Patent Grant
8297722
The embodiments of the present invention generally relate to drawers that slide in and out of a cabinet. In particular, they relate to mechanisms that control the rate at which a drawer slides in and out of a cabinet such that an abrupt stop of the motion of the drawer is avoided when arriving at a fully closed or open position.
There are presently available a number of rate controlling mechanisms, such as damping and springing mechanisms, that are provided with a drawer or lid of cabinets. Some of the simpler mechanisms include rubber or foam bumpers between the face of the cabinet and the drawer or slide mechanism. Though the bumpers soften the impact of the drawer as the drawer closes, the bumpers are not optimal for heavy or fast moving drawers, and the bumpers are not effective for abrupt stops.
Other rate controlling mechanisms include a springing mechanism located proximate the drawer or lid. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,409,308 to Reuter et al., a cabinet is provided with a curved, upward-swinging door with an opening mechanism that includes a pair of opposed pivot arms. Each of the arms is connected to a gas spring that is connected to the end walls of the cabinet. Each pivot arm includes a circular disk portion integrally formed with a tangential arm and a mounting bracket for mounting each pivot arm to the door. The rod of the gas spring faces downwardly, while the cylinder end faces upwardly so that oil is kept contained within the cylinder. When opening the door, each arm rotates around a central boss of the circular disk in order to cause the gas spring to generate a force tangential to the rotatably mounted circular disk. The force of the gas spring causes the door to continue to open. However, the primary motion of the door is swinging, rather than sliding, and the use of a complexly designed arm is necessary to bear the load of the door and the force of the gas spring while swinging.
Other springing mechanisms are available for drawers that slide. Generally, these mechanisms are integrated with the rails in a complicated manner that often do not allow for easy modifications to conventional drawer-slide rail systems. Furthermore, many of the slide mechanisms only provide for a soft-close action but do not address both the soft-close action and the soft-open action. One example is U.S. Pat. No. 6,752,478 to Francz, which shows a damping mechanism borne on the pull-out rail toward the front of the drawer and parallel to the sides of a drawer. The damping mechanism travels with the movement of the pull-out rail, and remains inoperative until the drawer begins to fully close and an abutment presses against the plunger of the damping mechanism. When the abutment presses against the plunger, the cylinder causes dampening of the drawer and prevents the front panel from striking against the body side walls with a great force. A pull-in device arranged at the rear of a support rail is included to couple a central rail, which runs between the pull-out rail and the support rail. The pull-in device pulls the central rail, together with the pull-out rail, into the furniture carcass, with this movement being dampened by the damping mechanism.
Moreover, many combinations of rate controlling mechanisms and drawer-slide rail systems remain visible when in operation primarily because of space constraints. Opportunities for food and/or fluid to interlace or buildup within the drawer slides are greatly enhanced with visible drawer slides. This can adversely affect the operability of the drawer slides by gumming the oil, increasing the friction between the slides, and increasing the risk of corrosion.
Thus, there remains a need for a drawer and slide mechanism system that allows the drawer to fully close or open gradually without an abrupt stop in order to provide a soft-close action and/or open action. There also remains a need to integrate such system with a concealed drawer-slide rail system.
In a first embodiment, a cabinet slide assembly is provided to permit a soft-close action and/or a soft-open action of a drawer with respect to a cabinet. The cabinet slide assembly includes the cabinet and drawer and a slide mechanism coupling the drawer to the cabinet to permit movement of the drawer between a fully open position and a fully closed position. The cabinet generally includes a floor, a pair of side walls, and a rear panel attached to the floor, while the drawer generally includes a rear panel and a pair of side panels attached to rear panel. The drawer slide mechanism preferably includes a left and a right drawer slide rail. Preferably, the drawer slide rails are coupled along the interior surface of the drawer side panels in order to conceal the drawer slide rails. This can protect the drawer slide rails from the adverse effects of exposure of solid particles or fluids, such as food and drink. A post can be mounted between the drawer slide mechanism and the cabinet such that the drawer slide mechanism is elevated above the cabinet floor, preferably for a top mount drawer assembly. The post can be mounted to one of the drawer slide rails and positioned a lateral distance away from the cabinet side wall.
