PANTRY DRAWER SLIDE SYSTEM
A drawer slide system having an elongated base channel, an intermediate assembly at least partially received within the elongated base channel, a longitudinally extending I-beam assembly at least partially received within the intermediate assembly, and a pantry mount lock assembly including forward and rearward mounting plates adapted to be coupled to a bottom surface of a drawer. The pantry mount lock assembly can be accessed through the bottom of the drawer to achieve engagement or disengagement between the pantry mount lock assembly and the I-beam assembly. The rearward mounting plates having lateral portions extending over the upper surfaces of the I-beam assembly upper flanges to permit a tilting adjustment of the drawer relative to the drawer slide system. A soft close assembly can be included to provide a soft close for the drawer. A vertically adjustable rear panel can inhibit goods from being lost over the back of the drawer.
This case is related to and claims all available benefit of U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 61/376,837 filed Aug. 25, 2010.
BACKGROUND1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to slides useful on tall cupboard pull-outs from cabinets, particularly such slides as may include a self closing bias and a soft close feature, while preferably omitting any top guide.
2. Background Information
Most drawers typically consist of a bottom surrounded by four upright members defining a back wall, two side walls, and a drawer front. The contents of the drawer can be accessed through an open horizontal plane defined generally by the upper margins of the back wall and two side walls. To facilitate such access, a drawer slide can be coupled to each side of the drawer and to each side of the drawer receiving opening in the cabinet holding the drawer. Each drawer slide consists generally of a first rail that is designed to be fixed to the side of the drawer and a second rail that is designed to be fixed to the cabinet. The first and second rails are coupled to each other by inter-engaging surfaces such a glides or bearings that facilitate relative movement between the two rails. A wide variety of such drawer slides exist that are suitable for use to permit drawers to move smoothly and easily in and out of cabinetry, particularly cabinetry typically found in kitchens. Pantry drawers, which are designed to hold up to 500 pounds, or even more, of canned goods and/or other kitchen items can be particularly difficult to support on some drawer slides.
Some drawers including pantry drawers have a much different construction from that previously described. In particular, some drawers consist of a bottom, a back wall; a drawer front and one or more shelves or racks connected between the back wall and the drawer front. Access to the shelves or racks is gained through one or both of two vertical planes located on either side of the drawer and defined generally by the lateral margins of the back wall and bottom. In view of the desirability of maximizing the side access to such drawers, the use of side-mounded drawer slides is undesirable. As a result, some installations involve the use of a drawer slide mounted between the bottom of the side access drawer and the drawer receiving opening in the cabinet holding the drawer. If the side access drawer is much taller than it is wide, the drawer can exhibit significant vertical instability. To enhance the vertical stability of the side access drawer, another slide or guide can be placed between the top of the back wall and the drawer front and coupled to the top of the drawer receiving opening in the cabinet holding the drawer. Examples of this construction are to be found, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,199,966; 6,412,892; and 6,682,159. A unit designed for the heavier loads commonly found with pantry drawers can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 6,039,423. While this top slide or guide works satisfactorily to stabilize the side access drawer, it restricts access to the top shelf or rack in the drawer.
Efforts have been undertaken to omit the top slide or guide so that access to the top shelf or rack of such a side access drawer can be through either vertical side plane as described before, or through the same horizontal plane as described previously, while still providing the desired lateral stability for the drawer as it moves in and out of the cabinet. A drawer slide system that will provide the desired access and stability for a side access drawer can have a base that includes an outside pair of vertical webs and a centrally situated portion that is elevated with respect to lower margins of the outside pair of vertical webs. Vertically oriented drawer slides can be coupled to each of the vertical webs and a horizontally oriented drawer slide can be coupled to the centrally situated portion of the base. The vertically oriented drawer slides can be coupled to outside margins of a side access drawer adjacent to a bottom of the drawer. The horizontally oriented drawer slide can be coupled to a central portion of the bottom of the drawer. The base can be fixed to a bottom surface of a cabinet to position the side access drawer within a suitable drawer receiving opening in the cabinet. An example of this construction can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 7,306,301.
There remains a need, however, for a drawer supporting arrangement that will provide the desired access and stability to a side access drawer designed for the heavy loads common with pantry drawers having a locking feature to lock the drawer to the slide, and particularly for such a drawer supporting arrange that will include a soft close feature, and particularly for such a drawer supporting feature that will include an adjustment feature to vary the tilt at the back of the drawer so that repositioning of the drawer front can be omitted.
