Foot For The Cabinet Of Electrical Household Appliances And Other Furniture Articles


Updated about 2 years ago

Abstract

A FOOT FOR THE CABINET OF ELECTRICAL HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCES AND OTHER FURNITURE ARTICLES

Information

Application ID IN/PCT/2001/00058/MUM
Date of Application 2001-01-15
Publication Number 0

Applicants

Name Address Country Nationality
MULTIBRAS S. A. ELETRODOMESTICOS A BRAZILIAN COMAPANY, OF AVENIDA DAS NACOES UNIDAS, 12995, 32 ANDAR, CEP-04578-000-SAO PAULO-SP, BRAZIL. Brazil Brazil

Inventors

Name Address Country Nationality
MULTIBRAS S. A. ELETRODOMESTICOS A BRAZILIAN COMAPANY, OF AVENIDA DAS NACOES UNIDAS, 12995, 32 ANDAR, CEP-04578-000-SAO PAULO-SP, BRAZIL. Brazil Brazil

Specification

FORM 2
THE PATENTS ACT 1970 [39 OF 1970] & THE PATENTS RULES/2003 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
[See Section 10; rule 13]
"A FOOT FOR THE CABINET OF ELECTRICAL HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCES AND OTHER FURNITURE ARTICLES"
MULTIBRAS S.A. ELETRODOMESTICOS, a Brazilian company, of Avenida das Nacoes Unidas, 12995, 32 andar, CEP-04578-000-Sao Paulo-SP, Brazil,
The following specification particularly describes the invention and the manner in which it is to be performed:



Field of the Invention
The present invention refers to a foot for furniture in general -'and, more particularly, for cabinets of electrical household appliances, such as: refrigerators, freezers and laundering machines, which allows these appliances L.U- DS moved .relatively easily on the floor, leveled in the ' desired operational position and selectively locked against sliding. Background of the Invention
It, is known from the prior art different constructions
for a. .foot of the above mentioned type. In one of these
. constructions, there are provided front feet with
adjustable height and rear rollers, the stability of the
cabinet in the operational position' being assured by
attrition of the. . front, feet against the floor. This
solution.' is deficient regarding the movability of the
. cabinet. arid the locking., thereof in the operational
"position,'" Another -known solution comprises four feet in
the' form of rollers, which presents an expensive
construction, which is difficult to be leveled and whose
locking,. usually . not efficient', is " achieved by
interrupting 'the,., rotation of., the rollers." which does--not
avoid the' sliding on the floor.
There are also the feet-, which may be adjusted by cams, in order to guarantee a more precise level adjustment, and which are usually applied to heavy products,. such as the side by side combined refrigerators and freezers. This known solution is of complex and expensive construction, requiring multiple means to obtain the. sliding, locking and leveling characteristics. Disclosure of the Invention
It is a . general - objective, of the present invention to provide; a foot for the cabinet of electrical household appliances and other furniture' articles which, allows, by means of a simple and. relatively low cost construction,

the cabinet to be easily manually moved on the floor, to
have a simple and safe locking in the chosen operational
position and to be correctly leveled in the position in
which it is locked.
The objective above is achieved by providing a foot
comprising:
- a body, which is externally threaded and has an upper
portion to be attached to a support incorporated to the
lower structure of the cabinet, and a lower portion
carrying a seating surface, which is displaceable on a floor.; and
- a nut, mounted around the body, so that it may be
rotated by the user and thus axially displaced between a
cabinet displacing position, in which its lower end face
remains operatively disconnected from the floor, and a
cabinet locking position, in which its lower end face is
seated against the floor, with a sufficient force to
avoid the displacement of the cabinet on the floor.
Brief Description of the Drawings
The invention will be described below, with reference to
the attached drawings, in which:
Figure 1 is a lateral elevational view of the foot of the
present invention, in the displacing position and mounted
to a support incorporated to the lower structure of the
cabinet;
Figure 2 is a diametral cross-sectional view of the
assembly of figure 1;
Figure 3 is a perspective view of the foot shown in
figures 1 and 2, illustrating a possible construction for
its fixation to the respective support incorporated to
the lower structure of the cabinet;
Figure 4 is an upper perspective view of the support,
showing a constructive detail of the region thereof to
which said foot is applied and affixed;
Figure 5 is a perspective view of the body of the foot
illustrated in the previous figures;
Figure 6 is an upper end view of the body shown in figure
5;

