This application is a U.S. nationalization under 35 U.S.C. ยง371 of International Application No. PCT/EP2013/067646, filed Aug. 26, 2013, which claims priority to German Application No. 10 2012 107993.5, filed Aug. 29, 2012. The disclosures set forth in the foregoing applications are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.
The present disclosure relates to a sliding and pivoting mechanism of a rack of an item of furniture or of a domestic appliance for pulling out and raising the rack from a body of the item of furniture. The disclosure further relates to an item of furniture as well as to a domestic appliance with such a sliding and pivoting mechanism.
These types of sliding and pivoting mechanisms are in particular often built into dishwashers, refrigerators, deep freezes (freezers) or cooking appliances in order to pull a bottom dish rack, container or cooked food carrier out of the washing space of the dishwasher, the interior of the fridge or deep freeze or the cooking space of the cooking appliance and at the same time to raise it upward into a position in which it is comfortable for the user to load and unload the dishwasher rack or cooked food carrier.
In the case of the sliding and pivoting mechanism known from DE 20 2009 004 771 U1, the raising or lowering of the rack is supported by means of a tension spring which cooperates with one of the pivot arms and consequently the loading or unloading is made easier insofar as the user is no longer forced to bend down for loading or unloading and consequently strain his back muscles and spine. Access to a lower-lying level is also made easier for wheelchair users, for example, by means of a sliding and pivoting mechanism.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,462,347 A makes known a sliding and pivoting mechanism where a storage compartment can be pulled out of a wall cabinet and then, by means of the sliding and pivoting mechanism, can be lowered in front of a storage compartment mounted below it in order to make access to the storage compartment easier. In order to prevent the lowered storage compartment from being pushed in, a bolt is provided on one of the pivot arms, said bolt protruding into the path of movement of a rear wall of the storage compartment in the lowered position and thus preventing an insertion movement in the lowered position.
Such a sliding and pivoting mechanism has proved its worth in practice. It is desirable to control the sequence of the pulling-out and raising movement or the lowering and pushing-in movement of the rack in a more precise manner in order to avoid, for example, it being raised when the rack is still partly pushed in.
A pivoting and sliding mechanism according to the disclosure may comprise at least two pivot arms which are rotatably secured on at least one of the side walls of a body with a first end parallel to the plane of the side walls, and arranged spaced part from one another in parallel, wherein a guide rail is secured on the respective second ends of the pivot arms so as to be pivotable in such a manner parallel to the plane of the side walls that the guide rail is pivotable from a bottom position inside the body into a raised, top position at least partially outside of the body, at least one running rail which is linearly displaceable in the guide rail and on which the rack is fastened, wherein the sliding and pivoting mechanism further comprises a locking mechanism, which is arranged on the guide rail and on one of the pivot arms, for preventing the running rail from simultaneously sliding and pivoting.
The sequence of the pulling out and raising movement or of the lowering and pushing in movement of the rack can be controlled in a precise manner by means of the locking mechanism such that, for example, the rack being simultaneously raised and extended is effectively prevented. A raising operation with the rack still partially inserted may be avoided as a result.
According to one embodiment of the disclosure, the locking mechanism is actuatable by an activator which is fixed on the running rail.
Because the activator is fixed on the running rail, it is possible to define a predetermined pull-out position of the rack at which a pivoting movement of the sliding and pivoting mechanism is first of all made possible such that a proper sequence of a pull-out movement of the rack from the body of the item of furniture is ensured.
According to one embodiment of the disclosure, the locking mechanism comprises a web, which is held so as to be pivotable and resilient on one of the pivot arms, with a bolt which protrudes in the direction of the guide rail and is guidable along a guide path, which is fastened to the guide rail, from a first locking position into at least one second locking position.
The locking positions, in this case, may be determined by locking grooves which define the guide path which is preferably realized as a curved portion. Precise coordination of the movement sequence of the pivot arms is made possible as a result of the bolt which is guided along the guide path.
According to a further embodiment of the sliding and pivoting mechanism according to the disclosure, the activator used to activate the locking mechanism comprises a first stop, by way of which the locking bolt can be moved in a direction of extension out of a position blocking a pivoting movement of the pivot arm in the first locking groove when the running rail is pulled out. As a result of the positioning of the activator at a predetermined position of the running rail, the trigger point of the pivoting movement of the pivot arms is determined in a simple and precise manner.
To guide the pivoting movement of the pivot arms in a precise manner, according to a further embodiment, the activator, which is fixed on the running rail, comprises a guide which guides the locking bolt along the guide path when the pivot arms are pivoted. As a result, the locking bolt is guided in a guide groove formed by the abovementioned components and can latch into the second locking groove once the rack has reached the upwardly pivoted position.
