US3087771A

US3087771A - Adjustable drawer and shelf slide mounting assembly

Info

Publication number: US3087771A
Application number: US63676A
Authority: US
Inventors: Jack M Pari
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1960-10-19
Filing date: 1960-10-19
Publication date: 1963-04-30
Anticipated expiration: 1980-04-30

Description

J. M. PAR! April 30, 1963 ADJUSTABLE DRAWER AND SHELF SLIDE MOUNTING ASSEMBLY 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 19, 1960 INVENTOR Jae/r M. Par/ F 93A 4L- ATTORNEY April 30, 1963 J. M. PAR] 3,087,771

ADJUSTABLE DRAWER AND SHELF SLIDE MOUNTING ASSEMBLY Filed Oct. 19, 1960 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR Jack M. Por/ ATTORNEY A ril 30, 1963 J. M. PARl 3,087,771

ADJUSTABLE DRAWER AND SHELF SLIDE MOUNTING ASSEMBLY Filed Oct. 19, 1960 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 I i I i I l l l I I w 1 f I I l Q i Ql I n l n I E I g l m N I I N) I 1 I 1 I I I l u; I "2x n n E I Q r k w l 5 E I N I N & (Q m m D \j: v v "R q q i llll|llll g l INVENTOR g Jack M. Pan

BY mas-0W, L

ATTORNEY 3,087,771 ADJU STABLE DRAWER AND SHELF SLIDE MOUNTING ASSEMBLY Jack M. Pari, Elizahethtown, NX. Fiied Oct. 19, less, Ser. No. 63,676 16 Claims. (Cl. 3l2-=-332) My invention relates broadly to cabinet structures.

One of the objects of my invention is to provide a drawer slide or shelf support system and the like which can be quickly and easily installed within a cabinet structure or between two vertical surfaces with a minimum of effort.

Another object of my invention is to provide a construction of suspension system for drawers and shelves which is quickly and easily adjustable to any desired height at anytime after the system is installed.

Another object of my invention is to provide a construction of adjustable drawer slides which provide a novel friction locking arrangement when the drawer is in the closed position.

Still another object of my invention is to provide a construction of adjustable drawer slides which provide an overrideable drawer stop or brake for the drawer in the open position.

A further object of my invention is to provide a construction of vertically and horizontally adjustable drawer supporting slides which permit the custom fitting of drawers, having different front thicknesses, flush with the face of the cabinet and with each other.

Other and further objects of my invention reside in the construction of the lock and brake features of the drawer slides as set forth more fully in the specification hereinafter following by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the manner in which a drawer rail is engaged by the drawer slides of my invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken substantially along line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective View of a top drawer slide brake band member;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective view of a brake shoe member which is insertable on the drawer rail;

FIG. 5 is a side elevational view partly in cross section taken substantially along line 5-5 of FIG. 2, and particularly showing the manner in which the drawer slides maintain the drawer in the closed or locked position;

FIG. '6 is a side elevational view partly in cross section similar to FIG. 5, and particularly showing a modified form of brake shoe and the manner in which the brake shoe and brake band coact to release the drawer from the closed position;

FIG. 7 is a horizontal sectional view taken substantially along line 7--7 of FIG. 5, and particularly showing the manner in which the drawer slides are adjustably mounted to the supporting channels;

PEG. 8 is an enlarged perspective view of a portion of the dove-tailed supporting channel and coacting tapered nut which are utilized for adjustably mounting the drawer slides; and

PKG. 9 is a side elevational view partly in cross section, somewhat similar to PEG. 5 on a reduced scale, and particularly showing the manner in which the drawer slides of my invention maintain a drawer in an open level position and the manner in which they provide a drawer stop in the open position.

