The invention relates to a storage cabinet, and more particularly, to a storage cabinet having a housing defined by a foldable wrapper or individual side panels, which define multiple sides of the storage cabinet, and an internal framework providing rigidity to the housing.
Storage cabinets such as those used in offices for storage of files and the like conventionally have an exterior housing which has a box-shape that is open on a front side. The housing has at least three side walls and a top wall wherein an open side is adapted to receive a plurality of drawers therein.
One conventional housing construction has a foldable sheet of wall material that defines a plurality and typically three of the vertical walls of the cabinet. More particularly, this foldable material sheet is commonly referred to as the housing wrapper wherein the left and right side walls as well as the back wall are formed together as a single piece, but each wall is separated one from the other by a fold line. The wrapper is folded into a box-like configuration to define the side walls and back wall wherein a separate top wall typically is mounted directly on the walls and then suitable drawers are fitted into the open front defined by the housing wrapper.
Since such housing wrapper is formed of sheet metal and therefore does not have significant lateral rigidity, additional internal frame pieces are mounted on the side walls to maintain the side walls and back wall in a rigid box-like shape. For example, each side wall may include a front vertical rail and a rear vertical rail which are affixed to the inside face of the side wall wherein additional horizontal cross rails extend between the upper ends of each pair of front vertical rails and the rear vertical rails while additional lower cross rails are mounted to the respective lower ends of the front and rear vertical rails. As such, near the front and rear ends of each side wall, the various rails are joined end-to-end into a rectangular configuration to increase the lateral and vertical strength of the overall cabinet structure formed by the wrapper. Additionally, the vertical side rails are adapted to support drawer slides thereon which drawer slides in turn support slidable drawers that are movable inwardly and outwardly from the open front side of the cabinet.
While such internal frame rails serve to rigidify the overall wrapper structure, the frame rails still are able to deflect, particularly at the upper and lower corners thereof, to permit undesirable lateral deflection, i.e. racking, of the cabinet. To determine the relative strength of a cabinet construction, it is known to measure the extent of force placed laterally on an upper corner of the cabinet, which force will cause lateral deflection or racking of one inch.
It is an object of the invention to provide an improved cabinet construction which is stronger so as to provide better resistance to lateral deflection of the cabinet while also simplifying the arrangement of component parts and the assembly thereof.
The invention relates to a storage cabinet and in particular, a file cabinet having an external housing adapted to support a plurality of storage drawers therein. The cabinet of the invention in one embodiment uses a foldable housing wrapper which defines the side walls and back wall of the cabinet in a manner similar to prior art cabinets. In another embodiment, the side and back walls are separate pieces joined by screws. The inventive cabinet further includes a reinforcement box or insert which fits, preferably, into the back end portion of the hollow interior of the housing and in the case of the wrapper, after the wrapper is folded to define the side walls and back wall.
The reinforcement box generally has five sides defined by a vertical back panel which is disposed in opposing relation with the back wall of the cabinet housing. The back panel of the insert further includes four side panels which project forwardly of the back panel from the periphery thereof. Each of the side panels are rigidly joined together at their upper and lower corners to define a rigid open-sided box structure. The back panel has a rectangular shape and is integrally joined together with the side panels along the periphery thereof such that the back panel maintains the side panels in a rectangular configuration and resists deflection of the side panels, particularly at the corners.
An opposite pair of the box side panels extend vertically and are disposed in facing relation with the interior surfaces of the cabinet side walls. These vertical panels are rigidly affixed to the cabinet side walls, preferably by welding. The side panels of the reinforcement box therefore rigidify the overall cabinet structure in that the back panel reinforces the box side panels and greatly increases the overall resistance of the cabinet to lateral deflections.
Additionally, the reinforcement box has the back panel spaced forwardly of the back wall of the cabinet housing to thereby define a vertical channel therebetween. This spacing effectively results in a hollow column being formed by the cabinet back wall, the insert back panel and the rearmost edge portions of the cabinet side walls. The overall rigidity of the cabinet housing thereby is further increased.
