U.S. patent number 3,703,683 [Application Number 05/025,032] was granted by the patent office on 1972-11-21 for limited pivotal handle assembly for furniture components.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Bliss & Laughlin Industries, Incorporated. Invention is credited to Ted Ciepley.
United States Patent |
3,703,683 |
Ciepley |
November 21, 1972 |
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.
Inventors: |
Ciepley; Ted (Evansville,
IN) |
Assignee: |
Bliss & Laughlin Industries,
Incorporated (Oak Brook, IL)
|
Family
ID: |
21823672 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/025,032 |
Filed: |
April 2, 1970 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
16/419 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A47B
95/02 (20130101); A47B 2095/021 (20130101); Y10T
16/4644 (20150115) |
Current International
Class: |
A47B
95/00 (20060101); A47B 95/02 (20060101); A47b
095/02 () |
Field of
Search: |
;16/123,126,127,191 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1,894 |
|
Feb 1895 |
|
GB |
|
1,438,363 |
|
Nov 1966 |
|
FR |
|
Primary Examiner: Gay; Bobby R.
Assistant Examiner: Aschenbrenner; Peter A.
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.
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.
* * * * *