AN ATTACHABLE PLUG

Field of invention

The invention relates to a guide adapted to support a container such that the container is movable relative to the guide along a longitudinal direction of the guide, comprising an elongated track extending along the longitudinal direction; a protrusion at least partly extending in a transverse direction, the protrusion being adapted to interact with an abutment portion of the container and thereby counteracting the container from being unintentionally dismounted from the guide in the longitudinal direction; and a local dilatation at least partly extending in a transverse direction allowing the container to be mounted/dismounted by manoeuvring a portion of the container via the dilatation thereby allowing the abutment portion to circumnavigate the protrusion.

The guide is commonly used for storage containers, typically of the at-home variety to be used for storage of household items such as articles of clothing, children's toys or other items.

The invention also relates to a storage system comprising two guides and one container, the container comprising an abutment portion configured to abut the protrusion of the guide.

The invention also relates to an attachable plug adapted to be attached to the guide after mounting of the container on the guide, such that the plug counteracts unintentional dismounting of the container from the guide.

Technical Background

At-home storage systems are often furniture intended to hold common household items. It is common for these systems to comprise a plurality of open- topped, top-loaded containers horizontally mounted in a vertical stack in a rack. A container is loaded or unloaded by sliding the container out of the rack to load or unload, and then the container is slid back in the rack when loading or unloading is finished. For this purpose, the containers are mounted on guides, such that the containers can only move in a plane parallel to the horizontal direction and furthermore only in one intended direction. It is undesirable for these containers to be dismounted unintentionally from the rack, as they are then unsupported and if heavily loaded may cause damage or harm. Therefore, the guides are commonly configured to stop the container from moving further than an intended distance in the intended direction. However, as many at-home storage systems are provided to consumers in a disassembled state, it is also desirable to design these guides so that the containers may be mounted a first time with minimal effort and instruction.

This issue is addressed by allowing the containers to be mounted by sliding them into tracks in the rack. These tracks may have a protrusion occupying a portion of the track, the geometry of which is such that a container may be slid into the track going over the protrusion but cannot easily be slid out without the container abutting the protrusion. Such a design is e.g. shown in US6467860 and in the "Algot" series of wire baskets from IKEA.

Another design is to have straight guides and then provide stop clips that are attached to the guides after insertion of the basket onto the guides. The stop clips are adapted to engage with e.g. a rear corner of the basket or with a basket connection device of the basket preventing the basket from falling of the guides. Such a design is e.g. shown in EP 2 944 223 Al .

Another design to mention in this context is the one shown in US7090317.

This container is designed with a top portion and a bottom portion where the two portions as slidably arranged relative to each other. The design is provided with clips providing the slidability and with other clips limiting the motion such that the top portion does not fall of the bottom portion.

Summary of invention

It is an object of the invention to address the problem of containers being unintentionally dismounted from guides of storage systems.

It is an object to address the problems of containers being unintentionally dismounted, while maintaining ease of assembly.

This object has been achieved by designing a guide which is of the kind indicated in the introductory part of the description and which is characterised in that that the guide further comprises an attachable plug adapted to be attached to the track after mounting of the container on the guide, such that the plug occupies at least a portion of the dilatation and thereby counteracting unintentional manoeuvring of said portion of the container via the dilatation and thereby counteracting the abutment portion from circumnavigating the protrusion.

Using an attachable plug has several distinct advantages: it is simple to install, while its initial absence makes the containers simple to slide into the rack. The plug allows for secure blocking of the containers, as it need not be designed with the initial mounting of the containers in mind. A separate plug can easily be designed with different kinds of features of the tracks in mind - for instance, depending on where the storage rack is to be situated, different dilatations or other features of the tracks may be desirable. As the plug is easy to adapt to any kind of features of the tracks, this in turn makes assembly of the storage rack easier.

