MOUNTING BLOCK

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to slidable drawers installed in various cabinets and more specifically to spacer blocks that are useable in conjunction with drawer sliders that facilitate, expedite and enhance the task of installing slidable drawers in cabinets and the like.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Cabinets can take numerous forms such as a piece of furniture, a wall or floor mounted structure and even a refrigerator. Drawers and trays are normally found in cabinets that are commonly found in kitchens, bathrooms and utility rooms of houses or in offices of commercial establishments. A tray is just a shallow drawer. Each drawer or tray includes a storage area located above its bottom surface defined as a storage compartment cavity. Drawers are a convenient means by which a person can access the contents supported by the drawer. The drawer is pulled outward from the cabinet so that its contents are easily perused and objects readily removed or replaced.

Most older or inexpensive pieces of furniture and cabinets use wooden sliders upon which the drawer slides as it is opened or closed. Newer furniture and cabinets may use plastic lower friction slides and more elaborate slide structures that incorporate ball bearings which will provide for smoother operation. Modern drawer slide structures are usually categorized in how such are mounted, including center mount, side mount, bottom mount and European mount. Drawer slide structures are intended for use varying from light to heavy drawers and thus contain load ratings from 75 to 450 ponds. A load rating of 100 pounds is considered typical.

Many cabinets have their storage compartments accessible through doors. These compartments traditionally have been subdivided by shelves. It has been common to locate the shelves vertically spaced apart at fixed distances apart. Later applications have included making the shelves vertically adjustable permitting the user to customize the storage cavity sizes of the shelves. If a drawer or tray is included with the shelves, such are commonly glide mounted. This mounting of the drawer or tray allows such to be extended out of the storage compartment so the contents contained by the drawer or tray to be easily accessed in lieu of the user having to bend down and reach into the cabinet or having to get on one's knees to gain access to the rear of the drawer or tray.

Cabinets having drawers with defined dimensions can be constructed in an off-site installation such as in a factory. In the off-site cabinet construction the drawers must be precisely constructed. Measurements must be exact. If not exact, at the installation site the drawers cannot be installed requiring modification back at the factory which is time consuming. In the case of custom made cabinetry the drawers can be permanently mounted on site of the installation. Once the slide structure of prior art installations for a drawer is established there has not been any adjustment provision included. However, in the case of cabinets having a door that opens to a single storage cavity with one or more pull out shelves, drawers or trays the user may desire to have the shelf, drawer or tray to be height adjustable to tailor the storage space for the particular items to be stored therein. For example, a collection of plastic storage containers may not need as much clearance as a set of metal pots and pans and the user may wish to adjust the height of the various shelves, drawers or trays to optimize the storage efficiency. In the past drawer slide structures have been permanently installed using fasteners (screws, nails or bolts) not permitting adjustability of the drawers. Because of the difficulty of mounting drawer slide structures, users of cabinetry have been limited to a choice of vertically adjustable stationary shelves, drawers or trays positioned at fixed heights within the cabinet storage compartment. Therefore, a drawer, shelf or tray slide structure is needed whereby the drawer, shelf or tray is vertically adjustable within a cabinet compartment.

Moreover, in certain installations the cabinets have interior widths of given dimensions, and drawers are pre-fabricated at off-site locations with given widths intended to match the widths of the cabinets. At times, however, the drawer's widths are mismatched, requiring spacer blocks to fill the spaces between the interior cabinet walls and the slider mechanisms attached to the sides of the drawers.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide a drawer slider spacer mounting block.

A mounting block according to the present invention includes a body having a first side and a second side opposite the first side, the first side and the second side being spaced by a predetermined distance; at least a first peg extending from the first side, the first peg being sized and shaped to be snugly received in an opening defined in an elongated drawer track; and at least a second peg extending from the second side, the second peg being sized and shaped to be snugly received in a recess defined in a wall of a cabinet.

The mounting block may further include at least a third peg extending from the second side, the third peg being sized and shaped to be snugly received in another recess defined in the wall of the cabinet and spaced from the recess.

The recess and the another recess are spaced vertically.

The mounting block may further include at least one opening accessible from the first side and leading to a channel, the opening being spaced from the first peg and located to align with another opening defined in the elongated drawer track.

In the preferred embodiment, the mounting block may have a plurality of openings (for example, four) each accessible from the first side, each leading to a respective channel, and each being spaced from the first peg and located to align with a respective opening defined in the elongated drawer track. In one example, the first peg may be located between two of the openings in the mounting block.

