Patent Publication Number: US-2015061480-A1

Title: Piece Of Furniture Having At Least One Drawer Or The Like Provided With Ejecting Means

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention concerns a piece of furniture having at least one drawer or the like wherein there are provided ejecting means for the drawer. 
     STATE OF THE ART 
     In the furnishings sector, furniture having drawers without handles or similar gripping means is frequently used, in such cases, the furniture must be provided with suitable lockable ejecting means for the purposes of opening the drawers. Following a slight thrust on the closed drawer on the part of the user, the ejecting means are released and generate movement of the drawer in an opening direction by a first section sufficient for the user to grasp it and thus open it completely. Such ejecting means are conventionally arranged on each wall of the piece of furniture, which are located at the respective sides of the drawer. Yet, with an arrangement such as this, optimal operation of the ejecting system for drawer opening is achieved only in the case of drawers of a limited width. In the case of very wide drawers, the user must instead press a central area of the front part of the drawer. 
     In fact, in cases in which the user presses a lateral area of the front part of the drawer, there is a risk that only the ejecting means located on that same side is released and that the ejecting means on the opposite side remains locked, leading to faulty opening and misalignment of the drawer, if not actual breakage of the ejecting means. 
     With the aim of overcoming this drawback, the application of synchronizing devices has been proposed in various manners. Some of these devices comprise a connecting bar having gears at the ends thereof for engagement with respective racks to obtain parallel movement on both sides of the drawer and thus synchronization between the ejecting means arranged on the two sides of the drawer. 
     A solution such as this proves to be complex in terms of construction, difficult to mount, and it involves substantial changes with respect to the ejecting means and/or the pull-out guides of drawers without such synchronization devices, with a consequent increase in costs. 
     In a piece of furniture having at least one drawer or the like, there is thus a need to have ejecting means configured in such a manner as to overcome the above-mentioned drawback, while maintaining a high level of simplicity as regards construction, and limited costs. 
     AIM OF THE INVENTION 
     The aim of the present invention is therefore to provide a piece of furniture with at least one drawer of the like, wherein there are provided simply-constructed, economical and easy-to-mount ejecting means that are configured in such a manner as to prevent partial or faulty opening of the drawer. 
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The above is achievable by means of a piece of furniture having at least one drawer or the like pullable out from the body of the piece of furniture, the piece of furniture comprising:
         a first and a second wall laterally arranged to the drawer, respectively provided with a first and a second pull-out guide for said drawer, and,   ejecting means conformed and arranged for generating a thrust in an opening direction on the drawer, said ejecting means being lockable in a closed position of the drawer by means of releasable locking means,
 
characterized in that said ejecting means with the relevant locking means are provided at only one of said walls laterally arranged to the drawer.
       

     Preferably, retaining means are provided at the other one of said walls laterally arranged to the drawer, said retaining means being conformed and arranged for retaining said drawer in the closing position. 
     Further characteristics of the present invention are also defined in the claims below. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The characteristics and advantages of the present invention will emerge more clearly from the following description of preferential but not exclusive embodiments of the piece of furniture having a drawer or the like, with reference to the accompanying figures, wherein: 
         FIG. 1  is a plan view of the piece of furniture with a drawer, according to a first embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a plan view of the ejecting means and the retaining means of the first embodiment appearing in  FIG. 1 , in the closing position of the drawer; 
         FIG. 3  is an enlarged partial view of the ejecting means appearing in  FIG. 2 , with the cover removed; 
         FIG. 4  is a plan view of the ejecting means and the retaining means appearing in  FIG. 1 , in the pressed position of the drawer for the purpose of releasing the ejecting means; 
         FIG. 5  is an enlarged partial view of the ejecting means appearing in  FIG. 4 , with the cover removed; 
         FIG. 6  is a plan view of the ejecting means and the retaining means appearing in  FIG. 1 , in which the released ejecting means have caused the drawer to open by a first section; 
         FIG. 7  is a second embodiment of the retaining means according to the present invention; and 
         FIG. 8  is a different embodiment of the ejecting means according to the present invention, further provided with closing means for the drawer. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     A piece of furniture with a drawer or the like is illustrated in  FIG. 1  according to a first embodiment of the present invention, and indicated in its entirety by the reference numeral  10 ; this piece of furniture has a body comprising a first  11  and a second  12  wall laterally arranged to the drawer  13 , respectively provided with a first  14  and a second  15  pull-out guide for the drawer  13 . For greater clarity, the drawer  13  is illustrated in a see-through view with a dashed line, so as to make the guides and the ejecting and retaining devices visible. 
