GB2373994A

GB2373994A - Holding device for drawer slide rail assembly

Info

Publication number: GB2373994A
Application number: GB0204995A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Kuo-Chan Weng
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2001-03-05
Filing date: 2002-03-04
Publication date: 2002-10-09
Also published as: TW493406U; GB0204995D0

Abstract

The sliding rail 22 of the assembly has an end extension 221 formed with a locating hole 223 and a recess 222, and the fixed rail carries a holding unit 30 comprising a base 31 fixed to the rail, a Y-shaped member 31 pivoted in the base and a resilient plate 33 mounted in the base and arranged to press against the base portions 325,236 of the Y. In use, when closing the assembly, the end section 221 engages arm 321 of the Y, pivoting it so as to engage arm 322 in hole 223 thereby retaining the assembly closed. Pressure of plate 33 on the base of the Y tends to rotate and thereby hold it in its proper locking position. Alternative mounting positions 311 for the plate provide different degrees of resilient pressure against the Y. An alternative toothed structure for this purpose is shown in Fig 5.

Description

AUTOMATICALLY RESTORING DEVICE FOR SLIDE RAIL ASSEMBLY The present invention IS related to an automatically restoring device for slide rail assembly, which is able to automatically restore the slide rad assembly to its home position and lock the slide rail assembly In Its true position Office desks, iron cabinets, file cabinets, tool cabinets, part boxes are generally equipped with drawers. In order to easily draw out or push In the drawer, generally a pair of movable rails are laid on two sides of the drawer Correspondingly, a pair of fixed rails are fixed on the frame body for the drawer to smoothly horizontally slide therealong.

However, practically, some problems often take place as follows First, in the case that the drawer is pushed too hard, the drawer will hit the end and then rebound out by a certain distance Second, In the case that the drawer is pushed In by too little force, the drawer will stop without reaching the end Accordingly, the drawer cannot be fully closed and will partially protrude from the cabinet body Third, In the case of Inclined ground or earthquake or collision by external force, the drawer will slip out All the above problems are troublesome and should be solved It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide an automatically restoring device for slide rail assembly. The device Includes an automatically restoring section having a Y-shaped swinging member In the case that a drawer is pushed In by too little or too great force, the automatically restoring section is able to automatically restore and lock the movable rail of the drawer In Its true position.

It IS a further object of the present invention to provide the above automatically restoring device. In the case that the ground is inclined or the

drawer is shaken or collided by external force, the drawer IS still locked in Its true position without slipping out According to the above objects, the automatically restoring device for slide rail assembly of the present invention Includes. a fixed apparatus defining an interior space, a pair of substantial parallel fixed rails being mounted on two inner sides of the interior space, and a horizontally slidable receptacle having a receiving section, a pair of movable rails being disposed on two outer sides of the receiving section corresponding to the fixed rails, whereby the horizontally slidable receptacle can be drawn out of the fixed apparatus or pushed thereinto One end of each movable rail IS formed with a push section and a recessed section and a locating hole IS formed on the push section.

An automatically restoring section is disposed at one end of each fixed rail The automatically restoring section Includes : a base seat fixed on the fixed rail. a Y-shaped swinging member, one end of the swinging member being formed with a first arm and a second arm in form of a fork, the other end of the swinging member having a block section pivotally connected with the fixed rail, the block section including a first face and a second face, the first and second faces containing a push angle, and a resilient plate section integrally formed on the base seat or connected with the base seat, the resilient plate section contacting with the first face. the second face or the push angle When the push section of the movable rail inward pushes the first arm of the Y-shaped swinging member, the swinging member will be deflected by an angle to make the second arm extend into the

locating hole to fix the movable rail and automatically restore the movable rail to Its home position

The present invention can be best understood through the following description and accompanying drawings wherein' Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a cabinet and drawers to which the present invention is applied, Fig. 2 is a perspective exploded view of a first embodiment of the present invention : Fig 3 is a perspective assembled view of the first embodiment of the present invention ; Fig 4 is a sectional view of the first embodiment of the present invention, showing the operation thereof, Fig. 5 is a perspective exploded view of a second embodiment of the present invention; and Fig 6 is a perspective assembled view of a third embodiment of the present invention Please refer to Figs. 1 to 4 According to a first embodiment, the automatically restoring device for slide rail assembly of the present invention includes : a fixed apparatus 10 defining an interior space 11, a pair of substantially parallel fixed rails 12 being mounted on two inner sides of the interior space 11, and a horizontally slidable receptacle 20 having a receiving section 21, a pair of movable rails 22 being disposed on two outer sides of the receiving section 21 corresponding to the fixed rails 12, whereby the horizontally slideable receptacle 20 can be drawn out of the fixed appparatus 10 or pushed thereinto One end of each movable rail 22 is formed with a push section 221 and a

recessed section 222 A locating hole 223 IS formed on the push section 221 An automatically restoring section 30 is disposed at one end of each fixed rail 12 The automatically restoring section 30 includes. a base seat 31 fixed on the fixed rail 12, a Y -shaped swinging member 32, one end of the swinging member 32 being formed with a first arm 321 and a second arm 322 in form of a fork, the other end of the swinging member 32 having a block section 323 pivotally connected with the fixed rat) 12. the block section 323 including a first face 324 and a second face 325, the first and second faces 324, 325 containing a push angle 326, and a resilient plate section 33 Integrally formed on the base seat 31 or connected with the base seat 31, the resilient plate section 33 contacting with the first face 324, the second face 325 or the push angle 326 In this embodiment, the base seat 31 IS formed with one or more arched notches 311. A rear end of the resilient plate section 33 is formed with an arched projection 312 corresponding to the arched notches 311 The arched projection 312 is adjustably located in one of the arched notches 311 in accordance with the necessary resilient force.

