HIDDEN DEVICE FOR THE WALL ASSEMBLY OF A PIECE OF FURNITURE AND STRUCTURAL COMPONENT OF A PIECE OF FURNITURE COMPRISING SAID DEVICE

Abstract

 A hidden device (20) for the wall assembly of a structural component (21) of a piece of furniture, comprising a box-shaped body (22) which houses a first (27) and second (28) regulation mechanism, in height and depth respectively, provided with a first (33) and second regulation screw (46), respectively, each having a head (35,49) comprising a toothed crown. According to the invention, the box-shaped body (22) comprises, for each screw (33,46), at least one access hole (91,92,93,95,96,97) which develops radially with respect to the toothed crown and ends in correspondence with the same, so that the toothed crown is suitable for allowing a direct radial engagement with a tool (U).

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a hidden device, so-called "shoulder-centre", for the wall assembly of a structural component of a piece of furniture.

[0002] "Shoulder-centre" devices are destined for being housed in the thickness of a shoulder of a piece of furniture, which is equipped with a suitable housing for this purpose.

[0003] These devices are also commonly called hidden hanging brackets in the field.

[0004] As a non-limiting example, the invention is described hereunder with reference to the wall assembly of a wall-cupboard, but it can also be equally used for the assembly of uprights (shoulders) forming part of a bookcase or other piece of furniture.

[0005] These devices also have the function of allowing regulations in height and depth of the piece of furniture assembled to the wall, with respect to the wall itself and to adjacent furniture.

[0006] An example of these devices is described in European patent application EP2627215 in the name of the same Applicant.

[0007] The assembly of the wall cupboard is effected by means of an arm which extends from the body of the device and is hooked to a support, for example a bar, dowel, plate or similar product, fixed to the wall.

[0008] The above regulations in height and depth are effected by acting on said arm through various types of mechanisms, which are controlled (from outside the device) by means of a maneuvering tool (for example a screwdriver, an Allen key or the like).

[0009] Hanging brackets of the hidden type described above have various actuation and regulation difficulties, specifically deriving from the installation position in the housing of the shoulder.

[0010] It is evident, in fact, that according to the accessibility of the housing from the outside, especially with the use of a tool, various actuation mechanisms must obviously be envisaged or even various configurations of the device, depending on its application on the right or left shoulder of the cupboard, or should the cupboard be close to the wall or ceiling (which would hinder the maneuvering of the tool) .

[0011] More specifically, with reference to the device of EP2627215, it should be noted that it can only be actuated from one of the two sides, depending on the positioning and accessibility of the pinions that act on the regulation screws, in turn acting on the hook.

[0012] Furthermore, the production complexity of the device is relatively high as, in order to allow the side actuation of the regulation screws, the relative pinions must be envisaged and their seat must be formed in the body of the device itself, with manufacturing tolerances that must be overally controlled, in order to simultaneously allow both the rotation of the pinion and its correct positioning with respect to the screw head, without which - also due to the relatively high forces during the regulation (deriving from the weight of the cupboard) - situations of premature wear or breakage of the engagement teeth of the pinion and screw, could arise.

[0013] The general objective of the present invention is therefore to provide a shoulder-centre hanging bracket which is versatile and relatively simple to produce.

[0014] A further objective of the present invention is to provide said hanging bracket which can be actuated from a plurality of distinct access directions.

[0015] Said objective is achieved by a device, a so-called shoulder-centre hanging bracket, having the characteristics specified in claim 1 and enclosed subclaims.

[0016] A first object of the invention relates to said device and a second object of the invention relates to a structural component of a piece of furniture comprising said device.

[0017] The idea at the basis of the invention is to exclude pinions and to actuate regulation screws thanks to a toothed crown that can be engaged directly (i.e. without further interventions) by the tool; for this purpose, the box-shaped body comprises, for each screw, at least one access hole which develops radially with respect to the toothed crown and ends in correspondence with the same.

[0018] The structural and functional characteristics of the invention, and its advantages with respect to the known art, will appear more evident from the following description, referring to the enclosed drawings which show a possible practical embodiment of the invention itself.

