TOLERANCE ADAPTIVE SLIDE CONNECTION ASSEMBLIES

Abstract

A tolerance adaptive slide connection assembly for use in connecting an implement to an article of furniture is configured to provide tolerance forgiveness with respect to deviations from parallelism of slide connections between the implement and the article of furniture that may be the result of variations in the construction of the article of furniture, the implement or other connecting hardware. The tolerance adaptive connection allows slidable movement of the implement between a closed position within the article of furniture and an open position extending outward from the article of furniture and allows movement of the implement in a direction that is substantially perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the second slide assembly.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/423,035, filed Dec. 14, 2010, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

This disclosure generally relates to slide connection assemblies for use with articles of furniture. Such slide connection assemblies tend to be used in articles of furniture, such as cabinets or desks, for assisting in supporting an implement from two or more extendible slide assemblies to be movable between a closed position within an article of furniture and an open position extended from the article of furniture. With respect to cabinets as an example of articles of furniture to which slide assemblies may be connected, when further connected to an implement, such as a drawer, the slide assemblies often may be referred to as drawer slides or drawer slide assemblies. However, while such extendable slide assemblies can be connected to drawers, they also may be used to movably connect other implements or storage devices to a cabinet or other article of furniture. This disclosure more particularly relates to slide connection assemblies that are capable of tolerance forgiveness with respect to the connection between the cabinet, the implement, and the slide assemblies to provide smoother, more consistent slidable movement of an implement that is connected to two or more slide assemblies.

BACKGROUND

Extendible slide assemblies, otherwise known as slides, have slide members and can provide slidable translation of one body relative to another. Slide assemblies are commonly found in articles of furniture, such as cabinets. In such constructions, the slide assemblies are intended for mounting an implement, in the form of a storage device, such as for example, a drawer, shelf, frame, tray or wire cage, to a cabinet and for providing a way to move the implement between a fully closed position within the cabinet and an open position with the implement extending outward from the cabinet. It is common to mount at least two slide assemblies first to the inner side of one or more cabinet walls, to partition walls, to an opening in a cabinet face frame, a bracket or spacer, and second to a movable implement. It is common to have a slide assembly at each of the left and right outer sides of an implement that spans between cabinet walls, or mounted with upper and lower slide assemblies along a vertically oriented implement on only one side of a cabinet wall.

In any of these configurations, and as will be used in the context of this patent, an inner slide member of a slide assembly typically is fixedly connected to the article of furniture, such as to a cabinet wall, and an outer slide member of the slide assembly is fixedly connected to an implement. This allows the outer slide member to travel with the implement when it moves between open and closed positions. Bearings, such as ball or roller bearings, or other bushings typically are disposed between the slide members for smooth movement of the slide members relative to each other. The bearings or bushings, which will be referred to collectively as “bearings” hereinafter, may be organized and located within retainers that may be mounted to one or more of the slide members, or may be allowed to move with respect to the slide members. Also, there may be an intermediate slide member coupled to and between the inner and outer slide members, in which case there are bearings between the respective slide members to allow further telescopic extension of the implement from the cabinet or other article of furniture.

Proper operation of the slide assemblies, in a smooth and non-binding manner, requires that the surfaces of the cabinet or other article of furniture to which the slide assemblies are connected, and the connections thereto, must be parallel, and requires that there be correct corresponding widths between such a cabinet and drawer or other implement. It can be difficult to manufacture cabinets or other articles of furniture, and implements, such as storage devices in the form of drawers, shelves, frames, trays or wire cages, as well as mounting hardware, that meet the slide width tolerance requirements needed for the slide assemblies to operate freely and smoothly. Furthermore, cabinets or other articles of furniture with inner partition walls and slide assemblies mounted thereto tend to have additional tolerance issues that may exceed the tolerance levels that allow use of precision slide assemblies with operational consistency. These issues tend to become more pronounced when using slide assemblies that have a closing device, such as a device having self-close, or self-close and soft-close features. Such closing devices that enable a slide assembly to have these features impart some movement of an outer slide member relative to an inner slide member when the outer slide member is within a preselected distance of reaching the closed position, such as within the last inch or two of movement. The mechanisms operate by using one or more springs, or springs and dampers to smoothly pull or push an implement to a fully closed position. The relatively low spring forces provided by a self-close device when attempting to fully close a specialized precision slide assembly may cause the slide assembly to be more susceptible to binding or irregular motion.

While there exist slide assemblies having mounting hardware that may allow some adjustment to try to accommodate within a given cabinet a drawer that is not of a matching standard width, such hardware is for use when initially fixedly mounting the slide assemblies to an implement and the cabinet, and the hardware does not account for a lack of parallelism, which may be encountered during operation of the slide assemblies. Thus, such hardware is intended to allow initial adjustment to account for situations involving poor correspondence between the cabinet width and, for instance, the width of a drawer, yet with the implement fixedly connected to the slide assemblies, the system remains susceptible to tolerance issues that may be present due to a lack of parallelism or other hardware or mounting variations and that may cause binding during operation of the slide assemblies.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure provides examples of tolerance adaptive slide connection assemblies for use in connecting implements to articles of furniture, such as cabinets or desks. The present disclosure addresses shortcomings in prior art slide connection assemblies, while providing for adaptive connection that will promote smooth, non-binding operation of slide assemblies that are connected to an implement that is movable between closed and open positions.

The present disclosure presents alternative advantageous tolerance adaptive slide connection assemblies that are provided by virtue of separate and different slide connections between an implement and an article of furniture. For instance, fixed first slide assembly connections to a cabinet wall and to an implement are paired with a tolerance adaptive second slide assembly connection between a cabinet wall and the implement. In some instances the first and second slide assemblies connect the implement to separate, spaced apart walls, while in other instances they connect the implement to the same wall of the article of furniture. The fixed first slide assembly connections provide repeatable positioning of the implement in closed and open positions relative to the cabinet or article of furniture and give a user a perception that the implement is fixedly secured to both slide assemblies, while the tolerance adaptive second slide assembly connection allows for tolerance forgiveness with respect to deviations from parallelism of the slide assembly connections to the implement and to the article of furniture that may be the result of variations in the construction of the article of furniture, the implement or other connecting hardware. However, in some instances, it may be desirable to employ tolerance adaptive connections on both sides of one or more particular portions of an implement, and such connections may be applied to a handle for the implement, as well.

The disclosed tolerance adaptive slide connection assemblies provide forgiveness for slide gap clearance issues that are caused by a lack of true parallelism or incorrect gap clearance of the walls or hardware to which the slide assemblies are connected. The disclosed alternatives provide examples of having a fixed first slide assembly connection to an implement, and a tolerance adaptive second slide assembly connection that allow adaptive movement of the implement relative to the surface to which the second slide assembly is connected. The free-floating connection of the second slide assembly to the implement or to the cabinet provides forgiveness for drawer slide gap clearance issues, where the gap on each side of the implement is too large or small, and for parallelism issues that relate to the construction of the walls or hardware to which the slide assemblies are connected. The example slide assembly mounting arrangements can provide cabinet makers and implement manufacturers extra tolerance while maintaining the specified side clearances for a slide assembly to function correctly. Tolerance adaptive slots or tabs can be dimensioned to meet any conceivable tolerance range for cabinet applications. As indicated by the present disclosure, there are a variety of alternative embodiments contemplated, several of which are provided as illustrated examples herein, but to which the claims are not limited.

In a first aspect, a tolerance adaptive slide connection assembly is provided for use in connecting an implement to an article of furniture. The tolerance adaptive slide connection assembly includes a first slide assembly having a first longitudinal axis and having a fixed connection between the article of furniture and a first portion of the first slide assembly and having a fixed connection between the implement a second portion of the first slide assembly, the first slide assembly providing slidable movement of the implement between a closed position within the article of furniture and an open position extending outward from the article of furniture. The tolerance adaptive slide connection assembly also includes a second slide assembly having a second longitudinal axis and having at least one tolerance adaptive connection between the article of furniture and the implement, the second slide assembly providing slidable movement of the implement between a closed position within the article of furniture and an open position extending outward from the article of furniture. The at least one tolerance adaptive connection between the article of furniture and the implement also allows movement of the implement in a direction that is substantially perpendicular to the second longitudinal axis.

