AU2003203789A1 - Improvements in Lock Bolts - Google Patents

Description

COMPLETE PATENT APPLICATION Title Improvements in Lock Bolts Applicant: Yarra Ridge Pty Ltd Inventor J Russell Watts Address for Service: 8 Ross Street, South Melbourne, Australia 3205 Address for Correspondence: PO Box 275 Albert Park, Victoria 3206 Associated Privisional Applications PS 1813 of 18/4/02 Email: russell.watts@australlock.com.au Signed: GAC Date: April 18, 2003 The foj ing statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me:- Specc xlu 1^ tvcA' 6p u ^Cfo^ S par Field of the Invention and Problems Overcome The inventions described herein relate to locks for displaceable wings having rectilinearly displaceable bolts and they also relate to means of resisting forced entry (by jemmying) of hinged wingss employing locks with rectilinearly displaceable bolts.

Previous attempts have been made to address the issue of jimmying by including vertical grooves in the sides of the bolt to engage with a side of the strike plate aperture and by attaching a plate to the face of the lock to protrude from a side of the wing to engage in an aperture within the strike plate but these measures have achieved only limited success. It is an objective to provide improved means of engagement between the bolt and associated strike plate to restrain the bolt from being longitudinally withdrawn from the strike plate under the action of jimmying or other measures of forced entry.

It is common in locks for sliding wingss to have a rectilinearly displaceable bolt with an upper and a lower hooked arm (that is actuated by bolt displacement) to hook behind the upper and lower edges of an apereture within a catch plate through which the bolt has passage. Similarly it is not uncommon in locks for sliding wings to have a rectilinearly displaceable bolt with sideways acting hooked arms (that is actuated by bolt displacement) to hook behind the side edges of an apereture within a catch plate through which the bolt has passage.

It should be noted that where a catch plates or a strike plate is fitted to a timber wing jamb (to the vertical side adjacent the lock) it is necessary to remove material from the wing jamb within the strike plate aperture to a depth sufficient to allow the bolt to fully extend (this will be referred to herein as the bolt cavity) and where there are sideways or upwardly/downwardly displaceable arms additional material must be removed to accommodate their displacement.

The arms described above (as commonly occuring in sliding door locks) are not applicable to hinged wing locks (especially security door locks) because the vertical clearance (between extended bolt and aperture) within the strike plate aperture for a hinged wing must be quite large vertically (preferably 8 MM or more) to accommodate house movement (and other influences that cause wings to drop) and this clearance precludes good engagement between vertically displaceable arms and the strike plate, while the horizontal clearance (between extended bolt and aperture) within the aperture for a hinged wing (especially security door locks) must be quite small horizontally (preferably 2 MM or less) so as not to allow a closed wing to rattle excesively or to cause other and fitting problems.

Summary of the Invention According to the invention there is a lock for a displaceable wing including an engageable means having an aperture that lies between two planes parallel to the face of the closed door, each said plain interesecting a different side edge of the aperture, a casing and a bolt supported by the casing and having passage through a mouth of the casing and being displaceable to protrude from the casing to extend through the aperture through which it has passage, said bolt having a recessed portion intersected by a relatively and sideways displaceable engaging arm that is displaceable to engageable behind an engagable portion of a side edge of the aperture, said engagement being characterized by an engaging shoulder of the engaging arm overlapping the engagable portion in an engaging configuration, said engagable portion being inwardly disposed from a plane to protrude into the space between the planes.

Preferably there is vertical clearance between the extended bolt and edges of the aperture in the engageable means and the bolt is disposed to abut either the upper or the lower edge of the aperture In a form, the engaging configuration is characterized by the engaging shoulder not extending significantly beyond the space between the planes.

In a form, the engaging configuration is characterized by the engaging shoulder not extending beyond the space between the planes.

Preferably, the engageable portion comprises a web connecting a side aperture edge to the upper aperture edge or a side edge to the lower edge.

