Further features of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art to which the present invention relates from reading the following description with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
The invention will now be described with reference to the drawing figures, in which like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout. For purposes of clarity in illustrating the characteristics of the present invention, proportional relationships of the elements have not necessarily been maintained in the Figures. Instead, the sizes of certain small components have been exaggerated for illustration.
The drawer 20 may have a wire construction including a bottom formed by lateral wires 20a and larger longitudinal wires 20b. Wires 20a extend across and are connected to opposite sides of a bottom rim 20c. Wires 20b extend between and are connected to front and back parts of the bottom rim 20c. The drawer 20 includes upright posts 20d which extend upwardly from the front and back parts of bottom rim 20c. A wire top rim 20e is connected with the upper ends of upright posts 20d and extends around the top edge of the drawer 20 to provide an open top. The front portion of the top rim 20e is curved downwardly as indicated at 20f with a short post 20g connecting to the center of the portion 20f. A center wire 20h is connected with the posts 20d between the bottom rim 20c and the top rim 20e and extends horizontally along the sides and back of the drawer 20 and partially along the front of the drawer on the drawer periphery to help retain items placed on the bottom of the drawer 20.
The bottom of the drawer 20 includes a drawer tab 22 (see
The drawer tab 22 includes an aperture 24. The drawer tab aperture 24 may be elongated such that it is longer in its side-to-side dimension than in its front-to-back dimension. A pad 26 may be attached to drawer tab 22 so that the pad 26 is located on the underside of the drawer 20 and tab 22 when the drawer is upright. The pad 26 includes an aperture 28 that may be elongated side-to-side and is generally aligned with the drawer tab aperture 24. The pad 26 may be attached to the drawer tab 22 using conventional techniques such as those making use of adhesive, or the pad may be loose and attached by various means, including a fastener as will be explained. The pad 26 is preferably compressible and may be comprised of foam, cork, sponge, rubber or other compressible or semi-compressible material.
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Problems causing binding of the glides can arise from at least five different sources. First, if the fasteners such as screws which fasten the glide frame to the cabinet or other support are tightened unevenly, installed at a slight angle, or otherwise applied incorrectly, the glides are misaligned enough to cause binding. Second, there is inevitably misalignment of the glide frame in one or more directions no matter how carefully or skillfully the glide frame is installed to a cabinet or other mounting surface, due to factors such as a warped or otherwise uneven mounting surface, swelling of the mounting surface due to humidity changes, or a wide variety of additional imperfections that are inevitably present. Third, the drawer or other accessory can be connected improperly to the glides, causing the glides to be skewed, bent, curved or otherwise displaced from a precisely aligned arrangement. Fourth, manufacturing tolerances can vary enough that they create binding. Fifth, the weight and location of stored items in the drawer or other accessory can create binding. By using the pad 26 to provide a floating suspension, any binding that might otherwise occur for any of these reasons is avoided due to the “play” or “give” in the floating suspension.
Applying the shoulder screws 36 involves extending the shanks 41 through the aperture 24 and 28 and threading the threaded tips of the screws into the threaded apertures 32 of the glide mounts 30, with the pads 26 sandwiched between tab 22 at the top and plate 30a at the bottom. The travel of the screws 36 is limited by the shoulders 42 bottoming out on the plate 30a. Consequently, the pads 26 may be compressed no more than they are when the shoulders 42 bottom out, and the compression of each pad is controlled and limited in this way. The length of the bare screw shank 41 is selected to effect the desired compression of the pads. Fasteners and other means that differ from the shoulder screws, yet limit the compression of pads 26, can also be used.
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In addition to the floating connection provided by the pad 26, the drawer or other accessory is also mounted in a manner allowing it to move to a limited extent relative to the glide frame in a generally horizontal plane. This can be accomplished in various ways. For example, the aperture 24 can be elongated or otherwise oversized relative to the shank 41 of screw 36. Preferably, aperture 24 is elongated in a side-to-side direction as best shown in
While aperture 24 may be elongated in its side-to-side dimension and oversized in its front-to-back dimension as described, other means and techniques can be used to allow the drawer or other accessory to move in a generally horizontal plane relative to the runner 18 on which it is mounted. By allowing limited relative vertical movement of the accessory as a result of the spacing between the tab 22 and glide mount 30 (with or without pad 26 interposed therebetween), and limited relative horizontal movement of the accessory as a result of the loose fit of screw 36 in aperture 24, the accessory can move relative to the glide frame in any direction (along two horizontal axes and one vertical axes and at any angle between any of these axes), thereby accommodating for misalignment of the glide which inevitably occurs. The three dimensional “play” provided by this invention avoids a rigid connection and overcomes all of the binding problems previously mentioned. At the same time, the “play” is limited in all directions and the pad preferably provides a floating suspension that prevents rattling or other noise and gives the assembly a smooth feel as well as a smooth sliding action as the accessory is moved in and out.
