Arrangement for guiding at least one movable furniture part

Abstract

An arrangement for guiding at least one movable furniture part includes a guide rail to be mounted on the fixed furniture part, a guide device to be coupled to the movable furniture part, and a preferably substantially cylindrical, load-transmitting rolling body. The guide rail has a guide track, on which the load-transmitting rolling body is mounted in a movable manner. The guide track has a parking position for the load-transmitting rolling body, and the parking position corresponds to an end position of the movable furniture part relative to the fixed furniture part. The load-transmitting rolling body and the guide track are designed such that the guide track can be deformed in this region, a depression being formed in the process, and the load-transmitting rolling body is substantially dimensionally stable.

Claims

1. An arrangement comprising: a stationary furniture part, a movable furniture part movable relative to the stationary furniture part, a guide rail to be mounted to the stationary furniture part, and a guide device to be coupled to the moveable furniture part, the guide device having a load-transmitting rolling body, wherein the guide rail has a track on which the load-transmitting rolling body is moveably mounted, the track having a parking position for the load-transmitting rolling body, and the parking position corresponds to an end position of the moveable furniture part relative to the stationary furniture part, wherein the track of the guide rail has a plastic contact portion and a support structure supporting the plastic contact portion and non-integrated with the plastic contact portion, wherein the load-transmitting rolling body and the track at least in a region of the parking position are configured such that the plastic contact portion of the track is deformable to form a depression and the load-transmitting rolling body is substantially stable in shape, wherein a hardness of the load-transmitting rolling body is greater than a hardness of the plastic contact portion of the track at least in the region of the parking position.

2. The arrangement as set forth in claim 1, wherein the contact portion is replaceable and/or has a thickness of 1 mm to 8 mm.

3. The arrangement as set forth in claim 1, further comprising a securing element configured to fix the contact portion to the guide rail.

4. The arrangement as set forth in claim 3, wherein the securing element is configured to at least one of: (i) be substantially U-shaped and/or have a spring element and/or a friction element for increasing the friction at a contact contour formed as a groove of the guide rail, (ii) have an actuating element by which the securing element and the contact portion connected thereto are moveable, and (iii) be releasably fixed to the contact portion by a latching device having a latching recess and a latching projection.

5. The arrangement as set forth in claim 1, wherein the load-transmitting rolling body has at least a portion formed from steel.

6. The arrangement as set forth in claim 1, wherein the track is substantially irreversibly deformable thereby forming the depression at the parking position of the load-transmitting rolling body, and/or wherein the load-transmitting rolling body is moveable with the application of a force out of the depression formed in the region of the parking position in the track.

7. The arrangement as set forth in claim 1, wherein the track has at least two different material portions, wherein a first material portion is arranged in the region of the parking position and a second material portion is arranged in a dynamic region adjoining the region of the parking position.

8. The arrangement as set forth in claim 1, wherein at least a portion of the track has a concave configuration in cross-section, and/or wherein the load-transmitting rolling body has a peripheral surface having at least a portion with a convex configuration in cross-section.

9. The arrangement as set forth in claim 1, further comprising a carrier on which the moveable furniture part is to be pivotably mounted, and to be coupled to the guide device.

10. The arrangement as set forth in claim 1, further comprising a transverse rail to be arranged transversely to the guide rail and a carriage to be coupled to the moveable furniture part and to be mounted displaceably on the transverse rail.

11. The arrangement as set forth in claim 1, wherein the moveable furniture part is a furniture door, and the stationary furniture part has an internal space and a side compartment having a shaft shape, wherein the guide rail and the guide device are configured and arranged to guide the furniture door relative to the stationary furniture part between a closed position outwardly covering the internal space and an open position at least partially sunk in the side compartment and in which the internal space is freely accessible to a user.

12. The arrangement as set forth in claim 11, wherein the guide rail extends at least partially in a depth direction of the side compartment, and the parking position of the load-transmitting rolling body corresponds to an end position of the furniture door of being substantially completely arranged in the side compartment.

13. The arrangement as set forth in claim 12, wherein the stationary furniture part has a side surface which at least partially delimits the side compartment and at which the guide rail is at least partially arranged.

14. The arrangement as set forth in claim 12, wherein the parking position is a first parking position, the track having a second parking position for a second load-transmitting rolling body to be parked at a position of the furniture door, wherein the furniture door is arranged substantially parallel to and substantially completely outside the side compartment of the stationary furniture part.

15. The arrangement as set forth in claim 1, wherein the load-transmitting rolling body is cylindrical.

16. The arrangement as set forth in claim 1, wherein the support structure is a steel support structure, and the plastic contact portion is formed of polyoxymethylene.

