Lateral File Locking System

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6186606
  • Patent Number
    6,186,606
  • Date Filed
    Thursday, November 12, 1998
    26 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, February 13, 2001
    23 years ago
Abstract
A locking system for a file cabinet which prevents opening of more than one drawer of the cabinet. The locking system includes a camming system which blocks opening of any secondary drawers after a first drawer has been opened. A rotatable cam having a hook mounts to an individual lock lever. The hook engages an opening in the file drawer or door to prevent retraction while also blocking the interlocking mechanism for the file drawers.
Description




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




I. Field of the Invention




This invention relates to a locking system for a file cabinet and, in particular, to a rotatable cam lock which engages the individual drawer and simultaneously blocks the interlocking mechanism of the file system.




II. Background of the Invention




File systems typically include a plurality of drawers or cabinet doors positioned in a vertical arrangement to maximize storage space. In the case of drawers, the individual drawers are slidably extractable from the cabinet to allow access to the interior contents of the drawer. A flip up door may be employed to enclose the individual storage units facilitating access from the front of the unit rather than the top as in a drawer. In order to maintain stability of the cabinet, it is preferred that only one drawer be allowed to be extracted at a time. Interlocking systems have long been employed which prevent multiple drawers from being opened in such cabinets. However, the prior known file systems employ interlocking systems which are separate from the overall locking assembly for the cabinet. The increased part requirements for such a separate locking system increases the costs and complexity of manufacturing of the cabinet.




SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION




The present invention overcomes the disadvantages of the prior known file cabinets by providing a simple locking system which engages the individual file drawer or door while also blocking the interlocking mechanism of the cabinet to control opening of the drawers.




The file cabinet of the present invention incorporates a plurality of file drawers positioned vertically within the cabinet for individual extraction from the cabinet. The drawers ride on a slider assembly for simple movement into and out of the cabinet. The locking system is incorporated into the side wall of the cabinet for engagement with the individual drawers for locking the entire cabinet preventing extraction of any of the drawers. The lock assembly is a single cam lock which hooks into a front panel of the uppermost drawer and engages the interlocking mechanism of the cabinet thereby preventing the other drawers from being opened.




The locking assembly includes a key-operated spindle rotatable within the cabinet wall. Mounted to the rotatable spindle is a lever hook which is movable between an unlocked position and a locked position. The lever hook includes a hook and an end-plate. In the locked position the hook is inserted into an aperture of the front panel of the cabinet while the end plate engages the interlocking mechanism preventing extraction of the drawers. The interlocking mechanisms controls movement of the drawers when one of the drawers has been pulled out. As a result, a simple, single locking mechanism is used to control access to the contents of the file cabinet.




Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING




The present invention will be more fully understood by reference to the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the present invention when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, in which like reference characters refer to like parts throughout the views and in which:





FIG. 1

is a perspective view of a file cabinet incorporating the locking system of the present invention;





FIG. 2

is an enlarged perspective view of the locking system;





FIG. 3

is a side view of the locking system in a locked position;





FIG. 4

is a side view of the locking system in an unlocked position;





FIG. 5

is a partial view of the locking system in the locked position;





FIG. 6

is a partial view of the locking system in the unlocked position;





FIG. 7

is an exploded view of the locking system; and





FIGS. 8A and 8B

are perspective views of a locking cam of the locking system.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE PRESENT INVENTION




Referring first to

FIGS. 1 and 2

, there is shown two embodiments of a filing cabinet


10


incorporating a locking system embodied in the present invention. The filing cabinet


10


is a lateral file cabinet with a plurality of selectively extractable file drawers


12


. The file drawers


12


are positioned in a vertical orientation and are independently selectively movable between a stored position within the cabinet housing


14


and an extended position exteriorly of the housing


14


for access to the contents of the drawer


12


. In a well known manner, the individual drawers


12


are supported on a slider assembly


16


which facilitate lateral movement of the drawer


12


into and out of the cabinet housing


14


. The embodiment of

FIG. 2

includes four extractable file drawers


12


for storage of files and records. In place of the top drawer, the embodiment of

FIG. 1

includes a flip door


18


to provide selective access to the interior storage area


20


at the top of the cabinet


10


. Both embodiments of the file cabinet


10


incorporate locking systems to secure the drawers and flip door controlling access to the interior storage area


20


at the top of the cabinet


10


.




