Pneumatic drawer apparatus
United States Patent 1 1 Becker et a1.  
 1 1 PNEUMATIC DRAWER APPARATUS [76] Inventors: Walter M. Becker; Robert W.  
 Becker, both of c/o Becker Manufacturing Co, lnc., Alta, Iowa 51002 [22] Filed: Oct. 15, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 406,230  
 [52] US. Cl. 232/44; 109/19; 232/433;  
  312/271; 312/330; 312/223 [51] Int. Cl. E06b 7/32; A47b 88/00 [58] Field of Search 109/19; 49/139, 26;  
 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1654.692 H1928 Marios 109/19 2.648.300 8/1953 Bccdle 109/19 2.665.904 111954 Lchmann 49/140 1451 Apr. 29, 1975 2.745.708 5/1956 Cornish 312/31 1 2.758900 8/1956 Marchand 312/223 2,914,244 11/1959 Wheeler 232/44 2.949.870 8/1960 Graber 109/19 3,059,840 10/1962 Graber et a1 109/19 3077243 2/1963 Bums 109/19 X 3,145,918 3/1964 Higgins et all .1 232/431 3,160,408 12/1964 Woods 49/26 3,390,833 7/1968 Harris 109/19 X 3429.082 2/1969 Strickland ct a1 109/19 X Primary Examiner lames T. McCall [57] ABSTRACT A drawer being slideably movable between a first and a second position by a pneumatically powered linkage mechanism or alternatively by a manual operator. A mechanism connected to the drawer for operating a door by movement of the drawer A spring biased lost motion safety device interposed in the door operating mechanism.  
 11 Claims, 10 Drawing Figures PNEUMATIC DRAWER APPARATUS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to moveable drawers, and more particularly to the type of drawer for use in banks wherein a window is positioned above the drawer in between its extreme positions.  
  One of the most critical problems in this kind of drawer is finding a dependable operating mechanism. Another of the critical problems is providing a drawer which is safe for use by even the most inexperienced personnel.  
 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to a safe and dependable pneumatic actuator and a manual backup actuator for moving a door and a drawer simultaneously. The manual backup actuator also serves to disengage the pneumatic actuator.  
  An object of the present invention is to provide a simple and dependable moveable drawer mechanism.  
  Another object is to provide a dependable backup actuating mechanism.  
  A further object of the invention is to provide a door opening mechanism actuated by movement of the drawer.  
  Still another object of the invention is to prevent injury to a human hand if caught in the door.  
 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a partial top view of the cabinet holding the drawer apparatus.  
 FIG. 2 is a side cross-sectional view of the cabinet.  
 FIG. 3 is a front view of the cabinet.  
  FIG. 4 is a partial front view of the cabinet with the front door down but omitting the pneumatic controls normally on the door.  
  FIG. 5 is a partial cross-section side view of the cabinet showing the operating mechanism.  
  FIG. 6 is a partial cross-sectional side view showing the hand placed in the door.  
  FIG. 7 is a perspective, partially exploded view of the pneumatic linkage mechanism.  
  FIG. 8 is a perspective, partially exploded view of the linkage releasing mechanism.  
  FIG. 9 is a perspective, partially exploded view of the door moving mechanism.  
  FIG. 10 is a front view similar to FIG. 4 but showing the pneumatic control apparatus.  
 DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In general the disclosed embodiment of this invention illustrates a cabinet drawer unit I0 as shown in FIGS. I 3 which has a moveable drawer l5 inside thereof. A linkage mechanism 1] (FIG. 7) for moving the drawer I5 is powered by pneumatic controls 12 (FIG. I0). An alternate manual operator 13 (FIG. 8) also operates to release the linkage mechanism 11 (FIG. 7). A door operating mechanism (FIG. 9) operates in response to movement of drawer 15 to open or close door I4.  
  FIG. I shows a cabinet 10 having a top member thereon. A glass partition 16 is mounted on the top member 20 as in devices of this type which are used in banks and similar places. Openings 25, 26 and groove 27 have been cut in top member 20 for reasons which will be discussed hereafter.  
  As shown in FIG. 2 a door 17 is mounted by a hinge to the front of cabinet 10. Access opening 18 leads to a space I9 for the linkage mechanism 11. A storage space 29 has a door 2 and a handle 22 on the front thereof. FIG. 2 shows a drawer 15 which is mounted under cabinet top member 20, and is slideable along conventional tracks 23 (FIG. 4) to and from a position on the left side of glass partition 16 to the position shown in dashed lines on the right side of partition 16. A carpet insert 24 is shown in drawer 15 to facilitate removal of objects or papers placed in the drawer.  
  FIGS. 3 and 4 show from views of the cabinet, FIG. 3 showing door 12 in a closed position and FIG. 4 showing door 14 pivoted to an open position to expose drawer IS and allow access to the actuating mechanisms.  
