VM Express. See low price in cart. Kathy Ireland Office. The latest on our store health and safety plans. Dorel Living. Referring still to FIG.

A control means shown in the form of an L-shaped bracket is secured to a side of a drawer In the alternative, bracket may be secured directly to the extensible drawer guide Bracket includes a leg which extends into actuator slot With the drawer in the closed position, resilient finger abuts side 14 of the cabinet.

Finger holds pivot pin 82 secure against the inner surface of channel portion 46 and biases actuator 34 in a counterclockwise direction, as viewed in FIG. As shown in FIGS. Linear movement of drawer 16 causes cam portion 86 to engage a cam follower surface 70 of an immediately adjacent control bar The actuator is rotated until the cam portion is disposed between two adjacent control bars 32 in the stack.

Beveled portions 92, 94 are angularly related so that cam portion 86 can rotate between adjacent bars through the limited opening of channel As shown in FIG. Due to the dimensional limitations of the channel, the uppermost bar will engage the upper closed end of the channel.

As a result, no further vertical movement of the bars within the channel is permitted. Detent projections 98 on the actuator are received within detent recesses 74 at the opposed or facing ends 72 of adjacent control bars Should an adjacent drawer be moved towards an open position, its control bracket will not be able to rotate its respective cam actuator Such an actuator will move its cam portion 86 into contact with a cam follower surface of an adjacent lock bar. Since further vertical movement within main channel 44 is prevented, actuator 34 cannot rotate further and bracket cannot move out of slot Resilient finger biases actuator 34 from its first, inoperative position, as shown in FIG.

Finger assures that pin 82 remains in its proper position against the inner surface of attachment channel The resilient bias of finger and the detent structure retains the actuator in its operative position against accidental dislodgment. Should an actuator move out from between the bars while a drawer is still open, operational problems would result.

Due to the detent and finger, jarring, bumping and the like will not dislodge the actuator. When the drawer is closed, as shown in FIGS. Further rearward or closing movement of the drawer pivots or rotates actuator Detent projections 98 are ramped out of recesses Actuator 34 is rotated until cam portion 86 has been completely removed from between opposed faces 72 of adjacent lock bars against the bias of finger or spring Once removed, vertical movement within main channel 44 will now be permitted.

A lock, as shown in FIG. As shown, a conventional lock cylinder may be mounted on cabinet 10 with the key slot extending through a front portion A lock bar or rod extends from cylinder towards side 14 of cabinet Lock bar is supported in a suitable mounting bracket A lock member is secured to the end of bar As should be apparent from FIG.

Member closes off the channel and prevents vertical movement of the bars within the channel. As a result, the control members associated with each drawer will be unable to pivot actuators 34 to their operative position between adjacent control bars. The lock system prevents locking of the drawers unless all are in their fully closed position. This prevents a user from inadvertently leaving one drawer partially open. In lateral files having wide drawers, it is preferred that two lock and interlock mechanisms be used, one on each side of the cabinet.

The lock mechanism would, therefore, include two rods and members extending towards the sides. The drawer will be locked at both ends for increased stability. In a unit with only a single drawer, channel 30, a single control bar 32, a single actuator 34, lock cylinder , rod and member can be used to lock the drawer.

The lock and interlock system in accordance with the present invention is readily added to or made a part of a cabinet, desk or storage unit having movable or openable members which can act on the cam actuators through a bracket or other control. Employing an elongated member which defines a plurality of spaced slots for attachment points of the individual actuators permits the actuators to be mounted at selectively different locations.

The system is, therefore, readily adaptable to file cabinets or units having drawers of different vertical heights.

The correct location along channel defining member 30 is determined and an actuator is easily positioned through a mounting slot No tools are needed and assembly is simplified. Only a single control or contact member associated with each drawer or movable member is necessary to shift the cam actuators between their off and on positions.

The detent mechanisms insure that the actuators are maintained in their proper position until the drawer is closed. Bouncing or jarring of the cabinet should not cause the actuator to move out from between adjacent control bars.

Finger also insures that the actuator will stay in its proper position. In order to move out from between the control bars, actuator 34 must move against the resilient bias of finger An alternative embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in FIGS.

Embodiment is specifically configured for mounting at the rear center area of a cabinet. As shown, a center upright or channel is fixed to an inner surface of a rear wall of a cabinet. Center upright includes a main channel portion defined by a base and spaced, essentially parallel sides , Center upright further defines a reverse bent shoulder joined to a flange extension In the embodiment of FIGS.

Sides , of channel include spaced vertically extending slots Each control bar includes resilient ears which extend into slots Bars may be snapped into the channel through the open front instead of being stacked from the top or bottom of the channel. Mechanism further includes a cam actuator Legs , which define control slot are configured to receive an actuator control or pin Pin is retained by a bracket Bracket is attached to a bottom of a cabinet drawer at the rear thereof by suitable fasteners Actuator further includes an integral hinge or pivot pin Due to space limitations at the rear of the cabinet, channel is modified from the prior embodiment.

