NZ239676A - Height adjustable roller and brake for domestic appliance - Google Patents

Description

W ' m 239676 NEW ZEALAND PATENTS ACT. 1953 No.: 239676 Date: 5 September 1991 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION "Improvements in or Relating to Roller Support Means for Equipment" We, FISHER & PAYKEL LIMITED a company duly incorporated under the laws of New Zealand of 78 Springs Road, East Tamaki, Auckland, New Zealand hereby declare the invention for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement:- ') o % 7 is fea -v: t ;; / iQ This invention relates to roller supports for items of equipment requiring occasional re-location. The invention has been devised particularly though not solely for use in providing roller supports for domestic appliances such as refrigerators.

It is an object of the present invention to provide roller support and levelling apparatus for items of equipment which will at least provide the public with a useful choice.

Accordingly in one aspect the invention consists in a levelling apparatus for supporting a semi mobile item of equipment on a floor comprising: a base member which is adapted to be fixed to the underside of said item of equipment, a roller carrying sub-frame including parts of locating means which coact with parts of said locating means on said base member to prevent relative movement therebetween in a plane parallel to the floor, a roller rotatably mounted in said sub-frame which in use contacts the floor, said sub frame having first and second load bearing surfaces located either side of the roller axis, and adjustable spacing means which act between the first load bearing surface and said base member to pivot said sub-frame away from or towards said base member about the point of contact between said second load bearing surface and said item of equipment.

In a second aspect the invention consists in roller support means for equipment comprising a base member integral with or adapted to be associated with appropriate equipment, said base member having parts of guide means, a roller carrying frame having a roller adapted in use to roll on a floor or the ground and having co-acting parts of said guide means to co-act with the part of said guide means on said base member and height adjustment means positionable in use between said base member and said roller carrying frame, the construction and arrangement being such that a fulcrum of said roller carrying frame is spaced away from said adjustment means and • 0 ^ { •) / is in use positioned to bear against a part of said base member or said equipment, and adjustment of said adjustment means causes a change in the distance between said roller and said base member to cause adjustment of the height of said equipment from the floor or ground.

One preferred form of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is an exploded view of the components of a roller mounting means according to the invention; Figure 2 is a perspective side view of a base member shown in Figure 1; Figure 3 is an underneath view of the base member shown in Figure 2; and Figure 4 is a plan view of a co-acting part of a movement preventing means component shown in Figure 1.

Referring to the drawings, the apparatus of Figure 1 comprises a base member 1, a roller carrying frame 2, a roller 3, a roller axle 4, a brake member 5 and a height adjusting means comprising a bolt 6, a nut 7 threaded thereon and a hand wheel 8 which in use captivates nut 7. The construction and assembly of these members will be described shortly.

The apparatus shown in Figure 1 has been devised specifically for providing an adjustable height front roller for a refrigerator. Two such rollers would be fitted one on each front side on the base of the refrigerator. At the rear of the refrigerator a pair of non-height adjustable rollers mounted within the confines of the refrigerator are normally provided. However the invention is not limited to providing a rolling support for a refrigerator but has application to other domestic appliances such as dishwashers, dryers, laundry machines, television sets. Other, relatively heavy, electronic equipment occasionally requiring movement, such as mainframe computer disk drives, photocopiers or modules thereof, may advantageously be fitted with the apparatus of the present invention. However the preferred form of the invention will be described in relation to its use with a refrigerator. ! ' ' v. r ' \ ^ \ ' Referring to the drawings, the base member 1 has been designed to permanently fit into a suitably shaped opening 10 in a refrigerator cabinet shown in stylised form at 11. The base member 1 has a shaped protrusion 12 designed to fit in a slot 10 provided in the refrigerator base. The base 1 has a cylindrical aperture 15 to receive the end 49 of the bolt 6 with clearance and the hand wheel 8 has a hexagonal aperture in it into which a nut 7 fits. The hand wheel 8 protrudes through a slot 16 in the side face 17 of the base to enable manipulation.

The base also has two slots 20 and 21 which form part of locating means to receive co-acting parts of the locating means on the roller frame. The roller carrying sub frame 2 has further parts of the locating means to assist in enabling positioning relative to the base. These parts comprise shaped blade members 22 and 23 which fit in the slots 20 and 21 to fix the position of frame 2 in the plane of the base and act as guides as its position relative to the base member 1 varies during height adjustment. The frame 2 pivots in use about fulcrum bar 25 which provides a second load bearing surface. The roller 3 is carried by axle 4 which fits in aperture 26 and a corresponding aperture on the opposite side not visible in Figure 1.

