U.S. patent number 3,747,885 [Application Number 05/134,657] was granted by the patent office on 1973-07-24 for modular joint.
Invention is credited to George Ernest Stora Ciancimino.
United States Patent |
3,747,885 |
Ciancimino |
July 24, 1973 |
MODULAR JOINT
Abstract
An article of furniture in which at least one support post is
provided, the post being formed with two or more longitudinally
extending slides. One end of a transition piece is slidably engaged
with each slide and can be secured against sliding movement by a
locking screw. The other end of the transition piece is secured to
a horizontal support member by a further locking screw. In a
preferred arrangement, four equiangularly spaced slides are
provided which enables a furniture system to be built up based on a
rectangular modulus.
Inventors: |
Ciancimino; George Ernest Stora
(London, EN) |
Family
ID: |
10124104 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/134,657 |
Filed: |
April 16, 1971 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
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Apr 21, 1970 [GB] |
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19,121/70 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
248/188.1;
211/182; 312/263; 403/190; 403/231 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F16B
12/32 (20130101); F16B 7/044 (20130101); Y10T
403/4602 (20150115) |
Current International
Class: |
F16B
12/00 (20060101); F16B 12/32 (20060101); F16b
003/00 () |
Field of
Search: |
;248/188.1,224,225,245
;211/182,176 ;287/54.1,56,54A,54B,54C ;312/111,263 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
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|
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81,656 |
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Sep 1963 |
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FR |
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1,480,511 |
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Apr 1967 |
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FR |
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1,248,378 |
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Aug 1967 |
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DT |
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46,021 |
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Jun 1939 |
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NL |
|
Primary Examiner: Parsons, Jr.; Marion
Claims
I claim:
1. An article of furniture comprising at least four identical
support posts of uniform symmetrical lobe-like cross section, each
post having longitudinal ribs of re-entrant lobe form facing
different directions, a plurality of longitudinal elements, each
longitudinal element extending horizontally between a pair of
support posts to form a closed figure in plan, identical transition
members fitting within the ends of each longitudinal element and
connecting said ends to opposed ribs of the respective support
posts, the transition members each having an opening corresponding
to the shape of a rib of said posts for receiving a rib therein,
said opening being in sliding cooperation therewith, means to
secure the transition members to the posts, said securing means
including a first set screw threaded longitudinally through each
transition member and engageable with a rib to clamp said
transition member against a corresponding rib, and separate means
to secure the longitudinal element to the transition member, said
separate means including a second set screw passing through said
longitudinal element and threadingly engaging said transition
element.
2. An article of furniture as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least
one of the support posts is hollow.
3. An article of furniture as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of
said posts comprises four equiangularly spaced ribs.
4. An article of furniture as claimed in claim 1, wherein said
support post, transition piece and longitudinal element are of
aluminium.
5. An article of furniture as claimed in claim 1 further including
hemipherical shaped resilient elements mounted on the top of each
of said support posts for supporting a surfacing member.
Description
The invention relates to joint assemblies particularly for use in
modular furnishing systems.
The invention provides an article of furniture, at least one
support post defining at least two longitudinally extending
retaining slides, at least one transition piece for each slide,
each transition piece having one end formed for sliding cooperation
with the slide and the other end formed for cooperation with a
longitudinal element extending in a plane perpendicular to the
support post, means for securing the longitudinal element to the
transition member and means for securing the transition piece
against movement along the slide.
One embodiment of the invention will now be described with
reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
FIG. 1 is a plan view on a modular table assembly incorporating
joints according to the invention;
FIG. 2 is a side elevation on the line II -- II of FIG. 1,
FIG. 3 is an exploded sectional plan view on the line III -- III of
FIG. 2, and
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a further embodiment of the
present invention.
Referring first to FIG. 1, the assembly shown comprises three
modular table units 1, 2 and 3 formed by horizontal longitudinal
elements 4 mounted at their ends on posts 5. At each post 5, the
longitudinal elements 4 are connected thereto by joints of the kind
shown in greater detail in FIGS. 2 and 3.
Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 3, each post 6 has four longitudinally
extending lobe section ribs 7 each of which define a pair of
re-entrant grooves 8. The post 6 is preferably formed as an
aluminium extrusion.
A transition piece 9 is provided which has two portions 10 and 11.
The portion 10 is formed with an open sided cylindrical recess 18
so as to slidably cooperate with one of the ribs 7 for movement
longitudinally of the post 6. A locking screw (or screws) 12
extends through a threaded aperture in the transition piece 9 for
locking the transition piece in a desired position relative to the
post by engagement with the rib 7.
The portion 11 of the transition piece 9 is formed as a spigot
which enters the tubular end of the longitudinal element 4, the
dimensions of the element 4 being such as to provide an outer
surface flush with the portion 10 of the transition piece when
engaged thereon. A further locking screw (or screws) 13 extends
through a hole 14 in the element 4 and engages in a screw threaded
hole 15 in the spigot 11 so as to secure the element 4 thereto.
The elements 4 may be provided with brackets 16 (as shown in FIG.
1) to support a surfacing member such as a glass plate 17 flush
with the upper surfaces of the elements 4. Alternatively,
hemispherical rubber bushes 19 can be provided on the upper ends of
the legs 5 so as to support surfacing members above the elements 4
as illustrated in detail in FIG. 2.
The arrangement described above may be varied in a number of ways.
Thus the legs 6 may be formed as tubes to permit wiring to be fed
through them for lighting or other electrical equipment on the
modular unit as shown in the embodiment of FIG. 4. The elements 4
may be curved in a horizontal plane to vary the profile of the
assembly in plan. Also, the arrangement is not restricted to a
rectilinear modulus. By providing the posts 6 with three or five
equi-angularly spaced lobes 7, a modular assembly based on
triangular or pentagonal shapes may be evolved.
* * * * *