This U.S. patent application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/359,807 filed on Feb. 8, 2003 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,779,858, which claims the priority benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/356,335, filed on Feb. 13, 2002, all of the same inventor.
This invention generally relates to an improvement in a drawer stop device, and more particularly, to a drawer stop device in which a single unit can be used for mounting on two opposite sides of a drawer.
Sliding drawers are commonly built into kitchen cabinets, desks, dining room cabinetry, office furniture, and the like to provide more convenient access to storage space therein. Typically, the drawers are mounted behind cabinet doors which serve to close off and provide a clean, finished, external appearance when the cabinet is not in use. When access into the cabinet is desired, the doors are swung open to a position perpendicular or obtuse to the front plane of the cabinet, clearing the opening to allow a drawer to be slid out from the interior of the cabinet.
However, if the doors are not fully opened, or if they swing back, it often happens that when the drawers are pulled out, their front edges bump against and scratch the inside surface of the doors. This is especially bothersome if the cabinet doors are made of expensive wood or a custom finish. Also, if a drawer is not returned to its fully retracted position, an attempt to close the cabinet doors can cause the doors to bump against the protruding front edges of the drawers. After repeated use, scratch lines and other marks can become gouged into the doors and create an unsightly appearance which is difficult to restore.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,860,717 issued Jan. 19, 1999 to the same inventor, a drawer stop device is disclosed for preventing the edges of sliding drawers from bumping against and scratching the inside surface of cabinet doors when the drawers are pulled out. In one embodiment shown in
Each sliding drawer 20 has a front panel 21 horizontally elongated with opposite ends spaced apart by a given width, a bottom panel 22, and opposed side walls 23 which are fixed together in an open quadrangular shape defined with opposite vertical front edges 24. The drawer stop device 10 has a flat mounting portion 11 fixed to a bearing portion 12. The bearing portion 12 includes a bearing flange (also 12) which projects perpendicularly from the mounting portion and a roller element 13 rotatably mounted on a vertical mounting axis defined on an end of the bearing flange 12.
As shown in
The drawer stop device typically might have a height for the mounting portion of 0.5 to 0.75 inch, a length for the bearing portion of about 1.5 to 2.0 inches, and a diameter of the roller element of about 0.5 to 0.75 inches. The roller element can be covered or made entirely of a smooth material, such as a hard nylon or plastic material. When mounted in a proper position, the contact surface of the roller element projects a predetermined amount, e.g., about 1.0 inch, so that it makes rolling contact with the door ahead of the vertical front edge of the drawer.
The drawer stop device may be used in paired set with another device used when retracting the drawer. Referring to
In
However, the prior drawer stop device has the disadvantage that each unit is configured to be mounted on either one of the left or right-handed sides of the drawer. This requires two different units to be fabricated for left and right-sided mounting on cabinet drawers. If the drawer stop devices are packaged in sets with both left and right-handed units. If the cabinet has only one door, then only one drawer stop device is mounted on one side of a drawer and the other side unit is wasted. While a single unit could be mounted in regular orientation on one side and the same unit mounted in inverted orientation on the opposite side, this results in an unaesthetic appearance which is not desired.
In accordance with the present invention, a drawer stop device is provided as a single unit which can be mounted on both the left and right-handed sides of a drawer. The single unit is provided with mounting holes in a mounting portion thereof which can be used as needed to mount the device in suitable positions on either the left or right-handed side of a drawer. The drawer stop device has dual-side mounting positions for a roller element to be mounted therewith. A single interchangeable roller element is provided with a spindle and cap nut assembly for mounting in either mounting position as required.
In a preferred embodiment, the mounting portion has a Z-shaped or 3-flanged shape for mounting to different parts of a standard sliding drawer as desired. A first, horizontal flange has a row of mounting holes therein, and is perpendicular to a second, vertical flange provided with another row of mounting holes therein. A third, horizontal flange extending in an opposite horizontal direction from the first, horizontal flange has a pair of mounting holes on opposite ends thereof for mounting the single roller element on a spindle axis oriented in the vertical direction. The roller element is mounted by the spindle and cap nut to one or the other mounting hole, depending on which handed side of the drawer the device is being mounted to. With this configuration, the drawer stop device can be mounted by screws or nuts-and-bolts through the mounting holes in the first, horizontal flange to the bottom rail portion of a standard sliding rail unit at the bottom edge of a sliding drawer. The drawer stop device can also be mounted by screws through the mounting holes in the second, vertical flange into the side panel at a position adjacent the front upper edge of the drawer (with the first, horizontal flange overlapped on the upper edge of the drawer) if it is desired to mount the roller element at the upper edge of the drawer instead of at the bottom edge.
The improvement of the present invention thus allows a single drawer stop unit to be used for left and right-sided mounting at either the top or bottom sides of a cabinet drawer with an interchangeably mounted roller element. The drawer stop device can be packaged as a single set with a mounting portion, roller element, and spindle and cap nut assembly for mounting in any desired position. This reduces the number of parts that need to be fabricated or stocked in inventory, as well as providing flexibility to mount the drawer stop device in any desired position for best aesthetic appearance.
Other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention considered in conjunction with the drawings, as follows:
In accordance with the broad principles of the invention, the drawer stop device is formed as a single unit which can be mounted on both the left or right-handed sides of a drawer, and has dual-side mounting positions for the interchangeable roller element which is mounted with a spindle and cap nut assembly. In the following description, a specific embodiment is described to illustrate the principles of the invention. However, it is to be understood that other variations and modifications thereto may made.
As shown in
The first, horizontal flange 10a is provided in this embodiment with a row of four holes, the use of which is explained further below. The second, vertical flange 10b is provided with two slot holes with usable lengths sp, the use of which is explained below. The two roller mounting holes 16a, 16b are spaced from opposite ends of the third, horizontal flange 10c and centered on a horizontal centerline CC spaced from the lateral edge by a distance dd. The roller element has a toroid shape with a wider outer diameter OD in the middle part, and a narrower inner diameter ID at its top and bottom ends. The inner diameter ID is equal to or less than the distance dd (in each radial direction) from the horizontal centerline CC of the third, horizontal flange 10c to its lateral edge or to the opposite lateral side which is joined perpendicularly to the second, horizontal flange 10b.
Referring to
In
In
In summary, the invention provides a drawer stop device that can be used for both left and right-sided mounting at either the top or bottom sides of a cabinet drawer using an interchangeable roller element. The drawer stop device can be packaged as a single set with a mounting portion, roller element, and spindle and cap nut assembly for mounting in any desired position. This reduces the number of parts that need to be fabricated or stocked in inventory, as well as providing flexibility to mount the drawer stop device in any desired position for best aesthetic appearance.
It is understood that many modifications and variations may be devised given the above description of the principles of the invention. It is intended that all such modifications and variations be considered as within the spirit and scope of this invention, as defined in the following claims.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
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2223071 | Koch | Nov 1940 | A |
3094363 | Gorton et al. | Jun 1963 | A |
3112960 | Hillson et al. | Dec 1963 | A |
4183437 | Crawford et al. | Jan 1980 | A |
4605265 | Bessinger et al. | Aug 1986 | A |
4645359 | Nelson | Feb 1987 | A |
5692816 | Lai | Dec 1997 | A |
5860717 | Mizrahi | Jan 1999 | A |
6142596 | Carson | Nov 2000 | A |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20040217679 A1 | Nov 2004 | US |