Abstract:
A self-closing drawer slide assembly for installation between a drawer and the interior of a cabinet is disclosed in conjunction with a compatible mounting socket for mounting the rear of the cabinet member to the rear wall of the cabinet. The socket telescopically accepts the declining rear portion of the cabinet member and is telescopically adjustable to suit a range of variations in the length of the drawer slide or the length of the cabinet. The socket also has a range of lateral adjustment which is transferable into lateral adjustment for the drawer slides assembly once installed.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]     Not applicable.  
       STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT  
       [0002]     Not applicable.  
       FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0003]     The present invention relates to drawer slides for suspending drawers in a cabinet.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0004]     Stay closed drawer slides have become more and more prevalent in cabinet applications. Most cabinets are used in kitchen and bathroom environments, although not exclusively so, and since there is quite often a great deal of human traffic in these areas the need existed for a drawer that would tend to stay closed. One can appreciate the fact that open drawers can pose a hazard to an unsuspecting passer-by and it has been known that some drawers of the non-stay closed type would somewhat spontaneously open on their own accord because of loading effects, misalignment or possibly other causes.  
         [0005]     Stay closed drawer slides of the prior art are known using two members for the suspension of a drawer within a cabinet. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,564,248 (Grass) shows a two member drawer slide with portions of the drawer and cabinet members angled to promote a tendency for the slide assembly to stay in the closed position. In particular, the rear of the cabinet member has a declining angle for the flange that supports the roller on the drawer member. Similarly, in the front portion of the drawer member, there is an inclining angle imparted to the flange that rides on the cabinet member roller. The effect is that as the drawer member is moved from an open position to a closed position, and the angled areas in each member are reached simultaneously, the drawer member (and hence the drawer) is urged rearward through the effect of gravity acting to bias the drawer slide into rolling into the angled areas.  
         [0006]     A similar design is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,863,288 (Houck) which also has portions of the drawer member and cabinet member angled to promote a stay close bias. The prior art drawer slides have cabinet members that are mounted directly to the sidewalls of the cabinet. This has been an effective approach in fitting out a cabinet with stay close drawer slides, however the installation of the assembly does require a degree of precision in fitting the cabinet member to the cabinet and the drawer member to the drawer. If a mistake is made in measuring the components, or in screwing the slides in place, then the assembly may have the drawer front land on the cabinet frame, or the drawer may extend outwardly from the front of the cabinet. As a result, the assembly process is done with great care which reduces the production efficiency when using the prior art drawer slides.  
         [0007]     The observation has been made that efficient installation of stay close drawer slides in a production setting, such as a cabinet manufacturer, is a desirable objective that has not been fully achieved until now.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0008]     A new drawer slide assembly for suspending a drawer within a cabinet, comprises a stay close slide, employing a drawer member and a cabinet member, where the cabinet member is mounted into an adjustable socket that is fastened to the rear wall of the cabinet.  
         [0009]     The socket for the present invention is further comprised of two components, a socket base and a socket receiver, where the socket receiver compatibly receives the rear portion of the cabinet member. The socket receiver is adjustably mounted in the socket base which allows the cabinet member to be adjusted laterally.  
         [0010]     The socket receiver is constructed to accept the angled rear portion of the cabinet member, allowing the member to be retained in an orientation that facilitates installation of the slide into the socket and the socket onto the rear wall of the cabinet, all the while retaining the stay close function.  
         [0011]     The combination of the socket and drawer slide of the present invention also provides for an improved method of installation. The depth of the socket receiver admits to the installation of a range of cabinet members of different lengths. This allows the socket of the present invention to be used in various applications without having to resort to a sized socket system for each. In addition, it corrects for any minor deviations or errors in allowing for the given length of a slide.  
         [0012]     The socket receiver as adjustably installed within the socket base, also can automatically provide for lateral correction for a drawer slide installation.  
         [0013]     These and other attributes and benefits of the present invention are discussed in more detail below. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0014]      FIG. 1  shows a perspective view of a drawer slide and socket of the present invention in a closed position  
         [0015]      FIG. 2  shows another perspective view of a drawer slide and socket of the present invention from a position underneath the assembly.  
         [0016]      FIG. 3  is an end view of the drawer slide and socket assembly of the present invention.  
         [0017]      FIG. 4  discloses a side elevational view of a drawer slide and socket assembly of the present invention in the fully open position.  
