ELEMENTARY FURNITURE MODULE AND STACK OF SUCH FURNITURE

Abstract

The module comprises at least two front and rear chassis-frames, each with two right and left uprights and two top and bottom crosspieces, two right and left side walls inside the frames and a floor inside the frames bearing against the bottom crosspieces of the frames. The floor is arranged to oppose the movement of the bottom portions of the side walls towards each other. The uprights of the frames are arranged to oppose the movement of the side walls away from each other. The top portions of the side walls and the top crosspieces of the frames are arranged to oppose the movement of the side walls towards each other.

Claims

1. An elementary furniture module comprising at least two front and rear chassis-frames, each with two right and left uprights and two top and bottom crosspieces, two right and left side walls inside the frames and a floor inside the frames bearing against the bottom crosspieces of the frames, wherein the floor is arranged to oppose the movement of the bottom portions of the side walls towards each other.

2. The elementary module according to claim 1, wherein the uprights of the frames are arranged to oppose the movement of the side walls away from each other.

3. The elementary module according to claim 1, wherein the top portions of the side walls and the top crosspieces of the frames are arranged to oppose the movement of those towards each other.

4. The elementary module according to claim 3, wherein the side portions of the top crosspieces of the frames and the front and rear portions of the top portions of the side walls comprise notches snap fit the ones into the others respectively.

5. The elementary module according to claim 1, wherein the floor bears on the lower crosspieces of the frames by two front and rear grooves, provided on its lower face, snap fit onto these bottom crosspieces.

6. The elementary module according to claim 1, wherein the inward locking of the top portions of the side walls is also provided by a roof snap fit onto the side walls by two side rebates.

7. The elementary module according to claim 6, wherein the roof is blocked forwards and backwards by two front and rear grooves snap fit onto the top crosspieces of the front and rear frames.

8. The elementary module according to claim 1, wherein the side walls comprise, on their external face, grooves arranged to snap fit onto the uprights of the chassis-frames which thus lock the side walls outwards.

9. The elementary module according to claim 1, wherein, in order to be stackable, the top and bottom crosspieces of the chassis-frames comprise, on the outside, bosses and notches of complementary shapes respectively and the side walls are provided with front and rear feet arranged to bear on the side walls of an adjacent and identical lower module.

10. A stack of elementary modules according to claim 1.

11. A stack of elementary modules according to claim 4.

12. A stack of elementary modules according to claim 7.

13. A stack of elementary modules according to claim 6.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0024] The invention will be better understood by the following description of several embodiments of the elementary module and stacks of a plurality of such modules, with reference to the attached drawing, in which

[0025] FIG. 1 represents a profile and front view of a chassis-frame of a first embodiment of the module of the invention;

[0026] FIG. 2 represents, on a larger scale, the junction of the upper crosspiece and an upright of the frame in FIG. 1;

[0027] FIG. 3 represents a side and profile view of a side wall of the first embodiment of the module of the invention;

[0028] FIG. 4 represents, on a larger scale, a corner portion of the wall in FIG. 3;

[0029] FIG. 5 is a side and front view illustrating the assembly of the left wall of the first embodiment of the module of the invention;

[0030] FIG. 6 represents, on a larger scale, the top left and front corner portion of the chassis-frame in FIG. 5;

[0031] FIG. 7 is a side and front view illustrating the assembly of the right side wall of the module in FIG. 5;

[0032] FIGS. 8 and 9 are side and front views of the module in FIGS. 5-7 illustrating the assembly of the floor;

[0033] FIG. 10 is a side and front exploded cutaway view of the left side wall, the front frame and a roof placed on the module in FIGS. 1-9;

[0034] FIG. 11 represents a profile and front view of a chassis-frame of a second embodiment of the module of the invention;

[0035] FIG. 12 represents a side and profile view of a side wall of the second embodiment of the module of the invention;

[0036] FIG. 13 illustrates the assembly of a stack of modules in FIGS. 11 and 12;

[0037] FIG. 14 is a larger-scale view of the left and rear portions of the stacking zone of the two modules in FIG. 13 and

[0038] FIG. 15 is a side and front view of the stack of two modules in FIG. 14, illustrating the assembly of a roof.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0039] The elementary furniture module 200 of the invention, used alone or with other identical ones according to a stack of such elementary modules, will first be described.

