Patent Grant
7320507
This invention relates to an interlock assembly for a drawer slide. In particular, this invention relates to an interlock assembly that is positioned at the rear end of a drawer slide. In addition, this invention relates to an interlock assembly for use with a set of vertically arranged drawers to prevent a drawer in the set of drawers from being opened while any other drawer in the set is open.
The invention also extends to an interlock assembly provided with a self close mechanism for the drawer slide to which it is fitted.
Items of furniture comprising drawers frequently have drawers, each of which is mounted in a frame by means of a pair of slides. Such slides comprise at least two slide members, which extend longitudinally and are slidable relative to one another. One slide member, usually the inner member, is attached to the drawer and the other slide member, usually the outer member, is attached to the frame of the item in which the drawer is mounted. Often there is at least one intermediate slide member positioned between the outer and inner slide members. Usually, the slide members are slidably connected in that a bearing raceway of one slide member nests within and interlinks with a bearing raceway of at least one other slide member using ball bearings. The slide assembly helps to reduce friction between the drawer and the frame and, consequently, makes movement of the drawer easier and reduces wear on the components.
Where an item of furniture comprises more than one drawer, there is a risk that the item of furniture may tilt or topple over if more than one drawer is open at any one time. Therefore, it is desirable to include in the furniture an interlock, that is, a means for allowing a drawer to be opened only if no other drawer in the set of drawers is open, thereby preventing more than one drawer from being opened at any one time. Means for providing an interlock between drawers vertically arranged in a frame have been disclosed in the prior art. EP 0 818 597 A2 discloses an interlock assembly for use with two or more vertically arranged drawers mounted on drawer slides. The interlock assembly is arranged at the front of the drawer slide, that is, at the end nearest the drawer front. When a drawer is opened, actuator followers mounted in the outer or fixed slide member are pushed out from their position in the outer slide member by an actuator and are kept in this position by the side edge of the inner slide member. The actuator followers are each attached to rods and the movement of the actuator followers causes these rods to be pushed away from the slide, up and down, respectively. At the other end of each rod there may be an additional actuator follower. The movement of the rod pushes the additional actuator follower against the actuator of the inner slide member of the drawer immediately below and/or immediately above the drawer that has been opened. Accordingly, the actuator followers prevent the actuator on the front end of the inner slide member from sliding relative to the outer or fixed slide member when another drawer is open. In this way the movement of the rods and actuators is transmitted to the drawers above and below the drawer which is open so that all other drawers are prevented from opening by the action of at least one actuator follower against the actuator for each drawer.
However, where an interlock assembly is situated at the front end of a drawer slide, the rods or other means for connecting the interlock assembly of the drawer slide to the interlock assemblies of a drawer slide above and/or below the drawer prevents a cover or shroud from being positioned around the drawer slide. Such covers are desirable for aesthetic reasons and consequently there is a need for an interlock assembly which will allow shrouds to cover the drawer slides.
Simply reversing the interlock assemblies of the prior art would not solve this problem because, when the inner slide member moves relative to the outer slide member, the actuator moves away from the rear end of the drawer slide and passes the actuator followers. Once the actuator has passed the actuator followers, there is nothing to keep the actuator followers away from their original position in the outer slide member. Thus, other drawers in the vertical arrangement of drawer slides may be opened.
The present invention aims to provide an interlock assembly which overcomes the above problems.
