Differential slide

Abstract

The invention relates to a differential slide (1) for a pull-out furniture component, having a cabinet rail (3) which can be mounted on a furniture cabinet, a pull-out rail (4) which can be mounted on the pull-out furniture component, and an intermediate rail (5) which is arranged between the cabinet rail (3) and the pull-out rail (4), according to claim 1, characterized in that a lateral guide roller (13) of the intermediate rail (5) is arranged on the intermediate rail (5) in a pull-out travel (14) such that the lateral guide roller (13) is in contact with a rear end region (16) of the pull-out rail (4) in an open position.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to a differential slide rail for pull-out furniture components, comprising a cabinet rail for mounting on a furniture cabinet body, a pull-out rail for mounting on the pull-out furniture component, and an intermediate rail between the two. Each rail has a front end, a rear end, a main surface, and one or more side surfaces arranged on the main surface at an angle to the corresponding main surface. The cabinet rail and the pull-out rail each have one or more tracks on which running rollers roll during use. The running rollers, as upper and lower running rollers, are preferably all arranged on the intermediate rail. The running rollers have upper and lower contact points with their assigned tracks, wherein a contact point should be understood as the area where the running roller contacts the track. Therefore, during use, when the running rollers rotate, all areas of the running roller's circumference become contact points once and only as long as they contact their assigned tracks. Background Technology

[0002] In addition to serving as a fixing structure for the furniture cabinet, the pull-out guide rail also has a side surface on which upper and lower rollers are arranged. The upper roller is contacted by the lower contact point of the running roller on the middle guide rail. The lower roller is contacted by the upper contact point of the lower running roller on the middle guide rail. In other words, the pull-out guide rail runs between the running roller and the lower running roller on the middle guide rail and is guided by these running rollers.

[0003] The cabinet guide rail has an upper side with an upper raceway and a lower side with a lower raceway. The upper running roller of the middle guide rail runs on the upper raceway with its upper contact point, and the lower running roller of the middle guide rail runs on the lower raceway with its lower contact point.

[0004] The running roller is used to move the differential slide rail from the closed position to the open position along the pull-out stroke. When the differential slide rail is fully pushed together, it is in the closed position; when it is fully pulled apart, it is in the open position.

[0005] To achieve this, running rollers act between and roll on the raceways of the guide rails, allowing the guide rails to change their relative positions. Typically, all running rollers are rotatably arranged on the intermediate guide rail. The intermediate guide rail also has differential rollers, the function of which will be explained below. In addition to the running rollers mentioned above, the intermediate guide rail may also have lateral guide rollers that provide lateral guidance for pulling out the guide rails, and whose axis of rotation extends parallel to the main surface of the intermediate guide rail. Therefore, the lateral guide rollers are inclined at approximately 90° relative to the running rollers, or in other words, or orthogonally oriented to them.

[0006] The stop element of the cabinet guide rail limits the pull-out stroke by having the stop surface of the intermediate guide rail abut against the stop element of the cabinet guide rail. This limitation also applies when the guide rails are pushed together to the closed position.

[0007] When the pull-out rail is pulled out, the intermediate rail moves synchronously with it, with the intermediate rail moving half the distance of the pull-out rail. For this purpose, the intermediate rail has a differential roller that transmits the load, rolling between the tracks of the pull-out rail and the cabinet rail. This differential roller can have a variable axial position relative to the intermediate rail. The pull-out rail then runs between the differential roller and the running roller arranged above it. If the final position of the pull-out rail is such that its end is still between the differential roller and the running roller assigned to it, this indicates a normal pull-out (also called a full pull-out). If the final position of the pull-out rail is on the other side of this position, this indicates an over-pull-out. Such over-pull-out is always desired and designed when a drawer held between two differential rails should be pulled out of the furniture cabinet beyond its nominal installation length and thus become accessible. The intermediate rail is typically constructed to be shorter than both the cabinet rail and the pull-out rail. When the differential guide rail is in the pushed-in state, the rear end of the intermediate guide rail is offset forward relative to the rear end of the cabinet guide rail and relative to the rear end of the pull-out guide rail.