BRIEF SUMMARYA drawer slide system that will provide the desired access and stability for a heavily loadable side access pantry drawer can have an elongated base channel including a bottom portion having outside edges. The bottom portion can be adapted to be secured to a cabinet bottom, and can have a pair of vertical webs extending upwardly from the outside edges. An upper margin of each vertical web can have an inwardly directed flange. The drawer slide system can also have an intermediate assembly at least partially received within the elongated base channel. The intermediate assembly can include a pair of spaced-apart vertically oriented and longitudinally extending parallel members. A plurality of first rollers secured to the intermediate assembly can support each member on the bottom portion of the base channel for longitudinal movement relative to the base channel. Second rollers can be provided on one end of each member for contacting a lower surface of the inwardly directed flange of the elongated base channel. The drawer slide system can also have a longitudinally extending I-beam assembly at least partially received within the intermediate assembly. The I-beam assembly can include laterally outwardly extending lower flanges having a lower surface contacting at least one of the plurality of first rollers and an upper surface in contact with a third roller fixed to the intermediate assembly. The I-beam assembly can also include laterally outwardly extending upper flanges that include an upper surface.
One feature that can be included in the drawer slide system is a pantry mount lock assembly that can include forward and rearward mounting plates adapted to be coupled to a bottom surface of a pantry drawer. The mounting plates can have lateral portions that will extend over the upper surfaces of the I-beam assembly upper flanges. A longitudinal member can be fixed to extend between the mounting plates that can include a locking mechanism positioned between the mounting plates, which can be adapted to lock to the I-beam assembly. The pantry mount lock assembly can be coupled to a bottom surface of a pantry drawer that can include an opening over the locking mechanism to permit engagement and disengagement of the locking mechanism manually or by a suitable tool positioned inside in the pantry drawer while the pantry drawer is in an open position.
Another feature that can be included in the drawer slide system is a soft close assembly that can be situated in the base channel below the I-beam assembly and between the plurality of first rollers. The soft close assembly can include a gas spring unit having a first end coupled to a stud that can be fixed to a laterally central position of the bottom portion of the elongated base channel. A second end of the gas spring unit can be adapted for movement with the intermediate assembly. The gas spring unit can bias the intermediate assembly toward a closed position where the I-beam assembly is substantially fully received within the intermediate assembly. The gas spring unit can include an oil damper to prevent any abrupt stop of the I-beam assembly.
Another feature that can be included in the drawer slide system is a rear adjustment mechanism that can be coupled to the lateral portions of the rearmost mounting plates of the pantry mount lock assembly that extend over the upper surfaces of the I-beam assembly upper flanges. The adjustment mechanism can permit adjustment of the vertical space between the lateral portions of the rearmost mounting plates and the upper surfaces of the I-beam assembly upper flanges. Desirably, the adjustment mechanism can be accessible through an opening in a bottom of a pantry drawer fixed to the pantry mount lock assembly so that adjustment can occur after the pantry mount lock assembly is locked securely to the I-beam assembly. The adjustment of the adjustment mechanism can cause a pivoting movement of the pantry drawer about a front edge of the drawer slide system to provide easy alignment of the pantry drawer within a cabinet.
Another feature that can be included in the drawer slide system is an adjustable rear panel coupled to a back wall of the drawer to permit vertical adjustment of the height of the back wall to inhibit any goods carried by the drawer from falling behind the drawer. The rear panel can include one or more vertical slots. A suitable number of fasteners, which can be adjustable from inside the drawer, can extend through the back wall and one of the vertical slots in the adjustable rear panel. Upon installation of the drawer and drawer slide system into a cabinet, the adjustable back wall can be extended upward to a desired position, for example, immediately below the ceiling of the cabinet, and secured in that position.
