초록 ▼

A controlled access file cabinet permits an authorized user access only to one file drawer or one locked compartment at a time. The cabinet has at least one pull-out drawer with a lock mechanism that self-locks when the drawer is pushed in and closed, and has an electro-mechanical servo to release t

A controlled access file cabinet permits an authorized user access only to one file drawer or one locked compartment at a time. The cabinet has at least one pull-out drawer with a lock mechanism that self-locks when the drawer is pushed in and closed, and has an electro-mechanical servo to release the drawer for authorized access. One or more drawers may be divided into a row of locked compartments. Slide bar lock mechanisms interact with with lock pins on hinged lids or covers for the compartments. Only one compartment can be opened at a time. A control board within the cabinet ensures that all drawers are closed and latched before any can be released. The secure cabinet may be connected with a network, or by i2c or daisy chain to other secure file cabinets, including cabinets retro-fitted with a bolt-on lock mechanism. Computer software limits access to certain areas of the cabinet to specific authorized users, and maintains inventory and audit trail over multiple cabinets.

대표청구항 ▼

1. A storage cabinet arrangement for secure storage of documents and/or other materials for which limited authorized access is to be provided, comprising: a cabinet including left and right side walls, a rear wall, and a front frame having at least one drawer opening;at least one respective sliding

1. A storage cabinet arrangement for secure storage of documents and/or other materials for which limited authorized access is to be provided, comprising: a cabinet including left and right side walls, a rear wall, and a front frame having at least one drawer opening;at least one respective sliding file drawer mounted in an associated one of said at least one drawer opening of the front frame and having at least one back wall, the file drawer being adapted to be pulled proximally out from said cabinet to an open position for permitting access to contents of said file drawer, and to be pushed distally in to the cabinet to a closed position in which the back wall of the file drawer is positioned adjacent the rear wall of the cabinet;a locking mechanism for releasably locking the at least one file drawer in its closed position within said cabinet, the locking mechanism including for each of said at least one file drawer: a latch pin affixed onto the back wall of each of said at least one drawer in a position oriented parallel to the back wall thereof; anda latch mechanism mounted on the rear wall of said cabinet and aligned with the latch pin of a respective one of said at least one file drawer, the latch mechanism including a mechanical latch hook that engages said latch pin in a locked position when said latch pin is pushed into engagement therewith; a latch release coupled to said latch hook for moving said latch hook to release the latch pin so that the drawer may be pulled out to its open position, and an electromechanical actuator coupled to said latch release;a controller mounted within said cabinet having an input and at least one output coupled to the electromechanical actuator of the associated latch mechanism; andan interface arrangement coupled to the input of said controller for permitting an authorized person to interface with said controller to release the latch mechanism from the latch pin of one of said at least one file drawer to permit the drawer to be pulled out to its open position;wherein the at least one file drawer comprises a front wall and left and right side walls extending from said front wall to said back wall, and each of said right and left side walls includes an elongated channel portion extending along the top thereof from the back wall to the front wall; and the at least one file drawer further includinga plurality of transverse dividers situated between the left and right side walls and which define individual storage compartments within said file drawer;each of said storage compartments having a lid that is normally locked down but is selectively releasable to permit the lid to open for access to the associated compartment, each said lid having a hinge pin extending out of a rear portion thereof and journaled in said left and right side walls to permit the lid to pivot from a lowered closed position to a raised open position, and wherein a lock pin extends from each of the right and left edges of the lid into the respective channel portion;left and right slide bars disposed in the respective channel portions of said side walls and adapted to move for at least a limited distance along the respective channel portions, said slide bars each having slots along side edges thereof which slots align with the respective lock pins of said compartment lids when said slide bars are moved to different respective positions along said channel portions, and such that any compartment lid in which the lock pins align with the respective slots in said slide bars may be lifted open, but the remaining lids in said at least one file drawer are blocked from opening; said slide bars each having ends projecting into the and back wall of said at least one file drawer; andfurther including controlled motor means affixed onto the back wall of said at least one file drawer for moving each of said slide bars to selected positions so as to align, at each selected position, a given slot of each of said left and right slide bars with the lock pin of a selected one of said compartments to permit the associated lid to be lifted open but to lock each of the other of the lids from opening; with the front wall of said at least one file drawer being sufficiently thick to allow for play or movement of the slide bars, and the back wall of said at least one file drawer being sufficiently deep to conceal the ends of the slide bars and the controlled motor means and to prevent manipulation of the slide bars when the at least one file drawer is pulled out to its open position. 