The present patent application relates to a cabinet with one or more pull-out shelves capable of coming out of the cabinet by means of a basically semi-circular travel. Such a cabinet is described in DE 202006017567 U1.

In particular, the cabinet of the invention belongs to the type of parallelepiped cabinets that are used, for instance, as base units in modular kitchens, with considerable width and one door in off-centred position.

It is evident that the off-centred position of a similar door allows the user of a similar cabinet to reach out easily only for the objects that are situated on the internal shelves in a position immediately behind the opening where the door is mounted.

Likewise, in a similar situation, it is particularly difficult to reach for the objects that are situated on the shelves in "lateral" position with respect to the door that is to say at the back of the fixed panel that covers the front of the cabinet.

It must be noted that the latter problem has been already addressed with the creation of cabinets provided with pull-out shelves, which are capable of going from an "internal" stop position, in which they have an "idle" position and are completely contained inside the cabinet, to an "external" stop position, in which they are pulled out completely on the front of the cabinet, thus allowing the user to take and store objects as desired.

However, it must be noted that the solutions that have been used so far to realise the pull-out shelves are not completely satisfactory, being impaired by at least two types of significant drawbacks.

The first drawback is of technical and economic type, and refers to the complexity and expensiveness of the sophisticated mechanisms used to obtain the complete extraction of the shelves from the cabinet.

It must be noted that the majority of the shelves that are currently available on the market make their extraction travel from the cabinet by means of a complex roto-translation movement that requires the cooperation and sequential actuation of a plurality of kinematic mechanisms.

The second drawback is of merely practical type and is related with the complexity of the operations that must be carried out by the user to completely extract a shelf from the cabinet.

In fact, the user must rotate the front door of the cabinet to open it and then, with a second manual operation, grab the shelf and pull to extract it completely.

Those who are familiar with household activities very well know that the hands of people working in the kitchen are often dirty or used to hold tools or products of miscellaneous nature.

In such a context it can be especially uncomfortable to make the two aforesaid manual operations in sequence in order to pull out the shelf completely.

A careful examination of the traditional art has allowed remedying the inconveniences that are typical of pull-out shelves, in view of the design of the specific cabinet with pull-out shelves claimed in the present patent application.

The new cabinet of the invention is provided (in one or more specimens) with a shelf that uses a very simple and inexpensive sliding mechanism, which is basically formed of two cooperating pairs of curved guides that are not too different from the ones that are normally used in drawers of modular kitchens or office furniture.

In view of this simple, yet ingenious solution, the shelf is comes out of the cabinet and returns inside it by means of a simple rotation, which has nothing to do with the more complex roto-translation provided for in the prior art.

On the other hand, the cabinet of the invention takes advantage of the fact that the pull-out shelf is also capable of supporting the door designed to cover the front opening.

This means that, in such a case, the cabinet provided with the shelf of the invention abandons the traditional door hinged on one side, in favour of a translating door that is mounted on the front of the shelf and consequently forced to follow the alternate travels of the shelf.

In view of the above, it appears evident that the removal of the door from the opening and the extraction of the shelf no longer require the two manual operations of the prior art, being combined in a single manual operation.

By holding the handle provided on the front of the door and exerting a sufficiently long traction, the user can pull out the shelf from the internal compartment of the cabinet and remove the door from the front opening that gives access to the same compartment.

Of course, by exerting the opposite force, the user can gradually reintroduce the shelf inside the cabinet and, once reintroduction has been completed, bring the translating door in such a position to exactly close the same front opening through which the shelf makes its alternate extraction and reintroduction travels.

It must be noted that the cabinet of the invention can be alternatively provided with a single pull-out shelf or with an overlapped series of said shelves, each of them being able to slide independently.

In such a case, each shelf frontally supports a corresponding panel that contributes, in cooperation with similar panels supported by all the other shelves, to close the common opening that gives access to the cabinet.

It can be otherwise said that the front panels of the overlapped shelves form a sort of chest of drawers with vertical direction that entirely occupies the off-centred opening of the cabinet of the invention.

For major clarity the description of the invention continues with reference to the enclosed drawings, which are intended for purposes of illustration only and not in a limiting sense, wherein:

• figures 1 A, 1 B and 1 C are top views of the shelf of the invention, inserted in the corresponding cabinet, in three different positions during its alternate sliding travels;
• figure 2 is an axonometric view of a cabinet that houses two overlapped specimens of the shelf of the invention, without the upper horizontal wall, the front panel and part of the translating door of the cabinet;

• figure 3 is basically the same as figure 2, except for it shows in a "transparent" mode the cooperation of the means used for the alternate travels of the pull-out shelves;
• figure 4 is an additional axonometric view of the cabinet of the invention, with reference to the embodiment that provides for motorising the sliding shelves.

Referring to the enclosed figures, the cabinet of the invention (M) has a parallelepiped shape and is frontally provided with an off-centred opening obtained next to a fixed wall (P).

In the embodiment of figures 2 and 3 the cabinet (M) is provided with two overlapped specimens of the same pull-out shelf (1).

Each shelf (1) is provided with arc-of-circumference profile, longitudinally defined by two concentric curved borders (1a, 1b) and, at the ends, by two rectilinear borders (2a, 2b) with 90° angular deviation.