According to the present invention there is provided a drawer slide interlock assembly for a drawer cabinet comprising a set of vertically arranged drawers mounted in a frame by spaced drawer slides each having an outer slide member and an inner slide member slidable relative to one another, the outer slide members being adapted for mounting on the frame and the inner slide members being adapted for mounting on respective ones of the drawers, wherein said interlock assembly is located at the rear of the extendible drawer slides, and comprises, for each drawer slide on at least one side of the set of drawers, a drawer slide interlock assembly for a drawer cabinet comprising a set of vertically arranged drawers mounted in a frame by spaced drawer slides each having an outer slide member and an inner slide member slidable relative to one another, the outer slide member being adapted for mounting on the frame and the inner slide member being adapted for mounting on a respective one of the drawers, wherein said interlock assembly is located at the rear of the extendible drawer slides, and comprises, for each drawer slide on at least one side of the set of drawers, a plate movable relative to the outer slide member between a first position and a blocking position, an actuator mounted on the rear of the inner slide member, catching means enabling the plate to be engaged by the actuator to move it to its blocking position when the drawer to which the inner slide member is connected is opened, means for maintaining the plate in the blocking position in the housing, an actuator follower supported for movement relative to the outer slide member between a plate blocking position and a blocked position and wherein, when the drawer is opened, the actuator follower will be moved from its plate blocking position to its blocked position, said actuator follower subsequently being maintained in said blocked position while the drawer is open, and wherein closing of the drawer will cause the plate to be returned to its first position, and the actuator follower will be allowed to return to its plate blocking position.
In the preferred arrangement, the actuator co-operates with the actuator follower to move the actuator follower outwardly away from the longitudinal central axis of the outer slide member. However, co-operation could be between the plate and the actuator follower. In either of these arrangements, it is preferred that the actuator follower is maintained in said blocked position as a result of the plate being held in its blocking position as a result of moving to a latched position. Hence, when unlatching occurs, this will allow the actuator follower to return to its plate blocking position, because both the plate and the actuator will have returned to a “drawer-closed” position. Instead of being slidably mounted, the or each actuator follower could be mounted for rotary movement relative to the outer slide member.
Although the plate could be mounted for sliding movement directly in the outer slide member, e.g. on a suitable rail, it is preferred that the plate is slidably supported in a housing supported with a rear end of the outer slide member for movement parallel to said longitudinal central axis, said first position being at the rear of the housing, and the blocking position being spaced therefrom. Preferably also, latching means are provided between the housing and the plate.
Preferably, the drawer slide interlock assembly further comprises spring means biasing the plate towards the rear of the housing, the latching means extends between the housing and the plate to hold the plate in its blocking position spaced from the rear of the housing, and the catching means extends between the actuator and the plate, the catching means being arranged to move the plate from the rear of the housing to its blocking position when the inner drawer slide member is initially moved from its rearmost position when the drawer to which it is fitted is opened but being arranged to release the plate when the plate is in its blocking position to allow the drawer fully to open, said release occurring once the releasable latching means is in a latched position, the arrangement being such that when the drawer is moved towards a closed position and the actuator moves into the vicinity of the latched plate, the releasable latching means will be unlatched, thus allowing the plate to move under its spring bias to the rear of the housing, and wherein the actuator follower has at least one follower surface thereon co-operating with a surface on the actuator to move the actuator follower to its blocked position, there being to a connecting rod attached to the actuator follower at one end and attached to a similar actuator follower of a drawer slide interlock assembly of an adjacent drawer at its opposite end, the arrangement being such that, when the plate is in its blocking position, a side surface of the plate will prevent the actuator follower from moving back towards its plate blocking position, thus maintaining the actuator follower of the adjacent drawer slide interlock assembly of the adjacent drawer in such a position that it will prevent movement of the plate of the adjacent mechanism from moving to its blocking position, thereby preventing opening of the second drawer.
In one embodiment, the plate is delta-shaped with a forward projecting nose and the leading edges of the delta-shape provide actuating surfaces on the plate.
In another embodiment, the plate is U-shaped with leading edges thereof forming actuating surfaces on the plate.
The actuator follower may have two follower surfaces thereon, a first follower surface co-operating the actuator surface on the actuator and a second follower surface co-operating with a secondary actuating surface on the plate.
In one embodiment of the invention, the releasable latching means is formed partly on the projecting nose of the delta-shaped plate.
Preferably, the housing is divided into a rear part and a forward part spaced from the rear part and the rear part is connected to the forward part by at least one slide rail extending generally parallel to the longitudinal axis of the outer slide member.
Preferably also, a slideway is provided on the underside of the plate which engages with the or each slide rail of the housing.
It is preferred that a front edge of the rear part of the housing is parallel with a rear edge of the front part of the housing, said two edges providing guide walls or slide channels for the or each actuator follower.
