EP0546534B1 - Locking device for the doors of furniture - Google Patents

Abstract

In a locking device for furniture doors, with a locking strip which is located on the body side and which is mounted movably between a locking position and a release position and extends horizontally over the region of two or more doors, the invention proposes that the locking strip be mounted so as to be movable in terms of height, a first height corresponding to the release position and a second height to the locking position, and the locking strip engaging, in its locking position, into recesses located on the door. It thereby becomes possible for the production costs to be capable of being kept as low as possible. Moreover, it becomes possible to actuate the locking strip with very little effort. <IMAGE>

Description

The invention relates to a door lock on a piece of furniture provided with several doors according to the preamble of claim 1.

Such a lock is known for example from DE-U 1 855 357. The locking bar is axially displaced there and in the area of each furniture door has an extension arm which engages in recesses which are provided in the door leaves. The axial, that is to say horizontal, displacement of the locking bar brings the extension arm into or out of engagement with the locking means on the door side.

In contrast to such door locks, a lock for drawers is known from DE-U 72 43 319, in which vertical locking bars are designed so that they extend over the height of several drawers. A connecting rod can connect two bolts and move them into their bolt position or into their release position by a vertical movement. Here, too, the locking bars are moved axially - in this case vertically. They effect the locking not directly, but also via a boom or intermediate means, for example using locking bolts.

In the case of the two known locks, the locking function does not take place via the locking bar, although these components are referred to in the two publications as "locking bars". Rather, the actual locking is always carried out by the cantilevers, which are arranged on the locking ledges.

In any case, it is necessary to guide the locking bars so that appropriate bearings or suspensions are required in the prior art. In addition, the known locks require additional locking means in addition to the locking bars, so that overall relatively expensive and complex constructions are required to create a locking.

The invention has for its object to improve a generic lock for furniture doors so that the manufacturing costs can be kept as low as possible.

This object on which the invention is based is achieved by an embodiment of such a lock according to claim 1.

In other words, the invention proposes a horizontal locking bar, which may extend over the entire furniture front and can thus enable the entire furniture front to be locked. For this purpose, the locking bar is mounted so that it can move in corresponding locking projections can intervene.

As in the prior art, the lock according to the invention uses a locking bar and guide elements for this locking bar. However, the locking itself is not brought about by additional locking elements, for example by means of brackets, locking bolts or the like, but rather directly by the locking bar itself, which can be brought into direct engagement with the recesses on the door side.

An inexpensive embodiment of the lock according to the invention is seen in providing a body-side locking bar which is arranged in the base area of the furniture, so that this locking bar in its raised position comes into engagement with locking elements on the furniture doors and causes the locking of the furniture doors.

Functional and inexpensive guidance of the locking bar via articulated levers is possible which have articulation points arranged in a parallelogram, so that the locking bar can be pivoted upwards and sideways. This enables the locking bar to be actuated with very little effort since there are no sliding or sliding movements. A purely lateral movement, which initially only axially displaces the locking bar, automatically leads to a change in the height of the locking bar due to the parallelogram mounting.

The locking bar can be actuated directly in the area of the locking bar, for example in Base area. If the locking ledge protrudes laterally from the furniture, it can be operated directly by the user, depending on the height of the locking ledge, for example, by a corresponding foot actuation. Furthermore, an eccentric or a toggle lever can be actuated, for example, with the aid of a lock, which can cause the locking bar to be raised or lowered. This actuation option can be concealed behind a panel, a projection or the like, in order to enable the doors to be locked for aesthetic or security reasons without it being possible to see where the actuation option of the locking mechanism is arranged.

Alternatively, a vertical connecting element can be provided for a particularly easily accessible locking actuation, so that a lock, a lever or a similar actuating element for the locking can be arranged at a convenient height, the connecting element making the movement for the locking downward into the area of Transom transfers.

Fig. 1

schematisch einen Querschnitt durch den Sockelbereich eines Möbels, der mit einer erfindungsgemäßen Verriegelung ausgestattet ist,

Fig. 2

die schematische Ansicht dieses Sockelbereichs und

Fig. 3

schematisch eine Draufsicht auf einen Schrank, der mit einer erfindungsgemäßen Verriegelung ausgestattet sein kann.

The invention is explained in more detail below using an exemplary embodiment. It shows

Fig. 1

schematically a cross section through the base area of a piece of furniture which is equipped with a locking device according to the invention,

Fig. 2

the schematic view of this base area and

Fig. 3

schematically shows a plan view of a cabinet with an inventive Lock can be equipped.

1 and 2, the front base area of a cabinet is shown, which has doors 1 on its front. In their lower area, the doors 1 have locking plates 2, while the lower guides of the doors 1 are indicated at 3.

With 4 a skirting board of the cabinet is designated, which supports the cabinet floor 5 at the front.

While the door 1 is usually at a visible distance from the base of the cabinet, namely from the skirting board 4, a flush bottom closure of the cabinet is achieved in the illustrated embodiment. For this purpose, a spacer bar 6 is attached in front of the skirting board 4, an aperture 7 being arranged in front of this spacer bar 6 and being visible from the outside.

If the locking device is arranged at the factory, the spacer bar 6 can be screwed directly onto the skirting board. For retrofitting the locking device, the spacer bar can be firmly screwed to an intermediate plate 8, which projects beyond the height of the spacer bar 6, so that it can be freely connected, for example screwed, to the baseboard 4 from the outside. When the doors 1 are closed, this intermediate plate is covered inaccessibly.

The locking elements in the base area of the cabinet comprise a locking bar 9, which is pivoted with the aid of articulated levers 10 in the manner of a parallelogram is. In its raised position, the locking bar 9 engages between the rear of the door 1 and the locking plates 2, so that opening of the door is prevented.

The embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is the embodiment suitable for retrofitting, since both the body-side locking elements and the locking plates 2 can be retrofitted by simply screwing them on. In a factory version, instead of the locking plates 2, a groove can be provided in the lower edge of the doors 1, in which the locking bar 9 engages.

The locking bar 9 can extend over any length, so that several cabinet doors and possibly an entire cabinet front can be locked.

In the simplest case, the locking bar 9 can be actuated in that the locking bar 9 protrudes laterally out of the cabinet, so that the user can press it axially, for example by foot. During this initially axial movement, the parallelogram-like guidance of the locking bar 9 by the articulated lever 10 has the effect that at the same time there is also a vertical movement of the locking bar 9, so that it is moved into its locking position or into its release position.

Furthermore, the locking bar 9 can be actuated by means of schematically indicated eccentrics or toggle levers which can be arranged in the center or on the side of the locking bar 9 and which act directly upwards or to the side. Due to the parallelogram-like pivoting possibility of the locking bar 9, this bar is inevitably raised or lowered even when the locking bar 9 is acted on from the side.

The actuation can take place, for example, with a lock, the key of which can be removed. For optical or security reasons, this lock can be arranged at the bottom in the area of the cabinet base, the poorer accessibility of this lock often being accepted due to the greater inconspicuity.

A more convenient actuation of the locking can be carried out by a connecting element 11 which is moved vertically and which acts directly on the locking bar 9 or via an eccentric, a toggle lever or the like. In this case, the lock can be placed around waist-high and therefore easily accessible. The lock can either be arranged in the furniture body itself or in one of the doors, the connecting element 11 being able to act on a toggle lever or the like when the door is closed, which then raises or lowers the locking bar 9.

In Fig. 3, a plan view of a folding sliding door cabinet is shown schematically, in which two door leaves are hinged together. The folded door leaves can be moved like a packet across the entire width of the cabinet, it also being possible to arrange two door leaves of this type in a corner, for example in the area of the right front edge of the cabinet.

If the locking bar 9 extends, for example, over the width denoted by s on the cabinet front, the entire cabinet front can be locked or unlocked by actuating only one lock. Due to the storage by means of the articulated lever 10, the locking bar 9 is pivoted and is not slid back and forth, for example. In this way, considerably lower forces are required for actuating the locking bar 9, so that a reliable locking of a large number of furniture doors is effectively possible with little effort, as can be applied, for example, by actuating a lock.

The locks can be arranged at the three positions marked with S :
On the far left, for example, it is indicated that the lock can be arranged within the cabinet body, an attachment in the base area or also raised at the usual closing height being possible here. In the middle, the arrangement of a lock is indicated in the central base area of the cabinet and in the area of the right front edge it is arranged that the lock can also be arranged within a door 1, with the locking bar arranged in the base area of the cabinet then using a connecting element 11 9 can be operated.

In this case, the connection between the actuating means on the door and the locking means on the furniture body must be interrupted. For example, the lock and the connecting element 11 can be arranged on the furniture door, with When the door is closed, the connecting element can act on a toggle lever or the like, which is connected to the locking bar 9.

The lock according to the invention makes it easy to retrofit existing cabinets with a central locking system for several doors

Furthermore, it is possible to design the height of the locking bar 9 differently over its entire length, e.g. by milling out some areas. In this case, only the doors are locked, in the area of which the transom has the full height. In this way, a central locking system can be created, which nevertheless does not lock all doors of a cabinet, but rather leaves certain doors open for free availability.

A similar distinction between lockable and non-lockable doors can be created in the illustrated embodiment in that the locking plates 2 are not provided on all doors 1. In the case of screw-on locking plates 2, such locking plates 2 can be attached or removed in a simple manner in adaptation to the possibly changing conditions.

In contrast to the illustrated embodiment, almost the same locking option can be provided in the upper area of the cabinet, whereby a locking bar similar to the locking bar 9 shown could be arranged behind or in a wreath panel of the cabinet. Here too, it is possible to actuate the locking mechanism in the region of the ring itself, which is relatively difficult to access and therefore easy to hide. As an alternative, however, a conveniently operable device can also be provided in the middle height of the cabinet, which acts on the locking device via a corresponding connecting element.

In contrast to the forced actuation of the locking bar 9, which is forcibly raised and lowered in FIG. 2, the locking bar can also be lowered by its own weight, so that the locking bar is only acted upon in order to raise it. The elimination of the loading itself can already lower the ledge. The forced actuation of the locking bar shown ensures its release position even if the locking bar should chafe against a door and would not be moved downward by its own weight.

Claims (6)

1. A door catch on a piece of furniture provided with a plurality of doors, comprising a catch strip (9) attached to the piece of furniture on the body side, which catch strip (9) is mounted movably between a catch position and a release position and extends horizontally over the area of two or more doors (1), characterized in that the catch strip (9) is mounted so as to be movable to different levels, a first level corresponding to the release position and a second level to the catch position and the catch strip (9) engaging in recesses on the door side in its catch position.
2. A door catch on a piece of furniture provided with a plurality of doors according to claim 1, characterized in that the recesses are formed by striking plates (2) attached to the doors (1).
3. A door catch on a piece of furniture provided with a plurality of doors according to claim 1 or claim 2, characterized by articulated levers (10) which connect the catch strip (9) in the manner of a parallelogram with the body of the furniture.
4. A door catch on a piece of furniture provided with a plurality of doors according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized by a cam for lifting the catch strip (9).
5. A door catch on a piece of furniture provided with a plurality of doors according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized by a bent lever for lifting the catch strip.
6. A door catch on a piece of furniture provided with a plurality of doors according to either of claims 4 or 5, characterized by a substantially vertical connecting member (11) from the area of the catch strip (9) to an actuating member, for example a lock.

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