PIECE OF FURNITURE WITH DOORS HAVING AN IMPROVED DEVICE TO CONCOMITANTLY BRING THE DOORS FROM THE CLOSING POSITION TO THE OPENING POSITION, OR VICE VERSA

Description

[0001] The present finding relates to a piece of furniture with doors having a device of an improved type to concomitantly bring the doors from the closing position to the opening position, or vice versa. The finding relates particularly to, but not limited thereto, a piece of furniture which is intended to be secured to a wall, and having a lower door and an upper door, which are hingedly connected at the lower and upper edges thereof, respectively, and mutually connected so that the lower door opening causes also the upper door opening.

[0002] The pieces of furniture of the above-mentioned type have been long known in the art. In a known embodiment of a conventional type, the connection between doors is carried out through an articulated device consisting in a first lever fixedly connected to the lower door at a lower end thereof, and in a rotatable manner to a second lever at an upper end thereof, the upper end of which is in turn connected to the upper door in a rotatable manner.

[0003] A drawback of this and other similar embodiments of the door opening and closing device is represented by the fact that the first lever connected to the lower door, and the second lever connected to the upper door of the piece of furniture have a different structure, and are also connected in a different manner to the respective door. Consequently, the device involves relatively high production and assembling costs, since it is necessary to manufacture parts which are differently configured for the lower and upper doors, and also to provide different assembling techniques for such parts of the device.

[0004] Another drawback of the known devices of the above-mentioned type is represented by the fact that, with time, fatigue failures of the levers or connecting pins thereof can occur, due to the stresses which such parts are subjected to, both during the opening and closing movements of the doors, and in the event that the lower door is used as a supporting top when it is in the open condition. Particularly, these failures occur when levers and pins are made of a non-metallic material.

[0005] In the prior art document FR 2 031 843 A, it is disclosed an apparatus for opening and simultaneous closing of two wings of a same door obtained by the use of a mechanism that transmits the movement of one wing to the other wing in a way in which the movement of the two wings is the same during the opening and the closing.

[0006] Object of the present finding is to obviate the above-mentioned drawbacks of the pieces of furniture with doors having devices for the concomitant opening and closure of the doors.

[0007] This object is achieved, according to claim 1, by a piece of furniture with hinged doors having a device to concomitantly bring the doors from the closing position to the opening position, or vice versa, in which the device consists in a gear wheel or sector system which are mutually meshed, so that the movement of one of said doors to a direction causes the simultaneous movement of the other of said doors to a predetermined direction, characterized in that the gear wheel or sector system comprises four large-sized gear wheels, two small-sized gear wheels, and two toothed sectors , each of the latter being fixedly connected to a respective door of the piece of furniture.

[0008] Now, the present invention will be described more in detail with reference to the Figures in the drawings, illustrating a merely exemplary, non-limiting embodiment of the invention, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a piece of furniture with doors having an opening and closing device of the doors according to the invention,

Figs. 2A and 2B are a side elevational view of the piece of furniture with doors of Fig. 1, the doors being in the open position and, respectively, a side elevational view of the opening and closing device of the doors in the corresponding position, and Figs. 3A and 3B are a side elevational view of the piece of furniture with doors of Fig. 1, the doors being in the closed position and, respectively, a side elevational view of the opening and closing device of the doors in the corresponding position.

[0009] With reference to the Figures in the drawings, i) a piece of furniture with doors intended to be secured to a wall o, more generally, a vertical load-bearing structure is generally indicated with 1 therein. The piece of furniture has a lower door 11 and an upper door 12. The lower door 11 is hingedly connected, at the lower edge thereof, to a piece of furniture bottom 13, while the upper door 12 is hingedly connected, at the upper edge thereof, to a piece of furniture cover 14.

[0010] The lower 11 and upper 12 doors are mutually connected by a gearing which is generally indicated with 15, and illustrated more in detail in the Figs. 2B and 3B. Such gearing is suitably arranged on a piece of furniture body side 16, and it is hidden from sight by a coating and protective panel 17. In the illustrated exemplary embodiment of the piece of furniture, the gearing comprises four large-sized gear wheels 18, two small-sized gear wheels 19, and two toothed sectors 20, each of which being fixedly connected to a respective piece of furniture door so as to turn out to be integral thereto upon rotating. The total number of gear wheels or sectors is eight and, being this number even, the connection between the doors is such that a movement of the lower door 11 towards one direction, for example, the clockwise direction of the arrow A in Fig. 1, simultaneously causes the upper door 12 movement to a reverse direction, in this case, the anti-clockwise direction of the arrow B in Fig. 1.

[0011] A feature of the present finding is that the wheels and the toothed sectors of the gearing 15 associated to the lower door 11 are equal to those associated to the upper door 12, and are also connected to the respective door in the same manner. This is advantageous, because it allows drastically reducing the production and assembling costs of the device.

