ANTI-DERAILMENT DEVICE FOR SLIDING LEAVES OF FURNITURE ITEMS

Abstract

A method is described for preventing the derailment of a wheel (30) which can roll on a track (22) and is pivoted on a carriage which supports translatably a leaf (20) of a piece of furniture, comprising the steps of (i) inseparably mounting on the track (22) a slider (50) which can translate on the track (22) independently of the carriage, and (ii) constraining the slider (50) to at least one of the wheel (30), the carriage or the leaf (20) to keep the wheel (30) in condition of rolling on the track (22) without derailing.

A simple and effective way is achieved to anchor the wheel to the track.

Claims

1. (canceled)

2. (canceled)

3. (canceled)

4. (canceled)

5. Anti-derailment system for a wheel (30) which can roll on a track (22) and is pivoted on a carriage which translatably supports a leaf (20) of a piece of furniture (MC), characterized by a slider (50) which is inseparably mountable on the track (22) and is able to translate on the track (22) independently of the carriage, and a constraint element (40) for constraining to each other the slider (50) and at least one of the wheel (30), the carriage or the leaf (20), so as to keep the wheel (30) in condition of rolling on the track (22) without derailing.

6. System according to claim 5, wherein the constraint between the slider (50) and said at least one of the wheel (30), the carriage or the leaf (20) comprises a mechanical play so as to allow a relative displacement vertically between the slider (50) and said at least one of the wheel (30), the carriage or the leaf (20).

7. System according to claim 5, wherein the slider (50) is constrained to the carriage, and the slider (50) and the carriage comprise snap-fit portions (42, 74) fastenable to each other.

8. System according to claim 7, wherein the fastenable portions comprise flexible fins (74) snap-fittingly engageable in a slot (42), the slot (42) being larger than the fins (42) to determine said mechanical play.

9. System according to claim 5, wherein the slider (50) is coupled to the track (22) by means of a coupling portion (62) which with the track's cross-section (22) constitutes a prismatic or shape-fitting pair.

10. System according to claim 9, wherein the coupling portion comprises two divaricated fins (62) which are configured to straddle the sides of the track (22) in a complementary way.

11. System according to claim 1, wherein the carriage and/or the wheel and/or the leaf are held integral with the slider only through said constraint element.

12. System according to claim 1, wherein the constraint element is a rigid connection element, or a flexible element such as a cord or chain.

13. System according to claim 1, comprising an elastic element mounted to exert a return force between the slider and said at least one of the wheel, the carriage or the leaf.

Description

[0032] The advantages of the invention will be even clearer from the following description of a favorite example of an anti-derailment system, referring to the attached drawing in which

[0033] FIG. 1 shows a three-dimensional view of the system;

[0034] FIG. 2 shows a side view of the system;

[0035] FIG. 3 shows a three-dimensional view of a component of a carriage;

[0036] FIG. 4 shows a three-dimensional view of a slider.

[0037] In the figures, equal numbers indicate equal or conceptually similar parts, and the elements are described as in use.

[0038] A furniture item MC comprises a ceiling 10 and dividing sidewalls 12, in front of which leafs are mounted sliding one on the other to close a relative compartment. The example shows three leafs, but we will refer only to one for the sake of simplicity, since all are equipped with the same device.

[0039] A metal section bar 18 having corrugations 22 exploited as a linear track is fixed on the ceiling 10. A leaf has two wheels 30, aligned and separated along the section bar 18, which are slidable on the section bar 18.

[0040] Each wheel 30 is rotatable about a horizontal axis V, and is pivoted on a plate 32 adjustable on a vertical plate 34 of a U-shaped bracket 36, which comprises a second vertical plate 38 screwed to the leaf 20.

[0041] An end-position block 40 is screwed to the plate 34, next to the plate 32, (see also FIG. 3) and is equipped with a vertical pass-through slot 42. In the example, the slot 42 is of oval or elliptical cross-section, where the major axis of the oval or ellipse is vertical, and the slot's axis (the depth) is parallel to the longitudinal direction of the corrugations 22. [0042] On the corrugation 22 occupied by a wheel 30, a slider 50 is mounted (see also FIG. 4), which comprises a base 60 and a head 70.

[0043] The base 60 comprises a horizontal segment 64 from whose ends there extend two vertical forks 62 spaced apart. The forks 62 are snugly placed in a straddling fashion on the corrugation 22 and delimit therebetween a cavity of shape complementary to the cross-section of the corrugation 22. In this way the slider 50 can slide along and on the corrugation 22 without detaching from it.

[0044] The head 70 comprises a vertical neck 72 from which two horizontal flexible fins 74 extend, which are insertable into the slot 42.

[0045] During assembly of the leaf 20, by inserting the fins into the slot 42 the block 40 is connected to the slider 50, so that they can slide together on the section bar 18.

[0046] As a result, to the slider 50 there is also constrained the leaf 20, which is anchored slidingly to the section bar 18 by means of the wheel 30. The wheel 30 is now constrained with respect to the corrugation 22 below and does not derail, because the slider 50 prevents it from getting too far from the section bar 18.

[0047] To allow a fine adjustment of the leaf 20 when mounted, it is preferable that the dimensions of the slot 42 allow the fins 74 to slide therein with a small vertical play, to facilitate adjustment of the plate 32 on the bracket 36. E.g. the slot 42 may form a short vertical guide in which the fins 74 can translate for a short distance.

[0048] The play is useful for regulating small tolerances of a leaf 20 and assembly tolerances between adjacent leafs.