U.S. patent application number 13/795518 was filed with the patent office on 2013-08-01 for drawer guide.
This patent application is currently assigned to SCHOCK METALLWERK GMBH. The applicant listed for this patent is Schock Metallwerk GmbH. Invention is credited to Hubert Koenig, Martin Schock, Joachim Zimmermann.
Application Number | 20130193824 13/795518 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 44785847 |
Filed Date | 2013-08-01 |
United States Patent
Application |
20130193824 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Koenig; Hubert ; et
al. |
August 1, 2013 |
DRAWER GUIDE
Abstract
A drawer guide is provided, having at least one first guide rail
and a second guide rail displaceably guided by means of a roller
body arrangement on the first guide rail. The roller body
arrangement has at least one ball cage with roller bodies. To
provide the drawer guide with both a high load-bearing capacity, a
low level of rolling noise, and a low level of rolling resistance,
the roller body arrangement may have at least two different types
of roller bodies. A roller body of a first type comprises a first
material with a first hardness and a roller body of a second type
comprises a second material with a second hardness. The first
hardness of the first material is lower than the second hardness of
the second material, and the roller body of the first type is
larger than the roller body of the second type.
Inventors: |
Koenig; Hubert; (Durlangen,
DE) ; Schock; Martin; (Schorndorf, DE) ;
Zimmermann; Joachim; (Schorndorf, DE) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Schock Metallwerk GmbH; |
Urbach |
|
DE |
|
|
Assignee: |
SCHOCK METALLWERK GMBH
Urbach
DE
|
Family ID: |
44785847 |
Appl. No.: |
13/795518 |
Filed: |
March 12, 2013 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
PCT/EP2011/067534 |
Oct 7, 2011 |
|
|
|
13795518 |
|
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|
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
312/334.11 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A47B 88/437 20170101;
A47B 88/493 20170101 |
Class at
Publication: |
312/334.11 |
International
Class: |
A47B 88/04 20060101
A47B088/04 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Oct 8, 2010 |
DE |
10 2010 042 180 |
Claims
1. Drawer guide, comprising at least one first guide rail and one
second guide rail displaceably guided by means of a roller body
arrangement on the first guide rail, the roller body arrangement
comprising at least one ball cage with roller bodies, wherein the
roller body arrangement comprises at least two different types of
roller bodies, one roller body of a first type comprising a first
material with a first hardness and a roller body of a second type
comprising a second material with a second hardness, wherein the
first hardness of the first material is lower than the second
hardness of the second material and wherein the roller body of the
first type is larger than the roller body of the second type.
2. Drawer guide according to claim 1, wherein the roller body of
the second type has a diameter, which is at least 1% smaller than
the diameter of the roller body of the first type.
3. Drawer guide according to claim 1, wherein the roller body of
the first type comprises a plastics material.
4. Drawer guide according to claim 3, wherein the roller body of
the first type comprises a thermoplastic material.
5. Drawer guide according to claim 3, wherein the roller body of
the first type comprises glass fibres and/or glass balls in
addition to the plastics material.
6. Drawer guide according to claim 1, wherein the roller body of
the first type comprises a metallic material, which is softer than
steel.
7. Drawer guide according to claim 6, wherein the roller body of
the first type comprises aluminium, zinc and/or tin.
8. Drawer guide according to claim 1, wherein the roller body of
the second type comprises a steel material or a plastics material,
which is harder than the first material.
9. Drawer guide according to claim 1, wherein those roller bodies
of the roller body arrangement, which adopt the first position or
the last position of the roller body arrangement, viewed in the
drawer direction, are roller bodies of the first type.
10. Drawer guide according to claim 9, wherein those roller bodies
of the roller body arrangement, which adopt the second position or
the penultimate position in the roller body arrangement, viewed in
the drawer direction, are roller bodies of the first type.
11. Drawer guide according to claim 1, wherein the number of roller
bodies of the first type in the roller body arrangement is greater
than the number of roller bodies of the second type.