In another aspect, a tolerance adaptive slide connection assembly is provided for use in connecting a slidably moveable implement to an article of furniture. The tolerance adaptive slide connection assembly includes a first slide assembly having a first inner slide member having a fixed connection to a first portion of an article of furniture and having a first outer slide member having a fixed connection to an implement, wherein the first outer slide member is slidably movable along a first longitudinal axis and is slidably movable relative to the first inner slide member. The tolerance adaptive slide connection assembly also includes a second slide assembly having a tolerance adaptive connection between the article of furniture and the implement, wherein the second slide assembly has a second inner slide member connected to a second portion of the article of furniture and a second outer slide member connected to the implement, and wherein the second outer slide member is slidably movable along a second longitudinal axis and is slidably movable relative to the second inner slide member. The implement also is slidably movable with the first and second outer slide members with respect to the respective first and second inner slide members, and the implement is allowed to move in a direction that is substantially perpendicular to the second longitudinal axis.

In a further aspect, an article of furniture having a slidably movable implement having a tolerance adaptive slide connection assembly is provided. The article of furniture having a furniture body having walls in a configuration of at least first and second spaced apart side walls connected to a bottom wall and to a rear wall. The tolerance adaptive slide connection assembly includes an implement that is connected to at least one wall of the furniture body. The assembly further includes a first slide assembly having a first inner slide member having a fixed connection to at least one wall of the furniture body, the first slide assembly having a first outer slide member having a fixed connection to the implement, wherein the first outer slide member is slidably movable relative to the first inner slide member along a first longitudinal axis. The assembly also includes a second slide assembly having a tolerance adaptive connection between the implement and at least one wall of the furniture body, wherein the second slide assembly has a second outer slide member connected to the implement and a second inner slide member connected to the at least one wall of the furniture body to which the second slide assembly has a tolerance adaptive connection, and wherein the second outer slide member is slidably movable relative to the second inner slide member along a second longitudinal axis. In this configuration, the implement and the first and second outer slide members are slidably movable with respect to the respective first and second inner slide members, and the implement is further slidably movable with respect to the at least one wall of the furniture body to which the second slide assembly has a tolerance adaptive connection in a direction that is substantially perpendicular to the second longitudinal axis.

In another aspect, a tolerance adaptive slide connection assembly for use in connecting a slidably moveable implement to an article of furniture is provided, wherein the implement is slidably movable between a closed position within the article of furniture and an open position wherein the implement extends outward from the article of furniture. The tolerance adaptive slide connection assembly includes a first slide assembly having a first longitudinal axis and a first inner slide member having a fixed connection to the article of furniture and a first outer slide member having a separate fixed connection to the implement, wherein the first outer slide member is slidably movable relative to the first inner slide member, and wherein the fixed connections to the first slide assembly limit the movement of the implement to be substantially along the first longitudinal axis. The tolerance adaptive slide connection assembly also includes a second slide assembly having a second longitudinal axis and at least one tolerance adaptive connection between the article of furniture, the second slide assembly and the implement, wherein the tolerance adaptive connection allows movement of the implement between a closed position within the article of furniture and an open position extending outward from the article of furniture and allows movement of the implement relative to the article of furniture in a direction that is substantially perpendicular to the second longitudinal axis.

Thus, the present disclosure presents alternatives to prior art slide connection assemblies for use with articles of furniture and provides advantageous features in tolerance adaptive configurations. It should be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and provided for purposes of explanation only, and are not restrictive with respect to the claimed subject matter. Further features and objects of the present disclosure will become more fully apparent in the following description of example embodiments and from the appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In describing the example tolerance adaptive slide connection assemblies disclosed herein, reference is made to the accompanying drawings wherein like parts have like reference numerals, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a first example of a device having a tolerance adaptive slide connection assembly for use in connecting an implement to an article of furniture in the form of a bottom mount bin drawer assembly, with a pair of removable bins and a handle, being in a closed position.

FIG. 2 is a front perspective view of the first example in FIG. 1 with the bins removed.

FIG. 3 is a front perspective partially exploded view of the first example with an implement that is constructed as a rear wire cage exploded from its installed position shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a rear perspective partially exploded view of the first example with the handle removed and the rear wire cage exploded from its installed position shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a front perspective exploded view of the example shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 6A is a front perspective view of a tolerance adaptive slide connection showing a slotted portion of a base wire of the implement installed over tabs on an outer slide member from the first example shown in FIG. 3.

FIG. 6B is a rear perspective view of a fixed slide connection showing a standard portion of an opposite side of the base wire of the implement installed in retaining hooks on an outer slide member from the first example shown in FIG. 4.

FIG. 7A is a front perspective view of a portion of an outer slide member of the first example isolating the tabs shown in FIG. 6A.

FIG. 7B is a further front perspective view of the tolerance adaptive connection shown in FIG. 6A.

FIG. 8 is a rear perspective view of a portion of an outer slide member of the first example isolating the retaining hooks that provide the fixed connection shown in FIG. 6B.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of another example tolerance adaptive slide connection isolating a portion of an outer slide member having integrally formed tabs that restrict the upward, downward, fore and aft movement of a standard portion of a base wire of an implement that is constructed as a wire cage having a standard cylindrical wire that is installed between the tabs.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a further example tolerance adaptive slide connection isolating a portion of an outer slide member having integrally formed tabs that restrict the upward, downward, fore and aft movement of a notched portion of an implement that is constructed as a wire cage having a notched base wire that is installed between the tabs.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of an additional example tolerance adaptive slide connection isolating a portion of an outer slide member having two integrally formed lower tabs that restrict the downward movement and a bracket that is fastened to the outer slide member that has a tab that restricts upward, fore and aft movement of a notched portion of an implement that is constructed as a wire cage having a notched base wire that is installed between the tabs.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of another example tolerance adaptive slide connection isolating a portion of an outer slide member having integrally formed tabs to which slotted clips are slidably connected and where the clips receive a base wire of an implement that is constructed as a wire cage having a standard cylindrical wire.

FIG. 13 is a further front perspective view of the tolerance adaptive connection shown in FIG. 12.

FIG. 14 is a perspective view of an implement that is constructed as a wire cage that can receive three bins and be connected via a tolerance adaptive slide connection assembly to the slide assemblies shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 15 is a front perspective view of an example article of furniture having a tolerance adaptive slide connection assembly for use in connecting an implement to an article of furniture where the implement is constructed as a side mount bin drawer assembly, with a pair of removable bins and being in a closed position within the article of furniture.

FIG. 16 is a front perspective view of a further example article of furniture having three tolerance adaptive slide connection assemblies for use in connecting three implements to an article of furniture where the implements are constructed as roll out shelves or trays that are connected to inner partition walls within the article of furniture, and being in an open position extended forward of the article of furniture.

FIG. 17 is a side perspective view of the example in FIG. 16 with the implements in an open position extended forward of the article of furniture.

FIG. 18 is a lower perspective view of one of the implements of FIG. 16 having a tolerance adaptive slide connection and being in an open position extended forward of the partition walls of the article of furniture.

FIG. 19 is a lower perspective exploded view of the implement of FIG. 18 being configured to have a fixed slide connection to the outer slide member of the first or right hand slide assembly and a tolerance adaptive slide connection to the outer slide member of the second or left hand slide assembly.

FIG. 20 is a lower perspective exploded view of the implement of FIG. 19 being configured for a fixed slide connection with a fastener to be installed into the implement after passing through a standard aperture in a tab of the outer slide member of the first or right hand slide assembly, and for a tolerance adaptive slide connection with a fastener to be installed into the implement after passing through a standoff washer to be disposed in a slot in a tab of the outer slide member of the second or left hand slide assembly.

FIG. 21 is a lower perspective exploded view of a construction for a tolerance adaptive slide connection using an alternative fastener constructed as a screw having an elongated first portion that is threaded and has a first diameter and a second standoff portion having a standoff shoulder that has a relatively larger second diameter, with the threaded portion of the screw to be installed into an implement after passing through a slot in a tab of an outer slide member, such as the outer slide member of the second or left hand slide assembly of FIG. 20, and allowing slidable movement of the fastener relative to the slot.

FIG. 22 is a lower perspective exploded view of a construction for a tolerance adaptive slide connection using a further alternative fastener constructed as a screw having a standoff portion having a standoff shoulder with a threaded portion of the screw to be installed into an insert that is to be installed into an implement, with the screw passing through a slot in a tab of an outer slide member, such as the outer slide member of the second or left hand slide assembly of FIG. 20.

