JP7614772B2 - Multifunctional furniture - Google Patents

Description

This invention relates to a multi-functional piece of furniture that can be used as a chair (stool), as a platform for placing items, or as a simple table.

In offices and homes, there are low-top furniture pieces that can be used as storage tables or simple tables, with the top supported by legs on the left and right. However, because three sides (four sides if a back panel is included) are made of wooden materials, they lack openness and are difficult to grip and carry.

On the other hand, furniture combining frame materials and plates has also been proposed. Patent documents 1 and 2 disclose a work table in which a single frame material is bent to form a gate-shaped frame body, and plates are placed on two adjacent sides of this gate-shaped frame body. Since the frame body of the tables in Patent documents 1 and 2 is a long gate shape, it is understood that it is intended to be used with the longer plate facing up.

Non-Patent Document 1 also discloses a stool (product name: Ueno) that combines an L-shaped frame body with an L-shaped panel. This stool is based on the concept of being able to be used freely either vertically or horizontally, and is also stackable.

It is common for so-called pipe chairs, whose leg devices are made of pipe material, to have multiple legs that can be stacked in multiple levels, and Patent Document 3 discloses that the grounding members that come into contact with the floor can also be used as spacers when stacking.

Design Registration No. 1661244 Design Registration No. 1661409 Patent No. 4094287

Italy Lapalma website: URL: https://www.lapalma.it/en/families/ueno

The frames in Patent Documents 1 and 2 are gate-shaped, so they are always used in a fixed position and are therefore not stackable. On the other hand, the frame in Non-Patent Document 1 is made stackable by making the width of the frame material and the width of the panels different, making it possible to make effective use of the space when stored.

However, in the case of the furniture described in Non-Patent Document 1, the panels of adjacent furniture pieces overlap when stacked, so when stacking, the hands holding the upper furniture piece are likely to hit the panel of the piece of furniture in front, while when separating the stacked furniture pieces, it is difficult to get the fingertips on the edges of the panels, which can make stacking and separating the furniture pieces more difficult.

In addition, the structure in Non-Patent Document 1 is understood to have an L-shaped frame body and an inverted L-shaped panel joined together with their end faces butted together, so regardless of which plate is in the horizontal position, the load acting on the horizontal plate acts as a shear force on the joint between the horizontal plate and the frame body, and for this reason, it is believed that there is a limit to how much support strength can be increased.

Moreover, in Non-Patent Document 1, the plate is formed in an L-shape, which allows the plate to function as a strength member, so if the two plates were separated, the piece would not function as furniture, and therefore it could be said to lack freedom in design.

The present invention was made against this background, and aims to provide an improved form of stackable multi-functional furniture.

The present invention includes various configurations, and typical configurations are specified in each claim. The invention of claim 1 is as follows:
"The device is provided with a first plate and a second plate arranged in an L-shape, and a pair of first and second support frame bodies separated into front and rear when the plates are viewed in an L-shape,
A plurality of units can be stacked with the first plate or the second plate facing up, and in the stacked state, one of the two plates and the support frame body are vertically overlapped via a protective member .
In this multi-functional furniture,
"The support frame body is fixed to both plates by screws inserted into the support frame body, and the protective member is placed on top of the support frame body so as to protrude below the support frame while hiding the heads of the screws in the stacked state ."
The protective member is preferably made of a synthetic resin.

The invention of claim 2 is an embodiment of claim 1,
"The protective member is attached as a grounding body to a portion of the support frame that rests on the floor."
The structure is as follows.

The invention of claim 3 is the same as claim 1 or 2,
"The support frame is made up of a first support frame and a second support frame separated into front and rear when viewed from the direction in which the first plate and the second plate appear to be L-shaped,
The two support frame bodies are formed in a quadrangle including a first member overlapping the first plate, a second member overlapping the second plate, a third member parallel to the first member, and a fourth member parallel to the second member, and the first members and the second members of the two support frame bodies are connected to each other by joint frames,
In addition, a protective member that covers the screws is attached to the first and second members, and the protective member is attached to the third and fourth members as a ground body.
The structure is as follows.

