CN119277975A - Drawer Slide Systems - Google Patents

Abstract

Drawer slide systems and drawer cabinets including such drawer slide systems are provided. The drawer slide system includes a rail (40) having a mounting plate (45), a top engagement portion (43) and a bottom engagement portion (44). The top engagement portion (43) and the bottom engagement portion (44) extend in parallel along the guide rail (40). The drawer slide system also includes a slide member (50), the slide member (50) having a top sliding surface (53) for sliding engagement with the top engagement portion (43) and a bottom sliding surface (54) for sliding engagement with the bottom engagement portion (44). The lateral width (LW 1) of at least one of the top sliding surface (53) and the bottom sliding surface (54) is greater than the lateral width (LW 2) of the associated top engagement portion (43) and bottom engagement portion (44).

Description

Drawer slide rail system

Technical Field

The present invention relates to drawer slide systems and to drawer cabinets comprising such drawer slide systems.

Background

Drawer slide systems are commonly used to provide smooth movement as drawers are pulled from and pushed into associated cabinets. Typical requirements of modern drawer slide systems include low friction, robustness, low complexity, and reasonable cost.

One particular type of drawer slide system includes a rail secured to an interior wall of a cabinet and a member secured to an exterior wall of the drawer at a rear portion. When the drawer is pulled out of the cabinet, the allowing member preferably rolls or slides in a low friction manner against a rail, which rail also serves to limit the lateral movement of the drawer. This type of rail system is often referred to as a concealed rail system because the components of the rail system are generally not visible even when the drawer is pulled out to its maximum extent, i.e., when the member reaches the end position of the rail.

One disadvantage of these systems is the need for lateral space between the inner cabinet wall and the outer drawer wall. This space is required to accommodate the rails as well as brackets and fasteners, including tolerances, for mounting the components to the sides of the external drawer. If this lateral space is less than 14mm, or even less than 10mm, the solutions available today are difficult to use.

Especially for small furniture, a lateral space of 10mm or more will significantly impair the visual appearance of the furniture and reduce the usable volume of the drawer, since the overall width of the drawer needs to be significantly smaller than the internal width of the cabinet. Accordingly, there is a need for an improved drawer slide system that can be used in a concealed application and that requires reduced lateral space to fit between the interior cabinet wall and the exterior drawer side.

Disclosure of Invention

Accordingly, the present invention preferably seeks to mitigate, alleviate or eliminate one or more of the above-identified deficiencies in the art and disadvantages singly or in any combination and solves at least the above mentioned problems by providing a drawer slide system that can be made more compact in the width direction while still providing the desired functionality, robustness and cost-effectiveness.

According to a first aspect, a drawer slide system is provided. The drawer slide system includes a rail having a mounting plate, a top engagement portion, and a bottom engagement portion. The top and bottom engagement portions extend in parallel along the rail. The drawer slide system also includes a slide member having a top sliding surface for sliding engagement with the top engagement portion and a bottom sliding surface for sliding engagement with the bottom engagement portion, wherein a lateral width of at least one of the top sliding surface and the bottom sliding surface is greater than a lateral width of the associated top engagement portion and bottom engagement portion. By this configuration, the guide rail can be made with significantly smaller dimensions, in particular in the horizontal direction, than has been suggested in the prior art. In particular in the proposed solution, the guide rail does not need to completely enclose the entire lateral width of the slide rail member, but only provides a narrow sliding engagement, while still achieving a stable sliding engagement with low friction. In addition, the drawer slide system does not require the use of any bearings, such as ball bearings or any rollers, as is required by many slide systems known in the art.

Preferably, the top engagement portion and the bottom engagement portion are vertically aligned.

The lateral width of each of the top and bottom sliding surfaces may be greater than the lateral width of the associated top and bottom engagement portions.

At least one of the top engagement portion and the bottom engagement portion may be provided with a radius. Preferably, the radius is in the range of 0.5mm to 5.0mm, such as 0.7mm to 4.0mm, preferably in the range of 0.8mm to 3.0mm, even more preferably in the range of 1.0mm to 2.5 mm.

The lateral width of at least one of the top engagement portion and the bottom engagement portion may be in the range of 1mm or less.

The rail may include a top flange inclined to extend downward and an upper lip disposed outside and extending upward from the top flange, wherein a junction between the top flange and the upper lip forms a top junction.