Referring to figure 1 A, when the shelf of the invention (1) is completely arranged inside the cabinet (M), the first of the two rectilinear borders (2a) is basically in contact with the internal side of the lateral border (SL) of the cabinet (M), whereas, in this same condition, the second of the rectilinear borders (2b) is arranged in a slightly more internal position than the opening of the cabinet (M).

Figures 1 B and 1 C show two different positions of the shelf (1) during the outward rotation of the cabinet of the invention (M); in particular, figure 1 B shows the shelf (1) at approximately half of the rotation, whereas figure 1C shows it at the end of the pull-out travel.

In the latter case, the entire shelf (1) is arranged in projecting position on the front of the opening of the cabinet (M), in which the first rectilinear border (2a) is arranged in a slightly more internal position than the opening.

After explaining the operating principle of the pull-out shelf (1) of the invention, this description continues with reference to the means used to allow the alternate rotations of the shelf (1).

In particular, the shelf (1) of the cabinet (M) is provided on the lower side with a concentric pair of guides with arc-of-circumference profile (4a, 4b).

The first guide (4a) follows the profile of the first longitudinal border (1 a) of the shelf, although in a slightly more internal position; on the other hand, the second guide (4b) follows the profile of the second longitudinal border (1 b) of the shelf (1), in a slightly more internal position.

The pair of guides (4a, 4b) is adapted to be coupled, with possibility of mutual sliding, with a corresponding pair of fixed counterguides (5a, 5b) horizontally mounted inside the cabinet (M) and provided with suitable length to extend basically from the internal side of the lateral edge (SL) of the cabinet (M) to the front opening of the same cabinet (M).

In the cooperation between guides (4a, 4b) and counterguides (5a, 5b), the guides (4a, 4b), being joined with the shelf (1), make alternative travels with respect to the counterguides (5a, 5b) that are fixed to the cabinet (M).

Likewise, it appears evident that the counterguides (5a, 5b) are also capable of supporting the shelf (1) at the corresponding operating height inside the cabinet (M).

According to the preferred embodiment shown in figures 1A-1C, the cooperation between guides (4a, 4b) and counterguides (5a, 5b) provides for the guides (4a, 4b) to have a slightly lower centre-to-centre distance than the counterguides (5a, 5b), in such a way that the guides (4a, 4b) can be arranged on the inside of the counterguides (5a, 5b) at a very close distance.

Referring to figure 3, the two guides (4a, 4b) are provided, on the outside of the back ends, with overlapped pairs of splined wheels with horizontal axis (4c, 4d) and the counterguides (5a, 5b) are provided, on the inside of the front ends, with corresponding overlapped pairs of splined wheels (5c, 5d).

The function of the pairs of wheels (4c, 4d / 5c, 5d) is to guide and contain the mutual sliding of the guides (4a, 4b) and counterguides (5a, 5b).

During the alternate travels of the sliding guides (4a, 4b), the pairs of wheels (4c, 4b) slide along the fixed counterguides (5a, 5b), "embracing" them from below and from above.

In the same occasions the pairs of wheels (5c, 5d) of the fixed counterguides (5a, 5b) favour and contain the alternate travels of the sliding guides (4a, 4b) from below and from above.

Still referring to the same figures 1A-1C, it must be noted that the pair of counterguides (4a, 4b) is supported inside the cabinet (M), at the desired height, by means of a vertical arm (6) that protrudes from the bottom of the cabinet and is applied at approximately half of the length of the counterguide (4b) with higher radius of curvature, as well as by means of a support (7) that protrudes internally on the lateral edge (SL) of the cabinet (M) and directly supports a rod (8) that connects the two back ends of the counterguides (5a, 5b).

As mentioned earlier, it must be noted that each specimen of the shelf (1) provided in the cabinet of the invention (M) is also capable of supporting a panel (3) designed to close the opening of the cabinet (M).

As respectively shown in Figures 1 A, 1 B and 1C, the panel (3) closes the opening of the cabinet (M) when the shelf (1) has reached the "internal" end-of-travel position and frees the opening as soon as the shelf (1) resumes its outward rotation.

According to the preferred embodiment of figures 2 and 3, the panel (3) is fixed with the interposition of a metal plate (3a) at the front ends of the two sliding guides (4a, 4b).

Reference is made to figure 2, wherein the lower shelf is provided with the front panel (3), whereas the upper shelf, which is deprived of a similar panel, shows the plate (3a) fixed to the two sliding guides (4a, 4b).

Moreover, it must be said that, according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the alternate travels of each shelf (1) are favoured by a small electrical engine (ME).

As shown in Figure 4, the engine (ME) is flanged on the external counterguide (5b) and adapted to actuate one of the wheels (5d) with respect to which the guide (4b) alternatively slides.

Finally, figures 1A to 1C show a traditional shock-absorber (9) mounted between the cabinet (M) and the shelf (1), which is adapted to guarantee a "soft" stop to the shelf (1).

The same figures show a rod (10) that connects the back ends of the two sliding guides (4a, 4b), as well as an additional connecting bracket (11) provided approximately at half of the length of the same.