A wedge member 40 rests on top of the lower fixed stop 36 such that the acutely angled edge 44 is the top surface of the wedge A floating block 42 is inserted into the channel 24 above the lower most wedge member 40 such that the complementary acutely angled edge 48 rests upon the acutely angled edge 44 of the wedge member Another wedge member 40 is inserted into the channel 24 such that it rests on top of the floating block 42 and the acutely angled edge 44 is the top surface.
A floating block 42 is next inserted into the channel such that the acutely angled edge 48 of the block is in contact with the acutely angled edge 44 of the wedge.
This stacking arrangement is repeated for each drawer 18 in the stack. Mounted on top of the wedge member 44 corresponding to the top drawer 18 is a locking block The locking block 50 has an acutely angled edge 52 and a top edge 54 which is substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the channel The drawer interlock mechanism incorporates a U-shaped pick-up 56 and a cam The pick-up 56 and cam 58 rotate about a pivot pin 60 to which the pick-up 56 and cam 58 are fixedly attached.
The cam 58 and pick-up 56 are attached to the channel 24 by a mounting bracket The mounting bracket 62 is fixedly attached to the flange 32 by suitable means such as rivets The pivot pin 60 passes through an opening not shown in the mounting bracket The pick-up 56 and cam 58 are fixedly mounted to the pin 60 such that the cam is on one side of the bracket 62 and the cam 58 is on the other. The mounting bracket 62 is attached to the channel 24 and flange 32 at a point such that the cam 58 is mounted within the recess 46 of wedge member A mounting bracket 62, a pick-up 56 and a cam 58 are provided for each drawer 18 in the cabinet As seen in FIGS.
In this position, the wedge 40 is positioned toward the rear of the cabinet 11 and the channel The rotating motion of cam 58 causes a biased edge 68 of the cam 58 to rotate about the pivot pin 60 and contact a rotating surface 70 of the recess 60 of the wedge member The force applied by the biased edge 68 of the cam 58 on the rotating surface of the wedge 70 causes the wedge 40 to slide laterally toward the front of the cabinet 10 within the channel 24 into space This movement of the wedge 40 results in the acutely angled edge of the wedge 44 sliding along the acutely angled edge 48 of the block The sliding movement along these complemen-tary surfaces lifts the stack of wedges and blocks above the drawer 18 which is being opened.
The top edge 54 of the locking block 50 contacts an upper stop means The stack of wedges and blocks remains in this raised position until the drawer is closed, where upon the stack of wedges and blocks return to the lower position illustrated in FIG. The lock mechanism 74 is mounted in a lock housing The lock housing 78 has openings 80 for mounting the housing to the front wall 15 of the cabinet The housing 78 is mounted by screws not shown or by other suitable means. A rotating peg 82 is mounted near the edge of a circular rotating drum 84 of the lock mechanism The peg 82 and drum 84 extend from the rear of the lock mechanism 74 and lock housing A slide post 86 also extends from the rear of the lock housing Preferably, the lock housing 78 and slide post 86 are an integrally molded plastic part.
The slide post 86 extends through an elongated opening 88 of the locking bar The longitudinal axis of opening 88 is parallel to the longitudinal axis of the locking bar The locking bar 76 also contains a narrow peg opening The rotating peg 82 of the lock mechanism 74 extends through this peg opening 90 creating a sliding connection which interconnects the cylinder lock mechanism 74 and the locking bar The longitudinal axis of the peg opening 90 is to the longitudinal axis of opening 88 and the locking bar The lock means 26 in its assembled state is arranged such that the slide post 86 extends through elongated opening 88 and rotating peg 82 extends through peg opening When a key 92 for the lock mechanism 74 is rotated, the peg 82 and drum 84 are also rotated.
Because the peg 82 is mounted near the edge of the diameter of the drum 84, the peg 82 travels in an arc as the drum 84 rotates. The peg opening 90 is long enough such that the peg 90 slides along the length of the opening as it is rotated by the key 92 and rotating drum The rotation of the peg 82 around the diameter of the drum 84 causes the locking bar 76 to slide from side to side.
The locking bar 76 moves from an unlocked position, shown in FIG. The lock means 26 interacts with the stack of blocks and wedges within the elongated channel to prevent opening of a drawer 18 while the cabinet 10 is locked. As seen in FIG. This length is defined by the lower fixed stop 36 and a flange at the top of the channel The locking bar 76 is one component of the lock means At one end of the locking bar 76 is an arm The arm extends toward the rear of the cabinet At the lower edge of the arm 98, a flange, having a first surface 96 and a second surface , forms one of the stops in the end of the elongated channel The first surface 96 is spaced vertically from the second surface As seen FIG.
