GB2081071A

GB2081071A - Drawer arrangement

Info

Publication number: GB2081071A
Application number: GB8117445A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Schock Metallwerk GmbH
Current assignee: Schock Metallwerk GmbH
Priority date: 1980-06-07
Filing date: 1981-06-08
Publication date: 1982-02-17
Also published as: DK246581A; BE888952A; GB2081071B; EP0041616B1; DE3114809A1; EP0041616A1; FR2483757A1; DK154864B; FR2483757B1; DK154864C; DE3171681D1

Description

1

SPECIFICATION

Drawer assembly The invention relates to drawer slides comprising at least two rails guided in a longitudinally slidable manner on each other, of which a first (stationary rail) can be connected to a frame and a second (run ning rail) is slidable relative to the first, usually bet- -10 ween end positions defined by stops, wherein the drawer can be set down from above on slides and can be secured in position thereon in the sliding direction by means of locking elements and can be again released. In particular, the invention relates to drawer slides which are disposed on the two sides of 80 a drawer between it and the side-walls of a frame.

Drawer slides of the above type are known. The locking elements for retaining the drawer on the running rails are in the form of conical pegs on the rails and corresponding conical recesses in the drawer. Each of the running rails, which slide together with the drawer, carries two such conical pegs, of which one is disposed at the rear end of the rail such that it extends parallel to the longitudinal direction towards the front end of the rail, whereas the other peg is in the region of the front end of the rail and is directed upwards. When inserting the drawer on to or between the slides, the front end of the drawer is slightly raised and then slid rearwards until the rear pegs of the running rails engage in the associated conical recesses in the drawer, whereupon the front of the drawer is lowered so that the front pegs engage in the associated recesses in the drawer.

A disadvantage of this construction is that, in order to lock the drawer to the rails, it has to be raised at the front and at the same time slid rear wards for as long as is necessary forthe rear pegs of the rails to engage in the associated recesses in the drawer, and for the front pegs to lie underthe associated recesses in the drawer. However, owing to friction, it is difficult on sliding the drawer relative to the running rails to prevent them from becoming entrained into the interior of the frame, which, if they are not restrained, has the result that a drawer with a 110 front plate may move so that its front plate runs up against the upper edge of the opening in the drawer compartment of the frame. In using the known drawer slides, fixing a drawerto such slides is com plicated and often cannot be done by one person alone. In addition, the running rails have of necessity to be of relatively costly form, because they have to be provided at their rear end with an angle bracket or the like which engages behind the rear end of the drawer and carries one of the said conical pegs.

The present invention provides a drawer assembly in which locking elements connected to the drawer and the running rail form a catch connection which is active at least in the extraction direction of the drawer, at least one of the locking elements being in 125 the form of a catch element which is resilient trans versely to the guiding direction of the drawer slide, and the other locking element being in the form of a stop, such that by being slid along the running rail in the insertion direction, the drawer becomes locked 130 GB 2 081 071 A 1 1 thereto.

In this manner, it is no longer necessary to raise the front of the drawer in order to connect it to the running rail, so that the drawer can be set down on the extracted running rail of one or more slides, and the drawer and rail can then be slid rearwards together, this being done until the running rail reaches its rear end position, whereupon the catch connection is made by further sliding the drawer rearwards.

This catch connection can be formed such that, in order to separate the drawer from the running rail, the resilient retention force of the catch connection is overcome by raising the drawer after again pulling it forward into its end-of-extraction position or into any other suitable position, or alternatively the catch connection can be so formed that the catch element can be taken out of the range of the other locking element (which acts as a stop) by raising the at least partly extracted drawer, in orderto release the drawer from the slide.

It is already known (German Offenlegungsschrift 27 45 281) to connect a rail, accommodated in a groove in the side-wall of the drawer, to the drawer in such a manner that on sliding the drawer into a frame, and with the related sliding of the drawer, a catch connection formed from spring catch tongues comes about between the drawer and the rail on the side of the drawer. However, in this construction, in order to release the catch connection, a spring catch element must be pressed on each side of the drawer and the drawer then at the same time be pulled out of the extraction guides, so that the drawer is not particularly easy to construct. Moreover, this repres- ents from the outset a construction in which the drawer cannot be released from the slides by raising the front part of the drawer.

