U.S. patent application number 11/145920 was filed with the patent office on 2006-12-07 for drawer slide assembly.
Invention is credited to Kuo-Liang Yeh.
Application Number | 20060273705 11/145920 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 37493486 |
Filed Date | 2006-12-07 |
United States Patent
Application |
20060273705 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Yeh; Kuo-Liang |
December 7, 2006 |
Drawer slide assembly
Abstract
A drawer slide assembly includes an outer slide member securable
to a side wall of a piece of furniture. An inner slide member with
an inverted U-like shape is securable to a drawer and has two free
ends bent inwards and a wave-like portion formed between the two
free ends. An intermediate slide member is received in the inner
member and defined with three raceways, wherein one raceway is
defined between a lateral portion of the intermediate slide member
and the wave-like portion, and the other two raceways are
symmetrically defined at two opposite sides of the intermediate
slide member. Three groups of rolling elements are respectively
received in the raceways for slidingly coupling the inner slide
member and the intermediate slide member. Axes of the rolling
elements constitute a triangle. Whereby, the drawer slide assembly
has good upright stability and low elastic deformation.
Inventors: |
Yeh; Kuo-Liang; (Tainan
City, TW) |
Correspondence
Address: |
POSZ LAW GROUP, PLC
12040 SOUTH LAKES DR.
SUITE 101
RESTON
VA
20191
US
|
Family ID: |
37493486 |
Appl. No.: |
11/145920 |
Filed: |
June 7, 2005 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
312/334.31 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A47B 2210/0032 20130101;
A47B 88/493 20170101; A47B 2210/0059 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
312/334.31 |
International
Class: |
A47B 88/00 20060101
A47B088/00 |
Claims
1. A drawer slide assembly comprising: an outer slide member (11)
securable to a side wall of a piece of furniture; an inner slide
member (21) securable to a drawer, the inner slide member (21)
formed with an inverted U-like shape and having two free ends (23)
bent inwards and a wave-like portion (22) formed between the two
free ends (23); an intermediate slide member (30) received in the
inner slide member (21), the intermediate slide member (30) defined
with three raceways, wherein one of the raceways (32) is defined
between a lateral portion of the intermediate slide member (30) and
the wave-like portion (22) of the inner slide member (21), and the
other two raceways (32) are symmetrically defined at two opposite
sides of the intermediate slide member (30); and three groups of
rolling elements (40) respectively received in the raceways (32)
for slidingly coupling the inner slide member (21) and the
intermediate slide member (30), axes of the rolling elements (40)
constitute a triangle.
2. The drawer slide assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the
intermediate slide member (30) is integrally formed with the outer
slide member (11).
3. The drawer slide assembly as claimed in claim 1 further
comprising a sleeve (41) provided between the intermediate slide
member (21) and the inner slide member (31) for positioning the
rolling elements (40).
4. The drawer slide assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the
axes of the rolling elements constitute an isosceles triangle.
5. The drawer slide assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the
axes of the rolling elements constitute an equilateral
triangle.
6. A drawer slide member comprising: an outer slide member (11)
securable to a side wall of a piece of furniture; two inner slide
members (21) provided in a face-to-face arrangement, wherein a
lower one of the inner slide members (21) with a U-like cross
section is mounted on the outer slide member (11), and an upper one
of the inner slide members (21) with an inverted U-like cross
section is securable to a drawer, each of the inner slide members
(21) has two free ends (23) bent inwards and a wave-like portion
(22) is formed between the two free ends (23); two intermediate
slide members (30) respectively received in the inner member (21)
and symmetrically connected together by a linkage (33), each of the
intermediate slide members (30) defined with three raceways,
wherein one of the raceways is defined between a lateral portion of
the intermediate slide member (30) and the wave-like portion (22)
of the inner slide member (21), and the other two raceways (32) are
symmetrically defined at two opposite sides of the intermediate
slide member (30); and six groups of rolling elements (40)
respectively received in the raceways, whereby axes of the rolling
elements (40) constitute two triangles.
7. The drawer slide assembly as claimed in claim 6 further
comprising two sleeves (41) respectively provided between the inner
slide member (21) and the intermediate slide member (31) for
positioning the rolling elements (40).
8. The drawer slide assembly as claimed in claim 6, wherein the
outer slide member (11) is defined with a U-like slot for receiving
the lower inner slide member (21).
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to a drawer slide assembly,
and more particularly to a drawer slide assembly with good upright
stability and low elastic deformation.
[0003] 2. Description of Related Art
[0004] With reference to FIG. 9, a conventional drawer slide
assembly (60), as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,132,020, includes an
outer slide member (51) mounted on an inner side wall (50) of a
piece of furniture. An intermediate slide member (70) is formed at
a distal portion of the outer slide member (51), and includes two
protrusions (71) formed thereon and three first raceways (72)
respectively defined beside the protrusions (71). An inner slide
member (61) with a C-like cross section is mounted on a drawer (52)
and outside the intermediate side member (70), and has three second
raceways (63) corresponding to the first raceways (72). Two bent
sides (62) are formed at distal portions of the inner slide member
(61). Three groups of rolling elements (40) are respectively
received in the first and second raceways (63, 71) and positioned
in a sleeve (41) between the inner slide member (61) and the
intermediate slide member (71).
