GB2216398A

GB2216398A - Stackable cassette for drawer cabinets

Info

Publication number: GB2216398A
Application number: GB8904776A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Arnold Kraus; Stellan Forsgren
Original assignee: EDSTROM ULF AB
Current assignee: EDSTROM ULF AB
Priority date: 1988-03-02
Filing date: 1989-03-02
Publication date: 1989-10-11
Also published as: DK90789A; DK90789D0; DE3905843C2; DK170107B1; DE3905843A1; GB8904776D0

Description

Z_ 16 9 8 CASSETTE FOR MAKING DRAWER CABINETS AS WELL AS ANCILLARY

APPLIANCE THEREFOR

Technical field of the invention

The present invention relates to a cassette for making drawer cabinets, which cassette is selectable from a series of commercially available cassettes with drawers of different design, especially of different height, and which cassette is connectible to both a superjacent and a subjacent cassette from said series of cassettes so as to form a cabinet with a combination of drawers individually adaptable to varying needs. State of the art A cassette unit of the above-related type is previously known from US Patent Specification 3,000,680. In this known cassette unit, the cassettes, provided with drawers and stacked on each other, are interconnected by means of loose or separate plugs which are inserted in specially designed bores in both the top part and the bottom part of each cassette. More specifically, each of these plugs is composed of two parts one of which is applied in the top part of a subjacent cassette and the other in the bottom part of a superjacent cassette. Joining the drawer cassettes by means of such separate plugs is both time-consuming and costly, and also disadvantageous in that the plugs or plug parts may easily be lost. Brief account of the inventive concept The present invention aims at overcoming the abovementioned drawbacks by providing a drawer cassette which can be quickly and easily connected to other similar cas- settes so as to form a cabinet without any risk of losing the connecting means required. According to the characterising features of the invention, this object is achieved in that for connecting the cassettes to each Other, 2 the underside of each cassette is provided with downwardly projecting engagement members to be received in holes in the top wall of a subjacent cassette, and in that each engagement member is in the form of a hook or a hook-like plate insertable in a corresponding elongate hole, more specifically in a first state in which the cassette provided with the hook protrudes a certain distance in relation to a subjacent cassette provided with said hole, said hook, ater displacement of the two cassettes in relation to each other to a second state in which they are in the same plane, engaging underneath a portion of said cassette top wall surrounding said hole so as to prevent vertical relative movement of the cassettes, and an adjustable locking member being adapted, in said second state, also to prevent horizontal relative movement of the cassettes. Brief description of the accompanying drawings

In the drawings, Fig. 1 is a perspective view obliquely from above of a single cassette according to the invention for building up a drawer cabinet, a sliding drawer included in the cassette being shown in the pulled-out state; Fig. 2 is a similar perspective view showing the drawer in the pushed-in state; 25 Fig. 3 shows the cassette of Fig. 2 from below; Fig. 4 is a perspective view obliquely from above of the cassette alone, i.e. without the sliding drawer; Figs. 5 and 6 are part-sectional views on a larger scale showing two different steps in the assembly of two cassettes; Figs. 7-10 are perspective views showing different conceivable drawer cabinet combinations made up of cassettes according to the invention; Fig. 11 is a perspective view showing a preferred field of use of a.drawer cabinet according to the invention;

3 Fig. 12 is an exploded view of a drawer cabinet made up of cassettes of the type shown in Figs. 1-4, the different components included in a locking device being shown detached from the drawer cabinet; Fig. 13 is a partial longitudinal section of a drawer cabinet showing the locking device in its posi tion of release; Fig. 14 is a partial front view of the drawer ca binet, also illustrating the locking device in its po- lo sition of release; Fig. 15 is a partial top plan view showing the function of an operating handle included in the locking device; Figs. 16-18 are views corresponding to Figs. 13-15, but show the locking device in its locking position; Fig. 19 is an exploded view showing ancillary equipment for a cassette according to the invention; Fig. 20 is a cross-section of a cassette, without a drawer, as seen from the rear; and Fig. 21 is a similar cross-section with the drawer mounted in the cassette.

Detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the invention In Figs. 1-4, reference numeral 1 generally desig- nates a cassette including a sliding drawer 2. This sliding drawer is made up of a front wall 3, a bottom wall 4, two side walls 5, 5', and a rear wall 6. In practice, all these parts may advantageously be made of punched or bent sheet-metal. The fropt wall 3 has an upper bent edge 3' which makes it easier to pull out the drawer. The cassette itself 1 has a rectangular front frame, generally designated 7, which is composed of four frame parts, namely an upper frame part 8, two 35 side frame parts 9, 10, and a lower frame part 11. In practice, the front frame 7 may also consist of punched and bent sheet-metal. Four walls or wall-like 4 members extend rearwards from the front frame 7, namely a bottom wall 12, two side walls 13, 14, and a top wall 15. These walls are all connected to a rear wall 16. As appears from Fig. 4, both the top wall 15 and the bottom wall 12 in the illustrated embodiment simply are inwardly bent portions of the side walls 13 and 14 and the rear wall 16, respectively, the major portion of the top and the bottom wall being openings or areas devoid of constructional material. Thege walls are also advantageously made of punched or bent sheetmetal, more specifically a single piece of sheet-metal punched and bent in the manner shown in Fig. 4, the front ends of the side walls 13, 14 being connected to the front frame 7 in any suitable manner.

From Fig. 1 appears that the height of the side walls 5, 5' of the drawer 2 is slightly less than the height of the opening 17 in the front frame 7, which means that the drawer can be lifted a short dis tance in relation to the cassette. From Fig. 3 further appears that two projections 18 are formed on the underside of the bottom wall 4 of the drawer 2. These projections may advantageously be provided by punching the sheet-metal of the drawer bottom wall. These projections serve to lock the drawer when inserted in the cassette in that the projections, in case an attempt is made to pull out the drawer from the cassette, will engage the lower frame part 11 of the front frame. Thus, to pull out the drawer from the cassette, the drawer must be slightly lifted at its front end so that the projections 18 pass clear of the lower frame part 11.

Reference is now made especially to Figs. 1, 5 and 6 showing elongate holes 19 which are provided in the sheet-metal flanges forming the top wall 15 of the cassette, more specifically in the immediate vicinty of the side walls 13 and 14 of the cassette. These elongate, advantageously narrow holes 19 serve as female-type seats for receiving projecting engagement members in the form of plates or plate tabs 20 projecting downwardly from the underside of the cassette. More specifically, the engagement members 20, as best in Figs. 5 and 6, are in the form of hooks obtained by forming the pieces of plate with a nose 21 which, with the bottom wall of the cassette, defines a narrow gap 22. Suitably, this gap has a height corresponding to or but slightly exceeding the thickness of the sheetmetal of the cassette. The width of the sheet-metal members 20 is sub- stantially equal to the length of the seat-forming hole 19. In a first state, shown in Fig. 5, in which a superjacent cassette 1 is laterally offset in relation to a subjacent cassette P, the four engagement members 20 on the underside of the cassette 1 can be inserted in corresponding seat holes 19 in the cassette P, whereupon the two cassettes are displaced relative to each other to a second state, shown in-Fig. 6, in which the nose 21 engages underneath the portion of the upper flange in question which surrounds the hole in the sub- jacent cassette P. In this second state, the two cas- settes 1, 1' are flush with each other or in the same common plane, the cassettes being prevented from moving vertically relative to each other as a result of the engagement of the members 20 in the holes 19.

