A modular cabinet system is disclosed whereby a number of modules can be combined to form a unique cabinet configuration. Each module may be an accessory, such as a lamp or cable duct, or a storage compartment. The storage compartment may be configured as a square or rectangular box with one open side and side walls made of a multiplex. Each side wall has at least one system hole and at least one system thread positioned so that the holes and threads of one module line up with the holes and threads of another module for assembly. The pre-existing system holes and threads allow the modules to be separated and combined repeatedly without damage.
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1. A modular cabinet system comprising:
a plurality of modules, each module having a top wall, a bottom wall, a first side wall, and a second side wall, said walls of each module being permanently fixed to each other and made of a multiplex material;
each module having dimensions chosen from one of the following: <a first size having dimensions height (h), width (w) and depth (D), wherein h, w and D are equal,
a second size having dimensions h, 2*w and D,
a third size having dimensions 2*h, w and D; and
a fourth size having dimensions 2*h, 2*w and D
each of said walls with a dimension h or w having one system hole and each of said walls with a dimension 2*h or 2*w having two spaced-apart system holes; and
said bottom wall further having four spaced-apart threaded through-holes;
said side and top walls being free of threaded through-holes,
said modules being positioned adjacent to one another in a side-to-side or top-to-bottom orientation so that at least one system hole of each module is axially aligned with at least one system hole of an adjacent module;
each of said modules being secured to each adjacent module by fastening means through said at least one axially aligned system hole.
2. The modular cabinet system of
3. The modular cabinet system of
4. The modular cabinet system of
5. The modular cabinet system of
6. The modular cabinet system of
7. The modular cabinet system of
8. The modular cabinet system of
9. The modular cabinet system of
11. The system of
13. The system of
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The present invention relates to a cabinet system comprising combinable components for forming variants for universal usage, more particularly for various office room forms such as cell, group, or combined offices.
The known cabinet systems consisting of combinable components comprise a multiplicity of components which have several width and height dimensions within a defined modular pattern to be assembled to form the cabinet systems desired. In these systems, upper and lower cabinets, sideboards, highboards and the like are defined as such and can only be used and/or assembled in accordance with this distinct function. Very often, the single parts can only be combined after drilling additional holes directly into the furniture board. Disassembling or reassembling of the combined parts is possible only in a limited way and often damages the surface visibly and permanently. It is an objective of the present invention to provide a cabinet system which avoids the disadvantages of the known prior art and which ensures that a multiplicity of variants may be formed using only a small number of different components not being restricted to one function only, wherein these variants may be adapted as often as desired to match changing office room forms or office requirements.
The particular advantages of the arrangement of system holes and system threads in the carcass surfaces of components differing only in their width and height, according to the present invention, lie in the fact that
The system holes according to the present invention used to join the components by joining screws and sleeve nuts are unambiguously determined as regards their position and number on the carcass sides. Also, the number and position of the system threads in one of the carcass sides are precisely determined.
The components are manufactured of a compact board consisting of multiplex, having a thickness of 12.0 mm for example, as support material being coated on both surface sides with HPL at a thickness of, for example, 0.8 mm. The seven-fold lengthwise and transverse bonding of the single veneer sheets of the multiplex ensures excellent stability of the carcasses. Moreover, this counteracts to the inclination of the wood to deform due to humidity changes.
All carcass parts are produced using a CNC machine. In this manner, tolerances of ±0.2 mm are achieved for the system holes, system threads, hole rows, the three-hole configuration for the door stops as well as all millings, etc. The carcass parts are designed to divert the tolerances of the support material and the coating to the inside. As regards the outer dimensions, only negative tolerances up to a maximum of 0.4 mm are permitted.
Surprisingly, it has been found that the use of multiplex material and the limitation to certain outer dimensions of the components assembled in the aforementioned way makes possible the observation of tolerance chains which otherwise are only possible in steel construction work and had never been achieved hitherto in wood furniture production and which provide a precondition for the modular system according to the present invention.
The carcass parts are appropriately cut mitred (45°) and pressed to form a carcass using angle dowels commercially available. Due to the relatively thin compact board and the tolerances to be observed, this work requires utmost precision.
The system hole having a diameter of 10.0 mm, for example, is of decisive importance. All joints occurring during the assembly as well as the inclusion of additional parts such as cover panels, screens, wardrobe bars, lamps, bases, cable ducts, CPU stands, drawing roll stands, support angles, steel handles for component joining, sliding aids, inter-component connectors and component-screen connectors are made possible by means of the system holes.