12. Drawer guide according to claim 1, wherein at most two roller
bodies of the second type are adjacent to one another in the drawer
direction.
13. Drawer guide according to claim 1, wherein the drawer guide is
assembled without prestressing or with light prestressing.
14. Drawer guide according to claim 1, wherein at least one ball
cage of the drawer guide is provided with at least one stop
element, which cooperates with a stopper on one of the guide rails
in such a way that the displacement path of the ball cage relative
to the guide rail is limited by the stopper.
15. Drawer guide according to claim 14, wherein at least one ball
cage of the drawer guide is provided with two stop elements, which
cooperate with one respective associated stopper on one of the
guide rails in such a way that the displacement path of the ball
cage relative to the guide rail is limited by the stoppers both in
the drawer direction and counter to the drawer direction.
Description
RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application is a continuation of International
application No. PCT/EP2011/067534 filed on Oct. 7, 2011 and claims
the benefit of German application No. 10 2010 042 180.4 filed on
Oct. 8, 2010, which are incorporated herein by reference in their
entirety and for all purposes.
FIELD OF DISCLOSURE
[0002] The present invention relates to a drawer guide, which
comprises at least one first guide rail and a second guide rail
displaceably guided by means of a roller body arrangement on the
first guide rail, the roller body arrangement comprising at least
one ball cage with roller bodies.
BACKGROUND
[0003] Drawer guides of this type with roller body-mounted guide
rails, in particular in the form of so-called C-profile ball drawer
guides, are used, for example, in the area of kitchen
furniture.
[0004] Known C-profile ball drawer guides have a relatively high
level of rolling noise.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0005] The present invention is based on the object of providing a
drawer guide of the type mentioned at the outset, which has both a
high load-bearing capacity and a low level of rolling noise and
preferably a low level of rolling resistance.
[0006] This object is achieved according to the invention in a
drawer guide having the features of the preamble of claim 1 in that
the roller body arrangement comprises at least two different types
of roller bodies, one roller body of a first type comprising a
first material with a first hardness and a roller body of a second
type comprising a second material with a second hardness,
[0007] the first hardness of the first material being lower than
the second hardness of the second material and the roller body of
the first type being larger than the roller body of the second
type.
[0008] The larger roller bodies of the first type, in particular
have a larger diameter (D) in a direction perpendicular to the
roller body running tracks of the guide rails than the smaller
roller bodies of the second type (diameter d).
[0009] Since the roller bodies of the second type are smaller than
the roller bodies of the first type, the roller bodies of the
second type, in the unloaded state of the drawer guide and during
normal operation of the drawer guide, do not take on a support
function and therefore neither do they contribute anything to the
rolling noise of the drawer guide.
[0010] Rather, the rolling noise of the drawer guide in the
unloaded state and during normal operation of the drawer guide is
determined by the softer roller bodies of the first type, which
have a lower level of rolling noise than the roller bodies of the
second type, so the drawer guide can be pulled out or pushed in
with only low noise generation.
[0011] It is particularly favourable if the roller body of the
second type has a diameter (d), which is at least 1% smaller than
the diameter (D) of the roller body of the first type (the
percentage deviation being related to the diameter D of the roller
body of the first type).
[0012] The softer roller body of the first type may, for example,
comprise a plastics material and preferably be substantially
completely formed from a plastics material.
[0013] The roller body of the first type preferably comprises a
thermoplastic material, for example polyamide. In particular, the
roller body of the first type may substantially be completely
formed from a thermoplastic material, for example of polyimide.
[0014] It may furthermore be provided that the roller body of the
first type comprises glass fibres and/or glass balls in addition to
the plastics material.
[0015] Furthermore, it may also be provided that the roller body of
the first type comprises a metallic material, which is softer than
steel, which is generally used for the roller bodies of C-profile
ball guides.
[0016] The roller body of the first type may, for example, comprise
aluminium, zinc and/or tin. In particular, the roller body of the
first type may substantially completely be formed from aluminium,
zinc and/or tin.
