US2733972A - diack - Google Patents

Description

Feb. 7, 1956 A, G. [HACK 2,733,972

DRAWER SLIDE Filed Dec. 5,. 1952 //v l/ENTOR.

r RTHUR G. DmcK BY HIS HTTORNEYS. HARP/.5 IECH, FOSTER a HnRR/s by W L United States Patent 6 DRAWER SLIDE Arthur G. Diack, Inglewood, Calif.

Application December 5, 1952, Serial No. 324,351

8 Claims. Cl. 312-339 The present invention relates in general to drawer slides and among the principal objects of the invention is the provision of a drawer slide which permits full extension of a drawer carried thereby, which occupies a minimum of space to permit the installation of a drawer of maximum size in a particular drawer opening, which operates with a minimum of frictional resistance to opening and closing movement of the drawer, which eliminates metalto-metal contact of the component parts thereof, and which is of simple construction for economical manufacture.

An important object of the invention is to provide a drawer slide having stationary guide and movable slide members of C-shaped cross section nested together in face-to-face relation, the longitudinal axes of the guide and slide members being vertically spaced to permit such nesting, thereby minimizing the over-all thickness of the slide so that a drawer of maximum size can be installed in a given drawer opening.

Since the guide and slide members are of C-shaped cross section, each provides an upper, downwardly facing,

channel-shaped track extending longitudinally thereof to provide an upper, downwardly facing track surface, and provides a lower, upwardly facing, channel-shaped track extending longitudinally thereof to provide a lower, upwardly facing track surface. Disposed in the channelshaped tracks on the slide member and mounted on the front end of the guide member is a front glide block, a rear glide block being mounted on the rear end of the slide member and being disposed in the channel-shaped tracks on the guide member. With this construction, the front and rear glide blocks key the slide member to the guide member and hold these members assembled in the nested, face-to-face relation discussed above, which is an important feature of the invention. Further, utilizing the front and rear glide blocks to hold the guide and slide members in assembled relation in this manner provides a simple drawer slide which-may be manufactured economically, this being an important feature of the invention also.

Another object is to provide glide blocks on the drawer which rest on and are slidable relative to the slide member to provide for relative slidable movement between the drawer and the slide member, as well as relative slidable movement between the slide member and the guide member. With this construction, full extension of the drawer is attained to facilitate access to the contents thereof,

which is an important feature of the invention.

An important object of the invention is to provide glide blocks of relatively hard, nonmetallic materials, thereby eliminating metal-to-metal contact between the components of the drawer slide and virtually eliminating any noise during opening and closing movement of the drawer. Various nonmetallic materials may be used for the glide blocks. For example, the glide blocks may be fiber blocks,

'or they may be formed of any suitable plastic material,

suchas hard rubber, nylon, or the like. Another object is to offset vertically the two glide blocks which engage the guide and slide members, i. e., the aforementioned front and rear glide blocks, so that the guide and slide members may be similarly offset to permit nesting the guide and slide members together in face-to-face relation as hereinbefore discussed.

Another object is to provide such front and rear glide blocks between the guide and slide members which are generally I-shaped in side elevation and which are mounted on the front end of the guide member and the rear end of the slide member, respectively, by bending tab portions of such members around the central legs of the front and rear glide blocks, respectively. With this construction, each of the glide blocks between the guide and slide members is supported in four places so that it is held in alignment accurately to prevent excessive friction, binding, and the like.

The foregoing objects, features and advantages of the present invention, together with various other objects, features and advantages thereof which will become apparent, may be attained with the exemplary embodiment of the invention which is illustrated in the accompanying drawing and which is described in detail hereinafter. Referring to the drawing:

Fig. l is a fragmentary isometric view illustrating the drawer slide of the invention installed in a drawer cabinet to support a drawer which is movable into and out of the cabinet, various elements of the structure being broken away as required to reveal elements which would otherwise be hidden; and

Figs. 2 and 3 are fragmentary sectional views respectively taken along the arrowed lines 22 and 33 of Fig. 1 of the drawing.

In the drawing, the numeral 10 identifies a drawer cabinet or frame which provides an opening 11 for a drawer 12. The latter is mounted on two drawer slides of the invention which are disposed between the sides of the drawer and the frame, only one of these drawer slides, identified by the numeral 13, being illustrated as a matter of convenience.

The drawer slide 13 of the invention includes a guide member 16 of C-shaped cross section which is secured to the cabinet 10 at its front and rear ends, as by screws 17 and 18, respectively. Alternatively, or additionally, the member 16 may be mounted by screws intermediate its ends as well. The C-shaped cross section of the guide member 16 results in the provision of an upper, downwardly facing, channel-shaped track 19 and a lower, upwardly facing, channel-shaped track 20, these tracks extending longitudinally of the guide member and respectively providing upper, downwardly-facing, and lower, upwardly-facing track surfaces 21 and 22.

