US3061395A

US3061395A - Knock-down chest of drawers, or the like

Info

Publication number: US3061395A
Application number: US751735A
Authority: US
Inventors: Jack M Marateck; Marateck Harold
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1958-07-29
Filing date: 1958-07-29
Publication date: 1962-10-30
Anticipated expiration: 1979-10-30

Description

1962 J. M MARATECK ETAL 3,061,395

DOWN CHEST 0F DRAWERS, OR THE LIKE KNOCK- Filed July 29, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS Jack M- Mira/eck BY Ha ro/o Mara fe ck d M m 4 Oct- 30, 1962 J. M. MARATECK ETAL 3,061,395

KNOCK-DOWN CHEST OF DRAWERS, OR THE LIKE Filed July 29, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 WWII lllllu .MHHHMMIJHIII INVENTOR 5 ac /'7. Marafeck BY Ham/cl Narafeck United States Patent Office 3,061,395 Patented Oct. 30, 1962 33361595 KNfiCK-DOWN CHEST F DRAWERS, OR THE LHKE Jack M. Maratecir, 792 E. 175th St, and Harold Marateck, 1075 Nelson Ava, both of New York, N.Y. Filed July 2?, H58, Ser. No. 751,735 2 Qiaims. (Cl. 312Z7) The present invention relates to an article of furniture and, more particularly, to a chest of drawers or similar article.

One of the characteristics of articles of furniture such as those to which the present invention relates which determines their relatively high cost is their relatively large bulk. Such bulk aifects their cost in a number of ways. The occupy large areas at the factory, both for assembly and for storage. Their bulk also looms large as an item in the cost of transportation from the factory to the retailer, as well as from the retailer to the cus tomer. They also require large storage space at the retail outlets therefor.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a chest of drawers or the like that may be produced, stored and shipped in knock-down condition from the factory to the retailer and also, if desired, from the retailer to the customer, to thereby materially reduce the cost of storage and transportation, all along the line of manufacture and distribution, and thereby greatly reduce the cost to the ultimate consumer.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a knock-down chest of drawers or the like whose parts may be compactly packaged for storage and transportation.

It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a knock-down chest of drawers or the like whose parts are of simple character and may be easily and economically mass-produced, and easily and quickly assembled by anyone, without requiring skill or training, and by means of the simplest tools and equipment.

The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the knock-down chest of drawers, or similar article, of the present invention will become more readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the embodiment thereof shown in the accompanying drawings, and from the description folowing. It is to be understood, however, that such embodiment is shown by way of illustration only, to make the principles and practice of the invention more readily comprehensible, and without any intent of limiting the invention to the specific details therein shown.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a frame for a chest of drawers of the present invention, shown as assembled from knock-down parts;

FIG. 2 is a rear elevation of the same, on a reduced scale, partly broken away to show structural details;

FIG. 3 is a section taken on line 33 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a section taken on line 44 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an assembled knockdown drawer for the chest of the present invention, partly broken away to shown structural details;

FIG. 6 is a bottom plan view of the same, partly broken away to show structural details;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged sectional view taken on line 7--7 of FIG. 5;

FIG. 8 is a section taken on line 88 of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is an enlarged, fragmentary perspective view of the front part of the drawer bottom, showing clip means securing the front and bottom walls of the drawer; and

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of such clip means.

Referring now in greater detail to the illustrative embodiment of the invention shown in the drawings, the chest frame is shown to comprise a pair of upright side frame members, each generally designated as 10, each consisting of a pair of upright posts 12, which may be of Wood or, preferably, as illustrated, rectangular, metal tubes. The uprights 12 of each side frame 10 are connected in suit-ably spaced relation to one another by connecting members, preferably of metal, each generally designated as 18, each of which may consist of an angle bar or T-bar 18, as illustrated, one side of which, as the cross piece 2% of T-bar 18, is secured, as by welding, in vertically spaced relation to the adjacent connecting member, to the uprights 12, and the other side, such as the leg 22 of the T-bar extending at right angles to the leg 20 and forming a runner for a drawer. If desired, the runner 22 may carry rollers for the drawers to facilitate its movement, by the striking and-offsetting of lugs 24-, in spaced position on the runner 22 and mounting a roller 26 within the spaces 28, left out by each struck out ofiset lug 24, on a pin 39 supported between the lug 24 and the crosspiece 24 of the T-bar 13, as clearly shown in FIG. 3.

