TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a coupling member for coupling structure elements. More specifically, the invention relates to a coupling member to be inserted within structure elements, where two or more of said structure elements may be coupled to form structures such as household goods. In addition, the invention relates to household goods comprising structure elements with integrated coupling members. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Products such as household goods can be constructed from elements, which allows the end user to compile the elements in a variety of different ways in order to obtain a desired assembly. For example, such modular furniture is available that a user may, for instance, choose additional elements to be added to a sofa. There also exists many ways to connect these elements to one another, including e.g. sewing together the upholstery of different elements, or the use of zippers or snap fasteners.

The disadvantages of available household goods that may be constructed from elements include laborious and slow assembly, unsustainable coupling methods, the use of e.g. adhesives or other substances that may pose health hazards, heavy elements, and a limited selection of end products.

In many cases coupling of the elements involves the use of tools or force or requires special knowledge, and can be time-consuming.

Coupling elements that are integrated in the upholstery of the goods are usually subjected to wear and tear, which will lead to damages of the coupling elements and upholstery. The coupling techniques may also have elements that are visible to end users, which may be undesirable, or they may be disadvantageously felt by a user, for instance upon sitting on top of snap fasteners, which may reside on the upholstery of a cushion intended for sitting.

The strength of the coupling may be weak or irreversible. This may lead to uncoupling between structure elements in cases where it is unwished-for, or, conversely, the structure elements cannot be disassembled, which leads to limited practicality.

Also, often in the case of furniture, for example, an end user may only have a limited amount of end results to choose from, as the elements are already large pieces of e.g. a sofa arrangement, which have a specific shape, as they have been intended to be used in a specific arrangement. These pieces are difficult to transport and usually incorporate a frame made of e.g. metal or wood that will add to the weight of the piece.

With many household goods, the possibility to alter the products to suit a new environment or purpose is minimal, which leads to waste production, as the goods are disposed of when new products are acquired.

Toy blocks are available for use for e.g. children so that children may build structures from them. These blocks are in many cases made of material such as polyurethane so that children do not injure themselves on hard edges. However, there are currently no feasible methods to connect such blocks made from soft material to each other reversibly and efficiently.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The purpose of the invention is to alleviate at least some of the disadvantages discussed above relating to household goods that can be constructed from elements and, additionally, enable novel applications related to e.g. modular furniture. According to one embodiment of the present invention, a coupling member is presented for coupling at least one first and one second structure element, for example furniture elements, the coupling member comprising an elongated conduit that is a tubular elongated tube with a rounded first end portion and a movable element inside the elongated conduit. In some embodiments, the coupling member is configured to be at least partly inserted into a cavity or cut of the structure element to be coupled. The movable element which is a ball advantageously comprises magnetic material, and is arranged inside the elongated conduit so that there is space between the first end portion and the other, second end portion of the elongated conduit in which the movable element may move within the elongated conduit. The coupling member is arranged so that when at least one other coupling member is brought close (within the region of attraction) to said coupling member, magnetic attraction forces of said movable elements inside said elongated conduits bring the movable elements inside the elongated conduits to the first end portion of each elongated conduit of each coupling member, thereby magnetically coupling said coupling members and structure elements in which they are inserted together to form a structure or end product, such as a piece of furniture.

The invention relates to a coupling member presented in claim 1. In addition the invention relates to a structure according to claim 8 and a manufacturing method of the coupling member of claim 13 and a method for coupling structure elements of claim 14.

The magnetic coupling is in preferred embodiments instantaneous in practice, when the structure elements are brought into physical contact with each other. No additional appliances or use of force are thus required. The invention may also be readily used by individuals with handicaps, blind people for instance, as there is only one type of coupling mechanism used to build an end product, and there are no separate parts, such as screws of different size, that may be difficult to use. As coupling elements may be added anywhere on a structure element, another structure element may be coupled to any surface of one structure element, enabling a plethora of three-dimensional structures to be assembled. Only the size of the coupling members pose limitations to the size of the structure elements, and e.g. furniture may be constructed from elements that are of such dimensions, geometries or shapes and weight that they are easily lifted, moved, and transported. The strength of the magnetic coupling may be varied, permitting structure elements with different qualities to be used for different purposes. For example, smaller magnitudes of magnetic forces may be employed in embodiments intended for the use of children, e.g. structure elements to be used as toys, to ensure that sufficient strength can be produced by the user to comfortably uncouple elements when desired.

