[0001] The present invention relates in general to assortment cabinets.
[0002] Assortment cabinets are commonly known, for orderly storing a supply of parts, for
instance an assortment of screws and nuts. Figure 1A schematically shows a perspective
view of a known assortment cabinet 10. The known cabinet comprises a rectangular housing
1 with a plurality of sliding drawers 2 accommodated therein. The sliding drawers
may all have mutually equal sizes, as shown, but that is not necessary. Usually, the
sliding drawers 2 are arranged in multiple levels, in which case the sliding drawers
of each level have mutually equal height.
[0003] In principle, an assortment cabinet can be implemented arbitrarily large. Usually,
however, assortment cabinets are available in standard sizes, in which case they can
be arranged next to each other and on top of each other in a modular manner to thus
form a cabinet of arbitrary size in a modular manner.
[0004] For a user having a relatively small assortment, a combination of one or a limited
number of assortment cabinets of the above-described type will be sufficient. However,
especially for professional users, having a substantial assortment, it may be necessary
to provide a large number of storage drawers, to which end a large number of assortment
cabinets must be arranged next to each other and on top of each other. Consequently,
the assortment cabinets will quickly occupy a fairly large wall surface area. When
a further extension is desired, it becomes necessary to set up a new rack with assortments
cabinets, wherein it is possible to arrange the second rack with assortment cabinets
opposite the first rack, that is to say with the front sides directed towards each
other, in which case an aisle must be kept free between the two racks, or the two
racks with assortment cabinets can be arranged with their backsides against each other,
in which case it is necessary to keep an aisle free on both sides of this combination.
[0005] A further disadvantage of the known assortment cabinet is that the sliding drawers
have a relatively small depth, that is to say the dimension from the front side of
the sliding drawer to the back side of the sliding drawer. Consequently, the available
storage volume is fairly small in comparison to the wall surface area occupied.
[0006] In order to use the available wall surface area as well as possible, it is not uncommon
to stack the assortment cabinets from the floor to the ceiling. However, it is then
a problem that the objects present in the sliding drawers are not all equally well-visible
for the user. Figure 1B schematically illustrates a cross-section of the assortment
cabinet 10 with two sliding drawers 2A and 2B partly pulled out. The sliding drawers
may not be pulled out further, because then there is the chance that they fall out
of the cabinet. The sliding drawer 2A is representative for a sliding drawer located
at a fairly high level, namely above eyelevel of a user. It may be clear that it is
very difficult for this user to see objects located in the rear part of the sliding
drawer 2A, that is to say the part of the sliding drawer still located within the
housing 1. The lower sliding drawer 2B is representative for a sliding drawer located
at a very low level, for instance near the floor surface. A user who wants to see
the possible objects located at the rear side of the sliding drawer 2B must for this
purpose sit down on his knees and bend over.
[0007] The present invention aims to provide an assortment cabinet in which the above-mentioned
disadvantages are eliminated or at least substantially reduced. To that end, the present
invention provides an assortment cabinet of which a drawer can both slide inwards
and outwards and can rotate around a vertical axis, the drawer resting on balls.
[0008] It is noted that German patent application
10120023 describes a rotatable drawer, lying on an extendible plate. The plate can be shifted
with respect to a cabinet, and the round drawer can be rotated with respect to the
plate.
[0009] A similar remark applies with respect to
US patent 898153. This publication further shows a drawer which itself can rotate and slide with respect
to a cabinet, in which case a central pin is guided in a horizontal groove, but the
bottom of this known drawers is not supported so that it is not suitable for heavy
objects.
[0010] Finally, it is noted that the use of ball bearings for supporting sliding drawers
is known per se from British patent 358.
