MX2007001197A - Storage cabinet with latching mechanism - Google Patents

Abstract

A storage cabinet having a latching mechanism that can be unlatched by the use of either an upper actuator (80) or a lower actuator (84) is provided. The upper actuator (80) may comprise a hand knob while the lower actuator (84) may comprise a foot pedal. Thus, if an operator has his arms full and wants to open the doors of the cabinet, he can simply do so by actuating the foot pedal. Alternately, the doors of the cabinet may be opened by actuating the hand knob. This design affords the operator much flexibility in accessing the storage cabinet. A storage cabinet with a latching mechanismthat is protected from damage under abusive conditions is also provided.

Description

STORAGE CABINET WITH LATCH MECHANISM DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION This present invention relates to storage units and in particular to storage cabinets with bolt mechanisms. A variety of storage devices are available in the market today. For example, industrial storage cabinets can be used to store tools or other devices. In another example, storage cabinets can be used in offices to store various types of office supplies. Storage cabinets can include one or several doors, which open to access the provisions within the storage cabinet. The doors themselves can often be secured to prevent unauthorized entry into the storage cabinet. Frequently, workers may wish to place additional items in the cabinet. Since the worker will put additional items into the cabinet, he may be carrying these supplies in his arms. In this way, the worker may not be able to open the cabinet without placing additional supplies on one side or releasing supplies. in an attempt to open the doors. Some supply cabinets include pedal arrangements by which a worker, for example, can press the pedal and open the door. In this case, the worker may not need to place the materials that he takes aside to open the cabinet doors. However, the disadvantage associated with these cabinets is that they can be opened only when using the pedal. Thus, there is a need in the prior art for a storage cabinet having a bolt mechanism that can be put on or removed from the bolt when using either an upper actuator or lower actuator. Furthermore, there is a need in the prior art for a storage cabinet that prevents damage to the bolt mechanism under severe conditions. The present invention satisfies the disadvantages of the prior art by providing a storage cabinet having a latch mechanism that can be released by the use of either a top actuator or a bottom actuator. The upper actuator may comprise a knob while the lower actuator may comprise a pedal. In this way, if the operator has his arms' occupied and wishes to open the doors of the cabinet, he can simply do it this way when the pedal is operated. Alternatively, the cabinet doors can be opened when the knob is operated. This design offers the operator a lot of flexibility to access the storage cabinet.