[0008] Slide rails with self-retracting mechanisms are known, wherein the pull-out guide rail automatically retracts during the final segment of the push-in stroke. These self-retracting mechanisms are typically integrated into the slide rail, as disclosed in, for example, WO 2008 / 119091 A1.

[0009] DE 203 21 394 U1 discloses a differential slide rail equipped with three guide rails as a bottom slide rail. The cabinet guide rail here has an open, B-shaped cross-section, the middle guide rail is generally U-shaped and surrounds a free web of the cabinet guide rail, and the pull-out guide rail is also generally U-shaped and configured to surround the middle guide rail. The middle guide rail has horizontally and vertically oriented running rollers that run through openings in the wall on the tracks of the cabinet guide rail and the pull-out guide rail. The vertically extending rollers are divided into lower and upper rollers, as are the horizontal rollers. The running rollers are distributed along the length of the middle guide rail, with the horizontally running rollers arranged in the front and rear end regions of the middle guide rail. The horizontally running rollers contact the rear end region of the pull-out guide rail when fully extended.

[0010] US 2005 / 276526 A1 discloses a slide rail including a cabinet guide rail and a pull-out guide rail for maximum partial pull-out. One embodiment of US 2005 / 276526 A1 has a roller retainer on which rollers are arranged to roll on the cabinet guide rail and the pull-out guide rail. Another embodiment discloses a differential roller.

[0011] Such differential slides can malfunction when the furniture components held in place—particularly drawers or pull-out bottoms—are pushed in from the over-pull-out position (hereinafter also referred to as the open position) by a user applying force from one side. This can cause the rear end of the pull-out slide to contact the middle slide, creating a friction lock, and the two slides to become rigidly connected and pushed in further. This causes misalignment and, in the worst case, prevents the drawer from closing. Similarly, the differential slides on both sides can be pushed in unevenly, leading to twisting of the mechanism, unnecessary load on the running rollers, and closing failures. Summary of the Invention

[0012] Therefore, the present invention aims to provide an improved differential slide rail that does not suffer from these drawbacks.

[0013] This task is achieved by the features of claim 1, particularly by arranging the lateral guide rollers of the intermediate guide rail on the intermediate guide rail during the pull-out stroke, such that the lateral guide rollers are in contact with the rear end region of the pull-out guide rail in the open position, at least in the use position.

[0014] The resulting lateral contact on the main surface of the pull-out guide rail causes it to engage with the intermediate guide rail in the final segment of the pull-out stroke—i.e., over-pull-out—forming a frictional lock, neither in the pull-out nor push-in direction. According to the invention, instead of frictional locking, rolling friction occurs on the lateral guide rollers. Therefore, the pull-out guide rail according to the invention never changes its relative position to the intermediate guide rail during push-in: from the over-pull-out position, the pull-out guide rail always reaches the normal pull-out position without the intermediate guide rail moving accordingly. This subsequent movement only begins in the normal pull-out position, i.e., when the rear end of the pull-out guide rail is located between the differential roller and the running roller assigned to it. Furthermore, this avoids tilting and jamming with another opposing pull-out guide rail fixed to the pull-out furniture component, both of which are moved equally and simultaneously. In the installed or used position, the lateral guide rollers similarly press the pull-out guide rail against the corresponding other opposing pull-out guide rail. Advantageously, the pull-out guide rail thus abuts against the intermediate guide rail at three contact points. These three contact points are formed by the contact of the running rollers and lower running rollers on the separately allocated raceways of the pull-out guide rail, and by the contact of the lateral guide rollers according to the invention on the main surface of the pull-out guide rail, orthogonal to the aforementioned two running rollers and thus laterally in the end region of the pull-out guide rail. Therefore, these three contact points are both axially spaced and differently constructed in their spatial orientation. The invention herein understands the rear end region of the pull-out guide rail as such a region of the pull-out guide rail located in the open position between the front running roller of the intermediate guide rail and its actual end. Preferably, the invention understands it as such a region of the pull-out guide rail located in the axial region around the rear running roller during over-extension.