In orderto simplify the formation of the catch connection - orthe release of the catch connection in the case of the initially described alternative embodiment- it is recommended to provide a lead-in surface inclined to the guiding direction on at least one of the locking elements, in order to deflect the spring catch element transversely to the guiding direction on forming or releasing the catch connection.

If the catch connection is so formed that it is active only in the extraction direction, i.e. ensures that the running rail is entrained only on extracting the drawer, then it is recommended that stops which cooperate in the insertion direction be provided at a longitudinal spacing from the locking elements which form this catch connection, on the drawer and on the running rail. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, however, the locking elements form a catch connection which is active in the extraction and in the insertion direction.

In order to prevent unintentional raising of the drawer during sliding, it is recommended to connect locking elements to the front part of the running rail and of the drawer to form a spring catch connection which can be engaged and disengaged respectively in the setting-down and raising direction of the drawer. This can serve either only for the said purpose or, as an improved embodiment of the invention, also forms stops which cooperate in the inser- 2 GB 2 081071 A 2 tion direction. In the latter case it is advisable to pro vide a projection on the drawer in the front region of the drawer adjacent to the running rail, and with which there is associated in the running rail a recess which is accessible from its front end, and into which the projection on the drawer engages, in particular in a close-fitting manner, when the drawer is locked to the running rail. in a further embodiment of the invention, however, the catch connection active in the extraction direction also forms the spring catch connection active in the setting-down and raising direction of the drawer.

In the case of drawers insertable into a frame such as a cabinet, in particular in the case of drawers comprising a front plate, it is often desirable to 80 exactly position these in the vertical direction when they are in their inserted state, for which purpose it is already known to fit separate support means in the form of blocks orthe like, e.g. on the running rails which slide with the drawer and on the stationary rails rigid with the frame, and which cooperate with each other when the drawer is in its end-of-insertion position to provide the required horizontal position ing of the front part of the drawers. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a locking ele ment rigidly connected to the front part of the drawer is also formed as such a support means, in particular by providing support means of a locking element rigidly connected to the front part of the drawer and on the front part of the stationary rail in order to fix the position, particularly in terms of height, of the front region of the drawer when the drawer slide has been slid together.

As is apparent from the foregoing, the compo nents of the locking elements which form the catch connections and which are connected to the drawer can also be basically used for adjusting the inserted drawer in the horizontal direction. In orderto enable the drawerto run into the required position on being inserted, it is advisable to so form the structure that the support means comprise a lead-in surface extending inclined to the guide direction which is active in a vertical direction when the drawer slide is slid together.

In an embodiment in which the stationary rail has a C-shaped crosssection (corresponding to a horizontal U) at least in its front region, separate support means on the stationary rail can be dispensed with by making the locking element disposed in the front region of the drawer of tongue or strip form, and such that it can be inserted in a well-fitting manner between the horizontal limbs of the stationary rail.

The invention will be described further, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying draw- ings, in which:

Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section of shor tened form through a drawer compartment of a cabinet, in which a drawer is shown in its end-of insertion position; Figure 2 is an enlarged part-section on the line 2-2 125 of Figure 1; Figure 3 is similarto Figure 2, butwith the drawer raised from the running rail; Figure 4 is a plan view of the rear end of a drawer slide, taken in the direction of the arrow A of Figure 130 1, on a larger scale than in Figure 1; Figure 5 is a side view in accordance with the arrow B of Figure 4, but with the drawer released; Figure 6 is a sectional illustration corresponding to Figure 1 of a second embodiment; Figure 7 is an enlarged part-section on the line 7-7 of Figure 6; Figure 8 corresponds to Figure 7, but with the drawer raised from the slides; Figure 9 is a part-section on the line 9-9 of Figure 7; Figure 10 is a side view of a third embodiment, the drawer having been extracted somewhat from the frame and locked to the running rail; Figure 11 is a section on the line 11-11 of Figure 10; Figu re 12 corresponds to Figu re 11, but with the drawer separated from the run ning rail; Figure 13 is a section on the line 13-13 of Figure 10, but with the drawer completely inserted in the frame; Figure 14 corresponds to Figu re 10, but with the drawer raised at its front and removed from the running rail; Figure 15 is a vertical section through one of the side regions of a plastics drawer and a neighbouring frame wall, with an intervening slide; and Figure 16 is a side view of an adapter seen in end view in Figure 15.