By designing the system such that the plug is intended to be positioned such that the plug occupies at least a portion of the dilatation and thereby counteracting unintentional manoeuvring of said portion of the container via the dilatation and thereby counteracting the abutment portion from circumnavigating the protrusion further advantages are also achieved. If the user forgets to install the plug or installs it incorrectly there will still be a functionality counteracting accidental removal. By having the plug occupying the dilatation, the plug and the attachment of the plug does not have to be especially strong, the force counteracting accidental removal may to a large extent be transmitted directly between the basket and the guide.

Preferred embodiments appear in the dependent claims and in the description. The plug may comprise an abutment protrusion extending in a direction transverse to the longitudinal direction, said abutment protrusion occupying at least a portion of the track when the plug is attached to the track. Such an abutment protrusion will form a distinct shoulder and has the advantage of allowing the plug to be designed such that the container does not need to be blocked by a wedging action by the plug, which would cause the container to be more difficult to return to its innermost position. In the preferred embodiment the abutment protrusion of the plug and the protrusion of the guide are located basically on the same longitudinal position and are directed towards each other such that they locally forms a constriction.

The guide may further comprise a recess or through-going hole, wherein the plug further comprises an attachment protrusion adapted to extend into the recess or through-going hole when the plug is attached to the track, wherein interaction between the attachment protrusion and the recess or through-going hole counteracts removal of the plug from the track. This has the advantage of securely fastening the plug to the track with ease of assembly.

The recess or through-going hole may extend along a main direction having a major component in a transverse direction and the plug may be designed such that, when the plug is attached to the track, the attachment protrusion also extends along the main direction. By orienting the recess/hole/protrusion along a main direction having a major component in a transverse direction any excessive pulling force on the basket will not easily be translated to a force that pulls the attachment protrusion from the recess or through-going hole.

The recess or through-going hole may be positioned on a separate part being attached to the track or may be integrated as a geometric feature of the track. In the preferred embodiment it is a through-going hole formed in the material forming the track.

The plug may further comprise a gripping portion, said gripping portion at least partly enclosing a portion of a wall of the track such that the plug abuts said portion on a side from which the attachment protrusion of the plug extends into the recess or through-going hole and also on an opposite side of the portion of the track. This provides a secure fastening of the plug.

The gripping portion of the plug together with the attachment protrusion on the plug and the recess or through-going hole may form a snap-locking action when the plug is mounted on the guide. This further enhances the secure fastening of the plug. The snap-lock action may be designed to provide a distinct feed-back to the user concerning that the plug has been correctly attached to the guide.

The dilatation of the guide may be located on a side of the guide forming a top side when the guide is mounted. The dilatation being located on a top side when the guide is mounted has the advantage of making attachment of the plug easier when the storage system is placed near the floor.

The protrusion of the guide may be located on a side of the guide forming a bottom side when the guide is mounted. The protrusion being positioned on a bottom side may provide a locking effect counteracting accidental removal even if the user forgets to install the attachable plugs.

The storage system may comprise two guides of the kind discussed above or of the kind discussed in further detail in the detailed description and one container, the container may comprise an abutment portion configured to abut the protrusion of the guide. By providing the container with an abutment portion, which e.g. may form a shoulder abutting the protrusion of the plug, a distinct stop of the movement of the container is provided. It may be noted that in this context the storage system mentioned above is related to two guides guiding one container with this set-up with two guides and one container being the whole storage system or this set-up being repeated several times to form a storage system. In a typical storage system this set- up is typically repeated one above the other resulting in a plurality, e.g. four or five, containers arranged one above the other.

The storage system may have at least one container being principally rectangular in a plane being horizontal when the container is mounted, wherein the container have a geometrical front wall, a geometrical rear wall and two geometrical side walls, the walls being solid walls or mesh walls, and wherein the abutment portion of the container is located on at least one side wall, preferably principally at at least at one comer formed by a side wall and the rear wall of the container. The storage system may have the abutment portion of the container be at least partly formed by an attachable cover, the cover comprising a first and a second half, wherein the first and the second half being configured to be locked onto a guide portion of the container by a snap-locking action, wherein the guide portion of the container is then configured to be guided by the guide. This provides an advantage by reducing friction between the portion of the container configured to be guided by the guide and the track, and also provides extra thickness which presents further options for configuration of the plug, such as providing the cover and/or the plug with shoulders.

