GB2044077A - Drawers - Google Patents

Abstract

In a drawer is assembled from separate components the back panel and the two side panels are formed as plastics mouldings and are grooved to receive the bottom; and the side panels are each provided at one longitudinal end thereof with an apertured flange extending at right angles to the length of the respective panel for the insertion of connecting means to connect the drawer front to the respective side panels, and are at their opposite longitudinal ends provided with one or more through apertures for reception of connecting means for connecting the side panels to the back panel; the back panel 4 at each longitudinal end adjacent its lower edge being provided with a boss 16 which acts as a bush for a wheel 17 mounted on the drawer. This wheel runs in or along a furniture mounted rail or runner. Each runner may also be provided with a wheel and each drawer side with a suitable surface arranged to run over the runner wheel. The drawer may be provided in fully finished or fully assembled form, but is particularly adapted for supply and sale as a kit of parts consisting of the several separate components of the drawer or as a kit of parts comprising the several separate components of the drawer together with a pair of runners. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Drawers This invention is concerned with the construction of drawers.

There is a current trend in the furniture industry to so-called "knock-down or "quick-assembly" furniture for two reasons. First, furniture designed in this way may provide a saving in the cost of fabrication in that the parts do not need to be connected together in the factory. Secondly, storage and transportation costs are reduced since the components can usually be packaged into a relatively small volume.

Successful knock-down or quick-assembly furnityre must be sufficiently simple for the ultimate customer to assemble without difficulty and must allow larger than usual tolerances between the parts.

Conventionally drawers have been manufactured of wood, and more recently of wood composite materials such as plywood, chipboard or plastics laminate covered structural panels. We have found that, while it is possible to design knock-down or quick-assembly furniture employing such materials, in the construction of drawers, problems tend to arise in designing arrangements for joining the components together by the customer.

The present invention has arisen out of our work in seeking to provide a new and successful design of drawer which may be assembled from separate components and which provides ease of fabrication, reasonable economy for the manufacturer, and relative ease of assembly, as for example by the ultimate customer when the drawer is sold as a component of knock-down or quick-assembly furniture.

We are aware of one previous proposal for a drawer assembled from separate components, namely that described in British Patent Specification 1449319; but the drawer there described suffers the disadvantage that once assembled, it cannot readily be disassembled. Moreover, careful tolerances are required in orderto ensure that the back and side panels are correctly assembled together. Any misalignment between the inter-engaging slotted con nection means coupled with a heavy-handed customer may result in breakage.

In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, we provide a drawer assembled from separate components consisting of a drawer bottom, a drawer front, a drawer back panel, and respective left and right hand drawer side panels; the drawer bottom being received in respective longitudinal slots formed along each of the side panels and the back panel adjacent their lower edges; the back panel and the two side panels each being formed as a plastics moulding; the side panels each being provided at one longitudinal end thereof with an apertured flange extending at right angles to the length of the respective panel for the insertion of connecting means through the said aperture(s) to connect the drawer front to the respective side panels; and the side panels at their opposite longitu dinal ends being provided with through aperture(s) for reception of connecting means for connecting the side panels to the back panel; and the back panel at each longitudinal end adjacent its lower edge being provided with a boss which acts as a bush for a wheel mounted on the drawer which is adapted to run in or along a rail or runner, mounted internally of the furniture orthe likeforwhich the drawer is adapted, as the drawer is pulled out or pushed back in.

Suitably each runner is also provided with a wheel and each drawer side is provided with a surface adapted to run over the runner wheel.

The invention also extends in one aspect to a kit of parts consisting of the several separate components of the drawer, and in a second aspect to a kit of parts comprising the several separate components of the drawer and a pair of left and right hand runners.

We have found that a practical embodiment of drawer constructed in accordance with this invention is particularly suitable for use in knock-down or quick-assembly drawers, but the teaching of this invention may be applied equally weil in the construction of fully finished or fully assembled drawers.

