Exterior cabinet doors and drawers

Abstract

An outdoors cabinet includes a door and a drawer which when closed prevent liquids from windy rain or counter top spills from entering into the cabinet or drawer. The door includes a frame having a back-side face which includes a groove at a top thereof. Similarly, the drawer includes a front-panel having a back-side which also includes a groove at a top thereof. When the door and / or drawer is closed shut against the cabinet's exterior surface, the frame and / or front-panel overlaps the cabinet's exterior surface about the door, and their respective grooves project through the cabinet's exterior surface into the cabinet. Configured in this way, when the door and / or drawer is closed shut against the cabinet's exterior surface, the door's and / or drawer's grooves respectively prevent liquids from windy rain or counter top spills from entering the cabinet or the drawer.

Description

[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60 / 634,673 filed on Dec. 10, 2004.BACKGROUND [0002] 1. Technical Field [0003] The present invention relates generally to household type cabinets, and, more particularly, to such cabinets as adapted for outdoor use. [0004] 2. Description of Background Art [0005] There exists a well-established trade for fabricating kitchen and bathroom cabinets both by custom cabinet-making shops and highly mechanized standard cabinet fabrication facilities. Presently, cabinet manufacturers predominantly use natural wood and wood-derivative products such as plywood, veneered multi-density fiber board (“MDF”) and pressboard for indoor cabinets. [0006] Conventional interior cabinet designs are not readily transferable for outdoor use because additional design considerations must be given to rain diversion and stability in wind. [0007] Outdoor kitchens heretofore have been built using stainless-steel doors and drawers,...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0014] Another object of the present invention is to provide a door that is adapted for use outdoors, and that resembles a conventional interior cabinet which when closed shut against a cabinet is adapted for preventing liquids from windy rain or counter top spills from entering into the cabinet.

[0023] The disclosed drawer includes a bottom panel, a back, at least a pair of side pieces; and a front-panel. The back, side pieces and front-panel collectively surround the bottom panel. The back, side pieces, front-panel and bottom panel are formed from a maintenance-free material that needs no painting or superficial maintenance. When the drawer is closed shut against the exterior surface of the cabinet, the front-panel overlaps the exterior surface of the cabinet about the drawer. Also, the drawer has a back-side with a top thereof that includes a groove which, when the drawer is closed shut against the cabinet's exterior surface, projects through the exterior surface into the cabinet and extends horizontally across the back-side of the drawer. Configured in this way, when the drawer is closed shut against the cabinet's exterior surface, the drawer's groove becomes adapted for preventing liquids from windy rain or counter top spills from entering into the drawer.

Problems solved by technology

Conventional interior cabinet designs are not readily transferable for outdoor use because additional design considerations must be given to rain diversion and stability in wind.

These steel cabinets are expensive and bulky.

Furthermore, they consume much more space than would be required by more conventional cabinet designs.

The weight characteristics of stainless steel cabinets alone preclude their use for outdoor kitchens located on supported structures such as second-story decks.

There also presently exist cabinets that are made from injection-molded plastic, but they are hollow in structure and have rounded edges and corners due to constraints imposed by injection molding.

Such cabinets are being sold only for storage cabinets because they just lack an appearance that mimics interior cabinet designs.

Such cabinets also lack exposed drawers.

The problem with such cabinet doors is that if the veneer is punctured, the fiberboard swells with moisture and the door becomes permanently damaged and primarily non-functional in its intended environment.

Hinge recesses and hinge mounting screws require puncturing the backside of fiberboard doors, and these holes invite imminent failure.

Some fiberboard doors only possess a plastic veneer on the front side leaving the interior exposed to moisture in a damp environment.

However, because in many instances mechanical requirements of structures are moderate or may be accommodated by an appropriate design or hidden structural supports, the solid plastic, wood-alternative material's lesser mechanical rigidity does not prevent its use in such structures.

Fabricating the doors and drawers for outdoor cabinets from solid-plastic presents a problem for preventing liquids from windy rain or counter top spills from penetrating the cabinets' interior when the doors and drawers are closed shut.

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