GB2167389A - Partitioned drawer inserts and trays - Google Patents

Abstract

A drawer insert (1) for dividing a drawer (2) into compartments comprises at least two sets of partitions (7A, 7B) defining upper (12) and lower (9) compartments and bases (8) for the upper compartments (9) which slope upwardly and forwardly from the rear of the insert but allow access to the front compartments from above. Bases for the lower compartments and peripheral walls may also be provided and the insert may be used as a free-standing tray. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Partitioned drawer inserts and trays The present invention relates to partitioned drawer inserts and trays, particularly for use in storing collections of items such as cutlery.

Modern cutlery drawer inserts generally comprise plastics mouldings formed with a base, a peripheral wall and a plurality of partitions which divide the space available into elongate compartments.

Although generally serving their purpose, these known inserts have several disadvantages. In particular the deeper inserts, which may be 50 to 60 mm in depth, can contain a considerable quantity of cutlery but when filled to capacity, make it difficult for a user to locate items at the bottom of the compartments and to extract them. Also, in order to maximise the use of space, such inserts often have a compartment extending parallel to and adjacent the front of the drawer so that it is necessary to pull the drawer a substantial distance out of its socket to gain access to the compartments further back. This can be difficult when the drawer is full and very heavy and/or in a small kitchen.

An object of the present invention is to provide a drawer insert which makes more convenient use of the space available in a drawer than the inserts described above.

Accordingly, the invention provides a generally-rectangular drawer insert for dividing a drawer into compartments, comprising lower partitions which, in use, extend parallel to the sides of the drawer and define lower compartments and at least one set of upper partitions parallel to the lower partitions and separating upper compartments, the upper compartments having bases which are inclined upwardly towards the front of the insert and which overhang the lower compartments but terminate short of the front of the insert to allow access to the lower comaprtments from above when the insert is fitted in a drawer.

In its simplest form, the insert of the present invention need have no base to the lower compartments, nor peripheral wall, but would be designed to fit neatly in a drawer so that the base of the drawer forms the base of the lower compartments. The advantage of the present insert over the prior art is that it separates the drawer space into at least two partly-superposed compartment layers which can occupy substantially the full depth of the drawer while allowing convenient access to the bottom. Furthermore, the lower layer, to which access is gained from the very front of the drawer, may include several compartments instead of the one compartment, parallel to the front of the drawer, typical of prior art inserts.At the same time the upper compartments can extend, forwardly to substantially the same extent as the rear compartments of the prior art inserts but their upwardly sloping bases enable their contents to be presented more conveniently to the user.

In preferred embodiments of the invention, the insert includes bases for the lower compartments which, for convenience, also slope upwardly towards the front of the insert. The bases of the compartments in each layer may be separate from each other or may comprise parts of a single rigid sheet.

Each lower compartment preferably has a back wall which is forward of the rear edge of the insert to prevent stored items from being pushed too far into, and jamming in, the tapering space beneath the overlying base of an upper compartment. The upper compartments preferably also have back walls, the backs of the uppermost compartments being at the rear of the insert : the insert may also have side walls but the front is preferably left open.

If desired, an insert of the invention may have a lower compartment extending the full length and depth thereof, which does not have an overlying upper compartment. Such a compartment may be useful for very long items, such as bread and carving knives, or bulky items such as whisks.

Inserts according to the invention may be made in a range of sizes to fit neatly into respective ones of the various standard-sized kitchen drawers currently available or previously installed in older kitchens. Preferably, however, the inserts have a flange extending along at least one side and along the back, which can be partly or wholly removed to adapt the insert to fit different-sized drawers.

It will be appreciated that, although an insert according to the invention is particularly useful for storing cutlery, a similar insert could be useful in any drawer, for example in an office or workshop. Also, although inserts with two layers of compartments are suitable for modern kitchen drawers, inserts may be made on the same principle with three or more layers of compartments for use in other situations, particularly in deeper drawers.

The present inserts may conveniently be moulded from plastics material, particularly for use in the kitchen. By this method rounded edges and corners may be formed between adjoining parts to facilitate cleaning.

It may be possible to mould simple embodiments in one piece but, in view of the overhanging bases of the upper compartments, in more complex embodiments it may be preferable to mould upper and lower parts of an insert separately. The two parts may then be joined by gluing, welding, snap fastenings, or any other convenient means.

When a stronger, more expensive or more decorative finish is required, an insert may be made from metal or wood: mesh or other sheet material may alternatively be used.

If sheet material is used, an insert may conveniently be formed entirely from interenga geable sheet components which can be packed flat after manufacture and made up in the home or workshop. Accordingly, the invention further provides a kit of such interengageable components for making up into a drawer insert of the invention as described above.