Gap is substantially equal to the distance which the floating blocks 42 wedges 46 and locking block 50 are raised when a single drawer 18 is open. As described earlier, when a drawer is open, the corresponding wedge 40 slides laterally toward the front of the cabinet within the channel 24, causing the floating blocks 42, wedges 40 and locking block 50 above the drawer being opened to slide upward a short distance.
File Cabinets are commonly made of metal, laminate, and processed wood; however, some are made of natural wood, plastic, or a combination of materials. Depending on what you plan on doing with the filing cabinet, and where you plan on keeping it, different materials are ideal.
Metal File Cabinets. Laminate File Cabinets. Processed Wood File Cabinets. Mixed Material File Cabinets. Wood File Cabinets. Plastic File Cabinets. This promotion is for Rewards members only. Join Sign In. Select image or upload your own. Show More. Filter By Availability. Cable guide 84 includes a spring attachment nub that holds an end of spring 82 opposite spring attachment nub on lever Cable guide 84 includes recesses not shown that receive flanges 98 and that interact with the shoulders to secure guide 84 to stationary portion These recesses are defined on the bottom of cable guide 84 and do not extend all the way through cable guide Shoulders abut against surfaces when cable guide 84 is attached to stationary member 90 FIG.
Second rivet includes a sloped undersurface FIG. If the drawer is subjected to pulling forces, or other types of forces, that tend to cause the drawer to rack or twist especially if made out of thin sheet metal , these forces may move the back end of slideable portion away from stationary portion In such instances, end flange will come into contact with sloped undersurface of rivet as the drawer is closed.
The sloped nature of surface will create a force on end flange of slideable portion that pushes the back end of slideable portion toward stationary portion 90 in a direction generally parallel to pivot axis This helps maintain the proper alignment of the drawer when it is closed.
End flange may be chamfered to correspond to the angle of undersurface in order to more easily force the drawer into the proper alignment. Undersurface also helps to ensure that engagement member 86 stays aligned with cam so that engagement member 86 properly engages cam Without rivet and undersurface , it might be possible for a drawer to become excessively racked such that engagement member 86 no longer contacted cam when the drawer was opened and closed. Undersurface prevents this possibility.
The head of rivet preferably does not extend farther away from the stationary portion 90 than does slideable portion Rivet therefore does not obstruct the drawer attached to slideable portion and the back end of the drawer may extend all the way back to the back end of the drawer slide.
Interlock 72 therefore does not put any space limitations on the dimensions of the drawer other than those required by the drawer slide. As mentioned previously, interlock 72 is designed to transfer only a small fraction of a pulling force exerted on a drawer onto cable This reduction in forces can best be understood with reference to FIG. The tautness of cable 74 prevents interlock 70 from allowing the drawer to be opened. Line represents the moment arm of cam as it pivots about its pivot point corresponding to the center of rivet Line represents the moment arm of lever as it pivots about its pivot point corresponding to the center of rivet For purposes of discussing the forces applied to interlock 72 , it will be assumed that the cable 74 depicted in FIG.
Interlock 72 depicted in FIG. If a person exerts a strong pulling force on the drawer attached to interlock 72 of FIG. The pulling force exerted on the drawer in first direction 64 is transmitted to cam by engagement member Engagement member 86 engages cam generally in recess The pulling force exerted on the drawer, which is illustrated by the arrow F D , acts on moment arm at a point D.
This point corresponds to the location where engagement member 86 contacts first surface of recess Force F D will cause cam to rotate generally in a counter clockwise direction, as depicted in FIG. This rotation will cause edge of cam to push against crest of lever with a force of F C. F C refers to the amount of force exerted by cam on lever Because force F C will be applied by cam at a location that is farther away from pivot point on moment arm , force F C will be less than force F D.
The force F C will be applied to moment arm of lever at a position C. Position C is located on moment arm at a position that is relatively close to pivot point Force F C will be transferred via lever to cable 74 at a point T.
Point T refers to the position where engagement lug engages cable Because point T is substantially farther away from pivot point along moment arm , the magnitude of force F T will be significantly less than the magnitude of force F C.
Further, the spring 81 will exert a force F S along lever at a point S. This force F S acts in opposition to the force F T. Because point S is farther away from pivot point along moment arm , a smaller amount of force F S is necessary to cancel out the force F T.
