Patent ID: 7946663
Filing Date: 2011-05-24
Classification: E05B

Abstract:
1. A drawer lock for use with a storage container having a top wall, a bottom wall, a pair of spaced side walls and a rear wall that define a drawer cavity in which one or more drawers are housed, the drawers being moveable between an open and a closed position, the drawer lock comprising: a striker disposed on a rear portion of each drawer, the striker including a retention feature; a vertical lock bar slideably mounted to the rear wall and moveable between a locked position and an unlocked position, the lock bar including a catch aligned with the striker on a corresponding drawer such that the catch engages and retains the retention feature when the lock bar is in the locked position and the drawer is in the closed position and wherein the catch includes a camming surface that urges the lock bar from the locked position to the unlocked position when the striker impacts the camming surface as the drawer is moved from the open position to the closed position; a container lock mechanism; and an actuator coupled to the lock bar configured to move the lock bar between the locked and unlocked position in response to movement of the container lock mechanism; wherein the lock bar includes a guide pin and the actuator comprises a slot in which the guide pin rides and wherein the slot includes an upper horizontal slot portion connected through a camming slot portion to a lower horizontal slot portion, each horizontal slot portion acting upon the guide pin to position the lock bar in one of the locked or unlocked positions; further wherein the actuator includes a vertical relief slot intersecting the lower horizontal slot portion proximate the camming slot portion, with the lower horizontal slot portion extending horizontally beyond the vertical relief slot and away from the camming slot portion, wherein when the lock bar is in the locked position, the guide pin is biased toward a rest position in the lower horizontal slot portion aligned with the vertical relief slot.