The following documents are incorporated herein by reference as if fully set forth: U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/417,596, filed Mar. 12, 2012; and Austrian Patent Application No. A324/2011, filed Mar. 10, 2011.
The present invention relates to a pull-out blocking device for at least two furniture parts that can be pushed into a basic furniture structure and can be pulled out of the basic furniture structure, in particular drawers, the pull-out blocking device having at least one guide rail and a sequence of support elements mounted on an elongate guide element of the guide rail such as to be displaceable in the longitudinal direction thereof, each support element having, as seen in an operating position of the pull-out blocking device, an upper supporting surface for abutment against a support element arranged adjacently above and a lower supporting surface for abutment against a support element arranged adjacently below and at least one further supporting surface for abutment against the support element arranged adjacently above or below, each support element having a releasing position for abutment by way of its upper supporting surface against the support element arranged adjacently above and for abutment by way of its lower supporting surface against the support element arranged adjacently below, and each support element having a blocking position for abutment by way of its further supporting surface against the support element arranged adjacently above or below.
A large number of embodiments of pull-out blocking devices are known in the prior art. They serve to prevent additional pull-out furniture parts, such as drawers, for example, from being pulled out of a basic furniture structure when other correspondingly pull-out furniture parts, or drawers, have already been pulled out of this basic furniture structure. The intention is to prevent the basic furniture structure from accidentally unbalancing or falling over if too many furniture parts or drawers have been pulled out of it. Usually, such pull-out blocking devices already block the pulling-out of further pull-out furniture parts when just a single pull-out furniture part has been pulled out of the basic furniture structure. Such pull-out blocking devices are known, for example, from DE 195 47 049 A1. In that document, the support elements are constructed in multiple parts. Firstly, the support elements have rods which are mounted in a displaceable manner in the guide element of the guide rail. Secondly, tiltable levers are arranged on the rod-like parts, shown there, of the support elements. These, too, are intended to be assigned in each case to the support element. In this multipart construction of the support elements, the lower supporting surface is located on an additional roller, which is arranged on the rod-like part of the support element and thus is also intended to be assigned to the respective support element. The upper supporting surface and the further supporting surface are located on the pivotable lever.
In DE 195 47 049 A1, the extent of one support element in the direction parallel to the longitudinal direction of the guide element corresponds to the extent of a drawer in the same direction.
In EP 2 128 364 A1, too, the respective support elements of the pull-out blocking device are constructed in multiple parts. Each support element has what is known as a one-piece element which has the upper and the lower support surface. Furthermore, each support element additionally also has a hook which is pivotable with respect to the one-piece element and on which the further supporting surface for the blocking position is located.
It is the object of the invention to improve pull-out blocking devices of the generic type with regard to a structure which is as simple as possible.
This is achieved in that each support element is formed as a body that connects the upper supporting surface and the lower supporting surface and the further supporting surface together in an inherently rigid manner, and each support element is arranged on the guide element such as to be pivotable about a pivot axis between the blocking position and the releasing position, and all the supporting surfaces are arranged outside the guide element. In order to reduce the number of support elements, particularly for relatively large drawers in the situation when a relatively fine spacing is defined by the dimensioning of the support elements, and in order to further reduce costs, intermediate elements are arranged between the support elements, with said intermediate elements also being displaceable along the guide element.
It is thus a basic concept of the invention to use, instead of the previous multipart construction, support elements which have, as an inherently rigid body, at least both the upper supporting surface and the lower supporting surface and also the further supporting surface. These three supporting surfaces are thus formed in an inherently rigid manner in the form of a body, this body, that is to say the respective support element, being mounted on the guide element such as to be pivotable about a pivot axis between the blocking position and the releasing position. With regard to the design of the support elements as a single, inherently rigid body, the support elements can also be known in a corresponding manner as blocking hooks or blocking bodies. These inherently rigid bodies according to the invention which form the support elements can of course also have more than just supporting surfaces. The fact that all of the supporting surfaces are arranged outside the guide element makes it possible, by way of a correspondingly large design of the supporting surfaces and correspondingly large distances between the supporting surfaces, to make available a relatively large travel between the blocking position and the releasing position.
