GB2612879A

GB2612879A - Retrofittable safety lock

Info

Publication number: GB2612879A
Application number: GB2213031.4A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Andersen Jesper
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2021-09-27
Filing date: 2022-09-07
Publication date: 2023-05-17
Anticipated expiration: 2042-09-07
Also published as: CN218991206U; GB2612879B; GB202113749D0; DE202022105403U1; GB202213031D0

Abstract

A child safety latch for a cupboard of a drawer 5a, the latch comprising a movable latch part 4 mounted within housing 3a for engagement with a catch member having an upstanding catch 10c. The latch part 4 comprising a magnet or magnetisable material such that an external magnetic key or magnetisable element can be used to move latch part in a vertical sliding direction by moving the magnetic key in an upwardly sliding action close to the outside of the door/drawer in order to release the latch. Preferably the latch housing 3a includes a body 3a and attachment wings 3b for mounting to door with movable engagement part 4 sliding within channel of body 3a. preferably the catch member 2 is of U-shaped with lower leg having tapered catch protrusion 12, upper leg may include tongue and groove connection to a rail attachment member to secure to a horizontal cross member of cabinet; alternatively the catch member may secure to an L-shaped bracket mounted to a wooden cross rail of a cabinet.

Description

RETROFITTABLE SAFETY LOCK

Field of the Invention.

The present invention relates to a retrofittable safety lock for cupboards, cabinet doors and the like, and, more particularly, "child-proof' latches that include features which make them difficult to be actuated by small children.

Background (Prior Art).

A variety of materials are used for the work surface of kitchen cupboards and sideboards. Materials such as quartz, granite, wood, acrylic, laminate etc. are often 10 used for their aesthetic quality and finish since these surfaces can be a very dominant feature of a room.

These sideboards are commonly used in daily life in kitchens, bedrooms, offices, etc. to store a wide range of articles, sonic of which may be harmful to children. Small children may also attempt to climb on, or even in, cupboards and cabinets in an effort to hide. Cupboards and cabinets may house many types of materials which may be potentially hazardous to children such as medicines, household cleaners, knives, tools, paint, etc. To prevent young children from accessing these storage areas, numerous items have been patented and sold, most of a multi-piece assembly. Generally, some sort of a longitudinal member with a hook portion is attached to either side surface of a cupboard or cupboard handle to limit the amount the cupboard door may be opened. The hook portion may engage with the cupboard handles or fixings on the cupboard doors. A latch on the hook may be depressed by an adult to release the hook from the cupboard handles or fixings on the cupboard doors.

While the disengagement of the latch is relatively easy for an adult, the latches are intended to be difficult to manipulate by a child.

These products often need to be fixed to the inside surface of the cupboard or drawer, which often includes the use of screws or adhesive. These products are also often fixed to the top inner surface of the cupboard so that they are most easily releasable from above and therefore more easily releasable by adults than small children. In particular magnetically operated safety latches have been developed which allow the door to remain completely closed during activation and release of the latch and have now visible actuating part. One example is shown in W02020 I 4144 I by 3M. When a magnet is presented at the correct position at the outside surface of the cupboard door, the latch inside is drawn towards it in a pivoting action and moves out of engagement with a catch and the lock is released. A disadvantage with such devices however is that a certain degree of depth is required in the cupboard space to fit the latch assembly which is not available in cupboards with sinks, baths, water tanks, or other large immovable items occupying the space. In addition frames elements of certain cupboards make it difficult to attach the catch or latch part to the cupboard frame.

Statement of Invention:

According to the invention there is provided a retrofittable safety lock for limiting movement of a movable first element with respect to a fixed second element as defined in the appended claims.

Description of the Drawings:

Figure 1: shows a perspective view of a rail attachment of a first embodiment the safety lock of the invention, Figure 2: shows a perspective view of a catch member the First embodiment, Figure 3: shows a perspective view of a latch member housing of the first embodiment, Figure 4: shows a perspective view of a latch member of the first embodiment.

Figure 5: shows a perspective view of a cupboard to which the safety lock is to be attached, Figure 6: shows a side view of a first step in the installation of the safety lock of the first embodiment, Figure 7: shows a side view of a subsequent step in the installation of the safety lock of the first embodiment, Figure 8: shows a perspective view of a subsequent step in the installation of the safety lock of the first embodiment, Figure 9: shows a side view of a subsequent step in the installation of the safety lock of the first embodiment, Figure 10: shows a perspective view of a subsequent step in the installation of the safety lock of the first embodiment, Figure 11: shows a perspective view of a subsequent step in the installation of the safety lock of the first embodiment, Figure 12: shows a perspective view of the installed safety lock of the first embodiment, Figure 13: shows an enlarged side view of a the installed the safety lock of the first embodiment in the locked position, Figure 14a: shows a side view of a first step in the unlocking of the safety lock of the first embodiment, Figure 14b: shows a side view of a subsequent step in the unlocking of the safety 25 lock of the first embodiment, Figure 15: shows a side view of a subsequent step in the unlocking of the safety lock of the first embodiment, and Figure 16: shows an enlarged side view of an installed safety lock according to a second embodiment of the invention.

