Drawer latch

Abstract

A sliding drawer assembly includes a cabinet frame, a drawer, a drawer handle, and a catch member. The drawer is slideably coupled to the cabinet frame. The drawer includes a front wall and a top wall. The drawer handle has a pivot wall that has an edge that is pivotable about the drawer top wall to allow the drawer handle to move between a drawer retention position and a drawer release position. When the handle is in the drawer retention position and the drawer is in a closed position, the catch member is coupled to the cabinet frame to maintain the drawer in the closed position. When the handle is in the drawer release position and the drawer is in the closed position, the catch member is decoupled from the cabinet frame to allow the drawer to move from the closed position to an open position.

1 . A sliding drawer assembly comprising:
 a cabinet frame;   a drawer slideably coupled to the cabinet frame, the drawer including a front wall and a top wall connected to the front wall, wherein the top wall is oriented generally transverse to the front wall;   a drawer handle having a pivot wall that has an edge that is pivotable about the drawer top wall to allow the drawer handle to move between a drawer retention position and a drawer release position; and   a catch member connected to the drawer handle, wherein when the handle is in the drawer retention position and the drawer is in a closed position, the catch member is coupled to the cabinet frame to maintain the drawer in the closed position, and further wherein when the handle is in the drawer release position and the drawer is in the closed position, the catch member is decoupled from the cabinet frame to allow the drawer to move from the closed position to an open position.   
     
     
         2 . The sliding drawer assembly of  claim 1  wherein the pivot wall is coupled to the drawer top wall such that the pivot wall is oriented generally transverse to the drawer top wall. 
     
     
         3 . The sliding drawer assembly of  claim 1  wherein the pivot wall is coupled to the drawer top wall by an extension of the pivot wall that extends through an opening of the drawer top wall. 
     
     
         4 . The sliding drawer assembly of  claim 3  further comprising a retainer member coupled to the extension to prevent the extension of the pivot wall from being pulled out of the opening of the top drawer wall. 
     
     
         5 . The sliding drawer assembly of  claim 1  further comprising a spring coupled to the drawer and the drawer handle positioned to bias the drawer handle to the drawer retention position. 
     
     
         6 . The sliding drawer assembly of  claim 5  wherein the spring is formed from a flat material. 
     
     
         7 . The sliding drawer assembly of  claim 1  further comprising a flat spring clipped onto the drawer top wall, wherein the flat spring is retained on the drawer top wall by an extension of the handle pivot wall that extends through an opening of the flat spring and into an opening of the drawer top wall. 
     
     
         8 . A sliding drawer assembly comprising:
 a cabinet frame;   a drawer slideably coupled to the cabinet frame;   a drawer handle assembled with the drawer and moveable between a drawer retention position and a drawer release position;   a spring member formed from a flat material having a spring opening, wherein the spring is clipped onto one of the drawer and the drawer handle such that the spring member biases the drawer handle to the drawer retention position, and further wherein the drawer handle is connected with the drawer through the spring opening; and   a catch member connected to the drawer handle, wherein when the handle is in the drawer retention position and the drawer is in a closed position the catch member is coupled to the cabinet frame to maintain the drawer in the closed position, and wherein when the handle is in the drawer release position and the drawer is in the closed position the catch member is decoupled from the cabinet frame to allow the drawer to move from the closed position to an open position.   
     
     
         9 . The sliding drawer assembly of  claim 8 , wherein the drawer includes a top wall having a top wall opening, and the drawer handle includes a wall portion extending through the top wall opening and the spring opening to retain the spring on the drawer top wall. 
     
     
         10 . The sliding drawer assembly of  claim 9  wherein the drawer handle includes a pivot wall coupled to the drawer top wall such that the pivot wall is oriented generally transverse to the drawer top wall. 
     
     
         11 . The sliding drawer assembly of  claim 10  wherein the pivot wall is coupled to the drawer top wall by an extension of the pivot wall that extends through the top wall opening. 
     
     
         12 . The sliding drawer assembly of  claim 9  wherein the drawer handle includes a pivot wall with an edge that is pivotable about the drawer top wall to allow the drawer handle to move between the drawer retention position and the drawer release position. 
     
     
         13 . The sliding drawer assembly of  claim 8  wherein the drawer includes an wall opening at an intersection of a front wall and a top wall of the drawer, and further wherein the drawer handle includes a wall portion that extends through the wall opening of the drawer. 
     
     
         14 . The sliding drawer assembly of  claim 13 , wherein the drawer handle includes a drawer handle opening through the drawer handle wall portion, wherein a drawer pull handle is attached to the drawer through the drawer handle opening. 
     
     
         15 . A method of assembling a drawer handle with a drawer comprising:
 clipping a spring made from flat material onto a drawer top wall such that an opening through the spring is substantially aligned with an opening of the drawer top wall; and   inserting an extension of a drawer handle wall through the spring opening and the wall opening to retain the spring on the drawer top wall.   
     
     
         16 . A sliding drawer assembly comprising:
 a cabinet frame;   a drawer slideably coupled to the cabinet frame, the drawer including a front wall;   a pull handle affixed to the front wall by a connection;   a drawer release handle having a pivot wall that is pivotable about an upper edge of the drawer front wall to allow the drawer release handle to move between a drawer retention position and a drawer release position;   wherein the drawer release handle is retained to the drawer by the connection that affixes the pull handle to the drawer; and   a catch member connected to the drawer release handle, wherein when the drawer release handle is in the drawer retention position and the drawer is in a closed position the catch member is coupled to the cabinet frame to maintain the drawer in the closed position, and wherein when the drawer release handle is in the drawer release position and the drawer is in the closed position the catch member is decoupled from the cabinet frame to allow the drawer to move from the closed position to an open position.   
     
     
         17 . The sliding drawer assembly of  claim 16  wherein the pull handle extends through an opening in the drawer release handle to retain the drawer release handle to the drawer. 
     
     
         18 . The sliding drawer assembly of  claim 16  wherein the drawer release handle is coupled to the drawer front wall by an extension of the pull handle that extends through an opening of the drawer release handle. 
     
     
         19 . The sliding drawer assembly of  claim 16  further comprising a spring coupled to the drawer and the drawer release handle positioned to bias the drawer release handle to the drawer retention position. 
     
     
         20 . The sliding drawer assembly of  claim 19  wherein the spring is connected to the drawer pull handle to couple the spring to the drawer. 
     
     
         21 . The sliding drawer assembly of  claim 19  wherein the spring is formed from a flat material. 
     
     
         22 . The sliding drawer assembly of  claim 16  further comprising a flat spring clipped onto the drawer release handle, wherein the flat spring is retained on the drawer release handle by an extension of the pull handle that extends through an opening of the flat spring and is fastened to the drawer front wall. 
     
     
         23 . A method of assembling a drawer release assembly with a drawer comprising:
 positioning a drawer release handle wall on an edge of a drawer front wall;   inserting an extension of a drawer pull handle through an opening in the drawer release handle wall; and   affixing the drawer pull handle to the drawer front wall such that the drawer release handle is retained to the drawer front wall by said extension and is pivotable about the upper edge of the drawer front wall between a drawer retention position and a drawer release position.   
     
     
         24 . A method of assembling a drawer release assembly with a drawer comprising:
 clipping a spring made from flat material onto a drawer release handle wall such that an opening of the spring is substantially aligned with an opening of the release handle wall;   inserting an extension of a drawer pull handle through an opening of the drawer release handle wall and an opening of the spring; and   affixing the drawer pull handle to the drawer such that the spring is retained to the drawer release handle wall by said extension such that the spring biases the drawer release handle to a drawer retention position.