US1909847A - Drawer latch for filing cabinets - Google Patents

Description

May16,1933. GRAND i 11,909,531@e DRAWER LATCH FOR FILING CABINETS Filed April 14, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet l gwucnko@ enjzmin @Bami May 16, 1933. B- G' RAND 1,909,847

DRAWER LATCH FOR FILING GABINETS Filed Ap'ril 14, 1951 2 sheets-sheet 2 I3 9 4f l23 V7 24m] 2 j closed position `in the cabinet.'

Lso Fig. 2.

Patented May 16, 1933 l BENJAMING. RAND. or `Norvrrr 'mNAwAi DA, nnwyonx, Assmlton'ro RAND inc., or BUFFALO, New 'iz/om:

DRAWER LATCH Fon riLrNq cAnrNirrs l 4 Appnemon nea April 1 4, rsa1. serial 110.530.107. l

u This invention relates to a drawer latch forfiling cabinetsA and particularly to a .latch construction mounted on the front wall of a 1 the drawer front, an

drawer for releasably holding thedrawer in The invention comprehends a latch mechanism particularly adapted for use wlth llng cabinets having drawers in which a latch member on the drawer has locking coopera Y' 10 tion with `a stationary part mounted on the cabinet forming. a part of the drawer supporting and guiding means, in order to secure better `alignment of the cooperating parts of the latch mechanism so that the drawers will be uniformly locked in fully closed position.

The invention thereby overcomes disadvantages in previous latch constructions having parts on the drawer engaging directly with n portions of the cabinet in which slight variations in the structure of the drawer or cabinet result in inefficient operation of the latch in'retaining the drawer in the proper closed position.

The invention provides a latch'construc-` '25 tion having a sheet metal supporting plate formed to provide a mountingy for the latch member, to receive and mount a sprlng member for normally actuating the latch member in one direction, to support an actuating so member having a suitable manually operated button or other means provided for operating the actuating member tomove the latch f .into releasing position .for unlocking the drawer, in which these parts are constructed and assembled in an extremelysimpleand.

economical manner to provide an eilicient latch construction for mounting on the rear face of the drawer front by the sa-me means that securesl the drawer handle in place. (0

of the invention, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a tile cabinet showing one drawer in a position from the cabinet.

Fig. 2 .is an enlarged vertical cross section ihrough the drawer taken on line 2 2 of i 1. ig. 3 is a vertical cross section through the `front of the' drawer taken on line 3--3 of f `Fig. 5V is a sectional view The drawings illustrate one embodiment partially withdrawn y offset end 18 forming a latchnger'and an is'an enlarged fragmentary section throu hithe cabinet and "drawerin closed locke position lookin at the'rear vface of showing the latch mechanism in elevation. 1 taken. substant-ially on line 5-5 of Figui." 5

Fig.`6 shows the assembled latch mechanism in locking position with c fragment of the case slide and a fragment of the drawer front in perspectiva: f i A file cabinet 1 is formed to receive a plurality ofdrawers, one drawer bein indicated at 2 partially withdrawn from't e cabinet and carried by drawer. supporting and guiding means 3 usually including a drawer slide 4, an intermediate slide or carriage 5. and a case slide 6 of any well known typev of construction. y. i

The drawer 2 has the usual front wall 7 and sidewalls8 suitably secured theretov by the formation of the forward edges of the side walls and the side edges of thefront wall into channel shaped bead forming sections generally indicated at 7fin Fig.y 5. zv

A latch supporting-plate1is1formed of a piece of sheet metal havin a body portion 9 and laterally extending anges- 10 I,and 11 projecting from an end andthe to ed e of said body portion, respectively." lT e ange 11 is provided with an upwardly extending angular portion 12 -atfits` free edge terminating in a laterally extending lip 13 overlying flange 11 in vspacedparallel relation. The bod portion 9 is formed with apair of space openings toreceive threaded studs 14v on the :ends of handle.15` extending through registering 'openings in the drawer front` 7, so that vupon the application of the nuts 16 to threaded studs 14 body portion 9 will be rigidly secured to the rear face of front wall 7 `of the drawer.` y

A latch bar or `rod 17 is providedwith anv extends through a bearing opening in `flange 10, while the opposite end of the rod extends through a bearing opening 20, Fig. 5 formed in side wall 8 of the drawer. The flange 11 is rovided with a slot 21 in the end portion adjacent flange 10 to receive one end of actuating membe r 22 in the form of an elongated metal strip having a lateral extension 23 resting on flange 11 so as to suspend member 22 for free swinging'movement from flange 11 relative to body portion'9. The opposite' end portion ofactua-ting member 22engages with the offset end 19 of latchrod 17 as clearly shown in Figs. 3, 4, and 6. This opposite end portion of actuatin member 22 is guided by a pair of guide projections 24 struck out of body portion 9 and extended laterally thereto in'qspaced parallel relationv and in substantial alignment with slot 21 formedin flange 11.

