US3586408A

US3586408A - Cabinet assembly for an expansible cabinet

Info

Publication number: US3586408A
Application number: US840756A
Authority: US
Inventors: Robert T Dickson
Original assignee: Dickson Smith Inc
Current assignee: Dickson Smith Inc
Priority date: 1969-07-10
Filing date: 1969-07-10
Publication date: 1971-06-22
Anticipated expiration: 1988-06-22
Also published as: GB1299267A

Abstract

An expansible cabinet assembly in which aligned ends of U-shaped laterally positioned rails are secured to opposite sides of a wall panel by a stud connection with a quick acting lever and cam arrangement that draws the ends of the rails in abutment with structures on the wall panels that restrain lateral or rotational movement of the assembled rails on the wall panel.

Description

United States Patent 1 [H13,586,408

l [72) Inventor ilobert'l.l)lckson [56] ReferencesCited El al Cam. UNITED STATES PATENTS Qm' fif 'zff 2,514,631 7/1950 E|vers..; 312/107 Paemed June 2,969,269 1/1961 Shelly 312/107 {73] Assignee Dickson-Smith, Inc. Primary ExaminerPatrick D. Lawson El Cajon, Calif. Attorney-Carl R Brown [54] CABINET ASSEMBLY FOR AN EXPANSllBLE l CABINET ABSTRACT: An expanslble cabmet assembly m which lo chum 7 mm aligned ends of U-shaped laterally positioned rails are secured [52] US. Cl 312/107 to opposite sides of a wall panel by a stud connection with a [51] Int. Cl A47b 77/00, quick acting lever and cam arrangement that draws the ends A47b 87/00 of the rails in abutment with structures on the wall panels that [50] Field of Search 312/107; restrain lateral or rotational movement of the assembled rails 1 220/97 on the wall panel.

PATENTEUJUN2 2 IBTI SHEET 1 OF 3 INVENTOR ROBERT T. DICKSON ATTORNEY PATENTEU m2 2 |97l SHEET 3 OF 3 |NVEN'TOR. ROBERTT. DICKSON ATTORNEY I CABINET ASSEMBLY FOR AN EXPANSIBLE QAIIINET BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Expansible cabinet structures have been made from interchangeable parts and components that allows the cabinet structures to be selectively expanded or contracted for particular types of uses and installations. Such expansible cabinet structures and their components can be mass produced in various sizes at a factory and then assembled at the point of installation and use. The assembly of such cabinet structures is generally flexible enough that the cabinets can be expanded or contracted at the time of installation, and after installation component parts then can be easily and quickly removed or changed in position without disturbing other pans of the installed cabinet structure. However, it is particularly advantageous that such cabinet structures utilize means for connecting the various parts together in a quick and easy manner that assures that the assembled parts and components are rigidly held in the correct position and alignment in final assembly. Further it is advantageous that the interchangeable and expansible cabinet structures have the appearance of fine furniture. Thus it is advantageous to have a new and improved means for connecting the interchangeable parts and components in a quick and easy manner that holds the component parts rigidly together and yet provides the appearance of fine furniture.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In an exemplary embodiment of this invention, wall members are spaced along the length of an expansible cabinet assembly. These planar wall members are interconnected by U- shaped channel rails that are secured at their ends in a substantially normal direction to the sides of the wall members. The wall members have openings therethrough for connector means that secure adjacent ends of the rails in abutting contact with the wall members. The wall members also have holding means that coact with the ends of the U-shaped rails for holding the rails in a given position on the sides of the wall members and prevent the rails from moving laterally or in axialrotational movement on the wall members. The connector means employ removable plates that abut against tabs in the U-shaped rails. The plates are interconnected by studs that pass through the openings. Lever-operated camming mechanisms are secured to one end of the studs to quickly and easily draw the plates and the ends of the rails into abutting pressure contact against the wall members. This combination structure permits the cabinet assembly to be quickly and easily assembled at the point of installation and to be thereafter expanded or contacted in a modular-type construction by allowing the rails to be quickly and easily removed and reinstalled as necessary. Thus the cabinet structure is made up entirely of quickly and easily installed or removed, interchangeable parts and components that are mass produced with relatively close tolerances in various sizes at the factory.

It istherefore an object of this invention to provide a new and improved cabinet structure that is made up entirely of interchangeable parts and components.

It is another object of this invention to provide a new and improved cabinet assembly structure that has quick connect and disconnect means for connecting the component parts together in a rigid and secure manner.

