Patent Application
20210267370
Embodiments of the present invention relate generally to slides to support weight as they translate between a retracted and an extended position, and more particularly, to systems, methods, and apparatuses for slides configured to support substantial loads while experiencing vibration and shock forces in the retracted position without degradation of the slide mechanism.
Slides are conventionally used for drawers in cabinetry, tool boxes, and the like to enable movement of a drawer or payload between a retracted position in which the contents of the drawer are generally inaccessible, and an extended position in which the contents of the drawer are generally accessible. Slides which may sometimes be generally referred to as drawer slides may be used in a variety of applications in which lateral translation is needed from a first position to a second position. While the general term “drawer slides” may be common, such slides may have applications beyond a conventional drawer. For example, slides may be used to move a payload from a first position to a second position, where the payload may include any type of object. Slides may be used in vehicles, such as a recreational vehicle, for moving a generator from an enclosed bay to an accessible position outside of the vehicle for service. Slides come in a variety of types, sizes, and weight capacities and include various types of mechanisms to facilitate the sliding operation. Sliding of light-duty slides may be accomplished through surface-to-surface contact, and may be improved through the use of low friction materials to aid the sliding operation. Higher capacity slides may use ball bearings or rollers to support the load and allow translation of the drawer slide between the extended and retracted positions.
Embodiments of the present invention relate generally to slides to support a payload as they translate between a retracted and an extended position. Slides of example embodiments may be configured to support substantial loads and weights while experiencing vibration and shock forces in the retracted position without degradation of the slide mechanism. An example embodiment of a slide provided herein includes a fixed rail member; a second rail member, where the second rail member translates between an extended position relative to the fixed rail member and a retracted position relative to the fixed rail member; a third rail member, where the second rail member is disposed between the fixed rail member and the third rail member, where the third rail member translates between an extended position relative to the fixed rail member and a retracted position relative to the fixed rail member; and at least one bearing attached to one of the second rail member or the third rail member, where the at least one bearing is engaged with both the second rail member and the third rail member when the second rail member is in the extended position, and where the at least one bearing is disengaged from at least one of the second rail member or the third rail member in response to the third rail member being in the retracted position.
According to an example embodiment, the fixed rail member includes a first lifting element, where the third rail member includes a second lifting element, where in response to the third rail member being moved to the retracted position, the first lifting element cooperates with the second lifting element to raise the third rail member relative to the fixed rail member, and in response to the third rail member being raised, the third rail member raises the second rail member disengaging the at least one bearing from at least one of the second rail member and the third rail member. The first lifting element of an example embodiment includes at least one of a pin, a wedge element, a conical element, a frustoconical element, a pyramidal element, a frusto-pyramidal element, and a recess, wherein the second lifting element includes at least one of a pin, a wedge element, a conical element, a frustoconical element, a pyramidal element, a frusto-pyramidal element, and a recess.
Embodiments may include at least one second bearing attached to one of the fixed rail member or the second rail member, where the at least one second bearing is engaged with both the fixed rail member and the second rail member in response to the third rail member being in the extended position, and where the at least one second bearing is disengaged from at least one of the fixed rail member and the second rail member in response to the second rail member being disposed in the retracted position. The third rail member may include a third lifting element, where in response to the third rail member being moved to the retracted position, the first lifting element cooperates with the third lifting element to raise the third rail member relative to the fixed rail member, thereby disengaging the at least one second bearing from at least one of the second rail member and the third rail member.
According to an example embodiment, the slide includes a fastener coupled to the third rail member, where the fastener secures the third rail member to the fixed rail member in response to the third rail member being in the retracted position and the fastener being engaged with the fixed rail member. Engagement of the fastener with the fixed rail member may drive the third rail member into the retracted position. Embodiments may include a front member attached to the second rail member and a fastener extending through the front member, where the fastener is configured to engage the fixed rail member and secure the third rail member to the fixed rail member in the retracted position.
Embodiments provided herein may include a slide having: a fixed rail member including a first lifting element; a second rail member including a second lifting element, where the second rail member translates between an extended position relative to the fixed rail member and a retracted position relative to the fixed rail member; and an intermediate rail member disposed between the fixed rail member and the second rail member, where the intermediate rail member translates between an extended position relative to the fixed rail member and a retracted position relative to the fixed rail member, where in response to the second rail member translating to the retracted position, the first lifting element cooperates with the second lifting element to raise the intermediate rail member relative to the fixed rail member.
