Item of furniture

Abstract

The invention relates to an item of furniture (1, 1') comprising a furniture carcass (2), which is at least partially closable at an opening by a panel (3') or door (3), wherein: a drawer unit (6) having at least two drawer elements (7, 8) arranged one above the other is positioned in the furniture carcass (2), which drawer elements are interconnected by at least one connection element (9) and are movable together; at least one intermediate base (10, 11) is fixed in the furniture carcass (2); the upper drawer element (7) of the at least two drawer elements (7, 8) arranged one above the other is displaceably held by at least one pull-out guide (12) fixed to the intermediate base (10). As a result, handling of the drawer unit can be improved in order to be able to effectively place items into and remove items from the drawer elements.

Description

[0001] Furniture

[0002] The present invention relates to a piece of furniture having a furniture body which can be at least partially closed at an opening by a panel or door, wherein a drawer unit having at least two drawer elements arranged one above the other is positioned in the furniture body, which drawer elements are connected to one another by at least one connecting element and can be moved together, wherein at least one intermediate shelf is fixed in the furniture body.

[0003] DE 299 07 134 U1 discloses a medicine cabinet with a holder for support panels that can be pulled out of a furniture body as a unit via a support frame. This also makes support panels in the upper area of ​​a furniture body more accessible. However, the production of a stable support frame is complex and requires a rigid design of the support frame and support panels in terms of width and depth.

[0004] DE 10 2011 050 439 A1 discloses a piece of furniture in which a pull-out element comprises two drawer elements arranged one above the other, connected by a common front panel. The drawer elements are each movable along pull-out guides fixed to opposite side walls of the furniture body. Arranging the drawer elements overhead on upper storage compartments poses the problem that these are difficult to access due to the side pull-out guides.

[0005] It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a piece of furniture that enables effective storage and handling of objects in drawer elements arranged one above the other.

[0006] This problem is solved by a piece of furniture having the features of claim 1.

[0007] In the furniture according to the invention, a drawer unit with at least two superimposed drawer elements is positioned in a furniture body, which drawer elements are connected to one another by at least one connecting element and can be moved together. At least one intermediate shelf is fixed in the furniture body, and the upper of the at least two superimposed drawer elements is held movable via at least one pull-out guide fixed on the intermediate shelf. As a result, the upper drawer element can be supported by the at least one pull-out guide and can be moved at least partially in front of the furniture body for loading or removing objects.The at least one pull-out guide fixed on the intermediate floor is therefore not located in a lateral access area of ​​the drawer element, but underneath it, which improves the design options for the drawer element, in particular if the drawer element is arranged at a height above a user's head.

[0008] Preferably, the upper drawer element is movable via two pull-out guides attached to the intermediate shelf, which are preferably mounted beneath a shelf of the drawer element. This provides better protection against twisting. The two pull-out guides for the upper drawer element can be provided on opposite long sides of the upper drawer element for even load distribution.

[0009] The lower drawer element of the at least two drawer elements arranged one above the other is also held so as to be movable on a further intermediate floor via at least one, preferably two, pull-out guides. As a result, each of the at least two drawer elements is supported by one or two pull-out guides and can be loaded accordingly. The connection between the drawer elements therefore does not have to absorb any weight forces, but only serves to improve handling, since the drawer unit with the at least two drawer elements can be moved together from a closed position in the furniture body to a position at least partially, preferably completely, in front of the furniture body. The pull-out guides preferably comprise two or three rails that are movable relative to one another and can be moved relative to one another via rolling elements or rollers.

[0010] The term "furniture" within the meaning of this application also includes household appliances, i.e., furniture with an additional function, such as cooling or heating objects. The furniture can therefore also be designed as a refrigerator or a heating chamber.

[0011] In a preferred embodiment, the height distance between the two superimposed sliding elements is adjustable. For this purpose, the connecting element can be slidably mounted on one of the two sliding elements, or an adjustment mechanism can be used to fix a set distance. For this purpose, a bar or a groove with a clamping element or a locking device can be provided, for example.

