AU2011333960B2

AU2011333960B2 - Support device for fixing a front panel

Info

Publication number: AU2011333960B2
Application number: AU2011333960A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Heiko Boekhoff; Roman Herzog; Guido Limberg; Andreas Stuffel
Original assignee: Paul Hettich GmbH and Co KG
Current assignee: Paul Hettich GmbH and Co KG
Priority date: 2010-11-22
Filing date: 2011-11-15
Publication date: 2016-06-09
Anticipated expiration: 2031-11-15
Also published as: KR101929065B1; ES2739707T3; AU2011333960A1; CN103228176B; JP5952292B2; KR20140010932A; TR201910591T4; CN103228176A; DE102010060720A1; EP2642888A1; EP2642888B1; RU2564607C2; RU2013127431A; PL2642888T3; TW201234994A; JP2013542823A; WO2012069337A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a support device (6) for fixing a front panel (3) on the lateral frames (4) of a drawer (2), said support device (6) being equipped with a height adjusting eccentric (10) and a lateral adjusting screw (11) for adjusting the front panel (3). The lateral adjusting screw (11) is disposed within the cross-section of the height adjusting eccentric (10) in a parallel manner to the rotational axis (30) of the height adjusting eccentric (10) within the support device (6).

Description

A support device for fixing a front panel

The present invention relates to a support device for fixing a front panel to the lateral frames of a drawer, with the support device being equipped with a height adjusting eccentric and a lateral adjusting screw for adjusting the front panel.

Support devices of the kind mentioned above are known and are used to enable the fixing of a front panel in an adjustable manner to the lateral frames of a drawer. Such support devices are fixed in pairs to a front panel and are then inserted into respectively arranged receiving areas of the lateral frames of a drawer, by means of which fixing of the front panel occurs at first in the longitudinal direction of the frames.

As a result of the tolerances that are required during the assembly of furniture and cannot be avoided for reasons of production, it is necessary in most cases to adjust a front panel after fixing to a drawer both laterally and in respect of height in order to align the gap between two front panels of drawers arranged above one another and/or to enable the common alignment of the lateral front edges of several front panels which are arranged above one another.

Such adjustments will often be required several times during the operational lifespan of the piece of furniture and will therefore also be performed by the user or by unskilled persons.

In the case of support devices of this kind, i.e. such support devices in which both the height adjusting eccentric and also the lateral adjusting screws are arranged within the support device, they were mounted up until now in the support device while lying in two different axial regions. This leads to a relatively large necessary overall size of the support devices, which is generally disadvantageous both with respect to the consumption of material and the required space.

Especially in the case of adjustments performed by the user or unskilled persons and also when using motor-driven tools it may occur very easily in prior known support devices that the limit stops of the lateral adjusting screws or, when there are limit stops in height adjusting eccentrics, the limit stops will be overtwisted and the support device will be destroyed as a result.

The invention provides a support device for fixing a front panel to the lateral frames of a drawer, with the support device being equipped with a height adjusting eccentric and a lateral adjusting screw for adjusting the front panel, wherein the lateral adjusting screw is disposed within the cross-section of the height adjusting eccentric in a parallel manner to the rotational axis of the height adjusting eccentric within the support device.

This leads to a considerable reduction in the size of the support device because the axes of the height adjusting eccentric and the lateral adjusting screw are disposed close to one another.

Preferably, the lateral adjusting screw is provided in its bearing regions within the support device with cylindrical bearing parts which protrude slightly beyond the diameter of the thread and whose mutually facing face surfaces form the limiting planes for the lateral displacement of the height adjusting eccentric.

When the lateral adjusting screw is twisted in such a construction maximally in one adjusting direction, the height adjusting eccentric reaches one of the aforementioned face surfaces, which leads to the consequence in the end that further twisting of the lateral adjusting screw in the same direction of rotation leads to the consequence that the height adjusting eccentric will be twisted together with the lateral adjusting screw. As a result, a destruction of the support device by “overtwisting” the lateral adjusting screw is no longer possible.

Preferably, the height adjusting eccentric is arranged in an approximately coil-like way with two front flanges and an interposed core which is situated eccentrically in relation thereto and is provided with a threaded borehole which is penetrated by the lateral adjusting screw.

The coil-like configuration of the height adjusting eccentric and the mentioned fixing of said height adjusting eccentric to the lateral adjusting screw leads to the consequence that by twisting the height adjusting eccentric about the axis of the lateral adjusting screw, wherein the height adjusting eccentric can be twisted without any limitation to the rotational angle, i.e. by more than 360°, an adjustment of the front panel with respect to its height position can be produced, and a lateral adjustment of a front panel can be produced by laterally displacing the height adjusting eccentric by twisting the lateral adjusting screw.

