GUIDANCE SYSTEM

Abstract

A guidance system including a guide rail and a sliding element rail, and designed to movably connect a linearly movable sliding element to a body. A carriage is arranged between the rails so that the sliding element rail is movable relative to the guide rail. The guide rail includes a running surface on a top side and/or on a bottom side. A movement element of the carriage is movably guided on the running surface. The top side of the guide rail is provided opposite to and spaced apart from the bottom side of the guide rail. The guide rail has a recess on the top side and/or on the bottom side in an end segment of the guide rail, through which a bearing body protrudes, and attachment means are provided in the area of the recess in order to mount the bearing body.

Claims

1. A guidance system comprising a guide rail and a sliding element rail, wherein the guidance system is designed to movably connect a linearly movable sliding element to a body, wherein a carriage can be arranged between the guide rail and the sliding element rail so that the sliding element rail in the mounted condition of the guidance system is movable relative to the guide rail, wherein the guide rail comprises a running surface on a top side and/or on a bottom side, wherein a movement element of the carriage is movably guided on the running surface in the mounted condition of the guidance system, wherein the top side of the guide rail is provided opposite to and spaced apart from the bottom side of the guide rail, wherein the guide rail has a recess on the top side and/or on the bottom side in an end segment of the guide rail, through which a bearing body protrudes, and attachment means are provided in the area of the recess in order to mount the bearing body, so that in the closed condition of guidance system the sliding element rail is braced against the guide rail.

2. The guidance system according to claim 1, wherein the attachment means comprise a holding member for mounting the bearing body movably on the guide rail.

3. The guidance system according to claim 1, wherein the holding member is designed to mount the bearing body directly on the guide rail.

4. The guidance system according to claim 1, wherein the guidance system is designed as a full extension and besides the guide rail and the sliding element rail it comprises a body rail, wherein in the mounted condition of the guidance system the guide rail is present between the body rail and the sliding element rail, wherein the bearing body is mounted on holding means of the top side of the guide rail in order to brace the guide rail against the body rail in the closed condition of guidance system.

5. The guidance system according to claim 1, wherein the attachment means comprise an attachment member in order to mount the bearing body on the guide rail.

6. The guidance system according to claim 5, wherein the bearing body is movably mounted on the attachment member.

7. The guidance system according to claim 5, wherein the attachment member is U-shaped.

8. The guidance system according to claim 1, wherein the guidance system is designed such that the bearing body is freely movable on the guide rail in an opened condition of the guidance system.

9. The guidance system according to claim 1, wherein the guide rail comprises a cavity, wherein the cavity extends along the longitudinal axis of the guide rail, and the top side and/or the bottom side of the guide rail form boundary surfaces of the cavity.

10. The guidance system according to claim 5, wherein the attachment member is configured such that the bearing body can be clipped and/or clamped on the attachment member.

11. The guidance system according to claim 1, wherein the sliding element rail comprises a running surface on one bottom side, while an elevation is present on one segment of the bottom side of the sliding element rail, on which the bearing body travels in a movement of the guide rail in the closing direction, so that the sliding element rail is braced by the bearing body against the guide rail.

12. The guidance system according to claim 11, wherein the elevation is provided rising on the sliding element rail.

13. The guidance system according to claim 11, wherein the elevation comprises an up ramp on the bottom side of the sliding element rail, looking in a movement direction of the sliding element rail, and wherein the elevation comprises a down ramp on the bottom side of the sliding element rail, looking in a movement direction of the sliding element rail, wherein the bearing body can roll along the up ramp and/or the down ramp in an opening and/or closing movement of the guide rails.

14. The guidance system according to claim 1, wherein the elevation on the sliding element rail is present in a middle region of the bottom side of the sliding element rail, looking transversely to a longitudinal extension of the sliding element rail.

15. The guidance system according to claim 1, wherein the recess and/or the bearing body are provided on the guide rail and/or the elevation is provided on the sliding element rail such that the sliding element rail is braced by the bearing body against the guide rail for a movement path of around 50 mm in an opening and/or closing movement.

16. A piece of furniture or household appliance, especially a kitchen appliance, with a guidance system according to claim 1.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0042] Further features and benefits of the present invention are explained more closely with the aid of the exemplary embodiments of the present invention as represented in the figures.