The invention of claim 4 is an embodiment of claim 3,
"By setting the width of the first plate and the second plate and the distance between the first members and the second members to dimensions smaller than the distance between the third members and the distance between the fourth members, a plurality of units can be stacked."
The structure is as follows.

The invention of claim 5 is any one of claims 1 to 4,
"The protective member is in the form of a trough that overlaps the frame material that constitutes the support frame body, and is provided at both ends with engagement pins that fit into engagement holes drilled in the frame material."
The structure is as follows.

In the multifunctional furniture of the present invention, the support frame is overlapped and fixed to the plate with screws, so the load acting on the plate is supported by the support frame. Therefore, no load is applied to the fastening part between the support frame and the plate, and extremely high support strength can be ensured. In other words, the multifunctional furniture of the present invention has a stronger structure than that of Non-Patent Document 1.

In addition, in the present invention, the support frame body is a strength member and the load is supported by the support frame body, so even if the first plate and the second plate are separated, the support strength is not affected. Therefore, it is possible to separate the first plate and the second plate, which increases the freedom of design.

When the support frame is fixed to the plate with screws, the screw heads are exposed, which can cause aesthetic problems. However, in the present invention, the screw heads are covered with a protective material, which prevents the aesthetics from deteriorating, even while still providing a sturdy, multi-functional piece of furniture.

Furthermore, when stacked, the protective member of the multifunctional furniture located on the upper level rests on the plate of the multifunctional furniture located on the lower level, preventing the plate from being damaged by the metal frame material hitting it. This improves the durability of the multifunctional furniture, but the protective member also functions as a cover to hide the screws and as a spacer (or contact member) when stacked, which simplifies the structure.

In addition, when stacked, the frame material of the support frame body and the protective member are interposed between the plates of the multifunctional furniture stacked one on top of the other, so there is a gap between the upper and lower plates. This prevents the fingertips of the hand holding the furniture from hitting the plate of the preceding multifunctional furniture when stacking, making the stacking operation safe and quick. On the other hand, when separating stacked multifunctional furniture, the fingertips can easily hit the plate of the multifunctional furniture, making the separation operation safe and quick.

By adopting the configuration of claim 2, the protective member that protects the screws and functions as a spacer when stacking can be used as a grounding protective member as well, simplifying the structure accordingly. In addition, the support frame is equipped with a protective member that is grounded when the first plate is on top and a protective member that is grounded when the second plate is on top, so that the user can see by looking at the protective member that is grounded that the product can be used with either plate on top, thereby highlighting its functionality as multi-functional furniture.

In addition, in Patent Document 3, the grounding body also serves as a spacer when stacking, but in the present invention, the grounding body does not function as a spacer when stacking, and the grounding body in Patent Document 3 does not function as a cover to hide the screws. Therefore, it differs from the present invention.

In claim 3, the support frame body is formed into a roughly rectangular shape by four members, so the machine frame (or leg device) consisting of the support frame body and the joint frame can be formed into a sturdy structure. Furthermore, when the first plate is placed on top, the inner surface of the first plate is exposed, and when the second plate is placed on top, the inner surface of the first plate is exposed, but in either case, the heads of the fixing screws are hidden by a protective member, so there is no deterioration in aesthetics. In addition, because protective members are attached to the third and fourth members as grounding bodies, the machine can be placed on the floor without damaging it, regardless of whether the first or second plate is placed on top.

By adopting the structure of claim 4, stacking can be easily achieved. Various structures can be used for the protective member, but if it is formed into a gutter shape as in claim 4 and engagement pins are provided at both ends, the protective member can be firmly attached by fitting the engagement pins into the engagement holes. Therefore, it also has an excellent function of hiding the screw heads.

