US3219404A - Drawer latch - Google Patents

Description

N 1965 w. J. MACHINGO ETAL 3,219,404

DRAWER LATCH Filed Feb. 18, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG-1.. 5

FIG. 3. INVENTOR WILLIAM J.MACH1NGO RUDOLPH H. WILMER.

United States Patent 3,219,404 DRAWER LATCH William J. Machingo and Rudolph H. Wilmer, Youngstown, Ohio, assignors to The General Fireproofing Company, Youngstown, Uhio, a corporation of Ohio Filed Feb. 18, 1964, Ser. No. 345,710 5 Claims. (Cl. 312-303) This invention relates generally to filing apparatus and more particularly to a latch construction as used on filing drawers for retaining the drawers within a filing cabinet.

The present construction is an improvement over the latch mechanism disclosed in Patent No. 2,648,585, dated August 11, 1953, and assigned to the same assignee as the present application. In the above referred to patent, a latch mechanism is illustrated for use in conjunction with a filing cabinet drawer of generally well-known construction wherein the front of the drawer is hinged along its lower edge to the bottom of the drawer and adapted for outward swinging movement to permit ready access to the contents of the drawer when the drawer is open. In order to retain the drawer within the cabinet, a latch member was provided on the side of the drawer for engagement with a keeper inside the cabinet.

A principal deficiency in the above referred to prior construction is that when the filing drawer is pushed to its closed position within the filing case or cabinet, the latch mechanism, which projects outwardly in its locking position, strikes the front inside edge of the filing drawer cabinet prior to arriving at its final engaged position behind the keeper.

It is a recognized objective in the ofiice filing apparatus field that the maximum usable file drawer space must be obtained in combination with the minimum overall size of filing cabinet. In order to achieve this objective, somewhat close tolerances are necessary between the filing drawers with their suspension means and the inner walls of the filing case or cabinet. This requirement tends to magnify the possibility of the above-described contact between the latch and edge of the cabinet particularly in the instance of larger size filing drawers and is even more apparent when such drawers are filled to capacity. These latter conditions would tend to increase the lateral displacement of the filing drawers as they are closed during retraction of the drawers within the cabinet upon their suspension means, since even a minute sideways displacement of the drawer just prior to the final closing thereof within the cabinet causes the prior known type of latch means to come into glancing contact with the front inside edge of the filing case.

The above-described problem has recently become even more objectionable due to the current extensive use of light decorator colors so popular in ofiice filing equipment. It will be appreciated that in such instances wherein contact between the projecting latch member and the front of the case mars the paint thereon, the appearance of the cabinet will be one of an unsightly nature.

No feasible modification of the drawer or cabinet structure has been found which would obviate this deficiency since the drawer cabinets are already constructed of the minimum possible thickness and no alteration of the drawer front itself would solve the problem since these drawer fronts are adapted to be flush-mounted within the cabinet, that is, to fit within the limits of the cabinet, rather than to overlie the front edges thereof.

Accordingly, one of the objects of the present invention is to provide an improved file drawer latch which is operated by inward swinging movement of a drawer front to lock the drawer in a closed position within a cabinet and which latch is released by outward swinging movement of the drawer front to allow opening or withdrawal of the drawer.

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Another object of the present invention is to provide a drawer latch comprising a unitary spring member having a pair of longitudinal leaves.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a drawer latch having one leaf controlled by the opening and closing of a pivotal drawer front and a second leaf adapted to cooperate with keeper means disposed within a filing cabinet for locking the drawer within the cabinet.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a file drawer latch adapted to be displaced towards the wall of a filing cabinet and into a locking position by a force acting in one direction, and including means permitting urging of said latch away from the wall of the filing cabinet during the locking operation.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, which will become more fully apparent as the nature of the invention is better understood, the same consists in the novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts as are illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings and as will be hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

Similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several views of the drawings, where- FIGURE 1 is a partial perspective view of the front portion of a filing drawer and illustrates the drawer latch constructed in accordance with the present invention.