Referring to the drawings in more detail, the adjustable drawer slide and suspension or support system of my in vention comprises a top drawer slide 1 of substantially 3,087,771 Patented Apr. 30, 1963 I-shaped cross section, and a bottom drawer slide 2 of substantially I-shaped cross section adjustably supported in vertically extending channels 3, preferably of dovetail construction, as particularly shown in FIGS. 7 and 8. Both the top and bottom drawer slides 1 and 2, respectively, are symmetrical in configuration and can be used interchangeably as either left hand or right hand drawer slides, thus making the assembly of a drawer or shelf installation as simplified as possible. The d-ralwer slides may be constructed of wood, plastic, or other suitable materials, but are preferably molded of shelf-lubricated plastics material, so as to give maximum wearing life and minimum friction resistance to the opening and closing of the drawers.

The top drawer slide 1 is provided with elongated mounting slots 4 in the standard portion of the I-shaped slide cross section. Screws 5, extending through slots 4, engage slide nuts 6 which are provided with vertically extending tapered grooves, indicated at 7, along the edges thereof for engaging in dove-tailed fashion the edges of the sloping surfaces 8 of the vertical dove-tail support channels 3, as shown more particularly in FIGS. 2, 7 and 8. The drawer slide may be supported by two or more vertical dove-tail channels depending entirely upon the depth of the drawer to be supported and the length of the drawer slide. The drawer slide is rigidly secured to the vertical channel-s by tightening mounting screws 5, thereby increasing the friction between the tapered grooves 7 of the speed nuts and the interior portion of the support channel sloping surfaces 8 and bringing the edges 9 of the l-shaped drawer slide 1 into abutment with the protruding edges of the dove-tail support channel sloping surfaces 8.

In similar fashion bottom drawer slide 2 is provided with adjusting slots 10 through the standard portion of the I-shaped construction and the bottom drawer slide is mounted to support channels 3 by means of screws 5 and grooved slide nuts 6, similar to screws 5 and nuts 6. It will be noted particularly from FIGS. 1, 2 and 5 that the lower drawer slide 2 provides a guide-lip 11 extending upwardly from the interior edge of the top cross bar portion 12 of the I-shaped cross section, so as to be positioned against the protruding edges of the support channels 3 to provide a large locking abutting surface with the support channels when the locking screws 5' are tightened and to provide a side guiding means for the drawer supporting rail 12.

The adjustable screws and

nuts

5, 6 and 5, 6 will permit the drawer slides 1 and Z to be locked in any position as the slide nuts ti and 6' slide easily up and down in support channels 3 when the screws are loosened and can be locked in the support channels at any height by merely tightening the screws. By loosening these same screws the drawer slides i and 2 can also be shifted horizontally in their elongated mounting slots 4 and It), respectively, to provide horizontal fitting adjustments for the drawers, which will be more fully described herein.

The vertical support channels 3 which provide the dovetm'l slots for engaging the

grooved nuts

6 and 6 are constructed of any suitable material, such as steel, aluminum, or plastic, and may be either free-standing or secured to a vertical surface such as the interior vertical surface of a cabinet, as indicated at 13 in the drawings, in which drawers or shelves are to be installed. These vertical support channels may be secured to the vertical surface or cabinet Wall 13 by means of an adhesive compound, appropriately spaced flat head screws countersunk in the base portion of the dove-tail support channel as indicated at 14, in FIG. 9, or by other suitable attaching means. The length of the support channels 3 depends entirely upon the specifications of the individual installation, such -ment with the back of the associated drawer front 15,

carried by the drawer 16, when the drawer is in the closed position as indicated in FIG. 5. As shown in FIGS. and 7, when it is desired to have the face of the drawer fronts 15 flush with the face of the cabinet structure, indicated at 17, the bottom drawer slide 2 is horizontally adjusted in its mounting slots 19 to position the sto surface 16, such that the back of the drawer front 15 is abutting the stop surface 16 when the drawer is in the closed position, while the face of the drawer front 15 is flush with the cabinet face 17.

The drawer front, indicated in FIGS. 5 and 7, is of the type which provides for the flush mounting of drawer fronts with the face of the cabinet in which they are installed, that is, the drawer front is just slightly smaller than the cabinet opening provided between the cabinet walls 13. If the drawers of the type having drawer fronts which overlap the cabinet face 17 are to be installed in the cabinet, that is drawers having drawer fronts which are wider than the drawer opening provided by the cabinet, then bottom drawer slide 2 as shown in FIG. 5 would be horizontally shifted from left to right so that the stop surface 16 would be substantially aligned with the cabinet face 17 in a manner such that the stop surface 16 will come into contact with the back of the drawer front 15 before the back of the drawer front 15 comes into contact with the cabinet face 17. This adjustment prevents marring of the face of the cabinet and also provides for the flush alignment of the faces of all of the drawer fronts installed in the cabinet, even if there is a slight variance in the thickness of adjacent drawer fronts.

