Storage cabinet assembly

Abstract

A storage cabinet assembly comprises a housing including a pair of sidewalls, a rear wall, and a top wall that cooperate with one another to form a storage area, and a base assembly supporting the housing. The base assembly includes a top wall and a bottom wall that mate together to form an interior space, and a plurality of corner support brackets supporting the top wall from the bottom wall. The storage cabinet assembly further includes a drop-in drawer arrangement, and a drawer interlock assembly adapted to prevent multiple drawers from being simultaneously moved to an opened position.

1 . A storage cabinet assembly, comprising:
 a housing, comprising:
 a pair of sidewalls; 
 a rear wall; 
 a bottom wall; and 
 a top wall that cooperates with the sidewalls, the rear wall and the bottom wall to form a storage area; 
   a pair of drawer slide assemblies operably disposed with the storage area of the housing, each drawer slide assembly comprising:
 a first rail member operably coupled to one of the sidewalls of the housing; and 
 a second rail member telescopingly coupled to the first rail member and including an inner surface and a protrusion spaced along a length of the inner surface and extending inwardly therefrom; and 
   a drawer assembly operably disposed within the storage area of the housing, the drawer assembly comprising;
 a bottom wall including a pair of notches; 
 a rear wall; and 
 a pair of sidewalls cooperating with the bottom wall and the rear wall of the drawer assembly to form an interior space, each of the sidewalls of the drawer assembly include a downwardly-extending tab member disposed within a notch aligned with one of the notches of the bottom wall of the drawer assembly, the protrusion of each of the second rail members engaging a tab of the drawer assembly and substantially vertically aligned with one of the notches of the bottom wall of the drawer assembly. 
   
   
   
       2 . The storage cabinet assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the protrusion of each of the second rail members comprises a loop. 
   
   
       3 . The storage cabinet assembly of  claim 2 , wherein each of the loops is integrally formed with the inner surface of the second rail member. 
   
   
       4 . The storage cabinet assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the protrusion of each of the second rail members is punched from the inner surface of the second rail member. 
   
   
       5 . The storage cabinet assembly of  claim 1 , further including:
 a pair of uprights wherein each upright is fixedly secured to an inner surface of one of the sidewalls, each upright including a plurality of apertures spaced along a length thereof, and wherein the first rail member of each of the drawer slide assemblies includes a pair of outwardly extending hanger tabs engaging the apertures of the uprights, thereby supporting the drawer slide assemblies from the uprights.   
   
   
       6 . A method for assembling a storage cabinet assembly, comprising:
 providing a housing including a pair of sidewalls, a rear wall, a bottom wall, and a top wall that cooperate to form a storage area;   providing a pair of drawer slide assemblies each including a first rail member operably coupled to one of the sidewalls of the housing, and a second rail member telescopingly coupled to the first rail member and including an inner surface and a protrusion spaced along a length of the inner surface and extending inwardly therefrom;   providing a drawer including a bottom wall having a pair of notches, a rear wall, and a pair of sidewalls cooperating with the bottom wall and the rear wall of the drawer assembly to form an interior space, each of the sidewalls including a downwardly-extending tab member disposed within a notch aligned with one of the notches of the bottom wall of the drawer; and   coupling the drawer with the drawer slide assemblies by aligning the notches of the bottom wall of the drawer with the protrusions of the second rail members and moving the drawer towards the drawer slide assemblies such that the protrusions of the second rail members pass through the notches of the bottom wall of the drawer and engage the tabs of the sidewalls of the drawer, thereby operably supporting the drawer within the storage area.   
   
   
       7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the protrusion of each of the second rail members comprises a loop, and wherein the step of coupling the drawer assembly with the drawer slide assemblies includes aligning the notches of the bottom wall of the drawer assembly with the loops of the second rail members and moving the drawer assembly towards the drawer slide assemblies such that the loops of each of the second rail members passes through the notches of the bottom wall of the drawer assembly and the tabs of the sidewalls of the drawer assembly are received within the loops, thereby operably supporting the drawer assembly within the storage area. 
   
   
       8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the protrusion of each of the second rail members is formed by deforming the inner surface of the second rail member. 
   
   
       9 . The method of  claim 8 , further including:
 fixedly securing a pair of uprights to an inner surface of each of the sidewalls, each upright including a plurality of apertures spaced along a length thereof;   providing the first rail member of each of the drawer slide assemblies with a pair of outwardly- extending hanger tabs; and   coupling the drawer slide assemblies with the uprights by engaging the hanger tabs of the first rail members into the apertures of the uprights, thereby supporting the drawer slide assemblies from the uprights.