[0015] According to the invention, preferably, the lateral guide rollers form the axially furthest contact point, the upper running rollers are arranged closer to the front end of the pull-out guide, and the lower running rollers are arranged even closer to the front end of the pull-out guide. This ensures that the pull-out guide remains reliably contacted at its maximum pull-out position—i.e., over-pull-out—and prevents vertical tilting by the two running rollers. Therefore, according to the invention, the lateral guide rollers are structurally arranged as close as possible to the upper running rollers. This ensures that lateral guidance of the pull-out guide remains constant even when the pull-out guide is over-pulled beyond the rear running rollers. In a further embodiment of the invention, two axially spaced lateral guide rollers are provided in the rear end region of the pull-out guide. This is particularly reliable in preventing frictional locking between the pull-out guide and the intermediate guide, and improves the mobility of the pull-out guide relative to the intermediate guide.

[0016] Preferably, the radial distance between the two mutually facing sides of the circumference of the running roller and the lateral guide roller according to the invention is less than 5 cm, particularly less than 3 cm, and especially preferably less than 1.5 cm.

[0017] In a further embodiment of the invention, the intermediate guide rail has a lower front running roller in its front end region and a lower rear running roller in its rear end region, such that the front running roller contacts the pull-out guide rail in the open position, and the rear running roller contacts the pull-out guide rail in the closed position, respectively, spaced apart from the front and rear ends of the pull-out guide rail. This advantageously results in reliable guidance of the pull-out guide rail throughout its entire pull-out stroke.

[0018] In an embodiment of the invention, the intermediate guide rail is provided with a front running roller whose axis of rotation is located ahead of the axis of rotation of the lateral guide roller when viewed along the pull-out stroke.

[0019] Finally, in a further embodiment of the invention, the lateral guide rollers are provided to have identical structures, and in particular, the running rollers are also identical in structure. This advantageously simplifies the construction, manufacture, and maintenance of the differential guide rail. Attached Figure Description

[0020] The present invention will be explained in more detail below with the aid of the accompanying drawings, wherein components with the same structure are referred to by the same reference numerals. Specifically shown here: Figure 1 Side view of the differential slide rail in the closed position according to the present invention. Figure 2 A side view of the differential slide rail in the open position according to the present invention. Figure 3 A single view of the three guide rails of the differential slide rail according to the present invention; Figure 4A perspective view of the differential slide rail according to the invention in the intermediate position where it begins to have differential action; Figure 5 According to the invention, the opening position of the differential slide rail, and Figure 6 : Perspective view from below. Detailed Implementation

[0021] Figure 1 The differential slide rail 1 according to the invention is shown in the closed position. The differential slide rail 1 can be seen facing the pull-out furniture component. The cabinet guide rail 3 has a main surface 18 on which two side surfaces 19 and 20 are arranged. The upper side surface 19 has an upper roller track 6, and the lower side surface 20 has a lower roller track 7.

[0022] The intermediate guide rail 5 runs on the cabinet guide rail 3, with an upper running roller 8 and a lower running roller 9 running on it. The intermediate guide rail 5 has a differential roller 10. The differential roller 10 directly transfers part of the load of the pull-out guide rail 4 to the cabinet guide rail 3. The differential roller 10 preferably has a clearance in the vertical direction. The intermediate guide rail 5 has an upper running roller 8 in the region above the differential roller 10, which is slightly forward-biased relative to the differential roller 10. The running roller 8 supports the rear end of the pull-out guide rail 4 in the open position to prevent it from swinging upward.

[0023] The pull-out guide rail 4 runs between the lower contact point 12 of the running roller 8 and the upper contact point 11 of the lower running roller 9 on the intermediate guide rail 5, and is thus guided between them (see...). Figure 3 It has a main surface and side surfaces 18 and 19, the latter carrying two raceways 6 and 7 for pulling out the guide rail (see...). Figure 3 The pull-out furniture component to be fixed will be directly fixed to the main surface of the pull-out guide rail 4, but it may also have a lower horizontal web as a second side, on which the pull-out furniture component will be fixedly placed.