  A pneumatic cylinder 30 and linkage mechanism for operating the drawer can best be seen in FIGS. 5 7. Pneumatic cylinder 30 is of a conventional type and is pivotally mounted to frame 24 (FIG. 5) at pivot 31. Cylinder 30 forms a part of the motive means and is connected to a lever 32 which is attached to frame 24 by pivot 33. Lever 32 is connected by pivot 34 to a lever 36 which is pivotally connected to the drawer by means of a clevis 37 connected to a housing 38 which. in turn, is rigidly connected to the drawer 15. As can best be seen in FIG. 5 by the use of full and dotted lines. the above stated linkage apparatus, in conjunction with cylinder 30, will move the drawer between its extreme positions.  
  The pneumatic controls 12 which provide the motive power for air cylinder 30 can best be seen in FIG. 10. A main air supply line 41 connects to an air filter 42 which takes the moisture out of the air line and thereby out of the control mechanism. Air filter 42 in turn connects to pressure regulator and gauge 43 to maintain the air pressure at the desired constant pressure. Conventional lubricating device 44 operates to provide a small amount of oil to flow in the line to keep the seals in the cylinder and elsewhere lubricated to prevent their drying out, thus obviating failure of the seals. Conventional valve 46 is mounted on door 17 and is connected to the air supply by connection to lubricating device 44 through line 45. Conventional regulating valve 47, which automatically controls the rate of flow through it, is connected to valve 46 and to line 48 which leads to the back side of cylinder 48. Regulator valve 50, which is similar to valve 57, is also connected to valve 46 and leads to line 49 which in turn leads to the front side of air cylinder 30. Additionally, an exhaust line 51 leads from valve 46 to the atmosphere.  
  A handle 52 (FIG. 3) is mounted on door I7 to operate valve 46 by rotation between two positions. A first position of valve 46 connects the air supply through line 45 to regulating valve 47 and thereby line 48. This supplies the back side of cylinder 30 with air pressure. In that same position of valve 46 a connection is made between regulating valve 50 and thereby line 49 to the atmosphere line 51, to thereby connect the front side of cylinder 30 to the atmosphere, which serves to exhaust any air pressure from the front side of cylinder 30. Rotation of handle 52 to its other extreme position moves valve 46 to reverse the ports of the previous position. In this second position of the valve 46, supply line 45 connects to regulating valve 50 and thereby to line 49 and the front side of cylinder 30. Also in this second position, regulating valve 47 and thereby line 48 and the back side of air cylinder 30 is connected to atmosphere through line 51 to thereby exhaust pressure from the backside of cylinder 30. It is to be understood that cylinder 30 is of a conventional type having a piston forming a chamber on each side thereof. The rear and front chambers connect with lines 48 and 49 respectively.  
  Moving linkage mechanism 32 37 from the position shown in solid lines in FIG. to the position shown in dashed lines in FIG. 5 is effected by moving handle 52 to the other extreme position, which causes fluid (air) to be supplied to line 48 and thereby to the backside of cylinder 30, and to exhaust fluid from the front side of cylinder 30 through line 49 and exhaust line 51. Again moving the handle 52 to its original position moves the linkage mechanism 3237 from the position shown in dotted lines in FIG. 5 to the position shown in solid lines in FIG. 5 by connecting the air supply to the front side of cylinder 30 through line 49 and exhausting the backside of cylinder 30 through line 48. As a result of operation of the linkage mechanism 32 37 and the cylinder 30, the drawer is moved from below the cashier opening 26 to the customer opening 25, and back again.  
  The backup manual actuator can best be seen in FIGS. 5, 7 and 8. A slot 6l is formed in housing 38 for reception of a handle 28 (FIG. 7). At the bottom end of the slot 6] the handle abuts an L-shaped member 62, which is rigidly connected to bar 63. Pivoted bar 63 is biased by spring 65 to the position shown in FlGS. 5 7. Since bar 63 is pivoted at pin 64, the abutment of member 62 with handle 28 causes downward movement of the end of bar 63 having L-shaped member 62 thereon as best shown in FIG. 8, by overcoming the force exerted by spring 64. Once handle 28 moves bar 63 to the position shwon in FIG. 8, pin 66 of clevis 37 is free of slot 67 and is then also free to move from slot 68, which it will readily do by the mere weight of the linkage 36 37.  
  The link 36 then drops down into access opening 18 and the drawer is then free to be moved without moving the linkage and cylinder 30. The handle 28 is also then free to move in groove 27 (FIG. 1) in cabinet top member to thereby effect movement of the drawer between its extreme positions. lt will be understood that the linkage connected to clevis 37 may be easily re-connected to the drawer by sliding pin 66 into slot 68 of housing 38 and then removing handEe 28, whereby spring 39 will move bar 63 clockwise as viewed in FIG. 8 so as to move slot 67 over pin 66 to make a positive pivotal connection.  
