Apparatus for locking cabinet drawers

Claim 1

In a file cabinet having top, bottom, rear and side walls and an open front, a plurality of slidable drawers arranged to slide from an inner closed position outwardly through the open front to an open position for removal of contents thereof, a lock means for preventing the movement to said open position of more than one of said drawers at a time, said lock means comprising: a unitary bar slidably carried by one of said side walls adjacent said open front and vertically movable between first and second positions; a rail member extending horizontally and affixed rigidly to a side of each drawer and terminating in a key positioned adjacent but displaced from said bar when said drawers are in said closed position; means for defining an included surface for each drawer rigidly affixed to said bar and extending downwardly toward said open front, said surfaces each being disposed to be engaged by one of said keys when a drawer is moved from its closed position toward its open position and all other drawers are in their closed positions, said bar being moved from its first position vertically upward to its second position as said key moves along and in engagement with said inclined surface, said bar being maintained in said second position solely by said inclined surface defining means for engagement with said rail after said rail is in its second position and during the time said drawer is in other than its closed position; and means for defining a substantially vertical surface for each drawer rigidly affixed to said bar and disposed to abut the key on a drawer when said rod is in its second position.