In order, once the loading or unloading has been carried out, to enable the rack to pivot back into the body, according to a further embodiment the activator, which is fixed on the running rail, comprises a web which rises in the manner of a ramp, by way of which the locking bolt can be moved in a direction of extension out of a position blocking a pivoting movement of the pivot arms in the second locking groove when the running rail is pulled out.
In a further embodiment of the disclosure, the activator comprises at least one fastening element for fixing the rack such that no further component is necessary on the running rail for fixing the rack and the activator serves for fixing the rack at the same time.
To guide the locking bolt precisely and to position it reliably in a locking groove, the locking bolt is preferably guided in a guide groove of the second guide arm which is aligned perpendicular to the longitudinal extension of the second guide arm. This ensures a simply linear movement of the locking bolt in relation to the second guide arm as the locking bolt itself, as already mentioned above, is fixed on a web which is held so as to be pivotable and resilient on the second pivot arm.
In order to make the raising and lowering of the rack additionally easier, a raising and/or lowering aid is secured on at least one of the side walls of the body and on one of the pivot arms for supporting the pivoting movement of the pivot arms.
To shield from contamination and/or to avoid, for example, a finger of a user from becoming caught, according to an embodiment, a cover, which covers the side face of the sliding and pivoting mechanism at least in part, can be arranged on the side of the sliding and pivoting mechanism remote from the rack.
To be able to detect a locking position which prevents the running rail from simultaneously pivoting and sliding or the reaching of said locking position, the locking position according to one embodiment of the disclosure is perceivable in an acoustic or visual manner. To this end, in one case a spring element can be latched in an acoustically perceivable manner in or on a projection which is provided on the pivot arm and in the second case a web with a visually recognizable control strip for indicating the locking position or the non-locking position of the sliding and pivoting mechanism is provided on the cover.
A runner system can include a guide rail, a running rail and as an option at least one center rail.
The sliding and pivoting mechanism can be secured in the body of an item of furniture or of a domestic appliance in a materially bonding, positive locking and/or non-positive locking manner.
The rack can be realized, for example, as a cooked food carrier, as a dish rack, as a drawer, as a container for refrigerated or frozen products or as a pull-out shelf.
The term item of furniture in the sense of this document also includes, for example, devices for laboratories, surgeries, workshops, ships, yachts, vehicles, caravans and mobile homes.
Exemplary embodiments of the disclosure are explained in more detail below by way of the accompanying drawings, in which:
In the following description of the figures terms such as above, below, left, right, front, back etc. relate exclusively to the representation and position chosen as an example in the respective figures of the sliding and pivoting mechanism, the pivot arms, the guide rails, the running rail, the activator and the like. Said terms are not to be understood as limiting. This means said preferences can be modified as a result of different operating positions or the mirror-symmetrical design or the like.
In this case, the sliding and pivoting mechanism according to the disclosure is used for pulling out and raising or lowering and pushing in a rack 15, shown as an example in
In each case in pairs,
As is shown, for example, in
To support the raising or lowering movement, a raising and/or lowering aid 11 for supporting the pivoting of the pivot arms 3, 4 is provided on at least one of the side walls 21, 22 or on the side wall holder 12. The raising or lowering aid 11, in this case, is realized in a preferred manner as a tension spring 11 which is fastened on respective bolts 33, 123 at the one end on the side wall holder 12 and at the other end on a first of the pivot arms 3.
It is also conceivable for the raising and/or lowering aid 11 to be realized as a pneumatic spring. As a result, it is possible to provide higher forces with the installation space remaining the same. The pneumatic spring additionally comprises the advantage of a closed system, consequently, in contrast to tension springs in the form of spiral springs, does not have any hollow or intermediate spaces in which contamination or rinsing water residue is able to collect.
In order to prevent the pivot arms 3, 4 rotating beyond the top end position, a stop 121 is realized in a preferred manner on the side wall holder 12, against which stop the upper end face of the first pivot arm 3 strikes when the top end position is reached. In an embodiment, the stop 121, in this case, is provided on the stop face with an elastic material, for example, a rubber coating, in order to prevent the pivot arm 3 from striking in a hard and noisy manner against a stop 121 which is otherwise realized, for example, as a metal part.
In order to prevent the rack 15 and consequently also the sliding and pivoting mechanism from pivoting and sliding simultaneously, the sliding and pivoting mechanism comprises a locking mechanism which is arranged on the guide rail 5 and on one of the pivot arms 3, 4 and is actuatable by means of an activator 7 which is fixed on the running rail 6.
