US2868608A

US2868608A - Drawer suspension with auxiliary rollers

Info

Publication number: US2868608A
Application number: US639931A
Authority: US
Inventors: Donald A Gunn; Lawrence R Dean; Wallace R Senechal
Original assignee: Sperry Rand Corp
Current assignee: Sperry Corp
Priority date: 1957-02-13
Filing date: 1957-02-13
Publication date: 1959-01-13
Anticipated expiration: 1976-01-13

Description

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 D. A. GUNN FI'AL DRAWER SUSPENSION WITH AUXILIARY ROLLERS wmw |||||||i ll l l DONAEX maN R 0 AN vM IZKEE E. SENECHAL BY AHQRNEY Jan. 13, 1959 Filed Feb. 13, 1957 WIIIIII IIIIIIII III I J United States Patent DRAWER SUSPENSION WITH AUXILIARY ROLLERS Donald A. Gunn, Kenmore, N. Y., Lawrence R. Dean,

Marietta, Ohio, and Wallace R. Senechal, North Tonawanda, N. Y., assignors to Sperry Rand Corporation, New York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Application February 13, 1957, Serial No. 639,931

2 Claims. (Cl. 312-637) This invention relates to improvements in drawer suspensions, and has particular reference to improvements in drawer suspensions of the general type shown in U. S. Patent No. 2,331,529, issued October 12, 1943, to Carl F. Wolters et al.

The object of .the invention is to provide a construction wherein, as the drawer is moved back and forth in its compartment, there will be substantially no side sway or lateral displacement of the parts hitherto encountered which has caused friction and binding of the parts during these movements.

In drawer suspensions of the above type there are provided a fixed casing track member, a movable intermediate track member, and a drawer track member. The drawer is suspended from the intermediate track member and when filled, due to the weight of the drawer, there has been a tendency of the intermediate track member to move or sway laterally in its forward and backward movements. This generally caused a frictional rubbing between adjacent walls of the fixed track member and the intermediate track member which increased the resistance to movement and also increased the wear and tear on the parts thus engaged.

The invention briefly includes the provision of means on the two mentioned track members which will engage the adjacent wall of the other track member with a I minimum of friction to hold these track members in definite spaced relation during these backward and forward movements. Preferably these means take the form of horizontal rollers disposed on each of said track members and extending into contact with the adjacent wall of the other track members .to produce contact and rolling friction therebetween and at the same time to keep the track members in proper spaced relation as the drawer is moved inwardly and outwardly of the drawer compartment.

The present preferred form of the invention is illustrated in the drawings, of which:

Fig. 1 is a horizontal section of the left side of the construction, taken on the line 11 of Fig. 3, showing the intermediate track member fully housed within the casing;

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section of the right side of the construction, taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 4, showing the intermediate track member pulled forward in the casing;

Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical section taken on the line 33 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a transverse vertical section .taken on the line 44 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the track members, with the casing removed, showing the drawer disposed in its inmost position within the casing; and

Fig. 6 shows the relation of the parts when the drawer is moved forwardly to extend outwardly of the casing.

In order to illustrate the improvements constituting this invention it has been necessary to show sufficient of the main construction which is known in the art and is the roller 20 as shown in Fig. 3.

"ice

of the type clearly shown and described in U. S. Patent No. 2,331,529, issued October 12, 1943, to C. F. Wolters et al. and entitled Drawer Suspension. The known construction in brief and general terms comprises a drawer casing having side walls 10 and 11 and a rear wall 12 of a depth to afford space for one or more drawers although only one drawer and its cooperative parts is shown herein. For each drawer unit there is provided a pair of casing track members 14 and 15 disposed re spectively on opposite sides of the casing against the walls 10 and 11 and extending longitudinally from the rear to the front of each drawer compartment along the lower portion of the compartment. These casing track members 14 and 15 have longitudinally extending vertical walls 16 and 17 respectively. These track members are fixed to the walls 10 and 11 of the casing in any suitable manner.