     As the drawer  13  is without a handle or a similar gripping means, for the purposes of opening the drawer  13 , the piece of furniture also provides ejecting means  16  conformed and arranged for generating a thrust in an opening direction on the drawer  13 . The ejecting means  16  are lockable in a closing position of the drawer  13  by means of locking means that are releasable by pressing the drawer in the closing direction, as explained below. 
     According to the present invention, the ejecting means  16  with the relevant locking means are provided at only one  11  of the walls  11 ,  12  of the piece of furniture  10  laterally arranged to the drawer, whereas at the other one  12  of the walls  11 ,  12  laterally arranged to the drawer  13 , there are preferably provided retaining means  17  conformed and arranged for retaining the drawer in the closing position, and releasable by means of a suitable force in the opening direction of the drawer. 
     In the preferential embodiment illustrated, the ejecting means  16  with the relevant locking means are applied to the pull-out guide  14 , particularly to the fixed part thereof, which is mounted on the wall  11  of the piece of furniture where the means  16  is arranged. 
     As an alternative, the ejecting means  16  with the relevant locking means can be applied directly to the wall  11  of the piece of furniture or to a first lateral wall of the drawer  13 . 
     According to the same preferential embodiment illustrated, the retaining means  17  are applied to the pull-out guide  15 , particularly to the fixed part thereof, provided on the other wall  12 , laterally arranged to the drawer  13 . 
     Alternatively, the retaining means  17  may be applied directly to the other wall  12  of the piece of furniture, laterally arranged to the drawer  13  or to a second side wall of the drawer  13 . 
     With the aim of enabling efficient opening of the drawer  13 , the retaining means  17  are configured for exerting a retaining action in the closing direction lower than the thrust in the opening direction exertable by the ejecting means  16 . 
     Preferentially, the retaining means  17  are configured for exerting the above-mentioned retaining action for a short sliding stroke in the opening direction of the drawer, shorter than the stroke in which the ejecting means  16  are active. In this manner, it is possible to limit the magnitude of the thrust that must be exerted by the ejecting means  16  to open the drawer, thereby also limiting possible misalignment of the drawer  13  during the first opening stroke owing to the presence of the ejecting means  16  only on one side of the piece of furniture. 
     In the preferential embodiment illustrated in  FIGS. 1 to 6 , the ejecting means  16  comprise a slider  18  linearly movable along a base body  19  and at least a thrust spring  20  connected at one end with the slider  18  and at the other end with a base body  19  so as to be loaded by the movement of the slider  18 . 
     The locking means instead preferentially comprise a hooking member  21 , for example in the form of a shaped wire hook, movably, particularly oscillatingly, supported at one end by the slider  18  and engaged at the other end in a heart-shaped path  22  provided on the base body  19  of the ejecting means  16 . 
     As illustrated in  FIGS. 1 to 6 , the retaining means  17  preferentially comprise a slider  23  that oscillates and slides longitudinally in a slide track  29 , biased by a traction spring  24  acting in the closing direction of the drawer  13 , the slider  24  thereof being operatively connectable to the drawer  13  at the closing position of the drawer  13 . 
     The operation of the piece of furniture with the system made up of the ejecting means  16  and the retaining means  17  for the drawer shall now be described with reference to  FIGS. 2 to 6 . 
     More specifically,  FIGS. 2 and 3  refer to the closed state of the drawer  13  wherein the front part  13 ′ of the drawer  13  is arranged at a preset distance, for example at about 3 mm, from the side walls  11 ,  12  of the piece of furniture. In this state, the slider  18  of the ejecting means is in a retreated position toward a rear wall  25  of the piece of furniture, wherein the thrust spring  20  is tensile-loaded, and kept in this position by the locking hook  21  engaged in an anchor seat  22 ′ provided along the heart-shaped path  22 . 
     In this position, the slider  18  of the ejecting means is operatively connected with the drawer  13 , for example by means of a first driving pin  26  solidly constrained to an unillustrated part of the pull-out guide  14  fixed to the drawer and engageable by a flexible tab  27  of the slider  18 , the tab  27  being kept in a folded position of engagement by the action of a side wall  28  of the base body  19 . 
     As regards the retaining means  17 , in the closed state of the drawer  13 , the tiltable slider  23  is arranged in a retreated position along a longitudinal section of a slide track  29  afforded in a body  30  of the retaining means  17  for the slider  23  and is biased in the closing direction of the drawer  13  by the traction spring  24 , in such a manner as to maintain the front part  13 ′ of the drawer properly in the desired closing position. 
     In this position, the tiltable slider  23  is operatively connected with the drawer  13 , for example by means of a second driving pin  31  solidly constrained to an unillustrated part of the pull-out guide  15  fixed to the drawer on the respective side and engageable in a suitable lateral seat of the slider  23  by means of oscillating movement thereof, as explained below. 