A locking member 23 (see Fig. 4) serves to prevent horizontal relative displacement between the cassettes in said.second state. In the embodiment shown in the drawings, the locking member 23 is a wire-like finger fixed in an attachment 24 at one end and having at the opposite end a U-shaped portion 25 resiliently pressed down into two mating holes or slots 26 and 27 in the upper part and the lower part, respectively, of the front frame 7. In both the side walls and the upper flanges thereof, there are provided holes 28 and 29, respectively, for screw assemblies by means of which one cassette can be connected to another adjacent cassette or other part, such as a cover plate.

6 The assembly of two drawer cassettes on each other can be performed quickly and easily. with the drawers 2 removed, one cassette 1 is placed on top of the other 11, the cassettes being offset relative to each other in the manner shown in Fig. 5, and all four engagement members 20 being inserted in the corresponding holes 19 in the top wall of the subjacent cassette 1'. The cassettes are then moved to the position shown in Fig. 6, in which the noses 21 of the engagement mem- bers 20 engage underneath parts of the upper flanges of the subjacent cassette P, the locking finger 23 automatically entering into engagement with the two holes 26, 27 as soon as the cassettes have been moved into the position in which they are vertically aligned with each other. A cabinet made up of a plurality of cassettes can thus be_obtained very quickly. After the cassettes have been assembled into a cabinet, the drawers 2 are inserted.

From Fig. 7 appears how cassettes with drawers of varying height can be included in a cabinet, the lowermost cassette being placed on a special base 30, and the topmost cassette in the cabinet can be covered by a board or plate 31. Figs. 810 show different cabinet combinations. Fig. 10 specifically shows how two cabinets can be combined by means of one or more intermediate cassettes 1" into a workbench ar rangement. Such an arrangement can advantageously be used e.g. in a vehicle of the type shown in Fig. 11 and in practice serving as a mobile workshop.

In drawer cabinets of the above-related type, it is desirable in practice to be able to lock the drawers.

Especially, it is desirable, by simple and inexpensive means, to permit selectively locking certain drawers while the other drawers in the same cabinet could be left either unlocked or locked by means of a lock other than that which is used for the first-mentioned drawers. Such a need for selective locking may arise e.g. from 7 the fact that in some contexts, only certain people of a working team are authorised to use certain types of sensitive tools or instruments, while other tools may be freely used by anyone in the team. In other contexts, different groups of workmen, e.g. day shift and night shift, who for space-saving reasons must use one and the same drawer cabinet may wish to lock up their respective tools, in which case the different drawers in the cabinet must have separate locks.

Reference is now made to Figs. 12-18 illustrating in more detail a locking device for solving the abovementioned problems. Fig. 12 shows a cabinet generally designated 34 which is substantially composed of cassettes 1 of the type described above with reference to Figs. 1-4. The cabinet further comprises a base 30 and a special top cassette 32 in which a locking device 33 is mounted, preferably of the type which can be locked with a key. At the top, the cabinet is provided with an upper cover plate 31.

An essential element of the inventive locking de vice is a turning bar 35 of non-circular cross-section the length of which substantially equals the height of the cabinet 34 and which is passed through holes 36, 37 (see Figs. 1-3) in the top and bottom walls of each of the cassettes in the cabinet. These through holes 36, 37 for the bar 35 are located more specifically in the immediate vicinity of a front corner of the cassette. Each cassette suitably is pre-formed with two pairs of holes, namely one pair of holes at each of the two front corners of the cassette, making it possible to mount the locking device either to the left or to the right on the finished cabinet. The turning bar 35 may advantageously be a square iron which is inexpensive and can be cut into suitable lengths in a simple manner.