[0043] FIG. 1 is a schematically represented piece of furniture according to the present invention in perspective view slanting from above with a drawer displaceably received on it;

[0044] FIG. 2 is a cross section, a perspective cutout view of a piece of furniture according to the present invention in the region of a drawer side, adjacent to a furniture body wall and a furniture body bottom;

[0045] FIG. 3 is a cutout of FIG. 2 in a front view;

[0046] FIG. 4 is an exploded view of a structural unit of a guidance system according to the present invention;

[0047] FIG. 5 is the guidance system of FIG. 4 in a perspective representation in the assembled condition;

[0048] FIG. 6 is a perspective representation of the front end segment of a center rail of the guidance system without the bearing body in place;

[0049] FIG. 7 is a perspective representation of a holding member according to the present invention with a bearing body and bearing shaft;

[0050] FIG. 8 is a perspective representation per FIG. 7, wherein the bearing body is mounted on the bearing shaft;

[0051] FIG. 9 is a perspective representation of a center rail of the guidance system with bearing body in place;

[0052] FIG. 10 is a perspective representation of a sliding element rail of the guidance system;

[0053] FIG. 11 is a side cross-sectional view through a sliding element rail and a body rail along a longitudinal axis of the rails in the mounted condition in an opened position of the sliding element rail relative to the body rail; and

[0054] FIG. 12 is a side cross-sectional view through a sliding element rail and a body rail per FIG. 11, representing the sliding element rail in a further, firmly closed position relative to the body rail.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0055] In part, the same reference numbers are used below for corresponding elements of different exemplary embodiments.

[0056] FIG. 1 shows highly schematized a piece of furniture 1 according to the present invention in a condition of use with a hollow cuboidal furniture body 2 and a sliding element fashioned as a drawer 3, wherein the drawer 3 is received displaceably on the furniture body 2. The furniture body 2 comprises two opposite vertical side walls 4 and 5, between which the drawer 3 can be pulled out in the horizontal direction from the furniture body 2 per P1 from a condition accommodated in the interior of the furniture body 2 via a guidance system according to the present invention with telescoping guiding means, e.g. in a subfloor design, or a first rail full extension 6 and a second rail full extension 7, and can be pushed into the body in the opposite direction per P2. In FIG. 1, the drawer 3 is shown in the condition moved out to the utmost or entirely from the interior of the furniture body 2. Hence, the storage volume of the drawer 3 is accessible from above with almost no hindrance.

[0057] If the drawer 3 uses in each case a rail partial extension instead of the rail full extension 6, 7, the drawer 3 in the maximum pulled-out condition cannot be moved so far out from the interior of the furniture body 2 in the direction P1, as is possible with the rail full extension 6, 7 per the representation in FIG. 1. The front element 12 is then closer to the open front side of the furniture body 2 than is shown in the drawer 3 of FIG. 1.

[0058] The rail full extension 6 fastened to the side wall 4 on the inside is located opposite at the same vertical height as the rail full extension 7 fastened to the side wall 5 and hidden from view in FIG. 1, being indicated by broken lines.

[0059] A further drawer correspondingly guided by rail full extensions 8 and 9 can be accommodated in the furniture body 2 above the drawer 3, not being shown in FIG. 1.

[0060] The drawer 3 comprises oppositely situated drawer side walls 10, 11, each comprising, for example, a constructed hollow chamber frame. Furthermore, the drawer 3 comprises a front element 12, a rear wall 13 situated opposite to it in the horizontal direction, and a horizontally extending drawer bottom 14, which reaches as far as the drawer side walls 10, 11, the front element 12 and the rear wall 13 or is joined to them.

[0061] FIGS. 2 and 3 show, in the area of a body side wall 5, a cut-out of a drawer 3, which in this embodiment comprises hollow chamber frames, with a drawer bottom 14 and a drawer side wall 11 and a rear wall 13 configured as a hollow chamber frame 15. The drawer 3 is received by two structural units of a guidance system according to the present invention on the furniture body 2 or by a rail full extension 16 according to the present invention on the side wall 5 and in the same manner by a further hollow chamber frame of the drawer 3 on the side wall 4 not visible in FIG. 2. It is received on the side wall 4 by a further structural unit or a further full extension according to the present invention, by which the drawer 3 can move in linear horizontal manner in the directions P1 and P2.

[0062] The hollow chamber frame 15 made preferably from a bent sheet metal material has an external housing 15a and an internal structure 15b, so that the full extension 16 can be recessed into the internal volume of the hollow chamber frame 15. At an inner side of the hollow chamber frame 15, it is configured to receive a lengthwise edge of the drawer bottom 14 in its lower segment.

[0063] The full extension 16 formed as a structural unit of the guidance system comprises three mutually telescopic guide rails or a body rail 17, a center rail 18 and a sliding element rail 19.

[0064] The center rail 18 is configured as a hollow profile.

[0065] A movable sliding element such as the drawer 3 is coupled or connected to the sliding element rail 19, for example, it is secured to the hollow chamber frame 15, whereas the body rail 17 is connected to the stationary part of the furniture. If the full extension 16 is being used as a subfloor guide, a bottom side of a sliding element or its bottom will be braced against a top side 19a of the sliding element rail 19. A hook element 19b protruding upward at the rear end of the sliding element rail 19 forms an end stop for a segment of a rear outer side of the sliding element, and for the exact positioning an angled segment of the hook element 19b parallel to the top side 19a engages with a suitably provided recess in the rear outer side of the sliding element. Furthermore, the sliding element rail 19 comprises end stops 61 on the top side 19a, which are provided as punched out features, for example, so that they are elevated with respect to a bottom side 19c of the sliding element rail 19 and form a movement limit for the carriage 21 in the mounted condition of the full extension 16.