The use of the intermediate elements between support elements, at least in some locations, reduces the number of support elements necessary in the pull-out blocking device, as some of the support elements are replaced by a corresponding intermediate element. The intermediate elements can have a simpler structure. Thus, for example, unlike the support elements, they do not have to be mounted on the guide element such as to be pivotable about a pivot axis. The intermediate elements may be simple rod-like entities or the like. However, the intermediate element should fit into the spacing defined by the dimensioning of the support elements. In this regard, preferred embodiments provide that at least one intermediate element that is mounted on the guide element so as to be displaceable in the longitudinal direction thereof is arranged between at least two support elements, the longitudinal extent of the intermediate element, as seen in the longitudinal direction of the guide element, being a preferably real integer multiple of the longitudinal extent of a support element arranged in its releasing position. Thus a single intermediate element with a simple construction can replace a number of support elements.
For clarification, it should be mentioned that the guide rail is that component which is fastened as such as a rule directly in the basic furniture structure and in this respect carries the remaining parts of the pull-out blocking device. In addition to the guide element, it comprises or carries, for example, also upper and lower stops, as are mentioned further below. Furthermore, in addition to the guide element, the guide rail as a rule also has fastening tabs, by way of which the guide rail can be fitted to the basic furniture structure. Furthermore, a lock for blocking the entire pull-out blocking device can also be provided on the guide rail, as shown in the exemplary embodiments. By contrast, the guide element is only that part of the guide rail on or in which the support elements are actually mounted in a displaceable manner. The guide element can be formed, for example, as a corresponding undercut groove, that is to say, for example, in a channel-like manner. In these embodiments, it is particularly favorable for each support element to have a preferably T-head-shaped guide peg for displaceable mounting on the guide element of the guide rail, preferably by means of engagement therein. It is favorable for the guide peg likewise to form a part of the inherently rigid body which forms the respective support element. If the guide element is in the form of a rod, the support elements according to the invention can have, for example, corresponding guide rings or the like, which engage in an annular manner around the guide element.
It is favorable for the guide element to extend longitudinally in the vertical direction in the operating position of the pull-out blocking device. Its longitudinal direction thus favorably extends parallel to the vertical. The pivot axes, about which the respective support elements are pivotable, extend preferably orthogonally to the longitudinal direction of the guide element. However, it is also possible for the guide element to extend longitudinally in the horizontal direction in the operating position of the pull-out blocking device or for its longitudinal extent to extend at an angle between the vertical and the horizontal in said operating position.
Particularly preferred forms of the design of the support element as an inherently rigid body provide that each support element is formed as a body that connects the lower supporting surface and the upper supporting surface and the further supporting surface, and preferably also the guide peg, together in an inherently integral manner. Here, too, more than the three mentioned supporting surfaces can also be integrated in an integral manner in the support element. In this context, integral means in particular that all the parts of the support element consist of one and the same material and are connected fixedly together as one piece. For the sake of completeness, however, reference is made to the fact that the support elements can also be in the form of inherently rigid bodies when individual parts of the support element consist of different materials or parts, but these parts are connected together in a fixed and inherently rigid manner.
Particularly preferred variants provide that each support element is formed as an integral, preferably injection molded, plastics body or as an integral metal or ceramic body.
In order to move each support element from its releasing position into its blocking position, or vice versa, preferred embodiments of the invention provide that the pull-out blocking device has trigger elements, by way of which the support elements can be actuated or pivoted. It is favorable for at least one such trigger element to be provided per pull-out furniture part. Preferred embodiments of the interaction between the support element and the trigger element provide that each support element has a pivot arm, which is arranged eccentrically with regard to its pivot axis, in order to pivot the support element about its pivot axis by a preferably peg-shaped trigger element arranged on the pull-out furniture part. In this case, it should be noted that trigger elements do not have to be formed in a peg-shaped manner, but can also have other shapes. It is favorable for these trigger elements in any case to interact with the eccentrically arranged pivot arms in order to pivot the respective support element back and/or forth between the releasing position and the blocking position. To this end, the pivot arms can have cutouts for receiving an in particular peg-shaped trigger element. However, it is just as possible, to mention only one further example, for a peg-shaped protrusion to be arranged on the pivot arm, said protrusion interacting with a corresponding cutout in the trigger element.
