Knockdown Cabinet

This invention relates to a knockdown cabinet, that is a cabinet which can be assembled and dis-assembled and which is normally sold in the unassembled condition for easy storage and transport.

Many conventional knockdown cabinets have parts which are formed with holes and the parts are fastened together by screws or bolts or other separate fastening means inserted through these holes. The buyer, who is often inexperienced at assembling such cabinets, has difficulty exactly aligning the holes and the process can be time-consuming.

Knockdown cabinets are known, for example in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,201,428 and 1735375 and U.K. Specification 645808, in which the various parts such as back, sides and top have formations along their edges which can be inter-engaged without using separate fastening members, by relative sliding movement between the parts parallel to those edges. In such known cabinets, the edge formations are complicated to produce and assembly is still difficult and time-consuming. None of these cabinets has a base on which the remainder of the cabinet is supported, instead they are constructed by joining a back, sides and top and then a floor is inserted supported on the sides. The constructions when assembled thus have the sides and back resting on the ground and are not suitable for support on wheels.

An object of the present invention is to construct a cabinet from sheet materials such as metal or alloy so that the sides, back, top, and front where present, are supported on the base which may rest directly on the ground or preferably is mounted on wheels. (The term wheels includes castors or other rolling or sliding members).

To assemble such a cabinet from its parts, the base is first placed on the ground, and then the remainder built up on the base. A further known construction is shown in British patent Specification 2113989 which showns a display stand made from plastics material and having a hinged wall located in an upwardly opening channel on a base which rests on the ground. A top also has a channel which fits over the wall. However, this stand is not constructed from sheet material but is moulded and does not have the necessary strength or rigidity required for use as a cabinet which may need to store a heavy object. The top and bottom edges of the hinged wall are a loose fit in the channels in the base and top and thus the stand has little rigidity.

The present invention provides a knockdown cabinet made from sheet material comprising a top, a base, a back and two sides, the bottom and top having respectively upwardly and downwardly turned sides edges forming the outer walls of horizontal channels extending along those edges and including locating means forming fixed parts of the top and base and providing inside walls of the horizontal channels, and the sides having inwardly turned bottom and top edges shaped to engage in the horizontal channels as a close location fit, so that the assembled cabinet is mounted on the base.

Such a cabinet is easy to assemble, the parts have uncomplicated edge formations formed by bending a sheet material, is built up and supported form the base, which can be mounted on wheels, and has sufficient strength and rigidity.

Preferably each of the sides has a front edge bent to define a vertical channel, and the cabinet includes a frame member having legs adapted to be located in respective ones of the vertical channel and a bridging member connecting the tops of the legs to form a top front frame member of the cabinet. The frame member increases the strength and rigidity of the cabinet and with advantage a door or doors are hinged directly to this frame member which has greater strength than the sides.

Preferably the legs of the frame member are a loose fit in the majority of the length of the vertical channels for easy assembly but each has a lower portion which is a close location fit in a lower portion of the associated vertical channel, preferably this lower portion extending into the associated horizontal channel in the base so that forces are transmitted directly to the base without introducing bending forces to the sides.

The horizontal channels in the top preferably have openings which are outwardly tapered. This helps the assembly of the top to the back and sides.

Preferably the top and base have back edges having respectively downwardly and upwardly turned lips there along and the back has planar upper and lower edges which fit between the lips of the top and base and the sides when the cabinet is assembled. With advantage the back has forwardly projecting side edges which locate outside the sides.

With this arrangement the parts are again easy to construct, locate against one another to form a stable rigid cabinet and produce a pleasant appearance with the outside of the sides being planar and surrounded by the edges of the top, base and back.

One embodiment of cabinet in accordance with the invention, will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings of which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an assembled cabinet,

FIG. 2 is a view of the base and back juxtaposed,

FIG. 3 is a view of the base and back assembled and juxtaposed with the sides and divider panel,

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of the bottom left hand corner of the base and side,

FIG. 5 is a view of the base, back and sides assembled and juxtaposed with a front frame,

FIG. 6 is a view enlarged of the top left hand corner of the cabinet and bottom left hand part of the frame,

FIG. 7 is a view of the partially assembled cabinet with various shelf and shelf supports,

FIG. 8 is an enlarged view of the bottom left hand corner of FIG. 7 with a lower shelf in position,

FIG. 9 is a view of the cabinet with the doors, and

FIG. 10 is a view of the largely assembled cabinet with the top juxtaposed.

