WO1999023336A1

WO1999023336A1 - Safety lock

Info

Publication number: WO1999023336A1
Application number: PCT/FI1998/000839
Authority: WO
Inventors: Matti Mustonen
Original assignee: Matti Mustonen
Priority date: 1997-10-30
Filing date: 1998-10-29
Publication date: 1999-05-14
Also published as: FI102099B; FI102099B1; FI974097A0; AU1033099A

Abstract

The invention relates to a safety lock which prevents small children from opening and/or closing drawers or cupboard doors. The safety lock comprises a disc (1) intended for preventing the opening or closing movement of a drawer/cupboard door and a shaft (2) which is substantially perpendicular to the plane of the disc and the first end (2a) of which bears on a support point in the vicinity of the edge of the disc (1). It is characteristic that the first end (2a) of the shaft bears on the said support point in a manner which allows an unhindered rotation movement of the disc about the shaft (2).

Description

SAFETY LOCK

The invention relates to a safety lock which prevents small children from opening and/or closing drawers or cupboard doors.

Kitchen drawers and lower cupboards constitute a considerable safety risk for small children, in particular those 1-2 years of age. The objects in the drawers and cupboards may, of course, cause dangerous situations and damage when ending up in the hands of small children. If a child succeeds in opening a drawer or a cupboard, there is the additional high risk that the child's fingers will be caught when the drawer or door closes. In this respect modern kitchen drawers constitute a very high risk, since the drawers run on rails and therefore an opened drawer will close with a very slight push.

Attempts have been made to solve the above-mentioned problem by using a safety system which consists of a stiff plastic strip equipped with an aperture, attachable to the frame of the worktop of the drawers, and of a resilient counterpiece attachable to the drawer to be protected, the counterpiece having a pin engaging the said aperture. The pin running in the aperture prevents the complete opening of the drawer but allows it to be opened to the extent that an adult is able to press the resilient counterpiece with a finger and to release it from the locked mode.

However, the known solution described above has a number of drawbacks. Its greatest limitation is that the solution is suitable for protecting only the topmost drawer. Furthermore, the counterpiece must be fixed with screws to the drawer, whereby its inside surface is broken. As a result of use, both pieces may break or become fatigued and cease functioning. It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel safety lock which prevents the opening and/or closing of drawers and cupboard doors and does not have the above-mentioned drawbacks.

It is a particular object to provide a safety lock which is reliable in use and by means of which it is possible to protect each drawer in a set of drawers and each cupboard door. It is a further object to provide a safety lock which is for an adult easy to release and the mounting of which does not require the breaking of the surface of the drawer or the cupboard door. It is a further object to provide a safety lock which prevents a child's fingers from being caught when an opened drawer or cupboard door recloses.

The characteristics of the invention are disclosed in Claim 1.

The invention thus relates to a safety lock which prevents small children from opening and/or closing drawers or cupboard doors, the safety lock comprising

- a disc intended for preventing the opening or closing movement of a drawer/cupboard door, and

- a shaft which is substantially perpendicular to the plane of the disc and the first end of which bears on a support point located close to the edge of the disc.

The invention is characterized in that the first end of the shaft bears on the said support point in a manner which allows an unhindered rotation movement of the disk about the shaft.

By the term "unhindered rotation movement" is meant that the movement of the disc about the shaft is practically free of friction. Thus a disc which has been turned to the open position will always fall under the effect of gravity to the locking position as soon as the disc is released from grip. The support point for the shaft end in the disc must be close to the edge of the disc. In this case the device is suitable for being installed in a very small space. Turned away from the drawer or cupboard door to be protected, the disc easily releases the movement of the drawer or the door if the shaft is located quite close to the edge of the drawer or the door. If the support point is far from the center of gravity of the disc, the disc also easily falls into the locking position.

According to a preferred embodiment, the shaft support point located close to the disc edge is a hole which passes through the disc and is sufficiently large relative to the shaft in order to avoid friction. Alternatively the support point may be, for example, a loop, attachment clip or the like, or a sleeve attached to the side surface of the disc, into which the shaft end is pushed and which is equipped with means preventing inadvertent detaching of the disc from the shaft end.

The word "disc" denotes in this invention a piece of any shape. It may be in shape circular, triangular, square, oval, etc. However, preferably the disc is circular. This shape is easy in terms of manufacturing techniques. Considering a small child, the circular shape is the best, since the child will not be able to judge from the shape which position would make opening possible. The disc is preferably flat and of an even thickness, although other cross-sectional profiles are also conceivable.

According to an especially preferred embodiment, the disc is a circular, flat, approx. 10 - 12 mm thick piece made from wood, plastic, metal, rubber or some other suitable material and having a hole close to its edge. The disc position which releases the movement of a drawer or a door is very precise. The safety lock is preferably installed so that the shaft is located close to the edge of the drawer or door to be protected. In this case even a slight deviation of the disc from the open position will prevent the drawer or door from opening.

The thickness of the disc is preferably clearly greater than the diameter of a small child's finger. In this case, for example, a disc which has fallen between an opened drawer and the frame structure of the drawer will prevent the drawer from closing completely and will thus prevent the child's fingers from being caught.

The shaft on which the disc rotates may simply be a screw which is screwed to the frame structure, i.e. for example a support frame under a worktop. This option is suitable for protecting the topmost drawer of a set of drawers. According to a preferred embodiment, however, the safety lock is equipped with a specific fastening mechanism by mediation of which one end of the shaft (which may be a screw or a mere rod) can bear on a frame structure in the vicinity of the drawer/cupboard door being protected. The word "frame structure" denotes in this context the support structure of a set of drawers or of a cupboard or the front board of the drawer located above the drawer being protected.

