US3846003A

US3846003A - Drawer construction

Info

Publication number: US3846003A
Application number: US00316204A
Authority: US
Inventors: J Rockwell
Original assignee: Singer Co
Current assignee: Singer Co
Priority date: 1972-12-18
Filing date: 1972-12-18
Publication date: 1974-11-05
Anticipated expiration: 1991-11-05

Abstract

A drawer for an article of furniture having a two piece plastic front including a decorative front surface and a rear surface secured thereto. A dovetailed mortise created by a pair of spaced ribs joined at the top by an integral cross rib for limiting the position of the drawer sides is molded prominently to the rear surface. Each drawer side has dovetail tenons receivable in a respective mortise to interlock the sides to the front. A pair of spaced ribs between which is received the drawer bottom is also molded prominently to the rear surface.

Description

Unite States Patent 1 1 Ro kwell 1451 Nov. 5, 1974 DRAWER CONSTRUCTION 3,687,512 8/1972 3,696,233 10/1972 [75] Inventor. Jerry E. Rockwell, Sanford, NC. 3,738,726 6/1973 [73] Assignee: The Singer Company, New York, 3,752,553 8/1973 N.Y. I Primary Examiner.lames T. McCall [22] Flled' 1972 Attorney, Agent, or FirmRobert E. Smith; Edward L. [21] Appl. No.: 316,204. Bell; Alan Ruderrnan 52 U.S. c1. 312/204, 312/330 [571 ABSTRACT [51] Int. Cl A47b 88/00 A drawer for an article of furniture having a two piece Field 05 Search 0 330; 220/ F; plastic front including a decorative front surface and a 5, 381 rear surface secured thereto. A dovetailed mortise created by a pair of spaced ribs joined at the top by an [56] References Cited integral cross rib for limiting the position of the UNITED STATES PATENTS drawer sides is molded prominently to the rear sur- L468786 9/1923 face. Each drawer side has dovetail tenons receivable 2 3 5 8/1957 in a respective mortise to interlock the sides to the 3,031,782 5/1962 front. A pair of spaced ribs between which is received 3,316,460 4/1967 the drawer bottom is also molded prominently to the 3,338,285 8/1967 rear surface. 3,462,208 8/1969 3,639,027 2/1972 4 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures DRAWER CONSTRUCTION BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a drawer for an article of furniture and more particularly to the construction of a drawer front and the assembly of the same to the drawer body.

The recent increase in the use of plastics by furniture manufacturers is at least partly due to the current popularity of certain ornamental styles of furniture and the high cost of wood and labor involved in producing these styles. Highly decorative ornamentation are especially adapted to drawer and door fronts. However, assembling the sides to the front of the drawer creates a problem not previously presented with wooden fronts. 1f the front is molded as a solid one-piece construction the sides may be secured to the front by means of rivets or the like molded into the rear of the front which may be attached by brackets to the sides. Also, recessed grooves may be cut into the rear of the front for receiving a tongue or tenon formed on the sides. These conventional connection methods result in a drawer front which is thicker and heavier and requires more machine work and/or materials than is economically desirable. One way to reduce the material and weight and cost of the drawer front is to mold the front in two parts a decorative front panel and a back panel secured thereto. However, because this results in portions of the drawer front being hollow and other portions having abutting two skin thick sections, the conventional methods of assembling the sides to the front are not satisfactory. Use of a recessed mortise for receiving tenons formed on the sides can restrict the surface decorative ornamantation and also create problems when as sembling the front and rear panels to each other, whether by bonding, gluing or other means SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved drawer front construction having a decorative ornamentation, which drawer front defining ribs for receiving the front edge of the bottom.

A drawer menufactured according to this invention provides the advantage that the drawer front design is not restricted since the mortise is outside the back of the drawer front. An added advantage is that the drawer is much stronger. Furthermore, the securing together of the panels of a drawer manufactured of two panels is aided and no machining is required on the mortise after the back panel is applied to the front.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS These and other objects and advantages of the invention will be more readily apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a drawer manufactured according to present invention, the front being shown as disassembled for clarity;

FIG. 2 is a cross-section taken along line 22 of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a cross-section taken along line 33 of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is a cross-section taken along the line 44 of FIG. 2.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to FIG. 1, drawer 10 is illustrated comprising a front wall 12, a pair of

side walls

14 and 16, a bottom 18 and a rear wall 20. The front, as best illustrated in FIG. 2, comprises a front panel 22, and a back panel 24 secured together by conventional means, such as gluing, bonding or any other method of providing a permanent type of bond between the panels. The front and rear panels comprises a synthetic plastic material which may be polystyrene or other such materials which may be ejection molded and possess the proper strength. The front panel 22 may comprise an aesthetically decorative front surface having an undulating ornamentation, such as illustrated at 26 in FIG. 2. The rear surface of the inner edges of the front panel, as at 28, and the rear surfaces of the decorative valleys of the front panel, as at 30, contact the periphery and forward facing surfaces of the back panel to provide a strong front assembly when secured together.