In the first embodiment of the invention, two rails preferably extend the full length of the housing and the releasable latching means comprise an upstand at a forward end of one of the rails and a latching nose on a forward end of the plate.
In the first embodiment, a front end of the plate preferably has the latching nose and the plate catching means supported thereon, the latching nose being connected to the remainder of the plate by a thin section of plastics material acting as a pivot to allow the nose to pivot about an axis extending at right-angles to the plane of the plate.
Preferably, the nose has a hook on a rear face thereof which co-operates with a leading edge on the upstand to provide said releasable latching means. Preferably also, a rear face of the upstand co-operates with a stop on the plate to limit movement of the plate away from a rear end of the drawer slide.
In the first embodiment, the plate catching means preferably comprises a stud, which is preferably offset, on a rear face of the actuator which co-operates with a catching surface in a recess in the nose, the nose having a position of rest in which the hook is in a position to engage the forward end of the upstand and the arrangement being such that, when the actuator moves towards the rear of the outer drawer slide member so as to overlie the plate, the stud will engage with a release surface opposite the, catching surface to cause the nose to pivot in a direction so as to release the hook from the forward end of the upstand thus allowing the plate to move under its spring bias towards the rear of the outer drawer slide member until the side surface of the plate will no longer prevent the actuator follower from moving towards the longitudinal central axis of the slide member.
The actuating surface on the actuator preferably comes into contact with the first follower surface on the actuator follower before the actuating surface on the plate comes into contact with the second follower surface on the actuator follower. This ensures that movement of the actuator follower is started by the actuator. If such movement was started by the actuating surface on the plate, there is a risk that the resultant forces might unlatch the latching means as the inner drawer slide member was moved forwardly, or that the thin section of plastics material acting as a pivot for the latching nose might break.
It is important that the actuating surfaces make an acute angle with the longitudinal central axis; it is preferred that this angle be about 45°.
Preferably, the actuator has a further inclined surface on its trailing edge (relative to its forward movement) for co-operation with an inclined reset surface on the actuator follower. This is to allow the mechanism of the interlock assembly to be reset or recycled if, for some reason, it should fall out of synchronisation, e.g. as a result of accidental unlatching of the latching means, or inadvertent release of the catching means at the wrong time.
In a second embodiment of the invention, it is preferred that the rear part of the housing is connected to the forward part of the housing by a bridging member incorporating two outwardly turned rails with which a rear portion of the plate engages, there being upstanding guide posts located on a forward end of the forward part of the housing which act as guide means for a forward end of the plate.
In this embodiment, the forward end of the plate is preferably provided with laterally extending slide surfaces which engage beneath inturned guides on the upstanding guide posts and the forward end of the plate is provided with a central aperture therein to receive part of the catching means.
Preferably, the part of the catching means is pivotally supported within the aperture by means of a pair of outwardly projecting pivots which engage within mating pivot slots in the underside of the plate. Preferably also, the part of the catching means comprises a main spine which locates wholly within the aperture, the spine having upstanding from its rear end an abutment and upstanding from its front end a further abutment having a chamfered leading edge, there being a resiliently deformable latching hook extending from the underside thereof.
In the second embodiment of the invention, a groove is preferably formed on the rear face of the actuator which terminates in depending block sized to fit between the abutment and the further abutment, a rear face of the block being engageable with a forward face of the abutment and a front face of the block being engageable with a rear face of the further abutment, the arrangement being such that, as the actuator moves forwardly from a rear end of the outer drawer slide, the block will engage the rear face, thus drawing the plate against its spring bias towards a front end of the housing until a trailing end of the latching hook engages with a front edge of the forward part of the housing, whereupon the block will disengage from the catching means to allow the drawer to open fully, and the arrangement being such that, when the drawer is moved rearwardly, the rear face of the block will ride over the chamfered leading edge of the further abutment, allowing the actuator to move rearwardly until the block engages the forward face on the abutment, thus causing the catching means to pivot so as to disengage the hook from the front edge of the housing, allowing the block to engage between the abutment and the further abutment, and thereby allowing the plate to move under its spring bias towards the rear end of the slide member.