FIGURE 2 is a vertical, longitudinal View, partly in section, illustrating the swingable drawer front in its open position and the latch member of the present invention as seen from the interior of a file drawer.

FIGURE 3 is a horizontal sectional view of the drawer latch according to the present invention as it appears when the drawer front is in its open position as shown in FIG- URE 2.

FIGURE 4 is a horizontal sectional view of the drawer latch with the drawer front in its closed position and the filing drawer is about to be closed within the filing cabinet.

FIGURE 5 is a horizontal sectional view showing the drawer latch as it appears when the drawer is about to be fully closed within the cabinet and illustrating deflection of the locking leaf of the drawer latch away from the opposed inner wall of the filing cabinet.

FIGURE 6 is a horizontal view, partly in section, showing the drawer latch in its fully closed or locking position.

FIGURE 7 is a perspective view of the drawer latch of the present invention in its at-rest or normal unlocked position as it would appear with the drawer retracted from the cabinet and the drawer front tilted outwardly.

FIGURE 8 is a perspective view of the drawer latch as it would appear when displaced laterally towards the inner wall of the filing cabinet in its locking position.

Referring now to the drawings, particularly FIGURES 1 and 2, it will be seen that the drawer latch, generally designated L, is especially adapted for use in combination with a filing drawer having a drawer head or front 1 pivotally attached by suitable hinge means to a drawer bottom 2. Filing drawers of this type are well known in the art and as evidenced by the previously mentioned patent may include a front follower plate 3 which is pivotally attached to the forward part of the drawer bottom 2. This construction, together with the attendant supporting structures, permits automatic expansion of the storage area within the interior of the filing drawer upon opening of the filing drawer head 1 since the drawer cannot be withdrawn from its cabinet until the drawer head 1 has been swung outwardly thereby allowing similar swinging movement of the front follower plate 3 to the position shown in FIGURE 2. The reverse movement takes place during closing of the filing drawer, that is, the swingable drawer head 1 is swung inwardly to its vertical position together with the follower plate 3, thereby causing compression of the file drawer contents. Continued pressure upon the drawer head 1 which is provided with suitable pull means 4, returns the file drawer to its storage position Within the filing cabinet.

It will be understood that the specific structure forming the basis for the above-described general operation forms no part of the present invention, but is merely recited to familiarize one with the environment within which the present drawer latch construction is utilized.

Although the drawer latch L is illustrated as being attached to only one side wall 5 of the filing drawer, it will be understood that either or both of the sides 5 may be provided with the present latch L. In order to properly orient and to suitably support the drawer latch upon the side 5 of the filing drawer, the latch L is preferably initially assembled upon a separate saddle plate 6 which may be considered to serve two purposes. First, it insures proper orientation of the locking means included in the drawer latch with respect to the keeper means fixedly disposed within the interior of the drawer cabinet or case, which is generally designated 74 This is most important since the relationship between the keeper means and the drawer latch is critical and must remain constant to insure locking of the filing drawer within its cabinet when the drawer is properly situated therein. Secondly, the saddle plate 6 itself may be constructed of substantially thicker material than the side 5 of the filing drawer in order to provide the necessary rigidity to the drawer latch to prevent minor undesirable displacement of the locking means of the latch with respect to said keeper means within the filing cabinet 7. It will be understood that the latch L could be attached directly to the drawer side without any departure from the scope of the invention as the saddle plate is actually a part of the drawer side when attached thereto.

