Two-way retainer for a slide track assembly of drawers
A two-way retainer for a slide track assembly comprises a retaining mechanism mounted on a first slide track, and a stop member mounted on a second slide track. The retaining mechanism is consisted of a pair of retaining arms and an elastic member. The retaining arms are provided with a pair of oppositely inclined portions and a pair of engaging portions. The stop member is provided with a protrusion adapted to interact with the oppositely inclined portions and the engaging portions of the retaining arms. When the first slide track is moved to a predetermined position with respect to the second slide track, the protrusion of the stop member may pass through one of the inclined portions of the retaining arms. Thus the protrusion is confined within the two engaging portions of the retaining arms to thereby retain the first slide track in a two-way direction of the second slide track.
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to a two-way retainer for a slide track assembly of drawers. More particularly, the present invention is related to a retaining mechanism mounted on a first slide track, and a stop member mounted on a second slide track adapted to retain the first slide track in a two-way direction.
2. Description of the Related Art
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Users can draw out a keyboard or a component, which is attached to the first slide track 30, for servicing. Although the engagement of the stop member 201 with the engaging portion 302 can avoid releasing the first slide track 30 from the second slide track 20 by accident, it cannot prevent the first slide track 30 retracting into the second slide track 20 by careless force of users. Therefore, it is inconvenient to users for operating the slide tracks in use.
Applicant own U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,367,899 and 6,412,891 are provided with a mechanism to overcome this problem and incorporated herein by reference.
The present invention also intends to provide a two-way retainer for a slide track assembly, which comprises a retaining mechanism mounted on a first slide track, and a stop member mounted on a second slide track. The retaining mechanism is consisted of a pair of retaining arms, and each of the retaining arms is formed with an inclined portion and an engaging portion for selectively engaging or disengaging with or from the stop member in such a way to mitigate and overcome the above problem.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe primary objective of this invention is to provide a two-way retainer for a slide track assembly of drawers, which comprises a retaining mechanism mounted on a first slide track, and a stop member mounted on a second slide track. The retaining mechanism is consisted of a pair of retaining arms, and each of the retaining arms is formed with an inclined portion and an engaging portion for selectively engaging or disengaging with or from the stop member, thereby increasing useful convenience.
The two-way retainer for a slide track assembly of drawers in accordance with the present invention comprises a retaining mechanism mounted on a first slide track, and a stop member mounted on a second slide track. The retaining mechanism is consisted of a pair of retaining arms and an elastic member. The retaining arms are provided with a pair of oppositely inclined portions and a pair of engaging portions. The stop member is provided with a protrusion adapted to interact with the oppositely inclined portions and the engaging portions of the retaining arms. When the first slide track is moved to a predetermined position with respect to the second slide track, the protrusion of the stop member may pass through one of the inclined portions of the retaining arms. Thus the protrusion is confined within the two engaging portions of the retaining arms to thereby retain the first slide track in a two-way direction of the second slide track.
Other objectives, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGSThe present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings herein:
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In a preferred design choice, the protrusion 61 of the stop member 60 is preferably integrated into an end of the second slide track 20 by punching the protrusion 61 on the second slide track 20.
In another design choice, the retaining mechanism 50 may preferably omit the base 53 which is replaced by mounting the elastic member 52 to the first slide track 30.
In another design choice, the unlatching member 70 is preferably combined with an elastic member (not shown) adapted to insure reciprocation on the first slide track 30.
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In another design choice, an end of the unlatching member 70 is mechanically connected to an end of the retaining arm 51′ which is oppose to the first engaging portion 512′ (shown at “circle a” in
In another design choice, the retaining members 51 are designed to omit the elastic member 52 and the base 53, and replaced by combining an elastic member 81 with the unlatching member 70 that may provide with a bias force to turn and return the retaining members 51, 51′.
Preferably, the two-way retainer for the slide track assembly of the drawers in accordance with the present invention is applied to a two-section slide track or the likes.