In a third, preferred embodiment of the invention, a single slide rail preferably joins together the front and rear parts of the housing and a central slide way is formed in said slide rail having at a rear end thereof a recycling recess and adjacent a front end thereof a latching recess. In this embodiment, it is preferred that the plate has a central slide way on its underside which engages with the slide rail and, preferably within the central slide way, a recess provided at one end with a pivot pin and at its opposite end with an arcuate slot whereby a pivoting arm having an aperture in one end thereof and a catch pin at the other end thereof is pivotally supported in the recess with the aperture surrounding the pivot pin and the catch pin sliding in the arcuate slot and projecting upwardly therefrom. Preferably also, a depending guide pin is provided on the underside of the pivot arm for sliding engagement in the slide way in the slide rail on the housing.
Preferably, the spring bias in the second and third embodiments is provided by a coil spring extending between a buffer at the rear of the housing and two spaced anchoring points on the underside of the plate.
In the preferred third embodiment of the invention, the actuator preferably has on its underside three principal recesses therein, two of which open laterally outwards and are partly defined by forwardly facing actuating surfaces designed to cooperate with follower surfaces on the actuator followers and the third of which is located between two rearwardly facing inclined surfaces designed to cooperate with forwardly facing inclined follower surfaces on the actuator followers. The third recess extends generally fore and aft within the underside of the actuator and has a downwardly depending island block therein spaced from the walls of the recess to define a fore and aft extending linear channel on one side of the block and a recycling channel on the other side. The fore and aft extending channel and the recycling channel are interconnected at a forward end of the recess by an arcuate wall of the recess, part of which defines an unlatching surface for the catch pin and another part of which forms a recycling camming surface for the catch pin. At its forward end, the island block has an inclined pin pulling surface which merges with a front end of a latch actuation surface, the rear end of which merges with the fore and aft extending passageway. At its rear end, the depending island block has a recycling surface leading into the recycling channel.
The arrangement is such that forward movement of the actuator will result in engagement of the catch pin by the pin pulling surface so as to move the plate towards a front end of the slide way in the slide rail of the housing until the depending guide pin on the underside of the pivoting arm is biased by the inclined pin pulling surface and thereafter the latch actuating surface into the latching recess in the slide way, whereupon the actuator will become disengaged from the plate allowing full opening of the drawer. By virtue of the pivotal attachment of the swinging arm on which the catch pin is supported to the plate, latching of the catch pin in the latching recess will result in the plate being moved to an actuator follower blocking position.
When the drawer is to be closed, the fore and aft extending passageway on the underside of the actuator will slide over the catch pin located in the latching recess until the unlatching surface forming part of the arcuate forward end of the recess in the underside of the actuator will cause unlatching of the catch pin from the latching recess thus allowing the plate to slide rearwardly preferably under the influence of its spring bias out of the actuator follower blocking position until the catch pin is at the rear end of the slide way in the slide rail of the housing. By this time, the pin will have become engaged between a central portion of the arcuate forward end of the recess and the pin pulling surface at the forward end of the depending island block, thus allowing the spring biasing the plate to its rearmost position in the housing to pull the inner slide member and the drawer attached thereto to its rearmost position, thus acting as a self-closing mechanism.
Should the plate inadvertently move to its rearmost position in the housing when the drawer is fully open due to the catch pin inadvertently becoming unlatched from the latching recess in the slide way, rearward movement of the actuator will result in a rearwardly facing recycling surface on the depending island block moving the catch pin upwardly into the recycling recess in the slide way to allow the island block to move past the pin whereupon the camming surface on the forwardly facing arcuate end of the recess in the underside of the actuator will move the catch pin back into its central location at the rear of the slide way.
The invention also extends to a drawer having a drawer slide interlock assembly as described above, and to a stack of drawers arranged vertically in a cabinet, each drawer being provided with an interlock assembly described above, there being a connecting rod extending between an actuator follower of the assembly of one drawer and that of an adjacent drawer, the rods being located adjacent the rear of the cabinet.
Also according to the invention, we provide a method of preventing a stack of drawers supported in a cabinet from toppling over as a result of more than one drawer being opened at any one time, comprising fitting each drawer in the stack with a drawer slide interlock assembly as described above, whereby when one of the drawers in the stack is opened, the interlock assembly will prevent the other drawers from being opened until the first drawer is moved to a closed position.