[0024] In the closed position, guide rails 3, 4, and 5 are pushed together to their maximum extent, with their front ends aligned. The middle guide rail 5 is constructed to be shorter than the other two, thus leaving space at the rear end for, in particular, the automatic retraction mechanism. The fixing structure 21 in the pull-out guide rail 4 and the cabinet guide rail 3 can be seen; it is primarily constructed as a through hole with or without internal threads, used to secure pull-out furniture components to the pull-out guide rail 4 and to secure the differential slide rail to the furniture cabinet. Furniture components are not shown.

[0025] Figure 2The differential slide rail 1 according to the invention is shown in its open position, i.e., over-extension, with guide rails 3, 4, and 5 pulled apart to the maximum extent. In the portion shown on the right side of the cabinet guide rail 3, there are components such as a stop mechanism for limiting travel, a self-retracting mechanism, and a locking device, which are not relevant to the present invention and therefore will not be described in more detail.

[0026] A differential roller 10 can be seen in the intermediate guide rail 5, which runs in the lower raceway 7 of the cabinet guide rail 3. In the open position, the lower contact point 12 of the differential roller 10 is located at the front end of the lower raceway 7 of the cabinet guide rail 3. An upper running roller 8 is assigned to the differential roller 10. The upper running roller 8 contacts the upper raceway of the pull-out guide rail 4 with its lower contact point 12, and contacts the upper raceway 6 of the cabinet guide rail 3 with its upper contact point 11 at its end. The differential roller 10 and the assigned upper running roller 8 define the normal pull-out position of the pull-out guide rail 4, in which the rear end of the pull-out guide rail 4 is located between the two rollers.

[0027] It can also be seen that the lower running roller 9 of the intermediate guide rail 5, which contacts the pull-out guide rail 5 further forward, contacts the pull-out guide rail in the area between its rear end and center, preferably in the area of ​​its longitudinal center. This improves the load-bearing capacity of the differential guide rail according to the invention. Figure 2 What is not visible is the front stop that prevents the pull-out guide rail 4 from being pulled out further. The intermediate guide rail 3 has a lateral guide roller 13 according to the invention, which enables lateral guidance of the pull-out guide rail 4 in the final region of the pull-out stroke before and during reaching the open position. Another lateral guide roller 13' can be provided between the lateral guide roller 13 according to the invention and the front lower running roller 9 (see...). Figure 3 ).

[0028] The system is configured such that at least one lateral guide roller 13, 13', and 13'' always operates during the preferred 100% pull-out stroke, but at least during the last 10% of the open position area. Preferably, both lateral guide rollers operate during the 100% pull-out stroke.

[0029] Figure 3 A single view of the three guide rails 3, 4, and 5 with the aforementioned features is shown. It can be seen that the middle guide rail 5 is constructed of a bent profile, on which the running rollers 8 and 9 are supported and fixed, particularly on one side. In this embodiment, the pull-out guide rail 4 and the cabinet guide rail 3 are of the same length. In the closed position, the pull-out guide rail 4 and the cabinet guide rail 3 are closed flush with each other at their front and rear ends. It is also conceivable that the cabinet guide rail 3 is constructed to be shorter than the pull-out guide rail 4, such that it is offset forward relative to the rear end of the pull-out guide rail in the closed position.

[0030] Of particular importance are the two lateral guide rollers 13, 13', with the rear lateral guide roller 13 shown on the left being crucial to the invention. This lateral guide roller 13 ensures that the pull-out guide rail 4 is reliably laterally guided under load in the final region of the pull-out stroke 14, preferably assisted by a lateral guide roller axially preceding it. Conversely, "under load" means that the pull-out guide rail and intermediate guide rail of the differential slide rail according to the invention are loosely connected and have a large gap in the uninstalled state, such that the pull-out guide rail does not necessarily always have to contact the lateral guide roller 13 according to the invention, but under load, i.e., in the installation position with a fixed and, in particular, loaded drawer, they always do.