A notch having upwardly tapered ends, constituting the omission of a portion of the bottom cross bar member of the I-shaped cross section of top drawer slide 1 is provided adjacent each end of drawer slide 1 as indicated at 18 and 19. A flexible resilient downwardly curved brake band member 20, preferably constructed of selflubricating plastic, carrying slots 22 in either end thereof having a width of substantially the thickness of the standard portion of the top rail I-shaped cross section, and having upwardly tapered ends indicated at 21 to match the upwardly tapered ends of

brake band slots

18 and 19 are carried by the

brake band slots

18 and 19 as shown more particularly in FIGS. 5, 7 and 9, such that the slots 22 in the ends of the brake band slidably engage the bottom edge of the standard portion of the I-shaped top rail cross section. The top drawer slide is normally positioned with respect to the bottom drawer slide, such that the brake bands 20 slidably engage the top surface of the drawer rail 12 which is supported by bottom drawer slide 2.

A brake shoe 23 preferably constructed of a self-lubricating plastics material is carried adjacent the end of the drawer rails 12, on the top surfaces thereof, and in alignment with the outer edges of the drawer rails as shown in FIGS. 1, 2, 5 and 9. As shown more particularly in FIG. 4, the brake shoe is provided with two depending lugs 24 for securing the brake shoe to the drawer rails of existing drawers to convert them for utilization in the drawer slide suspension system of my invention. The conversion of existing drawers is accomplished by drilling two holes 25 adjacent the edge of the drawer rail of the existing drawer, adjacent the rear portion of the drawer rail 12, as shown in phantom in FIGS. 2 and 5. The brake shoe 23 is located upon the top surface of drawer rail 12 so that, as the drawer 16 is opened and closed, and while the bottom surface of drawer rail 12 moves in sliding contact with the top surface of bottom drawer slide 2, and while the edge or side surface of drawer rail 12 is guided by guide-lip 11, to prevent sidewise movement of the drawer, the top curved surface of brake shoe 23 as shown particularly in FIGS. 2 and 5 moves in sliding contact with the bottom surface of top drawer slide 1, and is disposed to move into contact with the front and back brake bands 20 during the course of its movement. As mentioned, and as particularly shown in FIGS. 5 and 9, the top curved surface of the brake shoe remains in sliding contact with the bottom surface of top drawer slide 1 so as to transfer all upward thrust from the rear portion of the drawer when it is in the open or partially open position to the bottom surface of the top drawer slide. With this arrangement the drawer always remains in a level position, even when fully opened as shown in the top portion of FIG. 9.

In FIG. 6 I have shown a modified construction of the brake shoe wherein a curved brake shoe projection 23 is integrally molded into the drawer rail 12'. This type construction of the brake shoe can be incorporated in the manufacturing of plastic drawers which are injection or vacuum molded and in metal drawers which are deepdrawn or fabricated. It will be noted that in both forms of the brake shoe, the brake shoe provides a curved top surface which tapers to the top surface of the drawer rail, as shown in FIGS. 4, 5 and 6, so that the brake shoe gradually comes into contact with its coacting brake bands as will be explained herein.

The brake bands 20 may be integrally molded with the top drawer slide 1 when the top drawer slide is molded of a self-lubricating plastics material, as indicated at 29 in FIG. 6. However, in the preferred form of my invention, wherein the brake bands 20 are separate members from the top drawer slide 1, the flexible brake bands 20 carrying the beveled ends 21 which match and engage the upwardly diverging tapered ends of the

notches

18 and 19, are slightly bowed and then snapped into the

notches

13 and 19 so that the slots or notches 22, disposed in the ends of the brake bands 20, slidably engage the web or standard portion of the top rail I-shaped cross section. In the installed position, as particularly shown in FIGS. 5 and 9, the brake bands 20 engage the

notches

18 and 19 in a slightly endwise compressed state to maintain the brake bands in a downwardly bowed position so as to resist upward thrust applied thereto. It will be noted from FIG. 7 that the brake bands 20 have the same width as the bottom cross bar portion of the top rail I-shaped cross-section.

