U.S. patent application number 12/389387 was filed with the patent office on 2010-03-18 for drawer latch mechanism.
This patent application is currently assigned to INVENTEC CORPORATION. Invention is credited to Lin-Wei Chang.
Application Number | 20100066223 12/389387 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 41819428 |
Filed Date | 2010-03-18 |
United States Patent
Application |
20100066223 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Chang; Lin-Wei |
March 18, 2010 |
DRAWER LATCH MECHANISM
Abstract
This present invention relates to a drawer latch mechanism,
implementing to a drawer for removable hard drives in a server
computer. The drawer latch mechanism comprises a latch member,
which extends from the front edge of the drawer to the lateral edge
of the drawer. The latch member is installed on the front edge of
the drawer to be moved back and forth thereon. The latch member is
applied to insert to a corresponding a lock hole to secure the
drawer to a drawer shelf. The drawer latch mechanism further
comprises a swivel member to withdraw the latch member from the
lock hole.
Inventors: |
Chang; Lin-Wei; (Taipei
City, TW) |
Correspondence
Address: |
BRIAN M. MCINNIS
12th Floor, Ruttonjee House, 11 Duddell Street
Hong Kong
HK
|
Assignee: |
INVENTEC CORPORATION
TAIPEI CITY
TW
|
Family ID: |
41819428 |
Appl. No.: |
12/389387 |
Filed: |
February 20, 2009 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
312/333 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G11B 33/124 20130101;
E05C 1/12 20130101; E05B 2015/1692 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
312/333 |
International
Class: |
A47B 88/12 20060101
A47B088/12; A47B 88/04 20060101 A47B088/04 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Sep 18, 2008 |
TW |
97135858 |
Claims
1. A drawer latch mechanism for securing a drawer to a lock hole of
a drawer shelf, the drawer latch mechanism comprising: a latch
member comprising: a front portion disposed in contact with a front
edge of the drawer; an extension portion connected to the front
portion and extending along a lateral edge of the drawer; an latch
end being bent from the extension portion to be inserted into the
lock hole of the drawer shelf; and two slots formed at one end of
the front portion; a resilient recovery unit disposed on the front
portion and the front edge of the drawer to provide a recovery
force to the latch member; a first horizontally positioning unit
disposed on the front portion and the front edge of the drawer to
limit the latch member to slide back and forth along the front edge
of the drawer; a second horizontally positioning unit disposed on
the extension portion and the lateral edge of the drawer to further
limit the latch member to slide back and forth along the front edge
of the drawer; and a swivel member pivotally connected with the
front edge of the drawer and coupled with the two slots to drive
the latch member against the recovery force so as to pull the latch
end out of the lock hole of the drawer shelf.
2. The drawer latch mechanism of claim 1, wherein the resilient
recovery unit comprises: a latch housing disposed on the front
portion; a block disposed on the front edge of the drawer; and a
resilient spring disposed within the latch housing to provide the
recovery force.
3. The drawer latch mechanism of claim 1, wherein the first
horizontally positioning unit comprises: a guide column disposed on
the front edge of the drawer; and a guide slot formed on the front
portion and slidably connected with the guide column to limit the
latch member to slide within a length of the guide slot.
4. The drawer latch mechanism of claim 1, wherein the second
horizontally positioning unit comprises: a protrusion column
disposed on the lateral edge of the drawer; and a guide hole formed
on the extension portion and slidably connected with the protrusion
column to guide the latch member to slide back and forth.
5. The drawer latch mechanism of claim 4, wherein the protrusion
column has a round end for easily insert into the guide hole.
6. The drawer latch mechanism of claim 1, wherein the extension
portion is shorter than the front portion.
7. The drawer latch mechanism of claim 1, wherein the latch member
is driven against the recovery force so as to pull the latch end
out of the lock hole of the drawer shelf when the swivel member is
swiveled upright relative to the front portion.
8. The drawer latch mechanism of claim 1, wherein the latch end
comprises an inclined surface to interfere with the lock hole when
the latch end is being inserted into the lock hole.
9. The drawer latch mechanism of claim 1, wherein the extension
portion and the two slots are disposed at two opposite ends of the
front portion.
10. The drawer latch mechanism of claim 1, wherein the latch member
is a single unitary component.
11. The drawer latch mechanism of claim 1, wherein the extension
portion is substantially perpendicular to the front portion, the
latch end is substantially perpendicular to the extension
portion.
12. The drawer latch mechanism of claim 11, wherein the latch end
is substantially in parallel with the front portion.
Description
RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims priority to Taiwan Application
Serial Number 97135858, filed Sep. 18, 2008, which are herein
incorporated by reference.