Preferred embodiments of a pull-out blocking device according to the invention provide that preferably precisely one preferably peg-shaped trigger element, which can be arranged on the pull-out furniture part, is able to pass through between two support elements arranged adjacent to one another, the trigger element forcibly pivoting one of the support elements from its releasing position into its blocking position or vice versa as said trigger element passes through. It is favorable, in particular in this context, for the upper supporting surface and the lower supporting surface each to have a run-on slope for a preferably peg-shaped trigger element arranged on the pull-out furniture part.
It is also favorable for the displaceability of the support elements along the guide element to be confined between two stops, all the remaining or other support elements being fixed in position in relation to the stops when or after at least one of the support elements has been arranged in its blocking position. This is applicable in particular when all the other pull-out furniture parts, or drawers, are already intended to be blocked when a single pull-out furniture part, or a single drawer, is extracted from the basic furniture structure. If the intention is to allow more than one pull-out furniture part to be pulled out of the basic furniture structure, then the remaining support elements are fixed between the stops only when a corresponding number of support elements are arranged in their blocking position. This can be set up easily by corresponding arrangements of the stops in coordination with the dimensioning of the support elements.
With regard to a structure which is as simple as possible, it is favorable for all the support elements of the pull-out blocking device to have an identical shape to one another. The support elements should define a certain spacing. In particular, in preferred embodiments, all the support elements have, in their releasing position, as seen in the longitudinal direction of the guide element, the same distance between their respective upper and lower supporting surfaces. The corresponding extent, in the longitudinal direction of the guide element, of the assigned drawers or pull-out furniture parts should then be an integer multiple of said longitudinal extent of a support element arranged in its releasing position. Preferred embodiments provide in this case real integer multiples, that is to say integer multiples greater than or equal to 2. However, said integer multiple can also be 1.
Pull-out blocking devices that include exclusively support elements according to the invention, preferably having an identical shape to one another, arranged on the guide element are also possible.
Further features and details of preferred embodiments of the invention are explained by way of the description of the figures, in which:
Four different operating states are shown for the first exemplary embodiment in
The pull-out blocking device 1 illustrated has a guide rail 2. This has in turn a mounting plate 24, by way of which the pull-out blocking device 1 is fastened to the basic furniture body (not illustrated here). Furthermore, the guide rail 2 has the guide element 3, on which the support elements 5 are mounted such as to be displaceable in the longitudinal direction 4 of the guide element 3. In the exemplary embodiment shown, the longitudinal direction 4 of the guide element 3 extends parallel to the vertical. In the exemplary embodiment shown, the guide element 3 is configured as a groove-like channel having peripheral undercuts. Each support element has a guide peg 10, by way of which the respective support element 5 is mounted in a displaceable manner in the guide element 3 or engages in the guide element 3.
The support elements 5 used in the first exemplary embodiment are all formed in an identical manner. In the exemplary embodiment shown, they are bodies which are configured in an integral manner and the parts of which are connected together rigidly. To this extent, the support elements 5 can also be called integral blocking hooks. The support elements 5 are displaceable along the guide element 3 or in the longitudinal direction 4 thereof, although the displaceability is limited by the upper stop 16 and the lower stop 15. It would be conceivable in principle to set the distance between the upper and lower stops 16 and 15 in a permanently fixed manner to a dimension which corresponds to the longitudinal extent 20 of one of the support elements 5 in the blocking position plus the sum of the longitudinal extents 19 of the remaining support elements 5 in the releasing position. This would make it possible for one of the support elements 5 to be moved into the blocking position by pulling out a drawer or a pull-out furniture part, as a result of which, on account of the stops 15 and 16, a further support element 5 is prevented from being able to pivot from the releasing position into the blocking position, as a result of which, as soon as a drawer or a pull-out furniture part has been pulled out, further pull-out furniture parts are prevented from being pulled out.
