Patent Publication Number: US-2023160407-A1

Title: Fitting

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application claims the priority, under 35 U.S.C. § 119, of German Patent Application DE 20 2021 003 572.9, filed Nov. 22, 2021; the prior application is herewith incorporated by reference in its entirety. 
     FIELD AND BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention relates to a fitting, in particular for furniture, having perforations for screwing the fitting to a component. 
     Items of furniture are frequently delivered in a disassembled state to an end user who then has to finish building the item of furniture. A large number of fittings, for example guide rails for drawers or the like, are generally required to do that. Various screws, which generally have to be painstakingly picked out from a lot of small parts, are required to fasten the fittings to parts of items of furniture. It is often found in that case that there are not enough of the screws that are needed or that they are missing altogether. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide a fitting, which overcomes the hereinafore-mentioned disadvantages of the heretofore-known fittings of this general type. 
     With the foregoing and other objects in view there is provided, in accordance with the invention, a fitting, in particular for furniture, having perforations for screwing it to a component, and self-tapping screws being inserted and retained, premounted, in the perforations in such a way that the screw tips, protruding from the fitting, can be inserted into bores of the component. 
     In the case of such a fitting, it is ensured initially in the factory that the correct screws are inserted into the correct perforations. The end customer no longer has to look for the correct screws. Instead, he or she can screw on the fitting directly, there being no complicated placing of screws on the fitting and furthermore precise positioning and prefixing are ensured by the protruding screw tips in corresponding bores in the component. 
     It is important to retain the screw in the perforation for the fitting according to the invention. In order to ensure that it is retained, it is provided that a perforation has a circular basic shape from which protrude segments or fingers which face radially inward and retain the tapping thread of a screw. 
     In addition to the screw being retained securely, it is also centered inside the perforation if three segments or fingers are provided with a 120° spacing. 
     In a further embodiment of the fitting according to the invention, it is provided that the diameter of a screw section between the head and the tapping thread corresponds to the diameter of the basic shape. This screw section can thus enter the perforation without any problems. 
     If it is furthermore provided that the axial length of the screw section corresponds to the material thickness of the fitting around the perforation, this screw section enters completely into the perforation and the section provided with the tapping thread protrudes completely from the fitting. 
     If the material thickness of the fitting is insufficient for this, it is furthermore provided that a ring, which forms a bearing surface for the underside of the screw head, protrudes from the fitting, around the perforation. 
     The fitting preferably takes the form of a drawer guide profile. In the case of such a fitting, a pair of perforations with premounted screws is provided at the end. It is furthermore provided that the perforations are disposed in a line in the longitudinal extent of the fitting. By virtue of these measures, such a fitting can be used in a versatile way with different items of furniture. 
     Such a fitting, which takes the form of a drawer guide profile, is further explained with the aid of the drawings. 
     Other features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in the appended claims. 
     Although the invention is illustrated and described herein as embodied in a fitting, it is nevertheless not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention and within the scope and range of equivalents of the claims. 
     The construction and method of operation of the invention, however, together with additional objects and advantages thereof will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES 
         FIG.  1    is a diagrammatic, exploded, perspective view of the fitting; 
         FIG.  2    is a perspective view according to  FIG.  1    with inserted screws; 
         FIG.  3    is an enlarged illustration of an inserted screw; 
         FIG.  4    is a plan view of a pair of perforations; and 
         FIG.  5    is a cross-sectional view through a perforation with a screw inserted. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Referring now to the figures of the drawings in detail and first, particularly, to  FIG.  1    thereof, there is seen a drawer guide profile which is reproduced by way of example for a fitting  1  according to the invention. A side wall  2  of the fitting  1  is to be fixed to a component (not illustrated) of an item of furniture. It is fixed with screws  3 ,  4  which pass through perforations  5 ,  6  and enter into corresponding bores of the component of the item of furniture. 
     In the exemplary embodiment of the fitting  1 , a pair of perforations  5 ,  7 ;  6 ,  8  is provided at each end along a line in the longitudinal extent of the fitting  1 . A wide range of fastening options for the fitting  1  is thus possible. 
       FIG.  2    shows the fitting  1  with the screws  3 ,  4  inserted into the perforations  5 ,  6 . The self-tapping screws  3 ,  4  are premounted and inserted and retained in the perforations  5 ,  6  so far that screw tips  9  protrude from the longitudinal wall  2  of the fitting  1  (compare the enlarged illustration in  FIG.  3   ). 
       FIG.  4    shows an enlarged plan view of the perforations  5 ,  7  in the longitudinal wall  2  of the fitting  1 . It can readily be seen that these perforations  5 ,  7  have a non-round form. Although the perforation  7  has a circular basic shape  10 , indicated in dashed lines, three segments  11  to  13  protrude radially inward from this basic shape  10 . The diameter of the basic shape  10  corresponds to the diameter of a screw section  14  between a head  15  and a tapping thread  16  of a screw  17  reproduced in  FIG.  5   . The axial length x of this screw section  14  corresponds to the material thickness x in the region of a perforation  18 . 
     This is ensured in the case of low material thicknesses, such as in the case of the side wall  2 , by rings  19 ,  20  and  21  shown in  FIG.  5   , which protrude from the side wall  2  and form a bearing surface for the underside of the head  15  of the screw  17 . 
     The following is a summary list of reference numerals and the corresponding structure used in the above description of the invention. 
     LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS 
     
         
           1  fitting 
           2  longitudinal wall 
           3  screw 
           4  screw 
           5  perforation 
           6  perforation 
           7  perforation 
           8  perforation 
           9  screw tip 
           10  basic shape 
           11  segment 
           12  segment 
           13  segment 
           14  screw section 
           15  head 
           16  tapping thread 
           17  screw 
           18  perforation 
           19  ring 
           20  ring 
           21  ring