DE9418505U1 - Cabinet-shaped combination piece of furniture - Google Patents

Description

PATENT ATTORNEYS

KÖ3N,<BR£HM:& PARTNER

Albert-RoShaupter-Strasse 73 · D-8000 Munich 70 · Telephone (089) 76Qlg3P*/6055^&- FeSe(O89)^055^9 Telex 5214950isard

Dipl.-Ing. Karl-Heinz Schlaucher 18 November 1994

D-86825 Bad Wörishofen SCHLAU-04

Cabinet-shaped combination piece of furniture Description:

The invention relates to a cupboard-shaped combination piece of furniture, which is particularly intended for use in the hotel and accommodation industry.

Column-shaped holding devices (racks) for entertainment electronics devices, in particular hi-fi systems and television sets, are known, which have a closed housing, the front of which is formed by two pivoting doors ; see German utility models G 92 12 887.4 and G 94 08 984.1. Such holding devices are typically not intended for use in hotels, guest rooms and guest apartments.

The providers of hotels, guest rooms and guest rooms must take into account the increasing demands of guests. These demands include equipping the rooms with a television, a personal safe for the safe storage of valuables and the provision of chilled drinks (minibar). Typically, a hotel safe is installed in the masonry or anchored in a fixed part of the facility such as a wall unit. The provision of a television

and a refrigerator with a minibar requires additional equipment, the installation of which is problematic in the chronically small hotel rooms.

The technical problem (task) of the present invention is to enable the provision of these devices and functions in a cost-effective and space-saving design, particularly in the case of the necessary retrofitting of hotel, guest and guest rooms.

To solve this technical problem, the present invention provides a cabinet-shaped combination piece of furniture, which is particularly intended for use in the hotel and accommodation industry. This combination piece of furniture has a body which is provided with closed side parts and a front side, with at least one section of this front side being formed by at least one pivoting door. Within this body there are permanently and firmly installed devices. According to an essential aspect of the present invention, these devices include at least one television, a safe and a refrigerator compartment with an electrically operated cooling unit. Additional devices can optionally be provided, as explained in detail below.

Thus, the present invention creates a compact piece of furniture with which the three functions of watching television, safely storing valuables and keeping chilled food and drinks available are provided. An exemplary embodiment of the cabinet-shaped combination piece of furniture according to the invention has dimensions of approximately 115 x 60 x 45 cm. The safe, preferably a hotel safe, is fixed and permanently installed in the piece of furniture.

Due to the dimensions of the piece of furniture, the protected fastening of the safe in the piece of furniture and the weight of the television and safe, a safe and secure arrangement for the safe is created. The combination piece of furniture can be set up in a hotel, guest or guest room to match the rest of the furnishings. No masonry work is required. All that is needed is a socket for the electrical connection cable with which the piece of furniture is equipped, as well as a connection box for television signals.

Advantageous embodiments and further developments of the cabinet-shaped combination piece of furniture according to the invention result from the subclaims.

It can preferably be provided that the devices, which are at least a television, a safe and a refrigerator compartment with an electrically operated cooling unit, are arranged one above the other in a tower-like manner and essentially fill the interior of the body of the piece of furniture. A space-saving arrangement is created, with all functions being easily accessible.

Furthermore, it is preferably provided that the cooling compartment is designed as a trough-like container that is open at the top and can be pulled out beyond the front of the piece of furniture like a drawer when the door is open. This cooling container is expediently arranged as the lowest device next to the base of the piece of furniture. With this arrangement, when the door(s) of the piece of furniture are open, the exchange of cooled air with ambient air is minimal. Keeping the cooling device and the cooled goods cool requires only a small amount of energy.

The safe is preferably a typical hotel safe, which is available in specialist shops as a built-in device. An example of a built-in hotel safe has dimensions of 170 x 500 x 370 mm and a door opening of 130 x 380 mm. The housing is made of 2 mm sheet steel, and the hinged, pivoting safe door is made of 8 mm thick sheet steel. An electronic lock with a code is installed in the safe door. Operating instructions are also printed on the front of the safe door. The user can enter a number combination of his choice. The safe door can only be opened if this number combination is entered again.