FIG. 23 is a lower perspective view of an example article of furniture having a tolerance adaptive slide connection assembly for use in connecting an implement to an article of furniture where the implement is constructed as a side mount drawer assembly, and the tolerance adaptive slide connection is provided via an assembly similar to that shown in FIG. 18-20.

FIG. 24 is a front perspective view of another example article of furniture having two tolerance adaptive slide connection assemblies for use in connecting two implements to an article of furniture where the implements are constructed as pullout frames that accept wire bins and the pullout frames are connected to inner partition walls within the article of furniture, and being in a closed position within the article of furniture.

FIG. 25 is a side perspective view of the example in FIG. 24 with the implements in an open position extended forward of the article of furniture.

FIG. 26 is a front view of one of the example implements shown in FIG. 24 having a tolerance adaptive slide connection to a partition wall of the article of furniture and being in a closed position.

FIG. 27 is a front perspective view of the example implement shown in FIG. 26 having a tolerance adaptive slide connection to a partition wall of the article of furniture and being in a closed position relative to the partition wall.

FIG. 28 is a front perspective partially exploded view of the example implement shown in FIG. 27.

FIG. 29 is a front perspective view of the example implement shown in FIG. 27 having a tolerance adaptive slide connection to a partition wall of the article of furniture and being in an open position extended forward of the partition wall, and with the wire bins removed.

FIG. 30 is a front perspective partially exploded view of portions of the pullout frame shown in FIG. 29 having a fixed slide connection to a first slide assembly in the upper position via use of fasteners constructed as rivets having a shank portion to be installed into the implement after passing the shank portion through a standard aperture in the outer slide member of the upper slide assembly, and having a tolerance adaptive slide connection to a second slide assembly in the lower position via use of fasteners constructed as rivets with standoff washers with the rivets having a shank portion to be installed into the implement after having the shank portion pass through the standoff washer which is to be disposed in a slot in the outer slide member of the upper slide assembly, although in this illustration the rivets are shown without the typical stem and in a shortened view.

FIG. 31 is a front perspective partially exploded view of an alternative fastener for use in the assembly of the tolerance adaptive slide connection where the fastener is constructed as a rivet having a standoff shoulder with a shank portion of the rivet to be installed into an implement after passing through a slot in an outer slide member of a slide.

FIG. 32 is a front perspective view of an example implement of FIG. 27 having an alternative tolerance adaptive slide connection with the slide assemblies connected to a wall of an article of furniture and being in an open position extended from the wall.

FIG. 33 is a front perspective view of an example inner slide member of FIG. 32 having an alternative tolerance adaptive slide connection, with the inner slide member of the slide assembly having a closing device and having fasteners constructed as screws having a standoff shoulder with a threaded portion of the screw to be installed into a wall of an article of furniture after passing through a slot in the inner slide member.

FIG. 34 is a front perspective view of another example inner slide member of a tolerance adaptive slide connection assembly that is similar to that shown in FIG. 32 but with the inner slide member of the slide assembly not having a closing device, and having fasteners similar to those shown in FIG. 33 that are constructed as screws having a standoff shoulder with a threaded portion of the screw to be installed into a wall of an article of furniture after passing through a slot in the inner slide member.

FIG. 35 is a front perspective view of a portion of a device having a tolerance adaptive slide connection assembly for use in connecting an implement to an article of furniture similar to the first example in FIGS. 1-8, but also having a tolerance adaptive connection of a handle, with a tolerance adaptive connection to the first or left hand slide assembly and a fixed connection to the second or right hand slide assembly, and being in a closed position.

FIG. 36 is a front perspective view of the tolerance adaptive slide connection to the outer slide member of the first or left hand slide assembly for the handle in FIG. 35 using a fastener constructed as a screw having a standoff shoulder and with a threaded portion of the screw to be installed through a tab on the handle and passing through the outer slide member.

FIG. 37 is a front perspective view of the fixed slide connection for the handle to the outer slide member of the second or right hand slide assembly for the handle in FIG. 35 using a fastener that has a threaded portion installed through a tab on the handle and passing through the outer slide member.

FIG. 38 is a rear perspective view of the tolerance adaptive slide connection to the outer slide member of the first or left hand slide assembly for the handle as shown in FIG. 36 with a nut engaged on the threaded portion of the screw.

FIG. 39 is a rear perspective exploded view of the tolerance adaptive slide connection to the outer slide member of the first or left hand slide assembly for the handle as shown in FIG. 38 and further showing the standoff shoulder and threaded portions of the screw and the nut that engages the threaded portion of the screw.

It should be understood that the drawings are not necessarily to scale and provide various views of systems and components that are within the scope of the disclosure, and which may be used in various configurations of slide attachment assemblies. Use of terms denoting order or orientation, such as first, second, left hand, right hand, top, bottom, side, front, rear, etc., are used for convenience in explaining the disclosed structures, could be reversed, and are not intended to imply limitations to the drawings. It also should be understood that the claims are not limited to the particular preferred embodiments illustrated, but rather cover various configurations of slide assembly attachments for systems in cabinets and other articles of furniture.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Although the following discloses examples of tolerance adaptive slide connection assemblies for use in articles of furniture, such as cabinets or desks, persons of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the teachings of this disclosure are in no way limited to the example embodiments. On the contrary, it is contemplated that the teachings of this disclosure may be implemented in alternative configurations and environments. In addition, although the example tolerance adaptive slide connection assemblies described herein are shown in conjunction with particular configurations of implements and slide assemblies, those having ordinary skill in the art will readily recognize that the teachings of the disclosure herein may be used with alternative implements and slide assemblies, whether such is for use in a cabinet or other article of furniture.

Referring to FIGS. 1-39, it will be appreciated that tolerance adaptive slide connection assemblies may be constructed in a variety of ways and for use in a variety of articles of furniture. A first example tolerance adaptive slide connection assembly 10 for use in connecting an implement 12 to an article of furniture is shown in FIGS. 1-8. This assembly is constructed as a bottom mount bin drawer assembly, with the implement 12 including a pair of removable bins 14, such as plastic bins for waste or recycling. In this configuration, it is intended to be connected to the bottom wall of a furniture body of an article of furniture, such as a cabinet, by U-shaped brackets 16. Thus, slide assembly first portions or inner slide members 18b, 20b are a first portion of the slide assemblies 18, 20 that are connected to the U-shaped brackets 16 that are to be connected to the article of furniture, while slide assembly second portions or outer slide members 18b, 20b are connected to the implement 12.

The outer slide member 18a is slidably movable relative to the inner slide member 18b along the first longitudinal axis 18L and the outer slide member 20a is slidably movable relative to the inner slide member 20b along the second longitudinal axis 20L to allow slidable movement of the implement between a closed position within an article of furniture and an open position extending outward from the article of furniture, as will become more apparent when reading this description in context with other examples described herein.

The slide assemblies 18, 20 may be covered, in part, by shrouds 22, 24 for enhanced safety and appearance. The shrouds 22, 24 may be connected to the respective slide assemblies 18, 20 by fasteners 22a, 24a, which may be screws or rivets, or any other suitable structures or methods may be used to connect the components. Also, this example actually illustrates two implements 12 that are connected by tolerance adaptive slide connections to the slide assemblies, with both implements being constructed as wire cages 12 that are configured to receive the removable bins 14.

The base wire 12a within each of the wire cages 12 has an outer portion 12b that runs along a first slide assembly 18 on the right hand side, where the standard wire of outer portion 12b has a fixed connection to the outer slide member 18a of the first or right hand slide assembly 18 by forcing the outer portion 12b of the base wire 12a downward into hooks 28 that are integrally formed in the outer slide member 18a of the first slide assembly 18. In contrast, an wire outer portion 12c having two flattened portions 30 that each include a slot 32 are on the opposite side of the base wire 12a of each wire cage 12 and the slots 32 are configured to receive tabs 34 that are integrally formed to extend out from the outer slide member 20a of the second or left hand slide assembly 20. The slots 32 in the wire outer portion 12c allow the implement 12 to move back and forth over the tabs 34 in a lateral direction, which is a direction that is substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis 20L of the second slide assembly 20. Thus, the second slide assembly 20 has a second longitudinal axis 20L and at least one tolerance adaptive connection between an article of furniture and the implement 12, with the second slide assembly 20 providing slidable movement of the implement between a closed position within an article of furniture and an open position extending outward from an article of furniture. In this example, the tolerance adaptive connection is between the second outer slide member 20a and the implement 12, but it will be appreciated, as discussed further herein with respect to the examples in FIGS. 33 and 34, that the tolerance adaptive connection could be between the inner slide member 20b and the article of furniture. In such constructions the implement is allowed to in a direction that is substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the second slide assembly to which the implement is connected and the slide assembly actually moves with the implement relative to the article of furniture.

