GB1600137A - Drawer and runners for furniture - Google Patents

Description

PATENT SPECIFICATION

( 21) Application No 23473/80 ( 62) Divided out of No 1600136 ( 31) Convention Application No.

7614154 ( 33) ( 44) ( 51) ( 52) ( 22) Filed 21 Nov 1977 ( 32) Filed 16 Dec 1976 in Sweden (SE) Complete Specification published 14 Oct 1981

INT CL 3 A 47 B 88/16 Index at acceptance A 4 B 1115 A 315 A 619 DRAWER AND RUNNERS FOR FURNITURE ( 71) We, IKEA SVENSKA AB, a Swedish Body Corporate, of S-343 00 Almhult, Sweden, do hereby declare the invention for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement:-

The present invention relates to a drawer of the kind in which a longitudinal external strip can be slid into the channel of a channelled runner in a piece of storage furniture, for example a cabinet or a desk, the drawer being fabricated from a plurality of releasably interconnected components.

Drawers generally consist of a bottom panel and four upstanding walls projecting from said bottom The two long sides (the side walls of the drawer) can be provided with the said external strip which slidingly engages a runner in the cabinet sides The front wall of the drawer, which is visible when the drawer is fully pushed into the cabinet, usually includes a handle or knob, and sometimes a lock.

According to the present invention we provide a drawer for cabinets or storage furniture, in combination with two channelled furniture runners, said drawer including side walls each provided with a projecting longitudinal support strip which is slidable in the corresponding channel of a respective said runner; wherein at least one said runner comprises at one end a stop catch tongue which extends towards the opposite end of the runner, the tongue having an end disposed so as to cooperate with a projecting stop catch abutment on its respective said side wall of the drawer to prevent complete withdrawal of the drawer and to also cooperate with a child safety catch mounted on the front part of its respective said side wall of the drawer to prevent the opening of the drawer; wherein the tongue comprises a spring leaf situated outside the channel of the runner and points obliquely away from the runner; and wherein the said abutment projecting from the side wall is spaced from the said longitudinal support strip and presents an essentially vertical abutment edge; and wherein the said child safety catch is detachably and rotatably arranged on a pin projecting from the respective side wall.

The side pieces and all composite details may, for example, be made out of a tough plastic material, such as a polyamide or 55 polystyrene, the design being advantageously such that the mould requires no displaceable core The back wall can be made in a corresponding manner out of polystyrene while a runner for use with the 60 drawer may suitably be made of polypropylene Even if the front wall is made out of wood, the accompanying attachment members consist of a tough plastic, for example polyamide 65 The invention will be described in the following by means of a suitable embodiment of the drawer as an example, in which the front wall is made out of wood while the side walls and the back wall are made out of plas 70 tic, and the bottom plate is, for example, made out of plywood or plastics Reference is made to the accompanying drawings, in which:FIGURE 1 is an exploded sketch of the 75 main components of the drawer; FIGURE 2 shows a side wall of the drawer with a portion of an accompanying runner; FIGURE 3 is a horizontal section through 80 a side wall, in which a hooked lug from the back wall is pushed into a flanged aperture in the side wall; FIGURE 4 shows a runner intended to cooperate with a side wall; 85 FIGURE 5 is a cross-section of the runner according to Figure 4; and FIGURE 6 is a longitudinal section of the runner according to Figure 4.

Figure 1 is an exploded sketch of the main 90 components of a drawer according to the invention This Figure shows the outside of a left-hand side wall 2, the inside of a righthand side wall 4, the rear of a back wall 6 whose middle portion has been cut away, 95 and the inside of a front wall 8 whose middle portion has also been cut away.

Furthermore, a bottom panel (not shown here) is also included in the drawer, with the edges of the bottom panel resting in grooves 100 t N 0 Z ( 11) 1 600 137 1 600 137 3, 5, 7, 9 in the lower portions of said drawer walls when the drawer is assembled.