[0066] Furthermore, the full extension 16 comprises a first or lower carriage 20 with bearing bodies 38 arranged on it, the carriage 20 acting between the body rail 17 and the center rail 18 for a load-transmitting relative movement of the rails 17, 18.

[0067] Moreover, the full extension 16 comprises a second or upper carriage 21 with bearing bodies 37 arranged on it, the carriage 21 acting between the center rail 18 and the sliding element rail 19 for a load-transmitting relative movement of the rails 18, 19.

[0068] The carriages 20 and 21 comprise, for example, two running cages 20a, 20b or 21a, 21b and a connection element 39 or 40.

[0069] Pins 32 are present on a vertically positioned, inwardly pointing narrow side of a rail body 31 of the body rail 17, by which a movement mechanism 22 of the full extension 16 can be attached, for example, for the ejecting and/or retracting of the drawer 3.

[0070] The body rail 17 includes two L-shaped fastening elements 33 and 34, the fastening elements 33 and 34 serving for the fastening or securing of the full extension to an inner side of the side wall of a body, such as the side wall 5 of the furniture body 2 of the furniture 1.

[0071] The guide rails 17, 18, 19 preferably consist of a sheet metal material, which is formed into the end product of the respective guide rail from the flat sheet metal material, for example, by a stamping and bending process.

[0072] FIG. 6 shows the front end segment 41 of the center rail 18 with respect to the condition of use of the full extension 16. The center rail 18 according to the exemplary embodiment shown comprises an upper flat horizontal wall section 23, a lower flat horizontal wall section 24, two flat upper side wall sections 25, 26, two lower flat side wall sections 27, 28 and intermediate wall sections 29 and 30. The wall sections 23-30 of the center rail advantageously enclose a cavity 48, which extends in the longitudinal extension L of the center rail 18, in particular entirely in that extension.

[0073] The horizontal wall section 23 forms a distal wall or top side of the center rail 18 or the corresponding hollow profile. Accordingly, the horizontal wall section 24 forms a distal wall or bottom side of the center rail 18 or the hollow profile.

[0074] The terms upper and lower pertain to the orientation of the full extension 16 in the condition of use or in the condition mounted on the furniture, especially as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. The planes respectively subtended by the mutually parallel horizontal wall sections 23 and 24 and their exterior or distal sides are in this case at least almost horizontally oriented.

[0075] In order to limit a relative movement of the lower carriage 20 and the upper carriage 21 with respect to the center rail 18 in the lengthwise extension of the center rail 18 along a central longitudinal axis L (see FIG. 6), upper end stops 35 and lower end stops 36 are provided on the center rail 18.

[0076] In the assembled full extension 16, the bearing bodies received on the carriages 20, 21 run on the outwardly directed sides of the center rail 18 or on the horizontal wall sections 23, 24 and the side wall sections 25-28. The lower carriage 20 engages by its segments 20a and 20b carrying the bearing bodies on the outside of the horizontal wall section 24 and the side wall sections 27, 28.

[0077] The upper carriage 21 engages by its segments 21a and 21b carrying the bearing bodies on the outside of the horizontal wall section 23 and the side wall sections 25, 26. Advantageously, the lower carriage 20 moves along a running surface 42 of the lower horizontal wall section 24 of the center rail 18 and the upper carriage 21 moves along a running surface 43 of the upper horizontal wall section 23 of the center rail 18.

[0078] The especially horizontal running surfaces 42, 43 of the center rail 18 extend advantageously between end stops 35 and 36, looking in the longitudinal extension of the center rail 18.

[0079] At the front end segment 41 of the center rail 18 there are provided attachment means in the form of a recess 44, at which a bearing body can be arranged, e.g., one in the form of a running wheel 45. The recess 44 is present, for example, as a rectangular opening on the upper horizontal wall section 23 of the center rail 18. Advantageously, the recess 44 is present, looking in the lengthwise extension L of the center rail 18, between a front end 46 of the center rail 18 and an end stop 35, the end stop 35 forming a movement boundary for the carriage 21. This ensures that the carriage 21 does not reach or go beyond the recess 44 during a relative movement of elements of the full extension 16 or that it is at a distance from the recess 44 in every position of the full extension 16. The same holds for the running surface 42 of the lower horizontal section 24.

