U.S. patent application number 10/189545 was filed with the patent office on 2003-11-13 for runner for a drawer.
This patent application is currently assigned to King Slide Works Co., Ltd.. Invention is credited to Ken-Ching, Chen, Ou, Chih-Lin, Shih-Long, Hwang.
Application Number | 20030209959 10/189545 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 29398879 |
Filed Date | 2003-11-13 |
United States Patent
Application |
20030209959 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Shih-Long, Hwang ; et
al. |
November 13, 2003 |
Runner for a drawer
Abstract
A runner for slidably supporting a drawer includes a telescopic
rail assembly having a first rail and a second rail, both being
movable one along another to allow the telescopic rail assembly to
be varied between an elongated position and a shortened position.
The runner further includes a retainer having a female piece
attached to the first rail and a male piece attached to the second
rail. Additionally, the female piece has a recess defined therein
and the male piece is adapted to releasably snap into the recess of
the female piece when the telescopic rail assembly is in the
shortened position.
Inventors: |
Shih-Long, Hwang; (Kaohsiung
Hsien, TW) ; Ken-Ching, Chen; (Kaohsiung Hsien,
TW) ; Ou, Chih-Lin; (Kaohsiung Hsien, TW) |
Correspondence
Address: |
Bacon & Thomas
4th Floor
625 Slaters Lane
Alexandria
VA
22314
US
|
Assignee: |
King Slide Works Co., Ltd.
Kaohsiung Hsien
TW
|
Family ID: |
29398879 |
Appl. No.: |
10/189545 |
Filed: |
July 8, 2002 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
312/334.46 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A47B 88/49 20170101 |
Class at
Publication: |
312/334.46 |
International
Class: |
A47B 088/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
May 10, 2002 |
TW |
91206826 |
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A runner for a drawer, comprising: a telescopic rail assembly
having a first rail and a second rail; said rails being movable one
along another to allow said telescopic rail assembly to be varied
between an elongated position and a shortened position; a retainer
having a female piece attached to said first rail and a male piece
attached to said second rail; and wherein said female piece has a
recess defined therein and said male piece is adapted to releasably
snap into said recess of said female piece when said telescopic
rail assembly is in said shortened position.
2. The runner as claimed in claim 1, wherein said recess of said
female piece has a narrow entrance, and wherein said male piece has
a rounded portion adapted to releasably snap into said recess of
said female piece when said telescopic rail assembly is in said
shortened position.
3. The runner as claimed in claim 1, wherein said male piece has a
protrusion adapted to releasably snap into said recess of said
female piece when said telescopic rail assembly is in said
shortened position.
4. The runner as claimed in claim 1, wherein said pieces have
respective narrow slots defined therein, and wherein said rails are
formed with respective tabs fitted in said narrow slots, thereby
attaching said pieces to said rails.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to a runner for a drawer and,
more particularly, to a runner in which a telescopic rail assembly
can be positively retained in its shortened position.
[0003] 2. Description of Related Art
[0004] It is known that there is a telescopic runner used for
slidably supporting a drawer. As shown in FIG. 1, the runner
includes an outer rail 91, an intermediate rail 92 and an inner
rail 93, with a notch 94 defined in an end of the inner rail 93 and
a stop 95 formed on the outer rail 91. The stop 95 is made of a
resilient material, such as plastic, rubber or the like, and it is
got stuck in the notch 94 when the inner rail 93 is fully retracted
into the outer rail 91, as shown in FIG. 2.
[0005] However, it has been found that the resilient stop 95 will
be worn soon and so the drawer slidably supported on the runner can
not be retained in its retreated position.
OBJECT OF THE INVENTION
[0006] The object of the present invention is to provide a runner
in which a telescopic rail assembly can be positively retained in
its shortened position.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] An improved runner provided for slidably supporting a drawer
includes a telescopic rail assembly having a first rail and a
second rail, and a retainer having a female piece attached to the
first rail and a male piece attached to the second rail. The rails
are movable one along another to allow the telescopic rail assembly
to be varied between an elongated position and a shortened
position. Furthermore, the female piece has a recess defined
therein and the male piece is adapted to releasably snap into the
recess of the female piece when the telescopic rail assembly is in
its shortened position.
