The present invention relates generally to security devices, and more particularly to a protective panel automatically deployed across the top of an open drawer to conceal and protect the contents of the drawer, particularly from younger and/or smaller children.
The typical household contains innumerable devices and articles that are best kept from persons not authorized to see or use them. This is particularly true where children are living in the household, or at least have occasion to visit from time to time. People, and particularly children, tend to be curious and inquisitive by nature, and will explore areas that are, or should be, off limits to them. This has led to tragic accidents from time to time when unauthorized persons, particularly children, gain access to firearms, matches, knives, and/or other potentially hazardous or dangerous devices or materials without the knowledge of their parents or guardian. While such potentially dangerous articles as those noted above are of particular concern for the physical safety and well being of the child and/or others in the household, the list of articles and devices that should be kept from visitors and children goes far beyond those articles, and may include such sensitive devices as important documents, small valuables, etc.
Accordingly, a number of different devices have been developed to preclude or limit access to the drawer of a desk, kitchen drawers, chest of drawers, or the like. These various devices generally comprise relatively thin, elongate hooks, rods, or similar structures, which connect between the inner surface of the face of a movable drawer and the fixed structure (cabinet, chest, etc.) supporting the drawer. Some of these devices attach to the side of the drawer and engage the side of the drawer opening. All such devices are intended to drastically limit the opening of the drawer, but the relatively narrow shanks of such devices do nothing to prevent someone from reaching into the drawer through the limited opening provided. In fact, access to the drawer interior is required with most of these devices in order to allow a person to unhook or disconnect the device from the interior of the cabinet or chest in order to allow the drawer to be opened fully.
The present inventors have recognized that a person (particularly a small child with small hands) may reach into the drawer through the limited opening and access the contents of the drawer. The heretofore known devices do little to block the opening between the front of the drawer and the face of the cabinet or chest of drawers to preclude access to the contents of the drawer through the limited opening.
Thus, the present inventors have recognized that a drawer security attachment solving the aforementioned problems is desired.
The drawer security attachment has a continuous panel that extends from the inner surface of the face of a drawer across the otherwise open top of the drawer, and spans the entire width of the drawer to completely block access to the contents of the drawer. The device includes a drawer face attachment flange that secures to the inner surface of the face of the drawer, and a cover that extends over the otherwise open top of the drawer. The attachment flange and cover may comprise a single, monolithic sheet of flexible plastic, allowing the cover to flex at its juncture with the attachment flange, or may comprise relatively rigid components secured to one another by a mechanical hinge or series of hinges. In the various embodiments, the cover is urged upwardly either by its monolithic attachment with the flange or brackets or by one or more springs at the hinge connection between the cover and flange.
All embodiments include at least one catch engagement passage formed through the sheet or panel, which automatically engages a corresponding number of pins secured to the underside of the upper portion of the drawer opening. As the drawer is opened, the panel is urged against the upper portion of the drawer opening and the engagement passage(s) catch(es) on the pin(s) to stop further opening of the drawer. The engagement passages(s) may be configured with a narrower slot extending therefrom, and the pin(s) may be configured with a narrower portion between the head and the base. This arrangement captures the engagement slot positively upon the pin as the narrower slot is pulled about the narrower portion of the pin, thereby preventing a person from pushing the protective panel downwardly into the drawer. The engagement passage(s) may be symmetrical, with a narrower slot extending to each side or end of the centrally disposed larger diameter opening. The drawer is closed, or opened, slightly to align the larger diameter portion of the engagement passage with the head of the pin before the panel may be lowered to disengage it from the pin and allow the drawer to be either opened fully or closed.
According to one embodiment, the cover is comprised of three portions, a central portion and opposite end portions that are adjustably extendable laterally in order to match the overall width of the cover to an inside width of the drawer to ensure substantially complete coverage of the drawer opening.
Numerous other advantages and features of the present invention will be become readily apparent from the following detailed description of the invention and the embodiments thereof, from the claims and from the accompanying drawings.
Similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistently throughout the attached drawings.
While this invention is susceptible of embodiment in many different forms, there is shown in the drawings and will herein be described in detail preferred features of the invention. It will be understood, however, that the present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the principles of the invention and is not intended to limit the invention to the specific form of the combination of features that are illustrated and described.
The present invention comprises various embodiments of a drawer security attachment having a flexible or hinged panel that spans substantially the entire interior volume of the drawer and extends over at least a portion of the interior volume of the drawer and its contents to block casual access to the contents of the drawer.