Although the present invention is concerned particularly with maximising the use of space available in a drawer, the principle of the invention can be applied to a compartmented storage tray for use in any location, for example on a workbench or shelf. Accordingly, the invention further provides a multicompartment tray comprising a rear wall and two side walls encompassing a generally-rectangular space, and two sets of partitions extending parallel to side edges of the tray and defining upper and lower sets of compartments respectively, the upper compartments having bases extending forwardly and upwardly from a lower part of the tray and partly overlying the lower compartments but terminating short of the front of the tray to allow access to the lower compartmentsfrom above.The lower compartments preferably also have bases which are preferably also inclined upwardly towards the front of the tray.

The tray may include one or more further sets of upper partitions defining respective sets of upper compartments also having upwardly and forwardly extending bases and partly overlying the said set of upper compartments. A tray according to the invention may, but need not have a front wall.

Three embodiments of the invention will now be more particularly described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a simple embodiment of a drawer insert; Figure 2 is a plan view of parts which may be used in forming the embodiment of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a plan view of a second embodiment of the invention; Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view taken on line IV-IVof Figure 3, Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view taken on line V-V of Figure 3, and Figure 6 is a side elevational view of a third embodiment of the invention.

Referring to Figure 1 of the drawings, a drawer insert generally indicated 1 is shown fitted in a drawer 2 indicated in broken outline and having a base 3, a back 4, a front 5 and two sides 6.

The insert 1 includes three partitions 7 which are parallel to the sides 6 of the drawer 2, of substantially the same lengths as the sides 6 but not as high. The partitions 7 are interconnected by an inclined base wall 8 which occupies the full width of the drawer 2 and extends upwardly and forwardly from the lower, rear edge of the drawer 2, where the back 4 and the base 3 meet, to terminate at the upper edges of the partitions 7.

The front edge of the base wall 8 is spaced from the front 5 of the drawer 2 to allow access to four lower compartments 9 defined between lower parts 7A of the outermost partitions 7 and the drawer sides 6 and between adjacent, lower partition parts 7A, the bottoms of the lower compartments 9 comprising the drawer base 3. The rear of the lower compartments 9 is closed by a wall 10, paral lel to the drawer back 4: this prevents any articles stored in the compartments 9, in use, from being pushed into the narrowly tapered space 11 between the drawer base 3 and the rear part of the inclined wall 8 and becoming jammed.

The inclined base wall 8 comprises the base of four upper compartments 12 defined between upper parts 7B of the outermost partitions 7 and the drawer sides 6, and between adjacent upper partition parts 7B. The rear of the upper compartments 12 is defined by the back 4 of the drawer 2.

The insert 1 may be made from any sufficiently-rigid sheet material, such as metal, laminates or plastics, and may have any number of partitions 7. It will also be appreciated that upper and lower partition parts 7A, 7B need not be coplanar so that the number of upper compartments may differ from the number of lower compartments and their sizes may also differ. The free upper edges of the partition parts 7A, 7B may also lie in different planes.

or have different profiles from those shown.

The insert 1 is preferably removable for cleaning but could be fixed in or made integrally with the drawer 2.

The insert 1 may be made in any manner suitable to the material of which it is constituted but a simple construction is shown in Figure 2.

Referring now to Figure 2 this shows plan views of various flat components which may be used to make up the insert 1 of Figure 1.

The components comprise partitions 7 (only one shown) a base wall 8 and a wall 10 each of which is constituted by a rectangle of sheet material in which slots are formed (by moulding, cutting or otherwise) in such dispositions that the components can interengageto form the insert 1. Each slot is of substantially the same thickness as a sheet which is to be fitted into it so that the sheets are a tight fit one in another as will be further explained below.

Each partition 7 has a straight slot 40 extending upwardly and forwardly from its lower, rear corner, in use, for accommodating the base wall 8, while the base wall 8 has three equispaced slots 41 extending from its front, upper, edge 8A, in use, parallel to its side edges, each for accommodating a respective partition 7. The length of a slot 40 plus a slot 41 is substantially equal to the length of a side of the base wall 8 so that the three partitions 7 can be slotted into respective slots 41 to assemble the structure of Figure 1.

Each partition 7 also has a slot 42 extending from its lower edge towards but not as far as the slot 40 for accommodating the wall 10 while the wall 10 has three equispaced slots 43 extending from its upper edge, in use, parallel to its side edges for accommodating a respective partition 7. The combined length of a slot 42 and a slot 43 is substantially equal to the height of the wall 10. The wall 10 can thus be slotted on to the three partitions 7 which have been assembled with the base wall 8 to complete the insert of Figure 1. The wall 8 also adds stability to the whole structure. It will be appreciated that little skill and no special tools are required for the assembly of the components of Figure 2.

The components may therefore be sold packed flat for assembly by the purchaser; they may also be taken apart easily and stored flat when not in use.

