US20080218045A1

US20080218045A1 - Attachment Arrangement for Releasable Attachment of Pull-Out Guides on Drawers

Info

Publication number: US20080218045A1
Application number: US11/576,308
Authority: US
Inventors: Johann Moser
Original assignee: Alfit AG
Current assignee: Alfit AG
Priority date: 2004-09-29
Filing date: 2005-09-23
Publication date: 2008-09-11
Also published as: WO2006034820A1; EP1793703A1; DE202004015100U1

Abstract

Disclosed is a fastening arrangement for detachably fixing the forward end of the sliding rail (16) of drawer draw-out guides to an associated drawer by means of a fastening mounting (10) which can be mounted on the drawer at the forward end of the sliding rail (16) facing the front cover, “forward” being in relation to the direction of extraction. Said fastening mounting comprises a housing (18) in which the free end of a spring-biased locking protrusion (24) that is movably guided within the housing is mounted so as to engage into an elongate locking receiving device (30) that is provided in the sliding rail while being retractable from said locking receiving device counter to the spring bias. The housing (18) of the fastening mounting (10) is disposed on the bottom face of the drawer bottom (12), directly next to the sliding rail (16). The locking protrusion (24) that engages into the locking receiving device in the facing wall of the sliding rail is provided with a bordering edge (28) in the area that protrudes from the housing (18) and points in the direction of extraction of the sliding rail. Said bordering edge (28) extends regularly, runs at an angle from the direction of extraction, and is urged into contact with the forward end of the locking receiving device in the appropriate locked position, “forward” once again being in relation to the direction of extraction.

