Swing door lock for refrigerated cabinet

The invention provides a lock assembly suitable for securing a swing door hinged to a refrigerated cabinet and is intended to dissuade pilfering. The lock assembly includes a strike plate having a mounting plate for mounting to the cabinet, and a locking plate spaced from the mounting plate. The lock assembly further includes a door bracket having an outer door plate to be located on an outer surface of the swing door, and a locking member mounted to the door bracket. The locking member has a locking shaft connected to the locking member for rotation with the locking member. The locking member is locatable between the mounting plate and locking plate of the strike plate and against the locking plate to lock the swing door to the cabinet in a first angular position of the locking shaft, and released from the locking plate to unlock the swing door in a second angular position of the locking shaft.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates to a lock suitable for securing a swing door to a 
refrigerated cabinet and is intended to dissuade pilfering. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
Refrigerated cabinets are generally provided for the convenience of 
customers who require ready access to cold beverages for immediate 
consumption. Outside of regular business hours, it is sometimes desirable 
to restrict access to such cabinets in order to dissuade pilfering and yet 
it is problematic to find suitable locking means which are not awkward to 
use, which may readily be installed in the field, and which are 
aesthetically pleasing. 
An object of this invention is to provide a lock mechanism which may 
readily be installed on a refrigerated cabinet without any structural 
modifications to the door and cabinet assembly and which is intended to 
dissuade pilfering. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
In accordance with the invention, there is provided a lock assembly for a 
swing door hinged to a cabinet, the lock assembly comprising a strike 
plate having a mounting plate adapted to be mounted to the cabinet, and a 
locking plate spaced from the mounting plate; a door bracket having an 
outer door plate adapted to locate on an outer surface of the swing door, 
and a locking member mounted to the door bracket, the locking member 
having a locking shaft coupled to the locking member for rotation 
therewith, the locking member being adapted to be disposed between the 
mounting plate and locking plate of the strike plate and to locate against 
the locking plate to lock the swing door to the cabinet in a first angular 
position of the locking shaft, and the locking member being adapted to be 
released from the locking plate to unlock the swing door in a second 
angular position of the locking shaft.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
As indicated above, the invention relates to a door lock which is used to 
secure a swing door which is hinged to a cabinet and finds particular 
application to refrigerated cabinets which are used for self-serve access 
to cold beverages or other refrigerated items. Only portions of a 
refrigerated cabinet are shown in the accompanying drawings as their basic 
structure is already well-known to those skilled in the art. 
In FIG. 1, there is illustrated the top left corner of a cabinet generally 
indicated by the numeral 20 and having an upper wall 22 disposed 
horizontally adjacent to a vertically extending side wall 24. Together, 
the upper wall and side wall define a front opening 26 for accessing the 
cabinet interior. A door 28 (FIG. 3) is hinged to the right of the cabinet 
opening 26 (as drawn), in a manner which is well known in the art and 
which is not shown in the drawings. 
It will be appreciated that the swing door 28 may alternatively be hung on 
the left side of the cabinet which conveniently is pre-drilled with 
suitable threaded openings 30 adapted to receive mounting bolts 32. 
Conveniently, a strike plate 34 forming part of the lock assembly of the 
invention is mounted to the cabinet 20 using the pre-drilled threaded 
openings 30 and mounting bolts 32, thereby greatly facilitating field 
installation of the lock assembly. The strike plate 34 comprises a sheet 
metal plate bent into a U-shaped configuration and defining a mounting 
plate 36 which is apertured to receive the mounting bolts 32 and, in use, 
is disposed adjacent to the cabinet 20. A locking plate 38 is forwardly 
spaced from the mounting plate 36 by a transversely-extending connecting 
web 40 and is somewhat shorter in height than the mounting plate so as to 
permit ready access to the mounting bolts 32 and associated washers 33. A 
rectangular opening 42 is formed in the locking plate 38 and is adapted to 
receive a locking member 90 as will be described in more detail further 
below. 
A door bracket in the form of a "saddle" cooperates with a free edge of the 
swing door 28 and is generally indicated in FIGS. 2 to 4 by reference 
numeral 44. The door bracket comprises an outer door plate 46 having a 
first vertically extending portion 48 (as drawn) which, in use, locates 
against the outer surface 51 of the swing door 28, a first horizontally 
extending portion 50 which is orthogonal to the first vertically extending 
portion and locates against the top free edge 52 of the swing door, a 
second vertically extending lock receiving portion 54 having a square 
opening 56 (FIG. 2) formed therein and adapted to receive a barrel lock 
58. A second horizontal portion 60 extends further inwardly toward the 
cabinet 20 and is spaced by the second vertically-extending portion 54 so 
as to overhang the connecting web 40 of the strike plate 34. 
The door bracket further comprises an inner door plate 62 which, likewise, 
has a first vertically extending portion 64 (as drawn) which, in use, is 
adapted to locate against an inner surface 66 of the swing door 28. The 
inner door plate 62 also has a first horizontal portion 68 which is 
adapted to locate against the top free edge 52 of the door and a second 
vertically extending portion 70 comprising spaced apart flanges and 
dimensioned to be accommodated under the second horizontal portion 60 of 
the outer door plate 46. 
The outer door plate 46 and inner door plate 62 each have transversely 
spaced apertures 74, 72 respectively in their second vertically extending 
portions 54, 70 which receive a pair of fasteners 76. 