According to an example embodiment, the second rail member supports a payload, the slide may include at least one bearing disposed between the intermediate rail member and the second rail member, where in response to the second rail member being in the extended position relative to the fixed rail member, the at least one bearing bears at least a portion of the weight of the payload. In response to the second rail member being in the retracted position, the at least one bearing does not bear at least a portion of the weight of the payload. The second rail member may support a payload, and the slide may include at least one first bearing disposed between the fixed rail member and the intermediate rail member, and at least one second bearing disposed between the intermediate rail member and the second rail member. In response to the intermediate rail member being in the extended position relative to the fixed rail member, the at least one first bearing bears at least a portion of a weight of the payload, and in response to the second rail member being in the extended position relative to the fixed rail member, the at least one second bearing bears at least a portion of the weight of the payload.
According to an example embodiment, in response to the intermediate rail member being in the retracted position and the second rail member being in the retracted position, the at least one first bearing does not bear at least a portion of the weight of the payload and the at least one second bearing does not bear at least a portion of the weight of the payload. Embodiments may include a fastener coupled to the second rail member, where the fastener secures the second rail member to the first rail member in response to the second rail member being in the retracted position and the fastener being engaged with the fixed rail member. Engagement of the fastener with the fixed rail member may drive the second rail member into the retracted position. Embodiments may include a front member attached to the second rail member and a fastener extending through the front member, where the fastener is configured to engage the fixed rail member and secure the second rail member to the fixed rail member in the retracted position.
Embodiments provided herein disclose a method including: supporting a payload on a second rail member in response to the second rail member being in an extended position relative to a fixed rail member and an intermediate rail member between the fixed rail member and the second rail member, where the payload weight is transferred from the second rail member through the intermediate rail member to the fixed rail member through at least one bearing; and lifting the intermediate rail member relative to the fixed rail member in response to the second rail member being moved to a retracted position, where the payload weight ceases to be transferred from the second rail member to the intermediate rail member and the fixed rail member through the at least one bearing.
The lifting of the intermediate rail member relative to the fixed rail member is performed in response to a first lifting element of the fixed rail member engaging a second lifting element of the second rail member in response to the second rail member being secured in the retracted position. The first lifting element may include at least one of a pin, a wedge element, a conical element, a frustoconical element, a pyramidal element, a frusto-pyramidal element, and a recess, and where the second lifting element may be at least one of a pin, a wedge element, a conical element, a frustoconical element, a pyramidal element, a frusto-pyramidal element, and a recess. Lifting the intermediate rail member relative to the fixed rail in response to the second rail member being moved to the retracted position may include driving the second rail member to the retracted position with a fastener engaging the second rail member with the fixed rail member.
Having thus described embodiments of the invention in general terms, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, which are not necessarily drawn to scale, and wherein:
Some examples of the present disclosure will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which some, but not all examples of the present disclosure are shown. Indeed, the present disclosure may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the examples set forth herein; rather, these examples are provided so that this disclosure will satisfy applicable legal requirements. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout.
Systems, methods, and apparatuses are herein provided for slides and the implementation thereof. Systems, methods, and apparatuses in accordance with various embodiments provide several advantages to conventional slides, particularly in a dynamic environments in which the payload carried by the slides may experience dynamic loading and vibration. In this regard, some example embodiments provide a system for supporting a payload as the slide(s) translate between a retracted and an extended position, and more particularly, to systems, methods, and apparatuses for slides configured to support substantial payloads while experiencing vibration and shock forces in the retracted position without degradation of the slide mechanism.
While embodiments described herein refer generally to “slides” and “drawer slides”, embodiments may be used for any sliding extension mechanism that will benefit from example embodiments described herein. For example, slides may be used to translate a drawer, platform, or tray between a retracted and an extended position, or used to slide hardware such as a tool or device from a retracted, stowed position to an extended, accessible position. Further, as will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art, slides may be used to elongate a surface, such as a table or workbench to extend the workable surface, and various other applications in which slides may be beneficial.
Slides are a mechanism used to support a payload as it translates between a retracted position and an extended position. One common example is a kitchen drawer that is supported by slides as it moves between a stowed, retracted position and an extended, accessible position. Slides can be of a variety of types and configurations, such as semi-telescopic, where the allowed movement is significantly less than the slide length, commonly 50%-75% of the slide length.
