GB2267030A

GB2267030A - Support for adjusting the height of furniture

Info

Publication number: GB2267030A
Application number: GB9309808A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Hans-Jurgen Neuhaus
Original assignee: Franke & Co KG GmbH
Current assignee: Franke & Co KG GmbH
Priority date: 1992-05-21
Filing date: 1993-05-12
Publication date: 1993-11-24
Anticipated expiration: 2013-05-12
Also published as: GB2267030B; FR2691343B1; DE9206901U1; GB9309808D0; FR2691343A1

Abstract

A furniture support (1) which is adjustable in length to give height adjustment for the furniture comprises two tubular members (2 and 14) which can be arrested relative to each other in various positions of overall length adjustment. Various positions of adjustment are set by abutment means provided on the two members (2 and 14). The abutment means on the two members (2 and 14) are each provided with horizontally extending guide surfaces (6, 18, Figs. 2, 7) which have a vertically extending abutment surface (9, 21, Figs. 2, 7) at one end and at the other end make a transition into an angled run-up surface (7, 19, Figs. 2, 7). Spring-loaded retaining means (16; Fig. 6, 7) are provided to arrest the two members (2 and 14) when the abutment surfaces are engaged with one another. This makes it possible for the user to know, by way of a clearly visible retaining effect, when a desired position of adjustment has been reached. The retaining means prevents any accidental releasing of the furniture support, such as when an article of furniture provided with the support is being shifted. <IMAGE>

Description

SUPPORT FOR ADJUSTING THE HEIGHT OF FURNITURE The invention relates to a support for adjusting the height of furniture.

Such a support may comprise two members, which can be telescopically engaged one within the other, and which by relative rotation, can be arrested in various selectable positions by abutment means provided on the two members.

Furniture supports of this kind have been previously proposed and used to satisfy various applications, i.e. they are to be capable of spanning gaps of various heights as required, between the floor and the underside of an article of furniture.

As far as the height-adjustment feature is concerned, the previously proposed furniture supports are somewhat unsatisfactory since the desired adjustment must be set tactilely and there is therefore a risk of incorrect adjustment.

According to the invention there is provided a support for adjusting the height of furniture, comprising two members which can be telescopically engaged one within the other, and which, by relative rotation, can be arrested in various selectable positions by cooperation of abutment means provided on the two members, in which, with the support in an upright, position of use, orientation, the abutment means on each of the members have horizontally extending guide surfaces each of which has a vertically extending abutment surface at one end, and at the other end makes a transition into an angled run-up surface, and retaining means are provided to arrest the members when the abutment surfaces are disposed upon one another.

Such a furniture support can be cost-effective to manufacture, can take heavy loads, can be pre-assembled, can be easily adjusted in respect of its height, and after being adjusted to a desired end position, can give the user the certainty that the adjustment has been correctly made.

Advantageous embodiments of furniture support according to the invention are set out in the sub-claims appended hereto.

The advantages which can be gained by way of the invention are, in particular, that handling of the furniture support is simplified in terms of height adjustment, and that the user can see by the clearly visible retaining effect that the desired end position has been reached. In addition, the retainment in the end position prevents accidental release of the furniture support, such as when the article of furniture is being moved.

The invention is diagrammatically illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 shows a furniture support, according to the invention comprising an outer member with an inner member inserted therein and a contact base screwed therein; Figure 2 shows the outer member in section on line II-II in Figure 4; Figure 3 shows the outer member in section on line Ill-Ill in Figure 4; Figure 4 is a plan view of the outer member, as viewed in the direction of arrow A in Figure 2; Figure 5 is a view, on a larger scale, of abutment means on the inner member, shown as a projection; Figure 6 is a front view of the inner member, as viewed in the direction of arrow C in Figure 8; Figure 7 is a side view of the inner member, as viewed in the direction of arrow D in Figure 8;; Figure 8 is a plan view of the inner member, as viewed in the direction of arrow B in Figure 6; Figure 9 is an illustration of the abutment means of the inner member, on the side of the periphery, shown as a projection; and Figure 10 is a section of the inner member, taken on line X-X in Figure 8.

As shown in Figure 1, a furniture support 1 comprises a tubular outer member 2 which is fixed, in a known manner which is not described in greater detail, at the lower end of an article of furniture (not shown).

An inner member 14 which is also tubular is inserted into the outer member 2, and is locked therein in a way which will be described hereinafter. Screwed into an inner thread 15 in the bottom end 3 of the inner member 14 is a contact base 4.

The outer member 2 is in the form of a sleeve which has on its outside a flange 5 and on the inside two mutually oppositely disposed abutment means 6 in the region of its bottom face 12.

Each abutment means 6 has a run-up surface 7 which is oriented at an angle relative to the bottom face 12 of the outer member 2 and which, considering the furniture support in an upright, fitted orientation, makes a transition into a horizontally extending guide surface 8. The guide surface 8 ends at a vertically extending abutment surface 9 which makes a transition into another horizontally extending guide surface 10. (Figures 2, 5) A lower guide surface 11 is disposed in the plane of the bottom face 12 of the outer member 2.

Displaced through about 90" to the abutment means 6, inside the outer member 2, are two vertically extending grooves 13.