[0017] The roller body of the second type, on the other hand,
preferably comprises a steel material, which has a greater hardness
than the material of the roller bodies of the first type. In
particular, it may be provided that the roller body of the second
type is substantially completely formed from a steel material.
[0018] As an alternative or in addition to this, it may also be
provided that the roller body of the second type comprises a
plastics material, which is harder than the first material. For
example, the roller body of the second type may comprise a
thermoplastic material containing glass fibres and/or glass
balls.
[0019] The roller bodies of the roller body arrangements are
preferably substantially spherical.
[0020] In order to achieve the fact that the roller bodies of the
first type take on the main carrying function of the roller body
arrangement during normal operation of the drawer guide, it is
favourable if those roller bodies of the roller body arrangement,
which adopt the first position or the last position of the roller
body arrangement, viewed in the drawer direction, are roller bodies
of the first type. The roller bodies arranged in these positions of
the roller body arrangement normally absorb the greatest load due
to the lever action. If a roller body of the second type were now
to be seated at one of these positions, this roller body of the
second type would also take on the primary support function during
normal operation of the drawer guide, so the noise generation of
the drawer guide would then be determined by the roller body of the
second type.
[0021] Since the roller bodies of the second type in the roller
body arrangement are moved further inward and neither adopt the
first position nor the last position of the roller body
arrangement, it is achieved that at small to medium loads, the
roller bodies of the first type take on the support function of the
drawer guide and therefore determine the noise generation of the
drawer guide in these load cases, while the harder roller bodies of
the second type only take on their role of limiting downward
movement at high loads and excess loads.
[0022] It is particularly favourable for this reason if those
roller bodies of the roller body arrangement, which adopt the
second position or the penultimate position in the roller body
arrangement, viewed in the drawer direction, are also roller bodies
of the first type.
[0023] In a preferred configuration of the invention it is provided
that each ball cage of the drawer guide has two or more, preferably
four or more, roller bodies of the first type.
[0024] Furthermore, it is favourable for the reduction in noise
generation of the drawer guide if the number of roller bodies of
the first type in the roller body arrangement is greater than the
number of roller bodies of the second type. It is particularly
favourable if the number of roller bodies of the first type is at
least twice as great as the number of roller bodies of the second
type.
[0025] Furthermore, it is favourable if at most two roller bodies
of the second type are adjacent to one another in the drawer
direction.
[0026] At least the regions of the ball cage, which come into
contact with the roller bodies of the first type, are preferably
formed from a material, which is not harder than the first material
in order to avoid damage to the roller bodies of the first
type.
[0027] A further reduction in noise generation during the movement
of the drawer guide and particularly easy running of the drawer
guide are achieved if the drawer guide is assembled without
prestressing or with light prestressing.
[0028] In an assembly of the drawer guide without prestressing, the
added diameters of a roller body of the first type, which rolls on
the upper roller body running tracks, and of a roller body of the
first type, which rolls on the lower roller body running tracks,
are smaller than, or at most equal in size, to the spacing of the
upper roller body running track and the lower roller body running
track of the first guide rail less the spacing of the upper roller
body running track and the lower roller body running track of the
second guide rail.
[0029] In an assembly of the drawer guide with light prestressing,
the added diameters of a roller body of the first type, which rolls
on the upper roller body running track, and of a roller body of the
first type, which rolls on the lower roller body running track, are
greater by at most 0.04 mm than the spacing of the upper roller
body running track and the lower roller body running track of the
first guide rail less the spacing of the upper roller body running
track and the lower roller body running track of the second guide
rail.
[0030] An assembly of the drawer guide without prestressing or with
only light prestressing is also called a "light assembly" of the
drawer guide in this description.
[0031] In order to correct an undesired cage migration of a ball
cage of the drawer guide relative to the adjacent guide rails of
the drawer guide (in other words an offset of the position of the
ball cage relative to the guide rails, which occurs because the
movement of the roller bodies on the roller body running tracks is
not a pure rolling movement but contains a sliding component), it
is favourable if at least one ball cage of the drawer guide is
provided with at least one stop element, which cooperates with a
stopper on one of the guide rails in such a way that the
displacement of the ball cage relative to the guide rail is limited
by the stopper.
