Furniture structure
1451 Apr. 15, 1975 Hassing [54] FURNITURE STRUCTURE 3,736,035 5/1973 Brown 312/107 [75] Inventor: Edward J. Hassing, Seven Hills, FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 01110 1,906,233 7/1970 Germany 312/111 [73] Assignee: MPC Corporation, Cleveland, Ohio Filed: g 1972 Przmary ExammerJames T. McCall [21] App]. NO.I 279,282 ABSTRACT This invention relates to a frame structure for a modu- [52] US Cl 312/257 R; 312/111; 312/140; lar cabinet and other furniture pieces such as desks, 312/198 hutches, bookcases, file cabinets, vanities and doors [51] Int. Cl A47b 47/00 and a method f making The Structure has [58] held of Search 312/107 108, 109, formed tubular channel-like interlocking parts includ- 312/140, 1984 157 157 263, 264, ing corners, styles, couplers, connecting tees, connect- 265; zzo/DIG- 12, DIG 14 ing crosses, corner posts, center posts and moldings that are fitted together to form the frame. Extruded [56] References Clted plastic panels cut to proper sizes are fastened prefera- UNITED STATES PATENTS bly by ultrasonic welding to rabbeted edges in the 3,044,656 7/1962 Combs et al. 312/257 s1 frame to form the Sides and together with doors of 3,353,888 11/1967 Pritelli, Jr. 312/140 ers ttached to the front of the structure they 3,360,320 12/1967 Lust 312/257 R present a complete furniture piece. 3,606,506 9/1970 3,661,434 5 1972 Adster 312 111 15 Claims, 11 Drawmg Flgures PATENTEDAPR 1 sms 3, 877 765 sum 1 95 g &#34;mm&#34; &#34;mul W PATENTED APR 1 51975 3,877 765 4s LE m fluiiii film FURNITURE STRUCTURE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a furniture construction and method of making and more particularly relates to an improved cabinet construction having a frame comprising preformed tubular channel-like interlocking parts and an improved method for making same. The invention also relates to other furniture pieces that admit of frame construction.  
  At present, furniture pieces such as kitchen cabinets are manufactured by the longstanding method of cutting and shaping wood to form the frame and paneling to arrive at the completed structure. This procedure, however, is costly and very time consuming in order to make quality furniture. Skilled craftsmen are required for such furniture making procedures who receive high wages for their labor in fabricating cabinets and other furniture pieces from basic wood stock.  
  The making of furniture has been improved somewhat by fabricating the parts with machinery when a large volume of standard pieces are required for mass production assembly. Here again, the procedure is still too costly due to the high cost of the basic material, wood, and the manner of making and assembling the furniture structure members. After tediously fabricating the frame members, a craftsman then must nail and butt cement the frame together. Next, after cutting, the top, bottom and side paneling must be attached to the frame by cementing or nailing. The final step of finishing the wood surfaces then requires the tedious labor of a skilled person who must take considerable time to obtain a quality cabinet or other furniture piece.  
  The subject invention overcomes the above discussed problems and provides a furniture construction and method of making of comparable strength and quality to that of wood. The frame of the subject invention comprises rails of tubular half-section shape having an interlocking construction on the ends for rigidly fitting the channel-like side rails or styles to corner members to form a rigid box type frame. Further frame outline arrangements and sizes of the frame structure are possible by providing additional parts such as coupler members which interlock with the styles for extending the size of the frame. Also, T-members and cross members are employed between the corners to facilitate forming modular compartments in the complete structure such as for cabinets. The frame members are contemplated to be made of plastic material such as polystyrene and all formed by the injection molding process well known in the art. The remaining parts for completing the structure are the top, bottom and side panels which are cut to size from extruded plastic sheet stock. The panels are set in rabbeted grooves formed on the inside edges of the frame structure on each of the desired exterior sides. The completed furniture piece of frame components and panels are permanently fixed by preferably ultrasonic welding the parts together, but they also may be permanently fixed by other methods such as by cementing with suitable adhesives or solvents.  