Description

The invention relates to an attachment arrangement for releasable attachment of the front end, in the pull-out direction, of the slide rail of pull-out guides for drawers on the associated drawer with an attachment mounting that can be attached in the forward end area on the side of the front face panel of the slide rail of the drawer and that has a housing in which the free end of a locking projection, guided so as to move in the housing under spring-tension, is held, meshing in an elongated locking retainer provided in the slide rail, and retractable out of the locking retainer against the spring-tension.
In particular, with a subsurface arrangement of pull-out guides mounted on roller bearings, where these are arranged at the bottom of an extendable slide rail to be held in the cabinet body directly next to the side walls of the drawer on the lower side of the bottom, and support the weight of the drawer through the bottom, a reliable connection of the slide rail with the drawer is necessary, which, however—for the case that the drawer is to be completely removed from the cabinet body—must make a removal from slide rail as simple as possible, especially since the slide rail, as a rule, cannot be separated from the guide rail attached to the side wall of the body.
Inside the cabinet, the connection of the slide rail with the drawer usually occurs in that the slide rail has a projecting hook part in its rear end area that can be hooked into a hole in the rear wall of the drawer. By pulling the drawer forward, this rear connection can be loosened without difficulty. At the front end, specialised attachment mountings have been developed that are accessible from below when the drawer is completely pulled out from the interior of the cabinet, and in which a locking projection, pre-tensioned by a spring in a lock retainer in the slide rail, can be pulled back from the lock retainer against the spring pre-tension, and this way the connection between the slide rail and the attachment mounting can be loosened. Thus, removal of the drawer from the associated slide rails occurs in that, in the completely pulled-out state of the drawer, the attachment mountings provided at the opposite sides immediately behind the front facing are manipulated in such a way that the locking projections are released from the lock retainers against the spring tension acting on them. The connection of the drawer to the front end of the slide rail is now released, and when the drawer is pulled out farther, it is pulled out from its connection with hooks provided at the rear end of the slide rail.
From AT 396 731 B, an attachment arrangement for the front end of slide rails on a drawer in the area of its side walls—formed as a hollow profile with double walls—is known, in which in each case a locking part that is provided so as to pivot inside the hollow space of the side walls of the drawer is clamped under spring tension into a slot like through an opening at the top side of the slide rail. To release the locking engagements, the locking part can be pivoted in the upward direction out of the locking engagement in the open position of the drawer from below by a release part, whereupon the drawer can be pulled forward from the slide rail. In order to use this known attachment mounting with slide rails, in which the slot-like locking opening in the top side of the slide rail is offset with respect to the target position in the direction of the pull-out direction of the slide rail, the locking part in the known attachment mounting is provided with stop surfaces that are offset from each other in the pull-out direction of the drawer and that can be brought to contact, in each case, with the appropriate engagement edge formed by the ends of the slot-like locking retainer. Ignoring the fact that this known attachment arrangement of the slide rail can only be used with drawers with hollow-chamber side frames, adaptation of the locking engagement in locking retainers of different positions is only possible corresponding to the gradation of the contact surfaces of different attachment positions of the associated drawer on the slide rails, that is, under unfavourable conditions, a certain looseness in the pull-out direction can be present between the drawer and the slide rail.
In contrast, the invention is based on the task of creating an attachment arrangement for releasable attachment of the front end, in the pull-out direction, of the slide rail from the drawer pull-out guides on an associated drawer, in which automatic, continuous locking of the slide rail at an associated drawer is possible in a certain attachment area, free of play in the pull-out direction of the drawer, with which, on the other hand, a simple and quick release is possible when the drawer is to be separated from the associated slide rails. Here, the mounting is to be usable independently from the design of the side walls of the drawer, that is, for instance, also with side drawer walls made of solid wood material.
Starting with an attachment arrangement of the type mentioned in the introduction, this task is solved according to the invention in that the housing of the attachment mounting is arranged on the underside of the drawer bottom, immediately next to the slide rail, and that the locking projection that meshes into the locking retainer in the facing wall of the slide rail has, in its area pointing in the slide rail pull-out direction, protruding from the housing, a bordering edge running obliquely to the pull-out direction with a constant course, which, in the specified locking position, is pressed against the forward end of the lock retainer.
The bordering edge of the locking projection pressed against the forward end, in the pull-out direction of the elongated lock retainer can, in a further development according to the invention, have an edge area tapering conically towards the border edge, or a knife-like sharpened edge area. Impact stresses occurring during the opening and closing of the drawer can then lead to a minor penetration of the bordering edge of the locking retainer into the tapered or knife-like sharpened edge area, whereby a step is created in the lock edge that prevents with certainty a back sliding of the locking projection along the bordering edge.
The bordering edge of the locking projection running obliquely to the pull-out direction can have a straight or a curved course.
The locking projection is preferably attached in the housing so as to move at a right angle to the pull-out direction, and it is then appropriately pre-tensioned into the locking position by a spring supported on the wall of the housing.
The locking projection is preferably made of plastic, whereby it becomes possible to form the spring as a plastic spring integrally attached to the locking projection.
The plastic spring is then, in a preferred embodiment of the invention, a spiral spring that is integrally attached to the end of the locking projection that is opposite to the end of the locking projection that protrudes from the housing and that is supported on the housing wall that is opposite to that end of the locking projection.
The housing, too, is preferably produced from plastic.
The housing appropriately, has a low height and is provided with a surface that can contact the underside of the bottom of the associated drawer, where means are provided for attaching the housing to the bottom, and/or to the interior side of the front face of a drawer that overlaps the bottom in the downward direction beyond the underside of the bottom.
The means for attaching the housing can be formed as recesses in its underside that are open in the area facing the front face, in which there are additional holes with a reduced diameter for passage of the shafts of attachment screws. Here, the holes can go from the bottom of the recesses to the underside of the bottom of the associated drawer, so that it is possible to attach the housing to the drawer bottom with a screw connection. If the drawer bottom does not have sufficient strength for a screw connection under a load, the holes can also run from the end wall of the recess facing the front face to the front face, so that a screw connection of the housing to the front face is possible.
In addition to the locking projection, a height-adjustment slide can be arranged in the housing of the attachment mounting at a right angle to the pull-out direction of the slide rail, parallel to the drawer bottom, between the drawer bottom and the top side of the slide rail, so as to move forward or back into the housing, where the height-adjustment slide tapers like a wedge in the direction toward its free end pointing to the slide rail. While sliding this adjustment slide forward, the drawer bottom is increasingly lifted from the top side of the slide rail, whereby a height adjustment of the drawer is possible in its end area on the side of the front face.
It is then appropriate to provide, on the side of the adjustment slide facing away from the bottom of the drawer, an activating projection passing through a slit-like hole opening, elongated in the adjustment direction, at whose end protruding from the housing an enlarged grip plate with channels or low ribs running transverse to the slide adjustment direction is then provided advantageously to ease the exertion of the sliding force on the slide adjustment necessary to adjust the height of the drawer.
In an advantageous further development of the invention, a two-armed lever, in or on the housing of the attachment mounting, is attached so as to pivot about an axis running perpendicular to the underside of the bottom of the associated drawer, in such a way that the free end of one lever arm lying in the interior of the housing meshes at the spring-tensioned locking projection, whereas the second lever arm, serving as an handle for release, is led out of the housing.

The invention will be described in more detail in the following in connection with the drawing of an example embodiment, specifically:

FIG. 1 shows an isometric view of an attachment mounting provided for attachment of the slide rail of a pull-out guide to the underside of a drawer;

FIG. 2 shows a front view of a section of the bottom and a side wall of a drawer, where the position of an attachment mounting corresponding to the attachment mounting according to FIG. 1, is illustrated at the underside of the bottom;

FIG. 3 shows a sectional view, seen in the direction of the arrows 3-3 in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 shows a sectional view, seen in the direction of the arrows 4-4 in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 a frontal view of the end external to the carcass of a slide rail to be attached at a drawer by means of an attachment mounting according to the invention; and

FIG. 6 the front end of the slide rail, seen in the direction of the arrow 6 in FIG. 5.