The tabs 34 may have the same width or may have different widths, so as to focus the fore and aft control of the implement 12 on a single tab 34 while allowing a more loose fit on one or more other tabs 34. The tabs 34 also include chamfered ends 34a for ease of installation of the slots 32 over the ends of the tabs 34. One or more tabs 34 further may include an upturned end 34b to provide a retaining feature in the event that the second slide is moved laterally or perpendicularly, relative to the second slide assembly 20, a distance that would otherwise cause the slot 32 and flattened portion 30 to become disconnected from the tab 34 having such retainer feature. It will be appreciated that while the integrally formed tabs 34 are shown extending from the second slide assembly 20 on the left and the integrally formed hooks 28 are shown extending from the first slide assembly 18 on the right, the slide assemblies could be arranged in the opposite manner, so that the left hand slide assembly is the first slide assembly, providing a fixed connection, while the right hand slide assembly could be the second slide assembly, providing a tolerance adaptive slide connection. Also, the tabs 34 and hooks 28 need not be formed integrally with the outer slide members and could be formed as separate pieces that are then connected to the slide assemblies by use of fasteners, welding or other suitable means of connection.

When installing an implement 12, it will be appreciated that the user would hold the implement 12, in this instance a wire cage, so as to have the base wire 12a at an upward angle left to right, to then slide the slotted flattened portions 30 of the wire outer portion 12c over the upturned ends 34b of the tabs 34. The implement 12 may then be moved toward the left and the right side of the implement 12 may be moved downward until the opposite standard wire outer portion 12b reaches the hooks 28 extending from the outer slide member 18a of the first slide assembly 18. The standard wire outer portion 12b is then pressed firmly downward to establish a fixed connection between the base wire 12a and the hooks 28. Due to the performance of the first slide assembly 18 and the fixed connection of the implement 12 thereto, in this installed position, the implement 12 provides the user with a sense that the implement 12 is rigidly connected to both slide assemblies 18, 20, although it actually is able to self-adjust for variations in the tolerances provided by the components within the assembly, so as to avoid binding when moving between relative closed and an open positions. For instance, the U-shaped brackets 16 may have variations in their lengths or perpendicular bends, while they may not be connected to the cabinet in the manner needed to establish strict parallelism between the slide assemblies, and there may be variations in the width and parallelism of the base wires 12a of the implements 12.

Views of the tabs 34 and corresponding slotted flattened portions 30 of the base wires 12a are shown to various extents in FIGS. 2, 3, 6A, 7A and 7B, while views of the hooks 28 and corresponding standard wire outer portions 12b are shown in FIGS. 4, 6B and 8.

This first example includes other advantageous features, such as a wire handle 36. In this example, the wire handle 36 has fixed connections to the first and second slide assemblies 18, 20, but provides some flexibility laterally at the base of the assembly due to the tendency of the handle to flex. In this way, the wire handle 36 does not tend to disrupt the performance of the tolerance adaptive slide connection assembly 10. As best seen in FIGS. 1, 2 and 6A, the fixed connections of the handle 36 are provided by clasps 38 that surround the lower wire portion 36a of the handle on each side, and fasteners 38a. Each fastener 38a extends through an aperture in a clasp 38 and is connected to a respective outer slide member 18a, 20a of a slide assembly 18, 20. Nevertheless, as will be explained in further detail below with respect to another example of a handle connection that is shown in FIGS. 35-39, a tolerance adaptive connection also may be employed with a handle to affirmatively allow movement of a handle in a direction opposite to the axis of a respective slide assembly.

Several alternative examples of the tolerance adaptive slide connection to the left side of the first example assembly are provided in FIGS. 9-13. In FIG. 9 another example tolerance adaptive slide connection is shown with an alternative outer slide member 120a that is slidably movable relative to an inner slide member 120b along a longitudinal axis 120L of the slide assembly 120. The outer slide member 120a has integrally formed horizontal tabs 140 that restrict the upward and downward movement of a standard wire outer portion 112b, and integrally formed vertical tabs 142 that restrict fore and aft movement of the standard wire outer portion 112b of a base wire 112a of an implement that is constructed as a wire cage having a standard cylindrical wire as the base wire 112a. With this example, the base wire could have a standard wire construction on both sides, as the opposite side could utilize the hooks 28, previously described, to provide a fixed connection between the implement and the first slide assembly. This example would provide for similar installation to that of the prior example, with the slide assembly 120 being the second slide assembly, and the user angling and sliding into place the standard wire outer portion 112b of the base wire 112a between the tabs 140, 142 on the second slide assembly 120, and then moving the opposite side of the implement 112 downward until the opposite standard wire outer portion 112b is seated in a fixed connection with a first slide assembly, such as in hooks 28 extending from an outer slide member 18a of a first slide assembly 18 of the prior example. The standard wire outer portion 12b would then be pressed firmly downward to establish a fixed connection between the base wire 112a and the hooks 28.

Another alternative example is shown in FIG. 10 where an example tolerance adaptive slide connection includes an alternative outer slide member 220a that slidably moves along a longitudinal axis 220L relative to an inner slide member 220b of a slide assembly 220. The outer slide member 220a has integrally formed horizontal tabs 240 that restrict upward, downward, fore and aft movement of an outer portion 212b of a base wire 212a of an implement that includes a base wire 212a having a notch 244 in the outer portion 212b. The outer portion 212b of the base wire 212a is installed between the tabs 240. In a manner similar to that described with the prior examples, the slide assembly 220 could serve as the second slide assembly and have a tolerance adaptive connection to the outer portion 212b of the base wire 212a of the implement, while the outer portion of the opposite side of the base wire 212a would be installed as previously described to establish a fixed connection of the implement to a first slide assembly.

In a somewhat similar example, FIG. 11 illustrates an additional example tolerance adaptive slide connection that includes a further alternative outer slide member 320a that slidably moves along a longitudinal axis 320L relative to an inner slide member 320b of a slide assembly 320. The outer slide member 320a has two integrally formed lower horizontal tabs 340 that restrict downward movement of an outer portion 312b of a base wire 312a of an implement. The outer portion 312b includes a notch 344 in the upper surface thereof. A separate bracket 346 is fastened to the outer slide member 320a and includes a horizontal upper tab 346a that fits within the notch 344 and restricts upward, fore and aft movement of the outer portion 312b of the base wire 312a. It will be appreciated that the notched base wire 312a can be slid into place between the tabs 340, 346a to establish a tolerance adaptive connection and that while the slide assembly 320 may serve as the second slide assembly, the opposite side of the implement may be connected in a fixed manner to a first slide assembly, using the structures and methods similar or equivalent to those already described.

The tabs may be integrally formed or otherwise fastened to the outer slide member 320a, such as via use of welding, fasteners or other suitable means of connection. Also, when using notched wires, the notches could be formed by coining, cutting or other suitable methods, and the notched example could include one or more tab-engaging notches along an implement, where the notches could be in the upper or lower surface of a portion of the implement. The implement also could be formed of a variety of materials, such as wire, wood, plastic, metal or other suitable substantially rigid materials. It will be understood that with any of these examples, the hooks may be replaced by other suitable means of fixedly connecting the implement to the first slide assembly, and that the terms fixed connection or fixedly connected are used herein in a manner that does not preclude a reversible or removable connection. Thus, there need not be, but could be permanence with respect to the fixed connections.

