In the past there have been many means of facilit¬ ating the sliding"motion of a drawer in a box or cabinet. These means basically provide a transverse support along the inside face of both ends of the box or cabinet. The drawer is supported by these supports and slides thereon. This means is particularly suited to boxes or cabinets of wooden fabrication where the attachment of the slides can be achieved by nailing or screwing. However, when consider¬ ing tool boxes or cabinets, drawers must be supported in the various open positions as they may contain many heavy items. In this respect the aforementioned slide means proves inadequate. Additionally in view of the above criteria it is usual to fabricate tool boxes of metal hence nailing or screwing is not an appropriate fixing method. Basically with these types of tool boxes an attachment of drawer supports requires the provision of nuts and bolts or welding. As previously mentioned', as the load which must be carried by the drawers of tool boxes is much greater than for conventional drawers it is imperative when the drawer is pulled out that it be properly supported. To meet this need it is common to provide a support which utilizes a floating slide member.

In this respect the normal tool box drawer slide support structure comprises a set of three elements for each end of the drawer and box. The first element of each set is bolted or welded to the inside end faces of the box and is normally an inturned channel section. The second element of each set which is similarly of inturned channelled material is attached to a side of the drawer. In contrast to the first and second elements the third element is of general I beam cross-section and adapted to slidingly engage both first and second elements. Where,

this system is used it is undesirable to have either first or second elements disengaging from the floating member, i.e. the third element and accordingly, it is conventional to have engageable stop means attached to each element to prevent this from occurring. Thus in operation when the drawer is closed it is supported at each end by the three elements in interfitting engagement. In the open position the third element maintains continuity between the first and second element and permits the drawer to be fully opened. By "continuity" it is meant that the three elements are in telescopic relationship. More particularly the third element floatingly supports the weight of the drawer by distributing the drawer's weight over the three elements . The use of a channelled floating member has been found to be a very effective means of drawer support, however, it has some basic disadvantages. Firstly that system comprises three interengaging elements, the first and second elements being channelled and thus must be specially formed. Secondly, as these aforementioned two elements for each end of the box are channelled they are difficult to manually affix to the box and drawer respect¬ ively. This second aspect has added to fabrication costs. Accordingly whilst this system is best for tool boxes considering the load characteristics and robust require- ments of these boxes, it nevertheless complicates the fabrication with a corresponding increase in cost.

In addition to this the conventional floating member comprises two pressed elements, these elements when attached together form a channel. In this respect the only type of affixing used is riveting by way of separate rivet elements. Thus to effect fixing, each of the pressed elements has at least two aligned holes drilled therein, then the elements connected by insertion of rivets through the aligned holes and subsequent deformation of the protrud- ing portions of said rivets. As mentioned previously a stop element is attached to each end of the floating member. This is incorporated by the attachment of a

separate upstanding tab of spring steel at each end.

Typically this tab has a hole therein and can be simultan¬ eously affixed by said rivet means when the pressed elements are being affixed. This conventional floating member suffers from some basic design faults. In this respect the assembly of the floating member is necessarily complex and labour intensive having regard to its design. Such faults can be more accurately pinpointed as (1) necessarily providing specific piercing operations and separate rivet elements; and

(2) the incorporation of the stops afore¬ mentioned as separate members which consequently complic¬ ates assembly. With the aforegoing disadvantages in mind the problem of use of multi component drawer slide systems was investigated in an effort to eliminate these disadvantages whilst maintaining the advantages.

Accordingly there is provided in one embodiment of the invention a receptacle comprising a housing which is characterized by at least two generally parallel internal faces and drawer means adapted to be housed in said housing and having at least two generally parallel external faces, one or more of said internal faces and/or said external faces having integral slide guide means formed therein, said guide means being adapted to receive a floating slide.

According to a further embodiment of the invention there is provided a receptacle comprising a hous¬ ing which is characterized by at least two generally parallel internal faces and drawer means adapted to be housed in said housing and having at least two generally parallel internal faces, one or more of said internal faces and/or said external faces having a planar or corrugated guide means attached thereto, said guide means being adapted to receive a floating slide.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention the receptacle is a box of conventional shape having one or

more drawers disposed therein, the ends of the box respective adjacent sides of the drawer having integra formed therein, guide means such that a single float guide means may be used on each side of the box and draw To prevent the drawer from disengaging the box when brou into the fully open position, it is necessary to incorp ate stop means . Such means can take any form and example of this is illustrated in the drawings.

