[0039] A vanity cabinet 10 in accordance with the present invention is shown in FIG. 1 with a top 12, sidewalls 14, front 16, doors 18, top drawer 20, base 22, lavatory 24 and backsplash 26. Further, in FIG. 2, the vanity cabinet includes a lavatory with a drain 30.
[0040] As shown in FIG. 3, a carcass for a vanity cabinet is comprised of generally a cabinet body 40, with cabinet back 42, top drawer stringers 44, middle drawer stringers 46, and bottom drawer stringers 48. Also included are the cabinet bottom 50, middle stringer bottom 52 which are both located interior to the carcass as a whole.
[0041] Other components of the cabinet body 40 are the cabinet feet 54, the toe rail 56, the side rails 58, the face frame 60, the molding 62 and the front fascia 64.
[0042] Turning now to FIG. 4, a portion of the vanity cabinet 10 is shown with a drawer of the present invention. The vanity cabinet is shown partially for purposes of clarity. In this instance, the top drawer 20 is shown in the open position and with left drawer portion 70 and right drawer portion 72. The drawer slides 74 are shown in the fully extended position and as attached to both the interior side of the top drawer stringer 44 and to the outside sidewall of the left drawer portion 70 and the right drawer portion 72. The drawer front 78 is affixed to both left drawer portion and the right drawer portions as well.
[0043] In this embodiment, the preferred drawer configuration is for two portions only. As may be seen in FIG. 5, there is a reinforcing rib 76 that extends between the inner sidewalls of the left drawer portion 70 and the right drawer portion 72 and also ties into the rear side of the drawer front 78. The reinforcing rib is affixed by means of glue or fasteners to the associated components. The reinforcing rib is a feature that is preferentially found in this embodiment of the present invention since, as will be seen, the drawer otherwise lacks a cross member for stabilization of the forces acting upon it.
[0044] In addition to the foregoing, the vanity shown in FIG. 5 also includes a drain pipe 80 which is conventionally located in the cabinet. The present invention is premised, in large part, upon the existence of obstructions within the vanity and this is mainly due to the plumbing runs that are needed for the lavatory function. For the purposes of the present discussion, the drain pipe 80 is shown but there are typically hot and cold water supplies that are plumbed to the lavatory as well. In addition, there may be circumstances where other obstructions arise, such as laundry chutes, or where heating ducts may take up some of the interior space within the vanity. The intent and scope of the present invention is to accommodate these situations and the illustrations showing the drain pipe are parallel teachings to these alternate (or concurrent) situations.
[0045] It can be appreciated with reference to the foregoing that the present invention utilizes a drawer construction that accommodates an obstruction, such as the underside of a lavatory basin, within a vanity cabinet. In the preferred embodiment, the drawer 20 comprises two drawer portions, a left 70 and a right 72, which can traverse from a closed position to an open position without interfering or contacting the lavatory basin or any plumbing that may be situated within the vanity cabinet. The drawer portions, being affixed to the drawer front 78, are maintained in their configuration and are also made accessible when the user opens the drawer front. As further support for the drawer portions, they are also fastened to one of the telescoping members of each of the drawer slides 74 which not only serves to strengthen the drawer configuration, but the drawer slides also bear the vertical loading of the drawer portions, transmitting this loading to the cabinet by means, for instance, of the drawer stringers just as they would with a normal drawer application. In some applications it is known that the method of construction of the carcass may differ and the drawer slides may be mounted directly to a sidewall. The effect is still the same nonetheless, since the load on the drawer slide is transmitted to the carcass; in this case more directly than would be the case if it were mounted onto the stringer.
[0046] In the preferred embodiment, the usage of a three-membered telescoping drawer slide is used. Sometimes known as a precision drawer slide, the members are interconnected by means of ball bearings that provide the sliding movement between the drawer and the cabinet. In contrast, prior art cabinets used drawer slides that typically used rollers for movement. As a consequence of design, roller slides have more clearance between components allowing the assembly to flex to a much greater degree than the precision type slides. When installed on a drawer box, the roller slide contributed very little to the overall integrity of the drawer orientation, which was far more dependent in these cases on the strength and robustness of the drawer box itself. Thus a drawer construction that spanned the full width was virtually a requirement so as to avoid sagging or flexing of the drawer under loads.
[0047] The use of a precision drawer slide in the present invention provides some integrity to the supporting of the drawer box and reduces the amount of flex that could result under load. Some deflection of this nature still occurs, but the degree to which it happens is far less than would be the case for a roller slide installation The means that the modification of the drawer box in the way contemplated by the present invention is made more feasible even though the history of drawer box installations, going back to time of the prior art installations, would not necessarily suggest such a result. It is possible to construct a drawer of the present invention with roller slides, but it is not the preferred method for doing so.
[0048] In use, the modified drawer serves to increase the amount of useable storage available to the user of the vanity cabinet. As one might expect, the need for cosmetic items and other accessories is far greater with respect to a vanity cabinet and in many cases this need required the use of adjacent cabinets, or the use of clumsy bulk storage in the vanity cabinet to satisfy the user. This inefficiency exists in any situation where the user confronts a lavatory or some other obstruction in an area where the need is concurrent for use of cosmetics, or health and other beauty aids. The present invention deals with this inefficiency by providing a customized storage solution that for the first time places the items of use close to the user and increases the volume of storage in the same area significantly.
[0049] The drawer construction itself varies from the traditional in the sense that a left drawer portion and a right drawer portion are provided. In the preferred embodiment, these portions are affixed to the drawer front which helps to hold them in the proper configuration. No cross bracing can be used since this would interfere with the travel of the drawer when the bracing would contact the underside of a lavatory basin, for instance. Thus the integrity of the drawer with respect to its load carrying capacity and maintenance of its orientation is dependent on the drawer front and the drawer slides.
