Supports: cabinet structure – With movable components – Horizontally movable
Patent
1995-01-09
1996-11-05
Nelson, Jr., Milton
Supports: cabinet structure
With movable components
Horizontally movable
31233413, 31233437, A47B 8804
Patent
active
055709435
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention refers to a track assembly for a drawer, including a guide rail securable to the body of a piece of furniture and a pull-out rail attached to a drawer, as well as an inner section rail provided with several ball bearings and connecting the guide rail with the pull-out rail, with the balls capable of rolling in sets between both outer surfaces of the inner section rail and the inner surfaces of the guide rail and the pull-out rail.
In a conventional track, assembly the pull-out rail which is attached to the drawer is made of a square pipe with rounded corners. The guide rail which is attached to the body of the piece of furniture is situated within the interior space of the pull-out rail and is massive. The sets of balls roll on the inside corners of the pull-out rails. The balls are retained via a cage.
This generally reliable construction is, however, material intensive and relatively heavy because of the massive guide rail.
The present invention is based on the object to provide a track assembly of the above-described type such that it can be produced in a material-saving way and thus of reduced weight. Moreover, it should be producible more cost-efficient.
This object is attained by forming the guide rail and the pull-out rail of angular cross section, with both free edge areas, which face away, extending each in form of an inwardly directed arc for formation of ball bearings so that three balls respectively form a set of balls.
The embodiment according to the invention creates a number of advantages. It is possible to align the guide rail relative to the pull-out rail such that they overlap complementary to each other to greatly reduce the structural height. This results in significant advantages when being mounted onto many pieces of furniture. When the height of the track should be kept the same, as in designs known per se, balls of greater diameter could be used so that the track can be subjected to increased loads. The need for material for the rails is greatly reduced when considering that nearly two balls are omitted. Since the number of used balls is reduced, the costs are even further lowered. In accordance with the standard embodiment, three balls are arranged on each side of the inner section rail, i.e. with respect to the vertical center plane of the track exactly the same number of balls is placed on one side of the upper area as on the opposing side of the lower area and vice versa. In such an arrangement, an overlap of the pull-out rail with the guide rail is then also possible. In the tracks at hand, the unavoidable slippage between the rails and the balls will result in the course of time that the drawer cannot be completely withdrawn from the body of the piece of furniture, unless an increased force is applied. In order to eliminate this drawback, it is further provided in accordance with a further feature to mount the pull-out rail relative to the guide rail such that no overlap exists so that the same number of balls is arranged on one side of the upper area of the inner section rail as on the same side of the lower area. This means that two balls roll on each side of the upper and lower areas and only one ball on the other side. Thus, a slot is formed of a height which is slightly smaller than the height of the inner section rail. This affords the possibility to have one or more synchronizing rolls to roll in this slot to enable always a full withdrawal of the drawer.
Preferred exemplified embodiments of the invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the attached drawings, in which
FIG. 1 shows a perspective illustration of the track according to the invention,
FIGS. 2-4 are respective end views of various assembling possibilities.
The track 10 illustrated in FIG. I includes a pull-out rail 11 which is secured to a not shown drawer, a stationary guide rail 12 secured to a not shown body of a piece of furniture, an inner section rail 13 as well as balls 14 not shown in FIG. 1, and a synchronizing roll 15. As shown in the FIGURES, the functi
REFERENCES:
patent: 3203749 (1965-08-01), Bullock et al.
patent: 3901564 (1975-08-01), Armstrong
patent: 4662761 (1987-05-01), Hoffman
patent: 4752142 (1988-06-01), Jackson et al.
patent: 5344228 (1994-09-01), Kovarik et al.
Noske Frank
Rush Gordon
Schroder Gerhard
Feiereisen Henry M.
Jr. Milton Nelson
Paul Hettich GmbH & Co.
Tran Hanh V.
LandOfFree
Track assembly for a drawer does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Track assembly for a drawer, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Track assembly for a drawer will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2009493