  The exterior exposed surfaces of the frame and panel components are in a finished condition and ready for assembly right after being formed in injection molding and extruding equipment without requiring further finishing procedures. This is possible due to the latest advances in such processes whereby the quality of wood finish is duplicated even to the extent of providing graining in the surface of the plastic finished product. The surface finish is duplicated in color and graining so well today that the most experienced craftsman has to perform tests other than just viewing side by side samples in order to distinguish between the wood and plastic cabinets. Thus, the present invention saves the costs of time consuming finishing procedures required with wood furniture in the prior art.  
  Further savings are obtained by forming finished frame components by injection molding them in the desired shape. It can be appreciated this is a considerable improvement over the present day method of shaping the desired frame components by tedious woodworking cutting procedures. Also, savings are incurred due to there being no loss of material in plastic molding processes as compared to the loss sustained by the scrap pieces remaining after cutting wood stock to shape the desired frame and panel members.  
  By making the furniture of plastic material, such as polystyrene and polypropolene, the structure has the further advantages of resistance to rotting, swelling, warping, chipping, splitting and cracking that is prevalent in wood structures. It has been found that the injection molding process produces plastic frame parts of greater strength than by the extruding process, but either process or other suitable processes may be used. The plastic material described has greater strength and durability than wood, but yet exhibits a fine quality furniture finish that exactly reproduces all of richness and texture in wood. Although the plastic frame and panel exposed surfaces are in a finished state after being produced, finishing procedures still may be employed to obtain a yet higher degree of finish, if desired.  
  A further important development over the prior art by the present invention is in providing furniture component parts that can be assembled to make any size of furniture piece or cabinet desired with just one set of dies. The frame is adjustable to various sizes due to the use of coupler members and cutting the rail members to desired lengths if needed.  
 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION According to one aspect of the invention there is provided a cabinet or other furniture construction which comprises a frame having corner members and rail members or styles extending between the comer members, and a means of interlocking the styles and corners together such as by tenon and route joints. The frame is assembled to form a generally rectangular front frame and back frame with side rails extending between them to form a box-like outline structure. Panels are cut to size and attached to the frame to form the top, bottom and sides of the cabinet construction. A door is hinged to the corner posts on the front side of the frame for completing the enclosure of the cabinet.  
  Further compartments can be added to form a modular cabinet by using the additional frame connecting tees and crosses in between the corners of the described cabinet and placing additional interlocking styles, side rails and panel members in position as above.  
  Accordingly, a primary object of the present invention is to provide an improved furniture construction.  
  A further object of the invention is to provide an improved furniture construction having a frame comprised of corner members and interlocking rail members connected between said corner members thereby forming a complete box-like frame.  
  A still further object of the invention is to provide an improved furniture constructionhaving a frame comprised of corner members, interlocking rail members connected between said corner members to form a complete box-like frame, plain or panel members connected to the sides of the frame and a door connected to the front of the frame to form an enclosure.  
  It is yet another object of the invention to provide an improved method for making a furniture construction.  
  The above and other objects and advantages will become apparent. from the following description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:  
  FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an assembled two compartment cabinet constructed in accordance with the present invention with portions broken out for ease of illustration;  
  FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of modular cabinet furniture constructed in accordance with the present invention;  
  FIG. &#39;3 is a front elevational sectional view of a typical arrangement of the frame;  
  FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 4-4 of FIG. 3;  
 FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 55 of FIG. &#39;3;  
  FIG. 6is a cross-sectional view takenon line 66 of FIG. 3;  
 FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 7-7 of FIGJ3;  
  FIG. 8 is a perspective fragmentary view of a corner of the door frame;  
  FIG. 9 is a cross-sectionalview taken on line 99 of FIG. 8;  
  FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 10-10 of FIG. 8;  
  FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the rear side of the toe plate;  
 DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring more particularly to the drawings now wherein the showings are forthe purpose of illustrating the preferred embodiments of the invention only and not for the purpose of limiting same, a first embodiment of the invention is illustrated in FIG. 1 and shows a two compartment cabinet 10. The cabinet 10 is typically used in kitchens as is shown in two places in the upper portion of the kitchen set 11 ofFIG. 2. The kitchen set 11 is shown merely to demonstrate a typical environment for this invention, but it can be appreciated the invention may be used for constructing other furniture pieces such as desks, bookcases, file cabinets, hutches, doors and the like.  