As shown most clearly in FIGURES 7 and 8, the drawer latch L comprises a unitary resilient member preferably of spring steel and includes a longitudinal control leaf 8 on the one hand and an off-set shorter longitudinal locking leaf 9 on the other hand. Joining the two leaves is a transverse connecting web 10 permanently disposed offset to the vertical planes of the two leaves so that said leaves will be seen to lie in two distinctly different vertical planes. The latch L is disposed through an aperture 11 formed in the saddle plate 6 with the longer control leaf 8 exposed on the inner surface of the saddle plate and the offset shorter locking leaf 9 positioned on the opposite or outer side of the saddle plate as will be seen in FIG- URE 1. Besides permitting lateral displacement of the connecting web 10 through the saddle plate during operation of the latch, the aperture 11 facilitates assembly of the drawer latch to the saddle plate. The spring latch is securely anchored at its forward end 12 to the saddle plate by any suitable means such as spot welding or by riveting as at 13. If riveting is employed, then the for- Wardmost end of the long control leaf 8 may be provided with a hook portion 14 bent at right angles to the control leaf and adapted to pass through an opening 15 in the saddle plate in order to securely anchor the entire drawer latch to prevent possible rotational movement about the rivet 13 and also to serve as a reference point during assembly of the latch to the saddle plate.

Immediately to the rear of the rivet point 13, the long control leaf 8 is bent away from the inner surface of the saddle plate to provide a permanent lateral displacement of the leaf 8 as will be most clearly seen in FIGURES 3 and 7 wherein it will be noted that the control leaf diverges inwardly away from the line of the saddle plate. In this the normal or unlocked position of the drawer latch, the offset shorter locking leaf 9 is disposed in abutting relationship to the outside of the saddle plate 6. This shorter locking leaf 9 is provided on its forwardmost end with a curved guiding pprtion 16 and on its opposite rearmost end with a bent tab portion 17 spaced substantially from the main body of the locking leaf 9. The purposes of the forwardmost guiding portion 16 and the offset tab 17 at the rear of the locking leaf 9 will be described shortly hereinafter. Quite obviously the side wall 5 of the drawer must be cut-away in the area of the control leaf and the tab portion 17.

The lowermost surface of the saddle plate 6 is provided with a bearing flange 18 which extends for a substantial portion of the length of the saddle plate, while to the rear of the bearing flange 18 are disposed a pair of spaced apart downwardly projecting flanges 19 and 20. In assembling the saddle plate 6 equipped with the above-described drawer latch, the plate is affixed to the outer surface of the filing drawer side 5 as shown in FIGURE 1 by any suitable means such as spot welding thereto As above positioned, it will be apparent that the innermost flange 20 will abut the side 5 of the filing drawer. When the drawer as illustrated in FIGURE 1 is mounted within a filing cabinet, it will be understood that suitable conventional suspension means (not shown) as found in known types of filing cabinets will be engaged by the two flanges 19 and 20 while the forwardmost bearing flange 18 will rest upon the suspension means.

The latch member L is actuated during opening and closing of the drawer head by means of an inclined cam member 21 projecting outwardly from the wing 22 which is secured to the inner surface of the drawer head 1. When the drawer head 1 is in its open or swung out position, the cam member 21 is disposed forwardly of the long control leaf 8 of the latch member L so as not to interfere with the latter assuming its normal unlocked position wherein the short locking leaf 9 is disposed inwardly in abutting relationship to the outer surface of the saddle plate 6. A keeper 23 adapted to cooperate with the locking leaf 9 projects inwardly from the inner wall 24 of the filing case. This keeper 23 may assume any suitable construction such as a welded projection or a struck-out portion from the inner wall 24 of the cabinet and is disposed in the same vertical position as the short locking leaf 9 of the rectilinearly traveling drawer latch L.

The transverse web 10 connecting the two leaves to each other extends from a point adjacent the forward guiding portion 16 of the locking leaf 9, rearwardly and in an increasing width for a substantial portion of the length of the locking leaf 9, and extends laterally through the aperture 11 in the saddle plate 6 to join the control leaf to the locking leaf, as will be most clearly seen in FIG- URES 7 and 8. The transverse connecting web 10 is preferably disposed at an oblique angle, that is, it is slightly inclined downwardly from the lower edge of the locking leaf 9 to the upper edge of the control leaf 8 for reasons which will become apparent hereinafter.

The mode of operation of the drawer latch may be readily comprehended by following the sequence illustrated in FIGURES 3-6 which set forth the various stages of the latch actuation as a filing drawer is moved from an open position wherein the drawer head 1 is tilted outwardly, to a fully closed position wherein the drawer head is closed and the filing drawer is disposed within the filing case 7.