[0031] The three lateral guide rollers 13, 13', and 13'' generally ensure lateral guidance of the pull-out guide rail 4 throughout its pull-out stroke. The lateral guide roller 13, crucial to this invention, is positioned such that the pull-out guide rail 4 does not contact the intermediate guide rail to form a frictional lock. This prevents the common, rigid movement of the two guide rails mentioned earlier, ensuring that the desired differential function is always feasible.

[0032] The middle guide rail 5 also has a stop mechanism 22 in the area on the right side above the running roller 8, but this is not part of the present invention and will not be described further. Again, the fixing structure 21 below the pull-out guide rail 4 in the cabinet guide rail 3 can be seen, which is used to fix the present invention to the cabinet and pull-out furniture components such as drawers.

[0033] Figure 4 The differential guide rail 1 according to the invention is shown in its normal pull-out position, in which the differential action begins or ends. The rear end 17 of the pull-out guide rail 4 abuts between the differential roller 10 and the assigned running roller 8. In the pushing direction, the pull-out guide rail 4 will move the intermediate guide rail 5 twice its travel. In the partial views marked with letters A and B, the differential roller 10 is shown abutting against the lower raceway 7 of the cabinet guide rail 3, and the assigned running roller 8 abuts against the upper raceway of the pull-out guide rail 4. The guide ramp 24 of the pull-out guide rail 4 can also be seen.

[0034] Figure 5The diagram shows the open position of the differential guide rail 1 according to the invention—that is, over-extension. In this position, the running roller 8 on the intermediate guide rail 5 contacts the rear end region of the upper raceway of the pull-out guide rail 4, which, according to the invention, is also contacted by the lateral guide roller 13. Partially cut view B, in a 3:1 enlarged view, clearly shows that the lateral guide roller 13 and other lateral guide rollers have axes of rotation rotated 90° relative to the axis of rotation of the running roller 8, and are therefore oriented parallel to the main surface of the intermediate guide rail 5. The lateral guide roller 13, and the additional lateral guide roller 13' in partial view A, thus contact the main surface of the pull-out guide rail 4. The lateral guide roller 13 according to the invention further ensures that the pull-out guide rail 4 always moves coaxially with the intermediate guide rail 5, and that no angle is formed between them that would cause the pull-out guide rail 4 to tilt and jam.

[0035] at last, Figure 6 The installation of the lateral guide roller 13 according to and related to the invention is shown in the perspective view below.

[0036] As can be seen, the intermediate guide rail 5 has a groove 25 through which the lateral guide roller 13 passes. Two fixing ports 26 for fixing the lateral guide roller bracket 27 can also be seen; the lateral guide roller bracket 27 is held in the fixing ports 26 by force locking or form locking. The lateral guide roller bracket 27 contains the bearings for the lateral guide roller 13.

[0037] Advantageously, all lateral guide rollers 13, 13', and 13'' are constructed with identical structures, particularly made of the same material. This simplifies inventory and replacement and provides uniform rolling characteristics. While lateral guide roller 13 is primarily relevant to avoid the drawbacks of over-pulling, its role is reinforced by lateral guide roller 13' in other embodiments of the invention.

[0038] List of reference numerals 1 Differential slide rail 2 3 cabinet guide rails 4. Pull out the guide rail 5 intermediate guide rails 6. Upper roller track 7. Lower raceway 8. Run the scroll wheel 9. Lower running rollers 10 differential rollers 11 Upper contact point 12 Lower contact points 13 Lateral guide rollers 14 Pull out the itinerary 15. Pull out the direction 16 17 Pull out the rear end of the guide rail 18 cabinet guide rails main surface 19. Upper side 20 Lower side 21 Fixed Structure 22 Stopping Mechanism twenty three twenty four 25 grooves 26 fixed ports 27 Lateral guide roller bracket.

