JP2004255124A - Furniture - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide furniture having an unlatching mechanism allowing a handicapped person to handle easily while minimizing influence on a storing capacity. <P>SOLUTION: A handle 20 is provided on a front side of a door 12 such as a drawer front plate or the like of the furniture such as a cabinet or the like so that the entire handle is moved parallel in a front and rear direction. The handle 20 has a bar member 24 provided on the back of a door face so as to move in a front and rear direction corresponding to movement of the handle and to extend parallel with the door face. A latch is provided at least one end of the bar member so as to be latched or unlatched between a door-side engaging part 26 which is rotated using a shaft 26J parallel with the door face as a pivot, and a case-side engaging part provided on the case side. When the handle is moved forward, the end of the bar member or a continuous part 24A is latched with the pivot or a continuous part 26JA so as to unlatch. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to office furniture and home furniture such as cabinets, which are characterized by an operation of releasing a latch when a door is opened. The door of the present invention includes not only a door in a narrow sense but also a front plate of a drawer. Therefore, opening the door includes pulling out the drawer.
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is a furniture provided with a so-called latch so that a drawer or a door in a narrow sense is not inadvertently opened after a door is closed. The door of such furniture is provided with a handle interlocked with the latch mechanism, and when opening the door, it is usual to release the latch mechanism by opening the door by holding the handle with a fingertip. Is Patent Document 1 below discloses a structure in which a latch is released by pulling a handle. This includes a structure where the handle is pulled out and only one end is pulled out, and a structure where the inner latch release mechanism of the door moves in a direction crossing the door surface when the handle is pulled in parallel. A structure using a latch member using a long hole as a guide is disclosed.
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-9-72142
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, to release the latch by grasping the handle is not a problem for a healthy person, but cannot be used for a person who has difficulty with fingers. In the first structure of Patent Literature 1, since the actual movement of the handle is different from the direction of the pulling operation, the operation may be unstable especially for a non-healthy person. In the latter two structures, the mechanism on the back side of the door requires a large dimension in the thickness direction of the door, which adversely affects the storage volume of furniture.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide furniture having a latch release mechanism which is easy to use for a non-healthy person, while minimizing the effect on the storage volume.
In particular, it is an object of the present invention to provide furniture having a latch release mechanism suitable for an unhealthy person having trouble with finger movement.
[0004]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In view of the above object, in claim 1 of the present invention, the handle provided on the front side of a door such as a drawer front plate of furniture such as a cabinet moves in parallel with the entire handle in the front-rear direction, and according to the movement of the handle. It moves in the front-rear direction and extends in a direction parallel to the door surface, and further has a rod member provided on the rear side of the door surface, and at least one end of the rod member has an axis in a direction parallel to the door surface. A latch is provided that can be disengaged between a door-side engaging portion that is rotatable around a pivot and a housing-side engaging portion that is provided on the housing side, and the handle is moved forward so that the rod member Furniture is provided wherein the end or its continuation engages the pivot or its continuation to release the latch.
[0005]
Since the latch is released by the parallel movement of the handle, even a non-healthy person with a disability of the finger can operate by simply hooking the handle at an arbitrary position, and the releasing operation is easy. In addition, since the entire handle moves parallel to the door, instability of the release operation can be prevented. Furthermore, since the bar member extending in the direction parallel to the door surface moves in the front-rear direction, it is always in a state parallel to the door surface. Therefore, the effect of the movement of the latch release mechanism member on the storage volume is small. Further, since the door-side engaging portion is located at one end of the rod member, and the rotation about the pivot is performed at the end, the rotation has little effect on the storage volume.
[0006]
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the furniture according to the first aspect, wherein the handle is provided so as to form a gap between the handle and a door surface so that a human hand can enter.
Even if you cannot put your finger on the handle and cannot even pull the handle with your finger, you can release the latch with a simple operation of pulling your arm once your hand enters the door surface.
[0007]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail based on embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of one drawer 10 of a file cabinet as an example of furniture according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a side view of the drawer 10 in a vertical section, and hatching is omitted. FIG. 3 is a view corresponding to FIG. 2 in a state where the drawer is about to be drawn. Above the front plate 12 of the drawer corresponding to the door of the present application, a bush 23 penetrating in the front-rear direction orthogonal to the front plate is provided on the left and right sides, and the shaft 22 is inserted therein. A handle 20 extending in the left-right direction is attached to the front end of the shaft. The left and right shafts 22 pass through coil springs 30 arranged on the back side of the front plate.
[0008]