[0019] In the drawings:

• figure 1 is a sectional side view illustrating an assembly device according to the invention in the corresponding housing of the cupboard;
• figures 2 and 3 are sectional views of the device along the section planes AA and BB respectively of the previous figure;
• figures 4 and 5 are sectional and partially transparent views of the device of the previous figures;
• figure 6 is a detailed view of details of the device of the previous figures.

[0020] In the following description, the terms "vertical" and "horizontal" refer to an operative condition of the device and in the common sense of the terms.

[0021] In its general features, the invention comprises a hidden device for the wall assembly of a structural component of a piece of furniture; the device comprises a box-shaped body which houses a first and second regulation mechanism, in height and depth respectively, of the structural component (and therefore of the piece of furniture connected to it), provided with a first and second regulation screw respectively, each having a head comprising a toothed crown for actuating the screw and consequently the relative regulation mechanism.

[0022] Characteristically, according to the invention, the box-shaped body 22 comprises, for each screw 33,46 at least one access hole 91,92,93,95,96,97 which develops radially with respect to the toothed crown and ends in correspondence with the same, so that the toothed crown is suitable for allowing a direct radial engagement with a tool U.

[0023] In a basic embodiment (not shown), there is only one access hole, whereas in other embodiments (not illustrated) the body 22 comprises, for each screw 33,46, two access holes 91,92;95,96 which develop radially with respect to the toothed crown according to at least two separate access directions aligned with each other and lying on a common orthogonal plane with respect to the rotation axis of the respective screw 33,46.

[0024] In the preferred embodiment illustrated, the device 20 also comprises for each screw 33,46, (in addition to the aligned holes described above), at least a third access hole 93,97 which develops radially with respect to the toothed crown according to a third access direction, lying on the same plane as said two access directions and positioned at 90° with respect to the latter.

[0025] In this way, the toothed crown is suitable for allowing radial engagement with a tool according to at least three distinct access directions oriented between each other at 90° with respect to a rotation axis of the respective screw.

[0026] The access directions are radial with respect to the rotation access of the respective screw and thus allow the relative regulation mechanism to be actuated, acting on different sides of the body, for example on the sides (right, left) or from above according to the respective access directions.

[0027] In this way, a device is obtained with a relatively simple and robust construction which, at the same time, is extremely versatile, as it can be actuated according to various access directions.

[0028] There are preferably three access holes for each screw and each of these extends in the body along a distinct access direction, each hole of one screw extending parallel to a hole of the other screw, in pairs.

[0029] When the body is substantially parallelepiped, the pairs of parallel holes extend at least on two opposite sides of the body itself, so as to allow side access (right, left).

[0030] If the body is composed of intercoupled half-shells, said holes are formed on the half-shells, in pairs; another hole for each screw is formed by the coupling of two facing necks each produced on a corresponding half-shell.

[0031] Again generally speaking, the invention also relates to a structural component of a piece of furniture comprising a housing seat for a device according to one or more of the previous claims and corresponding seats formed in the walls of the element and in communication with said housing seat, at least one of said seats being aligned with said access holes for each screw in an assembled condition of the device.

[0032] Figures 1-5 of the drawings show a possible embodiment of the invention in which the assembly device is indicated as a whole with the reference number 20, and is of the so-called hidden type, in particular destined for being incorporated in a structural component of a piece of furniture, for example an upright or panel 21.

[0033] As already specified, devices of this type are commonly called shoulder-centre hanging brackets, in the field.

[0034] The device 20 is structurally composed of a flat rectangular body 22, characteristically comprising two intercoupled half-shells 23,24 and partially containing a hooking arm 25.

[0035] The arm 25 is in turn - when operating - hooked to a support 74 fixed to the wall.

[0036] The arm 25 is rotatable around a hinge 26 and can also be moved forwards and backwards with respect to its longitudinal development, so as to allow regulations of the wall cupboard in height and depth.

[0037] The rotation and translation of the arm 25 are controlled by means of two distinct control mechanisms, which are respectively indicated as a whole with reference numbers 27, 28.

[0038] The mechanism 27 serves for regulating the height of the panel 21, whereas the mechanism 28 serves for regulating the depth.

