Adjustable Fixture For Locating Drawer Pull Holes

Abstract

An adjustable fixture is described for locating hole locations for various size drawer pulls on various width drawers. The fixture has an elongated body with operating interconnected extendable arms having abutment means on the ends thereof for engaging the sides of the drawer to align the center line of the fixture at the midpoint between the drawer sides. Guide apertures are formed in the fixture equally spaced on opposite sides of the center line for locating hole locations equally spaced from the midpoint of the drawer. The guide apertures are formed in movably mounted interconnected blocks that move uniformly in opposite directions to adjust the spacing between the guide apertures to accommodate various size door pulls.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to fixtures for centrally locating drawer pull holes on the front plate of drawers.

In the manufacture of drawers for desks, bookcases, file cabinets, dresser, and other furniture, it is important to locate the drawer pulls centrally on the front of the front plates of the drawers so that a uniform pulling force is applied to the drawer to readily and easily open the drawer. If the drawer pulls are offset, it is easy to jam the drawer. This requires precise location of holes in the front plate of the drawer for attaching the door pull centered on the front plate of the drawer. Templates have been used with guide apertures formed therein for identifying the location for drilling of holes in the front plate to accommodate drawer pulls. However, different templates must be used to accommodate different size drawers and different size drawer pulls.

One of the principal objects of this invention is to provide an adjustable fixture for mounting on the front of the drawers for automatically locating holes for different size drawer pulls for drawers of various widths.

An additional object of this invention is to provide an adjustable fixture for mounting on drawers requiring a minimum of time in locating and installing the drawer pulls.

A further object and advantage of this invention is to provide a fixture for locating holes for centrally mounting drawer pulls that is inexpensive to manufacture and simple to operate with considerable precision.

These and other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent upon the reading of the following description of a preferred embodiment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A preferred embodiment of this invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an adjustable fixture, embodying the principles of this invention for mounting on the front plate of a drawer for locating hole positions in the front plate of the drawer to centrally mount a drawer pull thereon;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the adjustable fixture shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary plan view taken along line 3-3 in FIG. 1 illustrating the interior mechanism of the adjustable fixture;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 4-4 in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 5-5 in FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 6-6 in FIG. 3; and

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 7-7 in FIG. 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

An adjustable fixture 10 is illustrated in FIG. 1 for accurately locating hole positions on a drawer 11 for accommodating a drawer pull centrally on the front plate 12 of the drawer midway between the sides 13 and 14 and intermediate the top 15 and the bottom 16.

The adjustable fixture 10 has an elongated body 18 defining a longitudinal axis L of the adjustable fixture 10. The elongated body 18 has a removable face 20 mounted on the front of the body by machine screws 21. The face plate 20 may be readily removed to view the interior mechanism (FIG. 3) of the adjustable fixture in the elongated body. As shown in FIGS. 3--7, elongated longitudinal parallel slots 22 and 23 are formed through the body 18 equally spaced from the longitudinal axis.

Operatively interconnected arms 25 and 26 are slidably and extendably mounted in the slots 22 and 23 respectively for uniformly moving in opposite directions from a centerline C (FIG. 2) that extends perpendicular to the longitudinal axis L of the adjustable fixture. Abutment means 27 and 28 are formed on the ends of the arms 25 and 26 respectively for engaging the sides 13 and 14 of the front plate to align the centerline C of the body 18 midway between the sides 13 and 14.

The abutment means 27 and 28 include brackets 30 and 31 respectively that extend outwardly from the arm at right angles having surfaces 32 and 33 that are perpendicular to the longitudinal axis for engaging the sides of the front plate 12. Knobs 34 and 35 are mounted on the brackets 30 and 31 for enabling the the operator to grab one or more of the abutments means 27 and 28 and pull the arms outwardly from the body 18 to abut the surfaces 32 and 33 against the sides 13 and 14 of the front plate 12.

The adjustable fixture 10 has an interconnection means between the arms 25 and 26 to provide concurrent and equal movement of the arms from the centerline so that when the surfaces 32 and 33 abut the sides 13 and 14 of the front plate of the drawer the centerline C of the adjustable fixture 10 is aligned with the midpoint of the drawer. The interconnection means is mounted in an elongated upper cavity 37 (FIG. 3) formed in the body 18 and includes longitudinally spaced wheels 38 and 40 that are freely rotatably mounted on shafts 41 and 42. The wheel 40 has a circumferential groove 44 (FIG. 7) formed thereon. An elongated continuous band or belt 45 is mounted on the wheels 38 and 40 defining flights 46 and 47. A spring 48 is mounted in the upper cavity 37 with one end fixed to a post 50. The other end of the spring 48 is attached to flight 47 of the bank 45 by a rivet 51 (FIG. 3). The rivet 51 interconnects the spring 48, the flight 47 and the arm 26. A rivet 52 interconnects the arm 25 to the bank flight 46. When either one of the arms 25 or 26 is pulled outwardly, the band 45 moves clockwise as shown in FIG. 3 to transfer the pulling motion to the other arm to extend the other arm uniformly with the arm that is being pulled. The spring 45 biases the band 45 to move in a counterclockwise motion as shown in FIG. 3 to bias the arms inward to a retracted position.