On the other hand, a rod member 24 extending in the left-right direction parallel to the front plate is fixed to the rear end of each shaft 22. The rod member is placed on a receiving member 28 fixed to the back plate 14 provided on the back side of the front plate of the drawer, and the receiving member regulates the vertical movement of the rod member. A long hole is formed so as to be movable in the front-back direction. Thus, the bar member 24 is connected to the handle 20 via the two shafts 22. At the position where the bar member is most retracted in the elongated hole, the coil spring 30 is in a free length in which no urging force acts. is there. In this state, the handle 20 forms a gap B between the handle 20 and the front plate 12. The size of the gap B is preferably a size that can be accessed by human hands. This is because it is convenient when used by an unhealthy person who has difficulty with fingers.
[0009]
The drawer 10 is provided with side plates 16 on the left and right sides for storing files, and the left and right ends of the bar member 24 form bent portions 24A extending from the upper position to below the upper edge of the side plate. are doing. On the other hand, further below the bent portion, a drawer side engaging portion 26 as a door side engaging portion is provided on the drawer side so as to be rotatable around a pivot 26J extending in a vertical direction parallel to the front axis. Have been. The drawer-side engaging portion 26 is constantly urged outward by a coil spring 27, and is engaged with a housing-side engaging portion (not shown) in the stored state. The upper end of the pivot 26J is bent in a substantially orthogonal direction to form a short bent engagement portion 26JA.
[0010]
As shown in FIG. 3, when the handle 20 is pulled toward the front side against the urging force of the coil spring 30, the bar member 24 moves to the same front side, and the bent portion 24A is moved to the bent engagement portion 26JA. With the contact engagement, the drawer side engaging portion 26 separates from the housing side engaging portion (not shown) against the urging force of the coil spring 27, and the latch is released. Therefore, the user who pulls the handle can pull out the drawer 10 from the housing (not shown) simply by further pulling in the same direction.
[0011]
At the time of storage, the drawer can be stored simply by pushing the handle or the front plate, and furthermore, the bent engagement portion 26JA is returned to the original position by the urging force of the coil spring 27 by returning the bent portion 24A to the original position. Then, the drawer-side engaging portion 26 can be engaged with the housing-side engaging portion (not shown) again.
As described above, the bar member 24 on the rear surface side of the front plate only moves parallel to the front plate, and the bent engagement portion 26JA of the pivot 26J is connected to the end of the bar member and the bent portion 24A. The latch release mechanism can be accommodated in a thin space region between the front plate and the back plate, since the length of the latch release mechanism can be as short as possible.
[0012]
Unlike the above embodiment, a structure may be employed in which the pivot 26J extends farther upward without the bent portion 24A and the end of the rod member can be engaged with this upper end. In addition, if the drawer-side engaging portion 26 and the housing-side engaging portion (not shown) are at the same height position as the rod member 24, the pivot 26J does not need to protrude from the vertical width of the drawer-side engaging portion 26. However, if it is located below the upper edge of the side plate 16 of the drawer 10 as in this embodiment, there is an advantage that it does not obstruct the storage of the file and is also aesthetically pleasing. Conversely, if the drawer-side engaging portion 26 is located at a position higher than the bar member 24 (provided below the front plate), if the bent portion 24A is provided, it is extended upward, and the pivot 26J is connected. In the case of projecting, the projecting portion 26 is extended so as to protrude below the vertical width of the drawer side engaging portion 26.
[0013]
Also, the handle need not be straight, but may be curved. Further, the present invention can be applied not only to office furniture having a drawer like this file cabinet but also to furniture having a door such as a so-called double door. Further, the present invention can be applied to furniture having a drawer for home use and furniture of a double door type.
The modifications described in each place can be applied to other forms as long as they do not conflict with each other.
[0014]
【The invention's effect】
As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide furniture having a latch release mechanism that is easy to use for an unhealthy person, while minimizing the effect on the storage volume.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a drawer of a file cabinet as an example of furniture according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a side view of the drawer of FIG. 1 in a vertical section.
FIG. 3 is a side view showing a state different from FIG. 2;
[Explanation of symbols]
20 Handle 24 Bar member 24A Bent portion 26 Door side engaging portion 26J Pivot shaft 26JA Bending engaging portion

Claims (2)

The handle provided on the front side of the door such as the drawer front plate of furniture such as cabinets moves in parallel in the front and rear direction, moves in the front and rear direction according to the movement of the handle, and extends in the direction parallel to the door surface A door-side engaging portion rotatable around an axis in a direction parallel to the door surface, at least at one end of the bar member, further comprising a bar member provided on the rear side of the door surface. A latch is provided which can be engaged and disengaged with a housing side engaging portion provided on the housing side, and the end of the rod member or a continuous portion thereof becomes the pivot or the continuous portion thereof by moving a handle forward. Furniture characterized by engaging with and releasing a latch. The furniture according to claim 1, wherein the handle is provided so as to form a gap between the handle and a door surface so that a human hand can enter.

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