The guide rail may include a bottom flange inclined to extend upward and a bottom lip disposed outside and extending downward from the bottom flange, wherein a junction between the bottom flange and the bottom lip forms a bottom junction.

The mounting plate, top engagement portion and bottom engagement portion may be integrally formed.

The lateral distance between the mounting plate and the top and bottom engagement portions may be greater than half the lateral width of the slide rail member.

The slide rail member may be configured to be rotatable relative to the drawer side wall. Thus, the rail member may be arranged and adapted to rotate relative to the drawer side wall. The slide rail member may be designed such that it can rotate relative to the drawer side wall.

The rail member may be made of plastic. The guide rail may be made of metal, which is preferably coated with a coating, such as paint.

The slide rail member may have a polygonal shape or a cylindrical shape, and preferably, the slide rail member has a polygonal shape such as a rectangular shape or a hexagonal shape.

At least one of the top sliding surface and the bottom sliding surface may be at least partially concave.

At least one of the top sliding surface and the bottom sliding surface may include an outer end wing, optionally an inner end wing, and a central sliding portion extending from the outer end wing.

Preferably, the vertical distance between the outer edge of the top sliding surface and the outer edge of the bottom sliding surface is greater than the vertical open distance between the top engagement portion and the bottom engagement portion. This prevents the rail member from moving laterally out of the rail.

At least one of the outer edge of the top sliding surface and the outer edge of the bottom sliding surface may preferably be defined by an outer end wing, such that the vertical distance between the outer edge of the top sliding surface and the outer edge of the bottom sliding surface is defined by the vertical distance between the outer edge of the outer end wing of one sliding surface and the central sliding portion of the other sliding surface, or in case each sliding surface is provided with a respective outer end wing, by the vertical distance between the outer edges of the outer end wings.

The central sliding portion may be at least partially provided with a radius. The radius of the central sliding portion of the top sliding surface and/or the bottom sliding surface may be equal to or greater than the radius of the top engagement portion and/or the bottom engagement portion.

The central sliding portion may have a horizontal portion, which is preferably arranged as an intermediate portion between two portions provided with a radius.

The rail may include a horizontal front section, a vertically upwardly inclined intermediate delay section, and a vertically downwardly inclined rear section.

The total width of the drawer slide system may be less than 14mm, such as 3mm to 14mm, preferably in the range of 6mm to 10 mm.

According to a second aspect, a drawer cabinet is provided. The drawer cabinet comprises a cabinet body, at least one drawer and at least one drawer slide system according to the first aspect.

Drawings

The invention will be described in more detail below with reference to the attached drawing figures, in which:

FIG. la is an isometric view of a drawer cabinet according to an embodiment;

Fig. lb is an isometric view of the drawer cabinet shown in fig. 1a with one drawer pulled out.

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of a drawer slide system according to an embodiment;

FIG. 3 is an isometric view of the drawer slide system in an assembled state;

FIG. 4 is an isometric view of a rail of a drawer slide system according to an embodiment;

FIG. 5a is a cross-sectional view of a drawer slide system according to an embodiment;

FIG. 5b is an isometric view of a rail member of a drawer rail system according to an embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the drawer slide system shown in three different positions;

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of a rail member of the drawer rail system, and

Fig. 8 a-8 d are cross-sectional views of a rail of a drawer slide system according to various embodiments.

Detailed Description

Several embodiments of the present invention will be described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings so that those skilled in the art can perform the present invention. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. The embodiments do not limit the invention, but the invention is limited only by the appended claims. Furthermore, the terminology used in the detailed description of the particular embodiments illustrated in the accompanying drawings is not intended to be limiting of the invention.

First of all, a drawer cabinet 1 is shown in fig. 1a and 1 b. The drawer cabinet 1 represents one possible implementation for a drawer slide system, as will be described below, however there are other possible applications in which one part is intended to move relative to the other.

The drawer cabinet 1 comprises a cabinet body 10. The cabinet 10 is provided with a plurality of drawers 20, which drawers 20 are connected to the cabinet 10 in a manner allowing the drawers 20 to be moved from a closed position shown in fig. 1a to an open position shown in fig. 1 b. This movement is accomplished by means of at least one drawer slide system 30. The drawer slide system 30 is not visible in fig. 1a and 1b (only indicated) because the drawer slide system 30 is designed as a hidden drawer slide system, which means that the components of the drawer slide system 30 are generally not visible to the user even when the drawer 20 is pulled out of the cabinet 10. However, it should be understood that the drawer slide system 30 described herein may also be used in other types of drawer slide systems that are visible or hidden and that are operable to pull a drawer out, such as three-quarters extended, fully extended, and/or over-travel extended.