[0011] These and other aspects, features and advantages of the present invention will be
further clarified by the following description with reference to the drawings, in
which same reference numerals indicate same or similar parts, and in which:
figure 1A schematically shows a perspective view of a known assortment cabinet;
figure 1B schematically shows a cross-section of the known assortment cabinet of figure
1A;
figure 2 schematically shows a perspective view of an assortment cabinet according
to the present invention;
figure 3 schematically shows a cross-section of the assortment cabinet of figure 2;
figure 4 shows a schematic side view, partly in cross-section, of a rolling drawer
in the housing of the cabinet;
figure 5 shows the rolling drawer in the condition in which it is pulled out of the
housing;
figure 6 is a schematic top view of a carrier plate;
figure 7 is a schematic top view comparable to figure 6, in which also the contour
of the rolling drawer is shown in the pulled out condition illustrated in figure 5;
figure 8 is a view comparable to figure 5 of a variation of the assortment cabinet;
figures 9A-9C illustrate another variation of the assortment cabinet.
[0012] Figure 2 shows a schematic perspective view of an assortment cabinet 100 according
to the present invention. The cabinet 100 comprises a housing 20 with a substantially
rectangular rear wall 21, substantially rectangular side walls 22, a bottom face 23
and a top face 24. The cabinet 100 has a front wall that is curved according to a
part of a cylinder surface, which front wall is formed by curved side walls of drawers,
as will be explained hereinafter in more detail. The top face 24 has a front edge
25 having the contour of a part of a circle in a corresponding manner. The same applies
to the front edge 26 of the bottom face 23.
[0013] Figure 3 shows a schematic cross-section, in side view, of the cabinet 100. By means
of horizontal carrier plates 27 attached to the rear wall 21 and to the side walls
22, the housing 20 is divided into several storeys. In the example illustrated, there
are three carrier plates 27 shown, so that the housing 20 has four storeys. The number
of storeys may however be larger than or smaller than four. The present invention
is even embodied in an embodiment in which no carrier plates 27 are present, so that
the housing 20 only has one single storey.
[0014] Each carrier plate 27 has a front edge 28 having a contour corresponding to the contour
of the front edge 25 of the top surface 24.
[0015] A rolling drawer 30 is arranged in each storey of the housing 20, it is to say a
drawer that can role. Each rolling drawer is supported by a plurality of supporting
balls 40, which in their turn are mounted on or in the bottom 23 or the carrier plates
27, respectively. The supporting balls 40 may be implemented in the form of ball pots
known per se, as will be clear to a person skilled in the art. The supporting balls
40 are distributed over the surface of the bottom 23 and the carrier plates 27 in
a suitable manner, wherein the precise number of supporting balls and the pattern
in which these supporting balls are distributed are not essential for the present
invention. It will be clear to a person skilled in the art that the number of supporting
balls will be chosen in relation to the expected weight of the rolling drawer 30 including
its possible contents.
[0016] Each rolling drawer 30 has a substantially circle-shaped bottom 31 and a substantially
cylindrical side wall 32. A symmetry axis of rotation of the rolling drawer 30 is
indicated by the reference numeral 33. The rolling drawer 30 further comprises a system
of separation walls 34, 35 directed tangentially, as well as separation walls directed
substantially radially that are not shown in figure 3 for sake of simplicity. The
said separation walls divide the interior of the rolling drawer 30 to a large number
of storage compartments. The tangential separation walls 34, 35 may be curved according
to a cylinder shape, but it is also possible that the tangential separation walls
34, 35 are straight walls.
[0017] In the example shown, there are two radial separation walls 34, 35 arranged coaxially
with respect to each other, so that the rolling drawer 30 is subdivided by these separation
walls 34, 35 into two ring-shaped storage compartments 36, 37 as well as a compartment
38 located centrally. In principle, this central compartment 38 can also be used,
but it is also possible to leave this central compartment 38 empty. The said radial
separation walls subdivide the ring-shaped storage compartments 36, 37 into a large
number of storage compartments adjacent each other in circumferential sense, as will
be clear to a person skilled in the art.
[0018] Although it is generally most practical if the tangential separation walls 34, 35
have a constant radius with respect to the axis 33 of rotational symmetry, it is also
possible that there are tangential separation walls arranged at larger or smaller
distance from the rotation axis 33 to thus be able to vary the sizes of the storage
compartments. It is further noted that the number of tangential separation walls does
not have to be equal to two.