After the bottom drawer slide 2 has been installed at the desired height and has been adjusted to the desired horizontal position, with the drawer installed in the closed position, the top drawer slide 1 is then adjusted in the vertical plane so that the brake bands 20 just slidably engage the top surface of the drawer rail 12, and it is adjusted in the horizontal plane so that the brake shoe 23 supplies a slightly upward thrust to the rear locking brake band 20, as shown in FIG. 5.

With the drawer slides secured in this position the coaction between brake shoe 23 and rear brake band 20 maintains the drawer in a locked position. To open the drawer forward pressure is applied to the drawer of sufficient force so that sufficient upward thrust is applied to the rear brake band 20 to permit the brake shoe 23 to pass beneath the brake band, as shown in FIG. 6, to allow the drawer to open. To overcome the locked condition of the drawer the upward thrust, applied by brake shoe 23 to brake band 20, must be sufficient to raise the brake band level with the lower surface of top drawer slide 1. As indicated in FIG. 6, when upward thrust is applied to brake band 20 additional compression force is applied to the ends of the brake band; therefore, the material of which the brake band is comprised must be sufiiciently flexible and resilient to absorb this additional compression force and then returned to its downwardly bowed position after the brake shoe has passed beneath the brake hand. If the drawer lock is too tight, that is, if it requires more than the desired eifort to overcome the locking pressure, the locking pressure can be adjusted to the desired firmness by slight adjustments of top drawer rail 1 in the vertical and horizontal planes.

When the drawer approaches its fully open position the brake shoe 23, sliding upon the bottom surface of top drawer slide 1, comes into contact with the front brake band 20 which serves as a drawer brake or stop for the drawer when it is in its fully open position. The drawer will gradually stop as the brake shoe moves into contact with the front brake band 20.

If it is desired to completely remove the drawer from the drawer slides additional forward force must be applied to the drawer to permit the brake shoe 23 to lift the front brake band 20 in the same manner that the brake shoe lifted the rear brake band, so that the brake shoe can pass beneath the drawer stop brake band to release the drawer from the drawer slides. It will be noted that one very convenient feature obtainable with this drawer slide system is that the drawer is always maintained in a level position and the drawer does not have to be tilted upwards to release the drawer from the drawer slides as is the case with existing drawer slides. If the force required to release the drawer from the slides is too great, that is, the drawer stop or brake is too tight, the brake tension can be adjusted by merely loosening the top drawer slide, adjusting it slightly upwardly in a vertical plane, and then again tightening the top drawer slide. The brake tension for the drawer stop can thus be adjusted to any desired firmness or to just a slight warning that the drawer is approaching the end of the rail.

I believe from the foregoing that it can be seen that many adjustments can be imparted to the drawer so as to custom-fit it to its particular environment. If either side of the drawer is too low or too high the drawer can be leveled by moving the slide rails accordingly, up or down. The same type of adjustment can be made to correct drawers which are higher in front than in back and vice versa. If adjacent drawer fronts are not flush with each other, or if drawer fronts are not flush with the front of the cabinet in which they are installed, this can be remedied by adjusting the slide rails accordingly, in or out, thus providing a perfect fit. The drawer rail support system of my invention is designed to support drawers of any size, width or construction and drawers having rails of any width or thickness. One drawer or any multiple of drawers in any variation of heights or drawer front thicknesses can be perfectly aligned as a unit with the drawer slides of my invention. It is also possible to construct these drawer slides in any desired length and gage to the specifications of a particular installation.

