Patent Document

This application is a national stage of International Application PCT/EP2010/061757, filed Aug. 12, 2010, and claims benefit of and priority to German Patent Application No. 20 2009 005 177.3, filed Aug. 25, 2009, the content of which Applications are incorporated by reference herein. 
     BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY 
     The present disclosure relates to a guide rail that can be mounted on bars of a grid-like side part of a baking oven, a dishwasher, or similar items of furniture. The bars run horizontally and are bent at an angle in bent end regions. The guide rail includes a quick fastening device that includes two mounting elements attached in the end regions of the guide rail and that can be detachably fixed on the bars of the grid-like side part. A first mounting section partially encloses the bar in a longitudinally extending region and a second mounting section partially encloses the bar at the bent end regions. The mounting section of the rear mounting element that is assigned to the rear, bent end region is open in the direction towards the back side of the guide rail. That is so that the guide rail, with the quick fastening device, can be slid onto and attached to one of the bars starting from the front side of the side grid. The front mounting element comprises a leg located below the bar in a section of the mounting element. The mounting section partially encloses the bar in its longitudinally extending region. A flexible catch lug extends upward from the leg, and the lug engages behind the bar enclosed by the mounting element in the assembled position of the guide rail. 
     A guide rail having a quick fastening device of a generic type is known from DE 20 2006 002 251 U1. 
     With the construction described therein, the upper, free end of the flexible catch lug extends to approximately a horizontal center plane, or slightly above, of the bar that is gripped by the mounting element. 
     In order to release the guide rail, if necessary, from its designated mounting position on the bar, it is possible to pivot the catch lug in a manual operation downward to a level beneath the bar, thus enabling the mounting element to be removed sideways from the bar without hindrance. 
     Under extremely unfavorable external circumstances and with the expenditure of large forces, as well as considering the possibility of deformation, it is at least conceivable, with the state-of-the-art technology, that the guide rail could be unintentionally released from the bar in question. 
     The embodiments of the present disclosure, improve on and provide for a guide rail so as to guarantee, under all circumstances, a secure fixing to a bar, and in particular, in the front, end region of the bar. According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, this is achieved, for example, in that the upper, free end of a catch lug protrudes into an aperture of the leg of the mounting element overlapping the upper side of the bar. 
     Through this structurally simple and inexpensive measure, a separation of the mounting element and, therefore, of the guide rail from the bar is only then possible when, by a manual operation, the catch lug is deliberately pulled so far downwards as to enable the mounting element to be pulled sideways over and away from the bar. An accidental release is completely excluded because the upper, free end of the catch lug is fixed in its detent position within the aperture of the upper leg of the mounting element. 
     This, therefore, guarantees a perfect safeguard against inadvertent releasing. 
     It is advantageous when the side edge of the catch lug facing the bar and tilted in the direction of the bar extends upwards. 
     This ensures that, in the case of interaction of lateral forces acting on the mounting element in the release direction, the catch lug is pivoted upwards and is therefore even more securely fixed in the aperture of the upper leg. 
     Thus, even under extremely high stresses and strains, or when slight deformations of the whole system occur over the course of time, an unintended release of the guide rail cannot occur. 
     Other features of the embodiments of the present disclosure are discussed herein. 
     Other aspects of the present disclosure will become apparent from the following descriptions when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  shows a perspective view of a grid-like side part, or side grid, with a guide rail fixed thereto, according to the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 2  shows a perspective view, according to  FIG. 1 , wherein the guide rail is removed from the side grid. 
         FIG. 3  shows a perspective partial view of a rear, end region of the guide rail attached to the side grid, according to the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 4  shows a perspective view of a rear, mounting element of the guide rail, according to the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 5  shows a perspective partial view of the guide rail attached in its front, end region to a side grid, according to the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 6  shows a perspective bottom view of a front mounting element of a guide rail, according to the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 7  shows a perspective top view of the front mounting element of  FIG. 6 . 
         FIG. 8  shows a perspective view of  FIG. 5 , wherein the guide rail is not finally attached. 
         FIG. 9  shows a view through a fastening area of the front, end region of the guide rail, according to the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 10  shows a view, corresponding to the type of view in  FIG. 9  according to a another embodiment of a guide rail, and according to the present disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     In the drawings, the reference sign  1  refers to a guide rail and the reference sign  2  refers a grid side part, or grid-like side part. The side part  2  includes several horizontally extending bars  3  that are each provided with bent end regions  3   a  and  3   b . The bent end regions  3   a  are, for example, at each front end, and the end regions  3   b  are, for example, at each rear end of the bars  3 . 