In the particular cassette where it should be possible to lock the drawer, a sleeve 38 is insertable 8 which has a locking finger 39 projecting from the sleeve, suitably at right angles thereto. The sleeve 38 is of course inserted in the cassette before the bar 35 is passed down through the holes 36, 37 so that the bar will al-so pass through the sleeve. In the top cassette 32 can also be inserted a manually actuable operating handle 40 having two ears 41, 41' with holes the crosssectional shape of which corresponds to the cross- sectional shape of the bar 35. The operating handle 40 is mounted in the cassette 32 so as to be accessible through an opening 42 in the front wall 43 of the cassette 32. The operating handle 40 has a hole 44 through which the user can pass one of his fingers. As appears from a comparison between Fig. 15 and Fig. 18, the operating handle 40 can be pivoted between an inner position, shown in Fig. 15, and an outer position, shown in Fig. 18, in which a locking plate 45 of the locking device 33 can be swung down so as to lock the operating handle 40.

The illustrated locking arrangement operates in the following manner. In the state shown in Figs. 13-15, the operating handle 40 is pivoted to its inner end po sition in which the locking fingers 39 of the sle eves 38 are pivoted to a position adjacent the side wall 13 of the cassette concerned. In this state, the drawer 2 (see Fig. 13) can be freely lifted a slight distance so that the projections 18 on the underside of the drawer pass clear of the lower part 11 of the front frame of the cassette. In other words, the drawer 2, when in this state, can be freely pulled out from the associated cassette. When the drawers should be locked, they are first pushed into the cassette, whereupon the operating handle 40 is pivoted to the outer end position shown in Fig. 18, and the locking plate 45 of the locking device 33 is swung down with a key so as to lock the operating handle 40. In this state, the locking fingers 39 of the sleeves 38 have been swung out a certain dis- 9 tance (in practice, about 45'), such that the locking fingers seize over the upper edge of the side walls 5 of the lockable drawers. Since the length of the sleeves 38 is substantially equal to the height of the associated drawers, the locking fingers 39 when in this state make it impossible to lift the drawers 2 concerned in relation to the associated cassettes, which means that the projections 18 cannot be drawn past the lower frame part 11. In other-Words, it is not possible to pull out the drawers concerned as long as the associated locking fingers 39 are held in the state shown in Figs. 16-18 by means of the turning bar 35, the operating handle 40 and the locking device 33, 45.

The advantages gained by the invention are obvious.

The user will be able, either in connection with the assembly of a cabinet or on a finished cabinet, to select the drawer or drawers he wishes to lock and realise such a locking function by simple and inexpensive means.

Substantial flexibility is then offered as regards the choice of lockable drawers. Further, the invention confers the possibility, in one and the same cabinet, of locking two different sets of drawers with two separate locks. This is achieved by using two cassettes of the illustrated type provided with locking means, one cassette being intended for a first set of drawers and the other for a second set of drawers.

Previously known cassettes of the type described above often suffer from the drawback that certain drawers jam when being pulled out or pushed into the cassette. This drawback of course becomes especially pronounced in those cases where the drawer has a large volume and at the same time holds a substantial amount of heavy objects, such as heavy tools or the like. In practice, the consequence of such jamming is that the drawer tends to move obliquely in relation to the asso- ciated guide rails, and thus easily gets stuck between the guide rails.

Figs. 19-21 show an ancillary appliance enabling anyone using a drawer cabinet to essentially enhance, as desired, the mobility of certain drawers in the ca binet. Within the cassette 1, two guide rails 46, 46' are fixedly arranged on which the bottom wall of the drawer 2 can be moved back and forth. In practice, the rails 46, 46' may consist of sections 6f substantially L-shaped cross-section, having a horizontal flange 47 and a vertical flange 48. These sections are so located that the vertical flanges 48 extend in the same plane as the inner edges of the side parts 9, 10 of the front frame 7 which, together with the upper and lower frame parts 8, 11, define the opening in the front oil the cassette. In other words, the distance between the ver tical flanges 48 of the two guide rails is substantially equal to the width of the drawer 2, whereby the side walls 5, 5' of the drawer engage and are guided by the vertical flanges 48. Because of the width of the two side parts 9, 10 of the front frame, the vertical flanges of the two guide rails will be located at a certain distance inwardly of the two side walls 13, 14 of the cassette 1.

