Safety cabinet with interlock mechanism

1. A safety cabinet comprising:

an enclosure defining an opening;

a door rotatably attached to the enclosure, the door moveable between an open position and a closed position, the door configured to selectively cover at least a portion of the opening of the enclosure when in the closed position;

an interlock mechanism arranged with at least one of the enclosure and the door, the interlock mechanism including a mounting element, a fusible link, a catch, and a biasing mechanism, wherein:

the fusible link interconnects the mounting element and the catch,

the catch is movable over a range of travel between a retracted position, in which the catch is in non-interlocking relationship with the door and the enclosure, and an interlocked position, in which the catch is in interlocking relationship with the door and the enclosure when the door is in the closed position to constrain relative movement between the door and the enclosure,

the biasing mechanism is arranged with the catch to urge the catch to the interlocked position, and

the fusible link is connected to the catch such that the catch is constrained from moving to the interlocked position by the fusible link, and the fusible link is configured to melt at a predetermined temperature to thereby disconnect the catch from the mounting element to allow the biasing mechanism to move the catch relative to the mounting element to the interlocked position;

a latch system arranged within the door to selectively retain the door in the closed position, the latch system including a first latch rod assembly, the first latch rod assembly having a latch rod comprising the mounting element of the interlock mechanism and a distal latch rod segment comprising the catch of the interlock mechanism, the distal latch rod segment connected to the latch rod with the fusible link of the interlock mechanism, the latch system operable to selectively move the catch of the interlock mechanism over a range of travel between the retracted position and an intermediate extended position in which the catch is in interfering relationship with the door and the enclosure, the intermediate extended position disposed between the retracted position and the interlocked position, and the fusible link connected to the catch such that the catch is prevented from moving from the intermediate extended position to the interlocked position until the fusible link melts at the predetermined temperature.

2. The safety cabinet of claim 1 , wherein the distal latch rod segment includes a distal bevel end, and the catch of the interlock mechanism comprises the distal bevel end of the distal latch rod segment.

3. The safety cabinet of claim 1 , wherein the distal latch rod segment includes a bullet slam latch, the catch of the interlock mechanism comprising the bullet slam latch, the bullet slam latch including a guide rod, a canister, and a bullet catch, the bullet catch disposed within the canister and moveable over a range of travel between a retracted position, an intermediate extended position, and the interlocked position, the bullet catch biased to the interlocked position, the guide rod connected to the fusible link such that the fusible link constrains the bullet catch of the bullet slam latch from moving to the interlocked position.

4. The safety cabinet of claim 1 , wherein the biasing mechanism is comprises a spring cooperatively arranged with the distal latch rod segment to bias the catch to the intermediate extended position.

5. The safety cabinet according to claim 1 , wherein the interlock mechanism comprises a first interlock mechanism, and the latch system includes a second latch rod assembly having a second latch rod and a second distal latch rod segment, and further comprising a second interlock mechanism associated with the second latch rod assembly.

6. The safety cabinet of claim 5 , wherein the second interlock mechanism includes a second mounting element, a second fusible link, a second catch, and a second biasing mechanism, wherein:

the second fusible link interconnects the second mounting element and the second catch,

the second catch is movable over a range of travel between a retracted position, in which the second catch is in non-interlocking relationship with the door and the enclosure, and an interlocked position, in which the second catch is in interlocking relationship with the door and the enclosure when the door is in the closed position to constrain relative movement between the door and the enclosure,

the second biasing mechanism is arranged with the second catch to urge the second catch to the interlocked position,

the second fusible link is connected to the second catch such that the second catch is constrained from moving to the interlocked position by the second fusible link, and the second fusible link is configured to melt at a predetermined temperature to thereby disconnect the second catch from the second mounting element to allow the second biasing mechanism to move the second catch relative to the second mounting element to the interlocked position, and

wherein the second latch rod comprises the second mounting element of the second interlock mechanism and the second distal latch rod segment comprises the second catch of the second interlock mechanism.

7. The safety cabinet of claim 6 , wherein the latch system includes a paddle handle adapted to selectively actuate the latch system to move the first and second catches from the intermediate extended position to the retracted position.

8. The safety cabinet of claim 7 , wherein the latch system includes a bullet slam latch to provide a three-point latch system.

9. The safety cabinet of claim 8 , wherein the first and second latch rod assemblies and the bullet slam latch are configured such that the door is movable from the open position to the closed position without the actuation of the paddle handle.

10. The safety cabinet of claim 9 , further comprising:

a closure system to bias the door to the closed position.

11. The safety cabinet of claim 10 , further comprising:

a retaining system to retain the door in the open position, the retaining system having a fusible link, the fusible link mounted to the door and to the enclosure, the fusible link being configured such that the fusible link will melt when the ambient temperature is at a second predetermined temperature to thereby detach the fusible link from the enclosure to allow the closure system to move the door to the closed position the second predetermined temperature being less than the predetermined temperature of the fusible link of the interlock mechanism.

12. The safety cabinet of claim 1 , wherein the mounting element of the interlock mechanism is disposed within the enclosure and mounted thereto.

13. The safety cabinet of claim 1 , wherein the door includes an access panel through which the catch is accessible to allow the catch to be moved from the interlocked position to the retracted position.

14. The safety cabinet of claim 1 , further comprising:

a second door rotatably attached to the enclosure, the second door being rotatable between an opened position and a closed position, the doors, when in the closed position, cooperating with each other to cover the opening of the enclosure.

15. An interlock mechanism for selectively retaining a door of a safety cabinet in a closed position, the interlock mechanism including a mounting element, a fusible link, a catch, and a biasing mechanism, wherein:

the fusible link is connected to both the mounting element and the catch;

the catch is movable over a range of travel between a retracted position and an interlocked position;

the biasing mechanism arranged with the catch to urge the catch to the interlocked position; and

the fusible link is connected to the catch such that the catch is constrained from moving to the interlocked position by the fusible link, and the fusible link is configured to melt at a predetermined temperature to thereby allow the biasing mechanism to move the catch to the interlocked position;

wherein the catch comprises a bullet slam latch including a guide rod, a canister, and a bullet catch biased to the interlocked position, the guide rod connected to the fusible link such that the fusible link constrains the bullet catch of the bullet slam latch from moving to the interlocked position.

16. The interlock mechanism of claim 15 , wherein the biasing mechanism comprises a spring.

17. The interlock mechanism of claim 15 , wherein the bullet catch is moveable over a range of travel between the retracted position, an intermediate extended position, and the interlocked position, and the fusible link, the guide rod and the bullet catch are associated such that the bullet catch is prevented from moving from the intermediate extended position to the interlocked position at least until the fusible link melts, but is allowed to move over a range of travel between the retracted position and the intermediate extended position.