[0012] Preferably, at least two drawer units with at least two stacked drawer elements are arranged side by side in the furniture body. Several drawer units can thus be movably mounted on the intermediate shelf, allowing them to be designed with a smaller width than the intermediate shelf, which improves accessibility, especially in the upper area of ​​the furniture body, for overhead operation.

[0013] Each drawer unit preferably has a storage shelf accessible via at least one access opening formed on a side frame. This allows the respective drawer unit to be loaded or unloaded from the side into a position in front of the furniture body, with the access opening preferably being larger than 50% of the area between a rear wall and a front wall above the storage shelf. An access opening can, for example, comprise a railing or a frame section with a reduced height. Each drawer unit can have such an access opening in the side wall on opposite sides, allowing loading and unloading from both sides.

[0014] The drawer unit with the at least two drawer elements arranged one above the other is preferably mounted in the furniture body such that they are arranged at a height of more than 1.20 m above the floor. As a result, the drawer unit is at least partially at head height or above, so that the combined handling of the two drawer elements improves accessibility, particularly for the upper drawer element. The at least two drawer elements preferably have a narrow width of between 20 cm and 45 cm, so that even the middle area of ​​the drawer elements is easily accessible when accessed from the side.

[0015] For a visually appealing appearance, the drawer elements are preferably arranged behind a pivoting or sliding door. The door can be pivoted via hinges on the furniture body or be designed as a sliding door. Alternatively, the two drawer elements can be connected to each other via a common plate-shaped front panel that at least partially closes the opening in the furniture body. In this case, the front panel is movable together with the drawer elements.

[0016] In a further embodiment, the at least two drawer elements each comprise a front panel that is coupled to one another via at least one connecting rod. This allows an opening to remain between the front panels as a viewing opening. Such a drawer unit can optionally be arranged behind another door of the furniture in the closed position. Furthermore, more than two drawer elements can optionally be combined into one drawer unit via at least one connecting element.

[0017] The invention will be explained in more detail below using several exemplary embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings. They show:

[0018] Figure 1 is a perspective view of an inventive

[0019] Furniture in an opening position;

[0020] Figure 2 is a perspective view of a thrust unit with two

[0021] Shear elements;

[0022] Figure 3 is a perspective view of a modified piece of furniture with two drawer units;

[0023] Figure 4 is a perspective view of another embodiment of a piece of furniture;

[0024] Figure 5 is a perspective view of another thrust unit with two thrust elements;

[0025] Figures 6A and 6B show two views of a front panel of a push unit;

[0026] Figures 7A and 7B show two views of a unit with two front walls for a push unit;

[0027] Figure 8 is a detailed view of a support element on a front wall, and Figure 9 is a view of the front wall with two support elements.

[0028] A piece of furniture 1 comprises a cabinet-shaped furniture body 2, which has an upper pivoting door 3 and at least one further pivoting door 4 on a front side. In an upper region of the furniture body 2, beneath a top panel 5, there is a drawer unit 6 with two drawer elements 7 and 8 arranged one above the other. In the closed position, the drawer unit is arranged within the furniture body 2 and can be moved into a position in front of the furniture body 2 via pull-out guides 12. For this purpose, an upper intermediate panel 10 is provided in the furniture body 2 between two side walls, on which two pull-out guides 12 are mounted, the upper drawer element 7 being held on the movable guide rail. In the furniture body 2, there is also provided a further intermediate panel 11 below the upper intermediate panel 10, on which two pull-out guides 12 are also mounted, each supporting the lower drawer element 8 on the movable guide rail.

[0029] The thrust unit 6 with the two thrust elements 7 and 8 is movable together, whereby the two thrust elements 7 and 8 are coupled via a connecting element 9 with two connecting rods. Other connecting elements, such as profiles, molded bodies, or plates, can also be used to couple the two thrust elements 7 and 8. Furthermore, a thrust unit 6 can also comprise three or more thrust elements arranged one above the other instead of two thrust elements 7 and 8.

