AU2009200704B2 - Reversible locking device (A) for a switching cabinet - Google Patents

Abstract

- 23 Abstract A reversible locking device for a switching cabinet door, the locking device being reversible from a first orientation to a second orientation. The reversible 5 locking device includes: - a locking mechanism having a drive rotatable about a drive axis and a latch movable from a locked position to and from an unlocked position; - a rotatable handle operatively connected via a rotation limiter to the drive to cause movement of the latch, the rotation limiter including first 10 and second guides each representing a handle turn from the locked position to and from the unlocked position; and - first and second opposed floating stops free to move in response to gravity such that, when the locking device is in its first orientation the first stop engages the first guide and the second stop is disengaged 15 from the second guide, and when the locking device is in its second orientation the second stop engages the second guide and the first stop is disengaged from the first guide; whereby the directions of movement of the latch from its locked position to and from its unlocked position when the locking device is in its first orientation 20 are the same as the directions of movement of the latch from its locked position to and from its unlocked position when the locking device is in its second orientation. 1 2d 1 2c 14b 1a0 12 12k 14a) / 12b 4hZe 12h 1 f2 i~~jI~ I12m 14c \~ 14d Figure 1

Description

P/00/0011 Regulation 3.2 AUSTRALIA Patents Act 1990 ORIGINAL COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT Invention Title: REVERSIBLE LOCKING DEVICE (A) FOR A SWITCHING CABINET Applicant: B&R ENCLOSURES PTY LTD The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me: -2 REVERSIBLE LOCKING DEVICE (A) FOR A SWITCHING CABINET This application claims priority from Australian provisional patent application 2008900861 filed on 22 February 2008, the contents of which are to be taken as 5 incorporated herein by this reference. Field of the Invention The present invention relates generally to locking devices for doors and, in 10 particular, to doors that can be reversed so as to be used as either left handed or right-handed doors. Although the present invention will hereafter generally be described with particular reference to switching cabinets, it should be appreciated that the locking device of the present invention is not necessarily limited to being used only with switching cabinet doors and that it 15 may also be used with other types of doors. Background of the Invention Electrical/electronic power meters, switches, circuit breakers and other 20 electrical/electronic equipment for commercial and industrial installations, houses and other buildings are usually housed inside a switching cabinet located either inside or outside a building. A typical switching cabinet can include side, rear, bottom and/or top walls, together with a door which covers an opening of the cabinet and which is hinged to the cabinet. Opening the 25 door enables the equipment housed in the cabinet to be accessed. Typical switching cabinet doors include a locking bar constrained to slide up and/or down inside an edge of the door in response to a locking device, in order for one or both ends of the locking bar (or intermediate points 30 therealong) to engage at least a part of the door frame to lock and unlock the door. In this respect, it is normal for downward movement of the locking bar to engage the locking bar with the door frame to lock the door, and for upward movement of the locking bar to be required to disengage the locking bar from the door frame to unlock the door. By requiring the operative movement to be -3 in these directions, the forces of gravity and vibration alone (which might themselves cause downward movement of the locking bar) will not result in the inadvertent unlocking of the switching cabinet door. 5 Switching cabinets are available in many sizes ranging from relatively small cabinets to large wardrobe-sized cabinets which are used in factories, shopping centres, office blocks and other buildings. In some situations, multiple of these cabinets are secured together as modules (referred to in the art as "baying") to form a bayed enclosure. 10 Switching cabinets are typically assembled on-site and are often purpose-built for whatever situation is required. Thus, equipment suppliers prefer to provide an installer with a large number of assembly possibilities using as few parts as possible. With this in mind, as a door can be installed as either a right-handed 15 door (hinged on the right side, when facing the closed door, with a locking device and a locking bar on the left side) or a left-handed door (hinged on the left side with a locking device and a locking bar on the right side), it is preferable to be able to supply a single door that can be used during installation to meet either requirement. Additionally, during switching cabinet 20 configuration, the door will need to be reasonably frequently reversed from a right-handed installation to a left-handed installation (or vice-versa). While the provision of such a reversible door does not (and has not) presented too many design dilemmas, the provision of a reversible locking 25 device for use with such doors has not proven to be so easy. In this respect, locking devices used with reversible doors in these situations have tended to be quite complex and, where a door needs reversing from a right-handed installation to a left-handed installation (or vice-versa), requires undesirable lengths of time for disassembly and subsequent re-assembly upon the 30 reversed door. It is an aim of the present invention to provide a locking device that can be used on a door in either its right-handed or left-handed orientation, and that can be reversed with a door (when the door is reversed) without having to -4 remove the locking device from the door, such that the operative directions of the locking device do not change from left-handed installation to right handed installation (and vice-versa). In this respect, the operative directions of a locking device relate to the directions that its locking bar must be moved in 5 order to unlock a door, which is normally upwards for the reasons mentioned above, and to lock a door, which is normally downwards. Before turning to a description of the present invention, it is to be appreciated that the above discussion of the background to the present invention is 10 included to explain the context of the present invention. This is not to be taken as an admission that any of the material referred to was published, known, or part of the common general knowledge in Australia (or elsewhere) as at the priority date of any of the claims in this application. 15 Also before turning to a description of the present invention, it is useful to provide an explanation of some of the terms that will be (and have been) used to define the spatial relationship of various parts thereof. In this respect, spatial references throughout this specification will generally be based upon an assembled switching cabinet standing generally upright on a surface. With 20 this environment as the basis, some parts may then be defined with reference to the surface, and also to the "horizontal" and the "vertical" (or "up" and "down"), allowing further references to "upper" or "upwards" and "lower" or "downwards". Further, it will be understood that a switching cabinet always has an interior, and thus some parts may be defined with directional reference 25 to "inner" or "inwardly" and "outer" or "outwardly" with respect to the interior of the switching cabinet. Summary of the Invention 30 The present invention provides a reversible locking device for a switching cabinet door, the locking device being reversible from a first orientation to a second orientation, the reversible locking device including: - a locking mechanism having a drive rotatable about a drive axis and a latch movable from a locked position to and from an unlocked position; -5 - a rotatable handle operatively connected via a rotation limiter to the drive to cause movement of the latch, the rotation limiter including first and second guides each representing a handle turn from the locked position to and from the unlocked position; and 5 - first and second opposed floating stops free to move in response to gravity such that, when the locking device is in its first orientation the first stop engages the first guide and the second stop is disengaged from the second guide, and when the locking device is in its second orientation the second stop engages the second guide and the first 10 stop is disengaged from the first guide; whereby the directions of movement of the latch from its locked position to and from its unlocked position when the locking device is in its first orientation are the same as the directions of movement of the latch from its locked position to and from its unlocked position when the locking device is in its 15 second orientation. A locking device according to the present invention is thus able to be installed on a door in either a right-handed (say, the first) or a left-handed (say, the second) orientation, without concern from an installer about whether the 20 locking device is correctly oriented with respect to its desired use. Thus, for installation of new locking devices on doors, an installer need only be provided with one type of locking device rather than with two. Also, once a locking device according to the present invention has been 25 installed on a door, the locking device can be left on the door even if the door is later reversed. Indeed, the operative directions of the locking device are not altered by the re-orientation due to the floating stops automatically selecting, by the effect of gravity, which of the rotation limiter's guides to use. In this way, the operative directions of the locking device (the directions of movement 30 of the locking bar of the door) do not change from left-handed installation to right handed installation (and vice-versa). With this latter advantage in mind, the locking device of the present invention is preferably further adapted to maximise its ease of assembly and -6 disassembly, such as by providing for easy separation and removal of the handle and rotation limiter from the locking mechanism, in a manner whereby the locking mechanism can remain attached to a door to permit, for example, replacement of the handle and rotation limiter. 