When the push section 221 of the movable rail 22 inward pushes the first arm 321 of the Y -shaped swinging member 32, the swinging member 32 will be deflected by an angles to make the second arm 322 extend Into the locating hole 223 to fix the movable rail 22 Therefore, the movable rail 22 can be automatically restored to its home position.

To more detailedly analyze the operation principle, please refer to Fig 4 When the push section 221 of the movable rail 22 is moved inward toward the first arm 321 of the swinging member 32, the swinging member 32 IS positioned In a first position P1 where the first face 324 of the block section

323 attaches to the resilient plate section 33 When the push section 221 of the movable rail 22 contacts with and pushes the first arm 321 of the swinging member 32, the swinging member 32 is positioned In a second position P2 where the first face 324 of the block section 323 is separated from the resilient plate section 33 At this time, the tip of the push angle 326 presses and deforms the resilient plate section 33 (as shown by phantom line) Due to inertia, the push section 221 of the movable rail 22 will further move forward At this time, the resilient plate section 33 tends to restore to its original state and the swinging member 32 is positioned In a third position P3 where the second face 325 of the block section 323 attaches to the resilient plate section 33 Also, the second arm 322 just abuts against the Inner edge of the locating hole 223 to achieve an automatically restoring and locating effect.

Furthermore, the resilient plate section 33 exerts a pressure onto the second face 325 so that even If the ground is inclined or the fixed apparatus is slightly shaken, the horizontally slidable receptacle 20 (generally a drawer) will not easily slip out. Therefore, the drawer 20 is locked in its true position Fig. 5 shows a second embodiment of the present invention, In which the base seat 31 is formed with multiple first teeth 313 and the rear end of the resilient plate section 33 is formed with corresponding second teeth 314 The second teeth 314 are adjustably engaged with the first teeth 313 in accordance with necessary resilient force The outer side of the resilient plate section 33 IS formed with a projecting block with a predetermined height opposite to the second teeth 314 Accordingly, the outer side of the rear end of the resilient plate section 33 serves to abut against the movable rail 22 to provide a resilient force

Fig. 6 shows a third embodiment of the present invention, In which the base seat 31 IS Integrally connected with the rear end of the resilient plate section 33 This embodiment can achieve the same function as the above embodiments Alternatively, the base seat 31 can be connected with the rear end of the resilient plate section 33 by a fixing member such as a screw, a rivet and an adhesive.

The above embodiments are only used to Illustrate the present invention, not intended to limit the scope thereof Many modifications of the above embodiments can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention

Claims

CLAIMS Automatically restoring device for slide rail assembly, comprising a fixed apparatus defining an interior space, a pair of substantially parallel fixed rails being mounted on two inner sides of the interior space, and a horizontally slidable receptacle having a receiving section, a pair of movable rails being disposed on two outer sides of the receiving section corresponding to the fixed rails, whereby the horizontally shdable receptacle can be drawn out of the fixed apparatus or pushed thereinto, said automatically restoring device being characterized in that: one end of each movable rail is formed with a push section and a recessed section, a locating hole being formed on the push section, and an automatically restoring section is disposed at one end of each fixed rail, the automatically restoring section Including. a base seat fixed on the fixed rail, a Y-shaped swinging member, one end of the swinging member being formed with a first arm and a second arm In form of a fork, the other end of the swinging member having a block section pivotally connected with the fixed rail, the block section including a first face and a second face, the first and second faces containing a push angle ; and a resilient plate section integrally formed on the base seat or connected with the base seat, the resilient plate section contacting with the first face, the second face or the push angle, whereby when the push section of the movable rail inward pushes the first arm of the Y-shaped swinging member, the swinging member will be deflected by an angle to make the second arm extend into the locating hole to fix the movable rail and automatically restore the movable rail to its home position.
2 Automatically restoring device for slide rail assembly as claimed In claim 1, wherein the base seat IS formed with one or more arched notches and a rear end of the resilient plate section is formed with an arched projection corresponding to the arched notches, the arched projection being adjustably located in one of the arched notches In accordance with necessary resilient force
3 Automatically restoring device for slide rail assembly as claimed In claim 1, wherein the base seat is formed with multiple first teeth and a rear end of the resilient plate section IS formed with corresponding second teeth, the second teeth being adjustably engaged with the first teeth In accordance with necessary resilient force
4 Automatically restoring device for slide rail assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the base seat is Integrally connected with the rear end of the resilient plate section.
5 Automatically restoring device for slide rail assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the base seat is connected with the rear end of the resilient plate section by a fixing member.
6. Automatically restoring device for slide rail assembly as herein described with reference to Figures 1 to 6 of the accompanying drawings.