Pull-out guide fitting for drawers

A pull-out guide fitting for a drawer includes a drawer-side pull-out rail and a furniture carcass-side support rail, and possibly a middle rail disposed between the pull-out rail and the support rail. The support rail is mounted by support structure or coupling members on a support bracket that in turn is mounted on a carcass side panel. At the rear of the support bracket is a hook under which the support rail is insertable. The support rail is held in the inserted position by a locking lever that is supported on or in the support rail. The locking lever is acted upon by a spring to pivot to a locked position abutting against a detent edge of the support bracket.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The invention relates to a pull-out guide assembly or fitting for a drawer, 
and including one drawer-side pull-out rail and one furniture wall or 
carcass-side support rail to be employed on either side of the drawer, and 
preferably in each case one middle rail disposed between the pull-out rail 
and the support rail. The support rail is supported with the aid of 
coupling members on a support bracket or brackets which in turn is mounted 
on a respective furniture or carcass side panel. Rear ends of the support 
brackets have hooks under which the support rails are insertable. The 
support rails are held in an inserted position by locking levers that are 
pivotably supported on the support rails and that abut against detect 
edges of the support brackets. 
Generally it is standard practice, when manufacturing an article of 
furniture, to fasten the support rails of the pull-out guide fittings to 
furniture carcass side panels and to fasten the pull-out rails to the 
drawer. In many cases, however, it is desirable for the rails of the 
pull-out guide fitting to be incapable of being separated while in use, so 
that it is impossible to separate the rails for assembly. Furthermore, it 
is desirable for the furniture parts, in particular the side panels, to be 
easy to stack and package. A precondition for this is that there are no 
projecting, or only slightly projecting, parts assembled on the side 
panels of the article of furniture. 
AT-PS 379 497 discloses a pull-out guide fitting for a drawer in which the 
support rail is fastened on a support bracket which is fastened to the 
side panel of the article of furniture. As a result, the entire pull-out 
guide fitting on each side of the drawer, including pull-out rail, running 
carriage and support rail, may be assembled on the drawer and is attached 
or anchored, on insertion of the drawer into the carcass of the article of 
furniture, on the respective support bracket. A drawback of such known 
pull-out guide fitting is that inexact manufacture may lead to excessive 
play between the support rails and the support brackets, which may affect 
the fit and smooth running or movement of the drawer. Furthermore, there 
are no means which prevent the drawer from being lifted off from the 
support brackets. 
U.S. Pat. No. 4,423,914 discloses a pull-out guide fitting, in which the 
pull-out rails are anchored on respective support brackets of the drawer. 
Longitudinal displacement of the pull-out rails is prevented by locking 
levers. The complete pull-out guide fitting cannot however be preassembled 
on the drawer prior to assembly of the article of furniture. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The object of the invention is to provide an improved pull-out guide 
fitting wherein the support rail, which is mounted on the drawer via the 
pull-out rail prior to mounting or anchoring of the drawer in the article 
of furniture, is held snugly on the support bracket, even with standard 
manufacturing tolerances by connection structure. The pull-out guide 
fitting according to the invention is particularly suitable for fully 
extendable drawers, i.e. drawers in which a so-called middle rail is 
disposed between each support rail and the corresponding pull-out rail. 
Such object is achieved according to the invention in that the connection 
structure includes a locking lever that is acted upon by a spring and is 
supported in a housing fastened to or in the support rail and that there 
is disposed in the housing a catch formed by a horizontally displaceable 
ball or detent pin which acted upon by a spring and locks into a snap-in 
groove or the like formed in the support bracket. 
The locking lever advantageously is provided with steps, one of which abuts 
against a detent edge, thereby allowing improved compensation of assembly 
tolerances. The drawer is prevented from unintentionally being lifted off 
from the support brackets by the provision in the housings of the 
horizontally displaceable balls or detent pins that are acted upon by the 
springs and that lock into the snap-in grooves or the like formed in the 
support brackets. However, the drawer may be pulled upwardly with the 
support rails and hence released from the support brackets without damage 
to the catches. 
For assembly, the drawer with the pull-out guide fittings is placed onto 
the support brackets and is pushed rearwardly until the rear ends of the 
support rails lock in under hooks of the support brackets. As soon as each 
locking lever is located adjacent a respective edge, the lever is moved by 
its spring into a pivoted locking position, thereby locking the support 
rail against axial displacement. Such spring may be a spiral spring or a 
pressure spring.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
In the following, reference is made to only one side of a drawer. The other 
side is identical in construction. As shown in FIGS. 1a and 1b, each 
pull-out guide fitting or assembly includes a pull-out rail 9, a middle 
rail 8 and a support or carcass rail 7 or 12. Running carriages 15 are 
supported between the support rails 7, 12 and the middle rails 8 and the 
pull-out rails 9 (FIGS. 2 and 3). The running carriages 15 are 
manufactured according to conventional prior art arrangements and are not 
shown in detail in the drawings. The rails 7, 8, 9, 12 are inserted into 
respective drawer side panels 5, while support brackets 6, 11 are fastened 
to respective furniture or carcass side panels 1. In the drawings, a 
drawer base or bottom is designated 3, a drawer back panel 4 and a drawer 
front panel 3. 
