DESCRIPTION

The present invention concerns tops in general, for pieces of furniture or other elements, and in particular it concerns a new type of top with modular edges.

In the following description, reference is made to radiused or bevelled or rounded corners or edges, meaning corners or edges in which the sides of the corner or the walls of the edge are radiused with respect to each other by means of a segment or an arc of a circle having any curvature radius.

Tops, for example shelves or tops of pieces of furniture or tops in general are known, which are constituted by a panel having a determined thickness, with at least one supporting surface.

Said panel can be made and/or finished with a wide range of materials, such as wood, metals, plastic materials, glass, composite materials etc.

For example, plastic laminate is known, a multilayer material that is commonly used in the field of production of furniture and furnishing elements to cover wooden panels, for example made of chipboard, MDF or other materials.

For example, a laminate material is known that consists of a variously coloured and/or decorated sheet, a protective and finishing layer and a rear supporting sheet.

Said multilayer material is used to cover the entire surface of the panels that is intended to remain visible, for example the upper supporting surface, the sides and the lower supporting surface.

In the cases where said panel has curved portions, the laminate material has to be applied in such a way as to exactly follow the shape of the panel.

This operation can be very complicated and, if it is not performed with the greatest precision, the material may come off or folds or irregular parts may form.

Furthermore, in order to make laminate tops with 90° edges or with a very limited curvature radius, it is common practice to cover the panel made of wood, MDF or a similar material with a sheet of laminate on the upper surface and a sheet of laminate on the lower surface, while the sides are made with discontinuous strips of laminate that meet at the level of the edges.

The edges of a laminate top created in this way, however, can be damaged very easily, as possible impacts may cause parts of the covering to become partially detached, exactly at the level of the margins of said strips and sheets.

On the other hand, as explained above, the procedures for making slightly bevelled edges on laminate tops are very complicated and not very precise. Tops for pieces of furniture or other elements with sharp edges are known which, in particular environments and in case of accidental impacts with body parts, may also be very dangerous.

The procedure is known according to which said tops are generally made with radiused, bevelled or rounded edges, for example with a curvature radius of at least 2-3 cm.

Often, however, aesthetic or functional needs do not allow edges with so large curvature radiuses to be used, but require edges with very small curvature radiuses.

Said edges can be easily obtained on panels made of materials that can be modelled, cut or moulded while, as already explained, more complicated procedures are required in the case where composite materials, like for example laminate, are used.

In particular, in places where there children or in public places or where it is necessary to minimize the risk of accidents, it is common practice to apply to the edges, by means of adhesive substances or other fixing means, elements in a plastic material, for example rubber, suited to dampen any impacts and commonly called edge protectors.

Said edge protectors obviously modify the aesthetic aspect of the piece of furniture and moreover their application often damages the surface of the piece of furniture itself.

Furthermore, said edge protectors project from the surface of the top and hinder the cleaning operations that have to be performed on the top itself.

In order to overcome the drawbacks described above, a new type of top has been designed and produced, for example for pieces of furniture or other elements, with modular radiused, bevelled or rounded edges.

Said top is made of any material, for example in wood or its derivatives, a plastic material, glass, metal, a composite material etc.

According to a possible embodiment of the invention, said top is specifically made of a laminate material, that is, a material comprising at least one wooden panel, in MDF or an analogous material, completely or partially covered with laminate.

The main object of the present invention is to obtain, on a panel in any shape, a bevelled or rounded edge with any given curvature radius in a rapid and precise manner.

It is another object of the invention to provide a method that can be applied for any type of top, made in any type of material with any type of finish, if any, in order to obtain said modular bevelled or rounded edges.

Another object of the present invention is to allow various types of finish and compositions and combinations to be carried out, according to aesthetic and functional needs.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a top with an edge protector that is integrated in the volume of the panel and does not project from it. These and other direct and complementary objects are achieved by the new top in general, for furniture or other elements, comprising in its main parts a panel made of any material, having a determined thickness and any shape, comprising at least one edge, wherein at the level of said edge an angular seat is obtained, wherein, in plan view, the opening of said seat created in the sides of the panel is narrower than the maximum width of the inside of the seat.

In greater detail, said seat has the shape of a portion of prism, cut by a plane parallel to the axis of the prism, said seat being arranged with its axis parallel to the sides of the panel and contained between them.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention, said prismatic seat is substantially cylindrical and in plan view it has the shape of a circle cut by a chord, wherein the length of said chord determines the width of the opening of the seat, which is smaller than the diameter of the circle.

The height of said angular seat preferably corresponds to the entire thickness of the panel, meaning that the seat is open also on the opposite larger surfaces of the panel.

The new top comprises also an angular element, in turn comprising a prismatic element suited to be axially inserted in said seat through said openings made in said larger surfaces, and wherein the size and shape of said angular element are such that it fits exactly in said seat.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention, said angular element has a cylindrical shape corresponding to that of said angular seat.

The height of said angular element is preferably equal to the height of said seat, that is, in the preferred embodiment, equal to the thickness of the panel.

However, it is also possible for said element to be higher or shorter.

Said angular element cannot come off in the direction orthogonal to the sides due to the fact that said opening of the seat is narrower than the diameter of the angular element, while to prevent said angular element from coming off in the axial direction it is possible to use bonding agents between the angular element and the inside of said seat.

Said angular element can be solid or tubular and hollow, open or closed at one or both ends.

