Lock device for two way travel drawer

A lock device for two-way travel drawers of a support body is provided with in combination a peg on a central portion of one side of the drawer; two two-way travel slides each on an outer surface of either side of the drawer; and a lock assembly including a groove member, a sliding member, a lock, and snapping members. The groove member has a rectangular section and includes front and rear flanges to be secured to a wall of the support body. The sliding member has a rectangular section, is slidably disposed in the groove member, and includes openings. The lock is disposed on an upper portion of the wall of the support body and capable of actuating to activate the sliding member. The snapping members are retained in the openings and capable of locking or unlocking the peg when the sliding member moves.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The invention relates to drawer slides and more particularly to a lock device for a two-way travel drawer.

2. Description of Related Art

A drawer is a box shaped container that fits into a piece of furniture in such a way that it can be drawn out horizontally to access its contents. However, typical drawers are designed to open or close from a front end of the drawer but not from either the front end or the rear end of the drawer.

A conventional two-way travel three section slide drawer slide assembly for permitting a drawer to be selectively pulled out from opposite open ends of a compartment of a cabinet, comprises in combination an elongated outer section comprising a flat track threadedly secured to the compartment, and two sets of two projecting stop elements wherein the stop elements of either set are opposite and formed on one of two lengthwise curved edges of the track of the outer section; an elongated intermediate section disposed in the outer section and comprising a flat track, two engaging members at both ends respectively, and two sets of two projecting stop members wherein one set of stop members is proximate to the engaging members at one end, and the other set of stop members is proximate to the engaging members at the other end; two elongated sliding members each slidably disposed either between upper edges of the outer section and the intermediate section or between lower edges of the outer section and the intermediate section wherein each sliding member is limited to travel in a distance between the stop members of one set and the stop members of the other set; an elongated inner section releasably secured to the drawer and comprising a two-end open flat track, an intermediate opening, two positioning members at both ends of the intermediate opening respectively, and two lanced out tabs each spaced from the positioning member; an elongated bearing member disposed between the intermediate section and the inner section; two stop units releasably secured to the engaging members respectively, each stop unit comprising two bent projections on upper and lower edges respectively, two flanges extending from the upper and lower edges respectively but opposing the adjacent projection, each flange including an inclined first surface at one end and an inclined second surface at the other end, and two horizontal sliding members each extending from one edge of the adjacent projection, each sliding member including a cavity at one end; and a flexible limit member comprising an intermediate flat portion adjacent to the intermediate opening, the limiting member further comprising, on either end of the flat portion, a latching member including an inclined surface at one end and an inclined extension at an intermediate portion, a ramp formed on the latching member, a slot abutted on the ramp, and a rectangular cut formed at the other end of the latching member distal the slot.

However, the conventional drawers tend to malfunction. Furthermore, its components are complicated.

Thus, the need for providing a drawer having two slide assemblies for allowing the drawer to selectively draw out or pull back from one of two opposite directions of a support body (e.g., desk, cabinet, or the like) still exists.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore one object of the invention to provide a lock device for a plurality of two-way travel drawers of a support body, comprising in combination a peg disposed on a central portion of one side of the two-way travel drawer; two two-way travel slides each disposed on an outer surface of either side of the two-way travel drawer; and a lock assembly comprising a groove member, a sliding member, a lock, and a plurality of snapping members wherein the groove member has a rectangular section and includes front and rear flanges to be secured to a wall of the support body; the sliding member has a rectangular section, is slidably disposed in the groove member, and includes a plurality of rectangular openings arranged longitudinally; the lock is disposed on an upper portion of the wall of the support body and capable of actuating to activate the sliding member; and the snapping members are retained in the rectangular openings and capable of locking or unlocking the peg when the sliding member moves.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring toFIGS. 1 to 9, a lock device for a two-way travel drawer in accordance with a first preferred embodiment of the invention is shown and comprises the following components.

A cart10is a hollow structure having a plurality of drawers11disposed vertically. A peg13is provided on a central portion of one side of each drawer11. A slide (e.g., two-way travel slide)12is lengthwise provided on an outer surface of each side of the drawer11. A wave shaped positioning seat121projects upward from a central portion of a top of the slide12for holding the peg13in place when the peg13is rested on the positioning seat121. The drawer11has a handle111on a top edge of each of front and rear ends.

A lock assembly20is longitudinally mounted on one side of the cart10and comprises a longitudinal groove member21, a sliding member22, a lock23, and a plurality of snapping members24.

The groove member21has a rectangular section and comprises front and rear flanges211. The sliding member22has a section of rectangle and is shaped to slidably dispose in the groove member21. A plurality of rectangular plates25are threadedly secured to the flanges211to hold the sliding member22in the groove member21. The sliding member22comprises a plurality of rectangular openings221arranged longitudinally and a bent stop member222on a top.

The lock23comprises a threaded shank231at on end mounted in the wall of the cart10and a cam232at the other end engaging a bottom of the stop member222. A key (not shown) can be inserted into the shank231to rotate the cam232which in turn moves the stop member222(i.e., the sliding member22) upward or downward.

The snapping member24comprises a latch243, a trough241distal the latch243, two inclined surfaces242on front and rear ends of the trough241respectively, a first wall244, and two second walls245with the latch243disposed therebetween, the second walls245being perpendicular to the first wall244. The latch243is retained in the opening221(seeFIG. 8). The peg13is partially disposed in the trough241and supported by the positioning seat121. The first wall244is slidably engaged with the flanges221. Each of the second walls245is slidably disposed between the sliding member22and front (or rear) edge of the groove member21. It is envisaged by the invention that the snapping member24can be disposed in any opening221depending on height of the drawer11so that the drawers11can be replaced easily.

Locking and unlocking operations of the invention are detailed below. As shown inFIG. 6, the sliding member22is pushed upward by the lock23to unlock the drawer11. Thus, the drawer11can be push forward or rearward along the slides12. For locking the drawer11, a user may push or pull the drawer11in the locked position with the peg13being disposed on the positioning seat121(i.e., clearing the trough241). The drawer11is thus stably disposed. Next, the user may insert a key into the lock23to clockwise rotate the threaded shank231about 90 degrees and thus rotate the cam232the same angle (seeFIG. 7). Thus, the trough241falls to clamp the peg13so as to lock the drawer11.

As shown inFIG. 9, there is one drawer11is not locked with the peg13clearing the trough241. Next, the user may push the drawer11(as indicated by arrow) to ride the peg13along one inclined surface242with both the snapping member24and the sliding member22move upward. The upward movement may abruptly stop when the peg13is disposed directly below the trough241. Thereafter, both the snapping member24and the sliding member22move downward immediately due no support thereunder and their weight. As a result, the drawer11is locked (seeFIG. 7).

Referring toFIGS. 10 and 11, a lock device for a two-way drawer in accordance with a second preferred embodiment of the invention is shown. The characteristics of the second preferred embodiment are substantially the same as that of the first preferred embodiment except the following:

The positioning seat is eliminated from the slide at on side. A plurality of positioning members30each having the eliminated positioning seat are provided. The positioning member30further comprises a latch301. A longitudinal trough member31having a plurality of rectangular openings311arranged longitudinally is provided at the other side of the drawer11. Each drawer11comprises two slides12on both sides respectively and two pegs13disposed through the drawer sides and on central portions of tops of the slides12respectively. The positioning member30is disposed onto the opening311. Further, the peg13at the other drawer side is retained on a wave shaped recessed top of the positioning member30.