5 In this preferred form, the present invention includes a reversible locking device for a switching cabinet door, the locking device being reversible from a first orientation to a second orientation, the reversible locking device including: - a base element for attachment to the door, the base element including 10 a locking mechanism having a drive rotatable about a drive axis and a latch movable from a locked position to and from an unlocked position; and - a handle module removable from the base element, the handle module including a rotatable handle operatively connected via a rotation limiter 15 to the drive to cause movement of the latch, the rotation limiter including first and second guides each representing a handle turn from the locked position to and from the unlocked position, the handle module also including first and second opposed floating stops free to move in response to gravity such that, when the locking device is in its 20 first orientation the first stop engages the first guide and the second stop is disengaged from the second guide, and when the locking device is in its second orientation the second stop engages the second guide and the first stop is disengaged from the first guide; whereby the directions of movement of the latch from its locked position to 25 and from its unlocked position when the locking device is in its first orientation are the same as the directions of movement of the latch from its locked position to and from its unlocked position when the locking device is in its second orientation. 30 In this form, the intention is for the handle module to be easily removable from the base element, in a manner such that the base element (and thus the locking mechanism) can remain in place upon the door whilst the handle module is removed. This would permit, for example, an alternative handle -7 module (perhaps with a different visual appearance for aesthetic purposes) to be used with the same base element. Turning to a general description of various of the preferred parts of the locking 5 device of the present invention, the locking mechanism of the locking device is preferably of the rack and pinion type, including a drive member in the form of a pinion having teeth formed on at least a portion of its periphery, the teeth meshing with corresponding apertures in a rack. In this form, the rack is preferably a portion of the latch of the locking mechanism, the latch also 10 including an engaging portion configured to engage with a suitably configured locking bar (as will be further described below). Preferably, the rack and pinion locking mechanism is operatively connected (or is operatively connectable) to the rotatable handle via the rotation limiter. 15 In one form, the rotation limiter can include a spindle and the pinion can include a spindle-receiving aperture (of a corresponding shape). In this form, the interaction of the rotation limiter and the pinion (via the spindle) together defines the locking mechanism drive mentioned above. 20 In this form, the spindle preferably extends through an opening in a base element such that the locking mechanism can be located on one side of the base element (ideally, the door side) with the spindle connecting the rotation limiter and rotatable handle on the one side of the base element to the drive member (the pinion) on the other side. Therefore, by securing the base 25 element to a door in the normal manner, the locking mechanism is held in place between the base element and the door, able to receive a spindle extending thereinto to connect the rotation limiter and the handle. The rotation limiter is preferably in the form of a generally disc-shaped hub, 30 configured so as to cooperate on one side with the handle and on the other side with the locking mechanism. The hub preferably includes the guides about its periphery. In one form, the guides may be provided as peripheral portions of the hub defined between abutments, the portions being located on (or in) the same side of the hub. In another, more preferred, form the portions -8 may be provided one on each side, such that (for example) the first guide is located on (or in) one side of the hub and the second guide is located on (or in) the other side of the hub. 5 In one form, the peripheral portions are portions of reduced diameter about the periphery, defined between abutments in the form of shoulders within the body of the hub. In this form, the floating stops are preferably configured so as to be capable of extending into the reduced diameter portion (one stop extending into one reduced diameter portion, depending upon the orientation 10 of the locking device), to travel therealong as the hub is rotated, such that contact of the stop with a shoulder defines one end of that travel. Rotation back in the other direction will result in the stop contacting the other shoulder to define the other end of that travel. This travel then defines the full 15 extent of the travel of the handle during its rotation (being the "handle turn" mentioned above), in both directions, to thus move the latch from its locked position to and from its unlocked position. Preferably the hub includes two such portions of reduced diameter, located 20 adjacent each other (either on the same side of the hub or on opposed sides of the hub) in the same half of the hub, one being an upper guide and one being a lower guide. In this form, upon reversing of the locking device from its first orientation to its second orientation, one floating stop will fall away from one of the reduced diameter portions of the hub under the force of gravity (the 25 stop that is, in use in this second orientation, vertically below the hub), while the other floating stop (the stop that is, in use in this second orientation, vertically above the hub) will fall towards the hub and into engagement with the other reduced diameter portion of the hub. 30 With this in mind, the floating stops are preferably constrained such that free movement into and out of engagement with the guides of the rotation limiter is permitted in response to the effects of gravity as the locking device is reversed from its first orientation to its second orientation, and vice-versa. In one form, the floating stops are in the form of generally oval-shaped rings, -9 flattened at their sides to be oblate and to each define a longitudinal internal slot in the centre of the ring. Preferably, the floating stops include an engagement tab at their engagement end, configured so as to suitably interact with the guides of the rotation limiter. 5 In this form, the floating stops may thus be configured to move freely upon a pair of spaced retaining members that are each received with an internal slot of a stop (there thus being two pairs of retaining members), the movement being sliding movement of the pair of retaining members within an internal 10 slot. By spacing the retaining members of one pair a distance from each other that is less than the length of the slot of that stop, the travel of the stop as it slides from being in contact with one retaining member at one end of the slot to being in contact with the other retaining member at the other end of the slot will be greater than the distance between the pair of retaining members. 15 Thus, by arranging the respective pairs of retaining members in the locking device of the present invention such that, in use, one retaining member of each pair is above the other, with one pair below the rotation limiter and one pair above the rotation limiter, a first floating stop will rest in its lowermost 20 position (due to gravity) upon an upper retaining member in the upper pair when the locking device is in its first orientation, with the second floating stop also resting in its lowermost position (again due to gravity) upon an upper retaining member in the lower pair. The first stop, via the engagement tab at its (now) lower end (its engagement end) then engages the upper guide on 25 the rotation limiter, while the engagement tab at the (now) upper end of the second stop has fallen to be free of the lower guide on the rotation limiter. Reversing the orientation of the locking device simply acts to disengage the first floating stop and engage the second floating stop, resulting in an 30 alignment and engagement of stops and guides that is opposite to the original alignment and engagement. This results in the direction of the movement of the latch being the same in both orientations for the locking function of a locking bar and for the unlocking function of a locking bar, given that the -10 direction of the handle rotation will be opposite from the first orientation to the second orientation. Finally, in a preferred form, the pairs of retaining members mentioned above 5 will be provided upon the rear surface of a cover, ideally being a cover for the handle module mentioned above. In this form, the handle module can then include the retaining members upon which the floating stops are configured to move, together with the rotation limiter, such that these parts of the locking device are able to be removed from the base element of the locking device to 10 provide the benefits mentioned above. Brief Description of the Drawings Having briefly described the general concepts involved with the present 15 invention, a preferred embodiment of a locking device that is in accordance with the present invention will now be described. However, it is to be understood that the following description is not to limit the generality of the above description. 20 In the drawings: Figure 1 is an exploded perspective view of the parts of a reversible locking device according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention; 25 Figure 2 is a rear perspective view of a handle module as used in the preferred embodiment of Figure 1; and Figures 3a and 3b are schematic representations showing the operation of floating stops and a rotation limiter as used in the preferred embodiment of 30 Figure 1.