As previously stated, the drawer slides disclosed herein can also be utilized to support shelves constructed of wood, glass, metal or other suitable materials. The brake shoes can be inserted on the shelves in the same manner they are inserted on the drawer rails to provide sliding shelves which are supported across their entire width rather than at their corners only. Thus, it can be seen that the drawer slides of my invention can be utilized for a complete storage system comprising any combination of shelves and drawers.

If there is no cabinet or wall on which to fasten the support channels 3 a free-standing system can be constructed by fastening the support channels onto a oneinclr square hollow extrusion, a wood molding, or the like.

It is also possible to utilize the drawer slides 1 and 2 without the support channels 3 where the drawers or shelves are to be permanently located inside a case or cabinet. The mounting holes, to the exact location, are drilled and the slides mounted inside the cabinet before final assembly. Slight adjustments to the drawer slides are still possible after installation, especially in the horizontal plane due to the recessed and elongated mounting slots 4 and .10.

Throughout the drawings, the drawer slides have been shown supporting the drawer rail on only one side of the drawer unit but it is to be understood that drawer slides mounted in like manner coact with the drawer rails along either edge of the drawer unit 16.

While I have described my invention in certain of its preferred embodiments I understand that modifications can be made and I desire that it be understood that no limitations upon my invention are intended other than may be imposed by the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is as follows:

1. A cabinet structure comprising a pair of spaced vertically extending members, a horizontally disposed first drawer slide means adjustably connected to said pair of vertically extending members, a second horizontally disposed drawer slide means adjustably connected to said pair of vertically extending members and positioned above first drawer slide means, a drawer unit, a drawer rail carried by said drawer unit and disposed between said first and second drawer slide means, and said first and second drawer slide means having means for individual vertical and horizontal adjustment with respect to said pair of vertically extending members and to each other.

2. In a cabinet structure, a supporting panel, a pair of vertically extending channel members connected to said supporting panel in spaced relation, slidable means disposed in said pair of channel members, a first horizontally extending slide member adjustably connected to said channel members through said slidable means, a second horizontally extending slide member adjustably connected to said channel members through said slidable means, and storage means slidably engaged between said first and second slide members for support by said slide members.

3. In a cabinet structure as set forth in claim 2, means carried by said first and second slide members and engaged by said slidable means for adjustment of said slide members in the horizontal plane.

4. In a cabinet structure, a pair of vertically extending grooved support members in spaced relation, means slidably engaged by the grooves of said support members for displacement in the vertical plane, locking means for said means slidably engaged by the grooves of said support members, a first horizontally extending slide member connected to said means by said locking means for adjustment of said first slide member in the vertical plane, a second horizontally extending slide member connected to said means by said locking means for adjustment of said second slide member in the vertical plane, said second slide member disposed above said first slide member in spaced relation, and storage means slidably engaged between said first and second slide members for support by said slide members.

5. In a cabinet structure, a pair of vertically extending grooved support members in spaced relation, means slidably engaged by the grooves of said support members for displacement in the vertical plane, locking means for said means slidably engaged by the grooves of said support members, a first horizontally extending slide member connected to said means by said locking means for adjustment of said first slide member in the vertical plane, a second horizontally extending slide member connected to said means by said locking means for adjustment of said second slide member in the vertical plane, said second slide member disposed above said first slide member in spaced relation, said first and second horizontally extending slide members having mounting slots therein, said locking means connecting said slide members to said means slidably engaged by the grooves of said support members extending through said mounting slots to provide individual adjustment of said slide members in the horizontal plane as well as in the vertical plane, and storage means slidably engaged between said first and second slide members for support thereby.

6. In a cabinet structure as set forth in claim 4, in which said pair of vertically extending grooved support members in spaced relation comprise vertical channel members each having a vertically extending dove-tail channel extending the length thereof.

7. In a cabinet structure as set forth in claim 4, in which said means slidably engaged by the grooves of said support members for displacement in the vertical plane comprise a member having vertically extending grooves along the edges thereof for engaging in dovetailed fashion edges provided by the grooves of said support members.

8. In a cabinet structure as set forth in claim 4, an upwardly extending guide-lip carried by said first horizontally extending slide member to provide side guidance for said storage means.

