US3126552A

US3126552A - drainboard and rim construction

Info

Publication number: US3126552A
Authority: US
Publication date: 1964-03-31
Anticipated expiration: 1981-03-31

Description

March 31, 1964 GA. SCHARMER smx, DRAINBOARD AND RIM CONSTRUCTION Original Filed Sept. 21, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 IIIW FIG.

8 42 O X/ 4 2 2 2 O M M Q 4 m B E 8 I 2 E n: /O 40 3 w/ 4 a i m Q 8 4 4 4 52 )4 GEORGE A. SCHARMER ATTORNEY March 31, 1964 G A. SCHARMER SINK, DRAINBOARD AND RIM CONSTRUCTION Original Filed Sept. 21, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ZOL FIG.8

INVENTOR.

GEORGE A. SCHARMER fi l-m ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,126,552 SINK, DRAINBOARD AND RIM CONSTRUCTION George Alexander Scharmer, Waldwick, NJ.

(83 @liver Place, Ringwood, NJ.) Continuation of application Ser. No. 841,241, Sept. 21, 1959. This application May 18, 1962, Ser. No. 198,400 8 Claims. (Cl. 4-187) The present invention relates to the construction of sinks, drainboards and like articles which are set into openings in a counter top from above. A particular feature of the invention relates to rim construction which makes installation of a sink, drainboard or the like a mere matter of snapping the rim into place in the opening which has been prepared by securing fastening strips to the edges of the opening. Another feature relates to drainboard-sink combinations providing double duty work areas, one being the sink of suflicient depth to hold dishwater, dish pans and the like and the other being a shallow pan recessed from the rim flange a distance relatively short with respect to the sink depth which is ideal for vegetable preparation, as a spray surface and the like.

The rim construction for sinks, drainboards and the like made in accordance with the present invention comprises two parts. One part is an outwardly extending flange adapted to rest on a counter top adjacent to an opening therein with a fastening strip secured thereto and extending downwardly therefrom. This strip has a plurality of outwardly extending projections spaced a uniform distance from the under surface of the flange. The second part is a cooperating fastening strip to be secured to the counter top with its top edge flush with the counter top and having projection engaging surfaces, e.g., the lower edge of the strip, spaced from the top edge a distance corresponding practically to the aforementioned distance of the projections from the flange. When the rim and the associated parts are forced past the cooperating fastening strip the projections snap under the latter and hold the parts firmly together. i

The foregoing and other features of the invention are described more particularly in the following specification, taken in conjunction with the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the one form of sinkdrainboard combination units embodying the present invention set in a counter top which is fragmentarily shown;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary section on the line 22 of FIG. 1 on a larger scale and with some parts disproportionately large for clarity of illustration of the structure;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view from below to show the cooperation of the fastening strips when the unit is installed in a counter top;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a counter top, shown fragmentarily, with the opening therein prepared for receiving a sink-drainboard unit such as illustrated in FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view showing the fastening strips and related parts in partially installed position;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view of a different embodiment of the rim construction;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary side view of the fastening strip of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a different form of sink-drainboard unit set in a counter top which is fragmentarily shown; and

F IG. 9 is a fragmentary sectional view on the line 9-9 of FIG. 8 on a larger scale and with some parts disproportionately large for clarity of illustration of the structure.

Referring now to the drawings, and particularly FIGS.

3,125,552 Patented Mar. 31, 1964 1 to 5 thereof, reference numeral 1 designates the sinkdrainboard unit of this embodiment of the invention set in a counter top 2 in a kitchen of which only the fragmentary portion of the wall is illustrated. The counter top is shown as comprising a wooden under piece 4, e.g., a piece of /2 or 4 inch plywood, covered on the top surface with a suitable material such as linoleum, plastic laminates or the like.

The sink-drainboard unit 1 comprises a flat rim stainless metal sink 10 with its rim 12 welded to the sheet 14 of stainless metal which forms the surface surrounding an opening 16 in the sheet 14 to provide access to the sink. Instead of a sink any other type of kitchen appliance such as a gas burner, an electric heater coil, a garbage grinder and disposal unit, or the like could be mounted in a kitchen cabinet in the same general manner, and it is intended that any claim referring to an opening in the metal sheet to provide access to a kitchen appliance be construed broadly to include any one or more of these and related appliances. The weld 13 is so made that when the joint is ground and polished it gives the appearance of being an integral structure, in accordance with current practice in making up sink-drain-board units.