The cabinet 11 is shown assembled in FIG. 1 and comprises a back 12, a top 13, a base 14, sides 15, front doors 16, a front frame 17 FIG. 5 a divider panel 18, shelves 19, 20 and angled sectioned cassette supports 21 FIG. 7. These parts are all made from sheet metal (which term includes alloys) and the base has pre-fixed thereto four wheels 22. All the parts can be stacked one on top of the other to form a compact package when not assembled, for example they can be packed into a box only 7" (18 cms) high. As seen in FIG. 2, the base 14 is of rectangular tray shape having an upstanding lip 23 all round its edge. The optional wheels 22 are pre-fixed to the underneath. Inner locating strips 24 extend within the base parallel to and adjacent the side lip portions to define upwardly opening, horizontal channels 25 to receive the bottom edges of the sides 15 as a close location fit. The bottoms of the sides are thus located in the channels against movement both inward and outward and forward and backward. Futher strips 26 define a parallel channel for locating the base of the divider panel 18 as a close location fit. The top 13 is formed with a similar lip 23 and similar locating strips 24 and 26 defining downwardly opening horizontal channels for receiving as a close location fit the top edges of the sides and divider panel. The back 12 is a piece of sheet metal having cut-a-way corners and forwardly projecting lips 29 along its sides. The top and bottom edges 27, 28 are dimensioned to fit between the lips 23 at the back of the base and top and the top and bottom edges of the sides 15, with lips 29 extending outside and engaging the back edges of the sides.

Each of the sides 15 has a top and bottom inwardly turned lip 30 designed to fit closely in the channels 25 and a double return lip 31 at its front and rear edges, the double return lip 31 at the front edge defining a vertical channel 32. The front frame member 17 (FIG. 5) is of square inverted U section having a front top crossbar 33 and depending legs 34 which are designed to be an easy fit in the channels 32. The legs 34 carry door hinge support means 35 permanently secured thereto. The bottom inner sides of the legs 34 are provided with pads 36 which are a close fit in the lower portions of the channels 32 (that is the portions located in the base channels 25) to provide a firm location for the frame relative to the base and sides. The front top corners of the sides and divider panel are cut away to accommodate the crossbar 33 located in these cutouts.

FIG. 7 shows various alternative forms of shelves or like supports. A lower shelf 20 is adapted to fit at the base of the left hand side of the cabinet while the downwardly turned lips at the sides of the upper shelf 19 will inter-engage shaped side pieces 37 attached to the inside of the side wall and divider at the left of the cabinet. The divider 18 has double return, front and back lips 38 formed with cutouts 39 which are also formed on the front and back lips of the right hand side 15. A series of angle sectioned, shelf supports 21 have tabs 40 which can locate in the cutouts 39 so that the supports 21 can support sliding shelves, drawers or cassettes.

The doors 16 can be attached to the hinge support brackets 35 in known manner as shown in FIG. 9. The top 13 is designed to fit with the top edges of the sides extending as a close location fit into the channels 25, the divider panel fitting into the parallel channel and the outer lip 23 extending right round the top of the back, sides and frame 17. The openings to the channels 25 in the top may be outwardly tapered to make fitting of the top to the otherwise assembled cabinet easier.

The method of assembly is shown in the figures with the back being first fitted to the base, then the sides and divider panels, then the front frame, followed by any shelf or shelf support pieces, the doors and the top. It will be appreciated that all the pieces are merely pushed together and no external fastening means such as screws, bolts or clips are required. Because the top and base firmly locate the back and sides against both inward and outward movement and the front frame locates both with the sides, base and divider panel the cabinet so formed is sturdy enough to withstand considerable loads and resist bending or twisting forces.