It is another object of this invention to provide a new and improved cabinet assembly structure that is capable of using U-shaped rail members and other assembled components made of metal or other suitable materials.

It is another object of this invention to provide a new and improved expansible cabinet assembly with interchangeable components that employ new and improved means for holding the interchangeable components together without movement therebetween when in the assembled condition.

Other objects and many advantages of this invention will become more apparent upon a reading of the following detailed description and an examination of the drawings wherein like reference numerals designate like parts throughout and in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view, partially exploded, of an assembly of the cabinet structure.

FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of a complete multiple unit assembly.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along lines 3-3 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view with parts broken away and with the camming mechanism reversed in position, of the embodiment of FIG. 5 in substantially assembled form.

.FIG. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view that is partially exploded illustrating the means of interchanging portions of the structure.

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary perspective-view of a modified embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of one end of the U-shaped rail in the modified embodiment of FIG. 6.

Referring to FIGS. ll, 2, 3, 4 and 5, the cabinet assembly structure comprises planer wall panels or

members

18, 20, 21 and that form the ends and dividing walls of the cabinet units that are secured together by U-shaped rails. The U- shaped rails include

front base rails

10 and 26, a rear base rail 12, and front

upper rails

14,22 and 24. The rails are made of metal or other suitable materials, in various predetermined lengths at the factory to provide different widths between the walls for expansible and contractable structures, but have standardized ends for common attachment means. The end walls, such as wall 18, has an outer cover surface 38 that may be of any suitable material.

Walls

18, 20 and 21 may be made of wood or other suitable materials. Each wall has a plurality of holes 36 vertically displaced for providing means for supporting shelves, drawers 16 and the like in the assembled cabinet structure.

The lower side surfaces of each of the

wall members

18 and 20 have spaced

grooves

40, 42, 72 and 74 for receiving the U- shaped ends of the

base rails

10 and 26. The opposite sides of the U-shaped rail 10, for example, has

end edges

76, 78, 82 and 84 that extend slightly beyond the

ends

80 and 86 of the remaining or other side. These end edges project into the

channels

72 and 74, for example and in conjunction with connecting

bolts

70 and 90, hold the base rail 10 from lateral or rotative movement in the assembled condition. Each of the U- shaped rails have inwardly directed

tab portions

66, 68, 108 and 176. A removable plate 64 abuts against the

tab portions

66 and 68 in the manner illustrated. Stud 70, for example, extends through openings, such as

openings

102, 44, 46, and 48, through the

wall members

18 and 20. Each end of the studs are threaded with one threaded'end passing through a hole in plate 168. A nut 170 is secured to the threaded end, or the stud may comprise a bolt with the normal head and with the other end being threaded. The other threaded end of the bolt or stud 160 passes, for example, through the opening in wall 150 and through a hole in plate 158, and threadably engages a bearing member 164 in the camming mechanism 162. The plate 158 abuts against the raised tabs 176.

The camming mechanism 162 has an offcenter, curved, cam surface 166 that upon pivotal movement of the arm or lever rotates the camming surface 166 sufficiently to bear against the plate 158 and draw the plates 158and 168 and the ends of the rails I72 and 174 in an axial direction toward the wall member Further the rotating of the lever in the camming mechanism 162, locks the lever'in the position illustrated in FIG. 4. Thus in FIG. 1, the threaded end of stud 70 passes through opening 106 in plate 64 and engages the camming mechanism 62 in the manner described.

Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, the front edge of the wall member 150 has a reduced thickness 156 with parallel shoulders 157. The shoulders 157 are so spaced from the front edge of the wall 150 that the U-shaped

rails

172 and 174 abut against the shoulders 157. A front channel member 152having slots with

surfaces

153 and 154 fit over the reduced diameter end 156 and abut against the outer surface of the two rails I72 and 174. The front channel member 1152 is secured to the wall member 150 by any appropriate connection means, such as screws or the like, passing through holes, such as hole I04 in FIG. 1, in the front channel member. The front channel member 152 in the secured position holds the

rail members

172 and 174 rigidly in position and prevents rotational movement or lateral movement of the

rail members

172 and 174. The front channel member 92, see FIG. 1, also has a recessed rectangular area in conjunction with the shoulder portion and with hole 102, for receiving a front rail member in the opening in the manner previously described.

Other rail members

22 and 24 may be similarly secured or passed through the wall members, as for example wall member 21, to provide other wall member assemblies.