The side frame it) may each also have a preferably metallic top bar 32 connecting the upper ends of the uprights 12, such top bar having one or more pre-formed apertures 34 provided therein.

The side frames 10 are assembled at the factory and may each constitute a unit of the knock-down package. They may be assembled into a frame for the chest of drawers by means of a rear wall or panel 36, which may be pro-formed with screw-receiving apertures 38 that will register with corresponding threaded apertures 40 formed in the rear face of the rear uprights 12 of each side frame It) when such uprights are made of metal, to receive the connecting screws 42. The side frames it are further assembled by the front brace 44 connecting the front uprights 12 of the two side frames 10 below the lowermost of the braces. The front brace 44 may likewise have pre-formed openings 46 at its ends to receive screws that connect it to the uprights 12 by the pre-formed threaded openings St The brace 44 is also provided with openings 52 intermediate the openings St to receive screws for securing thereto the wooden face board 54.

The side frames it) are further connected to one another by means of the top board or table 56, which may be of wood or wood substitute and may be secured in place, as by screws passing through the preformed openings 34 in the top bars 32. The top board 56, the rear panel 36, the front brace 44, and the wooden board face 54, therefore, may comprise separate preformed units of the knockdown package.

It will be readily apparent that the several members or knock-down units for forming the chest frame of the present invention may be readily preformed at a factory, at relatively low cost, and may be assembled into a sturdy and rigid and accurately assembled structure, either at the warehouse or store, or by the customer, at his home, by substantially anyone having the simplest of tools and even a minimum of skill in their use, such assembly requiring, actually, only a screwdriver and a minimum skill in its use.

The drawer for the chest of the present invention, generally designated as 60, may be prepared in knock-down state. It may consist of a front wall 62, side walls 64, a rear wall 66, and a bottom wall 63, all of which may be appropriately precut and prefabricated, preferably from wood or wood substitute therefor. The side walls 64 are preferably of lesser height than the front wall 62, and the rear wall 66 is of lesser height than side walls 64.

The front wall 62 may be of suitable conventional size and shape and is formed with a pair of suitably spaced dovetail-shaped grooves 76 across its height, on the inner face thereof. Each of the side walls 64 may have a dovetail-shaped tenon 72 on one end, adapted to fit in a groove 70, and a dovetail-shaped groove 74 across its height, adjacent its other end, facing the companion side wall 62. The rear wall 66 is formed with a dovetail-shaped tenon 7'6, at each of its ends, adapted to fit into grooves 74 of the two side walls. The grooves 74 may terminate short of the bottom of the side walls 64 and longitudinallyextending grooves 78 are formed in the same face of the side wall at the foot of such groove 74 in each of side walls 64. A longitudinally-extending groove 80 is formed at the bottom of the inner face of the front wall 62 in register with the two grooves 78, said grooves '78 and 8'!) slidably receiving the drawer bottom 66. The front, side, rear and bottom walls of the drawer may comprise separate knock-down units which may be readily and easily assembled, either at the place of sale or at the place of ultimate delivery.

In order to ensure the several parts of the drawer against disassembly, the bottom edge of the rear wall may be formed with a number of screw-engaging openings 84 and the rear end of bottom wall 68 may be provided with corresponding screw-receiving openings 32, through which screws, as 86, may be used to secure the bottom wall in position. Additional securing means may be provided between the front wall 62 and the bottom wall 66 in the form of one or more L-shaped clips 38, one leg of which may have an outwardly ofiset prong 90 at its end and the other leg of which may have offset prongs 92 struck out therefrom. One or more of such clips may be secured in the corner formed between the front wall 62 and the bottom wall 66, with the prongs of the two clip legs each engaging in one of the walls, as clearly shown in FIG. 9 of the drawings.

In order to more firmly secure the side walls against the front wall, especially against vertical displacement, the inner face of the front wall may be formed with longitudinally-extending grooves 94, each encompassing one of the dovetail-shaped grooves 70, such grooves $4 extending transversely of such dovetail-shaped grooves 79 and to each side thereof. The dovetail-shaped tenon 72 of each of the side walls 64 is provided with a passageway 96 at its inner end in vertical register with a groove 94 when in assembled position. A metal bar 93, of greater length than the thickness of a side wall 64, is slid into each groove 94 to engage through the passageway 96 of the tenon 72 of an associated side wall. The bar 98 is formed with screw-receiving openings 160 at each end, through which wood screws 102 may be passed to engage the bar 98 against the front wall 62 and thereby immobilize the side walls on the front wall.