When reaching the respective limit stop, i.e. when approaching the outside surface of the front flange on the corresponding projection of the lateral adjusting screw, there will not be any blockage of the rotational movement of the lateral adjusting screw when continuing to twist in the same direction of rotation because a securing torque of the height adjusting eccentric will be exceeded in relation to the support device, i.e. the height adjusting eccentric will be twisted with the same rotational angle with the lateral adjusting screw.

Further features of the invention are the subject matter of dependent claims.

An embodiment of the invention is shown in the enclosed drawings and will be described in closer detail below, wherein:

Fig. 1 shows a perspective view of a piece of furniture with a drawer that has partly been pulled out of the furniture body and is equipped with a front panel;

Fig. 2 shows a side view of a connecting fitting for fixing the front panel to the drawer, said fitting consisting of a support device and a locking unit;

Fig. 3 shows a perspective exploded view of a support device in accordance with the invention;

Fig. 4 shows a perspective view of the support device in the mounted state;

Fig. 5 shows a perspective view of the support device in a direction of view which is situated opposite of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 shows a view in the direction of arrow VI in Fig. 4, by omitting the leg of the support device which is situated at the front as seen in the direction of view;

Figs. 7a to 7c show views in the direction of arrow VII in Fig. 4 in different adjusting positions.

Fig. 1 shows a piece of furniture in its entirety with reference numeral 1, which is provided with several drawers 2 disposed above one another.

Each of the drawers 2 comprises a front panel 3 which is a respectively connected to the lateral frames 4 in the known manner by way of connecting fittings 5 according to Fig. 2. Each connecting fitting 5 comprises a support device 6 and a locking unit 7, with the latter being arranged within a frame 4. The support device 6, which is the subject matter of the present invention, can be mounted in a fixed way on the respective front panel 3. For this purpose, the support device 6 can be provided with drive-in pegs 8 which are integrally formed on a support part 9 and can be driven into pocket boreholes of a front panel 3. Alternatively, the support part 9 can also be provided with through-holes for fastening screws that can be screwed into a front panel 3.

Furthermore, the support device 6 is provided with a height adjusting eccentric 10 and a lateral adjusting screw 11, with the mentioned components offering the possibility to adjust the front panel 3 in relation to the drawer 2 both with respect to height and also laterally.

The configuration and functionality of the support device 6 will be explained below in its entirety by referring especially to Figs. 3 to 7.

As is shown in these drawings, the height adjusting eccentric 10 will be arranged in a U-shaped fork 12, on the middle web 12a of which the support part 9 will rest or will be rigidly connected to the same. The lateral adjusting screw 11 is provided for bearing the height adjusting eccentric 10 between the lateral legs 12b and 12c, which adjusting screw penetrates a threaded borehole 13 of the height adjusting eccentric 10.

The lateral adjusting screw 11, whose axis is provided in Figs. 7a to 7c with reference numeral 30, is rotatably mounted via a cylindrical projection 14 beneath its head 15 in a borehole 16 of the lateral leg 12b and on the other side via a cylinder stub 17 of a runup flange 18 in a borehole 19 of the opposite lateral leg 12c, which run-up flange is clinched together with the lateral adjusting screw 11 and is therefore rigidly connected, wherein both the cylindrical projection 14 and the cylinder stub 17 protrude beyond the outside diameter of the lateral adjusting screw 11 and extend in the axial direction up to and beyond the insides of the lateral legs 12a and 12b. The cylindrical projection 14 and the cylinder stub 17 therefore form bearing parts whose mutually facing front sides form the boundary planes for the displacement of the height adjusting eccentric 10.

The front open end of the fork piece 12 is spaced in an interlocking manner by a pin 20, with the pin 20 being engaged in a rearward manner as an abutment by a retaining hook of the locking unit 7.

As is further shown in closer detail in the drawings, the height adjusting eccentric 10 is arranged approximately like a coil and comprises two front flanges 10a and 10b and an interposed core 10c which is circular in its cross-section and whose center point is eccentrically offset in relation to the center point of the threaded borehole 13.

The outside dimensioning between the two front flanges 10a and 10b is clearly smaller than the inner dimension of the fork piece 12.

One of the lateral front flanges 10b of the height adjusting eccentric 10 is provided with an external gearing 10d. As is clearly shown in Fig. 6, a spiral spring 21 is anchored on the support part 9, which spring is provided with an integrally formed securing tooth 22, which depending on the rotational position of the height adjusting device 10 engages in one of the tooth gaps of the external gearing 10d. This provides a friction-locked fixing of the height adjusting device 10 and the respective resulting holding torque.

The height adjusting eccentric 10 can be twisted in relation to the lateral adjusting screw 11, leading to a height adjustment of the front panel 3 via the eccentrically arranged core 10c, because the aforementioned eccentrically arranged core 10c is respectively supported within the locking unit 7 (not shown in closer detail) according to Fig. 2.