- 11 Description of the Embodiment Illustrated in the Drawings Illustrated in Figure 1 is a reversible locking device 10 for a switching cabinet door (not shown). The locking device 10 includes a base element 12 for 5 attachment to the door, and a handle module 14 (with the handle itself not shown) that is removable from the base element 12. The locking device 10 is for use with a sliding locking bar (not shown) of a known type that includes a number of locking slots arranged along its length for engagement with cabinet mounted locking pegs (also not shown) in a known manner. 10 The base element 12 includes a locking mechanism having a drive member 12a and a latch 12b, the drive member 12a being rotatable about a drive axis A and the latch 12b being movable from a locked position to and from an unlocked position (with respect to movement of the locking bar 16 with which 15 it engages). The drive member 12a and the latch 12b are engageable (in a manner that will be described below) via a drive plate 12c. In this embodiment of the invention, the locking mechanism of the locking device 10 is of the rack and pinion type, with the drive member 12a in the form 20 of a pinion 12e having teeth 12f formed on at least a portion of its periphery, the teeth 12f meshing with corresponding apertures 12g in a rack portion 12h of the latch 12b, and the pinion 12e having a central spindle receiving aperture 12i. In this form, the rotation limiter 14a (described below) then includes a spindle 14g configured to be of a complementary shape to the 25 shape of the spindle receiving aperture 12i of the pinion 12e, for engagement therewith. In this respect, it will be appreciated however that the aperture 12i of the pinion 12e could be replaced with a spindle configured to interact with a correspondingly shaped aperture in the rotation limiter 14a. 30 The rack portion 12h is thus formed integrally as a part of the latch 12b, with the latch 12b additionally including an engaging portion 12k configured to engage with the locking bar 16 (as will be further described below).

