Lazy Susan-type cabinets are found in many dwellings and other structures. Oftentimes occupying a corner of a room, such cabinets typically attempt to make use of such “corner space” by using generally circular shelves which are rotatable about a central axis. A user rotates the shelves to access items stored thereon.
Access to the shelves is usually gained via a wedge-shaped cut at the intersection of the faces of two lines of cabinets. This wedge-shaped cut is often cut into the circular shelf itself, so that in a “closed” position the wedge-shaped cut lines up with the exterior faces of the two lines of cabinets which intersect at the Lazy Susan cabinet. For aesthetic and functional reasons, panels are often added to the exterior of the wedge-shaped cut in the circular shelf, so that in the “closed” position the Lazy Susan cabinet appears to be just two more panels in the sequence of panels which comprise the face of the cabinet lines which intersect at the Lazy Susan cabinet. Such panels are usually deemed to be the “door” of the Lazy Susan cabinet.
In order to access the circular shelves of the Lazy Susan cabinet, the shelves are rotated by a user in either direction. Such rotation facilitates accessing all parts of the shelves as the shelves rotate in a complete circle. In order to allow such rotation, however, the panels attached to the wedge-shaped cut in the shelves must be shaped and sized so that they freely move through the wedge-shaped cut in the cabinet frame. To “open” a Lazy Susan-type cabinet, a user applies a force to one of the panels. The panels rotate along with the circular shelves, facilitating access to the shelves once the panels rotate through the cabinet frame.
It is often desirable to selectively restrict rotation of a Lazy Susan, such as, e.g., when a toddler is roaming around a house and very desirous of determining the contents of the Lazy Susan (the contents of which may be dangerous if consumed). Pet owners also may be desirous of restricting access to the contents of a Lazy Susan by a dog or cat up to mischief. Such restricted access, however, is desirably selective, as such a restriction should be easily by-passable by the owner of the contents in the cabinets (such as the parents of a the toddler or owners of the pet).
It is currently known to facilitate such selective restrictive access by use of child-safety lock(s). In one type of commonly available child-safety device, a cabinet lock is mounted to the frame of a Lazy Susan cabinet. The door of the cabinet is trapped between two restraining members which protrude from the mount. One of the restraining members is fixed, while the other is rotatable between a first position (wherein the door is trapped) and a second position (wherein the door may rotate in a direction opposite from the fixed restraining member). Rotation of the rotatable restraining member is controlled by a rotation-lock which is designed to be child-proof but easily actuated by an adult. In the locked position, the door can not rotate. In the unlocked position, the door is freely rotatable in a direction away from the fixed member until the previously-trapped door member reaches the fixed member after rotation of slightly less than 360°, at which time further rotation in such direction is prohibited by the fixed member. Furthermore, in the unlocked position, the door is not freely rotatable in a direction towards the fixed member while the previously-trapped door member abuts the fixed member (e.g., immediately upon unlocking the door). Such a lock thus does not facilitate continual rotation of the Lazy Susan (i.e., greater than one rotation) and furthermore does not facilitate rotation of the Lazy Susan in a direction toward the fixed member upon unlocking the lock (to facilitate access to contents directly behind the door which is trapped, a user need rotate the Lazy Susan through greater than 300°). Such restrictions are cumbersome and irritating to users who wish to access the Lazy Susan.
Another type of commonly-available child safety device employs dual cabinet locks, each of which is adapted for a cabinet of the type wherein the door rests on the face of the cabinet in the closed position (i.e., the door does not rotate through the frame). Each lock is adapted to prohibit a door from swinging in a direction away from the cabinet frame (e.g., by a hook which is temporarily removable by an adult's finger). One such lock is applied to each of sides of the wedge-shaped frame, so that each frame prohibits rotation of the Lazy Susan in a direction away from each side. Two locks are required, for use of only one lock would prohibit rotation in only one direction, thus freely allowing rotation in the other direction. Such a dual implementation is unsightly and difficult to use because, for instance, often both locks must be undone to facilitate access to the contents of the Lazy Susan (e.g., when searching requires rotation in more than one direction).