Modular furnishing elements

• US 20110242800A1
• Filed: 03/28/2011
• Published: 10/06/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 03/31/2010
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Ezio Borghetto
• Original Assignee: Ezio Borghetto
• Inventors: Amadio, Valter, Zorzi, Andrea, Borghetto, Ezio
• Application Number:
  US13/064,468
• Publication Number:
  US 20110242800A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 362/147
• CPC Class Codes: E04F 13/0885 specially adapted for being adhesively fixed to the wall; Fastening means therefor; Fixing by means of plastics materials hardening after application
• CPC Class Codes: E04F 13/145 with an outer layer of glass
• CPC Class Codes: F21V 33/006 General building constructions or finishing work for buildings, e.g. roofs, gutters, stairs or floors; Garden equipment; Sunshades or parasols

Abstract

Modular furnishing elements constituted by a single piece or by a plurality of pieces, provided with a plurality of internal intrusions of air and, in a lower region, with an opaque region.

The transparent pieces are mutually adjacent so as to define at least one gap at which one or more ribbons with LEDs are embedded or associated.

The light, in passing through the piece, is refracted through the intrusions thus illuminating the pieces.

Claims

1. Modular furnishing elements, constituted by one or more pieces, flat or curved, transparent and made of glass, and provided with a plurality of internal intrusions, between said one or more transparent glass pieces there being at least one gap or housing at which one or more LEDs or ribbons with LEDs are embedded or associated, the light of said LEDs being transmitted within the glass and refracted by said intrusions.

2. The elements according to claim 1, wherein said one or more pieces are constituted by a single tile or a plurality of tiles which are transparent and made of glass, flat or curved in shape and provided, in a lower region, with an optional opaque region, said plurality of tiles being mutually adjacent so as to form at least one housing or gap, said one or more LEDs being associated at the walls or corners or internally said tile.

3. The elements according to claim 2, wherein said one or more tiles or said one or more transparent glass pieces have internally a plurality of intrusions, constituted by air bubbles, and, in a lower region, an optional region which is opaque to light, said one or more tiles having a flat or arc-like shape and having, in plan view, a polygonal shape of the regular or irregular type.

4. The elements according to claim 3, wherein said one or more pieces or said one or more tiles are provided by glass fusion with one or more glass plates, said first plate being made of glass or substituted by a coating or other opaque material.

5. The elements according to claim 4, wherein said plates are superimposed so that the air bubbles that are intrinsic in the glass are not lost and so that other air bubbles are formed during the embedding step.

6. The elements according to claim 2, wherein said one or more pieces or said one or more tiles are provided by fusing one or more plates which are cut to size or are obtained by fusing larger glass surfaces on which said one or more pieces or said one or more tiles are then cut to size and are then finished with a second firing at a low softening temperature.

7. The elements according to claim 2, wherein in the positioning of said one or more pieces or of said tiles on a wall, said pieces or said tiles are installed so as to leave, perimetrically thereto, a housing or empty gaps at which said one or more ribbons provided with LEDs, or one or more transparent tubes inside which said LEDs or said ribbons can be positioned, are embedded or associated.

8. The elements according to claim 1, wherein said ribbons are arranged within said gaps or within said one or more transparent tubes and are kept in position, with said LEDs directed toward or away from the adjacent tile, by means of the application of a layer of material or by means of special supports or by mechanical interference.

9. The elements according to claim 1, wherein one or two of said ribbons are used for each gap or housing and can be mutually paired, each having a row of LEDs to obtain lighting on at least one of the sides of said gap or housing.

10. The elements according to claim 7, wherein one of said ribbons provided with said LEDs is used for each housing or gap or for each transparent tube, on one or both sides, in a paired or staggered position.

11. The elements according to claim 8, wherein a sealant, such as an epoxy or polyurethane putty, is superimposed at said layer and is adapted to cover said ribbons provided with the LEDs and to pour the light entirely into the glassy mass.

12. The elements according to claim 11, wherein sealing of said gaps or housing in which said ribbons are arranged is of the removable type, said ribbons being inserted in a protective sheath or in said one or more transparent tubes and then installed in said gaps or housing.

13. The elements according to claim 4, wherein one or more of said tiles or pieces has, in a central region, at least one seat, which affects at least said first plate and is adapted to accommodate said at least one single LED, stably maintained in position by the presence of a layer of glue, an adapted opaque screen being positionable below said at least one single LED.

14. The elements according to claim 4, wherein said plurality of one or more glass pieces or tiles, which have, at said one or more corners, vertical slots, which accommodate at least one LED, which has a base partially embedded in a complementarily shaped bevel provided on said first plate constituting said opaque region and is thus embedded in said layer of glue.

15. The elements according to claim 2, wherein said LEDs are arranged at said gaps or housing in a region which is adjacent to the corners of a plurality of pieces or tiles and are subsequently covered in an upper region by an opaque screen.

16. The elements according to claim 1, wherein said LEDs are arranged at the gaps or housing and then mutually connected by means of cables.

17. The elements according to claim 7, wherein said one or more transparent tubes have various shapes, such as square or rectangular in plan view, with or without lateral wings that extend externally or internally to each one of said transparent tubes, said lateral wings defining, at an end of said transparent tubes, seats for the sliding and guided positioning, within said transparent tubes, of said ribbons provided with said LEDs, said seats also being obtainable in proximity to another side of said transparent tubes.

18. The elements according to claim 17, wherein the guided positioning, within said transparent tubes, of said ribbons provided with said LEDs occurs by mechanical interference or by means of pairs of beads which protrude internally and approximately at a midpoint of said transparent tubes.

19. The elements according to claim 1, wherein the positioning of said LEDs on said ribbons is symmetrical or non-symmetrical with respect to a center axis of each ribbon or with respect to an adjacent ribbon.

20. The elements according to claim 7, wherein said transparent tubes internally have a cross-section that is different from the external cross-section, at an opposite end from said end a pair of walls being defined which are inclined so as to form a ‘

V’

shape with a vertex facing in a direction of said LEDs, said vertex of said walls being arranged approximately at a longitudinal center axis of said ribbons of LEDs, while said walls are of the reflecting type, so as to increase the transmission of the light laterally to said transparent tubes.