Metal working – Method of mechanical manufacture – Assembling or joining
Reexamination Certificate
1999-03-11
2001-09-11
Hughes, S. Thomas (Department: 3635)
Metal working
Method of mechanical manufacture
Assembling or joining
C403S401000, C029S011000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06286198
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of furniture and more particularly to a basic furniture structure and a process for producing the basic furniture structure.
2. Prior Art
The prior art related to furniture includes the so-called sheet-building process, by which V-shaped grooves, of which the V-angle is usually 90 degrees, are milled into a panel in the form of a starting workpiece. The grooves are milled along the corner edges which are to be formed on the subsequent inner side of the basic structure. These grooves are made to extend into the vicinity of the outside of the resulting basic structure sides. A film hinge is formed in the vertex region of each individual V-groove which comprises either the coating substance of the relevant panel material or a sheet or film strip adhesively bonded on the outside of the starting panel. This film hinge forms a pivot axis in order for it to be possible for the respectively adjacent basic structure sides to be pivoted or folded toward one another over an angle which corresponds to the V-angle of the cut grooves whereupon the miter surfaces formed by the V-groove, that is the beveled narrow surface sides of the basic structure sides, butt against one another and can be connected to one another by the addition of an adhesive or glue. If the film hinge is formed by adhesively bonded sheet or film strips, the film strips are removed once the basic structure sides have been folded together.
The starting panels are usually coated on the outside with thermoset materials, and the resulting cover layer is not particularly suitable for the sheet-folding process because, due to partially different bending properties, it results in a nonlinear, usually slightly undulating edge formation. There are also often undesirably sharp corner edges between the adjacent panel parts, which cannot be avoided even when adhesively bonded sheets or films are used as film hinges. In the case of coating materials which tend to rupture, such as veneers, the adhesive bonding of sheet or film strips as film hinge is essential and extremely sharp edges are only produced once the folding has been carried out and the sheet or film strips have been removed.
OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a furniture structure which is formed by folding a panel member which incorporates a V-groove and a film hinge.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a process for forming a furniture structure by folding a panel member.
The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the present invention will appear more clearly hereinafter.
In accordance with the present invention there is provided a basic furniture structure which incorporates a film hinge which cooperates with a V-groove formed in a starting panel.
The film hinge, rather than being formed by the material of the starting panel, such as the coating material of the latter, is formed by an appropriate plastic material which is introduced into a groove which is milled into the starting panels on the subsequently external sides, along a folding line or the hinge axis. There are suitable plastic materials which, in the solidified state, have a sufficient bending capacity and tear strength in order to be able to form the film hinge. These may be plastics which exhibit elasticity or plasticity for the duration of processing and only subsequently solidify in full.
It is also possible to use permanently flexible plastic materials, such as thermoplastics which, depending on the aesthetic form desired along the outer corner edge of the panel parts, which are connected diagonally to one another. There may thus be a contrast on the outside between the color of the plastic material which forms the film hinge and that of the coating material of the panel parts.
The process according to the present invention can be used to produce two furniture structures which can have various configurations along its visible outer edges.
REFERENCES:
patent: 2255151 (1941-09-01), Clements
patent: 4142931 (1979-03-01), Viol et al.
patent: 3821611 (1989-12-01), None
patent: 4323408 (1995-01-01), None
patent: 497288 (1938-12-01), None
patent: 10281118 (1998-10-01), None
Baxley Charles E.
Cozart Jermie E.
Hughes S. Thomas
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