Patent Application
20100164340
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a return device for a slide drawer, which is related to the slide rail of the drawer and can enable the drawer to be pushed back effortlessly.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Nowadays, people have a growing request for quality life, most of them want their home to be clear and neat, hence various storage devices are necessary. The most basic storage device in office or home is the drawer which can be used in different kinds of furniture.
Conventionally, both the drawer and the corresponding furniture must be provided with slide rails for enabling the drawer to be pulled out or pushed back. Furthermore, a return device 10 capable of returning the drawer automatically to initial position appeared on the market, as shown in
Another conventional drawer returning device 20, as shown in
The positioning concaves of the above conventional drawer returning devices are all perpendicular to the sliding direction of the drawer, so that the force applied by the user to disengage the positioning member must be relatively large, then the drawer can be returned automatically. With countless trials and efforts, the author of the present invention has finally made a return device for a slide drawer, which not only can be disengaged from the positioning state easily to make the drawer move back automatically, but also is capable of effectively reducing the noise produced by the elastic member and plastic member during returning motion.
The present invention has arisen to mitigate and/or obviate the afore-described disadvantages.
The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a return device for a slide drawer, which is positioned by the sliding motion of a slide block and enables the drawer to be pushed back easily with a relatively small force, making it easier to use the drawer.
To achieve the above objective, a return device for a slide drawer in accordance with the present invention comprises: a positioning member, a pulling member, an elastic member, a slide block, and an actuator. The positioning member has a track and a positioning concave formed at one side of the track. The pulling member is slidably disposed on the positioning member and connected to it by the elastic member. The pulling includes a slide slot and an engaging portion, one end of the slide slot is located corresponding to the track of the positioning member, and the engaging portion has a slope. The slide block includes a protrusion to be received in the slide slot of the pulling member and a slide portion to be received in the track and to abut against the slope of the engaging portion of the pulling member. The actuator includes an actuating slot for receiving the protrusion of the slide block.
When the drawer is closed, the protrusion of the slide block is received in the bottom of the actuating slot. When the user pulls the drawer open and makes the actuator move, the actuating slot of the actuator drives the slide block to move, the slide block then moves the pulling member, and then the pulling member stretches the elastic member. When the slide block moves to the positioning concave of the track, the slide portion of the slide block will slide against the slope of the engaging portion of the pulling member, and finally the slide block will slide into the positioning concave and be positioned in place. After being positioned, the protrusion disengages from the actuating slot, so that the drawer is allowed to be pulled out into a completely open position. When the user wants to push the drawer back, the actuating slot of the drawer will hold the protrusion again and drive the slide block out of the positioning concave, which releases the pulling member from the positioned state. Meanwhile, the spring restores its shape and pulls the drawer back into the closed state. Furthermore, since the angle between slide surface of the positioning concave of the positioning member and the track is acute, it is easy for the slide block to slide in and out, so that the drawer can be easily positioned and unlocked from the positioned state.
The present invention will be clearer from the following description when viewed together with the accompanying drawings, which show, for purpose of illustrations only, the preferred embodiment in accordance with the present invention.
Referring to
The fixing member 30 includes a track 31 which is provided with a positioning concave 311 at one side and a receiving concave 312 at the other side. The positioning concave 311 has a slide surface 313 which defines an acute angle with respect to the track 31.
The pulling member 40 is slidably disposed on the positioning member 30 and includes a slide slot 41, an engaging portion 42 and a buffering portion 43. The slide slot 41 includes a slide end 411 and a positioning end 412. The engaging portion 42 and the buffering portion 43 are located at opposite sides of the pulling member 40. The slide slot 41 is located between the engaging portion 42 and the buffering portion 43. The engaging portion 42 is a trapezoid structure located at the bottom of the pulling member 40 and has a slope 421 located close to the slide slot 41, and the slide end 411 of the slide slot 41 is located corresponding to the track 31 of the positioning member 30.
The elastic member 50 and the buffering cylinder 50A are disposed at both sides of the positioning member 30 and connected to the positioning member 30 and the pulling member 40, respectively. The elastic member 50 can be a spring or elastic string, and the buffering cylinder 50A can be an oil pressure cylinder, air cylinder or hydraulic cylinder, which can produce buffering effect. In this embodiment, the elastic member 50 is a spring, and the buffering cylinder 50A is an air cylinder.
The slide block 60 includes a protrusion 61 to be received in the track 31 of the positioning member 30 and a slide portion 62 to be disposed in the slide slot 41 of the pulling member 40. At one end of the slide portion 62 is formed an indentation 621 which creates a top portion 622 of the slide block 60, and the top portion 622 serves to abut against the slope 421 of the engaging portion 42 of the pulling member 40.
The actuator 70 is provided for accommodation of the protrusion 61 of the slide block 60 and includes an arc-shaped actuating slot 71 which is defined with a bottom 711 and an open end 712.
When the drawer is closed, as shown in
When user wants to push the drawer back, pushing the drawer back can make the pulling seat B on the drawer and the actuator 70 to slide inward. When the actuating slot 71 of the actuator 70 touches the slide block 60, the slide block 60 will slide into the actuating slot 71 via the open end 712. Then keep pushing to make the slide block 60 slide to the bottom 711 of the actuating slot 71, where the slide block 60 is positioned with respect to the actuator 70, and to make the slide block 60 slide toward the slide end 411 of the pulling member 40, meanwhile, the slide block 60 also moves from the positioning concave 311 of the positioning member 30 into the track 31. After sliding into the track 31 of the positioning member 30, the slide block 60 is not positioned (loses the power of being positioned) and will be affect by the pulling force of the elastic member 50 to synchronously drive the pulling member 40, the actuating member 70 and the drawer to their original position. When the pulling member 40 is being pulled back by the elastic member 50, the buffering cylinder 50A between the pulling member 40 and the positioning member 30 can slow down the moving speed of the pulling member 40, thus slowing down the return motion of the drawer while reducing the force for pushing the drawer backward, which can prevent the drawer from sliding back too fast and biting fingers. In addition, at the side of the pulling member 40 close to the positioning member 30 is provided the buffering portion 43, which cushions the shock and noise caused when the pulling member 40 returns and pushes against the positioning member 30.
On the other hand, since the angle between slide surface 313 of the positioning concave 311 of the positioning member 30 and the track 31 is acute, the route along which the slide block 60 slide into and out of the positioning concave 311 must be slantwise, which makes it easier for the slide block 60 to slide in and out. In addition, the force required by the slide block 60 to position in or disengage from the positioning concave 311 is relatively small. Hence, the drawer can be pushed back effortlessly without requiring a great force to be exerted by the user. Furthermore, in this embodiment, there are the elastic member 50 and the buffering cylinder 50A disposed between the positioning member 30 and the pulling member 40, in fact, however, with only the elastic member 50 can also achieve the function of automatically returning the drawer.
While we have shown and described various embodiments in accordance with the present invention, it is clear to those skilled in the art that further embodiments may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.