Other objects and purposes of the invention, and variations thereof, will be apparent upon reading the following specification and inspecting the accompanying drawings.
Certain terminology will be used in the following description for convenience and reference only, and will not be limiting. For example, the words “upwardly”, “downwardly”, “rightwardly” and “leftwardly” will refer to directions in the drawings to which reference is made. The words “inwardly” and “outwardly” will refer to directions toward and away from, respectively, the geometric center of the arrangement and designated parts thereof. Said terminology will include the words specifically mentioned, derivatives thereof, and words of similar import.
Referring to
The cabinet housing 11 in the first embodiment includes a housing wrapper 15 which is formed as a one-piece unit of sheet metal material and is foldable to define left and right side walls 16 and 17 having rear edge or corner portions 18 and 19 which side walls 16 and 17 are joined together by a back wall 20. The housing wrapper 15 thereby defines three sides of the cabinet 11. When folded into the configuration of
The cabinet housing 11 ultimately is enclosed on the top side 11A thereof by a top wall 25 and has a bottom side 11B that is supported on a plurality of casters 26. As generally illustrated in
To rigidify the front of the housing wrapper 15, the side walls 16 and 17 further include vertical and tubular reinforcement edge supports 31 and 32 at the front edge portions 21 and 22 respectively of the side walls 16 and 17. The reinforcement edge supports 31 and 32 are formed integral with the side walls 16 and 17 by folding the sheet metal material housing wrapper 15 inwardly and rearwardly into a tubular shape. Additionally as seen in
The cabinet housing 11 further includes a plurality of conventional drawer slides on both of the side walls 16 and 17 as illustrated diagrammatically in
More particularly, as to the housing wrapper 15, the housing wrapper 15 is formed of three contiguous sections which define the side walls 16 and 17 and the back wall 20. The housing wrapper 15 is formed from a planar sheet of housing material which is preferably sheet metal that is painted on one side to provide a finished aesthetic appearance for the cabinet 10. The housing wrapper 15 is formed as a flat sheet and then is bent about fold lines to define the corners 18 and 19 which join the back wall 20 to the side walls 16 and 17. When bent, the side walls 16 and 17 and back wall 20 are oriented vertically and define the three sides of the storage cabinet 10 as seen in
More particularly as to the side walls 16 and 17, the side walls 16 and 17 are formed substantially the same and thus the following description primarily is directed to the left side wall 16 illustrated in
At the front edge section 21 of the side wall 16 as seen in
The opposite ends of the edge support 31 terminate short of the upper and lower flanges 45 and 46 of the side wall 16 to thereby define upper and lower spaces 52 and 53. The spaces 52 and 53 are adapted to receive the opposite ends of the respective upper and lower rails 35 and 36 as generally illustrated in
To accommodate the drawer slides 40-43, the interior rail section 48 includes four formations of mounting openings 55 (
The vertical support 31 is thereby formed integral with the side wall material and as such the formation of the front facing wall 47 is an integral part of the vertical support 31 and rigidly supports the side wall 16 continuously along the entire vertical length of the support 31. The integral vertical supports 31 and 32 thereby eliminate separate support structures and provide improved support continuously along a vertical length of the side walls 16 and 17.
The opposite support 32 is formed substantially identical to the vertical support 31 as a mirror image thereof and thus, a detailed discussion of the vertical support 32 is not required. However, as seen in the top view of
Each side wall 16 and 17 extends rearwardly and terminates at the rear corners 18 and 19 wherein the side walls 16 and 17 are integrally joined to the back wall 20 along the entire vertical length of the corner. The back wall 20 has a rectangular shape and further includes inturned top and bottom flanges 65 and 66 which are formed substantially the same as the side wall flanges 45 and 46. The back wall 20 has an exterior finished surface 67 and an inward facing interior surface 68.