Guide apertures 55 and 56 are formed in the adjustable fixture symmetrically spaced from the centerline C for locating the hole locations in the front plate of the drawer 11. The guide apertures 55 and 56 are formed through blocks 57 and 58 respectively which are slidably mounted in longitudinal tracks 60 and 61 respectively. The tracks 60 and 61 are formed in a lower elongated cavity 54 opening into the upper cavity 37. The blocks 57 and 58 are operatively interconnected through an interconnection 62. The interconnection 62 includes a drive sprocket wheel 65 and an idler sprocket wheel 66. The drive sprocket is mounted on a sleeve 63 that is aligned along the centerline C and the wheel 66 is rotatably mounted on a post 64 spaced to the left of the block 57. An elongated continuous belt or bank 67 is mounted on the sprocket wheels 65 and 66 encircling block 57 with interior teeth 68 meshing with the teeth on the sprocket wheels 65 and 66. The belt 67 when mounted on the sprocket wheels 65 and 66 defines a flight 67a and a flight 67b.

A rack 70 is formed on the side of the block 57 for meshing with the interior teeth 68 of the belt 67 along the flight 67b. An interconnecting bar 71 has one end fastened to the belt flight 67a and the other end connected to the side of the block 58 as shown in FIG. 3. In this manner when the belt 67 moves in a clockwise direction as view from FIG. 3, the blocks move outward uniformly to position the guide apparatus 55 and 56 equally spaced from the centerline C. A knurled dial is affixed to the top end of the sleeve 63 for rotating the drive wheel 65. When the knurl dial 81 is rotated the drive sprocket wheel 65 moves the belt 67 in one direction or the other to move the blocks inwardly or outwardly uniformly to move the guide apertures 55 and 67 inwardly or outwardly from the centerline for accommodating different size drawer pulls.

For complementing the movable guide apertures 55 and 56 longitudinal back slots 73 and 74 (FIG. 3) are formed through the body 18 within the tracks 60 and 61. Similar front slots 75 and 76 are formed through the face plate 20 in alignment with the slots 73 and 74. This enables the operator to place a drill through the front slots 75 and 76, the guide apertures 55 and 66 and the back slots 73 and 74 to drill holes in the front plate 12 equally spaced from the midpoint of the face plate. A knurl setscrew 78 (FIGS. 1 and 2) is threadably mounted to the block 57 for locking the interconnection 62 to prevent movement of the blocks 57 and 58 when the desired distance between the guide aperture 55 and 56 is obtained.

The adjustable fixture 10 has an adjustable support means 85 formed thereon that includes a transverse slot 86 (FIG. 6) formed through the body 18 along the centerline C. The elongated plate or arm 87 is slidably mounted in the transverse slot 86 and extends outwardly on both sides. The transverse plate has a longitudinal slot 88 (FIGS. 1 and 2) formed therethrough that is aligned along the centerline of the fixture. A flange 90 is formed on the top end of the elongated plate for engaging the top 15 of the face plate 12 for supporting the adjustable fixture on the face of the drawer. A tubular knurled setscrew 91 is threadably mounted within the sleeve 63 for engaging the elongated plate 87 to lock the plate after the desired positioning of the flange 90 with respect to the body 18 is obtained. A distance scale 93 is formed on the elongated plate to enable the operator to adjust and center the fixture on the front plate of the drawer.

The setscrew 91 has a guide aperture 92 extending longitudinally therethrough intersecting the centerline C of the adjustable fixture to guide a drill or pencil to a hole location midpoint between the sides of the front plate 12 to enable the operator to attach a drawer pull having a single attachment location.

It is understood that the above-described embodiment is simply illustrative of the principles of this invention and that numerous modifications may be made without deviating from the scope thereof. Therefore only the following claims are intended to define this invention.

Claims

What we claim is:

1. An adjustable fixture for locating hole positions on a front plate of a drawer to center a drawer pull thereon, said fixture comprising:

an elongated body;

two operatively interconnected arms extendably mounted in the elongated body for uniform longitudinal movement in opposite directions from a transverse centerline, said arms having abutment means on the ends thereof for engaging the sides of the front plate of the drawer to align the centerline at the midpoint between the sides of the front plate;

an elongated continuous band movably mounted in the body on two spaced freely rotatable wheels defining two band flights therebetween and wherein each arm is affixed to one of the band flights so that the arms move uniformly in opposite directions from the centerline;

spring means mounted in the body and operatively connected to the arms for biasing the arms inward to a retracted position; and

guide apertures in the body symmetrically spaced from the centerline for locating hole positions equally spaced from the midpoint of the front plate to center the drawer pull thereon.

2. An adjustable fixture as defined in claim 1 wherein spring means includes a spring having one end affixed to the elongated continuous band to bias the band in one direction to bias the arms inwardly to the retracted position.

3. An adjustable fixture for locating hole positions on the front plate of a drawer to center a drawer pull thereon, said fixture comprising;

an elongated body;

two operatively interconnected arms extendably mounted on the elongated body for uniform longitudinal movement in opposite directions from a transverse centerline, said arms having abutment means on the ends thereof for engaging the sides of the front plate of the drawer to align the centerline at the midpoint between the sides of the front plate;

spring means mounted on the body and operatively connected to the arms for biasing the arms inwardly to a retracted position; and

interconnected blocks slidably mounted on the elongated body for longitudinal movement on opposite sides of the centerline; wherein the blocks have guide apertures formed therein symmetrically spaced from the centerline for locating hole positions equally spaced from the midpoint of the front plate to center the drawer pull thereon.

4. An adjustable fixture as defined in claim 3 further comprising an elongated continuous belt movably mounted on the body on two spaced rotatable wheels providing two belt flights therebetween wherein each block is connected to one of the belt flights so that the blocks will move uniformly in opposite directions from the centerline.

5. An adjustable fixture as defined in claim 4 further comprising a knob connected to one of the blocks and extending from the body for locking the blocks in position when the desired spacing between the guide apertures is obtained.