PIECE OF FURNITURE”

DESCRIPTION

TECHNICAL FIELD OF INVENTION

[001] The present invention refers to a system or an assembly for activating/deactivating an electrical device associable to the inner cavity of a piece of furniture, in particular a furniture piece provided with a“flap door”, that is, openable by means of a downward rotational movement to position itself essentially parallel to the base of the piece of furniture or of the lower shelf of the inner cavity defined by said furniture piece.

PRIOR ART

[002] Generally, in the furniture field, the pieces of furniture are made from parallelepiped containing bodies formed, as is well known, from two parallel vertical sides, a lid, a base, and a back element, defining an inner cavity wherein objects, food items, clothing, etc., can be positioned.

[003] In general, the front opening through which said inner cavity can be accessed is selectively ciosabie by means of one or more door wings, that are movable between a closed position, in which access to the inner cavity is prevented, and an opened position, in which the contents of the inner cavity can be accessed.

[004] The passage between said closed position and said opened position can be made in different manners: for example, the door wings can be hinged to the body of the piece of furniture so that the passage between one position and the other comes about essentially by rotation around an axis.

[005] Particularly appreciated in furniture pieces for drawing rooms, kitchen and bathroom furniture are wall-hung units provided with a door wing openable by tilting downwards, that is, through a downward rotational movement around a horizontal joining axis, preferably controlled by appropriate devices that slow down and accompany the final phase of said downward movement for the purpose of averting irksome impacts of the door wing against the body of the piece of furniture or breakages of the hinges in case of excessively abrupt closing or opening actions on the part of the user.

[006] Generally, said devices for controlling the opening/closing of a door wing include an inextensible cable, connected with a first end to the door wing and with the opposite end being associated with appropriate displacing means housed in a casing and movable so that the cable is extended between a retracted position, wherein the door wing is held in a closed position, and an extracted position, wherein the door wing is in an opened position.

[007] Preferably, the displacement means comprise at least one elastic means, such as a spring, and at least one sliding element, such as a slide, linearly movable against the action of the elastic element. In particular, the opening of the door wing downward involves the sliding of the slide, which in turn extends the elastic element; this movement is braked by the action of the elastic element, which counterbalances the weight of the door wing. Conversely, during the closing of the door wing, the previously extended elastic element, assists the backward sliding movement of the slide, returning it toward its initial position.

[008] One particularly advantageous example of a device for controlling the opening/closing of door wings with “flap door” movement is presented in patent application IT102017000093531 filed by the Applicant.

[009] In recent years, however, the market requires the furniture pieces to be provided with various accessories that simplify their use, making them more functional or simply more attractive; in particular, users require for example that the inner cavity of the furniture piece be equipped with appropriate lighting sources, or that the furniture piece be provided with a loudspeaker. Clearly, what the users want is that the activation/deactivation of the device placed inside the furniture piece occurs automatically, that is, that it is activated when the door is opened and deactivated when the door is returned to the closed position.

[0010] Devices for automatically switching on/switching off lighting sources installed inside the inner cavities of furniture pieces are widely known. Usually, the switching on/switching off of the lighting sources is controlled by means of different types of sensors, adapted to sense directly the movement of the door wing to send a suitable control signal to the lighting source.

[0011] In practice, said sensors are arranged inside the cavity of the furniture piece or at the perimetric edge of the front opening of the containing body, and are configured to transmit a command signal for switching on the lighting source, to which they are physically connected by means of cables, when the door wing is separated from the containing body, or for switching it off when the door wing is arranged in the closed position, in contact with the edges of the front opening of the furniture piece.

[0012]The sensors that can be used for this purpose are for example infrared occupancy sensors, by means of which the lighting source is deactivated when the presence of the door wing in front of the sensor is sensed; alternatively, pressure sensors can be used to detect the change of pressure inside the cavity of the piece of furniture caused by the opening/closing of the door wing

[0013] However, such sensors have cumbersome components that occupy useful spaces from the inner cavity of the furniture piece, and are unattractive since, when the door is opened, they are completely exposed to view.

[0014] However, said sensors are fed electrically and consequently require a dedicated feeding wiring, up to the power grid or to a suitable power supply generally positioned on the back of the furniture piece.

[0015]The main objective of the present invention is to achieve an automatic system for activating/deactivating electrical accessories of different types, arranged in a furniture piece with a flap door that works automatically based on the position of the door, while offering reduced overall dimensions and possibly not exposed to view.