1A and 1B are perspective views of the first embodiment in a vertical orientation, and FIG. 1C is a perspective view of the first embodiment in a horizontal orientation. FIG. FIG. FIG. 7A is a cross-sectional view taken along line VA-VA of FIG. 1C and FIG. 7A, FIG. 7B is a cross-sectional view taken along line VB-VB of FIG. 1C and FIG. 7A, and FIG. 7C is a diagram showing an example of a lifting mode. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a lifting mode. 1A and 1B are diagrams for explaining stacking, in which (A) is a bottom view and (B) is a perspective view.

(1) Structure of the embodiment Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. For example, as shown in Figures 1 and 2, the multifunctional furniture of this embodiment includes a first plate 1 and a second plate 2 arranged in an L-shape while being separated from each other , a first and a second support frame body 3, 4 to which the plates 1, 2 are fixed, and a first and a second joint frame 5, 6 connecting the support frame body 3, 4. The support frame body 3, 4 and the joint frame 5, 6 are made of round metal pipes, but solid bars or oval tubes can also be used. The plates 1, 2 are made of wood, but metal plates, synthetic resins, composites of different materials, etc. can also be used.

In the following, the terms "front and rear" are used to specify directions, and the front and rear directions are defined as the directions in which the two plates 1 and 2 appear to be L-shaped. Therefore, the two support frame bodies 3 and 4 are disposed apart from each other in the front and rear directions, and the joint frames 5 and 6 are long in the front and rear directions. For the sake of clarity, the directions are clearly shown in Figure 1.

Both plates 1, 2 have the same front-to-rear width W, but differ in circumferential length L1, L2. In this embodiment, the length L1 of the first plate 1 is longer than the length L2 of the second plate 2. Therefore, the position with the second plate 2 on top is called vertical, and the position with the first plate 1 on top is called horizontal. The dimensions L1, L2, and W can be set arbitrarily, but since a person can sit on it even in the vertical position, for example, L1 can be set to about 400 mm, L2 to about 315 mm, and W to about 315 mm.

Both support frame bodies 3, 4 have a loop structure and are composed of a first member 7 overlapping the inner surface of the first plate 1, a second member 8 overlapping the inner surface of the second plate 2, a third member 9 parallel to the first member 7, and a fourth member 10 parallel to the second member 8. Therefore, in the vertical position, the fourth member 10 is in contact with the ground, and in the horizontal position, the third member 9 is in contact with the ground.

The first member 7 and second member 8 of the support frame bodies 3, 4 are positioned near the front and rear edges of the plates 1, 2. Specifically, they are positioned so that the fingertips will touch when a person (average adult) places the palm of their hand on the front and rear edges 1a, 2a of the plates 1, 2.

As shown in FIG. 7(A), the first and second members 7 and 8 of the support frame bodies 3 and 4 are positioned near the front and rear edges of the plates 1 and 2, so the front-to-rear distance L3 between the first and second members 7 and 8 of the support frame bodies 3 and 4 is smaller than the front-to-rear width W of the plates 1 and 2, but the front-to-rear distance L4 between the third and fourth members 9 and 10 of the support frame bodies 3 and 4 is larger than the front-to-rear width W of the plates 1 and 2. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 7(B), multiple pieces of furniture can be stacked (piled up) with the pieces shifted left and right.

Because the front-to-rear positions of the first member 7 and the second member 8 are different from the front-to-rear positions of the third member 9 and the fourth member 10, the connecting portion 7a of the first member 7 with the fourth member 10 is bent, and the connecting portion 8a of the second member 8 with the fourth member 10 is bent, as shown in Figures 2 and 7, for example.

In this embodiment, the first plate 1 and the second plate 2 are formed separately, and a space 11 is provided between them large enough for a person to insert and remove their hand. The second joint frame 6 is disposed on the inner surface of the second plate 2 near the end away from the first plate 1, and the first joint frame 5 is disposed on the inner surface of the second plate 1 near the space 11.

