Device for holding a drawer in an article of furniture

US5240318A · kind A · utility

Assignee

• Paul Hettich GmbH & Co. KG · DE

Inventors

• Gerhard Schroder · Ditzingen, DE
• Karl-Volker Faust · Bielefeld, DE
• Frank Noske · Minden, DE

Key dates

• Filing date: May 18, 1992
• Grant date: Aug 31, 1993
• Expiry date: May 18, 2012

Classification

• Technology area (CPC Y): Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
• CPC primary: Y10T292/0883
• WIPO field: Furniture, games
• WIPO sector: Other fields

Abstract

A device for holding a drawer closed includes a fork-like member which is pivotable between an inoperative position and an operative position. When the drawer is open, the fork-like member is normally in the inoperative position. As the drawer is closed, a pin on the drawer engages a first tine of the fork-like member to thereby pivot the latter to the operative position in which the pin is engaged by a second tine of the fork-like member. The second tine biases the pin under the action of a spring so as to hold the drawer closed. A returning member is integral with the fork-like member and serves to return the fork-like member to the inoperative position if the fork-like member is unintentionally pivoted to the operative position while the drawer is open. The returning member is provided with a channel having a first open end adjacent to the fork-like member and a second open end which faces the pin when the drawer is open and the fork-like member is in the operative position. The second open end has a resilient closure which permits entry of the pin into the channel but serves as a barrier to withdrawal of the pin. Upon closing the drawer, the pin enters the channel through the s…