AU2008258144B2

AU2008258144B2 - Improvements in Locks

Info

Publication number: AU2008258144B2
Application number: AU2008258144A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Russell John Watts
Original assignee: Allegion Australia Pty Ltd
Current assignee: Allegion Australia Pty Ltd
Priority date: 2006-03-27
Filing date: 2008-12-17
Publication date: 2013-01-31
Anticipated expiration: 2027-03-07
Also published as: AU2008258144A1

Abstract

Abstract A lock including a strike plate characterized by an aperture defined in part by an 5 engaging lip, said look including a casing, a engaging member supported by the casing and having an angled wall, said angled wall and lip cooperable to prove enhanced engagement between the engaging member and strike plate.

Description

IMPROVEMENTS IN LOCKS SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to a first aspect of the invention there is disclosed herein a lock comprising: a strike plate defining a strike recess, the strike plate including one or more protruding tab(s) extending into the strike plate recess; and a casing operatively associated with the strike plate, the casing including an engaging member adapted to pass through the strike plate recess, the engaging member being elongate and defining a longitudinal axis which extends outwardly from a casing end to a leading end of the engaging member, wherein the engaging member: (i) defines an engaging member recess adapted to receive and hold the protruding tab, the engaging member recess including an angled wall adapted to cooperate with the protruding tab to provide engagement between the engaging member and the strike plate, the angled wall defining an acute angle relative to a portion of the longitudinal axis extending from the angled wall to the leading end of the engaging member; and (ii) defines at least one continuous rail adapted to guide the engaging member through an aperture in the casing. Preferably at least one angled wall extends from the at least one rail. Preferably the lock comprises at least one pair of spaced rails adapted to guide the engaging member through the aperture in the casing. Preferably the lock is a security door lock. Preferably the engaging member has two opposing sides including a single angled wall. Preferably each angled wall extends outwardly from a sloping floor. The elements relating to the various aspects of the invention claimed within are identified within the specification as follows: where unless the context requires otherwise, " "Locks" or variations such as "lock" will be understood to include complete locks for wings; improvements in and alternative forms of lock means transportable into other locks and other devices without being limited to the complete locks described herein. " "Comprise" or variations such as "comprises" or "comprising" will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated integer or group of integers but not the exclusion of any other integer or group of integers, 2 * Positional prepositions such as "rear" and "forward" are used to assist in description of the preferred embodiments and with reference to the accompanying drawings and have in general, no absolute significance, * "Overlap" and derivations such as "overlaps" implies at least in-part, occupying a same plane as. " "Meshes with" implies being engaged with - for example, an angularly displaceable shaft meshing with a recess in an angularly displaceable pinion so as to angularly displace together; this is not precluding the shaft displacing longitudinally to and from the recess, * "Extent" will be understood to embrace area, form and shape. " Headings are included for convenience only and not to affect on interpretation. * "Preferably" or variations such as "prefer" does not imply that the form of an integer is restricted to that referred to as preferred, but implies adequate and if need be, able to adequately perform a function required by the invention. * "Alternative" or variations such as alternatively does not imply that the form includes a handle supported by a base that together in one form comprise a disengaging handle supported by a back-plate or base; * "Handle" includes a knob and lever; " "Disengaging Handle" includes a lever or knob that is hand operable to cause an engaging member to become disengaged and/or retracted " "Base" includes a Rose that may include a surface mounted member having a recess on the underside and it includes a back plate, " "Back Plate" (or "back-plate") includes a surface mounted box-like member having a recess on the underside. " "Engaging Member" is a member displaceable to and from an operative 3 of an integer is