The force F T that is exerted against cable 74 will therefore be greatly reduced as compared to the force F D that is exerted on the drawer. Cable 74 can therefore resist drawer-pulling forces that greatly exceed its maximum tensile strength. In addition to transferring only a fraction of the force of F D to cable 74 , the arrangement of cam and lever also magnifies the movement of engagement lug with respect to the rotation of cam Stated alternatively, if the attached drawer is moved in first direction 64 a small distance A that causes cam to partially rotate, the distance that engagement lug moves in first direction 64 will be greater than the distance A.
For example, if the drawer is moved in first direction 64 for 0. This feature decreases the amount of movement in the locked drawers that might otherwise be present. A drawer that is locked will therefore only be able to be pulled a small distance before taut cable 74 prevents it from being opened.
Interlock 72 can thus prevent drawers from being opened even for the small distance that might otherwise easily allow an intruder to insert a screw driver, or other lever mechanism, between the drawer and the cabinet. In FIG. The cable 74 would therefore prevent cam in lever of interlock 72 from rotating further than that depicted in FIG. When two drawers are trying to be opened simultaneously, lever can rotate more than it can in FIG.
However, the rotation of lever is insufficient to allow edge of cam to travel past crest Cam therefore does not rotate sufficiently to allow engagement lever 86 to disengage from recess Therefore, neither drawer being simultaneously pulled will allow it to be opened. Engagement member 86 has moved to a greater extent than in FIGS. This greater movement creates a sufficient force against cable 74 not shown to put the cable in a low slack condition, thereby preventing other drawers from being opened simultaneously.
With surface in contact with surface , lever is prevented from rotating back, thereby maintaining cable 74 in the lower slack state when another drawer is attempted to be opened. An example of a lock that may be used in conjunction with the present invention is depicted in FIGS.
Lock selectively changes the condition of cable 74 from a high slack condition to a low slack condition. Lock includes a hole , which may be a keyhole, into which a key may be inserted, or which may receive a bar that is coupled to a conventional lock cylinder.
If hole is a keyhole, insertion of the proper key therein allows a key cylinder to be rotated by the key. If hole receives a bar, which may be desirable where lock is positioned at the back end of the cabinet, the bar is coupled to any conventional lock in a manner that causes the bar to be able to rotate about its longitudinal axis when the proper key is inserted into the conventional lock.
In either situation, key cylinder therefore will rotate when a proper key is used. Key cylinder includes a pin that moves in a cam track defined in a reciprocating member Reciprocating member is snap-fittingly attached to a cover by way of a flexible arm Flexible arm fits into an aperture defined in cover Flexible arm includes a shoulder that retains reciprocating member to cover when the two are snap fit together.
The snap fitting occurs when flexible arm initially contacts cover A cam surface causes flexible arm to flex as reciprocating member is initially pushed toward cover After the two are completely secured together, flexible arm snaps back to its unflexed condition in which shoulder prevents the two members from being separated.
Reciprocating member includes a pair of apertures Cable 74 may be secured to one of the apertures When key cylinder is rotated toward a locking condition, reciprocating member moves vertically upward with respect to cover FIGS. This vertical movement decreases the slack in cable 74 such that no drawers in the cabinet may be opened.
When lock is unlocked, the unlocking rotation of key cylinder moves reciprocating member vertically downward with respect to cover FIGS. This creates sufficient slack in cable 74 for a single drawer to be opened. Cover may be securely fastened inside of cabinet 60 in any suitable manner. Cable 74 may be secured to one of apertures by threading the cable therethrough and tying it, such as is illustrated in FIGS. Alternatively, a more preferred method of securing cable 74 to apertures is accomplished by way of a J-hook FIG.
J-hook is crimped onto an end of cable 74 in a conventional manner. J-hook includes a lower vertical section , a middle horizontal section , and an upper vertical section Upper vertical section , along with a portion of horizontal section , is inserted through one of apertures and manipulated until upper vertical section contacts one side of the wall in which apertures are defined and is oriented vertically.
In this position, horizontal section passes horizontally through the aperture and lower vertical section abuts against a side of the wall in which aperture is defined that is opposite the side contacting upper section In this position, J-hook is maintained in aperture and can only be released by manually twisting J-hook appropriately to allow upper section to be backed out of aperture J-hook thus provides a convenient way for installing and removing cable 74 from lock The opposite end of cable 74 may also be fastened within a cabinet by using a J-hook that fits through an aperture attached to the cabinet, although any other method of securing cable 74 can be used with the present invention.