[0005] Because the axes of the rolling elements (40) describe an
isosceles triangle, wherein two rolling elements (40) are
positioned at an upper portion of the outer slide member (61) and
one rolling element (40) is positioned at a lower portion of the
outer slide member (61), the resistance of lateral forces is
improved. However, when the drawer with a large load is pulled out,
the slide assembly can not prevent a rear end of the drawer from
being turned up to cause an unsmooth and unsteady movement of the
drawer. Therefore, the resistance of upright force of the drawer
slide member is low.
[0006] Therefore, the invention provides a drawer slide assembly to
mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problems.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] The main objective of the present invention is to provide a
drawer slide assembly which has good upright stability and low
elastic deformation.
[0008] Other objectives, 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 a perspective view of a two-part drawer slide
assembly in accordance with the present invention;
[0010] FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view of the two-part drawer
slide assembly in FIG. 1;
[0011] FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view of another embodiment of
the two-part drawer slide assembly;
[0012] FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a three-part drawer slide
assembly in accordance with the present invention;
[0013] FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view of the three-part drawer
slide assembly in FIG. 4;
[0014] FIG. 6 is a cross sectional view of another embodiment of
the three-part drawer slide assembly;
[0015] FIG. 7 is a cross sectional view of a further embodiment of
the three-part drawer slide assembly;
[0016] FIG. 8 is a cross sectional view of another further
embodiment of the three-part drawer slide assembly; and
[0017] FIG. 9 is a cross sectional view of a conventional drawer
slide assembly.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0018] According to the present invention, a drawer slide assembly
is illustrated only by way of a partial view. For the sake of
simplicity, the following description relates only to one side of
the drawer slide assembly, but those skilled in the art will
appreciate that the same parts are provided in a symmetrically
opposite location on the opposite side of a drawer (12), so that
the drawer slide assembly on both sides of the drawer (12) can be
manufactured in identical form and assembled.
[0019] With reference to FIGS. 1-2, the drawer slide assembly in
the form of a two-part slide mechanism includes an outer slide
member (11) mounted on a side wall (10) of a piece of furniture. An
intermediate slide member (30) is integrally formed on the outer
slide member (11) and includes two protrusions (31) and three first
raceways (32) defined beside the protrusions (31), wherein one
raceway (32) is defined at a top portion of the intermediate slide
member (30), and the other two raceways (32) are symmetrically
defined at two opposite sides of the intermediate slide member
(30).
[0020] An inner slide member (21) with an inverted U-like shape is
provided outside the intermediate slide member (30). A wave-like
portion (22) is formed at a top-middle portion of the inner slide
member (21), and two free ends (23) of the inner slide member (21)
are bent inwards to face each other. Therefore, a second raceway
(221) is defined at the wave-like portion (22), and two third
raceways (231) are respectively defined at the free ends (23) of
the inner slide member (21). The second and third raceways (221,
231) are corresponding to the first raceways (32).
[0021] Multiple rolling elements (40) arranged in three groups are
respectively received in the raceways (32, 221, 231) to enable the
inner slide member (22) to move about the intermediate slide member
(30). A sleeve (41) is provided between the inner slide member (21)
and intermediate slide member (30), and the rolling elements (40)
are positioned in the sleeve (41). Axes constitute an isosceles
triangle with the rolling element (40) in the second raceway (221)
as the top angle and the rolling element (40) in the third raceway
(231) as the bottom angle. Preferably, the axes constitute an
equilateral triangle.
[0022] In this embodiment as shown in FIG. 2, the intermediate
slide member (30) has a left free end bent downwards. In another
embodiment as shown in FIG. 3, the intermediate slide member (30)
has a right free end bent downwards.
[0023] With reference to FIGS. 4-5, the drawer slide assembly in
the form of a three-part slide mechanism includes one outer slide
member (11) and two inner slide members (21) provided face-to-face,
wherein the lower inner slide member (21) with a U-like cross
section is mounted on the outer slide member (11), and the upper
inner slide member (21) with an inverted U-like cross section is
mounted on the drawer (12). Two intermediate slide members (30) are
respectively received in the inner slide members (21) and
symmetrically connected together by a linkage (33). Thus, each of
intermediate slide members (30) is provided with three groups of
rolling elements (40) and a sleeve (41) for positioning the rolling
elements (40).
[0024] As illustrated in FIG. 5, the intermediate slide members
(30) have two free ends respectively at two opposite sides of the
linkage (33). In another embodiment as illustrated in FIG. 6, the
intermediate slide members (30) have two free ends at the same side
of the linkage (33).
[0025] With reference to FIGS. 7-8, the outer slide member (11) is
formed with a U-like slot for receiving the lower inner slide
member (21).
[0026] Because the inner slide member (21) is formed as a U-like or
inverted U-like shape, and the rolling elements (40) are arranged
with one or two isosceles triangles, the drawer (12) with a large
load can be self-adjusting to smoothly move along an axis of the
rolling elements (40) in the second raceways (221) without any
deviation. Thus, the drawer (12) can be easily pulled out with a
good resistance of upright force. Moreover, the wave-like portion
(22) is formed in the inner slide member (21), so the strength is
reinforced to prevent the slide assembly from elastically
deforming.
[0027] It is to be understood, however, that even though numerous
characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been
set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of
the structure and function of the invention, the disclosure is
illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in
matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the
principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the
broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are
expressed.
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