2. A storage cabinet arrangement according to claim 1, wherein said interface arrangement includes a cable port connected to the controller, a computer device, and a cable coupling the computer device to said cable port. 3. A storage cabinet arrangement according to claim 1, wherein said controlled motor means includes first and second gear motors mounted on said back wall at left and right sides thereof, and each said gear motor having a toothed pinion, and wherein the associated slide bars each have a gear rack disposed at a distal end thereof, the pinions of the gear motors meshing with the gear racks of the respective left and right slide bars. 4. A storage cabinet arrangement according to claim 3, wherein said controlled motor means is controlled such that each of said gear motors is operative to move the respective slide bar only when said file drawer is detected to be fully in its closed position, and is inhibited from moving the respective slide bar when the at least one file drawer is in its open position. 5. A storage cabinet arrangement according to claim 3, wherein said controlled motor means are controlled such that one of said first and second gear motors is actuated to move its associated slide bar, and only after that associated slide bar has moved to in its desired position, the other of said gear motors is actuated to move its associated slide bar to its desired position. 6. A storage cabinet arrangement according to claim 1, wherein one of said controller and said interface includes software that limits access to drawers of the cabinet to specific users, and maintains an inventory of the contents of said drawers, and creates an audit trail of users accessing said drawers. 7. A storage cabinet arrangement for secure storage of documents and/or other materials for which limited authorized access is to be provided, comprising: a cabinet including left and right side walls, a rear wall, and a front frame having a plurality of drawer openings disposed vertically one above the other;a plurality of sliding file drawers mounted in respective ones of said drawer openings of the front frame and each drawer having at least one back wall, the file drawers being adapted to be pulled proximally out from said cabinet to an open position for permitting access to contents thereof, and to be pushed distally into the cabinet to a closed position in which the back wall of the file drawer is positioned adjacent the rear wall of the cabinet;a locking mechanism for releasably locking said file drawers in their closed positions within said cabinet, the locking mechanism including for each of said file drawers: a latch pin affixed onto the back wall of each of the file drawer in a position oriented parallel to the back wall thereof; anda latch mechanism mounted on a front side of the rear wall of said cabinet and aligned with the latch pin of a respective one of said at least one file drawer, each said latch mechanism including a mechanical latch hook that engages the respective latch pin in a locked position when said latch pin is pushed into engagement therewith; a latch release coupled to said latch hook for moving said latch hook to release the latch pin so that the drawer may be pulled out to its open position, and an electromechanical actuator coupled to said latch release, and a presence sensor mounted on said latch mechanism at the front side of the rear wall and detecting when the associated file drawer has been pushed in to said closed position such that said latch pin engages said latch hook, and providing a presence signal;a controller mounted within said cabinet having an at least one input and at least one output, the output being coupled to the electromechanical actuators of the associated latch mechanisms, and the at least one input of the controller receiving the presence signals from the presence sensors of said latch mechanisms; andan interface arrangement coupled to the input of said controller for permitting an authorized person to interface with said controller to release the latch mechanism from the latch pin of one of said at least one file drawer to permit the drawer to be pulled out to its open position, andwherein the controller is operative to energize any of said electromechanical actuators only if the presence signals indicate that every one of said drawers is in its closed position, such that none of associated latch mechanisms can be moved to release the respective file drawers unless all of the file drawers are pushed in to their closed position; and wherein said presence sensors each comprise a microswitch having a switch lever, the microswitch being mounted at a predetermined position upon said latch mechanism, and a bracket affixed onto the back wall of the associated file drawer on the side of the cabinet back wall facing the associated file drawer, and having a horizontal tab thereon above and adjacent to the associated latch pin and projecting distally a predetermined distance so as to be positioned to press against the switch lever of said microswitch when the file drawer is in its closed position at the point where the latch mechanism engages the respective latch pin. 8. A storage cabinet arrangement according to claim 7 wherein said electromechanical actuator includes a servo motor having a rotor with at least one rotor arm, and a cable connecting said rotor arm to the associated release lever and operative to pull said release lever when said servo motor is actuated. 