Turning to the horizontal support structures, namely the upper and lower support rails 35 and 36,
The central web section 71 at the opposite ends thereof is bent downwardly so as to define plate-like mounting flanges 73. The side flanges 72 also have projecting portions 74 which project sidewardly beyond the mounting flange 73. The projecting portions 74 are adapted to fit into the spaces 52 that are formed directly above the respective rail 31 or 32. The projecting portions 74 and the mounting flanges 73 effectively define a notch 75 at each opposite end of the rail 35, wherein the mounting flanges 73 are thereby offset inwardly of the terminal ends of the projecting portions 74 so as to lie directly against the interior face 48 of the respective edge supports 31 and 32. Each mounting flange 73 is MIG welded to the respective vertical support 32 or 31. Further, the top flange 45 has a spot weld 77 at the upper end thereof which rigidly connects the web section 71 and upper flanges 45 together. This therefore provides a rigid corner connection between the cross rail 35 and the side walls 16 and 17.
To further rigidify the cross rail 35, the rail 35 includes short strengthening channels 78 which extend about the corner of the flanges 73 and also an additional strengthening channel 79 which extends across the entire length of the rail 35.
For the top cross rail 35, a semi-circular cutout 80 is formed through the side flanges 72 to permit acceptance of a lock assembly (not illustrated).
Referring to
The rail 36 also has projecting portions 74 which fit in the spaces 53 defined below the support rails 31 and 32 in substantially the same configuration as that illustrated in
Referring to
Referring to
The edge panels 95 comprise an upper panel 96 and a lower panel 97 which extend across the lateral width of the back panel 90, and further comprise opposite side panels 98 which extend along the vertical height of the back panel 90. Each of the upper and lower panels 96 and 97 include vertical weld flanges 99 which abut against the inside face 100 of each side panel 98 and are spot welded thereto. As such, the upper box corners 101 and lower box corners 102 have significant rigidity wherein the rectangular configuration defined by the side panels 96, 97 and 98 are rigidly supported in such rectangular configuration by the back panel 90. Therefore, the box configuration has significant rigidity, particularly in the lateral direction of the cabinet since the back panel 90 and side panels 96, 97 and 98 mutually support each other, which rigidity thereby prevents racking or lateral deflection of the side panels 95. It will be understood the reinforcement box 30 may have alternate box-like configurations.
The reinforcement box 30 has a lateral dimension which is smaller than the lateral width between the interior surfaces of the side walls 16 and 17 such that the box 30 is able to slidably fit within the hollow interior of the cabinet housing 11, adjacent to the back wall 20. To secure the reinforcement box 30 in position, each side panel 98 has a front edge section 110 which is offset or stepped outwardly so as to abut directly against the opposing surfaces of the side walls 16 and 17. As seen in
Each mounting flange 110 has three U-shaped cutouts which each define a welding tab 114 that abuts against the side wall 16 or 17 and is slightly deflectable to ensure snug contact with the side wall 16 or 17. Three such welding tabs 114 are defined along the vertical length of each side panel 98. As illustrated in
To support the drawer slides 40-43, each side panel 98, and in particular the offset portion 113 thereof, includes four vertically spaced apart notches 116 which open forwardly and are adapted to receive respective mounting projections provided on the rearmost ends of the drawer slides 40-43.
To further locate the reinforcement box 30 within the cabinet housing, the upper and lower panels 96 and 97 include horizontal locator flanges 120 and 121 which project rearwardly of the back panel 90. The locator flanges 120 and 121 are formed from cutouts 122 in the back panel material which cutouts 122 are then bent upwardly or downwardly to form the rearwardly projecting locator flanges 120 and 121. These locator flanges 120 and 121 serve to locate the back panel 90 of the box 30 a predetermined distance forwardly of the interior face 68 of the cabinet back wall 20. This defines a hollow space 124 therebetween. Further, the locator flanges 120 and 121 abut against a lower surface of the cabinet wall flanges 65 and 66 to permit formation of spot welds 125 (
As such, the cabinet housing has a double wall construction formed at the back thereof wherein the opposing cabinet back wall 20 and box back panel 90 as well as the rearmost side wall portions 130, which enclose the sides of the space 124, effectively define a tubular, vertical reinforcement column within the housing. This column therefore has a rectangular, tubular configuration. This serves to further rigidify the cabinet housing 11.