For proper functioning of the drawer chest 1, the drawer slide system 30 forms a moving joint between the chest 10 and the drawer 20. One component 40 of the drawer slide system 30 is fixedly attached to the cabinet 10, while the other component 50 of the drawer slide system 30 is fixedly attached to the drawer 20 (see fig. 1 b). The drawer 20 will be permitted to move into and out of the cabinet 10 by engagement between the components 40, 50 of the drawer slide system 30.

Turning now to fig. 2, further details of the drawer slide system 30 will be described. Drawer slide system 30 includes a rail 40 and an associated slide member 50. The rail 40 is preferably securely attached to the interior wall of the cabinet 10 in a generally horizontal configuration. The guide rail 40 extends in the longitudinal direction L from the front end 41F to the rear end 41R. Fastening means 42, such as through holes, for allowing attachment of the rail 40 to the interior of the cabinet 10 of fig. 1 a-1 b by means of screws, dowels or the like are provided along the length of the rail 40, i.e. somewhere between the front end 41F and the rear end 41R.

The guide rail 40 provides guidance for the rail member 50. In operation, the slide rail member 50, which will be described in further detail below, is allowed to slide freely along the guide rail 40, but unrestricted movement of the slide rail member 50 in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction L of the guide rail 40 is prevented. The rail member 50 is firmly attached to the outer side of the drawer side panel 21. In the embodiment shown, the slide rail member 50 is pre-mounted to the bracket 51, which bracket 51 in turn can be attached to the outer side of the drawer side panel 21, for example by means of screws, dowels or the like. The rail member 50, which may be provided with a centrally aligned through hole, may be attached to the bracket 51, e.g. by means of rivets 59, the rivets 59 also forming a shaft for the rail member 50.

Preferably, the bracket 51 is designed such that the slide rail member 50 is positioned near the bottom rear corner of the drawer 20 when fastened to the drawer side panel 21.

As can be seen in fig. 2, the drawer slide system 30 may also include a bottom guide 60 mounted to the bottom side of the drawer side panel 21. Although not further described herein, the bottom guide 60 may be designed to slide with respect to a fixed slide member 70 disposed at the front end portion 4IF of the guide rail 40.

An assembled drawer slide system 30 is shown in fig. 3, however, the cabinet is omitted for ease of understanding. The rail 40, which in this illustration is the right side rail, is shown from its rear side, which is preferably relatively flat to provide firm contact when mounted to the cabinet wall. In fig. 3, a rail member 50 (not shown, but indicated by dashed lines) is received by rail 40 at the bottom rear corner of drawer side panel 21. The illustration of fig. 3 corresponds to the situation in fig. 1a, which means that the drawer is located completely inside the cabinet. When the drawer is pulled out of the cabinet, the drawer side panel 21 and the rail member 50 will move to the left in the illustration of fig. 3 for the situation illustrated in fig. 1b.

The rail 40 is shown in more detail in fig. 4, the left rail in this illustration. In comparison with the embodiment shown in fig. 2 and 3, the details of the front end portion 41F are omitted in fig. 4. The guide rail 40 includes an upper engagement portion 43 and a bottom engagement portion 44. The upper and lower engagement portions 43, 44 are connected by means of a mounting plate 45, and the upper and lower engagement portions 43, 44 are vertically aligned and extend in parallel along the rail 40. Preferably, the entire rail 40 is formed from a single piece of material, i.e., the mounting plate 45 is integrally formed with the upper and bottom engagement portions 43, 44. Suitable materials for rail 40 include metals such as steel or aluminum, polymeric materials, plastics, alloys, composite materials, and the like. The guide rail may be produced by bending, extruding, injection molding, or other suitable manufacturing process of sheet metal.

During operation, the slide rail member 50 (not shown in fig. 4) is received in a vertical space formed between the upper engagement portion 43 and the bottom engagement portion 44. This vertical space is constant along the length of the rail 40 due to the parallelism of the upper engagement portion 43 and the bottom engagement portion 44.