Claims

1. A differential slide rail (1) for a pull-out furniture component, having a cabinet rail (3) that can be mounted on a furniture cabinet, a pull-out rail (4) that can be mounted on a pull-out furniture component, and an intermediate rail (5) disposed between the cabinet rail (3) and the pull-out rail (4). The cabinet guide rail (3) has an upper roller (6) and a lower roller (7). The pull-out guide rail (4) has an upper raceway and a lower raceway. The intermediate guide rail (5) has an upper running roller (8), a lower running roller (9) and a differential roller (10), wherein these rollers (8, 9, 10) have an upper contact point (11) and a lower contact point (12), respectively. The running roller (8) of the intermediate guide rail (5) runs in the upper roller (6) of the cabinet guide rail (3) and contacts the upper roller (6) with its upper contact point (11), and the lower running roller (9) of the intermediate guide rail (5) runs in the lower roller (7) of the cabinet guide rail (3) and contacts the lower roller (7) with its lower contact point (12). The running rollers (8) on the intermediate guide rail (5) contact the upper raceway of the pull-out guide rail (4) with their lower contact points (12), and the lower running rollers (9) on the intermediate guide rail (5) contact the lower raceway of the pull-out guide rail (4) with their upper contact points (11). The differential roller (10) of the intermediate guide rail (5) runs in the lower roller (7) of the cabinet guide rail (3) and contacts the lower roller (7) with its lower contact point (12). The differential slide rail (1) is capable of moving from a closed position to an open position in the pull-out direction (15) along the pull-out stroke (14). In the closed position, the guide rails (3, 4, 5) are pushed together to the maximum extent, and in the open position, the guide rails (3, 4, 5) are pulled apart to the maximum extent. Its features are, The open position is the over-extension of the pull-out guide rail (4), such that the rear end (17) of the pull-out guide rail (4) is located on the other side of the differential roller (10) and the running roller (8) assigned to the differential roller (10). The intermediate guide rail (5) is configured to be shorter than the cabinet guide rail (3) and shorter than the pull-out guide rail (4). The rear end of the intermediate guide rail (5) is offset forward relative to the rear end of the cabinet guide rail (3) and the rear end (17) of the pull-out guide rail (4) in the closed position. The lateral guide roller (13) of the intermediate guide rail (5) is arranged on the intermediate guide rail (5) during the pull-out stroke (14) such that the lateral guide roller (13) is in contact with the rear end (17) of the pull-out guide rail (4) at least in the use position in the open position.

2. The differential slide rail (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that, The intermediate guide rail (5) has a front down running roller (9) in the front end region and a rear down running roller (9) in the rear end region, such that the front down running roller (9) contacts the pull-out guide rail (4) in the open position, and the rear down running roller (9) contacts the pull-out guide rail (4) in the closed position, respectively, spaced apart from the front end and rear end of the pull-out guide rail (4).

3. The differential slide rail (1) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The intermediate guide rail (5) has a front running roller (8), the axis of rotation of which is located ahead of the axis of rotation of the lateral guide roller (13) as observed along the pull-out stroke (14).

4. The differential slide rail (1) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The circumferences of the running roller (8) and the lateral guide roller (13) facing each other are radially separated by less than 5 cm.

5. The differential slide rail (1) according to claim 4, characterized in that, The circumferences of the running roller (8) and the lateral guide roller (13) facing each other are radially separated by less than 3 cm.

6. The differential slide rail (1) according to claim 5, characterized in that, The circumferences of the running roller (8) and the lateral guide roller (13) facing each other are radially separated by less than 1.5 cm.

7. The differential slide rail (1) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, Another lateral guide roller (13') is provided, which, in the open position, contacts the rear end (17) of the pull-out guide rail (4).

8. The differential slide rail (1) according to claim 7, characterized in that, The lateral guide rollers (13, 13') have the same structure.

9. The differential slide rail (1) according to claim 8, characterized in that, The upper running roller (8) and the lower running roller (9) have the same structure.

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