US2966054A - Key controlled cylindrical lock - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 27, 1960 v. MUTTART 2,966,054

KEY CONTROLLED CYLINDRICAL LOCK Filed March 15, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR MATTORNEY KEY QONTROLLED CYLINDRICAL LOCK Vincent Muttart, Downey, Califi, assignor to Independent Lock Company, Fitehburg, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Filed Mar. 13, 1957, Ser. No. 645,774

2 Claims. (Cl. 70-146) This invention relates to cylindrical locks and more particularly to key controlled cylindrical locks. Still more particularly, this invention relates to cylindrical locks of the type commonly known as exit locks, which include an outer key controlled latch operating assembly and an inner latch operating assembly, with a dogging push or turn button for optionally dogging said outer knob against operation other than by key operation.

Known to me are lock assemblies of the type described in which a push button or turn button on the inside knob actuates a dogging mechanism which precludes latch operation for retraction by the outer knob, such outer knob retraction being possible only by simultaneously operating a key controlled mechanism on the outer door and the outer door knob. In the known installations which employ push button dogging means, latch retraction by key operation results in releasing the dog, and consequently the push button must be reset after each such operation.

While certain installations using turn button dogging means have additional means for preventing dog release following key operations, such installations require connection of the key plug to the inner door operating mechanism. Such connection requires the fabrication of heavy metal parts, due in part to the relatively great distance such connector must span, and also due to the fact that any operation of the inner mechanism necessitates turning against the biasing pressure not only of the latch bolt springs, but also of the inner mechanism springs, to co ordinate the inter-engaging parts. Key operation of such known assembly is likewise rendered more difficult by reason of the additional spring biasing as above mentioned, and because of the additional frictional resistance of the inner mechanism.

Accordingly, it is an object of my invention to provide a key controlled lock assembly having and adding novel improved features over and to the assembly disclosed in my copending application Serial No. 584,993, filed May 15, 1956, now Patent No. 2,885,880, issued May 12, 1959, entitled Tnrnbutton Assembly for Cylindrical Locks.

A further object of my invention is to provide a lock assembly of the type described which will permit repeated key operations of the latch bolt without necessirating resetting of the push button or turn button dogging means after any such operation.

Still a further object of my invention is to provide an assembly of the type described wherein comparatively little torque is required to be applied to the key, to accomplish latch retraction.

Still a further object of my invention is to provide an assembly of the type described which may be economically manufactured as by the formation of the parts from simple metal stampings, without sacrificing requisite strength for long life operations.

Still a further object of my invention is to provide a lock assembly of the type described, with a novel key holdback feature whereby full rotation of the key plug ,7 2,966,054 Patented Dec. 27, i;

serves not only to retract the latch bolt, but also to retain the spring projected bolt in said retracted position, without the necessity of manually maintaining a turning pressure on the key, whereby single hand operation is made possible.

To attain these objects and such further objects as may appear herein or be hereinafter pointed out, I make reference to the accompanying drawing forming a part hereof, in which:

Figure 1 is a longitudinal, cross-sectional view of a keyin-knob turn button cylindrical lock assembly;

Figure 2 is a longitudinal, cross-sectional view of a key-in-knob push button cylindrical lock assembly;

Figure 3 is a magnified section taken on the line 33 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a section taken on the line 44 of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a section taken on the line 55 of Figure 3;

Figure 6 is a section taken on the line 6-6 of Figure 3;

Figure 7 is an exploded perspective view of the key connector assembly.

My invention may be summarized as concerning itself with a class of key-in-knob cylindrical locks of the exit door type wherein an escutcheon assembly provides a sup port for independently rotatable, knob controlled spindles, each one of which is coupled with retractor means for latch bolt actuation, upon rotation of the knobs and/or spindles coupled therewith.

In such assembly, the exterior knob is dogged by radially directed dogging means under the influence of a lock bar axially and tiltably movable by a turn button or push button, rotation or depression of the turn button or push button, respectively, serving to project and tilt the lock bar to dogging position, there to retain said bar. Upon key actuation, separate means are provided for withdrawing the latch bolt without disturbing the inner actuating mechanism on the dogging portion associated with the outer mechanism.

The resulting assembly permits retractor activation of the latch bolt by key actuation, without resetting, in each cycle of operation, the established dogged position of the exterior knob. The provision, on the key actuated means, of a finger which in the fully rotated position of the key plug lies tangential to the latch retractor, prevents the latch bolt from returning to the normal outward position thereof, without necessitating continued manual holding of the key.

Making reference to the drawing, 1 illustrate my invention in connection with a cylindrical knob assembly 10, which is arranged to be mounted upon a door 11, to extend through a transverse boring 12 coupled to a latch bolt casing 13, projecting through the end boring 14, in relation to the door frame 15 having the latch bolt strike aperture 16. In the illustration, there is provided a latch bolt 17 which is spring-projected in relation to the casing 13, the latter being supported by the end plate 18 on the door edge in the usual manner. Rearwardly, the latch bolt casing has a latch bolt shank guide 19 extend ing substantially diametrically across the boring 12.