The present invention also satisfies the disadvantages of the prior art by providing a storage cabinet with a bolt mechanism that is protected from damage under severe conditions. The foregoing and other advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description in more particular preferred embodiments as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 is a perspective view of a storage cabinet of the present invention with a door in the closed position. Figure 2 (a) is another perspective view of the storage cabinet of the present invention, with a door in the closed position. Figure 2 (b) is a perspective view of a recess and handle in a side wall of the cabinet of Figure 2 (a). Figure 2 (c) is a detailed view of the lower actuator of the cabinet of Figure 2 (a). Figure 3 (a) is a perspective view of one of the doors of the storage cabinet shown in Figures 1 and 2. Figure 3 (b) is a perspective view of a lock used in the storage cabinet shown in FIG. Figures 1 and 2. Figures 4 (a) -4 (c) are perspective, side and top views, respectively of the upper and lower plate assembly of the bolt mechanism used in the storage cabinet shown in Figures 1 and 2. Figure 5 (a) is a perspective view of the bolt mechanism used in the storage cabinet shown in the Figures 1 and 2. Figure 5 (b) is a top view along lines AA of Figure 5 (a). Figure 5 (c) is a side view along lines B-B of Figure 5 (a). Figure 6 (a) is a perspective view of the lock mechanism used in the storage cabinet shown in Figures 1 and 2. Figure 6 (b) is a side view along lines AA of Figure 6 (to) . Figure 7 is a perspective view of the insurance mechanism used in the storage cabinet shown in Figures 1 and 2. Figure 8 is another perspective view of the insurance mechanism used in the storage cabinet shown in Figures 1 and 2. Figure 9 is a perspective view of the lower actuator of the latch mechanism used in the storage cabinet shown in Figures 1 and 2. Figure 10 is a side view of the latch mechanism used in the storage cabinet shown in FIG. Figures 1 and 2. Returning now to the drawings, a storage cabinet 10 is shown in Figures 1 and 2. The cabinet 10 includes a generally horizontal floor 12 supported by a number of skids 14, two side walls 16 that rise vertically from opposite side edges of the floor 12, a wall 20, which rises vertically from a rear edge of the floor 12 and a roof 22 extending horizontally between the upper edges of the side walls 16 and the rear wall 20. The floor 12, side walls 16, rear wall 20 and roof 22 define a storage cavity 24. Each of the side walls 16 includes a recess 26 within which a pivoting handle 30 is mounted. The cabinet further includes three shelves 32 mounted within the cabinet 10 for storage of the items. However, the number of shelves may vary depending on the needs of the user. The height of the shelves can also be adjusted to allow the cabinet to house articles of different sizes. The cabinet further includes two doors 34, each of which is pivotally coupled to a front edge of a respective wall 16 by a hinge-like pivot 35. Each door 34 can be pivoted between an open position in which the cavity 24 can be accessed, and a closed position in which the door 34 butts against the front edges of the floor 12, side walls 16 and ceiling 22 and prevents access to the door. the cavity 24. Since the doors are mirror images of each other, only one door will be described with the understanding that the discussion applies to the other door as well. It should also be understood that, when describing a component of the door in relation to the "front" or "back" of the door, these directions are the same as the front and rear directions of the cabinet. With reference to Figures 1-3, the door 34 includes upper, middle and lower door retention latches 36 which are attached thereto and extend thereafter when the door 34 is in its closed position. Each of the bolts 36 includes a slot 40 for coupling a bar, a ramp portion 42 and a corner portion 43 that creates an external force that pushes the doors away from the cabinet. Locks 36 are described in US Patent No. 6,883,274, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that other configurations and structures for attaching a bar may also be suitable for use with the present invention. As shown in Figures 1 and 2, a central post 44 extends vertically from a central portion of the front edge of the floor 12 to a central portion of the front edge of the roof 22. The central post 44 includes a front panel 46. The front panel 46 includes grooves 50, 52 for upper and lower actuator, which are oriented generally and vertically, and also includes a rectangular lock opening 54 positioned under the slot 50 of the upper actuator. A bolt mechanism 60, shown in Figure 6, is provided on the back of the center post 44. The mechanism 60 includes a pair of C-shaped rails or channels 62 located along the lateral sides of the central post 44, the rails 62 extend from the roof 22 to the floor 12 of the storage cabinet 10. These rails 62 allow the bolt mechanism of the present invention to slide between the positions with or without a deadbolt. The lock mechanism 60 further includes an upper plate 64, a middle plate 66 and a lower plate 68, of which the side edges slide along the rails 62. Figures 5 and 6 clearly show the plates of the mechanism in FIG. Sliding coupling with the rails.