In order that the side walls 2, 4 and the back wall 6, which are made of a suitable plastics material, will be sufficiently rigid and strong at a moderate expense of material they have a relatively thin web reinforced by outwardly-directed stiffener flanges At the bottom edge of the side walls 2, 4, the wall around the grooves 3, 5 forms the desired reinforcement, and also defines a rigid external strip for supporting the drawer by sliding engagement within the channel 24 of runner 10.

The back wall 6 has hooked lugs 12 projecting from the side edge flanges, said flanges suitably being integral with the rest of the back wall Suitably, at least two such hooked lugs 12 are arranged on each side edge, the upper lug 12 being situated below the upper edge flange and the lower lug 12 being situated at a distance above the groove 7, both lugs being directed parallel with the upper and lower edges of the back wall.

Materials and dimensions are selected so that the lugs 12 are resilient in the event of bending stress The lugs 12, whose profiled hooks 16 will be described in more detail below, are insertable into apertures in the drawer sides in such manner that each hook can grip an edge of the corresponding aperture.

As is shown in Figures 2 and 3, respective flanges 14 on the outer surfaces of the side walls 2, 4 surround each aperture The inner cross-sections of the apertures and flanges 14 are suitably D-shaped The horizontal section depicted in Figure 3 reveals that the flat side of the D is provided with a transverse wedge-like projection 15 for engagement with a complementary hook 16 on the respective lug 12.

Where it adjoins the edge of the back wall 6, the lug 12 has the same cross-section as the aperture and flange 14, so that said flange 14 totally guides the lug 12 as it is inserted, with the flat surfaces of both lug and aperture adjacent each other In order to further improve the registration between the sides 2, 4 and the back 6, the rear edge flange of each side wall can be extended inwardly towards the centre line of the drawer by a tongue 18, against which the corresponding flange of the back wall abuts when the drawer is completely assembled.

The tongue 18 also allows improved location for the back if it is made of wood In such a construction the lugs 12 are provided with spigots similar to, for example, those of the snap hooks 36 (of spring detent connection to be described below) They are then, in similar manner, pressed or glued into bores in the edges of the back.

The surfaces of the lugs 12 which face away from the hook 16, are inclined (as shown in Figure 2) so that apart from a non-tapering base portion the rest of each lug 12 tapers towards its free end This 70 enables the lugs to bend sufficiently without deforming the flange 14 to allow the edges of the hooks 16 to ride over the corresponding wedges 15 and grip the same, after which the resilience of the material main 75 tains the grip.

A withdrawal stop catch abutment 20 (Figures 1 and 2) projects from each of the side walls 2,4 adjacent the lower flanges 14, said abutments suitably being integral with 80 the flanges 14 as well as the side wall 2 or 4, respectively The leading edge of the abutment 20 is composed of a lower forwardly facing surface part 21 which is essentially vertical, and an upper surface part suitably 85 inclined forwards and upwards The abutment 20 is intended to prevent the drawer from being pulled completely out of the piece of furniture It engages with a withdrawal stop catch tongue 22 on the upper 90 edge of the forward part of the drawer runner 10 The tongue 22 is fast with the runner and comprises a leaf spring 22 extending generally rearwardly from the runner, the rearwardly-facing edge 23 of the tongue 22 95 having an essentially vertical surface When the drawer is pulled out, the tongue 22 engages the abutment 20 while the drawer is still sufficiently well engaged on the runner to be guided by means of the engagement of 100 the outside profile of the groove 3 in the channel 24 of the runner 10 In order to pull the drawer completely off the runner, the tongue is pressed downwards with one finger, whereafter the abutment 20 can pass 105 freely over the edge 23.

A child safety catch is also incorporated in the drawer as a hindrance to young children gaining access to the contents of the drawer.