9. In a cabinet structure as set forth in claim 5, and stop surfaces carried by said first horizontally extending slide member coacting with said storage means for imparting horizontal adjustments to said storage means.

10. In a cabinet structure as set forth in claim 5, said second slide member carrying downwardly-bowed resilient friction elements slidably engaging said storage means for releasably retaining said storage means in the cabinet structure.

11. In a cabinet structure, spaced pairs of vertically extending grooved support members in spaced relation, slidable means slidably engaged by the grooves of said support members for displacement in the vertical plane, locking means for said slidable means, a spaced pair of first horizontally extending slide members each slidably connected to a pair of said support members by means of said locking means and said slidable means for individual adjustment in the vertical plane, a spaced pair of second horizontally extending slide members each slidably connected to a pair of said support members by means of said locking means and said slidable means for individual adjustment in the vertical plane, said spaced pair of second slide members disposed above said spaced pair of first slide members in spaced relation, said pairs of first and second slide members having elongated mounting slots therein engaged by said locking means to provide individual horizontal adjustments to said slide members with respect to each other and said spaced pairs of support members, and storage means disposed intermediate said spaced pairs of said first and second slide members and slidably engaged between cooperating pairs of said first and second slide members for support thereby.

12. As a sub-combination in a cabinet structure, a first horizontally disposed adjustable drawer slide member, a second horizontally disposed adjustable drawer slide member spaced above said first drawer slide member, a storage unit, a horizontally extending supporting rail having a top and bottom surface extending from said storage unit to a position intermediate said first and second slide members, the bottom surface of said supporting rail being disposed in sliding contact with said first slide member, an upwardly extending friction member connected to the top surface of said supporting rail and disposed in sliding contact with said second slide member and a downwardly-bowed resilient friction element carried by said second slide member for engagement with said upwardly extending friction member for maintaining said storage unit in a locked position said upwardly extending friction member and downwardly-bowed resilient friction element having cooperatively curved surfaces whereby said downwardly-bowed resilient friction element may be flexed upwardly by said upwardly extending friction member to move the storage unit from the locked position.

13. In a storage cabinet structure, a pair of laterally spaced substantially vertically fixed support channel members, upper and lower substantially horizontal drawer slide members extending transversely of the support channel members and crossing the same and being spaced apart vertically, adjustable fastener means engaging said channels and drawer slide members and interconnecting the same and enabling each of said drawer slide members to be independently adjusted vertically at the channel members, a storage unit, a substantially horizontal rail carried by a side of the storage unit and engageable slidably between said upper and lower drawer slide members, and a guide-lip carried by one of said drawer slide members to provide side guidance for said horizontal rail carried by said storage unit.

14. In a storage cabinet structure according to claim 13, said upper and lower drawer slide members having longitudinal slots receiving said adjustable fastener means, whereby each drawer slide member is independently adjustable horizontally as well as vertically relative to said channel members.

15. As a sub-combination in a cabinet structure, as set forth in claim 12, in which a second downwardlybowed friction element is carried by said second slide member adjacent the forward edge thereof for engagement with said upwardly extending friction member for retaining said storage unit in said drawer slide members when it is moved to a forward position.

16. In a cabinet structure, a pair of spaced vertically extending members, a horizontally extending drawer slide member adjustably connected to said pair of vertically extending members, said drawer slide member having a top supporting surface, a storage unit, said storage unit slidably engaging said top supporting surface of said drawer slide member for support thereby, upwardly extending guide means carried by said drawer slide member to provide side guidance for said storage unit, said upwardly extending guide means terminating somewhat above said top supporting surface, said drawer slide member having means for selective vertical and horizontal adjustment with respect to said pair of vertically extend, ing members, and separate means spaced above said drawer slide member and guide means connected with said vertically extending members for maintaining said storage unit in substantially level position when moved forwardly on said drawer slide member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 873,914 Vikoren Dec. 17, 1907 2,343,692 Miller Mar. 7, 1944 2,733,972 Diack Feb. 7, 1956 2,788,902 Nowicki Apr. 16, 1957 2,872,271 Niedringhaus Feb. 3, 1959 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,193,165 France Apr. 27, 1959