The locking mechanism, in this case, preferably comprises a web 9, which is held so as to be pivotable and resilient on one of the pivot arms 3, 4, with a bolt 91 which protrudes in the direction of the guide rail 6 and is guidable along a guide path 103 which is fastened on the guide rail 5. Said guide path 103 is realized in a preferred manner as part of a plate 10 which is fastened on the guide rail 5, part of the edge of the plate 10 forming the guide path 103 which is defined by the respective locking grooves 101, 102 and the guide path 103 being realized in a preferred manner as a curve portion along which the bolt 91 is guided during the pivoting movement of the pivot arms 3, 4.
The web 9, in this case, is held on the second pivot arm 4 by means of a pivot bolt 92, the bolt 91 being guided in a preferred manner in a guide groove 44 of the second pivot arm 4 such that the web 9 is able to move away from a side edge of the pivot arm 4 corresponding to the longitudinal extension of said guide groove 44 at its end spaced from the pivot bolt 92. A spring element 94 between the web 9 and the second pivot arm 4, in this case, is developed in such a manner that the bolt 91 is always pulled in the direction of the plate 10.
In an alternative embodiment shown in
In the embodiment shown here, the spring element 95 is realized in multiple parts and consists of a first housing part 951 and a second housing part 952 which are connected together, in particular by means of riveting or clipping, on both sides of the web 9 through an elongated hole 96 which is punched in the web 9. A spring arm 953 which is mounted by way of its free end in a hole 45 in the pivot arm 4, is integrally molded on the second housing part 952.
It is also conceivable to realize the locking of the bolt such that it has to be released actively by the user, for example by pressing a button or pulling a bar.
The activator 7, which is fastened on the running rail, comprises a stop 74 on its end face which points in the direction of extension A. The stop 74 serves the purpose of moving the locking bolt 91 out of a position blocking a pivoting movement of the pivot arms 3, 4 in the first locking groove 101 when the running rail 6 is pulled out.
To guide the bolt 91 along the guide path 103, a guide 75 is provided on the rear side of the activator 7 facing the pivot arms 3, 4, which guide, together with the guide path 103, forms a guide channel in which the bolt 91 is guided during a raising operation of the sliding and pivoting mechanism, as is shown for example in
In said position, the rack 15, which is fastened on the running rail 6, is in its raised end position in which a user is able to load or unload the rack 15 without at the same time having to bend down. In this case, the locking mechanism ensures that the rack remains in said position and unwanted lowering, for example as a result of loading a rack 15 with a heavy object, is effectively prevented.
In order to move the sliding and pivoting mechanism back again into its starting position once said top end position has been achieved, the runner system is first of all pulled a little further in the direction of extension A. In this case, the bolt 91 is raised out of the locking groove 102 as a result of a ramp 76 which is realized on the activator 7, as is shown in
The auxiliary plate 13 can also be realized integrally with the wall of an item of furniture or of a domestic appliance. The hooks 131 can also be secured individually at the corresponding positions in an item of furniture or a domestic appliance. The sliding and pivoting mechanism can be secured in the body of an item of furniture or of a domestic appliance in a materially bonding, positive locking and/or non-positive locking manner.
In a further embodiment, shown in
The cover 17, in this case, is realized with multiple parts in the embodiment shown here and consists of a first cover part 171 and a second cover part 172. Realizing the cover 17 in one part is also conceivable.
The cover 17 or the cover parts 171, 172 preferably consist of a flat plastics material profile with recesses 173, 175 and/or openings 174 for surrounding a pivot joint 32, 42 and the web 9, which, in a preferred manner, is reinforced at least locally by means of ribs 176. The fastening of the cover parts 171, 172 is preferably effected without any tools, for example as a result of snapping on with the help of projections 177 which are integrally formed on the cover parts 171, 172.
In order to make the latching of the sliding and pivoting mechanism in the top locking position recognizable to the user, it is provided according to an embodiment to realize the locking process by means of audible feedback of the locking process by means of the spring element 95 which latches in or on a projection on the pivot arm 4 in an audible manner.
According to an alternative embodiment, the latching of the sliding and pivoting mechanism in the top locking position is visually recognizable to the user, as is shown in
As can be seen in the representation of the detail in
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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10 2012 107 993 | Aug 2012 | DE | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/EP2013/067646 | 8/26/2013 | WO | 00 |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
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WO2014/033092 | 3/6/2014 | WO | A |
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Entry |
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Search Report and Written Opinion issued in Int'l App. No. PCT/EP2013/067646 (2013). |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20150305493 A1 | Oct 2015 | US |