[0040] The module comprises two identical front 1 and rear 2 chassis-frames, two identical right 5 and left 6 side walls (FIGS. 5, 6, 8, 9) and a floor 3. It could also comprise a roof 4 (FIG. 15).

[0041] The chassis-frame 1 (2) comprises a right upright 7, a left upright 8, a bottom crosspiece 9 and a top crosspiece 10, all four elements of equal width and thickness, thus forming a rectangular frame.

[0042] The side walls 5, 6 are rectangular boards that may be the same thickness as the frame elements, and whose height is very slightly higher than the distance between the crosspieces of the frames, for a reason that will appear later.

[0043] The floor 3 is also a rectangular board, which may be the same thickness as the chassis-frame and side walls, with a depth equal to the width of the side walls 5, 6 and a width equal to the distance between the uprights of the frames minus twice the thickness of the side walls, also for a reason that will appear later.

[0044] At the right and left ends of the top crosspieces 10 of the frames, notches 11, 12 for holding the side walls 5, 6 in the frames are cut out inwards and from the right and left uprights 7, 8, that is at the junction of the top crosspieces and the uprights.

[0045] Additional notches 19-22, which can be snap fit into one another and snap fit into those of the frames, are cut out inwards from the bottom 13 and top 14 edges of the side walls 5, 6, near the right and left bottom and top corners 15-18 of the side walls, also for holding the side walls in the frames.

[0046] The component boards of the module elements can be made of different types of material, for example plastic, such as polyethylene and expanded polystyrene, a composite material, wood and even metal, such as aluminum.

[0047] Holding the side walls inside the chassis-frames, and above all locking the same, will be understood by means of the description of the assembly of the module and its description once assembled.

[0048] With reference to FIGS. 5 and 7, each side wall—starting with the left wall 6 (FIG. 5)—is slid in a tilted position inside the two chassis-frames 1, 2, by pressing the top edge 14 of the wall inside the top left corner 18 of the frames, the notches 21, 22 of the top edge 14 of the wall, facing the notches 12 of the front and rear top crosspieces 10 of their left end, formed against the uprights 8 of the frames. Then the bottom of the wall 6 is pushed against the left uprights 8 of the frames. The notches on the wall and the crosspieces of the frames snap fit into one another and the wall is pressed against the left uprights of the frames, while the notches 19, 20 on the bottom edge 13 of the wall snap fit into the bottom crosspieces 9 of the frames, have slid along these crosspieces.

[0049] The same procedure is used for the other side wall (FIG. 7).

[0050] Of course, the module may comprise more than two identical chassis-frames and the side walls would be shaped accordingly, with a corresponding appropriate number of notches.

[0051] Once the side walls have been assembled inside the chassis-frames, the distance between the notches on the top edges of the side walls determining the distance, or spacing, between the two chassis-frames 1 ,2, the floor 3 (FIGS. 8, 9) is finally placed.

[0052] Two front and rear rectilinear grooves 23, 24, parallel to the front and rear edges 25, 26 of the floor, are provided in the lower face 27 of the floor to snap fit slightly onto the front and rear bottom crosspieces 9 of the frames, the grooves being very slightly thicker than the crosspieces (FIG. 8).

[0053] The floor 3, its lower face 27 being turned towards the bottom crosspieces 9 of the frames, is slid between the frames to press the floor (FIG. 9) against the crosspieces 9, the grooves 23, 24 being snap fit onto the crosspieces.

[0054] In this way, the floor 3 is arranged to oppose the movement of the bottom portions 28 and the bottom edges 13 of the side walls towards each other.

