DE20202390U1 - furniture floor - Google Patents

Description

Ninkaplast GmbH NIPSaOWBa. *..* .&Sgr;. *··28?μβO2

FURNITURE FLOOR

The invention relates to a furniture base made of plastic with local elevations distributed over the surface. In particular, the invention relates to rotating bases for corner cabinet carousels in kitchen furniture, but it can also be used for the bases of other furniture components, for example shelves, drawers, pan pull-outs, pull-out shelves and the like.

A furniture floor of the type mentioned at the beginning, in the form of a carousel floor for corner cupboards, is known from the German design M 93 04 966. This carousel floor is made entirely of plastic. In addition to making the floor look more attractive, the raised areas also ensure that objects placed on the floor are not supported flatly, but in points or lines, thus improving slip resistance.
15

The object of the invention is to create a furniture floor of this type which offers more diverse possibilities in terms of decorative design.

This object is achieved according to the invention in that the local elevations consist entirely or partially of a different material than the supporting part of the furniture base.

The color and surface structure of this other material can be used to vary the surface decor of the furniture floor as required. If the built-in part has other elements besides the floor, such as a surrounding edge, a contrast to these other elements can also be created.

Advantageous embodiments of the invention emerge from the subclaims.

According to one embodiment, the other material is a film that covers the entire surface of the floor, including the raised areas. By choosing different film materials, different colour effects and relatively strong colours can be achieved without the plastic material of the floor having to be coloured through. By using multi-coloured films, metal-like films or films with a wood-like

Ninkaplast GmbH NlPJfiOHfia. *..* ·&idigr;· *··28?&Mgr;902

Graining also allows effects to be achieved that would not be possible with a floor made entirely of plastic. Furthermore, different surface grains can be achieved by choosing the film material without having to make any changes to the injection molding tool. The different smooth or rough grains not only have a decorative effect, but also enable better slip resistance or easier cleaning, depending on the intended use of the floor.

When manufacturing the furniture base, a flat film is placed in the mold and plastic is injected behind it. The pressure of the plastic melt presses the film into the recesses in the mold that form the raised areas of the furniture base. The film material is stretched slightly so that it adapts to the surface curvature of the raised areas without creasing. By injecting plastic behind the film, a firm hold of the film is ensured without the use of adhesives.

According to another embodiment, the elevations are injection molded from a softer plastic than the supporting part of the furniture floor. The softer, relatively non-slip plastic material achieves a particularly high level of slip resistance, and the noise generated when objects are placed on the floor or when the floor is pulled out or turned is dampened. The elevations are injection molded onto the supporting part of the furniture floor in a two-step injection molding process. Depending on the embodiment, the softer component can form a continuous surface layer or be limited to the local elevations. In the latter case, the floor as a whole can have a relatively smooth, easy-to-clean surface, while the elevations ensure a high level of slip resistance. Optionally, the supporting part of the floor can also already have elevations, which are then injection molded with the softer material, resulting in a better bond between the various plastic materials.

Preferably, the elevations in this embodiment form one or more connected linear structures, so that the required number of inlet points for the melt in the tool is reduced.
35

Ninkaplast GmbH NH*P»W?)e· *··" ^{· Σ} · *··28?&Kgr;2Ogr;)2

The two embodiments described above can also be combined with one another, most efficiently in such a way that the film is back-injected in the first injection molding step and then, after changing one half of the mold, the elevations are injected onto the film.
5

In the following, embodiments are explained in more detail using the drawing.

Show it:
10

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a furniture base;

Figures 2 and 3 Partial sections through a tool for producing the

Furniture floor before and after spraying;
15

Figure 4 shows a furniture floor according to another embodiment

form; and

Figures 5 and 6 Partial sections through the tool for producing

of the furniture floor according to Figure 4 in different

Stages of the manufacturing process.

According to Figure 1, a furniture base, namely a rotating base 10 for a corner cabinet carousel, is formed by a molded part made of plastic using an injection molding process, which forms a flat base 12 which, in the installed position, takes up almost the entire base area of the corner cabinet. The base is surrounded by a raised edge 14 which is molded on in one piece and has an essentially circular outline, which is, however, interrupted at one point on the circumference by a recess 16. The recess 16 extends to a hub half 18 arranged in the middle of the rotating base, which is supplemented by a filler piece (not shown) to form a closed hub when the rotating base is assembled, with which the rotating base is attached to a column running vertically through the corner cabinet.

A regular pattern of projecting, lens-shaped elevations 20 is formed on the base 12. The entire surface of the base 12 including the elevations 20 is covered by a film 22, for example a metal

Ninkaplast GmbH &Ngr;&Igr;&rgr;&iacgr;&rgr;&Ogr;&EEgr;&bgr;&idigr; 28Tγγ2βΩ2

tall decorative film. The film 22 is directly connected to the plastic molded part by back-injection.

The manufacturing process is illustrated in Figures 2 and 3. Figure 2 shows two mold halves 24, 26 which together form a mold for the rotating base 10. The film 22 is laid flat as a flat blank into the mold cavity so that it bridges depressions 30 in the lower mold half 26. The film 22 is then back-injected from above with plastic melt which, after solidification, forms the supporting part 32 of the rotating base 10. The melt displaces the film 22 into the depressions 30 and is slightly stretched in the process so that it adapts to the surface curvature of the elevations 20, as shown in Figure 3. In this way, the elevations 20 are formed partly by the film 22 and partly by the plastic material which also forms the supporting part 32 of the rotating base 10.

Figure 4 shows a rotating base 10' which differs from the embodiment according to Figure 1 in that instead of the lens-shaped elevations, a pattern of linear elevations 34 is provided. These elevations 34 consist of a softer plastic material which is molded onto the supporting part of the rotating base.

As Figure 5 shows, the depressions 30, which serve to form the elevations 34, are formed in an upper mold half 24'. In a previous manufacturing step, the supporting part 32 of the rotating base was injection-molded using a mold that did not have any depressions. The upper mold half was then replaced with the mold half 24' shown in Figure 5. In a second injection molding step, a softer plastic melt is then injected into the depressions 30 and thus molded onto the supporting part 32. For this purpose, each depression 30 has at least one inlet point 36 for the melt. From this inlet point 36, the melt can then be distributed longitudinally throughout the depression 30.

Figure 6 shows the rotating base immediately before demoulding, after the elevations 34 made of softer plastic have been injection moulded on.
35

Claims (5)

1. Furniture floor made of plastic, with local elevations ( 20 ; 34 ) distributed on the surface, characterized in that the local elevations ( 20 ; 34 ) consist entirely or partially of a different material than the supporting part ( 32 ) of the furniture floor. 2. Furniture floor according to claim 1, characterized in that the surface including the elevations ( 20 ) is covered with a film ( 22 ) which forms the said other material and which is slightly stretched in the region of the elevations ( 20 ) so that it adapts to the surface curvature of the elevations. 3. Furniture floor according to claim 2, characterized in that the elevations ( 20 ) are designed as individual, lens-shaped elevations. 4. Furniture floor according to claim 1, characterized in that the elevations ( 34 ) consist of a softer plastic material and are injection-molded onto the supporting part ( 32 ) of the furniture floor. 5. Furniture floor according to claim 4, characterized in that the elevations ( 34 ) form at least one continuous, linear structure.