The latch bolt shank guide 19 is supported in the boring 12 by means of the assembly comprising the inner and outer escutcheon support plates 20 and 21, and the tubular studs 22 and 23 which screw-threadedly clamp the escutcheon supporting plates 26 and 21 against opposite faces of the door by means of the screws 24. The tubular studs 22 and 23 engage the latch bolt casing guides 19 and cooperate with the end plate 18 to fix the latch bolt casing in the end boring 14, previously described.

The support plates 20 and 21 have inwardly directed annular flanges 25 and 26 forming bearings rotatively mounting the inner and outer knob spindles 27 and 28, respectively. The spindles 27 and 28 are tubular and carry inner and outer knobs 29 and 30, respectively.

Each of the knobs 29 and 30 has a knob shank 31 and 32, held in an escutcheon bearing or hub 33 and 34, respectively. The outer knob spindle 28 has a pair of diametrically spaced lugs 35 extending in locked engagement through a retractor plate 36. The plate 36 has axially directed retractor arms 37 for engaging a pivoted retractor lever 38 by which the latch bolt shank 39 is engaged for bolt retraction in opposition to the springprojected latch bolt 17, previously described, details of which need not be amplified in view of the features of the invention herein claimed.

The retractor plate 36 has slidably mounted thereon in parallelism a clogging member 40, having a dogging nose 41. The dogging member is normally spring-retracted by the spring 42. The dogging nose 41 may be projected against the biasing influence of the spring 42 into the dogging slot 43 formed in the flange 26, thereby to key the spindle 28 against rotary movement.

The inner knob spindle 27 is provided with a pair of axially extending, diametrically positioned lugs 44 which engage a retractor plate 45, forming an end bearing on the flange 25, to hold the spindle knob assembly rotatably on the escutcheon support plate 20.

The retractor plate 45 is formed with a guide slot 46 through which extends the lock bar 47 in keying engagement against rotation. The lock bar 47 may, within limits, axially slide in the guide slot 46 to have the edge 48 of the lock bar in contact with the edge 49 of the slot 46 in the plate 45 under the partial biasing influence of the spring-retracted dog 40, as well as that which will appear herebelow.

The lock bar 47 has at its outer end a T-shaped head 50 which is rotatably and tiltably mounted in a bearing aperture 51 of the cylindrical cap 52, to secure a relatively universal coupling of the lock bar 47 and cap 52. The latter is rotatably and slidably mounted in the spindle 27, as will appear herebelow. A coiled spring 53 has its opposite ends biased against shoulders 54 formed on one end of the lock bar 47, and at its other end against the plate 45, thereby further retaining the edges 48 and 49 intact.

The cap 52 is formed with a pair of struck-up lugs 55, bent over and axially holding the turn button shell 56, and within which the head 50 is housed free for rotation and tiltable movement in relation to the bearing aperture 51.

The lock bar guide cap 52 is formed with a circumferentially directed slot 57, having an entrance portion 58 which is axially directed, and a terminal detent portion 59. Between the entrance portion and detent portion, the slot wall is outlined by a circumferentially directed camming edge 60, leading to a detent seat 61.

The cap 52 is arranged to cooperate with a follower stud 62 in the form of a protrusion struck up or formed on the spindle 27, which is arranged to enter the slot 58 to provide a coupling in the nature of a bayonet joint and has the terminal portion of the slot formed with a detent. It will thus be seen that inward pressure and a 90 rotation of the turn button 56 in relation to the follower protrusion 62 will feed the lock bar 47, bayonetslot fashion, inwardly for the distance outlined by the slot 57 and camming edge 60, and conversely the outward limiting movement of the lock bar under the expansive action of the spring 53 being determined by the stop provided by the point where the cap 52 engages the knob 29 at the axially positioned bearing aperture 63 for the turn button 56.

The inward driving of the lock bar 47 under the pressure feed and rotative action of the turn button 56 will move the lock bar 47 through the slot 46 in the plate 45. A camming edge 64 on the lock bar 47 during such driving movement engages the edge 49, tiltably to move the lock bar 47 about the head 55 as a center. The lock bar 47 has its free end 65 guided in the dog 40. Tilting movement of the lock bar 47, as described, against the pressure of the spring 53 will thereby project the dogging nose 41 into the slot 43, dogging the spindle 28 with the flange 26, the flange 26 thereby preventing latch retraction by rotation of the outer knob 30.

The rotating plug 65 of the tumbler assembly 66 is provided with a pair of inwardly extending, axially aligned fingers 67. A cup 68, formed with an extending flange 69, having peripheral cut outs 70, is keyed to the plug 65 by sleeving holes 71 over the fingers 67.

A tubular inner spindle 72 is provided with cars 73 which are meshed within the cutouts 70 of the cup 68. The inner end 74 of the spindle 72 is provided with a lug 75 and an axially, inwardly extending finger 76.