In the present invention, the coupling member may reside within the structure element and coupling does not involve the possible upholstery of the structure element. Hence, the coupling element is advantageously not visible to an end user and cannot be sensed in any way, e.g. upon sitting on a structure element. In advantageous embodiments of the present invention, the coupling member and use thereof in structure elements and their coupling can be executed without the use of adhesives. The enabling of assembly of modular furniture may also eliminate the need for furniture with wooden frames, where adhesives have been used for construction of the frame. It is thus a benefit of the present invention to enable the possibility of producing furniture entirely without the use of substances such as adhesives that may be hazardous for health.

The coupling achieved by the present invention is preferably configured to be readily reversed, which leads to quick and straightforward reassembly of the structure elements in some embodiments to form a different product. This reduces waste production, as e.g. old furniture that is no longer suitable or desired may be reassembled to form more appropriate products. Waste may also be reduced, along with costs for consumers, as the operational lifetime of products is assumably elongated compared to e.g. modular furniture employing conventional coupling techniques due to the durability of the coupling member and, additionally, the possibility of replacing damaged coupling members with new ones in the event that they become damaged. The multifunctionality of e.g. furniture that can be constructed may increase the possibilities to utilize smaller living spaces, which additionally increases the ecological properties of the invention.

In some embodiments, manufacturing of the coupling elements and the structure elements is economical and uncomplicated. The coupling is also executed in a manner in which the end user cannot be injured by the coupling elements.

Advantageous placement of the coupling members near the surface of the structure elements creates possibilities to attach additional elements comprising metal or other magnetic material to an end product that is constructed from the structure elements. The entities to be attached are limited only by the strength of the magnetic material comprised in the coupling member. Some examples may include cup holders, tables, or structures to protect possible upholstery of the structure elements. Possibilities are also provided to attach storage space entities or housing for electronics such as video projectors and/or gaming consoles. The exemplary embodiments presented in this text are not to be interpreted to pose limitations to the applicability of the appended claims. The verb "to comprise" is used in this text as an open limitation that does not exclude the existence of also unrecited features. The features recited in depending claims are mutually freely combinable unless otherwise explicitly stated.

The novel features which are considered as characteristic of the invention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following description of specific example embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Next the invention will be described in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 illustrates the coupling members in passive mode within structure elements according to an advantageous embodiment of the invention,

Figure 2 illustrates the active mode, i.e., the coupling function, of the coupling elements incorporated in the structure elements according to an advantageous embodiment of the invention,

Figure 3 shows the structure elements of an embodiment of the invention,

Figure 4 illustrates the deactivated mode of the coupling members according to one embodiment of the present invention,

Figure 5 shows an exploded view of the coupling member and its comprising parts according to one embodiment of the present invention,

Figure 6 shows an exploded view of the coupling member and its comprising parts, along with specification of the longitudinal axis, according to one embodiment of the present invention, Figure 7 depicts the coupling member and its comprising parts according to one embodiment of the present invention viewed from one direction,

Figure 8 depicts the coupling member and its comprising parts according to one embodiment of the present invention viewed from another direction,

Figure 9 shows an exploded view of an alternative coupling member according to an embodiment of the present invention, and

Figure 10 with Figures 10A-10C showing supplementary parts that may be comprised in a coupling member.

Figure 1 1 exhibits additional features that may be provided with a coupling member.

Figure 12 gives an exemplary end product that may be obtained according to an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Figure 1 illustrates the coupling members 100 in passive mode, configured according to their final placement when in use in an end product, within cavities 203 residing in the structure elements 201 , 202 according to a preferable embodiment of the invention. The movable element 103 resides within the coupling member 100, in a space confined by an elongated conduit 101 and its first end portion 102 and second end portion 108. In the embodiment of Fig. 1 , the second end portion 108 is defined as the part of the elongated conduit 101 residing immediately adjacent to a fixing portion 104. In passive mode the movable element 103 is situated in a location defined by gravitational forces, the passive mode being actualized when the structure elements 201 , 202 are positioned so that physical contact between the structure elements 201 , 202 so that their respective coupling elements 100 become aligned does not occur.

In some embodiments, the coupling members can be placed according to Fig. 1 , and the position of movable elements 103 will be different for coupling members 100 situated at the top and bottom corners of structure elements 201 , 202. For the former, movable elements 103a in passive mode will reside at the second end portion 108 of the elongated conduit 101 , while for the latter, the movable elements 103b will reside at the first end portion 102 of the elongated conduit 101.