Still other features and advantages of the present system will become apparent from the following description of preferred embodiments, which should be considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
The cabinet 14 can be seen to have a bottom surface 30 and vertical partitions 32 extending upward from the bottom surface 30. The vertical partitions 32 can extend upward to an under surface or ceiling 34 of the cabinet top surface 36. A cabinet front 38 defines a perimeter 40 of an opening 42 in the cabinet 14 that receives the pantry drawer 10. In general, the drawer front 20 or cover 28 extends laterally outward by a distance sufficient to overlap the cabinet front 38 adjacent to the perimeter 40 to provide closure of the space within the cabinet 14 when the pantry drawer 10 is in a closed position. It is to be noted that there is no guide or slide attached between the top of the pantry drawer 10 and the cabinet 14 since such a structure is rendered un-necessary by the present drawer slide system 12, but such a top guide or slide could be optionally included, if desired. The movement of the pantry drawer 10 into and out of the cabinet 14 is facilitated by the drawer slide system 12, which has an elongated base channel 44 that is fixed to the cabinet bottom surface 30. An intermediate assembly 46 can be, at least partially received within the elongated base channel 44. The drawer slide system 12 can also include a longitudinally extending I-beam assembly 48 and a pantry mount lock assembly 50 as illustrated further in
The intermediate assembly 46 is seen partially received within the elongated base channel 44 in
The longitudinally extending I-beam assembly 48 can be seen partially received within the intermediate assembly 46 in
The pantry mount lock assembly 50 can be seen coupled to the I-beam assembly 48 in
A rear adjustment mechanism 130 can be coupled to the lateral portions 120 of the rearward mounting plate 118 of the pantry mount lock assembly 50 to interact with the upper surfaces 106 of the I-beam assembly upper flanges 104. The adjustment mechanism 130 can take the form, for example, of threaded or stepped rods 132 that will permit adjustment of the vertical space between the lateral portions 120 of the rearward mounting plates 118 and the upper surfaces 106 of the I-beam assembly upper flanges 104. Desirably, the adjustment mechanism 130 can be accessible through an opening 133, shown in
A soft close assembly 134 as shown in
As the pantry drawer 10 is moved from a closed position toward an open position, as shown in
As the pantry drawer 10 is moved from an open position, as shown in
Variations in dimensions and other characteristics will become apparent to those skilled in the art that are still within the scope of the invention defined in the following claims. The foregoing detailed description should be regarded as merely illustrative rather than limiting, and the following claims, including all equivalents, are intended to define the spirit and scope of this invention.
Claims
1. A drawer slide system comprising:
- an elongated base channel including a bottom portion having outside edges, the bottom portion adapted to be secured to a cabinet bottom, an pair of vertical webs extending upwardly from the outside edges, an upper margin of each vertical web having an inwardly directed flange,
- an intermediate assembly at least partially received within the elongated base channel and including a pair of spaced-apart vertically oriented and longitudinally extending parallel members, a plurality of first rollers supporting each member on the bottom portion of the base channel for longitudinal movement relative to the base channel, and second rollers on one end of each member contacting a lower surface of the inwardly directed flange of the elongated base channel,
- a longitudinally extending I-beam assembly at least partially received within the intermediate assembly and including laterally outwardly extending lower flanges having a lower surface contacting at least one of the plurality of first rollers and an upper surface in contact with a third roller fixed to the intermediate assembly, laterally outwardly extending upper flanges including an upper surface, and
- a pantry mount lock assembly including forward and rearward mounting plates adapted to be coupled to a bottom surface of a drawer, the mounting plates having lateral portions extending over the upper surfaces of the I-beam assembly upper flanges, and a longitudinal member fixed to and extending between the mounting plates including a locking mechanism positioned between the mounting plates adapted to lock to the I-beam assembly.
2. The drawer slide system of claim 1, wherein the elongated base channel further comprises a mounting stud fixed to a laterally central position of the bottom portion.
3. The drawer slide system of claim 1, wherein the elongated base channel further comprises a stop bumper at a front end of the base channel limiting any outward movement of the intermediate assembly relative to the base channel.
4. The drawer slide system of claim 1, wherein the intermediate assembly further comprises a plurality of fasteners extending between confronting inner surfaces of the longitudinally extending parallel members.
5. The drawer slide system of claim 3, wherein the intermediate assembly further comprises at least one stop pin projecting laterally outward from at least one of the longitudinally extending parallel members for interaction with the stop bumper.
6. The drawer slide system of claim 1, wherein the longitudinally extending I-beam assembly further comprises two C-channel members and a plurality of fasteners coupling the two C-channel members to each other.
7. The drawer slide system of claim 1, wherein the pantry mount lock assembly wherein the locking mechanism comprises a J-hook having an adjustable fastener.
8. The drawer slide system of claim 1, wherein the forward and rearward mounting plates of the pantry mount lock assembly include a plurality of openings to receive fasteners to fasten the pantry mount lock assembly to a bottom surface of a drawer.