[0039] More specifically, the hooking arm 25 is preferably fork-shaped in a single piece, with interspaced branches, open at the rear and flattened and shaped in the front, so as to form a hook 30 protruding through an opening of the body 22.

[0040] The arm 25 is rotatingly connected to the hinge 26, in particular, when the construction is of the type, preferred, but not exclusively, described above, the branches of the arm 25, close to the open rear end, are perforated, so as to receive the hinge 26 on which they can rotate.

[0041] The hooking arm 25 in its rotation and translation movements is preferably guided by the inner surfaces of the body 22.

[0042] The mechanism 27, which drives the rotation of the arm 25 around the hinge 26, comprises a screw 33 which is screwed onto a sliding hexagonal nut 34.

[0043] For this purpose, the head of the screw is rotatingly housed in a corresponding seat of the half-shells 23,24, as also the hexagonal nut 34 which translates on guides also formed in the half-shells 23,24.

[0044] At an end opposite to the shaped actuation head, the screw 33 acts on the terminal edge of a curved section 37 which slides inside a corresponding guiding slot of the body 22.

[0045] The opposite end of the section 37 is buffered against the hooking arm 25, preferably against the branches of the hooking arm 25.

[0046] The head 35 of the screw 33 comprises a toothed crown produced so as to allow engagement actuation by means of a tool U which allows access to the head 35 radially with respect to the rotation axis of the screw 33.

[0047] In the example provided, the tool U is a Phillips head screwdriver but other forms can be equivalently envisaged, for example flathead screwdrivers, hexagonal-head screwdrivers, torx screwdrivers or the like; in this case, the shaping of the head 33 is conformed in a complementary manner or in any case suitable for allowing the engagement of a tool in a radial direction, as specified above.

[0048] In any case, the cooperation principle of the two (head 33 and tool U) is based on mechanical interference, which is known per sé, and a skilled person in the field can therefore define the most appropriate forms without exiting from the scope of the present invention.

[0049] According to the latter and in order to overcome the drawbacks discussed above, the toothed crown has a complete circumferential extension on the head 35 of the screw 33, so that it can also be actuated by the tool U when this is inserted (as in the figures) from above or from any of the two opposite sides.

[0050] In order to allow access of the tool U to the head 35, access holes (or windows) are envisaged in the body 22, in particular an upper hole 93, and two side holes 91, 92.

[0051] The latter are aligned with each other and each produced in a half-shell 23,24, open at the side so as to face two corresponding seats 101,102 formed in the walls of the element 21 and aligned with each other and with the same holes 91,92, so as to allow the actuation - by means of the tool U - of the screw 33, from opposite sides.

[0052] The upper hole extends substantially perpendicularly to the holes 91,92, and is substantially aligned and in communication with the seat 103 formed in the element 21, to allow the actuation - by means of the tool U - of the screw 33, from above.

[0053] In this way, ultimately, the regulation of the height of the wall cupboard is enabled through the mechanism 27 described above by acting with the tool indifferently from one of the sides (right or left) or from above.

[0054] As far as the toothed crown is concerned, visible in detail in figure 6, preferably but not necessarily, the teeth of the same are teeth having a substantially triangular (or trapezoidal section), with the vertex of the triangle (or smaller base of the trapezium) facing the rotation axis of the screw.

[0055] With respect to the mechanism 28, which controls the translation of the arm 25, this comprises a screw 46 which is screwed through a threaded hole of the hinge 26 on which the arm 25 rotates.

[0056] As can be clearly seen from the drawings, the translation of said screw 46 is blocked at the front end by a support 48 and at the rear end by the same housing seat as the shell 22.

[0057] The front end of the screw 46 is preferably rotatingly housed inside a seat of the support 48, whereas the head 49 at the opposite end comprises a toothed crown analogous to that of the head 35 of the screw 33, of which no further mention will be made for the sake of brevity, except for further pointing out that the head 49 of the screw 46 allows engagement actuation by means of a tool U which has access to the head 49 radially with respect to the rotation axis of the screw 46.