The guide rail 40 preferably comprises three sections. The front section FS has a substantially horizontal extension, which means that the drawer 20 will move substantially horizontally when the slide member 50 is guided by the front section FS. When pushed inwardly toward the closed position, the slide rail member 50 will travel along the front section FS that transitions to the intermediate section IS. The intermediate section IS inclined slightly vertically upwards, for example between 1 ° and 5 °, so as to form a delay zone for the travel of the rail member 50 along the intermediate section IS. At the rear end 41R of the guide rail 40, the intermediate section IS transitions into a rear section RS which IS inclined slightly vertically downwards, for example between 3 ° and 10 °, to the same horizontal position as the front section FS. The rear section RS of the rail 40 forms a self-closing area for the rail member 50, which rail member 50 will be assisted by gravity in the final travel distance. Furthermore, the rear section RS ensures that the drawer 20 will remain in its closed position until the user applies a pulling force to the drawer 20 to pull it out. As illustrated in fig. 4, the rear section RS is provided with a stopper member 46, which stopper member 46 may be formed by a projection of the mounting plate 45 in the normal direction of the mounting plate 45.

Turning now to fig. 5a, the drawer slide system 30 is shown in cross section, particularly illustrating details of the rail 40, the rail 40 being the same right rail in this illustration as in fig. 3, and the rail 40 engaging the slide member 50.

As described previously, the slide rail member 50 is disposed in the vertical space formed between the top engagement portion 43 and the bottom engagement portion 44 of the guide rail 40. The slide rail member 50 includes a top sliding surface 53 for the top engagement portion 43 and a bottom sliding surface 54 for the bottom engagement portion 44. Thus, as drawer 20 is moved into and out of cabinet 10, top sliding surface 53 of rail member 50 will slide against top engagement portion 43 of rail 40, while bottom sliding surface 54 of rail member 50 will slide against bottom engagement portion 44 of rail 40.

In general, the sliding engagement between the rail 40 and the rail member 50 is designed to provide low friction, and various techniques and adjustments may be employed to achieve the desired level of static and dynamic friction. For example, the rail member 50 may be made of a plastic material, while the rail 40, and in particular the top and bottom engagement portions 43, 44, may be made of metal. Such metals may be coated with a coating, such as paint, for example, paint applied by an electrophoretic deposition process. Other suitable techniques known in the art include applying a paint containing resin to rail 40, spray coating rail 40, and the like. Alternatively, a coating of a lipophilic composition, such as a lubricant, may be applied to the rail member 50 and/or to the rail 40—either directly to the rail 40 or to a coating, such as paint, applied to the rail 40. Such a rail 40 with paint applied thereto is preferably used with a rail member 50 made of plastic.

As described above, the slide rail member 50 has the top sliding surface 53 and the bottom sliding surface 54. In addition, the slide rail member 50 has an outer surface 55a and an inner surface 55d. The inner surface 55d preferably faces the drawer side panel 21. Preferably, the outer surface 55a faces the rail 40. The outer surface 55a and the inner surface 55d are opposite to each other. Further, the slide rail member 50 has an upper surface 55b and a bottom surface 55c. The upper surface 55b and the bottom surface 55c separate the outer surface 55a from the inner surface 55d.

In the illustrated embodiment, the slide rail member 50 has a rectangular shape, thereby defining the top and bottom sliding surfaces 53, 54 to be generally horizontal and planar. Thus, the outer surface 55a and the inner surface 55d are rectangular in shape. The outer surface 55a and the inner surface 55d are perpendicular to the top sliding surface 53 and the bottom sliding surface 54. However, as shown in fig. 5b, the rectangular shaped corners 50c of the rail member 50 may be slightly rounded in order to achieve a smooth movement between the different sections FS, IS, RS of the rail 40. As shown in fig. 5b, the outer surface 55a and the inner surface 55d may have slightly rounded corners. Since the rail member 50 is designed to have a generally horizontal and planar top and bottom sliding surfaces 53, 54 and has rectangular shaped outer and inner surfaces 55a, 55d, the rail member 50 can rotate relative to the drawer side panel 21.

As described above, the rail members 50 may be rectangular bodies that are fixed relative to the associated drawer 20, thereby providing a purely sliding engagement between the rail members 50 and the rail 40. The sliding track member 50 may also be other shapes than rectangular, such as hexagonal and octagonal. The outer surface 55a and the inner surface 55d of the slide rail member 50 may have other shapes than a rectangular shape, such as a hexagonal shape and an octagonal shape.