In preferred embodiments, the movable element 103 is comprised of magnetic material, and the passive mode corresponds to a situation where there is no magnetic interaction between the movable element 103 and another movable element 103.

Furtherly, in advantageous embodiments, the movable element 103 comprises magnetic material in such a manner that the movable element 103 is magnetically multipolarized so as to comprise a number (>2) of magnetic poles. This entails that the movable element 103 will in all cases only have to be rotated by under 180 degrees to a achieve coupling between structure elements 201 , 202.

The coupling members 100 are most advantageously positioned within the cavity 203 so that the first end portion 102 resides at the surface of the structure element 201 , 202 and the coupling member 100 is at an approximately 45 degree angle with reference to a horizontal plane when the structure elements 201 , 202 are placed in their relative end product positions. Figure 2 shows the coupling members 100 in active mode within cavities 203 residing in the structure elements 201 , 202 according to a preferable embodiment of the invention. The movable elements 103 now reside inside the coupling members 100 at the first end positions 102. In advantageous embodiments, the magnetic forces between movable elements 103 are such that the active mode takes effect when structure elements 201 , 202 that are intended to be coupled are brought into physical contact with their respective coupling members aligned. The movable elements 103 will then move, when applicable, from their positions in the passive mode to the active mode positions due to the magnetic interaction. The movable elements 103 are ball-shaped and the first end portion 102 is rounded in order to enable swift and smooth movement of the movable element 103 and provide a convenient locality for the active mode position, so that the movable elements 103 of structure elements 201 , 202 that are to be coupled may be positioned suitably close to each other. The first end portion 102 is most advantageously a closed end, but may also incorporate a small hole, the dimensions of which are such that the movable element 103 cannot fit through it. The ball-like shape of the movable element 103 also enables it to quickly rotate to align its magnetic pole in the appropriate direction when forming a magnetic connection.

The rounded first end portion 102 may be carried out by preforming the material that the end portion is comprised of into a round shape. Alternatively, the end portion 102 may comprise a material, e.g. a flexible material such as rubber that is adapted to conform into a round shape to host the ball-shaped movable element 103 in its active mode.

Structure elements 201 , 202 that have corresponding coupling members 100 are coupled if their coupling members 100 have been brought into active mode by magnetic forces of their respective movable elements 103.

The strength of the coupling between structure elements 201 , 202 is in some embodiments determined by the strength of the magnetic interaction between the movable elements 103. The strength of the aforementioned magnetic interaction can be determined by the magnetization of the movable elements 103. The thickness of the material used to produce the first end portion 102 can also be used to alter the strength of the coupling between structure elements 201 , 202, as the distance between coupled movable elements 103 can be adjusted.

In one exemplary embodiment, coupling members 100 may be provided with movable elements 103 that have a diameter of 19 mm and the strength of the resulting coupling may hold 5.6 kg of weight. In advantageous embodiments, the coupling member 100 is configured so that two coupling members 100 with similar magnetic strength cannot couple two structure elements 201 , 202 unless the coupling elements 100 are within a range of each other so that the structure elements 201 , 202 come into direct physical contact. This ensures that a user cannot become injured by the coupling elements 201 , 202 as they become coupled, because a finger, for example, between the structure elements 201 , 202 is enough to prevent the movable elements 103 from magnetically interacting with each other. The aforementioned positioning of the coupling member 100 into a 45 degree angle with reference to a horizontal plane when the structure element 201 , 202 is its final, end product position will in preferred embodiments result in a passive mode in which the location of the movable element 103, which is determined by gravity, when residing at the second end portion 108, is such that only a movable element 103 with magnetization which is of similar or of stronger strength is able to convert the passive mode into active mode once brought within a suitable range.

An embodiment of the present invention, a structure 200, such as a piece of furniture, is provided by Figure 3, given by two or more structure elements 201 , 202, with coupling members 100. The structure elements or furniture elements 201 , 202 can comprise any material, but a durable and light cushion-like material, for example foam rubber or biocomposite, is advantageously used. In this case, the furniture is comfortable to sit or lie on, and can be used to construct a bed or sofa, for instance.