9. The drawer slide system of claim 1, wherein the pantry mount lock assembly further comprises a rear adjustment mechanism between the lateral portion of at least one of the rearward mounting plates and at least one upper surface of an upper flange of the I-beam assembly.
10. The drawer slide system of claim 2, further comprising a soft close assembly having a first end coupled to the mounting stud of the elongated base channel and a second end adapted for movement with the intermediate assembly relative to a closed position of the assembly.
11. A drawer slide system comprising:
- an elongated base channel including a bottom portion having outside edges, the bottom portion adapted to be secured to a cabinet bottom, an upwardly extending stud fixed to a laterally central position of the bottom portion, an pair of vertical webs extending upwardly from the outside edges, an upper margin of each vertical web having an inwardly directed flange,
- an intermediate assembly at least partially received within the elongated base channel and including a pair of spaced-apart vertically oriented and longitudinally extending parallel members, a plurality of first rollers supporting each member on the bottom portion of the base channel for longitudinal movement relative to the base channel, and second rollers on one end of each member contacting a lower surface of the inwardly directed flange of the elongated base channel,
- a longitudinally extending I-beam assembly at least partially received within the intermediate assembly and including laterally outwardly extending lower flanges having a lower surface contacting at least one of the plurality of first rollers and an upper surface in contact with a third roller fixed to the intermediate assembly, laterally outwardly extending upper flanges including an upper surface, and
- a soft close assembly situated in the base channel below the I-beam assembly and between the plurality of first rollers including a gas spring unit having a first end coupled to said stud and a second end adapted for movement with the intermediate assembly, the gas spring unit biasing the intermediate assembly toward a closed position where the I-beam assembly is substantially fully received within the intermediate assembly, the gas spring unit including an oil damper to prevent any abrupt stop of the I-beam assembly.
12. The drawer slide system of claim 11, wherein the gas spring unit comprises a pair of confronting guides having longitudinal slots, and a slide coupled to the gas spring unit second end, the slide having a pair of lateral projections engaging the longitudinal slots of the confronting guides.
13. The drawer slide system of claim 12, wherein the intermediate assembly includes a pawl and the slide includes a pawl receiving portion for engaging the pawl of the intermediate assembly to provide cooperative movement of the intermediate assembly and the gas spring.
14. The drawer slide system of claim 13, wherein the longitudinal slots of the confronting guides include downward extending portions at a forward end of the slots allowing for disengagement of the slide and pawl when the intermediate assembly is displaced forward by a selected distance.
15. The drawer slide system of claim 14, wherein the slide includes a back wall portion adapted to engage the pawl of the intermediate assembly upon rearward movement of the intermediate assembly, the engagement of the pawl and slide back wall causing withdrawal of the slide from the downward extending portions of the longitudinal slots of the confronting guides.
16. The drawer slide system of claim 11, wherein the elongated base channel further comprises a stop bumper at a front end of the base channel, and the intermediate assembly further comprises at least one stop pin projecting laterally outward from at least one of the longitudinally extending parallel members for interaction with the stop bumper.
17. The drawer slide system of claim 16, further comprising a pantry lock assembly adapted to be coupled to a bottom surface of a drawer and having a locking mechanism adapted to lock to the I-beam assembly.
18. The drawer slide system of claim 17, wherein the pantry lock assembly further comprises forward and rearward mounting plates having lateral portions extending over the upper surfaces of the I-beam assembly upper flanges, and a rear adjustment mechanism operating between at least one of the lateral portions of the rearward mounting plate and at least one of the I-beam assembly upper flanges.
19. The drawer slide system of claim 18, wherein the pantry lock assembly further comprises a longitudinal member fixed to and extending between the forward and rearward mounting plates, and wherein the locking mechanism is located on the longitudinal member between the forward and rearward mounting plates.
20. The drawer slide system of claim 18, wherein the locking mechanism comprises a J-hook having an adjustable fastener engaging the I-beam assembly.
Type: Application
Filed: Aug 10, 2011
Publication Date: Mar 1, 2012
Inventors: Bryan K. Tingle (Shelbyville, KY), William L. Walburn (Muncie, IN), Kenneth R. Rowland (Louisville, KY), Paul F. Chambers (Louisville, KY), Kevin M. Ward, JR. (Louisville, KY)
Application Number: 13/206,995
International Classification: A47B 88/14 (20060101); A47B 77/04 (20060101);