Referring first to Figures 1 to 5, a cabinet 10 (Figure 1) has a plurality of compartments 14 (only one of which is shown) disposed horizontally one above the other, each receiving a drawer 12. The drawer may be of any convenient form; as illustrated in Figures 1 to 5 it consists of a leaf 16, on the front end of which there is a front plate 18 fixed by means of angle brackets 20. A hand grip 22 is fixed to the outside of the front plate 18.

The drawer 12 illustrated is guided in an easily slidable manner on opposing side-walls of the compartment 14 by means of a pair of slides 24, each comprising a pair of rails, namely a stationary rail 28 fixed to a side-wall 26 and a running rail 30 which is longitudinally guided on the rail 28 and which carries the drawer 12. The running rail 30 is movably mounted on the stationary rail 28 by means of roffing bearings 32.

In orderto releasably retain the drawer 12 on the running rail 30, the adjacent longitudinal side of the leaf 16 carries a Z-section member 34. One flange 36 of the member 34 engages under the leaf 16 and is screwed thereto, the other flange 38 tying on the top of the running rail 30.

The arrangement of the drawer 12 on the two slides 24 is such that it can be both easily fixed to the running rails 30 and easily removed therefrom. For this purpose, a respective catch 40 is associated with each slide 24 at the rear end of the leaf 16, and is lockable to a stop 42 disposed on the respective rail 30. The catch 40 comprises a resilient tongue 44, which is fixed to the underside of the leaf 16 and projects beyond its rear end. At its free end, the resilient tongue 44 is provided with an upwardly projeding detent 46 which, when viewed in the insertion direction of the drawer, has a 1,eml-4n su 48 i C 3 GB 2 081 071 A 3 which is inclined downwards rearwardly.

An inclined lead-in surface 50 on the stop 42 is associated with the inclined surface 48, and is preferably in the form of a lug bent out from the rail 30. The stop 42 projects towards the opposing slide to such an extent that the surface 48 of the detent 46 makes contact with the surface 50 when the drawer 12 is fitted on to the running rails 30.

As can be clearly seen from Figures 1 and 2, the lateral retention members 34 of the leaf 16 are each provided in the region of their front end with an outwardly-directed bead-like projection 52 with which there is associated a slot-like longitudinal recess 54 in the adjacent running rail 30, which recess is accessible from its front end. The projections 52 fit in the longitudinal recesses 54 when the drawer 12 is mounted on the rails 30, the drawer being secured in position in the longitudinal direction on the rails 30 by the detents 46 of its catches 40 engaging behind the stops 42 associated therewith.

It will now be assumed that the drawer 12 needs to be removed from the slides 24, for example for cleaning. This is done in a simple manner by first pulling out the drawer 12 somewhat from the com- partment 14, and then raising its front end from the running rails 30, as shown in Figure 3. This is possible in spite of the engagement of the projections 52 in the longitudinal recesses 54 of the rails 30, because these rails become deflected to the neces- sary extent in an outward direction by the projections 52 when the drawer is raised.

The consequence of this inclining of the drawer is that the detents 46 of the catches 40 dip away downwards relative to the stops 42 associated with the catches (Figure 5), so that on inclining the drawer 100 it becomes completely released from the slides 24.

The drawer can consequently be completely removed from the compartment 14, and the running rails 30 can be moved out of the compartment 14 therewith, because the retention members 34 still 105 rest at their rear end on the rails 30.

The drawer 12 is likewise easily fixed on to the slides 24, by first laying the rear ends of the upper flanges 38 of the retention members 34 on the run ning rails 30. The drawer can then be lowered so that it completely rests on the rails 30. However, it is also possible to slide it first a certain distance into the compartment 14 while slightly raised in the position shown in Figure 5, with the result that in both cases the running rails 30 first move into the compartment 14 together with the drawer until they reach their end-of-insertion positione defined by a stop (not shown).