(2) Detailed Structure As mentioned above, the plates 1 and 2 are made of wood, and as shown in Fig. 2, for example, the plates 1 and 2 are structured by attaching melamine decorative boards (hard decorative boards) 12 to both the front and back sides and surrounding them with a resin edge material 13 (therefore, to be precise, the plates 1 and 2 are composed of a wooden substrate, the melamine decorative boards 12, and the edge material 13). Note that the melamine decorative board 12 on the back side is shown simply in Figs. 2 and 3, and the melamine decorative board 12 on the back side is omitted in Fig. 5(A). The edge material 13 is not necessary.

For example, as shown in FIG. 5(A), plates 1 and 2 are fixed to support frame bodies 3 and 4 with screws 14, and plates 1 and 2 have recessed eye nuts 15 into which the screws 14 are screwed. In this case, eye nut mounting holes 16 are opened on the front side and covered with melamine laminate 12. Therefore, even if the screws 14 are tightened, the eye nuts 15 will not come loose, and plates 1 and 2 can be firmly fixed while being made thin.

5A, the screws 14 are countersunk screws with the bearing surface of the heads 14a formed in a tapered shape, and the first and second members 7, 8 of the support frames 3, 4 are formed with recesses 17 into which the heads 14a of the screws 14 fit, and the heads 14a of the screws 14 are covered with a resin protective member (buffer material, plastic part) 18. The third and fourth members 9, 10 of the support frames 1, 2, which rest on the floor, are also fitted with protective members 18 of the same shape as grounding members.

As shown in Figures 3 and 4, the protective member 18 has an arc-shaped cross section that fits closely to the outer circumferential surface of each of the members 7 to 10 of the support frame bodies 3 and 4, and is in the shape of a gutter that is long in the longitudinal direction of each of the members 7 to 10. Engagement pins 19 protrude from the areas near both ends, and the engagement pins 19 are forcibly driven into engagement holes 20 formed in each of the members 7 to 10.

The tip of the engagement pin 19 may be formed into a bulging head shape to prevent it from falling out, or, regardless of the presence or absence of a head, a tapered guide portion may be formed to guide it in during insertion. Two cushioning materials 18 are attached to each of the members 7-10, but three or more may be attached to each. The surface of the cushioning material 18 opposite each of the members 7-10 (the contact surface) may be flat.

As shown in FIG. 3, the protective member 18 has an escape hole 21 formed on its inner surface to prevent the head 14a of the screw 14 from hitting it. The protective member 18 that functions as a grounding body does not need the escape hole 21, but since it is also used to cover the head 14a of the screw 14, the escape hole 21 is formed in all protective members 18.

(3) Summary The furniture of this embodiment can be used as a chair, a luggage stand, or a simple table by placing it with either plate 1 or 2 facing up. When used as a luggage stand or a chair, luggage can also be placed in the space enclosed by plates 1 and 2.

It is also possible to place one of the plates 1, 2 on the bottom and place an item on the bottom plate 1, 2. In this case, the item can be leaned against the support frames 3, 4 to prevent it from falling over, or it can be lifted up by placing hands on the support frames 3, 4. In other words, the furniture can also be used as a carrier.

Whether the furniture is used as a chair or as a luggage stand, plates 1 and 2 are supported from below by support frames 3 and 4, so there is no concentration of load on the mounting parts of plates 1 and 2, ensuring high support strength.

The support frame bodies 3 and 4 have protective members 18 attached as grounding bodies to the third and fourth members 9 and 10 to which the plates 1 and 2 are not attached, so the floor can be prevented from being damaged no matter what position the multifunctional furniture is placed in. In addition, the multifunctional furniture can be placed stably even on an uneven floor.

As already mentioned, the furniture of this embodiment can be stacked in multiple pieces, and they can be stacked in either position, with the first plate 1 on top or the second plate 2 on top.

Furthermore, since a gap is provided between adjacent plates 1, 2 in the stacked state by the sum of the outer diameter of the support frames 3, 4 and the thickness of the protective member 18, when stacking the plates 1, 2 by grasping the edges of the plates 1, 2, the fingertips will not hit the plates 1, 2 of the preceding furniture, and when separating the stacked furniture, the fingertips can be easily hooked on the edges of the plates 1, 2. Therefore, stacking and separating operations can be performed easily and safely.