less or more preferred but simply implies adequate and if need be, able to adequately perform a function required by the invention. * "Improvements' does not imply that the form of an integer is restricted to that referred to as "improved", but implies an alternative form of the integer/s "well suited" 5 to particular applications and if need be, able to adequately perform a function required by the invention. * 'Wing" or variations such as "wings" includes complete wings; improvements in and alternative forms of wing constructions transportable into other wings and other structures without being limited to the wings described herein, and more particularly, 10 wings embraces wings configured as "doors", "windows", "shutters", "screens" and gates, * "Structure" or variations such as "structures" implies a man-made fabrication consisting of one or more members and embraces complete structures; improvements in and alternative forms of constructions without being limited to the wings and 15 described herein, structures more particularly embraces wings and more particularly wings configured as (or included in) doors, windows, window screens, gates and shutters, * "Member" is an identifiable entity having material form that may include one or more identifiable components, 20 - "Material" includes elements, alloys, plastics and other substances. * "Aperture" and "recess" embrace a hole that extends from a surface while "aperture" in some contexts more particularly implies a hole that extends between surfaces. "Furniture" includes door furniture that includes a "handle assembly" that 25 includes a handle supported by a base that together in one form comprise a disengaging handle supported by a back-plate or base; * "Handle" includes a knob and lever; * "Disengaging Handle" includes a lever or knob that is hand operable to cause an engaging member to become disengaged and/or retracted 30 "Base" includes a Rose that may include a surface mounted member having a recess on the underside and it includes a back plate, * "Back Plate" (or "back-plate") includes a surface mounted box-like member having a recess on the underside. * "Engaging Member" is a member displaceable to and from an operative 4 configuration, a configuration the engaging member assumes when participating in engagement with an engageable means; within this specification operative configuration and fully displaced are used synonymously and inoperative configuration is used synonymously with retracted 5 a "Latching" implies displacement of an "engaging member" into engagement with an "engageable member" under the action of biasing means. * "To engage" implies displacement of an "engaging member" into engagement with an "engageable member" * "To disengage" means to withdraw from engagement or withdrawal 10 from the operative disposition to an inoperative disposition removed from the said engagement. Within this specification, and for ease of description, with respect to the engaging members, retracted embraces inoperative, S"Latch-Bot" or "latch bolt" is an outwardly biased bolt capable of executing (or participating in) latching and includes bolts having a leading end that is chamfered 15 or otherwise profiled on one or both sides. * "Auxiliary bolt" is a plunger that is operably associated with a latch bolt. * "Unlatching" means withdrawal of the engaging member from engagement. " "Locking" means the act of configuring the lock to restrain it from being disengaged and in some forms of locks employing deadlocking slides, it means 20 restraining the deadlocking slide to restrain the bolt from being inwardly displaced in response to operation of the disengaging lever. a "Screen door' means a door including a frame and an insect restraining in-fill such as fiberglass mesh, woven mesh or perforated metal mesh; a conventional Australian security door frame has an axial hollow substantially MM deep and 25 substantially 40 to 42.00 Wide and an edge channel substantially 3.0 MM wide that extends outwardly from a 1.5 thick edge wall of the frame; this frame is prepared for acceptance of a conventional Australian security door lock by pressing a slotted aperture in the edge of the frame substantially 16 MM Deep x substantially 160MM High. 30 * "Lock Body" includes an engaging member and a lock casing; a conventional Australian security door lock includes a casing that is substantially 14.50 to 15.5 Deep, substantially 38.5 MM Wide and substantially 146 MM High. * "Mortise Lock" means a lock including a lock body, a strike plate, a pair of handle assemblies and a cylinder where the lock body is configured to be fitted within 35 the frame of the structure.