The barrel lock 58 comprises a spring-biased key-operated barrel plunger 78 
which is rotatably received in a barrel housing 80 mounted to a base plate 
82 which defines a pair of outwardly extending flanges on opposite sides 
of the barrel lock and each having a threaded aperture 84 adapted to 
cooperate with the fasteners 76. In the embodiment illustrated, the barrel 
lock 58 is permanently mounted to the saddle bracket such that the barrel 
housing 80 is received in the square opening 56 of the outer door plate 46 
and the base plate 82 is sandwiched between the inner and outer door 
plates 62, 46, as can be seen most clearly in FIG. 3. 
The internal construction of the barrel lock is not shown in the drawings 
but will be apparent to those skilled in the art. A locking shaft 86 (FIG. 
4) is coupled to the barrel plunger 78 for rotation with the barrel upon 
operation of a key 88 (not shown). The locking shaft 86 has a locking 
member in the form of a T-bolt 90 which is dimensioned to be received 
between the flanges of the second vertical portion 70 and through the 
rectangular opening 42 in the locking plate 38 of the strike plate 34. It 
will be understood that the T-bolt 90 can slide in and out of the opening 
42 in an unlocked angular orientation of the barrel plunger 78 and that 
the T-bolt 90 is adapted to locate against the locking plate 38 in other 
angular positions of the barrel plunger and the associated locking shaft 
86. 
In use, the door bracket and barrel lock assembly can be removed from the 
cabinet 20 by releasing the T-bolt 90 from the strike plate 34. In this 
way, there are no unsightly devices which are exposed to view during 
normal operating hours, the only permanently attached portion of the lock 
assembly being the strike plate 34. Also, since the strike plate 34 is 
mounted using the existing pre-drilled holes for alternative location of 
the swing door 28 on the cabinet 20, there is no permanent deformation of 
the cabinet and the door is left unmarred. 
It will be appreciated that the lock assembly is intended to be used as a 
deterrent only in order to discourage pilfering. To some extent, the 
second horizontal portion 60 of the outer door plate 46 obstructs access 
to the locking shaft 86 in order to minimize tampering with the device. 
However, the lock assembly is not intended to be used to protect any 
valuables in the associated cabinet. 
In a first alternative embodiment of the invention, the lock assembly 
indicated by reference numeral 92 in FIG. 5 comprises a strike plate 34 
which is similar to that in FIGS. 1 to 4 and has like parts identified by 
like numerals. However, the door bracket 94 does not include an inner door 
plate 62. The remaining components of the door bracket 94 are identified 
by like numerals to those used in FIGS. 1 to 4. It will be seen that the 
barrel lock 58 is therefore fixed directly to the door bracket 94 and is 
stabilized when the T-bolt 90 engages the locking plate 38. 
In a second alternative embodiment of the invention drawn in FIGS. 6 and 7, 
the door bracket is identified by reference numeral 96 and comprises inner 
and cuter door plates 98, 100, each having a respective first vertical 
portion 102, 104 adapted to lie against the inner and outer surfaces of a 
door 28, oppositely directed horizontal portions 106, 108 adapted to lie 
on the top free edge of the door 28, and respective second vertical 
portions 110, 112 extending upwardly above the associated door, the second 
vertical portions having respective openings 114, 116 formed therein to 
receive a cam lock assembly 118. 
The cam lock assembly 118 has a key-operated locking shaft 120 having a 
squared end and rotatable inside a housing 122 having flat sides on 
opposite sides thereof for location in the openings 114, 116 which 
likewise have flat sides. The remainder of the housing 122 is threaded for 
cooperation with a threaded washer 124 whereby the cam lock assembly 118 
is secured to the door bracket 96. 
A locking member in the form of a pawl 126 pivoted to the locking shaft 120 
is adapted to pivot with angular movement of the locking shaft 120 
actuated by a key (not shown) and received in key slot 128. The pawl 126 
has a square opening 130 to fit on the squared end of the locking shaft 
120 and is secured in position by a washer 132 and a bolt 134 received in 
a threaded opening (not shown) formed in the end of the locking shaft 120. 
A strike plate generally indicated by numeral 136, in FIG. 7, has a 
mounting plate 138 attached to a cabinet 20 by fasteners 140 and a locking 
plate 142 is spaced from the mounting plate 138 to receive the pawl 126 
therebetween. It will be understood that the pawl 126 may be pivoted to a 
horizontal orientation where the cam lock assembly 118 is in a release 
position and it may be pivoted to a vertical orientation, as drawn, where 
the pawl 126 locates against the locking plate 142 to lock the swing door 
28 to the cabinet 20. 
In this embodiment, the locking plate is not apertured to receive the 
locking member, unlike the embodiment of FIGS. 1 to 4. Several other 
variations may be made to the embodiments described above, within the 
scope of the appended claims. 
It will be appreciated that many cabinets are constructed so that the upper 
wall 22 does project upwardly above the maximum height of the associated 
door 28, as drawn in the accompanying figures. Conveniently, the lock 
assembly of the invention will occupy the space between the upper free 
edge of the door and the cabinet and only protrude a small height above 
the cabinet. However, it will be appreciated that the lock assembly may 
also be modified so that it will be suitable for cabinets in which the 
door is mounted so that its free edge is of commensurate height as the 
cabinet upper wall and, alternatively, could be adapted for mounting to 
the side wall of the cabinet as the case may be. Other variations may be 
made to the invention, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art.