An interlock for a stack of drawers. A pair of drawer slides mounts each drawer, the interlock assembly being fitted to the rear of one of the drawer slides. A housing has a plate slidably supported thereon biased towards the rear of the slide. An actuator having an actuating surface co-operates wit
An interlock for a stack of drawers. A pair of drawer slides mounts each drawer, the interlock assembly being fitted to the rear of one of the drawer slides. A housing has a plate slidably supported thereon biased towards the rear of the slide. An actuator having an actuating surface co-operates with an actuator follower slidably supported in the slide member for movement at right angles to the movement of the plate. Releasable latching means extends between the housing and plate. Releasable catching means extend between the plate and the actuator. When a drawer is moved towards an open position, the catching means causes the plate to move to a blocking position where it can be held by the latching means, causing the actuating surface to co-operate with a follower surface on the actuator follower to move the actuator follower from a first position to a blocking position.
대표청구항▼
The invention claimed is: 1. 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 a
The invention claimed is: 1. 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, said interlock assembly located at the rear of each drawer slide on at least one side of the set of drawers, said interlock assembly comprising: a housing; a plate slidably movable within the housing between a first position and a blocking position; an actuator mounted on the rear of the inner slide member; cooperating attachments on the plate and on the actuator enabling the plate to be selectively engaged by the actuator to move the plate to its blocking position during an operation of opening the drawer to which the inner slide member is connected; a catch that maintains the plate in the blocking position; an actuator follower supported for movement relative to the outer slide member between a plate blocking position and a blocked position, the actuator follower having a first follower surface arranged for selective contact by an actuating surface on the actuator and a second follower surface arranged for selective contact by an actuating surface on the plate, wherein, when the drawer is opened, at least one of the first follower surface is contacted by the actuating surface on the actuator and the second follower surface is contacted by the actuating surface on the plate to move the actuator follower from the plate blocking position to the blocked position, said actuator follower subsequently being maintained in said blocked position while the drawer is open by the plate in the plate's blocking position, and wherein closing of the drawer causes the plate to be returned to its first position, and the actuator follower to be returned to the plate blocking position; and a rod connected to the actuator follower and adapted to connect to a second actuator follower of a second, substantially identical interlock assembly used on a second, adjacent drawer, wherein when the actuator follower is in the blocked position, the rod maintains the second actuator follower of the adjacent interlock assembly in a plate blocking position to maintain the plate of the second interlock assembly in its first position. 2. An interlock assembly according to claim 1, wherein the actuator surface on the actuator contacts the first follower surface to move the actuator follower outwardly away from the longitudinal central axis of the outer slide member. 3. An interlock assembly according to claim 2, wherein the actuator follower is maintained in its blocked position when the plate is held in its blocking position as a result of a latch op the plate moving to a latched position. 4. An interlock assembly according to claim 1, wherein the plate is slidably supported in a housing supported within a rear end of the outer slide member for movement towards and away from the rear of the outer slide member and wherein the blocking position is spaced therefrom, and wherein the catch is provided between the housing and the plate. 5. An interlock assembly according to claim 4 and further comprising spring means biasing the plate towards the rear of the housing, and wherein the catch extends between the housing and the plate to hold the plate in its blocking position spaced from the rear of the housing, the cooperating members 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 tar release the plate when the plate is in its blocking position to allow the drawer fully to open, said release occurring once the catch is in a latched position, the arrangement being such that when the drawer is moved towards a dosed position and the actuator moves into the vicinity of the latched plate, the catch is released allowing the plate to move under its spring bias to the rear of the housing. 6. An interlock assembly according to claim 4, wherein the housing is divided into a rear pan and a forward part spaced from the rear part and wherein 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. 7. An interlock assembly according to claim 6, wherein a slideway is provided on the underside of the plate and engages the or each slide rail. 8. An interlock assembly according to claim 6, in which 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 for the actuator follower. 9. An interlock assembly according to claim 6, wherein two rails extend the full length of the housing and wherein the catch comprises an upstand at a forward end of one of the rails and a latching nose on a forward end of the plate. 10. An interlock assembly according to claim 9, wherein a front end of the plate has the latching nose and a portion of the cooperating members 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. 11. An interlock assembly according to claim 10, wherein the nose has a hook on a rear face thereof which co-operates with a leading edge on the upstand to provide the catch. 12. An interlock assembly according to claim 11, wherein a rear face of the upstand cooperates with a stop on the plate to limit movement of the plate away from a rear end of the drawer slide. 13. An interlock assembly according to claim 9, wherein tire cooperating members comprise a stud on a rear face of the actuator which cooperates 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. 14. An interlock assembly according to claim 6, wherein 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. 15. An interlock assembly according to claim 14, wherein the forward end of the plate is provided with laterally extending slide surfaces which engage beneath inturned guides on the upstanding guide posts. 16. An interlock assembly according to claim 14, wherein the cooperating members comprise a central aperture provided in the forward end of the plate receiving a first part of the cooperating members. 17. An interlock assembly according to claim 16, wherein the first part of the cooperating members is pivotally supported within the aperture by means of a pair of outwardly projecting pivots which engage within the mating pint slots in the underside of the plate. 18. An interlock assembly according to claim 17, wherein the first part of the cooperating members 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. 19. An interlock assembly according to claim 18, wherein a groove is formed on the rear face of the actuator which terminates in a depending block comprising a second part of the cooperating members and 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 first part of the cooperating members 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 ti move rearwardly until the block engages the forward face on the abutment, this causing the first part of the cooperating members 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. 