Description Field of the art

The present invention regards the furnishing industry, in particular interior furnishing. More in detail, it refers to a reversibly assemblable modular kit dedicated to fans of any sport desiring to watch their favourite athletes or teams on the television. Prior art

Various furnishing kits for various purposes are known from the prior art. Considering the useful surfaces of apartments which nowadays tend to be the smallest possible, furniture has turned into multifunctional objects which, in a few simple moves, can adapt to perform the various functions. For the same reason, many functional units are of the "concealable" type i.e. they can be removed or incorporated into another element to save space when they are not needed.

This progressive reduction of accessory or ornamental elements that is occurring in all households, is leading to stripping spaces of personalisation, which no longer reflect the personality of the people living therein, hence becoming more and more standardised and unwelcoming.

In Italy and in many countries across the world, sports - and football in particular - is a an extremely strong source of aggregation among fans. As a matter of fact, it is common for friends to gather during matches to watch together and thus enjoy an evening keeping each other company. In these events, most fans usually "prepare" the house to welcome other fans with scarfs, flags, shields and other symbols of their favourite team.

Some international patents regard a furnishing kit dedicated to fans, such as for example the United States patent No. US 2013 033 200, which claims a fan's Christmas tree. It is made up of an artificial tree with a static support and a prop that reproduces the symbols of the chosen team. The lights and ornaments exclusively reflect the colours of the club.

However, there does not seem to be any modular kit, to be arranged at the television used for watching the team during sports events, which not only potentially takes the preferred dimensions based on the space available in the fan's sitting room, but that can also be quick to disassemble.

Description of the invention

According to the present invention, a reversibly assemblable modular fan kit is provided. Said kit is suitable to be positioned parallel to a wall, preferably at a television.

Advantageously, the kit consists of at least:

- one pedestal provided with a plurality of wheels, to enable the displacement of the entire kit in the designated place. Upon reaching the desired position, said wheels are advantageously provided with a common reversible lock mechanism. Said pedestal is preferably hollow and provided with an openable door so as to enable to keep all cups, trophies and other commemorative objects to be displayed on the kit;

- a plurality of panels, with dimensions comprised between 60 cm X 20 cm X 1 cm and 200 cm X 80 cm X 4 cm, preferably 120 cm X 40 cm X 2 cm. Advantageously, the panels are suitable to be engaged, in a stable and rotatable manner, with corresponding hinges arranged between one panel and the other at the respective long sides. When said panels are mounted like described above, forming a substantially planar structure parallel to the wall, said kit is in a first extended configuration. Advantageously, said hinges are provided with a reversible locking position which enables maintaining said first extended configuration stable. Furthermore, acting on said hinges and removing said lock advantageously enables conferring a second folded configuration to said kit, characterised in that said kit occupies much lesser space with respect to when it was in the extended configuration. In said second configuration, said panels close in a bellows-like fashion rotating around the relative hinge. When the kit is in use, i.e. when it is in said first extended configuration, said panels advantageously describe a rectangular- shaped compartment to be positioned at a television. When the kit is in said first extended configuration, said panels advantageously bear the image of the coat of arms of the chosen team and they can describe any geometric shape, even irregular. In an alternative embodiment, instead of the compartment for the television, a panel is provided bearing the image of the shield of the favourite team, backlit by a strip of LED lights;

- a pair of audio speakers, suitable to serve as a radio or, preferably, to be advantageously connected to said television to amplify the match audio. Said audio speakers, are advantageously provided with a common wireless connection system, preferably of the bluetooth type, suitable to enable the reproduction of audio files memorised in any electronic device such as a smartphone, a tablet and the like;

- a strip of LED lights arranged at the perimeter of said compartment to advantageously provide a slight backlighting to the television, said strip of LED lights may possibly advantageously change colour at predetermined time intervals taking the colour of the chosen team;

- a plurality of shelves suitable to be reversibly mounted perpendicularly with respect to said panels by means of a common reversible coupling mechanism, to advantageously enable the display of cups, trophies, photographs and any other commemorative object regarding the chosen team;