Figures 3 to 5 of the drawings show a more sophisticated embodiment of the invention generally indicated 20, also intended to fit in a drawer (not shown). In these Figures, and also in Figure 6 which will be described below, parts equivalent to those of Figure 1 are indicated by the same reference numerals.

The insert 20 includes an inclined upper base wall 8 and upper and lower partition walls 7B and 7A respectively defining upper compartments 12 and lower compartments 9, like the insert 1, but also includes a base wall 21 for the lower compartments 9. The lower base wall 21 extends from the foot of the wall 10 defining the back of the lower compartments 9 and is also inclined upwardly and forwardly like the upper base wall 8. At its front edge the wall 21 terminates with a downwardly-projecting flange 21 A.

The insert 20 also includes integral side walls 22 and a back wall 23 which conveniently, but not necessarily, project above the level of the partition walls 7A, 7B. Horizontal flanges 24 projectoutwardly from the top edges of the walls 22, 23; the flanges may be cut wholly or partly away to adapt the insert 20 to fit snugly in drawers of slightly differing sizes. The front of the insert may also have a horizontally-projecting flange if required.

At one side of the insert 20, the upper base wall 8 and the wall 10 between the side wall 22 and adjacent partition 7 are omitted and the base wall 21 is continued rearwardly to join the back wall 23. The lower compartment 9 is thus lengthened to accommodate longer or more bulky items.

The insert 20 although designed to be fitted in a drawer, could alternatively be used as a freestanding tray for example on a shelf, desk or workbench.

Referring now to Figure 6 of the drawings, a third embodiment of the invention is shown generally indicated 30. The insert 30 is similar to that of Figure 1 except in that it has a further set of compartments 32 intermediate its lower compartments 9 and its upper compartments 12. The compartments 32 are defined by central portions 7C of the partitions 7 and an additional base wall 33 which extends upwardly and forwardly from the base of the insert 30, intermediate the front and rear edges. The wall 33 may, but need not necessarily, be parallel to the base wall 8 of the upper compartments.

The rear of each intermediate compartment 32 is closed by an upright wall 34 similar to the wall 10 of the lower compartments. The walls 10, 34 may be vertical in the position of use of the insert or inclined, as shown in Figure 5, as convenient.

The front, upper edges and corners of the partitions 7 are cut away at 35 to facilitate access to the intermediate and lower compartments 32, 9.

Claims (15)

1. A generally-rectangular drawer insert for dividing a drawer into compartments, comprising lower partitions which, in use, extend par allel to the sides of the drawer and define lower compartments and at least one set of upper partitions parallel to the lower partitions and separating upper compartments, the insert further comprising bases for the upper compartments which, in the installed position of the insert in a drawer are inclined upwardly towards the front of the insert and overhang the lower compartments but terminate short of the front of the insert to allow access to the lower compartments from above.

2. A drawer insert as claimed in Claim 1, further including bases for the lower compartments.

3. A drawer insert as claimed in Claim 2, in which the bases of the lower compartments are inclined upwardly towards the front of the insert.

4. A drawer insert as claimed in Claims 1, 2 or 3, further including back walls for the lower compartments spaced forwardly of the rear of the insert.

5. A drawer insert as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which one of the lower compartments is not overhung by an upper compartment.

6. A drawer insert as claimed in any preceding claim, further including back walls for the upper compartments and/or side walls for the insert.

7. A drawer insert as claimed in Claim 6, in which the or each back and side wall has a flange extending outwardly from its upper edge, the flange being wholly or partly removable to allow the insert to fit into differentsized drawers.

8. A drawer insert as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 7, which is moulded from plastics material.

9. A drawer insert as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 7, which is constituted by interengageable sheet components.

10. A drawer insert as claimed in Claim 9, in which at least some of the upper partitions are each formed in a single sheet with a lower partition and the base of the upper components is constituted by a single sheet, and in which the base sheet and the partition sheets are slotted for mutual interengagement.

11. A kit of interengagable sheet components for making a drawer insert as claimed in Claim 9 or Claim 10.

12. A multi-compartment tray comprising a rear wall and two side walls encompassing a generally-rectangular space, and two sets of partitions extending parallel to side edges of the tray and defining upper and lower sets of compartments respectively, the upper compartments having bases extending forwardly and upwardly from a lower part of the tray and partly overlying the lower compartments but terminating short of the front of the tray to allow access to the lower compartments from above.

13. A multi-compartment tray as claimed in Claim 12, and further including bases for the lower compartments.

14. A multi-compartment tray as defined in Claim 12 or Claim 13, including at least one additional set of compartments defined by additional partitions parallel to the said sets of partitions and bases extending forwardly and upwardly from the rear of the tray and partly overlying the set of upper compartments.

15. A drawer insert substantially as herein described with reference to, and as shown in, the accompanying drawings.