It does not include the separate mounting channel and slots. As is clear from the drawings, a retainer plate or bracket may be used to capture hinge pin against flange extension and the reverse bent shoulder Extension and shoulder define an actuator channel. Extension is formed with slots , Retainer plate defines a horizontally extending slot dimensioned to receive actuator In addition, plate defines angled tabs which are positioned through slots , The bracket or retainer plate is then attached to the center upright by a suitable fastener As in the prior embodiment, actuator includes a resilient arm or finger Finger is illustrated as being formed integral with the main actuator body.

Finger acts as a spring to resiliently bias the cam actuator from a first or inoperative position illustrated in FIG. As shown, cam actuator does not have the detents of the prior embodiment. In certain applications, finger should be sufficient to hold the actuator in its second position. Finger could be a separate leaf spring member affixed to actuator A separate spring element may be necessary to obtain the required spring force depending upon the material from which actuator is constructed.

In existing embodiments, actuator is molded from a plastic, such as that sold under the name Delrin The control or lock bars are molded from a suitable plastic, such as Nylon If less resilient, structural plastics were employed for the actuator, separate spring may be necessary.

Also, a simple coil spring could be extended from a forward point on actuator to a side of the vertical upright to bias the actuator to its second or operative position. Also, fastener could be formed as an integral part of cam retainer plate The fastener could be designed to merely snap into a corresponding aperture formed in center upright With such an arrangement, the actuator cams may be selectively positioned along the center upright or main channel without the use of tools, as in the prior embodiment.

In view of the foregoing description, those of ordinary skill in the art may envision various modifications to the present invention which would not depart from the patentable concepts disclosed. The above description should, therefore, be considered as only that of the preferred embodiment. The true spirit and scope of the present invention may be determined by reference to the appended claims.

All rights reserved. Login Sign up. Search Expert Search Quick Search. Drawer lock and interlock mechanism. United States Patent A lock and interlock mechanism for file cabinets, desks, storage units and the like includes an elongated channel which receives a plurality of elongated lock bars in a vertically stacked relationship. A plurality of cam actuators are selectively positionable adjacent the elongated channel.

Each actuator is pivotally mounted for movement from a first to a second position upon opening movement of a cabinet drawer. The actuators each define cam portions adapted to engage one of the lock bars and shift it vertically. When one of the actuators is in the second or operative position, the remaining actuators may not be moved or are blocked from movement to their second positions.

A detent arrangement on the actuator and lock bars holds each actuator in its second position in a detent type fashion. A control member is mountable on a drawer or drawer guide mechanism to pivot the actuator between its first and second positions. A lock includes a bar and wedge movable into the channel to prevent movement of the lock bars. This prevents opening of all of the drawers. Click for automatic bibliography generation.

Steelcase Inc. Grand Rapids, MI. Download PDF The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows: 1. An interlock mechanism as defined by claim 1 further including: lock means having a portion engagable with one of said control bars for preventing vertical movement of said lock bars and preventing movement of said interlock cams to their second positions.

An anti-tip interlock system as defined by claim 3 wherein each of said actuators has a spring means for resiliently biasing said actuator from said first position to said second position. An anti-tip interlock system as defined by claim 3 further including detent means on said actuator and said locking member for retaining said actuator in said second position in a positive, detent fashion.

An anti-tip interlock system as defined by claim 5 wherein said detent means comprises one of said actuator and said locking member defining a recess and the other of said actuator and said locking member defining a pin, said pin being disposed within said recess when said actuator is in said second position.

An anti-tip interlock system as defined by claim 6 wherein each of said actuators has a spring means for resiliently biasing said actuator from said first position to said second position.

An anti-tip interlock system as defined by claim 3 wherein said guide track in horizontal cross section includes a base, a first side generally perpendicular to said base and a second side which extends at an acute angle from said base towards said first side. An anti-tip interlock system as defined by claim 8 wherein said lock members each include a front face and nonparallel sides, one side extending perpendicular to said face and the other side extending at an angle from said front face.

An anti-tip interlock system as defined by claim 3 wherein said actuators are each formed as one piece members, wherein each of said control means is a generally L-shaped bracket and wherein each actuator defines a slot for receiving said control means.

An anti-tip interlock system as defined by claim 3 further comprising: a lock; an elongated rod attached to said lock; and a lock member secured to said rod so that the rod may be shifted by the lock towards said channel and the lock member positioned to block movement of said control bars. Next Patent Locking anti-tip dev Composite panel. Drawer interlocking means for storage cabinet.

Multiple drawer locking system. Arrives: Tuesday, March 30 Details. See all results. System of Measurement. Amazon Prime. Eligible for Free Shipping. Amazon Certified. Featured Brands. Customer Review. New Arrivals. International Shipping. Amazon Global Store. There's a problem loading this menu right now. Learn more about Amazon Prime. Get free delivery with Amazon Prime. Back to top. Get to Know Us. Amazon Payment Products. English Choose a language for shopping. Amazon Music Stream millions of songs.

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