US20070182293A1

US20070182293A1 - Universal bracket used to fix doors to cabinet pull-out elements

Info

Publication number: US20070182293A1
Application number: US11/729,631
Authority: US
Inventors: Rossano Compagnucci
Original assignee: Compagnucci Holding SpA
Current assignee: Compagnucci Holding SpA
Priority date: 2005-10-05
Filing date: 2007-03-29
Publication date: 2007-08-09

Abstract

The present invention refers to a bracket used to fix doors to cabinet pull-out elements, which consists in a rectangular plate with a horizontal aligned series of threaded holes, of which one hole is used selectively to fix the plate to the frame of the pull-out element; the two ends of the plate being provided with two vertical wings, each of them with an aligned series of holes or slots to be used selectively to insert the screws used to fix the door to the plate.

Description

The present patent application for industrial invention refers to a universal bracket used to fix doors to cabinet pull-out elements.
The term “pull-out elements” refers to metal frames for shelves or baskets used in some type of cabinets, with special reference to modular kitchen cabinets.
The said frames are typically configured as a parallelepiped cage, formed of an identical pair of bearing sides that extend in parallel direction towards the back of the cabinet connected by transversal metal rods located on the front and on the back of the cage.
More precisely, each side is formed of a vertical frame, made of four rod irons with tubular or box-type configuration joined at right angle; the base of each frame rests and slides on guides screwed on the back of the cabinet, while the bearing sides are provided with means such as holes, hooks or shelves to support rectangular shelves, mainly with grid or basket configuration.
The transversal connection rods extend between the front pair and the rear pair of the uprights, which are normally connected by means of two rods only, i.e. a top and a bottom rod.
The door of cabinets equipped with pull-out elements can be of revolving type, supported by hinges with vertical rotation axis, screwed onto one side of the cabinet. However, whenever it is possible, doors translate together with the pull-out element to provide easy access from both sides.
In the latter case, the door is internally screwed against the external side of the two front uprights of the pull-out element, each of them being provided with at least two holes, i.e. a top and a bottom hole, for the screws used to fix the door.
This fixing technique is not fully satisfactory, since pull-out elements have different sizes according to models and manufacturers, with special reference to the distance between the two front uprights of the pull-out element, which of course affects the position of the points where the door is screwed to the pull-out element.
On the other hand, doors may be different in terms of models or materials, such as chipboard with laminate coating, with or without frame, solid wood, glass with wooden or metal frame.
These variable factors obviously affect the position of the points where the door is fixed to the pull-out element, it being strictly conditioned by the distance between the holes for the fixing screws on the two front uprights of the pull-out element.
The purpose of the present invention is to eliminate the drawbacks caused by the said restriction, by devising a bracket that can be used to fix the door to the pull-out element regardless of the distance between the fixing screws and the two front uprights of the pull-out element.
More precisely, the bracket permits to select fixing points with higher or lower distance than the distance comprised between the two front uprights.
The bracket of the invention consists in a rectangular plate with a central series of horizontally aligned threaded holes, of which only one is selected from time to time to fix the bracket to the external wall of the uprights, by means of traditional screws inserted from inside outwards through corresponding through holes on the uprights.
The two ends of the plate are provided with two lowered vertical wings with an aligned series of holes and slots, with both vertical and horizontal direction, selected from time to time to insert from inside outwards the screws used to fix the door to the bracket.
Once the bracket is fixed to the upright, the fixing point of the door to the bracket can be selected according to specific requirements or needs on the left or right-hand wing of the bracket.
It is evident that if the point in which each bracket is fixed to the upright changes, also the distance between the external wings and the internal wings of the pair of brackets fixed to the two uprights of the pull-out element will change.
Four brackets are necessary for each door, i.e. two right and two left brackets, fixed to the top and bottom of the right and left-hand upright, respectively.
Two brackets, i.e. one left and one right-hand bracket, may be sufficient in case of very shallow cabinets.
For purposes of clarity, the description of the bracket of the invention continues with reference to the enclosed drawings, which are intended for purposes of illustration only and not in a limiting sense, whereby:
FIG. 1 is an exploded axonometric view that shows the point and position in which the bracket is fixed to the pull-out element.
FIG. 2 is an exploded axonometric view of the bracket fixed to the pull-out element and door to be fixed to the bracket by means of screws inserted on the external sides of the brackets.
FIG. 3 is an exploded axonometric view of the bracket fixed to the pull-out element and door to be fixed to the bracket by means of screws inserted on the internal sides of the brackets.
With reference to the aforementioned figures, the bracket (1) of the invention is used to fix a door (S) to pull-out elements (E) of cabinets, of the type configured as a parallelepiped cage formed of an identical pair of uprights that extend in parallel direction towards the back of the cabinet connected by transversal metal rods (A) located on the front and on the back of the cage. More precisely, each side is formed of a vertical frame, made of four rod irons sections with tubular or box-type configuration joined at right angle; the base (LB) of each frame rests and slides on guides (B) screwed on the bottom wall of the cabinet (H), while the bearing sides (M) are provided with means such as holes, hooks or shelves to support rectangular shelves (P), mainly with grid or basket configuration.
The bracket (1) is formed of a metal rectangular plate with two lowered vertical wings (2 and 3) on the sides, which lay on a parallel staggered plane with respect to the central section (1 a) of the bracket (1). The central section (1 a) is provided with a horizontally aligned series of threaded holes (4), while the vertical wings (2 and 3) are provided with an aligned series of holes (5) in alternation with slots (6), with both vertical and horizontal direction.
The threaded holes (4) are situated in internal position on corresponding collars (4 a) protruding from the external side of the central section (1 a), that is to say from the side facing the door (S).
Attention is drawn on the fact that one vertical wing (3) is folded at right angle, ending with a border (3 a) provided with an upper appendix (3 b) shaped as a hook, with the groove (3 c) of the hook facing down.
The bracket (1) is fixed to the front side of the uprights (M) by means of one screw (7) inserted from inside outwards through the through holes (F) on the upright (M) and screwed onto one of the threaded holes (4) of the bracket (1).
While mounting the bracket (1), the hook of the appendix (3 b) rests and engages with the rods (A) that can be used as second support point of the bracket (1) away from the upright (M) and more precisely on its internal side.
The door (S) is fixed to the bracket (1) by means of two or more screws (8) inserted from inside outwards through the holes (5) or slots (6) and screwed on the internal side of the door.
Having both a vertical and horizontal direction, the slots (6) facilitate the adjustment of the fixing position of the door (S) that must be centred with respect to the two sides of the cabinet and perfectly levelled.

Claims

1) Universal bracket used to fix doors to cabinet pull-out elements, characterised in that it is formed of a metal rectangular plate with two vertical wings (2 and 3) on the sides, which lay on a parallel staggered plane with respect to the central section (1 a) of the bracket (1), which is provided with a horizontally aligned series of threaded holes (4), while the vertical wings (2 and 3) are provided with an aligned series of holes (5) alternated with slots (6) with both vertical and horizontal direction.

2) Bracket as defined in claim 1, characterised in that one vertical wing (3) is folded at right angle, ending with a border (3 a) provided with an upper appendix (3 b) shaped as a hook, with the groove (3 c) of the hook facing down.

3) Bracket as defined in claim 1, characterised in that the threaded holes (4) are situated in internal position on corresponding collars (4 a) protruding from the external side of the central section (1 a), that is to say from the side facing the door (S) and characterised in that the vertical wings (2 and 3) are lowered and lay on a parallel staggered plane with respect to the central section (1 a) of the bracket (1).