The drawer slide interlock assembly may have one or two actuator followers. Where a drawer slide interlock assembly is incorporated into a drawer slide that is located at the top or bottom of a set of vertically arranged drawer slides, the interlock assembly may have one actuator follower. Preferably, the drawer slide interlock assembly comprises two actuator followers slidably mounted in the outer slide member. Where there are two actuator followers, these are positioned on opposite sides of the longitudinal axis of the outer slide member.
Where the drawer slide interlock assembly is provided with two actuator followers, each actuator follower may have a half width leg portion, shaped to co-operate with and be alongside a half width leg portion of the second actuator follower, each half width leg portion being sufficiently long to extend beneath the slide rails of the housing to hold the actuator followers in position at all times.
Where the drawer slide has an intermediate slide member, the housing may include at least one stop to prevent the intermediate slide member from reaching the rear end of the outer slide member, and thus prevent it from interfering with the functioning of the drawer slide interlock assembly. Preferably, the rear end of the intermediate slide member has a central cut away portion such that there are two prongs which extend from the rear end of the intermediate slide member and each of which locate against a stop on the housing when the intermediate slide member is moved towards the rear of the housing.
The resilient means or spring biasing the plate towards the rear of the housing may also provide the drawer slide with a pull-in mechanism. By “pull-in mechanism” is meant a self-close mechanism that assists the final movement of the drawer slide towards the closed position. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, as the inner slide member is pushed towards the rear of the drawer slide, the actuator overlaps the plate, which is held there by the catching means extending between the housing and the plate. When the inner slide member overlaps the plate, the catching means attaches the plate to the actuator. Consequently, the plate and actuator are pulled back together towards the rear of the drawer slide by the resilient means or spring extending between the housing and the plate.
Also according to the present invention, we provide an interlock assembly for a drawer slide of one of the drawers of a set of drawers mounted on drawer slides in a cabinet, the interlock assembly being provided at the rear of the drawer slide, said interlock assembly incorporating therein a self close mechanism for the drawer slide.
Preferably, the self close mechanism comprises a spring extending between a housing of the interlock assembly and a plate movably supported in the housing and which plate is connected to the inner slide member of the drawer slide by latching means forming part of the interlock assembly when the inner slide member is adjacent the rear of the drawer slide. Preferably, the plate is slidably supported in the housing between a first portion at the rear of the housing and a blocking position spaced therefrom, the spring biasing the plate towards the first position at the rear of the housing.
Three embodiments of the present invention are now described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
Referring to
The assembly (10) includes a housing (22) which is mounted at the rear end of the outer slide member (14). The housing shown in detail in
A catching means (30) extending between the housing (20) and the plate (26) holds the plate away from the rear edge (24) of the housing (22) and comprises an upstand (78) that is part of the housing and upstands from a front portion of one of the rails (74). The top surface of the upstand (78), when the plate (26) is assembled with the housing, as shown in
On the underside of the plate (26), there are two grooves defined by inturned lower flanges and the underside of the plate itself which form a slideway and hold the plate captive on the rails (74), the rails having laterally outwardly extending flanges thereon beneath which the lower flanges on the underside of the plate engage.
The plate (26) has a rear edge (28), two inclined front edges which form secondary actuating surfaces (68 and 70), and two side edges (96 and 98) and a forwardly projecting nose (79) resiliently connected to a front end of the plate by a thin section of polymeric material (81) allowing the nose (79) to pivot about an axis extending at right angles to the plane of the plate (26). The hook (76) is formed on the nose (79). The plate fits between the slide tracks (15, 17) of the outer slide member. The plate (26) also has a recess (80) formed in a side face of the nose (79) which co-operates with the stud (82) on the actuator (32) to form an attaching means between the plate (26) and the actuator (32). The recess (80) has a release surface (83) and a catching surface (85).