A button 25 is engaged in an opening in front wall 7 of the drawer and normally projects forwardly from this front wall as shown in Fig. 5, an annular portion 26 of the button seatin against the rear face of front wall 7 around the opening and being engaged in an opening 27 in body portion 9 located inter-y .mediate flange 11 and guide projections 24 in position to engage actuating member 22.v

By depressing the button 25 to force it inwardly through the front wall of the drawer, the actuatin member' 22 is engaged and swung away rom body portion 9 to operate offset crank projection 19 of latch rod 17 for rotating the latch rod in its bearings and moving latch finger 18'to an inoperative position.

A of wire doubledupon itself to provide spaced parallel portions 29 and a loop 30. The loop 30 is engaged with the offset end 19 of latc rod 17 while the free ends of the wire extend through a strap projection 31 formed in body portion 9 by offsetting a section thereof as illustrated in Fig. 6, the terminals of portions 29 at the ends of the piece of wire extending beyond this strap projection 31 and having laterally extending portions at the free ends enga ed in loops 32, Figs. 4 and 6, struck from bo y portion 9 in spaced aligned relation.` These loops 32 are spaced from the strap projections 31 in the manner shown in Fig. 6. and firmly hold and'support the spring member 28 in position so that the loop 30 engages the ofl'set end 19 of the latch rod inl all positions and normally acts to urge it toward the actuating member 22 and toward the body portion 9. Thiswill normally force button 25 outwardly through drawer i o front 7 until the enlarged annular portion 26 engages the rear face of wall 7 in the manner shown in Fig. 5 with the actuating member seated against the rear end ofbutton 25.

This is vthe' locked position of the parts as illustrated in Figs. 4, v 5 and 6, in which latch lfinger 18 is resiliently held in position to spring member v28 is formed of a length retain the drawer in closed position in the `inthe art, so as to sup ort the intermediate slide 5 and the drawer s 1de 4 mounted on the sidesof the drawer, for supporting the drawer for free` movement into and out of the cabinet. The case slide to be used with the present latch mechanism is provided with an u wardly extending flange 33 on/,the upper e ge of the channel shaped body portion, formed at the forward end to provide a keeper 34 for receiving the offset latch finger 18 on latch rod 17 when the drawer is in closed position to positively lock the drawer to the case slide andprevent its movement outwardly from the cabinet.

The flange 33 in advance of keeper 34 is formed with an inclined cam face 35 for engaging latch finger 18 and automatically rotating the latch member 17 so as to lift the latch finger against the tension of spring 28 in the closing movement of the drawer so that it will ride into keeper 34 automatically. The spring 28 normally operates latch member 17 so as to hold latch finger 18 in the position of Fig. 6 so that after this finger 18 rides upwardly over cam 35, the spring will force latch finger 18 to drop into the recess forming -keeper 34 so that it will cooperate with the adjacent edge portions of flange 33 to prevent opening movement of the drawer until the latch mechanism has first been operated by depressing button 25. The de ression of button 25 to move it rearwardly t rough the drawer front 7 will rotate latch rod 17 a sufficient amount to raise the finger 18 so that it will clear the portion of the flange 33 at the forward end of the case slide 6 when the drawer is to be opened.

A cover plate 36 formed with marginal flanges 37 as shown in Fig. 5 is applied to the `drawer in the rear of front wall 7 to provide a cover for the latch mechanism in cooperationl with the wall 7 by securing the plate 36 to the projecting ends of 'studs 14 in a manner illustrated 1n Fig. 5 to form a hollow housing portion at the front of the drawer containing the latch mechanism.

By mounting the latch mechanism within the housing between wall 7 and plate 36 'with the latch member 17 extending outwardly beyond theside wall of the drawer with the finger 18 at the side of the drawer adjacent the front cooperating with the keeper provided on the case slide, greater uniformity in securing a proper re ation between the keeper and the latch finger can be obtained for locking the drawer in fully closed position due to the direct' support of the drawer by the case slide, than where the latch is provided with a finger adapted to engage part of the casing of the cabinet.

In the construction of file cabinets it is found that variations occur in the assembled relation'of the various parts dueto tolerances allowed in manufacture, frequently causin diilicult in properly aligning the parts o the latc mec anism for cooperation on both the drawer and the cabinet. By combining this latch structure with the structure of the supporting and guide members and particularly the case slide with which the drawer always has a constant alignment due to its support in the case slide, substantial advantages are obtained in the manufacture of cabinets provided with the latch structure of this invention due to this Irelationship by which the parts will uniformi cooperate to always secure the drawer in fu l closed position irres ctive of the variations in the structure of t e casin or frame of the cabinet.

