LOCKING CONFIGURATION

Abstract

Locking configuration of an adapter (9) or a thrust element having a pullout guide (4), which is fastened on a furniture body (2) of a piece of furniture (1) in a household appliance, the pullout guide (4) having at least one guide rail (5), which is fastened on the furniture body (2) or in the household appliance, and a slide rail (7), which is movable in the guide rail (5), and the adapter (9), the thrust element, or the slide rail (7) having at least one receptacle opening (13), and the slide rail (7), the thrust element, or the adapter (9) having a hook (18), which is insertable in the receptacle opening (13), for locking the adapter (9) or the thrust element with the slide rail (7), the receptacle opening (13) being shaped so that the hook (18) is insertable transversely to the movement direction (X) of the slide rail (7) and is subsequently displaceable in the movement direction (X) of the slide rail (7) and at least one recess (15) being provided on the adapter (9), the thrust element, or the slide rail (7), and a detent lug (20), which is lockable in the recess (15), being provided on the slide rail (7), the thrust element, or the adapter (9), the recess (15) being positioned so that the detent lug (20) is first lockable in the recess (15) upon the displacement of the hook (18) in the movement direction (X) of the slide rail (7).

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application claims the benefit of priority to German Patent Application No. 20 2009 011 106.7, filed Oct. 2, 2009, the contents of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a locking configuration, or locking arrangement, of an adapter or a thrust element, or drawer, having a pullout guide, which is fastened on a furniture body of a piece of furniture or in a household appliance, according to the preamble of Claim 1 and a piece of furniture or a household appliance.

Various locking configurations, or locking arrangements, of an adapter having a pullout guide which is fastened on a furniture body of a piece of furniture are known from the prior art. To lock the adapter, the adapter is provided with two tongues or hooks, for example, which are pluggable into tabs provided laterally on a slide rail of a pullout guide and are subsequently held in this position using screws.

Such a locking configuration, or locking arrangement, has the disadvantage that many work steps are required for installing the adapter on the slide rail, for which various tools must be used.

The object of the present invention is to provide a locking configuration, or locking arrangement, of an adapter or a thrust element, or drawer, having a pullout guide, which is fastened on a furniture body of a piece of furniture or in a household appliance, which allows a simplified installation of the locking of the adapter or the thrust element, or drawer, with the pullout guide.

This object is achieved by a locking configuration, or locking arrangement, having the features of Claim 1.

According to the invention, the receptacle opening into which the hook is insertable is shaped so that the hook is insertable transversely to the movement direction of the slide rail and is subsequently displaceable in the movement direction of the slide rail. Through the insertion of the hook into the slot of the receptacle opening, a lift-out safety is achieved for the adapter or the thrust element, or drawer, in the transverse direction to the pullout direction. Furthermore, at least one recess is provided on the adapter, the thrust element, or drawer, or the slide rail, and a detent lug which is lockable in the recess is provided on the slide rail, the thrust element, or drawer, or the adapter, the recess being positioned so that the detent lug is first lockable in the recess wherein the hook is displaced in the movement direction of the slide rail. On the one hand, tool-free installation of the adapter on the pullout guide is made possible using such a locking configuration, or locking arrangement, according to the invention. The locking of the adapter with the slide rail by the detent lug additionally ensures secure locking, which cannot be detached by the end-user, of the adapter or the thrust element, or drawer, with the slide rail. Furthermore, through the fixing with the aid of the detent lug, fewer components are also required for installing the adapter or the thrust element, or drawer, on the pullout guide and therefore also fewer work steps.

Advantageous embodiments of the invention are the subject matter of subclaims.

According to an advantageous embodiment variant of the locking configuration, or locking arrangement, the adapter is implemented as an L-shaped bent part which is bent over in the longitudinal direction, a first leg of the adapter being lockable on the slide rail and detent means being provided on a second leg for locking a front panel. Tool-free installation of the front panel on the adapter is thus also made possible. The installation of the front panel on the adapter can be performed before or after the installation of the adapter on the pullout guide.

According to a further embodiment variant, a holding web for holding a container is shaped on the adapter along a lower longitudinal edge. Using such a holding web, a container can be held removably between two pullout guides which are situated parallel to one another, for example, on the side walls of the furniture body.

