Wardrobe-type unit with coaxially hinged, double-leaved doors fitted with mirrors on the sides facing each other when the doors are closed.

0001The subject of the invention is a wardrobe-type unit offering the option of a very large mirrored surface having several parts which can be orientated in various ways to enhance the visual effect and make it more functional.

0002These and other aims and advantages will emerge from the following text.

0003Basically, the wardrobe-type unit in question has a leaved door formed by two coaxially hinged panels with the two facing sides fitted with mirrors; said two panels can be moved angularly remaining joined together or they can be moved independently so as to open the outer panel, thereby exposing the two sides fitted with mirrors, one of which can be orientated, which remain adjacent to each other.

0004In practice, the wardrobe-type unit has two leaved doors, each door being formed by two panels with mirrors on the two facing sides, the outer panel of which can be opened even independently of the inner panel. This arrangement gives up to four mirrored sides, the outer two of which can be orientated.

0005A bolt means can be provided on the or on each outer panel in order to lock onto or release the inner panel, thereby moving the two panels together as one or moving only the outer panel. The or each inner panel can be fitted with a catch or bolt or better still with force-operated means such as a magnetic means, a mechanical pressure means, or other equivalent means.

0006The two panels of the or each leave can be fitted using hinges having three attachment points, one for the wardrobe frame, one for the outer panel and one for the inner panel; the last can be connected to the hinge via a small intermediate shaped block.

0007The drawing shows one possible embodiment of the invention, and specifically: <ul id="ul0001" list-style="none"><li>Figs. 1 and 2 show perspective front views of a wardrobe with its doors open allowing access to the inside, and with only the outer panels open to form a quadruple mirrored surface, respectively;</li><li>Figs. 3, 4 and 5 show local horizontal cross-sections illustrating the hinged articulations between the frame of the piece of furniture, the outer panel and the inner panel;</li><li>Figs. 6, 7 and 8 show, in isolation, the area where the hinge is attached to the inner panel, respectively in isolation as viewed in Fig. 5 and through VII-VII and VIII-VIII as marked in Fig. 6;</li><li>Fig. 9 shows a detail of where the two double doors are coupled together when closed;</li><li>Figs. 10, 11 and 12 show a small intermediate block used to hinge the inner panel of one door;</li><li>Fig. 13 shows a partial view of a hinge which may be fitted according to the model.</li></ul>

0008Following the illustrations for the attached drawing and with initial reference to Figs. 1 and 2, the reference numeral 1 indicates the frame or carcass of the piece of furniture, the inside 3 of which can be accessed by opening a pair of doors or leaves which are symmetrical about a vertical plane. A smaller piece of furniture could have a single leaf instead of two symmetrical leaves.

0009The invention is characterised in that each door i.e. each leaf consists of two panels, i.e. an outer panel 5 and an inner panel 7; the two panels 5 and 7 are coaxially hinged together whereby they can be moved angularly in order to obtain the closed and the open positions either independently of each other or simultaneously. When the two panels are side by side, they are very close together and have two facing surfaces, as can be seen in Fig. 2, which are both provided with a mirror so that, when the leaf or pair of leaves 7 are kept closed and the outer panels 5 are opened, this gives four mirrored areas S1, S2, S2, S1 respectively; the two mirrored areas S2 face forwards in the same plane, whereas the two outer mirrored areas S1 can be oriented in various ways and independently of each other, either symmetrically or asymmetrically, thereby giving particular reflections so that the person using the mirror can look at him or herself from the back as well as from the front.

0010Independent closing and opening means may be provided on the inner panels and on the outer panels, or alternatively means connecting the inner leaf to the outer leaf may also be provided; it is therefore possible either to open the outer panel and the inner panel independently one after the other, or to open the two adjacent panels simultaneously in order to obtain the arrangement shown in Fig. 1; the same applies to closing the panels.

0011Figs 4 to the end shows certain specific solutions for the concept set forth above. The reference 1A indicates an upright which forms part of the carcass 1 and which is vertically adjacent to the access openings which are closed by the pairs of panels. The reference 10 indicates a hinge which extends vertically and has at least one triple attachment point or better still at least two triple attachment points, specifically: an attachment point 10A for the upright 1A (see Fig. 3); an attachment point 10B for the outer panel 5 (see Fig. 4); and an attachment point 10C for the inner panel 7. 10A and 10B are attached directly to the upright 1A and the panel 5 respectively, whereas 10C is attached to the inner panel 7 by means of the interposition of a small block 12 (see Fig. 5); the block 12 is comprehensively shown in Figs. 10, 11 and 12 in isolation. Said block 12 fits in a recess 1B in the upright 1A.

0012When the inner panels 7 are closed they stand centrally side by side so that the mirrored areas S2 are substantially adjoining. The outer panels 5 can be coupled together in various ways, for example in a tongue-and-grooved manner as shown at 14 in Fig. 9.

0013The inner panels can be kept in the closed position by means of a mechanical spring latch or magnetic type system which, to a limited extent, keeps them fastened to the frame 1. Each outer panel 5 can be provided with a vertical sliding bolt as indicated at 16 in Fig. 9, which can engage with a mouth 18 fixed via a bracket element 20 which is firmly attached to the top edge or to the bottom edge of the corresponding inner panel 7. Therefore, by keeping the bolt 16, 18 locked, when the outer panels 5 are opened using the handles or knobs this also causes the corresponding inner panels 7 to be opened at the same time; by unlocking the bolt 16, 18, when the outer panel is opened it does not also carry with it the corresponding inner panel 7, which remains fastened to the carcass of the piece of furniture by the spring lock or magnetic or other equivalent means. The possibility of also providing means so that the inner panels 7 can be opened independently after the outer panels 5 have been opened, i.e. to give the arrangement shown in Fig. 1 from that shown in Fig. 2, is not excluded. Opening and closing the leaves via the bolt 16, 18 system has the advantage that the mirrored sides S2 of the inner panels 7 are completely free from recesses or spaces for hand-holes for opening the inner panels 7; thus the coplanar surfaces S2 appear as a single large mirror.

0014By independently and suitably adjusting the orientation of the panels 5 and therefore of the mirrored surfaces S1 in relation to the fixed position of the mirrored surfaces S2, a person standing in front of the mirror described herein can obtain extremely effective reflections of him or herself.