The assembly also includes a gas spring that is preferably situated to facilitate a reduction of speed of the drawer as the drawer approaches the fully closed position, the fully open position, or both for permitting the soft-close action and/or the soft-open action. The gas spring can have a first end coupled to the post and a second end coupled to the drawer. The gas spring is capable of swinging through an arc about the first end along a vertical plane, while the second end is movable with the movement of the drawer. The gas spring can include a compressed position upon movement of the drawer through an intermediate position located between the fully open position and the fully closed position, and an extended position when the drawer is at the fully open position, the fully closed position, or both. The gas spring can also be self-extendable from the compressed position to the extended position such that the drawer is movable from the intermediate position without application of a force external to the assembly. The gas spring may also be oriented substantially perpendicular to the slide mechanism when the drawer is at the intermediate position.
In a second embodiment, an adjustable bracket is provided preferably for a top mount drawer assembly that has a concealed drawer slide mechanism. The adjustable bracket can also be adapted for face frame or frameless cabinet construction. Additionally, the adjustable bracket may be combined with the cabinet slide assembly of the first embodiment. The adjustable bracket includes a first bracket and a second bracket. The first bracket has a vertical portion and a lower, horizontal portion extending laterally toward the center of the cabinet. The vertical portion of the first bracket can have one or more holes for receiving a fastener for attachment to a portion of the cabinet. The cabinet portion may include the face frame or the interior surface of cabinet side wall depending on the type of cabinet construction. The second bracket also has a vertical portion and a lower, horizontal portion extending laterally toward the cabinet side wall. The vertical portion of the second bracket can have one or more holes for receiving a fastener for attachment to a portion of each of the drawer slide mechanism. The horizontal portion of each bracket includes one or more holes, where the horizontal portion of the first bracket interfaces the horizontal portion of the second bracket. The holes of the horizontal portion of each bracket are then aligned for receiving a fastener for attachment of the first bracket to the second bracket. The holes of the horizontal portion of each bracket may be arranged in various predetermined patterns for enhancing the ease of installation. The vertical portion of the first bracket can be laterally spaced a distance from the vertical portion of the second bracket such that a portion of the drawer side panel and the respective drawer slide rail fits within the spaced distance.
The adjustable bracket may also include a mending plate that can provide additional structural support along the overlapping portions of the coupled first and second brackets. The mending plate is particularly useful when the laterally spaced distance between vertical portions of the first and second bracket is at its greatest, such as for frameless cabinet construction. The mending plate is configured to interface with the lower surface of the horizontal portion of each bracket. With such interface, one or more first holes of the mending plate is aligned with one or more of the holes of the horizontal portion of the first bracket for receiving a fastener for attachment therebetween, and one or more second holes of the mending plate is aligned with one or more of the holes of the horizontal portion of the second bracket for receiving a fastener for attachment therebetween.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following disclosure of preferred embodiments of the present invention exemplifying the best mode of practicing the invention. The following disclosure references the accompanying drawings illustrating the preferred embodiments.
a-4c are top views of a cabinet slide assembly shown without the cabinet, depicting a gas spring and a drawer at a middle position, a fully open position, and a fully closed position, respectively.
a is a cross-sectional view depicting the relative position of an adjustable bracket, a drawer, and a gas spring.
a is a perspective view of an adjustable bracket.
b is a top view of another embodiment of an adjustable bracket.
a is a top view of a first bracket of an adjustable bracket.
b is a top view of a second bracket of an adjustable bracket.
c is a side view of the second bracket of
d is a perspective view of a mending plate of an adjustable bracket.
Referring to the drawings, where like reference numerals are used throughout the various views to designate like components, and more particularly to
The drawer 14 may be a solid piece of wood, a composite structure comprising a variety of materials, or may be of frame and panel construction. The drawer 14 is configured for receiving a load 8 of contents, for example, in
According to
Referring to
The soft-close cabinet slide assembly 10 also includes a forcing means 30 for exerting an extension force. The forcing means 30 can include: a mechanical spring, a gas spring that provides a controlled extension force with or without a damper, or other equivalent devices known in the art. A preferred embodiment of the present invention includes a gas spring 32. Referring to
Referring to
In addition, the soft-close cabinet slide assembly 10 can include a second pivotal coupling 46 at the second end 36 of the gas spring 32 that is coupled to the middle region 17 of the drawer 14 at an attachment plate 45. The mounting plate 39 is preferably positioned parallel and affixed to the floor 9 of the cabinet interior 13 and adapted to receive the fixed mounting bracket of the first pivotal coupling 44, while the attachment plate 45 is preferably positioned parallel and affixed to the bottom panel 19 of the drawer 14 and adapted to receive the fixed mounting bracket of the second pivotal coupling 46.