Preferably, the engaging arm comprises part of a pivotal engaging rocker supported by a vertical shaft and supported within the bolt, said engaging rocker including a control arm that is inwardly displaceable against biasing means through engagement with the mouth of the casing to cause the engaging arm to sideways displace.

Preferably, there is an upper engaging arm and a corresponding upper engageable portion and a lower engaging arm and a corresponding lower engageable portion wherein each said engageable portion and engaging arm comprising a mirror image of the other, mirrored about a horizontal plane and mirrored about a vertical plane that is parallel and equi-disposed from the parallel planes defining the cavity.

i L 4 Preferably, the aperture comprises a cranked aperture having substantially parallel sides.

Preferably, the upper bolt recess comprises a plane parallel to the face of the wing and extending from the casing to the leading edge and to upper edge of the bolt and the lower bolt recess comprises a plane parallel to the face of the wing and extending from the casing to the leading edge and to lower edge of the bolt In a form, the bolt comprises an outwardly biased latch bolt and the engageable means comprises a strike plate.

In a form, the latch bolt has a leading end portion characterized by each side being curved or bevelled or otherwise contoured so that engagement of either side of the latch bolt with the strike plate during latching will cause the latch bolt to be displaced towards the retracted position.

In a form there is a deadlocking slide that is operably connected to a key operable cylinder, said deadlocking slide being displaceable to displace the latch bolt to the fully extended position In a form the wing comprises a hinged door.

According to the invention there is a lock substantially as described herein with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings Description of the Drawings Embodiments of the present invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a partial isometric view of the lock body and strike plate from above showing the bolt within the strike plate aperture Figure 2 is a end view of the lock body and strike plate from the underside of the strike plate when the bolt is abutting the top edge of the aperture Figure 3 is a end view of the lock body and strike plate from the underside of the strike plate when the bolt is abutting the lower edge of the aperture Figure 4 is a partial horizontal cross-section view through the bolt and engaging rocker when the bolt is fully retracted Figure 5 is a partial horizontal cross-section view through the bolt and engaging rocker when the bolt is fully extended Figure 6 is an isometric view of the lock body and strike plate from the side showing the bolt within the strike plate aperture Definitions and Conventions Employed This specification describes locks substantially as described herein with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

Throughout this specification and claims which follow, unless the context requires otherwise, the word "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.

Throughout this specification and claims which follow, unless the context requires otherwise, the positional prepositions such as rear, 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.

Throughout this specification and claims which follow, unless the context requires otherwise, the word wing embraces both displaceable doors and windows.

Throughout this specification and claims which follow, unless the context requires otherwise: latching means displacement of the latch-bolt against biasing means by an engageable means (in one form comprising a strike plate) and subsequent displacement of the latch-bolt into engagement with the engageable means (in one form comprising an aperture of the strike plate) under the action of the biasing means; latch-bolt is an outwardly biased bolt capable of executing latching; unlatching means withdrawel of the latch-bolt from engagement with the engageable means; unlatching lever is a lever or knob that is hand operable to cause the latch-bolt to become disengaged; locking means configuring the lock to restrain it from becoming unlatched; deadlocking means means means to configure the lock to restrain the latchbolt from being displaced from the configuration that it assumes when engaged with the engageable means (in the case of a rectilinearly displaceable bolt it assumes a fully extended position when engaged with the engageable means) remote-lock means a locking means disposed from the lock that includes a remote bolt that is operably connected to the lock often there is an upper and a lower remote-lock situated above and below the lock; french door means a door comprising a hollow frame with a glass in-fill where the hollow within the frame is comparatively small in depth, and security doors means a door comprising a hollow framed with an in-fill where the hollow within the frame is comparatively small in depth and in width some security doors having a close weaved infil material, some having expanded aluminium mesh; lock-body is the lock portion fitted within the hollow frame of the wing; depth of lock-body is the extent of the lock body in a direction parallel to the face of the door; width of lock-body is the extent of the lock body in a direction at right-angles to the face of the door; bolt cavity is the recess within a doorjamb to accommodate a fully extended rectilinearly displaceable bolt being a recess having a cross-section conforming to the strike plate aperture shape and a depth just sufficient to allow the bolt to fully extend, commonly both the bolt and aperture have substantially parallel sides and the the bolt cavity (a common bolt cavity) similiarly has parallel sides.