-12 As mentioned above, the drive member 12a of the locking mechanism is operatively connected (or is operatively connectable) to a rotatable handle via the rotation limiter 14a, and thus the spindle 14g, the pinion 12e, the rack 12h and the engaging portion 12k together can be considered the drive of the 5 locking mechanism (as mentioned above). In this form, the spindle 14g preferably extends through an opening 12m in the mounting body 12d of the base element 12 such that the locking mechanism can be located on one side of the mounting body 12d (ideally, the door side) with the rotation limiter 14a and the rotatable handle on the other side of the mounting body 12d. 10 Therefore, by securing the mounting body 12d to a door in the normal manner, the locking mechanism is held in place between the mounting body 12d and the door, with the spindle-receiving aperture 12i able to receive a spindle extending into the base element 12 from the rotation limiter 14a. 15 It is thus possible to mount the base element 12 to the door, in a manner that securely contains all parts of the locking mechanism between the mounting body 12d and the door, in the event that the handle module 14 needs to be removed therefrom for maintenance or substitution. Also, this minimizes the degree of disassembly required during reversing of the door (if any 20 disassembly is required at all). The mounting body 12d is adapted at its rear to receive the drive plate 12c (with the drive member 12a and the latch 12b) and at its front to receive the handle module 14, as will now be explained. 25 The handle module 14 includes a rotatable handle (not shown, but such as an industry standard "key" able to be received by the square boss 14p of the rotation limiter 14a) operatively connected via the rotation limiter 14a to the drive member 12a to cause movement of the latch 12b. The rotation limiter 30 14a includes a first guide 14e and a second guide 14f (better illustrated in Figure 2) each representing a handle turn from the locked position to and from the unlocked position.