A further example tolerance adaptive slide connection is shown in FIGS. 12-13 where an outer slide member 420a is slidably movable along a longitudinal axis 420L relative to an inner slide member 420b of a slide assembly 420. The outer slide member 420a has integrally formed tabs 440 to which clips 448 are slidably connected. Each tab 440 in this example is planar and does not have the upturned retaining feature of a tab 34 of the first example. Each clip 448 is configured to receive a tab 440 through a slot 450 in the main body of the clip 448. Each clip 448 also receives a portion of an implement, such as an outer wire portion 412b of a base wire 412a, in a groove 452 formed through the top surface and downward into the body of the clip 448. Thus, with this example, if the clips 448 are first installed on the tabs 440 for the second slide assembly 420 and the above-described hooks 28 from the first example or an equivalent thereof is being used to form fixed connections to an opposite first slide assembly, then the base wire 412a could be pressed downward to establish connection with both the first and second slide assemblies via the grooves 452 and the hooks 428, in any order, while still providing a tolerance adaptive slide connection assembly via the slidable connection to the second slide assembly 420.

FIG. 14 provides another example of a tolerance adaptive slide connection assembly for use in an article of furniture that could be similar to that used for the above examples. In this instance the implement is constructed as a larger wire cage 512 that receives three bins 514. Here the base wire 512a has outer portions 512c that incorporate flat portions 530 having slots similar to slots 32 of the first example. The slots accept tabs, such as tabs 34 of a first slide assembly 20 shown in the above described example in FIGS. 1-8. The opposite side of the base wire 512a includes standard wire outer portions 512b that may be received by hooks 28 or grooves 452 of a second slide assembly. Thus, the larger implement could be installed in a similar manner to above described examples with respect to the versions that use two smaller wire cages and have fixed connections to the first slide assembly and tolerance adaptive connections to the second slide assembly.

Turning to FIG. 15, an example of an article of furniture 600 having a furniture body 660 having walls in a configuration of at least first and second spaced apart side walls 662, 664 connected to a bottom wall 666 and to a rear wall 668, such as is common in a cabinet. A tolerance adaptive slide connection assembly 610 is provided for use in connecting an implement 612 to the article of furniture 600. Here the implement 612 is constructed in a similar manner with respect to the above described wire cage assemblies 12, but the first slide assembly 618 and the second slide assembly 620 are connected to opposed side walls 662, 664 of the article of furniture 600. Thus, the example shown in FIGS. 1-8 could be connected to the bottom wall 666 of such a furniture body 660 using the U-shaped brackets 16, but in the example in FIG. 15, the slide assemblies 618, 620 have inner slide members 618b, 620b connected directly to the spaced apart side walls 662, 664 of the furniture body 660.

While the sources of non-parallelism may be a bit different with this example, such as may occur based on the parallelism of the side walls 662, 664 of the furniture body 660 of the article of furniture 600, the general tolerance adaptive operation is similar in this example. The first side of the implement 612 has a fixed connection to the first slide assembly 618, which has a first longitudinal axis 618L and provides a solid and secure feeling of the implement 612 when the outer slide member 618a is slidably moving relative to the inner slide member 618b to move the implement 612 between a closed position within the article of furniture 600 and an open position extending outward from the article of furniture 600. The second side of the implement 612 has a tolerance adaptive slide connection to the second slide assembly 620 to alleviate binding or other issues related to slide tolerancing that may occur due to the lack of parallelism in the component structures or in the mounting of the first and second slide assemblies 618, 620, as may occur when slidably moving the outer slide member 620a along a second longitudinal axis 620L relative to an inner slide member 620b of the second slide assembly 620. In this instance, it is a matter of width tolerances and the freedom of movement effectively is lateral movement, or side-to-side within a horizontal plane, which is substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the second slide assembly 620. Thus, the tolerance adaptive slide connection assembly 610 allows slidable movement substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis 620L of the second slide assembly 620, yet still controls fore and aft movement of the tolerance adaptive slide connection relative to the outer slide member 620a of the second slide assembly 620.

A further example for utilization of the disclosed tolerance adaptive slide connection assemblies is provided in FIGS. 16-20. FIGS. 16 and 17 show an article of furniture 700 having a furniture body 760 having walls in a configuration of at least first and second spaced apart side walls 762, 764 connected to a bottom wall 766 and to a rear wall 768, with the side walls 762, 764 being inner partition walls within the article of furniture 700. The article of furniture 700 has three tolerance adaptive slide connection assemblies 710 for use in connecting three implements 712 to the article of furniture 700. The implements 712 are constructed as roll out shelves or trays having a wire cage 712a connected to a shelf 712b that may be constructed of wood, plastic, metal or other suitable materials. Each implement 712 in this example is connected to a first slide assembly 718 and to a second slide assembly 720, with the first and second slide assemblies 718, 720 respectively connected to the inner partition walls 762, 764 within the article of furniture 700.

In this example, the article of furniture 700 is constructed as a cabinet having doors 702 hinged to the furniture body 760 at further spaced apart outer side walls 706, 708. The implements also are shown in FIG. 16-18 in an open position extended forward of the article of furniture 700. Several of the same sources that result in variations in parallelism as with respect to those previously discussed may be present in such structures, and partition walls can be the source of further deviations. However, one will appreciate that the first and second slide assemblies 718, 720 in this example could be connected to the partition walls 762, 764 in the same manner as being connected to outer side walls of a furniture body, such as shown and discussed in relation to the example in FIG. 15.

More detailed views of a tolerance adaptive slide connection assembly 710 used in the example of FIGS. 16-20 is shown in FIGS. 18-20. FIG. 18 provides a view from below the implement 712 where one can see that the connection of the implement 712 to the respective outer slide members 718a, 720a of the first and second slide assemblies 718, 720, respectively. In FIG. 18, one also can readily see the closing device 770 located at the rear of the inner slide member 718b of the first slide assembly 718 that is connected to the right hand partition wall 762. This particular implement 712 is constructed as a pullout tray that includes a wire retaining weldment 712a that is connected to the bottom of the shelf or tray 712b. The connection of the weldment 712a to the tray 712b may be by fasteners, such as screws 722 and P-clips 724 as shown, or by other suitable means of connection.

The tolerance adaptive slide connection assembly 710 for this example is most easily appreciated when viewing FIGS. 19 and 20. Here one can see the implement 712 of FIG. 18 being configured to have a fixed slide assembly connection to the outer slide member 718a of the first or right hand slide assembly 718 and a tolerance adaptive slide connection to the outer slide member 720a of the second or left hand slide assembly 720. The outer slide member 718a includes integrally formed tabs 728 having circular apertures 728a and elongated slots 728b. Fasteners 726, in the form of screws, such as wood screws, may be driven through the corresponding standard circular apertures 728a in tabs 728 in the outer slide member 718a and into the shelf 712b to provide a fixed connection between the implement 712 and the first slide assembly 718. Pre-drilled pilot holes may be provided to enhance the alignment and tolerancing when installing the screws 726 into the bottom of the shelve 712b. Tolerance adaptive connections may be provided by driving screws 726 through standoff washers 730 and elongated slots 732b in the integrally formed tabs 732 that extend from the outer slide member 720a of the second slide assembly 720.

In FIG. 20, most of the other components are stripped away and one can more readily see that the shelf 712b of the implement 712 is shown as being configured for a fixed connection to the outer slide member 718a of the first slide assembly 718. As noted above, fasteners in the form of screws 726 are to be installed into the shelf 712b of the implement 712 after passing through standard circular apertures 728a in the tabs 728 of the outer slide member 718a of the first or right hand slide assembly 718. The shelf 712b of the implement 712 also is configured for a tolerance adaptive connection to the outer slide member 720a of the second slide assembly 720. As discussed above, screws 726 are to be installed into shelf 712b of the implement 712 after passing through standoff washers 730 and elongated slots 732b in the tabs 732 of the outer slide member 720a of the second or left hand slide assembly 720. It will be appreciated that, as shown, with both standard circular apertures 728a and slots 732b in the respective tabs 728, 732 of the outer slide members 718a, 720a, the sides for affecting the fixed and tolerance adaptive connections could be readily reversed, or one could further alternatively install the implement with fasteners securing only fixed connections or only tolerance adaptive connections. It will be appreciated that in this type of installation, one would ordinarily install the fasteners 726 to establish the fixed connections and then tolerance adaptive connections. However, one could follow a different order and, if the shelf 712a includes pre-drilled pilot holes, then it would not matter in what order the fasteners 726 would be installed.

