AU2009212876B2 - Improvements in locks - Google Patents

Description

1 IMPROVEMENTS IN LOCKS Background and Unresolved Needs The invention relates in particular to locks having remote plungers (without being limited to such applications) Summary of the Inventions as Claimed According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided a lock including a plunger and actuating means mountable relative to a wing and operable to displace the plunger to and from an operative configuration in which the plunger protrudes from the wing to cooperate in restraining the wing against displacement, said plunger connected to the actuating means by an elongated connecting member which together are defined in part by the distance between the actuating means and plunger, said plunger relatively rotatable against biasing means to change the distance between the actuating means and plunger so as to adjust the distance the plunger protrudes from the wing in the operative configuration between a first position and an adjusted position, said plunger being retained at the adjusted position by said biasing means, wherein said biasing means is derived at least in part from compression of a resilient member. In a second aspect of the invention, there is lock including a bracket supported relative to the wing and through which the plunger extends to be supported by the bracket, said bracket including a sideways extending adjustable brace configurable to bridge the gap between the bracket and wing whereby to resist relative sideways displacement between the bracket and wing. According to another aspect of the invention, there is a lock including a plunger and actuating means mountable relative to a wing and operable to displace the plunger to and from an operative configuration in which it protrudes from the wing to cooperate in restraining the wing against displacement, said lock including a bracket supported relative to a wing and through which the plunger extends to be supported by the bracket, said bracket including a sideways extending adjustable brace configurable to bridge the gap between the bracket and wing whereby to resist relative sideways displacement between the bracket and wing.

2 The elements relating to the various aspects of the invention claimed within are identified within the specification as follows immediately below. Unless the context requires otherwise, * "Locks" or variations such as "lock" will be understood to include complete locks for 5 wings and improvements in locks for wings that are transportable into other locks and locking 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 10 - 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. 15 "Meshes with" implies engaging with but without free movement in excess of working clearances - for example, meshing between an angularly displaceable shaft and a recess in an angularly displaceable pinion means that they both angularly displace together but the shaft may be able to displace longitudinally in relation to the pinion. * "Extent" will be understood to include area, form and shape. 20 * 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 25 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" to particular applications and if need be, able to adequately perform a function required by the 30 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, wings embraces wings configured as "doors", "windows", "shutters", "screens" and gates, 35 ."Structure" or variations such as "structures" implies a man-made fabrication 3 consisting of one or more members and embraces complete structures; improvements in and alternative forms of constructions without being limited to the wings and described herein, structures more particularly embraces wings and more particularly wings configured as (or included in) doors, windows, window screens, gates and shutters, 5 * "Member" is an identifiable entity having material form that may include one or more identifiable components * "Material" includes elements, alloys, plastics and other substances, * "Aperture" and "recess" embrace a hole that extends from a surface while "aperture" in some contexts implies a hole that extends between surfaces. 10 - "Furniture" includes door furniture that includes a "handle assembly" that 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" sometimess referred to as an unlatching member or 15 lever) 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. 20 * "Engaging Member" is a member displaceable into and out of engagement with an "Engageable Member'; when in engagement, the engaging member is in an operative position or configuration and when removed from the said engagement, the engaging member is in an inoperative position or configuration. In many looks, (including locks employing a sliding latch bolt) the operative position corresponds with an engaging 25 member that is substantially fully displaced and the inoperative position corresponds with an engaging member that is substantially fully retracted; in this case the "engaging member" is displaceable between a fully displaced disposition and a fully retracted disposition. Within this specification, "retracted disposition" will embrace the inoperative disposition. - "Engage" implies displacement of an "engaging member" into engagement with an 30 "engageable member". . "Disengage" means withdrawal of the engaging member from engagement. operative disposition (in which the engaging member finds itself when engaged with the engageable member) and an inoperative disposition removed from the said engagement. Within this specification, fully displaced will embrace the operative disposition and retracted 35 disposition will embrace the inoperative disposition.

