Bottom mounted drawer slide assembly

The present invention is directed to improvements in bottom mounted drawer slide assemblies and pertains more particularly to an assembly adapted to provide a secure connection between the drawer channel component of the assembly and drawers of a wide variety of depths.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The present invention is in the field of drawer slides and more 
particularly in the field of bottom mounted drawer slides, i.e. drawer 
slides wherein a first channel section is secured in horizontal position 
to a cabinet and a second channel section, longitudinally movably mounted 
to the first mentioned channel, is fixed to the undersurface of the 
drawer. 
2. The Prior Art 
Conventional slide assemblies intended for bottom mounting comprise a pair 
of telescopically interconnected U-shaped channel sections having 
antifriction means, such as ball bearings and the like, interposed 
therebetween to enable relative sliding movement between the channel 
components. The cabinet mounted or fixed component is typically fixed in 
position by securing the innermost end of the channel to a bracket or like 
fixture, which is in turn fastened to a vertical component of the cabinet. 
The forward end of the cabinet channel is fastened to a horizontal 
component of the cabinet adjacent the front or outer end of the drawer 
opening. 
Mounting of the cabinet channel normally presents no particular problem 
insofar as effecting a rigid connection of the channel to the cabinet 
since the shell of the cabinet is generally of substantial structural 
strength, thereby permitting fasteners such as screws to be securely 
anchored therein. 
Mounting of the moving channel (hereafter the drawer channel) to the drawer 
presents a different and more difficult problem. 
Typically, a drawer, such as a wooden drawer, is provided with substantial 
front, rear and side panels or walls defining a rectangular enclosure. The 
bottom of the drawer, however, is normally comprised of a thin sheet of 
fiberboard or wood, the margins of which are encompassed within a 
continuous groove formed on the inner faces of the walls forming the 
rectangular enclosure. Thus, it will be perceived that due to the 
relatively low structural strength of the drawer bottom a secure 
connection between the drawer channel and the drawer bottom cannot 
normally be effected. While it is possible to effect a connection, 
particularly at the rear of the drawer, by running a screw or like 
fastener upwardly from the drawer channel and into the rear panel or wall 
of the drawer, such practice is disadvntageous in that the screw must be 
anchored in the end grain of the panel which, as is known, provides at 
best an insecure connection. Additionally, the application of a screw or 
the like to the end grain of a drawer panel is likely to induce cracking 
of the panel. 
Where drawer slides of the type described are intended for use with mass 
produced drawers, i.e. where the distance between the rear surface of the 
front panel of the drawer and the rear surface of the rear panel of the 
drawer, is maintained within close tolerances, it is a simple matter to 
provide a stock or standardized drawer channel having vertically directed, 
integrally fixed brackets struck from the metallic material of the 
channel, spacing of the brackets being coordinated with the distance 
between the front and rear panels in such manner that the front face of 
the forward bracket will lie adjacent the rear face of the front panel of 
the drawer when the front face of the rear bracket lies against the rear 
face of the rear panel of the drawer. 
It will be readily recognized that a stock construction as described is not 
adaptable for attachment to drawers of a variety of depths. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention may be summarized as directed to improvements in 
drawer slide assemblies and particularly to bottom mounted drawer slide 
assemblies having novel mounting means rendering the same adaptable for 
connection to drawers of a wide variety of depths. 
More particularly, the mounting means of the drawer slide assembly in 
accordance with the invention enables a secure connection to be effected 
between the drawer channel and drawers whose depths are not maintained 
within close tolerances without resort to fastening into the end grain of 
the rear panel of the drawers. 
The slide assembly of the invention is characterized in the provision of a 
drawer channel having a plurality of longitudinally displaced mounting 
apertures adjacent the rear end of the channel. 
A mounting bracket is provided which includes an attachment finger adapted 
to be passed through any one of the selected mounting apertures. The 
bracket includes forward and rearward attachment faces which, in the 
mounted position of the bracket to the channel, selectively may be engaged 
against the rear panel of the drawer. 
By providing an aperture in the bracket, a fastener such as a screw may be 
run into the rear panel, providing a cross grain and, consequently, a 
secure connection between the bracket and the rear panel, at the same time 
locking the bracket to the channel. 
A further characterizing feature of the invention resides in offsetting the 
front and rear attachment surfaces of the bracket by a distance which is 
coordinated with the longitudinal spacing and longitudinal extent of the 
mounting apertures, such that even if the depth of the drawer is such as 
to lie between the longitudinal spacings of the mounting apertures, a firm 
connection may be afforded by selecting either the front or the rear 
attachment surface of the bracket as the surface disposed against the rear 
panel of the drawer. 