[0012] The wheels and toothed sectors of the gearing 15 can be made of a metallic material, but they also can be made of a non-metallic material, without compromising the device sturdiness and reliability.

[0013] Another advantage of the gearing 15 is given by the fact that it has a sturdiness such as to allow using the lower door 11 as a supporting top, when it is in the open condition, without compromising the gearing 15 integrity and reliability.

[0014] Still another advantage of the gearing 15 is represented by the fact that, when the piece of furniture doors are in the open position, the lower door 11 surface upwardly facing is coplanar with the inner surface of the piece of furniture bottom 13, thereby it is possible to use the lower door 11 as a supporting top for objects of different types.

[0015] Preferably, the lower door 11 has gripping means, not shown, by means of which a user is able to act upon the door in order to open or close it, and induce the simultaneous opening or closure also of the upper door 12.

[0016] In a variation of the present finding, the piece of furniture with doors 10 may comprise two side doors, each of which can be hingedly connected, at the vertical edge thereof, to a piece of furniture body side. In this configuration of the piece of furniture with doors, the gearing 15 can be arranged on the piece of furniture bottom or cover.

[0017] From what has been set forth above, it shall be apparent that the piece of furniture with doors according to the invention achieves the intended object. Particularly, the piece of furniture is relatively inexpensive to be produced and assembled, and the movement of the doors remains particularly accurate and reliable also on a long-term basis.

Claims

1. A piece of furniture with hinged doors (10) having a device (15) to concomitantly bring the doors (11, 12) from the closing position to the opening position, or vice versa, in which the device (15) consists in a gear wheel or sector system (18, 19, 20) which are mutually meshed so that the movement of one of said doors (11, 12) to a direction causes the simultaneous movement of the other of said doors (11, 12) to a predetermined direction, characterized in that
the gear wheel or sector system (18, 19, 20) comprises four large-sized gear wheels (18), two small-sized gear wheels (19), and two toothed sectors (20), each of the latter being fixedly connected to a respective door (11, 12) of the piece of furniture.

2. The piece of furniture with doors according to claim 1, characterized in that the doors (11, 12) are rotatable around hinges which are connected to the lower and upper edges of the piece of furniture (10), and the device (15) to concomitantly bring the doors (11, 12) from the closing position to the opening position, or vice versa, is arranged on a piece of furniture body side (16).

3. The piece of furniture with doors according to claim 1, characterized in that the doors (11, 12) are rotatable around hinges which are connected to the piece of furniture (10) side edges, and the device (15) to concomitantly bring the doors (11, 12) from the closing position to the opening position, or vice versa, is arranged on a piece of furniture bottom (13) or cover (14).

4. The piece of furniture with doors according to claim 1, characterized in that the wheels or toothed sectors (18, 19, 20) are made of a metallic material.

5. The piece of furniture with doors according to claim 1, characterized in that the wheels or toothed sectors (18, 19, 20) are made of a non-metallic material.

6. The piece of furniture with doors according to claim 1, characterized in that at least one of the doors (11, 12) has gripping means, by means of which a user is able to act upon said one of said doors in order to open or close it, and induce the simultaneous opening or closure also of the other of said doors.

7. The piece of furniture with doors according to claim 1, characterized in that it has a lower door (11) and an upper door (12) which are rotatable around hinges which are connected to the lower and, respectively, upper edges of the piece of furniture (10), and the device (15) which simultaneously brings the doors from the closing position to the opening position, or vice versa, is adapted to bring the lower door (11) to an opening position, where the upper surface of said lower door (11) is coplanar to the inner surface of a piece of furniture (10) bottom (13).

Ansprüche

1. Ein Möbelstück mit Klapptüren (10), das ein Gerät (15) hat um die Türen (11, 12) gleichzeitig von der Schließposition in die Öffnungsposition zu bringen, oder umgekehrt, in dem das Gerät (15) aus einem Getrieberad- oder einem Sektorsystem (18, 19, 20) besteht, die gegenseitig ineinandergreifen, so dass die Bewegung von einer von den Türen (11, 12) in eine Richtung die simultane Bewegung von der anderen von den Türen (11, 12) in eine vorbestimmte Richtung verursacht,
dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass
das Getrieberad- oder Sektorsystem (18, 19, 20) vier großformatige Getrieberäder (18), zwei kleinformatige Getrieberäder (19), und zwei verzahnte Sektoren (20) aufweist, jeder von den Letzteren ist fest verbunden mit einer jeweiligen Tür (11, 12) von dem Möbelstück.

