Linear locking mechanism for furniture

A lockable furniture unit, comprising:

• a plurality of stationary wall panels and at least one closure member which together define a substantially continuous storage enclosure;
• and
• a locking mechanism, said locking mechanism including a base mounted onto an interior side of said at least one closure member of the furniture unit, said base including a pair of integral linear guide channels, each guide channel being at least partially defined by spaced sidewalls;
• a lock rod received in each of said linear guide channels, each of said lock rods having a radially extending projecting engaging said spaced sidewalls;
• a key lock having a stationary barrel fixedly attached to said base, and a lock tumbler cylinder mounted within said stationary barrel for rotation between a locked position and an unlocked position;
• and an actuator fixedly attached to a drive shaft connected to said tumbler cylinder, said actuator including a pair of arcuate channels, each of which is at least partially defined by spaced camming surfaces which engage opposing sides of one of said projections of lock rods, whereby rotation of said actuator urges said rods toward a rotational axis of said tumbler cylinder and counter-rotation of said actuator urges said rods away from the rotational axis of said tumbler cylinder, and
• said base further comprising cantilever springs having a stop element disposed thereon, and said actuator further comprising at least one projection which is engaged by one of said springs and by said stop element disposed thereon to maintain the lock in an unlocked or locked position when the tumbler is fully rotated to said unlocked or locked position.

A furniture locking mechanism for deploying and retracting opposing reciprocating lock bars between locked and unlocked positions, comprising:

• a base adapted to be mounted onto an interior side of a door of a furniture unit, said base including a pair of integral linear guide channels, each guide channel having spaced sidewalls adapted to receive a lock rod and to engage a radial projection of the lock rod;
• a key lock having a stationary barrel fixedly attached to said base, and a lock tumbler cylinder mounted within said stationary barrel for rotation between a locked position and an unlocked position;
• an actuator fixedly attached to a drive shaft connected to said tumbler cylinder, said actuator including a pair of arcuate channels, each of said arcuate channels being at least partially defined by spaced camming surfaces which engage opposing sides of one of said projections of said lock rods, whereby rotation of said actuator urges said rods toward a rotational axis of said tumbler cylinder and counter-rotation of said actuator urges said rods away from the rotational axis of said tumbler cylinder, and
• said base further comprising catilever springs having a stop element disposed thereon, and said actuator further comprising at least one projection which is engaged by one of said springs and by said stop element disposed thereon to maintain the lock in an unlocked or locked position when the tumbler is fully rotated to said unlocked or locked position.