[0032] The stop element may be configured in one piece with the
ball cage or be configured as a separate component.
[0033] A stopper system of this type in which the roller bodies are
not stopped by wedging on projections on the roller body running
tracks, but instead the ball cage, in particular the cage back of
the ball cage, itself is stopped, in particular provides the
advantage that no additional contact pressing force, with which a
stopped roller body is wedged on the roller body running track, has
to be overcome when the drawer guide is actuated again after
stopping.
[0034] It is particularly favourable if at least one ball cage of
the drawer guide is provided with two stop elements, which each
cooperate with an associated stopper on one of the guide rails in
such a way that the displacement path of the ball cage relative to
the guide rail is limited by the stoppers both in the drawer
direction and counter to the drawer direction. As a result, an
undesired migration of the cage is corrected both when the drawer
guide is pulled out and when it is pushed in.
[0035] In addition to the first guide rail and the second guide
rail guided displaceably on the first guide rail by means of a
roller body arrangement, the drawer guide according to the
invention can also comprise one or more further guide rails, which
are displaceable guided on the first guide rail or one the second
guide rail by means of further roller body arrangements.
[0036] In this case, these further roller body arrangements also
preferably comprise two different types of roller bodies, a roller
body of a first type comprising a first material with a first
hardness and a roller body of a second type comprising a second
material with a second hardness, the first hardness of the first
material being lower than the second hardness of the second
material and the roller bodies of the first type being larger than
the roller bodies of the second type.
[0037] Further features and advantages of the invention are the
subject of the following description and the graphical view of an
embodiment.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0038] FIG. 1 shows a schematic perspective view of a drawer guide,
which comprises a first guide rail and a second guide rail
displaceably guided by means of a roller body arrangement on the
first guide rail, the roller body arrangement comprising a ball
cage with roller bodies with two different degrees of hardness;
[0039] FIG. 2 shows a sectional side view of the drawer guide from
FIG. 1, with the viewing direction from an inside of the drawer
guide;
[0040] FIG. 3 shows a schematic longitudinal section through the
drawer guide from FIGS. 1 and 2 in the completely pulled-out state,
the sectional plane running through stop elements of the roller
body cage and stop elements on an outer rail of the drawer
guide;
[0041] FIG. 4 shows a schematic longitudinal section through the
drawer guide from FIG. 3 in a completely pulled-out state, the
sectional plane running through the centre points of the roller
bodies of the ball cage;
[0042] FIG. 5 shows a schematic longitudinal section corresponding
to FIG. 3 through the drawer guide in the completely pushed-in
state;
[0043] FIG. 6 shows a schematic longitudinal section corresponding
to FIG. 4 through the drawer guide in the completely pushed-in
state;
[0044] FIG. 7 shows an enlarged view of the region I from FIG.
6;
[0045] FIG. 8 shows a schematic cross-section through the drawer
guide; and
[0046] FIG. 9 shows a schematic perspective view of the drawer
guide, concealed lines being reproduced in a broken manner.
[0047] The same or functionally equivalent elements are designated
by the same reference numerals in all the figures.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0048] A drawer guide designated 100 as a whole and shown in FIGS.
1 to 9 comprises a first guide rail 102, which is configured, for
example, as an outer rail 104, and a second guide rail 106, which
is configured, for example, as an inner rail 108, the first guide
rail 102 and the second guide rail 106 being displaceably guided on
one another by means of a roller body arrangement 110 in such a way
that the second guide rail 106 is configured to be pulled out in a
drawer direction 112 relative to the first guide rail 102.
[0049] In the embodiment shown here of a drawer guide 100, the
first guide rail 102 and the second guide rail 106 are configured
as C-rails, which have a substantially C-shaped cross-section.