[0058] Analogously to what is specified above, in order to allow access of the tool U to the head 49, access holes (or windows) are envisaged in the body 22, in particular an upper hole 97, and two side holes 95,96.

[0059] It should be noted from the outset that - alternatively - the upper holes 93 and 97 (non-exclusively illustrated as separate and distinct) can also be in the form of a single hole, wider, suitable for allowing access to the heads 35 and 49 of the screws 33 and 46; if there is a single hole, a guiding means for the tool is preferably envisaged, so as to guarantee its engagement with the screw head to be actuated: an example of this guiding means can be a shaped flap or the like.

[0060] If, on the other hand, there are two upper holes 93,97, these act as a guide for the tool, especially if the latter has dimensions close to those of the holes 93,97, contributing to keeping it centered on the respective toothed crowns of the heads 35 and 49.

[0061] The two upper holes 93,97 extend parallel into the shell 22, for different lengths, as they have to reach the screws 33 and 46 which are situated at different heights from each other.

[0062] Analogously to the mechanism 27, the side holes 95,96 are aligned with each other and each produced in a half-shell 23,24, open at the side so as to face two corresponding seats 105,106 formed in the walls of the element 21 and aligned with each other and with the same holes 95,96, so as to allow the actuation - by means of the tool U - of the screw 46, from opposite sides (right, left).

[0063] The upper hole 97 is aligned with a seat formed in the element 21 which, in this non-limiting example, is the same seat 103, but could also be a separate and specific seat.

[0064] With brief reference to the screws 33 and 46, from figures 1 and 4, 5 it can be noted that the rotation axes of the screws 33,46 lie on a common first vertical plane, preferably that in the centreline of the body 22, in correspondence with which the two half-shells 23,24 are joined and on respective different horizontal planes (orthogonal to the vertical plane), so that as a whole the screws 33 and 46 are positioned at different heights in the body 22.

[0065] At the same time, the two heads 35 and 49 respectively develop on a second and third vertical plane orthogonal to the first plane; the second and third planes are spaced from each other.

[0066] In this way, it is possible to have access to each regulation screw 33 and 46 separately (individually) from above and from the sides, without the passage of the tool finding one of the screws (or heads) that is hindering access to the other.

[0067] The half-shells 23,24 are stably intercoupled, containing the kinematic mechanisms described above, for example by means of one or more pins or inserts or screw connections.

[0068] Characteristically, the body 22 described above, containing the mechanisms 27, 28, for respectively regulating the height and depth of the panel 21 (and consequently of the cupboard of which said panel 21 can be a part), also comprises a box-shaped upright 60 for fixing the shoulder-centre hanging bracket 20 to the panel 21, as explained hereunder.

[0069] Said upright 60 is structurally composed of a core 61 reinforced by means of a perimetric edge 62, connected at the ends, as clearly illustrated in the drawings.

[0070] The core 61 of the upright 60 has a window in which the flat rectangular body 22 of the hanging bracket is assembled and fixed.

[0071] For this purpose, a box-shaped retention tooth 64, which is engaged with the upright 60, extends in correspondence with the edge of the body 22, above the hook 30.

[0072] A fixing pin engaged with the upright 60, preferably extends in correspondence with the edge of the body 22, below the hook 30.

[0073] As can be clearly seen from the drawings, the window through which the hook 30 passes, is preferably eccentric, i.e. it is situated closer to the upper end of the upright 60 with respect to the lower end.

[0074] Two lever arms are therefore defined in the fixing upright 60, longer and shorter respectively; the arm B1 is situated below the body 22, whereas the arm B2 is positioned above.

[0075] The shoulder-centre hanging bracket 20 structured as described above, is firmly fixed to the panel 21, in the seat of the latter, by means of appropriate connections, for example screws 120.

[0076] It is therefore possible to have access in three orthogonal positions (above, right, left) to each of the regulation mechanisms 27,28 in height and in depth of the structural element 21 - and therefore ultimately of the cupboard to which it is connected - as previously explained.

[0077] The rotation of the screw 33 in one direction or the other causes, in fact, a rotation of the arm 25 around the hinge 26, due to the rotation of the curved section 37, pushed by the sliding nut 34.

