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Heavy duty industrial drawer systems almost always incorporate a means to latch the drawers shut - especially in a moving vehicle where turns can cause unlatched drawers to slide open. Creating this latching feature has been problematic for years. 

To improve this issue, Austin Hardware introduced our 7650 series "LILO" (Lock-In, Lock Out) heavy duty drawer slides. These innovative drawer slides have a built-in latching mechanism that locks the slide in both the fully closed and the fully open positions. A yellow Trigger on the front of the slide can be depressed to unlock the slide from either position. 

These new slides have been a good improvement; however, some mounting arrangements can sometimes be a bit less user-friendly to use and operate. For instance: The trigger can be hard to reach if mounted near the edge inside a compartment.  The trigger is pressed downward with a finger or thumb, so pulling the drawer outward requires the other hand to grab the drawer or a separately attached handle.  

A wide drawer requires a lock-in, lock-out slide on both sides of the drawer. Often a user cannot even reach both triggers simultaneously to unlock and open the drawer.

The Solution: The Austin Hardware Front Drawer Release (FDR) System

The FDR system is a new patented solution that works in conjunction with the Austin Hardware lock-in, lock-out 7650 series drawer slides.  Key features include: 

Allows One-Handed Operation. 
With the FDR, the drawer can be unlatched and opened from the "latched closed" position; likewise, it can be unlatched & closed from the "latched open" position. A 300# rated drawer can be pulled open with a single finger!

Intuitive to Use
The design, location, and function make operation easy.

Leverage
The operation of the FDR increases the leverage applied to the triggers to make unlatching easy. Potential binding of the latch triggers is minimized.

Flexible
Works with LILO slides on both sides (for wide drawers) or with a single lock­in/lockout slide on only one side only (and a standard slide on the other side).

It is easy to order the FDR part you need. Simply determine the nominal overall width of the drawer (from the left outside face to the right outside face).  The FDR part number is based on this dimension.

The FDR part number is structured as follows:

• The aluminum Handle has steel Pins that extend outward on each side into the covered area of the End Caps. These Pins locate just above the yellow Trigger of the drawer slides.
• When the Handle is pulled outward, it causes the Pins to rotate downward and simultaneously depress the Yellow Triggers which unlocks the slides. The drawer opens in a continuous motion.
• To close the drawer from the locked-out position, pulling out on the handle depresses the triggers which unlock the slides and allows the user to push the drawer closed to lock it in.
  
  

  Applications and Uses: 

  • Fire and Rescue Vehicles
  • Drawer Packs
  • Tool Boxes
  • Display Cases
  • Medical Carts
    

Step 1: Mount Drawer Slides.  The centerline of the 7650 slides must be mounted 1.50” above the bottom of the drawer. This ensures that the trigger is properly located when the FDR is mounted.

Step 2: Identify the Fastening Areas: The thick ribs on the back surface of the extrusion are where the fasteners will be located. The lower rib is 1.25” above the bottom of the drawer and the upper rib is .95” above the lower rib.

Step 3: Prepare the Drawer: Pre-punching holes (or horizontal slots) in the front wall of the drawer is not required, but doing so will make installation easier and faster. Typically, drawers 30” wide or less only need four (4) fasteners. Wider drawers may require more fasteners in the middle (determined at the discretion of the installer).

Step 4: Choose the Fastener: Austin Hardware supplies a wide variety of fasteners that will work to secure the FDR to your drawer:

TEK Screws: A #8 or #10 x 5/8 self-drilling screws eliminate the need to pre-drill holes in the FDR ribs prior to mounting.

Pop Rivets: A 3/16” aluminum rivet is ideal in pre-drilled holes.

Machine Screws: #10 or 1/4” screws can be used if the drawer has clearance holes and the FDR ribs holes are drilled and tapped.

• Slide the pins of the FDR over the top of the triggers on the drawer slides.
• As the FDR contacts the drawer face, locate the lower lip of the FDR against the bottom front corner of the drawer
• Press/hold the back of the extrusion against the front of the drawer, and secure the FDR to the drawer with your fastener of choice.
  

FDR Hooks: Used for "Lock-In Only" applications, the hooks allow the FDR to slam closed and then hold the FDR closed. This arrangement can allow the use of standard non­locking drawer slides. Note: this requires a different FDR length calculation than the standard shown above.