As can be seen in fig. 5a, the lateral width LW1 of the top and bottom sliding surfaces 53, 54 of the sled member 50 is significantly greater than the lateral width LW2 of the top and bottom engagement portions 43, 44 of the associated rail. Each of the top engagement portion 43 and the bottom engagement portion 44 provides a narrow point of contact with the associated sliding surface 53, 54. This narrow contact point, in the range of a width of 1mm or less, will form a limited contact area, helping to provide the required low friction between the rail member 50 and the rail 40.

In general, the lateral widths LW1 of the top and bottom sliding surfaces 53, 54 are defined as the sections that engage the respective top and bottom engagement portions 43, 44 during normal operation of the drawer slide system. The top and bottom sliding surfaces 53, 54 need not be entirely planar, and in some embodiments, the top and bottom sliding surfaces 53, 54 are provided with curvature such that the top and bottom sliding surfaces 53, 54 exhibit, for example, a concave shape as further discussed with reference to fig. 7. According to this definition, the rail member 50 may extend laterally beyond the top and bottom sliding surfaces 53, 54, as mentioned below with respect to the end wings 56, 57 (see fig. 6).

Similarly, the lateral widths LW2 of the top and bottom engagement portions 43, 44 are defined as the sections of the rail 40 that contact the respective top and bottom sliding surfaces 53, 54 during normal operation of the drawer slide system. Preferably, the top engagement portion 43 and the bottom engagement portion 44 are each provided with a radius, and thus the exact lateral width LW2 during use may depend on pressure, material deformation, etc.

The rail 40 has the general shape of a C-shaped profile, wherein the effective portion of the rail 40 that engages the rail member 50 is formed by the top engagement portion 43 and the bottom engagement portion 44 that define a vertical gap in which the rail member 50 is disposed. As is clear from fig. 5a, the guide rail 40 does not extend to cover all sides of the slide rail member 50. The rail 40 extends along the outer surface 55a of the rail member 50 by means of the mounting plate 45, along a portion of the upper surface 55b forming the top sliding surface 53 by means of the top engagement portion 43, along a portion of the bottom surface 55c forming the bottom sliding surface 54 by means of the bottom engagement portion 44, but not along the inner surface 55d facing the drawer side panel 21.

As shown in fig. 5a, the rivet 59 for fastening the slide rail member 50 does not protrude beyond the outer surface 55a of the slide rail member 50. The rail members 50 are fixed relative to the associated drawer 20, thereby providing a purely sliding engagement between the rail members 50 and the rail 40. Thus, the rail member 50 is stationary as the rail 40 slides along the top and bottom sliding surfaces 53, 54.

Leaving the interior portion 55d completely uncovered by the rail 40 may result in a risk of the rail losing engagement with the rail member 50 in the event that the rail 40 is displaced laterally relative to the drawer 20, for example, due to expansion of the cabinet 10. However, this is prevented due to the configuration of the slide rail member 50 as further illustrated in fig. 6 and 7.

In fig. 6, the drawer slide system 30 is shown in three different positions, while the slide member 50 is shown in more detail in fig. 7. In the rightmost and lowermost position of fig. 6, the distance between the drawer side panel 21 (indicated schematically in fig. 6, better shown in fig. 3 and 5 a) and the rail 40 (i.e. the cabinet 10) is at its minimum. In this position, the outer surface 55a of the rail member 50 will be in contact with the mounting plate 45 of the rail 40, which mounting plate 45 blocks any further lateral displacement of the rail member 50 in this direction.

In the intermediate position, the slide rail member 50 is centrally arranged within the guide rail 40, i.e. the only contact between the guide rail 40 and the slide rail member 50 is the sliding engagement between the top and bottom engagement portions 43, 44 and the respective top and bottom sliding surfaces 53, 54.