[0019] Figure 3 shows the assortment cabinet 10 in a closed condition, that is to say that
each rolling drawer 30 is located entirely within the housing 20, in which case each
rolling drawer 30 at its upper side is covered by the upper wall 24 of the housing
20 or the carrier plates 27 located above such drawer, respectively. Thus, the rolling
drawers are protected against entry of dust and the like. This position of a rolling
drawer will be indicated as rest position.
[0020] Each rolling drawer 30 can individually be pulled forward out of the housing 20 to
a position that will be indicated as operational position. In order to facilitate
handling by a user, the side wall 32 may be provided with handles in the shape of
recesses. Because the rolling drawer 30 is resting on balls 40, the said movement
is relatively easy and requires little force, even when the weight of the rolling
drawer plus contents is fairly large. The cabinet 100 is provided with a limitation
mechanism that prevents the rolling drawer 30 from being pulled outwards too far so
that it might fall out of the cabinet 20. Figures 4 and 5 illustrate a preferred embodiment
of such limitation mechanism.
[0021] Figure 4 shows a schematic side view, partly in cross-section, comparable to figure
3 but at a larger scale of a single rolling drawer 30 with the carrier plate 27 located
there under. For sake of simplicity, the remaining parts of the cabinet 20 are not
shown. Apart from that, it is noted that in stead of a carrier plate 27, also the
bottom 23 could have been shown: with respect to the lowest rolling drawer, the bottom
23 has the function of carrier plate. It is further noted that, for sake of clarity,
the rolling drawer 30 in figure 4 is elevated with respect to the carrier plate 27.
At the lower side of the bottom 31 of the rolling drawer 30, a ball bearing 41 is
mounted, aligned with the rotation axis 33 of the rolling drawer 30. The carrier plate
27 is provided with an elongate groove 42 in which this ball bearing 41 fits. This
groove 42 has a longitudinal direction directed substantially perpendicular to the
rear wall 21 of the housing 20. The groove 42 has a width, that is to say perpendicular
to the plane of drawing in figure 4, corresponding to the diameter of the ball bearing
41 or slightly larger. The groove 42 has a front end edge 44 located close to the
front edge 28 of the carrier plate 27, and a rear end edge 43 opposite same. These
end edges 43 and 44 form stops for the ball bearing 41 and thus define the extreme
positions of the rolling drawer 30 within the housing 20. In the situation shown in
figure 4, the ball bearing 41 is shown in the rest position in which the rear end
edge 43 of the groove 42 forms a stop, in which case the rolling drawer 30 is located
entirely within the housing 20, as illustrated in figure 3.
[0022] Figure 5 is a view comparable to figure 4, in which the rolling drawer 30 is now
shown resting on the balls 40, and in which the rolling drawer 30 is shown in the
operational position pulled out of the housing 20, wherein the ball bearing 41 is
touching the front end edge 44 of the groove 42. The figure further shows that the
inner tangential wall 35 in this condition is substantially aligned with the end edge
28 of the carrier plate 27 (or end edge 25 of upper plate 24), so that the ring-shaped
compartments 36 and 37 are freely accessible. If desired, the central compartment
38 may also be an accessible compartment if the height of the inner separation wall
35 is smaller than the height of the side wall 32 of the rolling drawer 30, as shown.
It is however also possible that the separation walls have a height corresponding
to the height of the side wall 32; in that case, the central compartment 38 will remain
empty.
[0023] By the limitation construction as shown, it is assured that, if the objects stored
in the rolling drawer are distributed evenly, the centre of gravity of the rolling
drawer 30 lies always within the cabinet 20. If the rolling drawer 30 would be loaded
on one side heavier than at the other side, it might happen that the centre of gravity
comes to lie beyond the end edge 28 of the carrier plate 27, in which case the rolling
drawer 30 will get the tendency of tilting over forwards. In that case, the rear end
of the side wall 32, indicated by A in figure 5, will touch the underside of the carrier
plate 27 located above. Thereby, a further tilting is prevented. In order to assure
that the roller drawer 30 can still rotate around its rotation axis 33 even in this
situation, it is possible if desired to arrange guiding balls or guiding wheels 45
along the upper edge of the side wall 32, as schematically illustrated in the partial
enlargement B.