The above objects have also been achieved by an attachable plug comprising an attachment protrusion adapted to extend into the recess or through-going hole of a track when the plug is attached to the track, wherein interaction between the protrusion of the plug and the recess or through-going hole counteracts removal of the plug from the track, the plug further comprising

a gripping portion, said gripping portion being adapted to at least partly enclose a portion of a wall of the track such that the plug abuts said portion on a side from which the attachment protrusion of the plug extends into the recess or through- going hole and also on an opposite side of the portion of the track.

By designing the attachable plug in this manner it is easy to securely install the plug in the recess or through-going hole and the plug will remain in place thereby preventing accidental removal of the plug. By providing the plug with a gripping portion of the above discussed kind the plug will be held securely in place. The provision of the gripping portion of this kind also makes it possible to provide a snap- lock action holding the plug securely in place and providing a feedback to the user concerning correct installation of the plug.

The plug may comprise an abutment protrusion adapted to extend in a direction transverse to a longitudinally directed elongation of the track, said abutment protrusion occupying at least a portion of the track when the plug is attached to the track. Such an abutment protrusion will form a distinct shoulder and has the advantage of allowing the plug to be designed such that the container does not need to be blocked by a wedging action by the plug, which would cause the container to be more difficult to return to its innermost position.

The gripping portion of the plug together with the attachment protrusion of the plug and the recess or through-going hole may form a snap-locking action when the plug is mounted on the guide. This further enhances the secure fastening of the plug. The snap-lock action may be designed to provide a distinct feed-back to the user concerning that the plug has been correctly attached to the guide. In short it may be said that the disclosure relates to a guide adapted to support a container such that the container is movable relative to the guide along a longitudinal direction of the guide, the guide comprising an elongated track extending along the longitudinal direction, a protrusion at least partly extending in a transverse direction, and a local dilatation at least partly extending in a transverse direction, wherein the guide further comprises an attachable plug adapted to be attached to the track after mounting of the container on the guide, such that the plug occupies at least a portion of the dilatation and thereby counteracting unintentional manoeuvring of said portion of the container via the dilatation and thereby counteracting the abutment portion from circumnavigating the protrusion.

Brief description of the drawings

The invention will by way of example be described in more detail with reference to the appended schematic drawings, which shows a presently preferred embodiment of the invention.

Figure l a shows a wire basket.

Figure lb is an exploded view of the wire basket of figure la.

Figure 2a shows, in a viewing direction orthogonal to the sliding direction, a wire basket, slidably mounted on a guide and slid out of the storage rack (not shown).

Figure 2b shows the wire basket and the guides of figure 2a from a viewing direction parallel to the sliding direction.

Figure 3 shows a corner of a wire basket with an attachable cover mounted; the wire basket being mounted onto a guide, which has an attachable plug attached to it.

Figure 4a shows a guide with an attached plug.

Figure 4b shows a guide without an attached plug.

Figure 5 a shows the guide of figure 4a as viewed along the sliding direction. Figure 5b shows the guide of figure 5 a with a plug attached.

Figures 6a, 6b and 6c show a plug in three different perspectives.

Detailed description of preferred embodiments

As shown in figure 2b, a container 10 is slidably supported by two guides 20 and 20b. It may be noted that the guide 20b is mirrored compared to the guide 20 (as mirrored about a vertical plane P between the guides 20 and 20b). In the following the design of the guides 20, 20b will be discussed in detail with reference to the guide 20.

The container may e.g. be a wire basket 10 as shown in the figures related to the preferred embodiment. In the detailed description the container 10 will be discussed with reference to the wire basket 10 but it may be noted that most of the features may be relevant also for a container 10 being formed e.g. of solid walls and bottom.