The structure elements 201 , 202 can be of any shape, but in the embodiment of Fig. 3, a hexahedron is employed so as to enable apparent connecting and stacking of the structure elements 201 , 202. In this case, the coupling members 100 reside at corners of the hexahedron, but the coupling members 100 may be located anywhere on the structure elements or furniture elements 201 , 202. For example, in the case of hexahedronic structure elements 201 ,202 with coupling members 100 at their corners, 8 structure elements 20, 202 may be coupled together.

The coupling members 100 are preferably positioned within the structure elements 201 , 202 so that the coupling members 100 are fully integrated or inserted within the structure elements 201 , 202, but are advantageously still at their surface, so that when a structure element 201 , 202 is brought into direct physical contact with another structure element 201 , 202, in such a position that coupling members 100 are aligned with each other, the movable elements 103 of the coupling members 100 also come within such range of each other that the active mode is initiated. This positioning ensures that the active mode is employable, but the coupling members 100 are not felt by an end user that is e.g. sitting on a piece of furniture 200, and the coupling members 100 are also not visible to the user, provided that the structure element 201 , 202 is upholstered. Preferable magnetization of movable elements 103 along with advantageous placement of coupling members 100 in embodiments such as furniture ensures that relatively small metal objects do not experience a force resulting from the movable element 103 that can be sensed by a user of said furniture. For example, keys in the pocket of a person sitting on a sofa, which is constructed according to one embodiment of the present invention, with coupling members 100 coming into close range of the keys will not lead to a magnetic force that can be noticed by the person.

Structure elements 201 , 202 may also be used e.g. as toy blocks so that a user such as a child may build any structure 200 that he/she/ne likes from the structure elements 201 , 202. The present invention may enable production of structure elements 201 , 202 so toy blocks or structure elements 201 , 202 made from a soft material such as polyurethane may be coupled to each other swiftly and reversibly. The strength of the magnetic coupling may be configured so that blocks may be coupled e.g. from one of their corners and hung from the air.

In some embodiments, e.g. in toy use cases, the length of the elongated conduit 101 may be varied by placing some type of filling material into the elongated conduit 101. The speed at which coupling takes place between structure elements 201 , 202 may then be accelerated or varied. This may be advantageous in a use scenario where structure elements 201 , 202 are used e.g. in games where the speed of building a structure 200 could be meaningful.

It may be noted that even in toy use cases, the structure elements 201 , 202 may also be advantageously used to construct furniture. For example, the same structure elements may be used as a child for playing with and also for building e.g. a sofa.

Figure 4 illustrates the deactivated mode of the coupling members 100 according to one embodiment of the present invention. The deactivated mode is prompted by an end user of the embodiment by pushing in the first end portion 102 of the coupling member 100. In preferred embodiments, the elongated conduit 101 and thus also the first end portion 102 comprise flexible material, which ensures that the deactivated mode may be easily engaged. Rubber is a material that is advantageously used in the elongated conduit 101 as it will, in addition to being a flexible material, ensure watertightness of the conduit, thus keeping the movable element 103 free from moisture, and, through its elasticity, also shield the movable element 103 from shocks that may potentially damage said movable element 103. The first end portion 102 will remain in the deactivated mode position, i.e. the rounded end of the first end portion 102 will reside further inside the elongated conduit 101 as seen in Fig. 4, until the active mode is effectuated.

The active or passive mode is achieved from the deactivated mode by either pressing on the sides of the elongated conduit 101 to create a force that will cause the movable element 103 to push into the first end portion 102 so that the placement of the movable element is similar to that in Fig. 2 or, alternatively, the active mode can be brought about if a magnetic object with significant magnetization compared to the movable element 103 is brought within close range of a coupling member 100 in the deactivated mode.

The deactivated mode position of the first end portion 102 will cause the movable element 103 to shift into its relative deactivated mode position. In the embodiment of Fig. 4, the coupling members 100 reside at the corners of the hexahedronic structure element 201 , 202, and in the case of coupling members 100 that are positioned at the top corners, the movable elements 103a will in deactivated mode reside approximately in the same positions as in their passive mode. For the coupling members 100 positioned at the bottom corners, the movable elements 103b will in passive mode reside at approximately the same positions as in their active mode. When in deactivated mode, however, they will be pushed further into the elongated conduit 101 as seen in Fig. 4. The positions of the movable elements 103 in deactivated mode are such that any type of physical contact between the structure elements 201 , 202 will not lead to the activated mode, i.e., a magnetic interaction does not take place, and coupling between structure elements 201 , 202 is not possible.