-13 The handle module 14 also includes a first floating stop 14b and a second opposed floating stop 14c, both of which are free to move in response to gravity, whose operation is evident from the combination of Figures 1, 2, 3a and 3b and their description. 5 The floating stops 14b,14c are constrained such that free movement into and out of engagement with the guides 14e,14f of the rotation limiter 14a (here shown as a disc-shaped hub, with the guides 14e,14f being provided one on each of the opposed sides of the hub) is permitted in response to the effects 10 of gravity as the locking device 10 is reversed from its first orientation (such as is shown in Figure 3a which shows a right-handed door [hinged on the right side, with the locking device 10 and a latch 12b on the left side for engagement with a locking bar]), to its second orientation (such as is shown in Figure 3b which shows a left-handed door [hinged on the left side, with the 15 locking device 10 and a latch 12b on the right side for engagement with a locking bar]), and vice-versa. The floating stops 14b,14c are in the form of generally oval-shaped rings, flattened at their sides to be oblate and to each define a longitudinal internal 20 slot 14h,14i in the centre of the ring. Preferably, the floating stops 14b,14c include an engagement tab 14j,14k at their engagement ends, configured so as to suitably interact with the guides 14e,14f of the rotation limiter 14a. The floating stops 14b,14c are configured to slide freely upon a pair of spaced 25 retaining members 14m,14n (shown in Figure 2) that are each received within the respective internal slot 14h,14i of the floating stop 14b,14c (there thus being two pairs of retaining members 14m,14n). With reference only to floating stop 14b, by spacing the retaining members 14m a distance from each other that is less than the length of the slot 14h, the travel of the stop 30 14b as it slides from being in contact with one retaining member at one end of the slot 14h to being in contact with the other retaining member at the other end of the slot 14h will be greater than the distance between the pair of retaining members 14m. The same of course can be said for the floating stop 14c.

- 14 Thus, by arranging the respective pairs of retaining members 14m,14n in the locking device 10 such that, in use, one retaining member of each pair is above the other in that pair, with one pair below the rotation limiter 14a and one pair above the rotation limiter 14a, a first floating stop (14b in the case of 5 Figures 2 and 3a) will rest in its lowermost position (due to gravity) upon an upper retaining member in the upper pair 14m when the locking device 10 is in its first orientation, with the second floating stop 14c also resting in its lowermost position (again due to gravity) upon an upper retaining member in the lower pair 14n. The first stop 14b, via the engagement tab 14j at its (now) 10 lower end (its engagement end) then engages the upper guide 14e on the rotation limiter 14a, while the engagement tab 14k at the (now) upper end of the second stop 14c has fallen to be free of the lower guide 14f on the rotation limiter 14a. 15 Then, when the locking device 10 is in its second orientation (such as is shown in Figure 3b), the second stop 14c engages the second guide 14f and the first stop 14b is disengaged from the first guide 14e. Turning now to a more detailed description of the rotation limiter 14a, the 20 rotation limiter 14a is in the form of a generally disc-shaped hub, configured so as to cooperate on one side with the handle (via the boss 14p) and on the other side with the locking mechanism (via spindle 14g). The guides 14e,14f are portions of reduced diameter about the periphery, on opposed sides of the hub, defined between abutments in the form of shoulders 14r,14s (one set of 25 which is shown in Figures 3a and 3b) within the body of the rotation limiter 14a. In this respect, it should be appreciated that the views shown in Figures 3a and 3b are schematic, so the guides 14e,14f appear to be on the same side of the rotation limiter 14a. While this is a possible configuration that is indeed within the scope of the present invention, it is not the configuration that 30 is shown elsewhere in the Figures - the guides 14e,14f in this embodiment are actually on opposed sides of the rotation limiter 14a. The floating stops 14b,14c are configured so as to be capable of extending into the reduced diameter portions that define the guides 14e,14f (one stop - 15 extending into one reduced diameter portion, depending upon the orientation of the locking device 10), to travel therealong as the rotation limiter 14a is rotated, such that contact of the stop (say, the stop 14c in Figure 3b) with a shoulder (say, the shoulder 14r in Figure 3b) defines one end of that travel. 5 Rotation back in the other direction will result in the stop 14c contacting the other shoulder 14s to define the other end of that travel. This travel then defines the full extent of the travel of the handle during its rotation (a handle turn), in both directions, to thus move the latch 12b from its locked position to 10 and from its unlocked position by virtue of the engagement described above. Reversing the orientation of the locking device 10 (such as is shown in moving from Figure 3a to Figure 3b) simply acts to disengage the first floating stop 14b and engage the second floating stop 14c, resulting in an alignment and 15 engagement of stops and guides that is opposite to the original alignment and engagement. This results in the direction of the movement of the latch 12b being the same in both orientations for the locking function of a locking bar and for the unlocking function of a locking bar, given that the direction of handle rotation will be opposite from the first orientation to the second 20 orientation. The relationship of the rotation limiter 14a and the floating stops 14b,14c ensures that the direction of rotation of the handle is re-keyed from the first orientation to the second orientation to keep consistent the directions of 25 movement of the latch 12b from its locked position to and from its unlocked position. Thus, and as can also be seen from Figures 3a and 3b, even though it is counter-clockwise rotation of the handle in Figure 3a that will have locked the device and clock-wise rotation of the handle in Figure 3b that will have locked the device, locking in both orientations still results from the latch 12b 30 (and thus the locking bar 16) having moved downwardly. In this respect, and for the avoidance of doubt, the positions shown in the respective drawings on the left side of the pages of Figures 3a and 3b both show a locked position, while the positions shown in the respective drawings - 16 on the right side of the pages of Figures 3a and 3b both show an unlocked position (the latch 12b in those latter drawings having been moved upwardly). The locking device 10 is thus able to be installed on a door in either a right 5 handed (say, the first) or a left-handed (say, the second) orientation, without concern from an installer about whether the locking device 10 is correctly oriented with respect to its desired use. Thus, an installer need only be provided with one type of locking device 10 rather than with two. 10 Also, a locking device 10 can be reversed, once installed, with a door (when the door is reversed) without having to remove the locking device 10 from the door due to the floating stops 14b,14c automatically selecting, by the effect of gravity, which of the rotation limiter's guides 14e,14f to use (without altering the operative direction of the locking device 10), simply by the orientation of 15 the locking device 10. In this way, the operative direction of the locking device 10 (the direction of movement of the locking bar 16 of the door) does not change from left-handed installation to right handed installation (and vice versa). 20 Finally, and as mentioned above, the locking device 10 shown in the Figures has of course been further adapted to maximise its ease of assembly and disassembly, by providing for easy separation and removal of the handle module 14 from the base element 12. The intention is for the handle module 14 to be easily removable from the base element 12 such that the base 25 element 12 (and thus the locking mechanism) can remain in place upon the door whilst the handle module is removed. Having said that, it is to be appreciated that this removability is not essential to the present invention, as the reversibility of the locking device of the present invention can be achieved in embodiments where the handle module is not removable. 30 There may be other variations and modifications made to the configurations described herein that are also within the scope of the present invention.