As can be seen from Figures 4a-4c, a pair of connection bars 72 extend between the upper and lower plates, thereby connecting the plates together. This arrangement results in the upper and lower plates always moving together. The upper and lower plates are provided with a number of projecting projections 74. Specifically, one set of projections is provided approximately in the middle part of the upper plate 64, one set in the upper part of the lower plate 68, and another set in the lower part of the lower plate 68. Each set of projecting projections carries a bar 76, as seen in Figures 5 and 6. When the doors 34 of the cabinet 10 are closed, the bars 76 are joined with the bolts 36 provided along the doors. The middle plate 66 is provided with an upper actuator 80 which may take the form of a knob. The knob 80 comprises a knob mounted on an axis. The shaft of the knob extends through the slot 50 of the upper actuator of the center post 44 and engages the middle plate 66 by appropriate means such as welding or by bolts, as shown in Figure 7, adjacent to the groove. 81. The bolt mechanism 60 further includes a mounting plate 82 that is provided along the bottom surface of the lower plate 68. The mounting plate 82 functions to operatively couple an actuator 84 lower than the bolt mechanism 60. The mounting plate 82 is provided with an opening 86 through which the lower actuator 84 extends. In the preferred embodiment, the lower actuator 84 comprises a pedal extending forward through the slot 52 of the lower actuator of the central post 44. The pedal 84 is pivotally mounted at 85 in the mounting plate 82 and operatively coupled to one end of a bolt bar 90. As can be seen from Figure 6, the bolt bar 90 extends vertically upwardly from the pedal 84. The second end of the bolt bar 90 extends through a support bracket 92 which is mounted on the lower plate 68, on the bar 76. The pedal 84 further includes a washer 87 and a compression spring 88 which is carried on the bolt bar 90, sandwiched between the washer 87 and the support bracket 92. The storage cabinet is also provided with insurance mechanism 96. With reference to Figures 7 and 8, mechanism 96 comprises a safety box 98, a safety bar 100, and a transverse plate 102. The insurance mechanism is used with padlock 104. Such insurance mechanism is described in U.S. Patent No. 4,290,281, of which its entirety is incorporated herein by reference. The operation of the present invention will now be described. To lock the doors 34 of the cabinet 10, the doors 34 simply move to the closed position. The bolts 36 carried by the doors 34 move past the front panel of the central post 44 and joins the bars 76 of the bolt mechanism positioned along the rear of the central post 44, specifically, the bars 76 move upwardly. along the ramp portions 42 of the bolts 36 and then fall into the slot 40 of the bolts 36. The bolt mechanism in this position is secured. To open the cabinet 10 using the pedal 84, the operator simply presses the pedal. With reference to Figures 9 and 10, the pedal 84 will pivot on the pivot point 85, thereby causing the bolt bar 90 to move upwardly. This upward movement compresses the spring 88 until the compression force exceeds the weight of the upper plate 64, the middle plate 66 and the lower plate 68. Once this occurs, the spring 88 acts as a rigid spacer and pushes against the support member 92, forcing the lower plate 68 to slide along the rails 62 and move upwardly. The upward movement of the lower plate 68 is transferred to the upper plate 64 by the connecting bars 72, thereby causing the upper plate 64 to move upwardly. The middle plate 66 together with the upper actuator 80 remains stationary. The movement of the upper and lower plates lifts the bars 76 out of engagement with the bolts 36. The bolt mechanism in this position opens. The profile of the bolts 36 is designed to produce an external force to push the doors 34 externally and away from the cabinet. Due to the interaction of the bars 76 with the tabs 43 in the locks, the locks 36 and thus the doors 34 are forced externally, away from the bars 76 and the central post 44 once the pedal 84 is released. In this way, the doors 34 are opened without the operator using their hands. Alternatively, the cabinet 10 can be opened using the knob 80. To do so in this way, the operator lifts the knob 80 upwardly. When the knob 80 engages the middle plate 66, raising the knob 80 causes the middle plate 66 to slide along the rails 62 and move upwardly. The upper surface of the middle plate 66 butts against the lower surface of the upper plate 64 and in turn moves the upper plate 64 ascendingly. Since the upper plate 64 is attached to the plate. 68 below, the lower plate 68 moves upwards as well. The upward movement of the upper and lower plates lifts the bars 76 out of engagement with the bolts 36, once again placing the bolt mechanism in its open position. The pedal 84 remains without effect. Due to the interaction of the bars 76 with the bolt profile, the bolts 36 and thus the doors 34 are forced externally, away from the bars 76 and the central post 44, once the knob 80 is released. In this case, the doors 34 are opened by the operator using the knob 80. Due to the arrangement of the plates, the activation of the bolt mechanism by the knob 80 is independent of the activation of the bolt mechanism by the pedal 84. Each actuator operates independently from each other and the operator can use the actuator to open the cabinet doors. With reference to Figure 8, to secure the cabinet 10, the operator can add a padlock 104. When secured in a fixed state, the padlock 104 changes the lock body in the security box 98 to a position where the bar 100 The safety device can not move upwards, and thus prevents the actuator from moving the bars 76 out of engagement with the door latches 36. To open the cabinet 10, the operator can simply use a key to remove the bolt from the padlock 104. By doing so, the padlock body propels forward by the internal spring itself of the padlock and moves out of position of the bar 100 of safety, thereby allowing the upward movement of the lock mechanism 60 of either the upper or lower actuator. The present invention provides protection from damage by possible intruders that apply high levels of force to the pedal, which can lead to possible failure of the safety mechanism. If the pedal 84 is pressed while the cabinet 10 is in the fixed position, the compression spring 88 absorbs all the input energy and is simply compressed, thereby preventing the transfer of force / energy to the latch mechanism and subsequent damage to the latch mechanism. same. In addition, the half plate 66 intentionally has slots so that any excessive force placed on the upper actuator 80 while the cabinet 10 is in the fixed position will result in the flexing of the upper actuator 80 by the slot 81 in the middle plate 66 while the cabinet 10 remains insured (fixed). While certain features and embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail herein, it will be understood that the invention encompasses all modifications and improvements within the scope and spirit of the following claims.

