Limited Pivotal Handle Assembly For Furniture Components

Abstract

A handle assembly mounted to a drawer front or the like having a handle with limited pivoting capability. The handle assembly has a handle connected to a base by means of a pair of arms connected to either end of a shaft. The arms have cam shaped members with recesses for resting against lugs mounted on the base. The shaft has a boss for resting against a flat surface located within the base. The cam shaped members and boss prevent the handle from pivoting sufficiently down to damage the furniture surface.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates generally to handles for components of furniture, and more particularly to a handle assembly having means for prevention of damage to the furniture surface by the handle.

Description of the Prior Art

In furniture hardware, and particularly in drawer pulls, the desirability of keeping the handle from striking and damaging the drawer front has long been recognized. A variety of means for accomplishing this objective is known. Some examples are represented by U.S. Pats. as follows:

No. 980,193 to Brenia, Jan. 3, 1911;

No. 1,622,735 to Noelting et al., Mar. 29, 1927;

No. 1,772,371 to Specht, Aug. 5, 1930;

No. 2,177,554 to Stiff, Oct. 24, 1939;

No. Re. 26,019 to Watt, Jr., May 3, 1966.

In addition, devices are known to prevent or limit the extent of travel of the handle away from the mount. This is common in hardware for caskets, and an example is the U.S. Pat. as follows:

No. 2,098,421 to Johnson, Nov. 9, 1937.

Although much effort has been expended in this area, with varying degrees of success as represented by the foregoing patents, for example, there has remained a need for new and attractive styles of hardware for furniture, and drawer front protective means compatible therewith. The present invention meets this need.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In a typical embodiment of the present invention, a handle assembly comprises a handle mounted to a base secured to a furniture wall, such as a drawer front. The handle is connected to the base by means of a pair of arms fastened to either side of a shaft. The shaft passes through a rectangular housing in the base and has a boss which rests against a flat surface within the housing. Located at either end of the shaft are cam shaped recessed members which rest against lugs provided on either side of the rectangular housing. The cam shaped members, in conjunction with the boss, act to prevent the handle from pivoting sufficiently down to hit and damage the lower portion of the furniture wall. The handle is freely pivotable upward to allow the user to grasp the handle.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a decorative handle assembly for furniture which has limited pivotal capability to preclude damage to the front of the furniture.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a handle assembly incorporating a typical embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the handle assembly shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the lower portion of the base shown in FIG. 1, without the handle.

FIG. 4 is a back view of the base shown in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a fragementary section taken in the direction of arrows 5--5 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary front view of the arms and shaft connected to the handle shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary side view of the arm-shaft assembly shown in FIG. 6 taken in the direction of arrows 7--7.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring now more particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2, there is illustrated a handle assembly 10 mounted to a wall 11, such as the front wall of a drawer. Handle assembly 10 is composed of a base 12 to which handle 13 is connected by means of arms 15 and shaft 16. Base 12 is mounted to wall 11 by two screws 17 vertically spaced and threadedly received in the back of domed shaped ends 18 and 19 of base 12. Located between ends 18 and 19 is a rectangular shaped housing 20 for retaining and supporting shaft 16.

A side view and back view of housing 20 is shown respectively in FIGS. 3 and 4. Housing 20 is hollow having an opening 21 in side 24 and opening 22 in side 25. Housing 20 is completely open on the back side 23 of base 12. Openings 21 and 22 and housing 20 are sized to receive shaft 16 to be described later. That is, the radius of shaft 16 is slightly less than the radius R of openings 21 and 22. The top sides 32 and bottom sides 31 of openings 21 and 22 are tangentially blended with the surfaces described by radius R and taper outwardly to back side 23 of base 12 for easy insertion and removal of shaft 16. Located between side 24 and 25 inside housing 20 is a flat surface 26 perpendicular to line 28 which is drawn at an angle of 45.degree. up from horizontal line 27. Surface 26 is slightly offset, approximately one thirty-second of an inch, upwardly from the surface described by radius R at line 28 in order to allow for rotation of shaft 16. The function of surface 26 is to provide a stop for shaft 16 and will be evident after shaft 16 is described.

Extending outwardly from side 24 and 25 respectively are stop lugs 29 and 30. Lug 30 will be described, it being understood that lug 29 is identical. Lug 30 is located in the lower quadrant of side 25 between bottom side 31 of opening 22 and the bottom exterior edge 33 of housing 20. The lug has a flat surface 34 parallel to the back side 23 of base 12. The front of the lug has a radial surface.