It may be understood that the camming device 62 or 1162 in connection with the

studs

70 or 160, rigidly secure the ends of the rails members in abutting contact with the respective wall members. However, in order to provide optimum rigid holding of the rail members, the the shoulders 157 and the front channel members 152 function as additional rigid means for positioning of the respective rail members as does the

channels

72 and 74 in coaction with

projecting ends

82 and 84.

As previously stated, it is particularly important that the rail members not only are rigidly held in position to perform their structural support function, but also that the rail members are rigidly held from rotative or lateral movement relative to the wall members. In the modified embodiment of FIGS. 6 and 7 the wall member 282 has the openings 316 and has a reduced in thickness front edge portion 306. The front channel member 304 fits over the front edge portion 306 and abuts against the shoulders in the manner illustrated and is held in position by any suitable attachment means, not shown. Each side of the front channel member 306 has spaced, parallel shoulders 308 that form a longitudinal groove in which the end of the

rail members

284 and 286 fit. The surface of the strip sides 302 of the front channel member 304 has a longitw dinal ridge 310. The

rails

284 and 286 have knife edges 312,

- 314 and 315, see FIG. 7. The cam mechanism 288 has the previously described bearing nut 296 that is secured to the end of a stud 29. The stud 29 passes through opening 303 in plate 298 in the manner previously described in FIG. 4. When the cam mechanism 288 bears against plate 292, the respective ends of the

rails

284 and 286 are drawn into abutment with the sides of the front channel member 304. Since both the

rails

284 and 286 and the front channel member 304 are made of suitable hard material, such as metal or other suitable materials, the knife edges bite into the ridge 310 and holds the

rails

284 and 286 from vertical movement in the channels formed by the shoulders 308. Thus the rail members are held against rotational and lateral movement relative to the wall member In assembly, see FIG. 1, the wall members are held in a basic position by being secured by angle supports 50 and 60 to rail 16. The appropriate base rails and front rails are assembled and secured to the

wall members

18 and 20. After the rail members are secured in position, then the front channel members are secured in the manner previously described by inserting appropriate screws or the like through holes 104. Then shelves, runners for drawers and the like are supported on appropriate supports secured in openings 36. Doors, as for

example doors

112 and 114, are secured to the

wall members

18 and 20 by appropriate hinges, not shown.

It may be understood that in this construction, the metal U- shaped rails are a major structural component of the assembled modular construction and provide light weight, improved strength, and ease of manufacture. The assembled structure may be quickly and easily disassembled by merely removing the front channel member 92 in the embodiments of FIGS. 1 through and then operating the release lever of the camming mechanism that through sliding movement of the plates 64 allow the rail members to be moved forward and from the structure without disturbing the countertop 110 that may be secured to the upper surface of the

wall members

18 and 20.

With respect to the embodiment in FIGS. 6 and- 7, the camming mechanism 288 is initially loosened by pivoting in the manner previously described. Then the front channel member is removed from the front surface of the wall member 282 and the

rail members

284 and 286 are moved with the front channel member 304 with the

plates

292 and 298 sliding out of the U-shaped rail members. Thus the structure in FIGS. 6 and 7 allows a quick and easy disassembly of the structure without affecting other component parts of the structure.