Claims (19)

1. CLAIMS 1. A latch mechanism for a storage cabinet characterized in that it comprises: an upper and lower plate assembly comprising an upper plate and a lower plate; a middle plate placed between the upper plate and the lower plate; a top actuator operatively connected to the middle plate; and a lower actuator operatively connected to the upper and lower plates; where both actuators operate independently from each other to remove the bolt from the bolt mechanism. The bolt mechanism according to claim 1, further characterized in that it comprises at least one connecting rod extending between the upper plate and the lower plate, thereby operatively connecting the upper and lower plates together. 3. The bolt mechanism according to claim 1, further characterized in that it comprises the upper plate and the lower plate each comprising at least one set of projections protruding. The lock mechanism according to claim 3, further characterized in that it comprises a bar coupled with each set of projecting protrusions. 5. The bolt mechanism according to claim 1, further characterized in that it comprises a pair of slidably coupled rails with lateral edges of the bolt mechanism to allow the latch mechanism to slide between a bolted position and a boltless position. The bolt mechanism according to claim 1, characterized in that the upper actuator comprises a knob. The bolt mechanism according to claim 1, characterized in that the lower actuator comprises a pedal. The bolt mechanism according to claim 1, characterized in that the upper actuator is operated by hand. The bolt mechanism according to claim 1, characterized in that the lower actuator is operated with the foot. 10. A storage cabinet characterized in that it comprises: a cabinet, the cabinet includes at least one door; a plurality of bolts mounted on at least one door; a latch mechanism mounted in the cabinet for coupling the bolts, the bolt mechanism comprises an upper plate, a middle plate and a lower plate, the middle plate is placed between the upper plate and the lower plate; a top actuator operatively connected to the middle plate; a lower actuator operatively connected to the upper and lower plates; where both actuators operate independently from each other to remove the bolt from the bolt mechanism of the storage cabinet. The storage cabinet according to claim 10, further characterized in that it comprises at least one connecting rod extending between the upper plate and the lower plate, which consequently operatively connect the upper and lower plates together. The storage cabinet according to claim 10, characterized in that the upper plate, the middle plate and the lower plate each comprise at least one set of projecting projections. The storage cabinet according to claim 12, further characterized in that it comprises a bar coupled with each set of projecting protrusions, each bar engaging one of the bolts when at least one door is in a locked position. The storage cabinet according to claim 10, further characterized in that it comprises a pair of slidably coupled rails with side edges of the bolt mechanism to allow the bolt mechanism to slide between a bolted position and a boltless position. The storage cabinet according to claim 14, further characterized in that it comprises a lock mechanism mounted on the middle plate, the safety mechanism prevents the movement of the bolt mechanism towards the position without bolt. 16. The storage cabinet in accordance with. claim 10, characterized in that each bolt includes a slot for coupling a bar, a ramp portion and a corner portion. The storage cabinet according to claim 10, characterized in that the upper actuator comprises a knob. 18. The storage cabinet according to claim 10, characterized in that the lower actuator comprises a pedal. 19. A storage cabinet characterized in that it comprises: a cabinet, the cabinet includes at least one door; a plurality of bolt mounted on at least one door; a bolt mechanism mounted on the cabinet for coupling the bolts, the bolt mechanism comprising a top plate, a middle plate and a bottom plate; two rails positioned along the edges of the bolt mechanism; a plurality of bars, each bar engaging one of the bolts when at least one door is in a bolted position; a top actuator operatively connected to the middle plate; and a lower actuator operatively connected to the upper and lower plates; wherein, when the upper actuator moves upwardly, the middle plate slides along the rails and moves upwardly, causing the upper and lower plates to move upwardly, thereby elevating the bars out of engagement with the locks and placing the bolt mechanism in a position without bolt; and where the actuator is not affected by the upward movement of the upper actuator.