Inexpensive, knock-down furniture assembled with mating, molded, plastic shells for corners and elbows

Claim 1

A furniture piece for children wherein the furniture piece includes panels of inexpensive sheet material and rail means operatively associated with said panels; the furniture piece including, in combination: a plurality of rails each with a longitudinal groove formed therein adapted for receiving thereinto an edge of one of said sheet material panels; corner connecter shell pairs each formed in a shell-like configuration for defining, when assembled, a pair of transverse sockets, each adapted to receive therein one rail end for holding therein an end of a rail; the shell-like configuration of each corner connector including a first molded shell with elongated pins and tubes extending transversely of the shell toward the cooperating shell, the other shell of the connector shell pairs also having elongated pins and tubes of a size and shape and position to receive, in cooperating manner, the pins and tubes of the first molded shell in a manner to hold the corner connector shell pairs frictionally assembled when pressed together; and the shell-like configuration of the corner shell pairs also including at least one stud on one shell adapted to extend toward the other shell and into an opening provided in the panel, so as to hold and position the panel relative to the corner shell pairs and to the plurality of rails.