         [0018]      FIG. 5  shows a side elevational view of the front portion of the drawer member for a drawer slide and socket assembly of the present invention.  
         [0019]      FIG. 6  is an end view of the socket base of the present invention.  
         [0020]      FIG. 7  is a side elevational view of the socket receiver of the present invention.  
         [0021]      FIG. 8  is a side elevational view of a socket receiver of the present invention.  
         [0022]      FIG. 9  is a side elevational view of a drawer member of the present invention.  
         [0023]      FIG. 10  is a side view of a drawer member of  FIG. 9  as seen from the bottom. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0024]     Drawer slides have steadily undergone an evolution from a time when they were nothing more than wooden guides that assisted in the opening and closing of a drawer. Consumer demands have resulted in drawer suspension systems that have improved capacity, that contain user-friendly features, provide for easy installation, while maintaining an economical position consistent with their increasing use in modern furniture products of many types.  
         [0025]     A class of drawer slides developed in the 1990&#39;s that were given the name “Euro-slides” and these slides had a fairly distinctive design. Euro-slides are typified by having two members that telescopically move between an open position and a closed position. These members are lightweight components, typically manufactured from steel, and are formed as channels that interconnect with each other and which support rollers in between.  
         [0026]     The movement of the Euro-slide is smoother than slides of early design, owing in part to the powder coatings that are commonly used for their finish, and also to the fact that their channels have flanges that are formed up to “capture” a roller body and cause the slide to move in a fairly defined and rigid pathway. This imparts a richness and feeling of quality to the slide products that was lacking in the previous designs.  
         [0027]     The two-membered slide design has continued to evolve and certainly one feature that has become a very important consideration for those who design cabinets is the inclusion of a stay close function in the drawer slide selection. The most common way the stay close function is obtained is for the rear portion of the cabinet member to be angled downwardly, and for the forward portion of the top flange of the drawer member to be angled upwardly. When the two members are moved from an open position to a closed position, the drawer member, riding on its roller, reaches the rear angled portion of the cabinet member at approximately the same time the front portion of the top flange of the drawer member meets up with the roller mounted on the cabinet member. When this occurs, the drawer member remains in a substantially horizontal alignment while it is lowered in relation to the cabinet member.  
         [0028]     The ramp-like effect of this movement is smooth, there is no abrupt transition, and it is completely initiated by gravity. Loadings in the drawer will assist in the effect although the weight of the drawer and associated hardware is typically sufficient to achieve the desired stay close effect. Reversing the process, i.e., opening the drawer, will cause the drawer member to ride back up into it former open orientation.  
         [0029]     Variations are known with respect to the depth of the angle used to gain the effect, although for the purposes of the present invention, these variations may be selected to obtain the desired effect and do not represent limitations of any kind.  
         [0030]     With the foregoing in mind, a drawer slide assembly  10  of the present invention is shown in  FIG. 1  in the closed position. This includes the socket  12 , the cabinet member  14  and the drawer member  16 . It is understood that the drawer slide assembly is shown for illustration purposes and that when installed, a pair of such slides are used on either side of a drawer to suspend the drawer within a carcass.  
         [0031]     The socket  12  includes the socket base  20  and the socket receiver  22 .  
         [0032]     The drawer member  16  includes the drawer flange  24 , drawer mounting holes  26 , drawer member sidewall  28 , drawer member top flange  30 , drawer member front  32  and rear  34 , the stay close flange  36 , drawer member roller  38 , and drawer member roller axle  40 .  
         [0033]     The cabinet member  14  includes the cabinet member front  42 , cabinet member rear  44 , cabinet member mount  46 , cabinet member mounting holes  48 , cabinet member top flange  50 , cabinet member bottom flange  52 , and the stay close portion  54 .  
         [0034]     Turning to  FIG. 2 , the underside of the drawer slide assembly can be seen with cabinet member roller  56  and the cabinet member front rest  58 .  FIG. 3  is an end view showing many of the same features that were revealed in  FIGS. 1 and 2 .  
         [0035]      FIG. 4  shows the drawer slide assembly of the present invention in the fully extended, or open, position. Towards the rear of the cabinet member  14 , an area is shown where the member is angled downwardly and is engaged with the socket receiver. The general vicinity where the angle commences is the stay close portion start  60 , then at a general mid-point is the stay close portion intermediate  62 , and towards the rear of the cabinet member is the stay close portion end  64 . Also viewable is the socket receiver flange  70 .  
