US3363960A - Center drawer slide construction - Google Patents

Description

Jan, 16, 1968 R. H. REISS ET AL 3,363,960

CENTER DRAWER SLIDE CONSTRUCTION Filed Aug. 51, 1966 INVENTORS.

Rnvmom: H. Rslss m JAMES Paws Tnmvzz ATTORNZ 20 4Q fjg 4 United States Patent 3,363,960 CENTER DRAWER SLIDE CONSTRUCTION Raymond H. Reiss, Deal, N.J., and James P. Tanner, Gastonia, N.C.; said Reiss assignor to Ronthor Reiss Corporation, New York, N.Y., a corporation of Delaware Filed Aug. 31, 1966, Ser. No. 576,311 Qlaims. (Cl. 312-344) ABSTRACT (BE THE DISIILOSURE A drawer attached to one member of a pair of telescopic guide members by: transversely penetrating the inside face of the front drawer wall with the outer end of said member, and then anchoring the penetrating end by means of a nail or staple extending transversely through said end and into said wall. The drawer is laterally centered as it approaches closed position by relatively short spacer ribs integral with said anchored guide member and slidably engageable with a stationary center drawer guide bar.

This invention relates to an article of furniture and more especially to an improved center guide construction for controlling the path of movement of a drawer when opening and closing it. More specifically, the invention relates to a slide hearing which rigidly centers the front portion of the drawer, when closed, relative to its associated compartment while permitting limited movement of the rear portion of the drawer.

It is an object of the invention to provide an improved drawer construction in which one member of a pair of telescopic guide members is attached in a novel manner at the front bottom portion of the drawer so as to impart an additional rigidity for resisting the transverse stresses produced by drawer operation.

It is a further object of invention to provide a drawer construction as described above and further including relatively short elongated drawer centering ribs integral with the attached guide member and laterally engageable with a stationary center drawer guide rail as the drawer approaches closed position.

Some of the objects of invention having been stated, other objects will appear as the description proceeds when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevation of an article of fumiture embodying the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a sectional plan view taken along line 2-2 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a sectional detail view taken along lines 3-3 in FIGURES 1 and 2;

FIGURE 4 is a view similar to FIGURE 3 but taken along lines 4-4 in FIGURES 1 and 2;

FIGURE 5 is a sectional detail view taken along line 5-5 in FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 6 is a sectional detail view taken along line 6-6 in FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 7 is an isometric view of the drawer compartment shown in FIGURE 1, but with the drawer removed, and

FIGURE 8 is an isometric fragmentary view of the sliding guide as it appears when detached from the drawer bottom and from the guide rail.

The drawer guide construction according to the prgsent invention is employed in association with a furniture framework 10 having a drawer compartment 11 therein for slidably receiving a drawer 12. Drawer 12 is provided with horizontal bottom portion 14, side Walls 15 and 16, and front and back walls 17 and 18 (see FIGURES 1, 5, 6 and 7).

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3,363,960 Patented Jan. 16, 1968 A guide rail 19 for the drawer is disposed longitudinally of compartment 11 and in the lower central portion thereof, said rail having its ends secured as at 20 and 21 to the lower front and back portions, respectively, of the compartment framework. The rail 19 has a substantially I-shaped cross-section comprising a central vertical web portion 22, a pair of oppositely extending upper flanges 23, and a second pair of oppositely extending lower flanges 24 (FIGURES 5 and 6). The upper surface of rail 19 has a longitudinal groove 25 therein thereby dividing said upper Surface into a pair of relatively narrow parallel ribs 25a.

An elongated guide member 26 forms a sliding connection between drawer 12 and rail 19. This guide is rectangular in cross-section and comprises an upper elongated horizontal portion 27, a pair of elongated side portions 28 extending vertically downwardly from the opposite edges of portion 27, and a second pair of elongated horizontal portions 29 extending inwardly from the respective lower edges of portions 28 (FIGURE 8).

The rear end portion of guide 26 is secured to the back wall 18 of the drawer as at 32 (FIGURES 5 and 8). Due to the relatively higher stresses produced when opening and closing the drawer, it has been found necessary to provide an especially strong connection between the front end of guide 2.6 and the front portion of the drawer as described in detail below.

This drawer-guide connection includes: a fiat lip or projection 33 integral with the horizontal portion 27 of the guide, a pair of pointed projections 34 integral with the vertical sides 28 of the guide, and a pin or staple 35. It will be observed in FIGURES 2, 3 and 4 that lip 33 and pointed projections 34 are parallel extensions of the guide which penetrate the inside face of front drawer wall 17 to hold the upper horizontal surface 27 of the guide against the lower surface of the drawer bottom and to resist vertical stresses between the guide and drawer wall. Horizontal stresses such as produced by a pull upon drawer knob 12a, however, require means such as staple 35 which extends transversely of the guide and penetrates perforations 33a in lip 33 as well as drawer bottom 14 and front wall 17 thereby further anchoring the projections 33 and 34 in their penetrating positions in wall 17.

