Method of connecting two panels of a piece of furniture and...

Joints and connections – Manually releaseable latch type – Having operating mechanism

Reexamination Certificate

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C312S111000, C312S202000, C384S610000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06629802

ABSTRACT:

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
The present application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 of Swiss Patent Application No. 2000 2124/00, filed on Oct. 31, 2000, the disclosure of which is expressly incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns an arrangement of conjunction based on form contact of two panels, and in particular, two essentially horizontal panels of a piece of furniture.
2. Description of Related Art
In manufacturing furniture and, in particular, in the manufacturing of furniture composed of a plurality of components such as racks, shelves, book shelves, and similar items, problems arise with arriving at an arrangement or system of joining individual components. Some of these problems relate to an inability of manufacturing and/or assembling the components quickly. Another problem relates to an inability of ensuring perfect positioning of the components and/or their absolute stability. It is also difficult to design a high degree of solidity to the whole piece of furniture, especially when it is also desired to manufacture furniture which does not cost too much. Another problem relates to designing the furniture so that it can be assembled, mounted, and/or dismantled without the use of special tools, i.e., in such a manner that any user without special skills can perform these operations.
Innumerable solutions are known according to the state of the art for solving some of these problems. The most common solutions, and the ones most commonly applied today, provide for the use of nuts and bolts for joining the furniture pieces. Another solution combines the use of special inserts. Such solutions are known to the specialist in the field, and presently also to many less experienced users. However, these solutions are characterized in that they are complicated to manufacture. They also create problems in handling, during assembly, and/or dismantling because they require the use of tools, and in many cases, the use of special devices.
According to the state of the art, conjunction systems are known for joining furniture components in which no nuts and bolts or inserts are used. Such systems thus come closer to an objective of the present invention. However, these systems have failed to offer many, if not all, the advantages found in the invention.
WO 92/05724 discloses a system for modular furniture with interchangeable components used for joining essentially horizontal furniture elements. This system uses cylindrical pins that are placed in the upper surfaces of the lower components so as to penetrate into corresponding cylindrical bores in the lower surfaces of the upper components. This arrangement, of course, could be switched the other way around as well, with the cylindrical pins being placed in the lower surfaces of the upper components so as to penetrate into corresponding cylindrical bores in the upper surfaces of the lower components. The disadvantage of this known system of joining two essentially horizontal panels relates to the fact that the pins must be placed into the panels (or to a part of the panels, respectively) so as to stick out or protrude therefrom. Such an arrangement always causes problems because damage can occur to the pins, as well as to other surfaces of the furniture components. Furthermore, it is obvious that the cylindrical pins, in order to allow for easy penetration into the corresponding cylindrical bores of the counter piece, must be positioned with greatest precision. This can prove especially difficult when the size of the panels is taken into account. Such a design is also vulnerable to variations in the positions and dimensions of the pins and bores which can vary as a result of air condition changes (e.g., humidity, temperature). This system of conjunction, which somehow resembles the well-known Lego® cubes, thus cannot satisfy many if not all the requirements in connection to the conjunction based on form contact of two essentially horizontal panels.
Another system of quick conjunction of elements to be joined is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,797,021. This arrangement uses a system, known as such from many applications in mechanics, of a ball or sphere which penetrates into a dilatable recess whose diameter is essentially smaller than the one of the sphere. As the sphere penetrates into the recess (which can be formed by an elastic rim as in the case shown there, or of a ring-shaped spring elastically deformable radially, which is inserted into the actual recess) there is provided a more or less fixed “snap-on” joint. According to such an arrangement, the two parts to be joined are blocked against each other and the arrangement can be considered as a fixation (in a proper sense) of the parts. The parts can indeed be separated from each other, but only by overcoming the radial force exerted by the rim of the recess, which is narrower than the ball or sphere. In one of the more common design examples provided, e.g. for joining linked activating rods of mechanisms, this solution, even if it remains a snap-on fixation, permits relative movements of one part against the other. Moreover, the center of the movement is the center of the sphere. This solution, in addition to the disadvantage of forming a “snap-on” fixation, and thus requiring the application of force to separate the components, represents a rather complicated solution. This is because of the deformation mechanism of the rim of the recess. This solution also causes problems with precision, such as when two panels are to be joined with two or more conjunction devices.
Another proposal, known from DE 197 39 040, provides for the possibility of assembling cube-shaped units in almost any configuration. Each face of the cube, which is open on one side so as to form a shelf, presents recesses which are symmetrically arranged on all faces in such a manner that as any desired faces of two cubes are joined, i.e., they can be joined using the recesses that correspond to each other. A connecting element in the form of a pin is also shown and this pin penetrates into a sleeve. This document is of interest in assembling pieces of furniture composed of a plurality of components. However, it is not of particular value concerning the system of conjunction because it does not go further than the fixed insert.
From French document FR 2 584 904, an arrangement for conjunction is known for furniture of variable geometry, in particular, for small low tables that can be extended. One or more lower parts of the table is/are connected with an upper part using movable rolls or movable spheres provided in suitable grooves. The purpose of this type of conjunction is to create a well defined freedom of movement of one part of the piece of furniture with respect to another one, i.e., this design merely provides for a to and from translation movement. The application of rolls or spheres in this arrangement does not serve for creating a stable conjunction between two elements, i.e., a guide arrangement only permits movement of one part relative to the other ones. Accordingly, this solution can not be applied for meeting the objective of the present invention as described herein.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention provides for a method of connecting or joining at least two panels in a piece of furniture. The method includes providing a first panel, wherein the first panel includes a surface having at least one recess, providing a second panel, wherein the second panel includes a surface having at least one recess, arranging the surface of the first panel adjacent the surface of the second panel, and connecting the first panel to the second panel using at least one sphere, wherein the sphere projects into the at least one recess of each of the first and the second panels.
One of the at least one recess of the first panel and the at least one recess of the second panel may comprise an approximately square shaped cross-sectional opening. The square shaped cross-sectional opening may have a width, a length

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