In this way, from the assembly of said panel with said angular element, in plan view, a bevelled or radiused or rounded edge is obtained, wherein the connection surface between said sides is the portion of surface of said angular element at the level of said opening of the angular seat.

In particular, the curvature radius of said bevelled edge is equal to the radius of the circumference of said angular cylindrical element.

Said panel is made of any type of material, however, in the preferred embodiment, said panel is made of laminate material, meaning a wooden panel, preferably in MDF or an analogous material, partially or preferably completely covered with laminate of any type and with any finish.

Said angular element, in turn, is made of any material, for example wood, plastic, such as ABS polycarbonate, metal, rubber, glass or other materials.

In the case where said angular element is made of rubber or plastic, said angular element serves also as an edge protector, in order to dampen any impact.

Said angular element can be made of the same material and/or with the same finishes as the panel or different materials/finishes can be chosen, depending on technical and aesthetic needs.

In order to make said new top with modular edges, for example with a panel made in a wooden material, MDF or a similar material covered with laminate, first of all the panel is produced according to the known procedures, making the laminate covering also at the level of the sharp edges, according to the known methods.

The operations are then carried out that are necessary in order to obtain said seats at the level of one or more of the sharp edges that may be present in the panel, wherein said operations comprise, for example, milling the panel in order to form said seats in the shape of a prismatic or cylindrical portion. A further step consists in inserting said angular element into each one of said seats and fixing it therein if necessary, for example after spreading adhesive substances on the inner surface of said seat and/or on the outer cylindrical surface of said angular element.

An advantage offered by the present invention lies in that it makes it possible to obtain bevelled, radiused or rounded edges having any curvature radius, with no need to adopt special procedures for modelling the panel. The characteristics of the new top are highlighted in greater detail in the following description with reference to the drawings that are attached hereto by way of non-limiting example.

Figure 1 schematically shows a three-dimensional view of a top (P) constituted by a panel (1), for example rectangular in shape, with angular seats (4) made at the level of each one of the edges of the panel (1), and angular elements (3) not inserted in the corresponding angular seats (4). Figure 2 schematically shows a three-dimensional view of the top (P) represented in Figure 1, with bevelled or radiused or rounded edges (2) obtained from the angular elements (3) axially inserted in the angular seats (4).

Figure 3 shows a detail of the top (P) represented in Figure 1, where it is possible to observe an angular seat (4) and an angular element (3) not inserted therein.

Figure 4 shows in detail a bevelled edge (2) with said angular element (3) completely inserted in the corresponding angular seat (4). Figure 5 schematically shows a plan view of a portion of the panel (1), where it is possible to observe the angular seat (4) and an angular element (3) beside it.

The invention is a top (P) in general, for pieces of furniture or other elements, comprising a panel (1) made from any material, for example a wooden material, MDF or an analogous material, preferably completely covered with laminate.

Said panel (1) has a given thickness (HI) and any shape, for example substantially rectangular, as in Figure 1, which means that it has one or more edges (2).

Said panel (1) comprises two opposite larger surfaces, an upper surface (11) and an opposite lower surface (12), and sides (13).

At the level of one or more of said edges (2), preferably of each one of said edges (2), there is an angular seat (4), wherein, in plan view, the opening (41) of said seat (4) created in said sides (13) of the panel (1) is narrower (L41) than the maximum width (L4) of the inside of the seat (4).

Each one of said angular seats (4), in particular, has the shape of a prism portion, cut by a plane parallel to the longitudinal axis (4x) of the prism, said seat (4) being arranged with its axis (4x) parallel to said sides (13) of the panel (1) and contained between them.

In the preferred solution represented in the figures, said angular seat (4) is substantially cylindrical and in plan view, as shown in Figure 5, it has the shape of a circle cut by a chord.

The length (L41) of said chord determines the width of said opening (41) of the seat (4), which is smaller than the diameter (L4) of the circle.

The height (H4) of each one of said angular seats (4) preferably corresponds to the entire thickness (HI) of the panel (1), which means that it is open (42, 43) also on the larger opposite upper and lower surfaces (11, 12) of the panel (1).

The new top (P) comprises also an angular element (3) for each one of said angular seats (4), said angular element (3), in turn, comprising a prismatic element, completely or partially solid or hollow, suited to be axially inserted in said seat (4) with precision, through said openings (42, 43) made in said larger surfaces (11, 12).

In the solution represented in the figures, said angular element (3) is in a completely or partially solid or hollow cylindrical shape, corresponding to that of said angular seat (4), and its height (H3) is equal to the height (H4) of said angular seat (4), that is, to the thickness (HI) of the panel (1).

Therefore, the maximum diameter (L3) of said angular element (3) is larger than the width (L41) of said opening (41) of the seat (4) created in said sides (13), so that said angular element (3) cannot come off through said opening (41).

In this way, from the assembly of said panel (1) with said angular element (3), in plan view, a bevelled or rounded or radiused edge (2) is obtained, wherein the connection surface between said sides (13) is the portion (31) of surface of said angular element (3) that remains exposed at the level of said opening (41) of the angular seat (4).

In particular, the curvature radius of said bevelled edge (2) is equal to the radius of the circumference of said angular cylindrical element (3).

These are the schematic outlines that are sufficient for the expert in the art to implement the invention, consequently, upon implementation variants may be provided that do not affect the substance of the inventive concept proposed by the invention.

Therefore, with reference to the above description and the attached drawings, the following claims are expressed.