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JoinerJoiner description/claimsThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20070169430, Joiner. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0001] The present invention relates to a device for joining furniture components together. In one particular form, the present invention relates to a device for joining together bench tops. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] Standard joiners for releasably securing together bench tops and other portions of furniture together are well known. They allow for items such as kitchen cabinets or office furniture to be pre-fabricated and then assembled on-site without requiring the use of nails, screws or adhesives. In an illustrative example, two bench top sections can be joined together to form a single bench by first forming respective opposed circular cavities at a short distance from the edge on the underside of the bench top sections. These cavities are typically formed using a router or specialised drill. Channels are then cut from the respective cavities to meet at the joining edge of each of the bench top sections. [0003] To join the sections together a joiner which includes a threaded bolt with two semi-circular cavity engaging members are positioned so that the engaging members are recessed into the circular cavities with the bolt located in the channel. A nut is then screwed onto the bolt and further tightened thereby drawing the cavities together and hence joining the bench tops in abutting relationship. Although this provides a strong clamping force there are a number of disadvantages with joiners of this type. Clearly two hands are required for this operation. The first hand is required to accurately position the joiner ensuring that the engaging members do not rotate on the bolt with respect to each other and that the joiner is held level. The second hand first tightens the nut to finger tightness and then operates a spanner to further tighten the nut. Often there is little room within the cavity to manoeuvre fingers or a spanner. Additionally the bench top sections being joined must be level and this will require a second person to adjust the levels of the bench top sections whilst a first person is inserting and installing the joiner from underneath the level of the bench. [0004] One attempt to address some of these disadvantages is described in International Application WO 03/035992. This describes a joiner arrangement having at least one engaging member, a screw threaded shaft passing through the engaging member, at least one nut threadably engaging the shaft, a gear member, a pivot locator on the engaging member such that a shaft with a second gear member may engage with the pivot locator while having the second gear member adapted to mesh with the first gear member whereby to facilitate a tightening of the joining arrangement. However, this approach does not substantially address the problems of the prior art. As the engaging members are located on the threaded shaft they are free to rotate implying that once again both hands will be required to both orientate and tighten the joiner. The tightening arrangement also requires a specialised tool that has been adapted to be inserted into the pivot locator and to engage with the first gear member. Clearly, this would be an inconvenience to tradespeople and the home handy-person as this would require an extra piece of specialised equipment be carried in addition to their standard tools. In addition the nut is still free to spin on the shaft before the joint is tightened also resulting in difficulties when initially placing and tightening the joiner. [0005] It is an object of the invention to provide a joiner which is convenient to install. It is another object of the invention to provide a joiner which is of simple construction and its components readily assembled. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0006] In a first aspect, the present invention provides a joiner for joining a first and second member together in an end to end relationship, said first and second members including a first cavity and a second cavity respectively, said joiner including: [0007] a joiner for joining first and second panel members together in end to end relationship, said first and second panel member including a first cavity and a second cavity respectively, said joiner including; [0008] a first joining element, having a housing which has surfaces defining a first cavity engaging portion to engage with said first cavity of said first member [0009] a second joining element having an elongate shaft slidably supported in a passageway extending through said housing, said shaft terminating at one end thereof in a second cavity engaging portion to engage with said second cavity of said second member, said shaft having a plurality of teeth spaced along the length thereof so as to form a rack portion; and [0010] drive means operable to effect linear sliding movement of said second joining element so as to retract the shaft into said housing, the retraction of the shaft drawing together said cavity engaging portions to thereby shorten the joiner, said drive means including a driven worm gear in mesh with said rack portion, and a worm gear actuator arranged, upon rotation thereof, to drive said driven worm gear, whereby the rotary motion of the worm actuator is translated into linear motion only of the shaft. [0011] The incorporation of a driven worm gear which meshes with the rack portion of the shaft provides a simple and effective means to bring the first and second joining elements together as the shaft is drawn within the housing in a purely linear fashion without requiring rotation of a nut which would typically threadably engage the shaft directly in prior art mechanisms. As the driven worm gear is in meshing engagement with the shaft, the joiner can be set at a spacing close to that required before inserting into the relevant cavities of the members being joined thus making the joining procedure more convenient. Additionally the driven worm gear and rack portion arrangement allows for the easy loosening of the joiner if required. [0012] Preferably, said driven worm gear has a helical thread arranged to have an axis of rotation inclined to said elongate shaft and to engage with said teeth of said shaft. Desirably, the axis is at an angle of approximately 10.degree. to the longitudinal axis of the shaft. [0013] Preferably, said drive means further includes a gear wheel or cog attached to one end of a shaft which also carries said driven worm gear, said gear wheel meshing with said worm gear actuator. [0014] This provides a convenient and compact arrangement which does not add substantially to the size of the housing of the first joining element. [0015] Preferably, said worm drive actuator further includes a drive head, said drive head including a recess to receive a drill bit. [0016] Clearly, use of a standard power drill to both insert and to operate the joiner greatly increases the ease with which the joiner can be both installed and removed. Also use of a standard drill bit head such as a hexagonal shaped screwdriver bit further adds to the ease of installation of the joiner. [0017] According to a second aspect, the present invention provides a joiner for joining a first and second member together in an end to end relationship, said first and second members including a first cavity and a second cavity respectively, said joiner including: [0018] co-acting first and second joining elements, said first joining element having a housing which has surfaces defining a first cavity engaging portion to engage with said first cavity of said first member; [0019] said second joining element having a second cavity engaging portion to engage with said second cavity of said second member and an elongate shaft extending from said second cavity engaging portion, said shaft slidably locating through an opening in said housing; and [0020] drive means operable to effect linear sliding movement of said shaft for retracting same into said housing so as to draw said first and second cavity engaging portions towards each other to thereby join together said first and second members. [0021] Preferably, said housing includes a through passageway to receive said shaft and wherein a cross-section of said elongate shaft and the shape of said passageway are complementary and arranged to prevent rotation of said first joining element with respect to said second joining element. [0022] Preferably, said elongate shaft has a substantially rectangular cross section and said passageway has a complementary rectangular shape. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0023] An illustrative embodiment of the present invention will be discussed with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein: [0024] FIG. 1 is a top front perspective view of a joiner according to an embodiment of the invention for joining together a pair of panels in edge to edge relationship; [0025] FIG. 2 is a top perspective view of the joiner only illustrated in FIG. 1; [0026] FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the joiner illustrated in FIG. 2; [0027] FIG. 4 is another exploded perspective view of the joiner illustrated in FIG. 2; Continue reading about Joiner... Full patent description for Joiner Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Joiner patent application. ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. Fill in the keywords to be monitored. 3. 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