In the exemplary embodiment shown, it is a somewhat more complicated construction. The lower stop 15 is fastened fixedly to the guide rail 2, while the upper stop 16 itself can be pushed some way upward against a spring (not illustrated here), until it butts against a further stop (not illustrated here) located above and as a result forms a stop, which can be displaced no further in this position, for the topmost support element 5. This somewhat more complicated variant of the design of the upper stop 16 was selected here in order to configure the pull-out blocking device 1 shown in a lockable manner. To this end, the lock 22 is provided with its rotary catch 23. In the blocking position of the lock 22, the rotary catch 23, which is formed as an eccentric, prevents the stop 16 from being able to be moved upward out of the position shown in
If, by corresponding actuation of the lock 22, the rotary catch 23 is rotated such that it releases the upper stop 16, the latter can be pushed some way upward when one of the support elements 5 is pivoted from the releasing position into the blocking position. The upper stop 16 then reaches its end or stop position when said support element 5 has been pivoted completely into its blocking position. In the first exemplary embodiment shown, it is then no longer possible to pivot further support elements 5 from their releasing position into their blocking position, as a result of which more than one drawer or more than one pull-out furniture part is prevented from being able to be pulled out of the basic structure. In general terms, the distance between the stops 15 and 16 has to be matched to the size of the support elements 5 such that only the desired maximum number of support elements 5 can be moved into the blocking position before the remaining support elements are blocked in a nonpivotable manner in their releasing position and can no longer be pivoted into the blocking position.
In
A minimal embodiment of support elements 5 according to the invention would provide that each support element has precisely three supporting surfaces, namely an upper supporting surface 6, a lower supporting surface 7 and a further supporting surface 8. In the exemplary embodiment shown, this is realized in a more complicated manner. Thus, in the variant illustrated, two further supporting surfaces 8 and 8′ are provided on the pivot arm 11 of the support element 5. In the blocking position shown in the following figures, one of the two further supporting surfaces 8 is supported against an additional supporting surface 27 of the other support element 5, while the second further supporting surface 8′ is supported against the upper supporting surface 6 of the support element 5 located beneath. Of course, this is only an example, however, which is intended to show that not just exactly three but also more than three supporting surfaces per support element 5 are possible according to the invention. In this regard, there are numerous different exemplary embodiments. What is important in any case is that the longitudinal extent 20 of the support element 5 in the longitudinal direction 4 is greater in the blocking position than the longitudinal extent 19 of the support element 5 in the longitudinal direction 4 in its releasing position.
A further variant, which is configured in the exemplary embodiment shown but does not absolutely have to be present, is that the trigger element 12 is mounted in a movable manner in relation to the trigger element carrier 21 and thus in relation to the pull-out furniture part (not illustrated here). In the exemplary embodiment shown, this is realized in that the guide peg 12 is arranged in a pivotable manner in the trigger element carrier 21. Other configurations would be displaceable mounting of the trigger element 12 in a corresponding guide groove or the like. The variants with a movable trigger element 12 can be used in order to enable a movement sequence of the overall system of the pull-out blocking device 1 which is as frictionless as possible. In simple variants, the corresponding trigger elements 12 can, however, also be fastened fixedly to the trigger element carrier 21 or to the pull-out furniture part.
As stated,
The replacement of support elements 5, the functionality of which is not required at certain locations, with corresponding intermediate elements 17, changes nothing with regard to the functioning of the pull-out blocking device 1. Technically, the second exemplary embodiment functions in exactly the same way as has already been described for the first exemplary embodiment. In
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20140361668 A1 | Dec 2014 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 13417596 | Mar 2012 | US |
Child | 14466344 | US |