AU2011100816A4 - Two-Way Adjustable Electrical Lock Device - Google Patents

Abstract

A two-way adjustable electrical lock device comprises a base, a solenoid device, a control assembly, and a lever assembly. The base defines a compartment, an accommodating hole and two holes, and is provided with a 5 supporting plate. The solenoid device, which has a movable shaft, is mounted in the compartment of the base. The control assembly includes a control member defining a first cutout and a second cutout respectively at two sides thereof, the control member being formed with a first blocking portion and a second blocking portion respectively at two ends thereof The lever assembly 10 is fitted with the holes of the base, the lever assembly including a lever provided with an engaging portion for engaging with the control member of the control assembly. The control member can be constructed robustly and adjusted easily to allow the electrical lock device to be operated in two modes. co, co

Description

AUSTRALIA Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION INNOVATION PATENT TWO-WAY ADJUSTABLE ELECTRICAL LOCK DEVICE The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me: IP Australia 0 4 JUL 2011 RECEIVED

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1 TITLE: Two-Way Adjustable Electrical Lock Device (a) Technical Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a two-way adjustable electrical lock device and, more particularly, to a two-way adjustable electrical lock device 5 that has a robust structure and can be dissembled, adjusted, and assembled quickly and conveniently, whereby the device can be operated in two modes, under which the device can be released by energization or de-energization. (b) Description of the Prior Art An electrical lock of prior art, disclosed in US Pat. No. 6299225, is 10 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, in which the reference numeral for each component is different from the original document for differentiating it from the components ofthe present invention. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the disclosed electrical lock comprises a solenoid device attached with a bracket 63 mounted in a housing 6, in which 15 the bracket 63 defines two screw holes 66, 68, the housing 6 defines a oblong hole 61 and two screw holes 65, 67, the solenoid device includes a plunger being fastened with a block at its end. The solenoid device together with the bracket 63 is mounted in the housing 6 by a knob 60 secured to the bracket 63 through the oblong hole 61 and a screw 64 engaged with the screw hole 66 of 20 the bracket 63 through the screw hole 65 of the housing 6, or engaged with the 2 screw hole 68 of the bracket 63 through the screw hole 67 ofthe housing 6. The disclosed electrical lock is featured in that the solenoid device can be moved to change its position relative to the housing 6 by using the knob 60 and the screw 64 so that the operational mode of the disclosed electrical lock 5 can be changed. FIG 1 illustrates a first operational mode of the disclosed electrical lock, in which the solenoid valve is adjusted to a position where the knob 60 is located at a top end of the oblong hole 61, and the screw 64 is engaged with the screw hole 66 of the bracket 63 through the screw hole 65 of the housing 6. 10 Under this mode, when the solenoid is de-energized, the block fastened at the end of the plunger of the solenoid device may obstruct a lever of the disclosed electrical lock from moving inwardly of the housing 6 so that the disclosed electrical lock may be locked; when the solenoid is energized, the plunger of the solenoid device may extend to change the position of the block so that the 15 block may keep clear of the lever, thereby releasing the disclosed electrical lock. FIG 2 illustrates a second operational mode of the disclosed electrical lock, in which the solenoid valve is adjusted to a position where the knob 60 is located at a bottom end of the oblong hole 61, and the screw 64 is engaged 20 with the screw hole 68 of the bracket 63 through the screw hole 67 of the 3 housing 6. Under this mode, when the solenoid is de-energized, the block fastened at the end of the plunger of the solenoid device may keep clear of the lever so that the disclosed electrical lock may be at a released state; when the solenoid is energized, the plunger ofthe solenoid device may extend to change 5 the position of the block so that the block may obstruct the lever from moving inwardly of the housing 6, thereby locking the disclosed electrical lock. Although the disclosed electrical lock can be operated in two different modes, the structure of the block of the disclosed electrical lock is not so robust to endure a long-term use. Furthermore, the way of adjusting the 10 disclosed electrical lock is not very convenient. Thus, there is a need to further improve the disclosed electrical lock to obviate the drawbacks.