This safe is conveniently placed in the middle area of the body, below the television and above the refrigerator compartment.

According to a further advantageous embodiment, all devices within the piece of furniture are connected to a common, central power supply, which is attached to the body of the piece of furniture and is provided with a standard connection cable. The connection of the individual devices can be concealed and only a single connection cable is required for the power supply. An antenna connection cable is also provided for the television.

According to a further advantageous embodiment, the entire front of the piece of furniture is formed by two doors, whereby each of these doors closes approximately half of the front surface and is hinged to one side of the piece of furniture so that it can pivot about a vertical pivot axis. This creates an elegant, classic-looking front.

According to an alternative embodiment, each of these doors can be divided horizontally, resulting in an upper door leaf and a lower door leaf. The upper door leaf is expediently of such dimensions that the two upper door leaves together cover the television. Each door leaf is designed and hinged to pivot independently of the other door leaf. In this embodiment, it is sufficient to only open the two upper door leaves to use the television. The two lower door leaves can remain closed when the television is in use, so that the safe remains covered and the refrigerator compartment remains closed.

According to a further alternative, the entire front of the piece of furniture can be divided into an upper front section and a lower front section. The upper front section has dimensions to accommodate the screen of the television. In this case, the upper front section is formed by the screen of the television, which is surrounded by a frame of the body of the piece of furniture. The lower front section is formed by one or two hinged doors. These doors are opened when access to the safe and/or the refrigerator compartment is desired.

As already mentioned, the front of the piece of furniture is formed by a door or several doors, each of which is arranged to pivot around a vertical pivot axis, resulting in hinged doors. The pivot axis is formed using hinges that are attached to the side part of the body and to the side edge of the door. Two hinges working together and arranged at a distance from each other define a pivot axis.

Preferably, each pivot axis is arranged at a significant distance from the front of the front panel, resulting in "deep doors" that have a storage space adjacent to their inner surface. Depending on the design, the distance of the pivot axis from the front of the front panel can be approximately 10 to 20 cm.

In the storage space thus formed in the door panels, holding devices and/or display devices are preferably installed in order to arrange and present food (snacks, sweets, nibbles), drinks bottles and cans and the like. In this respect, the combination piece of furniture according to the invention provides the additional function of keeping food (snacks, sweets, nibbles) and drinks (bottles, cans) ready.

According to a further advantageous embodiment, the front of the piece of furniture is provided with an outward-facing curve. The amount of storage space within the piece of furniture is increased and the entire piece of furniture has a pleasant visual impression.

According to a further advantageous embodiment, additional devices can optionally be accommodated within the body of the piece of furniture. Such additional devices include, for example, the components of a music system and/or the components of a communications system with a telephone, intercom, fax and the like.

As explained, the invention provides a cabinet-shaped combination piece of furniture in which certain devices are permanently installed. The structure and design of the body and the door(s) of the piece of furniture are carried out in typical

Carpentry and furniture technology. Wood is the primary material used. In addition, individual parts of the piece of furniture can be made of metal and/or plastic. The body of the piece of furniture rests on a base that protrudes slightly beyond the dimensions of the body.

The invention will now be explained in more detail using preferred embodiments with reference to the drawings, which show:

Figure 1 is an oblique view - partly from the front and partly from the side - of a first embodiment of a piece of furniture according to the invention;

Figure 2 is a front view of the piece of furniture according to Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a side view of the piece of furniture according to Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a top view of the piece of furniture according to Figure 1;

Figure 5 is an oblique view of the piece of furniture according to Figure 1, where the two front hinged doors of the piece of furniture are open;

Figure 6 is a representation similar to Figure 5, with the safe door opened and the drawer-shaped cooling compartment pulled out;

Figure 7 is an oblique view of a second embodiment of the piece of furniture according to the invention, whose

Front side is formed by four independently pivoting door leaves;

Figure 8 is a view analogous to Figure 7, with the two upper door leaves open; and

Figure 9 is an oblique view of another embodiment of the piece of furniture according to the invention, in which only a lower front section is closed with two hinged doors.

