Pull-out guide for drawers

Claim 1

A pull-out guide assembly for use on each of opposite sides of a drawer in an article of furniture of the type wherein the drawer is slidably insertable into and removable from a furniture body, said assembly comprising: a plastic drawer side wall having a substantially inverted V-shaped cross-section; a first holding member attached to said drawer side wall at a position within said V-shaped cross-section thereof, said first holding member comprising a substantially solid elongated plastic first block extending over only along slightly more than the rear half of the length of said drawer side wall; a second holding member adapted to be attached to a side wall of a furniture body adjacent said drawer side wall, said second holding member comprising a substantially solid elongated second block having a length to extend only along slightly more than the front half of the length of the furniture body side wall; said first and second blocks having formed therein respective first and second elongated L-shaped guiding grooves; said first and second blocks having formed in confronting surfaces thereof respective first and second racks; an elongated rail having a substantially U-shaped cross-section including a vertical web connecting spaced horizontal first and second flanges, said rail being mounted in said first and second blocks for sliding movement relative thereto, with said first and second horizontal flanges being positioned within said first and second guiding grooves, respectively; and a cog wheel rotatably mounted about a horizontal axis to said vertical web of said rail at a position midlength thereof said cog wheel extending transversely between said first and second blocks, said cog wheel having a first axial length portion in the form of a pinion meshing with both said first and second racks, and said cog wheel having a second axial length portion which is tooth-free and which rollingly contacts surfaces of said first and second blocks; whereby movement of the drawer into and from the furniture body will cause said first rack to rotate said pinion with respect to said first and second racks, and thereby causing relative longitudinal movement of said cog wheel and said rail with respect to both said first and second blocks.