[0080] Advantageously, an attachment member in the form of a U-shaped stirrup 47 can be mounted at the recess 44. The stirrup 47 is bent from a metal plate, for example. On side walls 49, 50 of the stirrup 47 there are holding members 51, 52 in the form of a cutout, in order to secure a bearing shaft 53 of the running wheel 45. For example, in a first installation step the running wheel 45 is connected to the bearing shaft 53 (FIG. 8) and in a further installation step the bearing shaft 53 with the running wheel 45 is clipped or clamped onto the holding members 51, 52 in a movement from above. For example, narrow sides 54, 55 of the cutout of the holding member 51 or 52 have a spacing from each other which is less than a minimum diameter of the bearing shaft 53 in the bearing region on the holding member 51 or 52. In this way, the running wheel 45 is prevented from falling out in the mounted condition on the stirrup 47.

[0081] At open ends 56, 57, the side walls 49, 50 of the stirrup 47 are advantageously bent over, so that the stirrup 47 can be inserted in a direction from above into the recess 44 of the center rail 18, the stirrup 47 coming to bear by the bent-over ends of the side walls 49, 50 against the upper horizontal wall section 23. Advantageously, the side walls 49, 50 are slightly apart from each other in a V shape in the non-installed condition on the center rail, so that the stirrup 47 is present clamped in the mounted state at the recess 44. In the mounted state on the center rail 18, a running surface 58 of the running wheel 45 is raised up from the upper horizontal segment 23 in the direction of the sliding element rail 19 (FIGS. 11, 12).

[0082] At a front end segment 59 the sliding element rail 19 has an elevation 60 at the bottom side 19c which is raised up from the bottom side 19c. The elevation 60 comprises a lengthy up ramp 62 and a relatively short down ramp 63 as compared to the up ramp 62. Advantageously, a gradient of the up ramp 62 is less than a gradient of the down ramp 63.

[0083] During a closing movement of the sliding element rail 19 in the closing direction P2 relative to the center rail 18, the running wheel 45 with the running surface 58 upon reaching the up ramp 62 rolls along the elevation 60 and thereby braces the sliding element rail 19 against the center rail 18 (FIG. 12). The gradient of the up ramp 62 here is configured such that the kinetic energy of the sliding element guided with the full extension 16 in the closing movement is sufficient to provide the energy needed to travel on the ramp 62.

[0084] Now, it is conceivable for the full extension 16 to comprise an automatic retractor (not shown), which moves the rails 17-19 of the full extension at the end of a closing movement of the rails in the closing direction P2 into their final closing position. Further, it is conceivable that, in this case, the sliding element rail 19 is braced by the elevation 60 and the running wheel 45 against the center rail at the end of the movement, and the friction is so large that the energy of the automatic retractor is not enough to move the sliding element rail 19 into the final closing position. In order to assist the automatic retractor, the elevation 60 advantageously has a down ramp 63, so that kinetic energy is added to the closing movement of the sliding element rail 19 in that the running wheel 45 rolls down the ramp 63 and thereby accelerates the sliding element rail 19. In the final closing position of the rail of the full extension, the running surface 58 of the running wheel 45 is advantageously offset in a region 65 in the direction of the end 64 of the sliding element rail 19 and spaced apart from the elevation 60, so that the sliding element rail 19 does not touch the running wheel 45 or a supporting of the sliding element rail 19 by the running wheel 45 is negligible as compared to the supporting by the carriage 21.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

[0085] 1 Furniture [0086] 2 Furniture body [0087] 3 Drawer [0088] 4-5 Side wall [0089] 6-9 Rail full extension [0090] 10-11 Drawer side wall [0091] 12 Front element [0092] 13 Rear wall [0093] 14 Drawer bottom [0094] 15 Hollow chamber frame [0095] 15a Housing [0096] 15b Internal structure [0097] 16 Full extension [0098] 17 Body rail [0099] 18 Center rail [0100] 19 Sliding element rail [0101] 19a Top side [0102] 19b Hook element [0103] 19c Bottom side [0104] 20 Carriage [0105] 20a-20b Running cage [0106] 21 Carriage [0107] 21a-21b Running cage [0108] 22 Movement mechanism [0109] 23-24 Horizontal wall section [0110] 25-28 Side wall section [0111] 29-30 Center wall section [0112] 31 Rail body [0113] 32 Pin [0114] 33-34 Fastening element [0115] 35-36 End stop [0116] 37-38 Bearing body [0117] 39-40 Connection element [0118] 41 End segment [0119] 42-43 Running surface [0120] 44 Recess [0121] 45 Running wheel [0122] 46 End [0123] 47 Stirrup [0124] 48 Cavity [0125] 49-50 Side wall [0126] 51-52 Holding member [0127] 53 Bearing shaft [0128] 54-55 Narrow side [0129] 56-57 Ends [0130] 58 Running surface [0131] 59 End segment [0132] 60 Elevation [0133] 61 End stop [0134] 62 Up ramp [0135] 63 Down ramp [0136] 64 End [0137] 65 Region