[0050] In this case, the first guide rail 102 has a rail back 113
(oriented vertically in the installed state of the drawer guide
100), from which an upper leg 114 and a lower leg 116 protrude
toward the second guide rail 106.
[0051] A lower side of the upper leg 114 forms an upper roller body
running track 118 of the first guide rail, and an upper side of the
lower leg 116 forms a lower roller body running track 120 of the
first guide rail 102.
[0052] The second guide rail 106 has a rail back 122 (also oriented
substantially vertically in the installed state of the drawer guide
100), from which an upper leg 124 and a lower leg 126 protrude
toward the first guide rail 102.
[0053] An upper side of the upper leg 124 forms an upper roller
body running track 128 of the second guide rail 106, and a lower
side of the lower leg 126 forms a lower roller body running track
130 of the second guide rail 106.
[0054] The roller body arrangement 110, by means of which the
second guide rail 106 is displaceably guided on the first guide
rail 102, comprises a ball cage 132 with a cage back 134 (oriented
substantially vertically in the installed state of the drawer guide
100) (see FIGS. 3 and 5), from the upper edge of which an upper
holding strip 136 projects into the intermediate space between the
upper roller body running track 118 of the first guide rail 102 and
the upper roller body running track 128 of the second guide rail
106 and from the lower edge of which a lower holding strip 138
projects into the intermediate space between the lower roller body
running track 120 of the first guide rail 102 and the lower roller
body running track 130 of the second guide rail 106.
[0055] As can best be seen from the side view of FIG. 2, each of
the holding strips 136 and 138 in each case has a plurality of
receiving openings 140 passing through the holding strip 136 or 138
to receive a respective roller body 142.
[0056] The roller bodies of each holding strip 136, 138 follow one
another in the drawer direction 112.
[0057] In the embodiment shown, the upper roller bodies 142a and
the lower roller bodies 142b are in each case divided into two
roller body groups, namely into a front roller body group 144a and
a rear roller body group 144b, the rearmost roller body 142 of the
front roller body group 144a having a spacing L from the foremost
roller body of the rear roller body group 144b, which is greater
than the spacing I between consecutive roller bodies 142 of the
same roller body group 144a or 144b (see FIG. 2).
[0058] The roller bodies 142 can basically have any desired shape,
which is suitable, on the one hand, to roll on a roller body
running track 118 or 120 of the first guide rail 102 and, on the
other hand, to roll on a roller body running track 128 or 130 of
the second guide rail 106.
[0059] In particular, the roller bodies 142 can be configured as
substantially cylindrical rollers or, as provided in the embodiment
shown, as balls.
[0060] The ball cage 132 comprises two different types of roller
bodies, which differ from one another with regard to their form and
with regard to their material.
[0061] The roller bodies of the first type are designated 146 below
and in the ball cage 132 preferably adopt the--viewed in the drawer
direction 112--first position and last position (these roller
bodies of the first type are designated 146a in the figures).
[0062] Furthermore, roller bodies 146 of the first type preferably
also adopt the--viewed in the drawer direction 112--second position
and the penultimate position in the ball cage 132 (these roller
bodies of the first type are designated 146b in the Figures).
[0063] Roller bodies of a second type, which are called 148 below
and are shown darker in the Figures than the roller bodies 146 of
the first type, preferably adopt in the ball cage 132 positions
lying further inward, for example the--viewed in the drawer
direction 112--third position from the front and the third position
from the rear.
[0064] In the embodiment shown in the Figures, the roller bodies
148 of the second type therefore in each case adopt the central
position in the respective roller body group 144a, 144b.
[0065] The remaining roller bodies of the ball cage 132 lying still
further inward are again roller bodies 146 of the first type in the
embodiment shown and are designated 146c or 146d in the
figures.
[0066] The roller bodies 146 of the first type are formed from a
first material with a first hardness and the roller bodies 148 of
the second type are formed from a second material with a second
hardness, the first hardness of the first material being lower than
the second hardness of the second material.