[0016] In the scope of the above objective, one purpose is to achieve an automatic system for activating/deactivating electrical accessories for furniture pieces with a flap door that are easy to mount and that guarantee a high level of strength and long-lasting reliability.

[0017] A not secondary purpose is to devise an automatic system for activating/deactivating electrical accessories for furniture pieces having a flap door capable of achieving the task and purposes indicated above at an economically convenient cost and obtainable with the usual and known systems, machinery and equipment.

[0018]The above tasks and purposes, and others that will become more evident below, will be achieved with a device for controlling the opening/closing of flap doors and with an assembly for activating/deactivating an electrical device of a piece of furniture as defined in claim 1 .

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0019] Further characteristics and the advantages of a assembly for activating/deactivating an electrical device of a piece of furniture having a flap door according to the present invention will become more evident from the following description of particular, but not exclusive embodiments, illustrated purely by way of example without limitations, with reference to the following figures:

- Figure 1 illustrates, in a front perspective view, a piece of furniture with a flap door in an open condition, equipped with an electrical device and with a device for controlling the opening of the door wing mounted at one side;

- figure 2 illustrates, in a rear perspective view, a piece of furniture with a flap door in an opened condition, equipped with a device for controlling the opening of the door wing mounted externally;

- figure 3A illustrates, in a lateral section plane, a device for controlling the opening/closing of the flap door of a piece of furniture incorporating a first embodiment of an assembly for activating/deactivating an electrical device of a piece of furniture, in a condition with the door closed;

- figure 3B illustrates, according to a lateral section plane, a device for controlling the opening/closing of the flap door of a piece of furniture incorporating a first embodiment of an assembly for activating/deactivating an electrical device of a piece of furniture, in the condition with the door open;

- figure 3C illustrates, in a perspective view from above, a device for controlling the opening/closing of the flap door of a piece of furniture incorporating a first embodiment of an assembly for acfivating/deactivating an electrical device of a piece of furniture;

- figure 4A illustrates, in a lateral cutaway view, a device for controlling the opening/closing of the flap door wing of a piece of furniture incorporating a second embodiment of an assembly for activating/deactivating an electrical device of a piece of furniture, in a condition with the door wing closed;

- figure 4B illustrates in a lateral cutaway view, a device for controlling the opening/closing of the flap door wing of a piece of furniture incorporating a second embodiment of an assembly for acfivating/deactivating an electrical device of a piece of furniture, in the condition with the door open, and

- figure 4C illustrates, in a perspective view from above, a device for controlling the opening/closing of the flap door of a piece of furniture incorporating a second embodiment of an assembly for activating/deactivating an electrical device of a piece of furniture.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0020]The present invention refers to an assembly 10 for activating/deactivating electrical devices 20, defined as devices operating by electric energy, such as for example a lighting source or a loudspeaker, housed in the internal casing of a wall-hung piece of furniture provided with a“flap door” wing, as explained below in greater detail.

[0021] With particular reference to figure 1 , a piece of furniture M is shown formed with a parallelepiped containing body comprising at least one side S, and preferably a pair of parallel sides S, one rear wall or back R, a base B and possibly a top cover T.

[0022] Said piece of furniture M defines an inner cavity, wherein can be placed objects of various kinds, having a front opening that is selectively closable by means of a door wing A, hinged rotatably to the front edge of said base B around an essentially horizontal joining axis defined by appropriate hinge means C, in accordance with a“flap” movement.

[0023] Said door wing A is in fact adapted to be moved by the user, operating by means of suitable handling means integral to it, such as one or more handles, between a closing position, wherein it lies on an essentially vertical plane and is in contact against the front edges of said sides S, and an opening position, wherein it lies on a substantially horizontal plane, and is advantageously flush with the panel forming the base B of said piece of furniture M.

[0024]A control device 1 is advantageously provided to guide and support the“flap” movement of the door wing A in both the opening and in the closing phase.

[0025] In particular, as can be seen in figure 1 , said device 1 includes a hollow casing 2, fixable to the body of said piece of furniture M for example at the internal surface of the side S, formed by a first and a second semi-shell 3, 4 advantageously shaped internally to house appropriate displacing means 100 connected to the door wing A by means of a traction element 6, such as an essentially inextensible cable.