The pivotal couplings 44, 46 are configured to permit the gas spring 32 to swing through an arc 48 as the drawer 14 moves between the fully open position 26 and the fully closed position 28. Preferably, the first end 34 coupled to the cabinet 12 remains stationary, and the second end 36 attached to the drawer 14 translates with the sliding drawer 14 along a substantially linear path 49. The second end 36 or the second pivotal coupling 46 can translate outside the cabinet 12 when the drawer 14 is at the fully open position 26; preferably, the second end 36 remains inside the cabinet 12. The gas spring 32 can be situated to facilitate a reduction of speed of the drawer 14 when approaching either the fully open or closed positions 26, 28.
The gas spring 32 can move between an extension position 40 and a compressed position 42. The extension position 40 can be when the rod 35 is at 100 percent extension, or fully extended, or less than 100 percent extension. The compressed position 42 can be when the rod 35 is at 100 percent compression, or fully retracted, or less than 100 percent compression. In other words, the rod 35 need not be fully extended to reach the extension position 40 and need not be fully compressed to reach the compressed position 42. When the gas spring 32 is at the compressed position 42, the drawer 14 is generally moving through a middle position 50, as illustrated in
When the gas spring 32 achieves the extension position 40, or being less compressed than the compressed position 42, the drawer 14 can be positioned at either the fully open position 26 (see
The gas spring 32 can be located anywhere on the drawer 14 or cabinet 12 as appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art. According to
In general, an operator of one of the embodiments of the soft-close cabinet slide assembly 10 can apply an external force 60 on the drawer 14 to place the drawer 14 in either the fully open position 26 or the fully closed position 28. Referring to
Referring to
As the drawer 14 leaves the middle position 50 to approach the fully closed or open positions 28, 26, the piston and rod 35 of the gas spring 32, because of the force of the gas, exert an extension force on the drawer 14 and load 8, which causes the drawer 14 to accelerate with an increased speed. As a result, the piston and rod 35 of the gas spring 32 approaches the extension position 40 or a fully extended position, where the piston contacts oil within the cylindrical tube 31, causing the oil to pass through the orifice in the piston. Thus, the drawer 14 experiences a reduction of speed, or decelerates, and gives a soft-open action when the drawer 14 is at the fully open position 26 and/or a soft-close action when the drawer 14 is at the fully closed position 28. Alternatively, the gas spring 32 includes other damper means to control the speed during the soft-close open or closed action.
Alternatively, as the drawer 14 is experiencing an increase in acceleration, the drawer 14 can be prevented from moving passed the fully open position 26 and/or the fully closed position 28 by physical stops positioned on the slide mechanism 20 and/or drawer 14. For example, the face 62 of the cabinet 12 can engage the overhang 64 of the face of the drawer 14 to stop the drawer 14. Here, the area 66 of movement of the drawer 14 between the middle position 50 and the fully closed position 28 is small enough, where the soft-close action is executed by the slower acceleration of the drawer 14 moving toward the interior 13 of the cabinet 12, represented by arrow 69. The drawer 14 can also experience a slower acceleration to execute the soft-open action as the drawer 14 moves away from the interior 13 of the cabinet 12. The soft-close cabinet slide assembly 10 can perform only the soft-close action or only the soft-open action, or can perform both the soft-close action and the soft-open action.
a depict the forcing means, such as the gas spring 132, mounted in a vertical configuration, and new reference numerals are used in the figures to designate components substantially identical to the ones in the previous figures. Here, the first end 134 of the gas spring 132 is affixed at a portion of the cabinet 112 or the drawer slide mechanism 115 and the second end 136 is affixed at a portion of the drawer 114 or another portion of the drawer slide mechanism. It is preferable that the gas spring 132 swings through an arc, represented by arrows A, by pivoting about the first end 134; thereby allowing the second end 136 to move along the same, substantially linear path, represented by arrows L, as the movement of the drawer 114, as shown in
The cabinet 112 may or may not have a front panel depending on the type of construction: face frame or frameless. A face frame construction, shown in
With additional reference to
Each of the drawer slide rails of the drawer slide mechanism 115 can include a fixed cabinet support rail 117 and a fixed drawer support rail 119. The cabinet support rail 117 can be attached to various supporting members adjacent to the cabinet side wall 120. The drawer support rail 119 can be attached along the drawer side panel 128. The drawer support rail 119 may also include a support plate 123 for providing additional support to the door 131. The support plate preferably extends vertically along the interior surface of the door 131 and perpendicular to the horizontally mounted drawer support rail. The support plate 123 may also be coupled to a door mounting plate 125 configured to couple along the interior face of the door 131.