The twisting of the height adjusting eccentric 10 can occur in a simple way by means of a simple tool such as a Phillips screwdriver, which has been inserted into respective tool receivers 23 of the front flange provided with reference numeral 10a. These tool receivers 23 are disposed in a region of a sector-shaped recess 24 of the lateral leg 12b of the fork piece 12 which is opposite of the respective front flange 10a. A lateral adjustment of the front panel 3 can be produced in such a way that the lateral adjusting screw 11 is actuated. For this purpose, the head 15 of the lateral adjusting screw 11 is provided with a cross recess 25, as clearly shown in Fig. 5. An actuation of the lateral adjusting screw 11 now leads to a lateral displacement of the height adjusting eccentric 10 within the limits which are given between the mutually facing front sides of the bearing parts 14, 17. Figs. 7a to 7c show the possible adjusting range for the height adjusting eccentric 10 in the longitudinal direction of the lateral adjusting screw 11. In the case of a support device 6 which is coupled with the locking unit 7 according to Fig. 2, a slotted wall region of the locking unit 7 is disposed between the two front flanges 10a and 10b, the thickness of which virtually corresponds to the width of the slit formed between the two front flanges 10a and 10b. As a result, a lateral displacement of the height adjusting device 10 now leads to a lateral adjustment of the front panel 3.

The described construction allows performing height adjustments and lateral adjustments of a front panel 3 in a simple manner, wherein the support device 6 which is arranged for this purpose is characterized by an especially compact configuration because the means for the height adjustment (height adjusting eccentric 10) and also for the lateral adjustment (lateral adjusting screw 11 in conjunction with the height adjusting eccentric 10) are arranged within the cross-section of the height adjusting eccentric 10 and can therefore be housed in an exceptionally compact way in the support device 6.

In the claims which follow and in the preceding description of the invention, except where the context requires otherwise due to express language or necessary implication, the word “comprise” or variations such as “comprises” or “comprising” is used in an inclusive sense, i.e. to specify the presence of the stated features but not to preclude the presence or addition of further features in various embodiments of the invention.

List of reference numerals 1 Piece of furniture 2 Drawer 3 Front panel 4 Lateral frame 5 Connecting fitting 6 Support device 7 Locking unit 8 Drive-in peg 9 Support part 10 Height adjusting eccentric 10a Front flange 10b Front flange 10c Core 10d External gearing 11 Lateral adjusting screw 12 Fork piece 12a Middle web 12b Lateral leg 12c Lateral leg 13 Threaded borehole 14 Projection 15 Head 16 Borehole 17 Cylinder stub 18 Run-up flange 19 Borehole 20 Pin 21 Spiral spring 22 Securing tooth 23 Tool receiver 24 Recess 25 Cross recess 30 Axis

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A support device for fixing a front panel to the lateral frames of a drawer, with the support device being equipped with a height adjusting eccentric and a lateral adjusting screw for adjusting the front panel, wherein the lateral adjusting screw is disposed within the cross-section of the height adjusting eccentric in a parallel manner to the rotational axis of the height adjusting eccentric within the support device.
2. A support device according to claim 1, wherein the height adjusting eccentric is mounted on the lateral adjusting screw and in engagement with its thread.
3. A support device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the height adjusting eccentric is arranged in an approximately coil-like manner with two front flanges and an interposed core arranged eccentrically in relation thereto, and is provided with a threaded borehole which is penetrated by the lateral adjusting screw.
4. A support device according to one of the preceding claims, wherein one of the front flanges is provided with an external gearing and that a spiral spring is anchored on the support device which is provided with a securing tooth engaging in a tooth gap of the external gearing.
5. A support device according to one of the preceding claims, wherein one of the front flanges, preferably the front flange opposite of the front flange with the external gearing, is provided over graduated circle regions extending concentrically to the threaded borehole with tool receivers.
6. A support device according to claim 5, wherein the tool receivers are arranged as recesses shaped in the manner of cross recesses.
7. A support device according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the lateral adjusting screw is provided with a head having a cross recess.
8. A support device according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the support device comprises a fork piece, on the central web of which there rests a support part which can be fixed to the front panel or is connected to the central web, and between whose lateral legs the height adjusting device and the lateral adjusting screw are mounted.
9. A support device according to claim 8, wherein the front free end of the fork piece is spaced in an interlocking manner by a pin, and the pin is arranged as an abutment for a retaining hook of the locking unit.
10. A support device according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the tool receivers of the front flange are disposed in the region of a sector-shaped recess of a lateral leg of the fork piece.
11 .A support device according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the lateral adjusting screw is rotatably mounted in the lateral legs of the fork piece via a cylindrical projection beneath the head on the one hand and via a cylinder stub of a run-up flange on the other hand, wherein the cylindrical projection and the cylinder stub respectively protrude beyond the outside diameter of the lateral adjusting screw and extend in the axial direction up to and beyond the insides of the lateral legs, so that bearing parts are formed by the projection and the cylinder stub whose mutually facing front sides form the boundary planes for the displacement of the height adjusting eccentric.