In an advantageous embodiment variant, the receptacle openings are shaped so that the hooks are fixable in receptacle openings perpendicularly to the sliding direction of the slide rail. Through the fixing of the adapter using the detent lug in the sliding direction of the slide rail, fixing of the hooks in the receptacle openings perpendicularly to the sliding direction of the slide rail is also ensured by the receptacle openings shaped in this manner.

The thrust element, or drawer, is preferably manufactured from sheet metal.

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

FIGS. 1 and 2 show schematic perspective views of a piece of furniture, which is provided with an embodiment variant of a locking configuration, or locking arrangement, according to the invention, in various views.

FIGS. 3 and 4 show schematic perspective views of an embodiment variant of an adapter of the locking configuration, or locking arrangement, according to the invention.

FIG. 5 shows a schematic perspective view of a slide rail to be locked with the adapter of FIGS. 3 and 4, according to the invention.

FIGS. 6a to c show multiple side views of an embodiment variant of the locking configuration, or locking arrangement, in various installation positions to illustrate the installation procedure, according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In FIGS. 1 and 2, reference numeral 1 refers to a piece of furniture having a furniture body 2, in which two pullout guides 4 are fastened, on which a movable furniture part, for example, in the form of a drawer or a container 8 and a front panel 3, is situated. The piece of furniture 1 can be implemented as living room furniture, office furniture, kitchen furniture, or also as a household appliance, in particular as a refrigerator or freezer. The pullout guide 4 preferably comprises a guide rail 5, which is fastened on an inner side of the furniture body 2, and a slide rail 7, which is movable in the guide rail 5. At least one pullout-lengthening middle rail 6 can be situated between the guide rail 5 and the slide rail 7. The pullout guide 4 is preferably implemented as a roller body pullout.

An embodiment variant of the slide rail 7, which is situated on the adapter 9, is shown in detail in FIG. 5. The slide rail 7 essentially comprises a flat plate 23 having bent-over longitudinal side edges, whose outer sides are enclosed by the inner sides of bent-over edges of the middle rail 6 and between which a ball bearing (not shown) is received. Hooks 18 are shaped onto the flat plate 23, which are shaped so that they initially protrude from the flat plate 23 by approximately one adapter plate thickness from the side of the flat plate 23 facing away from the guide rail and are then bent over parallel to the flat plate 23. An end section 19 of the hook 18 is bent over away from the flat plate 23 from the part of the hook 18 running parallel to the flat plate 23. To couple the slide rail 7 to the middle rail 6 or the guide rail 5, a detent hook 21 is raised from the side of the flat plate 23 facing toward the guide rail 5.

Furthermore, a detent lug 20 protrudes from the side of the flat plate 23 facing away from the guide rail. The hook 18 and the detent lug 20 are used for fixing the adapter 9, which is shown in various perspectives in FIGS. 3 and 4. This adapter 9 is implemented in the embodiment variant shown here as an L-shaped bent part which is bent over in the longitudinal direction, a first leg 10 of the adapter 9 being lockable on the slide rail 7 and detent means 17 being provided on the second leg 11 for locking with the front panel 3, which is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

Receptacle openings 13 are implemented on the adapter 9 to receive the hooks 18, which are situated at the same distance to one another as to hooks 18 on the slide rail 7. The implementation of only one hook 18 on the slide rail 7 and one receptacle opening 13 on the adapter 9 is also fundamentally conceivable. It is also conceivable that the hooks 18 are implemented on the adapter 9 or the thrust element, or drawer, and the receptacle openings 13 are implemented on the slide rail 7.

The receptacle openings 13 are shaped so that the hook 18 is insertable transversely to the movement direction X of the slide rail 7 and is subsequently displaceable in the movement direction X of the slide rail 7.

Furthermore, at least one recess 15 is provided on the adapter 9, in which the detent lug 20 on the slide rail 7 can engage during the installation of the adapter 9 on the slide rail 7. The distance of the recess 15 from one of the receptacle openings 13 is dimensioned so that the detent lug 20 can first be engaged in the recess 15 during the displacement of the hook 18 in the movement direction X of the slide rail 7. In order to allow this, the receptacle opening 13 is preferably implemented as a rectangular recess, in which a slot 14, which extends in the upper edge area in the movement direction X of the slide rail 7, opens. Thus, as shown in FIGS. 6a to c, the adapter 9 can first be pushed from above onto the hook 18 of the slide rail 7 (FIGS. 6a and 6b) and subsequently, by pulling on the adapter 9 in the pullout direction or by pulling on the front panel 3, which is already connected to the adapter 9, the hook 18 can be inserted into the slot 14, as shown in FIG. 6c. As is also shown in FIGS. 6b and 6c, the detent lug 20 is first locked in the recess 15 in the position shown in FIG. 6c, i.e., when the hook 18 is inserted into the slot 14 of the receptacle opening 13.