The clips 88, the bars 98, and wood screws we may be packaged with the drawer and frame members in the knock-down package of the chest of the invention.

The chest of drawers of the present invention is assembled as follows. The frame may be first assembled by connecting the side frame members 10 to one another by the rear panel 36 and the front brace 44. The top board 56 may then be secured in place and also the brace face board 54; all by means of appropriate screws provided in the knock-down kit, through the preformed openings provided therefor in the several frame members.

Each of the drawers may be assembled as by first inserting the end tenons 72 of the side walls 64 in the grooves 70 provided for them on the inner face of the front wall 62. The rear wall 66 may then be engaged by its tenons 76 in the grooves 74 of the side walls 64. The bottom wall 66 may then he slid and received in the longitudinal grooves 73 and 80 of the side and front walls, respectively. The bottom wall 66 may be secured in place by means of the screws 36 engaging through its openings 82 in the openings 84 of the bottom edge of the rear wall 66. Thereafter, if desired, clips 38 may be hammered in place to secure the front end of the bottom wall 66 to the front 6. wall 62, and bars Q8 may be slid through grooves 94- and openings 96 in the end tenons of the side walls 64 and secured in place by screws 102 to fix the side walls in position on the front wall.

This completes the description of the knock-down chest of drawers, or the like, of the present invention; of the knockdown units of which it is formed; and of the manner in which they are assembled. It may here be stated that a chest of drawers, or the like, of the present invention may be formed of any desirable height and width, to receive any desired number of drawers of any desired size.

It may here also be stated that the present invention need not be limited to a chest of drawers, but may be readily adapted for use for the making of various other articles of furniture, for household or office use. Such other articles of furniture may include tables, desks, vanities, or the like. Thus, the connection of a pair of frames of the present invention by a single top board will produce either a desk or a vanity. Similarly, the provision for a single frame of the present invention of an elongated top board that extends to one side of the frame, with an additional set of legs for the unsupported end of the top board, will provide another type of desk, or the like. Similarly, the wide spacing of a pair of frame members of the invention, each having only a single horizontal connecting member and drawer runner close to the top of the posts thereof, to accommodate a relatively shallow drawer, will provide a table.

It will be apparent that the chest of drawers, or the like, of the present invention may not only be readily and easily assembled from a factory-prepared package, but may, at any time, be knocked down and re-assembled, as may be desired, for moving from place to place or for temporary storage.

It will be also apparent that the chest of drawers, or the like, of the present invention, when assembled, comprises a strong, durable, rigid and true structure, whose drawers will be movable with great ease and facility, without binding or jamming.

It will be further apparent that numerous modifications and variations in the chest of drawers, or the like, of the present invention may be made by anyone skilled in the art, in accordance with the principles and practice of the invention hereinabo-ve set forth, and without the exercise of any inventive ingenuity. We desire, therefore, to be protected for any and all such modifications and variations that may be made within the spirit of the present invention and the scope of the claims hereto appended.

What we claim is:

1. A knock-down drawer, including a front wall having a vertically disposed, dovetail-shaped groove formed therein adjacent each end of the inner face thereof, a pair of side walls each having a dovetail-shaped tenon at one end thereof engageable in a dovetail-groove of said front wall and a vertically-extending, dovetail-shaped groove formed therein adjacent its other end, and a longitudinallyextending groove adjacent the bottom of its dovetailgrooved face, a rear wall of lesser height than said side walls and having a dovetail-shaped tenon at each end engageable within a dovetail-shaped groove of a side wall, and a bottom wall engageablc within said longitudinallyextending grooves, said bottom wall having spaced apertures formed adjacent its rear end, each adapted to receive a screw engageable in the bottom edge of said rear wall for securing said bottom wall in place, said front drawer wall being provided with a groove on its inner face extending transversely of each of said dovetailshaped grooves thereof and extending to each side thereof, and each of said side walls is formed with an aperture through the tenon thereof and a pair of bars, each disposable within one of said grooves and passing through said aperture in the side wall and securable against said front wall.

2. The knock-down drawer of claim 1, wherein each References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Brolaski May 20, 1884 Yawman Jan. 28, 1919 Chipperfield Dec. 20, 1921 Knechtel Sept. 25, 1923 6 Mount Apr. 20, 1926 Curran Feb. 28, 1950 Mankki Aug. 29, 1950 Haut Apr. 3, 1951 \Vallance Oct. 23, 1951 Dennison Oct. 9, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain 1897 Canada Jan. 8, 1952