[0050] The modifications that may be made to the drawer can vary. The width of the left and right drawer portions may be adjusted to fit the particular installation. For example, the amount of area obstructed by the underside of a lavatory basin decreases further down in the cabinet. Thus the left and right drawer portions may be increased to take advantage of this fact. Similarly, there may exist other obstruction variables such as plumbing or heating runs that need to be accommodated by adjustments as well, both increasing and decreasing the sizes of the drawer portions.
[0051] Referring to FIG. 6, an alternate drawer design is disclosed where top drawer 90 is comprised of a left drawer portion 92, middle drawer portion 94, right drawer portion 96 and the drawer front 98. The top drawer is attached to the top drawer stringer(s) 100 by means of the drawer slide(s) 74 which span the cabinet back 42 and the face frame 102. In this instance the drawer is constructed with three portions that increase the utility of drawer by increasing the amount of storage space. The drawer front 98 is shown as a decorative style which is exposed to view. This occurs because in this version, the drawer resides in the face frame 102 and not underneath the lavatory where cabinet doors would otherwise enclose the drawer and keep it from view when the doors are closed.
[0052]FIG. 7 continues the usage of the alternate embodiment for a drawer for the present invention where a middle drawer 110 is comprised of the left drawer portion 112, the middle mid-drawer portion 114, and the right middle drawer portion 116. The middle drawer 110 is, like the previous embodiments, secured to the cabinet by means of the drawer slide(s) 74 which are fastened to the middle drawer stringer(s) 118. The deployment of this middle drawer as discussed above is coordinated with obstructions that are present in the cabinet interior.
[0053]FIGS. 11, 12 and 13 show the deployment of the alternate styled top drawer in an installed environment. The importance of the relationship between the drawer dimensions and characteristics and the lavatory components is clearly understood and the difficulties in approaching a solution for providing a drawer of the present invention can be appreciated.
[0054] Similarly, FIGS. 14 and 15 show the installation of a middle drawer in the same type of application.
[0055] Other variations on the present invention include the feasibility of blending the modified drawers in with conventional drawer types. This is consistent with the objective of providing enhanced storage space within the cabinet. The circumstances in which this option occurs may vary, but one typical situation again revolves around the lavatory basin and associated plumbing. The underside of the lavatory basin only projects downwardly into the interior of the cabinet for a short ways. Many times this is in the range of 4-10 inches depending on the style and brand of lavatory. Below this, the only obstructions that usually arise are the plumbing runs which may enter the back wall of the cabinet, or the partition wall supporting a backless cabinet, at points well above the floor of the vanity cabinet, thus allowing for the installation of a full sized conventional drawer box. Blending the two types of drawers leads to increased versatility and enhanced storage capacity.
[0056] Turning now to FIG. 8, a cabinet of the present invention is shown with a bottom drawer 120 that is comprised of the bottom drawer front 122, the bottom drawer sides 124, the bottom drawer back 126 and the bottom drawer bottom 128. Again as with the previous versions, the bottom drawer 120 is affixed to the drawer slide(s) 74, however, in this case the drawer slide(s) are supported by the drawer slide bracket(s) 130 which are mounted to the cabinet bottom 50. The bottom drawer 120 is a full sized drawer of the conventional type.
[0057] Reference to FIGS. 9(A)-(C) reveals a conventional drawer as used in the embodiment shown in FIG. 8 and includes the bottom drawer 120 with the bottom drawer front 122, bottom drawer sides 124, bottom drawer back 126, and the bottom drawer bottom 128. Furnishings such as drawer slides, drawer pulls, or other items of hardware may be added to this drawer as warranted.
[0058] Reference to FIGS. 10(A)-(C) reveals a modified drawer 140 of the present invention In particular, the modified drawer 140 is of the type that has three portions although the discussion herein applies substantially to the type that would comprise two portions. The modified drawer is comprised of the left portion 142, the middle portion 144, the right portion 146 and the common sidewall(s) 148 and the common front 150. A drawer constructed in this manner achieves some economy as opposed to fabricating three separate drawer portions, each with their own discrete walls and fronts. Economy is realized by the conservation of the materials used and the amount of labor needed. This distinction is important in view of the fact that the modified drawer nonetheless still has to retain enough strength and rigidity to function in the present invention. The inclusion of the middle portion, with its rear-most wall, provides bracing that allows the design to work as required When viewed as in FIG. 10(A), it can be appreciated that the modified drawer requires only minimally more material for its fabrication than would be the case for a conventional drawer type as discussed above.
[0059] The vanity cabinet of the present invention provides extraordinary and unexpected utility. Modifications to conventional drawer construction and the usage of components that assist in the stabilization and support of the functional attributes were prerequisites to achieving a successful design. While it is assumed that the materials of construction are premised on wood products for the drawers and cabinet carcass, the teachings of the present invention apply equally to any other types of cabinet and drawer construction(s) where the cabinet interior is obstructed in some way.
[0060] Changes to the components and arrangements taught herein may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. For instance, cabinets comprised of drawers that all have exposed fronts are contemplated, as would be the converse, cabinets where the drawers are all enclosed in the cabinet interior. Additionally, drawer slides of various types may be substituted although it is a prerequisite that such drawer slides are competent to suspend the drawer adequately and that lend sufficient support to the drawer sidewalls to prevent undue deflection across the span of the drawer.
[0061] Lastly, it is understood that other variations and modifications to the teachings herein may be made without departing from the scope of the invention.