A marginal flange 20 surrounds the sink-drainboard unit and rests on the covering 5 just beyond the edges of an opening 22 cut into the cabinet top 2, as seen in FIGS. 2, 4 and 5. The marginal flange is substantially flat from its inner to its outer edge, i.e., it is substantially straight in cross section so that when it rests on the covering 5 there is no bump or ridge other than the thickness of the sheet 14. It forms the finished rim for the unit 1, having no perforation for fastening means, and it may be in the same general plane as the metal sheet 14 but it is preferably offset vertically above it by a wall 24 which connects the inner edge of the flange with the outer edge of the sheet.

The sheet metal piece 14, the walls 24 and the flanges 20 may all be made of the same stainless metal sheet, e.g., by deep drawing or by cutting the corners so that the sheet can be bent along the necessary lines and then welded together, ground and polished to appear like a deep drawn unit.

Preferably the flange is bent on a downward slope toward its outer edge so that when the unit is placed in the opening in the counter top 2 the outer edge contacts the covering 5 as illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 5 for a purpose later described.

The flange 20 is imperforate, is integral with the metal sheet 14 and it extends substantially straight outwardly, either from the top edge of the wall 24 when it is offset vertically from the general horizontal plane of the sheet 14 or from a comparable position of the sheet when it lies in the same general plane, at an angle from zero to a few degrees downwardly from the horizontal. This construction permits the drainboard and sink unit to be lowered from above into the opening 22 cut into the counter top 2.

The unit 1 as described above may be designated as a double duty sink and drainboard in that two work areas are provided. One of these is the sink it? which is of any desired depth suitable for the type of work a housewife performs best in a sink, e.g., dish washing, or it may have greater depth such as a slop sink usually has. The other is the recessed drainboard area which is a shallow pan having the wall 24 on three sides which prevents water from flowing out onto the counter area. It makes an ideal work area for preparation of vegetables, for spraying things such as washed dishes, vegetables, dried clothes, etc., with water from a spray device such as frequently associated with a kitchen faucet. The drainboard area can be a plane or it may be sloped slightly toward the sink for ready drainage.

In FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 the kitchen faucet 2d of any desired design and construction is mounted on the sheet 14 and is connected through holes 23 in the sheet metal to water supply lines 30.

In FIGS. 8 and 9 the rear flange 2% is made much wider than flange 29 on the front and two ends so that the faucet 26 can be mounted on the flange level rather than the recessed drainboard level. This wide rear flange is preferably used where kitchen appliances operated by electricity are used with or near the sink-drainboard unit, e.g., a motor driven garbage grinder, dish washer, electric oven and stove units, etc., since push button controls 32 can be mounted in said flange safe from water flowing into the controls from the drainboard area. A work board 34 can be used with good advantage in this embodiment of the sinledrainboard unit which has a width about equal to the distance between the front and rear walls 24 and a length about half the distance between the end walls 24 so that the board is slidable over the sink opening when it is desired to have a work surface larger than, or of different nature in addition to, the drainboard or shallow pan area. The work board 34 can be made of wood, plastic, metal or the like, but preferably is wooden.

A double duty sink-drainboard unit embodying the invention as described may be secured in the counter top in any desired manner. A preferred rim construction, which can be used also with other sink and drainboard constructions, comprises means on the drainboard below the flange 20 to engage the counter top and pull the inner edge of the flange downwardly with reference to the counter top and thereby put the flange under stress to hold the outer edge of the flange tightly against the counter top. A sealing compound may be used between the flange and the covering if desired but it is not generally necessary with the recessed drainboard construction.

The fastening means is secured to the sheet metal 14 on its under surface spaced from the outer edge thereof to leave a marginal flange adapted to rest on the counter top surrounding the opening 22 therein. In the recessed drainboard type with the flange 29 serving the purpose of resting on the counter top the fastening means secured to the under surface of sheet 14 is preferably a metal strip 40 welded to the wall 24 and provided with a plurality of projections or shoulders 42 extending outwardly therefrom, as seen in FIGS. 2 and 5. These projections or shoulders are all spaced a uniform distance from the under surface of flange 20. Preferably they are simply struck from the metal of the strip 40 below a horizontal slit to form a wedge shaped projection with the point of the wedge down and the horizontal head up, as seen in FIGS. 2 and 5. Those skilled in the art will understand that individual strips can be used for each side of the drainboard, that they need not be joined at the ends, although they may be if desired, and that such equivalents are to be construed as covered by the term fastening strip as used herein.