The child safety catch can be arranged on 110 either one or both of the side walls 2,4 The child safety catch is composed of a pin 26, an upper projection 27 and a lower projection 28 extending from the web of the side wall, said upper and lower projections being 115 situated somewhat to the rear of the pin 26 and having essentially flat surfaces facing each other and parallel with the groove 3.

The catch member 30 is suitably manufactured out of tough and resilient plastics 120 and comprises a hub with a circular bore to journal the pin 26; a rearwardly extending spring leaf 31; a rearwardly extending leg 32 essentially parallel with said spring leaf, said leg having at its rearmost end a shoe 33; and 125 a forwardly-extending arm 29 On assembling the catch member 30 onto the drawer, the spring 31 is pressed somewhat downwards so that the spring 31 and the leg 32 can be inserted between the projections 27 130 1 600 137 and 28, after which they abut the inner surface of the respective projections The catch member 30 is secured by means of a washer held by a screw in a bore of the pin 26 The shoe 33 has a forwardly-facing, essentially vertical heel 34 which, in this position, is arranged so that after the drawer has been pulled out of a predetermined distance, suitably from 2 to 6 cm, it is stopped by the edge 23 of the withdrawal stop tongue 22.

The drawer cannot then be pulled out any further An inexperienced child having no knowledge of this arrangement will not be able to open the drawer and will only be able to see the catch member 30 from a viewpoint on that side of the drawer where the catch member is applied An experienced person can however, easily press down the arm 29 at the pulled-out drawer edge with a finger This operation lifts the heel 34 above the stop edge 23 and releases the drawer which can then be pulled out.

The shoe 33 has a rearwardly facing surface 35 which inclines backwards and upwards shown in Figure 2 When the drawer and the catch member 30 are pushed back into the furniture the surface 35 rides over the upper edge of the stop 22, to allow the drawer to be fully pushed into the piece of furniture.

In the shown embodiment of the drawer, the front wall 8 is made out of a wooden material, for example sawn wood A groove 9 is milled in the lower rear part of the front wall at the level of the groove 3, 4 for holding the drawer bottom panel Furthermore, for the purpose of joining together the front wall with the side walls 2, 4 with a spring detent connection, two snap hooks 36 are attached to the inner surface of the front wall for cooperation with snap edges 40 directed out from the side walls 2,4.

The general appearance of the snap hooks 36 is revealed in Figure 1, where they are shown in perspective to the right of the ends of the side walls while in Figure 2 they are shown at the far right as seen from the side.

Figure 3 is a longitudinal section showing a snap hook in the inserted position where it grips the snap edge 40 of the side piece.

The snap hook 36 is intended to be glued or pressed into a corresponding bore in the wooden material of the front wall 8 For this purpose, the snap hook comprises a spigot 37 which is intended to be inserted into the front wall 8, and a head having an outside jaw 38 and an inside jaw 39 A strong tooth intended to grip the snap edge 40 projects from the rear part of the outside jaw.

In order for the spigot 37 to be adequately located in the cylindrical bore in the front wall 8 of the drawer, said spigot has a number of axially separated, essentially conical surface parts which abruptly join onto each other The tips of the truncated cones are directed inwards towards the bore and the circular edges of the cones form a guide for the inner surface of the bore A portion of the conical edge area is cut away in two approximately diametrically opposite areas 70 on a plane of section approximately parallel to the axis of the spigot 37 This expedites the distribution of glue when the spigot 37 is being inserted into the bore Furthermore, in the glued joint, this design increases 75 resistance to turning of the stem At the same time, the arrangement reduces the risk of the edge of the front wall of the drawer being forced out Finally, said design automatically provides space for a film joint or 80 flash (not shown here) by means of which two adjacent snap hooks are connected together by their spigots due to the method of manufacturing them, and this hinge serving to hold the spigots of the snap hooks 36 85 together during feeding from a magazine, after which the joint is cut off.

