USRE23461E - Sheetsxsheet i - Google Patents

Description

N. A. GUSSACK GUIDE FOR DRAWERS OR SHELVES l 6 3 2 a R 7 Feb. 12, 1952 2 SHEETS-Sl-1EET 1 Original Filed May 5, 1947 s Nu b 1 &

- INVENTOR. .9 JVaihan ll 6mm ATTORNEYS N. A. GUS SAC K GUIDE FbR DRAWERS'OR SHELVES Feb. 12, 1952 Original Filed May 5, 1947 2 SHEETS SHEET 2 'JValhan ATTORNEYS Reissued Feb. 12, 1952 GUIDE FOR DRAWERS OR SHELVES Nathan A. Gussack, New York, N. Y., assignor to Grant Pulley & Hardware 00., Flushing, ,N. Y.,

Original No. 2,534,350, dated December 19,1950,

Serial No. 746,000, May 5, 1947.

Application for reissue May 15, 1951, Serial No. 226,501

4 Claims.

Matter enclosed in heavy brackets appears in the original patent but forms no part of this reissue specification; matter printed in italics indicates the additions made by reissue.

This invention relates to a new and improved slide support means for slidable drawers, shelves or the like in cabinets, desks and other articles.

It is an object of the invention to provide an improved slide support on which drawers or shelves may be mounted within a supporting frame or cabinet and which will allow opening and closing of said drawers or shelves with a minimum of friction and with a minimum expenditure of efiort by the user.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a slide support of the character indicated which will be durable and eflicient in operation, which may be constructed from a minimum number of parts and which can be fabricated and assembled easily and economically.

' The invention is of particular utility in providing a slidable support in a cabinet, for the turntable of a player for phonograph records. When such support is slid out of the cabinet to expose the turntable, the support must be mounted on the cabinet without any relative movement or play, or else the phonograph record will deliver a disagreeable rattling sound when it is played. In some cases, the record is played while the slidable support for the turntable is in its closed position, so that rattling must be prevented in the open and closed position of the drawer or slidable support.

The foregoing objects as well as additional objects and advantages of the invention will be readily understood in the course of the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings which illustrate preferred embodiments of the invention, and wherein:

Fig. 1 is a transverse sectional view illustrating a drawer mounted within a frame or cabinet on a pair of slide supports embodying the features of the invention. Only a portion of the vertical side walls of the drawer and a portion of the supporting frame are shown to illustrate one method of mounting the drawer on the slide support;

Fig. 2 is a plan view partly in section of thepair of slide supports of Fig. 1 illustrating the relationship and cooperation between the channel member, the slidable carriage mounted thereon and the slidable track mounted within the carriage;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view of one of the slide supports taken on line 33 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 3. As in Fig. 1, this view also shows a portion of the drawer and of the supporting 2 frame in which the drawer is slidably mounted; and

Fig. 5 is a view of a slightly modified form of slide support and illustrates-a different manner of mounting a drawer thereon. I 7

Referring first to Fig. 1, the drawer isillustrated as having vertical side walls I0 which depend below its bottom wall (not shown) and the drawer is slidably mounted within a frame including longitudinal frame supports II.

An elongated channel member l2 having a side wall I 3 integral with top and bottom walls I4 may be fastened to each of the side walls Ill of the drawer preferably, by means of screws located in countersunk holes (not shown) in said side walls. Top and bottom walls I4 are provided with longitudinal grooves or recesses I5, which serve as ball-races. A ball-retainer I6 of U- shaped cross-section is slidably mounted within channel member I2, in a manner to be more fully described hereinafter, with its side wall I! adjacent side wall I3 of channel member I2, and with its horizontal ball-retaining walls I8 respectively adjacent top and bottom walls l4 and ball-races I5 of said chaimel member I3.

A fiat, elongated track 20 is slidably mounted within the ball-retainer It in a manner to be fully described. Track 20 is provided on its upper and lower surfaces, adjacent one of its longitudinal edges, with longitudinal grooves or recesses 2| which serves as ball-tracks. The ballretaining walls I8 are provided with a respective longitudinal series of pockets 23. Balls 22 are 1ocated turnably in said pockets 23, so that each ball 22 can turn in all directions in its pocket 23.