At the front of each casing track member, as particularly shown in Fig. 3, it is bent along the upper portion to provide a recess to support a fixed U-shaped bearing member 18 along the upper edges of which the axle 19 of a bearing roller 20 has a limited forward and rearward movement. These same bent portions of the casing track members toward the rear thereof receive a roller 21 mounted on the lower wall portion 22 of an intermediate track member. These walls 22 at their bottoms are bent inwardly as at 23 to support

cross bars

24 and 25 to hold the said walls in proper spaced relation. These intermediate track members extend from the front to the rear in each drawer compartment and at their upper portions are bent in a U shape similar to the manner in which the upper portions of the casing track members 16 and 17 are bent. At the front of these intermediate track members, as shown in Fig. 3, these bent portions support a fixed U-shaped bearing member 26 along the upper edges of which the axle 27 of a bearing roller 28 has a certain limited forward and backward movement, similar to the movement of the bearing roller 20 above described. The lower leg 29 of the U-shaped bent upper portion of the intermediate track member rests upon This U-shape bent upper portion of the intermediate track member at the rear thereof receives a roller 30 rotatably mounted on a drawer track member 31 which is welded to the side of the drawer (Fig. 4) and has an upper outwardly extending flange 32. The roller 30 rides upon the leg 29. At the front of the device the track flange 32 rests upon the top of the roller 28 as shown in Fig. 3. .As the drawer 13 is pulled out and moved in, the relation and operation of the above mentioned rollers and the track members are well known and as described in the above mentioned U. S. patent.

Improved construction With the above described construction it will be perceived that the intermediate track members which support the weight of a heavily loaded drawer, as it is pulled in and out of the drawer compartment, tend to be deflected laterally and cause friction and binding between the lower portions of the walls 22 and the adjacent walls 16 and 17 of the casing track member. This will hinder the smooth and even and easy movement of the drawer into and out of the casing. To eliminate this objectionable action, the herein invention concerns the provision of a plurality of rollers disposed for rotation in a horizontal plane and mounted on the intermediate and casing track members so as to keep these walls apart which, as above stated, have a tendency to rub against each other with the specified objectionable actions.

As shown in the drawings, there are two

rollers

33 and 34 mounted on the flanges 23 of the intermediate track membernear the rear thereofand adapted to rotate in a horizontal'plane. These rollers extend partially through openings 35 in the adjacent walls 22 of the intermediate track member to ride along the adjacent walls 16 and 17 of the casing track members 14' and'15; Likewise, there are two

rollers

36 and 37 suitably disposed for rotation in a horizontal plane and mounted on the casing track member with these rollers extending partially through

openings

38 and 39 of the casing track member walls 16 and 17 to have rolling engagement with the lower portions of the walls 22 of the intermediate track members.

Thus it will be seen that asthe drawer 13 is pulled out of or moved into the drawer compartment the lateral relation between thecasing track members and the intermediate track members will remain constant and therefore avoid the lateral deflectionv above mentioned which has been objectionable for the reasons stated.

It will thus be seen that by the provision of pluralities of simple spacing and friction-reducing means between the respective track members the ease of insertion and withdrawal of the drawer is greatly facilitated, the friction and binding of the parts is eliminated and this by means of very simple and economical additions to the present structure.

While we have described what we consider to be a highly desirable embodiment of our invention,'it is obvious that many changes in form could be made without departing from the invention and we, therefore, do not limit ourselves to the exact form herein shown and described, nor to anything less than the whole of our invention as hereinbefore set forth, and as hereinafter claimed.

We claim: 1. A drawer suspension construction having 21 cars ing with a drawer compartment, fixed track members disposed along and on opposite sides of said compartment, intermediate track members, and drawer track members, said track members interrelated for relative movement by means of rollers, the fixed Casing track member and the intermediate track member having adjacent spaced vertical walls, the invention which comprises horizontally disposed rollers on each of said fixed and intermediate track members disposed along their length to contact the adjacent wall of the other track member to maintain the said members in their longitudinal spaced relation as the intermediate track member is moved inwardly and outwardly of the compartment.

2. Theinvention of claim 1 in which there is a horizontally disposed roller at the front of each fixed track member to engage the adjacent wall of the intermediate track member and a horizontally disposed roller to the rear of each intermediate track member to engage the adjacent wall of the fixed track member whereby the intermediate track members may be moved smoothly and in constant spaced relation to the fixed track members.

References (Iited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 383,689 Barns May 29, 1888 867,101 Blomberg Sept. 24, 1907 867,102 Blomberg Sept. 24, 1907 1,545,016 Sessions July 7, 1925 1,547,627 Thomas July 28, 1925 1,920,855 Gloekler Aug. 1, 1933" 2,174,181 Rand Sept. 26, 1939," 2,331,529 Wolters et al Oct. 12, 1943 2,587,691 Brewer Mar. 4, 1952 2,646,333 Abrahamson et al. July 21, 1953