AU2003204718A1

AU2003204718A1 - Handle latching mechanisms

Info

Publication number: AU2003204718A1
Application number: AU2003204718A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Donald Newman
Original assignee: Lock Focus Pty Ltd
Current assignee: Safecorp Financial Services Pty Ltd
Priority date: 2002-06-28
Filing date: 2003-06-16
Publication date: 2004-01-15
Anticipated expiration: 2023-06-16
Also published as: AU2003204718B2

Description

P001 Section 29 Regulation 3.2(2)

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT Application Number: Lodged: Invention Title: HANDLE LATCHING MECHANISMS The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to us: 1 HANDLE LATCHING MECHANISMS The present invention relates to improvements in handle latching mechanisms of the type usually used on doors or drawers having either a 900 or 1800 rotation between the open and the closed position of the latch handle. Such latching mechanisms may or may not include a key operated lock,mechanism which frees or prevents rotation of the latch handle from moving between the open and closed rotational positions.

Conventional handle latching mechanisms of the aforementioned kind are often made up from a number of different parts including a handle, a latch drive shaft, a rose intended to be fixed to the door or other similar item either by front or rear mounting screws or the like, and retainer means such as a wave washer and a crimping ferrule to retain the handle drive shaft with the rose in a finished assembly. One problem for a manufacturer of such assemblies is that if the possibility of 900 or 1800 opening movement is to be available with perhaps also right and left hand mounting or operation, then an inventory of separate parts, particularly different rose designs, must be maintained. A second problem is that the latch drive shaft is conventionally a square elongated shaft that fits into a square recess in the handle and is fixed thereto by a fixing pin that is fixed into a bore that must be drilled through a part of the handle into the square drive shaft.

This operation presents health and safety problems for the worker and therefor also for the manufacturer as well as increasing overall costs of the assembly. Still further, assemblies of the general type are conventionally made such that the handle latching drive shaft is freely rotatable relative to the mounting rose such that the only resistance to such movement is provided by whatever is connected to the latch drive shaft. Such arrangements often provide little "feel" as to the positioning of the handle as it rotates and moreover, as it reaches the ends of its rotational movement.

The objective of the present invention is to provide improvements in handle latching mechanisms of the aforementioned kind that will overcome or at least minimise some of the problems discussed above with conventional mechanisms of this type.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an assembly for use in a handle latching mechanism, said assembly including a 2 handle, a latch drive shaft received within a recess in said handle for rotation therewith and a retainer plate cooperable with said latch drive shaft and with at least a part of said handle latching mechanism, said retainer plate having an opening therein configured to allow said latch drive shaft to freely pass therethrough, said opening having a retainer edge region cooperable with a recessed zone along said latch drive shaft upon lateral movement of said retainer plate relative to said latch drive shaft whereby, in use, said retainer plate retains said latch drive shaft within the recess in said handle. By such an arrangement it is possible to simply retain the latch drive shaft relative to the mounting rose and where the handle is also retained axially relative to the mounting rose, at least over an operable degree of relative rotational movement, then the latch drive shaft is retained axially and rotationally with the latch handle.

Preferred features and aspects of this invention may be as defined in claims 2 to 6 annexed hereto, which claims are hereby made part of the disclosure of this specification.

In accordance with a second aspect of this invention there is provided an assembly for use in a handle latching mechanism having a handle and a mounting rose rotatably supporting said handle, the assembly including a latch drive shaft and a blocking member having an outer surface which in use moves along or adjacent to an inwardly facing semi-circular surface on said mounting rose, said outer surface including at least one projecting detent engagable or disengagable from a detent receiving recess in said inwardly facing semi-circular surface upon rotation of said handle relative to the mounting rose, said blocking member being mounted for rotation with said latch drive shaft. By such an arrangement appropriate and improved feel can be provided to the rotation of the handle between a latching position and an open position.

Preferred features associated with this aspect may be as defined in claims 8 to 19 as annexed hereto, which claims are hereby made part of the disclosure of this specification.