4 "Latching" implies displacement of an "engaging member" into engagement with an "engageable member" under the action of biasing means. - "Latch-Bolt" 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 or 5 otherwise profiled on one or both sides. a "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 look to restrain it from being disengaged and in some forms of locks employing deadlocking slides, it means restraining the 10 deadlocking slide to restrain the bolt from being inwardly displaced in response to operation of the unlatching. lever. * "Deadlocking" means to configure the lock to restrain the engaging member from being displaced from the operative configuration by external forces (in the case of a common lock for a hinged door, it includes restraining the bolt in a fully extended position). 15 The deadlocking means is some forms includes a "deadlocking slide" that is displaceable to cooperate with the engaging member to restrain it against displacement and/or to restrain an unlatching lever from being operable to unlatch the bolt. * "Deadlatching" means the bolt is automatically deadlocked during latching. - "French Door" means a door including a frame and a glass in-fill and includes a doo r 20 having a longitudinal recess having a depth not exceeding 40MM. * "Screen door' means a door including a hollow frame and an insect restraining in-fill such as fiberglass mesh, woven mesh or perforated metal mesh and includes a security door having a axial hollow having a Depth not exceeding 45 MM, a Width not exceeding 16 MM; an industry-standard door preparation has an elongated slotted aperture having a Width 14.5 25 to 16 MM and length substantially 147MM. * "Lock Body" includes an engaging member and a lock casing & "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 the frame of the wing. 30 - "Cylinder" or "Single cylinder" means a substantially conventional lock cylinder comprising a separate sub-assembly that includes a key operable barrel within a cylinder housing. * "Double-Cylinder" comprises a substantially conventional double lock cylinder comprising a separate sub-assembly that includes opposed coaxially supported barrels each 35 operably connected to the same angularly displaceable "first cam" having a "first cam arm" 5 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. * "Free rotation-double-cylinder" is configured such that each barrel is connected with 5 free movement to the same first cam such that the cam is free (between limits) to be angularly displaced while the barrels remain undisplaced - to enable the cam to be displaced by either barrel to a locking configuration and then the barrel to be reverse rotated to the undisplaced position enabling key removal while leaving the first cam in the locking position. * "Cross-Sectional View" in relation to figures should be interpreted as an 10 orthogonal cross-sectional view defined by a plain orthogonal to the axis of the member in consideration. * Patent Specification shall be taken to include: a Body [comprising a Title, a Description of Preferred Embodiment/s, an Abstract and a Summary of the Invention] and Claims. 15 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 claimed derived at least in part from this specification). Where an integer is attributed with attributes different from those attributed in an 20 earlier application on which this application relies for priority, the integer will be considered to be the same integer in a different form; where there is actual inconsistency, the latest description will prevail. The integers described within relate to a) the various aspects of the invention as claimed within, and b) the various aspects of other inventions as will be claimed in 25 divisional applications derived at least in part from this application. The inventions described within derive, at least in part, from those described in the associated parent application/s 2004 250 982 and 2005 250 050 which are hereby included in this application by reference and some of the inventions within may be used in conjunction with the locks described in 2004 250 982 and 2005 250 050; the locks described in these 30 patents requiring minor adaptation to become compatible with new material described herein.

6 Description of the Figures Notwithstanding any other forms that may fall within the scope of this patent specification, one preferred form of the invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: 5 Figure 1 is an isometric view of an end bracket and an adjustable connecting member. Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view of an improved connecting member where the plunger is not displaced along the supporting connector, Figure 3 is a plan view of an end bracket and an adjustable connecting member supported within a hollow extrusion comprising part of the frame of a wing. 10 Detailed Description of Embodiments Consistent with Concepts of the inventions The material within includes the description of a lock including a plunger and actuating means mountable relative to a wing and operable to displace the plunger to and from an operative configuration in which it protrudes from the wing to cooperate in restraining the wing against displacement, and where in some forms the plunger extends into a recess in an 15 element that forms part of an opening relative to which the wing is supported. The said plunger is connected to the actuating means by an elongated connecting member which together are defined in part by the distance between the actuating means and plunger and the plunger is relatively rotatable (and in some forms, against biasing means) to change the distance between the actuating means and plunger to change the distance the plunger 20 protrudes from the wing in the operative configuration. In some forms, a biasing means is included that is derived at least in part from compression of a resilient member The material within includes a description of an improved plunger (for lock for a wing) that is operably connected to an actuating means (within the lock) by an elongated connecting member; the plunger being relocatable relative to the connecting member to 25 change the effective length of the plunger- The material within further describes an improved bracket having a sideways brace to better support the bracket relative to the hollow extrusion comprising part of the frame of a wing. The improved bracket may be employed at the upper and/or lower end of a wing (that may be configured as a door) to support the connecting members that may be substantially as described in 2004 250 982 and 2005 250 050. 30 The connecting member 500 includes an elongated end member 502 configured to be received into an elongated recess 503 of an elongated member 504 that extends to connect to an actuating means that may comprise part of a lock of 2004 250 982 or 2005 250 050. Referencing Figs I & 2, end member 502 includes a peripheral recess 505 into which wall material 506 of member 504 is displaced to secure the member 504 to the end member 35 502. An externally threaded portion 507 of end member 502 extends longitudinally to mesh freely with an internally threaded portion 522 of the plunger 508 to be able to be relatively displaced relative to the plunger; the portion 522 comprising part of an axially elongated recess 530 within the plunger 508.