Nested with the guide member 16 in face-to-face relation therewith is a slide member 25 of C-shaped cross section, the slide member being offset upwardly relative to the guide member 16 to permit this face-to-face nesting relation between the guide member and the slide member. The C-shaped cross section of the slide member 25 provides it with an upper, downwardly facing, channel-shaped track 26 and a lower, upwardly facing, channel-shaped track 27, these tracks extending longitudinally of the slide member 25 and respectively providing upper, downwardly-facing and lower, upwardlyfacing track surfaces 28 and 29.

Mounted on the front end of the guide member 16 and extending into the channel- shaped tracks 26 and 27 of the slide member25 is a front glide block 32 of a hard, nonmetallic material, the front glide block 32 being offset upwardly relative to the longitudinal axis of the guide member so as to place its center on the longitudinal axis of the upwardly offset slide member 25. Similarly, mounted on the rear end of the slide member 25 is a rear glide block 33 of a hard, nonmetallic material, the rear glide block 33 being offset downwardly relative to the longitudinal axis of the slide member 25 to place the center of the rear glide block 33 on the longitudinal axis of the guide member 16 so that the rear glide block may be disposed in the guide member 16 and may extend into. the channel-shaped tracks 19 and 29' thereof. As will be apparent, the front and rear glide blocks 32 and 33 key the slide member 25 to the guide member 16 against lateral movement and serve to hold the slide member and the glide member in assembled relation, which is an important feature of the invention. Also, the glide blocks 32 and 33 space the guide member 16 and. the slide member 25 apart so that no contact therebetween exists. This prevents metalto-metal contact between the guide and slide members 16 and 25 during movement of the slide member relative to the guide member, assuming that the guide and slide members are metallic, which is preferably the case. Such elimination of metal-to-metal contact renders the drawer slide 13 virtually noiseless, which is an important feature.

The front glide block 32 is generally I-shapcd in side elevation to provide it with a central leg 34. The glide block 32 is secured to the front end of the guide member 16 by a tab portion 35 at the front end of the guide member which is bent around the central leg 34 of the glide block 32, as best shown in Fig. 3. The width of the tab portion 315'is substantially equal to the length of the central leg 34 of the glide block 32 so that the edges of the tab portion 35 contact the glide block 32 at four places, viz., under the four cars 36 at the ends of the central leg 34. In the particular construction illustrated, the screw 17 at the front end of the guide member 16 extends through the tab portion 35 at two points and extends through the front glide block 32 to further secure the glide block 32 to the guide member 16.

The rear glide block 33 is secured to the rear end of the slide member 25 in a similar manner, the rear glide block 33 also being generally I-shaped in side elevation and having a central leg 37 around which a tab portion 38 of the slide member 25 is bent. The width of the tab portion 33 is also substantially equal to the length of the central leg 37 of the glide block 33 so that the edges of the tab portion 38 make contact with the rear glide block 33 under the four cars 39 resulting from the provision of the central leg 37.

It will be apparent that the foregoing. means of attaching the glide blocks 32 and 33 results in extremely rigid connections of the glide blocks 32 and 33 to the guide and slide members 16 and 25, respectively. Furthermore, these connections are permanent and will not loosen even after prolonged operation of the drawer slide 13'. Thus, the desired alignments of the glide blocks 32' and 33 with. the guide and slide members-16 and 25 are accurately maintained to minimize friction and to eliminate binding.

Withdrawal of the slide member 25 from the guide member 16 in response to forward movement of the slide member is prevented by a stop 42 on the guide member 16 which is engageable by the rear glide block 33, the stop 42' comprising a portion of one side of the lower, channel-shaped track bent inwardly into this channel-shaped track to block further forward movement of the rear glide block 33;

Mounted on the drawer 12 itself are two glide blocks 4-3 which rest on and slidably engage the upper edge of the slide member 25, forward movement of the drawer relative to the slide member being limitedby engagement of the forwardmost glide block 43 with a stop 44 at the forward end of the slide member 25. Thus, it will. be apparent that the slide member 25 is a floating member which is not rigidly connected to either the cabinet 10or the drawer 12. Consequently, full extension of the drawer 12 may be attained, such fullextensionresulting when the rear glide block 33 has. been moved forwardly into engagement with the stop 42 and when the forwardmost glide block 43 has been moved forwardly into engagement with the stop 44. Thus, the drawer 12 may be completely withdrawn from the drawer opening 11 to expose the entire interior of the drawer to view so that the contents thereof are rendered completely accessible, which is an important feature of the invention.