4 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The primary object of the present invention is to provide a two-way adjustable electrical lock device that has a robust structure and can be dissembled, adjusted, and assembled quickly and conveniently. 5 According to one aspect of the present invention, the two-way adjustable electrical lock device comprising a base, a solenoid device, a control assembly, and a lever assembly. The base defines a compartment therein, an accommodating hole at one side thereof, and two holes respectively at two sides thereof the base being provided with at least one supporting plate therein. 10 The solenoid device is mounted in the compartment of the base, the solenoid device having a movable shaft. The control assembly is mounted between the accommodating hole and the supporting plate of the base, the control assembly being engaged with the movable shaft ofthe solenoid device, the control assembly including a control member defining a first cutout and a 15 second cutout respectively at two sides thereof, the control member being formed with a first blocking portion and a second blocking portion respectively at two ends thereof. The lever assembly is fitted with the holes of the base, the lever assembly including a lever being provided with an engaging portion for engaging with the control member of the control 20 assembly.

5 Other objects, advantages, and novel features of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

6 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a schematic view illustrating the operation of an electrical lock device of prior art under a first mode. FIG 2 is a schematic view illustrating the operation of the electrical lock 5 device of prior art under a second mode. FIG. 3 shows an exploded view of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing a partial combination ofthe present invention. FIG. 4A shows a partial top view of FIG. 4. 10 FIG. 5 shows 3-dimensional view of the present invention. FIG 6 is a schematic view illustrating the operation of the present invention, in which the present invention is released when the solenoid device is energized. FIG.7 is a schematic view illustrating the adjustment of the present 15 invention. FIG 8 is a schematic view illustrating the operation of the present invention, in which the present invention is released when the solenoid device is de-energized. FIG 9 is a schematic view illustrating the operation of the present 20 invention, in which the present invention is locked when the solenoid device is 8 DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS To allow the features, advantages, and effects of the present invention to be understood more easily, a description with reference to the accompanying drawings will be detailed in the following paragraphs. 5 Referring to FIGS. 3 and 5, a two-way adjustable electrical lock device according to the present invention generally comprises a base 1, a solenoid device 2, a control assembly 3, and a lever assembly 4. The base 1 defines a compartment 11 therein and is provided with a supporting plate 12 defining a through hole 13 thereon. The base 1 further 10 defines an accommodating hole 14 at one side thereof and two holes 15 respectively at two sides thereof, the accommodating hole 14 being aligned with the through hole 13. The solenoid device 2 is mounted in the compartment 11 ofthe base 1 and has a movable shaft 21. 15 The control assembly 3 is mounted between the accommodating hole 14 and the supporting plate 12 of the base 1 and engages with the solenoid device 2. The control assembly 3 includes a threaded member 37, an elastic member 36, and a control member 31. The threaded member 37 is threadedly engaged into the accommodating hole 14 of the base 1. The threaded member 37 can 20 be a screw, such as a cross head screw or a slotted head screw or the like. The 9 control member 31 is inserted into the through hole 13 of the supporting plate 12 of the base 1. Referring next to FIGS. 4 and 4A, the control member 31 defines a first cutout 32 and a second cutout 33 respectively at two sides thereof and is formed with a first blocking portion 34 and a second blocking 5 portion 35 respectively at two ends thereof, wherein the first blocking portion 34 is adjoining to the first cutout 32 and the second cutout 35 is adjoining to the second cutout 33. The control member 31 is engaged with the movable shaft 21 of the solenoid device 2. The control member 31 can be made of stainless steel, such as SUS630. The elastic member 36 is engaged with the 10 threaded member 37 at one end thereof and engaged with the control member 31 at the other end thereof. The elastic member 36 can be a spring. The lever assembly 4, which is fitted with the holes 15 of the base 1, includes a lever 41, at least one spring 44, and an axle 45. The lever 41 is provided with an engaging portion 43 at one side thereof for engaging with the 15 control member 31 of the control assembly 3. The engaging portion 43 can be a projection. Furthermore, the lever 41 defines two axle holes 42 respectively at two ends thereof The axle 45 is inserted through the spring 44 and the axle holes 42 of the lever 41 and fitted with the holes 15 of the base I respectively at two ends thereof. 20 Referring again to FIG. 4A, when the solenoid device 2 is de-energized, 10 the movable shaft 21 of the solenoid valve 2 is at its original position such that the engaging portion 43 of the lever 41 is not aligned with the first cutout 32 of the control member 31, the first blocking portion 34 of the control member 31 is aligned with the engaging portion 43 ofthe lever 41. In such condition, 5 since the engaging portion 43 of the lever 41 cannot fit into the first cutout 32 of the control member 31, the lever 41 will be blocked by the control member 31 and thus cannot be pressed down, thereby causing the electrical lock device of the present invention to be locked. Referring next to FIG. 6, when the solenoid device 2 is energized, the 10 solenoid device 2 can be actuated to extend the movable shat 21 so that the control member 31 can be pushed outwardly toward the threaded member 37 to allow the first cutout 32 of the control member 31 to be aligned with the engaging portion 43 ofthe lever 41. In such condition, since the engaging portion 43 can fit into the first cutout 32 of the control member 31, the lever 41 15 can be pressed down, thereby causing the electrical lock device of the present invention to be released. If the user wishes to change the operation mode of the present invention to allow the present invention to be locked by energizing the solenoid device 2 and to be released by de-energizing the solenoid device 2, as shown in FIGS 3 20 and 7, the threaded member 37 can be threaded out of the accommodating 11 hole 14 of the base 1 to take out the elastic member 36 and the control member 31, and then the control member 31 can be rotated to adjust the angular orientation of the control member 31 or the positions of the first cutout 32 and the second cutout 33, and then the control member 31 can be 5 assembled back to the accommodating hole 14 of the base 1. Preferably, the control member 31 can be processed with heat treatment to increase the hardness thereof so that the resistance to deformation can be enhanced. As shown in FIG. 8, after the adjustment for the control member 31, when the solenoid device 2 is de-energized, the movable shaft 2lof the 10 solenoid device 2 is at its original position, the second cutout 33 of the control member 31 can be aligned with the engaging portion 43 of the lever 41. In such condition, since the engaging portion 43 of the lever 41 can fit into the second cutout 33 of the control member 31, the lever 41 can be pressed down, thereby causing the electrical lock device of the present invention to be 15 released. Refening next to FG. 9, after the adjustment for the control member 31, when the solenoid device 2 is energized, the solenoid device 2 can be actuated to extend the movable shaft 21 so that the control member 31 can be pushed outwardly toward the threaded member 37 to allow the engaging portion 43 of 20 the lever 41 to be not aligned with the second cutout 33 of the control member 12 31 and to allow the second blocking portion 35 ofthe control member 31 to be aligned with the engaging portion 43 of the lever 41. In such condition, since the engaging portion 43 of the lever 41 cannot fit into the second cutout 33 of the control member 31, the lever 41 cannot be pressed down, thereby causing 5 the electrical lock device of the present invention to be locked. In light of the foregoing, the present invention is featured in that the control member 31 is made of material being strengthened with heat treatment and has a robust structure design in itself, the control assembly 3 of the present invention can be dissembled to adjust the angular orientation of the control 10 member 31 with ease to achieve the purpose of changing the operational mode of a two-way electrical lock device. Although the present invention has been described with a certain degree of particularity, it is understood that the present disclosure is made by way of example only and the combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted 15 to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention hereinafter claimed.