[0030] In the furniture body 2, two drawer units 6 are arranged side by side between the side walls, with the right drawer unit 6 being arranged in the furniture body 2 and the left drawer unit 6 being arranged in front of the furniture body 2 in Figure 1. The right drawer unit 6 is also held movable via pull-out guides 12 for the upper drawer element 7 and the lower drawer element 8.

[0031] Figure 2 shows a drawer unit 6 in detail. Each drawer element 7 or 8 comprises a storage shelf 15 for holding objects. An upwardly projecting rear wall 14 is provided on a rear end edge of the storage shelf 15 and is arranged between two side wall elements 16. At a front side, relative to the extension direction, each drawer element 7 and 8 comprises a front wall element 13 that is connected to two further side wall elements 16. An access opening 17 is formed between two wall elements 16 on the sides. This access opening 17 takes up at least 50% of the area between the rear wall 14 and the front wall element 13 and allows easy access to objects in the drawer element 7 or 8. The drawer elements 7 or 8 have a relatively small width of between 20 cm and 45 cm, so that they allow access to the objects even when arranged at a great height.

[0032] A pull-out guide 12 with several rails that can be moved relative to one another is mounted beneath the storage shelf 15, in particular two or three rails, depending on how far the drawer elements 7 and 8 can be moved in front of the furniture body 2.

[0033] The two sliding elements 7 and 8 are coupled together in the area of ​​the two front wall elements 13 via a connecting element 9 with two connecting rods and can therefore only be moved as a unit.

[0034] Figure 3 shows a modified piece of furniture 1' with a furniture body 2, which is designed as in the previous exemplary embodiment and differs from the first exemplary embodiment in that no pivotable door 3 is provided, but rather a panel 3' is fixed to the left-hand drawer unit 6, so that the panel 3' is not movable by a pivoting movement, but rather by a linear movement relative to the furniture body 2. The panel 3' covers the entire opening in the upper region of the furniture body 2 between the side walls and also the right-hand drawer unit 6. Alternatively, it is possible to fix a panel of half the width to each of the two drawer units 6.

[0035] Figure 4 shows a further modification of a piece of furniture 1', in which the left drawer unit is connected to the wide panel 3' and the right drawer unit, instead of the two wall elements 13 at the front, comprises a front panel 20 which covers a front side of the two drawer elements 7 and 8 and connects them to each other.

[0036] A drawer unit 6 with the front panel 20 is shown in detail in Figure 5. This drawer unit 6 differs from the drawer unit 6 in Figure 2 by the arrangement of a plate-shaped front panel 20 on the front, which replaces the two wall elements 13 and the connecting element 9 or is mounted in addition to them. Otherwise, the drawer unit 6 is unchanged. Figures 6A and 6B show the front panel 20 of the drawer unit 6 from Figure 5 in detail. It can be seen that grooves 22 are provided on opposite sides of the plate-shaped front panel 20, on which support elements 24 are adjustably held. In this case, two support elements 24 arranged one above the other are provided on each of the two grooves 22 arranged on opposite long sides, wherein the two upper support elements 24 are connected to the upper drawer element 7 and the two lower support elements 24 are connected to the lower drawer element 8.Cover strips 23 are provided on opposite ends of the front panel 20.

[0037] As shown in Figure 6B, the cover strips 23 can be secured to the plate-shaped front panel 20 by means of projections, either by inserting or gluing them to the front panel 20. The front panel 20 can be formed from a hollow profile, for example, made of aluminum or plastic. Alternatively, the grooves 22 can also be milled into a panel made of a wood-based material.

