Furniture tip-over can be tragic
In an average year in the United States, over 2,000 children receive emergency room treatment for furniture tip-over injuries and more than ten never make it home.
A new federal standard
In April 2023 the Consumer Products Safety Commission voted to adopt ASTM F2057-23 as a new mandatory federal standard. This tough new standard will reduce furniture tip overs by requiring a series of performance tests to simulate real world situations.
The interlock problem
The best way to prevent tip over is to control the number of drawers that can be opened at the same time. But traditional drawer interlocks are designed for commercial use products made from rigid manmade materials and assembled in place. They are prone to malfunction when used in wood furniture or when moved.
How heavy?
To comply with new regulations, manufacturers have added dozens of pounds of dead weight to their products, making them more stable but also more hazardous to move and more lethal if they do tip over. Commonly, the added weight comes from VOC-emitting manufactured woods such as medium density fiberboard, particle board, chip board and plywood.
Tension Lock
Tension Lock is a patent-pending system that makes furniture safer. A strong, flexible cord is threaded through the back of each drawer and anchored to the body of the cabinet. The amount of slack in the cord regulates the combined extension of interlocked drawers.
Why Tension Lock?
Products equipped with Tension Lock are 10-20% lighter than products without interlocks. Heavy furniture is more dangerous to move and to use. It requires more fuel to transport and more space to store. When you choose Tension Lock, you are choosing safer products with less VOC-emitting manufactured wood. You are choosing to leave more trees in our forests, less waste in our landfills and more fuel in the earth.