The wire basket 10 comprises a wire net 12 being shaped to form a geometrical front wall 13a, a geometrical rear wall 13b two geometrical side walls 13c-d and a bottom 14. The wire basket 10 further comprises a flange 15 running along the upper edges of the walls 13a-d. The flange 15 interconnects the walls 13a-d stabilising the wire basket 10. The portions of the flange 15 that run along the side walls 13c-d are adapted to be slid into a track 21 of respective guide 20, 20b. The container 10 has a principally rectangular shape in a plane P2 being horizontal when the container 10 is mounted on its associated two guides 20, 20b.

The container 10 further comprises two attachable covers 16a, 16b attached to the two rear comers of the wire basket 10. The rear comers are the corners formed by the side walls 13c-d and the rear wall 13b. The covers 16a, 16 may be mirrored about the plane P in design similarly as for the guides. In the disclosed design they are identical but their respective installation on the container 10 is mirrored about the plane P. The two covers 16a-b are each formed of a first half 16ai, 16bi and a second half 16a ₂ , 16b ₂ . The halves configured to be locked onto a guide portion, in the case with the wire basket they lock onto the flange 15, of the container 10 by a snap- locking action.

The two covers 16a-b have forward facing surfaces 17ai, 17a2, 17bi, 17b2 forming abutment portions located on both side walls 13c-d. Since the covers 16 are have a length substantially smaller than the side walls 13c-d and are positioned at the rear corners, the abutment portions 17ai, 17a ₂ , 17bi, 17b ₂ will be close to or principally at the respective rear comer. It may be noted that both covers 16a-b forms abutment portions 17ai, 17bi above the flange 15 and abutment portions 17a ₂ , 17b ₂ below the flange 15.

The covers 16a-b are designed to slidably fit inside the track 21 of respective guide 20, 20b. The covers 16a-b fit inside the track 21 with a limited play tolerance providing the desired slidability and also providing a guidance of the container 10 between the guides 20, 20b.

The guides 20, 20b comprise each a track 21. The track 21 comprises a top wall 21a, an outer side wall 21b and a bottom wall 21c. The outer side wall 21b interconnects the top wall 21a and the bottom wall 21c such that the track 21 in cross- section essentially forms a C-shape into which the flange 15 and cover 16 are adapted to extend. In the preferred embodiment, the track 21 is also provided with an inner side wall 21d opposing the outer side wall 21b. The inner side wall 21d has limited height and forms a guide rail preventing the flange 15 and/or cover 16 to fall off the track 21 in case the distance between the outer side walls 21b of respective guide 20, 20b would allow the flange 15 or cover 16 to drop off the bottom wall 21c at one of the guides 20, 20b.

The guides 20, 20b are also provided with attachment portions 22, typically at one at the front end and one at the rear end and often also one in the middle. The attachment may be performed using screws extending through through-going holes 22' in the attachment portions 22. As shown in figures 5a-b, the attachment portions 22 may also be provided with guiding pins 22" adapted to extend into predrilled holes in the side walls of a drawer frame or wardrobe frame.

As shown e.g. in figure 2a, the guides20, 20b are adapted to support the container 10 such that the container 10 is movable relative to the guides 20, 20b along a longitudinal direction L of the guides 20, 20b. As shown in the figures, the track 21 extend along the longitudinal direction L. As shown in figure 3 and figures 4a-b the track is provided with a protrusion 23 adapted to interact with an abutment portion 17a ₂ , 17b2 of the container 10. The protrusion 23 has an extension in a transverse direction. In the disclosed embodiment the protrusion 23 has an extension both in a vertical direction Ti and a horizontal transverse direction T ₂ . In the preferred embodiment the protrusion 23 has extensions along the transverse directions T _1; T ₂ but it may be noted that the protrusion 23 may have other, e.g. skewed designs relative to one or both transverse directions T _1; T ₂ . As long as the protrusion 23 extend into the volume described by the intended travel of the abutment portion 17a ₂ , 17b ₂ of the container 10 the protrusion 23 will be able to interact with the 17a ₂ , 17b2 of the container 10.