[0067] For example, it may be provided that the roller bodies 146
of the first type are formed from a plastics material, in
particular from a thermoplastic material, for example
polyamide.
[0068] The material of the roller bodies 146 of the first type may
furthermore comprise glass fibres in addition to the plastics
material.
[0069] The roller bodies 148 of the second type, on the other hand,
are preferably formed from a steel material, which has a greater
hardness than the plastics material of the roller bodies 146 of the
first type.
[0070] In an alternative embodiment, it may also be provided that
the roller bodies 146 of the first type are formed from a metallic
material, which is softer than the material of the roller bodies
148 of the second type, in other words, in particular softer than a
steel material.
[0071] For example, in this case, the roller bodies 146 of the
first type may be formed from aluminium, zinc and/or tin.
[0072] It is furthermore provided that the roller bodies 146 of the
first type are larger than the roller bodies 148 of the second type
and, in particular, have a diameter D, which is larger than the
diameter d of the roller bodies 148 of the second type.
[0073] The diameter d of the roller bodies 148 of the second type
is preferably smaller by at least 1% than the diameter D of the
roller bodies 146 of the first type.
[0074] Since the roller bodies 148 of the second type are smaller
than the roller bodies 146 of the first type, the roller bodies 148
of the second type do not take on a support function in the
unloaded state of the drawer guide 100 and during normal operation
of the drawer guide 100 and therefore do not contribute anything to
the rolling noise of the drawer guide 100 either.
[0075] During normal operation of the drawer guide 100, the roller
bodies 146 of the first type instead take on the main carrying
function and guide function of the roller body arrangement 110.
[0076] As the roller bodies 146 of the first type are formed from a
soft, noise-absorbing material, the roller bodies 146 of the first
type have a lower level of rolling noise than the roller bodies 148
of the second type, so the drawer guide 100 can be pulled out or
pushed in with only low noise generation.
[0077] The soft roller bodies 146 of the first type could not,
however, alone absorb any extreme loads, for example in the event
of severe twisting of the guide rails 102 and 106 relative to one
another, because of their elastic deformation. Damage or even
destruction of the drawer guide 100 could therefore occur if
exclusively roller bodies 146 of the first type were used.
[0078] In the case of extreme loading of this type of the drawer
guide 100, for example during the action of high, persistent
dynamic loads or upon the action of temporary static loads (for
example if the drawer device guided by means of the drawer guide
100, for example a drawer, remains in the pulled-out state for a
relatively long time), which lead to a loading of the roller body
guide exceeding the bearing capacity of the roller bodies 146 of
the first type, the roller bodies 146 of the first type compress,
and the harder roller bodies 148 of the second type then take on
the support function of the drawer guide 100.
[0079] The roller bodies 148 of the second type are in particular
formed from a hard material with a high bearing capacity and
pressure resistance, so they are suitable to take on high
loads.
[0080] Such high loads may, for example, be static excess loads,
which, for example, occur due to the drawer device remaining for a
relatively long time in the pulled-out state or when compressive
forces or torsional forces are exerted on the drawer guide 100 when
handled by the user, if the user is supported, for example, on the
drawer device held by means of the drawer guide 100.
[0081] Since such high loads, which exceed the load-bearing
capacity of the roller bodies 146 of the first type, are absorbed
by the roller bodies 148 of the second type, the roller bodies 146
of the first type are prevented from flattening out when a loading
lasts for a relatively long time and then producing a rumbling
running noise when a movement starts up again, because of their
out-of-roundness.
[0082] Furthermore, this prevents the roller bodies 146 of the
first type deforming beyond the resilient range during long-term
operation of the drawer guide 100 and thereby being destroyed.
[0083] The roller bodies 146 of the first type, on the one hand,
and the roller bodies 148 of the second type, on the other hand,
thus take on different tasks in the roller body arrangement
110:
[0084] The softer and larger roller bodies 146 of the first type
take on the support function of the drawer guide 100 during its
normal operation and ensure lower noise generation when pulling out
or pushing in the drawer guide 100.