The above-mentioned ancillary appliance includes a set of runners 49, 49' and a set of wheels 50, 50'.

In the illustrated embodiment, each runner 49 is made of a U-section provided at the front end with a stop 51 in the form of a plate of L-shaped cross-section which is fixedly mounted in a suitable manner on the front end of the U-section. The width of the two flanges 52, 52' of the U-section is substantially equal to the distance between the vertical flange 48 of the guide rail 46, 46' and the associated side wall 13 and 14, respectively, of the cassette 1. Thus, the runner 49 can be inserted and accommodated in the space between a guide rail and the cassette side wall located outside, as illustrated in Fig. 20 where the arrows indicate how the runners can be mounted in said space.

The two wheels 50, SO' are each rotatably mounted on a mounting element 53, 53'. Each mounting element has two flanges 54, 55 bent at-right angles to each other for engaging both the rear wall 6 of the drawer 2 and the side wall 5 thereof extending at right angles to the rear wall. At least one flange, viz. the flange 54, is formed at its lower end with a lrojection 56 in the form of an inwardly bent edge portion of the flange which is adapted to engage underneath the bottom of the drawer so as to determine the vertical position of the wheel 50 relative to the drawer. Further, the flange is provided with an annular member 57 having a thread for a screw 58 serving to connect the mounting element to the drawer. The screw 58 can be inserted through a hole 59 in the side wall 5 and tightened in the threaded hole of the annular member 57 so as to fix the mounting element 53 relative to the drawer. By said cooperation between the two flanges 54, 55 bent at right angles to each other, as well as the edge portion 56 angularly bent in a third plane, the threaded hole of the annular member 57 will be located in exact register with the hole 59 in the side wall of the drawer when the mounting element is applied to the corner of the drawer in such a manner that all parts 54, 55, 56 of the mounting ele ment engage a corresponding corner surface of the drawer.

In this manner, the wheel 50 will also be automatically located on a predetermined vertical level relative to the drawer, that is on such a level that the rear end of the drawer is held in a slightly lifted position with respect to the guide rail 46 when the wheel 50 engages the upper flange 52 of the runner 49 mounted in place.

The ancillary appliance now described is mounted in the following way. In a first step, when the drawer is removed from the cassette, the two runners 49, 491 12 are inserted in the spaces between the guide rails 46, 46' and the associated side walls 13, 14, as illustrated in Fig. 20. The drawer 2 is then pushed about half-way into the cassette, in which position the two rear cor- ners of the drawer are located approximately midway between the front frame 7 and the rear wall 16. In this state, there is room for applying the two wheel mounting elements 53, 53' on the outside of the two rear corner portions of the drawer, the mounting el-ements being fixed in the intended position by tightening the associated screws 58 which are passed through the hole 59 from the inner side of the drawer side wall and tighten ed in the threaded holes of the annular members 57 of the mounting elements. When the wheel mounting elements have been fixed in this manner, the drawer, even in the pulled-out state, cannot be removed from the cassette since the stops 51 at the front ends of the runners will prevent the wheels 50, 50' from moving farther outwards than the area of the front frame 7 of the cassette.

The ancillary appliance according to the invention enables the user, even in a cabinet already installed, to decide which drawer or drawers should be given enhanced mobility to prevent jamming.

13

Claims

1. Cassette for making drawer cabinets, which cassette is selectable from a series of commercially available cassettes with sliding drawers of different design, especially of different height, and which cassette is connectible to both a superjacent and a subjacent cassette from said series of cassettes so'as to form a cabinet with a combination of drawers individually adaptable to varying needs, c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that for connecting the cassettes to each other, the underside of each cassette is provided with downwardly projecting engagement members to be received by corresponding holes in the top wall of a subjacent cassette, and that said engagement members are in the form of a hook or hook-like plate insertable in said holes, more speci fically in a first state in which the cassette provided-with the hook protrudes a certain distance in relation to a subjacent cassette provided with said holes, said hook, after displacement of said two cassettes in relation to each other to a second state in which they are in the same plane, engaging underneath a portion of said top wall surrounding said hole so as to prevent vertical relative movement of the cassettes, and an adjustable locking member being adapted, in said second state, also to prevent horizontal relative movement of the cassettes.