The body of the mounting block may be cubical, and comprise a plurality of additional sides that define the predetermined distance.

A mounting block according to the present invention may be part of a kit that includes the elongated drawer track and the mounting block.

A method of mounting a drawer in a cabinet with a mounting block according to the present invention includes inserting the second peg into the recess defined in the wall of the cabinet; inserting the first peg into the opening defined in the elongated drawer track; and securing the elongated drawer track to the mounting block.

The securing step may comprise inserting a screw into an opening of the mounting block through a respective opening in the elongated drawer track.

Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of the invention which refers to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a typical drawer track.

FIG. 2 shows a side view of a mounting block according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 shows the drawer track of FIG. 1 coupled to an embodiment of a mounting block according to the present invention.

FIGS. 4A and 4B show mounting blocks according to the present invention mounted to walls of a cabinet and supporting tracks that support drawers in the cabinet.

FIG. 5 shows a view of the first side of a mounting block according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6A shows a second side of a mounting block coupled to a drawer track.

FIG. 6B shows another view of the mounting block seen in FIG. 6A.

FIG. 6C shows the mounting block and the drawer track coupled to one another, with the mounting block mounted to the wall of a cabinet.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 shows a typical elongated drawer track 10. The elongated drawer track 10 includes at one end thereof a plurality of spaced openings 12, which can be used to mount the track 10 to an interior wall of the cabinet.

Referring to FIG. 2, a mounting block 13 according to the present invention includes a body 14 having a first side 16 and a second side 18 opposite the first side 16, the first side 16 and the second side 18 being spaced by a predetermined distance.

At least a first peg 20 extends from the first side 16, the first peg 20 being sized and shaped to be snugly received in an opening 12 of the elongated drawer track 10.

At least a second peg 22 extends from the second side 18, the second peg 22 being sized and shaped to be snugly received in a recess 24 defined in a wall 26 of a cabinet as seen in FIG. 4.

A third peg 28 may extend from the second side 18, the third peg 28 being sized and shaped to be snugly received in another recess 24′ defined in the wall 26 of the cabinet and spaced from the recess 24. The recess 24 and the another recess 24′ may be spaced vertically, as seen in FIGS. 4A and 4B.

Referring to FIG. 5, the mounting block 13 may have at least one opening 32 accessible from the first side 16, the opening 32 being spaced from the first peg 20 and located to align with another opening 12 defined in the elongated drawer track 10.

Preferably, there are a plurality of openings 32 (for example, four openings 32) each accessible from the first side 16, and each being spaced from the first peg 20 and located to align with a respective opening 12 defined in the elongated drawer track 10.

In one configuration, the first peg 20 is located between the two openings 32. In the example shown, there are four openings 32 and the peg 20 is in a row between two of the four openings 32.

Referring to FIG. 5, each opening 32 leads to a respective channel 33 for receiving a screw or the like fastener.

Referring to FIG. 3, in the example disclosed herein, the body 14 of the mounting block 13 is cubical, and comprises a plurality of additional sides 34 that define the predetermined distance. In one embodiment, a lip 30 may be provided to extend from the first side 16 to abut the front edge of the track 10 when the mounting block 13 and the track 10 are coupled as described below and seen in FIG. 3.

The mounting block 13 of the present invention may be presented with the elongated drawer track 10 as a kit.

To mount a drawer with a mounting block 13 according to the present invention, the second peg 22 may be first inserted into a recess 24 (FIG. 4A) defined in the wall 26 (FIG. 4A) of the cabinet. When the third peg 28 is present, the third peg 28 may be received in another recess 24′ (FIG. 4A) in the wall 26 (FIG. 4A) of the cabinet. Thereafter, the first peg 20 is inserted into an opening 12 defined in the track 10 with the front edge of the track 10 abutting lip 30 (when lip 30 is present), thereby allowing the mounting block 13 to hold the track 10. Then, the track 10 can be secured to the mounting block 13 by, for example, inserting a screw into an opening 32 through a respective opening 12 in the track 10. The mounting block 13 may be further secured with an additional screw receive in another opening 32 (when present) through another respective opening 12.

Although the present invention has been described in relation to particular embodiments thereof, many other variations and modifications and other uses will become apparent to those skilled in the art. It is preferred, therefore, that the present invention be limited not by the specific disclosure herein, but only by the appended claims.