The inside jaw 39 of the snap hook 36 extends with an essentially constant thickness parallel with the web in the side wall 2, 90 4 In the inserted position, the surface of the inside jaw 39 is flush with the inner surface of the side wall 2, 4 The inside jaw 39 abuts a forwardly-extending and laterally displaced snap tongue 41 which is an integral 95 part of the side wall web The outer surface of the tongue 41 is inclined outwardly and rearwardly to define the snap edge 40, which is perpendicular to the side wall web.

The tongue 41 is displaced laterally out 100 wards from the side wall web a distance corresponding to the thickness of the inside jaw 39, and merges in the rear into a gusset 42 which is an integral part of the side wall, the purpose of said gusset being disclosed 105 below.

The inside of the outside jaw 39 of the snap hook 36 diverges away from the parallel sided inside jaw 38 towards a tooth which, in the inserted position, grips the 110 snap edge 40 of the tongue 41 In the hooked-up position, a certain space exists between the backwardly-directed lip of the outside jaw 39 and the edge of a gusset 42, said space allowing the insertion of a tool 115 such as a screwdriver to release the outside jaw A slot or space is also arranged on the opposite side of the side wall 2, 4 web between the rear edge of the inside jaw 39 and the forwardly-directed edge of the rib 120 Likewise, said slot allows insertion of, for example, a screwdriver into the space.

An opening 43 (Figure 1) of the same height as the jaws 38, 39 is situated in front of the tongue 41 in the edge flanges of the 125 side walls 2, 4 The snap hook 36 can be inserted into said opening 43 so as to hook up over the snap edge 40 on the tongue 41 which is then completely guided in the gap between the jaws 38, 39 130 1 600 137 Assembly of the components into a drawer takes place in the following manner.

The drawer runners 10 are attached by screws passing through screw holes in their ends to the side walls of the furniture for which the drawer is intended For deep or heavily-loaded drawers, a reinforcement in the form of a strip of steel or other rigid material can be inserted between inwardly and outwardly disposed parts of each respective runner 10 This reinforcing strip is inserted with mutual support of the multi-part web of the runner 10 as shown in chain dotted lines in Figures 2,5 and 6.

When attaching the runners 10 to the furniture, the user decides whether or not he wants to use the withdrawal stop tongue 22 at one end of the runner (for either the pull-out preventing abutment 20 or the child safety catch 30) in which case the stop tongue 22 is on the upper side of the runner.

Otherwise, the runner 10 will be inverted so that the stop tongue 22 faces downwards.

The drawer 1 can then be assembled by pushing the hooked lugs 12 of the back wall through the corresponding apertures and flanges 14 in the side walls 2, 4 so that engagement is achieved with the hooking edges 15 in the flanges The drawer bottom panel (not shown here) is thereafter pushed into the groove 3.

If the back wall is long, that is, if the drawer is wide, the drawer bottom panel can, in addition to being supported in the groove 3, 7, also be fixed by means of locking with a pin which projects upwardly from a resilient bracket (not shown here) of small lengths projecting inwardly of the drawer from the lower wall of the groove 7 The pin is then biased into a corresponding hole in the drawer bottom panel.

The same effect is achieved by means of a loose pin 44 having a head which, by means of light pressing, is pushed into a bore 45 in the walls of the groove 7 and in the drawer bottom panel.

Finaly, the snap hooks 36 of the front wa 18 are pushed into the openings 43 in the side walls 2, 4 so that the jaws 38, 39 grip both sides of the tongue 41 and the tooth of the outside jaw finally grips the snap edge The front edge of the drawer bottom has then aligned itself in the groove 9 in the front wall and can, if desired, there be provided with the same kind of support and locking as in the back wall.

The child safety catch 30 is introduced onto the pin 26 as described before.

The drawer is thereafter inserted in the furniture with the outer profile of the walls of the groove 3 sliding in the channel 24 in the runner 10, and is ready for use.

The drawer can be easily dismantled into the above-described main components.