The invention is hereinafter more particularly described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 shows somewhat schematically, and with part cut away to show the internal construction, a left hand side panel of a preferred embodiment of drawer constructed in accordance with the present invention; Figure 2 shows one longitudinal end of a back pannel of a preferred embodiment of drawer in accordance with the present invention, with part cut away to show the construction and with the wheel separated from its bush; Figure 3 schematically illustrates a preferred embodiment of left handed side runner for use with a drawer assembled using the side and back panels of Figures 1 and 2, the wheel of the side runner of Figure 3 being omitted for clarity and with part ofthe runner cut away to show the construction; and Figure 4 shows a completed drawer on a much reduced scale.

The illustrated embodiment of drawer 1 is assembled from separate components consisting of drawer bottom 2, a drawer front 3, a drawer back panel 4 and respective left-hand 5 and right-hand 6 drawer side panels. The side panels and back panels are each formed as a plastics moulding. We have found that polypropylene, impact resistant polystyrene and ABS-plastics are suitable materials. The side panels at 7 and the back panel at 8, adjacent the lower edges of the respective panels, are provided with longitudinal slots in which the bottom panel 2 is slidingly received. Slot 8 preferably reduces slightly in width with depth so that the drawer bottom 2 may be pushed into position from the drawer front side along the slots in the side panels and into firm engagement with the slots in the back panel.

It will be noted that the side panels are economically moulded, that is they are formed with a relative ly thin section but with the slot 7 formed by creating a rib 9 on the other side of the side panel, and with an out-turned lip 10 which is joined to respective front and back apertured flanges 11 and 12 for connecting the side panel respectively to the drawer front and to the drawer back panel. Thus, and as is particularly apparent in the orientation of Figure 1, the side panels effectively define a shallow dishshape. The configuration shown in Figure 1 achieves a good weight-to-strength ratio. Suitable fasteners, as for example threaded fasteners or expansion fasteners, are inserted through apertures 13 in front flange 11 and into the confronting material of drawer front 3.For ease of fastening, the drawer front may be provided with ready-bored recesses for receiving the fasteners. The back flange 12 is provided with apertures 14which confront apertures 15 of the back panel and allow fasteners to pass therethrough. As is clear from Figures 1 and 2, thickened portions may be provided about the apertures to provide further strength.

Although the arrangement described and illustrated is that which we prefer, it would be feasible for the back panel to be provided with a flange rather than the side panel.

As will be seen from Figure 2, the back panel is provided at one longitudinal end (the other longitudinal end will be the same) adjacent its lower edge with a boss which acts as a bush for a wheel 17 which is integrally moulded with a stub axle 18 which is received in the bush. The front surface of the wheel 17 is suitably recessed at 19 to allow for reception of the head of a connector which extends along a central aperture 20 of axle 18 and into a socket 21 of boss 16.

Figure 3 shows a preferred runner 22 adapted to be mounted internally of the furniture or the like for which the drawer 1 is adapted so that the wheels 17 may run in and along respective runners 22 as the drawer is pulled out or pushed back in.

It will be seen that runner 22 is generally U-shaped in cross section and has fixing apertures 23 adapted for fixing the runner to an upright strut or side wall of the furniture adjacent the front of the drawer opening and a second fixing aperture 24 for fixing the runner to a horizontally extending strut at the back of the drawer opening. At its forward end runner 22 has a boss 24 which provides a bush for a wheel (not shown in Figure 3, but identical to the wheel 17 shown in Figure 2). The wheel 17 may be moulded of the same material as the drawer sides and back, as may be the runner. Alternatively, the wheel 17 may be moulded of nylon.

As the drawer is pulled out, its wheels 17 will run along the U-shaped track provided by the runners.

The weight of the drawer and its contents will cause the front of the drawer to tend to slope downardly and this will bring the drawer wheel 17 into contact with upper surface 26 of the track provided by runner 22 and will also bring lower surface 27 provided in effect by the under surface of rib 9 each side panel into contact with the runner wheel mounted for rotation in boss 25. Our tests have shown that this provides for a particularly smooth and easy action of the drawer.

