The present invention relates to a telescopic slide for drawers, shelves and extractable elements for furniture in general.

It is well known to use telescopic slides in drawers for furniture and other items of equipment for domestic or professional use.

An example of such telescopic slides is described, for example, in European Patent EP 0 768 050 Bl, which describes a telescopic slide for the fixing and extraction of a drawer on an item of furniture. Slides of this type, in particular, have the feature of being extendible, since they are formed of a plurality of elements which slide one inside the other. In the aforesaid patent, the slide is formed of an external element fixed to the structure of the piece of furniture, an intermediate element, and ah internal element which is connected to the drawer.

The three elements are slidable relative to one another in a longitudinal direction, in such a way as to be able to extend the slide and thus cause the drawer to come out. The internal element is additionally provided with a plurality of rolling balls, which run both on the external element and on the internal element, in such a way as to facilitate the mutual sliding of the elements of the slide and, consequently, the extension of the latter.

This embodiment, compared with other known systems, makes it possible to extract the drawer further from the item of furniture, owing to the use of telescopic elements, and to reduce the friction which is produced during the sliding of the drawer, owing to the sliding on balls. However, this solution does not prove to be very suitable in the case where the drawer has to support a considerable weight.

An alternative solution is described in patent EP 1 066 773 Bl, which also relates to a telescopic slide for drawers comprising two elements one inside the other, between which a bearing unit is interposed.

More precisely, the patent describes the use of roller bearings, in particular provided in two sets, an upper set and a lower set. Each set has three bearings arranged in a triangular configuration, that is, two inclined and one horizontal.

This solution, however, proves rather complex from the manufacturing viewpoint and particularly during the stage of assembly of the slide.

A similar solution is also described in US patent No. 5 314 253, in which there are an internal rail fixed to an item of furniture, a first series of ^" roller bearings, with inclined axis of rotation and which slides externally with respect to the first rail, an intermediate rail, which is also slidable on the first series of roller bearings, a second series of roller bearings, with axis of rotation inclined by 90° with respect to the first series and which are slidable on the intermediate rail, and finally an external rail, fixed to the drawer.

This solution, however, is complicated to assemble and, in particular, does not permit easy removal of the drawer by the user, for example for the purpose of cleaning or for emptying the contents thereof.

Another example of a telescopic slide is also described in International Patent Application WO 2005/044047. Therefore, the technical problem underlying the present invention is that of providing a slide for drawers which makes it possible to remedy the drawbacks mentioned above with reference to the prior art.

This problem is solved by the telescopic slide for drawers, shelves and extractable elements for furniture in general according to claim 1 and by the item of furniture according to claim 14.

The present invention has some significant advantages. The main advantage lies in the fact that the slide according to the present invention permits easy removal of the drawer, while having a simple structure. More precisely, the slide according to the present invention allows the user to remove the drawer easily even after final assembly, without requiring the use of any implement, permitting easy cleaning and complete emptying thereof. On the other hand, the structure of the slide makes it possible to produce all its components economically and, above all, the solution provided by the present invention makes it possible to carry out the steps of assembly of the components easily and rapidly on an industrial scale.

Moreover, the slide is capable of withstanding heavy weights and enables the friction during the extraction of the drawer to be reduced, therefore being particularly quiet.

Other advantages, features and the method of use of the present invention will become clear from the following detailed description of some embodiments, provided by way of non-limiting example. Reference is made to the Figures of the appended drawings, in which :

Figure 1 is a perspective view, partly in section, illustrating the slide according to the present invention; Figures 2 and 2A are respectively a perspective view, and a section thereof, of a sliding block, a detail of the slide of Figure 1 ;

Figure 3 is a perspective view, partly in section, illustrating the slide according to the present invention;

^• Figure 4 is a cross-section of the slide according -to the present invention; and

Figure 5 is a perspective view, from the front, illustrating the slide according to the present invention.

With initial reference to Figure 1, a telescopic slide for drawers, shelves and extractable elements for furniture in general comprises, in a similar manner to other known slides, an external rail 1, fixable to an item of furniture, not illustrated in the drawing, and an internal rail 3, on which the extractable element, also not illustrated, can be fixed, and which is disposed internally with respect to the external rail 1.

The slide additionally comprises a pair of sliding blocks 2' and 2" which have a first rolling element 20 and are interposed between the external rail ί and the internal rail 3. In particular, during the use of the slide, in which the rails translate in a substantially horizontal sliding direction S, so as to extract the drawer, the sliding blocks 2' and 2" are disposed respectively above and below the internal rail, as may be noted from Figure 4. In other words, the internal rail 3 is contained between the two sliding blocks 2' and 2".

The slide additionally comprises a connecting element 4 for connection to the drawer or to another extractable element, not illustrated in the drawing. The connecting element is provided in particular by means of a pair of second rolling elements 40, disposed within the internal rail 3. In the present embodiment, the second rolling elements are formed by disks 40 which are rotatably connected by means of pins 42 to a fixing plate 41 for fixing to the drawer and which therefore act as rolling bearings. It is clear, however, that the connecting element may be formed by other equivalent connecting means 4. For example, the connecting element 4 and the corresponding second rolling elements 40 may be directly fixed rotatably to the drawer, without the use of the fixing plate 41.

The disks 40 are then rotatable with respect to the drawer about an axis C, which is normal to a longitudinal sliding direction S of the slide.

As may be noted from Figures 4 and 5, and as will be illustrated more clearly hereinafter, the disks 40 are of such a shape as to fit into a suitable seat 34 defined in the internal rail 3 and to move, by rolling, within the latter. In this way the drawer, fixed to the plate 41, is capable of movements in the longitudinal sliding direction S. During such movements, the disks 40 will move, by rolling, inside the rail 3.