This and the other provisional applications cited in the complete applications associated with this provisional describe inventions comprising improved complete locks for displaceable wings and improvements for locks for displaceable wings [for convenience referred to herein as "LOCK'] the improvements being transportable into other locks and locking devices without being limited to the complete locks described herein.

Description of the Preferred Embodiments According to the invention there is a LOCK that include at least one sidways displaceable hooking arm 1 (supported in a displaceable bolt 2) that is preferably actuated by displacement of the bolt; the bolt being displaceable to and from a fully extended position in which it protrudes from a casing 3 in which the bolt is supported.

The lock includes a strike plate 4 having an aperture 5 that generally conforms (with clearances) to the cross-sectional shape of the bolt and the hooking arm has an engaging shoulder 6 (that when the bolt is fully extended and within the aperture) is behind and overlapping the peripheral boundary 7 of the strike plate aperture to restrain the bolt from being longitudinally withdrawn from the strike plate under the action of jimmying or other measures of forced entry in this respect the strike plate and bolt are very similar to the bolt and catch plate commonly employed by sliding door locks referred to above.

In a form of LOCK the bolt and the at least one engaging arm are configured so as to require only a normal bolt cavity having parallel side walls. In this case (and with reference to a fully extended bolt passing through the aperture in its associated strike plate) the bolt adjacent the hooking arm has a side-recess 8 (or is relieved) so that the I I I.

7 hooking arm protrudes from the bolt side surface 9 without significantly extending beyond (and preferably not extending at all beyond) the parallel sided envelope defining the common bolt cavity. The significance of this is that although the bolt has a protruding arm it requires a cavity in the wing jamb that is common and does not require the removal of additional material as do the sliding door locks referred to above. It should be noted that this side recess in the bolt extends from the portion of the bolt supported within the casing (or there-abouts) to the leading end of the bolt so that the protruding portion of the bolt has a common cross-section except for the portion right at the leading end 10 that may be otherwise contoured to facilitate latching preferably the side recess comprises a plane parallel to the face of the wing. The engaging arm also has a retracted position where the engaging shoulder is substantially within the envelope defining the surface of the bolt and preferably does not protrude at all beyond the surface.

In this form of LOCK where the strike plate aperture generally conforms (with clearances) to the cross-sectional shape of the bolt, the aperture has an inwardly protruding shoulder 11 to mate (with clearance) with the side recess of the bolt.

Importantly the bolt must have passage through the aperture when the bolt is at the upper limit of its clearance range and at the lower limit of its clearance range,i.e. when vertically displaced relative to the aperture by or 8.0 MM or whatever is the chosen clearance.

Preferably, the engaging member is defined in-part by a vertical pivotal axis 11 fixed relative to the bolt and located between the end engaging shoulder that is outwardly disposed of the axis and an inwardly disposed control arm 12 that is within the casing in this respect the engaging arm comprises part of an engaging rocker comprised of both arms. Preferably the engaging arm is supported in a horizontal slotted aperture in the bolt 13 and the pivotal axis is defined by pin supported in a vertivcal recess in the side of the bolt but alternatively the arm may be attached above or below the bolt.

The control arm comprises a raised control shoulder 14 that slides along an inside side wall 15 of the casing. As the bolt is outwardly displaced the control shoulder displaces to abut the bolt aperture or mouth 16 of the casing through which the bolt has passage and which is of lesser width that the side walls of the casing further outward displacement of the bolt causes the control shoulder to enter of the mouth to be inwardly displaced to cause the engaging shoulder to be outwardly displaced. The control 8 shoulder is preferably ramped 17 so that it can progressively slide up the shoulder 18 defing the mouth of the casing. The bolt, engaging arm and mouth are configured such that the engaging shoulder does not protrude from the surface of the bolt till the bolt is within the aperture.