In the case of drawers D having relatively low sides, the cover 12 may optionally include lateral extensions 13, as shown in broken lines to the left side of the drawer cover 12 in
The cover 12 automatically locks into place against the overlying upper frame member U of the drawer opening O to keep the drawer D from being opened further without proper manipulation of the drawer D and cover 12, as explained further below.
The drawer content cover 12 flexes resiliently along its integral attachment edge 18 with the drawer front attachment flange 14. The attachment edge 18 may be thinned or narrowed, as shown in
The drawer content cover 12 has an upwardly convex arch toward the upper frame member U of the drawer opening O when the drawer D is opened, as is shown clearly in the side elevation view in section in
The drawer content cover 12 is formed with at least one, pin engagement passage(s) 20 therethrough, an example of which is shown in the detailed perspective view of
When the drawer D is pulled open, the inherent upward bias of the drawer content cover 12 causes the catch pin clearance portion 30 of the pin engagement passage 20 to pass upwardly around the head 28 of the catch pin 22 (or screw 24, as in
A person who does not have a thorough understanding of the above described latch or catch assembly, may attempt to disengage the cover 12 from the pin(s) 22 by pushing the drawer closed again, essentially attempting to reverse the action which cased the cover 12 to catch on the pin(s) 22. However, with the two diametrically opposed slots 32a and 32b, the cover 12 will remain engaged upon the pin(s) 22 as the drawer is pushed closed and the second slot 32b engages the narrower shank portion 26 of the pin(s). It will thus be seen that the drawer D must be precisely positioned to align the wider central catch pin clearance portions(s) 30 of the passage(s) 20 with the corresponding head(s) 28 of the pin(s) 22, in order to disengage the cover 12 from the pin(s). A person who understands the above described catch pin and engagement passage configuration need only apply slight downward pressure to the drawer content cover 12 while sliding the drawer D slightly inwardly or outwardly until the wider central portion 30 of the engagement passage(s) 20 align with the head(s) 28 of the pin(s) 22. When this occurs, the cover 12 will flex downwardly to disengage from the pin(s) 22, whereupon the drawer D may be opened further as desired. Once the drawer D is opened sufficiently for the distal edge of the cover 12 to clear the drawer opening, the inherent spring tension provided by the material along the hinge line 18 causes the cover 12 to fold upwardly, thereby exposing the contents of the drawer for access.
The cover 112 automatically locks into place against the overlying upper frame member U of the drawer opening O to keep the drawer D from being opened farther without proper manipulation of the drawer D and cover 112, as explained further below.
The cover 112 includes a central portion 114 and two adjustably extendable end portions 116, 118 that are identical in configuration. The center portion 114 includes a longitudinal slot 122, and two collinear lateral slots 124, 126. The center portion 114 is connected via plastic living hinges 130a, 132a to two attachment brackets 130, 132 that secure to the inner surface I of the drawer front face F. e.g., by screws 16 or other suitable attachment means such as shown in
The central portion 114 and end portions 116, 118 each comprise a flexible panel of plastic or other suitable material. The central portion 114 flexes resiliently along the living hinges 130a, 132a of the brackets 130, 132. The brackets 130, 132 are formed integrally with the central portion 114 and the living hinges 130a, 132a are formed by the material between the central portion 114 and the brackets 130, 132 being thinned or narrowed to facilitate flexibility along that hinges.
The cover 112 need not be particularly deep, i.e., it need not extend deeply into the drawer D from the front face F of the drawer toward the back of the drawer. The depth need only be sufficient to provide essentially complete coverage of the drawer contents when the drawer D is opened a few inches or so, generally as shown in
The drawer content cover 112, including the portions 114, 116, 118, has an upwardly convex arch toward the upper frame member U of the drawer opening O when the drawer D is opened as shown in
The slot 122 automatically engages a corresponding cover catch pin 138 formed on an L-shaped bracket 140, which is secured to the lower surface L of the upper frame member U of the drawer opening. The inside surfaces 140a, 140b (
The pin 138 is provided with a relatively narrow shank or neck portion 141 and a relatively larger diameter distal head portion 142, as shown clearly in
When the drawer D is pulled open, the inherent upward bias of the drawer content cover 112 causes the catch pin clearance portion 146 of the pin engagement slot 122 to pass upwardly around the head 142 of the catch pin 138, toward the narrower neck portion 141 of the pin. Further opening of the drawer D results in the narrower slotted portion 149 of the catch pin engagement slot 122 sliding along the narrower necked portion 141 of the pin until the pin reaches a terminal point 149a of the slotted portion 149. This simultaneously prevents the drawer D from being opened further, and also prevents the cover 112 from being pushed downwardly to disengage from the pin 138 due to the slotted portion 149 of the slot 122 being too narrow to pass over the larger diameter head 142 of the catch pin 138. The only way the drawer D may be opened further is to first push it slightly closed to align the larger diameter portion 146 of the catch pin engagement slot 122 with the head 142 of the pin 138, and then to push the cover 112 slightly downwardly to cause the larger diameter portion 146 of the slot 122 to pass over the head 142 of the pin, while simultaneously pulling the drawer D open. The relatively shallow depth of the cover 112 allows the cover to flex upwardly to a vertical position, or for the user to flex the cover upwardly, without having the cover block a substantial vertical span or area above the drawer front F.