  FIG. 9 shows the operating mechanism for door 14. Cylinder 70 is attached to the drawer 15 by pivotal member 71 being fastened to support 39 of manual operator l3. lnside cylinder 70 is disposed a piston-like spring retainer 72 being biased to the left by a coil spring 73 (FIG. 6). Rod 74 is connected to piston-like spring retainer 72 and is in turn connected by pin 76 to lever 77. Lever 77 is rigidly connected at connector 75 to the door 14 by means of rod 78 which is pivotally mounted to the cabinet or frame by pivotal mountings 79.  
  When the drawer 15 is moved from its left extreme position as seen in solid lines in FIG. 5 to its right-most position as seen in dotted lines in FIG. 5, member 39 is, of course, carried along with the drawer l5 and consequently pushes cylinder and thereby lever 77 to the extreme right also. This movement causes the door 14 to also move by pivoting from a position shown in solid lines in FIG. 5 to the position shown in dashed lines in FIG. 5. The cylinder 70 and its associated mechanism forms a lost motion device which serves two basic functions. Spring 73 forces the rod and lever linkage of the drawer to remain in a tightened condition and eliminates the need for adjustments to the linkage and door mounting, to thereby exert a continual closing force upon door 14. More importantly, cylinder 70 and its associated mechanisms, including spring 73, serve as a resilient safety device such that when an object, for example a human hand, is caught between the door 14 and the opening 25 in cabinet top member 20, the spring will absorb the greater part of the closing force rather than the object or hand to thereby prevent injury to the object or hand.  
  From the above it can be seen that a person sitting or standing at the cabinet has leg room under access opening 18, as well as having access to storage space 29 by grasping handle 22 (FIG, 2). Under normal conditions the cabinet has a height more adapted for standing. Objects or papers placed in drawer 15 by the person at the cabinet on the left may then be transferred to a person on the right side of the glass partition 16 by turning switch 52 or by using the manual operator 13 to move the drawer 15 to the right, which opens door 14 simultaneously. Objects or papers may in turn be safely transferred from the right side of the partition 16 to the left side by either the manual or pneumatic actuating devices by merely reversing the process.  
  Obviously many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that, within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.  
 We claim:  
 1. A drawer unit comprising:  
 a frame;  
 a drawer slideably mounted to the frame and having a first and a second position with respect to the frame;  
 a member rigidly attached to the frame having an open space therein which is aligned with said drawer in the second position of the drawer;  
 a door disposed in the open space and mounted on said member for opening or closing the open space;  
 means for moving said door to a closed position when said drawer is in the first position and moving said door to an open position when said drawer is in the second position, and said means for moving includes a lever rigidly connected to said door and operably and pivotally connected to said drawer.  
  2. The drawer unit of claim 1 having resilient means operably connected between the door and the drawer to prevent injury should a human hand be caught between the door and said member.  
 3. The device of claim 1 including:  
 lost motion means mounted between the drawer and the rigid connection of the lever to the door.  
 4. The drawer unit of claim 3 wherein said lost motion means includes a spring biasing means.  
  5. The drawer unit of claim 3 wherein said lost motion means comprises:  
 a cylinder connected to the drawer;  
 a retainer disposed within the cylinder; a rod connected to the retainer and extending into one end of the cylinder; and means biasing the retainer in a direction to exert a closing force upon the door. 6. The drawer unit of claim 1 including: linkage means pivotally connected to said frame at one end and pivotally and opperably connected to said drawer at the other end. and moveable with said drawer to said first and second positions; and motive means for moving said linkage means and thereby said drawer to or from said first and second positions. 7. The drawer unit of claim 6 wherein said motive means comprises a fluid operated cylinder.  
  8. The drawer unit of claim 6 including: alternative means for moving the drawer between the first and second positions of the drawer.  
  9. The drawer unit of claim 8 wherein the alternative means for moving the drawer comprises:  
 a housing attached to said drawer and having an opening therein; a handle for reception into said opening; and means for releasing said linkage from said drawer when said handle is received in said slot. H]. A drawer unit comprising: a frame; a drawer slideably mounted to said frame and having a first and a second position with respect to said frame;  
 a first means for moving said drawer being connected to said frame and having a connection to said drawer;  
 a second alternative means for moving the drawer including a housing having an opening therein and a removeable handle means for reception into the opening; and  
 means for releasing the connection of the drawer to the first means for moving upon insertion of said handle means into said housing.  
  11. The drawer unit of claim 10 wherein said means for releasing the connection of the drawer to the first moving means comprises:  
 a pin connected to the first moving means;  
 a slot in the housing receiving the pin;  
 a bar pivotally attached to the housing;  
 a spring biasing the bar to one position;  
 the handle means being operable to abut one end of the bar and pivot the bar to another position;  
 a slotted portion on the other end of said bar receiving the pin in said one position of the bar to thereby form the connection between the drawer and the first moving means, and the slotted portion being moved from said pin in the other position of said bar to thereby release the pin, l