     Alternatively, the driving pins cited hereinabove may be solidly constrained to the drawer, or, in the case in which the ejecting means and the retaining means are fixed to the side walls of the drawer  13 , the driving pins may be fixed or solidly constrained to the walls  11 ,  12  of the piece of furniture laterally arranged to the drawer  13 . 
     For the purpose of keeping the front part  13 ′ of the drawer  13  parallel and at a preset, uniform distance from the body of the piece of furniture by the closing position of the drawer, with particular reference to the side walls  11 ,  12  of the piece of furniture, there is preferentially provided a distancing stop, arranged on the side of the retaining means  17 ; in the case of the retaining means  17  illustrated in  FIGS. 1 to 6 , the distancing stop is preferentially constituted by a jut or projection  32  provided on the body  30  of the retaining means  17  and against which the tiltable slider  23  stops at the retreated position thereof, as is more clearly shown in  FIG. 4 . 
     In any case, other alternative embodiments are not excluded for the distancing stop, for example by configuring the latter in the form of a separate element, mounted on the body of the piece of furniture in a projecting manner on the side on which the retaining means  17  are arranged, and intended to come into contact with the front part  13 ′ of the drawer. 
     Again, as concerns the operation of the piece of furniture, for the purpose of opening the drawer  13  arranged in the closing position described hereinabove, the user must push the front part  13 ′ of the drawer  13 , so as to bring about a retreat of the slider  18  of the ejecting means  16  and a consequent unhooking of the locking hook  21  from the anchor seat  22 ′ provided along the heart-shaped path  22 , as illustrated in  FIGS. 4 and 5 . 
     As the ejecting means  16  are arranged on only one side of the piece of furniture, the user&#39;s push on the front part of the drawer proves to be effective and sufficient to bring about the required retreat of the slider  18 , with the resulting unhooking of the locking hook  21 , if the push is made in a position slightly beyond the retaining means  17 , but more preferentially in a position shifted more toward the centre line of the front part  13 ′, and still more preferentially toward the side provided with the ejecting means  16 . 
     If instead the push is made exactly on the side provided with the retaining means  17 , it will not lead to the activation of the ejecting means  16  arranged on the opposite side of the drawer. In this case, the drawer  13  will remain closed, preventing, however, a faulty partial movement on only one side thereof. 
     Therefore, in the piece of furniture according to the invention, based on the position in which the push is made on the front part  13 ′ of the drawer, proper opening of the drawer  13  will be achieved or the drawer will remain closed, thereby preventing malfunction. 
     Although the ejecting means are arranged on only one side of the piece of furniture, the release of the ejecting means is sufficient to overcome the action of the retaining means arranged on the opposite side, thus permitting the opening of the drawer without problems or the risk of breakage. 
     Once the slider  18  is freed from the locking action of the hook  21 , as illustrated in  FIG. 6 , the tensile-loaded spring  20  can release and thus exert the thrust in the opening direction, bringing the slider  18  forward together with the driving pin  26  and the drawer  13  solidly constrained thereto, for a brief stroke, for example by about 5 cm, until the flexible tab  27 , once the side wall  28  of the base body  19  is passed, is free to open so as to release the driving pin  26  and enable the user to complete the opening of the drawer  13  manually. 
     In the meantime, at least the first part of the opening movement of the drawer  13  caused by the slider  18  of the ejecting means  16 , is transmitted to the tiltable slider  23  of the retaining means  17 , which is advanced along the slide track  29 , loading the traction spring  24  until reaching a curved section  29 ′ wherein the slider  23  undergoes oscillation capable of freeing the second driving pin  31 , the slider remaining locked in this rotated position by action of the spring  24  until the drawer  13  is closed again. 
     In fact, to reclose the drawer  13 , the user must push the drawer  13  in the closing direction, the push being capable of bringing about, by means of the movement of the first driving pin  26 , a retreat of the slider  18  and the resulting tensile-loading of the opening spring  20  of the ejecting means  16 , until the locking hook  21  is brought back into engagement in the anchor seat  22 ′ provided along the heart-shaped path. In the meantime, the retreating movement of the second driving pin  31  leads the slider  23  of the retaining means  17  to carry out an oscillating movement capable of having it disengage from the curved section  29 ′ of the slide track  29  and then return to the retreated retaining position of the drawer  13  under the effect of the traction of the spring  24 . 
     As an alternative to the preferential retaining means described previously, it is possible to provide for the use of magnetic retaining means  34 , such as those shown in schematic form in  FIG. 7 . These magnetic retaining means  34  comprise at least one magnetic retaining element  35  fixed to the side wall  12  of the piece of furniture or to the pull-out guide  15  solidly constrained to the side wall  12 , and a second retaining element  36  that is fixed to the front part  13 ′ of the drawer  13 , the second element  36  alternatively being a second magnetic element or a ferromagnetic element that are engageable or disengageable with the magnetic element  35 . 