FIG. 1 shows an example embodiment of an attachment mounting, designated in its entirety by 10, which is provided for an attachment arrangement according to the invention, which is described in the following in more detail in connection with the FIGS. 2 through 4.
The attachment mounting 10 is arranged underneath the bottom 12 and laterally adjacent to the inner side of a side wall 14 of the drawer protruding beyond the bottom 12 in the downward direction adjacent to the front face side of the front end of the slide rail 16 of a drawer pull-out guide, and is releasably lockable with this front end of the slide rail shown in FIGS. 5 and 6.
The attachment mounting 10 has a low housing 18—in the special case produced from plastic—which is provided in an area in the front, facing the front face, with two recesses 20 laterally offset from each other, in which a hole 22 a or 22 b opens, in each case, leading to the bottom of the drawer or to the front face—not shown in the drawings. The threaded shanks of the attachment screws, not shown, can be screwed through these holes 22 a, 22 b into the drawer bottom 12 or the front face, in order to attach the attachment mounting in the position mentioned above on the underside of the drawer.
A locking projection 24 is held in the housing 18 so as to slide transverse to the longitudinal extension of the slide rail 16 and parallel to the underside of the drawer bottom 12, which, for the example embodiment described, is similarly produced from plastic. The obliquely resilient arm 26, shown in FIG. 3, is integrally tapered at the end of the locking projection 24 facing away from the slide rail, and in the mounted state of the locking projection 24, it is supported within the housing at the inner surface facing the housing wall on the opposite side and pushes the opposite lying end of the locking projection out of the housing 18 in the direction toward the slide rail 16. Contrary to the representation in FIG. 3, the resilient arm 26 does not pass through the wall of the housing 18; rather, it is mounted in a resiliently deformed position in the housing shown dotted.
The end of the locking projection lying opposite to the arm 26, projecting out of the housing through the pre-tensioned position of the arm 26, has a bordering edge 28 running obliquely to the slide direction, which, as a stop edge, cooperates to lock with a front bordering edge 30a of a lock retainer 30 in the front end area of the slide rail 16.
Due to the oblique course of the bordering edge 28, in each case—independent of the exact position of the lock retainer 30 in the longitudinal direction of the slide rail—a locking, free of play, of the locking edge 28, at the associated bordering edge 30a of the locking retainer 30 is achieved, where a possible misalignment of the lock retainer 30 in the longitudinal direction of the slide rail is compensated by the more or less strong sliding of the locking projection 24 out of the housing 18.
Additionally, the bordering edge 28 can be conically tapered or feather-edged in the direction of the stop surface, where then, through the tensioning of the locking projection, the metallic mating edge 30 a of the lock retainer is lightly pressed into the bordering edge 28, and thus, a positive locking is automatically obtained between the bordering edge 28 of the locking projection 24 and the end edge 30 a of the lock retainer 30.
The bordering edge 28 can have a straight-line course, in the manner recognisable in the drawing figures, or also a slightly bow-shaped course.
The locking of the attachment mounting in the lock recess of the slide rail occurs automatically due to arm 26 while sliding in the reduced-width front end of the slide rail.
Then, in order to unlatch the slide rail again, a two-armed lever 34 is mounted at the side facing away from the front face of the attachment mounting 10, which can pivot about an axis running perpendicular to the underside of the drawer bottom, in such a way that the free end of one of the lever arms 34 a lies in the interior of the housing engages at the spring-tensioned locking projection 24, whereas the second lever arm 34 b, which serves as an unlatching handle, is led out of the housing. By pivoting of the lever arm 34 b in the direction of the slide rail 16, the locking projection 24 is pulled back into the interior of the housing, and thereby the bordering edge 28 is pulled back out of the locking device at the end edge 30 a of the lock retainer 30.
Along with the preceding description of the locking function, a height-adjustment function is provided additionally in the attachment mounting 10. For this, laterally adjacent to the locking projection 24, a height-adjustment slide 34 is arranged to slide in a recess in the surface of the housing 18 on the bottom side of the drawer. This adjustment slide 34 is formed in a wedge shape in the direction of its forward sliding end, between the top side of the slide rail 16 and the underside of the drawer bottom 12, whereby, as the adjustment slide 34 slides in the direction toward the slide rail, the drawer bottom 12 is increasingly lifted off from the top side of the slide rail 16, and consequently, the associated drawer as a whole is lifted—at least in the forward area of the front face side.
The height-adjustment slide is activated through a cross-wise corrugated grip plate 36, accessible at the underside of the housing 18, which is arranged at the outer end of an activating projection that passes through a long slit-like hole 38 in the housing 18, which is connected to the adjustment slide.