In orderto fix the drawer on to the rails 30, it is then slid further into the compartment 14 parallel to 120 the rails and relative thereto, so that finally the lead in surfaces 48 of the detents 46 of the catches 40 meet the lead-in surfaces 50 of the stops 42, by which means the detents 46 become deflected downwards so that they pass beyond the stops 42 and, having passed them, are able to snap upwards into their stop position shown in Figure 1. During this sliding of the drawer 12 relative to the extraction bars 30, the projections 52 on the rention members 34 of the slide-in unit also come into engagement with the recesses 54 in the rails 30, so that the front end of the drawer is protected against any unintentional raising from the rails 30, and is secured thereon in position in the longitudinal direction.

The above-described construction has the substantial advantage that the drawer can be fixed on the two slides 24 when their running rails 30 are in any desired relative position to each other, by first laying at least the rear end of the drawer on the rails 30, and then sliding it into its compartment until it can be laid completely on to the rails 30. These rails then move by themselves as the drawer is further inserted, until they reach their inner end position, after which the insertion movement relative to the rails 30 necessary for locking the drawer is then carried out.

In the embodiment shown in Figures 6 to 9, a drawer 56 in the form of a receptacle having four walls and a base is slidably guided inside a drawer compartment 58 by means of slides 60, and is releasably locked on running rails 62. In this embodiment, the drawer is locked at each side by means of a catch in the form of a tongue 64 in the front end region of the adjacent running rail 62. The tongue is punched out of the outer limb 66 of a U-section holding member 68 whose other limb 70 is fixed to the longitudinal side of the running rail 62. A (for example conical) positioning stop 72, against which a lead-in surface 74 of the drawer can lie, is disposed on the outside of the rail 62 in the region of its rear end. This lead-in surface 74 is formed on an appendix 76, which is disposed on the longitudinal wall 78 of the drawer and projects from its underside.

An appendix 80 is associated with the catch tongue 64 of the holding member 68 of the rail 62 on the longitudinal wall 78 so that it projects downwards beyond this wall, and possesses a catch window or recess 82. When the drawer is in its locked state (with the rails 62 guided, by means of rolling bearings 84, an the respective stationary rails 86 of the drawer slides 60, these rails 80 being rigid with the housing), the appendix 80 engages between the two limbs 66,70 of the holding member 68, with the curved tongue 64 (the cross-section of which is con- vex towards the limb 70) engaging in and substantially fitting in the catch recess 84 of the appendix 80. This locked position of the drawer can be seen in Figures 6 and 7.

In this position, the free end edge 88 of the tongue 64 forms a stop edge, which is adjacent to an end edge 90 of the catch recess 82. Consequently, on extracting the drawer, the end edge 90 lies against the stop edge 88 and prevents the drawer from being pulled beyond its end-of-extraction position after the running rails 62 have attained this position.

In orderto release the drawer 56 from the rails 62, its front part is raised, with the result that the frictional resistance produced by the catch torque 64 in cooperation with the lower longitudinal edge 92 of the catch recess 82 is overcome, and the drawer 56 is thus released from the catch tongues of the two holding members 88 of the drawer slides 60. The drawer can then be pulled from the drawer compartment in the corresponding inclined position, while the rails 62 move outwards therewith.

4 GB 2 081 071 A 4 In order to fix the drawer on the rails 62, it is laid on these rails and then slid into the drawer compartment until the rails 62 have reached their endof-insertion position, so that, on further relatively sliding the drawer, its lead-in surfaces 74 come into contact with the position stops 72 of the rails 62, and the catch tongues 64 engage in the catch recesses 82 of the appendices 80.

In this embodiment, it is again possible to lay the drawer on the running rails 62 of the two drawer slides 60 when these rails are in any desired position relative to each other, the drawer becoming auto matically locked to the rails as it is slid into the drawer compartment.

Figures 10 to 14 show a drawer 10 received by a 80 frame 100. To each side-wall 102 of the frame, the stationary rail 104 of a drawer slide 106 is fixed by means of screws (not shown).

This slide comprises a running rail 108 which is mounted in a longitudinally slidable manner on the stationary rail 104, for example by means of ball bearing (not shown). Again, in this case, two slides 106 are provided for each drawer to be extracted from the frame 100, between which the drawer 110, serv- ing as a carrier, is disposed. The side-walls 112 of the drawer each have a longitudinal shoulder 114 which lies on the running rail 108, as can be seen in Figure 13.