Figure 7 is a lower perspective view of the body-illustrated in figures 5 and 6;
Figure 8 is an exploded perspective view of another constructive form of the present invention, illustrating the body and the nut shown in figure 2, and a roller to be mounted to said body;
Figure 9 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the foot carrying the roller illustrated in figure 8 and in the cabinet displacing position, and
Figure 10 is a view similar to that of figure 9, but illustrating the foot in the cabinet locking position. Description of the Illustrated Embodiments According to the appended drawings, the foot of the present invention is preferably produced in plastic material and comprises a body 10, which is externally threaded and incorporates an upper portion 11 to be engaged and affixed to a respective support 20 incorporated to the lower structure of a cabinet (not illustrated) of an electrical household appliance or any other piece of furniture, the body 10 having a lower portion 12 carrying a seating surface, which is displaceable on a floor P. In a constructive form of the invention, illustrated in figures 1-7, the lower portion 12 incorporates a sliding surface 16 with the approximate shape of a spherical calotte portion.. in order to be seated on a floor P, onto which the cabinet is supported, and allow said cabinet to slide easily on smooth or substantially smooth floors, without requiring much effort from the user.
According to the illustrated embodiment, the body 10 is in the form of a cylindrical tubular rod, with the lower end open and the upper end closed and defining the upper portion 11 in the form of an axial projection of smaller diameter than that of the body 10 and also provided with an external thread extension 11a. The upper portion 11 of the body 10 incorporates an eccentric salience 14, the function of which will be explained below.

With this construction, each foot has the upper portion
11 of its body 10 threaded into a hole 21 provided in a
basic portion of the respective support 20, which is U
shaped and incorporated to the lower structure of the
cabinet (not shown) . As illustrated in figures 2, 3 and
4, the hole 21 of each support 20 has its edge shaped so
as to define a generally helical thread pitch, allowing
the engagement with the external thread lla of the upper
portion 11 of the body 10 and the consequent axial
locking of the latter to the support 20.
In order that the body 10 remains adequately affixed to
the support 20 and locked both axially and rotatively
thereto, the support 20, is provided with a slot 22
radially projecting from the hole 21 and which is
positioned and dimensioned to receive the salience 24
incorporated to the upper portion of the body 10, when
said face is seated against the support 20 at the end of
the threading of the upper portion 11 into the hole 21.
In the illustrated embodiment (figure 7) , the body 10
incorporates, internally and from its open lower end,
longitudinal ribs 15 which are angularly spaced from each
other and shaped to be engaged to the respective support
20 by means of a powered mounting tool, upon affixing the
body 10 to the respective support 20.
In the constructive form illustrated in figures 1-7,the
body 10 defines the foot itself, since the lower end
thereof, in the form of a centrally perforated spherical
calotte portion, has the function of being seated onto
the floor P and of allowing, thanks to the material with
which the body 10 is formed and to the rounded shape,
said foot to relatively easily slide on smooth or
substantially smooth plane floors.
In another form of carrying out the present invention, as
illustrated in figures 8-10, the body 10 carries, mounted
at least partially therewithin, from its lower portion
12, a roller 40 defining a rolling surface 46, which is
downwardly projected from a plane including a lower end
face of the body 10 and which is seatable on the floor P


when the foot is in a cabinet displacing position (figure
9) . In this construction, the roller 40, which may be of
the removable type, for example, is horizontally
journalled to the lower portion 12 of the body 10 around
a rotation shaft 41 having the ends thereof fitted into
respective radial holes 18 provided in the body 10.
In order to guarantee that the present foot presents the other two operational characteristics, i.e., the selective locking against involuntary displacements (figure 10) and the leveling of the cabinet, a nut 30 is mounted around the externally threaded body 10, so that it may be rotatively and selectively moved by the user and axially displaced ,between the cabinet displacing position, in which its lower end face 31 remains operatively disconnected from the floor P and usually spaced therefrom, and a cabinet locking position (figure
10) , in which its lower end face is seated against said
floor P. Further rotation of nut 30 may be required in
order to absorb, in a higher or lower degree, the weight
of the cabinet, as a function of the locking and
leveling requirements in each particular application.
The lower end face 31 of the nut 30 is preferably provided with a coating 50 in an anti-sliding material, in order to facilitate its locking effect against displacement, when pressed against the floor P. In the illustrated embodiment, the coating 50 in an anti-sliding material takes the form of an annular insert, which may be co-injected, fitted or affixed to the lower end face 31 of the nut 30. However, it should be understood that the anti-sliding material may be defined by the material that forms the nut 30.
The nut 30 has its surface preferably multi-faceted, alternating projecting face portions with recessed face portions, at least some of these faces being provided with radial holes 32 for introducing a tool, in order to apply a manual torque sufficient to promote the rotation of the nut 30 to its sliding and locking-leveling operational positions.


With the constructions described above, a foot of easy manufacture is provided, which is relatively cheap and which allows the user to obtain the displacing and locking-leveling functions of the cabinet by a very simple and safe manual operation.

WE CLAIM:
1. A foot for the cabinet of electrical household appliances and other
furniture articles, wherein it comprises:
- a body (10) , which is externally threaded and has an upper portion (11) to be attached to a support (20) incorporated to the lower structure of the cabinet, and a lower portion (12) carrying a seating surface (16, 46) which is displaceable on a floor (P) and
a nut (30) mounted around the body (10), so that it may be rotated by the user and thus axially displaced between a cabinet displacing position, in which its lower end face (31) remains operatively disconnected from the floor (P), and a cabinet locking position, in which its lower end face (3t) is seated against the floor (P), with a sufficient force to avoid the displacement of the cabinet on the floor (P).
2. A foot for the cabinet of electrical household appliances and other
furniture articles, as claimed in claim 1, wherein the lower end face (31) of
the nut (30) is at least partially defined as a coating (50) in an anti-sliding
material.
3. A foot for the cabinet of electrical household appliances and other
furniture articles, as claimed in claim 2, wherein the coating (50) in an anti-
sliding material is defined by an annular insert, which is fitted into and
affixed to the nut (30).
4. A foot for the cabinet of electrical household appliances and other
furniture articles, as claimed in claim 2, wherein the nut (30) is provided
with radial holes (32) in its lateral surface, in order to fit a tool for applying a
manual torque.


5. A foot for the cabinet of electrical household appliances and other furniture articles, as claimed in claim 1, wherein the upper the upper portion (11) of the body (10) is in the form of an axial projection of smaller diameter and provided with an external thread (11a) and engageable with the edge of a hole (21) provided in a basic portion of the respective support (20).
6. A foot for the cabinet of electrical household appliances and other furniture articles, as claimed in claim 5, wherein each hole (21) has its edge shaped in order to define a generally helical thread pitch to be engaged by the external thread (11a) of the upper portion (11) of the body (10).
7. A foot for the cabinet of electrical household appliances and other
furniture articles, as claimed in claim 1 wherein, the upper portion of the
body (10) incorporates an eccentric salience (14) which is fittable in a slot
(22) of the support (20) when the upper portion (11) of the body (10) is seated
against the support (20) at the end of the threading of said external thread
extension (11a) into the hole (21).
8. A foot for the cabinet of electrical household appliances and other furniture articles, as claimed in claim 1, wherein the body (10) takes the form of a cylindrical tubular rod with the lower end open and upper end closed.
9. A foot for the cabinet of electrical household appliances and other furniture articles, as claimed in claim 8, wherein the body (10) incorporates, internally and from its open lower end, longitudinal ribs (15) which are angularly spaced and shaped to be engaged to the respective support (20) by a powered mounting tool, upon affixing the body (10) to the respective support (20)
10. A foot for the cabinet of electrical household appliances and other
furniture articles, as claimed in claim 1, wherein the lower portion (12)


incorporates a sliding surface (16) seatable onto the floor (P).
11. A foot for the cabinet of electrical household appliances and other furniture articles, as claimed in claim 10, wherein the lower portion (12) of the body (10) has the approximate form of a spherical calotte defining the sliding surface (16).
12. A foot for the cabinet of electrical household appliances and other furniture articles, as claimed in claim 1, wherein a roller (40) which is horizontally journalled to the lower portion (12) of the body (10), in order to define a rolling surface (46) seatable on the floor (P) when the nut (30) is displaced to the cabinet displacing position.
13. A foot for the cabinet of electrical household appliances and other furniture articles, as claimed in claim 12, wherein the roller (40) is partially mounted inside the body (10) from the lower end (12) thereof.
14. A foot for the cabinet of electrical household appliances and other furniture articles, as claimed in claim 12 wherein, the roller (40) is removable.
15. A foot for the cabinet of electrical household appliances and other furniture articles, as claimed in claim 1, wherein Foot, as claimed in claim 14 wherein the roller (40) is mounted around a rotation shaft (41) whose ends are fitted into respective radial holes provided in the body (10).
Dated this 15th day of January 2001
(RANJNA MEHTA DUTT) OF REMFRY & SAGAR ATTORNEY FOR THE APPLICANTS

Documents

Name Date
abstract1.jpg 2018-08-08
in-pct-2001-00058-mum-cancelled pages(01-06-2007).pdf 2007-06-01
in-pct-2001-00058-mum-correspondence(28-03-2006).pdf 2006-03-28
in-pct-2001-00058-mum-claims(granted)-(01-06-2005).doc 2005-06-01
in-pct-2001-00058-mum-claims(granted)-(01-06-2005).pdf 2005-06-01
in-pct-2001-00058-mum-drawing(01-06-2005).pdf 2005-06-01
in-pct-2001-00058-mum-form 1a(01-06-2005).pdf 2005-06-01
in-pct-2001-00058-mum-form 2(granted)-(01-06-2005).doc 2005-06-01
in-pct-2001-00058-mum-form 2(granted)-(01-06-2005).pdf 2005-06-01
in-pct-2001-00058-mum-form 3(01-06-2005).pdf 2005-06-01
in-pct-2001-00058-mum-form-pct-ipea-409(01-06-2005).pdf 2005-06-01
in-pct-2001-00058-mum-form-pct-isa-210(01-06-2005).pdf 2005-06-01
in-pct-2001-00058-mum-petition under rule 137(01-06-2005).pdf 2005-06-01
in-pct-2001-00058-mum-petition under rule 138(01-06-2005).pdf 2005-06-01
in-pct-2001-00058-mum-power of authority(01-06-2005).pdf 2005-06-01
in-pct-2001-00058-mum-correspondence(ipo)-(01-06-2004).pdf 2004-06-01
in-pct-2001-00058-mum-form 19(27-04-2004).pdf 2004-04-27
in-pct-2001-00058-mum-form 1(15-01-2001).pdf 2001-01-15
in-pct-2001-00058-mum-form 3(15-01-2001).pdf 2001-01-15
in-pct-2001-00058-mum-form 5(15-01-2001).pdf 2001-01-15

Orders

Applicant Section Controller Decision Date URL