Having described my invention, I now claim. I. In a cabinet assembly, a wall member having an opening therethrough, at least a pair of U-shaped channel rails secured at one of I their ends over said opening in aligned and substantially normal position to opposite sides of said wall member, connector means passing through said opening and securing said pair of rails in abutting contact with said wall member, said connector means having plate means secured in said channel rails adjacent said ends and retainer means for passing through said opening and drawing said plates and said ends of said rails axially towards each other, and said wall member having holding means coacting with the ends of said rails for holding said rails in a given position relative to said wall member. 2. In a cabinet assembly as claimed in claim 1 in which, said holding mans includes at least one slot in the side surface of said wall member, and the end of at least one side of said U-shaped rail extends beyond the ends of the other sides of said U-shaped rail to fit into said slot. 3. In a cabinet assembly as claimed in claim 1 in which, said holding means includes a pair of spaced and aligned slots in the side surface of said wall member, and the ends of the pair of opposite sides of said U-shaped rails extend beyond the end of the other side of said U- shaped rails to fit into said pair'of slots. 4. In a cabinet assembly as claimed in claim 1 in which, said holding mans includes a longitudinal strip secured to each side of said wall member in aligned positions, said strips have openings therethrough that are aligned with said opening through said wall member; and said strips have at least one longitudinal raised shoulder for fitting against the sides of said end of said rails for preventing axial rotation of said rails. 5. In a cabinet assembly as claimed in claim 4 in which, each of said strips have a raised ridge that is spaced from and extends longitudinally with said shoulder, and said ends of said U-shaped rails have a narrow edge surface for penetrating into said ridge, holding said ends of said rails in a given position along the length of said strips. 6. In a cabinet assembly in claim 5 in which, said wall member has a front edge with a shoulder spaced from said front edge and parallel to said edge on each of said sides of said wall member, and said strips forming opposite sides of a U-shaped channel member that fits over said front edge with a side edge of each of said strips abutting against said shoulders. 7. In a cabinet assembly as claimed in claim 1 in which, said holding means comprises a rectangular recess in each side of said wall member for receiving said end of said rails. 8. In a cabinet assembly as claimed in claim 1 in which, said wall member has a front edge with a shoulder spaced from said front edge and parallel to said edge on each of said sides of said wall member, said opening being so spaced from said shoulders that said end of each of said rail abuts against the adjacent shoulder, a U-sltaped channel member for fitting over said front edge with the edges of the opposite sides of said channel member abutting against said shoulders,

pivoting cam means having a cam surface and lever secured to the other end of said stud for exerting tension on said stud by moving said lever and rotating said cam surface against the other of said plates.

Claims

1. In a cabinet assembly, a wall member having an opening therethrough, at least a pair of U-shaped channel rails secured at one of their ends over said opening in aligned and substantially normal position to opposite sides of said wall member, connector means passing through said opening and securing said pair of rails in abutting contact with said wall member, said connector means having plate means secured in said channel rails adjacent said ends and retainer means for passing through said opening and drawing said plates and said ends of said rails axially towards each other, and said wall member having holding means coacting with the ends of said rails for holding said rails in a given position relative to said wall member.

2. In a cabinet assembly as claimed in claim 1 in which, said holding mans includes at least one slot in the side surface of said wall member, and the end of at least one side of said U-shaped rail extends beyond the ends of the other sides of said U-shaped rail to fit into said slot.

3. In a cabinet assembly as claimed in claim 1 in which, said holding means includes a pair of spaced and aligned slots in the side surface of said wall member, and the ends of the pair of opposite sides of said U-shaped rails extend beyond the end of the other side of said U-shaped rails to fit into said pair of slots.

4. In a cabinet assembly as claimed in claim 1 in which, said holding mans includes a longitudinal strip secured to each side of said wall member in aligned positions, said strips have openings therethrough that are aligned with said opening through said wall member, and said strips have at least one longitudinal raised shoulder for fitting against the sides of said end of said rails for preventing axial rotation of said rails.

5. In a cabinet assembly as claimed in claim 4 in which, each of said strips have a raised ridge that is spaced from and extends longitudinally with said shoulder, and said ends of said U-shaped rails have a narrow edge surface for penetrating into said ridge, holding said ends of said rails in a given position along the length of said strips.

6. In a cabinet assembly in claim 5 in which, said walL member has a front edge with a shoulder spaced from said front edge and parallel to said edge on each of said sides of said wall member, and said strips forming opposite sides of a U-shaped channel member that fits over said front edge with a side edge of each of said strips abutting against said shoulders.

7. In a cabinet assembly as claimed in claim 1 in which, said holding means comprises a rectangular recess in each side of said wall member for receiving said end of said rails.

8. In a cabinet assembly as claimed in claim 1 in which, said wall member has a front edge with a shoulder spaced from said front edge and parallel to said edge on each of said sides of said wall member, said opening being so spaced from said shoulders that said end of each of said rail abuts against the adjacent shoulder, a U-shaped channel member for fitting over said front edge with the edges of the opposite sides of said channel member abutting against said shoulders, and said opposite sides of said channel member having notched openings for fitting around said ends of said rails, and holding said ends of said rails from rotational or lateral movement.

9. In a cabinet assembly as claimed in claim 1 in which, the opposite sides of each of said channel rails has inward projecting tab portions adjacent said ends, and said plate means abuts against said tab portions.

10. In a cabinet assembly as claimed in claim 9 in which, said retainer means comprises a stud that extends through said opening with one end secured to one of said plates, pivoting cam means having a cam surface and lever secured to the other end of said stud for exerting tension on said stud by moving said lever and rotating said cam surface against the other of said plates.