Patent ID: 7901017

Claim:
A self-closing and self-locking security file cabinet comprising: a back wall, a top wall, a pair of opposed sidewalls with each sidewall defining an inside surface, a bottom panel and further defining a front area and a rear area; a plurality of sliding supports with at least one sliding support mounted to the inside surface of each sidewall; a channel centrally mounted to the back wall and extending from the bottom panel to the top wall; a lock assembly mounted adjacent to the front area and including a lock selectively movable between a locked and an unlocked position; a pair of intermediate link bars interconnected to the lock assembly with each intermediate link bar extending to one of the sidewalls; a pair of lock bars with each lock bar mounted to the inside surface of the respective sidewalls and the intermediate link bars connected to the lock bars for actuating the selective slidable linear up and down movement of the lock bars; a plurality of lock catches pivotally mounted to the lock bars with at least one lock catch mounted to each lock bar; at least one drawer mounted on the sliding supports so that the drawer can be selectively opened and closed; the drawer including a drawer front panel, an underside panel and a pair of opposed side panels with each side panel having an exterior side surface; a pair of protrusions with each protrusion mounted to the exterior side surface of each side panel and engaging the respective lock catches during the closing of the drawer; a coil spring mounted to the channel and having a distal end attached to the drawer for retracting back into the security file cabinet at a controlled rate of acceleration when the user releases the drawer; a lock return means for returning the lock to the locked position immediately upon the release of the lock by the user; and, rotation of the lock being transmitted through the intermediate link bars for slidably linearly moving the lock bars and pivoting the lock catches so that the drawer can be opened and release of the user's grip on the drawer allows the coil spring to wind and retract the drawer concomitant with the protrusions contacting and pivoting the lock catches out of the way so that the protrusions can clear the lock catches in order for the retraction of the drawer to continue with the lock catches being pivoted back to the locked position upon the drawer being fully retracted within the security file cabinet.