FIGS. 21 and 22 show additional examples of fasteners that may be utilized in tolerance adaptive slide connection assemblies. While it will be appreciated that a standard screw, such as a wood screw, could be used within an appropriately dimensioned slot in a tab that extends from an outer slide member, if it is not tightened to the point of applying a clamp load to the tab, it will be appreciated that for ease and speed of assembly, and for consistent, repeatable results with respect to the movement allowed within a tolerance adaptive slide connection assembly, it is preferable to use a fastening means that includes a standoff. The standoff may be provided as a separate washer through which the a screw or other fastener passes, with the washer being disposed in the slot of a tab of an outer slide member, such as is shown for the second or left hand slide assembly in FIGS. 19-20, for slidable movement of the implement relative to the second slide assembly.

Alternatively, the standoff to prevent clamping of a tab extending from an outer slide member may be provided directly by the fastener. Examples of fasteners having a standoff are shown in FIGS. 21 and 22. For instance, in FIG. 21, a threaded screw 772, such as a wood or sheet metal screw is shown and the screw 772 is usable with a slot 774 in a tab 776 of a bracket 778 that is connected to an outer slide member 780a of a slide assembly 780 (not shown) to provide a tolerance adaptive slide connection. Thus, the fastener 772 in this example is constructed as a screw having a standoff shoulder 772a with the threaded portion 772b of the screw 772 to be installed into an implement 712b after passing through a slot 776a in a tab 776 of an outer slide member 780a, such as the outer slide member 780a of the left hand slide assembly of FIG. 20. This configuration will allow slidable movement of the fastener 772 relative to the slot 776a, and therefore, slidable movement of the implement 712 in a lateral direction that is substantially perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the second slide assembly along which the outer slide member 780a slidably moves.

The example in FIG. 22 includes use of a fastener 782 that is constructed as a machine thread screw which can be threadably received in an insert 784 that is installed into a pilot hole 786 in the bottom of the shelf 712b of the implement. The insert 784 may be press fit or self-threading. The fastener 782 is constructed as a screw having a standoff shoulder 782a with a threaded portion 782b of the screw to be threadably installed into the insert 784 that is first installed into the implement. This enables the fastener 782 to pass through a slot 788 in a tab 790 that is integrally formed in and extends from an outer slide member 792a of a slide assembly 792 to establish a tolerance adaptive slide connection. The slide assembly 792 includes an inner slide member 792b and the outer slide member 792a slides along a longitudinal axis 792L relative to the outer slide member 792a. The tolerance adaptive connection allows the implement to move in a direction that is substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the slide assembly 792.

FIG. 23 shows a further example of an article of furniture 800 having a tolerance adaptive slide connection assembly 810 for use in connecting an implement 812 to the article of furniture 800, which is in the configuration of a cabinet, where the implement 812 is a drawer box that is connected to the article of furniture via a side mount drawer slide assembly. The article of furniture 800 includes a furniture body 860 that includes at least spaced apart side walls 862, 864 that would be connected to a bottom wall and a rear wall (not shown). Thus, just as a shelf or tray may receive a tolerance adaptive slide connection, as discussed above with respect to FIGS. 16-22, the mounting of a drawer box also may benefit from the advantageous use of a tolerance adaptive slide connection assembly 810.

The drawer box shown in FIG. 23 is connected to a first slide assembly 818 having a fixed connection at tabs 828 that are integrally formed in and extend from an outer slide member 818a of first slide assembly 818. Fasteners, such as screws 826 pass through apertures in the tabs 828 to establish a fixed connection of the outer slide member 818a to a side 812a of the implement 812. The outer slide member 818a is slidably movable along a longitudinal axis relative to an inner slide member 818b that has as fixed connection to the side wall 862 of the article of furniture 800. The tabs 828 of the outer slide member 818a run below and are connected to the bottom edges of the side 812a via screws 826. The implement 812 further has a tolerance adaptive connection to the outer slide member 820a which includes tabs 832 that extend from the outer slide member 820a and run below and are connected to the bottom edge of the left hand side 812b of the drawer box 812. The tolerance adaptive connection is made by fasteners 826 passing through slots in the tabs 832, similar to the prior examples. Indeed, the drawer construction could more closely resemble the flat bottom of the preceding example implements in the form of shelves or trays.

The lack of parallel side walls of a furniture body, such as in a cabinet, can lead to binding in the ordinary course of slide operation when slidably moving a drawer between relative open and closed positions. Over time, with wear and minor damage that may be inflicted by accidental lateral contact with a drawer that is in an open position, or by other means, the binding within standard slide assemblies can increase and be problematic. While being more apparent in slide assemblies having closing devices, such as self-close, or self-close and soft-close features as are becoming more prevalent in modern slide constructions, problems can be noticed in more traditional slide assembly installations when installed using only fixed connections between an article of furniture and slide assemblies, as well as between the slide assemblies and an implement.

The preceding examples all benefit from tolerance adaptive slide connection assemblies when seeking to allow some lateral movement of the implement relative to the second slide assembly to relieve the binding stresses that can occur during slidable movement of the implement. The lateral movement is substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the slide assembly that is connected to the implement via a tolerance adaptive connection. However, there also may occur binding stresses when one attempts to utilize slide assemblies that are installed in a parallel manner where the slide assemblies are spaced apart vertically, instead of being spaced apart horizontally in an opposed manner. This will be appreciated when viewing the example provided in FIGS. 24-30 where two tolerance adaptive slide connection assemblies 910 are provided in an example article of furniture 900. The article of furniture includes a furniture body 960 having spaced apart side walls 962, 964, which in this example are interior partition walls, a bottom wall 966 and rear wall 968. The furniture body 960 of this example includes further spaced apart exterior side walls 706, 708.

Each of the tolerance adaptive slide connection assemblies 910 includes two slide assemblies 918, 920 and is connected to a wall of the furniture body 960 in a vertically spaced apart configuration. In this example, each implement 912 is constructed as a pullout frame that accepts wire bins 912a. The pullout frame 912 is connected to slide assemblies 918, 920 that each have a respective longitudinal axis 918L, 920L. The slide assemblies 918, 920, in turn, are connected to an inner partition wall 962, 964 within the article of furniture 900. A knob 970 is provided for connection to the upper forward corner of each frame 912, so as to allow a user to grasp and slidably move the implement 912 along the longitudinal axis that is associated with the upper slide assembly 918. To provide non-handed construction and to prevent the fastener 972 that is used to connect the knob 970 to the assembly from interfering with a potential tolerance adaptive slide connection, the outer slide member 918a, 920a of each slide assembly 918, 920 includes an oversized aperture 974 that encircles an installed head of the fastener 972, best seen in FIG. 30, for connecting the knob 970 to the frame 912. The pullout frame assemblies 912 are shown in a closed position within the article of furniture in FIG. 24, while being shown in an open position extended forward of the article of furniture in FIG. 25.

FIGS. 26 and 27 show additional views of the tolerance adaptive slide connection assembly 910 of FIGS. 24 and 25, connected to a partition wall 962 of the article of furniture 900 and being in a closed position. Together with FIG. 28, one can appreciate the structure of this assembly 910 which allows the various wire bins 912a to be hung from vertical side rails 914 of the frame 912 via a plurality of apertures 914a therein, with bin bottoms 912b being provided by planar bodies that may be constructed of plastic, wood, metal or other suitable materials. In this example, the slide assemblies 918, 920 and frame 912 may be constructed in a non-handed configuration for ease of assembly and cost savings. Some of the prior examples also may be constructed in a non-handed configuration which allows use of common parts and requires fewer variations in assemblies, generally leading to more consistent quality and performance.

The example of FIGS. 24-30 also is shown in FIG. 29 in an open position, extended forward of the wall 962 of a furniture body 960 to which it is connected by a tolerance adaptive slide connection. The example includes a closing device 950 disposed in the rear of the inner slide member 918b, 920b that is connected to the side wall 962. The freedom from binding due to a lack of parallelism may be provided by use of fixed connections to the first slide assembly 918, which is shown in FIG. 30 as including fixed connection of the implement or frame 912 to an outer slide member 918a of the first or upper slide assembly 918, and by use of tolerance adaptive slide connection of the implement 912 to a second slide assembly 920, which is shown in FIG. 30 as including connection of the implement 912 to an outer slide member 920a of the second or lower slide assembly 920. In these instances the outer slide member 918a includes standard circular apertures 926 for receipt of fasteners 928 when establishing a fixed connection to the first slide assembly 918 via apertures 926a in the implement 912. The fixed connections can be made by use of fasteners, such as rivets 928, screws, or other suitable means of connection. Further, the outer slide member 920a includes slotted apertures or slots 930 for receipt of fasteners 928 with standoff washers 932 when establishing tolerance adaptive slide connections to the second slide assembly 920 via apertures 926b in the implement 912. It will be appreciated that while in this example the first or upper slide assembly 918 is used to provide the fixed connection and the second or lower slide assembly 920 is shown as being used to provide the tolerance adaptive slide connection, either the upper or lower slide assembly may be utilized for either role in the tolerance adaptive slide connection assembly 910.

