Abstract:
A sliding rail assembly for wire baskets is provided. The rail of the sliding rail assembly has an enlarged opening in the front so that a wire basket could be guided into the rail quickly and easily. A number of wheel members are installed along the bottom of the rail to provide both support and sliding functions to the wire basket, and much less abrasion and squeaking noise is generated when the wire basket is pushed or pulled along the rail. Specially designed blocking members are installed along the rail so as to prevent the wire basket from being pulled entirely out of the rail, or being pushed too far into the rail.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     (a) Technical Field of the Invention  
         [0002]     The present invention generally relates to storage devices, and more specifically to a sliding rail assembly for supporting wire baskets in a closet.  
         [0003]     (b) Description of the Prior Art  
         [0004]     Wire baskets are commonly found under kitchen units and in storage and tool closets for the organization of various items. As shown in  FIG. 8 , the top rim A 11  of a conventional wire basket A 1  is engaged by sliding on a supporting rail A 21  or within a sliding rail of a rail frame A 2 .  
         [0005]     Usually the supporting rail A 21  and the sliding rail of the rail frame A 2  are designed simply to support the wire basket A 1  and often found to have the following shortcomings. First, the top rim A 11  of the wire basket A 1 , the supporting rail A 21 , and the sliding rail of the rail frame A 2  are quickly abraded from the constant sliding movement of the wire basket A 1 . In addition, there are usually unpleasant loud squeaking noises when the wire basket A 1  is slid.  
         [0006]     Secondly, when the wire basket A 1  is loaded with heavy items, the sliding movement of the wire basket A 1  becomes more difficult from the increased friction. The heavy weight would also cause even more severe abrasion.  
         [0007]     Thirdly, as there is no positioning mechanism in the design of the conventional wire basket A 1 , the supporting rail A 21 , and the rail frame A 2 , the wire basket A 1  could be pulled entirely out or pushed too far into the rail, increasing its difficulty of use. Further more, if the wire basket A 1  is filled with sharp knives or heavy tools, pulling out the entire wire basket A 1  could pose a security hazard to the users, especially children.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0008]     The primary purpose of the present invention is to provide a sliding rail assembly to obviate the foregoing shortcomings of conventional approaches. The present invention could also be applied to any similar baskets, drawers, or bins.  
         [0009]     One of the major characteristics of the present invention is that the rail of the present invention has an enlarged opening in the front so that a wire basket could be guided into the rail quickly and easily.  
         [0010]     Another major characteristic of the present invention is that wheel members are installed along the bottom of the rail to provide both support and sliding functions to the wire basket. It is therefore much less abrasion and squeaking noise are generated when the wire basket is pushed or pulled along the rail. One additional wheel member is installed at the top of the rail in a front section to help guiding the wire basket gradually into a horizontal position.  
         [0011]     A third characteristic of the present invention is that specially designed blocking members are installed along the rail so as to prevent the wire basket from being pulled entirely out of the rail, or being pushed too far into the rail.  
         [0012]     The foregoing object and summary provide only a brief introduction to the present invention. To fully appreciate these and other objects of the present invention as well as the invention itself, all of which will become apparent to those skilled in the art, the following detailed description of the invention and the claims should be read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Throughout the specification and drawings identical reference numerals refer to identical or similar parts.  
         [0013]     Many other advantages and features of the present invention will become manifest to those versed in the art upon making reference to the detailed description and the accompanying sheets of drawings in which a preferred structural embodiment incorporating the principles of the present invention is shown by way of illustrative example.  
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0014]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of the sliding rail assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0015]      FIG. 2  is a cross-sectional view of the sliding rail assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0016]      FIG. 3  is a cross-sectional view of the blocking member according to an embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0017]      FIG. 4  is a front cross-sectional view of the through hole for fixing a blocking member in the front section of the rail according to an embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0018]      FIG. 5  is a front cross-sectional view of the through hole for fixing a blocking member in the middle section of the rail according to an embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0019]      FIG. 6  is a side view showing a wire basket rests in the rail according to an embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0020]      FIG. 7  is a side view showing a wire basket pulled out from the rail according to an embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0021]      FIG. 8  is a schematic diagram showing a wire basket supported by conventional supporting rail and sliding rail.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0022]     The following descriptions are of exemplary embodiments only, and are not intended to limit the scope, applicability or configuration of the invention in any way. Rather, the following description provides a convenient illustration for implementing exemplary embodiments of the invention. Various changes to the described embodiments may be made in the function and arrangement of the elements described without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.  
         [0023]     With reference to  FIG. 1 , a sliding rail assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention contains a rail  1 , a number of wheel members  2 , and a number of blocking members  3 . In real-life applications, just like conventional approaches, a pair of the rails  1  are installed in a symmetrical fashion at the same height on the left and right inner walls of a closet respectively (based on a user standing in front of the closet), with their channels  11  facing each other (this side of the rails  1  are referred to as the inner side of the rails  1 ). The channel  11  is arranged along the length of the rail  1  and has a “]” cross-sectional shape (whose opening faces toward the inner side of the rail  1 ). The top rim  41  of a wire basket  4  could be engaged by sliding within the channels  11  of the rails  1  and could rest on the bottom of the channel  11 , as also shown in  FIG. 2 .  
