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FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
   This present invention relates to storage units and in particular storage cabinets with latching mechanisms. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   A variety of storage devices are available in today&#39;s marketplace. For instance, industrial storage cabinets may be used to store tools or other devices. In another example, storage cabinets may be used in offices to store various types of office supplies. 
   Storage cabinets may include a single or multiple doors, which are opened to gain entry to supplies within the storage cabinet. The doors themselves may often be locked to prevent unauthorized entry into the storage cabinet. Often, workers may want to place additional items in the cabinet. Since the worker is bringing additional items to the cabinet, he or she may be carrying these supplies in his or her arms. Thus, the worker may not be able to open the cabinet without placing the additional supplies aside or dropping the supplies in an attempt to open the doors. 
   Some supply cabinets include foot pedal arrangements whereby a worker, for example, may press the foot pedal and open the door. In this case, the worker would not need to place the materials being carried aside in order to open the doors of the cabinet. However, the drawback associated with these cabinets is that they can be opened only by using the foot pedal. 
   Thus, there is a need in the prior art for a storage cabinet having a latching mechanism that can be latched or unlatched by using either an upper actuator or a lower actuator. 
   There is a further need in the prior art for a storage cabinet that prevents damage to the latching mechanism under abusive conditions. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention meets the shortcomings of the prior art by providing a storage cabinet having a latching mechanism that can be unlatched by the use of either an upper actuator or a lower actuator. The upper actuator may comprise a hand knob while the lower actuator may comprise a foot pedal. Thus, if an operator has his arms full and wants to open the doors of the cabinet, he can simply do so by actuating the foot pedal. Alternately, the doors of the cabinet may be opened by actuating the hand knob. This design affords the operator much flexibility in accessing the storage cabinet. 
   The present invention further meets the shortcomings of the prior art by providing a storage cabinet with a latching mechanism that is protected from damage under abusive conditions. 
   The foregoing and other advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following more particular description of preferred embodiments as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view of the storage cabinet of the present invention, with one door in the closed position. 
       FIG. 2(   a ) is another perspective view of the storage cabinet of the present invention, with one door in the closed position. 
       FIG. 2(   b ) is a perspective view of a recess and handle on a sidewall of the cabinet of  FIG. 2(   a ). 
       FIG. 2(   c ) is a detailed view of the lower actuator of the cabinet of  FIG. 2(   a ). 
       FIG. 3(   a ) is a perspective view of one of the doors of the storage cabinet shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 . 
       FIG. 3(   b ) is a perspective view of a latch used on the storage cabinet shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 . 
       FIGS. 4(   a )- 4 ( c ) are perspective, side and top views, respectively, of the top and bottom plate assembly of the latching mechanism used in the storage cabinet shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 . 
       FIG. 5(   a ) is a perspective view of the latching mechanism used in the storage cabinet shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 . 
       FIG. 5(   b ) is a top view along lines A-A of  FIG. 5(   a ). 
       FIG. 5(   c ) is a side view along lines B-B of  FIG. 5(   a ). 
       FIG. 6(   a ) is a perspective view of the latching mechanism used in the storage cabinet shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 . 
       FIG. 6(   b ) is a side view along lines A-A of  FIG. 6(   a ). 
       FIG. 7  is a perspective view of the locking mechanism used in the storage cabinet shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 . 
       FIG. 8  is another perspective view of the locking mechanism used in the storage cabinet shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 . 
       FIG. 9  is a perspective view of the lower actuator of the latching mechanism used in the storage cabinet shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 . 
       FIG. 10  is a side view of the latching mechanism used in the storage cabinet shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 . 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
   Turning now to the drawings, a storage cabinet  10  is shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 . The cabinet  10  includes a generally horizontal floor  12  supported by a number of skids  14 , two side walls  16  that rise vertically from opposite lateral edges of the floor  12 , a rear wall  20  that rises vertically from a rear edge of the floor  12 , and a ceiling  22  that extends horizontally between the top edges of the side walls  16  and the rear wall  20 . The floor  12 , sidewalls  16 , rear wall  20  and ceiling  22  define a storage cavity  24 . 
   Each of the side walls  16  includes a recess  26  within which a pivoting handle  30  is mounted. The cabinet further includes three shelves  32  mounted within the cabinet  10  for the storage of items. However, the number of shelves may vary depending upon the needs of the user. The height of the shelves may also be adjusted to allow the cabinet to house different sized items. 