Referring now to

FIGS. 3 through 7

, the locking system


22


of the present invention operates in conjunction with the interlocking mechanism of the cabinet


10


which prevents more than one drawer


12


from being opened. The locking system


22


is incorporated into the side wall of the cabinet


10


and operated by a key (not shown). The primary component of the locking system


22


is a rotatable cam


24


. The cam


24


includes a hook member


26


and a flange


28


. The cam


24


cooperates with a lock cylinder


30


for rotation under operation of a key. Rotation of the cam


24


in a first direction will cause the hook member


26


to engage an opening


32


in a front panel


34


of the flipper door


18


or drawer


12


. Once inserted into the opening


32


, the drawer


12


or door


18


is prevented from being opened. Simultaneously, the flange


28


of the rotatable cam


24


is rotated into engagement with the interlocking mechanism


36


of the cabinet


10


preventing opening of the other drawers


12


as will be subsequently described. As a result, a single simple locking system


22


operates in cooperation with the interlock


36


of the cabinet


10


to selectively lock all of the drawers of the cabinet


10


.




The interlocking mechanism


36


of the file cabinet


10


operates to allow opening of only one drawer


12


at any time. Upon opening of one drawer


12


, the interlocking mechanism


36


prevents the subsequent opening of additional drawers


12


. The interlocking mechanism


36


cooperates with the sliders


16


of each of the drawers


12


and includes a clamp


38


adjacent each slider


16


. The clamps


38


of the interlocking mechanism


36


are connected by a rod


42


such that the clamps


38


operate in unison. The slider


16


has a tapered forward end


40


which allows the clamp


38


to contract when the drawer


12


is pushed in the cabinet housing


14


. As the slider


16


moves through the clamp


38


when the drawer


12


is pulled from the cabinet


10


, the clamp


38


is expanded. The clamp halves


44


drive respective connecting rods


42


outwardly to hold the other clamps


38


in a contracted or closed position preventing the respective sliders


16


from moving through the clamps


38


. Accordingly, only one drawer


12


may be opened in the file cabinet


10


.




The lock assembly


22


operates in conjunction with the interlocking mechanism


36


to prevent withdrawal of the file drawers


12


when the assembly


22


is locked. Rotation of the cam


24


from the unlocked position to a lock position (

FIGS. 4 and 6

) causes the hook


26


to engage and retain the front panel


34


. Additionally, the flange


28


rotates downwardly to engage the uppermost clamp


38


preventing expansion of the clamps


38


to receive the slider


16


. With the clamps


38


maintained in a contracted position, none of the drawers


12


can be opened. Rotation of the cam


24


to an unlocked position (

FIGS. 5 and 7

) not only releases the front panel


34


but also releases the interlocking mechanism. As a result, one of the drawers


12


can be opened as necessary.




The foregoing detailed description has been given for clearness of understanding only and no unnecessary limitations should be understood therefrom as some modifications will be obvious to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the appended claims.



