An angle-adjustable supporting device
The present invention relates to an angle- adjustable supporting device comprising a first and a second support element which, within a given angle interval, are adapted to be arranged in an angle in relation to each other, which supporting device further comprises engagement parts for retaining the support elements, and a separate element which in mounted position serves to cover the joint between the support elements.
Such supporting devices are known in many different designs, among other from US 3,734,439, EP 0194513 and DK 152885, and can be used in several various ways, among other within the building and furniture industries. In its most simple form, the supporting device comprises an engagement portion on each support element, e.g. in the form of mutually engaging toothed rims which after turning of the support elements in relation to each other are brought into engagement in the wanted position, and which are locked in this position by means of e.g. a screw connection.
In many cases, however, it is a wish that the joint appears as aesthetically attractive as possible, and it is therefore often attempted to design the appearance of the joint in an acceptable manner just as the joint between the support elements is often attempted to be hidden by a cover element . There is a known example of a supporting device of the initially stated kind which is used in connection with roof terraces, comprising a number of units positioned next to each other and consisting of an essentially vertical bottom part and a top part which extends in the plane of the roof surface, i.e.
which forms an angle with the bottom part. Instead of using an existing rafter and a partition wall connected to the rafter and extending vertically, such a supporting device can be used between adjacent units, in which supporting device a separate cover element serves to cover the joint between the support elements .
Even though this provides a satisfactory appearance of the joint and thus the supporting device, this arrangement has for structural reasons the limitation that the angle area is limited and that the two support elements are not suitable for assembly on the installation site, but are delivered assembled. This entails that the supporting device is delivered in relatively long packaging which again causes increased storage and transport costs.
Therefore, the object of the invention is to provide a supporting device of the initially stated kind which is easy to assemble, which can be used within a large angle area and which has a satisfactory aesthetically attractive appearance.
This object is achieved in that the supporting device according to the invention is characterized in that said separate element is designed as an assembly member, and in that said engagement parts are provided in this assembly member.
Thus, the supporting device can in a simple manner be assembled on the very utilization site which reduces the expenses of storage and transportation, just as the desired pleasant appearance is obtained. As the separate cover element in the previously known structures is replaced by the assembly member according to the invention with the double function of providing the mutual retaining itself in the desired angle position and at the same time of covering the
joint, there are no visible screws or alike either, and besides being aesthetically satisfactory, this makes it more difficult to disassemble the joint unintentionally, just as the structure is more easy to keep clean.
In a preferred embodiment, the assembly member is in two parts, which makes the joint more simple, as the support elements can be placed and e.g. temporarily retained in the desired mutual angle position in relation to one assembly member part, whereupon the second part of the assembly member is brought into engagement with the second part and the support elements.
The two parts can be either alike which provides a symmetrical joint, or different which permits to use the supporting device in connection with e.g. table structures .
In an appropriate further development of these embodiments, each assembly member part comprises two abutment surfaces for the associated support element which simplifies the assembling additionally. Moreover, one of these abutment surfaces can be designed such that it constitutes the ends of the angle interval which permits in a simple manner to control the allowable angle area between the support elements .
In a structurally simple embodiment, said engagement parts comprise a pin placed centrally in said assembly member, each support element having a hole for pivotal reception of said pin.
If the assembly member is in two parts, the two assembly member parts can preferably be kept together by at least one mortise joint in the mounted position of the supporting device.
In a further embodiment, each support element comprises a portion with a reduced width in relation to the remaining portion of the support element, which permits to reduce the width of the assembly member itself and thus the entire joint.
In the following, the invention will be explained in more detail with reference to the schematic drawing, in which
Fig. 1 shows a plane view of an embodiment of an angle-adjustable supporting device according to the invention, and
Fig. 2 is a side view of a detail of the angle- adjustable supporting device according to the invention. The angle-adjustable supporting device shown in Fig. 1 comprises a first support element 1 and a second support element 2 together with an assembly member in two parts 3, of which one part 3 is shown in the drawing. In addition, Fig. 1 shows a first and a second rafter element 4 and 5, the structure and function of which will be explained later.