According to
With reference back to
A post 160 mounted between the support rails and the cabinet can be positioned in order to elevate the drawer above the cabinet floor. The post can be mounted to any portion of the cabinet, such as the side walls or the floor, to provide a support for mounting the gas spring as appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art. With reference to
The adjustable member 164 can also have a channel shape, which is positioned along most of the length of the body. In other words, the adjustable member 164 can include an extended portion 167 that does not have the lateral edges of the channel shape, which is configured to extend past the bottom edge of the cabinet support rail 117 for attachment thereto. The extended portion 167 has one or more holes 168 for receiving fasteners for attachment to the fixed cabinet support rail 117. The channel portion of the adjustable member 164 is sized to slide over the channel of the long leg member 165 of the foot member 162. The channel portion includes one or more openings 169, such as slots, for communicating with the holes 166 of the long leg member 165 of the foot member 162 and for receiving the fasteners for securable attachment therebetween. The slots, as well as the slidability of the adjustable member 164 with respect to the foot member 162, provide greater height adjustability during installation.
The adjustable member 164 also includes an opening 170 for mounting one end 134 of the gas spring 132. In one example, a mounting stud 172, preferably a ball stud for coupling to a ball socket mounting end of the gas spring, is attached through the opening 170. The other end 136 of the gas spring 132 is shown attached to the drawer 114. In one example, the drawer 114 also includes a mounting stud 174 attached to the interior surface of the drawer side panel 128 by a mounting bracket 176, as shown in
The ends 134, 136 of the gas spring 132 are mounted to their respective portions such that the ends are in alignment in order for the gas spring 132 to swing along a singular plane. The orientation of this plane can provide sufficient clearance to permit the gas spring 132 to swing slightly inside of the drawer slide rail 117, e.g., a swinging clearance of 3/32″ from the rail. The mounting stud 172 can then be positioned from the surface of the adjustable member 164 and the mounting stud 174 can then be positioned from the surface of the drawer side panel 128 to permit the gas spring 132 to swing along the singular plane. Accordingly, the mounting studs can be fixedly attached at a predetermined distance, such as by welding to the respective opening, or alternatively may be threadably attached to allow for adjustment during installation to ensure swinging along a singular plane. It is to be understood by persons of ordinary skill in the art that any type of coupling mechanisms can be used to couple the gas spring to the drawer and to the cabinet or drawer slide mechanism so long as the gas spring can swing while maintaining a fixed relationship with the cabinet and drawer.
Now with reference to
According to
Regardless, the front portion 186 can include one or more first holes 190 along the front edge 187, preferably aligned parallel with the front edge 187. The first holes 190 can be sized to receive fasteners for attachment to a portion of the cabinet 112 and can be equally spaced from one another. The first holes 190 can have a countersink, preferably about 75° to 85° countersink relative to the surface, opposite the lateral surface 188. The front portion 186 may also include one or more second holes 192 spaced from the first holes 190 in the rearward direction. The second holes 192 are preferably aligned in a similar fashion as the first holes, i.e., parallel with the front edge 187. The second holes 192 can also be for receiving fasteners for attachment to a portion of the cabinet 112, and are generally located 16 mm center-to-center to accommodate European cabinet construction. Extending from the front portion in the rearward direction is the rear portion 194 of the first bracket 180. The rear portion 194, preferably having a generally rectangular body, can have a smaller height than the front portion 186 such that the front portion 186 extends past the edges of the rear portion 194. One corner 195 of the rear portion 194 may also be arcuate. The rear portion 194 also includes one or more holes 196. In one aspect, the rear portion holes 196 are for fastening to the interior surface of the cabinet side walls for additional support, and may also have a countersink similar to the first holes 190 of the front portion. In another aspect, the holes 196 can be provided and sized to provide access for tools needed to fasten the various components.