A cooperating fastening strip .4 is secured to the counter top, e.g., by fastening means such as nails or srcews 46, with its top edge flush with the top of the covering 5. It has projection engaging surfaces, preferably its lower edge, spaced from the top edge thereof, and therefore from the top of the covering 5, a distance corresponding practically with the distance between the tops of the projections 42 and the under side of the flange 29. The lower edge of the strip 44 is bent inwardly to form an angular flange 48 along its length. This flange extends inwardly far enough to engage the tops of the projections 42, as seen in FIGS. 2, 3 and 5. As stated in connection with the fastening strips 40, the strips 4-4 need not be continuous around the edge of the openings 22 and preferably extend the major portion of the length of one edge, as seen in FIG. 4 but a plurality of shorter strips can be used on one edge if desired.

As a specific example of suitable dimensions, a unit of the type shown in FIG. 1 was made from 18 gauge stainless steel which was 21 by 72 from the outer flange edge to the opposite outer flange edge. The flanges were about wide, the wall 24 was high and a stainless steel sink 14" by 16" was welded, ground and polished so as to appear to be a part of the drainboard sheet. The fastening strip 40 was made of scrap 22 gauge stainless steel wide with the tops of the projections from the upper edge. These projections were made by slitting the strip about /8 parallel to the upper edge and pressing the metal below the slit out about 1 with the sloping part extending down about The projections were about 3.5 inches on centers along the strip. The cooperating fastening strip 44 was about /8" wide with a As flange at an angle of about with respect to the flat portion of the strip, making the vertical width of the strip 44 practically the 7 same as the distance from the top of the projections to the upper edge of the strip 40. The distance between the two fastening strips was slightly over so that the projections 42 just cleared the strip 44 when the unit was placed in the opening 22 to which strip 44 was nailed on about 4.5 inch centers. The counter top was /t plywood with Formica covering. As the unit was dropped into place the projections 42 engaged the flange 48 as seen in FIG. 5, bending the strip enough to pass the projection when force enough was applied to the unit to bend the flange 20 from its downward slope to practically horizontal direction, at which time the projections 42 were sprung outwardly under the flange 48 by the inherent resiliency of the strip. The unit was then firmly locked in place with the outer edge of the flange 20 very tightly and resiliently pressed against the Formica covering. From the dimensions given it will be apparent that the thickness of the stainless steel sheet 14 with its walls 24 and flanges 20 and the thickness of the fastening strips 40 and 44, the height of the projections 42 and the distance between the strips have all been exaggerated in the drawing for purposes of clarity of illustration and that the proportions in the drawing are not intended to represent actual proportions.

In the non-recessed type of sink-drainboard unit, or in the structure illustrated in FIG. 9 with the wide flange 20a, the fastening strip 40a may take the form of an angle strip with one leg welded to the under side of the flange or marginal edge a proper distance in from the outer edge thereof so that the projection will clear the strip 44 but engage it under the flange 48 when the unit is pressed down the proper distance.

FIG. 6 shows one of many possible modifications of the two fastening strips. In this modification the strip 50 on the cabinet top has no lower edge flange, although one may be used with equal effectiveness. The strip 52 on the drainboard is reversely bent at its lower edge to form an outwardly extending cam surface 54 whose upper edge 56 forms the projections to engage the strip 50. The upper edge also has a plurality of tongues 58 struck out therefrom and bent upwardly to engage the inner surface of strip 50 as seen in FIG. 6, and in side view in FIG. 7.

The fastening strip to be secured to the cabinet top 2 is an essential feature of a commercially acceptable rim construction because of the wide variation in thickness of the tops met in practice. This variation arises from the different thickness of both the wood and the covering. The fastening strip when properly secured to the edge of the opening in the top, i.e., with its upper edge flush with the top of the covering 5, makes the proper installation independent of the thickness of the top 2 since it can be securely nailed to a board of /2" thickness or greater. Should the piece 4 be thinner than that, it can be built up around the opening before applying the strip.

The strip 44 need not be perforated to receive the fasteners 46 if they are strong enough to be driven through it and the cone of metal forced out from the strip in driving a nail through it assists in holding it against vertical movement under the stress imposed by the resiliency of the flange 20. If the strip is perforated to make the passage of the nails easier, the diameter of the perforation should be less than the diameter of the nail so that some cone is produced in driving the nail into place. If wood screws are used the conical under surface of the head forces out a cone from the strip even if the perforation is as large as the diameter of the screw shank.