5 "Single cylinder" means a lock cylinder comprising a separate sub-assembly that includes a key operable barrel within a cylinder housing and means to link the barrel to further lock means. * "Double-Cylinder" comprises a double lock cylinder being a separate sub 5 assembly that includes opposed coaxially supported barrels each operably connected to the same angularly displaceable "first cam" having a "first cam arm" characterized by a "free end" that extends radially to a "peripheral surface" defined in part by a common radial distance from the first cam pivotal axis and where in a conventional double cylinder this radial distance is 15.0 MM. 10 0 "Cross-Sectional View" in relation to figures should be interpreted as an orthogonal cross-sectional view defined by a plain orthogonal to the longitudinal axis of the member in consideration. * Patent Specification implies inclusion of: a Body including a Title, a Description of Preferred Embodiment/s, an Abstract and a Summary of the Invention) 15 and a specification will include Claims, Unless the context requires otherwise, any prior publications and usage referred to herein, is not an assertion that any of this material forms part of the common general knowledge in the art in any other country at the priority date of any claim herein (or the priority date of any future claim derived at least in part from this specification). 20 The integers described within include those related to the various aspects of the invention claimed within and they include those related to the various aspects of other inventions to be claimed in future divisional applications and continuations in part. Where an integer is attributed with attributes different from those attributed in an earlier application on which this application relies for priority, the integer will be 25 considered to be the same integer in a different form; where there is actual inconsistency, the latest description will prevail. The inventions within, amongst other things, describe improvements for locks having engaging members that are displaceable to an operative configuration that may comprise an extended disposition; said improvements including an improved 30 engaging member and an improved strike plate. Such a lock is described in Patent Specification AU199349195 and derived divisional patents; in Patent Specification AU1994 77719 and derived divisional patents; in PCT/AU04/000764 and PCTAU05/000532 and their respective derived divisional patents; said aforementioned Patent Specifications being included in their entirety by reference. The inventions within 6 are described in the context of the locks described in these patents but they are not limited to these applications. Description of the Drawings Embodiments of the present invention will now be described by way of 5 example only with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Fig. I is an isometric view of a lock in a door, Fig. 2 is an isometric view of a strike plate positioned relative to the lock, Fig. 3 is an enlarged view of the lock of Fig 1, Fig. 4 is a horizontal cross-section through the engaging member and casing. 10 Fig. 5 is an isometric view of a lock body having an alternative engaging member, Fig 6 is an enlarged view of the engaging member of Fig 5, Fig. 7 is a horizontal cross-section through the alternative engaging member and strike plate Fig 8: is an isometric view of a lock body having an alternative engaging member, 15 Fig 9 is an enlarged view of the engaging member of Fig 9, Fig. 10 is a horizontal cross-section through the alternative engaging member and strike plate Fig 11 is an isometric view of an alternative engaging member, Fig 12 is a side view of the engaging member of Fig 11, 20 Fig 13 is cross-section AA of Fig 12, Fig 14 is cross-section BB of Fig 13. One of the more common methods. of gaining forced entry through a door and in particular, a security door, is to apply a jemmy or large screw driver between the door and surrounding doorjamb in the vicinity of the lock engaging member to force the door away 25 from the jamb to cause the engaging member to disengage from the strike plate; this jemmying usually characterized by the door being urged outwardly as well as away from the doorjamb. The inventions described herein, amongst other things, describes a means of providing enhanced engagement between the strike plate and engaging member to better resist this disengagement between them. 30 The inventions within include an engageable means 21 and an engaging member 29 supported by a casing 25 and having at least one hollow 27 defined in part by an angled wall 28, the angled wall 28 cooperable to provide enhanced engagement between the engaging member and strike plate when the angled wall is urged outwardly. In some forms, each hollow 27 extends longitudinally from the associated angled wall 28 35 Siwav from the leading end 24 of the enuaaina member (that portion which protrudes 7 furtherest from the casing when the engaging member is in an operative configuration) the leading portion 24 being displaceable between a retracted position and a fully extended position where the leading end protrudes from the casing to extend through the aperture 5 in the engageable means 21 to engage with the leading edge 6 of aperture 5 in 5 conventional lateral engagement. In the improved engaging member, the engaging member 29 also engages in longitudinal engagement to restrain relative longitudinal displacement between the engaging member and leading edge 6. Referring to figure 6, the improved engaging member has, in relation to an extended engaging member 29, an exposed concave recess 10 27 bounded by an outer angled wall 28. In some forms, each hoJlowes 27 is connected to a floor portion 37 (as shown in Fig 4): the mouth 40 of each hollowes 27 being wider that the thickness 38 of the engageable means enabling the leading edge to enter the mouth 40 and in some forms to abut-the floor 37. 15 The inclined surface of the angled wall 28 enables the engaging member 29 to be retracted during normal disengagement without catching on the edge to the extent that disengagement is prevented. If during this process the door is lightly outwardly urged as often occurs, the lip sliding down the angled wall 28 displaces the door towards the closed disposition against the action of the urging. By contrast, if the hollow has an orthogonal 20 side wall and the door is lightly outwardly urged as often occurs during opening, the lip would slide into a hollow 27 to prevent further movement of the engaging member to impede the engaging member from retracting, which of course would be quite dangerous and unacceptable. It will be appreciated that the steeper the angle of the inclined surface of the angled 25 wall 28, the better the longitudinal engagement but the greater the risk of catching - a satisfactory trade off between these competing considerations has been achieved by the design shown in the figures - these being arrived at by trial and error. Such an improved engaging member 29 and improved engageable means 21 provide improvement mutual engagement; where in some experiments the leading edge 30 22 and engaging member remain engaged to be displaced together while another portion of the engageable means remained in engagement relative to the door jamb. In a particular form. the engageable means comprises a substantially conventional strike plate I having a substantially planar portion 2 having apertures 4 to receive fixing screws; portion 2 being connected to a profiled wing 3. The portion 2 35 includes an engageable aperture 5 - all this being common in conventional strike plates.