Each running rail 108 comprises in the region of its front end of a projection 116 which forms the first locking element of a catch. This projection has lower and upper lead-in surfaces 11 6a and 11 6b respectively which facilitate the formation and the release of the catch connection, as described below.

The second locking element of the catch is represented by a resilient tongue 118 fixed to the drawer 110, in such a mannerthat between the undeflected resilient tongue and the neighbouring side-wall112 of the drawerthere is a gap 120 whose width is equal to the thickness of the material of the 105 aligned section of the running rail 108, as can clearly be seen in Figure 11. This tongue 118 comprises (on that side of its rear end which faces the side-wall 112) a lead-in surface 11 8a and, in front of this, a packet or recess 11 8b which is limited at least front- 110 wards, rearwards, and downwards, and conse quentlyforms a front stop edge 118c, a rearstop edge 118d, and a lower limit 118e.

The drawer 110 can be locked to the running rails 108 by pulling them somewhat out of the frame 100, resting the longitudinal shoulders 114 on the rails 108 so thatthe resilient tongues 118 become located in front of the rails 108, and then sliding the drawer together with the rails into the frame 100. When the rails 108 have struck against the stops (not shown) which define their end positions, the resilient tongues 118 slide on to the projections 116 by virtue of the lead-in surfaces 1 18a as the drawer 110 is further inserted into the frame 100, whereupon the projections 116 engage in the recesses 11 8b.

Each of the projections 116 together with the front stop edge 11 8c and the rear stop edge 11 8d forms a stop pair, which prevents longitudinal sliding of the drawer 110 relative to each rail 108.

Because of the lead-in surface 116b, which is inclined to the vertical (and which instead of being provided on the projection 116 could be provided on the resilient tongue 118), the catch connection can be easily released by simply raising the drawer, for which purpose it is sufficient to lift the front part of the drawer. Because of the lower lead-in surface 116a on the projection 116, it would obviously also be possible to lock the drawer 1 10tothe rails 108 in the reverse manner to that used for releasing the locked state; however, the initially described method' is much simpler, because it is then not necessary to align the two rails 108 relative to the drawer 110.

The height of the tongue 118 corresponds to the internal distance between the upper and lower flanges 104a of the stationary rail 104, so that, when the drawer 110 is mounted and completely slid in, the resilient tongue 118 engages in a well-frtting manner in the U-section formed by the stationary rail 104, as can be seen in Figure 13. In this manner, in spite of any play in the slides, at leastthe front part of the drawer 110 when in its completely inserted state can always assume a predetermined position relative to the frame 100, becausethe drawer becomes positioned with respect to the stationary rails 104 by means of the resilien i t tongues 11.8.

Finally, in orderto facilitate the entry of the tongues 118 into the stationary rails 104, and to ensure slida bility in all cases, each resilient tongue 118 com prises upper and lower lead-in surfaces 118f or at least a lower one.

A particular advantage of the catch connection described above is the fact that it is disposed between the rails of the drawer slide, because, even when the drawer is completely inserted, both locking elements (resilient tongue 118 and projection 116) lie between the rails 104,108. The arrangement also requires no additional space, even though the locking element disposed on the drawer forms an additional support device together with the stationary rail.

The fourth embodiment illustrated in Figures 15 and 16, shows how the catch connection shown in Figures 10 to 14 can be advantageously used on plastics drawers which are double-walled on the sides, i.e. in the side region of the so-called drawer frame, so that so-called adapters can be sfid in the usual manner into the drawer side-walls from below or above, with the aid of which the drawers can be adapted to determined extraction guides. Such plas- tics drawers are manufactured either by deep drawing or by injection moulding, the adapters also mostly being injection moulded plastics components.

The vertical section through a plastics drawer 200 taken transversely to the sliding direction and shown!' in Figure 15 illustrates an outer side-wall 202 and an inner side-wall 204 of the drawer, which form a downwardly and rearwardly open channel 206. An adapter 208 is fixed (e.g. by glueing, or by snapping projections on one part into recesses in the other part) into each of these channels of the two side parts of the drawer 200. Resilient tongues 210 are moulded on the front regions of these adapters, these tongues corresponding to t ' he resHi tongues 118 of the embodiment shown in roe 101to 14.

11 GB 2 081 071 A 5 They can be locked to the running rails 212 of drawer slides 214 in exactly the same manner as in the pre viously described embodiment, the stationary rails 216 being fixed by fixing members 218 to side-walls 220 of a frame. Projections 222 on the rails 212 cor respond to the projections 116, and recesses 224 in the resilient tongues 210 correspond to the recesses 118b in the resilient tongues 118.

All the characteristics and advantages described with reference to the embodiment of Figures 10 to 14 75 are also valid for the embodiment shown in Figures and 16, which in addition has the advantage that one of the locking elements of the catch connection can be produced practically without additional cost, as it is moulded on to the adapter.

Claims

1. A drawer assembly comprising a drawer and a pair of drawer slides, each drawer slide comprising a stationary rail on which a running rail is longitudi nally slidably mounted, in which the drawer can be set down from above on the running rail and can be secured in position thereon in the sliding direction by means of locking elements on the drawer and the running rail respectively and can be released from the running rail, the locking elements forming a catch connection which is active at least in the extraction direction of the drawer and is releasable by raising the front part of the drawer, at least one of the locking elements being in the form of a catch element which is resilient transversely to the sliding direction, so that the drawer becomes locked to the running rail upon sliding in the insertion direction.

2. An assembly as claimed in claim 1, in which at least one of the locking elements has a lead-in sur face inclined to the sliding direction.

3. An assembly as claimed in claim 1 or2, in which stops which cooperate in the insertion direc tion are provided on the carrier and the running rail respectively, at a longitudinal spacing from the lock ing elements.

4. An assemblyas claimed in any of claims 1 to 3, in which the locking elements form a catch connec tion which is active in both the extraction and inser tion directions.

5. An assembly as claimed in any preceding claim, in which locking elements forming a spring catch connection which can be engaged and disengaged respectively in the setting-down and raising direction of the drawer are connected to the front part of the running rail and of the drawer respectively.

6. An assembly as claimed in claim 5, in which the catch connection active in the extraction direction also constitutes the spring catch connection.

7. An assembly as claimed in claims 3 and 5, in which the spring catch connection comprises the stops which cooperate in the insertion direction.

8. An assembly as claimed in any preceding claim, in which support means are provided on a -60 locking element rigidly connected to the front part of the drawer and on the front part of the stationary rail in orderto fix the position, particularly in terms of height, of the front region of the drawer when the rails of the drawer slide have been slid together.

9. An assembly as claimed in claim 8, in which the support means has a lead-in surface extending inclined to the sliding direction, which is active in a vertical direction when the rails are slid together.

10. An assembly as claimed in claim 8org, in which the stationary rail, at least in its front region, has a C-shaped cross-section, the drawer carrying a tongue which fits between the limbs of the said cross-section.

11. An assembly as claimed in any preceding claim, in which the drawer and the running rail can be locked to each other after the running rail has reached its end-of-insertion position.

12. An assembly as claimed in claim 1, in which the catch connection active in the extraction direc- tion is provided on the rear of the drawer and of the running rail.

13. An assembly as claimed in any preceding claim, in which one of the locking elements is in the form of a resilient tongue which can be deflected transversely to the sliding direction and which overlaps the other locking element when in the engaged position.

14. An assembly as claimed in claims 2 and 13, in which the lead-in surface is provided on the resilient tongue.

15. An assembly as claimed in claim 13, in which the resilient tongue is disposed on the bottom of the drawer and projects beyond the rear end of the drawer.

16. An assembly as claimed in any preceding claim, in which one of the locking elements is moulded in one piece with a plastics adapter inserted in a double-walled portion of the drawer.

17. A drawer assembly substantially as described with reference to, and as shown in, Figures 1 to 5, Figures 6to 9, Figures 10to 14, or Figures 15 and 16 of the accompanying drawings.

Printed for Her Majesty's Stationery Office by The Tweaddale Press Ltd., Berwick-upon-Tweed, 1982. Published atthe Patent Office, 25 Southampton Buildings, London, WC2A lAY, from which copies may be obtained.