Figures 5 and 6 show an exploded view of the coupling member 100 and its comprising parts according to one embodiment of the present invention. The coupling member 100 comprises the elongated conduit 101 and its first end portion 102 and second end portion 108, the movable element 103, the fixing portion 104, and a counterpart fixing portion 105. Figure 6 additionally shows the longitudinal axis direction 106, into which a force should be exerted on the first end portion 102 in order to initiate the deactivated mode of the coupling member 100. The coupling member 100 of Figs. 5 and 6 may be advantageously be used for instance with structure elements 201 , 202 comprising foam rubber.

Figures 7 and 8 depict the coupling member 100 and its comprising parts as they are positioned when in use and in active mode according to one embodiment of the invention. The movable element 103 resides inside the elongated conduit 101 at the first end portion 102. The fixing portion 104 is attached to the elongated conduit in such a manner that it is not easily detached. In some embodiments, the fixing portion 104 is configured so that it can be connected to the elongated conduit 101 by pressing the fixing portion 104 into the second end 108 and thereafter rotating the fixing portion 104 around the axis 106. In the embodiment of Figs. 1 -4, the counterpart fixing portion 105 is attached to the structure elements 201 , 202. In some embodiments, the counterpart fixing portions 105 are embedded into the structure elements 201 , 202 in conjunction with their manufacture to integrate the counterpart fixing portion 105 into the structure element 201 , 202 in a manner that is intended to be permanent. The fixing portion 104 and the counterpart fixing portion 105 may be configured so that the rest of the coupling member 100 may be detached from the counterpart fixing portion 105 by rotating the fixing portion 104 (along with the attached elongated conduit 101 containing the movable element 103 with respect to the counterpart fixing portion 105 along the longitudinal axis 106. This enables a user of the invention to replace a damaged coupling member 100 with a new one or, alternatively, replace a damaged structure element 201 , 202, without also having to renew the imbedded coupling members 100. Figure 9 gives an alternative depiction of a coupling member 100. Shown are the elongated conduit 101 with its first end portion 102 and second end portion 108, the movable element 103, the fixing portion 104, the counterpart fixing portion 105, and a supporting portion 109. In this embodiment, the fixing portion 104 and the counterpart fixing portion 105 may be conjoined. The supporting portion 109 is voluntarily provided with the elongated conduit 101 to ease and stabilize connecting the elongated conduit 101 to the fixing portion 104 and/or the counterpart fixing portion 105. The coupling member 100 of Fig. 9 is advantageously used with structure elements 201 , 202 comprising biocomposite. An end user may in this case insert the coupling member 100 into the structure element 201 , 202 before intended use through a slit provided at a favorable location on the structure element 201 , 202. Upholstering of the structure elements 201 , 202 can be utilized to prevent the inserted coupling member 100 from becoming dislodged from the structure element 201 , 202. Manufacturing of a coupling member according to Fig. 9 may in some cases be even less expensive than that of the coupling member 100 of Figs. 5-8.

In some embodiments, a coupling member 100 may also comprise a locking element 1 10, which may be seen from Figure 10A. Through the locking element 1 10, an alternative manner for bringing a movable element 103 into a deactivated mode position as depicted in connection with Fig. 4 is provided. Figures 10A-10C show a conjoined fixing portion 104 and counterpart fixing portion 105, with a positioner 1 12 for the locking element 1 10.

In Fig. 10B, a cross-sectional view of the fixing portion 104 and counterpart fixing portion 105 is given showing a connected positioner 1 12, which is arranged in this embodiment to be situated so that it is at or near the center of the second end portion 108 when the coupling member 100 is in its assembled condition in a use scenario.

Figure 10C shows the position of the locking element 1 10 when the coupling member 100 is in a typical use scenario. In some embodiments, several locking elements 1 10 may be utilized in order to achieve a variable magnetic attraction force that may be set to a desirable level.

The locking element 1 10 preferably comprises material that may attract and magnetically couple to a movable element 103 when they are brought into contact or suitably near to each other. The locking element 1 10 preferably resides at or near the second end portion 108 of the coupling member, such as in connection with the fixing portion 104 and/or the counterpart fixing portion 105.

With the above described locking element 1 10, a structure element 201 , 202 comprising a coupling member 100 that is not coupled to another coupling member 100 is e.g. shaken, the freely moving (inside the elongated conduit 101 ) movable element 103 then may come to or near the second end portion 108 and be coupled to the locking element 1 10. The materials and/or sizes of the movable element 103 and/or locking element 1 10 may be such that the movable element 103 is then held at or near the second end portion 108 through magnetic forces until the coupling is released.

