Modular furnishings

• US 3,926,486 A
• Filed: 01/23/1974
• Issued: 12/16/1975
• Est. Priority Date: 01/27/1972
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Russell M. Sasnett
• Original Assignee: Russell M. Sasnett
• Inventors: Sasnett, Russell M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Gilliam, Paul R.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Sakran, Victor N.
• Application Number:
  US05/435,758
• Time in Patent Office: 692 Days
• Field of Search: 312/107,111,194-198,228,224,238,278,229,225,257 52/36,220
• US Class Current: 312/198
• CPC Class Codes: A47B 77/02 General layout, e.g. relative arrangement of compartments, working surface or surfaces, supports for apparatus A47B77/08 takes precedence ; combinable furniture units A47B87/00
• CPC Class Codes: F16B 12/00 Jointing of furniture or the like, e.g. hidden from exterior F16B2/00 - F16B11/00 take precedence; fastening means per se F16B13/00 - F16B47/00; wood-working B27

Abstract

A plurality of prefabricated modular kitchen units are adapted for floor-to-ceiling installation along at least two intersecting kitchen walls for minimizing installation time and obviating the necessity for finishing the walls along which the units are installed. Installation is facilitated by a corner unit construction that permits the end-wise insertion of spaced connectors for joining spaced perpendicularly related modular units to adjacent sides thereof, as in an L-shaped layout at a kitchen corner, and in the formation of cooperating recesses or cavities in the various units to house the necessary wiring and plumbing. Complete coverage of a wall along which the units are installed is assured adjacent the ceiling by an adjustable lighting module which performs the dual functions of lighting the kitchen and providing an adjustable molding between the modular units and ceiling while any variations between the wall length and installed units is compensated for by the installation of a modular panel section. A further feature of the invention resides in so dimensioning a sink module that the same may include storage cabinets above the sink area which are both accessible and non-obstructive to the user.

Claims

1. A modular furnishing assembly comprising a corner module and at least two additional modules laterally and transversely connected adjacent thereto, respectively, each of said modules being free-standing and having:

(1) a base cabinet portion including parallel side walls and a counter top;

(2) storage means having a top, a bottom, side walls coplanar with the side walls of said base cabinet, and doors providing access thereto, said storage means being integral with said base cabinet portion through column means and panel structure so that no portion of the kitchen wall behind a module is exposed, said integral column means providing support independently for each module and said storage means further being located above and rearwardly offset from said base portion to define a raceway extending upwardly substantially above the counter top of said base cabinet portion to provide for electrical wiring and plumbing to be installed behind said module, said rearward offset also providing that said doors of said storage means do not swing outwardly beyond the front plane of said module, said module being further characterized by at least one of said column means being spaced inwardly from the common plane of the side walls of the adjacent storage means and base cabinet portion, thereby defining, in conjunction with said counter top of said base portion and said bottom of said storage means, an inset bounded on three sides only and opening on the fourth side for cooperation with a like inset of an adjacent module in abutting association therewith to provide a tunnel for receiving electrical distribution means;

connector means for connecting adjacent modules together along abutting side walls thereof, said connector means being accessible from the front of said units; and

lighting means located above the top of and attached to said storage means for illuminating the surroundings and providing a molding between said storage means and the ceiling when the module is installed in the room, said lighting means including an upwardly projecting housing portion below the ceiling and adjustable means attached to said housing portion to extend upwardly and abut the ceiling, thereby forming a complete floor-to-ceiling module.

2. The modular furnishing assembly of claim 1 wherein said connection means of said module includes vertically projecting terminals located below the counter top of said base cabinet portion and inset from the plane of said adjacent side wall of said module, adapted to be received by one leg of a U-shaped channel member bridging two adjacent modules.

3. The modular furnishing assembly of claim 1 wherein said corner module has both transverse and lateral dimensions, one being greater than the other, yet both exceeding the depth of said adjacent connected modules to form an L-shaped corner module wherein said corner module includes a two-faced, verTically extending recess, one face of which is coplanar with the front portion of said laterally adjacent connected module and the other face of which is coplanar with the front portion of said transversely adjacent connected module.

4. The modular furnishing assembly of claim 1 wherein said counter top of said module includes a raised shelf portion at the rearward extremity thereof extending between said parallel side walls to receive thereupon articles which are thus elevated slightly above the remaining portion of the counter top surface so that liquids spilled on said counter top do not flow into contact with said articles.

5. A modular furnishing assembly comprising a sink module, a range module and at least one additional storage module attached to at least one of the foregoing modules, each of said modules being free-standing and having:

(1) a base cabinet portion including parallel side walls and a counter top;

(2) storage means having a top, a bottom, side walls coplanar with the side walls of said base cabinet, and door providing access thereto, said storage means being integral with said base cabinet protion through column means and panel structure so that no portion of the kitchen wall behind a module is exposed, said integral column means providing independent support for each module and said storage means further being located above and rearwardly offset from said base portion to define a raceway extending upwardly substantially above the counter top of said base cabinet portion to provide for electrical wiring and plumbing to be installed behind said modules, said rearward offset also providing that said doors of said storage means do not swing outwardly beyond the front plane of said module, said module being further characterized by at least one of said column means being spaced inwardly from the common plane of the side walls of the adjacent storage means and base cabinet portions, thereby defining, in conjunction with said counter top of said base portion and said bottom of said storage means, an inset bounded on three sides only and opening on the fourth side for cooperation with a like inset of an adjacent module in abutting association therewith to provide a tunnel for receiving electrical distribution means;

each of said modules further including connector means for connecting adjacent modules together along abutting side walls thereof;

said sink module being further defined in that said sink mounted therein has been mounted at the extreme forward edge of said sink module base portion substantially forward of the front of said upper storage means of said sink module; and

lighting means located above the top and attached to said storage means of each of said modules for illuminating the surroundings when said module is installed in a room, said lighting means including an upwardly projecting housing portion below the ceiling.

6. The modular furnishing assembly of claim 5 wherein each of said modules includes a pre-assembled wiring network.

7. The modular furnishing assembly of claim 5 wherein each of said modules includes a raised shelf portion at the rearward extremity of said counter top for receiving articles placed thereon, thereby maintaining said articles elevated above said counter top so that liquids spilled on said counter top do not flow into contact with said articles.