Handle 13, shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is cylindrical having various grooves to enhance the ornamental esthetic value. Handle 13 is connected to a pair of arms 15 having cam shaped members 35 and 36 at their top ends. Supported and fastened between the two cam shaped members 35 and 36 is a cylindrical shaft 16.

The cam shaped members and shaft can best be described by referring to FIGS. 7 and 6. FIG. 6 is a fragmentary front view of the arms 15 and shaft 16. As previously described, shaft 16 is sized to fit within openings 21 and 22 of housing 20 having a shaft radius slightly less than radius R of openings 21 and 22. The length of cylindrical shaft 16 is slightly greater than the exterior width of housing 20 with members 35 and 36 being fastened to the ends of shaft 16. Member 35 has an interior face 37 parallel with the interior face 38 of member 36. Interior faces 37 and 38 prevent sideway movement of shaft 16 since when the shaft is inserted in housing 20, members 35 and 36 are adjacent respectively to sides 25 and 24 of housing 20. Shaft 16 has a raised portion or boss 39 in its center with an approximate length of three-eighths of an inch. Boss 39 has a flat surface 40, best shown in FIG. 7, which is perpendicular to line 41 which is at an angle of 60.degree. from vertical line 42. The top edge 46 of boss 39 is located from the center line of shaft 16 at a distance approximately equaling the diameter of shaft 16. The top and bottom edges of boss 39 are blended into shaft 16.

Also shown in FIG. 7, is a side view of member 36. Member 36 will be described, it being understood that a similar description applies to member 35. Member 36 is fastened to shaft 16 having its center line offset and below the center line of shaft 16. The back side of member 36 is contoured forming a stop 44 and a recess 43 complementary in shape to the forward radial shaped end 45 of stop lugs 29 and 30.

The operation of the handle assembly 10 can best be understood by referring to FIGS. 1, 2 and 5. Prior to mounting base 12 on wall 11, the handle 13 is attached to base 12 by placing shaft 16 through the back side 23 of base 12 into housing 20. When the shaft 16 is properly assembled to base 12, arms 15 will extend at an angle outwardly from base 12 with lugs 29 and 30 resting in recesses 43 of members 35 and 36 and with flat surface 40 of shaft 16 abutting against flat surface 26 of base 12. Lugs 29 and 30 in conjunction with flat surface 26 of base 12 act as stops to prevent arms 15 from pivoting sufficiently down to allow handle 13 to hit and damage wall 11. On the other hand, lugs 22 and 30 and flat surface 26 do not prevent arms 15 from pivoting upwardly when handle 13 is grasped. The description and drawings herein should be considered as illustrative and not restrictive as variations can be made within the scope of the invention.

Claims

The invention claimed is:

1. A handle assembly for a furniture component and comprising:

a base securable to said furniture component and having a housing;

a handle;

means for pivotally mounting said handle to said housing;

a first arm connecting said handle to said mounting means;

a first member having a recess, said member being disposed between said first arm and said mounting means;

a first lug mounted to said housing for fitting in said recess of said first member to limit the downward pivoting motion of said handle and to stop said handle in spaced relation to said furniture component at a lower extreme pivot position;

said means for pivotally mounting said handle to said housing is a cylindrical shaft, said shaft has a boss for abutting against a surface inside said base;

said boss and said lug are arranged to cooperatively limit the downward pivoting motion of said handle and to stop said handle in spaced relation to said furniture component at said lower extreme pivot position;

a second arm connecting said handle to said mounting means;

a second member having a recess disposed between said second arm and said shaft;

a second lug mounted to said housing and which fits in said recess of said second member for cooperatively limiting with said first lug and said boss the downward pivoting motion of said handle and to stop said handle in spaced relation to said furniture component at said lower extreme pivot position; and wherein:

said housing is hollow and has a first sidewall and a second sidewall, spaced apart a fixed distance, said first sidewall and said second sidewall have channels for receiving said shaft, said first member is adjacent and parallel to said first sidewall, said second member is adjacent and parallel to said second sidewall, said first member and said second member are spaced apart a distance slightly greater than said fixed distance and arranged outwardly with respect to said first sidewall and said second sidewall to prevent sideway motion of said shaft.

2. The handle assembly of claim 1 wherein said first lug is mounted to said first sidewall, said second lug is mounted to said second sidewall, said first lug and said second lug are mounted beneath said channels.

3. The handle assembly of claim 2 wherein said base has means for attachment thereof to said furniture component, said base has a back locating surface for locating said base on said furniture component, said handle being spaced outward relative to said locating surface.