This application is a continuation of application Serial No. 841,241, filed September 21, 1959, which has been expressly abandoned in favor hereof.

Although the invention has been described and illustrated in connection with certain specific embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that many modifications and variations can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claims is:

l. A sink adapted to be installed by being lowered downwardly into an opening in a counter top from above comprising a substantially rectangular stainless metal sheet having a stainless metal sink bowl positioned therein away from the edges of said sheet whereby a margin of said sheet surrounds the opening into said bowl, a surrounding wall integral with and extending steeply upwardly from the outer edges of said margin, said wall being narrow relative to the depth of said sink bowl, a substantially flat flange consisting of a single thickness of said stainless sheet metal free from perforations for fastening means extending outwardly from and integral with the upper edge of said wall at an angle from zero to a few degrees downwardly from the horizontal entirely around the same, said flange being adapted to support the sink in said opening by resting on the counter top and forming the finished imperforate rim for the sink in said opening, and means wholly below said flange for securing it tightly against said counter top, said flange at the back of the sink being much wider than the flanges on the front and two ends and having openings provided therein back from said imperforate rim for faucet connections.

2. A kitchen counter top having a substantially rectangular opening therein; a sink unit having an outwardly extending substantially rectangular flange substantially straight in cross section consisting of a single thickness of stainless metal free from perforations for fastening means engaging said counter top adjacent to the opening therein and forming the finished rim for said unit, a substantially rectangular vertical wall integral with and extending downwardly from the inner edge of said flange, a substantially rectangular horizontal sheet integral with the lower edge of said vertical wall, and a sink bowl depending from the edges of an opening in said sheet; a fastening strip secured to the outside and extending substantially along the length of said vertical wall on each of at least three sides of the rectangle having a plurality of outwardly extending shoulders spaced a uniform distance from the underside of said flange; cooperating sheet metal fastening strips secured to at least three edges of said opening in the counter top with their upper edges flush with the counter top and the lower edges engaging said shoulders, said flange being under stress holding its outer edge tightly engaged with said counter top.

3. A double duty self rimming sink and drainboard unit comprising a sheet metal surface having a plurality of outer edges and including a drainboard area surrounding a metal sink, a fastening strip secured to the under surface of said sheet metal along and spaced from each outer edge thereof to leave a marginal flange adapted to rest on a counter top surrounding an opening therein having a like plurality of edges, said fastening strip including a plurality of projections each formed by a horizontal slit and an outward pressing of the metal below the slit to form a shoulder, said shoulders being uniformly spaced from the underside of said flange, and a cooperating fastening strip adapted to be secured to each edge of the opening in the counter top flush with the top thereof and having shoulder engaging surfaces spaced from the top edge thereof a distance corresponding substantially to the distance between said shoulders and the underside of said flange whereby when said cooperating fastening strips are installed on the edges of the opening in the counter top with their top edges flush with the top thereof the said unit can be placed in said opening in the counter top from above and snapped into locked-in relation with the shoulders engaging the shoulder engaging surfaces on said cooperating fastening strip and the flange held tightly thereby against the top of the counter.

4. A double duty sink and drainboard unit as set forth in claim 3 in which said marginal flange before installation slopes slightly downwardly toward its outer edge and is adapted during installation to be pressed downwardly and held by the engagement of said shoulders with the shoulder engaging surfaces more nearly horizontal, thereby putting the flange under resilient stress to keep the outer edge tightly against the counter top.

5. A rim construction for sinks, drainboards and the like comprising a rectangular flange consisting of a single thickness of stainless metal substantially straight in cross section, a metal fastening strip secured to the underside of the flange inwardly from its outer edges, said strip extending downwardly from and along at least a substantial part of each edge of said flange, a plurality of shoulders pressed outwardly from the outer surface of said fastening strip below horizontal slits spaced a uniform distance from the underside of said flange, said shoulders being well back from the outer edge of said flange so that the rim can be placed into an opening in a counter top from above with the flange resting on the counter top adjacent to the opening therein, said flange extending outwardly from said fastening means at an angle from zero to a few degrees downwardly from the horizontal, cooperating fastening strips adapted to be secured to the edges of an opening in a counter top with their upper edges flush with the top of the counter and their lower edges adapted to engage with said shoulders and thereby hold the flange in tight contact with the top of the counter.