Each track 20 is provided with a mount portion 20a, which is fixed adjustably to the respective frame-member II, in order to permit full lateral adjustment. For this purpose, and as shown in Fig. 2, the mount portions 20a are provided with transversely elongated holes 24, of elliptical or other elongated shape. These holes 24 are arranged in transversely aligned pairs. The fastening and clamping screws 25 have shanks which pass through the holes 24 and enter the frame-members II. As measured transversely, the shank of each screw 25 is of less width than the holes 24, so that the tracks 20 can be laterally adjusted at each side relative to the frame-members I2, before tightening the clamping screws 2 5 to final position.

When thus adjusted, the ball-tracks 2| are accurately laterally positioned relative to the balls 22, so that the drawer I0 can be moved longitudinally back and forth, without any binding of the balls in the ball-races I5 or in the balltracks 2|, because each ball-track 2I is accurately vertically aligned with the respective ball-race I 5.

Each channel member I2 may beprovided with longitudinally spaced stops 26 for limiting the forward and rearward movement of its ball-retainer I6 and its track 20. Saidstnps 26 may be formed integrally with and struck inwardly'from" the side wall I3 of said channel member I2 adjacent each end thereof, or may be formed in any other suitable manner. For example, either one or both stops 26 need not beintegral with channel member I2, but mighttake the form of a headed screw or stud or other separable element securable to said channel member I2 after assembly therewith of ball-retainer I6 and slidable tracks 26, when the drawer is pulled forwardly relative to the frame, in order to open the drawer. If it isdesired to completely' remove the drawer In from frame II, the integral stops-26 must be replaced by removable stops. It is sufficient to provide a rear removable stop, and to provide a frame from which the drawer can he slid rearwardly.

In order to preventthe drawer from rattling either in its closed or open position, spring means are employed for tensioning each track 23 within its ball-race I6. Aeonvenien-t arrangement for accomplishing this'anti-rattleeffect is the use of a blade-spring 21 having-reduced end-lugs 27a, each of whichisinserted; into and passed through a. slotextending inwardly" from'the free edge of either the top or thebottom wall I8 of ballrace I6. The inner end of each slot 28 is preferablyenlarged,- as'best shown in Fig; 2; to properly receive and retain the end-lug 21a of spring 21-. Each spring 21 is made of any suitable resilient material and it is of sufficient length to press against andtensionits track when saidtrack 20 is inserted within its ball-race I6.

It is not necessary to provide a ball-retainer I6 with more than one tensioning spring 2 1, but I can optionally provide the top'wall and also the bottom wall I8- of each ball-retainer I6-witha spring 21.

Each ball-retainer I6 is assembled with its tensioning spring or-springs 21, as a sub-unit, be-

fore assembling the-ball-retainer I6 with the otherspring; 21' is produced and maintained'because the distance between each pair of slots orrecesses-28 is less than the normal fiat length of spring-2T. The effect of the arching of each spring 21" is to force the-slots 28- away'from eachother, thus subjecting each ball-retainer I6 to longitudinal tension between-its pair or pairs of slots 28*. The drawingsare substantially to scale and refer once is made thereto for further disclosure. Theball-retainers I6 are-made of thin metaL'as cold'- rolled steel which has a'thiekness of about 01050 inch. In addition to the tension effect, eaclr' arched spring 21' exerts a bending or arching effect upon the respective ball-retainingwall18. As shown in-Fig; 3,Iuse two'balls 22in each ball-' retainingwall It, sothat each ball-retainer I'It has four balls 225- As also shown in-F iga 3, the two ball-receiving pockets 23 are closeto the respective slots 2-8=.- Hence, the bending or arching" effectuponthetopwall Ifi shown in Fig.3, is to: force-the t-jwo topvballs n against'theitracle-fia If I use an arched spring 21 with a bottom ballretaining wall I8, such bottom ball-retaining wall I8 is arched upwardly, thus. also forcing its two balls 22 against the track 20;

When the ball-retainers are assembled with the springs 21, and the other parts are assembled as shown in Fig. 1, the balls 22 fit accurately in the ball-races I5, while said balls 22 are thus pressed against theball-tracks 2I. Hence the -drawer Il'cannotmove up or down relative to the frame II, either in open or closed position of the drawer.