7 The effective length of the plunger (that is the length by which it protrudes from the wing when fully displaced) can be adjusted by rotating the plunger 508 relative to the externally threaded portion 507 to displace the plunger 508 along the end member 502. In some forms, a resilient member 509 is urged against the side of the plunger 508 5 to urge it against rotation; in some forms, a side of the plunger has one or multiple or a longitudinally elongated portion of reduced diameter that may comprise a flat 523 (or concave) portion that extends along the side and against which the resilient member 509 is urged and which has to be displaced against biasing means to enable the plunger 508 to be rotated. In some forms, the resilient member 509 comprises an elongated elastic leaf 10 spring 510 (that may be substantially cylindrical) (that in some cases is mounted orthogonally to the axis of the plunger 508) capable of sideways deflection that abuts the side of the plunger 508 and occupies a flat (or concave) portion that extends along the side of the plunger 508 to urge it against rotation. In some forms, there is an orthogonal aperture 511 in a return portion of the bracket, that may comprises a flange 517 (through which the plunger 15 508 extends) into which a return portion 540 of the resilient member 509 extends to be supported orthogonally to the axis of the plunger 508 and so that the leaf spring 510 is biased towards, to abut the plunger 508 to be able to occupy the space created by the portion of reduced diameter 523 to urge the plunger against rotation (in some forms the resilient has a return portion at each, end each occupying an orthogonal aperture 511 in a spaced pair of 20 flanges 517) The inventions in some forms, includes an improved bracket 501 that would be supported relative to a wing 524 and a plunger (that may comprise plunger 508) would -extend through an orthogonal return portion 518 of the improved bracket 501 to be supported by the bracket. 25 In some forms, the bracket 501 includes one or more flanges 517 that connect the return portion 518 to the longitudinal plate portion 619 that would be positioned to abut the internal surface of the frame of the wing to be coplanar with that surface- In some forms, the plate portion 519 is connected to the wing edge by fasteners that extend through the wing to occupy threaded apertures 520 in the longitudinal portion 519; in some case, these threaded 30 fasteners are replaced by rivets and the apertures 520 are appropriately adapted to suit. In some forms, the bracket 501 includes a sideways extending brace 514 that is adjusted to bridge the gap between the bracket and a side wall of the frame 524 to resist relative sideways displacement between the bracket and wing. In some forms the brace member 514 extends sideways to intersect and be connected to the bracket close to the 35 plunger 508 so as to better resist any sideways displacement of the frame relative to the 8 plunger; the brace serving the purpose of restraining the frame from displacing relative to a fixed plunger when the frame is acted on by an external load, In some forms, the brace comprises a threaded fastener 514 that engages in threaded apertures 515 in a flange 517 and that can be rotated to extend from the bracket till it abuts an opposite internal wall of the 5 frame. This form has the benefit of providing a brace of any (pre-determined) length adjustable to suit particular wing frames, In some forms, the longitudinal axis of the plunger 508 is spaced from the longitudinal portion 519. In some forms, the end member 502 includes a peripheral groove 525 configured to 10 receive an annular resilient member 526 that may compare an elastic substantially circular substantially conventional 0 ring 527 (having a substantially circular cross-section when undeformed) configured such that in an un-deformed state it extends sideways from the groove 525 and configured such that it can be deformed (to have a smaller outer diameter) so as to (along with end member 502) occupy an unthreaded portion 523 of the axial recess 530 15 configured to provide free passage to the threaded portion 507. The device is configured such that in useage, the plunger can be rotated to displace along the end portion 502 while the resilient member 526 (is held compressed to a smaller outer diameter) slides along the wall of the unthreaded portion 523 - the compressed resilient member 526 acting to create a frictional force resistant to this displacement and if the resilient member is held compressed 20 by being between the end member 502 and the unthreaded portion 523, it creates a frictional force resistant to relative rotation of the plunger. In some forms, there are multiple such resilient members 526 25'

Claims (3)

1. A lock including a plunger and actuating means mountable relative to a wing and operable to displace the plunger to and from an operative configuration in which the plunger protrudes from the wing to cooperate in restraining the wing against displacement, said plunger connected to the actuating means by an elongated connecting member which together are defined in part by the distance between the actuating means and plunger, said plunger relatively rotatable against biasing means to change the distance between the actuating means and plunger so as to adjust the distance the plunger protrudes from the wing in the operative configuration between a first position and an adjusted position, said plunger being retained at the adjusted position by said biasing means, wherein said biasing means is derived at least in part from compression of a resilient member.

2. A lock according to Claim 1, including a bracket supported relative to the wing and through which the plunger extends to be supported by the bracket, said bracket including a sideways extending adjustable brace configurable to bridge the gap between the bracket and wing whereby to resist relative sideways displacement between the bracket and wing.

3. A lock substantially as described herein with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Austral Lock Pty Ltd Patent Attorneys for the Applicant SPRUSON & FERGUSON