Patent attributes
A drawer assembly for a consumer appliance is provided. The drawer assembly includes an anti-racking system for minimizing misalignment of an appliance drawer. More particularly, the present subject matter provides a drawer slide assembly for a drawer having some horizontal flexibility. The drawer slide assembly may have a pinion gear and connecting rod assembly that minimizes racking of the appliance drawer as it is moved into and out an appliance chamber. The appliance drawer may be attached to the appliance chamber by a ball and joint pinion gear configuration that adds another degree of freedom to the anti-racking system in order to reduce stress on the pinion gear. By adding an additional degree of freedom to the pinion gear and reducing the imposed stresses applied to the pinion gear, the performance and lifetime of the drawer assembly may be improved.