In accordance with a third aspect of this invention there is provided a handle latching mechanism including a rotatable handle, a mounting rose rotatably supporting said handle, a latch drive shaft cooperable with said handle for rotation therewith, a blocking member associated with said latch drive shaft and rotatable with said latch drive shaft and/or said handle, said blocking member including at least one abutment surface cooperable, in use, with abutment means associated with said mounting rose to limit the extent of possible rotation of said handle relative to said mounting rose. The abutment means may include, at least in part, formations integrally formed on said mounting rose. Alternatively, or in addition to such integrally formed formations, the abutment means may, at least in part, be formed by at least one element connectable with the mounting rose.

The element or elements may be threaded members such as screws.

Conveniently, provision may be made for varying the position of such an element so as to vary the pattern and the extent of rotational movement of the handle relative to the mounting rose. By such an expedient, it is possible to avoid maintaining an inventory of many different parts (such as different mounting rose configurations) to allow for 900 and 1800 of handle movement and left and right hand operation.

Preferred features of this aspect of the invention may be as defined in claims 24 to 26 inclusive as annexed hereto, which claims are hereby made part of the disclosure of this invention.

A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig 1 is an exploded perspective view of a handle latching mechanism in accordance with one preferred embodiment of the present invention; Fig 2 is an underneath plan view of the handle latching mechanism omitting the retainer plate so that features of the mechanism can be seen; and Figs 3a, 3b, 3c and 3d are views similar to Fig 2 but including the retainer plate and connecting screw element located in differing positions for differing desired handle movement patters relative to the mounting rose. Fig 3a represents movement 900 anticlockwise to unlock and key lockable in the locked position only. Fig 3b represents movement 1800 key lockable in both positions. Fig 3c represents movement 900 key lockable in both positions. Fig 3d represents movement 900 clockwise to unlock and key lockable in locked position only.

The handle latching mechanism 10 shown in the drawings includes a mounting rose 11 which has rear mounting threaded bores 12, 13 for mounting same to a door or the like. It will be appreciated that front opening bores might also be used or in fact any other suitable means for mounting the mounting rose 11 in its intended use position. The mechanism 10 further includes a handle 14 with a shaft region 15 rotatably receivable within a forwardly opening bore 16 of the mounting rose 11. The terms "handle" or "latch handle" used throughout this specification, is intended to encompass large T shaped handles of the type illustrated in the drawings, smaller T shaped handles, lever handles, knobs or in fact any item adapted to be gripped and turned during latching or delatching operations. The handle 14 may have associated with it any known manner, a key operated locking barrel 50 which is optional and is of any conventional type.

Accordingly, the locking barrel 50 will not be hereinafter further described. The shaft region 15 of the handle 14 has a projecting lug 17 located at its free end 18.

The lug 17 slides into a keyway 51 provided in the bore 16 of the mounting rose in one only rotational position of the handle 14 relative to the mounting rose 11 until the inner edge 19 of outer handle part 20 engages against the outer lip region 21 of the bore 16 in the mounting rose 11. In this position, rotation of the handle 14 relative to the mounting rose in either direction will locate lug 17 rotationally and axially behind a circumferentially extending ledge 22, the ledge 22 extending circumferentially around the entire bore 16 except for the access keyway 51 whereby in operational positions, the handle 14 may rotate relative to the mounting rose 11 but is axially prevented from separating axially from the mounting rose 11 by interengagement of the lug 17 with the ledge 22.