In an alternate form of the invention as set in the second embodiment aforementioned, the integra formed guide means can be substituted by a planar corrugated guide means. Typically these guide means c prise a plate with guides integrally incorporated therei Positioning and securing such to the sides or faces of drawer or box can be easily carried out with screws, bo or spot welding. Preferably this type of guide me covers a large portion of the area of at least the dra face. Because of the substantial nature of the guide me in comparison with the commonly used channelled secti same are easily positioned and held ready for affixing the face. As mentioned above the guide means may corrugated as an alternative to the planar configuratio In this alternative ^' the corrugations can additionally c stitute the guide means for the floating slide. Typically when the box and/or drawer is fabr ated of metal the formation of integral guide means accomplished by pressing an appropriate portion of metal. Similarly in the alternate embodiment of invention the guides in the planar or corrugated gu means can be stamped out.

These guide means preferably are a pair of spa apart inwardly inclined generally parallel ridges wh retain the guide whilst still permitting relative slid motion. Instead of one pair of spaced apart ridges it ca be desirable for the guide means to comprise more than pair, such pair would of course need to be axially alig with the first mentioned pair to permit the sliding acti

In a further alternative one of the ridges in the pair could be continuous whilst the other discontinuous. Such still allows the sliding action as would the construction of a plurality of pairs of axially spaced small inwardly faced projections. Similarly as aforementioned corrugat¬ ions can be used.

In a separate aspect of the invention there is provided a floating member for use in a drawer slide assembly which comprises a body portion and at least one projection, characterized by the fact that the or at least one of said projections is formed integrally from said body portion.

Referring to the conventional body portion which comprises two pressed members, the projection(s) may be formed in accordance with the invention by stamping said members. Thus the upstanding projection or tab is an integral part of the respective members. Obviously the slide members may take on any convenient form to facilitate sliding in said first and third elements of the whole slide mechanism. Further the floating member and integral pro¬ jection, if a plastic fabrication material is selected, may be formed simply by injection moulding.

The provision of integral stops in the floating member elements whilst appearing a simple invention does exhibit superior characteristics to those of the convent¬ ional stop. More particularly extensive experiment has found that by the aforementioned integral forming it is possible to enhance the life of the projection some 900 percent. In this respect a comparitive test of a convent¬ ional floating member which uses a spring steel stop to a metal projection according to this aspect of the invention was as follows:- Both types of floating members were tested to destruction of their respective stops by recip- rocal inward and outward movement of a drawer to which they were attached. The drawer was fitted with a 30 lb. weight which was operated at 46 strokes/minute having a length of

stroke of 6 7/8". The spring steel stop of the conven ional floating member failed at approximately 11,0 strokes whilst the integral stop failed at approximate 95,650 strokes. In addition to the above illustrated toughness the new type of projection by making same integral it possible to form same automatically when forming each the component members. Thus a handling step of fabricati is eliminated with consequent production cost reduction. In another separate aspect of the invention t other design fault' associated with the conventional floa ing slide regarding the necessity of providing specif piercing operations and separate rivet elements, can substantially eliminated. In this respect a floati member for use in a drawer slide assembly is provided whi comprises a body portion composed of at least two elongat members, one of said members having at least one apertu whilst the other member is provided with at least o integrally formed upstanding projection, such that sa members are adapted to be fixedly attached to each other alignment of said upstanding projection with said apertur passing said projection through said aperture and su sequently deforming said projection to prevent its di engagement from said aperture. The projection aforementioned may be general termed an integral rivet. In this respect whilst th aspect of the invention may appear simple, problems we encountered when trying to achieve this. Basically for ation of an integral rivet is carried out by caref extrusion. Typically where each elongated member pressed it is necessary to affix same together at t points. The basic advantage of integrally forming t affixing means in said members, is the simplification assembly. No longer is it necesary to have a separa source of rivets as they are already in situ. Further n only is that element not necessary but it is also possib to integrate the rivet formation in the prior pressi

c

operations. Again these advantages have the effect of providing an immediate fabrication cost benefit.

As will be appreciated from the above there are a number of aspects to the invention which each separately gives certain advantages. Whilst the following description describes these aspects in combination it is not intended the invention be so limited.

The floating member may be made in accordance with the invention by the following steps :- A combination follow and transfer press tool is fitted to a crank press, with provisions for automatic roll feed of steel strip. The strip approaches a first stage which crops part profile and pierces four holes. There¬ after in a second stage the final profile is cropped and channel section formed. Extrusion of two rivets from the profile and formation of integral stop follows in a first stage transfer whilst in a subsequent second stage trans¬ fer, the components are combined and rivetted together to form a floating member according to the invention. Obviously the extruded rivet may take on any workable shape. The most convenient shape is circular in plan view. Other possible shapes include round, oval, elliptical, square, square with rounded corners, rectangular with rounded corners, triangular, and triangular with rounded corners.

The present invention is now illustrated with reference to the following drawings in which

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a conventional tool box. Figure 2 is a perspective component view of the sliding elements used in the conventional tool box of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a plan cross-sectional view of the sliding mechanism of the tool box of Figure 1 in a partially open position.

