GB2216787A

GB2216787A - Furniture

Info

Publication number: GB2216787A
Application number: GB8808241A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Margarita Mendoza-Blanco
Original assignee: MENDOZA BLANCO MARGARITA
Current assignee: MENDOZA BLANCO MARGARITA
Priority date: 1988-04-08
Filing date: 1988-04-08
Publication date: 1989-10-18
Also published as: GB8808241D0

Abstract

An article of furniture is made from blanks of multi-ply corrugated sheet material some at least of which are slotted to enable the sheets to be slotted together. The sheets are planar and are not bent or folded. The sheets may be faced with material or coloured in some suitable way. If desired, the sheets may be glued together but, alternatively, fasteners may be used. The fasteners may be such that they are removable to permit the article to be taken apart.

Description

FURNITURE The present invention relates to items of furniture.

Although conventional household furniture is required to be comparatively durable, there are circumstances in which furniture that is less durable and substantially cheaper could be very desirable. For example, a less durable but comparatively cheap product could be suitable for use in a situation in which it will not receive much use or will be required only for a limited period of time.

It is, accordingly, an object of the present invention to enable furniture of adequate durability to be produced comparatively cheaply The present invention provides an assembly of parts for constructing an item of furniture, the parts comprising blanks of multi-ply corrugated sheet material.

Advantageously, some at least of the parts are formed with slots enabling parts to be slotted together. Preferably, the blanks resist bending and folding.

In embodiments of the invention described herein, the outer faces of the sheet material are not corrugated.

This is not essential, however, and at least one of the outer faces may be corrugated if desired. To improve the visual appearance of the assembled furniture, some at least of the outer faces of the blanks may be coloured or covered with paint, cloth, paper or a plastics material. Some at least of the edges of the blanks may also be covered, for example with paper or a plastics material.

The multi-ply corrugated sheet material from which the blanks are formed may comprise alternate layers of corrugated and non-corrugated sheet material.

The corrugations of the various layers may all lie in the same direction.

The sheet material may, for example, be cardboard or a plastics sheet material.

Various items of furniture, for example chairs, tables, a child's crib and a shelf assembly can be constructed, at least in part, from an assembly in accordance with the invention. Such an item of furniture may include a base which is constructed from blanks of multi-ply corrugated sheet material, the blanks being slotted together.

By way of example, items of furniture constructed in accordance with the invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a side view showing the construction of the multi-ply corrugated sheet material from which the items of furniture are manufactured; Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a child's crib; Fig. 3 a, b and c shows the blanks from which the crib of Fig. 2 is assembled; Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a chair; Fig. 5 shows the base of the chair of Fig. 4; Fig. 6 a, b, c and d shows the blanks from which the chair of Fig. 4 is assembled; Fig. 7 is a perspective view of a table; Fig. 8 shows the base of the table of Fig. 7, in partly-assembled condition; Fig. 9 a, b and c shows the blanks from which the table of Fig. 7 is formed; Fig. 10 is a perspective view of a shelving unit;; Fig. 11 is a view, partly in cross-section, of part of the unit of Fig. 10 and Fig. 12 a, b and c shows the components from which the shelving unit is formed.

The multi-ply corrugated sheet material shown in Fig. 1 comprises four layers 1 of corrugated sheet material between which are three sheets 2 of non-corrugated sheet material. The corrugations in the layers 1 are aligned. The assembled layers 1,2 are faced on each side with a further layer 3 of non-corrugated sheet material and, typically, the multi-ply material comprising the layers 1 to 3 has a thickness of about 1.5 cm. The material from which the layers 1 to 3 are formed may be cardboard or a plastics sheet material.

The material shown in Fig. 1 resists being bent and being folded, and has sufficient strength to enable it to be used to construct items of furniture as described below.

Fig. 2 shows a child's crib which is constructed from the multi-ply corrugated material shown in Fig. 1.

The crib has a base 4, two sides 5 and two ends 6 which include rockers 7. Each of these parts 4, 5 and 6 is an unfolded blank, stamped out from a sheet of the corrugated material: the base 4 is shown in Fig. 3 a; one of the sides 5 is shown in Fig. 3 b, and one of the ends 6 is shown in Fig. 3 c. The crib is assembled by gluing, or-otherwise securing, the unfolded blanks together, it being noted that the ends 6 of the crib are provided with recesses 8 in which the ends of the sides 5 are located.

Fig. 4 shows a chair which is also constructed from the multi-ply corrugated material shown in Fig.

1. The chair comprises a base 9, shown in Fig. 5, a seat 10 and a back 11. The base 9 in turn comprises two side panels 12 and a transverse panel 13. Each of the parts 10 to 13 is an unfolded blank stamped out of a sheet of the multi-ply corrugated material. The seat 10 is shown in Fig. 6a; the back 11 is shown in Fig. 6b; one of the side panels 12 is shown in Fig. 6c and the transverse panel 13 is shown in Fig. 6d.

The base 9 of the chair is assembled by slottingtogether-the two side panels 12 and the transverse panel 13, the latter being provided for this purpose with two slots 14 each of which co-operates with a slot 15 in a respective one of the side panels 12. When the base 9 has been assembled, the seat 10 and back 11 of the chair are secured in position, for example by an adhesive.

