GB2298231A

GB2298231A - Child-proof safety catch for a door or drawer adjustable for correct positioning

Info

Publication number: GB2298231A
Application number: GB9503767A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Rozarieux David Michael De
Original assignee: EEZI GROUP HOLDINGS Ltd; Safety 1st Inc
Current assignee: EEZI GROUP HOLDINGS Ltd; Safety 1st Inc
Priority date: 1995-02-24
Filing date: 1995-02-24
Publication date: 1996-08-28
Anticipated expiration: 2015-02-24
Also published as: GB2298231B; GB9503767D0

Abstract

A safety catch comprises catch and latch members 5,8 having cooperating oblique lips 7,9 interengageable after a door or drawer 2 has been partly opened in the direction of the arrow 3, sufficient for an adult to insert a finger to flex the latch member to disengage the lips. The latch member 8 has a footplate 10 which is slidably adjustable in its channel-shaped mounting 12, permitting it to be adjusted in position after it has been attached to the door or drawer. While sliding in the channel, detents (16, Fig 6) snap into and out of successive notches of two rows 14 of the footplate 10. Alternatively, the adjustibility is provided by either making the latch member 8 in two parts which snap-fit together in different positions, or by making the arm 11 adjustable with respect to the footplate 10.

Description

Safety catch The invention relates to a safety catch of the kind used on doors and drawers to prevent opening by young children but permit deliberate opening when manipulated by an adult more dexterous than a child.

A safety catch according to the present invention comprises a catch member attachable to a fixed item such as a fixed part of an article of furniture or a doorpost, and a latch member attachable to a movable item such a door or drawer that is to be prevented from opening by a child, the latch and catch members being provided with cooperating formations which in teren gage after the movable member has been opened a fraction sufficient for an adult to insert a finger to flex the latch member out of the way, wherein the latch member is provided with means permitting it to be adjusted after it has been attached to the movable item, whereby to correct any inaccurate positioning of the latch member during attachment. In one form of the invention, the latch member is adjustable in a mounting by which the latch member is securable to the movable member.Preferably, the latch member terminates in a flange and the mounting is in the form of a channel in which the flange can slide.

If the flange is provided with notches and the channel with a detent member engageable in the notches, the flange, and hence the entire latch member, can displaceable along the channel in steps determined by the spacing of the notches.

An example of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a fragmentary sectional view of a cupboard showing the safety catch in side elevation; Fig. 2 is a fragmentary side elevation ofa latch member of the safety catch shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a fragmentary plan view of the latch member, and Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are respectively a plan view, side elevation and end elevation of a mounting by which the Fig. 1 latch member is secured to the door of the Fig. 1 cupboard.

The cupboard illustrated in Fig. 1 comprises a fixed side wall 1 and a movable door 2 which, if the safety catch of the invention were not in place, would be freely openable by swinging in the direction of the arrow 3. The safety catch comprises a catch member 5 of plastics material having a plate 4 which is secured, preferable by adhesive, to the inside of the wall 1 and, optionally, is flanged at one end 6 to engage over an edge of the wall 1. The plate 4 carries an upstanding formation such as an oblique tongue or llp 7 for engagement by the oblique tongue or lip 9 at one end of a curved arm 11 of a plastics latch member 8.

As shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the arm 11 upstands from a rectangular footplate 10 which is slidable in a channel-shapedplastics mounting member 12 (Figs. 4 to 6J secured to the inside of the door 2. The channel sides of the mounting member 12 are flanged over to form return flanges 13 (Fig. 6). These flanges 13 define a slideway in which the footplate 10 of the latch arm 11 is engageable. The slideway and footplate constitute means for adjusting the latch member after attachment to the door 2.

The face of the footplate 10 of the latch member 8 is formed with two rows 14 of regularly spaced notches (Fig. 3) at opposed longitudinal edges of the plate 10 and each flange 13 of the channelshaped mounting member 12 is moulded so that a part of each flange exhibits a flexible arm 14 which carries a depending detent projection 16. Each projection 16 is releasably engageable in a selected one of the notches in each row 14 of the footplate 10. The latch member is therefore displaceable along the slideway in steps determined by the spacing of the notches.