         [0036]      FIG. 5  discloses an enhanced view of the drawer member front  32  which includes the flange incline  72  and the flange stop  74 .  
         [0037]      FIGS. 6, 7  and  8  show the components of the socket assembly, specifically the socket base  20  and the socket receiver  22 . The socket base includes socket mounting holes  80 , socket mounting flange  82 , socket platform  84 , socket recess  86 , retaining flanges  88 , retaining flange voids  90 , the bottom retainer member  92  and the bottom retainer member end  94 .  
         [0038]     The socket receiver  22  includes the receiver rib  100 , the upper guide  102 , lower guide  104 , receiver sidewall  106 , the receiver brace  108  and the receiver brace end  120 . Similar to the rear portion of the cabinet member, and in general correspondence with same, is the receiver stay close start  110 , the receiver stay close intermediate  112 , and the receiver stay close end  114 .  
         [0039]      FIGS. 9 and 10  show the drawer member of the present invention in more detail. In  FIG. 10  in particular, the out stops  130  and the rest zone  132  can be seen.  
         [0040]     The drawer slide assembly of the present invention allows a stay close feature to be included with a socket type installation. This is important since the ease of installation afforded by sockets reduces the manufacturing costs for cabinets. As in  FIG. 1 , the drawer slide assembly is oriented so the drawer member front and the cabinet member front are located near the opening in the cabinet where the drawer is located. The socket, and the rear portions of the cabinet member and when closed, the drawer member, are oriented towards the rear of the cabinet with the socket actually being fastened to the rear wall of the cabinet. In the chance that the particular cabinet construction does not have a rear wall, the socket may be fastened to a frame member.  
         [0041]     The drawer member moves between the open and closed position, carrying the drawer body (not shown) on the drawer flange. In the open position, the drawer member is located at a slightly higher elevation as compared to the cabinet member than when the drawer member is in the closed position. As may be appreciated, this results from the travel of the drawer member into the stay close regions on both the rear of the cabinet member and on the front of the drawer member. This occurs simultaneously in the preferred embodiment, with the object of keeping the drawer body as level as practical during opening and closing. Thus the angles for the stay closed portions (start, intermediate and end) for each of the cabinet member and the drawer member stay close flange are essentially equal. The degree of angle for each may be varied, with the result that the effects of the stay close bias will be correspondingly greater or weaker.  
         [0042]     The bias resulting from the angles employed, comes from the combined weight of the drawer, its contents, and the hardware. Since the drawer body weight is being transmitted to the drawer member roller and the stay close flange, then when the drawer reaches the “start” portion of the stay close areas the gravitational effect is to urge the drawer body to continue rolling to the end of its travel, to a fully closed position, without the application of any other force.  
         [0043]     Prior art assemblies using sockets for installation are not adaptable to the traditional self close drawer slide design. In those applications the cabinet members continue without any angles to the rear. In the present invention, the socket assembly compatibly receives the cabinet member of a self close type, and retains lateral and length-wise adjustability.  
         [0044]     The cabinet member of the present invention is inserted into the socket receiver. The length of the cabinet member (and the drawer slide assembly) can vary somewhat in length in the preferred embodiment owing to the length of the socket receiver. The cabinet member rear may engage the socket receiver for a small distance or may be sized to be fitted for the whole length of the socket receiver. Insertion is easily accomplished by aligning the cabinet member rear between the upper and lower guides in the socket receiver and pressing the member in place. The guides (and the whole socket assembly) are preferentially manufactured from a plastic resin and some elastic engagement occurs between the guides and the cabinet member.  
         [0045]     The socket receiver is itself fitted into the socket base in a way where the socket receiver rib is allowed to ride within the socket base recess. The socket receiver flange is correspondingly retained by the retaining flanges which also have some elastic engagement. This elastic engagement is enhanced somewhat by the retaining flange voids that reduce the stiffness of the retaining flanges.  