Fig. 7 shows a table constructed from the multiply corrugated material shown in Fig. 1. The table comprises a rectangular top 16 and a base 17 (shown in Fig. 8) which, in turn, comprises a central panel 18 and two transverse panels 19. Each of the parts 16 to 19 is an unfolded blank stamped out of a sheet of the multi-ply corrugated material of Fig. 1: the rectangular top 16 is shown in Fig. 9a; the central panel 18 of the base is shown in Fig. 9b, and one of the transverse panels 19 is shown in Fig. 9c.

As with the chair of Fig. 4, the base 17 is assembled by slotting-together the panels 18, 19, the central panel 18 being provided for this purpose with two slots 20 each of which co-operates with a slot 21 in a respective one of the transverse panels 19.

Fig. 8 shows one of the transverse panels 19 being slotted into position and, when the base 17 has been assembled, the rectangular top 16 is secured in position, for example, by an adhesive.

Fig. 10 shows a shelving unti constructed partly from unfolded blanks of the multi-ply corrugated material shown in Fig. 1 and partly from other components. The corrugated material of Fig. 1 is used for the shelves 22 of the unit, which are mounted one above the other using cylindrical supports 23. The unit shown in Fig. 10 comprises three shelves 22 and, between each pair of shelves, three cylindrical supports 23 at each end of the unit.

Each shelf 22 is a rectangular blank (see Fig.

12a) of the multi-ply corrugated material of Fig. 1.

Each of the cylindrical supports 23 is a tube (see Fig.

12b) which is positioned at each end on a disc 24 (see Fig. 12c) secured to the adjacent shelf. The tubes 23 and discs 24 may be formed from a plain (noncorrugated) sheet material, for example cardboard or a plastics sheet material. The positions of the discs 24 are indicated in dotted lines on Fig. 12a while Fig.

11 shows one of the supports 23 located on its respective discs 24 between two of the shelves 22. The supports 23 can be secured to the shelves 22 in any suitable way, for example by an adhesive.

The multi-ply corrugated material used in the items of furniture shown in Figs. 2, 4, 7 and 10 can be coloured or covered in a suitable material, for example paint, cloth, paper or plastics, to improve the finished appearance of the furniture. The raw edges of the blanks can also be covered, for example by paper or a plastics material. Moreover, although the multi-ply material of Fig. 1 is shown as having plain (non-corrugated) outer faces 3, this is not essential and, to provide an item of furniture with an alternative visual appearance, one or both of the outer faces of the multi-ply material can be corrugated.

It will be understood that the blanks from which the items of furniture are assembled can be secured together in any suitable way, for example by stapling.

Slotting the blanks together as described above is, however, particularly convenient because no additional tools or materials are then required for assembly purposes.

The possibility also exists, when the blanks are slotted together, of subsequently dismantling the furniture.

Multi-ply corrugated material as shown in Fig.

1, particularly multi-ply corrugated cardboard, is a widely available and comparatively cheap material but, nevertheless, has sufficient strength for use in the construction of items of furniture. It is also light and is, therefore, easy to handle and to transport.

The blanks are simply stamped out of sheets of the multiply material and require no subsequent scoring for bending or folding. Packs of blanks occupy comparatively little room and are convenient to store but can readily be assembled when required.

It will be appreciated that, by varying the shapes of the blanks, items of furniture of other shapes can be produced.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. An assembly of parts for constructing an item of furniture, the parts comprising blanks of multi-ply corrugated sheet material.

2. An assembly as claimed in claim 1, in which some at least of the parts are formed with slots enabling parts to be slotted together.

3. An assembly as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, in which the blanks resist bending and folding.

4. An assembly as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3, in which the outer faces of the sheet material are not corrugated.

5. An assembly as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3, in which at least one outer face of the sheet material is corrugated.

6. An assembly as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which the sheet material is cardboard.

7. An assembly as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5, in which the sheet material is a plastics material.

8. An assembly as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 7, in which some at least of the outer faces of the blanks are coloured or covered with paint, cloth, paper or a plastics material.

9. An assembly as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 8, in which some at least of the edges of the blanks are covered with paper or a plastics material.

10. An item of furniture constructed, at least in part, from an assembly as claimed in any one of the preceding claims.

11. An item of furniture as claimed in claim 10, in which some, at least, of the blanks are slotted together.

12. An item of furniture as claimed in claim 10 or claim 11, in which the blanks are not bent or folded.

13. An item of furniture as claimed in any one of claims 10 to 12, including a base which is constructed from blanks of multi-ply corrugated sheet material, which blanks are slotted together.

14. A table in accordance with any one of claims 10 to 13, in which the table top comprises a blank of multi-ply corrugated sheet material.

15. A chair in accordance with any one of claims 10 to 13, in which the seat and back of the chair each comprise a respective blank of multi-ply corrugated sheet material.

16. A crib in accordance with any one of claims 10 to 12, comprising a base, two sides and two ends, each of which comprises a respective blank of multi-ply corrugated sheet material.

17. A shelf assembly in accordance with any one of claims 10 to 12, in which the or each shelf comprises a respective blank of multi-ply corrugated sheet material.

18. A shelf assembly as claimed in claim 17, which also comprises shelf supports formed from sheet material.

19. A shelf assembly as claimed in claim 17 or claim 18, in which the shelf supports are formed from a cardboard material.

20. An assembly of parts substantially as described herein with reference to, and as illustrated by, Fig. 3a to c or Fig. 6a to d or Fig. 9a to c or Fig.

12a to c of the accompanying drawings.

21. An item of furniture substantially as described herein with reference to, and as shown in, Fig. 2 or Fig. 4 or Fig. 7 or Fig. 10 of the accompanying drawings.