2. Das Möbelstück mit Türen nach Anspruch 1, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass die Türen (11, 12) schwenkbar um Scharniere sind, die mit den unteren und oberen Kanten von dem Möbelstück (10) verbunden sind, und das Gerät (15) um gleichzeitig die Türen (11, 12) von der Schließposition in die Öffnungsposition zu bringen, oder umgekehrt, an der Korpusseite (16) von dem Möbelstück angeordnet ist.

3. Das Möbelstück mit Türen nach Anspruch 1, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass die Türen (11, 12) schwenkbar um Scharniere sind, die mit den seitlichen Kanten des Möbelstücks (10) verbunden sind, und das Gerät (15) um gleichzeitig die Türen (11, 12) von der Schließposition in die Öffnungsposition zu bringen, oder umgekehrt, ist am Boden (13) oder Hülle (14) eines Möbelstücks angeordnet.

4. Das Möbelstück mit Türen nach Anspruch 1, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass die Räder oder verzahnten Sektoren (18, 19, 20) aus einem metallischem Material gemacht sind.

5. Das Möbelstück mit Türen nach Anspruch 1, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass die Räder oder verzahnten Sektoren (18, 19, 20) aus einem nicht-metallischem Material gemacht sind.

6. Das Möbelstück mit Türen nach Anspruch 1, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass zumindest eine von den Türen (11, 12) Greifmittel hat, mittels derer ein Benutzer auf diejenige von den Türen einwirken kann, um sie zu öffnen oder zu schließen, und bewirkt das simultane Öffnen oder Schließen auch von der anderen von den Türen.

7. Das Möbelstück mit Türen nach Anspruch 1, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass es eine untere Tür (11) und eine obere Tür (12) hat, die schwenkbar um Scharniere sind, die mit den unteren und jeweiligen oberen Kanten von dem Möbelstück (10) verbunden sind und das Gerät (15), das gleichzeitig die Türen von der Schließposition in die Öffnungsposition bringt, oder umgekehrt, ist angepasst die untere Tür (11) in eine Öffnungsposition zu bringen, wo die obere Oberfläche von der unteren Tür (11) koplanar zu der inneren Oberfläche von einem Boden (13) des Möbelstücks (10) ist.

Revendications

1. Meuble (10) à portes à charnières comportant un dispositif (15) pour amener concomitamment les portes (11, 12) de la position de fermeture à la position d'ouverture, ou inversement, dans lequel le dispositif (15) consiste en un système à roues ou secteurs dentés (18, 19, 20) qui sont engrenés les uns avec les autres de manière que le mouvement de l'une desdites portes (11, 12) vers une direction provoque le mouvement simultané de l'autre desdites portes (11, 12) vers une direction prédéterminée, caractérisé en ce que
le système à roues ou secteurs dentés (18, 19, 20) comprend quatre grandes roues dentées (18), deux petites roues dentées (19) et deux secteurs dentés (20), chacun de ceux-ci étant relié fixement à une porte respective (11, 12) du meuble.

2. Meuble à portes selon la revendication 1, caractérisé en ce que les portes (11, 12) sont aptes à tourner autour de charnières qui sont reliées aux bords supérieurs et inférieurs du meuble (10), et le dispositif (15) pour amener concomitamment les portes (11, 12) de la position de fermeture à la position d'ouverture, ou inversement, est agencé sur un côté corps (16) du meuble.

3. Meuble à portes selon la revendication 1, caractérisé en ce que les portes (11, 12) sont aptes à tourner autour de charnières qui sont reliées aux bords latéraux du meuble (10), et le dispositif (15) pour amener concomitamment les portes (11, 12) de la position de fermeture à la position d'ouverture, ou inversement, est agencé sur un fond (13) ou une couverture (14) de meuble.

4. Meuble à portes selon la revendication 1, caractérisé en ce que les roues ou secteurs dentés (18, 19, 20) sont faits d'un matériau métallique.

5. Meuble à portes selon la revendication 1, caractérisé en ce que les roues ou secteurs dentés (18, 19, 20) sont faits d'un matériau non métallique.

6. Meuble à portes selon la revendication 1, caractérisé en ce qu'au moins l'une des portes (11, 12) comporte un moyen de préhension, au moyen duquel un utilisateur peut agir sur l'une desdites portes pour l'ouvrir ou la fermer, et provoquer l'ouverture ou la fermeture simultanée de l'autre desdites portes.

7. Meuble à portes selon la revendication 1, caractérisé en ce qu'il comporte une porte inférieure (11) et une porte supérieure (12) qui sont aptes à tourner autour de charnières qui sont reliées aux bords supérieurs et inférieurs, respectivement, du meuble (10), et le dispositif (15) qui amène simultanément les portes de la position de fermeture à la position d'ouverture, ou inversement, est apte à amener la porte inférieure (11) jusqu'à une position d'ouverture, où la surface supérieure de ladite porte inférieure (11) est coplanaire à la surface interne d'un fond (13) de meuble.

Drawing