[0055] The floor 3 is therefore a member for locking the bottom portions 28 of the side walls 5, 6 inwards of the frames.

[0056] It is also interesting to note that the uprights 7, 8 of the chassis-frames are arranged to oppose the movement of the side walls 5, 6 away from each other. In other words, the uprights of the frames are members for locking the side walls 5, 6 outwards, both from their bottom portion 28 and from their top portion 29.

[0057] In addition, it can be said that the bottom portions of the side walls 5, 6 are arranged here by their notches 21, 22 on the one hand and the top crosspieces 10 of the frames by their notches 12 on the other hand are arranged to oppose the movement of the side walls towards each other, which ensures that the top walls 29 of the side walls 5, 6 are locked inwards.

[0058] Accordingly, the locking of the side walls 5, 6, their top portion 29 and bottom portion 28 is respectively provided by different elements, which guarantees that the module is firmly in place.

[0059] In a particular embodiment of the module of the invention, the side walls 5.6 comprise, on their external face, a groove 61 shaped to snap fit onto the uprights 7.8 of the chassis which thus lock the side walls outwards (FIG. 10). In this case, the notches 19-22 are no longer required.

[0060] In an alternative embodiment of the module of the invention, the inward locking of the top portions 29 of the side walls 5 (6) is provided by a roof 30 which is snap fit onto the side walls by two right and left rebates 31, the roof 30 can be blocked forwards and backwards by two grooves 32 provided on its upper face 33, in parallel to its front 34 and rear edges, which are snap fit onto the top crosspieces 10 of the front 1 and rear 2 chassis-frames.

[0061] Another embodiment of the module of the invention makes it possible, by arranging several modules of the same type, to stack them.

[0062] A module, configured to be stacked with other identical modules, comprises the same pieces as the module in FIGS. 1-9.

[0063] Rectangular, identical chassis-frames 101, 102 always comprise two top and bottom crosspieces 110 and 109 and two left and right uprights 108 and 107 and holding notches 111 and 112 at the two junctions of the top crosspiece 110 with the right 107 and left 108 uprights.

[0064] The top crosspiece 110 comprises, outwards and at right angles to the notches 111, 112, two bosses 151, 152, in this case slightly rounded, and the bottom crosspiece 109 comprises, inwards and at right angles to the junctions of the bottom crosspiece 109 with the right 107 and left 108 uprights, two notches 153, 154, in this case also slightly rounded, and with a shape complementary to that of the bosses 151, 152, so that the bosses 151, 152, of the top crosspiece 110 of a first module can snap fit into the notches 153, 154 of the bottom crosspiece 109 of a second module arranged just below the first module.

[0065] The side walls 105, 106 are almost identical to the side walls 5, 6, with their top notches 121, 122 corresponding to the notches 21, 22 of the module in FIGS. 1-9, and differ only in two small front legs 155 and rear legs 156 extending downwards beyond the bottom notches 119, 120 which perform the same function as the notches 19, 20 of the module in FIGS. 1-9.

[0066] With reference to FIG. 14, when a first module 201 is stacked on a second module 202, the notch 154 of the bottom crosspiece 109 of the module 201 snap fitting onto the boss 152 of the top crosspiece 110 of the module 202, the leg 156 of the side wall 106 bears against the side wall 106 of the module 202, on its portion 206 arranged behind the chassis-frame 102 shown dotted in FIG. 14.

[0067] As can also be clearly seen in FIG. 13, the front leg 155 of the side wall 105 of the upper module 201 will bear against the portion of the side wall 105 of the adjacent lower module 202, which is arranged in front of the chassis-frame 101.

[0068] This application also concerns a stack of modules shaped to be stacked and comprising the characteristics of the modules in FIGS. 11-14.

[0069] The stack of two modules 201, 202 in FIG. 15 comprises a roof 103 on the upper module 201, drilled from its lower face 163, with four notches 164-167 arranged to snap fit onto the bosses 151, 152 of the chassis-frames 101, 102.