The roller 3 carries a plurality of castellations 30 on each end and these castellations form part of a braking means in combination with brake member 5 which is shown in plan in Figure 4 as well as in perspective in Figure 1 (in stylised form). The side lobes 35 are made of a resilient material and the ends 36 slide in grooves 37 in the roller frame 2. On opposite sides of the end 40 of the brake member finger grips are formed so that the member can be gripped by a user's fingers and moved backwards and forwards. Detents 41 carried by lobes 35 engage with the castellations 30 in the ends of the roller 3 when the brake member is moved back. This locks the roller preventing it from rotation. Conversely when the brake member is pulled away from the frame 2 the detents 41 disengage from the castellations 30 and the roller is then free to rotate. 239R7 In use the base member 1 is mounted in the slot 10 of the refngeMiolf base ffl during assembly of the refrigerator. The roller assembly is slid into position in the base member 1 with the blades 22 and 23 engaging in respective base slots 20 and 21. The head 45 of the bolt 6 is engaged in the hexagonal aperture 47 in the frame 2, the nut 7 engaged in the hexagonal depression in the hand wheel 8 which bears against the underside of the base member 1. The fulcrum bar 25 simply bears and pivots against the underside of the refrigerator cabinet and acts as a second load bearing surface.

The refrigerator load is transmitted to the roller 3 through frame end 25 and bolt 6. The share of the load carried by bolt 6 is transmitted to the bolt through the handwheel 8/nut 7 combination which abuts the mouth of aperture 15 which forms a bearing surface.

Rotation of the hand wheel 8 causes bolt 6 to extend or retract relative to the refrigerator to thereby pivot the frame 2 about end 25 either away from or towards the refrigerator base. Since the frame carries the floor engaging roller, height adjustment of the refrigerator at the location of the roller support can be readily achieved. In combination with the second roller support a mechanism for levelling the refrigerator is produced.

Either before or after height adjustment the roller 3 can be locked against rotation by sliding brake member 5 into engagement with the roller castellations. The refrigerator is held stationary at the desired location.

The underside of the base member 1 includes a hexagonal recess 13 which receives a nut onto which a studded foot fits if a cheaper type of height adjustment is to be provided. This does not form part of the present invention.

From the foregoing it will be seen that equipment such as a refrigerator, copying machine or other piece of equipment can be quickly and easily levelled by adjustment of the adjustment means 8 and then the roller locked so that the equipment is / 9 o 7 r ^Irrelatively immoveable. The advantages of this are considerable. No aperture for a hinge pin or other attachment fitting is required.

Claims (10)

(WHAT WE CLAIM IS:

1. Levelling apparatus for supporting a semi mobile item of equipment on a floor comprising: a base member which is adapted to be fixed to the underside of said item of equipment, a roller carrying sub-frame including parts of locating means which coact with parts of said locating means on said base member to prevent relative movement therebetween in a plane parallel to the floor, a roller rotatably mounted in said sub-frame which in use contacts the floor, said sub frame having first and second load bearing surfaces located either side of the roller axis, and adjustable spacing means which act between the first load bearing surface and said base member to pivot said sub-frame away from or towards said base member about the point of contact between said second load bearing surface and said item of equipment.

2. Levelling apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said adjustable spacing means comprises a threaded shaft, a hand rotatable wheel threaded thereon, one end of said shaft engaging with the first load bearing surface of said sub-frame and the threaded wheel bearing against said base member.

3. Levelling apparatus according to either claim 1 or claim 2 wherein said locating means comprise two spaced apart blade means which engage within corresponding slots provided in said base member.

4. Levelling apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3 wherein said roller is provided with teeth on a circumference thereof and said sub-frame includes a moveable detent means which can be moved to engage with said teeth to thereby prevent rotation of the roller.

5. A roller support means for equipment comprising a base member integral with or adapted to be associated with appropriate equipment, said base member having 2 T ^ - j y o # MA parts of guide means, a roller carrying frame having a roller adapted in use to roll on a floor or the ground and having co-acting parts of said guide means to co-act with the part of said guide means on said base member and height adjustment means positionable in use between said base member and said roller carrying frame, the construction and arrangement being such that a fulcrum of said roller carrying frame is spaced away from said height adjustment means and is in use positioned to bear against a part of said base member or said equipment and adjustment of said adjustment means causes a change in the distance between said roller and said base member to cause adjustment of the height of said equipment from the floor or ground.

6. A roller support means according to Claim 5 wherein said fulcrum comprises a bar across an inner end of said roller carrying frame.

7. A roller support means according to either claim 5 or claim 6 wherein said roller is provided with part of movement preventing means and said roller carrying frame provided with a manually manipulative co-acting part of said movement preventing means arranged so that when in one position movement of the roller is at least substantially prevented and when said co-acting part is in another position said roller is free to roll.

8. A roller support means according to claim 7 wherein said movement preventing means comprise a plurality of notches on each end of said roller and said co-acting part comprises detent members engageable in selected ones of said notches.

9. A roller support means according to any one of claims 5 to 8 wherein said guide means comprise a pair of spaced apart slots, which are substantially vertically disposed in use, formed in said base member and a pair of spaced apart co-acting blade members arranged to slide in said slots in said base member, said blade members being arranged substantially vertically in use and spaced apart on said roller carrying frame.

10. A roller support means when constructed arranged and operable substantially as herein described and with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. DATED THIS DAY OF /W A.J. & SON PER (Kfkai AGENTS FOR THE APPLICANT