20. An interlock assembly according to claim 14, wherein the spring bias 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. 21. An interlock assembly according to claim 4, wherein a single slide rail 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. 22. An interlock assembly according to claim 21, wherein the plate has a central slide way on its underside which engages with the slide rail and wherein, within the central side way, a recess is 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. 23. An interlock assembly according to claim 22, wherein 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. 24. An interlock assembly according to claim 21, wherein the actuator 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. 25. An interlock assembly according to claim 24, wherein 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 the side of the block and a recycling channel on the Other side, the fore and aft extending channel and the recycling channel being 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. 26. An interlock assembly according to claim 25, wherein 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. 27. An interlock assembly according to claim 25, wherein a rearwardly facing recycling surface is provided on the depending island block for moving the catch pin upwardly into the recycling recess in the slide way. 28. An interlock assembly according to claim 1, wherein when the plate is in its blocking position, a side surface of the plate contacts the second follower surface of the actuation follower to 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. 29. An interlock assembly according to claim 28, wherein the plate is delta-shaped with a forward projecting nose. 30. An interlock assembly according to claim 29, wherein the leading edges of the delta-shape comprise the actuating surface on the plate. 31. An interlock assembly according to claim 29, wherein the catch comprises the projecting nose. 32. An interlock assembly according to claim 1, wherein the actuator has a further inclined surface on its trailing edge, relative to its forward movement, for cooperation with an inclined reset surface on the actuator follower. 33. An interlock assembly according to claim 1, said interlock assembly incorporating therein a self close mechanism for the drawer slide. 34. An interlock assembly according to claim 33, wherein 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. 35. An interlock assembly according to claim 33, wherein the plate is slidably supported in the housing between a first position 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. 36. A stack of drawers arranged vertically in a cabinet, each drawer being 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, and each drawer being provided with an interlock assembly located at the rear of each drawer slide on at least one side of the stack of drawers, the interlock assembly comprising: a housing; a plate slidably movable within the housing between a first position and a blocking position; an actuator mounted on the rear of the inner slide member; cooperating attachments on the plate and on the actuator enabling the plate to be selectively engaged by the actuator to move the plate to its blocking position during an operation of opening the drawer to which the inner slide member is connected; a catch that maintains the plate in the blocking position; an actuator follower supported for movement relative to the outer slide member between a plate blocking position and a blocked position, the actuator follower having a first follower surface arranged for selective contact by an actuating surface on the actuator and a second follower surface arranged for selective contact by an actuating surface on the plate, wherein, when the drawer is opened, at least one of the first follower surface is contacted by the actuating surface on the actuator and the second follower surface is contacted by the actuating surface on the plate to move the actuator follower from the plate blocking position to the blocked position, said actuator follower subsequently being maintained in said blocked position while the drawer is open by the plate in the plate's blocking position, and wherein closing of the drawer causes the plate to be returned to its first position, and the actuator follower to be returned to the plate blocking position; and a rod connected to the actuator follower and adapted to connect to a second actuator follower of a second, substantially identical interlock assembly used on a second, adjacent drawer, wherein when the actuator follower is in the blocked position, the rod maintains the second actuator follower of the adjacent interlock assembly in a plate blocking position to maintain the plate of the second interlock assembly in its first position, wherein the rod is located adjacent the rear of the cabinet. 37. 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, each drawer in the stack being 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, the method comprising fitting each drawer in the stack with a drawer slide interlock assembly comprising: a housing; a plate slidably movable within the housing between a first position and a blocking position; an actuator mounted on the rear of the inner slide member; cooperating attachments on the plate and on the actuator enabling the plate to be selectively engaged by the actuator to move the plate to its blocking position during an operation of opening the drawer to which the inner slide member is connected; a catch that maintains the plate in the blocking position; an actuator follower supported for movement relative to the outer slide member between a plate blocking position and a blocked position, the actuator follower having a first follower surface arranged for selective contact by an actuating surface on the actuator and a second follower surface arranged for selective contact by an actuating surface on the plate, wherein, when the drawer is opened, at least one of the first follower surface is contacted by the actuating surface on the actuator and the second follower surface is contacted by the actuating surface on the plate to move the actuator follower from the plate blocking position to the blocked position, said actuator follower subsequently being maintained in said blocked position while the drawer is open by the plate in the plate's blocking position, and wherein closing of the drawer causes the plate to be returned to its first position, and the actuator follower to be returned to the plate blocking position; and a rod connected to the actuator follower and adapted to connect to a second actuator follower of a second, substantially identical interlock assembly used on a second, adjacent drawer, wherein when the actuator follower is in the blocked position, the rod maintains the second actuator follower of the adjacent interlock assembly in a plate blocking position to maintain the plate of the second interlock assembly in its first position, whereby when a first one of the drawers in the stack is opened, the interlock assembly of the first drawer will prevent the other drawers from being opened until the first drawer is moved to a closed position.
연구과제 타임라인
LOADING...
LOADING...
LOADING...
LOADING...
LOADING...
이 특허에 인용된 특허 (9)
Young William W. (Newmarket CAX), Anti-tip blocking device.
Wiltjer, Jerry A.; Brouwer, Shaun P.; Kuffel, Gregory L.; Kwasny, Joel D.; Lui, Kai C.; Novak, Benjamin S.; Sanders, Joseph E., High density fiber enclosure and method.
Wiltjer, Jerry A.; Brouwer, Shaun P.; Kuffel, Gregory L.; Kwasny, Joel D.; Lui, Kai C.; Novak, Benjamin S.; Sanders, Joseph E., High density fiber enclosure and method.
※ AI-Helper는 부적절한 답변을 할 수 있습니다.