Detailed Description:

Figures 1 to 4 show a retrofittable safety lock according to a first embodiment of the invention in its four component parts including a rail attachment member 1, a catch member 2, a latch housing 3 and a latch part 4. In this first embodiment the safety lock is adapted to be fitted to cupboards which comprise a metal frame as shown in Figure 5 which includes a horizontal frame element 5 as shown in Figure 6. Such a metal frame element 5 typically comprises a U-shaped channel 7 which usually includes arms 7a, 7b of differing lengths. The rail attachment member 1 includes recess which correspond to the lengths of the arms 7a, 7b of the channel 7 which are typically present in certain cupboard types. In this embodiment, it can be seen that the uppermost aim 7a is clearly longer than the lower atm 7b and correspondingly the upper recess 8a is sufficiently deep to receive the upper atm 7a and the lower recess 8b is correspondingly deep to receive the lower arm 7b. Thus, in a first step in the fitting of the safety lock of this first embodiment as shown in Figure 6 the rail attachment member 1 is slid into place by aligning the recesses 8a and 8b with the corresponding arms 7a and 7b so that the arms 7a and 7b are inserted in the corresponding recesses 8a, 8b, the fitted rail attachment member 1 is as shown in Figure 7.

In a subsequent step in the fitting of the safety lock of this first embodiment as shown in Figure 8 the catch member 2 is correspondingly fitted to the rail attachment 1 by means of corresponding sliding tongues 6a arranged at the lower end of the rail attachment member 1 and grooves 6b arranged at the upper end of the catch member 2. The fitted position is as shown in Figure 9. The rail attachment member 1 and the catch member 2 are typically made from moulded plastic but it could be from any suitable non-magnetic material. The catch member 2 includes a hollow portion 10 formed between the upper leg in which the grooves 6b are arranged, and a lower leg 10b which includes a bevelled surface along a remote edge.

Referring now to Figure 10 a third step in the installation of the safety lock is shown in which the latch member 4 is inserted into the latch housing 3 as shown in Figure 10. The latch member 4 includes upper sliding part 11 and a lower latch 10 part 13 which includes a bevelled surface 14.

Figure 11 shows the subsequent 4th step in which the latch housing 3 is positioned and secured onto the internal surface of a cabinet door 5a. The latch housing 3 is positioned by aligning it with the already fitted catch member 2. The latch housing 3 may be attached to the inside of the cabinet door 5a by any suitable known means such as adhesive ships, velcro snips or by means of screws. The alignment of the fitted catch member 2 with the latch housing 3 is such that when the cabinet door 5a is closed the lower end of the latch member 4, which includes a bevelled surface 14 engages with the bevelled surface 12 of the catch member 2, such that the latch member 4 is urged upwardly which permits the latch member to locate inside the hollow portion 10 of the catch member 2 allowing the door to fully close, and engaging the lock.

Figure 12 shows the cupboard door 5a open with the catch member 2 and latch housing 3 in their fitted positions. Figure 13 shows a cross sectional side view of the inside of the cupboard showing the lock in position with the cupboard door 5A closed and the lock resting in a locked position so that the cupboard door 5A may not be opened. buy a child. As the door is closed the corresponding bevelled surface is 1214 of the lower leg 10 be and the lower latch part 13 respectively come into contact and cause the latch part 4 to rise upwards so that the lower latch part 13 rise is over the bevelled surface 12 and past a upstanding catch 10c, with the lower latch part 13 and correspondingly the entire latch part 4 falling behind the upstanding catch 10c under the effect of gravity. Thus the lower latch part 13 is caught behind the upstanding catch I Oc and the door 5A may then not be inadvertently opened by merely pulling on the door 5A, by gripping under edge for example. The latch part 4 the latch member 3 includes a latch body 3a and attachment wings 3b for attachment of the latch housing to the internal surface or the door or drawer 5a. The latch part 4 is located within the latch body 3a constrained therein to move in a vertical sliding direction is a sliding channel 3c and includes a magnet or magnetisable material so that when a magnet key 15 is presented at the level of the latch part 4 at an outside surface of the cupboard door 5A the latch part 4 may be urged upwards when the magnet key 15 is slid upwardly so disengaging the lower large part 13 from the upstanding catch 10c and permitting the cupboard door 5a to be opened.

This sliding up action of the magnet key 15 in the required position in relation to the latch part 4 is a technique which is readily learnable by adults but which is really difficult for a child to replicate and is therefore an extremely effective childproof lock. This is shown in Figures 14a and 14b. The magnet key 15 includes a finger sized hole 16 so that the magnet key maybe located on the user's digit like a ring which is a convenient location and also enables the user to release the lock by a sliding action of their finger or hand.

It will be appreciated that the magnet key 15 may include a unlocking magnet which acts on a magnet located in the latch part 4, or alternatively, in a simpler embodiment it is possible that the latch includes iron or another magnetisable material, which is moved by the unlocking magnet of a magnet in the magnet 15, or similarly, the latch part 4 could include a magnet and the magnet key 15 could merely be made of iron or another magnetisable material.

By referring to figure 13 or 14 and 14 be it can be seen that the thickness of lock of disembodiment is much lower than previously known child locks of this type and this makes it possible for the lock to be fitted on cupboards which are already occupied by fixed and relatively large items such as a kitchen sink which leave earlier small amount of room between the item and the cupboard door in which to locate the lock components.

Reference is now made to Figure 16 in which an alternative embodiment is shown for a different type of cabinet comprising a conventional wooden frame 25 rather than a steel rail as was the case with the first embodiment. In this Figure 16 one can see that there is a sink 19 located within the cabinet and this leaves a small amount of room between the sink 19 and the cabinet door 25a. In this case the frame 25 is a wooden frame and the lock of this alternative embodiment of the invention is capable of being attached to the wooden frame 25 and occupies the same thickness more effectively the same thickness as the frame 25 itself and is therefore capable of being fitted in the small space between the sink and the cabinet door 25a.

In this embodiment there is no intermediate rail attachment means, but instead the catch member 22 includes an L-shaped portion 29 at its upper end comprising a vertically extending upper leg 26a and a horizontally extending lower leg 26b which are at right angles to each other and which comprise corresponding upper leg and lower leg internal surfaces 21a, 21b which are arranged to be fitted against the corresponding external surfaces of the horizontally oriented wooden beam or the cabinet frame element 25.

The upper and lower leg surfaces 21a, 21b are pre-applied with a layer adhesive such that they adhere firmly to the frame 25. It is preferable that the upper and lower legs, 26a, 26b are made of a deformable elastomeric plastic so that it is compressible and deformable to conform to unevenesses on the frame surface. Alternatively or in addition to the use of an adhesive layer it is possible to secure the lower leg 26 be to the horizontal surface of the frame part 25 by means of a securing screw or screws 27.

In common with the first embodiment the catch member 22 includes a hollow portion 30 with a lower leg 30a comprising an upstanding catch 30c with a bevelled external surface 32. A Latch housing 23 is provided which includes a latch part 24, the latch part 24 comprising an upper sliding part 31 and a lower latch part 33 the lower end of which has a bevelled surface 34. As in the first embodiment the latch housing 23 is aligned with the hollow portion 30 of the catch member 22 before being fixed in position on the internal surface of the cabinet door by means of an adhesive layer or screws or Velcro as previously described. Similarly the latch part 24 includes a magnet or magnetisable material and is operated in the same way as the previous embodiment to release the lock to open the door 25a.

Again, it can be seen in this embodiment that the vertical movement of latch part 4, 24 by means of a sliding action on the part of the user enables the lock to occupy a much smaller thickness than prior locks in the prior art and thus the lock assembly can be fitted in the space between the cabinet door and a fixed item such as a sink inside the cabinet.

In both embodiments when the user moves away from the cabinet and takes the magnet key away also the black part 4, 24 falls back under the effect of gravity to its original rest position at the bottom of the hollow portion 10, 30 and in which position, when the cupboard door is closed, it automatically restores to the locked position by means of the bevelled surfaces 12, 14, 32,34.

Another advantage of the both the first and second embodiments is that lock is secured to the frame element of the cabinet, which allows the child safety lock to be installed without making alterations or securing to the top surface of the cupboard or drawer. This is advantageous when a high quality kitchen top or worktop is being used and securing anything to the panel surfaces would damage the quality of the appearance.

Component List: 1 -Rail attaclunent member 2 -Catch member 3 -Latch housing 5 3a Latch body 3b Attachment wings 4 -Latch part -Frame element 6a, 6b -Grooves 7 -U-shaped channel 7a, Uppermost arm 7b Lower arm 8a, 8b -Recesses 9 -Upper leg 10 -Hollow portion 10b -Lower leg I Dc -Upwardly extending catch 11 -Upper sliding part 12 -Bevelled surface zo 13 -Lower latch part 14 -Bevelled surface -Magnet key 16 -Hole 18 -19 -Sink 20 -Safety lock 21a -Upper leg surface 21b -Lower leg surface 22 -Catch member 23 -Latch housing 10 24 -Latch part -Cabinet frame element 25a -Cabinet door 26a -Upper leg 26b -Lower leg 27 -Screw Or screws 29 -L-shaped portion -Hollow portion 31 -Upper sliding part 32 -Bevelled surface zo 33 -Lower latch part 34 -Bevelled surface