It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide an improved bottom 
mounted drawer slide assembly. 
It is a further object of the invention to provide a drawer slide assembly 
of the type described which permits a secure cross grain connection to be 
effected between the rear panel of the drawer and the drawer channel 
throughout a wide range of drawer depths. 
Still a further object of the invention is the provision of an assembly of 
the type described wherein the desirable features aforesaid are provided 
without significant weakening of the structural strength of the drawer 
channel.

Turning now to the drawings, there is shown in FIG. 1, by way of 
illustration, a bottom mounted drawer slide assembly, the drawer being in 
the closed position. The slide assembly 10 includes a cabinet mounted 
channel 11 and a drawer mounted channel 12. 
The cabinet mounted channel 11 includes a rear end portion 13 supported on 
a bracket 14 made fast, as by screws 15, to a vertical wall portion 16 of 
the cabinet shell surrounding the drawer. The forward end 17 of the 
cabinet channel 11 may be secured to a forwardmost cabinet wall 18 
defining the drawer opening as by an attachment screw 19. Stop flange 20 
rests against the inner surface of the wall 18. 
The bracket 14, which may be formed of nylon or like polymeric material, 
includes a horizontally directed plug 21 which extends into the body of 
the cabinet channel 11. A set screw, e.g. 22, threaded into a vertically 
directed aperture 23 in the plug 21 may be actuated to clamp the web 
portion 24 of the cabinet channel against a support ledge portion 25 of 
the bracket, securely to position the rear end of the cabinet channel. 
Preferably the plug 21 is of smaller transverse cross sectional dimension 
than the upstanding legs 26, 26 of the generally U-shaped cabinet channel 
so as to permit a degree of lateral adjustability of the rear end of the 
channel relative to the bracket, the set screw 22 locking the parts in a 
desired orientation when the adjustment has been effected. 
It is to be noted that although the forward end of the cabinet channel is 
mounted to the front wall 18 as by a wood screw 19 driven into the end 
grain of the wall, since there are substantially no stresses exerted which 
might tend to unseat the forward end of the channel 11 from the cabinet, 
an end grain connection is adequate. 
A principal advance of the present invention resides in the manner in which 
the drawer member D is connected to the drawer channel 12 since such 
connection provides substantially greater difficulties, due to the 
constant movements to which the drawer is subjected. 
The drawer D includes a front panel 27 and a rear panel 28 connected by 
side panels 29, 30. The noted panels 27 to 30, as is typical, are provided 
with a peripheral groove 31 within which is contained the margins of the 
thin fiber or wood drawer bottom 32. 
The drawer channel 12, which is generally in the shape of an inverted U, 
includes a base or web portion 33 and depending legs 34, 34. As best seen 
from FIG. 3 and as is conventional, a series of balls B normally carried 
in a retainer is entrapped between the complemental legs 26, 34 of the 
respective channels 11 and 12 to facilitate the longitudinal relative 
telescoping movement between the channels. 
The forward end 35 of the drawer channel 12 may include a depending fixed 
mounting flange 36 adapted to abut against the rear surface of the front 
panel 27 of the drawer and to be secured thereto as by wood screw 37. 
Connection of the drawer channel to the rear panel 28 is effected by a 
mounting assembly next to be described and forming a principal advance of 
the present invention. 
It will be readily recognized that if the distance between the rear surface 
of the panels 27 and 28 were fixed within minimal tolerances, it would be 
possible merely to provide an upstanding flange similar to flange 36 
adjacent the rear end of the drawer slide and run a wood screw through the 
flange into the cross grain of the rear panel, whereby the channel 12 
would be securely connected to the drawer. However, by virtue of the 
variability inherent in the fabrication of wooden drawers and, further, 
since it is highly desirable to provide a single stock slide assembly 
adaptable for use with drawers of a variety of depths, it is of especial 
advantage to fabricate a slide assembly which may be depthwisely adjusted 
for use with drawers whose depths fall within a wide range. Heretofore 
this result has been achieved by merely providing a multiplicity of 
closely spaced holes in the web of the drawer channel and running a wood 
screw through that hole which is most closely aligned with the centerline 
of the rear panel. 
As previously noted, however, such construction is undesirable in that it 
necessitates an end grain anchoring of the screw, which anchorage, in the 
case of the drawer member, rapidly weakens with use. Moreover, if the 
selected aperture for reception of the screw is displaced significantly to 
one or the other side of the centerline, there is the possibility that 
application of the screw will crack the rear panel. 