It will be noted in Figure 3 that track surface 26 of the runner is provided with a detent 28 up against which the drawer wheels 17 will come. This limits forward travel of the drawer out of the furniture unless the user wishes to remove the drawer altogether which can readily be done by bringing the drawer, now somewhat sloping, back to the horizontal which will release the drawer wheel 17 from detent 28 provided that the track in runner 22 is sufficiently wide.

We have found that the particularly described embodiment of drawer is relatively simple and economical to manufacture and may be assembled and disassembled without any great difficulty. The apertures such as 13, 14 and 15 may be made relatively large in comparison with the size of the shank of the connector intended to pass therethrough so that precise alignment is not necessary for successful assembly. For example, the drawer sides and front may be loosely connected through apertures 14 and 15 and the bottom panel then pushed into position which will tend to bring the side and back into their correct relative positions. The connectors may then be tightened through apertures 14and 15.

It will be noted that slots 7 are relatively deep, rib 9 consequently being relatively large in extent two provide for a rear surface 27 of sufficient width to allow ready running thereof over the runner wheel.

Location spacers 28 are suitably provided in the bottom of the slots 7.

Claims (12)

1. A drawer assembled from separate components consisting of a drawer bottom, a drawer front, a drawer back panel, and respective left and right hand drawer side panels; the drawer bottom being received in respective longitudinal slots formed along each of the side panels and the back panel adjacent their lower edges; the back panel and the two side panels each being formed as a plastics moulding; the side panels each being provided at one longitudinal end thereof with an apertured flange extending at right angles to the length of the respective panel and for insertion of connecting means through the said aperture(s) to connect the drawer front to the respective side panels; and the side panels at their opposite longitudinal ends being provided with through aperture(s) for reception of connecting means for connecting the side panels to the back panel; and the back panel at each longitudinal end adjacent its lower edge being provided with a boss which acts as a bush for a wheel mounted on the drawer which is adapted to run in or along the rail or runner, mounted internally of the furniture or the like for which the drawer is adapted, as the drawer is pulled out or pushed back in.

2. A drawer according to Claim 1, wherein the two side panels are respectively provided with a second flange extending at right angles to the length of the respective panel, the said second flange being provided at the said opposite longitudinal end of each panel and being provided with said through aperture(s) for reception of connecting means for connecting the side panels to the back panel.

3. A drawer according to Claim 1 or Claim 2, wherein said side panels and said back panel are formed of material of thickness less than the depth of the respective slots therein, the said slots being defined by forming a rib on the reverse side of each said side panel and said back panel.

4. A drawer according to both Claim 2 and Claim 3, wherein the upper edge of each side panel is formed with an out turned lip joined to both said flanges, whereby each said side panel effectively defines a shallow dish-shape.

5. An item of furniture comprising a drawer according to any preceding claim mounted to run in or along respective left and right hand rails or runners mounted internally of the furniture.

6. An item of furniture according to Claim 5, wherein each said rail or runner is formed as a plastics moulding and is substantially U-shaped in section whereby to define a channel along which said wheel is adapted to run, and wherein each said rail or runner is provided with a detent or stop member adapted to limit forward travel of the drawer out of the furniture to prevent inadvertant removal of the drawer from the furniture.

7. An item of furniture according to Claim 5 or Claim 6 as appendentto Claim 3, wherein each said rail or runner is provided with a wheel over which the underside of the ribs defined on the outer side of each said side panel are arranged to run as the drawer is pulled out or pushed back in.

8. A kit of parts for assembly to form a drawer according to any one of Claims 1 to 4, and comprising as separate components a drawer bottom, a drawer front, a drawer back panel and respective left and right hand drawer side panels, each of which separate components is as defined in the said one of Claims 1 to 4.

9. A kit of parts according to Claim 8 together with a respective pair of left and right hand rails or runners.

10. A kit of parts according to Claim 9 wherein said rails or runners are as defined in Claim 6 or Claim 7.

11. A drawer substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings.

12. For assembling a drawer, a kit of parts substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings.