EP0371937B1

EP0371937B1 - Improvements in or relating to a partition wall

Info

Publication number: EP0371937B1
Application number: EP89850321A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Bo Armstrong; Kjell-Ake Söderblom
Original assignee: PLASTUNION AB
Current assignee: PLASTUNION AB
Priority date: 1988-10-05
Filing date: 1989-09-29
Publication date: 1996-07-17
Anticipated expiration: 2009-09-29
Also published as: DE68926847T2; SE8803539L; SE8803539D0; EP0371937A2; DE68926847D1; SE500306C2; EP0371937A3

Description

The present invention relates to a partition wall, preferably in a drawer included in office furniture, where the drawer has at least one partition wall which is optionally insertable in the drawer, said partition wall is of the kind defined in the preamble of claim 1.
Drawer structures with loose, insertable partition walls known up to now have a problem in that the wall can be difficult to get into its intended position in the drawer and also that it can be difficult to get the wall to remain in its position after assembly. In use, it happens that the wall comes loose from the drawer because the wall has fixing means which function poorly in coaction with the drawer.
Document DE-2 944 683 represents the closest prior art and discloses a partition wall which is fixable in a drawer with aid of coacting lug means projecting out from end parts of the partition wall for coaction with recesses situated in the casing of said drawer both at the bottom part and the upper part of the drawer.
The object of the present invention is to provide a device in such partition walls, which completely eliminates the disadvantages to be found in structures now on the market, and which allows a partition wall to be readily fastened at a desired place in a drawer using extremely simple hand movements, such that the partition wall cannot loosen from this place, while at the same time it can be easily freed for movement to another place in the drawer or for being completely removed. The distinguishing features characterizing the invention are disclosed in claim 1.
Preferred embodiments of the invention are disclosed in the dependent claims 2-4. By means of the invention, there has now been provided a device which fills its purpose excellently, simultaneously as it is simple and cheap to manufacture. Since in their unactuated state the lug means of the wall engage in recesses in the drawer casing for positional fixation at the partition wall, it cannnot come loose from its inserted position by fatigue in the resiliency of the material used for the wall.
The invention will now be described in more detail with the aid of a preferred embodiment and with reference to the accompanying drawing, where

Fig. 1: is a side view, partially in cross section, of a partition wall mounted in a drawer,
Fig. 2: is a view from above of the wall of Fig. 1 in an unassembled state,
Fig. 3: is a view from below of the wall illustrated in Fig. 2 and
Fig. 4: is an end view of the wall illustrated in Fig. 2.

Fig. 1 of the drawing illustrates a preferred embodiment of a partition wall 1 in accordance with the present invention, when it is fitted in a drawer 4 included in such as office furniture. In the illustrated example, both the drawer 4 and partition wall 1 are manufactured from a plastics material. The wall 1 is removable and in the depth and/or lateral direction of the drawer 4 is optionally fixable with the aid of lug means 6,7 projecting from the end parts 2,3 of the wall and coacting with recesses 8,9 in the casing 5 of the drawer 4. One lug means 6 is situated on a resilient tongue element 10 extending in height at either end part 2,3 of the wall 1, while a second lug means 7 consists of an extension of each end wall 11 of the wall 1 such as to coact with recesses 9 made in the bottom of the drawer 4.
In a view from above in Fig. 2 the wall 1 is illustrated before fitting, and from this figure will be seen how a recess 13 is situated in the upper edge part 12 of the wall for enabling retraction of the tongue element 10 with its lug means 6 on fitting or removing the wall 1 in, or from, a drawer 4.
In Fig. 3 the partition wall 1 is illustrated in a view from below before being fitted, and it will be seen here, as is also the case in Fig. 2, that the tongue element 10 is reinforced on its inward side with the aid of a ridge 14 extending a distance downwards on the end wall 11 such as to constitute reinforcement of the springing properties of the element 10 and to increase its durability.
In Fig. 4 the wall 1 is illustrated in an end view before fitting, and it will be seen here how long a distance of the end wall the tongue element 10 occupies. In the illustrated example, the tongue element 10 is integral with the end wall 11 itself, and is defined laterally by two longitudinal slots 15,16, of which one slot 15 extends somewhat lower down on the end wall 11, in order to avoid the formation of a stress concentration in the material, which could otherwise occur for repeated bending of the element 10. For facilitating manual operation of the element 10, it is provided with an extension 17 a short distance above the upper edge part 12 of the wall 1. It will also be clearly seen from Fig. 4 that the other lug means 7, intended for coaction with a recess 9 in the bottom of a drawer 4, consists of a downward extension of the end wall 11.
Fitting or removing the wall 1 to, or from, a drawer 4 is accomplished in the following way. The wall 1 is suitably held in the vicinity of its upper end part 12, using both hands side by side while pressing the tongue elements 10 towards each other, e.g. with the aid of the little fingers, thereby allowing the wall 1 to be put in place in, or freed from, its preferred position in a drawer 4. For fitting, the grip on the extensions 17 of the tongue elements 10 is released as soon as the wall 1 has assumed its proper position in the drawer 4 with the other lug means 7 situated in the recesses 9 in the bottom of the drawer 4, the first means 6 then engaging in the recesses 8 in the casing 5 of the drawer 4 by the tongue elements 10 automatically springing backwards to their original position due to the resiliency of the material, i.e. the position the tongue elements 10 had before actuating the extensions with the little fingers. The wall 1 is thus locked in place until a later removal is carried out in a similar manner, i.e. the extensions 17 are acted on so that they are bent towards each other, whereby the wall 1 can be removed.

Claims

Partition wall of a drawer included in office furniture, said wall (1) can be moved into the drawer (4) and which is removable and optionally fixable in the drawer (4) with the aid of coacting lug means (6,7) projecting out from end parts (2,3) of the wall for coaction with recesses (8,9) situated in the casing of the drawer (4), of said lug means (6,7) at least one means (6) situated upwards in each end part (2,3) being manually actuable to and from a locking engagement with recesses (8) in the casing (5) of the drawer (4), and of which at least one lug means (7) downwardly situated in the respective end part (2,3) is adapted for coaction with recesses (9) in the casing (5) at the bottom of the drawer (4), said lug means (6,7) are integrally formed in the end parts (2,3) of the wall (1), whereby at least one of said lug means is situated on a tongue element (10) extending resiliently in the height direction of the wall (1) and a free end part of the tongue element (10) comprises a gripping means (17) for manual actuation of the lug means (6) on the tongue element (10) during attachment and/or removal of the partition wall (1), characterized in that the tongue element (10) departs in the height direction of the wall (1) from the bottom section of each end part (2;3) in order to project in an upwards direction, that said tongue element (10) is defined laterally with the aid of two longitudinal slots (15,16) departing from the bottom section of each end part (2;3) in the same said upwards direction.
Partition wall as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the gripping means of the tongue element (10) consists of an extension (17) extending a short distance above the upper end part (12) of the wall (1).
Partition wall as claimed in 1, characterized in that the tongue element (10) is formed in the end wall (11) of the partition wall (1) and that said two longitudinal slots (15,16) are mutually parallel and extend from a distance substantially corresponding to half the height of the partition wall (1) and up to the upper edge part (12) of the wall (1).
Partition wall as claimed in claim 3, characterized in that one (15) of the slots (15,16) defining the tongue element (10) is somewhat longer than the other (16).