JP2009050330A - Storage unit - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily and surely operate a drawer by indicating an appropriate part of a drawer front plate. <P>SOLUTION: The storage unit including drawers, compartments capable of slidably storing the drawers and a push-out mechanism for pushing out the drawer in a direction opposite to storage when the drawer is pushed further in a storage direction from a storage completion position in the compartment, further has a mark 300 provided at the almost center in the width direction of the front surface of the front plate of the drawer, and the mark is disposed at a position at which the push-out mechanism reacts through pressurization to the mark. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a storage unit having a push-open drawer.

  As means for storing the objects to be stored, there are means for moving the objects to be stored in a fixed shelf such as a cupboard or a closet, and a drawer such as a chest or a kitchen to slide the drawer to place the objects to be stored. And a means for storing the whole.

  In the latter storage means using the drawer, the storage object can be easily stored from above, and high space efficiency can be obtained by providing a plurality of drawers in parallel in the horizontal and vertical directions. Further, it can be isolated from the outside except when the object is taken in and out, and it is possible to prevent the entry of dust and the like. For example, drawers in the kitchen can easily store large and small items to be stored from above, such as tableware such as bowls, dishes, cups, cooking utensils such as pots and pans, and seasonings such as salt and pepper. it can.

In such a storage unit, a handle is usually provided in the drawer. The user operates such a handle to slide the drawer, and puts in and out the storage object. However, for example, in the kitchen, even when taking out the pots, bowls, and ladles that are the objects to be stored during cooking, it is often difficult to grasp the handle because the hands are often covered with food and moisture. There is a situation. Thus, a push-open type storage unit has been created that allows the drawer to jump forward by simply pushing the drawer once without gripping the handle (for example, Patent Document 1). Such a push-open storage unit can be easily pulled out by bringing the back of the hand or a part other than the hand into contact with the drawer, thereby improving cooking efficiency.
International Publication WO2006 / 112189

  In the push-open type storage unit described above, a plurality of drawers are often provided, and the drawers are formed in various sizes depending on the size of the storage object. However, when the storage volume of the drawer becomes large, the sensor that detects the push-up may not react even if the drawer is pushed in the same manner as when the storage volume is small.

  This is because a drawer with a large storage volume has a relatively large front plate, and the area of the portion that can be pressed increases. If it does so, a front board will bend depending on the site | part to press, and the force or moving amount by a press will be attenuate | damped and will be transmitted to a sensor, and a sensor cannot detect a push depending on the attenuation amount.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and the object of the present invention is to suggest an appropriate part of the plate before pulling out, so that the drawer can be operated easily and reliably. It is to provide a storage unit.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, according to an aspect of the present invention, there is a drawer, a storage capable of slidably storing the drawer, and further pushing in the storage direction from the storage completion position in the drawer storage. And a push-out mechanism that pushes the drawer in a direction opposite to the stowage direction, and further includes a mark provided at the center in the width direction of the front face of the drawer, the mark being pushed by the push mechanism. A storage unit is provided, characterized in that it is arranged in a reacting position.

  The front plate of the drawer has a region where the extrusion mechanism does not react or hardly reacts depending on the pushing position. With the above configuration, it is possible to attract the user's attention to the portion provided with the mark in the drawer, and urge the user to push it. At this time, by arranging a mark, that is, a pushing position in a portion where the reaction of the extrusion mechanism is high, the user can easily and reliably pull out the drawer only by light contact.

  In addition, by providing such a mark flat so as to be substantially flush with the front surface of the front plate, it is possible to make other marks before pulling out without forming a complicated projection-like appearance that impairs the aesthetic appearance of the handle. The beauty by the flatness with the front surface of the plate can be improved.

  When the push-out mechanism is installed at the rear part of the drawer back plate and approximately in the center in the width direction, the deflection becomes larger as the push position is biased to the left and right of the front plate, and the transmission efficiency of push force or push movement to the push mechanism increases. Becomes lower. As described above, by providing the mark at substantially the center in the width direction as in the extrusion mechanism, the ease and certainty of pulling out the drawer can be further improved.

  The mark may be provided below a predetermined height on the front plate front surface. The front plate in the drawer is usually joined to the bottom plate and the side plate. Therefore, the lower part is relatively more rigid than the upper part of the front plate. In such a drawer structure, the lower part is less likely to be bent than the upper part of the front plate, and the transmission efficiency of the pushing force or pushing movement to the pushing mechanism is high. The ease and certainty of pulling out the drawer can be improved by setting the mark to an appropriate predetermined height or less.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to easily and reliably operate the drawer by providing a mark on an appropriate portion of the pre-drawer plate.

  Exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In addition, in this specification and drawing, about the component which has the substantially same function structure, duplication description is abbreviate | omitted by attaching | subjecting the same code | symbol. Note that dimensions, materials, and other specific numerical values shown in the following embodiments are merely examples for facilitating understanding of the invention, and do not limit the present invention unless otherwise specified.

  The object of the present embodiment is to allow the user to operate the drawer easily and reliably by devising the front plate of the drawer in the storage unit that pulls out the drawer through the pushing operation. In this embodiment, the example which applied the storage unit to the system kitchen is shown. In order to facilitate understanding of the present embodiment, the overall configuration of the system kitchen as an example of the storage unit will be described first, and then the marks that characterize the present embodiment will be described in detail.

(overall structure)
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an overall configuration of a system kitchen 100 as an example of a storage unit. The system kitchen 100 is a so-called face-to-face open system kitchen, and a top plate 110 (also referred to as a work top) is formed using a stainless steel material and covers the upper surface of the entire system kitchen 100. The top plate 110 may be formed of a synthetic resin material.

  The top plate 110 is provided with a stove 112 attached in a built-in manner, a cooking space 114, a sink 116 integrally formed with the top plate 110, and a preparation space 118. The cooking space 114 and the preparation space 118 are both flat table surfaces, and the cooking space 114 located between the sink 116 and the stove 112 is mainly used for cooking and is prepared outside the sink 116. The space 118 is used as an auxiliary to temporarily place food and cooking utensils.

  Below the top plate 110, a stove cabinet 120 in which the stove 112 body is installed, a base cabinet 130 corresponding to the cooking space 114, a sink cabinet 140 in which the sink 116 is installed, and an auxiliary corresponding to the preparation space 118 Each cabinet (storage) such as the cabinet 150 is configured. Each cabinet functions as a storage space, and the empty space in the cabinet accommodates wiring to the stove 112, a water supply / drain pipe to the sink 116 and the faucet, and the like.

  As described above, although the top plate 110 is continuous over the entire system kitchen 100, below the top plate 110, there are cabinets corresponding to the respective components such as the sink 116 and the stove 112 on the top plate 110. A plurality of them are provided with the same height and depth.

  Thus, even when the configuration of the system kitchen 100 is changed, that is, even if the arrangement order of the stove 112, the cooking space 114, the sink 116, and the preparation space 118 and the presence / absence of each configuration are changed, there is no change in the cabinet unit. It does not occur, and it is not necessary to prepare a drawer or a front plate each time, so that production efficiency can be improved.

  Each cabinet is slidably provided with drawers of various sizes as storage destinations for storage objects. For example, the stove cabinet 120 includes a grill 112a of the stove 112 and an operation panel 112b in the upper part, and a spice box 122, which is a small drawer for storing small items such as seasonings, is disposed on both sides thereof. A wide wide drawer 124 is disposed at the center of the stove cabinet 120, that is, under the grill 112a, and can accommodate a relatively large cooking utensil such as a pan or bowl. Also, near the floor below the stove cabinet 120 is a foot storage 126 that is a drawer-type foot storage.

  Similarly, the base cabinet 130 is provided with a plurality of relatively small drawers 132 and a foot storage 136, and the sink cabinet 140 has a drawer 144 with a high front plate extending from the foot storage 146 to the sink membrane 142. Is provided. The auxiliary cabinet 150 is provided with a drawer 152 having a high front plate extending from the foot storage 156 to the top plate 110, and an inside drawer 154 that can be taken in and out independently is provided therein.

(Extrusion mechanism)
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the internal configuration of the cabinet. As shown in FIG. 2, rails 204 for guiding drawers are provided on the inner surface of the wall plate 202 of each cabinet so as to be symmetrical. Each drawer is provided with an extrusion mechanism that pushes the drawer in the opposite storage direction when the drawer is further pushed in from the storage completion position in the storage direction. In the present embodiment, the drive unit 210 will be described as an example of such an extrusion mechanism. However, the pushing mechanism is not limited to the drive unit 210, and various mechanisms such as a push-open mechanism using a latch in the rail 204 can be applied.

  The drive unit 210 is provided on the rear side of the drawer storage position (storage completion position), and detects the position of the drawer in the storage, as will be described later, and grasps the storage completion position when the drawer is stored in the storage position. Recognizing further pushing in the storage direction, the drawer is pushed out in the non-storage direction.

  FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of the drive unit, and FIG. 4 is a plan view for explaining the operation of the drive unit.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the drive unit 210 includes a drive unit 212 and an arm 214 that cantileverly protrudes from the drive unit 212. The drive unit 212 is operated by electric power supplied through the power cable 216, and includes a motor that rotates the arm 214, an encoder that detects the amount of rotation of the arm 214, and a control unit that controls these.

  The arm 214 is normally rotatably supported, but is biased with a slight force in the direction of the arrow (drawing direction) by an elastic member or a motor. Therefore, the arm 214 rotates in conjunction with the back of the drawer after the drawer comes into contact, and the encoder can detect the position of the drawer. The motor has a force to push out the drawer through the arm 214, but the pushing force does not work unless a predetermined condition is satisfied.

  Taking a storage cabinet having such a drive unit 210, for example, a stove cabinet 120 as an example, as shown in FIG. 4A, the arm 214 of the drive unit 210 is at a maximum with the drawer 124 being pulled out. It rotates at an angle, and its tip is oriented to pull out. When the user pushes to house the drawer 124, the arm 214 is pushed by the back surface of the drawer 124 and rotates as shown in FIG.

  At this time, the drive unit 212 continues to detect the rotation of the arm 214 by the encoder. When the drawer 124 is stationary at the storage completion position (completely stored position), the amount of change of the encoder is within a predetermined range, and the control unit in the drive unit 212 recognizes the position as the storage completion position. Then, as shown in FIG. 4C, when the user pushes out (pushes) the drawer about 1 mm further from the storage completion position, the control unit detects this through the encoder and operates the motor in the drive unit 212. Thus, the arm 214 is rotated in the direction of the arrow in FIG. Thus, the drawer 124 is pushed out.

  Here, the drive unit 210 detects pushing by the rotation angle of the arm 214, that is, the moving distance of the drawer. In this way, the pressure can be determined only by the moving distance regardless of the magnitude of the pressing force, so the user does not have to think about how much force should be applied, and pulls out by pushing the front plate by a predetermined distance. Can be pulled out. Further, even if a large pressing force is momentarily applied to the drawing, no erroneous reaction of the extrusion mechanism is caused.

  With the above configuration and operation, for the user, the drawer comes out automatically by pushing the drawer slightly. Therefore, opening and closing of the drawer becomes very simple, and a high-class feeling can be obtained by automation. The amount to be pushed in can be arbitrarily set, but can be set to 1 mm or more, for example.

(Market)
As can be understood with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, the system kitchen 100 is configured with drawers of various sizes according to the size of the objects to be stored. However, when the storage capacity of the drawer becomes large, the drive unit 210 may not detect the push-up even if the user pushes up as in the case where the storage volume is small.

  FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a detection state of the drive unit 210 with respect to the user's pushing. FIG. 5A shows the side surface of the small middle drawer 154 of the front plate 250, and FIG. 5B shows the side surface of the large drawer 152 of the front plate 250.

  The middle drawer 154 in FIG. 5A has a low height Ha, and even if the upper end of the front plate 250 is pushed forward, the front plate 250 is not distorted, and the drive unit 210 detects a predetermined movement amount and pulls out. Can be pulled out.

  However, the drawer 152 having a large accommodation volume as shown in FIG. 5B has a relatively large front plate 250, and the area of the portion that can be pressed increases. Therefore, the front plate 250 is bent depending on the place to be pressed. For example, even if the upper end of the front plate 250 is pushed up, the force or the amount of movement is attenuated by the bending and transmitted to the arm 214, and if the amount of attenuation is high, the amount of movement of the arm 214 does not reach a predetermined amount. It becomes impossible to recognize that the drive unit 210 has been pushed.

  Therefore, in this embodiment, a mark is provided on an appropriate portion of the front plate 250 for drawer, and the drawer is operated easily and reliably.

  FIG. 6 is a perspective view for explaining the position of the mark in the drawer. In the present embodiment, the mark 300 is provided on the front surface of the front plate 250 of the drawer 152. The mark 300 is arranged at a position where the drive unit 210 can detect the pushing when the user pushes the mark 300 further, that is, the arm 214 moves a predetermined distance (for example, about 1 mm).