In the leftmost and uppermost positions, the lateral distance between the drawer side panel 21 and the rail 40 (i.e., the cabinet 10) increases to a maximum distance. This may be caused, for example, by expansion of the cabinet due to excessive loading in the drawer. The maximum distance is defined by the rail member 50 provided with the end wings 56. Thus, the slide rail member 50 has a central sliding portion 58 defined by an outer end wing 56 and an optional inner end wing 57. These end wings 56, 57 preferably extend outwardly from the central sliding portion 58 at both the top sliding surface 53 and the bottom sliding surface 54. Preferably, each of the top sliding surface 53 and the bottom sliding surface 54 is curved in shape such that the vertical height of each of the top sliding surface 53 and the bottom sliding surface 54 varies between a maximum value at the outer end of the rail member 50 corresponding to the outer end wing 56 to a minimum value at the central portion of the rail member 50 corresponding to the central sliding portion 58 and back to a maximum value at the inner end of the rail member 50 corresponding to the inner end wing 57. Thus, the end wings 56, 57 form lateral end sections of the respective top and bottom sliding surfaces 53, 54, however the end wings 56 and 57 are not intended to be in sliding engagement with the top and bottom engagement portions 43, 44. The intended sliding engagement of the top and bottom sliding surfaces 53, 54 is defined by a central sliding portion 58, the central sliding portion 58 having a lateral width LW1 (see fig. 5a and 7), the lateral width LW1 corresponding to the section that contacts the respective top and bottom engaging portions 43, 44 of the rail 40 during normal use of the drawer slide system 30.

With the end wings 56, 57 provided, the drawer 20 is mounted to the cabinet 10 by inserting the drawer 20 such that the rail member 50 attached at the rear portion of the drawer 20 enters into the front end 4IF (fig. 2) of the rail 40 and then pushing the drawer inward.

As can be seen in fig. 6 (leftmost position), the lateral distance LD between the mounting plate 45 and the top and bottom engagement portions 43, 44 is greater than half the lateral width LW of the sled member 50, i.e. greater than 0.5 times the lateral width LW. Half of the lateral width LW is indicated by the reference numeral HLW in the leftmost position of fig. 6.

The minimum vertical height at the central portion 58 of the rail member 50 is slightly less than the vertical distance between the top engagement portion 43 and the bottom engagement portion 44 of the rail 40. The maximum vertical height at the outer end of the rail member 50, i.e. the vertical height of the outer end wing 56, is greater than the vertical distance between the top engagement portion 43 and the bottom engagement portion 44 of the rail 40. This means that the rail member 50 will fit together with the rail 40 but not allow the rail member 50 to move beyond the rail because the outer end wings 56 will be blocked by the respective engagement portions 43, 44 of the rail 40. Thus, as illustrated on the left side of fig. 6, the outer wing 56 will prevent the rail member 50 from being disengaged from the rail 40 in the lateral direction. Thus, the outer wings 56 will prevent over-inflation of the cabinet and will prevent the drawer from falling.

The geometry of the rail member 50 is further illustrated in fig. 7, specifically indicating the vertical height H1 of the rail member 50 at the location of the outer wing end 56, the vertical height H2 of the rail member 50 at the central portion, and the vertical height H3 of the rail member 50 at the location of the inner wing end 57. Preferably, but not necessarily, hl.gtoreq.H2. In addition, H2< H1, H3.

As indicated in fig. 7, the central portion 58 is formed by a completely horizontal flat portion that transitions at two opposite ends to the wing ends 56, 57 by curved sections. However, in other embodiments, the central portion 58 is provided with a radius R such that the entire central portion 58 is concave. This concave configuration is indicated at top sliding surface 54 in fig. 7, with the dashed line indicating top sliding surface 54 for this embodiment.

Turning now to fig. 8 a-8 d, different embodiments of the guide rail 40 are shown. First in fig. 8a, the rail 40 comprises a downwardly sloping top flange 46a and an upper lip 47a extending outwardly and completely vertically upwards from said top flange 46 a. The junction between the top flange 46a and the upper lip 47a forms the top junction 43. The top flange 46a is preferably integrally formed with the upper lip 47b, whereby the different orientations of the top flange 46a and the upper lip 47a are formed by bending a piece of material, such as sheet metal. For this purpose, the top engagement portion 43 will be provided with a radius R2. Alternatively, a similar radius may be obtained by producing the rail 40 using other equipment such as an extruder or similar equipment.