   The cabinet further includes two doors  34 , each of which is pivotally coupled with a front edge of a respective sidewall  16  via a hinge type pivot  35 . Each door  34  is pivotable between an open position in which the cavity  24  is accessible, and a closed position in which the door  34  abuts against the front edges of the floor  12 , sidewalls  16  and ceiling  22  and prevents access to the cavity  24 . Since the doors are mirror images of each other, only one door will be described with the understanding that the discussion applies to the other door as well. It should also be understood that, when describing a component of the door relative to the “front” or “rear” of the door, these directions are the same as the front and rear directions of the cabinet. 
   Referring to  FIGS. 1-3 , the door  34  includes upper, middle and lower door retaining latches  36  that are attached thereto and extend rearwardly therefrom when the door  34  is in its closed position. Each of the latches  36  includes a slot  40  for engaging a rod, a ramp portion  42 , and a tang portion  43 , which creates an outward force that pushes the doors away from the cabinet. Such latches  36  are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,883,274, the entirety of which is hereby incorporated by reference. Those skilled in this art will appreciate that other configurations and structures for engaging a rod may also be suitable for use with the present invention. 
   As shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , a center post  44  extends vertically from a central portion of the front edge of the floor  12  to a central portion of the front edge of the ceiling  22 . The center post  44  includes a front panel  46 . The front panel  46  includes upper and lower actuator slots  50 ,  52  that are generally vertically oriented, and also includes a rectangular lock aperture  54  positioned below the upper actuator slot  50 . 
   A latching mechanism  60 , shown in  FIG. 6 , is provided on the rear of the center post  44 . The mechanism  60  includes a pair of rails or C-shaped channels  62  located along the lateral sides of the center post  44 , the rails  62  extending from the ceiling  22  to the floor  12  of the storage cabinet  10 . These rails  62  allow the latching mechanism of the present invention to slide between latched and unlatched positions. 
   The latching mechanism  60  further includes a top plate  64 , a middle plate  66 , and a bottom plate  68 , the lateral edges of which slide along the rails  62 .  FIGS. 5 and 6  clearly show the plates of the mechanism in sliding engagement with the rails. 
   As can be seen from  FIGS. 4   a - 4   c , a pair of connecting rods  72  extends between the top and bottom plates, thereby connecting the plates together. This arrangement results in the top and bottom plates always moving together. 
   The top and bottom plates are provided with a number of protruding fingers  74 . Specifically, one set of fingers is provided approximately in the middle of the top plate  64 , one set at the top of the bottom plate  68 , and another set at the bottom of the bottom plate  68 . Each set of protruding fingers carries a rod  76 , as seen in  FIGS. 5 and 6 . When the doors  34  of the cabinet  10  are closed, the rods  76  mate with the latches  36  provided along the doors. 
   The middle plate  66  is provided with an upper actuator  80  that may take the form of a hand knob. The hand knob  80  comprises a knob mounted onto a shaft. The shaft of the knob extends through the upper actuator slot  50  of the center post  44  and is coupled to the middle plate  66  by appropriate means such as welding or via bolts, as shown in  FIG. 7 , adjacent to slot  81 . 
   The latching mechanism  60  further includes a mounting plate  82  that is provided along the lower surface of the bottom plate  68 . The mounting plate  82  functions to operatively couple a lower actuator  84  to the latching mechanism  60 . The mounting plate  82  is provided with an opening  86  through which the lower actuator  84  extends. 
   In the preferred embodiment, the lower actuator  84  comprises a foot pedal that extends forwardly through the lower actuator slot  52  of the center post  44 . The foot pedal  84  is pivotably mounted at  85  to the mounting plate  82  and operatively coupled to one end of a latch rod  90 . As can be seen from  FIG. 6 , the latch rod  90  extends vertically upward from the foot pedal  84 . The second end of the latch rod  90  extends through a support bracket  92  that is mounted on the bottom plate  68 , above rod  76 . The foot pedal  84  further includes a washer  87  and a compression spring  88  that is carried on the latch rod  90 , sandwiched between the washer  87  and the support bracket  92 . 
   The storage cabinet is further provided with a locking mechanism  96 . Referring to  FIGS. 7 and 8 , the mechanism  96  comprises a lock box  98 , a security rod  100 , and a transverse plate  102 . The locking mechanism is used with a padlock  104 . Such a locking mechanism is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,290,281, the entirety of which is hereby incorporated by reference. 