The container 10 is during first installation mounted to the guides by sliding the cover 16 and flange 15 into the track 21 when the guide 20, 20b is in the state shown in figure 4b. It may be noted that if a user tries to slide the container 10 along the longitudinal direction L, the forward facing surfaces 17a ₂ , 17b2 will come into contact with the protrusion 23 and will thereby counteract the container 10 from being unintentionally dismounted from the guide 20, 20b in the longitudinal direction L.

Each guide 20, 20b is also provided with a local dilatation 24 (indicated in figure 4b). This local dilatation 24 extends at least partly in a transverse direction Tl allowing the container 10 to be mounted/dismounted by manoeuvring a portion of the container via the dilatation thereby allowing the abutment portion 17a ₂ , 17b2 to circumnavigate the protrusion 23. In the preferred embodiment, the local dilatation 24 is formed of a locally, upwardly flaring portion of the top wall 21 a. The flaring portion 24 is flared such that the height of the track 21 increases towards the front of the guide 20, 20b. The flaring portion 24 terminates in the preferred embodiment in a free end. The local dilatation may have a return flaring portion such that the track returns to the same shape or at least to a shape being smaller than the shape at the dilatation. The local dilatation 24 need not be positioned directly opposite the protrusion 23. The function of the local dilatation 24 is to allow the container 10 to be shifted in position by an angular motion and/or translational motion such that the abutment portion 17a2, 17b2 is able circumnavigate the protrusion 23. In the preferred embodiment, the local dilatation 24 allows the container 10 to be changed in an angular motion by lifting it in the front portion such that the abutment portion 17a2, 17b2 is lifted upwardly and goes clear of the protrusion 24. When the container 10 is installed for the first time it may simply be slid into the track 21. The protrusion 23 has a wedge shape and presents a sloping surface 23a with increasing height in the direction opposite the longitudinal direction (as e.g. shown in figure 4b and in figure 3). Thereby the protrusion 23 will easily be passed by the corner covers 16a-b of the container 10. The local dilatation 24 provides space for the comer covers 16a-b to climb over the protrusion 23. From the opposite side, the protrusion 23 has a distinct step or shoulder portion forming an abutment surface 23b extending essentially in the transverse directions Tl , T2. Thereby the container 10 is not easily removed from the guide 20, 20b; the container 10 must be lifted to allow the abutment portion 17a2, 17b2 to circumnavigate the protrusion 23.

The guide 20, 20b further comprises an attachable plug 30adapted to be attached to the track 21 after mounting of the container 10 on the guide 20, 20b. As shown in figures 3 and 4a, the plug 30 occupies at least a portion of the dilatation 24 and thereby counteracting unintentional manoeuvring of said portion of the container 10 via the dilatation and thereby counteracting the abutment portion 17a2, 17b2 from circumnavigating the protrusion 23.

The plug 30 comprises an abutment protrusion 31 which extends in a direction transverse Tl , T2 to the longitudinal direction L. In the preferred embodiment, the protrusion 21 extends as a step or shoulder portion forming an abutment surface 31 ' extending essentially in the transverse directions T _1; T ₂ . As is apparent from figures 3 and 4a, the abutment protrusion 31 occupies a portion of the track 21 when the plug 30 is attached to the track 21. The abutment protrusion 31 is adapted to interact with the abutment portion 17a _1; 17bi on the top side of the covers 16a-b.

As shown in figure 5a, each guide 20, 20b further comprises a through-going hole 25. The plug 30 further comprises an attachment protrusion 32 adapted to extend into the through-going hole 25 when the plug 30 is attached to the track 21. The through-going hole 25 may alternatively be formed as a recess adapted to receive the attachment protrusion 32 of the plug 30.

The through-going hole 25 extends along a main direction A having a major component in a transverse direction Tl. In the preferred embodiment, the direction A of the hole 25 is transverse to the slightly flaring top wall 21a of the track 21. The plug 30 is designed such that, when the plug 30 is attached to the track 21, the attachment protrusion 32 also extends along the main direction A.