The mechanism 10 further includes a latch drive shaft 23 which is conveniently of square cross section, a blocking member 24, a retainer plate and repositionable abutment element 26 also serves to conveniently connect the retainer plate 25 to the mounting rose 11. The latch drive shaft 23 is intended, in use, to drive a latch means of any desired type which is not shown in the drawings. The latch drive shaft 23 includes a groove 27 adjacent one end 28 which as a base region 29 that is generally circular. The groove 27 provides recessed regions that are cooperable with a retainer edge region 30 of an opening 31 in the retainer plate 25. The opening 31 in the retainer plate 25 has a first substantial square region 32 through which the main square body of the latch drive shaft 23 may freely pass. The opening 31 further includes a second region 33 which includes a semi-circular edge forming the retainer edge region 30. Thus by positioning the retainer plate 25 with the opening 31 aligned with the groove 27 and thereafter relatively laterally moving the retainer plate 25 and the shaft 23, the plate 25 is axially fixed relative to latch drive shaft 23 with the recessed groove portion of the shaft overlying the retainer edge region 30 of the opening 31 in the retainer plate The blocking member 24 conveniently includes a square through bore 34 through which the shaft end 28 may project such that the shaft end may, in use, extend into and be rotationally retained by a square recess in the free end 18 of the shaft region 15 of the handle 14. Conveniently, also the lug 17 on the handle shaft 15 may engage in a keyway 35 to provide improved rotational connection between the handle 14 and the blocking member 24. The blocking member 24 has outer semi-circular surfaces 36 and 37, the surface 36 having a greater radius from the axis of rotation of the shaft 23 and handle 14 relative to the radius of surface 37 from this axis of rotation. The two surfaces 36 and 37 are separated by axially and radially (or laterally) extending abutment surfaces 38, 39. In addition, the surface 36 is formed by adjacent thin sections 40, 41 spaced outwardly from the body of the blocking member such that the sections 40, 41 each may flex inwardly if needed but recover their normal position when inwardly directed forces are removed. The sections 40, 41 also include detent projections 42, 43 which are adapted to cooperate with detent recesses 44, 45 and 46 in an inwardly facing circumferential wall 47 of the mounting rose 11 (see Fig 2).

Conveniently, at the limit positions of rotation of the blocking member 24, at least one of the detent projections 42 or 43 is engaged in one of the detent recesses 44, 45 or 46. Preferably at these limit positions (see Fig two of the detent projections 42, 43 are engaged in two of the detent recesses 44, 45 or 45, 46.

Referring now to Figs 3a, 3b, 3c and 3d, it is seen that the retainer plate can be connected to the mounting rose 11 via the threaded connector element 26 which itself can be positioned in several different positions A, B and C/S. As can be seen in Fig 2, relocating the connector or abutment element 26 in differing positions, causes the abutment surfaces 38, 39 to engage same at differing positions thereby varying the possible movement pattern for the latch mechanism.

6 This may also affect where the handle may be locked relative to the mounting rose via an optional locking device

Claims

1. An assembly for use in a handle latching mechanism, said assembly including a handle, a latch drive shaft received within a recess in said handle for rotation therewith and a retainer plate cooperable with said latch drive shaft and with at least a part of said handle latching mechanism, said retainer plate having an opening therein configured to allow said latch drive shaft to freely pass therethrough, said opening having a retainer edge region cooperable with a recessed zone along said latch drive shaft upon lateral movement of said retainer plate relative to said latch drive shaft whereby, in use, said retainer plate retains said latch drive shaft within the recess in said handle.

2. An assembly according to claim 1 wherein the latch drive shaft has a non- circular cross-section and said recess in the handle has a cross-sectional shape cooperable with the non-circular cross-section of the latch drive shaft whereby the latch drive shaft rotates in response to rotation of the handle.

3. An assembly according to claim 2 wherein the latch drive shaft has a substantially square cross-section.

4. An assembly according to claim 2 or claim 3 wherein the opening in said retainer plate has a first section corresponding in shape to the non-circular cross- sectional shape of said latch drive shaft and a second section opening onto said first section with said second section including the retainer edge region of said retainer plate.

An assembly according to claim 4 wherein the retainer edge region is semi-circular corresponding in shape to the recessed zone along said latch drive shaft.

6. An assembly according to claim 5 wherein said recessed zone along said latch drive shaft is formed by a circumferential groove having a circular base.

7. An assembly for use in a handle latching mechanism having a handle and a mounting rose rotatably supporting said handle, the assembly including a latch drive shaft and a blocking member having an outer surface which in use moves along or adjacent to an inwardly facing semi-circular surface on said mounting rose, said outer surface including at least one projecting detent engagable or disengagable from a detent receiving recess in said inwardly facing semi-circular surface upon rotation of said handle relative to the mounting rose, said blocking member being mounted for rotation with said latch drive shaft.

