Furniture comprising at least one second furniture part which can be motor-driven in relation to a first furniture part

This application is a national stage application (under 35 U.S.C. § 371) of PCT/EP2007/003061, filed Apr. 4, 2007, which claims benefit of German application 10 2006 016 102.5, filed Apr. 4, 2006.

The invention relates to a furniture article, comprising at least one second furniture part, which can be motor-driven in relation to a first furniture part, in particular comprising at least one drawer, which can be displaced in relation to a body, and comprising at least one energy supply unit, in particular an electric power supply unit.

This type of furniture already exists in a variety of designs. For example, the DE 699 06 299 T2 describes a furniture article comprising a plurality of drawers, which are mounted in the furniture body in such a way that they can be displaced by motor drive. According to this invention, the furniture article is equipped with a bus system, by means of which the energy supply for moving the individual drawers is controlled. To this end, an integrated circuit is instructed by way of a computer to execute certain operations. In this case the energy is supplied centrally through a power supply unit, associated with the computer.

In the case of this prior art furniture article comprising various vertically and horizontally adjacent drawers, there is also the risk that opening or closing the drawers may cause injuries, in particular, may crush the operator\'s fingers. For example, such injuries may occur upon opening a drawer, when a vertically, horizontally or diagonally adjacent drawer is already open. If, for example, the additional drawer that is to be opened moves beyond the open state of the already open drawer or at least moves out just as far as this drawer, then in situations, in which the operator is not paying attention to the manipulation, the operator\'s fingers may be caught between the two front parts of the drawers.

Against this background, the object of the invention is to optimize the operating mode of the inventive furniture article.

Since the energy supply unit, in particular the electric power supply unit in a furniture article, is mounted on the first furniture part, in particular on the body of the furniture article, it is guaranteed that the power supply is arranged in the vicinity of the furniture part that is to be moved, in particular in the vicinity of the displaceable drawer. Thus, the cabling complexity is minimized. If at this stage malfunctions occur between the electric power supply unit and the moveable furniture part, then the analysis of the malfunctions is also minimized by the negligible cabling complexity. The furniture part, which can be moved or rather driven, may also be a door or a flap.

The use of an electric power supply unit as the energy supply unit is an option, especially because today almost all private households as well as commercial buildings exhibit a suitable supply of energy.

In order to protect the energy or rather power supply unit from external influences, it is advantageously provided that the energy or power supply unit is disposed in a separate case on the first furniture part—in the case of a furniture body, for example, in a trough configured in said body.

In this case it has proven to be advantageous to dispose the energy or power supply unit in a separate case in the bottom of this first furniture part. In the event that the energy or power supply unit is serviced or repaired, this unit is easy to access in said furniture part. In order to access the energy supply unit, the entire furniture article does not have to be moved; it suffices to remove just the front cover on the bottom of the first furniture part.

As an alternative, it is, of course, possible to mount the energy or power supply unit on the rear wall of the first furniture part. Owing to this measure it is also not visibly mounted in the use position of the furniture article.

In this respect it may be advisable to mount the energy supply unit between the rear wall of the first furniture part and the displaceable, second furniture part. In this case the power supply unit would also be easy to access, for example, for maintenance and repair work, because the second furniture part, which can be displaced or rather moved, is pulled out of the first furniture part—in particular, a drawer is pulled out of a furniture body.

According to an additional idea of the invention, it has proven to be advantageous to design the case so as to be moisture-tight in relation to the first furniture part. Owing to this measure, the energy supply unit is protected in moist rooms against splash water or any other source of moisture.

In this case it has proven to be advantageous to arrange in a simple way a seal between the case and the first furniture part.

According to an additional embodiment of the invention, the energy or rather power supply unit exhibits an energy accumulator, in particular a battery. This measure guarantees that in the event that the energy supply fails, in particular the power grid fails, the moveable second furniture part can continue to be moved by motor drive inside the first furniture part.

According to an independent idea of the invention, a furniture article has a control unit, which stops a moveable furniture part from moving from a starting position into a final position, when its path of motion is already occupied by a moveable furniture part, or which stops a moveable furniture part from moving from a starting position into a final position, before it was moved as far as an immediately adjacent moveable furniture part, which is already in an open position.

A starting position is typically defined as either a closed position or an open position. Similarly the final position may also be defined as a closed or open position of the furniture part. In any case the starting position and the final position refer to those positions of the furniture part before and after an event of motion.

The control unit is designed to actuate and adjust by motor drive both moveable furniture parts. If the furniture parts that are to be moved are provided, for example, as drawers that can be pulled out, then the control unit causes the respective pull-out positions of adjacent drawers always to be at different locations that do not overlap spatially.