         [0024]     As illustrated in  FIG. 1 , the channel  11  of the rail  1  has an enlarged opening in the front end (the end closer to the user) so that the top rim  41  of the wire basket  4  could be guided into the channel  11  quickly. Along the channel  11 , there are a number of wheel members  2  for the support and sliding movement of the wire basket  4 . Then, each of the middle and front sections of the rail  1  has a blocking member  3  to stop and position the wire basket  4  when it is pulled out or pushed in. More details are illustrated in  FIGS. 6 and 7 .  
         [0025]     In the present embodiment, a wheel member  2  is installed at the top of the channel  11  within the front section of the channel  11 . This wheel member  2  helps to guide the wire basket  4  into a horizontal position after the wire basket  4  is pushed into the channel  11  through the enlarged opening for a short distance. The other wheel members  2  are installed at the bottom of the channel  11 . Each of the wheel members  2  contains a pin  21  having a semi-circular head and a cylindrical roller  22 . As shown in the enlarged view of  FIG. 1 , channel  11  has a number of semi-circular troughs (not numbered). Within each trough, there is a cylindrical axle  111  extended from the interior of the rail  1  along the trough&#39;s axial direction. The cylindrical roller  22  has a through hole  221  along its axial direction so that the cylindrical roller  22  could be slid around the cylindrical axle  111 . The pin  21  could then be inserted into a though hole  112  in the axial direction of the axle  111 . The trough has a larger opening at the inner side of the rail  1  and the semi-circular head of the pin  21  is sized such that it could fit perfectly into the opening of the trough and the semi-circular head is parallel to the inner side of the rail  1 . The trough and the axle  111  are arranged such that the cylindrical roller  22  is slightly above the bottom of the channel  11  to support the wire basket  4 &#39;s sliding movement.  
         [0026]     As shown in  FIGS. 1,3 ,  4 , and  5 , the blocking members  3  are installed in through holes  12  located at the top of the rail  1  within a front and middle sections of the rail  1 . As illustrated in  FIG. 3 , the blocking member  3  contains a rotating L-shape head  31  and a bayonet  32  having a number of legs  321 . When the blocking member  3  is screwed into the through hole  12  from the inner side of the rail  1 , a positioning block  121  at a location farther into the through hole  12  and on the inside wall of the through hole  12  would fit within a gap between two adjacent legs  321 . The feet of the legs  321  would lock to the outer side of the rail  1 . Around the rim of the through hole  12  at the inner side of the rail  1 , there is a confining groove  122  that extends about 90 degrees. In conjunction with a confining block  33  of the L-shape head  31  (located at the intersection of the L-shape head  31  and the bayonet  32 ), the rotation of the L-shape head  31  are confined within the span of the confining groove  122 . For the through hole  12  in the front section of the rail  1 , its confining groove  122  is arranged in the 3 o&#39;clock to 6 o&#39;clock range as shown in  FIG. 5 . For the through hole  12  in the middle section of the rail  1 , its confining groove  122  is arranged in the 6 o&#39;clock to 9 o&#39;clock range as shown in  FIG. 4 .  
         [0027]     As illustrated in  FIGS. 6 and 7 , when the L-shape heads  31  of the blocking members  3  are rotated to be perpendicular to the rail  1 , the front rim  41  of the wire basket  4  would be stopped by the blocking member  3  in the front so that the wire basket  4  couldn&#39;t be pushed further into the rail  1 . On the other hand, the rear rim  41  of the wire basket  4  would be stopped by the blocking member  3  in the middle so that the wire basket  4  couldn&#39;t be pulled further out from the rail  1 . On the L-shape heads  31  of the blocking members  3 , a magnetic element  34  could be installed at a location where it could contact the rim  41  of the wire basket  4 . In other words, the magnetic element  34  of the front blocking member  3  faces to the front while the magnetic element  34  of the middle blocking member  3  faces to the rear. The blocking members  3  therefore effectively prevent the wire basket  4  to be pulled entirely out or pushed too far into the rail  1 . The use of the magnetic elements  34  on the blocking members  3  helps to keep the wire basket  4  in its position (especially when it is empty) so that some slight shake wouldn&#39;t knock the wire basket  4  out of its position.  
         [0028]     When the wire basket  4  is slid initially into the rail  1  or when the wire basket  4  needs to be pulled out entirely, the L-shape heads  31  are rotated so that they are parallel to the rail  1  and thereby wouldn&#39;t get in the way. When the wire basket  4  is installed, the blocking members  3  are rotated so that their L-shape heads  31  are perpendicular to the rail  1  and their blocking function is restored.  
         [0029]     It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together may also find a useful application in other types of methods differing from the type described above.  
         [0030]     While certain novel features of this invention have been shown and described and are pointed out in the annexed claim, it is not intended to be limited to the details above, since it will be understood that various omissions, modifications, substitutions and changes in the forms and details of the device illustrated and in its operation can be made by those skilled in the art without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention.