Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02433105 2003-06-23
METHOD OF MANUFACTURING A DRAWER BOX
WITH A FILE HANGING SYSTEM
Field of the Invention
This invention relates to furniture. In particular, this invention relates to
a
method of manufacturing a drawer box having an integrated file hanging system.
Background of the Invention
File hanging systems are commonly used in desks and similar articles of
furniture. A conventional file hanging system is designed to support a so-
called
"hanging folder," which is typically a cardboard folder having upper edges
provided
I o with hooks for suspending the folder. The upper edge of a drawer is fitted
with a
mountable track, on which the hanging folder hooks can be mounted width-wise
across the drawer, to suspend a folder having a length corresponding to the
width of
the drawer (typically an 11 inch folder). Moreover, to accommodate different
sizes of
folders, a cross rail can be mounted. to the track across the top of the
drawer, and
positioned to receive hooks from a folder that is too large to hang width-wise
across
the drawer (for example, a 14 inch folder). A number of hanging folders are
thus
suspended in the drawer from the track, to create a convenient filing system.
One known method of manufacturing drawer boxes for such a filing
system is to cut a flat blank of wood having a width equal to the intended
height of the
drawer, a length that is the sum of the lengths of the four sides of the
drawer box, and
a floor groove adjacent to the long side running along the length of the
blank. The side
of the blank opposite the floor groove is laminated with a flexible plastic
(e.g. vinyl)
sheet. The blank is positioned with the laminated side down, and processed
through a
"V-groover" which cuts a series of three 90° V-grooves through the
blank, without
damaging the vinyl laminate, corresponding to the positions of three of the
four
drawer box corners, and the end edges of the blank (which will be joined
together to
form the fourth corner) can be left squared to form a butt joint using drilled
holes and
dowels, or optionally mitred.
The drawer can thus be readily assembled by inserting a floor panel into
3o the floor groove and folding the blank around the floor panel to form the
drawer box.
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The joint along the abutting end edges is stapled, glued or otherwise secured
to
complete the drawer box. The plastic sheet holds the drawer box sides in
place, and a
hanger track is applied around the top edge of the drawer. A cross rail is
typically
taped to the bottom of the drawer for storage and shipping to the distributor
or
s customer, so that the purchaser has the option of hanging folders larger
than the width
of the drawer.
This conventional manufacturing method involves a number of additional
steps to assemble and mount the file hanger track, including cutting the
hanger track
to length, carefully mitring the end of each length of hanger track (where
aesthetic
I o appearance is important), and affixing the hanger track to the upper edges
of the
drawer box. This method also requires the extra step of taping the cross bar
to the
inside of the drawer. As these steps are typically carried out manually, over
the
manufacture of hundreds or thousands of drawers these extra steps can involve
a
considerable amount of labour and associated cost to the manufacturer.
Further, the
l s cross bars can be lost or stolen, or become dislodged in the drawer during
shipping so
that it scratches or mars the inside of the drawer box. Also, because the
cross bar
merely sits loosely on the hanger track when mounted, when in use there is a
tendency
for the cross bar to shift under the momentum of the hanging diles as the
drawer
suddenly comes to a stop when closed, which can cause the hanging folders to
2o become dislodged from the cross bar and fall into the drawer, potentially
spilling out
the contents of the files.
Summary of the Invention
The present invention addresses these disadvantages by providing a
method of manufacturing a drawer box having an integrated hanger track, and a
25 drawer box according to the method. In accordance with a preferred
embodiment of
the invention, the hanger track is provided with a longitudinal mounting rib,
preferably barbed, for engagement into a track mounting groove cut into the
long edge
of the blank that will become the top edge of the drawer box. The vinyl
laminate is
applied to the blank over the face that will become the exterior face of the
drawer box
and the top edge, and the hanger track is pressed into the groove in one
piece. The
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drawer blank is then processed through the V-groover, with the hanger track
already
in position along the top edge, so that the V-groover mitres the drawer track
at the
same time as the drawer sides, to thus provide an exact matching mitred finish
to the
assembled drawer box. At the same time this avoids the extra steps of mitring
and
installing the hanger track.
Moreover, using the method of the invention the hanger track is more
firmly mounted to the drawer, because as the mounting rib tears through the
vinyl
laminate, it folds the vinyl laminate back against the sides of the mounting
groove.
The vinyl flap intruding into the track groove both cooperates with the barbed
mounting rib to more securely affix the mounting track to the drawer, and
augments
the integrity of the mounting groove (particularly in a material such as
particle board)
because the vinyl sheet buttresses the sides of the grooves to resist
disintegration and
provide a spline-like seal between the mounting rib and the mounting groove.
In the preferred embodiment a bead is formed along the top edge of the
~ 5 mounting track and the cross bar is provided with a complementary hook
structure, so
that it can be positively engaged to the mounting track, as opposed to merely
resting
on the mounting track as in the prior art, to resist dislodgement and shifting
during
use.
The present invention thus provides a method of manufacturing a drawer
20 box from a drawer box blank and a track having at least one side wall for
suspending a
folder and at least one mounting rib for engaging the drawer box blank,
comprising
the steps of: a. providing a groove along an edge of the drawer box blank, for
receiving the mounting rib, b. applying a flexible sheet to a face of the
drawer box
blank to produce a laminated face and to the edge, c. inserting the mounting
rib into
25 the groove, d. forming right angled V-grooves through a face of the drawer
blank
opposite the laminated face, leaving the flexible sheet intact, and through
the track, at
positions corresponding to three corners of the drawer box, and e. assembling
the
drawer box by affixing a floor panel to the blank, folding the blank along the
V-
grooves and affixing the outer ends of the blank together.
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In a further aspect of the method, the flexible sheet tears along the groove
and folds into the groove and is engaged by the mounting rib.
The present invention further provides a drawer box assembled from a
track having at least one side wall for suspending a folder and at least one
mounting
rib, and a drawer box blank having a groove along an edge for receiving the
mounting
rib and a flexible sheet applied over a face of the drawer box blank to
produce a
laminated face and over the edge, and a series of right angled V-grooves
formed
through a face of the drawer blank opposite the laminated face, leaving the
flexible
sheet intact, and through the track, at positions corresponding to three
corners of the
l0 drawer box, whereby the drawer box is assembled by affixing a floor panel
to the
blank, folding the blank along the V-grooves and affixing the outer ends of
the blank
together.
In a further aspect of the drawer box the flexible sheet intrudes into the
groove and is engaged by the mounting rib.
~ 5 Brief Description of the Drawings
In drawings which illustrate by way of example only a preferred
embodiment of the invention,
Figure 1 is a schematic side elevation of a drawer box blank being mitred
by a V-groover;
20 Figure 2 is a perspective view of the drawer box blank of Figure 1 after
mitring;
Figure 3 is an end elevation of the hanger track;
Figure 4 is a schematic top plan view showing the hanger track being
applied to the mounting groove
25 Figure 5 is an enlarged cross-sectional elevation of the hanger track
lodged
in the mounting groove;
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Figure 6 is a perspective view of the partially assembled drawer box.
Detailed Description of the Invention
According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, a drawer box blank
10, shown in Figures 1 and 2, is provided with a floor groove 16 extending
along one
face parallel and adjacent to the edge that will become the bottom edges of
the drawer
box walls. A mounting groove is cut along the edge that will become the top
edge of
the drawer box. A laminate 12, for example a plastic sheet such as vinyl, is
applied by
any suitable means to the face of the drawer box blank 10 opposite the face
containing
the floor groove 16. The laminate 12 may be applied over the entire blank 10,
but
need only be applied over a substantial portion of the face of the blank 10
that will
become the exterior of the drawer box and the edge of the blank 10 that will
become
the top edge of the drawer box (best seen in Figure 5). The drawer box blank
10 may
be composed of any suitable material, typically particle board or the like.
A preferred embodiment of the hanger track 20, illustrated in Figures 3 and
t5 5, comprises a base 22 from which projects at least one sidewall 24 (two
sidewalk 24
are provided in the embodiment shown, for convenient installation, but only
one
sidewall 24 is required to support the hanging folders). The sidewall 24
preferably has
a return lip or flange 26, for reasons that are described below. Projecting
from the
bottom surface of the base 22, preferably centrally, is a mounting rib 30. The
2o mounting rib 30 preferably has a ribbed or barbed profile, to facilitate
engagement
with the mounting groove 14 in a manner that will resist dislodgement. The rib
30 is
preferably continuous along the length of the track 20, but does not need to
be.
The track 20 may be installed into the track mounting groove 14 as
illustrated in Figure 4, by inserting one end of the rib 30 into one end of
the groove 14
25 at an angle, and running the blank 10 and track 20 through a gate 50 which
presses the
track 20 against the edge of the blank 10 to force the rib 30 into the groove
14. As the
mounting rib 30 is inserted into the mounting groove 14, the rib 30 tears
through the
plastic laminate layer 12, folding down a flap 13 of plastic laminate down
each side
along the length of the mounting groove 14, as shown in Figure 5. This plastic
3o laminate provides a secure base against which the barbs of the mounting rib
30 can
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CA 02433105 2003-06-23
lodge, and at the same time protects the sides of the mounting groove 14 from
disintegration (especially at the top edge surface, which is particularly
weak) both
during insertion of the mounting rib 30 and during use of the hanger track 20.
After the track 20 has been engaged to the drawer box blank 10, the blank
10 is positioned with the laminated face down and processed through a V-
groover 2,
as illustrated in Figure I , which cuts 90° V-grooves 13 substantially
through the
drawer box blank I 0 at the positions of three of the drawer box corners,
while leaving
the plastic laminate layer 12 intact. The 90° V-grooves 13 extend
transversely across
the entire blank and through the hanger track 20. By processing the drawer box
blank
t o 10 through the V-groover 2 with the hanger track 20 already mounted, the
manufacturer can ensure an exact correspondence between the lengths of the
hanger
track pieces 20 and the lengths of t:he drawer box sides, and cleanly matching
mitred
corners.
The processed drawer blank 10 is then assembled as shown in Figure 6.
t s The floor panel 18 is inserted into the floor groove 16 of one drawer box
side, and the
other drawer box sides are folded up and wrapped around the Eloor panel 18
until the
ends of the drawer box blank 10 meet. Preferably the ends of the drawer box
blank 10
are drilled and affixed together using dowels and glue, as shown in Figures 2
and 6.
The plastic laminate layer 12 retains the other three drawer box corners
against
2o separation in the assembled drawer box.
A typical drawer is longer than the files that will be suspended in the
drawer. Thus, in the preferred embodiment a cross rail 40 is provided, which
allows
the user to hang folders lengthwise in the drawer. The cross rail 30,
illustrated in
Figure 6, may be provided with a hook structure 42 complementary to the side
wall 24
25 and return flange 26 of the mounting track 20. The cross bar 40 can
accordingly
engage the mounting track 20 in a snap fit relation, which both facilitates
the storage
and shipping of drawer boxes by allowing the cross bar 40 to be used as a
handle to
pick up the drawer, and prevents shifting of the cross bar 40 when the drawer
is in use
so as to resist dislodgement of the hanging folders 1 (shown in phantom in
Figure 6).
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Various embodiments of the present invention having been thus described
in detail by way of example, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art
that
variations and modifications may be made without departing from the invention.
The
invention includes all such variations and modifications as fall within the
scope of the
appended claims.
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