Each support element 1, 2 is designed as an essentially rectangular sheet and can be made of e.g. plywood. Near the ends of the support elements 1, 2, which ends face each other in the mounted position, a projecting flange portion 6, 7 is arranged and is provided with a hole 8, 9. The flange portions 6, 7 are in the shown embodiment designed in a portion la, 2a of each support element 1, 2 which has reduced width in relation to the remaining portion of the support elements.
The assembly member comprises two parts the structure of which will be described with reference to the part 3 shown in the drawing.
The support elements 1, 2 are meant to be connected with the assembly member by placing the flange portions 6, 7 in an overlapping manner on one part 3 of the assembly member by means of a pin 15 which is led into the holes 8, 9 in the respective flange portions 6, 7 whereupon the second part of the assembly member is coupled to the first part as it will be explained in more detail in the following.
The assembly member part 3 is in the shown embodiment designed as a relatively short cylinder with stepped end surface shown most clearly in Fig. 2 and comprising a top portion 10 with an edge face
11 which forms a passage to an intermediate portion
12 and which in the mounted position of the supporting device forms an abutment surface for the edge face of the flange portion 6 of the first support element 1, the intermediate portion 12 constituting the abutment surface for the side of the flange 6 not shown in Fig. 1. The edge face 11 has preferably a height which essentially corresponds to the width of the support element portion la with reduced width. The first support element 1 is placed on the assembly member part 3 in that its pin 15 is led into the hole 8 in the flange portion 6 and the edge face of the flange portion 6 is brought into abutment on the edge face 11, the portion of the support element 1 adjacent to the flange portion 6 being placed against the end 10a of the top portion 10, and the support element 1 is then fixed in relation to the part 3 by means of glue, clamps, nails or in any other suitable manner.
The second support element 2 is then arranged such that the pin 15 can be led in through the hole 9 in the flange portion 7 such that the support
element portions la, 2a with reduced width overlap each other partially. Finally, the second not-shown assembly member part is coupled to the part 3 in the way that the pin 15 is led into a corresponding hole in the second part, and the two parts are then connected with each other in an appropriate manner, e.g. by means of dowels placed in holes in the second part corresponding to the holes 16 and which fit into these holes with a relatively tight fitting, and the surfaces are connected by glue. The desired continuously variable angle adjustment of the two support elements in relation to each other is thus obtained.
Thus, an angle-adjustable supporting device is provided, the second support element 2 being movable in an angle area which is limited by the ends 10a and 10b of the top portion 10 of the assembly members, i.e. corresponding to that the support element 2 in the shown embodiment can be displaced between a position where it is essentially parallel to the first support element 1, and a position where it forms an essentially right angle with the second element.
Furthermore, means (not-shown) can be provided for temporary retaining of the desired angle position. Even though the side of the second not shown part facing the first part 3 is designed in essentially the same way as described above in connection with the corresponding side of the shown part 3, the height of the two parts can be mutually alike or different, just as other aspects of the design may vary. It is of course also possible to design the support elements in another way than the ones described above, just as the mounting succession can be modified.
The supporting device according to the invention can be used in many different ways where it is desired
to provide an aesthetically attractive joint between two elements which are to be arranged in angles in relation to each other, e.g. within the production of furniture . In the following, an example will be described in which the supporting device according to the invention is used in connection with the building-in of roof terraces. Between two adjacent units comprising a vertical part and a sloping part, a supporting device according to the invention is used where the support elements 1, 2 are arranged in grooves not shown in detail in the rafter elements 4, 5 and connected thereto in the way that pins or dowels 17, 18 on the support elements 1, 2 are brought into engagement with holes 19, 20 in the grooves in the rafter elements 4, 5. Each rafter element 4, 5 is at the end which in the mounted position faces the assembly member provided with a curve 4a, 5a corresponding to the outside of the assembly member, the groove formed by the surfaces 13, 14 in the assembly member part 3 facilitating the mutual rotation of the support elements and rafter elements in order to adjust the desired angle.