BACKGROUND
[0002] 1. Field of Invention
[0003] The present invention relates to a drawer latch mechanism.
More particularly, the present invention relates to a latch
mechanism of a drawer for accommodating removable sever hard
drives.
[0004] 2. Description of Related Art
[0005] FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional drawer latch mechanism,
which has two parallel guide columns 21 located on a front edge 20
of a drawer. A latch member 10 has two guide slots 11 to
respectively engage with two guide columns 21 such that the latch
member 10 can be slid along the front edge 20 of the drawer back
and forth to lock or unlock the drawer to a drawer shelf.
[0006] The latch member 10 has a handle 12 for users to be exerted
force upon such that the latch member 10 can be pulled against a
resilient spring 14 to unlock the drawer. The handle 12 needs to be
long enough at least for fingers to exert force upon such that the
handle 12 usually occupies more space. For the forgoing reasons,
there is a need for improving the drawer latch mechanism.
SUMMARY
[0007] It is therefore an objective of the present invention to
provide an improved drawer latch mechanism.
[0008] In accordance with the foregoing and other objectives of the
present invention, a drawer latch mechanism is provided for
securing a drawer to a lock hole of a drawer shelf. The drawer
latch mechanism includes a latch member, a resilient recovery unit,
a first horizontally positioning, a second horizontally positioning
unit and a swivel member. The latch member includes the following
components. A front portion is disposed in contact with a front
edge of the drawer. An extension portion is connected to the front
portion and extends along a lateral edge of the drawer. A latch end
is bent from the extension portion to be inserted into the lock
hole of the drawer shelf. Two slots are formed at one end of the
front portion. The resilient recovery unit is disposed on the front
portion and the front edge of the drawer to provide a recovery
force to the latch member. The first horizontally positioning unit
is disposed on the front portion and the front edge of the drawer
to limit the latch member to slide back and forth along the front
edge of the drawer. The second horizontally positioning unit is
disposed on the extension portion and the lateral edge of the
drawer to further limit the latch member to slide back and forth
along the front edge of the drawer. The swivel member is pivotally
connected with the front edge of the drawer and coupled with the
two slots to drive the latch member against the recovery force so
as to pull the latch end out of the lock hole of the drawer
shelf.
[0009] Thus, the present invention provides a drawer latch
mechanism, which is equipped with a swivel member to exert a force
to slide the latch member. The swivel member is designed to be long
enough to increase drive force toward the latch member and can be
laid against the swivel member to occupy less space when the latch
member is not used to drive the latch member.
[0010] It is to be understood that both the foregoing general
description and the following detailed description are by examples,
and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as
claimed.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0011] The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further
understanding of the invention, and are incorporated in and
constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate
embodiments of the invention and, together with the description,
serve to explain the principles of the invention. In the
drawings,
[0012] FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional drawer latch
mechanism;
[0013] FIG. 2 illustrates an exploded view of a drawer latch
mechanism according to one preferred embodiment of this
invention;
[0014] FIG. 3 illustrates the drawer latch mechanism in FIG. 2 in
an assembly status; and
[0015] FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 illustrates two operation statuses of a
drawer latch mechanism according to one preferred embodiment of
this invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0016] Reference will now be made in detail to the present
preferred embodiments of the invention, examples of which are
illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the
same reference numbers are used in the drawings and the description
to refer to the same or like parts.
[0017] FIG. 2 illustrates an exploded view of a drawer latch
mechanism according to one preferred embodiment of this invention.
FIG. 3 illustrates the drawer latch mechanism in FIG. 2 in an
assembly status. The drawer latch mechanism includes a latch member
100 assembled to a corner of a drawer 200. The latch member 100
includes a front portion 110, an extension portion 120, a latch end
130 and two slots (115a, 115b) to form a single unitary component.
The front portion 110 is disposed in contact with a front edge 210
of the drawer 200. The extension portion 120 bends from an end of
the front portion 110 and extends along a lateral edge 220 of the
drawer 200. The latch end 130 bends from an end of the extension
portion 120. The extension portion 120 is substantially
perpendicular to the front portion 110, and the latch end 130 is
substantially perpendicular to the extension portion 120. Thus, the
latch end 130 is substantially in parallel with the front portion
110. The extension portion 120 and the two slots (115a, 115b) are
disposed at two opposite ends of the front portion 110. The two
slots (115a, 115b) are formed on a pair of opposite protrusions
(113a, 113b) at the end of the front portion 110.
[0018] The front portion 110 has a latch housing 112, which
includes an accommodation space facing the front edge 210 of the
drawer 200. A side wall of the latch housing 112 protrudes out as a
fastener 114. The front portion 110 also has a guide slot 111. The
extension portion 120 is shorter than the front portion 110, and
has a guide hole 121 in its central section.