Figure 4 is a plan cross-sectional view of t sliding mechanism of the tool box of Figure 1 in a ful open position.

Figure 5 is a perspective view of a tool box ma in accordance with the present invention.

Figure 6 is a transverse cross-sectional view the sliding mechanism of the tool box of Figure 5.

Figures 7 to 17 are alternate configurations of drawer end panel made in accordance with the invention. Figures 18 to 20 are alternate configurations a box end panel made in accordance with the invention.

Figure 21 shows a tool box incorporating alternate form of the invention.

Figures 22 to 24 show other configurations of t present invention.

Figure 25 is a perspective view of a floati slide made in accordance with the present invention.

Figure 26 is a perspective view of one of t component parts of the floating slide of Figure 25. In Figure 1 a partially opened conventional to box 1 is shown comprising a housing 2 and drawers 3 and 4 Each of drawers 3 and 4 have end panels 5 to which affixed a track section portion 7. As is more clear shown in Figure 2 a floating member 8 is provided whi slidingly engages section 7 on the drawer. Similarly track section portion 9 is affixed to the inside end fa of the housing 2 and likewise slidingly engages floati member 8. Sections 7 and 9 are characterized by indents and 12 respectively whilst member 8 has stop members 11 a 11* (not shown) affixed to each end thereof on opposi sides.

Reference to Figures 3 and 4 show how the slidi motion of the drawers 3 and 4 relative to the housing 2 achieved. More particularly in Figure 3 as drawer 3 moved to the left, channel section 7 which is affixed end panel 5, slides along floating member 8. At t

O

position shown in Figure 3 indent 10 has come into engage¬ ment with the stop member 11' of floating member 8. For further movement of the drawer 3 out of the housing, floating member 8 begins to slide along section 9. As drawer 3 approaches its fully opened position, as shown in Figure 4, the stop member 11 approaches indent 12 of section 9 and once engaged no further outward movement of the drawer can occur. At all times during opening and closing of drawer 3, same is supported by the three members 7, 8 and 9 due to the telescopic arrangement. The incorpor¬ ation of stops and indents is to avoid the drawer 3 from disengaging the housing 2, which unexpected disengagement could cause injury to a worker. The foregoing is a descript¬ ion of the basic sliding system presently utilized in tool boxes or the like.

In Figure 5 a partially opened tool box 13 made in accordance with the present invention is shown. This tool box 13 comprises a housing 14 and drawers 15 and 16 similar to conventional boxes except that the sections 7 and 9 aforementioned are integral formations in the ends of said housing 14 and sides 15 and 16. More particularly drawer ends 17 are provided with an upper ridge 18 and lower ridge(s) 19 (see Figure 7) whilst the end panel 23 of housing 14 is provided with inwardly facing ridges 21 and indent 22 (see Figure 6). Accordingly as more explicitly shown in the partial view of the drawer end 17 (Figure 7) and transverse cross-section (Figure 6) floating member 8 slidingly engages the set of drawer ridges 17 and 19 as well as a set of housing ridges 22. When drawer 15 is pulled away from housing 14, its ridges 18 and 19 slide along floating member 8 until indent 20 engages stop 11' whereafter member 8 slides along ridges 22. As the drawer 15 reaches its fully opened position member 8 engages indent 22 by reason of stop member 11 and thus the drawer cannot move further outward. The provision of these integral ridges in which the floating member 8 slides considerably simplifies the manufacture of the tool box and

OMPI

obviates the necessity of having a person precisely pos ion section members 7 and 9.

Figures 8 to 17 show alternate forms of ridging of end 17 which still utilize the principle of invention. Similarly Figures 18 to 20 display simi alternate forms of ridging of the end panel 23 and it believed there is no need for further explanation of thes

As referred to earlier as a second embodiment the present invention it is still possible to considera simplify fabrication cost especially where the box and drawer is wooden or plastic or where it is not desired have an outward face showing the ridges 21. In th cases, as shown in Figure 21, it is possible to provide slide means on a plate which covers a- substantial part the drawer end 17 and/or end panel 23. With such a s stantial part 24 it is very easy to affix in that it can aligned with ease.

In Figures 22 to 24 alternate forms 'suitable integral formation or for attachment are given. In Figure 25 a floating member 25 made in acco ance with the invention is shown which can be substitu for member 8. A stop 26 is provided by integral format from the member 25. As previously mentioned this can stamped out or in the case of plastics integrally inject moulded. Basically member 25 comprises two elements 27 28 rivetted together (see Figure 26). Element 27 in form prior to assembly has rivet extrusions 29 which dur assembly penetrate through and extend from apertures p vided in the mating element. Thereafter the rivet deformed as shown as 30 in Figure 25.