A suitable tool, for example a common screwdriver, is inserted from the rear into the space between the outside jaw 38 of the snap hook and the edge of the gusset 42 projecting from the side wall web By means of swinging the screwdriver outwards, the 70 outside jaw is bent outwards, causing the tooth to disengage from the snap edge 40 A second screwdriver is now inserted into the slot behind the inside jaw 39 and rotated to cam the snap hook 36, which is now free, 75 forward at least far enough to hold the snap hook free from the edge 40 when the first screwdriver is removed The process is repeated with all of the snap hooks on the front wall 8, which is thereafter freed and 80 can be removed.

In a corresponding manner, a screwdriver is inserted into the slot between the lugs 12 and the flat surfaces of the flanges 14 By means of levering with the screwdriver or 85 rotating the screwdriver blade, the lug 12 is bent forward so that the hook disengages from the hooking edge 15, after which the side walls 2, 4 can be separated from the back wall 6 so that re-engagement does not 90 take place when the screwdriver is moved to the next lug and flange.

If necessary, the locking pin 44 or other bottom panel retaining means is loosened so as to release the bottom panel, after which 95 the main components of the drawer are free.

Disassembly allows, for example, simple exchange of a damaged component or repainting of the front wall.

In the following claims, the position and 100 directions are based on the arrangement in an assembled drawer "Forwards" relates to the withdrawal direction of the drawer, while "inwards" and "outwards" relate to the direction towards and away from the 105 plane of symmetry of the drawer.

Certain aspects of the above described drawer are described and claimed in our copending Patent Application No 48456/77 (Serial No1600136) 110

Claims (4)

WHAT WE CLAI IS

1 A drawer for cabinets or storage furniture, in combination with two channelled furniture runners, said drawer including side walls each provided with a projecting lon 115 gitudinal support strip which is slidabe in the corresponding channel of a respeve said runner; wherein at least one said runner comprises at one end a stop catch tongue which extends towards the opposite end of 120 the runner, the tongue having an end disposed so as to cooperate with a projecting stop catch abutment on its respective said side wall of the drawer to prevent complete withdrawal of the drawer and to also coop 125 erate with a child safety catch mounted on the front part of its respective said side wall of the drawer to prevent the opening of the drawer; wherein the tongue comprises a spring leaf situated outside the channel of 130 1 600 137 the runner and points obliquely away from the runner; and wherein the said abutment projecting from the side wall is spaced from the said longitudinal support strip and presents an essentially vertical abutment edge; and wherein the said child safety catch is detachably and rotatably arranged on a pin projecting from the respective side wall.

2 A drawer according to claim 1, wherein the said child safety catch comprises: a central part having an aperture for the said pin of the side wall; a leg protruding rearwardly from the central part and carrying a shoe which includes a heel, which heel presents an essentially vertical forwardly facing surface to serve as an abutment for engagement with the end of the stop tongue; and a forwardly extending lever operable to unlock the child safety catch from the end of the stop tongue.

3 A drawer according to claim 2, wherein, adjacent the pin, the side wall comprises an upper projection and a lower projection between which the said leg of the safety catch is disposed; and wherein resi 25 lient means act against a said projection to maintain the heel of the child safety catch in a position to engage the end of the stop tongue.

4 A drawer according to claim 3, 30 wherein said resilient means comprises a spring blade having one end fixed to said safety catch.

A drawer according to claim 4, wherein said spring blade is integral with 35 the safety catch and extends essentially parallel to the leg, the leg having considerably greater stiffness than does said spring blade.

J A KEMP & CO, Chartered Patent Agents, 14, South Square, Gray's Inn, London WC 1 R 5 EU Printed for Her Majesty's Stationery Office by The Tweeddale Press Ltd, Berwick-upon-Tweed, 1981 Published at the Patent Office, 25 Southampton Buildings, London, WC 2 A l AY, from which copies may be obtained.