Drawer guide system

A release mechanism for a drawer guide system, the release mechanism comprising:

• a front end to be secured to an inside surface of a front end of a drawer, a rear end, and a pair of fins extending from the front end to the rear end, each fin of the pair of fins having an outside surface and an inside surface;
• a first tab disposed on the inside surface of one fin, the first tab to engage a window of a drawer guide to secure the drawer guide to the front end of the drawer;
• a second tab disposed on the front end, the second tab to contact an inwardly extending flange of the drawer guide to help stabilize engagement between the first tab and the window;
• and
• a curved surface and a socket for receiving a hinge, the socket disposed between the curved surface and the front end, the curved surface to be activated to rotate clockwise about the socket to disengage the first tab from the window of the drawer guide.

A method of assembling a drawer guide system to a drawer, the method comprising:

• securing a bracket to a center of an outside surface of a rear end of a drawer, the bracket having a front end, a rear end, a top portion, a projection extending from the top portion at the rear end, an aperture disposed in the projection, and a recess;
• securing a release mechanism to a center of an inside surface of front end of the drawer, the release mechanism having a pair of fins extending from a rear end of the release mechanism, one fin from the pair of fins having a first tab;
• disposing a portion of a case runner within an elongate recess of a drawer guide along the length of the drawer guide, forming a slide assembly;
• inserting a front end of the slide assembly into the recess at the rear end of the bracket;
• engaging the tab of the release mechanism with a window of a side wall of the drawer guide;
• inserting a locking tang of the drawer guide into the aperture of the bracket to lock the slide assembly to the drawer;
• and
• activating a curved surface of the fin having the first tab to move in a clockwise direction about a socket of the release mechanism, disengaging the first tab of the release mechanism from the window of the drawer guide.

A drawer guide system comprising:

• a drawer guide having a front end, a rear end, a top portion, a pair of side walls attached to the top portion, an inwardly extending flange attached to one side wall of the pair of side walls and extending from the front end to the rear end, an elongate recess disposed between the top portion and the pair of side walls, a window disposed on one side wall of the pair of side walls near the front end, and a locking tang disposed on the top portion near the rear end;
• a case runner having a front end, a rear end, a base, one side wall attached to the base and an outwardly extending flange attached to the side wall and extending from the front end to the rear end, the outwardly extending flange disposed within the elongated recess of the drawer guide along a length of the drawer guide forming a slide assembly;
• a bracket secured to a center of a rear portion of a drawer, the bracket having a front end, a rear end, a top portion, a pair of side walls attached to the top portion, an elongate recess disposed between the pair of side walls and extending from the front end to the rear end, and a projection upwardly extending from the top portion at the rear end, the projection having an aperture for receiving the locking tang of the drawer guide upon insertion of the slide assembly into the elongate recess of the bracket;
• and
• a release mechanism secured to a center of a front portion of the drawer, the release mechanism having a front end, a rear end, a pair of fins outwardly extending from the front end to the rear end, each fin of the pair of fins having an inside surface, a first tab disposed on an inside surface of one fin of the pair of fins and a second tab disposed on the front end;
• wherein the first tab of the release mechanism engages the window of the side wall of the drawer guide, the second tab of the release mechanism contacts the inwardly extending flange of the drawer guide, and the locking tang of the drawer guide engages the receiving aperture of the bracket to lock the drawer guide to the drawer;
• and
• each side wall of the pair of side walls of the bracket includes an inside surface, each inside surface having a series of sloping protrusions equally spaced from the front end to the rear end of the bracket, the series of sloping protrusions to contact at least one side wall of the drawer guide when the drawer guide is disposed within the elongate recess of the bracket.