Claims (5)

1. A two-way adjustable electrical lock device, comprising: a base defining a compartment therein, an accommodating hole at one side thereof, and two holes respectively at two sides thereof, said base being 5 provided with at least one supporting plate therein; a solenoid device being mounted in said compartment of said base, said solenoid device having a movable shaft; a control assembly being mounted between said accommodating hole and said supporting plate of said base, said control assembly being engaged with 10 said movable shaft of said solenoid device, said control assembly including a control member defining a first cutout and a second cutout respectively at two sides thereof, said control member being formed with a first blocking portion and a second blocking portion respectively at two ends thereof; and a lever assembly being fitted with the holes of said base, said lever 15 assembly including a lever being provided with an engaging portion for engaging with said control member of said control assembly.

2. The electrical lock device of claim 1, wherein said supporting plate defines a through hole to be inserted with said control member of said control assembly, said control member being made of stainless steel. 20

3. The electrical lock device of claim 1, wherein said control assembly 14 further comprising a threaded member and an elastic member being engaged with said threaded member at one end thereof

4. The electrical lock device of claim 3, wherein said threaded member is a cross head screw or a slotted head screw, said elastic member is a spring.

5 5. The electrical lock device of claim 1, wherein said lever of said lever assembly defines two axle holes respectively at two ends thereof, said lever assembly further includes at least one spring and an axle being fitted through said axle holes of said lever and said spring, said axle being fitted with said holes of said base respectively at two ends thereof, said engaging portion of 10 said lever is a projection.