  There is shown in FIGS. l-3 a basic furniture assembly and component parts of the present invention comprising a cabinet generally indicated at 10. The frame of the assembly includes corners 15 and rail members 16. The rail members 16 or styles are employed between the corners 15 in various positions as shown in FIG. 1 to function as side rails, center posts and corner posts to form a box-like rectangular frame. The rails 16 are of half tubular channel-like construction in cross section but can be other shapes such as half round, rectangular or circular. In orderto obtain rigidity, the  
 rails are interlocked by close fitting tenon and groove construction as shown at 17. To maintain the connection, a wedge shaped locking device 44 may be used which snaps into the matching groove 45. This prevents a separation or opening between the frame members. which would be objectionable if appearing in the exposed face of the structure. Other means of interlocking also can be applied such as the use of brackets and fasteners to obtain rigidity in the complete frame. The rails 16 are preformed to standard lengths common in the particular furniture piece being constructed to permit mass production assembly. For example, kitchen wall cabinets are standard at twelve inches in depth and I twenty-four inches in depth for base cabinets. However, if larger dimensions in any directionare desired, the rails 16 may be cut and used in combination with a channel-like coupler 18 as shown in FIG. 3. The rails 16 are interlocked with coupler 18 by close fitting tenon and groove structure as. before to obtain a rigid connection. To construct a two compartment cabinet as in the upper portion of FIG. 2, a T-coupler member 19 is employed to interlock with a centerpost rail 21,  
 center top rail 22 and center bottom rail 23.In FIG. 3  
 an interconnecting cross coupler 20 is shown to illustrate a further combination if desired in assembling the frame of this invention for constructing adjacent modu- 4 lar compartments. such as the base cabinets shown in the bottom portion of FIG. 2. Here again the preferred method of interlocking the frame T 19 and cross member 20 couplers in the frame with rails 16 is by tenon and groove described above.  
  The frame half tubular channel-like members are made preferably of plastic material such as polystyrene and polypropolene, but othersuitable plastics or materials such as metal may be used. The frame members are preferably formed by the injection molding process well known in the art but other suitable. processes can be applied. However, it has been found the frame members are structurally stronger when formed by injection molding.  
  Panel 24 members are applied to the frame to form the sides to the cabinet enclosure. To form the top side, panel 24 is laid against the outer edge of flange 14 which forms an offset horizontal ledge in rail 16 asseen in FIGS. 1 and 7. The bottom panel 24 similarly rests on the horizontal ledge of rail 16 as seen in FIG.,1. It  
 is contemplated that they also be made of suitable plastic material, such as polystyrene and polypropylene,  
 and formed into sheets by the extruding process to stock widths and cut to desired lengths. Due to recent important advances in die making, it is possible, to make cabinet components of plastic material that exactly simulate fine quality wood in texture and richness. With the development of graining imparted by the dies in the finished part, it is difficult to distinguish the plastic cabinet from one made of wood.  
  Referring now to FIG. 1 and in particular. FIGS. 8-10, the doors of the cabinet comprise a frame 31 having a molding 32 for the outward front face a front panel 33, a rear panel 34 anda polyurethane or other suitable filler 35 injected between the panels. The filler 35 improves the strength of the door 30 and imparts solid heavy quality in its feel when operating. The door frame as shown in FIGS. 8-10 is assembled by en-.  
 gaging a tongue 36 and matching groove 37 in the. ends of the components and is attached to the cabinet by any 1 suitable hinges 38.  