In a form of LOCK, the underside of the control shoulder comprises a release shoulder (not shown) that protrudes from the opposite side of the bolt and configured such that as the bolt starts to retract it engages a ramped fin on the inside opposite side wall of the cassing and that extends rearwardly from adjacent the mouth. Engagenment with this fin causes the control arm to inwardly displace to cause the engaging shoulder to displace to the retracted position. In this way, the engaging arm is displaced to and from the sideways extended position by displacement of the bolt. Alternatively the bolt has a sideways extending recess that supports a compression spring 19 that acts on the inside edge of the control arm to urge it outwardly whereby to provide inwards biasing to the engaging shoulder so that as the control shoulder withdraws from the mouth the spring causes the engaging shoulder to withdraw into the envelope defing the surface of the bolt. As a precaution, the extended engaging shoulder presents a ramped edge to the strike plate peripheral aperture edge to that if the spring fails the engaging shoulder will slide down the aperture edge to become substantially within envelope defining the face of the bolt.

In these forms of LOCK, the bolt preferably supports an upper engaging arm 21 that is dispaceable to protrude from a bolt side recess and also supports a lower engaging arm 22 that is displaceable to protrude from a lower bolt recess on the other side of the bolt. Preferably the strike plate has two inwardly projecting shoulders such that one set of elements (comprising the upper bolt side recess and corresponding upper strike plate shoulder) is a mirror image of the other lower set of elements, each set being mirrored about both a vertical and a horizontal plane as shown in the figures.

In locks having two opposed engaging arms, it suffices for only one of the engaging arms to be engageable with the strike plate aperture at one time although it is preferable for both to engage.

Preferably the upper inwardly projecting aperture shoulder is located adjacent the intersection of a side endge and the upper edge of the periphery to comprise a corner web whereby to be restrained by the upper portion of the strike plate from outwardly displacing under the action of a longitudinally displaced enagaging shoulder supported in a bolt that is displaced during jemmying away from the strike plate. And

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9 preferably the lower inwardly projecting aperture shoulder is located adjacent the intersection of the other side edge and the lower edge of the periphery to comprise a corner web whereby to be restrained by the lower portion.

Although the engaging shoulder preferably does not extend beyond the envelope defining the normal parallel sided cavity, the invention does embrase engaging arms that protrude slightly from the cavity envelope and although the engaging shoulder preferably does not extend beyond the envelope defining the surface of the bolt when the bolt is retracted, the invention does embrace engaging arms that protrude slightly from the envelope when the bolt is retracted slightly in each case being limited by the restriction of not interfering with the function of the lock or in particular with the function of the bolt or causing difficulty in fitting the lock..

In a form of LOCK the strike plate is a deformable strike plate as defined in Australian Patent 671618.

In a form of LOCK, bolt comprises a the latch bolt having a leading end portion 10 characterized by each side being curved or bevelled or otherwise contoured so that engagement of either side of the latch bolt with the strike plate during latching will cause the latch bolt to be displaced towards the retracted position.

In some forms LOCK comprises a remote lock operably connected to a central, said remote lock including a bolt and at least one engaging arm as described above.

In other forms LOCK comprises a mortice lock body 23 that is supported with the frame of the wing between an interior and an exterior handle assembly each handle assembly including an unlatching lever that is operably connected to the latch bolt supported within the lock body. In some forms is configured to fit within a french door frame while in others it is configured to fit with a security door frame.

In other forms LOCK, there is a deadlocking slide operably connected to a key operable cylinder, said slide being displaceable towards the latch bolt and in a deadlocking configuration a leading end portion of the slide lies behind an inwardly disposed shoulder of the latch bolt restraining it from inwards displacement. The leading portion preferably has ramped shoulder disposed towards the bolt such that if the bolt is held (by external means) partly extended then displacement of the slide towards the bolt causes the ramp to slide across the shoulder to drive the bolt to the fully extended position.