Two actuator followers (36) are slidably mounted in the outer slide member (14) for lateral movement at right angles to the movement of the inner slide member (16), the followers (36) having portions extending outwardly on the outer slide member (14), through apertures in the slide tracks of the outer slide member. The actuator followers (36) are mounted on opposite sides of and extend substantially perpendicularly to the longitudinal axis of the outer slide member (14), such that they face each other. The actuator followers of the embodiment shown in
At its rear end, a cut out (71) is provided in the intermediate slide member (18) to accommodate the front ends of the rails (74) and of the plate (26), leaving two prongs (72) which extend from the rear end of the intermediate slide member. These prongs locate against respective stops (52) moulded into the housing (22), when the intermediate slide member is moved to a closed position.
The drawer slide interlock assembly works as follows:
When a drawer (not shown) attached to the drawer slide is in a closed position, the drawer slide will be as shown in
Continued forward movement of the actuator (32) will then result in the lower or second follower cam surfaces (48) on the followers (36) becoming engaged respectively by the actuating surfaces (68, 70) on the plate (26), with the result that the followers are moved laterally outwards further. It is important that engagement of the follower surfaces occurs in the above described way, otherwise the resultant forces between the stud (82) and catching surface (85) may result in disengagement therebetween, or alternatively, the force on the line of weakness (81) may result in breakage at this point.
As the inner slide member continues to move away from the rear end (20) of the drawer slide, and the plate continues to slide along rails (74), the hook (76) will slide along the side of the upstand (78). When the hook reaches the forward end of the upstand (78), the hook will swing clockwise, due to the resilient connection (81) of the nose (79) to the rest of the plate (26), and wrap round the end of upstand (78), and act as a latch which prevents the plate (26) from sliding back towards the end (20) of the drawer slide under the action of the spring (50). Plate (26) is prevented from moving further away from the end of the drawer slide by stop (84), which abuts the end of the upstand (78). The clockwise swinging of the nose (79) disengages the hook (76) from the stud (82), thus allowing the inner slide member to continue moving away from the rear of the drawer slide and pass through the intermediate slide member (18). This configuration is shown in
Referring now to
This means that, when the upper drawer is open, it is not possible to open either of the drawers (not shown) attached to the middle or bottom drawer slide interlock assemblies. The inner slide member of the middle drawer slide is prevented from moving because the top actuator follower (36) of the middle drawer slide interlock assembly is not able to move from its blocking position, as the actuator follower at the other end of the connecting rod (40) to which it is attached is prevented from moving by the presence of edge (96) of plate (26). Similarly, the bottom drawer cannot be opened because the inner slide member of the bottom drawer slide is prevented from moving because the top actuator follower (36) of the bottom drawer slide interlock assembly is not able to move from its blocking position as the actuator follower (36) at the other end of the connecting rod (40a) to which it is attached is prevented from moving by the interaction between the legs (56) of the actuator followers of the middle drawer slide interlock assembly which, as described above, are unable to move due to the presence of edge (96) of plate (26) blocking the movement of the bottom actuator follower (36) of the top drawer slide. In this way, opening one drawer in a set of vertically arranged drawers causes the blocking of the movement of the inner slide member of the other drawer slides. Although not shown here, a similar effect may be achieved with all the drawers in a set of vertically arranged closed drawers by operating a lock to force down or up the highest or lowest actuator follower (36), respectively, in the set of drawer slide interlock assemblies, in order to lock the drawers in a closed position, as described subsequently herein.
Referring now to
Outwardly projecting lugs (138) on the housing hold the housing in the openings (123) in the outer slide member (14), a similar arrangement to what is provided in the first embodiment described above. Towards the front end of the front portion (126) of the housing, upstanding guide posts (140) are provided, the guide posts having inturned portions (142) which act as forward guideways for the front end of the plate (134) which is provided with laterally extending slide surfaces (144) which locate beneath the portions (142) and between the posts (140). At its rear end, the housing (20) is provided with an upstanding arcuate buffer (146) against which a central nose on the underside of the plate (134) can engage to limit rearward movement of the plate (134) in the housing (20). Further arcuate buffers (150) are provided on an upstanding internal wall of the forward portion (126) of the plate to limit rearward movement of the intermediate slide member (18) of the drawer slide.
