GB2247398A - Ventilated wardrobe - Google Patents

Abstract

A wardrobe having a single or double-leaf door (6), a bottom (4) positioned at a distance from the surface on which the wardrobe is to stand, and at least one intermediate shelf (9). For generating a free exchange of air there are in the bottom (4) along the front edge and rear edge thereof air entry apertures in the form of two groups of apertures or slots (10a, 10b) extending across the entire width of the wardrobe and leading towards the wardrobe interior, in the or each intermediate shelf (9) airflow apertures (11a, 11b) arranged in the same way as the air entry apertures (10a, 10b), and above the, or the top, intermediate shelf (9) air exit apertures (12) extending across the entire width of the wardrobe. In spite of the or each intermediate shelf effective, free, unforced ventilation is permitted with the or each door leaf remaining free from apertures. thereby retaining an attractive appearance. <IMAGE>

Description

WARDROBE This invention relates to a wardrobe, especially made of metal, having a single- or double-leaf door, a bottom part positioned at a distance from the surface on which the wardrobe stands, and at least one intermediate shelf, especially a hat shelf, which comprises ventilation slots for generating a free exchange of air.

DE 86 00 248 Ul proposes a wardrobe with forced ventilation, in which there is provided an aperture below the door and a further aperture at the rear upper edge, with a fan being arranged in the region of the second aperture. With forced ventilation, the type of ventilation apertures is relatively unproblematical. The aperture positioned below the door disadvantageously affects the visual appearance of the wardrobe.

According to the present invention there is provided a wardrobe having a single or double-leaf door, a bottom positioned at a distance from the surface on which the wardrobe is to stand, and at least one intermediate shelf, wherein, for generating a free exchange of air,.

there are in said bottom along the front edge and rear edge thereof air entry apertures in the form of two groups of apertures or slots extending across the entire width of the wardrobe and leading towards the wardrobe interior, in the or each intermediate shelf air flow apertures arranged in the same way as said air entry apertures, and above the, or the top, intermediate shelf air exit apertures extending across the entire width of the wardrobe. In this wardrobe there is permitted, in spite of the or each intermediate shelf, effective free unforced ventilation and design principles are met in a more convenient way. The arrangement of air entry apertures and air flow apertures in the bottom and intermediate shelf or shelves permits ventilation on two flow fronts along the front and rear of the wardrobe.In this way, unattractive ventilation apertures in the door such as they are known in the form of punched slots, especially in plate metal wardrobes, may be avoided. The bottom may be used advantageously to deposit shoes without any dirt falling out of the wardrobe through centrally arranged ventilation apertures. The intermediate shelf or shelves, especially a preferably single hat shelf, do not restrict effective ventilation as far as the upper part of the wardrobe. This is particularly important if the wardrobe is used for working clothes including protective helmets and the like.

In a preferred embodiment, the air exit apertures are arranged above the door at the front of the frame. On the one hand, this design effectively prevents direct ingress of dirt and dust such as it may occur in the case of upwardly opening ventilation apertures. On the other hand, the or each door leaf remains free from apertures, thereby retaining an attractive appearance which does not remind one of workplace lockers.

If the wardrobe is provided with feet, the abovementioned air entry apertures are easily accessible. If the wardrobe is provided with a base in the form of a plinth, below the door at the front, there are preferably arranged air supply apertures so as to extend across the entire width of the wardrobe. With this design, the air may reach the area below the bottom of the wardrobe and then, via the air entry apertures in accordance with the invention, it is able to flow through the wardrobe. This arrangement as proposed pleasingly matches the abovementioned air exit apertures above the door.

A design of air exit apertures and possibly air supply apertures which covers a relatively large area and is pleasing from the point of view of design consists of a band of horizontal individual slots extending in parallel relative to each other.

For a better understanding of the invention and to show how the same may be carried into effect, reference will now be made, by way of example, to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a diagrammatic vertical section through a wardrobe with a base in the form of a plinth, Figure 2 is a diagrammatic vertical section through a wardrobe with feet, Figure 3 is a front view of the wardrobe of Figure 1, and Figure 4 is a detailed front view on a larger scale showing part of a group of ventilation apertures.

Referring first to Figures 1 and 2 each wardrobe has a body 1 consisting of a top panel 2, a rear wall 3, a bottom panel 4, opposed side walls 5, a door 6 and either a base 7 in the form of a plinth (Figure 1) or feet 8 (Figure 2). In the interior of the wardrobe there is a hat shelf 9. The bottom panel 4 is provided with groups of symbolically illustrated ventilation slots 10a, 10b each extending substantially across the entire wardrobe width along the front and rear edges of the panel 4. Air flow apertures gila, lib are arranged in the same way in the hat shelf 9. In each wardrobe, above the door 6 in a front panel, there is a group of air exit apertures 12 which, in principle, have the same shape as the air entry apertures and, in the wardrobe of Figure 1, air supply apertures 13 below the door 6 in the base 7.

In Figure 1 it is shown by way of example that in the region of the bottom panel 4 which is free from air entry apertures 10a, 10b, it is possible to deposit working shoes. Likewise it is illustrated in Figure 1 that head gear can be placed on the shelf 9 between the apertures gila, lib so that the air flow movements, indicated by arrows, in the region above the hat shelf 9 are unimpeded and this region is also ventilated.

The front view of Figure 3 shows that the door leaf 6 is free from any ventilation apertures and that the air exit apertures 12 at the front above the door, and also in the wardrobe of Figure 1 the air supply apertures 13 at the front, below the door, corresponding to the other groups of air exit, and in the wardrobe of Figure 1 air supply, apertures, consist of a band of horizontal individual slots extending parallel to one another. Instead of the three rows of slots as illustrated it is possible to use four or five rows and substantially achieve the same technical and design effects.

Figure 4 shows part of the ventilation slots which continue in the same way in the form of a horizontal band. It can be seen that the individual slots are rounded at their ends, with the web width between them corresponding to approximately double the slot width and with four slots forming an approximately square area.

The distance from the next group of four slots corresponds to approximately one third of the slot length.

The single leaf door 6 illustrated can be replaced by a double-leaf door and/or there can be more than one interior shelf, in which case each such shelf is provided with air flow apertures corresponding to the apertures gila, lib described.

Claims (9)

1. A wardrobe having a single or double-leaf door, a bottom positioned at a distance from the surface on which the wardrobe is to stand, and at least one intermediate shelf, wherein, for generating a free exchange of air, there are in said bottom along the front edge and rear edge thereof air entry apertures in the form of two groups of apertures or slots extending across the entire width of the wardrobe and leading towards the wardrobe interior, in the or each intermediate shelf air flow apertures arranged in the same way as said air entry apertures, and above the, or the top, intermediate shelf air exit apertures extending across the entire width of the wardrobe.

2. A wardrobe as claimed in claim 1, wherein said air exit apertures are arranged above the door at the front of the wardrobe.

3. A wardrobe as claimed in claim 2, wherein said air exits apertures consist of a band of horizontal individual slots extending parallel to one another.

4. A wardrobe as claimed in claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein below said bottom there is a base in the form of a plinth in which there are arranged air supply apertures below the door at the front that extend across the entire width of the wardrobe.

5. A wardrobe as claimed in claim 4, wherein said air supply apertures consist of a band of horizontal individual slots extending parallel to one another.

6. A wardrobe as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein there is only one intermediate shelf.

7. A wardrobe as claimed in claim 6, wherein the intermediate shelf is a hat shelf.

8. A wardrobe as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the wardrobe is made of metal.

9. A wardrobe substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 1 and 3, or Figure 2, and Figure 4 of the accompanying drawings.