US-20260125935-A1 - LOCKING ARRANGEMENT FOR DRAWERS IN A CABINET, A CABINET COMPRISING SUCH ARRANGEMENT AND A DRAWER RAIL

Abstract

A locking arrangement for a plurality of drawers in a cabinet may include (i) a drawer support arrangement, (ii) a drawer locking arrangement, and (iii) an actuator.

Inventors

• Tony JOHANSSON

Assignees

• INTER IKEA SYSTEMS B.V.

Dates

Publication Date

20260507

Application Date

20251229

Priority Date

20210212

Claims (1)

1. 1 . A locking arrangement for a plurality of drawers in a cabinet, the locking arrangement comprising (i) a drawer support arrangement, (ii) a drawer locking arrangement, and (iii) an actuator.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a Continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 18/277,058, filed on Aug. 11, 2023, which claims priority to International Patent Application No. PCT/SE2022/050151, filed Feb. 11, 2022, and Swedish Patent Application No. SE 2150157-2, filed Feb. 12, 2021, the contents of each of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention refers to a locking arrangement for drawers in a cabinet, a cabinet comprising such locking arrangement, and a drawer rail. BACKGROUND A cabinet is a classical piece of furniture to store items in homes and offices. The width and depth respectively of the cabinet is typically substantially smaller than the height. Thereby a large storing capacity is provided for while only requiring a limited footprint. To increase storing capacity and to improve overview and access, the cabinet may contain drawers. Non-limiting examples are chest of drawers for domestic use, office furniture and file cabinets. Each drawer defines a storing volume and as a drawer is opened, the centre of mass will be displaced. This is in most cases never a problem since the underlying working principle of a cabinet with drawers is to pull out drawers to get access to the contents. It is however never possible to foresee how a piece of furniture is used in practice and in the worst-case scenario, the cabinet may tip over and cause severe personal injuries. Typical risks are when the drawers at a higher level are filled with a heavy load and opened, when several drawers are open/opened at the same time or when a person is leaning over or seeks support against the cabinet or a pulled-out drawer. The latter may especially be the case when children are using the cabinet. As a safety measure it is well known to use brackets of different types to fixate the cabinet against a wall to thereby safeguard against any tipping over. However, even though the cabinet is delivered with brackets and the manual explicitly prescribes that the brackets should be mounted before taking the cabinet into use, the user frequently decides not to mount the brackets. One safety measure is to prevent that more than one drawer is opened at a time. One such solution is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,671,985 where a locking member is slidable received in a longitudinally extending track member which is arranged in a side wall portion of the chest. The locking member is provided with one set of guiding ramps per drawer, where each set of ramps are configured to interact with a locking projection which is supported by each drawer. As one drawer is pulled to be opened, the engagement between the locking projection of that specific drawer interacts with the corresponding set of guiding ramps on the locking member, thereby causing a longitudinal displacement of the locking member inside the track member. The displacement of the locking member prevents the other drawers from being opened unless the first drawer is closed. Another locking system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,768,844. In this locking system, each drawer is configured, via a respective pivotable cam mechanism, to cause a longitudinal displacement of a respective locking bar which is received in a common guiding channel in a wall portion of the chest. The displacement of the one or more locking bars cause a compression of a common spring which is received in a gap having a fixed length. The fixed length of the gap is chosen to allow the displacement of one locking bar which displacement is required to open one drawer and which displacement is the result of the pivoting of one single drawer's cam mechanism. The pivoting is caused by a side wall of each drawer comprising a projecting pin. Thereby only one drawer at the time may be opened. As a result of the fixed length of the gap, the system has an inherent mechanical restriction that prevents two or more drawers from being opened at the same time. Yet another solution is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,671,985 which presents a drawer interlock assembly for a furniture article. The assembly includes at least first and second locking members slidingly mounted in the track member. The locking members are interconnected by at least one interconnection strip. Each of the locking members includes a locking projection. The assembly further includes at least first and second drawer members attached to the first and second drawers, respectively. Each of the drawer members includes a first ramp and a second ramp. Engagement of the locking projections with the first and second ramps allows only one drawer of the furniture article to be opened at a time. The prior art solutions rely on each drawer having a pin which projects from a side wall thereof. This causes problems in production and handling. Since a cabinet typically comprises a plurality of drawers with different heights, a large number of article numbers is required during production an