Claims

1. An attachment arrangement for releasable attachment of the front end, in the pull-out direction, of the slide rail (16) of pull-out guides of a drawer to the associated drawer with an attachment mounting (10) that can be attached to the drawer in the front end area of the slide rail (16) on the front face panel side, and that has a housing (18), in which the free end of a locking projection (24), guided so as to move in the housing under spring-tension, is held meshing in an elongated locking retainer (30) provided in the slide rail (16), and can be retracted out of the locking retainer against the spring-tension,

characterised in that

that the housing (18) of the attachment mounting (10) is arranged at the underside of the drawer bottom (12) immediately next to the slide rail (16), and that the locking projection (24) that engages in the locking retainer (30) in the facing wall of the slide rail (16) has, in its area pointing in the pull-out direction of the slide rail, extending from the housing (18), a bordering edge (28) running obliquely to the pull-out direction with a continuous course, which bordering edge is pressed in the specified locking position against the front end, in the pull-out direction, of the locking retainer.

2. An attachment arrangement according to claim 1, characterised in that the bordering edge (28) of the locking projecting pressing on the front end of the locking retainer (30) in the pull-out direction has an edge area, conically tapering or knife-like, sharpened toward the bordering edge.

3. An attachment arrangement according to claim 1, characterised in that the bordering edge (28) of the locking projection running obliquely to the pull-out direction has a linear course.

4. An attachment arrangement according to claim 1, characterised in that the bordering edge (28) of the locking projection running obliquely to the pull-out direction has a curved course.

5. An attachment arrangement according to claim 1, characterised in that the locking projection (24) is held, guided in the housing (18) so as to move at a right angle to the pull-out direction of the slide rail.

6. An attachment arrangement according to claim 5, characterised in that the locking projection (24) is tensioned in the locking position through a spring (26) supported at a housing wall.

7. An attachment arrangement according to claim 6, characterised in that the locking projection (24) is made of plastic, and the spring (26) is a plastic spring integrally attached to the locking projection.

8. An attachment arrangement according to claim 6, characterised in that the plastic spring is a spiral spring (26) that is integrally attached to the end of the locking projection (24) opposite to the end of the locking projection that protrudes from the housing (18) and that is supported on the housing wall opposite to that end of the locking projection.

9. An attachment arrangement according to claim 1, characterised in that the housing (18) is made of plastic.

10. An attachment arrangement according to claim 1, characterised in that the housing (18) has a low height and is provided with a surface that can contact the underside of the bottom of the associated drawer (12) and that means are provided for attaching the housing (18) to the bottom, and/or to the interior side of a front face of a drawer that overlaps the bottom in the downward direction beyond the underside of the bottom.

11. An attachment arrangement according to claim 10, characterised in that in the area of the housing (18) facing the front face, recesses (20) are provided that are open at the underside, and in which additional holes (22 a; 22 b) with reduced diameter are provided for passage of the shafts of attachment screws.

12. An attachment arrangement according to claim 11, characterised in that holes (22 a) are provided passing from the bottom of the recesses (20) to the underside (12) of the associated drawer, and/or holes (22 b) are provided passing from the end wall, facing the front face, of the recesses (20) to the front face.

13. An attachment arrangement according to claim 1, characterised in that, in addition to the locking projection (24), a height-adjustment slide is arranged at a right angle to the pull-out direction of the slide rail, parallel to the drawer bottom, between the drawer bottom (12) and the top side of the slide rail (16), which can be moved forward or back into the housing (18), where the height-adjustment slide tapers like a wedge in the direction toward its free front end pointing to the slide rail (16).

14. An attachment arrangement according to claim 13, characterised in that on the side of the adjustment slide (34) facing away from the drawer bottom, an activating projection is provided that passes through an elongated, slit-like hole (38) in the housing (18) in the direction of adjustment.

15. An attachment arrangement according to claim 14, characterised in that at the end of the actuating projection facing away from the adjustment slide and protruding from the housing (18), an enlarged grip plate (36) is provided with channels or low ribs running transverse to the slide-adjustment direction.

16. An attachment arrangement according to claim 1, characterised in that in or at the housing (18) of the attachment mounting (10), a two-armed lever (34) is attached so as to pivot about an axis perpendicular to the underside of the bottom (12) of an associated drawer, so that the free end of the lever arm (34 a) lying in the inside of the housing, meshes with the spring-tensioned locking projection (24), while the second lever arm (36 b), which serves as the release handle, is guided out of the housing (18).