- the club logo, or the shield of the favourite team, arranged at the centre of one of said panels preferably in a position above said compartment;

- a power supply cable advantageously capable of connecting at least said audio speakers and said strip of LED lights to the domestic mains power supply;

- possibly a mini-fridge, also advantageously power-supplied by said power supply cable and preferably also provided with a freezer compartment;

- at least one pair of openable shutters, suitable to be rotatably and reversibly engaged, by means of a common hinge removable mechanism, at the short sides of said panels. Said openable shutters are advantageously suitably dimensioned to reversibly close in front of said shelves when said kit is in said first extended configuration;

- at least one battery-powered remote control suitable to advantageously enable at least the adjustment of the volume of said audio speakers and the adjustment of the brightness of said LED light without having to be compulsorily near the kit. Said remote control may possibly control the refrigeration temperature of said mini-fridge, if present, too. In an embodiment, said audio speakers are suitable to reproduce, on input of said remote control, the anthem of the chosen team;

- a plurality of commemorative objects of the favourite team, suitable to be displayed on said shelves when the kit is in the first extended configuration.

Other additional components that can make the fans kit in question even more advantageous are:

- a programmable timer suitable to emit an acoustic signal through said audio speakers when the match one plans to watch is about to start;

- a show case rotatably connected to at least one of said openable doors suitable to enable the display of posters, jerseys or flyers of the chosen team;

- a common uninterruptible power supply, suitable to power-supply the electrical components of said kit in case of power failure in the domestic power mains; furthermore, said uninterruptible power supply is advantageously suitable to be connected with said television too.

In dimensionally smaller embodiments, a fixed pedistal can be advantageously provided to be placed on another piece of furniture or there can be provided a rear hook which advantageously enables hanging the entire kit on the wall.

The advantages provided by the present invention will be clear in light of the description outlined up to now. Furthermore, they will be more apparent due to the attached figures and relative detailed description.

Description of the figures

The invention will be described hereinafter in at least one preferred embodiment, provided by way of non-limiting example, with reference to the attached figures, wherein:

- FIGURE 1 shows a three-dimensional image of a simplified embodiment of the kit 100 in question, omitting the openable shutters for a better understanding of the structure. The pedestal 1 is shown with the wheels 2-2' and the power supply cable 8, a plurality of shelves 3-3'-3"-3" '-... with a corresponding plurality of panels 5-5'-5"-5' "-... and hinges 4-4'- 4"-4" '-... between said panels 5-5'-5"-5' "-.... At the centre, the club logo 10 is shown with the LED strip 7 which laterally contours the pair of audio speakers 9-9' for listening to the radio.

- FIGURE 2 illustrates a lateral view of the kit 100 of the previous FIG. 1 in which, besides the previously described components, a structural reinforcement panel 5. a is shown.

- FIGURE 3 shows a three-dimensional view of the kit 100 of the two previous figures, arranged in folded configuration.

- FIGURE 4 shows a more accessorised version of the kit 100 in which, besides the previously illustrated components, the following are shown: pairs of shutters 11-11', the mini-fridge 12, the uninterruptible power supply 13, the show case 14 and the remote control 15 which controls the LED lights 7, the audio speakers 9-9', the compartment of the television 6 and the various commemorative objects 20.

Detailed description of the invention

Now, the present invention will be illustrated purely by way of non-limiting or non-binding example, with reference to the figures illustrating some embodiments regarding the present inventive concept.

With reference to FIG. 4 a preferred version of the kit 100, subject of the present invention, is shown. It consists of a structure of panels and shelves to be positioned at the wall of the sitting room where the television is housed. The kit 100 can be obtained with the favourite dimensions due to the fact that all panels 5-5'-5"-5" '-... all hinges 4-4'-4"-4"'-... and all shelves 3-3'-3"-3" '-... are connected to each other in a reversible and modular fashion by means of common reversible and possibly rotatable connection mechanism. More in detail, the kit 100 of FIG. 4 consists of 6 panels 5-5 '-5 "-5 measuring 120 cm X 40 cm with a thickness of 2 cm. Said panels form a planar structure parallel to the rectangular walls and, by means of suitable colouring, reproduce the shield of the favourite team. The two central panels 5-5 '-5 "-5 are characterised in that they describe a compartment 6 to be arranged at the television. The perimeter of said compartment 6 is provided with a strip of LED lights 7. The panel 5-5 '-5 "-5 above said compartment 6 is centrally provided with the club logo 10 of the favourite team. At the lower part, laterally with respect to said compartment 6, a pair of audio speakers 9-9' to be connected to the television are integrated in a panel 5-5 '-5 "-5 to amplify the sound during the match. A bluetooth connection system that said audio speakers 9-9' are provided with, also enables connecting the latter to any electronic device for reproducing any audio file.