What is claimed is:

1. The combination with a filing cabinet, a drawer for said cabinet, and drawer sup-` rting and guiding means mounting said rawer for movement into and out of said cabinet including a 'case slide having a keeper on the front end p''rtio'n, of a drawer carried latch mechanism having a manually operable latch member normally positioned for cooperation with said keeper to lock said drawer in closed position in the cabinet.

2. The combination in a filing cabinet, of a drawer, drawer sup orting and guiding means mount-ing said rawer for movement into and out of said cabinet having a case slide mounted in the cabinet, said case slide having a fiange portion formed to provide a kee r and a cam adjacent thereto, a spring actuated latch member on said drawer having an end portion normally projected to en-V gage insaid keeper and operable by said cam member in closing movement of said drawer to automatically move into engagement in said keeper and lock said drawer in closed position.

3. The combination in a filing cabinet, of

a drawer, drawer supporting and guiding means at the sides of said drawer, mounting said drawer for movement into and out of said cabinet having a case slide mounted in' keeper.

4. The combination in a filing cabinet, of a drawer having a front wall and side walls, drawer supporting and guiding means at the sides of said drawer mounting said drawer in the cabinet for movement into and out of the cabinet having a case slide mounted in the cabinet formed with a keeper, a. latch -member formed of a rod having a portion extending transversely of thedrawer and rotatably mounted on the rear sideof said front wa-ll with one end projecting outwardly beyoud one. side wall and having an offset latch finger for enga ing said kee r to lock said drawer in close position, resi ient means nor` mallyv urging said latch finger to engage-said keeper, and manually operable' means projecting through and mounted on said front wall for disengaging said latch finger from said keeper. v

5. The combination in a filing cabinet, of a drawer having a front wall and side walls, drawer supporting and guiding means at the sides of said V drawer mounting said drawer in the cabinet for movement into and out of the cabinet, va latch'niember formed of a rod having a portion extending transversely o f the drawer and rotatabl lmounted on' the rear side vof ysaid front wall with one-end projectin outwardly from the drawer and formed witan offset latch finger for lockingcooperation with a part carried `by the cabinet in the 'plateA v having an end projecting beyond the drawer for locking (roo eration with a part on the cabinet in the c osed vposition of the drawer, resilientmeans on said supporting plate normally. urging said I latch into lock- 1ngposition, operating means having l'its end portion ysupported in the refentrant flange of said supporting plateand manually operable to retract ysaid latch`- from en ment with said part, a handle forsaid rawer, and means securing said handle to the front wall'of said drawery cooperating with and securingv said supporting plate to the rear side of said front wall.

7. The'combination lin aiiling cabinet, of a drawer having a front wall, a 4supporting plate mounted on the rear face of said front wall, a latch member of crank arm type' mounted on said supportingplate having an end projecting beyond the drawer for locking coo eration with a part on said cabinet in the c osed position of the drawer, resilient means having a portion engaging about the crank arm latch member and normally urging said latch member into locking position, an actuating member mounted on said supporting plate operatively enga ing said latch member, and manuallyopera le means engaging said actuating member and operable to release said latch member from engagemcntwith said part.

8. A latch mechanism for'the drawers of 5'liling cabinets, comprising a supporting plate, a latch member formed of a rod ro-L tatablyy mounted on said supporting plate and having ofi'set opposite end portions, one of said end portions overlying said supporting plate and the other end portion forming a latch finger, an actuating bar loosely connected at one end to said supporting plate and having the opposite end portion engaging the first mentioned offset end of said latch member, manually operable means engaging the intermediate portion of said actuating bar for operating said bar and actuating said latch member into unlocking position, and resilient means normally operating said latch member into locking position. y

` 9. A latch mechanism for filing cabinets, comprising a supporting plate having a pair of laterally extending 'flanges on adjacent edges, `alatch member formed of a rod rotatable in one of' said flanges and having offset opposite end portions, anactuating bar loosely mounted at one end on the otherflange and Lhaving the' opposite end engaging one of the offset portions of said latch member, resilient means secured to said plate and engaging thelast-mentioned 'offset end of said latch member and normally rotating said latch member inone direction, and a button engaged in said supporting plate manually operable to engage and operate said actuating member to move said latch member in a direction opposite to that ofthe resilient means. y

10. A latch mechanism for filingcabinets 40 vhaving a supporting plate comprising a piece of sheet met-al having a flat body portion, a pair of laterally extending flanges, one of said flanges extending from an edgeof the body portion adjacent to an edge provided with' the other flange, a bearing opening formed in one of said fianges, a slot4 formed in the other flange, guide. projections extending laterally from said body portion in spaced parallel relation to each Aother and aligned with said slot, spring mounting projections formed on the body portion of said plate, and means on said body portionfor receiving at taching elements to mountl said platefon a support. ,v

. BENJAMIN G. RAND.

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