However, since the reinforcement box 30 opens forwardly, the reinforcement box 30 forms part of the interior space of the cabinet 10 and is able to receive the rear portions of the drawer slides 40-43 and the drawers 12 therein such that the addition of the column space 124 does not result in a significant increase in the overall front to back depth of the cabinet 10.
While the back wall 20 would serve to generally rigidify the side walls 16 and 17 through its connection thereto, the addition of the reinforcement box 30 and its attachment to the side walls 16 and 17 a significant distance and preferably, about ¾ of an inch, from the back wall 20 results in the box back panel 90 functioning to not only rigidify the housing but provide such rigidity to the side walls 16 and 17 a distance spaced forwardly from the back wall 20.
In addition to the foregoing, the box bottom panel 97 also is provided with two caster mounting formations 130 which are formed substantially identical to the mounting formations 82 on the lower cross rail 36. The mounting formations 130 generally include downwardly projecting tabs 131 and are formed identical to the formations 82 wherein further discussion of the formations 130 is not required. Generally these mounting formations 130 are adapted to support the rear casters 36.
Additionally, the reinforcement box 30 has an inherent weight which serves to counterbalance the weight of the drawers 12. Typically, a conventional cabinet has a separate plate attached to the back housing wall thereof which serves as a counterweight. The weight of the reinforcement box however serves a counterbalancing function to thereby reduce the overall weight of an additional counterweight which might be added to the cabinet. As seen in
During assembly, the cabinet wrapper 15 is folded into the configuration of the side walls 16 and 17 and the back wall 20 after which, the cross rails 35 and 36 are MIG welded and spot welded in position. Additionally, the reinforcement box 30 is positioned within the cabinet housing 11 by the locator flanges 91 and 92 and then spot welded in position. Thereafter, casters 36 may be installed and the appropriate drawer slides 40-43 mounted to both of the side walls 16 and 17. After which, a front trim piece 135 (
Referring to
As illustrated in
The reinforcement edge supports are formed the same as that described above except that they are modified to provide a more secure and improved connection with the respective ends of the upper cross rail 35-1 and lower cross rail 36-1. The edge supports 31-1 and 32-1 include interior face sections 48-1 and have a connector flange 50-1 securely joined to the respective wrapper side wall 16-1 or 17-1 by welding.
Referring to
Referring to
More particularly, when assembling the cabinet, the lower cross rail 36-1 is slid downwardly into place wherein the mounting strap 155 is slid sidewardly into the opening 150 and then slid downwardly onto the support tab 56-1 as seen in
The upper cross rail 35-1 is formed similarly. Referring to
With the foregoing arrangement, the upper and lower cross rails 35-1 and 36-1 are readily connected to the side walls 16-1 and 17-1 during preliminary assembly and then permanently affixed in place by the addition of the welds of 160 and 165 illustrated in
Further as to the top cross rail 35-1, this top cross rail is formed integral with a front trim piece 135-1. The front trim piece 135-1 as illustrated in
Further, the cross rail 35-1 includes a back wall 172 which depends downwardly and has a support slot 173 formed therein in partial alignment with the lock seat 171. The front face wall 170 and the back wall 172 are adapted to support a lock assembly 175 therein.
The lock assembly 175 includes a lock shell 176 rigidly secured within the lock seat 171 and also has a rotatable shaft 177 projecting rearwardly therefrom. The shaft 177 has a stepped section 178 which fits into a slotted portion 179 of the slot 173 as illustrated in
With the foregoing arrangement, the lock assembly 175 can be preassembled onto the top cross rail 35-1 prior to assembly on the cabinet, or the lock assembly 175 may be fitted in position after final assembly. In any event, a lock assembly 175 is then independently supported on the top cross rail 35-1 to thereby form the rail assembly.