A plurality shelves 3-3'-3"-3' "-... are perpendicularly connected to said panels 5-5'-5"- 5" '-... by means of common reversible connection mechanisms and serve the function of enabling the display of the trophies, photographs, cups and other commemorative objects 20, regarding the favourite team.

In the lower portion of the kit 100 the following are arranged: a mini-fridge 12, preferably also provided with a freezer compartment, and an uninterruptible power supply 13 which supplies power to all components of the kit 100 that need it and to the television in case of domestic power supply failure. As a matter of fact, said kit 100 is provided with a common power supply cable 8, consisting of a common electrical plug, suitable to be connected to the household mains power supply to enable the switching on of at least said audio speakers 9-9' and said strip of LED lights 7; The latter may be set to change colour at predetermined time intervals taking the colour of the chosen team.

All electrical components can be adjusted by means of a battery-powered remote control 15 included in said kit 100 and suitable to enable at least the adjustment of the volume of said audio speakers 9-9' and the adjustment of the brightness of said LED light 7. Furthermore, it preferably also controls the refrigeration temperature of said mini-fridge 12.

Said audio speakers 9-9', can be set by means of said remote control 15 to reproduce the anthem of the chosen team after pressing a special button and also for emitting an acoustic signal at the beginning of the match one intends to watch.

Still with reference to FIG. 4, laterally with respect to said panels 5-5'-5"-5' "-..., a pair of openable shutters 11-11' are mounted with special vertical hinges, such shutters suitably dimensioned to reversibly close, in front of said shelves 3-3 ' -3 " -3 .

At the bottom part, a pedestal 1 is shown, provided with a plurality of wheels 2-2'. Said pedestal 1 enables the displacement of the kit 100 at the wall provided with the television. Furthermore, a common locking mechanism that the wheels 2-2' are provided with enables securing the kit 100 in the preferred position. Said pedestal 1 is preferably hollow and it is provided with an openable door which can be used for keeping all commemorative objects 20 displayed in said shelves 3-3 ' -3 " -3 " '-....

Inside an openable shutter 11-11', a show case 14 is also arranged, rotatably connected to one of said openable shutters 11-11', suitable to enable displaying posters, jerseys of flyers of the chosen team.

FIGS 2 and 3 show the two configurations that the kit 100 of the present invention can take. In FIG. 2 the kit 100 is in a first extended configuration, i.e. the one used for watching matches of the favourite team. In FIG. 3, the kit 100 is in a second folded configuration in which, after demounting said shelves 3-3'-3"-3' "-... from the relative panels 5-5'-5"-5" '- the latter are rotated around the hinges 4-4 '-4 "-4 " '-... arranged between one panel 5-5'- 5 "-5 " '-... and the other up to closing the entire structure in a bellows-like fashion. Thus, when there are no plans to watch a match among friends, the kit 100 becomes a simple piece of furniture for the sitting room.

Smaller versions of the kit 100, that were not represented but which constitute simple variants of the same inventive concept, can be obtained with a fixed pedestal 1 suitable to be placed on a piece of furniture already present in the fan's house, or with at least one hook arranged on the rear surface of at least one of said panels 5-5'-5"-5" '-... capable of enabling hanging the entire kit 100 on the wall just like a painting.

Lastly, it is clear that the invention described up to now may be subjected to modifications, additions or variants obvious to a man skilled in the art, without departing from the scope of protection outlined by the attached claims.