To secure the latch member 8 to the inside of the door 2, the mounting member 12 is offered to the door and the footplate 10 of the latch member is slid to a position along the slideway of the mounting member 12 where the lip 9 of the arm 11 is likely to engage the lip 7 of the catch member 5 when the door is swung open. Very accurate positioning is not essential. The channel base is then stuck to the door, preferably by means of a double-sided adhesive pad (not shown) that comes with the safety catch and one side of which is already adhered to the underside of the mounting member 12. The arm 11 with footplate 10 can then be slid out of the way or even removed from the mounting member 12 until the adhesive has properly cured about 12 to 24 hours later.

Thereafter, the footplate 10 is slid along the channel-shaped mounting member 12 in steps until the lips 9 and 7 will definitely interfere when the door 2 is swung open sufficiently. The slideway 13 for the footplate 10 therefore constitutes means permitting the latch member to be adjusted after attachment to the door 2, whereby to correct any inaccurate positioning of the latch member relatively to the catch member during attachment of the latch member to the door. While sliding in the channel, the detents 16 snap into and out of successive notches of the two rows 14 on the footplate 10, the detents being spring-influenced into the notches under the action of the flexible arms 14 from which they depend.

It will be apparent that, after the door has been swung open a fraction in the direction of the arrow 3, the lips 7 and 9 will always interengage and prevent further opening, unless the finger of an adult person has been inserted to flex the arm 11 away and/or displace the footplate 10 in the mounting member 12 before the lips in teren gage.

Such manipulation is generally possible only by an adult.

The obliqueness of the lips 7, 9 and the curvature of the arm 11 have the effect that, if a child were to try and force the door open, the relevant parts of the safety catch are stressed in a direction in which the adhesive used for securing the latch and catch members in place is exceptionally strong and therefore there is little /likelihood of either member becoming detached by peeling away under a force that can even be exerted by a child.

In a modification, which does away with the mounting member 12 of the illustrated example, the adjustability is provided by making the curved arm 11 of the latch member 8 in two parts which can be moved relatively to each other and then fixed together in a selected position. The arm parts can, for example be a snap fit with each other or secured in the selected position by a screw passing through a hole in one part and a slot in the other. The interengaging parts of the arm may be serrated for a better grip and to facilitate adjustment in a small increments.

In another modification, the arm 11 is adjustable with respect to a separately made footplate 10.

Claims

1. A safety catch for preventing opening of a door or drawer of an article by young children but permitting deliberate opening when manipulated by a more dextrous adult, comprising a catch member for attachment to a fixed part of the article and a latch member for attachment to the door or drawer, the catch and latch members being provided with co-operating oblique lips interengageable after the door or drawer has been opened a fraction sufficient for an adult to insert a finger to flex the latch member out of the way, wherein the latch member is provided with means permitting it to be adjusted in position after it has been attached to the door or drawer, whereby to enable correction of any inaccurate positioning of the latch member during attachment.

2. A safety catch according to Claim 1, wherein the latch member is adjustable in a mounting by which the latch member is securable to the door or drawer.

3. A safety catch according to Claim 2, wherein the latch member terminates in a footplate and the mounting comprises a channel in which the footplate can slide.

4. A safety catch according to Claim 3, wherein the footplate is provided with spaced notches and the channel is provided with a detent member releasibly engageable in the notches so that the footplate is displaceable along the channel in steps determined by the spacing of the notches.

5. A safety catch according to any preceding Claim, wherein the catch member comprises a plate securable to the fixed part of the article and carrying the oblique lip near one end and a flange provided near the other end for engaging over an edge of the said fixed part.

6. A safety catch according to any preceding Claim, wherein the latch member comprised a flexible curved arm.

7. A safety catch according to any one of Claims 3 to 5 and 6, wherein the flexible arm upstands from the footplate.

8. A safety catch according to any one of Claims 4 to 7, wherein the footplate of the latch member is provided with two rows of said notches and the channel is provided with two detent members each releasibly engageable in a selected one notch of each row.

9. A safety catch according to any preceding Claim, wherein the latch member and catch member are moulded from plastics material.

10. A safety catch according to Claim 1, wherein the latch member comprises a flexible curved arm made in two parts which are releasibly interconnected in a selected relative position.

11. A safety catch according to Claim 1, wherein the latch member comprises a flexible curved arm and a separately made footplate which is attachable to the door or drawer, wherein the arm and footplate are adjustable with respect to each other.

12. A safety catch substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.