Organizer with locking mechanism

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10406673-B2
Application number	US-201816189052-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 13, 2018
Priority date	Nov 17, 2017
Publication date	Sep 10, 2019
Grant date	Sep 10, 2019

Abstract

An organizer containing a housing with a plurality of compartments, at least one bin disposed in a compartment and pivotally attached thereto. The organizer further includes a locking mechanism that selectively locks the bin in place when the bin is in its fully closed position. When more than one bins are present, the locking mechanism is also capable of locking a first bin in its fully closed position while simultaneously allowing a second bin to move from its open position to being locked in its fully closed position, without unlocking the first bin.

First claim

We claim:

1. An organizer comprising:
A housing including one or more compartments for receiving a bin;
A first bin disposed in a compartment and comprising a front panel, a back panel, a right side panel, a left side panel, and a bottom panel all of which define an interior portion, wherein said first bin is pivotally attached within the compartment, and is configured to reciprocally move between an open position, a first closed position and a fully closed position, wherein the first closed position is between the open position and the fully closed position, and wherein in the open position, access to the interior portion is unimpeded, and in the first closed position, access to the interior portion is impeded, but the bin is not lockable, and in the fully closed position access to the interior portion is impeded and the bin may selectively be locked in position; and
A locking mechanism for selectively locking one or more bins in their fully closed position, wherein said locking mechanism is configured to reciprocally move between an unlocked position and a locked position,
wherein in the unlocked position, a bin may freely move between its open position and its fully closed position; and
wherein in the locked position, a bin in its fully closed position is locked in place, and a bin in its open position or its first closed position, is freely movable between said positions, and wherein a bin in its first closed position may be moved to the fully closed position at which point it will become locked in place.

2. The organizer of claim 1 , further comprising a second bin disposed in a compartment of the housing, and comprising a front panel, a back panel, a right side panel, a left side panel and a bottom all of which define an interior portion, wherein said second bin is pivotally attached within the compartment, and is configured to reciprocally move between an open position, a first closed position and a fully closed position, wherein the first closed position is between the open position and the fully closed position, and wherein in the open position, access to the interior portion is unimpeded, and in the first closed position, access to the interior portion is impeded, but the bin is not lockable, and in the fully closed position access to the interior portion is impeded and the bin may selectively be locked in position.

3. The organizer of claim 2 , wherein the locking mechanism, when in the locked position is further configured to lock the first bin in the fully closed position and allow the second bin to move from the first closed position to the fully closed position, wherein the second bin will become locked in the fully closed position, without unlocking the first bin from its fully closed position.

4. The organizer of claim 3 , wherein the locking mechanism comprises:
A locking switch accessible from the exterior of the housing and reciprocally movable between a first position and a second position, wherein the first position corresponds to the unlocked position of the locking mechanism and the second corresponds to the locked position of the locking mechanism;
A locking arm connected to the locking switch;
A locking plate comprising a plurality of bin engaging protrusions and engaged to the locking arm, and reciprocally movable between a first position and a second position, wherein the first position corresponds to the unlocked position of the locking mechanism and the second position corresponds to the locked position of the locking mechanism; and
A biasing spring configured to bias the locking plate toward its second position.

5. The organizer of claim 4 , wherein the locking plate further includes locking arm protrusions that define a space there between; and wherein the locking arm further includes a ramp shaped portion, the edge of which is disposed in the space defined by the locking arm protrusions of the locking plate and is configured to be in sliding engagement therewith; and
Wherein, when the locking switch is in its first position, the ramp shaped protrusion of the locking arm holds the locking plate in its first position; and when the locking switch is in its second position, the ramp shaped protrusion holds the locking plate in its second position.

6. The organizer of claim 4 , wherein the bin engaging protrusions of the lock plate include a flexible arm and at least one tapered face.

7. The organizer of claim 6 , wherein the lock switch and lock arm are integrated.

8. The organizer of claim 7 , wherein each compartment of the housing further includes an arc shaped roof that is configured to cover the interior portion of a bin disposed within the compartment.

9. The organizer of claim 8 , further comprising a handle engaged to the housing and configured to allow the entire organizer to be carried therefrom.

10. The organizer of claim 9 , further comprises a back-to-back latch and a latch engaging region.

11. The organizer of claim 10 , further comprises a stacking latch.

12. The organizer of claim 1 , wherein the first bin includes a selectively removable front panel.

13. The organizer of claim 12 , wherein the first bin includes a transparent front panel.

14. The organizer of claim 1 , wherein the first bin is selectively removable from the housing.

15. The organizer of claim 1 , the compartment of the housing further includes at least one bin stop protrusion; and the first bin includes at least one bin stop engagement portion that is configured to engage the bin stop protrusion and allow the first bin to be held in its open position without falling out of the organizer.

16. The organizer of claim 1 , wherein the compartment further includes at least one bin engagement protrusion; and the first bin includes at least one bin engagement protrusion receiving portion, configured to allow the bin to pivot there upon.

Assignees

• Stanley Works Israel

Inventors

• Shechtman Victoria
• Avigad Gal
• Moisa Gilad

Classifications

• B25H3/022 Primary

  in fixed relationship · CPC title

• E05B65/462

  for two or more drawers · CPC title

• E05Y2900/602

  Fixed Constructions · mapped topic

• E05Y2999/00

  Subject-matter not otherwise provided for in this subclass · CPC title