WO1980001449A1

WO1980001449A1 - A filing cabinet with drawers sliding on telescoping rails

Info

Publication number: WO1980001449A1
Application number: PCT/SE1980/000018
Authority: WO
Inventors: P Landgren
Original assignee: Gustavsberg Ab; P Landgren
Priority date: 1979-01-23
Filing date: 1980-01-21
Publication date: 1980-07-24
Also published as: FI68351C; SE7900612L; DE3067402D1; FI68351B; FI800152A; JPS56500160A; SE429096B; EP0022837B1; EP0022837A1; BE881313A

Abstract

Filing cabinet having drawers (10) arranged between two of its vertical walls (12), it being possible to pull out said drawers completely in a horizontal direction using telescoping rails (14, 16) being movable relative to the drawer as well as the walls. These rails interact with guide faces formed in one piece with the drawer (10), said guide faces being formed by two horizontal flanges (22, 24) protruding from the side edges of the drawer so that said side edge (18, 20) is U-shaped in cross section. The guide faces in the walls of the cabinet are formed by separate skid rails (50, 52) being fitted into spaces formed by lists (40-48) protruding from said walls (12) and being shorter than the telescoping rails (14, 16). The design of the side edges of the drawer makes it possible to move the drawer, sliding in two grooves formed in each skid rail without the use of intermediate telescoping rails.

Description

Filing cabinet with drawers sliding on telescoping rails

The invention relates to an improvement in filing cabinets with drawers arranged between vertical walls in the cabinet, it being possible to pull out the drawers completely in a horizontal direction with the help of telescoping rails, that are movable relative to the drawer and the walls.

Existing types of telescoping rails interact with guides in the form of separate elements attached to the two sides of the drawer that are parallel to the direction of movement and with similar guides in the walls of the cabinet. Two such guides are thus required for each side of the drawer, not including the telescoping rail. This makes the construction relatively complicated and expensive.

The principal object of this invention is to provide a construction of the character mentioned above, that is simple and can be assembled in a few working moments.

The above and other objects of the invention are attained by providing guides interacting with the telescoping rail, said guides being made in one piece with at least one of the parts that are movable relative to each other, preferably the drawer. The guides are formed by horizontally protruding flanges along the side edges of the drawer so that each side edge has a cross section in the form of a lying U. In this way no separate elements for guiding the telescoping rail are required. The necessary guides are formed directly on the drawer. This can be done with particular advantage if the drawer is made of a mouldable material such as plastic. The corresponding advantage is also attained if the remaining parts of the cabinet and the drawers are made of plastic. The guides in the walls of the cabinet preferably consist of skid rails fitted into spaces formed by a frame work on the cabinet walls, said skid rails preferably being shorter than the telescoping rails.

The invention will be more particularly described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:-

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a drawer including a telescoping rail mounted along one side edge of the drawer and a skid rail interacting with said guide,

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the parts included in the guide for a drawer, said parts being brought apart from each other.

The drawer 10 illustrated in the drawings is to be mounted between two walls 12 of a filing cabinet, one of which is shown in fig. 2. A telescoping rail 14 resp. 16 is provided in each of the side edges 18, 20 parallel to the moving direction of the drawer, said walls being provided with horisontally protruding, upper and lower edge flanges 22, 24 preferrably made in one piece with the side edges 18, 2 of the drawer. Each of the telescoping rails consists of two strips, the one 26 facing the side edge of the drawer having a greater width than the other 28. The strips 26, 28 are connected by a web 30 having smaller width than the smallest strip 28. The wide strip 26 fits between the two flanges 22, 24 thus guiding said flanges vertically. The two flanges are provided with projections 32 at such a distance from the side edge 18 resp. 20 that the strip 26 fits in behind the projections thereby guiding the drawer laterally when the latter is moved relative to the expanding rails 14, 16. Each side edge 18, 20 of the drawer is provided with a projection 34 somewhat behind the middle thereof, said projection interacting with a resilient tongue 36 on the telescoping rail thus forming a stop for the drawer in the pull out direction. The projection 34 fits into a longitudinal groove 38 in the telescoping rail. Being passed by the projection 34 when the drawer is mounted, the tongue 36 is bent away, but it will then act as a stop when the drawer is completely pulled out.