8. An assembly according to claim 7 wherein said blocking member includes drive means cooperable directly with said handle, whereby in use, said blocking member rotates upon rotation of said handle relative to said mounting rose.

9. An assembly according to claim 7 or claim 8 wherein said latch drive shaft has a non-circular cross-section and said blocking member includes a bore or recess to receive said latch drive shaft, the bore or recess having a cross-section cooperable with the non-circular cross-section of said latch drive shaft whereby said blocking member and said latch drive shaft rotate together.

An assembly according to claim 9 wherein said blocking member fits over one end of the latch drive shaft, said one end of the drive shaft being engagable with the handle of the handle latching mechanism.

11. An assembly according to any one of claims 7 to 10 wherein said at least one projecting detent is provided on a thin circumferentially extending section of said blocking member radially outwardly spaced from an inwardly located region of said blocking member whereby said thin section is adapted to flex inwardly and recover a more outwardly located position when said projecting detent is disposed adjacent to a said detent receiving recess.

12. An assembly according to claim 11 wherein said thin section is connected at both circumferential ends to a remaining portion of said blocking member.

13. An assembly according to claim 11 wherein said thin section is connected at only one circumferential end to a remaining portion of said blocking member.

14. An assembly according to any one of claims 7 to 13 wherein at least two said projecting detents are provided circumferentially spaced from one another.

An assembly according to claim 14 wherein at least said two detent receiving recesses are provided circumferentially spaced from one another.

16. An assembly according to any one of claims 7 to 15 wherein said blocking member includes at least one abutment surface cooperable, in use, with abutment means associated with said mounting rose to limit the extent of possible rotation of said handle relative to said mounting rose.

17. An assembly according to claim 16 wherein said abutment means includes, at least in part, formations integrally formed on said mounting rose.

18. An assembly according to claim 16 or claim 17 wherein said abutment means includes, at least in part, at least one element connectable with said mounting rose and repositionable in at least two different positions.

19. An assembly according to claim 18 wherein said assembly further includes a retainer plate cooperable with said latch drive shaft to enable said latch drive shaft to remain operably connected with said handle in use, said retainer plate being connectable to said mounting rose by said at least one element.

A handle latching mechanism including a rotatable handle, a mounting rose rotatably supporting said handle, a latch drive shaft cooperable with said handle for rotation therewith, a blocking member associated with said latch drive shaft and rotatable with said latch drive shaft and/or said handle, said blocking member including at least one abutment surface cooperable, in use, with abutment means associated with said mounting rose to limit the extent of possible rotation of said handle relative to said mounting rose.

21. A handle latching mechanism according to claim 20 wherein said abutment means includes, at least in part, formations integrally formed on said mounting rose.

22. A handle latching mechanism according to claim 20 or claim 21 wherein said abutment means includes, at least in part, at least one element connectable with said mounting rose.

23. A handle latching mechanism according to claim 22 wherein said at least one element is connectable to said mounting rose at at least two different positions.

24. A handle latching mechanism according to claim 23 further including a retainer plate cooperable with said latch drive shaft to enable said latch drive shaft to remain operably connected with said handle in use, said retainer plate being connectable to said mounting rose by said at least one element.

A handle latching mechanism according to any one of claims 20 to 24 wherein said handle is rotatable in use relative to said mounting rose between a first and second limit positions, said handle being engagable or disengagable axially from said mounting rose only in a relative rotational position that does not include said first or said second positions or any rotational position between said first and second positions.

26. A handle latching mechanism according to any one of claims 20 to further including a key operated lock device for locking said handle in a predetermined position relative to said mounting rose. DATED this 9th day of January, 2003 LOCK FOCUS PTY LTD WATERMARK PATENT TRADE MARK ATTORNEYS 290 BURWOOD ROAD HAWTHORN VICTORIA 3122 AUSTRALIA P21585AU00 SKP:JC