  As described with reference to FIG. 5, the front plate 250 of the drawer 152 has a region where the drive unit 210 does not react or hardly reacts depending on the pushing position. By providing the mark 300 as shown in FIG. 6, it is possible to attract the user's attention to the portion of the drawer 152 where the mark 300 is provided and urge the user to push it. At this time, by arranging the mark 300, that is, the pushing position in the portion where the response of the drive unit 210 is high, the user can easily and reliably pull out the drawer only by light contact.

  Further, by providing such a mark 300 so as to be substantially flush with the front surface of the front plate 250, it is possible to form other marks without forming a complicated projection-like appearance that impairs the appearance of the handle. It is possible to improve the aesthetic appearance due to the flatness with the front surface of the front plate of the drawer. Further, conventionally, there has been a strong image that each drawer is recognized independently by the presence of the handle, and the drawer is configured by stacking the drawers. In this embodiment, by removing the handle and flattening the entire front surface of the system kitchen 100, an overall sense of unity is generated, and an image of the conventional system kitchen can be removed, and a high-class feeling due to the flat surface can be enhanced. .

  Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 1, by arranging the positions of the landmarks 300 so as to be connected to the upper, lower, left and right drawers, it is possible to bring out an overall sense of unity and a sense of unity by alignment, and to further improve the aesthetics. It becomes.

  In order to satisfy the above pushing condition, the mark 300 is provided below a predetermined height on the front surface of the front plate 250 indicated by A in FIG. The front plate 250 in the drawer 152 is usually joined to the bottom plate and the side plate. Accordingly, the lower portion of the lower portion of the front plate 250 has a relatively higher rigidity. In such a configuration, the lower part of the front plate 250 is more difficult to bend, and the pushing force or pushing movement transmission efficiency to the drive unit 210 is high. By setting the mark 300 to an appropriate predetermined height A or less, the ease and certainty of pulling out the drawer 152 can be improved.

  In the present embodiment, the predetermined height is, for example, 2/3 of the height of the front plate 250, but the joining state of the front plate 250 and the side plate, the bending condition of the front plate 250, the reaction distance of the drive unit 210, and the like. An appropriate selection can be made according to various parameters.

  Further, the mark 300 is provided at the approximate center in the width direction of the front surface of the front plate 250 indicated by B in FIG. When the drive unit 210 is provided at the rear part of the drawer 152 back plate and substantially in the center in the width direction, the deflection becomes larger as the pushing position is deviated to the left and right of the front plate 250, and the pushing force or pushing movement to the drive unit 210 increases. Transmission efficiency is low. Similar to the drive unit 210, the mark 300 is provided at substantially the center in the width direction, whereby the ease and certainty of pulling out the drawer can be further improved.

  As described above, the system kitchen 100 as a storage unit in the present embodiment provides the mark 300 at an appropriate portion of the front plate of the drawer so that the user can consciously press the vicinity of the mark 300 and the drive unit 210 It is possible to prevent the non-reactive end from being pressed, and it is possible to operate the drawer easily and reliably.

  Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above with reference to the accompanying drawings, it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to such examples. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made within the scope of the claims, and these are naturally within the technical scope of the present invention. Understood.

  In the embodiment described above, the system kitchen cabinet has been described as an example of the drawer and its storage. However, the present embodiment is not limited to this case, and the present embodiment is applied to various devices that use the drawer, such as a cupboard and a washstand. can do.

  The present invention is applicable to a storage unit having a push-open type drawer.

It is a figure explaining the whole system kitchen composition of this embodiment. It is a figure explaining the internal structure of a cabinet. It is the perspective view which showed the schematic structure of the drive unit. It is a top view explaining operation | movement of a drive unit. It is explanatory drawing which showed the detection state of the drive unit with respect to a user's pushing. It is a perspective view for demonstrating the position of the mark in drawer | drawing-out. It is explanatory drawing.

Explanation of symbols

100 ... System kitchen 152 ... Drawer 210 ... Drive unit 250 ... Front plate 300 ... Mark

Claims (2)

Withdraw,
A storage that can slidably store the drawer;
An extrusion mechanism that pushes out the drawer in the opposite storage direction when there is further pushing in the storage direction from the storage completion position of the drawer in the storage;
A storage unit comprising:
It further comprises a mark provided at the approximate center in the width direction of the front face of the drawer.
The storage unit according to claim 1, wherein the mark is disposed at a position where the push-out mechanism reacts by pressing the mark.   The storage unit according to claim 1, wherein the mark is provided below a predetermined height of the front surface of the front plate.

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