The system threads are produced using riveted bushings which are generally inserted into the bottom of the carcasses to accommodate footpieces or bases. The height of the bases as well as the footpieces may be adjusted by pushing an Allan key through the system threads.
The present invention will now be explained in more detail with reference to a drawing of an example embodiment of a cabinet system.
The cabinet system is formed of three different components 1, 2, and 3. In accordance with the illustrations shown in
The dimensions of component 1 according to
Due to these basic dimensions and appropriate additional elements and due to the system holes 4 very precisely defined as to their position and number and the system threads 5 also very precisely defined as to their position and number, it is possible for the first time to furnish frequently changing office room forms or to meet changing office requirements as desired without further drilling, doweling, or screwing into the carcass walls.
The rear walls 6, 7, and 8 are formed as rear walls fixed in grooves.
In accordance with the illustration shown in
In accordance with the illustration shown in
The unified depth T of 350 mm of the components 1, 2, and 3 uses the available space very economically due to the standardized dimensions of office means such as ring binders if used in cell offices complying with DIN 4543. An extremely large accommodation space and an economic utilization of the available area is achieved. Optimum accessibility is ensured by the optimized height. Six ring binder heights require a cabinet height of only 2.10 m, eight ring binder heights a cabinet height of only 2.80 m. Using basic accessories, this arrangement can be further joined to other components in 30 upward, downward, left and right directions as desired using the system holes 4.
When used in a group office, four ring binder heights are achieved at a cabinet height of 1.40 m so that each building authority will approve this arrangement as a group solution. The arrangement of the components 1, 2, and 3 divides the room an can be rotated relative to the working desks as desired.
When used in a combined office, the advantages of the aforementioned office types are combined in an ideal manner.
The support material of the carcass walls is multiplex provided with a coating 10 made of HPL as coating material. The rear walls 6, 7, 8 may for instance be coated with melamine resin.
If required, height adjustment screws 15 are screwed into the system threads 5 of the carcass wall forming the bottom plate, or coasters 57 are inserted into the system threads 5 to provide a movable unit.
The
The blind cabinets are provided with milled guidance rails made of plastic material having narrow radiuses for optimum utilization of the inner spaces of the carcass and with an additional separating wall as sight blind and for accommodating hole rows 41 for inserting the shorter blind steel compartment bottom plates 40. The system holes 4 located behind the separating wall are equipped with threaded bushings for joining purposes. All blind cabinets are lockable.
The door handles 61 for all revolving doors 26, 33 and/or paired revolving doors 30, 36 and revolving glass doors 37 and/or paired revolving glass doors 31, 37 as well as the drawer modules 28, 29 are specifically designed to match the cabinet system. As regards the keys for the blind cabinet locks, the heads are cut off, the keys are bonded into the handles and used as key handles 62.
At the end of a carcass chain, the system holes 4 facing outward are covered by cover screws 12. As the compact plate of which the carcasses are made has a thickness of, for example, 13.6 mm and such thin material has hardly been used in furniture production up to now, a cover screw is not a standard part but must be specifically manufactured.
The lamp 19 must also be specifically manufactured to match the cabinet system and may be provided with HQI or fluorescent tubes. The footpieces of the lamp 19 are arranged at a distance of 350 mm in order to be exactly screwed into two system holes 4. The footpieces 20 maintain the distance of the cable ducts 21, 24 so that the lamp 19 is supported by the components 1, 2, 3 and not a cable duct 21, 24. The power supply is provided via the respective cable channel 21, 22, 24, 25.
Drawer modules 28, 29 are also fixed using the hole rows 41.
The three-hole arrangement 70 for the door stops is designed so that one door stop may be used with the inner revolving doors 26, 33 or paired revolving doors 30, 36 as well as revolving glass doors 27 or paired revolving glass doors 31, 37 irrespective of the different door thicknesses. In such cases, the two front holes are used for glass door stops and the two rear holes for wooden door stops. The door stop 60 consists of solid rubber and is designed for use in the three-hole arrangement 70. It is dimensioned so that it hardly becomes an obstacle when, for example, ring binders are put into the carcass.
The adjusting feet 45 may also be screwed directly into the system threads 5. They serve to adjust the height if no roller coasters 57, bases 69 or reversible feet 42 are mounted beneath the carcasses. They are provided with a hexagon plastic foot and a hexagon socket at their ends. As in case of the adjusting feet 45 being completely screwed in, the bolt must not be screwed through the system thread 5, only a height compensation of approx. 10 mm maximum is possible. This also applies to the screw-in bolt of the inserted roller coasters 57 made of plastic material.