[0078] The arm 25 is in fact always kept in contact with the section 37 thanks to the weight of the cupboard of which the panel 21 is a part.

[0079] The rotation of the screw 46 in one direction or the other in the hole of the hinge 26 causes a translation of the latter and therefore of the arm 25.

[0080] The structural component 21 of the invention belongs to a piece of furniture or the like, and is destined for being hung to a vertical wall; the component 21 comprises an internal housing suitable for housing a device 20 of the type described above.

[0081] The component 21 advantageously has, in communication with the internal housing for the device 1, at least five pass-through seats 101, 102, 103, 105, 106 each aligned with the holes 91, 92, 93 and 97, 95, 96 to allow the passage of the tool U.

[0082] The objectives of the invention have therefore been achieved.

[0083] Numerous variants of what has so far been described, are possible, all to be considered as being equivalent to the disclosures provided herein for exemplificative purposes.

Claims

1. A hidden device (20) for the wall assembly of a structural component (21) of a piece of furniture, said device (20) comprising a box-shaped body (22) which houses a first (27) and second (28) regulation mechanism, in height and depth respectively, provided with a first (33) and second regulation screw (46), respectively, each having a head (35,49) comprising a toothed crown
characterized in that
the box-shaped body (22) comprises, for each screw (33,46) at least one access hole (91,92,93,95,96,97) which develops radially with respect to the toothed crown and ends in correspondence with the same, so that the toothed crown is suitable for allowing a direct radial engagement with a tool (U).

2. The device (20) according to claim 1, wherein said body (22) comprises, for each screw (33,46), at least two access holes (91,92;95,96) which develop radially with respect to the toothed crown according to at least two separate access directions aligned with each other and lying on a common orthogonal plane with respect to the rotation axis of the respective screw (33, 46) .

3. The device (20) according to claim 2, wherein said body (22) comprises, for each screw (33,46), at least a third access hole (93,97) which develops radially with respect to the toothed crown according to a third access direction, lying on the same plane as said two access directions and positioned at 90° with respect to the latter.

4. The device (20) according to one or more of the previous claims, comprising a movable hooking arm (25) to a support (74) fixed to a wall, said first (27) and second (28) mechanisms acting on said arm (25) to move it in rotation and translation respectively, following activation of the respective regulation screw (33,46), said mechanisms (27,28) being housed inside said body (22) .

5. The device (20) according to one or more of the claims from 2 to 4, wherein each hole of a screw (33) extends parallel to a hole of the other screw (46), in pairs.

6. The device (20) according to one or more of the previous claims, wherein the body (22) is substantially parallelepiped, and comprises two intercoupled half-shells (23,24), at least two of said holes (91,92;95,96) for each screw, preferably holes aligned with each other, each being formed in a half-shell (23,24).

7. The device (20) according to claim 6, wherein another hole (93,97) for each screw (33,46) is formed by the coupling of two facing necks each produced on a corresponding half-shell (23,24).

8. The device (20) according to one or more of the previous claims, wherein the toothed crown extends circumferentially on the head of the screw (33,46) and comprises teeth having a substantially triangular or trapezoidal section, with the vertex of the triangle or smaller base of the trapezium facing the rotation axis of the screw (33, 46) .

9. The device (20) according to one or more of the previous claims, wherein the rotation axes of the screws (33,46) lie on a common first vertical plane, preferably a centre plane of the body (22) and on respective different horizontal planes (orthogonal to the vertical plane), so that on the whole the screws (33,46) are positioned at different heights in the body (22), and wherein, at the same time, the respective heads (35,49) respectively develop on a second and third vertical plane orthogonal to the first plane, the second and third plane being spaced from each other.

10. A structural component (21) of a piece of furniture comprising a housing seat for a device according to one or more of the previous claims and corresponding seats (101,102,103,104,105) formed in the walls of the element (21) and in communication with said housing seat, at least one of said seats (101,102,103,104,105) being aligned with said access holes (91,92,93;95,96,97) for each screw (33,49) in an assembled condition of the device (20).

Drawing