If it is desired to avoid having an end of cable 74 be attached to the frame of the cabinet, it could alternatively be held in place by interacting with cable guide Specifically, an enlarged ring or other structure could be affixed to the end of the cable. This enlarged structure would be dimensioned so that it was too large to pass through the cable passageway defined in cable guide For securing the bottom of the cable, the enlarged structure would thus abut against a bottom surface of the lower-most cable guide 84 FIGS.
If it were desired to secure the top end of the cable in a like manner to a cable guide 84 , rather than to a lock , an enlarged structure could also be attached to the top end of cable In this situation, the enlarged structure would abut against a top surface of the uppermost cable guide The enlarged structure may preferably be shaped to snap onto, or otherwise be secured to, cable guide If an enlarged structure were used on both ends of the cable to secure it in the cabinet, the proper cable slack could be set by manufacturing the cable to the specific length that created the desired amount of slack.
Lock could be modified so that reciprocating member utilized a spring or other structure that selectively increased or decreased the tension on cable In other words, rather than having reciprocating member absolutely move to is raised position when the key is rotated to the locked position, lock could be modified to include a spring, or other biasing force, that urged member towards its upper, locked position.
If no drawers were open, this biasing force would be sufficient to raise member to its locked position. If one drawer were open, this biasing force would be insufficient to move the member to its upper position because the cable would be in its low slack condition, thereby preventing member from moving upward while the drawer was opened.
As soon as a drawer was closed, however, the biasing force would move member to is locked position and remove the slack in the cable that was created by the drawer closing. This arrangement allows the lock to be switched to the locked position while a drawer is still open.
Once the drawer closed, it would immediately be locked and not able to be opened until the lock was deactivated. The modified lock thus would allow the cabinet to be locked while a drawer was still open, and as soon as the open drawer was closed, it would immediately lock. Thereafter, no drawers could be opened until the lock was deactivated.
The biasing force exerted on reciprocating member in modified lock should be sufficient to remove the slack in cable 74 when all the drawers are closed and to maintain the cable in the locked, low slack condition when pulling forces are exerted against one or more locked drawers. Lock may be further modified to include a solenoid, or other electrically controlled switch, that controls the movement of reciprocating member between its locked and unlocked position.
The solenoid could be controlled remotely by a user using a hand-held device that transmitted wireless signals to a receiver in the cabinet that controlled the solenoid. The control could be carried out in a conventional manner, such as in the manner in which remote, keyless entry systems work on many current automobiles. Alternately, the cabinet could include a keypad, or other input device, in which the locking or unlocking of the cabinet was controlled by information, such as a code or password, input by a user.
While other materials may be used, interlock 72 may be made primarily of plastic. Specifically, lever , cam , and cable guide 84 may all be made of plastic. Drawer slide 70 is preferably made of metal, such as steel, with the exception of the ball bearing cages for the ball bearings, which may be made of plastic. First and second rivets and , stationary portion 90 , and slidable portion may also all be made of metal, such as steel. Spring 82 may exert a force of approximately 0. Other spring strength may, of course, be used.
Cable 74 may be a steel cable composed of seven strands, with each strand made of seven individual filaments. Cable 74 may have a tensile strength of 40 pounds. Cable 74 may preferably be made of stainless steel and include a vinyl coating. The diameter of cable 74 after coating may be 0. To avoid kinking of cable 74 , surfaces that come in contact with cable 74 , such as engagement lug , may be curved with a radius of at least 0.
As several possible alternatives to steel, cable 74 could be a string, a plastic based line, such as those used as fishing lines, or any other elongated, flexible member with suitable tensile strength. A single interlock 72 is all that is needed for each drawer in the cabinet. The opposite drawer slide can thus be a regular drawer slide with no interlock attached.
Interlock 72 , of course, can be attached directly to the cabinet, rather than integrated with the drawer slide. During the installation of the interlock system into a cabinet, the slack in the cable may be easily set by securing one end of the cable, opening a single drawer, and then pulling the cable until substantially all of its slack is removed. The cable is then secured in that condition. When the drawer is thereafter closed, the cable will have sufficient slack to allow only a single drawer to be opened at a time.
Alternatively, cables 74 could be manufactured at a preset length to fit different cabinet heights. The installer of the interlocks therefore could simply fasten the cable in the desired location and the length of the cable will create the appropriate slack to allow a single drawer to be opened.
Once the appropriate length of a cable is determined for a given cabinet height, cables could be easily mass-produced by a manufacturer by simply cutting them to the appropriate lengths. An interlock system is depicted in FIG. Interlock system is depicted on cabinet 60 , which includes three drawers 62 a—c. Interlock system includes three interlocks An upper lock a and a lower lock b are included.
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