If desired, there-may be a resilient pressure of the ball-races- I5 upon the balls 22, when the device is assembled.

The manner of mounting a slidable drawer I0 within a frame or cabinet' upon the slide support II illustrated in Figs. l-4.will depend, of course. upon the particular construction and interrelationship of the drawer I0 and frame or cabinet. Where the drawer has verti'cal side walls depending below a bottom wall and the frame hashorizontal longitudinal supports I I situated below said bottom wall of thedrawer, channel members I2 may be secured to the inner sides of said'vertical walls I6 and tracks'ZWmay be secured to said longitudinal frame supports I I', as indicated in Figs. 1 and 4. In this case each track 2'0 will be stationary and each'channel member- I2 and each ball-retainer I6 will be slidable on its track 28 as the drawer is opened and closed. The above arrangement may be reversedwhere the vertical side walls of the drawer arespaced inwardly from the side walls ofthe frame to provide a transverse space therebetween and where the-vertical side walls of the drawer donot depend below, button minate at, thebottom wall of said drawer. Here each slide support II may be located at a proper level within thespace between the side wall of the frame and the side wall of the drawer, with each channel member I2 secured to the side wall of the fixed frame andeach track 20 secured to the bottom wall of the drawer. In the latter case each channel member I2 will be stationary and each ball-retainer- I6, together with its track 2II will be slidable-whenthe drawer is opened and closed.

Returning now to the initially described construction of the drawer and frame, a modification of the slide support is illustrated in Fig. 5. Here:

4 the drawer has vertica-l side walls 30,. depending below the bottom wall of the. drawer and isbelow the support :11 of the frame. The detailsofi construction of the slide-support'with respect to channel member "I2 and ball-retainer. I6 are; the:

same as for the first embodiment and the severalparts thereof havebeencorrespondingly numbered in Fig.=5i The slide support has a slidablo: track 40 mounted within ball-retainer I6 and provided onits upper and lower surfaces ad j acentone of its longitudinal edges with longitudinal grooves; or recesses] 4 I: which serve as ball-:trackss- Track All cis. slidably' assembled: relativeto, channel-v member I2 by means of balls 22 disposed between each pair ofa-lignedball-races IE andball-tracks II in said channel member and said track re.- spectively, each. of the ba1ls.22, being disposed, rotatably within holes in horizontal walls I8. of. ball-retainer I6', as in the first. embodiment. In'. the second embodiment, however, track 40 has a mounting flange 40a disposed, substantially at right angles to the body of said track '40. The arrangement here described" allows the mounting of track 40" on the vertical side wall 30'- of the drawer as bymeans of screws 42 and themount ingof channel member I2 onhorizontalfl'x'eef;

frame support 3| In this case channel member I? will be. stationary and ball-retainer It, together with its track 40, will be slidable as the drawer is opened and closed. As will be readily seen from the foregoing description and by comparing Fig. 5 with Fig. 4, the mounting of the slide support is reversed in the embodiment of Fig. 5, the reversed mounting being effected substantially 'by the presence of the right-angled mountin flange 40a of track 40 in the latter embodiment. The spring or springs 21 are used in the second embodiment.

It is thus apparent that the invention provides a slide support which by slight modification may be readily adopted for a variety of types of slidable drawer and frame constructions.

Since omissions and additional modifications may be made in the slide support of the invention without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the foregoing description and shown in the accompanying drawings be interpreted merely as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

The component parts of the device may be made from any suitable metal of other material. Channel member I2, ball-race I8 and track 20 or 40 are preferably each of integral construction and can be fabricated by simple stamping, rolling and bending operations.

What is claimed is:

1. A slide support of the character described comprising an elongated channel member having an open side, a side wall and upper and lower horizontal walls integral therewith, said upper and lower walls being provided with opposed longitudinal grooves, a carriage slidably mounted withln said channel member, said carriage having an open side, a side wall disposed adjacent said side wall of said channel member, and flexible horizontal walls, a track insertable between said horizontal walls of said carriage and slidable relative to said carriage and said channel member, said track presenting longitudinal grooves on the upper and lower surfaces thereof, said first-mentioned longitudinal grooves and said second-mentioned longitudinal grooves being arranged in respective pairs, said horizontal walls of said carriage having perforations adjacent their ends, balls rotatably disposed between respective pairs of said first-mentioned and secondmentioned grooves, said balls being rotatably and partially disposed within said perforations, one of said horizontal walls of said carriage having a pair of slots extending inwardly from the free edge thereof, said slots being disposed between and adjacent said perforations in said horizontal wall of said carriage, each of said slots having an enlarged base, a tensioning strip-spring interposed between said wall and said track, said stripspring having end lugs, said end-lugs of said strip-spring being respectively inserted within said slots, said strip-spring being arched against said track, said strip-spring exerting force on the respective segmental portions of said horizontal wall of said carriage between said respective slots and perforations to press said respective segmental portions of said horizontal wall against said balls, said horizontal wall being arched to ward the nearer of the horizontal walls of the channel member, said pressure of said respective segmental portions of said horizontal wall of said carriage against said balls pushing said balls against said track, said track having an integral mounting portion extending outwardly from said open-side of said channel member for securement to a supporting surface, the side wall of said channel member'presenting abutting stops adja'cent the ends thereof to limit the forward and rearwardmovement of said carriage.

2. A slide supportof the character described comprising an elongated channel member provided with opposed longitudinal ball-race grooves, a carriage slidably mounted within said channel member, a track insertable within said carriage and slidable relative to said carriage and said channel member, said track having longitudinal ball track grooves on the upper and lower surfaces thereof, and which are aligned with said ball-race grooves, said carriage having longitudinal portions between which said track is located, said carriage portions having ball-receiving perforations therethrough, balls rotatably disposed between respective pairs of said ballrace grooves and ball-track grooves, said balls being rotatably disposed within the perforations of said carriage and abutting said ball-race grooves and said ball-track grooves, one of said longitudinal portions of said carriage having a pair of slots extending inwardly from the free edge thereof, said slots being disposed between said perforations in said longitudinal portion of said carriage, each of said slots having an enlarged base, a tensioning strip-spring interposed between said longitudinal portions and said track, said strip-spring having end-lugs, said end-lugs of said stripspring being respectively inserted within said slots, said strip-spring being arched against said track, said strip-spring extending force on the respective sub-portions of said horizontal portion between said respective slots and perforations, said strip-spring pressing said sub-portions against said balls, said longitudinal portion of said carriage being arched away from said track, said pressing of said sub-portions against said balls pushing said balls against said track.

3. In a device as described, a track member having a groove therein, a flexible ball-retaining wall member having perforations therein, means fo holding said ball-retaining wall in spaced parallel relationship to said track, balls rotatably disposed within said perforations of said ballretaining member and resting within said groove of said track member, means for limiting the movement of said balls away from said groove, said ball-retaining member having a pair of slots extending inwardly from the free edge thereof and disposed between said perforations in same, a tensioning strip-spring interposed between said ball-retaining member and said track, said stripspring having end-lugs, said end-lugs being respectively inserted within said slots, said slots being adapted to retain said end-lugs therein, said strip-spring being arched against said track, said strip-spring exerting force on the respective segmental portions of said ball-retaining member between said respective slots and perforations, and pressing said segmental portions against said balls to hold same against said track.

4. A slide support comprising an elongated channel member provided with opposed longitudinal ball-race grooves, a carriage slidably mounted within said channel member, a track member insertable within said carriage and slidable relative to said carriage and said channel member, said track member having longitudinal ball track grooves on the upper and lower surfaces thereof, and which are aligned with said ball-race grooves, said carriage having longitudi- 7, nut-portions between which said track member islecdted; said carriage-portion ,ham'ng ball rece'ioingmerjorations therethrough, balls rotatabl'u disposed between respective: pdirsio! said ballrace grooves and' bdll tmclc' grooves; said; balls beiitg rotatably disposed within the perforations of said carriage and mbuttirng said ball mcegrooves and said ball trackigroo'ues, spring mea'n's onicm'e of said carriage portions located between the -perforations thereo'flandmeans for anchor 10 2,003,549

ing a portionoj said-sprihgmeans to sin'd-car-' Huge portiom. another" portion of said means resiliently-bearing against one of'sdid flwmbfs;

NATHAN A GUSSACKr us" REFEREN3ES CITED The-following references are of record inflie file of'this patent'or the original patefi't:

v UNITED STATESPA'IENTS Number

Images