In accordance with the invention thereof and to effect the connection at 
the rear end of the drawer channel, the channel is provided with a 
multiplicity of through-going mounting apertures 38. The apertures are 
longitudinally offset from each other by selected increments, e.g. 1/4" 
intervals. Preferably but not necessarily, in order not to compromise the 
rigidity of the channel, alternate apertures 38 may be disposed to 
opposite sides of the longitudinal centerline of the drawer channel. The 
channel, adjacent the respective apertures 38, may be marked with depth 
indicating indicia, e.g. 39. 
A mounting bracket 40 is provided for effecting connection between the 
channel 12 and the rear panel 28 of the drawer. The mounting bracket, 
which is generally L-shaped in vertical section, includes an attachment 
finger 41 and an upstanding leg portion 42. The included angle between the 
finger 41 and leg 42 is just under 90.degree., i.e. in the area of 
85.degree.. 
Leg portion 42 includes a through-going attachment aperture 43. The leg 42 
includes a front attachment surface 44 and a rear attachment surface 45. 
The rear attachment surface 45 is defined by the end portions 46, 47 of a 
pair of vertically directed stop abutments 48, 49. 
As will be seen by comparing FIGS. 4 and 5, the mounting bracket 40 may be 
inserted into any selected mounting aperture 38 in either of two 
positions, namely, in the position of FIG. 4 wherein the attachment 
surface 44 is nearest to and faces the flange 36, or the position shown in 
FIG. 5 wherein the rear attachment surface 45 defined by portions 46, 47 
face toward the said flange. The spacing or offset in the horizontal plane 
of the forward and rearward attachment surfaces 44, 45 is coordinated with 
the longitudinal displacement of adjacent mounting apertures and the 
longitudinal extent of such apertures in such manner that a virtually 
infinite relative spacing may be achieved between the flange 36 and the 
selected position of the mounting bracket. 
Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5 by way of example, the mounting bracket 40, if 
inserted in the rearmost aperture 38 and with finger 41 directed toward 
the flange 36, will have the forward attachment surface 44 spaced a 
preselected longitudinal distance from the flange. This condition is shown 
in FIG. 4. 
If, however, the attachment face 44 in such position is spaced a 
significant distance rearwardly of the rearmost surface of rear panel 28, 
it is merely necessary to reinsert the mounting bracket in the position 
shown in FIG. 5, whereby the attachment surface 45 is nearest the flange 
36. By virtue of the longitudinal extent of the stop abutments 48, 49 it 
will be perceived that when the bracket is mounted as shown in FIG. 5, the 
mounting surface 45 is closer to the flange 36 by a distance d. 
An additional degree of adjustability is achieved by the fact that the 
mounting bracket need not be in an extreme longitudinal limiting position 
within the apertures 38. After the connection is effected to the rear 
panel, the bracket may lie in an intermediate position within the aperture 
38, displaced from the forward and rearward ends of the apertures by a 
distance d without loss of rigidity since portions of the finger 41 will 
still underlie the channel in such intermediate positions. 
Attachment of the mounting bracket 40 to the rear panel 28 of the drawer is 
effected by a horizontally directed screw 50 driven in the cross grain of 
the panel 28. 
Further, in the preferred embodiment wherein the included angle between leg 
42 and finger 41 is slightly less than 90.degree., a clamping action is 
achieved between the finger 41 and undersurface of web portion 33 of the 
drawer channel. This clamping action results from the tightening of the 
attachment screw 50 which tends to conform the bracket to the right 
angular relation existing between the wall 28 of the drawer and the web 
33. 
From the foregoing it will be perceived that there is provided a bottom 
mounted drawer slide assembly wherein a secure connection between the 
drawer slide and the drawer may be effected to drawers of any of a wide 
range of depths. The connection does not require the attachment screw to 
be driven into the end grain of the rear panel but, rather, permits the 
more secure cross grain connection. 
By providing a mounting bracket insertible into any of a series of 
longitudinally spaced mounting apertures, a high degree of depthwise 
adaptability is permitted. Moreover, by providing longitudinally offset 
forward and rearward surfaces on the bracket and enabling the bracket to 
be secured to the channel with either of the two said surfaces nearest the 
front panel of the drawer, the versatility of the device is further 
increased. 
By providing a structure in which the mounting bracket is permitted a 
limited degree of movement even within the mounting apertures, an infinite 
variety of drawer depths within a given range may be accommodated. Thus, 
even if the tolerances of a given batch of drawers should vary, a secure 
connection of drawer to channel is assured, particularly in the light of 
the clamping action aforesaid. 
As will be obvious to those skilled in the art and apprised of the instant 
disclosure, numerous variations in detail of the illustrated embodiment 
may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. 
Accordingly, the invention is to be broadly construed within the scope of 
the appended claims.