As shown in FIGURE 3, the drawer is withdrawn from the cabinet and the head 1 is tilted outwardly together with its follower 3 so that one may readily remove or insert material within the interior of the drawer. The cam member 21 integrally formed upon the outer surface of the wing 22 will be tilted outwardly away from any contact with the control leaf of the drawer latch L. To close the file drawer, inward pressure applied upon the outside of the head 1 will move the head from its swung-out position to a vertical position, which movement causes the cam member 21 to be moved inwardly against the outermost rounded free end 25 of the long control leaf 8 thereby displacing this control leaf laterally and outwardly until it is in abutting relationship with the inner surface of the saddle plate 6, thus appearing as Shown. in IGURE 4. At this point, it will be seen that the short locking leaf 9 has been displaced outwardly away from the outside surface of the saddle plate 6 a corresponding degree, the outward or lateral displacement of this short locking leaf 9 being restrained by the limiting tab 17 abutting the inner surface of the saddle plate 6. The end of the guiding portion 16 of the short locking leaf 9 is disposed within the aperture 11 and it will follow that the edge of the keeper 23 will be guided smoothly into frictional engagement with the outer surface of the locking leaf thereby preventing any sudden feeling of excessive resistance to the operator manipulating the filing drawer into the cabinet.

As will be seen in FIGURE 4, the keeper will begin to engage the outer surface of the locking leaf well before the locking flange 26 at the rearmost portion of the leaf 9 has approached the exposed forward edge of the filing case 7. As soon as the keeper engages the locking leaf, the continued movement of the filing drawer into the case will force deflection of the leaf 9 inwardly towards the direction of the saddle plate 6 so that, as will be clearly seen in FIGURE 5, the leaf 9 and its locking flange 26 will be displaced laterally away from its outwardly projecting position and a substantial amount of space will be formed between the outer surface of the rearmost edge of the locking leaf and the inner wall 24 of the filing case 7, thereby assuring a suflicient clearance between these two elements to prevent any possible frictional contact therebetween and obviating mar-ring or damage of the finish on the inner surface 24 of the cabint.

As the keeper 23 yieldingly engages the locking leaf as above described it will be apparent that since the entire drawer latch L is of integral construction that means must be provided for absorption of this lateral displacement of a portion of the latch during the closing of the drawer.

FIGURE 5 clearly illustrates that just prior to the final locking position of the latch and when the leaf 9 is substantially deflected toward the outer surface of the saddle plate 6, that the medial portion of the long control leaf 8 is similarly displaced laterally or away from the inner surface of the saddle plate. It will be apparent that this lateral displacement of the control leaf 8 is confined between the rivet point 13 and the point of contact with the cam member 21 which is biasing the forwardmost end of the control leaf against the inside surface of the saddle plate. As previously mentioned, the transverse connecting web is preferably disposed at an oblique angle inclined upwardly from the control leaf 8 to the bottom of the locking leaf 9. By this construction it will be seen that the horizontal displacement against the locking leaf 9 caused by the fixed keeper 23 will not be transmitted in its entirety as a corresponding amount of horizontal displacement to the medial portion of the control leaf 8 since the oblique inclination of the connecting web 10 will absorb a portion of this displacement as an arcuate movement which will cause slight elevation of the locking leaf 9 as it is displaced inwardly towards the outer surface of the saddle plate 6.

The final locking action is achieved when the filing drawer is pushed fully into the cabinet with the outer surface of the drawer head 1 substantially flush with the outer surface of the case 7. At this final point the rear- Ward surface of the locking flange 26 will snap behind the keeper 23 due to the resiliency stored up in the connecting web 10 and outwardly bowed control leaf 8, and the structure will appear as in FIGURE 6.