  At the bottom of the base cabinet in FIG. 2 there is shown a toe plate 40 for use as dust barrier. The plate 40 as shown in FIG. 11 has a rabbeted recess 41 for engaging a bottom frame panel which snaps into the recess and is held in place.  
  To permanently fix the furniture components together, it is preferred that ultrasonic welding well known in the art be employed. This method greatly facilitates mass production assembly of furniture in the factory. However, when assembling furniture in the field such as in custom work, it will not be possible to have ultrasonic welding equipment at the site. In this case, suitable adhesives or solvents may be used.  
  The invention has been described in great detail sufficient to enable one of ordinary skill in the art to make and use it. Obviously, modifications and alterations of the preferred embodiment will occur to others upon a reading and understanding of the specification. It is my intention to include all such modifications and alterations as part of my invention insofar as they come within the scope of the appended claims.  
 Having thus described my invention, I claim:  
  1. A furniture construction having a frame structure comprising injection molded channel-like corner members in each corner of the structure, said corner members connected with injection molded channel-like rail members extending between said comer members, means for interlocking said corner members with the ends of said rail members to secure and ridgidly close said frame.  
  2. A furniture construction having a frame structure as defined in claim 1 wherein said corner members and said rail members are tubular, channel-like construction and said means for interlocking said corner members with said rail members includes a projection from one member for inserting in snug relationship within the other connecting member.  
  3. A furniture construction having a frame structure as defined in claim 2 wherein said projection is a rectangular shaped tenon for inserting in a matching rectangular groove in the connecting member.  
  4. A furniture construction having a frame structure comprising injection molded channel-like corner members in each corner of the structure, said corner members connected with injection molded channel-like rail members extending between said corner members, coupler members for connecting with said rail members to enlarge the distance between said corner mem bers, means for interlocking said corner members with the ends of each said rail member to rigidly secure and close said frame.  
 5. A furniture construction having a frame structure as defined in claim 4 wherein said corner members, rail members and coupler members are of tubular, channellike construction and said means for interlocking said corner members with said rail members includes a projection from one member for inserting in snug relationship within the adjacent connecting member.  
  6. A furniture construction having a frame structure as defined in claim 5 wherein said corner members, rail members and coupler members are of injection molded plastic construction.  
  7. A furniture construction having a frame structure as defined in claim 6 wherein said coupler members are T shaped for connecting with said rail members intermediate said corner members.  
  8. A furniture construction having a frame structure as defined in claim 7 wherein said projection is a rectangular shaped tenon for inserting in a matching rectangular groove in the connecting member.  
 9. A furniture construction having a frame structure as defined in claim 6 wherein said coupler members are cross shaped for connecting with said rail members intermediate said corner members.  
  10. A furniture construction having a frame structure as defined in claim 9 wherein said projection is a rectangular shaped tenon for inserting in a matchingrectangular groove in the connecting member.  
  11. A furniture construction comprising a frame, said frame having injection molded channel-like corner members in each comer injection molded channel-like rail members connected to said corner members, means for interlocking said comer members with the ends of each said rail member to secure and rigidly form a closed rectangular box-like frame, a door connected to the front side of said frame, and a plurality of planar panel members connected to the remaining sides of said frame to form an enclosure and said corner members and rail members are of injection molded plastic construction.  
  12. A furniture construction as defined in claim 11 wherein said corner members and said rail members are tubular channel-like construction and said means for interlocking said corner members with said rail members includes a projection from one member for inserting in snug relationship within the other member.  
  13. A furniture construction as defined in claim 12 wherein said projection is a rectangular shaped tenon for inserting in a matching rectangular groove in the connecting member.  
  14. A furniture construction as defined in claim 13 wherein said interlocked frame members are permanently fixed and said frame members are permanently fixed to said panel members.  
  15. A furniture construction as defined in claim 14 wherein said frame members and panels are permanently fixed together by weld joints.