Slides may include full-extension slides, where the allowed movement is approximately the same as the slide length, commonly 80% to 120% of the length of the slide. Such slides are typically 3-piece designs, as shown in
Beyond the two and three-piece slides of
As noted above, lower-cost and lower load capacity slides may use a low friction material between two elements of a two-piece slide, or include one or more wheels to engage a rail. Higher capacity and generally more expensive slides may use caged ball bearings to smoothly translate the slide members relative to one another even with heavy loads. Such bearings are often used with tool box drawers and filing cabinet drawers that may experience heavy loading.
While most slide applications move relatively light payloads in and out of a cabinet, some applications are much harder on the bearing mechanisms. Such embodiments may be found in industrial, transportation, and military applications. In such embodiments, a telescopic slide and its payload may be subject to high vibration and/or impact loads. The vibration and/or impact loads may damage bearing elements causing the telescopic slide to fail. Failure modes may range from loss of smooth translation between the retracted position and the extended position to a loss of ability to translate the slide and payload from the retracted position to the extended position.
Embodiments described herein provide a slide that eliminates the risk of vibration and impact loads from damaging the telescopic slide bearings while the slide is in the closed, retracted position through a lock-up mechanism. While the telescopic slide is extended, the operation and bearing implementation is as typical within slides described above. However, as the telescopic slide is translated to the retracted position, during the last few percent of travel before being fully retracted, the bearing raceways of the moving rail member(s) are raised to remove any substantial load from the bearings in the raceways. This is accomplished, in part, through modifications to the shapes of the slides.
Also shown in
While the illustrations of
While the aforementioned embodiments include a wedge element and a corresponding recess, a variety of configurations could be used to achieve the desired effects of unloading the bearings when the slides are seated in the retracted, closed position. Such configurations could include a pin and hole configuration, where a pin may be angled or tapered such that engagement of the hole into the pin causes movement of one relative to the other in a plane substantially orthogonal to a longitudinal axis of the pin. Each of these configurations serves to perform a lifting function to raise the rail member supporting the payload and disengage the bearings of the slide. As such, whether a wedge element and recess or tapered pin and hole, or two complementary angled surfaces, each relates to a lifting mechanism effected by cooperative surfaces or cooperative lifting elements. Further, while a threaded fastener 280 is illustrated and described to fully seat the slide in the retracted, closed position by engaging a threaded hole in the fixed rail member 210, this could be accomplished by a fastener in the front member 260 engaging a bracket or frame not part of the slide 200. Optionally, a door that closes over the slide when the payload and slide are in the retracted, closed position may be configured to drive the slide into a fully retracted and closed position. Further, embodiments may include a locking latch, a cam and follower mechanism, twist-lock fasteners, or the like to secure the slide in a retracted position whereby the bearings are unloaded.
The bottom illustration of
While the illustrated and described embodiments depict a raising of a rail member to unload the bearings, embodiments may fix the rails relative to one another in a vertical relationship when in the retracted position to avoid movement of the rail members relative to one another up or down. Embodiments illustrated in
Example embodiments illustrate the engagement between a wedge element and a corresponding recess; however, as will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art, the recess and wedge element (or conical/pyramidal element) may be transposed and still provide the same functionality. Further, according to example embodiments in which the slide includes one or more intermediate members (e.g., the slide includes three or more rail members), the lifting elements may be configured to lift the intermediate elements together with the payload bearing rail member. Optionally, separate lifting elements may be included for intermediate members to separately lift and maintain separation between intermediate rail members and the payload bearing rail member, for example.
Many modifications and other embodiments of the inventions set forth herein will come to mind to one skilled in the art to which these inventions pertain having the benefit of the teachings presented in the foregoing descriptions and the associated drawings. Therefore, it is to be understood that the embodiments of the invention are not to be limited to the specific embodiments disclosed and that modifications and other embodiments are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims. Moreover, although the foregoing descriptions and the associated drawings describe example embodiments in the context of certain example combinations of elements and/or functions, it should be appreciated that different combinations of elements and/or functions may be provided by alternative embodiments without departing from the scope of the appended claims. In this regard, for example, different combinations of elements and/or functions than those explicitly described above are also contemplated as may be set forth in some of the appended claims. Although specific terms are employed herein, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation.