8 The aperture 5 however is adapted to include a profiled leading edge 6 that includes an inwardly protruding elongated lip 7 that is preferably centrally located along the leading edge 6. In some forms, the lip 7 does not extend to either the top edge 20 nor to the 5 bottorn edges 21 of the apertures 5 so as to accommodate rails described below. This form giving rise to recesses 22 adjacent to the top edge 20 and the bottom edges 21. In some forms the engaging member comprises a engaging member 10 supported in a lock casing 25 and having only one longitudinally elongated hollow 11 as shown in Fig 5 to 7, that extends from an associated angled wall 28 towards the mouth 15 10 of the lock body (the associated angled wail 28 located towards the leading end of the engaging member). In some forms the engaging member comprises a bolt 10 supported in a lock casing 25 and having only one narrow hollow 11 as shown in Fig S to 10, that extends from an associated angled wal 28 towards the mouth 15 of the look body (the associated angled wall 28 located towards the leading end of the engaging member); the 15 angled wall engageable by the lip 7. In some forms the engaging member comprises a bolt 10 supported in a lock casing 25 and having multiple elongated hollow 11 that extend (in directions parallel the lip 7 of the strike plate aperture which in a common disposition of the lock comprises extending vertically) one to be engageable by the lip 7 when the engaging member is within aperture 5.The engaging member may be further configured 20 such that multiple engageable recesses are spaced from adjacent to the mouth 15 of the lock to adjacent to the leading end 24 of the engaging member and preferably all spaced at equally incremental distances. However, experimentation has shown that an engaging member having only one longitudinally elongated hollow 11 as shown in Fig 1I to 14, that extends from an 25 associated angled wall 28 towards the mouth 15 of the lock body and has an angled floor as shown in Fig 14 is most effective because the lip 7 is able to easily slide down the slope to engage the. outer shoulder 28B as the door is becoming urged outwardly with increasing force - shoulders disposed from outer shoulder 28B in experimentation proved ineffective causing to lip to displace relatively in a jerky movement. 30 In some forms, each hollow extends from a position 12 adjacent to one edge of the engaging member (that may comprise an upper edge) to a position 13 adjacent to the opposed edge of the engaging member (that may comprise a lower edge) In some forms of engaging members, the sides are substantially parallel and in some such forms the leading end 24 may have a chamfered 17, bull-nosed or otherwise 35 similarly profiled on each side to accommodate both left hand and right hanged doors. recesses, the greater will be the force applied to the engaging member to urge it outwardly. However, a balance must be struck with a competing need for the disengaging recesses, the greater will be the force applied to the engaging member to urge it outwardly. However, a balance must be struck with a competing need for the disengaging 9 In some forms of engaging members, each upper side portion is characterized by a rail 18 that acts as a bearing surface for the engaging member to slide on as it is displaced over the side walls 33 of the mouth of the lock body; this rail providing an end wall for the engageable recess. Similarly, the lower side portion has a rail 19 that acts as 5 a bearing surface for the engaging member to slide on as it is displaced over the side walls 33 of the mouth 15 of the lock body; this rail providing the other end wall for the engageable recesses. During jemmying in which the closing edge of the door is urged laterally and longitudinally away from the jamb, the lock casing 25 (supported by the door) 10 correspondingly carries the engaging member 10 away from the strike plate while carrying it outwardly. With respect to the engaging member having only one longitudinally elongated hollow 11 as shown in Fig 11 to 14, that extends from an associated angled wall 28B towards the mouth 15 of the lock body and has an angled floor, during the initial part of 15 this displacement, a side 14 of the engaging member is carried to be adjacent the leading edge 6 of the strike plate aperture, further displacement resulting in: a) the lip 7 sliding (uninterruptedly and smoothly) along the side of the engaging member along the sloping floor 29 to abut angled wall 28. At this time, (after abutting the angled wall 28) further jemmying urges the 20 engaging member from the strike plate but for this to happen, the angled wall 28-must slide over the lip 7 and to do so, the wing must displace inwardly against the urging caused by the jemmy; the result being an additional force being applied to the engaging member having a component that urges the engaging member outwardly and this results in a force that urges the wing against displacing away from the door jamb; this force also 25 urges the strike plate towards the engaging member to enhance the engagement between the strike plate and engaging member. In effect, the strike plate is drawn towards the engaging member arid in some cases, this mechanism will cause the portion comprising the peripheral edge of the aperture 5 to deform to enable the lip and angled wall 28 to remain engaged as the wing is 3 6ispaced away from the jamb to further enhance the engagement. This sometimes being referred to as a deformable strike plate. It will be appreciated that the steeper is the leading side of the engageable recesses, the greater will be the force applied to the engaging member to urge it outwardly. However, a balance must be struck with a competing need for the disengaging 10 lever to be able to easily retract the engaging member (as the door is urged outwardly) and this becomes less easy as the leading side becomes steeper as described above. Some latch bolts are designed to slide up the angled shoulder 28B on under all circumstances except when a high outwards force is applied to the door (as may occur 5 under the action of a jemmy); the angle of angled shoulder 28B being gentle and well angularly separated from orthogonality.