[0024] The balls 40 on which the rolling drawer 30 rests allow the rolling drawer 30 to
be rotated around its vertical rotation axis 33. Also the ball bearing 41 aligned
with this rotation axis 33 allows this rotational movement. In the pulled out operational
position of figure 5, this means that the full contents of the ring-shaped storage
compartments 36 and 37 is accessible by rotating the rolling drawer 30.
[0025] Figure 6 is a schematic top view of a carrier plate 27. In this figure, the groove
42 is visible, as well as the balls 40. The figure shows an example of a pattern of
distribution for the balls 40. The balls 40 may be arranged in concentrical rings,
centred around the centre M, which is located centrally in the groove 42, at a distance
from the rear end edge 43 corresponding to half the diameter of the ball bearing 41.
In that case, it is advantageous if the outer ring of balls 40 has a ball 40P aligned
with the groove 42.
[0026] Figure 7 is a schematic top view comparable to figure 6, in which also the contour
of the rolling drawer 30 is shown in the pulled out operational position illustrated
in figure 5. Also the position of the ball bearing 41 is shown, touching the front
end edge 44 of the groove 42. As far as projecting outside the housing 20, a tangential
separation wall 34 and an example of some radial partition walls 39 are also shown
in order to illustrate that the ring-shaped storage compartments 36 and 37 are accessible
in this condition for a fairly large part of their circumferential size. Because the
rolling drawer 30 can rotate without limitation, as indicated by the arrow P, it is
simply possible to quickly obtain an overview of the contents present in the roller
drawer 30 end to take a searched object from the rolling drawer 30.
[0027] A large advantage of the present invention is that, in relation to the wall surface
area occupied, the cabinet 100 offers a fairly large storage volume. In a suitable
embodiment, the cabinet 100 has a width of 120 cm and a depth, i.e. distance between
rear wall 21 and front edge 28, of 125 cm. In this suitable embodiment, the rolling
drawer 30 has a diameter of approximately 120 cm, and the groove 42 can have a length
of 45 cm (plus the diameter of a ball bearing 41 utilized). The two ring-shaped storage
compartments 36 and 37 can then together have a radial size of 45 cm, for instance
20 and 25 cm respectively, and the central compartment can then have a diameter of
30 cm.
[0028] In the embodiment discussed before, a support plate 27 is fixed within the housing
20, and the rolling drawer 30 can both rotate and be horizontally displaced on the
support plate. In an alternative embodiment, the rolling drawer 30 can only rotate
with respect to the support plate, and there is no horizontal freedom of displacement.
In order to partly bring the roller drawer 30 out of the housing 20 in that case,
the support plate can be horizontally shifted.
[0029] Figure 8 schematically illustrates an embodiment in which the support plate 27 can
be displaced horizontally with a linear movement, for instance by writing on a horizontal
guide 81 by means of wheels 82. A pin 83 under the bottom of the rolling drawer 30
engages a hole 84 of the support plate 27 in order to thus only allow a rotational
movement of the rolling drawer 30 with respect to the support plate. If desired, this
pin 83 may be provided with a rotation bearing, comparable to 41.
[0030] Figure 9 schematically illustrates an embodiment in which the support plate 27 can
be displaced horizontally by a rotational movement, for instance by hinging, using
a hinge 91, around a vertical axis 92 that is fixed with respect to the housing 20
(not shown in figure 9A). Figure 9B shows a schematic top view of the support plate
27 in its rest position located within the housing 20. The hinge point 91 is located
at a corner point of the support plate 27 close to the front side of the cabinet 20,
the bottom right in the figure. For sake of simplicity, the rolling drawer 30 is not
shown in figure 9B. A hole in the support plate 27, for receiving a central pin of
the rolling drawer 30 (with or without a rotation bearing) is indicated by the reference
numeral 94. Figure 9C shows a comparable top view of the support plate 27 in its outwards
hinged (counter clockwise) operational position. It can clearly be seen that the hole
94 has been moved forwards with respect to its position in the rest position, which
corresponds to a horizontal displacement of the roller drawer 30.