[0019] The latch end 130 is operable to be inserted into a lock
hole 420 of a drawer shelf 400 (see FIG. 4). The latch end 130 has
inclined surface 131 to interfere with the wall 410 for easily
inserted into the lock hole 420 when the latch end 130 is being
inserted into the lock hole 420.
[0020] A block 211 is located on the front edge 210 of the drawer
200 to be placed within the accommodation space of the latch
housing 112. A resilient spring 300, which has an end secured to
the block 211 and an opposite end against an inner wall of the
latch housing 112, is also disposed within the latch housing to
provide a recovery force for the latch member 100 when the latch
member 100 is pulled out of the lock hole 420 of the drawer shelf
400. The block 211, the latch housing 112 and the resilient spring
300 can be regarded as a resilient recovery unit for the drawer
latch mechanism in the present invention.
[0021] A guide column 212 (such as a bolt) is screwed into a screw
hole 212a on the front edge 210 of the drawer 200. The guide column
212 engages with the guide slot 111 of the latch member 100 such
that the latch member 100 can be slid back and forth along the
front edge 210 of the drawer 200. The guide column 212 and the
guide slot 111 can be referred as a first horizontally positioning
unit for the latch member 100.
[0022] A protrusion column 221 is located on the lateral edge 220
of the drawer 200 to engage within the guide hole 120 of the latch
member 100. The protrusion column 221 has a round end for easily
insert into the guide hole 121 such that the latch member 100 can
be further guided to slide along the front edge 210 of the drawer
200 back and forth. The protrusion column 221 and the guide hole
120 can be regarded as a second horizontally positioning unit for
the latch member 100 in addition to the first horizontally
positioning unit.
[0023] The swivel member 213 can be a metallic wire of the symbol
"", which has a top section 213a pivotally connected with the front
edge 210 of the drawer 200, such that the swivel member 213 can be
swiveled relative to the front edge 210. The swivel member 213 is
coupled with the two slots (115a, 115b) of two protrusions (113a,
113b) to drive the latch member 100 against a recovery force (of
the resilient spring 300) so as to pull the latch end 130 out of
the lock hole 420 of the drawer shelf 400. The latch member 100 may
be or may not be with equipped the slot (115a or 115b) to be driven
by the swivel member 213. Without the slot (115a or 115b), the
swivel member 213 is still properly coupled with the two
protrusions (113a, 113b) to drive the latch member 100. When the
swivel member 100 is swiveled to be laid against the front portion
110, the metallic wire of the symbol "" has its bottom section 213b
engaging the fastener 114 (as illustrated in FIG. 4).
[0024] The first and second horizontally positioning units are to
guide and limit the latch member 100 to slide along the front edge
210 of the drawer 200 back and forth. The resilient recovery unit
is to provide a recovery force for the latch member 100 to maintain
the latch end 130 to engage into the lock hole 420 of the drawer
shelf 400 such that the drawer 200 can be secured to the drawer
shelf 400.
[0025] FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 illustrates two operation statuses of a
drawer latch mechanism according to one preferred embodiment of
this invention. FIG. 4 illustrates a lock status of the latch
member 100. The resilient recovery unit provides a recovery force
for the latch member 100 to insert the latch end 130 into the lock
hole 420 of the drawer shelf 400. In such lock status of the latch
member 100, the swivel member 213 did not exert any force to the
two slots (115a, 115b) and the swivel member 213, which is a
metallic wire of the symbol "", has its bottom section 213b
engaging the fastener 114. When the swivel member 100 is laid
against the front portion 110, the swivel member 100 occupies less
space than a conventional handle 12 does (as illustrated in FIG.
1). FIG. 5 illustrates an unlock status of the latch member 100. In
such unlock status of the latch member 100, the drawer 200 can be
pulled out or pushed into the drawer shelf 400 at will. The swivel
member 213 is swiveled upright relative to the front edge 210 of
the drawer 200 to exert force to the two slots (115a, 115b) such
that the latch member 100 is driven against the recovery force of
the resilient spring 300 so as to pull the latch end 130 out of the
lock hole 420 of the drawer shelf 400.
[0026] According to discussed embodiments, the present invention
provides a drawer latch mechanism, which is equipped with a swivel
member to exert a force to slide the latch member. The swivel
member is designed to be long enough to increase drive force toward
the latch member and can be laid against the swivel member to
occupy less space when the latch member is not used to drive the
latch member.
[0027] It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various
modifications and variations can be made to the structure of the
present invention without departing from the scope or spirit of the
invention. In view of the foregoing, it is intended that the
present invention cover modifications and variations of this
invention provided they fall within the scope of the following
claims and their equivalents.
* * * * *