Claims

1. A lock comprising: a strike plate defining a strike recess, the strike plate including one or more protruding tab(s) extending into the strike plate recess; and a casing operatively associated with the strike plate, the casing including an engaging member adapted to pass through the strike plate recess, the engaging member being elongate and defining a longitudinal axis which extends outwardly from a casing end to a leading end of the engaging member, wherein the engaging member: (i) defines an engaging member recess adapted to receive and hold the protruding tab, the engaging member recess including an angled wall adapted to cooperate with the protruding tab to provide engagement between the engaging member and the strike plate, the angled wall defining an acute angle relative to a portion of the longitudinal axis extending from the angled wall to the leading end of the engaging member; and (ii) defines at least one continuous rail adapted to guide the engaging member through an aperture in the casing.

2. A lock according to claim 1, wherein the at least one the angled wall extends from the at least one rail.

3. A lock according to claim I comprising at least one pair of spaced rails adapted to guide the engaging member through the aperture in the casing.

4. A lock according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the lock is a security door lock.

5. A lock according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the engaging member has two opposing sides, each side including a single angled wall.

6. A lock according to claim 5, wherein each angled wall extends outwardly from a sloping floor.

7. A lock substantially as described herein with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying figures. Dated 13 December 2012 Austral Lock Pty Ltd Patent Attorneys for the Applicant/Nominated Person SPRUSON & FERGUSON