   The operation of the present invention will now be described. To latch the doors  34  of the cabinet  10 , the doors  34  are simply moved to the closed position. The latches  36  carried by the doors  34  move past the front panel of the center post  44  and mate with the rods  76  of the latching mechanism positioned along the rear of the center post  44 . Specifically, the rods  76  move upwardly along the ramped portions  42  of the latches  36  and then fall into the slot  40  of the latches  36 . The latching mechanism in this position is latched. 
   To open the cabinet  10  using the foot pedal  84 , the operator simply depresses the foot pedal. With reference to  FIGS. 9 and 10 , the pedal  84  will pivot about the pivot point  85 , thereby causing the latch rod  90  to move upwardly. This upward movement compresses the spring  88  until the spring force overcomes the weight of the top plate  64 , the middle plate  66 , and the bottom plate  68 . Once this occurs, the spring  88  acts as a stiff spacer and pushes against the support member  92 , forcing the bottom plate  68  to slide along the rails  62  and move upwardly. The upward movement of the bottom plate  68  is transferred to the top plate  64  by the connecting rods  72 , thereby causing the top plate  64  to move upwardly. The middle plate  66  along with the upper actuator  80  remains stationary. The movement of the top and bottom plates lifts the rods  76  out of engagement with the latches  36 . The latching mechanism in this position is unlatched. 
   The profile of latches  36  is designed to produce an outward force to push the doors  34  outwardly and away from the cabinet. Due to the interaction of the rods  76  with the tangs  43  on the latches, the latches  36  and thus the doors  34  are forced outwardly, away from the rods  76  and the center post  44  once the foot pedal  84  is released. Thus, the doors  34  are opened without the operator using his or her hands. 
   Alternately, the cabinet  10  can be opened using the hand knob  80 . To do so, the operator lifts the knob  80  upwardly. As the knob  80  is coupled to the middle plate  66 , lifting the knob  80  causes the middle plate  66  to slide along the rails  62  and move upwardly. The upper surface of the middle plate  66  abuts against the lower surface of the top plate  64  and in turn moves the top plate  64  upwardly. Since the top plate  64  is coupled to the bottom plate  68 , the bottom plate  68  moves upwardly as well. The upward movement of the top and bottom plates lifts the rods  76  out of engagement with the latches  36 , once again placing the latching mechanism in its unlatched position. The foot pedal  84  remains unaffected. Due to the interaction of the rods  76  with the latch profile, the latches  36  and thus the doors  34  are forced outwardly, away from the rods  76  and the center post  44 , once the hand knob  80  is released. In this instance, the doors  34  are opened by the operator using the hand knob  80 . 
   Due to the arrangement of the plates, actuation of the latching mechanism by the hand knob  80  is independent of actuation of the latching mechanism by the foot pedal  84 . Each actuator operates independently of each other and the operator can use either actuator to open the cabinet doors. 
   Referring to  FIG. 8 , to lock the cabinet  10  the operator may add a padlock  104 . When secured in a locked state, the padlock  104  shifts the body of the lock in the lock box  98  into a position where the security rod  100  can not move upwards and thus prevents either actuator from moving the rods  76  out of engagement with the door latches  36 . 
   To unlock the cabinet  10 , the operator simply uses a key to unlock the padlock  104 . In doing so, the body of the padlock springs forward via the padlock&#39;s own internal spring and moves out of position of the security rod  100 , thereby allowing upward movement of the latching mechanism  60  from either the upper or lower actuator. 
   The present invention provides protection from damage by possible intruders applying high levels of force to the foot pedal, which may lead to possible failure of the locking mechanism. If the foot pedal  84  is pressed while the cabinet  10  is in the locked position, the compression spring  88  absorbs all of the input energy and simply compresses, thereby preventing the transfer of force/energy into the latching mechanism and subsequent damage thereof. 
   Further, the middle plate  66  is slotted intentionally so that any abusive force placed upon the upper actuator  80  while the cabinet  10  is in the locked position will result in the bending of the upper actuator  80  via the slot  81  in the middle plate  66  while the cabinet  10  remains secured (locked). 
   While certain features and embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail herein, it is to be understood that the invention encompasses all modifications and enhancements within the scope and spirit of the following claims.

Summary:
A storage cabinet having a latching mechanism that can be unlatched by the use of either an upper actuator or a lower actuator is provided. The upper actuator may comprise a hand knob while the lower actuator may comprise a foot pedal. Thus, if an operator has his arms full and wants to open the doors of the cabinet, he can simply do so by actuating the foot pedal. Alternately, the doors of the cabinet may be opened by actuating the hand knob. This design affords the operator much flexibility in accessing the storage cabinet. A storage cabinet with a latching mechanism that is protected from damage under abusive conditions is also provided.