Damper assembly

A damper assembly, comprising:

• housing means;
• tray means slidably disposed within said housing means for movement between a closed position and an opened position;
• anti-rattle tracking means for eliminating play and rattling between said housing means and said tray means during movement of said tray means between said closed position and said opened position;
• and
• damper means, interconnected between said tray means and said housing means, for controlling said tray means during movement of said tray means between said opened and closed positions such that said tray means is pushed outwardly from said housing means at a dampened rate of speed and is able to be pushed inwardly into said housing means at a higher undampened rate of speed,
• said damper means comprising a cylinder having a closed end and an opened end;
• a piston having a first end disposed externally of said cylinder and a second end disposed internally within said cylinder;
• a cam system defined upon an outer surface portion of said piston;
• and a guide pin having a pivot end mounted upon an outer sidewall surface portion of said cylinder, and an engaging end projecting through said sidewall portion of said cylinder for engagement with said cam system of said piston;
• said pivot end of said guide pin being disposed toward said closed end of said cylinder, and said engaging end of said guide pin being interposed between said pivot end of said guide pin and said open end of said cylinder so as to define a fail-safe locking system between said guide pin and said cam system so as to maintain said guide pin and said cam system engaged regardless of whether said tray means is pushed or pulled with respect to said housing means when said tray means is disposed at said closed position.

A damper assembly, comprising:

• a stationary housing formed by a pair of side walls, a top wall, a bottom wall, and a rear wall so as to define an interior cavity open at the front end thereof;
• a receptacle formed by a pair of side walls, a rear wall, a bottom wall, and a front wall for slidable disposition within said interior cavity of said stationary housing between a first position and a second position, and having a longitudinal axis;
• and
• anti-rattle tracking means, for eliminating play and rattling between said stationary housing and said receptacle during movement of said receptacle relative to said stationary housing between said first position and said second position, comprising a pair of parallel, spaced-apart rails formed upon each one of said side walls of said stationary housing so as to define first and second channels therebetween;
• a plurality of spaced and separated track sections fixedly mounted upon each one of said side walls of said receptacle for disposition within said first and second channels, said track sections being disposed within a first set of laterally spaced planes laterally spaced a first predetermined distance from said longitudinal axis;
• a plurality of spacer bumps mounted upon said plurality of track sections and disposed within a second set of laterally spaced planes laterally spaced a second predetermined distance from said longitudinal axis which is greater than said first predetermined distance;
• and flexible finger means, mounted upon each one of said side walls of said receptacle so as to be interposed between said track sections, and having ends thereof disposed in a third set of laterally spaced planes laterally spaced a third predetermined distance from said longitudinal axis which is greater than said second predetermined distance, for engaging side wall portions of said stationary housing between said spaced-apart rails in a resiliently biased manner so as to limit side-to-side movement of said receptacle in a horizontal plane with respect to said stationary housing in order to control said play and rattling between said receptacle and said stationary housing, said spacer bumps also engaging said side wall portions of said stationary housing between said spaced-apart rails so as to limit said side-to-side movement of said receptacle in said horizontal plane with respect to said stationary housing in order to control said play and rattling between said receptacle and said stationary housing when said ends of said flexible finger means are deflected laterally inwardly toward said longitudinal axis to a position within said second laterally spaced planes.