The plug 30 further comprises a gripping portion 33which is adapted to enclosing a portion of the top wall 21a of the track 21. In the preferred embodiment, this portion of the top wall 21 a is the free end 24' ' ' of the flaring portion forming the local dilatation 24. It may be noted that the plug 30 is oriented such that the gripping portion 33 and the attachment protrusion 32 are arranged after another along the longitudinal direction L. They are preferably arranged essentially along a common line along the longitudinal direction L. The attachment protrusion 32 is arranged at the lower portion of the flaring portion 24, i.e. closer to the rear part of the guide.

The gripping portion 33 has one abutment portion or abutment surface 33' adapted to abut said portion of the top wall 21 on the underside 24', i.e. the side 24' from which the attachment protrusion 32 of the plug 30 extends into the through- going hole 25. The gripping portion 33 has a second abutment portion or abutment surface 33 "adapted to abut said portion of the top wall 21 on the top side 24". That is the gripping portion 31 grips the two opposing surfaces or sides of the enclosed portion of track 21. The two abutment portions 33' and 33" are interconnected to each other via a bridging portion 33a. The first abutment portion 33' forms part of the main body of the plug 30. The main body supports the attachment protrusion 32 and the abutment protrusion 31. The attachment protrusion 32 extends essentially along a transverse direction Tl from the main body and the abutment protrusion 31 extends essentially in the opposite direction from the main body.

The plug 30 may be attached to the guide 20, 20b by orienting it along the longitudinal direction and then sliding the gripping portion 33 onto the free end 24"' of the flaring portion 24. The gripping portion 33 is designed with sufficiently tight fit relative to the material thickness and has sufficiently extension along the longitudinal direction, such that the top of the attachment protrusion 32 will be forced against the underside 24' of the flaring portion 24 resulting in a small elastic deformation of the plug 30. Once the attachment protrusion 32 reaches the hole 25 it will snap into the hole 25. The free end 24"' of the flaring portion 24 is provided with a guiding recess 27 and the plug 30 is provided with a protrusion 37 extending between the opposing surfaces 33', 33" of the gripping portion 33. The protrusion 37 is adapted to extend into the recess 27 when the plug 30 is positioned and thereby aid in preventing the plug 30 from being rotated about the axis A. The protrusion 37 and recess 27 could be designed differently, such as with a protrusion on the free end and a recess in the connection between the opposing surfaces 33', 33" of the plug 30.

The attachable plug 30 is preferably formed of a polymeric material. The covers 16 are preferably formed of a polymeric material. The guides 20, 20b are preferably formed of a metallic material. The container 10 may be formed of a number of different materials. In the preferred embodiment, wire basket is formed of a metallic wire net and the flange 15 is formed of a metallic material. The flange 15 may be solid or tube shaped. The flange may be flat or have a folded cross-section increase its bending resistance.

It is contemplated that there are numerous modifications of the embodiments described herein, which are still within the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

The walls may for instance be solid walls or mesh walls; solid walls of limited height with a mesh, wire net or a bar forming an upper part of the wall; the walls may be see-through by being provided with windows of solid see-through material or windows of wire net, mesh or bars. Basically, the walls may be of any conceivable kind.

It is also conceivable to have covers 16 also at the front corners. This can be used with the disclosed design as long as the plug 30 is attached sufficiently rearward along the longitudinal direction L to allow the front comers to enter into the track 21 to allow the container to be fully slid into storage position.

It may be noted that although in the preferred embodiment are both guides adapted to receive an attachable plug, it is conceivable that only one of the guides is adapted to receive an attachable plug. In this latter case, it is possible to have an abutment protrusion 23 on both guides or only of the guides. If only present on one of the guides, it is preferred that the protrusion 23 and the attachable plug 30 are associated with the same guide.

In the disclosed embodiment, the guide 20, 20b is provided with a wheel 26 at the front end. This guiding wheel 26 may be dispensed with. It may be noted that as an alternative to or as a complement to the wheel 26, the container 10 may also be provided with a wheel running in the track 21.