17. An arrangement comprising: a stationary furniture part, a movable furniture part movable relative to the stationary furniture part, a guide rail to be mounted to the stationary furniture part, and a guide device to be coupled to the moveable furniture part, the guide device having a load-transmitting rolling body, wherein the guide rail has a track on which the load-transmitting rolling body is moveably mounted, the track having a parking position for the load-transmitting rolling body, and the parking position corresponds to an end position of the moveable furniture part relative to the stationary furniture part, wherein the track of the guide rail has a plastic contact portion and a support structure supporting the plastic contact portion and non-integrated with the plastic contact portion, wherein the load-transmitting rolling body and the track at least in a region of the parking position are configured such that the plastic contact portion of the track is deformable to form a depression and the load-transmitting rolling body is substantially stable in shape, and wherein the depression is concave within the region of the parking position of the track.

18. An arrangement comprising: a stationary furniture part, a movable furniture part movable relative to the stationary furniture part, a guide rail to be mounted to the stationary furniture part, and a guide device to be coupled to the moveable furniture part, the guide device having a load-transmitting rolling body, wherein the guide rail has a track on which the load-transmitting rolling body is moveably mounted, the track having a parking position for the load-transmitting rolling body, and the parking position corresponds to an end position of the moveable furniture part relative to the stationary furniture part, wherein the track of the guide rail has a plastic contact portion and a support structure supporting the plastic contact portion and non-integrated with the plastic contact portion, wherein the load-transmitting rolling body and the track at least in a region of the parking position are configured such that the plastic contact portion of the track is deformable to form a depression and the load-transmitting rolling body is substantially stable in shape, and wherein the depression is formed by the load-transmitting rolling body in the region of the parking position such that the depression has a shape corresponding to a shape of the load-transmitting rolling body.

19. An arrangement comprising: a stationary furniture part, a movable furniture part movable relative to the stationary furniture part, a guide rail to be mounted to the stationary furniture part, and a guide device to be coupled to the moveable furniture part, the guide device having a load-transmitting rolling body, wherein the guide rail has a track on which the load-transmitting rolling body is moveably mounted, the track having a parking position for the load-transmitting rolling body, and the parking position corresponds to an end position of the moveable furniture part relative to the stationary furniture part, wherein the load-transmitting rolling body and the track at least in a region of the parking position are configured such that the track is deformable to form a depression and the load-transmitting rolling body is substantially stable in shape, wherein a hardness of the load-transmitting rolling body is greater than a hardness of the track at least in the region of the parking position, wherein the arrangement further comprises a securing element configured to fix the contact portion to the guide rail, the securing element configured to at least one of: (i) be substantially U-shaped and/or have a spring element and/or a friction element for increasing the friction at a contact contour formed as a groove of the guide rail, (ii) have an actuating element by which the securing element and the contact portion connected thereto are moveable, and (iii) be releasably fixed to the contact portion by a latching device having a latching recess and a latching projection.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) Further details and advantages of the invention will be described more fully hereinafter in the specific description with reference to the drawings in which:

(2) FIG. 1 shows a combination of a rolling body and a track according to the state of the art,

(3) FIGS. 2a, 2b show a preferred embodiment of an arrangement according to the invention in a diagrammatically illustrated perspective view (FIG. 2a) and a diagrammatically illustrated side view (FIG. 2b),

(4) FIGS. 3a, 3b show two preferred embodiments of a combination of a rolling body on a track each in diagrammatically illustrated side views,

(5) FIG. 4 shows a further preferred embodiment of a combination of a rolling body and a track in a diagrammatically illustrated cross-sectional view,

(6) FIGS. 5a-5d show a preferred embodiment of an article of furniture with two folding-sliding doors each in a diagrammatically illustrated perspective view, wherein the folding-sliding doors in FIG. 5a are arranged in a closed position, in FIG. 5b one of the folding-sliding doors is arranged in a folded-open position, the folding-sliding doors in FIG. 5c are arranged in an open position outside the side compartments of the article of furniture and the folding-sliding doors in FIG. 5d are arranged in an open position within the side compartments of the article of furniture,

(7) FIG. 6 shows a further preferred embodiment of an article of furniture with a furniture door in a diagrammatically illustrated side view, wherein the furniture door is arranged in an open position outside (solid lines) and within (broken lines) a side compartment of the article of furniture, and

(8) FIGS. 7a, 7b show two relevant portions of a further preferred embodiment in which there is provided a contact portion which is fixed to the guide rail by way of a securing element, in the installed state (FIG. 7a) and in an exploded view (FIG. 7b).

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(9) FIG. 1 shows the state of the art and has already been described in the introductory part of the present description.