     The underside of the guide rail  1  is provided with a quick fastening device. The quick fastening device includes two mounting elements  4  and  5  that are fixed in the bent end regions  3   a ,  3   b  of the guide rail  1 . The mounting element  4  is located at the front end of the guide rail  1  and the mounting element  5  is located at the rear end. 
     The front mounting element  4 , as shown in  FIGS. 6 and 7 , is provided with two bracket-like mounting sections  4   a  and  4   b . These mounting sections  4   a  and  4   b  are at an angle to each other, which corresponds to the number of degrees of the angle of the front, end region  3   a  relative to horizontal bar  3 . To this extent, the bracket-like mounting sections  4   a  and  4   b  can, for example, be perpendicular to each other. However, it is within the scope of the present disclosure for the mounting sections  4   a  and  4   b  to be arranged at an angle of more than 90° to each other. In the assembled state, the mounting section  4   a  grips bar  3  in its longitudinally extending region and the mounting section  4   b  grips the bent, front end  3   a  of a bar  3 , so that the mounting element  4  can, for example, be fastened in a tilt-proof manner relative to only one bar  3 . The fixing of the guide rail  1  in the pull-out direction takes place at a front vertical bar  6  of the grid-like side part  2  by a stop  400  that engages behind the vertical bar  6 . The stop  400  is arranged adjacent to the mounting section  4   b  at an upper leg  41 . Due to the adjacent arrangement of the stop  400  and the mounting section  4   b , the fixing of the guide rail  1  takes place in the pull-out direction and also in a direction contrary to the pull-out direction without having to take into account, in this regard, the spacing tolerances to a rear vertical bar  7 . 
     The mounting section  4   a  is limited on its underside by a lower leg  40  and an upper leg  41 . A distance between these two legs  40  and  41  relative to each other corresponds, for example, to a diameter of bar  3 . 
     At the lower leg  40 , which engages bar  3  from below in an assembled state, there is a resilient catch lug  42  that extends in an upward direction towards the upper leg  41  and protrudes with its upper, free end  43  into an aperture  44  of the upper leg  41 , as shown in  FIGS. 7 and 9 .  FIG. 9  represents a situation when the guide rail  1  is mounted to the bar  3 , for example, mounting element  4  is slid onto the bar  3  until it reaches its intended position of use.  FIG. 9  illustrates how the resilient catch lug  42  engages behind the bar  3 , so that it is only then possible to release the mounting element  4  from the bar  3  when, to begin with, the catch lug  42  is pressed down manually in the direction of the arrow A, as shown in  FIG. 9 , which is possible without further ado by pressing an operating section  45 . If the force that is directed downwards and onto the operation section  45  is removed again, the resilient catch lug  42  moves back into its position in accordance with that shown in  FIGS. 6 ,  7  and  9 . 
     When the mounting element  4  is slid onto bar  3 , the catch lug  42 , via a lead-in chamfer  46 , is automatically pushed under and across the bar  3  until the catch lug  42  can again move freely upwards due to the resilient restoring forces. 
     In the assembled state as shown in  FIG. 9 , it is shown that the side edge  47  of the catch lug  42  facing the bar  3  extends upwards and is inclined towards the bar  3 . 
     It has already been mentioned that the free end  43  of the catch lug  42  protrudes into an aperture  44  of the upper leg  41 .  FIG. 9  shows again that the upper, front side free end  43  of the catch lug  42  is formed in a rounded fashion and with this rounded portion it lies against the underside of the guide rail  1  when corresponding high restoring forces are provided. The catch lug  42  is then pushed up if the mounting element  4  is inadvertently moved in a horizontal direction away from the bar  3 , because then the upwardly extending and inclined towards the bar  3  side edge  47  of the catch lug  42  lies against the bar  3  and the corresponding horizontal forces effect a raising of the catch lug  42 . A deflection of the catch lug  42  in a horizontal direction is additionally prevented by the safeguard of the end  43  form-fitting in the aperture  44 . In addition, in order to assist the form-fitting safeguard, the side of the end  43  facing away from the bar  3  can, for example, be steeper or even vertical (see, for example,  FIG. 9 ). 
     An inadvertent release is, according to the present disclosure, therefore, safely prevented also when high forces are applied. 