     In any case, a reversed arrangement of the retaining elements  35 ,  36  on the body of the piece of furniture and on the front part of the drawer is not excluded. 
     For the purpose of preventing undesired disengagement of the retaining elements  35 ,  36 , caused for example by the front part  13 ′ of the drawer rebounding at the end of the reclosing movement of the drawer, at least one of the retaining elements  35 ,  36  is preferentially supported in an elastically yielding manner in the opening direction of the drawer  13 . 
     To that end, as illustrated in  FIG. 7 , the retaining element  35  is slidingly supported by a body  27  and there is provided a traction spring  38  connecting the retaining element  35  with a rear wall  37 ′ of the body  37 . The traction spring  38  proves to be preloaded so as to bias the retaining element  35  against a stop  37 ″ provided by the body  37 , enabling, in any case, sliding in the opening direction under the elastic effect of the spring  38 . 
     According to an additional embodiment of the invention, the ejecting means may be operatively associated with closing means for the drawer, which also define the releasable locking means for the ejecting means, in which the ejecting means and the closing means are selectively loadable and activatable for generating a thrust in the opening direction starting from the closing position of the drawer and respectively a thrust in the closing direction during the last stretch of the closing movement of the drawer. 
     By way of example, in  FIG. 8  a known solution of this type is illustrated. This solution comprises a combined ejection and deceleration device  39  in the form of a deceleration cylinder  40  with fluid and that is applied to a fixed part  14 ′ of the pull-out guide  14  for the drawer, the fixed part  14 ′ being fixed to the side wall  11  of the piece of furniture. The cylinder  40  has a piston rod  41  on which there is provided an ejector spring  42 , the rod  41  of which is conformed and arranged for interacting with a striker element  43  that is applied to the movable part  14 ″ of the pull-out guide  14 , starting from a stretch of the movement of the drawer  13  in proximity to the closing position of the drawer. 
     There are also provided means for closing the drawer that comprise a first slider  44  that is slidable along a slide track  45  applied to the fixed part  14 ′ of the pull-out guide  14 . The slider  44  is biased by a spring  46  acting in the closing direction of the drawer with a force greater than that exertable in the opening direction by the ejector spring  42 ; the slider  44  and the slide track  45  are suitably conformed for enabling a selective transverse movement of the slider  44  capable of engaging or disengaging it in sequence with/from a first and a second driving pin  47 ,  48  solidly constrained to the movable part  14 ″ of the pull-out guide  14  for the drawer. 
     In particular, the slider  44  is movable between a first starting position of engagement with the first pin  47 , in which the closing spring  46  keeps the drawer closed, a second position shifted crosswise after the front part of the drawer is pressed by the user and in which the slider  44  disengages from the first pin  47  to enable the ejector spring  42  to open the drawer, and a third position of engagement with the second pin  48  and in which the closing spring  46  can be reloaded by manual opening the drawer on the part of the user so that the automatic reclosing of the drawer can then be carried out by the closing spring  46 , which prevails over the opening spring  42 . 
     In this solution, there may also be preferentially provided a supplementary device  49  to enable re-establishment of the proper closing of the drawer in the case in which due to a limited opening of the drawer, the closing spring  46  is not suitably reloaded; in a known embodiment, this device  49  may for example comprise a second slider  50  that is movable by means of engagement with the second driving pin  48  and a third, additional driving pin  51 , the slider  50  of which has a hooking member  52  that is selectively lockable in a suitably shaped locking track  53 . 
     This solution, which provides ejecting means that are operatively associated with closing means, is of a known type and is therefore not described in detail herein. It is sufficient to note that the action thereof, for the purposes of the present invention, is replaceable with that of the ejection device described hereinabove. Lastly, a possible improvement in the piece of furniture according to the invention consists in providing a rotatable and/or slidable rest element, for example in the form of a wheel  54  rotatably supported by a small plate  55 , fixable at a rear lateral area of the drawer  13  and having a rest surface conformed and arranged for remaining in contact with the surface of the side wall  11  of the piece of furniture at which the ejecting means  16  is arranged. This makes it possible to limit further any possible misalignment of the drawer  13  during the first opening stroke due to the presence of the ejecting means  16  on only one side of the piece of furniture. 
     As is evident from the above, owing to the suitable configuration and arrangement of the ejecting means and the retaining means according to the present invention, partial or faulty opening of the drawer is prevented, with a solution that is simple in construction, economical and easy to mount. 
     The piece of furniture with a drawer according to the invention is in any case susceptible to modifications and variants falling within the scope of the inventive concept; moreover, the construction details are replaceable with technically equivalent elements.