(10) FIGS. 2a, 2b show a preferred embodiment of an arrangement 1 for guiding at least one moveable furniture part, in particular at least one furniture door or at least one drawer, relative to a stationary furniture part, including a guide rail 4 which is to be mounted in particular to the stationary furniture part and at least one guide device 5 which can be coupled in particular to the at least one moveable furniture part and which has a substantially cylindrical load-transmitting rolling body 6. The guide rail 4 has a track 7 on which the load-transmitting rolling body 6 is moveably mounted, and the track 7 has at least one parking position 8, 9 (see FIGS. 3a, 3b) for the load-transmitting rolling body 6 and the at least one parking position 8, 9 corresponds to an end position of the at least one moveable furniture part relative to the stationary furniture part. In this arrangement, the load-transmitting rolling body 6 and the track 7 have such a configuration at least in the region of the at least one parking position 8, 9 that the track 7 in that region is deformable to form a depression 10 and the load-transmitting rolling body 6 is substantially stable in shape.

(11) In the specifically illustrated case the guide device 5 includes two load-transmitting rolling bodies 6. In addition there is provided a guide roller 32 for lateral guidance.

(12) The load-transmitting rolling bodies 6 have a greater hardness in comparison with the track 7, at least in the region of the at least one parking position 8, 9. Conversely, that means that the track 7 is softer at least in the region of the at least one parking position 8, 9, than the load-transmitting rolling bodies 6.

(13) The hardness of the load-transmitting rolling bodies 6 and the track 7 can be influenced by various factors. They include the choice of the materials used and the shape.

(14) In the illustrated embodiment the guide rail 4 has a support structure 11 of steel and a contact portion 12 of plastic, preferably polyoxymethylene, for forming the track 7.

(15) The contact portion 12 is replaceable and has a thickness 13 of 1 mm to 8 mm, preferably 3 mm (see also FIGS. 3a, 3b).

(16) The load-transmitting rolling bodies 6 are formed from steel.

(17) The guide rail 4 has two vertical legs 30 and 31, wherein the vertical legs 30 and 31 jointly with the support structure 11 define a groove for receiving the contact portion 12. At the same time, the guide roller 32 also bears against the vertical leg 31.

(18) The load-transmitting rolling bodies 6 are mounted rotatably about an axis of rotation 33 which in the position of use is oriented substantially horizontally.

(19) In the illustrated case, the arrangement 1 includes a carrier 17 to which the at least one moveable furniture part can be preferably pivotably mounted and which is coupled to the guide device 5.

(20) FIGS. 3a, 3b show two preferred embodiments of the combination of a load-transmitting rolling body 6 and a track 7.

(21) In both cases the track 7 has two respective mutually spaced parking positions 8 and 9 which respectively correspond to an end position of the moveable furniture part relative to the stationary furniture part and between which the load-transmitting rolling body 6 is moveably mounted, wherein the rolling body 6 performs a rotation about its axis of rotation 33 in a movement along the track 7.

(22) The drawing diagrammatically shows that the load-transmitting rolling body 6 and the track 7, at least in the region of the parking positions 8, 9, have a configuration such that the track 7 is deformable in those regions by the rolling bodies 6 to form a depression 10, and the load-transmitting rolling body 6 is substantially stable in shape. In comparison with the state of the art shown in FIG. 1, therefore, the rolling body 6 does not suffer from flattening. Rather, the formation of a trough on the track 7 in the region of the parking positions 8, 9 is accepted.

(23) That can involve substantially irreversible deformation of the track 7.

(24) The load-transmitting rolling body 6 is moveable with the application of a force out of the depressions 10 formed in the track 7 in the region of the parking positions 8, 9.

(25) In the embodiment shown in FIG. 3b, the track 7 has two different material portions 14, 15, wherein a first material portion 14 is arranged in the region of the parking positions 8, 9 and a second material portion 15 is arranged in a dynamic region adjoining the regions of the parking positions 8, 9.

(26) In the preferred embodiment shown in FIG. 4 the track 7 at least region-wise has a concave configuration in cross-section. At the same time, the load-transmitting rolling body 6 has a peripheral surface 16 which has a region-wise convex configuration in cross-section. With that design configuration, the need for a lateral guide roller 32, as shown in FIGS. 2a, 2b can disappear.

(27) FIGS. 5a to 5d show a preferred embodiment of an article of furniture 20 in which the arrangement 1 according to the invention can preferably be used. Specifically, the article of furniture 20 has two moveable furniture parts 2 in the form of folding-sliding doors, a stationary furniture part 3, and an arrangement 1 for guiding the moveable furniture parts 2 relative to the stationary furniture part 3.

(28) The article of furniture 20 has an internal space 21 and two side compartments 22 in the form of shafts. The arrangement 1 is designed and arranged on the article of furniture 20 so as to guide the furniture doors 2 relative to the stationary furniture part 3 between a closed position outwardly covering the internal space 21 (see FIG. 5a), and an open position of being at least region-wise sunk in a respective side compartment 22 (see FIG. 5d) in which the internal space 21 is freely accessible to a user. Therebetween, the furniture doors 2 can assume intermediate positions shown in FIGS. 5b and 5c.

(29) The end positions of the moveable furniture doors 2 corresponding to the two parking positions 8 and 9 in FIGS. 3a, 3b are shown in FIGS. 5c and 5d. A first parking position 8 of the at least one load-transmitting rolling body 6 corresponds to a respective end position of the respective furniture door 2 in which it is substantially completely arranged in the side compartment 22 (see FIG. 5d), and a further parking position 9 for the at least one load-transmitting rolling body 6 corresponds to a position of the respective furniture door 2 in which the furniture door 2 is arranged substantially parallel to and substantially completely outside the associated side compartment 22 of the stationary furniture part 2 (see FIG. 2c).

(30) Instead of two furniture doors 2 it is also possible to provide only one or more than two furniture doors 2. In addition, the furniture doors 2 may comprise only one door leaf and not, as in the illustrated case, two door leaves which are hingedly connected together by way of door hinges 26.

(31) The arrangement 1 for guiding the furniture doors 2 respectively extends portion-wise in a depth direction 23 of the two side compartments 22.

(32) In specific terms, the stationary furniture part 3 can have a plurality of side surfaces 24 which region-wise delimit the side compartments 22. At least one respective guide rail 4 of the arrangement 1 for guiding the furniture doors 2 is at least portion-wise arranged on a respective one of the side surfaces 24.

(33) Besides the guide rails 4, the arrangement 1 includes a transverse rail 18 arranged substantially perpendicularly to the guide rails 4 and for each furniture door 2, a respective carriage 19 which is coupled to the furniture door 2 and which can be displaceably mounted on the guide rail 18. The carriages 19 can be entrained by the carrier 17 in a movement between the end positions shown in FIGS. 5c and 5d. The transverse rail 18 can be arranged on a top surface 28 of the stationary furniture part 3.

(34) Each of the furniture doors 2 is also hingedly connected to a carrier 17 by way of carrier hinges 29.

(35) The article of furniture 20 can also have still further furniture parts like for example a cupboard 25.

(36) Preferably, kitchen furniture 27 like for example bottom cabinets with drawers and/or top cabinets are preferably arranged in the internal space 21 of the stationary furniture part 3, as in the illustrated case. The moveable furniture parts 2 therefore serve to cover a kitchen formed therefrom when not in use.

(37) FIG. 6 shows a further preferred embodiment of an article of furniture 20. The article of furniture 20 includes a stationary furniture part 3 with a side surface 24 which region-wise delimits a side compartment of the article of furniture 20. A moveable furniture door 2 is mounted to the side surface 24 moveably between the two end positions shown in the Figure, more specifically indirectly by way of a carrier 17 which is displaceable on two guide rails 4 by way of two guide devices 5 spaced from each other in the vertical direction 35. At least one of the two guide rails 4 has a track 7 on which at least one load-transmitting rolling body 6 of one of the guide devices 5 is moveably mounted. The load-transmitting rolling body 6 and the track 7 have such a configuration, at least in the region of the parking positions 8, 9 corresponding to the end positions of the furniture door 3, that the track 7 is deformable in that region to form a depression 10, and the load-transmitting rolling body 6 is substantially stable in shape.

(38) FIGS. 7a and 7b show a further preferred embodiment including a contact portion 12 fixed to the guide rail 4 by a securing element 36.

(39) The securing element 36 can be of a substantially U-shaped configuration as in the illustrated case.

(40) Furthermore, the arrangement can have a spring element 38. In the illustrated case, there are two spring elements 38 which are oriented substantially parallel to each other and form the two vertical legs of the U-shape.

(41) The securing element 36 can have at least one friction element 41 for increasing the friction against a contact contour of the guide rail 4, in particular in the form of a groove 37. In this case, it is appropriate for a plurality of friction elements 41 to be provided, which for example have a triangular cross-section and which are arranged at an outward side of the spring elements 38.

(42) It is desirable if the securing element 36 as in the illustrated case has an actuating element 42, by way of which the securing element 36 and the contact portion 12 connected thereto are moveable. The actuating element 42 can, for example, form the base of the U-shape, and in the installed state can project at the end out of the guide rail 4. The contact portion 12 can be particularly easily replaced in that way.

(43) And finally it is desirable to provide at least one latching device, by way of which the securing element 36 can be releasably fixed to the contact portion 12. the at least one latching device has at least one latching recess 39 and at least one latching projection 40. In the specifically illustrated case, a respective latching projection 40 is arranged at a free end of the spring elements 38 and can latchingly engage into a corresponding latching recess 39 on the contact portion 12.