The two side walls 12 of the cabinet, only the left one of which is shown in fig. 2, are formed with a frame work of vertical lists or flanges 40, 42 and 44 and horisontal lists 46, 48. A rectangular space is limited by the inner vertical list 4.2 and the forward vertical list 40 together with the horisontal lists 46, 48 interposed between said vertical lists, said space being adapted to the shape of a skid rail 50 resp. 52. These skid rails carry and guide the telescoping rails 14, 16 and are retained with their rear ends in the mounting position by having a tongue 56 on its rear edge resiliently fitting into a notch 54 in the inner vertical list 42. The two skid rails are provided with a centrally positioned, T-shaped groove 58 fitting with the smallest list 28 and the web 30 of the telescoping rails 14, 16. The skid rail 50 resp. 52 is also provided with upper and lower flanges 60, 62 serving as guides for the upper and lower flanges 22, 24 of the drawer 10. The telescoping rail 14, 16 is thus movably guided relative to the skid rail 50, 52 and to the side edges of the drawer. Whereas the skid rail 50 resp. 52 only reaches somewhat behind the middle of the depth of the cabinet, i.e. to the vertical middle list 42, the telescoping rail is of about the same length as the depth of the cabinet, therefore reaching the rear vertical wall list 44, when the drawer is completely pushed in. When the drawer is pushed into the cabinet, the two flanges 22, 24 of the drawer pass between the flanges 60, 62 of the skid rails 50, 52 then carrying the drawer and contributing to its guiding. When the drawer is pulled out, the telescoping rails are brought with it until being stopped by a projection 64 on the rear end of the small list 28 hitting a nib 66 protruding in the interior of the T-shaped groove on the middle of the skid rails.

The telescoping rails as well as the skid rails and the side edges of the drawer resp. the walls of the cabinet can preferably be made of a mouldable material, preferably plastic, thus making the guide inexpensive and simple in its functioning. Instead of using separate fittings on the side edges of the drawer, it rests with its flanges 22, 24 on the telescoping rails 14, 16 that slide on and are guided by the skid rails 50, 52 being attached to the walls of the cabinet without separate fastening means.

The invention is not confined to the example shown and described hereinbefore, but can be varied in many ways within the scope of the basic idea of the invention. In certain cases the guiding faces of the stationary skid rails can, for instance, be formed directly in the wall of the cabinet. The mode of invention shown has, however, the advantage that the skid rails can be made of a relatively expensive plastic having particularly good sliding properties. One important example of application of the invention is writing tables. A number of drawers can be mounted above each other, each being carried by guides according to the invention. A further feature of the invention is that the telescoping rails can be removed. The flanges of the drawer are then guided by the flanges 60, 62 of the skid rail. The drawer can in this case naturally not be completely pulled out still resting on guides as when telescoping rails 14, 16 are used.

Claims

Claims:

A filing cabinet having drawers (10) arranged between two of its vertical walls (12), it being possible to pull out said drawers completely in a horizontal direction using telescoping rails (14, 16) movable relative to the drawer as well as the walls, said rails interacting with guide faces (20) formed in one piece with the side edges of the drawer, said side edges being U-shaped in cross section and with guide faces (58) in said walls (12), characterized in that at least one of the flanges (22, 24) forming said U-shaped cross section has a fixed projection (32) interacting with the telescoping rail (14, 16) for guiding the drawer laterally and that each side edge (18, 20) of the drawer has a stop element (34) interacting with a resilient tongue (36) on the telescoping rail for limiting the pull out distance of the drawer.

A filing cabinet as set forth in claim 1, characterized in that the telescoping rail (14, 16) is formed by two parallel strips (26, 28) having different width, said strips being joined by a longitudinal web (3θ) having smaller width than the smallest of said strips (28), the widest strip (26) sliding with slip fit between the flanges (22, 24) of the drawer, the smallest strip and the web sliding in a T-shaped groove (58) in the wall of the cabinet or in a skid rail (50, 52) attached to said wall.

A filing cabinet as set forth in claim 2, characterized in that said skid rail (50, 52) is fitted into a space formed by lists (40-48) protruding from said wall and is preferrably shorter than the telescoping rail (14, 16). A filing cabinet as set forth in claim 3, characterized in that the flanges (22, 24) of the drawer (lθ) are guided between flanges (60, 62) formed in one piece with the skid rails (50, 52).