The present invention relates to a tool guiding device suitable for being used in the assembly and adjustment phase of furniture or furnishing items.

In the field of furniture or furnishing items in general, there are difficulties in the assembly phase for actuating the joining systems between end portions of vertical walls and the bottom, and leveling systems in which there is a reduced encumbrance between the bottom or base and the floor. This problem is particularly felt due to the fact that in a piece of furniture, these systems are provided in both the most accessible front part of the piece of furniture and above all in the less accessible rear part of the piece of furniture.

In order to have valid aid in this task, various solutions have been developed which, however, are not always welcome to users.

In spite of these known solutions, in fact, basically two problems remain:

difficulty for the person who has to effect the assembly of the piece of furniture in identifying the manoeuvring point of the front junction, the manoeuvring point of the rear junction, the manoeuvring point of the front leveler and the maneuvering point of the rear leveler;

difficulty in effecting the tightening of the junctions and actuation of the levelers when the space between the bottom and the floor is reduced, especially in view of the fact that new requirements and aesthetical solutions make this space increasingly smaller .

The general objective of the present invention is to identify an aid for solving the problems of the known art indicated above in a simple, economical and functional manner.

A further objective of the present invention is to identify a device that allows secure access from the front or front side of the furniture or similar furnishing item towards the group on which it is necessary to intervene without the assembler having to see said group.

Another objective of the present invention is to have secure access from the front or front side of the furniture or similar furnishing item towards a front or rear joining group and/or a front or rear leveling group .

The above objectives are achieved by a tool guiding device to be used during the assembly and adjustment phase of furniture or furnishing items produced according to independent claim 1 and the following subclaims .

The structural and functional characteristics of the present invention and its advantages with respect to the known art will appear even more evident from the following description, referring to the enclosed schematic drawings, which show an embodiment example of the invention itself. In the drawings:

- figure 1 is a perspective view of a tool guiding device to be used in the assembly and adjustment phase of furniture or furnishing items according to the present invention;

figure 2 is a perspective view of a tool guiding device to be used in the assembly and adjustment phase of furniture or furnishing items according to the present invention when exploded with respect to a piece of furniture or furnishing item on which it is necessary to operate using the above-mentioned device; - figures 3 and 4 are a perspective view and a raised side section which show how a device according to the invention is used in two different positions for actuating different assembly and adjustment operating groups ;

- figure 5 is a plan view from above of the device according to the invention;

figure 6 is a plan view from below of the device according to the invention;

- figures 7 and 8 are views from the two sides of the device according to the invention;

- figures 9 and 10 are a front view and a rear view of the device according to the invention shown in the previous figures;

- figure 11 is a plan view from above showing a piece of furniture comprising a side shoulder, a central shoulder and a base between these, in addition to part of a second base adjacent to the central shoulder in which tool guiding devices and relative transmission rods are provided.

With reference to the figures, these show a tool guiding device to be used in the assembly and adjustment phase of furniture or furnishing items according to the present invention, indicated as a whole with 11. The device is suitable for being used in the assembly and adjustment phase of furniture or furnishing items that provide at least one shoulder and at least one bottom.

When used, the device 11, in fact, is positioned between at least one shoulder 12 or vertical wall and a bottom 13 or a final horizontal shelf of a piece of furniture or furnishing item M.

Figures 2 and 4 show by way of non- limiting example, how one or more front bodies 14 and rear bodies 15 are positioned beneath the bottom 13, each containing at least one joining group between the shoulder and the bottom and a leveling group with respect to a floor P. These front and rear bodies 14 and 15 can be feet or more simply, containment elements of the joining group alone.

The example of figure 4 shows how the front body 14 appears in the form of a foot, containing a front joining group 35 and a front leveling group 36, but identically in the rear body 15, also in the form of a foot, there is also a rear joining group 37 together with a rear leveling group 38.

In the example shown, the front body 14 provides in the upper part, a pair of seats 16 suitable for receiving two hooking extensions 17 of the device 11 of the present invention. Said hooking extensions 17 act as a centering device for a correct positioning of the tool guiding device 11 with respect to the various front and rear joining groups and leveling groups present beneath the bottom 13 of the furniture M.

The tool guiding device 11 according to the present invention comprises a parallelepiped body 18 in which guide housings are hollowed for a rod with a tip 19 of a tool, such as, for example, a screwdriver 20, to be used during the assembly and/or adjustment phase of the furniture units M.

