Portable drawer and door lock for retrofit applications

A latch that is retrofit onto a drawer, comprising:

• a drawer having an imperforate front panel reinforced by an imperforate second panel, said imperforate front panel having a front surface and said imperforate second panel having an interior surface, said first and second panels collectively forming an imperforate reinforced panel;
• said drawer adapted to slidingly engage a cabinet having a front wall;
• said drawer having no locking means so that said drawer can be opened without requiring a key or other unlocking means;
• a bracket releasably secured to said front panel, said bracket having a flat front plate adapted to overlie a predetermined section of the front surface of said imperforate front panel, a flat top plate adapted to overlie a top edge of said imperforate front panel, a flat back plate adapted to overlie a predetermined extent of a back surface of said imperforate front panel, a flat top plate adapted to overlie a top edge of said second imperforate panel, and a flat back plate adapted to overlie a predetermined extent of the interior surface of said second imperforate panel;
• said latch connected to said bracket and disposed in a vertical plane within an interior of said drawer;
• said latch having a retracted position when said drawer is unlocked;
• said latch having an extended position when said drawer is locked;
• said latch adapted to engage an interior surface of said front wall of said cabinet when said latch is in said extended position;
• a latch actuator, connected to said bracket, adapted to be disposed within an interior of said drawer, said actuator being manually inoperable when said drawer is closed;
• a user-operated control device, disposed externally of said interior of said drawer, being in electrical communication with said latch actuator;
• said latch actuator extending said latch upon receipt of an extend latch signal from said user-operated control device;
• said actuator retracting said latch upon receipt of a retract latch signal from said user-operated control device;
• whereby said drawer having no locking can be locked and unlocked by attaching said latch to said drawer;
• whereby said latch is adapted to be carried by a user, adapted to be temporarily attached by said user to said drawer without alteration of said drawer, and adapted to be removed from said drawer by said user after use;
• and
• whereby said front panel remains unmodified and imperforate after said bracket is secured thereto.

A latch retrofitted onto a cabinet having a wall and a door mounted in said wall, comprising:

• a bracket having a flat front plate that overlies a predetermined section of a front surface of said door, a flat edge plate that overlies an edge of said door, and a flat back plate that overlies a predetermined extent of a back surface of said door;
• said bracket secured to said door;
• said door being imperforate and said door lacking a built-in locking means;
• said latch engaging an interior surface of said wall when extended so that said door cannot be opened and said latch not engaging said interior surface of said wall when retracted so that said door can be opened;
• a latch actuator, connected to said bracket, disposed within an interior of said cabinet, said actuator being manually inoperable when said door is closed;
• a user-operated control device, disposed externally of said interior of said cabinet, being in electrical communication with said latch actuator;
• said latch actuator extending said latch upon receipt of an extend latch signal from said user-operated control device;
• and
• said latch actuator retracting said latch upon receipt of a retract latch signal from said user-operated control device.

A latch retrofitted onto a drawer, comprising:

• said latch releasably engaging an imperforate front panel of a drawer having a front surface;
• said drawer slidingly engaging a cabinet having a front wall;
• a bracket releasably secured to said front panel, said bracket having a flat front plate adapted to overlie a predetermined section of the front surface of said front panel, a flat top plate adapted to overlie a top edge of said front panel, and a flat back plate adapted to overlie a predetermined section of an interior surface of said front panel;
• said latch connected to said bracket and disposed in a vertical plane within an interior of said drawer;
• said latch having a retracted position when said drawer is unlocked;
• said latch having an extended position when said drawer is locked;
• said latch engaging an interior surface of said front wall of said cabinet when said latch is in said extended position;
• a latch actuator, connected to said bracket, disposed within an interior of said drawer, said latch actuator being manually inoperable when said drawer is dosed;
• a user-operated control device, disposed externally of said interior of said drawer, being in electrical communication with said latch actuator;
• said latch actuator extending said latch upon receipt of an extend latch signal from said user-operated control device;
• said latch actuator retracting said latch upon receipt of a retract latch signal from said user-operated control device;
• a spacer disposed in surmounting relation to said latch and releasably engaged to said latch in non-rotating relation thereto;
• said spacer having a first part that engages said latch and at least one additional part that extends from said latch to an interior surface of said front wall of said cabinet when said latch and said interior surface of said front wall are spaced apart from one another;
• said spacer having an irregular “T”-shape, including a first arm having no length, a second arm having a first length, a third arm having a second length that exceeds said first length, and a fourth arm having a third length that exceeds said second length;
• said latch having a square transverse cross-section and therefore having first, second, third and fourth sidewalls, each sidewall being disposed at a right angle to its contiguous sidewalls;
• said latch having a bore formed therein coincident with a vertical axis of said latch;
• said first part of said spacer being a rod that is slideably and non-rotatably received within said bore in a first position where said first arm having no length of said spacer is aligned with said first sidewall of said latch so that said first arm abuts said interior surface of said front wall;
• said rod also being slideably and non-rotatably received within said bore in a second position where said second arm of said spacer is aligned with said first sidewall of said latch so that said second arm extends to and abuts said interior surface of said front wall;
• said rod also being slideably and non-rotatably received within said bore in a third position where said third arm of said spacer is aligned with said first sidewall of said latch so that said third arm extends to and abuts said interior surface of said front wall;
• said rod also being slideably and non-rotatably received within said bore in a fourth position where said fourth arm of said spacer is aligned with said first sidewall of said latch so that said fourth arm extends to and abuts said interior surface of said front wall;
• said spacer being in said first position when said latch is disposed in abutting relation to said interior surface of said front wall;
• said spacer being in said second position when said latch is spaced a first distance from said interior surface of said front wall;
• said spacer being in said third position when said latch is spaced a second distance from said interior surface of said front wall, said second distance exceeding said first distance;
• and
• said spacer being in said fourth position when said latch is spaced a third distance from said interior surface of said front wall, said third distance exceeding said second distance.