Interlocking mechanism for cabinet with multiple stacked drawers
AssigneeSj Global Marketing Sdn. Bhd.
InventorTan Meng Chong
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An example interlocking mechanism for cabinet with multiple stacked drawers only permits one of the stacked drawers to be drawn opened to access a storage space defined thereto at one time. The interlocking mechanism features a means to switch the interlocking mechanism from an inactivated state to an activated state when the drawers are installed into the cabinet for the first time.
Claims10
An interlocking mechanism for a cabinet of a plurality of vertically stacked drawers, each slidably mounting onto internal sidewalls of the cabinet through a pair of guide rails and being pullable away from a back of the cabinet through a front of the cabinet to open the drawer, comprising:
- a track having a top end and a bottom end, the track) running along a height of one of the internal sidewalls defining a lengthwise canal;
- a top stoppage piece and a bottom stoppage piece being secured within the canal around the top end and the bottom end of the track with a dowel projecting perpendicularly away from the top stoppage piece out of the track;
- a plurality of triggers each mounted to an external sidewall of a corresponding drawer;
- a plurality of locking assembly slidably fitted into the canal in a sequential manner and downstream of the top stoppage piece, each locking assembly comprising a pivot base, a locking cam rotatably fixed to the pivot base moveable in between an open position and a close position in connection to the opening and closing of a corresponding drawer respectively upon engaging the locking cam to the corresponding drawer through the trigger, a spacer slidably displaceable away or towards the pivot base respectively corresponding to the open position and the close position of the locking cam, and at least one connector;
- at least one connection rod joining a preceding locking assembly to an immediate succeeding locking assembly using the connector of each locking assembly;
- a coil spring sandwiched between the top stoppage piece and a topmost locking assembly being switchable between a first compressed level and an optimal second compressed level to constantly apply a tension force towards the plurality of locking assembly positioned downstream, the coil spring of the first compressed level being compressible further to the second compressed level providing a moveable space within the canal for one of the spacers to displace away from the pivot base upon the open position adapted by the corresponding locking assembly and vice versa, the second;
- a latch having a front end and a back end respectively facing the front and the back of the cabinet being slidably mounted onto the internal sidewall of the cabinet, the latch carrying a thorough groove to accommodate the dowel therein, the groove extending from the back end towards the front end, the groove comprising an upper section inclining towards a lower section through an inclined section with the upper section being positioned relatively higher than lower section on a planar surface of the latch;
- and
- an actuator attached to an external sidewall of a topmost drawer to engage with the latch upon insertion of the topmost drawer into the cabinet for a first time;
- wherein the interlocking mechanism is at an inactivated state which insertion of the drawers other than the topmost drawer aligns the trigger of each inserted drawers with the corresponding locking cam free from any physical engagement with a void presented downstream of the track,
- wherein the interlocking mechanism is activated by way of inserting the topmost drawer into the cabinet for the first time, after insertion of the rest of the drawers, pushing the latch towards the back of the cabinet using the actuator leading to moving of the dowel from the upper section to the lower section displacing the track and the downstream locking assembly within the canal downwardly to fill the void while physically engaging the locking cams to the trigger.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.