The retractor plate 36 has an arcuate slot 77 formed therethrough and in which the finger 76 may be slidably positioned. The retractor lever 38 has its outer end formed with an angularly displaced projection 78.

When the lug assembly is in the dogged position, the latch bolt may be retracted by key actuation, the operation therefor taking place as follows.

Upon key actuation, the plug 65 and the finger 67 impart a rotary motion through the cup 68 to the inner spindle 72, thereby swinging the finger 76 through the arcuate limiting slot 77. Such rotation pivots the retractor levers 38 (see Figure 6) from the position indicated by A to the position indicated by B. When the retractor lever 38 is thus swung, the latch bolt shank guide 39 which is operatively connected to the lever 38 is withdrawn, with consequent withdrawal of the latch bolt 17. It will be readily recognized that such withdrawal is accomplished without disturbing the dogged position of the retractor plate 36.

When the plug 65 is rotated sufliciently far so that the finger 76 occupies the B position, the angularly displaced projection 78 lies tangentially of the arcuate slot 77 and the finger 76, and therefore the normally outwardly biasing pressure of the retractor lever springs 79 and the latch bolt spring 80 are ineffectual to cause reverse rotation of the key plug. It will be understood that in this position the latch bolt will remain retracted without requiring further manual pressure on the key.

The embodiment shown in Figure 2 is in all respects similar to the previously described embodiment of Figure 1 except that a push button lock bar projecting arrangement is provided. Similar parts are similarly numbered and only the variations will hereafter be described.

The lock bar 47 in the embodiment of Figure 2 is projected and maintained in the dogging position by an inward pressure applied to the push button 81. Upon axial inward depression of the push button, the cam face 82 engages a stationary shoulder 83, imparting to the lock bar 47 an upward tilting as well as an axially inward motion.

The lock bar is maintained in the dogging position by the engagement of the shoulder 84 on the inner surface of the stationary shoulder 83. Key latch bolt retraction is accomplished in the same way as in the prior embodiment. In both embodiments it will be noted that the latch bar 47 remains in dogging position following a key actuated latch bolt retraction, thus obviating the necessity for resetting the dogging means after key actuation.

To undog the turn button embodiment illustrated in Figure 1, it is necessary to twist the turn button cap 56 to its original position, whereas undogging is accom plished in the embodiment of Figure 2 by rotating the inner knob 85 in either direction.

By the construction shown, an assembly is provided which may be easily and inexpensively manufactured primarily of metal stampings. The illustrated and described assemblies have the additional advantages of allowing latch retraction from the outside without necessitating rotation of both the outer knob and the key rotatable plug.

Novelty is also attributed to the hold-back feature which permits the latch bolt to be maintained in the fully retracted position, without manually supporting the key.

A further advantage of my assembly resides in the fact that a minimum of torsion need be applied to the key since, unlike other assemblies known to me which require for their operation inter-connection between the key plug and the inner knob assembly, my device operates directly upon the latch bolt, thereby requiring a biasing of only a limited number of springs and also incurring a minimal frictional resistance.

The advantage of minimizing the torsion required to turn the key is obvious in view of the frequent fracturing of the key in the lock, often due to the relatively large stresses required for key operation of locks.

While I have illustrated the use of my invention with the cylindrical lock assembly, using inner and outer knobs as the primary means of actuating the latch bolt, it is to be understood that my invention is equally applicable to assemblies which have thumb actuated retractors, as well as to assemblies which use dummy or non-rotatable outer knobs.

Having thus described my invention and illustrated its use, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A door locking assembly comprising a support including escutcheons for holding the lock assembly mounted on a door, a spring projected latch bolt member mounted in said support, inner and outer knob supporting tubular spindle members rotatably mounted in said support, dogging means axially carried by said inner spindle member and axially extended into said outer spindle member for dogging said outer spindle member against rotation, a key plug rotatably sleeved within and carried by said outer spindle member, a pivotal retractor for said latch bolt member operatively mounted on said support, a retractor operator carried on said outer spindle member, said retractor operator being operatively connected as camming means and said pivotal retractor as follower means to said latch bolt member to retract said latch bolt member, an auxiliary retractor operator independently rotatably sleeved in said outer spindle member, said auxiliary operator having a retractor finger extending inwardly from said auxiliary retractor operator, said finger being guided in an arcuate path within a guiding slot on said retractor operator when said key plug is rotated, and operatively connected with said pivotal retractor to actuate said pivotal retractor when said outer spindle member is in a dogged position.

2. A door lock in accordance with claim 1 wherein said pivotal retractor has a terminal follower surface with which said auxiliary retractor operator contacts during movement thereof, said follower surface being normal to said finger in the retracted position of said latch bolt member whereby the latch bolt member is held against spring retracting movement.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 720,986 Voight Feb. 17, 1903 1,017,283 Weed Feb. 13, 1912 1,991,031 Schlage Feb. 12, 1935 2,618,955 Cerf Nov. 25, 1952 2,642,735 Quigley June 23, 1953 2,803,958 Gilbert Aug. 27, 1957

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