Claims
  • 1. In a file cabinet having a plurality of drawers selectively movable between a closed position disposed within said cabinet and an open position slidably extended from within said cabinet to provide access to the contents of said drawers, said file cabinet including an interlocking mechanism cooperating with said drawers to prevent more than one of said drawers from being opened simultaneously, the improvement comprising:a locking assembly having a rotatable locking cam movable between an unlocked position allowing opening of said drawers and operation of said interlocking mechanism and movement of said drawers to said open position, said rotatable locking cam including a hook member formed in a plane and movable upon rotation of said locking cam between an unlocked position and a locked position engaging a front panel of said file cabinet and wherein said locking cam includes a flange which selectively engages said interlocking mechanism upon rotation of said locking cam to said locked position.
  • 2. The improvement as defined in claim 1 wherein said hook member is disposed in said plane substantially perpendicular to the plane of said flange on said locking cam.
  • 3. The improvement as defined in claim 2 wherein said front panel of said file cabinet has an opening for selectively receiving said hook member, positioning of said hook member within said opening upon rotation of said locking cam to said locked position prevents opening of said front panel.
  • 4. The improvement as defined in claim 1 wherein said flange of said locking cam engages a clamp member of said interlocking mechanism upon rotation of said locking cam to said locked position, said flange preventing said clamp member from expanding when in said locked position.
  • 5. The improvement as defined in claim 1 wherein said locking cam is operated by key means inserted into said locking assembly facilitating rotation of said locking cam between said unlocked and locked positions.
  • 6. In a file cabinet having a plurality of drawers selectively movable between a concealed position disposed within said cabinet and an open position slidably extended from within said cabinet to allow access to the contents of said drawers, said file cabinet including an interlocking mechanism extending between said drawers to prevent more than one of said drawers from being open simultaneously, the improvement comprising:a locking assembly having a rotatable locking cam with a flange pivotably movable between an unlocked position allowing operation of said interlocking mechanism and opening of said drawers and a locked position engaging said interlocking mechanism preventing operation of said interlocking mechanism thereby preventing movement of said drawers to said open position, said rotatable locking cam including a hook member formed in a plane and movable upon rotation of said locking cam between an unlocked position and a locked position engaging a front panel of said file cabinet to prevent movement of said front panel.
  • 7. The improvement as defined in claim 6 wherein said flange for selectively engaging said interlocking mechanism extends perpendicular to the axis of rotation of said locking cam.
  • 8. The improvement as defined in claim 7 wherein said flange of said locking cam engages a clamp member of said interlocking mechanism to prevent expansion of said clamp member upon rotation of said locking cam to said locked position, said flange preventing said clamp member from expanding thereby preventing operation of said drawers.
  • 9. The improvement as defined in claim 7 wherein said front panel of said file cabinet has an opening for selectively receiving said hook member whereby positioning of said hook member within said opening upon rotation of said locking cam to said locked position prevents opening of said front panel.
Parent Case Info

This application claims the benefit and priority of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/104,688 filed Oct. 17, 1998.

US Referenced Citations (23)
Number Name Date Kind
1013444 Robbins Jan 1912
1740672 Vignos Dec 1929
2097504 Wells Nov 1937
2448748 Vanderveld Sep 1948
2750901 McClellan Jun 1956
2882112 Jarvi Apr 1959
3223466 Roberts Dec 1965
3649095 Gunzberg Mar 1972
3936108 Chitester Feb 1976
4040653 Takahashi Aug 1977
4132440 Johnson Jan 1979
4239309 DeFouw et al. Dec 1980
4453787 Staropoli Jun 1984
4465328 Tihanyi et al. Aug 1984
4477130 Frantz Oct 1984
4525012 Dunner Jun 1985
4662689 Chatterson et al. May 1987
4820002 Lechner et al. Apr 1989
5176436 Mitchell Jan 1993
5199774 Hedinger et al. Apr 1993
5249443 Anderson Oct 1993
5292191 Slivon Mar 1994
5988778 Lammens Nov 1999
Foreign Referenced Citations (6)
Number Date Country
1084096 Aug 1980 CA
1255213 Jan 1961 FR
1454844 Aug 1966 FR
2523631 Sep 1983 FR
25176 Jan 1899 GB
1584777 Feb 1981 GB
Provisional Applications (1)
Number Date Country
60/104688 Oct 1998 US