A person who does not have a thorough understanding of the above described latch or catch assembly, may attempt to disengage the cover 112 from the pin 138 by pushing the drawer closed again, essentially attempting to reverse the action which caused the cover 112 to catch on the pin 138. However, with the two diametrically opposed slots 148, 149, the cover 112 will remain engaged upon the pin 138 as the drawer is pushed closed and the second slot 148 engages the narrower shank 141 of the pin. It will thus be seen that the drawer D must be precisely positioned to align the wider central catch pin clearance portion 146 of the slot 122 with the corresponding head 142 of the pin 138, in order to disengage the cover 112 from the pin. When the head 142 registers with the wider clearance portion 146 a slight click may be felt. A small formation such as a small molded bump or button (not shown) can be molded onto an underside of the central portion 114 adjacent the clearance portion 146 to amplify or enhance this click.
A person who understands the above described catch pin and engagement passage configuration need only apply slight downward pressure to the drawer content cover 112 while sliding the drawer D slightly inwardly or outwardly until the wider clearance portion 146 of the engagement slot 122 aligns with the head 142 of the pin 138. When this occurs, the cover 112 will flex downwardly to disengage from the pin 138, whereupon the drawer D may be opened further as desired. Once the drawer D is opened sufficiently for the distal edge of the cover 112 to clear the drawer opening, the inherent spring tension provided by the material along the hinges 130a, 132a causes the cover 112 to fold upwardly, thereby exposing the contents of the drawer for access.
The embodiment of
To accomplish this lateral adjustability, the end portions 130, 132 each include a body portion 160 formed with opposing guide portions 164, 166. The guide portions 164, 166 include detents 164a, 166a that have tapered ends that extend longitudinally in opposite directions. The detents 164a, 164b are formed on cantilever portions 164b, 166b (see
During assembly of the end portions 116, 118 with the central portion 114, outer edge regions of the guide portions 164, 166 of each end portion 116, 118 are slidably or telescopically fit into respective laterally extending C-shaped channels 167, 169 that are arranged on opposite longitudinal ends of the central portion 114. The channels 167, 169 are formed by L-shaped walls 176, 178 extending down from of the central portion.
One of two pins 168 or other suitable element slides through the respective collinear lateral slot 124, 126 during lateral dimension adjustment of the cover 112. The pins serve as limit stops for the inward and outward movement of the end portions 116, 118 with respect to the central portion 114, and help to guide the lateral adjustment along with the channels 167, 169.
The opposite detents 164a, 166a engage selected oppositely disposed notches 176a, 178a formed along the facing surfaces of the laterally extending walls 176, 178 of the central portion 114, as shown in
In conclusion, the drawer security attachment in its various embodiments provides excellent protection against casual entry into a kitchen drawer, a drawer in a chest of drawers, when installed therein. The upward biasing of the cover panel assures that it will automatically engage the cooperating catch pin to stop the opening of the drawer after only a few inches or so. Moreover, the configuration of the catch pin(s) and corresponding passage(s) in the cover require specific manipulation of the drawer in order to disengage the cover from the pin(s), which will likely be beyond the knowledge or abilities of a small child who is unaware of the operation of the drawer security attachment.
However, when a knowledgeable adult desires access to the contents of the drawer, he or she need only pull the drawer open, then push the drawer slightly closed while pushing downwardly on the cover to disengage the cover from the pin(s). The drawer may then be opened normally, with the biasing of the cover urging it to a fully opened position to provide complete access to the contents of the drawer. Closure of the drawer is accomplished by reversing the above procedure, i.e., tucking the cover back into the drawer opening and pushing the drawer closed. Accordingly, the drawer security attachment will prove to be a most valuable and desirable household accessory for parents and guardians of small children and others who have need to protect drawers and the like from casual entry.
It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, but encompasses any and all embodiments within the scope of the following claims.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/810,647, filed Jun. 5, 2006.
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