Claims (19)

1. A reversible locking device for a switching cabinet door, the locking device being reversible from a first orientation to a second orientation, the reversible 5 locking device including ~ a locking mechanism having a drive rotatable about a drive axis and a latch movable from a locked position to and from an unlocked position; ~ a rotatable handle operatively connected via a rotation limiter to the 10 drive to cause movement of the latch, the rotation limiter including first and second guides each representing a handle turn from the locked position to and from the unlocked position; and ~ first and second opposed floating stops free to move in response to gravity such that, when the locking device is in its first orientation the 15 first stop engages the first guide and the second stop is disengaged from the second guide, and when the locking device is in its second orientation the second stop engages the second guide and the first stop is disengaged from the first guide; whereby the directions of movement of the latch from its locked position to and 20 from its unlocked position when the locking device is in its first orientation are the same as the directions of movement of the latch from its locked position to and from its unlocked position when the locking device is in its second orientation. 25

2. A reversible locking device for a switching cabinet door, the locking device being reversible from a first orientation to a second orientation, the reversible locking device including: ~ a base element for attachment to the door, the base element including a locking mechanism having a drive rotatable about a drive 30 axis and a latch movable from a locked position to and from an unlocked position; and ~ a handle module removable from the base element, the handle module including a rotatable handle operatively connected via a rotation limiter to the drive to cause movement of the latch, the C:\poi\word\SPEC-848397.docx 18 rotation limiter including first and second guides each representing a handle turn from the locked position to and from the unlocked position, the handle module also including first and second opposed floating stops free to move in response to gravity such that, when 5 the locking device is in its first orientation the first stop engages the first guide and the second stop is disengaged from the second guide, and when the locking device is in its second orientation the second stop engages the second guide and the first stop is disengaged from the first guide; 10 whereby the directions of movement of the latch from its locked position to and from its unlocked position when the locking device is in its first orientation are the same as the directions of movement of the latch from its locked position to and from its unlocked position when the locking device is in its second orientation. 15

3. A reversible locking device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the locking mechanism is of the rack and pinion type, and includes a drive member in the form of a pinion having teeth formed on at least a portion of its periphery, the teeth meshing with corresponding apertures in a rack portion of the latch. 20

4. A reversible locking device according to claim 3, wherein the latch includes an engaging portion configured to engage with a locking bar.

5. A reversible locking device according to claim 4, wherein the drive member is 25 operatively connected to the handle, via a spindle on the rotation limiter.

6. A reversible locking device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the rotation limiter is in the form of a generally disc-shaped hub, configured so as to cooperate on one side with the handle and on the other side with the locking 30 mechanism.

7. A reversible locking device according to claim 6, wherein the rotation limiter includes the guides about its periphery, the guides being formed as peripheral portions of the rotation limiter defined between abutments. 19

8. A reversible locking device according to claim 7, wherein the peripheral portions are portions of reduced diameter about the periphery, defined between 5 abutments in the form of shoulders within the body of the rotation limiter.

9. A reversible locking device according to claim 8, wherein the floating stops are configured so as to be capable of extending into the reduced diameter portion (one stop extending into one reduced diameter portion, depending upon the 10 orientation of the locking device), to travel there along as the hub is rotated, such that contact of the stop with a shoulder defines one end of that travel.

10. A reversible locking device according to claim 9, wherein the rotation limiter includes two guides being two portions of reduced diameter, located adjacent 15 each other in the same half of the hub, but on opposed sides of the hub.

11. A reversible locking device according to any one of claims 6 to 10, wherein the floating stops are constrained such that free movement into and out of engagement with the guides of the rotation limiter is permitted in response to 20 the effects of gravity as the locking device is reversed from its first orientation to its second orientation, and vice-versa.

12. A reversible locking device according to claim 11, wherein the floating stops are in the form of generally oval-shaped rings, flattened at their sides to be 25 oblate and to each define a longitudinal internal slot in the centre of the ring.

13. A reversible locking device according to claim 12, wherein the floating stops include an engagement tab at their engagement ends, configured so as to suitably interact with the guides of the rotation limiter. 30

14. A reversible locking device according to claim 12 or claim 13, wherein the floating stops are configured to move freely upon a pair of spaced retaining members that are each received with an internal slot of a stop, the movement being sliding movement of the pair of retaining members within an internal slot. 20

15. A reversible locking device according to any one of claims 1 to 14, including a locking bar in engagement with the latch. 5

16. A switching cabinet door including a reversible locking device according to any one of claims 1 to 15.

17. A reversible locking device according to claim 1 substantially as herein described in relation to the accompanying drawings. 10

18. A reversible locking device according to claim 2 substantially as herein described in relation to the accompanying drawings.

19. A switching cabinet door according to claim 16 substantially as herein 15 described in relation to the accompanying drawings.