[0031] It will be clear to a person skilled in the art that the invention is not limited
to the exemplary embodiments discussed in the above, but that several variations and
modifications are possible within the protective scope of the inventions as defined
in the attached claims.
[0032] For instance, it is not necessary that the support plate is a completely solid plate:
this plate can be provided with openings in places where no ball bearing are mounted.
It is also possible that the plate is replaced by a system of horizontal bars or strips,
which may be directed according to the longitudinal direction of the housing and/or
according to the width-direction of the housing, in which case the ball bearings are
mounted on these bars or strips, respectively.
[0033] A feature of a ball bearing is that the ball can rotate in all directions but is
positionally secured. The same technical effect is achieved with a wheel or cylindrical
bearing with a horizontal rotation axis, mounted in a holder which in turn is rotatable
around a vertical axis with respect to the carrier plate or carrier bar or carrier
strip, respectively. In all these cases, a supported object (i.e. the drawer) can
be displaced in two dimensions with respect to the carrier construction. For this
reason, the phrase "2D-bearing" will be used for these bearings as umbrella phrase.
[0034] It is further possible that the cabinet has a different outer contour than the contour
described.
[0035] It is further noted that it is not necessary that the housing has closed walls.
[0036] In general, an assortment cabinet will have multiple storeys, i.e. multiple drawers
above each other. The advantage offered by the present invention is however already
achieved in the case of a single drawer. It is further not necessary that the present
invention is implemented in a detached cabinet: it is well conceivable that one (or
multiple) drawers according to the present invention are built in in a wall. It is
also conceivable that one (or multiple) drawers according to the present invention
are built in in a vehicle, for instance a service car, particularly in the floor of
a service car.
[0037] Features that are only described for a certain embodiment are also applicable in
other embodiments described.
1. Storage system, comprising:
a housing (20) with at least one horizontal support construction (27; 23) fixed with
respect to the housing, which support construction is provided with a plurality of
2D-bearings (40) positionally fixed with respect to the support construction;
a drawer (30) carried by the 2D-bearings of the support construction, which drawer
in a rest position is entirely within the housing, and wherein the drawer has an operational
position in which the drawer partially projects out of the housing;
wherein the drawer can be displaced back and forth with respect to the support construction
from its rest position to its operational position and vice versa, wherein the drawer
during this shifting displacement remains supported by at least a part of the 2D-bearings;
and wherein the drawer at least in its operational position is rotatable around a
vertical rotation axis (33), wherein the drawer during this rotational movement remains
supported by at least a part of the 2D-bearings.
2. Storage system according to claim 1, wherein the 2D-bearings are implemented as balls
or wheels.
3. Storage system according to claim 1, wherein the support construction is implemented
as horizontal support plate.
4. Storage system according to claim 1, wherein a support construction is implemented
as system of horizontal profiles, bars or strips.
5. Storage system according to any of the previous claims, wherein the drawer is provided
with a limitation mechanism for limiting the horizontal displacement freedom of the
drawer with respect to its corresponding support construction (27; 23).
6. Storage system according to claim 5, wherein the limitation mechanism comprises an
elongate guide groove (42) with a rear end edge (43) and a front end edge (44), as
well as a guide (41) mounted under the drawer (30), aligned with the rotation axis
(33) and fitting in said groove (42).
7. Storage system according to claim 6, wherein the guide (41) is implemented as a ball
bearing.
8. Storage system according to claim 6, wherein the guide groove (42) is arranged in
the support construction (27; 23).
9. Storage system according to claim 6 or 7 or 8, wherein the drawer (30) has an inner
cylindrical separation wall (35), of which the radius corresponds to the distance
between the front end edge (44) of the elongate guide groove (42) and a front edge
(28; 25) of the support plate (27; 23).
10. Storage system according to any of the previous claims, wherein the drawer (30) has
a cylindrical side wall (32).
11. Storage system according to claim 10, wherein the drawer (30) at the upper edge of
its cylindrical side wall (32) is provided with guide balls or guide wheels (45).
12. Assortment cabinet (100), comprising at least one storage system according to any
of the previous claims.
13. Vehicle, provided with at least one storage system according to any of the previous
claims.