In FIG. 30, one can see the implement 912 constructed as a pullout frame and having a fixed slide connection to the first slide assembly 918 via use of fasteners 928 constructed as rivets having a shank portion to be installed into an aperture 926a in the implement 912 after passing the shank portion through a standard aperture 926 in the outer slide member 918a of the first or upper slide assembly 918. These rivets 928 are shown without the common stem and are truncated in length relative to their preinstalled configuration, but one can appreciate the connections that may be made when using appropriate fasteners, which may include rivets. In turn, the tolerance adaptive slide connection to the second slide assembly 920 in the lower position is made via fasteners 928 that include similarly constructed rivets, but also by using the rivets with standoff washers 932. The rivets 928 have a shank portion to be installed into an aperture 926b in the implement 912 after having the shank portion pass through the standoff washer 932 which is to be disposed in a slot 930 in the outer slide member 920a of the second or upper slide assembly 920, although again, in this illustration the rivets are shown without the typical stem and in a shortened view. It will be appreciated that other fasteners also could be used, such as have previously been described with respect to the above discussed examples using other structures for standoffs. Once again, one may utilize fasteners that do not include an integral or separate standoff, but this needlessly complicates assembly and typically would lead to less consistent results.

One further example of such a fastener having an integral standoff is shown in FIG. 31, constructed as a rivet 1028 having a standoff shoulder 1028a with a shank portion 1028b of the rivet to be installed into an implement after passing through a slot in an outer slide member of a slide assembly. Thus, if used with the example shown in FIG. 30, the shank portion 1028b of the rivet 1028 may pass through a slot 930 in the outer slide member 920a and then be installed through a blind hole or aperture 926b in the implement 912 to form a tolerance adaptive slide connection between the second slide assembly 920 and the implement 912. In the event that the slide assemblies are not perfectly parallel when installed to the wall 962 of an article of furniture 900, then the tolerance adaptive slide connection assembly 910 will provide the freedom to float, or allow the implement 912 to move in a direction that is substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis 920L of the second slide assembly 920. The implement may then slidably move between relative closed and open positions along the longitudinal axes 918L, 920L of the first and second slide assemblies 918, 920, while still allowing the implement 912 to move vertically or substantially perpendicularly to the longitudinal axis 920L of the second slide assembly 920 sufficiently to eliminate the potential binding that otherwise may occur.

Alternative installation configurations are provided in FIGS. 32-33, and FIG. 34. In FIGS. 32-33, a tolerance adaptive slide connection assembly 1110 is provided for an implement 1112, with the slide assemblies 1118 and 1120 connected to a wall 1162 of an article of furniture, such as the wall 962 of the furniture body 960 of the article of furniture 900. In this example, the tolerance adaptive slide connection assembly 1110 is in an open position extended outward from the wall 1162. The slide assemblies 1118 and 1120 include closing devices 1150 at the rear end of the inner slide members 1118b, 1120b that will remain within the furniture body at all times. In the illustration of FIG. 33, one can see that rather than the fixed connection being employed between the upper slide assembly 920 and the implement 1112, as in the example shown in FIG. 30, in this instance the fixed connection is between the first slide assembly 1118, which is the lower slide assembly, while the tolerance adaptive slide connection is between the second or upper slide assembly 1120 and the implement 1112. Here, the second or lower slide assembly 1120 is connected to the wall 1062 of the furniture body using fasteners that pass through slots in the inner slide member 1120b to allow it to float or move vertically, which is substantially perpendicularly relative to a longitudinal axis 1120L of the second slide assembly 1120. In FIG. 33, the fasteners 1172 used are constructed as screws having a standoff shoulder 1172a with a threaded portion 1172b of the screw 1172 to be installed into a wall 1162 of an article of furniture after passing through a slot 1176 in the inner slide member 1120b. It will be appreciated that the first slide assembly 1118, which would be used in the lower location to have a fixed connection between the implement 1112 and the wall 1162 of the article of furniture would be a similar slide to that shown in FIG. 33, but would be used with standard screws that are fastened through the standard apertures in the inner slide member to fixedly connect it to the wall.

A modification to the example in FIG. 33 is shown in FIG. 34. In FIG. 34, the inner slide member 1220b does not include a closing device. It does however use a similar set of fasteners 1272 that engage slots 1276 to provide another example of an inner slide member 1120b of a tolerance adaptive slide connection assembly. As with the example in FIG. 33, the example in FIG. 34 may use standard fasteners to connect the implement to the first and second slide assemblies, but in both instances the implement will be allowed to move vertically, and therefore, substantially perpendicularly to a longitudinal axis 1220L of the second slide assembly 1220, thereby avoiding binding during slidable movement of the implement between the relative closed and open positions.

Turning to FIGS. 35-39, an alternative handle mounting with a tolerance adaptive connection is disclosed. This example uses the same first and second slide assemblies 18 and 20, and is quite similar to the structures in the first example in FIGS. 1-8, except with respect to the lower portion of the handle 1336 and the structures used to connect the handle 1336 to the outer slide members 18a, 20a of the respective first and second slide assemblies 18, 20. Instead of looking to the first example to form a fixed connection on each side of the handle 36 by using the clasps 38 and fasteners 38a to connect the lower portion 36a of the handle 36 to each of the outer slide members 18a, 20a, in the present example a different structure allows use of a tolerance adaptive connection on at least one side of the handle 1336. While a tolerance adaptive connection could be used on both sides, the handle 1336 will feel more secure to the user if a fixed connection to a slide assembly is maintained on at least one side of the handle 1336.

The lower portions 1336a of the handle 1336 includes tabs 1338 that are fixedly connected to the wire of handle 1336, such as by welding or other suitable methods of connection. The tabs 1338 include apertures 1338a. In this example, fasteners 1340, in the form of threaded screws, pass through the apertures in the tabs 1338 on the right hand side of the handle 1336 and through apertures in the outer slide member 18a. Retaining nuts allow the fasteners 1340 to form a fixed connection between the handle 1336 and the first outer slide member 18a of the first or right hand slide assembly 18. However, on the left hand side of the handle 1336, fasteners 1342 having a standoff shoulder 1342a and a threaded portion 1342b are used with nuts 1344 to form a tolerance adaptive connection between the handle 1336 and the second outer slide member 20a of the second or left hand slide assembly 20. The threaded portions 1342b pass through apertures 1338a the tabs 1338, which position the standoff shoulders 1342a of the fasteners 1342 within the apertures 1338a of the tabs 1338 and allow the nuts 1344 to fix the fastener 1342 to the second outer slide member 20a while allowing the lower portion 1336a of the handle 1336 to move laterally or in a direction substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis 20L of second slide assembly 20. In this manner, while the wire handle 1336, with its flexibility, may not significantly affect the smooth running of the first and second slide assemblies 18, 20, it is possible to incorporate a tolerance adaptive connection to the handle itself to ensure that it does not impede smooth operation of the first and second slide assemblies 18, 20. In addition, a tolerance adaptive connection for a handle will be more important and desirable if one chooses to use a handle that is constructed in a manner that results in the handle being more rigid than the wire handle 1336 of this example.

It will be appreciated that the slide assemblies of the above-described examples could be connected to the articles of furniture in other ways, such as by connection to a face frame or via connection to a side wall, bottom wall, or rear wall via a bracket or spacer. It will be understood that connections to such other structures also would have sources of variations from parallelism in the connection of the slide assemblies, such as in the areas of the face frame construction, the bracket construction or installation to the article of furniture. Thus, all such configurations are contemplated and considered to be within the scope of this disclosure, as well as should be considered any other slide assembly devices where an implement may be connected to a slide assembly via a tolerance adaptive slide connection that allows movement of the implement relative to the one of the slide assemblies that does not provide fixed connection, and wherein the additional allowed movement is in a direction substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the slide assembly having a tolerance adaptive connection to the implement or to the article of furniture.