[0085] The harder and smaller roller bodies 148 of the second type
take on loads, which exceed the load-bearing capacity of the roller
bodies 146 of the first type, and therefore ensure the operating
ability of the drawer guide 100 and prevent a destruction of the
roller bodies 146 of the first type in the event of excess
loading.
[0086] The roller bodies 148 of the second type are therefore
preferably not used at the positions at the two ends of the ball
cage 132, as when a roller body guide is in the pulled-out state,
the roller bodies 142 installed at the outer ends of the ball cage
132 absorb the greatest load, because at these points, due to the
lever action and the vertical installation position of the drawer
guide 100, the gap between the roller body running tracks 118 and
120 of the first guide rail 102, on the one hand, and the roller
body running tracks 128 and 130 of the second guide rail 106, on
the other hand, is smallest in the event of a load-related twisting
of the guide rail 102 and 106.
[0087] If a roller body 148 of the second type were now to be
seated at the respective end of the ball cage 132, this roller body
148 of the second type would also take on the primary support
function during normal operation of the drawer guide 100, so the
noise generation of the drawer guide 100 would then be determined
by the roller bodies 148 of the second type.
[0088] Since the roller bodies 148 of the second type are moved
further inward in the ball cage 132 and preferably neither adopt
the foremost nor the rearmost position, in particular also neither
adopt the second position from the front nor the penultimate
position, it is achieved that in the case of small to medium loads,
the roller bodies 146 of the first type take on the support
function of the drawer guide 100 and therefore, in these load
cases, determine the noise generation of the drawer guide 100,
while the harder roller bodies 148 of the second type only take on
their role as the lowering limitation in the case of high loads and
excess loads.
[0089] A further reduction of noise generation during the movement
of the drawer guide 100 is achieved in that the drawer guide is
assembled from the components, first guide rail 102, second guide
rail 106 and roller bodies 142, without prestressing or with light
prestressing.
[0090] During assembly of the drawer guide 100 with strong
prestressing, the added diameter (D) of a roller body 146 of the
first type, which rolls on the upper roller body running tracks 118
and 128, and of a roller body 146 of the first type, which rolls on
the lower roller body running tracks 120 and 130, is greater by
more than 0.04 mm than the spacing between the upper roller body
running track 118 and the lower roller body running track 120 of
the first guide rail 102 (spacing S.sub.a) less the spacing between
the upper roller body running track 128 and the lower roller body
running track 130 of the second guide rail 106 ( spacing S.sub.i;
see FIG. 8). As a result, the legs of the C-profile of the first
guide rail 102 (outer rail 104) are bent apart in the elastic area
and the legs of the C-profile of the second guide rail 106 (inner
rail 108) are bent toward one another in the elastic area. One then
refers to a "heavily assembled" drawer guide 100 or a drawer guide
100, which is assembled under strong prestressing, in which the
rolling noise of the roller bodies 142 is loud.
[0091] In contrast to this, the pull-guide 100 shown in the
drawings is preferably "lightly assembled", in other words
assembled only under light prestressing or free from
prestressing.
[0092] With a "light assembly" of this type, the added diameters of
a roller body 146 of the first type (diameter D), which rolls on
the upper roller body running tracks 118 and 128, and of a roller
body 146 of the first type (diameter D), which rolls on the lower
roller body running tracks 120 and 130, are smaller than, of equal
size to, or greater by at most 0.04 mm than the spacing of the
upper roller body running track 118 and the lower roller body
running track 120 of the first guide rail 102 (spacing S.sub.a)
less the spacing of the upper roller body running track 128 and the
lower roller body running track 130 of the second guide rail 106
(spacing S.sub.i).
[0093] The rolling noise of the roller bodies 146 of the first type
in the profile of the first guide rail 102 and of the second guide
rail 106 (preferably a steel profile in each case) is substantially
reduced by a "light assembly" of this type, as the noise generation
during the movement of a roller body guide with reducing
prestressing, under which the components, guide rails and roller
bodies, are assembled with respect to one another, reduces
greatly.