Each of the two-way retainers of the first and second embodiments employs a single unlatching member 70 having a pair of shoulders 73 to actuate the second engaging portions 514, 514′ that may accomplish unlatching function. Alternatively, the shoulders 73 of the single unlatching member 70 are adapted to actuate an engaged relationship of the two extensions 516, 516′ for unlatching. Consequently, the first slide track 30 can be moved along the second slide track 20 in a two-way direction or drawn out from the second slide track 20.
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Although the invention has been described in detail with reference to its presently preferred embodiment, it will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention, as set forth in the appended claims.
Claims
1-11. (canceled)
12. A two-way retainer for a slide track assembly, comprising:
- a retaining mechanism mounted on a first slide track, the retaining mechanism including a pair of retaining arms and an elastic member, the retaining arms being pivotally connected to the first slide track, the retaining arms each being provided with an inclined portion and a first engaging portion, the elastic member being adapted to bias the retaining arms;
- a stop member mounted on a second slide track and including a protrusion;
- a first unlatching member movably mounted on the first slide track, and adapted to actuate one of the retaining arms; and
- a second unlatching member movably mounted on the first slide track, and adapted to actuate the other retaining arm;
- wherein when the first slide track is moved to a predetermined position with respect to the second slide track, the protrusion of the stop member may pass through the inclined portions of the retaining arms and be confined within a space formed by the first engaging portion to thereby retain the first slide track in a two-way direction of the second slide track.
13. The two-way retainer for a slide track assembly as defined in claim 12, wherein the first unlatching member is adapted to unlatch an engaged relationship of the first engaging portion with the protrusion and includes a grip, a pair of recessions and a pair of shoulders; and wherein the retaining arms each further comprises a step portion and a second engaging portion, the step portion being adapted to accommodate an unlatching operation of the first unlatching member, and the second engaging portion being adapted to engage with one of the pair of shoulders of the first unlatching member.
14. The two-way retainer for a slide track assembly as defined in claim 12, wherein the first unlatching member includes a single recession and a single shoulder; and one of the retaining arms is provided with a second engaging portion adapted to engage with the shoulder of the first unlatching member.
15. The two-way retainer for a slide track assembly as defined in claim 12, wherein the first unlatching member is arranged to move in a two-way direction or a one-way direction by a stop.
16. The two-way retainer for a slide track assembly as defined in claim 12, wherein each of the retaining arms further comprises an extension, the extensions being engaging each other, and wherein when one of the retaining arms is turned, the other retaining arm is turned synchronously.
17. The two-way retainer for a slide track assembly as defined in claim 12, wherein the protrusion of the stop member is integrated into an end of the second slide track.
18. The two-way retainer for a slide track assembly as defined in claim 12, wherein the retaining arms further comprise a recession adapted to connect to the elastic member.
19. The two-way retainer for a slide track assembly as defined in claim 12, wherein the retaining mechanism further comprises a base adapted to position the elastic member on an inner side of the first slide track, and wherein the elastic member is thereby located between the retaining arms.
20. The two-way retainer for a slide track assembly as defined in claim 12, wherein the second unlatching member includes a grip and a shoulder, and wherein one of the retaining arms further comprises a step portion and a third engaging portion, the step portion being adapted to accommodate the shoulder of the second unlatching member, and the third engaging portion being adapted to engage with the shoulder of the second unlatching member.
21. The two-way retainer for a slide track assembly as defined in claim 12, wherein the second unlatching member employs a base adapted to limit movement.
22. The two-way retainer for a slide track assembly as defined in claim 12, wherein the base includes an elastic member adapted to engage with a lug extended from the second unlatching member for reciprocation.
Type: Application
Filed: Mar 23, 2005
Publication Date: Jul 28, 2005
Applicant: King Slide Works Co., Ltd. (Kaohsiung Hsien)
Inventors: Ken-Ching Chen (Kaohsiung Hsien), Shih-Long Hwang (Kaohsiung Hsien), Chun-Chiang Wang (Kaohsiung Hsien)
Application Number: 11/086,381