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The cross-bars 14 may be marked to indicate which way the glide frame 10 should be oriented in a cabinet. An advantage of providing a fully assembled glide frame 10 in accordance with the present invention is that the fully assembled glide frame can be pre-aligned and set at the factory which eliminates the need for installation templates of the type commonly required to install other glide mechanisms. Another advantage is that the fully assembled glide frame 10 allows the end user to handle and install one glide assembly as opposed to having to navigate the installation and alignment of two separate glides. Also, the glide frame is installed independently before installation of the drawer. This eliminates the problem of the drawer hindering access to the limited space typically available for installation inside a cabinet.
While it is preferable for the pads 26 to be located between the drawer and glides as shown and described, an installation wherein the pads are located and compressed between the glides and the cabinet or other mounting support is also advantageous, in that the floating suspension of the glides on the support provides similar “give” or “play” allowing the assembly to overcome any tendency for the glides to bind. In such an installation, the drawer or other accessory may be rigidly connected, may be connected using a floating-type suspension, or another type of connection may be employed.
Another embodiment of the invention is identical to what has been previously described, except that the pads 26 are eliminated. The tabs 22 can move up and down relative to the glide mounts 30 due to the use of the shoulder screws 36. In this embodiment, the universal relative movement described previously for the accessory is provided, compensating for the inevitable misalignment problems that have been mentioned. Although this embodiment is satisfactory in some applications, the inclusion of the pads is generally preferred to provide a better “feel” in most applications and prevent rattling and other noise.
The lateral sections 52 are of a length that the divider 50 may span the top opening of drawer 20 (side-to-side or front-to-back) with the hooks 54 hooking onto the sides of the top rim 20e, as shown in
The divider 50 further includes an interior central partition 60 which spans the lateral sections 52 in an orientation that is substantially parallel to the inner saddle wires 58 and the outer saddle wires 56 at the approximate centers of the lateral sections 52. The partition 60 compartmentalizes the divider 50 into two areas located between the inner saddle wires 58. The divider may be provided with a plurality of interior partitions which compartmentalize the divider into several smaller areas. The divider 50 may lack a partition and form a single compartment that is bounded by the inner saddle wires 58 and the lateral sections 52.
The divider 50 can be installed at any position to extend crossways or lengthwise (or another direction) on a drawer to provide one or more separate compartments and to prevent items from tipping or moving. The divider also serves as an organizer to separate different items. Another advantage of the dividers of the present invention is that they can be installed at any position fore and aft along a drawer or similar roll out accessory (or side-to-side if the divider is installed to extend front-to-back on the drawer). One or more dividers can be installed on a drawer at any desired location, and each divider can have one or more compartments.
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The coating 64 may be a material that is tacky, such as vinyl, where the material has a high coefficient of friction, or it may be any other suitable friction-enhancing material. It will also be appreciated that it is possible to vary the degree of friction which is used to hold the divider in place along the top edge or another portion of a drawer by adjusting the degree to which the hooks are bent downward, by adjusting the distance between the inner saddle wires and the legs 55, by adjusting the lengths of the wires, or by varying the thickness and type of coating.
An advantage of the saddle or hook design of the present invention, in conjunction with the grip-like coating, is that a divider can capture and hold its position on a roll-out drawer 100 or other accessory without any need for clamps, fasteners or tools. At the same time, the divider can be quickly and easily removed and/or repositioned. The dividers may be used to secure/organize dish soap bottles, kitchen cleaning containers, narrow food containers, cooking containers, spice containers, and many other items. Additionally, one or more dividers can be used per drawer or other roll-out accessory. Use of the dividers of the present invention provides the advantage of being easily repositioned at will into an infinite number of positions to allow for changing storage needs.
While the divider 50 shown and described functions well, other configurations are possible. For example, the inner saddle wires 58 can be eliminated, as can the outer saddle wires 56. Such an arrangement relies on the hooks 54 and the integral legs 55 to hold the dividers in place, with or without a friction coating. In some applications, a divider formed by a single lateral wire section 52 with hooks 54 and legs 55 on its opposite ends (with or without a friction coating) may be used to form separate compartments on opposite sides of the lateral section.
Likewise, in some application there is no need for curved hooks, and the divider can take the form of one or more lateral sections 52 with legs turned downwardly at a right angle or other angle from the opposite ends of the lateral section such that the legs apply an inward force against the outside surfaces of the wires of rim 20e to hold the divider in place on the drawer, with or without a friction coating. In this arrangement, the legs may be equipped with short cross members (not shown) fitting partly beneath the rim 20e, or with other means for assisting in holding the divider in place on the drawer, again with or without a friction coating. Instead of engaging the rim 20e, the divider may be attached to wire 20h or another part of the drawer 20 or other accessory.
The many features and advantages of the invention are apparent from the detailed specification, and thus, it is intended by the appended claims to cover all such features and advantages of the invention which fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and variations will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation illustrated and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.