9. A storage cabinet arrangement according to claim 7 comprising a key-operated lock over-ride, having a key-actuated lock cylinder, and a cable connecting between said lock cylinder and the release arm of at least one of said latch mechanisms. 10. A storage cabinet arrangement according to claim 7 wherein at least one of said file drawers comprises a front wall and left and right side walls extending from said front wall to said back wall, and each of said right and left side walls includes an elongated channel portion extending along the top thereof from the back wall to the front wall; and including a plurality of transverse dividers situated between the left and right side walls and which define individual storage compartments within said file drawer;each of said storage compartments having a lid that is normally locked down but is selectively releasable to permit the lid to open for access to the associated compartment, each said lid having a hinge pin extending out of a rear portion thereof and journaled in said left and right side walls to permit the lid to pivot from a lowered closed position to a raised open position, and wherein a lock pin extends from each of the right and left edges of the lid into the respective channel portion;left and right slide bars disposed in the respective channel portions of said side walls and adapted to move for at least a limited distance along the respective channel portions, said slide bars each having slots along side edges thereof which slots align with the respective lock pins of said compartment lids when said slide bars are moved to different respective positions along said channel portions, and such that any compartment lid in which the lock pins align with the respective slots in said slide bars may be lifted open, but the remaining lids in said file drawer are blocked from opening. 11. A storage cabinet arrangement according to claim 10, comprising controlled motor means on the back wall of said file drawer for moving each of said slide bars to selected positions so as to align, at each selected position, a given slot of each of said left and right slide bars with the lock pins of a selected one of said compartments to permit the associated lid to be lifted open but to lock each of the other of the lids from opening. 12. A storage cabinet arrangement according to claim 11, wherein said controlled motor means includes first and second gear motors affixed onto said back wall of said file drawer at left and right sides of said back wall, and each said gear motor having a toothed pinion, and wherein the associated slide bars each have a gear rack disposed at a distal end thereof, the pinions of the gear motors meshing with the gear racks of the respective left and right slide bars. 13. A storage cabinet arrangement according to claim 12, wherein said controlled motor means is controlled such that each said gear motors is operative to move the respective slide bar only when said file drawer is detected to be in its closed position with the latch pin engaging the associated latch hook, and is inhibited from moving the respective slide bar when the file drawer is in its open position. 14. A storage cabinet arrangement according to claim 12, wherein said controlled motor means are controlled such that one at a time of said first and second gear motors is actuated to move its associated slide bar, and only after that associated slide bar has moved to its desired position, the other of said gear motors is actuated to move its associated slide bar to its desired position. 15. A storage cabinet arrangement according to claim 7, wherein each said channel portion includes a cover, and the respective covers each have a slot openings at corresponding locations of the lock pins of said lids. 16. A storage cabinet arrangement according to claim 10, wherein one of said controller and said interface arrangement includes software that limits access to predetermined locked-lid compartments of predetermined drawers of the cabinet to specific users, and maintains an inventory of the contents of said compartments, and creates an audit trail of users accessing said compartments. 17. A storage cabinet arrangement according to claim 7, comprising at least one additional file cabinet having at least one drawer and an associated electro-mechanically releasable locking mechanism for releasably locking said at least one file drawer in the closed position thereof within said additional cabinet; means for electrically connecting the first-mentioned cabinet with said at least one additional file cabinet in a daisy chain such that the interface arrangement is operative to release the locking mechanism for the at least one file drawer of said at least one additional cabinet; and wherein one of said controller and said interface arrangement includes software that limits access to predetermined ones of the at least one drawer of the at least one additional cabinet to specific users, and maintains an inventory of the contents of said at least one drawer, and creates an audit trail of users accessing said at least one drawer. 18. A storage cabinet arrangement according to claim 12, wherein the front wall and the back wall of each said file drawer contain ends of the associated slide bars, and each being sufficiently thick to conceal the ends of the slide bars and to prevent manipulation of the slide bars when the file drawers are pulled out to the open position.