Interlocking Panel Edge Profiles With Hidden Furniture Joints
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing furniture assembly methods, particularly for flat-pack furniture, are cumbersome and costly due to the need for numerous connection accessories, which complicates assembly for DIY users and increases manufacturing costs, while current solutions for connecting panel-shaped elements often compromise aesthetics and ease of assembly.
Innovation Solution
A composed element design featuring panel-shaped elements with profiled parts along their edges that interlock via a tongue and groove mechanism, where the profiled parts are hidden from view, allowing for easy assembly and optimal connection characteristics without affecting the exterior appearance, using materials like laminate or ABS strips for durability and aesthetic integration.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If furniture panels are connected using classical techniques with dowels and glue, then the connection strength is improved, but the ease of assembly for DIY users deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The coupling means are designed to enable self-assembly by the end user without requiring specialized tools or techniques. The profiled parts with interlocking geometry allow users to assemble furniture themselves while maintaining strong connections, eliminating the need for dowels and glue application skills.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention replaces the complex mechanical system of dowels and glue with a simplified profiled part coupling mechanism. The interlocking profiled parts provide both the mechanical strength and the ease of assembly in a single integrated solution, substituting multiple components and steps with a unified coupling system.
2Adaptability or versatility
If a large number of connection accessories are supplied with furniture, then the connection versatility is improved, but the device complexity and packaging requirements worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The profiled parts are designed with universal coupling characteristics that can accommodate various panel configurations and furniture types. The standardized profiled coupling mechanism serves multiple functions across different assembly scenarios, eliminating the need for multiple specialized accessories while maintaining connection versatility.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention merges the functions of multiple connection accessories into a single integrated profiled part system. The profiled parts combine coupling, locking, and alignment functions in one component, reducing the overall number of accessories needed and simplifying the assembly system while maintaining versatility across different furniture configurations.
3Ease of operation
If profiled parts are used for coupling panel-shaped elements, then the ease of assembly is improved, but the aesthetic appearance deteriorates due to visible coupling means
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the profiled coupling parts from the visible surface area of the furniture panels. By positioning the profiled parts at the edges and using covering elements, the coupling mechanism is separated from the aesthetic surfaces, allowing easy assembly functionality to coexist with clean, uninterrupted visual surfaces.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention introduces covering elements as intermediaries between the profiled coupling parts and the visible surface. These covering elements conceal the profiled parts from view while allowing the coupling mechanism to function, thus mediating between the ease of assembly requirement and the aesthetic appearance requirement.
Data Source
AI summary
A composed element includes at least two panel-shaped elements, which each have an edge zone in which coupling means are present in a profiled part respectively extending in the longitudinal direction of the respective edge zone, and each including an end face extending transversely to the respective edge zone. The profiled parts allow the coupling of the panel-shaped elements together in an interlocking manner. At least one of the panel-shaped elements includes an arrangement which hides from view at least a portion of the profiled part formed at the pertaining edge zone at the location of the end face.