The components 1, 2, 3 may be covered by cover panels 48 or glass cover plates 46 as shown in FIG. 13. The cover panels 48 may consist of a wide variety of materials (lacquered, veneered, melamine resin coated cover panels as well as mineral and glass cover plates 46). Cover panels made of any material except glass are provided with bond-in bushings 49 at the appropriate positions. As the holes for the bushings do not penetrate the panels, the surfaces of the cover panels 48 are not damaged. As regards the glass cover plates 46, screws 47 are bonded to the bottom side so that the fit exactly into the system holes 4 to be screwed tight from the inside using the sleeve nuts 11.
In the remaining figures, further additional elements are shown which may be joined with the components 1, 2, 3 via the system holes 4 and/or system threads 5.
The door stop 60 mentioned earlier is shown in
A CPU stand 71 as shown in
The supporting angle 73 according to
The shelf angle 74 is shown in FIG. 26. It consists of a standard angle profile with countersunk holes for wall mounting. The components 1, 2, 3 are simply placed onto the angle and then secured against tilting by a supporting angle 73.
The steel handle 75 shown in
A steel rear wall 76 for the components 1, 2, 3 as shown in
The component-screen connectors 77 according to
The sliding aid 78 according to
The component connector 79 according to
The table system as part of the furniture system comprises five basic modules shown in FIGS. 32 through 36: the two desk boards 81, 82 having different widths, for example 2.10 m and 1.70 m, and the three side desk boards 83, 84 and 85 dimensioned at, for example, 0.7 m×0.7 m, having a face 84 or an arc 85. The structure of the boards is basically the same. The desk boards consist of a sandwich board 80 as has been explained earlier.
The system allows later and frequent changes between the office room forms and also adapts to combined room systems, business clubs, team or project bureaus and the 30 like. The cabinet system is also suitable for designing reception areas, technical equipment housings, archives, pyramids, suspended systems, towers, counters, passages, room dividers, media facilities and many more.
The system holes 4 and the system threads 5 allow a precisely fitting and unrestricted combination of the components 1, 2, 3 with each other and with additional elements. A high precision level of all dimensions is required and achieved.
In the cabinet system, it is possible among other things
In particular, easy disassembly and any modifications of all properties as desired are possible without damaging or altering the system.
The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described herein. It is of course possible to implement further example embodiments by combining the features without exceeding the scope of this invention.
Reference List
1
Component
2
Component
3
Component
4
System hole
5
System thread
6
Rear wall
7
Rear wall
8
Rear wall
9
Support material
10
Coating
11
Sleeve nuts
12
Cover screw
13
Short connecting screw
14
Height adjustment screw
15
Steel compartment bottom plate
16
Steel compartment bottom plate
17
Compartment bottom plate support
18
Miter cut
19
Lamp
20
Footpiece
21
Cable duct
22
Cable duct
23
Long connecting screw
24
Cable duct
25
Cable duct
26
Revolving door
27
Revolving glass door
28
Drawer module
29
Drawer module
30
Paired revolving door
31
Paired revolving glass door
32
Blind
33
Revolving door
34
Hinged door
35
Blind
36
Paired revolving door
37
Paired revolving glass door
38
Blind
39
Slanting compartment bottom plate
40
Blind steel compartment bottom plate
41
Hole row
42
Reversible footpiece
43
Steel base plate
44
Passage hole
45
Adjusting foot
46
Glass cover plate
47
Screw
48
Cover panel
49
Bond-in bushing
50
Screen
51
Connecting thread
52
Footpiece thread
53
System coat hanger
54
Steel bottom plate
55
Passage hole
56
Round steel bar
57
Roller coaster
58
Acoustic rear wall
59
High desk top
60
Door stop
61
Handle
62
Key handle
63
Upper plate
64
Lower plate
65
Adhesive layer
66
Hole
67
Head milling
68
Push-in bushing
69
Base
70
Three-hole arrangement
71
CPU stand
72
Drawing roll support
73
Supporting angle
74
Shelf angle
75
Steel handle
76
Steel rear walls
77
Component-screen connector
78
Sliding aid
79
Component connector
80
Sandwich board
81
Desk board
82
Desk board
83
Side desk board
84
Side desk board
85
Side desk board
D
Depth
H1,
H2, H3 Height
B1,
B2, B3 Width
Krause, Helge, Welke, Hans-Peter
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