In the example illustrated, the body 18 of the device 11 provides four housings A, B, C and D arranged adjacent to each other, but in the case of the presence of the joining group alone, there are only two of the same. Each housing A, B, C and D extends into a channel 21, 22, 23 and 24 hollowed in the upper part of the body 18. The channels 21, 22, 23 and 24 protrude from a rear surface 25 of the body 18 in correspondence with respective openings 26, 27, 28 and 29 and serve as an alignment to openings 30 and 31 formed in the front body 14 by virtue of their selected inclination, for example preferably, but not exclusively, so as to form an angle a with the floor P of around 20/30°. Said angle a can in any case vary from 0° to 40°. The arrangement of the body 18 of the tool guiding device 11 according to the present invention automatically creates an alignment between the tip 19 of the tool 20 and the various front 14 and rear 15 joining and leveling groups.

Figure 4, for example, shows a section in correspondence with the first housing A. In said figure 4, the channel 21 is provided, which terminates in the opening 26 of the rear surface 25. In this way, the rod with the tip 19 of the tool or screwdriver 20 positioned in the housing A reaches the front body 14 for intervening in order to actuate and/or adjust the front leveling group 36.

In order to intervene to actuate and/or adjust the front joining group, the rod with the tip 19 of the tool or screwdriver 20 is positioned in the second housing B of the device 11. And, by subsequently passing through the channel 22 via the opening 27, the front joining group 35 is reached, between the bottom 13 and the shoulder 12 provided in the front body 14.

The presence of the tool guiding device 11 according to the present invention, however, also allows intervention on the leveling groups 38 and joining groups 37 of the rear body 15 positioned beneath the bottom 13.

This is effected analogously to what is described for the front body 14.

The rod with the tip 19 of the tool or screwdriver 20 is, in fact, positioned in the third housing C where the channel 23 which terminates in the opening 28 of the rear surface 25, is provided.

An end of a transmission rod 34 is housed in the front body 14, which extends as far as a corresponding opening 32 formed in front of the rear body 15 at the rear leveling group 38.

In this way, by acting with the tip 19 of the screwdriver 20 on the transmission rod 34, it is possible to operate on the rear leveling group 38.

Almost analogously, an end of a similar transmission rod 34 is housed in the front body 14, which extends as far as a corresponding opening 33 formed in front of the rear body 15 at the rear joining group 37.

Analogously, if the assembler wishes to intervene in order to actuate and/or adjust the rear joining group, he would position the rod with the tip 19 of the tool or screwdriver 20 in the fourth housing D of the device 11 (figures 3 and 11) . By thus acting on the relative transmission rod 34, the rear joining group 37 provided in the rear body 15 is reached.

These four actions are carried out without any need for verifying the exact position of the screwdriver 20 and relative holes for the actuation of the leveling and/or joining groups thanks to the use of the tool guiding device 11 according to the invention.

This is the case for both the left and right arrangement of the front 14 and rear 15 bodies of the furniture .

It can thus be seen how the solution proposed by the device according to the present invention basically solves the problems present in the known state of the art .

The tool guiding device 11 according to the present invention, in fact, facilitates the operator who has to effect the assembly of the piece of furniture. It has in fact been seen that it is not necessary to identify the manoeuvring point of the front junction, or the manoeuvring point of the rear junction, or the manoeuvring point of the front leveler, or the manoeuvring point of the rear leveling.

In addition to this, however, in general it also solves a further problem present in the known art.

The above-mentioned automaticity of direction and centering of the tool towards the various leveling and joining groups facilitates the tightening of the junctions and the actuation of the leveling devices when the space between the bottom and the floor is also extrerne1y re duced .

For furniture tha provides both right and left joining and/or leveling groups, two tool guiding devices are naturally provided, one right and one left, or a single device to be used for both the right and the left depending on its positioning (figure 11) .

Figure 11 shows how the parallelepiped body 18 of the device provides two pairs of four guiding housings (A, B, C and D) for a rod with a tip 19 of a tool 20, the first four housings facing left and the second four housings facing right and/or viceversa. In this way, the housings are tilted towards the relative shoulder to which the front body 14 and/or the rear body 15 is j uxtaposed .

Figure 11 also shows how, in the case of a double device, rear hooking extensions 17 are provided, in such a number as to allow engagement with right and left front bodies 14.

It should in fact be noted how this device can be easily used in leveling and joining with front adjustment also in the following patents:

- patent application nr. 102016000070711 of 07/07/2016 entitled "Hidden joining system with front activation for a bottom of a piece of furniture and furnishing items";

- patent application nr. 102016000070803 of 07/07/2016 entitled "Joining system with front activation on axis with a bottom of a piece of furniture and furnishing items" ;

- patent application nr. 102016000025845 of 11/03/2016 entitled "Compact joining and leveling system for parts of furniture and furnishing items";

- patent application nr. 102017000016178 of 14/02/2017 entitled "Compact joining and leveling system for parts of furniture and furnishing items".

The forms of the structure for producing a tool guiding device of the invention, as also the materials and assembly modes, can obviously differ from those shown by way of non-limiting example in the drawings.

The objectives mentioned in the preamble of the description have thus been achieved.

The protection scope of the present invention is defined by the enclosed claims.