The inner member 14 is likewise in the form of a tubular sleeve which has the inner thread 15 at its bottom end 3 for the contact base 4 (Figure 10) and which has two mutually oppositely disposed spring-loaded hooks 16 at its top end which are formed by two U-shaped slits 17 in the outer wall of the inner member 14. (Figures 6, 10) At positions displaced through about 90" relative to the spring-loaded hooks 16, the inner member 14 has on its outer wall a plurality of mutually oppositely disposed abutment means 18 which correspond in contour to the abutment means 6, but which are provided in a rotated arrangement, i.e. a run-up surface 19 is oriented at an angle to the upper edge of the inner member 14 and makes a transition into a downwardly oriented, in relation to the upright furniture support, horizontally extending guide surface 20, which, in turn, ends in a vertically extending abutment surface 21 which then makes a transition into a horizontally extending guide surface 22.Attached to the other end of the run-up surface 19 is another horizontally extending guide surface 23. (Figure 7) Spacings H between the guide surfaces 22, 23 of each abutment means 18 and the spacings which form a gap 24 between the guide surfaces 22, 23 of two adjacent abutment means 18 are selected so that they are approximately integral, i.e. so that in a way yet to be outlined the abutment means 6 of the outer member 2 are accommodated in one of the gaps 24 of the inner member 14. (Figure 1) The outer member 2 and the inner member 14 are assembled in such a way that the inner member 14 is inserted telescopically into the outer member 2.This is only possible when the members 2, 14, are in one particular configuration, to be more exact when the abutment means 6, 18 are disposed not on an axial line but are displaced through about 900 to each other, i.e. so that the abutment means 6, 18 do not cause a hindrance during the coupling operation.

The inner member 14 can be pushed into the outer member 2 to varying depths, depending on whether a large or a small spacing is to be spanned between the floor and the furniture support. When they are in the desired position, they are locked by the inner member 14 being twisted clockwise relative to the outer member 2 through about 90". If the members 2, 14 are not quite in a correct aligned position relative to one another, the run-up surfaces 7, 19 which are disposed in an approximately parallel arrangement to one another cause any necessary small axial displacement by way of a sliding movement - comparable with sliding on an inclined plane - until the abutment means 6 of the outer member 2 come to lie between one of the abutment means 19 of the inner member 14, i.e. in a gap 24. (see Figure 1) After being rotated through about 90 , the spring-loaded hooks 16 of the inner member 14 engage in the grooves 13 of the outer member 2, and arrest the inner member 14 and the outer member 2 and thereby ensure that the two members 2, 14 will not be released accidentally, e.g. when the article of furniture is being lifted and moved. Any fine adjustment still needed can be made by rotating the contact base 4 in or out of the internal thread 15 of the inner member 14.

To release it, possibly for the purpose of adjusting and altering the longitudinal extent of the furniture support 1, the inner member 14 is rotated anti-clockwise in the outer member 2. After a certain amount of force has been applied, a bevelled lug of the spring-loaded hook 16 (Figure 10) springs out of the groove 13, and thus releases the arrested condition of the two members 2, 14. If it is rotated further, the abutment means 6, 18 are also disengaged and the members 2, 14 can once again be moved with respect to one another telescopically - for the purpose of increasing or reducing length - before being arrested again in a new position required by its being rotated.

The spring-loaded hooks 16 also prevent the members 2, 14 from being accidentally pulled apart or separated, for when the members 2, 14 are connected together, the spring-loaded hooks 16 have to surmount the abutment means 6 on the outer member 2, i.e. even when the members 2, 14 are being separated a certain amount of force needs to be applied to bring the spring-loaded hooks 16 over these abutment means 6.

The members 2, 14 can therefore be brought into the coupled condition i.e. into the pre-assembled condition, by way of this means for guarding against separation, without there being a risk of the members 2, 14 coming apart during transportation.

Claims

1. A support for adjusting the height of furniture, comprising two members which can be telescopically engaged one within the other, and which, by relative rotation, can be arrested in various selectable positions by cooperation of abutment means provided on the two members, in which, with the support in an upright, position of use, orientation, the abutment means on each of the members have horizontally extending guide surfaces each of which has a vertically extending abutment surface at one end, and at the other end makes a transition into an angled run-up surface, and retaining means are provided to arrest the members when the abutment surfaces are disposed upon one another.

2. A support for adjusting the height of furniture according to claim 1, in which the retaining means comprise a spring-loaded hook on one of the members and a vertically extending groove in the other of the members.

3. A support for adjusting the height of furniture according to claim 2, in which the spring-loaded hook is provided on an inner one of the members and the groove is provided on an outer one of the members.

4. A support for adjusting the height of furniture according to claim 2 or claim 3, in which the spring-loaded hook is formed from wall regions of the inner one of the members.

5. A support for adjusting the height of furniture according to any one of claims 2 to 4, in which the groove is provided in the inner wall of the outer one of the members.

6. A support for adjusting the height of furniture according to any one of claims 1 to 5, in which the run-up surfaces extend parallel to each other when the members are in the assembled condition.

7. A support for adjusting the height of furniture according to any one of claims 1 to 6, in which the abutment means of the outer one of the members are provided on the inner wall in the region of a lower end face thereof.

8. A support for adjusting the height of furniture according to any one of claims 1 to 7, in which the abutment means of the inner one of the members are provided on the outer wall thereof.

9. A support for adjusting the height of furniture substantially as hereinbefore described and illustrated with reference to the accompanying drawings.