         [0046]     The socket receiver is allowed to travel laterally within a defined space in the socket base. Upon insertion of the socket receiver in the socket base, the socket receiver rib depressed the bottom retainer member and the bottom retainer member end, until the rib clears the end and the bottom retainer member returns to it normal alignment. The socket receiver then can traverse the lateral pathway defined by the recess and bounded by the bottom retainer member end on one side and the body of the socket base platform on the other. The actual amount of travel that is allowed is a matter of selection, however, the typically case does not require much, usually in the range of ¼″ to ½″. When the drawer slide assembly is installed in the socket, any variances in the width dimensions of the cabinet and/or the drawer body are automatically taken up by the socket which allows the cabinet member to follow the path of the drawer member. This is important with captive roller slides since their pathway is inflexible to a point and without the provision for some lateral adjustability there would be potential for doing damage to the drawer slide members and/or the cabinet and drawer.  
         [0047]     In contrast to the methods for installing the stay close drawer slides of the prior art, the present invention allows for a quick and highly efficient fitting of the drawer slide assembly to the cabinet. The cabinet member front can be quickly aligned with the face frame or opening in the cabinet. The cabinet member front is positioned height-wise by means of the cabinet member front rest which sits onto the frame member of a cabinet and elevates the cabinet member to the proper desired height for installation. Using the mounting holes, the cabinet member is tacked in using screws, staples or any other competent fastener, and the rear portion of the cabinet member, in the socket, is located in the proximity of the desired located for mounting. Making sure the cabinet member is level, the socket is fastened to the rear wall of the cabinet by using screws, staples or other fasteners through the socket mounting holes and into the rear cabinet wall. The drawer member, being attached to the drawer, is inserted into the cabinet member and upon opening and closing the lateral position of the cabinet member is adjusted to suit the individual installation.  
         [0048]     It may be apparent, however, the combined length of the cabinet member and socket are adjusted by adjusting the telescopic engagement of the two accordingly. Thus variances can be accommodated without the resort to seeking special sized slide components or by having to shim or rework the cabinet.  
         [0049]     In those applications where the stay close feature is not required or desired, the socket assembly of the present invention may still be used. The same preferred cabinet member is necessary to compatibly engage the socket, however the drawer member may be shortened to a degree where it does not traverse into the rear portion of the cabinet member that has the stay closed architecture. The front of such a drawer member would also be modified to provide for non-stay close functionality as well. The advantage in such an application would come from the reduction of the number of component parts that may be needed for a production operation.  
         [0050]     Other attributes may be considered as additional features for the preferred embodiment. The stopping function to halt the travel of the drawer and drawer slide assembly during opening may be accomplished by the placement of the out stops on the drawer member top flange in the pathway of the cabinet member roller. When the drawer member (and drawer) reaches the out stops, the roller will traverse the first stop and then will stop at the second which is larger than the first. Since the roller is captive within the Euro-style channel member, the size of the stop doesn&#39;t have to be too great to obstruct the passage of the roller beyond the rest zone located in between the out stops. The tendency of the roller is to stay in the rest zone, leaving the drawer member (and drawer) in the fully extended position during this time. This feature is essentially the reverse function as compared to the stay close, and could be viewed as a stay open.  
         [0051]     To reverse the opening procedure it merely takes a slight amount of rearward pressure on the drawer member to urge the drawer member top flange over the first out stop and then towards the rear of the cabinet.  
         [0052]     The cabinet member end stops can be used to stop the rear travel of the drawer member as it reaches the end of its travel. In this instance, it is the drawer member roller that contacts a stop feature that is located in the channel member. As viewed in the drawings ( FIG. 4 ) the cabinet end stops are formed up from adjacent flange material and are shaped to conform to the radius of the drawer member roller. Thus when the roller meets the cabinet end stops it will make contact across a substantial portion of the roller body.  
         [0053]     The cabinet end stop is useful when the drawer member is comparatively sized the same length as the cabinet member. In some situations, such as the use of a non-stay close drawer slide, the drawer member will be shorter in length than the corresponding cabinet member. It is possible to use the drawer front in a situation such as this to act as an end stop by having the drawer front contact the frame around the drawer opening in which the drawer is suspended. There are some drawbacks to this since the drawer front is many times made from wood and repeated stopping action via this method can result in the cracking and/or fracture of the drawer front.  
         [0054]     Preferentially the socket assembly is fabricated from plastic injectable resins. The particular selection of a resin is up to one skilled in the art. The sockets could be fabricated from metal, such as die cast or sintered metal, but the corresponding design would have to accommodate the characteristics of the metal used to ensure the appropriate amount of elastic deformation where needed.  
         [0055]     The embodiment and variations discussed above are meant to be illustrative of the way the invention may be practiced and are not intended to restrict or limit the scope of the invention in any way.