2. Cassette as claimed in claim 1, c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that the locking member consists of a suitably wire-shaped finger insertable in two holes registering with each other in said second state and provided, respectively, in the top wall of a subjacent cassette and the bottom wall of the superjacent cassette.

3. Cassette as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, comprising a rectangular front frame with four 1 14 frame parts from which extend four walls or wall-like ? parts, namely a bottom wall, two side walls and a top wall, the underside of the drawer bottom being pro vided with one or more projections serving to lock the drawer when inserted in the cassette as long as the bottom of the drawer is engaging the lower frame part of the front frame, it being possible to pull out the drawer only when the front end of the drawer has been lifted to some extent such that said projections pass clear of the lower part of the frame, c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that holes are provided in both the bottom wall and the top wall of the cassette for receiv ing a turning bar common to all the cassettes in a ca binet and having a non-circular cross-section, a sleeve which can be disposed in any optional cassette being adapted, as required, to be passed on said bar, said sleeve having a locking finger which projects therefrom and is pivotal, by rotation of the turning bar, between a position of release outside a side wall of the drawer and a locking position in which the finger is pivoted in over the upper edge of the side wall so as to prevent lifting of the drawer and, thus, also disengagement of said projections from their locking engagement with said lower part of the frame.

4. Cassette as claimed in claim 3, c h a r a c - t e r i s e d in that the turning bar is connected to a manually actuable operating handle disposed in a cassette included in the cabinet and having no drawer, which cassette has a front wall in which there is mount- ed a locking device which can be locked e.g. with a key and serves, when desired, to lock the operating handle in the state in which the turning bar maintains the locking fingers in said locking position.

5. Cassette as claimed in claim 4, c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that the operating handle is mounted within said cassette and accessible through an opening in the front wall thereof.

6. Ancillary appliance for a cassette as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, each cassette com prising a rectangular front frame from which extend four walls or wall-like parts, namely a bottom wall, two side walls and a top wall, the sliding drawer of the cassette being movable with its bottom sliding along guide rails provided at a distance inwardly of the side walls of the cassette, c h a r a c t e r i s e d by two runners which are design6d as ancillary equipment and which are separately mountable, when so desired, in the space between a side wall of the cassette and the guide rail inwardly spaced therefrom, said runners being adapted to cooperate each with a wheel assembly comprising a wheel rotatably mounted on a mounting element which, after said runner has been mounted, can be applied to the outer side of an associated side wall of the drawer and connected to said wall by connecting means accessible and operable from the inner side of the wall.

7. Ancillary appliance as claimed in claim 6, c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that the connecting means comprises a screw whose stem can be passed through a hole in the side wall of the drawer into a threaded hole in said mounting element and whose head can be tightened against the inner side of the drawer side wall.

8. Ancillary appliance as claimed in claim 6 or 7, c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that said mounting element has two flanges bent at right angles to each other for engaging a side wall of the drawer and a rear wall thereof extending at right angles to said side wall, at least one flange of said mounting element having at its lower end a projection, e.g. a bent edge portion, arranged to engage underneath the bottom of the drawer to determine the vertical position of the wheel relative to the drawer.

A z ' C) 8 6

9. A cassette, or auxiliary appliance therefor, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Published 1989 at The Patent Ofnee, State House, e6,171 HI& Holborn, LorLdonWClR 4TP. Further copies maybe obtained from The Patent OffLoe. Wes Branch, St Mary Cray, Orpington, Kent BRS 3RD. Printed by Multiplex techniques ltd, St Mary Cray, Kent, Con. 1/87