavity (3) protrudes inside said run.

7. The connection device according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises a pair of said plugs (4).

8. The connection device according to claim 1, characterized in that said supporting plate (1) forms one of two facing walls of an open box in correspondence with said straight side.

9. The connection device according to claim 8, characterized in that both of said facing walls of said box are equipped with said groove (7) and said cavities (3) in mutually facing corresponding positions.

10. The connection device according to claim 8, characterized in that said box is inserted in a corresponding slit situated in the side of at least one of said facing structures.

Drawing