Patent Application
20140139080
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cabinet, and more particularly to a retractable cabinet device that may be extracted or retracted by users so that the retractable cabinet device is arranged in a compact and retracted configuration when idle to occupy less space and therefore facilitate use of indoor space where the retractable cabinet device is placed. Furthermore, the retractable cabinet device is stable and may be positioned in the using extracted or retracted configuration.
2. Description of Related Art
A conventional cabinet has an opening defined in a front thereof and a door or window is mounted on and covers the opening. Racks are mounted an internal space of the cabinet for supporting items to be put stored in the cabinet.
The opening of the cabinet must be kept exposed without obstruction to enable users to access items in the cabinets easily. Therefore, when a plurality of the aforementioned cabinets is assembled together, the cabinets are arranged side-by-side with openings exposed. However, because the width of each cabinet usually is larger than the depth along which the opening extends, such side-by-side arrangement makes a total width of the cabinets too long and this spoils the interior space design.
Therefore, a slidable cabinet assembly was developed having cabinets arranged abreast with openings of the cabinets aligned in a path along the depth. Each cabinet slidably moves on a track so that one cabinet may be pulled out to reveal and the opening of the cabinet for a user's access. Because the cabinets are arranged abreast along the depth instead of width, the total length of the cabinets is shorter and the spatial configuration is more compact, which enhances interior space design. However, such cabinet assembly is insufficiently stable and cannot be positioned in the using extracted or retracted configuration.
To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention provides a retractable cabinet device to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problems.
The main objective of the invention is to provide a retractable cabinet device that may be extracted or retracted by users so that the retractable cabinet device is arranged in a compact configuration when idle to occupy less space and therefore enable efficient use of indoor space where the retractable cabinet device is placed. Furthermore, the retractable cabinet device is stable and may be positioned in the using extracted or retracted configuration.
A retractable cabinet device in accordance with the present invention comprises a base, two tracks and a cabinet. The tracks are mounted on the base and each track has a rail slot defined in the track and a convex top surface. The cabinet is mounted movably on the tracks, selectively extends out or retracts back above the base and has two front wheel assemblies and two rear wheel assemblies. The front wheel assemblies contact the ground. The rear wheel assemblies are rotatably and slidably mounted respectively in the rail slots of the tracks. The retractable cabinet device is arranged in a compact and retracted configuration when idle to occupy less space and therefore enable efficient use of indoor space where the retractable cabinet device is placed. Furthermore, the retractable cabinet device is stable and may be positioned in the using extracted or retracted configuration.
Other objectives, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
With reference to
With further reference to
With further reference to
The rail slot 21 is defined in the top surface and has a front end, a rear end, a convex top surface 24 and two positioning recesses 22, 23. The convex top surface 24 is curved so that an intermediate section of the convex top surface 24 is higher than two end sections of the convex top surface 24. The positioning recesses 22, 23 are defined in the convex top surface 24 respectively in the front end and the rear end of the rail slot 21.
The mounting recess 26 is defined in the bottom surface of the track 20 and engages the mounting block 16 in a corresponding mounting slot 11 of the base 10.
With further reference to
The internal space 300 is defined in one side of the cabinet 30 and has at least one side opening.
The at least one rack 37 is mounted in the internal space 300 and may support items 90 such as books.
The front wheel assemblies 35 are mounted on the bottom of the cabinet 30 close to the front, are located out of the base 10 and slidably and rotatably contact the ground. The front wheel assemblies 35 may be located respectively in the alignment notches 15 of the base 10 when the cabinet 30 retracts back above the base 10. Each front wheel assembly 35 has a bracket and a front wheel 351 rotatably mounted on the bracket.
The rear wheel assemblies 35a are mounted on the bottom of the cabinet 30 close to the rear, correspond to the tracks 20 and slidably and rotatably mounted respectively in the rail slots 21 of the tracks 20. Each rear wheel assembly 35 has a bracket and a rear wheel 351a. The rear wheel 351a is mounted rotatably on the bracket to rotate and slide on the rail slot 21 of a corresponding track 20 and may be positioned in one of the positioning recesses 22, 23 of the corresponding track 20.
Furthermore, as shown in
In a preferred embodiment of the retractable cabinet device, a diameter of the front wheel 351 is larger than the diameter of the rear wheel 351a for stability of slide and rotation.
With further reference to
With further reference to
With further reference to
1. Multiple retractable cabinet devices may be arranged abreast with an arranging direction of all tracks 20 perpendicular to a direction along which each track 20 lies. The at least one side openings of the cabinet 30 face along a depth direction being perpendicular to the direction along which each track 20 lies. Because the depth of each cabinet 30 is smaller than the width of the cabinet 30, the arrangement of the cabinet 30 makes a total length of the cabinets 30 shorter than conventional cabinets that are arranged abreast. Therefore, the retractable cabinet facilitates overall arrangement of interior space.
2. The convex top surface 24 has the intermediate section higher than the end sections so that a front slope and a rear slope opposite to the front slope are defined on the convex top surface 24. When cabinet 30 retracts above on the base 10 in a compact and retracted configuration, a user needs to pull the cabinet 30 across a top point between the front and rear slopes with a determined effort. If the pulling force is insufficient, the cabinet 30 will automatically retract back above the base 10 due to the rear slope. When the cabinet 30 is located out of the base 10 in an extracted configuration, the user also needs to employ determined effort to push the cabinet 30 or otherwise the cabinet 30 automatically moves back to the extracted configuration. Moreover, with the rear wheels 351a of the rear wheel assemblies 35a weighted down by the cabinet 30 and the items 90 stored in the cabinet 30, the rear wheels 351a of the rear wheel assemblies 35a are stably held in the positioning recesses 22, 23 of the tracks 20. Therefore, the convex top surface 24 and the positioning recesses 22, 23 of each track 20 have positioning functions, so the tracks 20 stabilize and prevent the cabinet 30 from being moved inadvertently no matter the ground inclines or earthquake happens.
3. The distance D1 between the front wheel assemblies 35 being larger than the distance D2 between the rear wheel assemblies 35a stabilizes the movement of the cabinet 30 and prevents the cabinet 30 from tilting or toppling. Even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the invention, the disclosure is illustrative only. Changes may be made in the details, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.