6. A rim construction as set forth in claim 5 in which the cooperating fastening strips are metal strips having the lower edges bent inwardly so that during installation the shoulders wedge the strips apart to permit the shoulders to pass the bent-in edges and then snap the shoulders to engaging position as soon as the shoulders pass the bent-in edge.

7. A rim construction for sinks, drainboards and the like comprising a rectangular flange consisting of a single thickness of stainless metal substantially straight in cross section, fastening means secured to the underside of the flange inwardly from its outer edges, said means extending downwardly from and substantially along each edge of said flange, a plurality of shoulders on the outer surface of said fastening means spaced a uniform distance from the underside of said flange, said shoulders being well back from the outer edge of said flange so that the rim can be placed into an opening in a counter top from above with the flange resting on the counter top adjacent to the opening therein, said flange extending outwardly from said fastening means at an angle from zero to a few degrees downwardly from the horizontal, cooperating fastening strips adapted to be secured to the edges of an opening in a counter top with their upper edges flush with the top of the counter and their lower edges adapted to engage with said shoulders and thereby hold the flange in tight contact with the top of the counter, said fastening means being a metal strip reversely outwardly bent at its lower edge to form an outwardly extending cam surface whose upper edge forms said shoulders, said upper edge having a plurality of struck out tongues bent upwardly and back- 0 wardly from said cam surface to engage the inner surface of said cooperating fastening strips when the upper edge of the cam surface engages the lower edge of the cooperating fastening strip.

8. A kitchen unit adapted to be installed by being lowered downwardly into an opening in a counter top from above comprising a substantially rectangular stainless steel metal sheet, a surrounding wall integral with and extending upwardly from the outer edges of said sheet, a substantially flat flange consisting of a single thickness of said stainless metal sheet free from perforations for fastening means extending outwardly from and integral with the upper edge of said wall at an angle from zero to a few degrees downwardly from the horizontal entirely around the same, said flange being adapted to support the unit in said opening by resting on the counter top and forming the finished imperforate rim for the unit in said opening, a fastening strip secured to the outer surface of said wall having a plurality of outwardly extending shoulders thereon spaced a uniform distance from the underside of said flange formed by a horizontal slit and an outward pressing of the metal below the slit, and a cooperating fastening strip adapted to be secured to each edge of the opening in the counter top flush with the top u thereof and having shoulder engaging surfaces spaced from the top edge thereof a distance corresponding substantially to the distance between said shoulders and the underside of said flange whereby when said cooperating fastening strips are installed on the edges of the opening in the counter top with their top edges flush with the top thereof the said unit can be placed in said opening in the counter top from above and snapped into locked-in relation with the shoulders engaging the shoulder engaging surfaces on said cooperating fastening strip and the flange held tightly thereby against the top of the counter.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,121,183 Hill Dec. 15, 1914 2,157,786 Coordes May 9, 1939 2,273,806 Webber Feb. 17, 1942 2,885,691 Juergens May 12, 1959 2,908,019 Lyon Oct. 13, 1959 3,056,971 Hornik Oct. 9, 1962 3,071,780 Lyon Ian. 8, 1963 OTHER REFERENCES Domestic Engineering, pp. 34 and 35, August 1957.

Claims

1. A SINK ADAPTED TO BE INSTALLED BY BEING LOWERED DOWNWARDLY INTO AN OPENING IN A COUNTER TOP FROM ABOVE COMPRISING A SUBSTANTIALLY RECTANGULAR STAINLESS METAL SHEET HAVING A STAINLESS METAL SINK BOWL POSITIONED THEREIN AWAY FROM THE EDGES OF SAID SHEET WHEREBY A MARGIN OF SAID SHEET SURROUNDS THE OPENING INTO SAID BOWL, A SURROUNDING WALL INTEGRAL WITH AND EXTENDING STEEPLY UPWARDLY FROM THE OUTER EDGES OF SAID MARGIN, SAID WALL BEING NARROW RELATIVE TO THE DEPTH OF SAID SINK BOWL, A SUBSTANTIALLY FLAT FLANGE CONSISTING OF A SINGLE THICKNESS OF SAID STAINLESS SHEET METAL FREE FROM PERFORATIONS FOR FASTENING MEANS EXTENDING OUTWARDLY FROM AND INTEGRAL WITH THE UPPER EDGE OF SAID WALL AT AN ANGLE FROM ZERO TO A FEW DEGREES DOWNWARDLY FROM THE HORIZONTAL ENTIRELY AROUND THE SAME, SAID