Molded integral on the rear surface of the back panel are two pair of spaced ribs or

lips

32 and 34. Ribs 32 comprise a first vertically elongated rib 36 spaced from a second vertically elongated rib 38 and joined together at their tops by an integral cross rib 40 which may be rounded as shown. Each

rib

36 and 38 projects from the rear surface of the back panel 24 at an angle toward the other rib. The space between the

ribs

36 and 38 define a mortise 42, i.e., a socket or cavity for receiving a tenon. The particular shape of the mortise, as shown in FIG. 2, is trapezoidal to receive in complementary fashion a dovetail shaped tenon 44 formed on the forward end of side wall 14, i.e., a trapezoidal shaped head joined by a neck to a pair of shoulders of a width equal to the main body of the side wall. The side walls are preferably wood and therefore the tenon 44 can be formed by routing or wood shaping. They may also be made of plastic and molded to shape. The particular shapes of the mortise and tenon are preferred because of the strong permanent joint they make, but other forms can be used with equal success.

Since each pair of

ribs

32 and 34 is exactly the same only ribs 32 and tenon 44 have been described, but it should be understood that what has been said in regard thereto applies equally to ribs 34 and tenon 46. To assemble the side 14 to the front, the tenon 44 is frictionally slid into the mortise until it engages the cross rib 40 which thus provides a vertical limit for the tenon. This arrangement of a prominent mortise not only provides the advantages previously described but provides a stronger back at that location because no portion of the rear surface 24 is removed. Moreover, it allows the drawer to be deeper with sides of the same length.

Also molded into the rear of the back panel is a pair 48 of spaced ribs or lips extending substantially horizontally between the inner ribs of each pair of

ribs

32 and 34. Each

rib

50 and 52 of the pair 48 projects substantially normal to the rear surface of the back panel 24 and defines a channel or rabbet 54 therebetween for receiving the front edge of the bottom panel 18 to support the same.

To assemble the drawer each side tenon is inserted into a respective mortise as heretofore described until the top of the tenon engages the cross rib 40. The height of each side is longer than the mortise and extends below the .rabbet 54. Moreover, each side includes a rabbet 56 disposed vertically in alignment with the rabbet 54. After the sides are properly inserted, the bottom 18 is inserted into the rear of each rabbet 56 and slid forwardly until the front is properly in the rabbet 48. The rear wall 20 is then assembled to the sides and bottom by conventional means. This not only provides a rapid assembly but an extremely strong drawer construction.

Numerous alterations of the structure herein disclosed will suggest themselves to those skilled in the art. However, it is to be understood that the present disclosure relates to a preferred embodiment of the invention which is for purposes of illustration only and not to be construed as a limitation of the invention. All such modifications which do not depart from the spirit of the invention are intended to be included within this scope of the appended claims.

Having set forth the nature of the invention, what is claimed herein is:

1. In a drawer comprising a bottom, a pair of opposed sides connected to opposite sides of the bottom, a rear wall connected to the rear of the bottom and the sides, and a synthetic plastic front comprising a front panel and a back panel, the front surface of the front panel having a decorative undulating contour, means for securing the front panel to the back panel with portions of the front panel abutting the back panel and portions of the front panel spaced from the back panel to define hollows therebetween, a tenon formed on the front of each of said sides, and means defining a pair of mortise prominent of the rear surface of the back panel for receiving said tenons to form interlocking joints between the front and the sides, each mortise comprising a pair of spaced converging ribs integrally formed on the back panel and an integral cross rib connecting the tops of the spaced ribs.

2. A drawer as recited in claim 1 including a rabbet prominent of the rear of the back panel extending between the mortise for receiving the front edge of the bottom.

3. in the manufacture of a drawer for an article of furniture the method of assembling the sides of the drawer to a plastic front having a decorative undulating front surface contour and hollow portions between the front surface and the rear surface, said method comprising, forming a tenon on the front of each side,

molding a pair of mortise defining spaced ribs on the sides.

Claims

3. In the manufacture of a drawer for an article of furniture the method of assembling the sides of the drawer to a plastic front having a decorative undulating front surface contour and hollow portions between the front surface and the rear surface, said method comprising, forming a tenon on the front of each side, molding a pair of mortise defining spaced ribs on the rear surface adjacent each side, each pair of ribs being spaced to frictionally receive the tenons, and inserting a respective tenon between each pair of ribs.

4. In the manufacture of a drawer as recited in claim 3 including the method of assembling the bottom of the drawer to the front wall comprising the steps of forming a pair of rabbet defining ribs on the rear of the front wall extending between the inner rib of each mortise, and inserting the bottom of the drawer between said rabbet defining ribs subsequent to the assembly of the sides.