[0026] Said cable 6 is connected with a first end 6A to the internal surface of said door wing A, and is associated with a second end 6B, to said displacing means 100 housed movably in said casing 2, from which said cable 6 extends through an opening 5.

[0027] In particular, said cable 8 extends with respect of said casing 2 between a retracted position, wherein the door wing A is held in a closed position, and an extracted position, in which the door wing A is opened with a downward rotation movement with respect to the body of said piece of furniture M.

[0028] With reference to figures 3A, 3B and 3G, said displacing means 100 of the door wing A comprise sliding means 7, such as at least a slidingly movable slide in a manner substantially integral with said door wing A thanks to said cable 6, to the second end of which 6B it is anchored.

[0029]Said displacing means 100 also comprise elastic means 8, such as for example at least a first helical spring, connected with a first end to said slide 7 and with the opposite end connected to the casing 2, and adapted to elastically control the opening movement of the door wing A and to return the same toward the closed position. [0030] !f necessary, means to recover the travel of the cable 6, for example formed by one or more return pulleys (not shown in the figures), can be provided on said slide 7 to limit the travel of the same and thus the extension of the casing 2.

[O031]Said slide 7 is slidable inside said casing 2 between two limit switch positions, shown respectively in figures 3A and 3B, which correspond to the condition of door wing closed and to the condition of door wing open.

[0032] In particular, the two limit switch positions are preferably determined by two opposite end walls 2A, 2B od said casing 2: in particular, a first limit switch position is essentially defined by the contact of said slide 7 against a first end wall 2A of said casing 2, arranged dista!ly with respect to the position of said opening 5, and a second limit switch position is essentially defined by the contact of said slide 7 against a second end wall 2B of said casing 2, arranged near said opening 5.

[0033]The operation of said device 1 for controlling the opening/closing of the door wing A is substantially as follows: upon the opening of the door wing A, the cable 6 is put under traction, exerting on the slide to which it is connected a traction force, which produces the sliding movement inside said casing 2, starting from the first limit switch position where it was in contact against said first end wall 2A.

[0034]This movement, countered by the elastic action of said spring 8 which prevents the door A from achieving a high speed, ends when the opened position of the door wing A is reached (fig. 3B); at the same time, said slide 7 reaches the second limit switch position, where it contacts the second back wall 2B of said casing 2, and said cable 6 is in the position of maximum extraction from said casing 2, since its second end 6B is located near said exit opening 5.

[0035] Upon the closure of the door wing A, the tension on the cable 6 is decreased progressively; said spring 8 thus returns said slide 7 toward the first limit switch position (figure 3A), which is reached when said door wing A comes into contact with the sides S of the piece of furniture M.

[0036] Clearly, a device 1 for controlling the opening/closing of the door wing A according to the present invention can be provided with numerous other component elements. By way of example, said device 1 can be advantageously made as provided in patent application IT102017000093531 .

[0037]According to an advantageous characteristic of the present invention, said device 1 controlling the flap action opening/closing of said door A also incorporates an activation/deactivation assembly 10 adapted to automatically activate/deactivate at least one electrical device 20, such as for example a source of lighting or a loudspeaker, arranged in the inner cavity of the piece if furniture M, based on the position of said door A with respect to the containing body of the piece of furniture M

[0038] In particular, said activation/deactivation assembly 10 includes a position indicator member 1 1 , adapted to indicate the position of said door wing A with respect to the containing body of the piece of furniture M, and a detection and command unit 12, operatively connected to said device 20 and adapted to detect the position of said indicator member 1 1 to activate or deactivate said device 20 accordingly

[0039] Advantageously, said position indicator member 1 1 and said detection and command unit 12 are arranged in the casing 2 of said device 1 .

[0040] Preferably, said position indicator member 1 1 is arranged integral with said displacing means 100, advantageously integral with said slide 7, and said detection and command unit 12 is mounted integral with said casing 2. The arrangement of said position indicator member 1 1 and of said detection and command unit 12 can be inverted.

[0041] According to a first embodiment of the present invention, shown with reference to figures 3A, 3B and 3C, said indicator member 1 1 consists of a magnet and said detection and command unit 12 comprises a magnetic switch operatively connected to said device 20.