Referring to
Referring to
Generally, the storage cabinet 200 includes horizontal support structure, namely a top wall 212 and a bottom wall 213 which extend across the width of the cabinet 200 wherein the bottom wall 213 defines a rigid rectangular base. The top wall 212 and base 213 support a plurality of wall panels therebetween to define the upper storage module 202, the lower pedestal module 201 and the wardrobe section 203.
More particularly, the lower pedestal module 201 is formed substantially similar to the storage cabinets described above and in particular, is formed from an outer side wall 215 which defines an exterior face 216 of the cabinet. The outer side wall 215 extends upwardly and is rigidly connected to an intermediate top wall 217. Additionally, an inner side wall 218 is provided which has the same general rectangular shape as the outer side wall 215 but has a different configuration as described in further detail herein.
The entire cabinet 200 includes a single back wall 219 which encloses the entire back surface of the cabinet 200. The upper and lower ends of the side walls 215 and 218 therefore are rigidly connected to the intermediate top wall 217 and the base 213 to define a hollow housing unit. Further, a rectangular reinforcement insert 220 is fixed in the back of the pedestal compartment 221 so as to perform substantially the same function as the reinforcement boxes or inserts described above relative to the first and second embodiments. This lower pedestal module 201 therefore defines a rigid cubicle housing for rigidifying the entire storage cabinet 200.
The upper storage module 202 also has a somewhat similar construction. This upper module 202 includes an outer side wall 225 which defines the exterior face 226 (
Additionally, a further reinforcement insert 230 (
Referring to the intermediate top wall 217 of
Referring to
At the back edge of the sidewall 215, an inturned flange 253 is provided which that shaped to define a J-shaped channel 254 which is adapted for fixed engagement with an adjacent edge of the backwall 219 as will be described in further detail hereinafter.
Referring to
The back edge of the sidewall 218 is inturned and shaped to define an abutment face 262 which faces rearwardly and is adapted to abut against the inside face 263 of the backwall 219 as discussed in further detail with respect to
The upper wall sections and in particular, the outer and inner walls 225 and 228 are formed substantially similar to the lower sidewalls 215 and 218 that are adapted to support storage shelves rather than drawers. Further discussion as to the sidewalls 225 and 228 is provided in the discussion relative to
The upper reinforcement insert 230 is illustrated in
Referring to the assembly of the above-described components,
The wardrobe side wall 234 includes a flange 290 at the upper and lower edges thereof which includes bores 291 to fasten the side wall 234 to the base 213. The back edge of the side wall 234 is inturned to define a right rear corner 292 of the cabinet and then has a J-shaped channel 293 for engagement with the adjacent edge of the back wall 219.
A front edge of the wardrobe side wall 234 also includes a reinforced edge portion 294 which is formed substantially similar to the edge portions 252 and 264. The wardrobe edge portion 294, however, includes appropriate slots to support shelves rather than drawer slides although the construction thereof also could be modified to accommodate such drawer slides if drawers were to be provided within the wardrobe compartment.
As to the back wall 219, this back wall 219 extends substantially the entire lateral width of the cabinet 200. Back wall 219 includes vertical edge flanges 300 which have a generally rectangular shape which fits tightly within the respective engagement channels 254 and 293 of the side walls 215 and 234 respectively. These sections are then fastened together by fasteners 301 and 302.
Abutment section 262 of the inner side wall 218 abuts against the interior face 263 of the back wall 219. Thereafter, the reinforcement insert 220 is fitted within the pedestal compartment in abutting engagement with the flange 254 as well as the end flange 303 of the inner side wall 218. The insert 220 is then fastened to these flanges by the fasteners 301 and additional fasteners 304. As a result, the reinforcement insert 220 has the back face 270 thereof spaced inwardly away from the back wall face 263 to define a hollow compartment and in effect define a rigid column for rigidifying the cabinet 200.