Claims

Claims* I. A child safety locking mechanism for a cupboard or drawer comprising at least one movable door or drawer and a fixed frame 5, and the locking mechanism comprising: a latch assembly and a catch member 4 each fitted on the an inside surface of a movable door or drawer 5a and fixed frame respectively, the latch assembly including a latch housing 3 and a movable latch part 4, and the catch member 4 including an upstanding catch 10c, wherein the latch part 4, when the latch member 3 and catch member 4 are fitted in position, is aligned to abut against the upstanding catch 10c in a locked position to prevent the movable door or drawer 5a from being fully opened, wherein the latch part 4 is arranged within the latch member 3 and is movable to an unlocked position in which the latch part 4 is no longer aligned to abut against the upstanding catch 10c and the movable door or drawer 5a may be opened; and wherein the latch part 4 comprises a magnet or magnetisable material such that the latch part 4 may be moved within the latch member 3, by the action of a magnet key containing a magnet or magnetisthle material located against or near to an outside surface of the movable door or drawer 5a, characterised in that the latch part 4 is arranged to move in a vertical sliding direction within the latch member 3, such that a user may move the magnet key in an upwardly sliding direction against or close to an outside surface of the door or drawer Sato induce the latch part 4 to move vertically upwards to release the latch part 4 form abutment against the upstanding catch 10c to permit the door or drawer 5a to be opened and that when the magnet key is moved away the latch part 3 drops back down vertically under gravity into the locked position.
2. A child safety locking mechanism according to claim 1, characterised in that the catch member 2 is U-shaped and comprises and an upper leg 9, and lower leg 10b forming a hollow portion 10 between.
3. A child safety locking mechanism according to claim 2, characterised in that the upstanding catch 10c is arranged at the remote end of the lower leg 10b.
4. A child safety locking mechanism according to claim 2, characterised in that the upper leg 9 includes attaching means 6b 21a, 2 lb for attachment to a beam or rail of the fixed frame 5.
5. A child safety locking mechanism according to claim 1, characterised in that the latch member 3 includes a latch body 3a and attachment wings 3b for attachment of the latch housing to the internal surface or the door or drawer 5a.
6. A child safety locking mechanism according to claim 5, characterised in that the latch part 4 is located within the latch body 3a constrained therein to move in a vertical sliding direction is a sliding channel 3c.
7. A child safety locking mechanism according to claims 2 and 5, characterised in that the latch body 3a of the latch member 3 and the hollow portion 10 of the catch member 2 are correspondingly dimensioned so that when the door or drawer 5a is closed the latch body 3a fits into the hollow portion 10.
8. A child safety locking mechanism according to claim 4, characterised in that the upper leg 9 includes corresponding tongue and grooves 6b for attachment to corresponding tongue and grooves 6a of an intermediate rail attacinnent means 1.
9. A child safety locking mechanism according to claim 8, characterised in that the intermediate rail attachment means 1 comprises upper and lower recesses 8a, 8b which correspond to the uppermost and lower most arms 7a, 7b of a pre-existing U-shaped channel 7 of the cabinet frame 5.
10. A child safety locking mechanism according to claim 4, characterised in that the upper leg 9 includes an L-shaped portion 29 at its upper end comprising a vertically extending upper leg 26a and a horizontally extending lower leg 26b which are at right angles to each other and which comprise corresponding upper leg and lower leg internal surfaces 21a, 21b which are arranged to be fitted against the corresponding external surfaces of the horizontally oriented wooden beam of the cabinet frame 25.
11. A child safety locking mechanism according to claim 10, characterised in that the upper and lower leg surfaces 21a, 2 lb are pre-applied with a layer adhesive such that they adhere firmly to the frame 25.
12. A child safety locking mechanism according to claim 11, characterised in that the upper or lower legs, 26a, 26b are made of a deforinable elastomeric plastic so that it is compressible and deformable to conform to unevenesses on the frame surface.
13. A child safety locking mechanism according to claim 10, characterised in that the upper or lower legs 26a, 26b are attached the horizontal and vertical surfaces of the frame part 25 by means of a securing screw or screws 27.
14. A child safety locking mechanism according to claim 10, characterised in that the upstanding catch 10c, 30c comprises a bevelled external surface 12, 32 which, when the cabinet door 5a is closed, engages with the lower latch part 13, causing the latch part 4, 34 to ride over the upstanding catch 10c, 30c and come to rest in the hollow 10 with the lower latch part 13 engaged behind the upstanding catch 10c, 30c, preventing the cabinet door from opening.
15. A child safety locking mechanism according to claim 10, characterised in that the lower latch part 13, 33 has a bevelled surface 14, 34 at a lower end thereof