Therefore, with reference to Figures 2 and 2A, each of the sliding blocks 2' 2" comprises two series of rollers 20, which form the first rolling element. In particular, the rollers of a first series have a rolling axis A which is inclined with respect to a rolling axis B of the rollers of a second series.

As illustrated in Figure 4, the external rail 1 and the internal rail 3 have respective sliding surfaces 10 and 30 in contact with the rollers 20. More precisely, first surfaces are provided which belong respectively to the external rail 1 and to the internal rail 3, substantially parallel to the rolling axis A. Similarly, the rails comprise second surfaces, which belong respectively to the external rail 1 and to the internal rail 3, substantially parallel to the rolling axis B.

In this way, the rollers 20 will be contained between the two rails, and each series thereof will remain in contact with respective sliding surfaces.

In this way, since the rollers are free to rotate in respective cages, mutual sliding between the rails is made possible.

In particular, it should be noted that the cages are formed by means of two blocks, which are inclined with respect to each other and disposed substantially in the direction of the rolling axes A and B, and which have a plurality of openings within which the rollers are housed. The dimensions of the blocks are such that the lateral surface of the rollers partly protrudes from the openings, at both the faces of the cages facing towards the sliding surfaces. In this way, when the sliding blocks are set on the sliding surfaces, only the rollers will be exclusively in contact with the latter, while the cages will be spaced apart from them.

As will be noted in Figure 2, in each sliding block 2' and 2" the rollers are arranged in two separate sets 21, 22, in which there may be, for example, between four and six rollers.

In addition, the two sets of rollers are connected to each other by means of a longitudinally extending portion 23.

The longitudinally extending portion 23 has a thickness which is less than the diameter of the rollers 20, so as to define a space between the portion 23 and the sliding surfaces 10 and 30. In this way, sliding between the rails and the sliding blocks will take place exclusively by means of the rollers, therefore limiting friction to the maximum degree.

The length of the longitudinal portion 23 is then defined on the basis of the amount of outward movement required for the telescopic slide. The internal rail 3 and the external rail 1 comprise respective end stops 32, 12 which make it possible to limit the outward movement of said sliding block in the longitudinal sliding direction S.

More precisely, the end stops comprise fins 12 and 32 disposed respectively at the ends of the external rail 1 and the internal rail 3 and which extend in a direction substantially transverse to the sliding surfaces.

Therefore, this configuration makes it possible to prevent the sliding blocks 2' and 2" from sliding beyond the external rail 1, and the internal rail 3 itself from coming out of the sliding blocks.

With reference again to Figure 4, therefore, the internal rail 3 and the external rail 1 both have a substantially C-shaped cross-section and are concentric with each other.

More precisely, the rails include the aforesaid sliding surfaces inclined relative to each other at the base and the apex of the C, the latter being connected by means of a respective side 11 and 31.

The sliding surfaces are clearly flat and the C-shaped cross-section is formed by a series of suitably connected rectilinear elements.

As an alternative, the shape of the cross-section of the rails may be represented as an irregular, flattened hexagon, open at one of the long sides. In this case, the sliding surfaces are represented by the short sides of the hexagons. More generally, the external rail 1 and the internal rail 3 may have a concave cross-section, both with the concavity facing in the same direction, in the specific case towards the extractable element.

The inner part of the C-shaped cross-sections of the rails may therefore define respective seats, in such a way that within the external rail 1 the sliding blocks 2' and 2" and the internal rail 3 are housed, while the disks 40 are housed inside the latter.

With reference to this last coupling, it should be understood that different shapes may be used for the disks 40 or for the cross-section of the internal rail 1. For example, the disk 40 may be flattened on the outside, with a shape similar to a lens, or the internal rail 1 may have a flat surface in the region of the area of contact with the disk 40. These and other modifications are clearly within the scope of a person skilled in the art and for this reason will not be described further.

In general, however, one of the advantages connected with the present invention is linked to the combined use of rolling bearings with different characteristics: in particular, in the present exemplary embodiment, the disks 40 are in the shape of rolling bearings, and the sliding blocks 2' and 22 are formed by means of roller or of needle bearings. This embodiment therefore makes it possible to combine a high degree of noiselessness with ease of movement of the drawer.

As illustrated in Figure 3 or Figure 5, therefore, according to a preferred embodiment, the slide additionally comprises bumpers 33 disposed at respective ends of the internal rail 3 and which limit the outward movement of the second rolling elements. In addition, the internal rail 3 and the external rail 1 have respective openings 35 and 15 at their ends which, during use of the slide will face upwards, and which are of such dimensions as to permit the passage of the disk 40. In this way, in order to extract the drawer, it will be sufficient to slide the connecting means 4 as far as the end of the internal rail 3 provided with the opening 35 and the external rail 1, raise the drawer in such a way as to extract a first disk 40 from the openings 35 and 15, and then pull out the drawer so as to extract the second disk also.

Therefore, as also emphasised previously, the slide according to the present invention may advantageously be used in drawers, shelves or other extractable elements which have to withstand considerable weights.

In particular, a generic extractable element may be provided with a pair of telescopic slides disposed at its respective ends. The slide may then be fixed to an item of furniture by means of suitable fixing brackets 51, 52 or another equivalent fixing system.

The overall outward movement of the drawer will then be defined by the sliding of the internal rail 3 on the sliding blocks 2' and 2" with respect to the external rail 1, added to the sliding of the connecting means 4 with respect to the internal rail 3.

The present invention has so far been described with reference to preferred embodiments. It is to be understood that other embodiments may exist which relate to the same inventive core, all coming within the scope of protection of the claims appended hereinafter.