The unlocking of the filing drawer from within the cabinet is but a single step operation. The drawer pull 4 is grasped and the drawer head 1 pulled outwardly to tilt the head into its swung out position. This movement causes the cam member 21 to be moved away from engagement with the rear portion of the long control leaf 8. The drawer latch L immediately assumes its normal or unlocked position, as shown in FIGURES 3 and 7, thereby moving the locking flange 26 on the leaf 9 away from its engaging position behind the keeper 23 so that continued withdrawal movement upon the drawer pull 4 will retract the filing drawer from within the cabinet with the locking leaf disposed in flush engagement with the saddle plate.

What is claimed is:

1. A drawer latch of resilient material engageable by movable actuating means mounted on the drawer and adapted to engage a keeper within a file cabinet, comprising, a longitudinal control leaf having means securing one end in relation to a side of the drawer, the opposite end of said control leaf normally disposed in a divergent direction from said secured end towards the interior of the drawer, a locking leaf disposed in a vertical plane offset from said control leaf and exposed on the exterior of the side of the drawer, a transverse web connecting said control and locking leaves, whereby, outward displacement of said control leaf by movement of said drawer-mounted actuating means will similarly displace one end of said locking leaf towards said keeper, and said locking leaf may be deflected by said keeper against the bias of the displaced control leaf to a locked position behind the keeper.

2. In a filing apparatus comprising, a cabinet having a drawer movable from an open to a closed position therein, keeper means inside the cabinet opposite the side of the drawer, and a swingable front on the drawer; the improvement comprising, an integral latch member mounted on one side of said drawer, said latch member including a vertically disposed control leaf and a locking leaf disposed in a vertical plane offset and diverging from the plane of the control leaf, a transverse web connecting said control and locking leaves, means attaching one end of said control leaf to said drawer side with the opposite free end of said control leaf normally projecting inwardly towards the interior of the drawer, said web passing through an opening in the drawer side to retain said locking leaf in position on the outside of the drawer side and normally in flush engagement therewith, and cam means operable by movement of said drawer front, whereby, closing of said front engages said cam means with the free end of said control leaf to laterally displace the control leaf outwardly towards the drawer side and concurrently displaces said locking leaf away from the inside of the drawer side into the path of said keeper means.

3. A drawer latch according to claim 2, wherein, said connecting Web is of greater width at one end thereof and said locking leaf when displaced by said cam means projects in a divergent direction from the drawer side.

4. A drawer latch according to claim 2, wherein, said locking leaf includes an offset locking flange at one end thereof.

5. A drawer latch according to claim 4, wherein, said olfset flange is provided with means on one end thereof limiting the lateral displacement of said locking leaf from the drawer side.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 12/1933 Brainard 312-303 8/1935 Straubel 312303

Claims (1)

1. A DRAWER LATCH OF RESILIENT MATERIAL ENGAGEABLE BY MOVABLE ACTUATING MEANS MOUNTED ON THE DRAWER AND ADAPTED TO ENGAGE A KEEPER WITHIN A FILE CABINET, COMPRISING, A LONGITUDINAL CONTROL LEAF HAVING MEANS SECURING ONE END IN RELATION TO A SIDE OF DRAWER; THE OPPOSITE END OF SAID CONTROL LEAF NORMALLY DISPOSED IN A DIVERGENT DIRECTION FROM SAID SECURED END TOWARDS THE INTERIOR OF THE DRAWER, A LOCKING LEAF DISPOSED IN A VERTICAL PLANE OFFSET FROM SAID CONTROL LEAF AND EXPOSED ON THE EXTERIOR OF THE SIDE OF THE DRAWER, A TRANSVERSE WEB CONNECTING SAID CONTROL AND LOCKING LEAVES, WHEREBY, OUTWARD DISPLACEMENT OF SAID CONTROL LEAF BY MOVEMENT OF SAID DRAWER-MOUNTED ACTUATING MEANS WILL SIMILARLY DISPLACE ONE END OF SAID LOCKING LEAF TOWARDS SAID KEEPER, AND SAID LOCKING LEAF MAY BE DEFLECTED BY SAID KEEPER AGAINST THE BIAS OF THE DISPLACED CONTROL LEAF TO A LOCKED POSITION BEHIND THE KEEPER.

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