The front panel 3 can be locked with the adapter 9 via detent means 17, which are shaped on the second leg 11 of the adapter 9. Optionally, one or more holes 16 for receiving a screw, a dowel, or the like can be implemented on the second leg 11, in order to additionally fix the front panel 3 on the adapter 9 by screw connections, for example.

The embodiment variant of the adapter 9 shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 further has a holding web 12 for holding a container 8, for example, along a lower longitudinal edge. To fix this container 8 on the end of the adapter 9 diametrically opposite to the front panel 3, the adapter 9 is preferably also implemented having a holding surface 22 there, so that the container 8 is securely fixable by the holding surface 22 and the holding web 12.

The receptacle openings 13 shown here may also be implemented as pockets in a further embodiment variant (not shown). It is important that in the design of the above-described locking configuration, or locking arrangement, tool-free installation of the adapter 9 on the slide rail 7 is made possible and because of the design of the hooks 18, the receptacle openings 13, and the positioning of the detent lug 20 and the recess 15 which receives the detent lug 20, secure fixing of the adapter 9 on the slide rail 7 is ensured, which can only be disengaged again by an end user with great application of force and the risk of destroying the locking configuration, or locking arrangement.

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.

Claims

1. A locking arrangement of an adapter or a thrust element having a pullout guide, which is fastened on a furniture body of a piece of furniture or in a household appliance,

the pullout guide having at least one guide rail, which is fastened on the furniture body or in the household appliance, and one slide rail, which is movable in the guide rail and

the adapter, the thrust element, or the slide rail having at least one receptacle opening, and the slide rail, the thrust element, or the adapter having a hook, which is insertable into the receptacle opening, for locking the adapter or the thrust element with the slide rail,

characterized in that

the receptacle opening is shaped so that the hook is insertable transversely to the movement direction of the slide rail and is subsequently displaceable in the movement direction of the slide rail and

at least one recess is provided on the adapter, the thrust element, or the slide rail, and a detent lug, which is lockable in the recess, is provided on the slide rail, the thrust element or the adapter, the recess being positioned so that the detent lug is first lockable in the recess during the displacement of the hook in the movement direction of the slide rail.

2. The locking arrangement according to claim 1, characterized in that the adapter is implemented as an L-shaped bent part, which is bent over in the longitudinal direction, a first leg of the adapter being lockable on the slide rail and detent means for locking with a front panel being provided on a second leg.

3. The locking arrangement according to claim 1, characterized in that a holding web for holding a container is shaped on the adapter along a lower longitudinal edge.

4. The locking arrangement according to claim 1, characterized in that two receptacle openings are implemented on the adapter or the thrust element, or drawer, and two hooks, which are insertable into the receptacle openings, are implemented on the slide rail.

5. The locking arrangement according to claim 1, characterized in that the receptacle openings are implemented as recesses.

6. The locking arrangement according to claim 1, characterized in that the receptacle openings are implemented as pockets.

7. The locking arrangement according to claim 1, characterized in that the receptacle openings are shaped so that the hooks are fixable in a formfitting manner in the receptacle openings perpendicularly to the movement direction of the slide rail.

8. The locking arrangement according to claim 7, characterized in that the receptacle openings are implemented as rectangular recesses, in which a slot, which extends in the movement direction of the slide rail in an upper edge area, opens.

9. The locking arrangement according to claim 1, characterized in that at least one hole for receiving a screw, a dowel, or the like for additional fixing of the front panel is provided on the second leg.

10. A piece of furniture, in particular kitchen furniture, or a household appliance having a furniture body and a pullout guide, which is fastened on the furniture body, for mounting a furniture part, which can be pulled out of the furniture body, in particular a drawer, characterized by the locking arrangement according to claim 1.