US3497251A - Safety latch for cabinets - Google Patents

Description

Feb. 24, 1910 -BQBOSLAND ETAL SAFETY LATCH FOR cmamm's Fma June 9, 1967 INVENTORS BRUCE BO SLAND, 205527- 00400450, BY

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United States Patent 3,497,251 SAFETY LATCH FOR CABINETS Bruce Bosland, 21 Locust Place, Wayne, NJ. 07470, and Robert P. Colombo, 44 Aspen Road, Wanaque, NJ. 07465 Filed June 9, 1967, Ser. No. 645,015 Int. Cl. Ec 5/00, 17/06 US. Cl. 292-64 1 Claim ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates to an auxiliary safety latch for the doors of cabinets and while of particular utility with respect to medicine cabinets, nevertheless enjoys a useful function with regard to any cabinet for any purpose.

It is an object of this invention to provide an auxiliary latch which will hinder the full opening of the door of a cabinet in order to prevent ingress to the cabinet by those who may be referred to as of tender years or toddlers, or in general, those of sufliciently sub-adolescent intelligence as to be incapable of coping with what appear to be ordinary simple complexities of this particular latch.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an auxiliary latch as aforesaid which is inexpensive from a material standpoint, easy and therefore inexpensive to manufacture, and which while presenting the elements of a problem, nevertheless presents a problem insufficient to baflie ordinary adult intelligence.

The above and other objects will be made clear from the following detailed drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation of the above approved auxiliary latch;

FIGURE 2 is a bottom plan view of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is an end elevation taken from the lefthand side of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a side elevation, partially in section, showing how the act of closing a cabinet door brings the auxiliary latch into operative condition; and

FIGURE 5 is a view similar to FIGURE 4, showing the latch in its active position, in which it restricts full opening of the cabinet door.

While this invention was conceived as a palliative of the manifest hazards lurking within any medicine cabinet within reach of small children, it is equally applicable (within the huge group embraced by the term small children) to any cabinet containing anything which an adult would prefer not to place at the unrestricted disposal of such small children, It is not in and of itself a latch in the sense that it prevents or restricts any opening whatever of the cabinet door. It is distinctly an auxiliary feature.

Referring now to FIGURES 1, 2 and 3, there is shown an L-shaped cabinet attachable member having a vertical leg 12 and a horizontal leg 14. The leg 14 has parallel downwardly directed limited flanges 16 and 18, each of which has a lateral circular perforation 20 merging with a forwardly extending slot 22 of lesser diameter or thickness or height than the diameter of the circular perforation 20. Quite clearly, the member 10, its flanges 16 and 18, the perforations 20 and the slots 22 may be 3,497,251 Patented Feb. 24, 1970 "ice formed in a single operation from a single sheet of metal along with the leg 12 which also contains elongated slots 24 and 26 (FIGURE 3) and the flat blank thus produced readily may be brought to the form of FIGURES l and 3 by a simple one step bending operation. If desired, a permanent magnet 27 may be attached to the end of the leg 14 of the member 10. This sometimes assists the action of the latch member 28 hereinafter described.

A latch member generally designated by the numeral 28 is also formed preferably in the flat from a sheet of metal and comprises an elongated body portion 30' having at one end an elongated bent down portion 32 of equal width to the body portion 30 and terminating in a broader retaining portion 34. The body portion 30 and the bent down portion 32 are of a width suflicient to pass through a slot 36 formed in the leg 14 of the member 10.

At the opposite end of the body portion 30 there is an upwardly bent portion 38 terminating in an outwardly and downwardly bent end 40. The body portion 30 has approximtaely midway its length between the bent portions 32 and 38 a pair of tongues 42 which, being stamped from flat sheet metal, have a rectangular crosssection of a maximum dimension corresponding to the diameter of the circular aperture 20 in the flanges 16 and 18. The apertures 20, by the way, are aligned transversely of the leg 14.

Now, as to assembly of the parts above described: The elements 10 and 28 are stamped in their entirety from flat sheet metal. The element 28 is then bent to the condition shown in FIGURE 1 and is then placed in proper relationship to the blank 10 through which the leg 12 may or may not have been bent prior to such assembly. At any rate, the flanges 16 and 18 of the member 10 are then bent downwardly so that the circular perforations 20 receive and embrace the tongues 42 of the body portion 30 and the parts are then in relationship illustrated in FIGURE 1.

For the purpose of installation, the tongues 42 are perfectly slidable in the slots 22 and therefore the member 28 is slid relative to the member 10 to the left-hand end of the slot 22 to give complete access to the elongated slots 24 and 26 of the member 12. The device as a whole is then adjusted relative to a cabinet wall 44 (FIGURE 4) so that the leg 14 is in approximate alignment with the flat 46 of a door jamb 48 of the cabinet Wall 44. Screws or other conventional securing means are then inserted in the slots 24 and 26 and the unit is then in condition for operation,

A cabinet door 50 is hinged to the cabinet wall 44 and is swingable to closing position in the direction of the arrow 52 and to open position in the direction of the arrow 54. Now, assume that the assembly is in the condition shown in FIGURE 4 and that the door 50 is moving in the direction of the arrow 52, if the member 30 is in the position shown in FIGURE 4, there is nothing to impede closing of the door 50, but if for whatever reason the door 50 were to the left of the member 40 with the member 30 in the position shown in FIGURE 5, the door 50, moving in the direction of the arrow 52, would encounter the member 40 and slide the member 30 with its tongues 42 through the slots 22 to the aperture 20 in the flanges 16 and 18 and thereupon the member 30 would assume the position indicated in FIGURE 4. As the door proceeds to closing position relative to the cabinet wall 44, it will encounter the upper end of the member 30 protruding above the member 14 in FIGURE 4 and depress the parts to the condition shown in FIGURE 1, the door is thereupon secured against the cabinet wall 44 by conventional means.

Upon opening the door from its engagement with the cabinet wall 44 and moving the door 50 in the direction of the arrow 54, the door 50 will encounter the member 38 in the condition of FIGURE 5, to which condition closure of the door 50 against the wall 44 has conditioned the parts. In order then fully to open the door 50, it is necessary partially to close the door 50, then to slide the member 30 until the tongues 42 enter the apertures 20 at which point the member 30 may be made to assume the position of FIGURE 4 and the door then may be fully opened.

The above-described operations, while (hopefully) well within the skill of the average adult, should prove quite bafliing to the age group 1 /2-3 years, and, therefore, provides a considerable safety factor.

While in order to make this disclosure, certain specific details have been described and shown, it is not the intention to limit this invention to such precise details of which numerous variations will suggest themselves to one skilled in the art.

What is claimed is:

1. An auxiliary latch comprising a static member affixable to a cabinet wall adjacent the door thereof; a latch connected to said member for both sliding and tilting relative thereto, said latch being tiltable only at one end of its sliding movement; door-engaging means at one end References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 24,603 6/ 1859 Johnson 292290 1,284,399 11/1918 McManus 292-114 2,203,333 6/1940 Klumpp 292262 X 2,532,586 12/1950 Wickwire 292290 X 2,673,755 3/1954 Asp 292251.5 X

MARVIN A. CHAMPION, Primary Examiner R. L. WOLFE, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 292-262

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