The rail 40 further comprises an upwardly inclined bottom flange 46b and a bottom lip 47b extending outwardly and completely vertically downwardly from said bottom flange 46 b. The junction between the bottom flange 46b and the bottom lip 47b forms the bottom junction 44. The bottom flange 46b is preferably integrally formed with the bottom lip 47b, whereby the different orientations of the bottom flange 46b and the bottom lip 47b are formed by bending a piece of material, such as sheet metal, or by other suitable manufacturing techniques. For this purpose, the bottom engagement portion 44 will be provided with a radius R3. Preferably, the rail 40 is symmetrical such that the top engagement portion 43 has the same dimensions as the bottom engagement portion 44, i.e. r2=r3. The radii R2, R3 may be in the range of 0.5mm to 5.0mm, such as 0.7mm to 4.0mm, or even in the range of 0.8mm to 3.0 mm. Most preferably, the radii R2, R3 are in the range of 1.0mm to 2.5 mm.

For embodiments in which the track member 50 is provided with one or more end wings 56, 57, the central portion 58 of the track member 58 is preferably designed to transition to the end wings 56, 57 by a respective radius, which is preferably selected to match the radius R2 of the top engagement portion 43 and the radius R3 of the bottom engagement portion 44, or the transition has a radius slightly greater than the radii R2, R2.

For embodiments in which the central portion 58 of the track member 50 is recessed with a radius R, the radius R is preferably greater than the radii R2, R3 such that the lateral width of the central portion 58 is greater than the lateral width LW2 of the top and bottom engagement portions 43, 44 of the associated track.

The guide rail 40 of fig. 8b is identical to the guide rail 40 of fig. 8a, except that the mounting plate 45 is provided with a protrusion 48. The projection 48, which preferably extends along the entire rail 40 or at least along the portion of the rail 40 that slides against the rail member 50, will provide a limited contact area between the rail member 50 and the mounting plate 45 when the drawer 20 is at its minimum distance relative to the cabinet 10, as explained above on its right side with reference to fig. 6.

The rail 40 of fig. 8c is similar to the rail 40 shown in fig. 8b, however in this embodiment the upper and bottom lips 47a, 47b do not extend entirely vertically upwards, but rather the upper and bottom lips 47a, 47b are oriented to extend parallel to the respective top and bottom flanges 46a, 46b, i.e. the transition between the top and bottom flanges 46a, 46b and the respective upper and bottom lips 47a, 47b is formed by a 180 ° fold forming the respective top and bottom engagement portions 43, 44. In order to keep the radii R2, R3 small, the parallel distance between the top flange 46a and the upper lip 47a may be kept to a minimum. Correspondingly, the parallel distance between the bottom flange 46b and the bottom lip 47b may also be kept to a minimum.

Another possible configuration of the guide rail 40 is shown in fig. 8 d. In this embodiment, the mounting plate 45 is provided with a plurality of projections 48. In addition, the rail 40 has a top engagement portion 43 and a bottom engagement portion 44 of slightly different configurations. In this embodiment, the top and bottom flanges 46a, 46b are L-shaped, with the top and bottom flanges 46a, 46b extending horizontally from the mounting plate 45 and transitioning to a vertical extension, i.e., the top and bottom flanges 46a, 46b folding at 90 °. Each flange 46a, 46b transitions to a respective lip 47a, 47b by a 180 ° fold forming a respective engagement portion 43, 44. Each lip 47a, 47b is also generally L-shaped, with each lip 47a, 47b extending vertically from the respective engagement portion 43, 44 and then transitioning to horizontal extension by a 90 ° fold. While this embodiment has a slightly more complex shape than the previous embodiment, this embodiment does allow for a more unique configuration of the end wings 56, 57 of the track member 50.

It is noted that in all embodiments shown in fig. 8a to 8d, the mounting plate 45, the top engagement portion 43 and the bottom engagement portion 44 are integrally formed.

Further, in the case where the top sliding surface 53 and/or the bottom sliding surface 54 of the slide rail member 50 are concave so as to present a radius R, it is preferable that the radius R is larger than the radius R2 of the top engaging portion 43 and/or the radius R3 of the bottom engaging portion 44.

Claims (21)

1. A drawer slide system comprising a rail (40) and a slide member (50), the rail (40) having a mounting plate (45), a top engagement portion (43) and a bottom engagement portion (44), the top engagement portion (43) and the bottom engagement portion (44) extending parallel along the rail (40), the slide member (50) having a top sliding surface (53) for sliding engagement with the top engagement portion (43) and a bottom sliding surface (54) for sliding engagement with the bottom engagement portion (44), wherein a lateral width (LW 1) of at least one of the top sliding surface (53) and the bottom sliding surface (54) is greater than a lateral width (LW 2) of the associated top engagement portion (43) and bottom engagement portion (44).