[0094] As, in particular, is to be seen from FIGS. 3 to 6, the ball
cage 132 of the drawer guide 100 shown is furthermore provided with
stop elements 150, which cooperate with stoppers 152 arranged on
one of the guide rails 102, 106, in particular on the first guide
rail 102, in such a way that the displacement path of the ball cage
132 relative to the guide rail concerned, in other words, in
particular, relative to the first guide rail 102, is limited.
[0095] In this case, each of the stop elements 150 is arranged on
one of the two ends of the cage back 134 and projects from the cage
back 134 toward the rail back 113 of the first guide rail 102.
[0096] The stop elements 150 may also be configured in one piece
with the cage back 134.
[0097] The two stoppers 152 are arranged on the inside of the rail
back 113 of the first guide rail 102 facing the ball cage 132 and
project from there toward the inner rail 108.
[0098] In a completely pulled-out state of the drawer guide 100
shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the front stop element 150a of the ball
cage 132 located at the front in the drawer direction 112 strikes
against the front stopper 152a of the first guide rail 102 located
at the front in the drawer direction 112, so the ball cage 132 is
stopped in its drawer movement relative to the first guide rail 102
and cannot be displaced further relative to the first guide rail
102.
[0099] In the completely pushed-in state of the drawer guide 100
shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, on the other hand, the rear stop element
150b located at the rear in the drawer direction 112 strikes
against the rear stopper 152b of the first guide rail 102 located
at the rear in the drawer direction 112, so the push-in movement of
the ball cage 132 relative to the first guide rail 102 is stopped
and the ball cage 132 cannot be displaced further relative to the
first guide rail 102 counter to the drawer direction 112.
[0100] The presence of the stop elements 150 and the stoppers 152
cooperating therewith is, in particular, advantageous when the
drawer guide 100 is assembled without prestressing or with light
prestressing, as such "lightly assembled" drawer guides 100 tend to
so-called cage migration, in particular under a high load. The
effect is called cage migration, where during a movement of the
guide rails 102 and 106 of the drawer guide 100 relative to one
another, the ball cage 132 does not travel precisely half the
distance, by which the two guide rails 102 and 106 are displaced
relative to one another, as would be the case if the movement of
the roller bodies 142 was a pure rolling movement on the roller
body running tracks without a sliding component.
[0101] The offset, brought about by the cage migration, of the
position of the ball cage 132 relative to the guide rails 102 and
106 adds up over the movement cycles of the drawer guide 100, and
after a certain number of such movement cycles, the drawer guide
100 can no longer be completely pulled out on the provided drawer
path.
[0102] This cage migration can be corrected by forceful pulling on
one of the guide rails 102, 106 (so-called cage correction).
[0103] As a user of the drawer guide is frequently reluctant to
exert a large force on the guide rails 102 or 106 in order to carry
out the cage connection, because he fears damage to the drawer
guide 100, it is a substantial advantage to correct the cage
migration by a stopper system, in which the roller bodies 142 are
not stopped, but the ball cage 132 is stopped instead. A stopper
system of this type, compared to other stopper systems, in which
roller bodies 142 are wedged in a stop position by means of
projections on the roller body running tracks, provides a
substantial advantage, because, in a stopper system stopping the
ball cage 132, in particular the cage back 134, no roller body 142
is wedged between the guide rails 102, 106 and therefore no
self-reinforcing contact pressing force occurs, with which the
stopped roller bodies 142 are pressed against the roller body
running tracks.
[0104] In the described stopper system, in which stop elements 150
on the ball cage 132 are stopped by a respective associated stopper
152, when the drawer guide 100 is actuated, no additional contact
pressing force, with which a stopped roller body 142 is retained in
the stop position, has to be overcome.
[0105] In the stopper system described, a cage correction can be
carried out with a small correction force in that the ball cage 132
is displaced by means of the stoppers 152 in the drawer direction
112 or counter to the drawer direction 112.
* * * * *