When placed horizontally with the first plate 1 facing up, the inner surface of the second plate 2 is exposed, and when placed vertically with the second plate 2 facing up, the inner surface of the first plate 1 is exposed, but because the heads 14a of the screws 14 are covered with protective material 18, the aesthetic appearance is not impaired.

There are various ways to carry the furniture. For example, it can be lifted with both hands by placing the fingers on the front and rear edges 1a, 2a of the plates 1, 2. In this case, the first and second members 7, 8 of the support frames 3, 4 are located at the places where the fingertips can be caught, preventing the fingertips from slipping and allowing the furniture to be carried stably.

The furniture of this embodiment is light, so it can be carried with one hand. When lifting it with one hand, it can be placed upright and, as shown in FIG. 5(C), the fingertip 22 can be inserted into the space 11 between the plates 1 and 2 and the finger can be hooked on the top of the first plate 1. In this case, since the first joint frame 5 is positioned on the top of the first plate 1, the furniture can be lifted stably by hooking the fingertip 22 on the first joint frame 5.

As another way to lift with one hand, as shown in FIG. 6(A), the fingertips can be placed on the end of the second plate 2 opposite the first plate 1, and in this case, the fingertips 22 can be hooked on the second joint frame 6, allowing for stable lifting.

As another way to lift with one hand, as shown in FIG. 6(B), it is possible to lift by placing your fingertips on the front or rear edge of the plates 1, 2. In this case, the first member 7 or the second member 8 of the support frame bodies 3, 4 hooks onto the fingertips 22, so the furniture can be lifted stably even with one hand. In either case, the support frame bodies 3, 4 can be used to lift the furniture stably. It is also possible to turn the furniture upside down and lift it by grabbing the support frame bodies 3, 4 with your hands.

Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention can be embodied in various other ways. For example, the protective member can be formed so as to surround about half the circumference of the frame material. One or both plates can also be formed into a tray shape or mesh structure.

The present invention can be embodied in multi-functional furniture. Therefore, it can be used industrially.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 First plate 2 Second plate 3 First support frame body 4 Second support frame body 5, 6 Joint frame 7 First member 8 Second member 9 Third member 10 Fourth member 14 Screw 14a Screw head 15 Mess nut 18 Protective member 19 Engagement pin 20 Engagement hole

Claims (5)

The device includes a first plate and a second plate arranged in an L-shape, and a pair of first and second support frame bodies separated into front and rear when the plates are viewed in the L-shape,
A plurality of plates can be stacked with the first plate or the second plate facing up, and in the stacked state, one of the plates and the support frame body are vertically stacked via a protective member ,
The support frame body is fixed to both plates by screws inserted into the support frame body, and the protective member is overlapped with the support frame body so as to protrude below the support frame while hiding the heads of the screws in a stacked state.
Multifunctional furniture. The protective member is attached as a grounding body to a portion of the support frame body that rests on a floor.
A multi-functional piece of furniture according to claim 1. The support frame body is composed of a first support frame body and a second support frame body separated into front and rear when viewed from a direction in which the first plate and the second plate appear as an L shape,
The two support frame bodies are formed in a quadrangle including a first member overlapping the first plate, a second member overlapping the second plate, a third member parallel to the first member, and a fourth member parallel to the second member, and the first members and the second members of the two support frame bodies are connected to each other by joint frames,
Further, a protective member for covering the screw is attached to the first member and the second member, and the protective member is attached to the third member and the fourth member as a ground body.
Multifunctional furniture according to claim 1 or 2. The width of the first plate and the second plate and the distance between the first members and the second members are set to dimensions smaller than the distance between the third members and the distance between the fourth members, thereby making it possible to stack a plurality of units.
Multifunctional furniture according to claim 3. The protective member is in the form of a trough that overlaps the frame material that constitutes the support frame body, and engagement pins that fit into engagement holes formed in the frame material are integrally provided at both ends of the protective member.
A multi-functional piece of furniture according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

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