Supports: cabinet structure – With movable components – Horizontally movable
Reexamination Certificate
2000-02-24
2001-05-29
Wilkens, Janet M. (Department: 3636)
Supports: cabinet structure
With movable components
Horizontally movable
C312S334460
Reexamination Certificate
active
06238031
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a sliding track assembly disposed between two articles, and more particularly to a sliding track assembly applied to drawers, file cabinets, etc.
Conventionally, two corresponding rails are disposed between a drawer and a cabinet. The two rails are slidably fitted with each other so that the drawer can be pushed and pulled within the cabinet. In addition, the two rails are disposed with corresponding stopper sections such as projecting blocks or plates so as to prevent the drawer from detaching from the cabinet and dropping down. The above rail structure always suffers great frictional force so that it is laborious to draw the drawer and a great noise will be produced when drawing the drawer. Moreover, the rail structure can hardly accurately assemble the drawer with the cabinet so that when pushing and drawing the drawer, the drawer often swings up and down and left and right. The rails are disposed with stopper sections to prevent the drawer from detaching from the cabinet and dropping. However, when it is necessary to detach the drawer or reassemble the drawer with the cabinet, only after the drawer is moved up and down to a locating point, the drawer can be detached or assembled. This is uneasy and inconvenient for a user.
A ball bearing can be disposed between the two rails as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,119,377 for facilitating the relative sliding of the drawer to the cabinet and more snugly assembling the drawer with the cabinet.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,316,389 and 5,577,821 disclose a sliding track assembly for drawers. The sliding track assembly includes a cabinet rail, an intermediate rail, a drawer rail, a stopper block fixed at one end of the intermediate rail and a stop lever fixed on a middle section of the drawer rail. The respective rails are slidably assembled with each other. Two small shoulder sections of the stop lever serve to engage with two small stop faces of the stopper block so as to stop the drawer from separating from the cabinet and dropping. By means of horizontally pressing the stop lever toward the drawer rail, the drawer can be easily detached from the cabinet.
The above sliding track assembly has some shortcomings as follows:
1. The stop lever and the stop faces of the stopper block have small cross-section. When drawing out the drawer, the stress is concentrated on the stop faces so that the stop faces are subject to abrasion or breakage.
2. The space between the intermediate rail and the drawer rail is quite narrow so that the stop lever lengthwise extends and is positioned substantially in parallel to the drawer rail. In order to have a sufficiently large horizontal displacement of the stop lever toward the drawer rail so as to facilitate detachment of the drawer, the stop lever is made of polymer material and the stop section is spaced from the fulcrum by a considerable distance. Accordingly, when the two small shoulder sections of the stop lever suffer a reaction force and bend due to the colliding force exerted onto the drawer which is drawn out, a component force directed to the drawer rail is produced. This makes the stop lever very easy to jump and displace toward the drawer rail. Under such circumstance, the two small shoulder sections of the stop lever can hardly engage with the two small stop faces of the stopper block and the drawer is very easy to separate from the cabinet.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide a sliding track assembly for drawers, which can truly stop the drawer when drawn out.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide the above sliding track assembly which prolongs the using life of the drawer.
According to the above objects, the sliding track assembly for drawers of the present invention includes an outer rail, an intermediate rail, an inner rail, an outer stop section and an inner engaging section. The outer rail is disposed on a cabinet. The outer stop section is disposed at one end of the intermediate rail. The inner engaging section is disposed inside the inner rail. The inner rail is disposed on a drawer.
The present invention can be best understood through the following description and accompanying drawings wherein:
REFERENCES:
patent: 3589778 (1971-06-01), Olson
patent: 4119377 (1978-10-01), Barber et al.
patent: 5316389 (1994-05-01), Hoffman
patent: 5577821 (1996-11-01), Chu
patent: 5795044 (1998-08-01), Trewhella, Jr. et al.
Dougherty & Troxell
Wilkens Janet M.
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