The invention is described below with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein

Figure 1 depicts a front view of a set of drawers, the drawers being equipped with a safety lock according to the invention,

Figure 2 depicts the embodyment according to Figure 1, the safety lock preventing the closing of an opened drawer, Figure 3 depicts a side view of the embodyment according to Figure 1, Figure 4 depicts a cross-section of a cupboard, as seen from the top, the doors of the cupboard being equipped with a safety lock according to the invention, Figure 5 depicts a front view of a detail according to Figure 4.

Figures 1 and 2 show a front view of a set of kitchen drawers, with a worktop 11 and three drawers, their front boards being indicated by reference numerals 10a, 10b and 10c. The set of drawers bears against the floor by mediation of a plinth, which is not shown. In Figure 1, all of the drawers in the set are equipped with a safety lock according to the invention. The discs 1 of the safety locks prevent the drawers from being pulled out.

The upper edge of the disc 1 has a hole which passes through the disc and through which there passes a shaft 2. The fastening of the shaft is shown in greater detail in Figure 3. The turning of the disc about the shaft in the direction of the arrow is arranged to be as frictionless as possible. It is easy for an adult to open the drawer with one hand: while the forefinger holds the disc the thumb pulls the drawer open. A small child, on the other hand, is not able to turn the disc into a position which releases the drawer, to hold the disc in that position and simultaneously to open the drawer.

Figure 2 shows the set of drawers of Figure 1, the disc 1 of the safety lock of the middle drawer having fallen inside the front board of the opened drawer and thus preventing the closing of the drawer. The thickness of the disc 1 has been selected to be such that the space 15 prevents a small child's fingers from being caught.

Figure 3 shows a side view of the set of drawers. Reference numerals 12a - 12c indicate the drawers and reference numerals 10a - 10c indicate their front boards. The figure shows that the shaft 2 of the safety lock of the topmost drawer 10c is a screw which has been fastened by screwing it directly to the support frame 13 under the worktop 11. The safety lock of the drawer 12b below is braced to the front board 10c of the upper drawer 12c by means of a separate fastening mechanism. The first end 2a of the shaft 2 passes through the hole in the disc. The flange 2c (which is, for example the end of the screw) at the end prevents the disc from falling off the shaft. The other end 2b of the shaft is fastened to a U-profiled mounting frame 3 of the fastening mechanism, the frame being fastened to the front board 10c of the upper drawer 12c by tightening means. In the embodiment of the figure, the tightening means comprises a screw 4 and a nut 5 fastened to the mounting frame 3, but there may be even other usable options. A preferred tightening means is one which holds the mounting frame 3 tightly against the frame structure (in this case in the lower edge of the front board of the upper drawer) but does not break the surface of the said frame structure. In the embodiment of Figure 3 the safety lock mounted on the upper drawer locks the lower drawer. Nevertheless, each drawer can be opened separately.

Figures 4 and 5 show a safety lock according to the invention mounted on a set of cupboards. Both cupboard doors lOd and lOe are protected by the disc 1 of the same safety lock. One end 2b of the shaft 2 is fastened to the mounting frame 3, which is here tightened to the vertical cupboard frame 14 by means of a tightening screw 4 and a nut 5 attached to the mounting frame. The thickness of the vertical frame 14 may vary considerably, i.e. approx. 12 - 38 mm. Figure 5, which depicts a front view of the mounting frame 3, shows that there is a slot 6 formed in the front board of the mounting frame. Owing to the slot it is possible, when mounting, to adjust the location of the shaft to the desired spot even if the thickness of the vertical frame 14 varies. The above embodiments of the invention are only examples of the implementation of the idea according to the invention. For an expert in the art it is clear that the various embodiments of the invention may vary within the scope of the claims stated below.

Claims

1. A safety lock which prevents small children from opening and/or closing drawers or cupboard doors, the safety lock comprising - a disc (1) intended for preventing the opening or closing movement of a drawer/cupboard door and

- a shaft (2) which is substantially perpendicular to the plane of the disc and the first end (2a) of which bears on a support point located in the vicinity of the edge of the disc (1), characterized in that the first end (2a) of the shaft bears on the said support point in a manner which allows an unhindered rotation movement of the disc about the shaft (2).

2. A safety lock according to Claim 1, characterized in that it comprises a fastening mechanism by mediation of which the second end (2b) of the shaft

(2) can be braced to the drawer or cupboard frame structure in the vicinity of the drawer or cupboard door to be protected.

3. A safety lock according to Claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the thickness of the disc is clearly greater than the diameter of a small child's finger.

4. A safety lock according to Claim 3, characterized in that the disc is a circular plate.

5. A safety lock according to any of Claims 1-4, characterized in that the support point is a hole passing through the disc and located in the immediate vicinity of the edge of the disc.

6. A safety lock according to Claim 1, characterized in that the shaft (2) is a screw, in which case the second end (2b) can be fastened by screwing to the frame structure (13) of the set of drawers or the cupboard.

7. A safety lock according to any of Claims 2 - 5, characterized in that the fastening mechanism comprises a mounting frame (3) having a profile which follows the frame structure, and tightening means.

8. A safety lock according to Claim 7, characterized in that the tightening means is made up of a screw (4) and of a nut (5) fastened to the mounting frame (3).

9. A safety lock according to Claim 7 or 8, characterized in that the second end (2b) of the shaft can be mounted at a desired location in the mounting frame by means of a slot (6) in the mounting frame.