Referring again to FIGURES 5 and 6, it will be noted that the inner opposed longitudinal edges of guided portions 29 terminate in spaced relation to one another and also in spaced relation to the opposite sides of the rail web portion 22 therebetween when the guide is slidably mounted on the rail. Likewise, the inner opposed faces of guide 26 are spaced apart a greater distance than the overall width of the upper flanges 23. The above-mentioned spacing or clearances permits the rear portion of guide 26 to have limited lateral or horizontal movement relative to rail 19 during the closing and in a fully closed position of the drawer 12. The significance of this clearance will become apparent in connection with the de-- seription below of the drawer centering construction.

The drawer centering structure includes: a pair of bosses 37 extending inwardly from the front ends of portions 28 of guide 26, the distance between the inner opposed faces of the bosses being substantially the same as the overall width of upper rail flanges 23 (FIGURE 6). Bosses 37 are rigid and disposed a fixed distance apart. As the drawer 12 approaches a closed position, the bosses 37 slidably engage rail flanges 23 to rigidly center the front end of the drawer. At the same time, the previously described clearances between the inner back portions of guide 26 and the rail 19 permits limited lateral movement of the intermediate and back drawer portions to prevent binding or excessive frictional contact. Briefly stated, the closing drawer is permitted to rock horizontally about the centering bosses substantially as a hub.

Another important feature which supplements the selfcentering structure described above is the antifriction characteristics residing in the contacting surfaces between rail 19 and guide 26. One of the members 19 or 26 is made of a soft material such as wood or plastic and the other of a relatively hard material such as metal. In addition, the members 19 and 26 have sliding contact therebetween along relatively narrow parallel paths. Specifically, the relatively narrow elongated bottom portions 29 of the guide slide upon the upper surfaces of bottom flanges 24; the longitudinal centering bosses 37 slide against the outer vertical faces of upper flanges 23; and the horizontal top portion 27 of the guide slides upon ribs 25a of the rail 19 (FIGURES and 6). It will be further noted that the vertical distance between the inner opposed surfaces of the top and bottom flanges 23 and 24 is somewhat greater than the thickness of elongated guide portions 29 to thereby limit the vertical drawer tilt but allow operating clearance.

In the drawings and specification, a preferred form of invention has been disclosed, and although specific terms are employed they are used in a generic sense and not for purpose of limitation, the scope of the invention being set forth in the following claims.

We claim:

1. In combination with an article of furniture having a drawer and a drawer compartment adapted to receive said drawer, said drawer having a horizontally disposed bottom and rear, front and side walls joined to said bottom, a stationary guide rail for slidably receiving said guide member, a horizontally disposed projection integral with one end of said slide member and penetrating the inside face of said front drawer wall, and means extending transversely through said projection for securing the latter in its penetrating position.

2. The combination as defined in claim 1 wherein the guide member is an inverted U-shaped section extending from the front to the rear walls of the drawer and wherein said rail has a uniform cross-section throughout its length which has a shape similar to but smaller than the interior of said U-shaped member, and rigid means projecting inwardly from the front end portion of said guide and engageable with the opposite sides of said rail as the drawer approaches closed position to thereby prevent relative lateral movement between the front end of the guide and rail.

3. The combination as defined in claim 1 wherein said projection comprises a fiat metallic lip extending longitudinally of said slide member, said lip having at least one perforation therein substantially at its intersection with the inside surface of said front drawer wall, and wherein said securing means comprises an elongated pin extending through said perforation into said front drawer Wall at an acute angle to the inside vertical surface of the latter.

4. The combination as defined in claim 1 wherein said slide member comprises an intermediate horizontally disposed longitudinal flat section, said section having second and third longitudinal flat sections extending vertically downwardly from the opposite longitudinal edges thereof, respectively, and further comprising second and third horizontally disposed projections respectively integral with the ends of said second and fiat sections and penetrating the inside face of said front drawer wall.

5. The combination as defined in claim 4 wherein the respective inner surfaces of said intermediate, second and third flat sections slidably engage the guide rail along relatively narrow parallel paths.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,257,822 10/1941 Stickley 3l2346 X 2,559,322 7/1951 Skamser 312-346 2,841,460 7/1958 Rainier 312347 3,119,644 1/1964 Workman 312346 3,215,475 1 1/1965 Manson SOS-3.6

JAMES T. McCALL, Primary Examiner.

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