The coupling may be released in some embodiments by a bringing a suitable other structure element 201 , 202 and/or coupling member 100 into suitable contact with the coupling member 100 so that the movable element 103 which is at the deactivated position through coupling with the locking element 1 10 is brought into the active mode position and becomes coupled with the other coupling member 100.

A locking element 1 10 may be advantageous when the coupling member 100 is used in structure elements 201 , 202 that may be used as toys. E.g. children may then shake the structure elements 201 , 202 and the movable elements 103 may then become locked or deactivated so that the structure elements 201 , 202 may be easier to handle and/or noise will not be generated by the movable elements 103 when the structure elements 201 , 202 are subsequently moved.

In Figures 10A and 10C, the locking element 1 10 is essentially flat and circular-shaped with a hole in the middle. The locking element 1 10 may be configured to be positioned onto a positioner 1 12, which in the Figures 10A- I OC is a peg or conelike stopper for the locking element 1 10 to keep it in a suitable position inside the fixing portion 104.

In some embodiments, the positioner 1 12 may comprise e.g. silicone or other such material, which may aid in noise suppression or reduction. The positioner material may absorb at least some of the shock that is generated when the movable element 103 moves inside the elongated conduit 101 and impacts the fixing portion 104.

Noise reduction may additionally or alternatively be achieved through a cushioning element 1 14 comprising silicone or other material with similar qualities that may be arranged ontop of the fixing portion 104 at or near the second end 108 of the elongated conduit 101 so that the silicone or other such material comes between the fixing portion 104 and the movable element 103 when the movable element 103 moves to the second end portion 108. An exemplary cushioning element 1 14 may be seen in Figure 1 1 with the fixing portion 104 and the counterpart fixing portion 105. Noise reduction may be beneficial in use cases where structure elements 201 , 202 are used as toys and are moved and/or shaken relatively often. This way a user may not be distracted or bothered by noises coming from the moving of the movable element 103. In one embodiment, seen in connection with Fig. 1 1 , the fixing portion 104 (and a counterpart fixing portion 105 that may be conjoined with the fixing portion 104) may additionally comprise one or more pressure stabilizers 1 16 that may comprise holes or air canals that may enable pressure regulation inside the coupling member 100. One or more of the different parts that may be comprised in a coupling member 100 such as the elongated conduit 101 , the movable element 103, the fixing portion 104, the counterpart fixing portion 105, the positioner 1 12, and/or the cushioning element 1 14 may be manufactured through additive manufacturing. Figure 12 shows an exemplary end product that may be obtained according to one embodiment of the present invention. The structure 300, a sofa, may be constructed by utilizing coupling members 100 to combine structure or furniture elements 201 , 202 by bringing the furniture elements 201 , 202 in physical contact with each other in the desired arrangement with coupling members 100 aligned. In this embodiment, the sofa 300 is compiled from 8 structure elements 201 , 202, which can be reassembled to form, for example, a mattress. The sofa 300 is easily constructed by bringing the structure elements 201 , 202 in physical contact in the desired arrangement. Reassembly can be executed by first decoupling the structure elements 201 , 202 by pulling them apart using moderate force that is readily created by an average human being and then once again bringing the structure elements 201 , 202 into physical contact in the new desired arrangement with aligned coupling members 100.

In an embodiment, the dimensions of structure elements 201 , 202 may be divisional by 20 cm. In the case where a structure element 201 , 202 is used for furniture purposes, such dimensions may be advantageous because in a sitting position the average length from a person's elbow to the lower part of the gluteus maximus is around 20 cm, and a suitable armrest may then be constructed. Provisional features that may also be implemented according to embodiments of the present invention include the possibility to increase the speed of coupling even further by varying the length of the elongated conduit 101 , either during manufacture thereof, or by providing a supplementary portion to be inserted inside the elongated conduit 101 , optionally temporarily, which will compel the location of the movable element 103 to be closer to the first end portion 102 even in passive or deactivated mode.

The invention has been explained above with reference to the aforementioned embodiments, and several advantages of the invention have been demonstrated. It is clear that the invention is not only restricted to these embodiments, but comprises all possible embodiments within the spirit and scope of the inventive thought and the following patent claims.

The features recited in dependent claims are mutually freely combinable unless otherwise explicitly stated.