[0038] Figures 7A and 7B show the two wall elements 13 with the connecting element 9 of the sliding unit 6 of Figure 2. In this variant, too, grooves 22 are provided in the wall elements 13, in which the support elements 24 are adjustably held. The narrow sides of the wall elements 13 in the vertical direction are each covered by cover strips 23. Between the two wall elements 13, two connecting rods are provided as connecting elements 9, each of which is inserted with its opposite end into a hollow chamber of one of the wall elements 13.

[0039] Figure 8 shows a support element 24 that is adjustably mounted on a groove 22. For this purpose, at least one fastening element 25 is provided on the support element 24, which enables locking or clamping to the groove 22. The fastening element 25 can, for example, be connected to a sliding block or a clamping element in order to be able to fix the support element 24 at different vertical heights relative to the wall element 13 or the front panel 20.

[0040] Figure 9 shows the wall element 13 designed as a hollow profile, and the two undercut grooves 22 are visible, into which a clamping element 26 can be inserted and moved via the fastening means 25. This allows the clamping element 26 to be displaced along the groove 22 in a first position and fixed in a second position by clamping. Instead of such clamping elements 26, other fastening means can also be provided to hold the support elements 24 adjustable relative to a wall element 13 or the front panel 20.

[0041] List of reference symbols

[0042] 1 furniture

[0043] T Furniture

[0044] 2 furniture body

[0045] 3 Door

[0046] 3' aperture

[0047] 4 Door

[0048] 5 Topsoil

[0049] 6 thrust unit

[0050] 7 Thrust element

[0051] 8 Thrust element

[0052] 9 Connecting element

[0053] 10 intermediate floor

[0054] 11 intermediate floor

[0055] 12 Drawer guides

[0056] 13 front wall element

[0057] 14 Rear wall

[0058] 15 storage shelves

[0059] 16 wall elements

[0060] 17 Access opening

[0061] 20 front panel

[0062] 22 grooves

[0063] 23 Cover strip

[0064] 24 supporting element

[0065] 25 fasteners

[0066] 26 clamping element

Claims

Claims. Furniture (1, 1') with a furniture body (2) which can be at least partially closed at an opening by a panel (3') or door (3), wherein a drawer unit (6) with at least two drawer elements (7, 8) arranged one above the other is positioned in the furniture body (2), which drawer elements are connected to one another by at least one connecting element (9) and can be moved together, wherein at least one intermediate floor (10, 11) is fixed in the furniture body (2), characterized in that the upper drawer element (7) is held so as to be movable by the at least two drawer elements (7, 8) arranged one above the other via at least one pull-out guide (12) fixed on the intermediate floor (10). Furniture according to claim 1, characterized in that the upper drawer element (7) is held so as to be movable by two pull-out guides (12) fixed to the intermediate floor (10).Furniture according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the lower drawer element (8) is held movable by the at least two drawer elements (7, 8) arranged one above the other via at least one pull-out guide (12) fixed on a lower, further intermediate floor (11). Furniture according to claim 3, characterized in that the lower drawer element (8) is held movable via two pull-out guides (12) fixed to the lower, further intermediate floor (11). Furniture according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the distance between the two drawer elements (7, 8) arranged one above the other is adjustable in height. Furniture according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least two drawer units (6) with drawer elements (7, 8) arranged one above the other are arranged next to one another in the furniture body (2). Furniture according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that each drawer element (7, 8) has a storage shelf (15) which is accessible via at least one access opening (17) formed on a side frame. Furniture according to claim 7, characterized in that each drawer element (7, 8) has an access opening (17) in the side frame on opposite sides. Furniture according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the drawer unit (6) with the drawer elements (7, 8) is arranged at a height of over 1.2 m above a floor. Furniture according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the width of the drawer elements (7, 8) is between 20 cm and 45 cm. Furniture according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the drawer elements (7, 8) are arranged behind a pivotable or sliding door (3).Furniture according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the two drawer elements (7, 8) are connected to one another via a common plate-shaped front panel (20). Furniture according to one of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that the two drawer elements (7, 8) each have a front wall (13) which are coupled to one another via at least one connecting element (9).

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