     As shown in  FIGS. 6 and 7 , the upper leg  41  has a bead  48  embossed downwards towards the bar  3 . The embossing of this bead  48  and its position are thus selected so that sliding the mounting element  4  onto the bar  3  requires a certain amount of force in order to slide the bead  48  over and away from the bar  3  during a simultaneous slight lowering of the upper leg  41  until the bead  48  engages in a position behind the bar  3 . This bead  48  indicates to the user during a potential assembly, that the mounting element  4  has assumed its designated position. That is because the user is sensitive to the different exertion forces involved. In addition, and aided by the springing back of the lower leg  40  into a relaxed position, the “jumping over” of the bead  48  over the bar  3  emits a sound that the user hears and can consider it to be a further indication of proper assembly. 
     In order to facilitate the placement of the mounting element  4 , for the purpose of sliding it sideways onto a bar  3 , the upper leg  41  is provided with a bulge  49  extending in the direction of the bar  3 . The bulge  49  gives the user an easy orientation for the correct placement of the mounting element  4  in respect to the bar  3  to be engaged. 
     The orientation guidance for the location and for mounting position of mounting element  4  relative to bar  3 , as described above in association with the bead  48 , for placing the mounting element  4  onto a bar  3 , can within the scope of the present disclosure, be implemented by a mounting element  4 ′, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, as depicted in  FIG. 10 . The bead  48  is replaced by an open embossed feature  48   a  directed downwards and into whose opening area the upper, front end  43  of the catch lug  42  can, for example, engage and whose outer margin area, like the bead  48 , must be pushed over and away from bar  4  in order to be able to bring the mounting element  4 ′ into its designated mounting position. Also, a movement over the embossed feature  48   a  results in the user receiving the previously noted orientation guidance for the proper location and/or mounting position of the mounting element  4  relative to the bar  3 . Furthermore, with a low material thickness of the leg  41 , the form-fitted safeguard of the end  43  in the embossed feature  48   a  is improved. 
     The rear mounting element  5 , as can be seen in  FIGS. 3 and 4 , is provided with a bracket-like mounting section  5   a  that, in the assembled state, engages around bar  3  in its longitudinally extending area. This bracket-like mounting section  5   a  is limited by a lower leg  50  and an upper leg  51 , wherein the distance of these two legs  50  and  51  between each other corresponds, in turn, to the thickness of the bar  3 . 
     In addition, at the rear end region of the guide rail  1 , the mounting element  5  is equipped with a support lug  52  that, in the assembled state as depicted in  FIG. 3 , engages beneath the rear, bent end region  3   b  of bar  3 . This support lug  52  is bent or angled downwards from the area of the upper leg  51  of the mounting element  5  and is located on the same plane as the lower leg  50  of the bracket-like mounting section  5   a . As the support lug  52  only engages beneath the end region  3   b , the distance tolerances between the vertical bars  6  and  7  are balanced out. 
     In angled areas of the upper leg  51 , an adjoining downwardly directed web  53 , and the support lug  52  adjoined thereto, beads  54  are embossed that lead to a stiffening of the mounting element  5  in those angled areas. 
     The installation of guide rail  1 , with the mounting elements  4  and  5  comprising the quick fastening device, to bar  3  of side grid  2  and starting from a position according to  FIG. 2 , is carried out as follows. To start with, the rear mounting element  5  is set sideways at bar  3  and then, for the moment, is pushed so far to the rear until the web  53  of the rear mounting element  5  strikes the rear, bent end  3   b  of bar  3 . After that, the guide rail  1  with the front mounting element  4  is pivoted in a horizontal movement onto bar  3  from a starting position, as follows from  FIG. 8 . In the course of this pivoting, the front mounting element  4 , in a manner as specified above, is likewise pushed onto the longitudinally extending region of the bar  3  in the same way as onto the front, bent end  3   a  of the same bar  3 . Self-locking then takes place, as was described above. 
     In the case of a required disassembly, the catch lug  42  is, to start with, pivoted away and downwards from the plane of the bar  3 . Then, first, the guide rail  1  is pulled off the bar  3  in a horizontal pivoting movement, resulting in a position according to  FIG. 8 . The, second, the guide rail  1  can be removed completely from the bar  3  by pulling in the pull-out direction, and then taken away, for example, for cleaning purposes. 
     The mounting elements  4  and  5 , may, according to the present disclosure, be formed in one piece and may, according the present disclosure, be made either of metal or of plastic material. 
     Although the present disclosure has been described and illustrated in detail, it is to be clearly understood that this is done by way of illustration and example only and is not to be taken by way of limitation. The scope of the present disclosure is to be limited only by the terms of the appended claims.

Technology Category: 1