While the present disclosure shows and demonstrates example tolerance adaptive slide connection assemblies for use in articles of furniture, the examples are merely illustrative and are not to be considered limiting. It will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that tolerance adaptive slide connection assemblies in accordance with the present disclosure may be provided in various configurations and may be constructed to be installed in various forms to interact with various articles of furniture, without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Any variety of suitable materials of construction, configurations, shapes and sizes for the components and methods of connecting the components may be utilized to meet the particular needs and requirements of an end user. Thus, although example methods, apparatus and articles of manufacture relating to tolerance adaptive slide connection assemblies have been described herein, the scope of coverage of this patent is not limited to the preferred examples illustrated. On the contrary, this patent covers all methods, apparatus and articles of manufacture fairly falling within the scope of the appended claims either literally or under the doctrine of equivalents.

Claims

1. A tolerance adaptive slide connection assembly for use in connecting an implement to an article of furniture, the tolerance adaptive slide connection assembly comprising:

a first slide assembly having a first longitudinal axis and having a fixed connection between the article of furniture and a first portion of the first slide assembly and having a fixed connection between the implement and a second portion of the first slide assembly, the first slide assembly providing slidable movement of the implement between a closed position within the article of furniture and an open position extending outward from the article of furniture;

a second slide assembly having a second longitudinal axis and having at least one tolerance adaptive connection between the article of furniture and the implement, the second slide assembly providing slidable movement of the implement between a closed position within the article of furniture and an open position extending outward from the article of furniture;

wherein the at least one tolerance adaptive connection between the article of furniture and the implement also allows movement of the implement in a direction that is substantially perpendicular to the second longitudinal axis.

2. The tolerance adaptive slide connection assembly in claim 1, wherein the at least one tolerance adaptive connection allows substantially lateral movement of the implement relative to the second longitudinal axis.

3. The tolerance adaptive slide connection assembly in claim 1, wherein the at least one tolerance adaptive connection allows substantially vertical movement of the implement relative to the second longitudinal axis.

4. The tolerance adaptive slide connection assembly in claim 1, wherein the at least one tolerance adaptive connection allows movement of the implement and the second slide assembly in a direction that is substantially perpendicular to the second longitudinal axis and is relative to the article of furniture to which the tolerance adaptive slide connection assembly is to be connected.

5. The tolerance adaptive slide connection assembly in claim 1, wherein the at least one tolerance adaptive connection further comprises a fastener disposed within a slot.

6. The tolerance adaptive slide connection assembly in claim 5, wherein the fastener is a screw having a threaded portion.

7. The tolerance adaptive slide connection assembly in claim 5, wherein the fastener is a rivet.

8. The tolerance adaptive slide connection assembly in claim 5, wherein the fastener has an elongated portion having a first diameter and a standoff portion having a relatively larger second diameter, and the second slide assembly further comprising a slide member, the slide member further comprising a tab having a slot that has a length that is substantially greater than the relatively larger second diameter of the standoff portion.

9. The tolerance adaptive slide connection assembly in claim 5, further comprising a standoff washer through which the fastener passes and which is disposed within the slot.

10. The tolerance adaptive slide connection assembly in claim 5, wherein the fastener comprises a tab on the second slide assembly and the implement further comprises a wire with the slot formed in the wire and the tab engaging the slot.

11. The tolerance adaptive slide connection assembly in claim 1, wherein the implement is a storage device.

12. The tolerance adaptive slide connection assembly in claim 1, wherein the implement is a wire cage.

13. The tolerance adaptive slide connection assembly in claim 1, wherein the implement is a shelf.

14. The tolerance adaptive slide connection assembly in claim 1, wherein the implement is a drawer.

15. The tolerance adaptive slide connection assembly in claim 1, further comprising a handle having at least one tolerance adaptive connection to the first or second slide assembly.

16. A tolerance adaptive slide connection assembly for use in connecting a slidably moveable implement to an article of furniture, the tolerance adaptive slide connection assembly comprising:

a first slide assembly having a first inner slide member having a fixed connection to a first portion of an article of furniture and having a first outer slide member having a fixed connection to an implement, wherein the first outer slide member is slidably movable along a first longitudinal axis and is slidably movable relative to the first inner slide member;

a second slide assembly having a tolerance adaptive connection between the article of furniture and the implement, wherein the second slide assembly has a second inner slide member connected to a second portion of the article of furniture and a second outer slide member connected to the implement, wherein the second outer slide member is slidably movable along a second longitudinal axis and is slidably movable relative to the second inner slide member; and

wherein the implement is slidably movable with the first and second outer slide members with respect to the respective first and second inner slide members, and the implement is allowed to move in a direction that is substantially perpendicular to the second longitudinal axis.

17. An article of furniture having a slidably movable implement having a tolerance adaptive slide connection assembly comprising:

a furniture body having walls in a configuration of at least first and second spaced apart side walls connected to a bottom wall and to a rear wall;

an implement that is connected to at least one wall of the furniture body;

a first slide assembly having a first inner slide member having a fixed connection to at least one wall of the furniture body, the first slide assembly having a first outer slide member having a fixed connection to the implement, wherein the first outer slide member is slidably movable relative to the first inner slide member along a first longitudinal axis;

a second slide assembly having a tolerance adaptive connection between the implement and at least one wall of the furniture body, wherein the second slide assembly has a second outer slide member connected to the implement and a second inner slide member connected to the at least one wall of the furniture body to which the second slide assembly has a tolerance adaptive connection, and wherein the second outer slide member is slidably movable relative to the second inner slide member along a second longitudinal axis; and

wherein the implement and the first and second outer slide members are slidably movable with respect to the respective first and second inner slide members, and the implement is further slidably movable with respect to the at least one wall of the furniture body to which the second slide assembly has a tolerance adaptive connection in a direction that is substantially perpendicular to the second longitudinal axis.

18. The article of furniture having a slidably movable implement having a tolerance adaptive slide connection assembly of claim 17, wherein the at least one wall of the furniture body to which the first inner slide member has a fixed connection is the same wall of the furniture body to which the second inner slide member is connected.

19. The article of furniture having a slidably movable implement having a tolerance adaptive slide connection assembly of claim 17, wherein the at least one wall of the furniture body to which the first inner slide member has a fixed connection is a first side wall and the at least one wall of the furniture body to which the second inner slide member is connected is a second side wall that is spaced apart from the first side wall.

20. The article of furniture having a slidably movable implement having a tolerance adaptive slide connection assembly of claim 17, wherein implement is one of a wire cage, a shelf or a drawer.

21. The article of furniture having a slidably movable implement having a tolerance adaptive slide connection assembly in claim 17, wherein the tolerance adaptive slide connection comprises a fastener that is one of a screw or a rivet.

22. The article of furniture having a slidably movable implement having a tolerance adaptive slide connection assembly in claim 21, wherein the tolerance adaptive slide connection comprises a fastener that includes an elongated portion having a first diameter and a standoff portion having a relatively larger second diameter.

23. The article of furniture having a slidably movable implement having a tolerance adaptive slide connection assembly in claim 21, wherein the tolerance adaptive slide connection further comprises a standoff washer through which the fastener is disposed.

24. A tolerance adaptive slide connection assembly for use in connecting a slidably moveable implement to an article of furniture, wherein the implement is slidably movable between a closed position within the article of furniture and an open position wherein the implement extends outward from the article of furniture, the tolerance adaptive slide connection assembly comprising:

a first slide assembly having a first longitudinal axis and a first inner slide member having a fixed connection to the article of furniture and a first outer slide member having a separate fixed connection to the implement, wherein the first outer slide member is slidably movable relative to the first inner slide member, and wherein the fixed connections to the first slide assembly limit the movement of the implement to be substantially along the first longitudinal axis;

a second slide assembly having a second longitudinal axis and at least one tolerance adaptive connection between the article of furniture, the second slide assembly and the implement, wherein the tolerance adaptive connection allows slidable movement of the implement between a closed position within the article of furniture and an open position extending outward from the article of furniture and allows movement of the implement relative to the article of furniture in a direction that is substantially perpendicular to the second longitudinal axis.