Considering the operation of the drawer slide 13 of the invention, it will be apparent that full extension of the drawer 12 is obtained merely by moving the drawer 12 forwardly until the rear glide block 33 engages the stop 42 and the forwardmost glide block 43 engages the stop 44, the drawer, under such conditions, being completely withdrawn from the drawer opening 11. It will be noted that the glide block 33 selectively engages the track surfaces 21 and 22 of the guide member 16 as the drawer 12 is opened. In other words, when the drawer 12 is closed, the weight of the drawer causes the rear glide block 33 to engage the lower track surface 22' of the guide member 16. However, as the drawer 12 moves forwardly on the. slide member 25 and the latter moves forwardly relative to the guide member 16, the weight of the open drawer tends to rock the slide member 25 in the counterclockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 1, so that the rear glide block 33 engages the upper track surface 21 of the guide member 16, rather than the lower track surface 22 thereof. The front glide block 32 always engages the upper track surface 28 of the slide member 25, except when a sufiicient upward force is applied to the drawer 12 in opening or closing it, the front glide block 32 engaging the lower. track surface 29 of the slide member under such conditions.

Thus, it will be apparent that the present invention provides a drawer slide 13 which occupies a minimum space as a result of the face-to-face nesting relation between the guide member 16 and the slide member 25', which is of simple construction for economy of manufacture, which eliminates metal-to-metal contact and is therefore virtually noiseless, which minimizes friction through the use of nonmetallic glide blocks in sliding engagement with metallic track surfaces, which eliminates binding even, after prolonged service because of the rigid connections of the glide blocks 32 and 33 to the guide and slide members 16 and 25, and which permits full, drawer extension to. provide maximum accessibility to the interior ofv the drawer. Although I have disclosed an. exemplary embodiment of my invention herein for purposes of illustration, it will be understood that various changes, modifications and substitutions may be incorporated in the embodiment disclosed without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined by the claims which follow.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a drawer slide, the combination of: a frame; vertically offset guide. and slide members of C-shaped cross section nested together in face-to-face and overlapping relation, each of said members having an upper, downwardly facing, channel-shaped track extending longitudinally thereof to provide an upper, downwardly facing track. surface, and each of said members having a lower, upwardly facing, channel-shaped track extending longitudinally thereof to provide a lower, upwardly facing track surface; vertically offset front and rear glide elements respectively mounted on the front end of said guide member and'the rear end of said slide member at the ends of'said' trackways, said front glide element extending into said upper and lower channel-shaped tracks on saidslide member and being engageable with said upper and lower track surfaces on said slide member, and said rear glide element extending intosaid upper and lower channel-shaped tracks on said guide member and being engageable. with. said upper and lower track surfaceson said. guide member, whereby said front and. rear glide elements key said slide member to saidzguide-member; againstlateral. movement of said: slide member relative to said guide member, said guide member being mounted on said frame; and a drawer having glide elements thereon which rest on and movably engage said slide member to render said slide member floating, whereby relative movement is obtainable between said drawer and said slide member as well as between said slide member and said guide member.

2. A drawer slide as defined in claim 1 wherein each of said glide elements is generally I-shaped in side elevation, each of said glide elements being connected to the member on which it is mounted by a tab portion of that member bent around the central leg of such I-shaped glide element.

3. A drawer slide as defined in claim 2 wherein the width of each of said tab portions is substantially equal to the length of said central leg of said I-shaped glide element around which it is bent.

4. A drawer slide as defined in claim 1 including a stop on said guide member extending into one of said channel-shaped tracks thereon and engageable by said. rear glide element on said slide member for limiting longitudinal movement of said slide member relative to said guide member in the forward direction.

5. A drawer slide as defined in claim 1 wherein said guide and slide members are spaced apart by said glide elements to prevent contact between said guide and slide members.

6. A drawer assembly as defined in claim 1 including a stop on said guide member engageable by said rear glide element on said slide member to limit forward movement of said slide member, and including a stop on said slide member and engageable by means on said drawer to limit forward movement of said drawer relative to said slide member.

7. A drawer slide as defined in claim 1, wherein the top of said slide member is above the top of said guide member and defines a continuous longitudinal surface upon which said glide elements on said drawer rest.

8. A drawer slide as defined in claim 1, wherein said glide elements on said drawer comprise glide blocks resting slidably on said slide member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,376,494 Wickstrom May 3, 1921 1,534,201 Blin Apr. 21, 1925 1,951,390 Barker Mar. 20, 1934 2,293,210 Marzolf Aug. 18, 1942 2,318,800 Rakow May 11, 1943 2,614,022 Kurtzon Oct. 14, 1952

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