Figures 1 to 6 show a first embodiment of a combination piece of furniture according to the invention. It is evident that this is a typical cupboard-shaped piece of furniture, the front of which is formed by two hinged doors 2 and 3. The piece of furniture has a body 10, which is formed in a manner known per se from two side parts 11 and 12, a cover plate 13 and a rear wall 14. The rear wall 14 can be closed, or this rear wall 14 can have a recess in the area of the television set if the space requirement and/or the cooling of the picture tube so require. Furthermore, a frame can be provided within the body 10, which can optionally be provided with shelves. The devices that are housed within the body are attached to this frame and/or to the body 10. The entire corpus 10 rests on a base plate 16, with which the combined piece of furniture stands on the floor.

The first embodiment of a piece of furniture according to the invention (see Fig. 1 to 6) has two pivoting doors 2, 3, which form the entire front side of the piece of furniture. Each door 2, 3 can be opened and closed using a handle. The closed state

is secured by interacting permanent magnets in the door leaves and in the frame 9 of the body 10. Each door 2, 3 is pivotally connected to a side part 11, 12 of the body using two hinges 5 arranged at a distance from one another. When the piece of furniture is in the normal position, these hinges 5 define a vertically aligned pivot axis 6 (see Fig. 3). This pivot axis 6 is clearly set back from the front of the piece of furniture, i.e. at a distance from the front. Typically, this distance can be around 10 to 20 cm. This arrangement creates "deep doors" 2, 3, which form a storage space adjacent to their inner wall for storing and keeping small objects. As shown in Fig. 6, shelves 7 and holding devices are attached to the inside of these doors, so that holding devices and/or display devices for food (snacks, sweets, nibbles) and drinks bottles and cans are created here.

According to an essential aspect of the invention, various devices are permanently installed within the corpus 10 of the piece of furniture. These devices include at least a television set 20, a safe 24 and a refrigerator compartment 30 with an electrically operated cooling unit. The television set 20 is a commercially available device with a screen and operating elements 22 on the front.

The safe 24 is a typical, built-in hotel safe with a sheet steel housing 25 and a pivoting, one-sided hinged safe door 26. This safe door 26 is equipped with an electronic lock, which includes a keypad 27, with the numbers of which the user can enter a specific code. Only with the help of this code can the

Safe door 26 can be opened. Operating instructions 28 can also be printed on the front of the safe door 26. The entire safe is firmly and permanently installed in the corpus 10 of the piece of furniture.

In the present case, the cooling compartment 30 has a trough-like container 31 that can be pulled out like a drawer. This container 31 is open from the top for the insertion and removal of refrigerated goods. The walls of this container 31 are covered with insulating material. There is also an electric cooling unit (not shown) with which the temperature inside the cooling compartment can be kept at a desired value. Drinks bottles and cans are particularly suitable as refrigerated goods, so that a typical minibar is created and provided with this cooling compartment 30.

Figures 7 and 8 show a second embodiment of a combination piece of furniture according to the invention. This piece of furniture also has a body 10 with side parts 11 and 12, a cover plate 13 and a rear wall. This body 10 rests on a base 16. Within this body 10 there are permanently installed devices, including a television set 20, as can be seen from Fig. 8, a safe and a refrigerator compartment with an electrically operated cooling unit.

Deviating from the embodiment described above, this embodiment according to Figs. 7 and 8 has a front side that is formed from two upper door leaves 40, 41 and two lower door leaves 42, 43. Each door leaf 41, 41, 42 and 43 is pivotally connected to the side parts 11 and 12, respectively, independently of the other door leaves. With this embodiment, it is possible to

Opening the upper doors 40 and 41 to use the television set, while the lower doors 42 and 43 remain closed, as shown in Fig. 8.

Furthermore, this embodiment according to Figs. and 8 has the same internal structure with the same devices 20, 24, 30 as described above for the embodiment according to Figs. 1 to 6.