2. The drawer slide system of claim 1, wherein the top engagement portion (43) and the bottom engagement portion (44) are vertically aligned.

3. The drawer slide system of claim 1 or 2, wherein a lateral width (LW 1) of each of the top sliding surface (53) and the bottom sliding surface (54) is greater than a lateral width (LW 2) of the associated top engagement portion (43) and bottom engagement portion (44).

4. A drawer slide system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein at least one of the top engagement portion (43) and the bottom engagement portion (44) is provided with a radius (R2, R3), preferably the radius (R2, R3) is in the range of 0.5mm to 5.0mm, such as 0.7mm to 4.0mm, preferably in the range of 0.8mm to 3.0mm, even more preferably in the range of 1.0mm to 2.5 mm.

5. The drawer slide system of any one of the preceding claims, wherein a lateral width (LW 2) of at least one of the top engagement portion (43) and the bottom engagement portion (44) is in the range of 1mm or less.

6. The drawer slide system of any one of claims 1-5, wherein the rail (40) includes a downwardly extending top flange (46 a) and an upper lip (47 a) extending upwardly from the top flange (46 a), wherein a junction between the top flange (46 a) and the upper lip (47 a) forms the top junction (43).

7. The drawer slide system of any one of claims 1-6, wherein the rail (40) includes an upwardly extending bottom flange (46 b) and a bottom lip (47 b) extending downwardly from the bottom flange (46 b), wherein a junction between the bottom flange (46 b) and the bottom lip (47 b) forms the bottom junction (44).

8. The drawer slide system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the mounting plate (45), the top engagement portion (43) and the bottom engagement portion (44) are integrally formed.

9. The drawer slide system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein a Lateral Distance (LD) between the mounting plate (45) and the top engagement portion (43) and the bottom engagement portion (44) is greater than 0.5 times a Lateral Width (LW) of the slide member (50).

10. Drawer slide system according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the slide member (50) is rotatable relative to a drawer side wall (21).

11. Drawer slide system according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the slide member (50) is made of plastic.

12. Drawer slide system according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the guide rail (40) is made of metal, which is preferably provided with a coating, such as paint.

13. Drawer slide system according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the slide member (50) has a polygonal or cylindrical shape, preferably the slide member has a polygonal shape, such as a rectangular shape or a hexagonal shape.

14. The drawer slide system of any one of the preceding claims, wherein at least one of the top sliding surface (53) and the bottom sliding surface (54) is at least partially concave.

15. Drawer slide system according to any of the preceding claims, wherein at least one of the top sliding surface (53) and the bottom sliding surface (54) comprises an outer end wing (56), optionally also an inner end wing (57), and comprises a central sliding portion (58) extending from the outer end wing (56), preferably the Vertical Distance (VD) between the outer edge of the top sliding surface (53) and the outer edge of the bottom sliding surface (54) is greater than the vertical opening distance (VO) between the top engagement portion (43) and the bottom engagement portion (44), thereby preventing the slide member (50) from moving laterally out of the rail (40).

16. The drawer slide system of claim 15 wherein the central sliding portion (58) is at least partially provided with a radius (R).

17. Drawer slide system according to claims 4 and 16, wherein the radius (R) of the central sliding portion (58) of the top sliding surface (53) and/or the bottom sliding surface (54) is equal to or larger than the radius (R2) of the top engagement portion (43) and/or the radius (R3) of the bottom engagement portion (44).

18. Drawer slide system according to any one of claims 15 to 17, wherein the central sliding portion (58) has a horizontal portion, preferably arranged as an intermediate portion between two portions provided with a radius (R).

19. The drawer slide system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the rail (40) comprises a horizontal Front Section (FS), a vertically upwardly inclined intermediate delay section (IS) and a vertically downwardly inclined Rear Section (RS).

20. Drawer slide system according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the Total Width (TW) of the drawer slide system is less than 14mm, such as 3mm to 14mm, preferably in the range of 6mm to 10 mm.

21. Drawer cabinet (1) comprising a cabinet body (10), at least one drawer (20) and at least one drawer slide system (30) according to any of the preceding claims.