Claims
- 1. An interlock for a drawer positionable within a cabinet, said drawer being movable in the cabinet in a first direction toward an open position and in a second, opposite direction toward a closed position, said interlock comprising:
an elongated, flexible member; a slack take-up mechanism engageable with said elongated, flexible member and movable between a higher slack position and a lower slack position, said higher slack position allowing said elongated, flexible member to exist in a higher slack condition, said lower slack position causing said elongated, flexible member to exist in a lower slack condition; a cam operatively coupled to said slack take-up mechanism and to said drawer, said cam adapted to switch the slack take-up mechanism from the higher slack position to the lower slack position when the drawer is moved in the first direction; and a biasing member adapted to exert a force against said take-up mechanism that urges said slack take-up mechanism toward said lower slack position.
- 2. The interlock of claim 1 wherein said biasing member is a spring.
- 3. The interlock of claim 2 wherein said force of said biasing member has a magnitude that is independent of the magnitude of a force exerted on the drawer in said first direction.
- 4. The interlock of claim 2 further including a stop that prevents said cam from switching said slack take-up mechanism from the higher slack position to the lower slack position when the elongated, flexible member is in said lower slack condition.
- 5. The interlock of claim 4 wherein said cam is adapted to prevent said drawer from being moved to said open position when said cam engages said stop.
- 6. The interlock of claim 3 wherein said slack take-up mechanism includes a slide movable in a linear direction generally parallel to said first direction, said slide including an engagement surface positioned to engage said cable.
- 7. The interlock of claim 4 wherein said stop is an embossment.
- 8. The interlock of claim 1 wherein said elongated, flexible member is a cable.
- 9. The interlock of claim 8 further including a cable guide attached adapted to snap-fittingly receive the cable from at least one direction.
- 10. The interlock of claim 9 wherein said cable is in communication with at least one other drawer interlock associated with another drawer, said at least one other drawer interlock adapted to change said cable to said lower slack condition when the another drawer is moved to an open position.
- 11. The interlock of claim 8 wherein said cable is in communication with a lock, said lock adapted to selectively change said cable between said lower and higher slack conditions.
- 12. The interlock of claim 11 wherein said cable is in communication with at least one other drawer interlock associated with another drawer, said at least one other drawer interlock adapted to change said cable to said lower slack condition when the another drawer is moved to an open position.
- 13. The interlock of claim 8 further including a second cable in communication with a lock, said lock adapted to selectively change said second cable between lower and higher slack conditions, said drawer being prevented from being moved to the open position when said second cable is in said lower slack condition, said second cable being in operative engagement with said slack take-up mechanism.
- 14. A cabinet having at least one drawer movable within the cabinet in a first direction toward an open position and in a second, opposite direction toward a closed position, said cabinet comprising:
a frame adapted to support said drawer when positioned within the cabinet; an elongated, flexible member positioned within said cabinet, said elongated, flexible member changeable between a lower slack condition and a higher slack condition; an interlock positioned within said frame and in operative engagement with said elongated, flexible member, said interlock adapted to prevent said drawer from moving to said open position when said elongated, flexible member is in said lower slack condition and to allow said drawer to move to said open position when said elongated, flexible member is in said higher slack condition; and a slack take-up mechanism attached to said interlock and adapted to change said elongated, flexible member from said higher slack condition to said lower slack condition when the drawer is moved from the closed position to the open position, said slack take-up mechanism adapted to exert a force on said elongated, flexible member that has a magnitude which is independent of a force applied in said first direction to the drawer when said drawer is substantially closed.
- 15. The cabinet of claim 14 wherein said elongated, flexible member is a cable.
- 16. The cabinet of claim 14 wherein said elongated, flexible member is in communication with a lock, said lock adapted to selectively change said elongated, flexible member between said lower and higher slack conditions.
- 17. The cabinet of claim 15 wherein said cable is in communication with at least one other drawer interlock associated with another drawer, said at least one other drawer interlock adapted to change said cable to said lower slack condition when the another drawer is moved to the open position.
- 18. The cabinet of claim 15 wherein said slack take-up mechanism includes a slide movable in a linear direction generally parallel to said first direction, said slide including an engagement surface positioned to engage said cable.
- 19. The cabinet of claim 15 wherein said slack take-up mechanism includes a biasing member adapted to exert a force against said cable that urges said cable toward said lower slack position whenever the drawer associated with said interlock is moved to the open position.
- 20. The cabinet of claim 19 wherein said biasing member is a spring.
- 21. The cabinet of claim 14 further including at least one drawer slide attached to said drawer, said drawer slide movable between an extended position corresponding to the attached drawer's open position and a retracted position corresponding to the attached drawer's closed position, said interlock mounted on said drawer slide and adapted to prevent said drawer slide from moving to said extended position when said elongated, flexible member is in said lower slack condition and to allow said drawer slide to move to said extended position when said elongated, flexible member is in said higher slack condition.
Parent Case Info
[0001] This application claims priority to commonly-assigned U.S. Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 60/429,772, filed Nov. 27, 2002, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.
Provisional Applications (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
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60429772 |
Nov 2002 |
US |