As can be seen, particularly from
At its forward end, the plate (134), between the slide surfaces (144), is provided with a central aperture (156) to receive a catching means (158) seen in side elevation in
As in the previous embodiment, each of the followers (36a) is connected in the manner shown in
When it is desired to close the drawer, rearward movement of the inner slide member (16) will result in a groove (89) on the rear face of the actuator sliding over the abutments (164, 166) until a rear face (87) on the block (83) rides up over the chamfered surface (168) of the upstand (166), thus allowing the actuator (32) to move further rearwardly until the rear face (87) hits a forward facing surface (176) of the rear upstand (164) of the catching means. This will immediately cause the catching means (158) to pivot (anticlockwise as shown in
Referring now to the third embodiment of the invention illustrated in
As can be seen from
Referring now to
Between the inclined surfaces (62 and 64) the central recess identified at 203 in
The mechanism operates as follows:
When the drawer to which the inner slide member (16) is attached is in its closed position, the actuator (232) will be in its
Forward movement of the plate (234) as a result of opening of the drawer to which the inner slide member (16) is attached will cause inclined forwardly facing actuating surfaces (68 and 70) on the plate (234) or the forwardly facing actuating surfaces (258 and 60) on the actuator to move into engagement with the follower or reset surfaces (248) on the follower (36) so as to move the followers outwardly away from the longitudinal central axis of the outer slide member (14). This will then allow the plate (234) to move freely forwardly as a result of further opening of the drawer to which the inner slide member (16) is attached so that two opposed side edges (296) of the plate then prevent inward movement of the actuator followers (36).
Of course, once the actuator followers (36) are held in their outermost blocked position, as described above, rods attached at one end to the actuator followers (36) and connected at their other ends to actuator followers of adjacent drawer slides fitted with identical mechanisms will block the forward movement of the respective plate (234), thus preventing the adjacent drawers from being opened, as in the previous embodiments.
When it is desired to close the drawer so as to move the mechanism from the
In some instances, it is possible for the catch pin (267) to become inadvertently disengaged from the latching recess (231) even when the drawer is fully opened and the actuator (232) is nowhere near the housing (222) let alone the slide way (230). When such unlatching of the catch pin occurs, the spring (250) will of course immediately return the plate (234) together with the catch pin and its pivoting arm back to the
In each of the embodiments described herein, two further inclined surfaces (62 and 64) are provided on the actuator (32) on the rear end thereof which co-operate respectively with inclined reset surfaces (47) on the followers (36, 36a). This means that, when the actuator (32) is returned to the rear of the drawer slide on closing a drawer to which the drawer slide is fitted, the two followers will be moved to a non-blocking position spaced from the longitudinal axis of the drawer slide, should they inadvertently have moved to a plate blocking position.
It will be appreciated that, in the second embodiment of
It is envisaged that at its rear end, the housing (20) may be fitted with a cantilevered, forwardly extending plate which will overlie the actuator when it is located at the rear of the drawer slide, to prevent lateral play of the actuator, and hence of the closed drawer to which it is fitted.
It is also envisaged that the rear part (24, 124) of the housing need not be supported by the outer slide member (14).
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that some of the features described with reference to the first embodiment of the invention could be used on one or both of the second and third embodiments of the invention, and vice versa.
The interlocking assemblies described herein can also easily be provided with a locking capability by interfacing with a separate locking system or mechanism. For example, a locking system may comprise a member which blocks the upward displacement of the actuator followers, thereby preventing any of the slide members from opening. This can be accomplished by using a lock member which can slide in front of the travel path of a rod connected to the upper actuator follower of the uppermost slide member.
It will of course be understood that the present invention has been described above purely by way of example, and modifications of detail can be made within the scope of the invention.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0124039.9 | Oct 2001 | GB | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/GB02/04502 | 10/4/2002 | WO | 00 | 10/6/2004 |
| Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| WO03/031753 | 4/17/2003 | WO | A |
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| 0302 979 | Feb 1989 | EP |
| 0391 221 | Oct 1990 | EP |
| 0 818 597 | Jan 1998 | EP |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20050040739 A1 | Feb 2005 | US |