Fig. 9 shows a further embodiment of a combination piece of furniture according to the invention. This combination piece of furniture also has a body 10, which is made up of two side parts 11 and 12, a cover plate 13 and a rear wall 14. This body 10 rests on a base 16. Within this body 10 there are permanently installed devices, of which only a television set 20 can be seen. The entire front of the piece of furniture is divided into an upper front section 50 and a lower front section 51. The upper front section 50 is essentially filled by the front surface of the television set 20, which is provided in the frame 9 of the body 10. In the embodiment shown, the lower front section 51 is formed by two pivotally hinged doors 52 and 53. After opening these doors 52, 53, a safe (not shown in Fig. 9) and a refrigerator compartment with an electric cooling unit are accessible.

Apart from the modified front side, this embodiment according to Fig. 9 also has essentially the same internal structure with the same permanently installed devices 20, 24, 30 as the embodiment described above according to Figs. 1 to 6.

Claims (12)

PATENT ATTORNEYS KERN,.ßF?EMM .& PARTNER Albert-RoBhaupter-Straße73 ■ D-8000 Munich70 Telephone(089)7§gg9gO/76055%ß J^y (089)./605£59 Telex5214950isard Dipl.-Ing. Karl-Heinz Schlaucher 18 November 1994 D-86825 Bad Wörishofen SCHLAU-04 Cabinet-shaped combination piece of furniture protection claims; 1. Cabinet-shaped combination piece of furniture, in particular for the hotel and accommodation industry, with a body (10) which has at least closed side parts (11, 12) and a front side, at least one section of this front side being formed by at least one pivotably hinged door (2, 3; 40, 41, 42, 43; 52, 53); and with fixed and permanently installed equipment within this corpus (10),
characterized in that
Devices comprising at least: a television set (20),
a safe (24), and a cooling compartment (30) with an electrically operated cooling unit. 2. Combination piece of furniture according to claim 1, characterized in that these devices are arranged one above the other in a tower-like manner and essentially fill the interior of the corpus (10). 3. Combination piece of furniture according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the cooling compartment (30) is designed as a trough-like container (31) which is open at the top and which, when the door (2, 3; 42, 43; 52, 53) is open, can be moved like a drawer over the front of the piece of furniture is designed to be pulled out? and this cooling container (30) is arranged as the lowest device adjacent to the base (16) of the piece of furniture; 4. Combination piece of furniture according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the safe (24) is equipped with an electrically operated electronic lock (27) with code. 5. Combination piece of furniture according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that all devices are connected to a common, central power supply, which is attached to the body (10) and which is provided with a standard connection cable. 6. Combination piece of furniture according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the entire front side is formed by two doors (2, 3), each door (2, 3) closing approximately half of the front side surface and being hinged to a respective side part (11, 12) so as to be pivotable about a vertical pivot axis (6). 7. Combination piece of furniture according to claim 6,
characterized in that each door is divided horizontally to form upper door leaves (40, 41) and lower door leaves (42, 43); and each door leaf (40, 41, 42, 43) is designed to pivot independently of other door leaves. 8. Combination piece of furniture according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the entire front side is divided into an upper front side section (50) and a lower front side section (51); the upper front section (50) is essentially formed by the front of the television set (20), which is surrounded by a frame (9) of the body (10); and the lower front side section (51) is formed by one or two pivotably hinged doors (52, 53). 9. Combination piece of furniture according to one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that each pivot axis (6) is arranged at a significant distance from the front of the front of the piece of furniture, so that "deep doors" result which have a storage space adjacent to their inner surface. 10. Combination piece of furniture according to claim 9, characterized in that in this storage space, holding devices (7, 8) and/or display devices for food (snacks, sweets, nibbles) and drinks bottles and cans are installed. 11. Combination piece of furniture according to one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that the front of the piece of furniture has an outward-facing curve. 12. Combination piece of furniture according to one of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that Within the corpus (10) optionally further devices are accommodated, such as the components of a music system and/or the components of a communication system with telephone, intercom, fax and the like.