In
Referring back to
In
Preferably, the series of openings 210 are further divided into pairs; for example, three pairs are labeled A, B, and C. The pairs labeled A, B, and C of the first bracket 180 preferably correspond to the pairs labeled A, B, and C of the second bracket 202 so that when coupled the labeled pairs provide the installer with multiple positions to accommodate various face frame constructions. As shown, the openings within a pair are found on the opposite sides of a centerline of the horizontal portion 206, and all of the openings can be symmetric about the center line. In addition, the centerline of the openings within a pair, such as pair A, is aligned, while the centerline of the openings between other pairs is laterally offset by a distance for permitting a predetermined adjustability of the second bracket 202 relative to the first bracket 180. For example, the offset distance between pair A and pair B and the offset distance between pair B and pair C may be identical or may vary; e.g., the offset distance of each may be about 0.125″ for corresponding to 1½″, 1⅝″, and 1¾″ face frame construction. It is to be understood by persons of ordinary skill in the art that the spacing and orientation of the openings 210 and pairs can vary depending on the desired location of the second bracket 202, and that providing offset distances between openings of pairs may also be associated with the openings of the first bracket 180. The longitudinal spacing between the centerlines within a pair of the second bracket 202 can also correspond to spacing between the centerlines within a pair of the first bracket 180; e.g., the longitudinal spacing between the centerlines of the openings of pair A of the first and second brackets 180, 202 are identical. The longitudinal spacing between the centerlines between openings of different pairs of the second bracket 202 can also correspond to spacing between the centerlines of different pairs of the first bracket 180, and may be identical or may vary; e.g., the longitudinal offset distance 213 between the centerlines of openings between pair A and pair B may be identical; e.g., the offset can be about 0.35″.
The second bracket horizontal portion 202 may also include a slot 212 along one or more of the rear and front edges thereof. The longitudinal spacing between the slots 212 of the second bracket 202 can also correspond to spacing between the slots 200 of the first bracket 180. As shown, a portion may be removed from the middle of the body of the second bracket horizontal portion to allow finger portions 214 along the rear and front edges thereof to extend past the lateral edge 211 of the middle of the body. The finger portions 214 are configured to extend laterally past the lateral surface 188 of the first bracket when associated therewith for permitting greater lateral adjustability. The slots 212 are preferably positioned within and along the finger portions 214, and the slots 212 may also extend past the lateral edge 211. Another pair of openings 216, labeled D, may also be included and positioned and sized in relationship to the slots 212; e.g., the centerline of openings D may be alignment with centerline of slot 212. Strengthening ribs may also be included at the transition between the vertical and horizontal portions.
As shown in
Referring back to
The second portion 226 can also have one or more openings 234 for connecting to the second bracket 202, preferably a series of openings, labeled as 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8, and aligned with the lateral edge 235 of the second portion. In other embodiments, at least the openings labeled 1 and 8 may be offset from the rest of the openings by a distance to a position the openings closer to the lateral edge. The openings 234 of the second portion 226 are located to be in alignment with any pair of openings 210 or 216 labeled A, B, C, and D or slots 212 of the second bracket 202. For example, the longitudinal spacing of the centerlines between openings 1 and 8 correspond to openings within pair D and slots 212 of the second bracket 202; between openings 2 and 5 correspond to openings within pair A of the second bracket; between openings 3 and 6 correspond to openings within pair B of the second bracket; and between openings 4 and 7 correspond to openings within pair C of the second bracket.
As shown In
From the forgoing description of the structure and operation of a preferred embodiment of the present invention, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present invention is susceptible to numerous modifications and embodiments within the ability of those skilled in the art and without exercise of the inventive facility. Accordingly, the scope of the present invention is defined as set forth of the following claims.
This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 12/132,402, entitled “SOFT CLOSE DRAWER ASSEMBLY,” filed Jun. 3, 2008 now U.S. Pat. No. 8,091,971, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
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| Number | Date | Country |
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| 1635025 | Mar 2006 | EP |
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| WO 2009109536 | Sep 2009 | WO |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20100141106 A1 | Jun 2010 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 12132402 | Jun 2008 | US |
| Child | 12629568 | US |