The following is a description of the embodiment of FIG. 1a, and is made 
with reference to FIGS. 4 to 9. Fastened to the underside of the support 
rail 7, close to its front end, is a housing 10. Fastening may be effected 
by screws, rivets or adhesive. Supported in the housing 10 is a locking or 
pivot lever 17, which is pivotable about a vertical axis 18. The lever 17 
is acted upon by a first spring 19 and is urged thereby to pivot about 
axis 18 to move the end of a first lever arm 17' away from and out of 
housing 10. An opposite or second lever arm 17" has a stop 28 urged to 
abut against a wall 29 of housing 10 to prevent the lever 17 from 
springing too far outwardly, i.e. to limit the extent of pivoting of lever 
17. 
The forward or outer end of the first lever arm 17' of the lever 17 is 
provided with steps 30 one of which, in the locked or assembled position, 
abut against a detent edge 31 of a recess 35 formed in the support bracket 
6. FIG. 6 shows the lever 17 in its locked position. Situated in the 
housing 10 is a cylindrical opening 32 in which a catch member, e.g. a 
ball 20, is supported. The ball 20 is acted upon and pressed outwardly by 
a helical second spring 21. The cylindrical opening 32 has at the front 
thereof, i.e. at the release side of the rocking lever 17 or at the end to 
which ball 20 is urged, a taper 33 to prevent the ball 20 from falling out 
of the housing 10. In the assembled position, the ball 20 extends into a 
catch, e.g. a groove 34, in the support bracket 6. The support bracket 6 
is provided at the rear thereof with a hook 16 (FIG. 2). 
To assemble the drawer and the pull-out guide fitting, the drawer with the 
support rails 7 is placed onto the support brackets 6. The drawer with the 
support rails 7 is then pushed rearwardly until the rear ends of 
horizontal webs of the support rails 7 are pushed under the hooks 16. In 
such position, the lever 17 lies adjacent to the recess 35 formed, e.g. by 
punching, in a side web 6' of the support bracket 6. Lever 17 is pressed 
by the helical spring 20 into the recess 35 so as to cause a step 30 to 
abut against the detent edge 31 of the recess 35. The support rails 7 are 
therefore locked in the axial direction onto the support brackets 6. The 
spring 19 is sufficiently strong to prevent unintentional displacement of 
the support rails 7 relative to brackets. Because of the balls 20, which 
are pressed by the springs 21 into the grooves 34, it is also impossible 
for the support rails 7 to be lifted easily from the support brackets 6. 
If the support rails 7 are to be lifted from the support brackets 6, the 
support rails are pressed upwardly until the pressure of the pressure 
springs 21 is overcome. The front ends of the support rails 7 are thereby 
released. 
In the embodiment of FIG. 1b, which is shown in greater detail in FIGS. 10 
to 14, a housing 22 is supported directly in the support rail 12. Once 
again, a locking or pivot lever 23 is supported on an axis 24 in the 
housing 22 and is acted upon by a helical spring 25. The lever 23 has 
steps 36. 
Assembly of the pull-out guide fittings on the support brackets 11 is 
effected in a manner identical to that of the previously described 
embodiment. The support rails 12 are placed onto horizontal webs of the 
support brackets 11 and pushed rearwardly until rear ends of rails 12 come 
to lie under the hooks 16. In such position, the lever 23 lies directly 
adjacent a detent edge 37 formed by a tab 38 punched out of a horizontal 
web of the support bracket 11. The tab 38 additionally has a groove 39. In 
the housing 22 is, instead of ball 20, a pin 26 with a conical tip. The 
pin 26 is acted upon by a pressure spring 27 and (when the support rail 12 
is assembled) is pressed outwardly, i.e. towards the tab 38 and into the 
groove 39. For more precise positioning of the support rail 12, rail 12 is 
provided with a downwardly directed tab 40 which, when the support rail 12 
is assembled, projects into a punched recess 41 in a horizontal web of the 
support bracket 11. The pin 26 prevents the support rail 12 from being 
unintentionally lifted from the support bracket 11. 
For removal of the pull-out guide fittings, the support rails 12 are 
pressed upwardly against the action of the springs 27 until the front ends 
of the support rails 12 are released. This is effected without damage to 
the catches formed on the pins 26, the springs 27 and the grooves 39. 
In this embodiment also the rocking lever is in the form of a two-armed 
lever including first and second lever arms 23', 23" with lever arm 23" 
having a stop face 42 which, when the support rail 12 is not assembled, 
prevents excessive pivoting or release of the lever 23.