[0008] Other objects, advantages and novel features of the
invention will become more apparent from the following detailed
description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying
drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0009] FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a conventional
runner for slidably supporting a drawer;
[0010] FIG. 2 is a front view of the runner of FIG. 1, showing an
inner rail fully retracted in an outer rail;
[0011] FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of a first embodiment
of a runner in accordance with the present invention for slidably
supporting a drawer;
[0012] FIG. 4 is a front view of the runner of FIG. 3, showing a
telescopic rail assembly in its elongated position;
[0013] FIG. 5 is a front view of the runner of FIG. 3, showing the
telescopic rail assembly in its shortened position;
[0014] FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of a second
embodiment of the inventive runner;
[0015] FIG. 7 is a front view of the runner of FIG. 6, showing the
telescopic rail assembly in its shortened; and
[0016] FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along lines 8-8 in FIG.
7.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0017] Referring to FIG. 3, there is shown a first embodiment of a
runner in accordance with the present invention for slidably
supporting a drawer. The inventive runner includes a telescopic
rail assembly 1 and a retainer 2.
[0018] The telescopic rail assembly 1 includes a first rail 11, a
second rail 12, and optionally a third rail 13 intervening between
the first and second rails 11, 12. These rails 11, 12, 13 are
movable one along another to allow the telescopic rail assembly 1
to be varied between an elongated position and a shortened
position.
[0019] The retainer 2 includes a resilient female piece 21 attached
to the first rail 11 and a male piece 22 attached to the second
rail 12. In the illustrated embodiment, the two pieces 21, 22 are
attached to the rails 11, 12 by means of respective tabs 14, 15
which are formed integrally on the rails 11, 12 and fitted in
narrow slots 211, 221 of the pieces 21, 22. The female piece 21
further has a recess 212 formed with a narrow entrance, and the
male piece 22 has a rounded portion 222 adapted to releasably snap
into the recess 212 of the resilient female piece 21.
[0020] Referring to FIG. 4, the two pieces 21, 22 of the retainer 2
are away from each other when the telescopic rail assembly 1 is in
its elongated position.
[0021] Referring to FIG. 5, the rounded portion 222 of the male
piece 22 will releasably snap into the recess 212 of the resilient
female piece 21 when the telescopic rail assembly 1 is fully
compressed, thereby retaining the rail assembly 1 in its shortened
position.
[0022] Referring to FIG. 6, there is shown a second embodiment of
the runner in accordance with the present invention. The runner
here includes an alternative retainer 3 that has a female piece 31
and a male piece 32, both being attached to the rails 11, 12 by
means of respective tabs 14, 15 which are formed integrally on the
rails 11, 12 and fitted in narrow slots 311, 321 of the pieces 31,
32.
[0023] In this embodiment, the female piece 32 has a recess 312
bored in a direction transverse to the rails 11, 12, and the male
piece 32 has a protrusion 322 mating with the recess 312 of the
female piece 321.
[0024] Referring to FIGS. 7 and 8, the protrusion 322 of the male
piece 32 will releasably snap into the recess 312 of the female
piece 32 at the exact moment when the telescopic rail assembly 1 is
fully compressed. As a result, the rail assembly 1 is retained in
its shortened position.
[0025] From the foregoing, it is apparent that this invention has
the advantage of enabling the telescopic rail assembly to be
positively retained in its shortened position.
[0026] While the principles of this invention have been disclosed
in connection with specific embodiments, it should be understood by
those skilled in the art that these descriptions are not intended
to limit the scope of the invention, and that any modification and
variation without departing the spirit of the invention is intended
to be covered by the scope of this invention defined only by the
appended claims.
* * * * *