Referring to
More particularly as to the upper storage module 202, this module 202 includes the upper outer side wall 225 mounted to the intermediate wall 217 which is diagrammatically illustrated in phantom outline. The outer wall 225 has a reinforced edge portion 310 at the front edge thereof which is formed similar to the edge portion 252 but is adapted for supporting a shelf thereon and therefore has appropriate slots for supporting a shelf rather than openings for supporting a drawer slide. The rear edge of the outer wall 225 includes an inturned section which defines a right rear corner 311 which then is shaped to define a J-shaped engagement channel 312 for receiving the respective edge section 300 of the back wall 319 therein. The edge section 300 and channel 312 are fastened together by fastener 313. The upper and lower edges of the outer wall 225 also include connector flanges which are fastened to the respective top wall 212 and intermediate wall 217.
With respect to the upper inner wall 228, this inner wall 228 is formed substantially similar to the lower inner wall 218. The wall 228 includes a reinforced front edge portion 320 which is formed as a mirror image of the reinforced edge portion 310 discussed above.
The vertical rear edge of the wall 228 further is inturned to define an abutment flange 321 which then defines a connector flange 322. The abutment flange 321 abuts against the inside face of the back wall 219 as can be seen.
The upper reinforcement insert 230 (
This use of reinforced modules incorporates the inventive features of the above-described cabinets and allows the above-described cabinets to serve as a base module for the addition of further compartments in a multi-function cabinet 200.
Referring to
In particular, the door 205 is provided with two spacers 400 and 401 which are shown affixed to the door 205 as indicated by the solid reference line and in an exploded position prior to assembly as indicated by the dotted reference line. All of these spacers are defined by plastic or nylon buttons or nubs which have a convex outer surface and include a shank that snaps into a corresponding bore in the door edge 407. The spacer shank may be formed similar to a Christmas tree type fastener with the exposed nub portion of the spacer adapted for abutting contact with an adjacent surface of the cabinet.
As to bottom spacer 400, this spacer 400 projects downwardly and slidably abuts against the upward facing surface 408 of the middle panel wall 217. The other spacer 401 projects upwardly from the door edge 407 and slidably abuts against the downward facing surface 409 of the cabinet top 212. When the door 205 is closed, the spacers 400 and 401 wedge between the surfaces 408 and 409 so as to resist relative movement of the top wall 212 relative to the middle wall 217 and thereby rigidify the cabinet 200.
Similarly, the other door 207 has spacer 402 on the door edge 411 which projects upwardly and slidably abuts against the adjacent opposing cabinet surface 409 of the top wall 212. This further resists relative movement of the top wall 212 and racking of the cabinet 200.
The door 207 also includes two upper spacers 403 and 404 which project sidewardly into abutting engagement with the side door edge 407 of door 205 so as to resist movement of the doors 205 and 207. Still further, the door 207 has a bottom spacer 405 which projects sidewardly and abuts against the side edge 413 of the lower drawer 204. All of these spacers serve to resist racking or lateral distortion of the cabinet.
Still further, the spacers 400 through 405 project equal distances to define a uniform reveal line or gap between the doors 205 and 207, the drawers 204 and the cabinet walls 212 and 217. The spacers 400-405 thereby serve dual functions of rigidifying the cabinet 200 and improving the overall aesthetic appearance of the cabinet 200.
Although particular preferred embodiments of the invention have been disclosed in detail for illustrative purposes, it will be recognized that variations or modifications of the disclosed apparatus, including the rearrangement of parts, lie within the scope of the present invention.
This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/049,199, filed Feb. 2, 2005 now abandoned, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/867,564, filed Jun. 14, 2004 now abandoned, which claims priority of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/478,590, filed Jun. 13, 2003.
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5364178 | Hofman et al. | Nov 1994 | A |
5378057 | Bach et al. | Jan 1995 | A |
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20050280337 A1 | Dec 2005 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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60478590 | Jun 2003 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 11049199 | Feb 2005 | US |
Child | 11147402 | US | |
Parent | 10867564 | Jun 2004 | US |
Child | 11049199 | US |