GB2211724A - Furniture assembly - Google Patents

Abstract

A method and a kit of parts for connecting items or parts of furniture together. The method involves attaching a first member of each of two two-member joints to a first piece of furniture and attaching the second member of each joint to the second item of furniture. The members have inter-engageable relatively slidable surfaces so that the items can be brought together into engagement by relative sliding of the first and second members of each joint. One of the items of the furniture might be a divan and the other item of furniture might be a footboard. The members can be strip-like and right trapezodial in section.

Description

Furniture Assembly.

This invention relates to the assembly of furniture.

Although the invention relates to furniture assembly, generally, the invention has particular advantages when used with divans or beds.

A divan is a low bed without a headboard or footboard.

Often the owner of a divan will wish to improve his divan by attaching a headboard. Prior art methods allow him to attach a headboard by bolting on the headboard using for example two screw holes which are provided on the divan, usually at each end, for this purpose. Some divans are sold with headboards fitted.

In general divans have not been convertible to beds as footboards are inconvenient to fit.

According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a method for connecting together items or parts of furniture comprising attaching to one item or part a first member of each of two two-member joints, attaching to another item or part the second member of each joint, said members having interengageable, relatively slidable, surfaces, and bringing the items or parts together so that the first and second members of each joint come into engagement by relative sliding movement of the interengageable surfaces. One of the items may be a divan and the other may be a footboard for the divan. Each member may be strip-like and right trapezoidal in section. Alternatively the members may be stepped in section or have curved interengageable surfaces.

According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a kit of parts for use it the method defined above comprising a pair of two member joints, each joint comprising two strip-like members having interengageable, complementary shaped surfaces, which can be brought into engagement by relative sliding movement, and means for attaching the strip-like members to items of furniture. The kit of parts may include a part of furniture such as a footboard for attachment to a divan.The means of attachment may comprise bolts or screws Specific embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a view from above of a divan fitted with a headboard and a baseboard; Figure 2 is a view from above of an end of the divan showing the divan and footboard separated; Figure 3 is a view of the end of the divan shown in Figure 2 in the direction shown by the arrow III; Figure 4 is a view of the footboard shown in Figure 2 in the direction shown by the arrow IV; Figure 5 is a sectional view along lines V-V of the left-hand corner of the bed as shown in Figure 3; Figure 6 is a sectional view along lines IV-IV of the left-hand side of the footboard as shown in Figure 4; and Figures 7 and 8 show alternative sections for the joint members.

A divan, 9, is shown in Figure 1. The divan comprises a body of generally parallelpiped shape which includes a first end face, 1 at its foot and a second end face, 2 at its head. A headboard, 5, is attached to the second end face, 12, by means of bolts which are screwed into headbolt holes, not shown, which are provided on end faces, 2, of the divan.

End face, 1, of the divan has been adapted to receive a footboard, 6. The footboard is attached to the divan structure by means of two joints. Each joint comprises a pair of strip-like members, 7, 8; 3, 3, each of which is right trapezoidal in section so that each member has a knife edge portion, 7A, 8A, 3A and 4A respectively. For each joint one of the members is attached to the headboard and the other to the end face of the divan. The members are so located that the respective knife edge faces engage to retain the headboard against the end face of the bed.

In more detail the member 8 is attached to the divan by means of a bolt, 33, which fits into a headbolt hole, 20, provided in the end, 1, of the divan. A countersink, 36, is provided in member, 8, so that the bolt head does not protrude from the surface of member, 8.

The bolt, 33, is held in the bolthole by means of a nut, 35, at the end of the bolthole, 20, in a wooden beam, 34, which is part of the framework of the divan.

The divan is provided with only two headbolt holes on each end so that only one hole, 20, is available to attach member, 8, to the divan. A second screw 21, shown in Figure 3 is screwed through the member, 8, into a suitable part of the framework of the divan to prevent the member from rotating about bolt, 33. The member, 8, is oriented substantially perpendicular to the base of the bed. Member, 3, is attached to the divan in a manner similar to that ;sr the member, 8.

Figure 6 shows the means of attachment of the member, 7 to the footboard 6. The member 7 is attached by a screw 31 to the inner surface of the footboard. A second screw, 36, similarly secures the lower portion of the member, 7, to the footboard. Neither screw, 31 or 36 pierces the outer surface, 6A, of the footboard, 6. The member, 4, is attached to the footboard in a similar manner.

In use the strip-like members 3, 4, 7 8 are fitted to the divan or footboard as described. The footboard, 6, is positioned above the end of the bed and lowered so that the knife edge surfaces of the members, 7 and 8, and of the members, 3 and 4, come into engagement by relative sliding movement as the footboard is lowered relative to the base of the divan. The footboard is lowered until it is supported by a floor, 100. The joint made up of members, 7 and 8, prevents sideways movement to the left of the divan as orientated in Figure 1, and the joint made up of members, 3 and 4, prevents sideways movement to the right of the divan as orientated in Figure 1. For correct operation each joint should be substantially a mirror image of the other about a central axis X-X of the divan so that each joint prevents opposite lateral movement.

Two advantages of the embodiment of the invention described when used for connecting the footboard to a divan are that the joint is simple to use and that there are no screwheads protruding from the outer surface, 6A, of the footboard. Footboards, tend to face the interior of a bedroom in contrast with headboards which generally are placed against a bedroom wall. If a footboard were merely bolted through onto a divan any boltheads would be easily visible and unsightly. Thus the invention provides a tidy method of joining a footboard to a divan.

If it is desired to lock the footboard onto the divan the strip like members, such as 3, and 8, can be offset slightly from the vertical so that members, 7 and 4, lock when forced into frictional engagement with them.

The connecting joint can be used to join two divans together form a double divan or used to join items of furniture together generally particularly where bolting the furniture together is inconvenient or unsightly.

The joint members need not be trapezoidal in section.

Possible alternative sections are a stepped section (Figure 7) and a curved section (Figure 8).

Claims (12)

1. A A method for connecting together items or parts of furniture using a pair of two-member joints comprising attaching to one item or part a first member of each of the two two-member joints, attaching to another item or part the second member of each joint, said members having inter-engageable relatively slidable, surfaces, and bringing the items or parts together so that the first and second members of each joint come into engagement by relative sliding movement of the inter-engageable surfaces.
2. 2. A method as claimed in Claim 1 wherein one item is a divan and the pother item is a footboard for the divan.

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3. 3.--A method as claimed in Claims 1 or Claim 2 wherein the members are -strip-like and right trapezodial in section.
4. 4. A method as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2 wherein the members are strip-like and stepped in section.
5. 5. A method as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2 wherein the members are strip-like and have curved - inter-engageable surfaces.
6. 6. A kit of parts for use in the method of Claim 1 comprising a pair -of two member joints, each joint -comprising two strip-like members having inter-engageable, complimentary shaped surfaces which can be brought into engagement by relative sliding movement, and means for attaching the strip-like members to items of furniture.
7. 7. A kit of parts as defined in Claim 6 including a footboard for attachment to a divan.
8. 8. A kit of parts as claimed in Claim 6 or Claim 7 wherein the strip-like members are right trapezodial in section.
9. 9. A kit of parts as claimed in any of Claims 6 to 8 wherein the means of attachment comprises belts or screws.
10. 10. A method for connecting together items or parts of furniture substantially as hereinbefore described and with reference to Figures 1 to 8.
11. 11. A kit of parts for use for connecting together items or parts of furniture substantially as hereinbefore described and with reference to Figures 1 to 8.
12. 12. An article when constructed by a method as claimed in any of claims 1 to 5 or claim 10.