[0042] In particular, said magnet 1 1 is preferably housed in a seat 70 obtained on one side of said slide 7 adapted to come into contact with, or at any rate to arrange itself in proximity of said first end wall 2A when said slide 7 reaches said first stop position, corresponding to the condition of door wing A of the piece of furniture M in the closed condition (figure 3A).

[0043] Advantageously, said magnetic switch 12 is installed on said casing 2, and in particular at said first end wall 2A, so as to interact magnetically with said magnet 1 1 to detect a variation in the magnetic field when said slide 7 is at or reaches said first end stop position.

[0044] In this condition, said detection and command unit 12 is advantageously configured to deactivate the power supply to said device 20 or in any case to send a deactivation command to the same device and to thereby switch it off.

[0045]With the opening of the door wing A, said slide 7 starts the sliding movement toward the second stop position; the detection and command unit 12 is configured so as to activate the power supply to said device 20 or in any case to send an activation command to the same, and thereby to turn it on, by the effect of the separation of said magnet 1 1 from the relative magnetic switch

[0046] In a second embodiment of the present invention, illustrated with reference to figures 4A, 4B and 4C, said indicator member 1 1 is essentially formed by a projecting element, such as a pin protruding from said slide 7 and slides integral with the same inside the casing 2.

[0047] In this embodiment, said detection and command unit 12 is positioned on said casing 2 at a through opening 22 formed on the same, and includes advantageously an occupancy sensor, adapted to sense the presence of the pin 1 1 to consequently activate/deactivate said device 20 housed in the inner cavity of the piece of furniture M, similarly as described with reference to the first embodiment of the invention

[0048] Preferably, said through opening 22 is obtained in a wall of said casing 2 facing said pin 1 1 and is substantially arranged in an area in which said pin 1 1 is disposed when said slide 7 reaches said first stop position, wherein said door wing A is in the closed condition.

[0049] Clearly, an assembly 10 for activating/deactivating a device 20 can include further known components that enable or improve its operation, without thereby departing from the patent protection of the present invention

[O050]As shown in figure 2, the present invention is also particularly advantageous when said casing 2 is positioned outside the cavity of the piece of furniture M, for example when arranged externally with respect to the panel forming the back R of the piece of furniture M, and preferably positioned on the external surface of the same, for example as provided in the patent application IT102017000093526.

[0051]Said casing 2 can be mounted by means of suitable known fastening means, such as for example screws, directly to the back R of the piece of furniture M; alternatively, it can be fastened to the rear edge of the side S and/or to the back edge of the base B, to avoid affecting the appearance of the piece of furniture.

[0052] In this case, advantageously, it is not necessary for the wiring for the power supply of said detection and command unit 12 to extend also inside the inner cavity of the piece of furniture, thus maintaining unaffected the aesthetics of the piece of furniture.

[0053] Furthermore, advantageously, if said device 20 is powered thanks to a battery integrated therein, and said detection and command unit 12 is configured to communicate cordlessly with said device 20, for example through an infrared signal or Bluetooth®, it will not be necessary to prearrange any cable inside the inner cavity of the piece of furniture, thus guaranteeing a greater degree of safety. [0054] !n conclusion, from the above it is evident how the present invention makes it possible to achieve the initially expected purposes and advantages. In fact, an assembly 10 has been realized for activating/deactivating an electrical device of a piece of furniture that works in an automatic mode based on the position of the door wing A of the piece of furniture, while maintaining it out of view for the user.

[0Q55]This was obtained, advantageously, by incorporating the activating/deactivating assembly 10 in the device 1 for controlling the“flap” movement of the door wing A, thus making it possible to indirectly detect the position of the latter, while utilizing the means and elements already provided and necessary for displacing the same, without taking up any further additional useful room from the space already occupied by the device 1 .

[0056] Furthermore, it is evident how the assembly 10 for activating/deactivating a device 20 of a piece of furniture according to the present invention is quite easy to mount on the device 1 for controlling the movement of the door wing, even if it is already in use, while guaranteeing a high level of sturdiness and long-lasting reliability, and also allowing a quick replacement of any damaged elements or means, which can however be immediately found on the market.

[0057] Naturally, the present invention is susceptible to numerous applications, modifications or variations without thereby departing from the scope of patent protection, as defined by the enclosed claim 1 .

[0058] Furthermore, the materials and equipment used to achieve the present invention, as well as the shapes and dimensions of the individual components, can be the most suitable according to the specific requirements.