AU6808500A - Lock mechanism - Google Patents

Description

Title Lock Mechanism The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me:oo Field of the Invention This invention relates to operating mechanisms for locks Summary of the Invention According to the invention there a lock for a sliding door or window, said lock including a body, said body including a casing, an angularly displaceable bolt supported in the body and having a hooked portion said bolt being displaceable between an extended position where the hooked portion protrudes from the casing and a retracted position where the hooked portion is substantially within the casing, an angularly 25 displaceable cam member supported within the body to have an axis of rotation coaxial with that of he bolt, a displaceable pawl supported in the body and displaceable between an engaging position where it engages relative to the casing to retain the bolt in the extended position and a free position allowing the bolt to displace, said cam being selectively displaceable to move the pawl between engaging and free positions.

The invention further provides a mechanism including a body, said body including a casing, an angularly displaceable first member supported in the body, an angularly displaceable cam member supported within the body to have an axis of rotation coaxial with that of he first member, a displaceable pawl supported by the cam and displaceable between an engaging position where it engages relative to the casing to retain the first member in the extended position and a free position allowing the first member to displace, said cam being selectively displaceable to move the pawl between engaging and free positions and wherin the cam comprises a disc-like member having a contoured periphery to control a locking ball displaceabe to selectively interconnect the bolt to the cam and to connect the bolt to the casing.

The invention further provides a lock for a sliding door or window, said lock including a casing, an angularly displaceable bolt supported in the casing and having a hooked portion said bolt being angularly displaceable between an extended position where the hooked portion protrudes from the casing and a retracted position where the i0 hooked portion is substantially within the casing and wherein when in the fully extended position being adjustable to vary the distance the bolt extends from the casing.

S•The invention further provides a lock substantially as described herein with S* 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 a is an exploded view of the lock body without handle or lid Figure 2 is a schematic side view of the lock body Figure 3 is an isometric view of the lock body Figure 34, is an isometric impression of the lock body i.:":Figure 4, is an isometric impression of the lock body Figure 5, is an isometric view of the lock body.

Description of the Preferred Embodiments The invention comprises a lock and mechanism for a lock and a sliding glass door lock where an exterior housing includes a key operable barrel and the interior assembly includes an angularly displaceable hook member which is to be displaceable between engaged and disengaged positions by operation of the exterior barrel and which is to also be similarly operable by an interior lever coupled to the hook member.

The mechanism included within the glass door lock is transportable to other locks requiring an exterior key operable barrel to both operate and lock an interior engaging member such as a hooked member or bolt.

The lock comprises an interior handle assembly and preferably an exterior handle assembly, not shown. The interior handle assembly comprises a lock body portion and a hand engageable portion by which the door is moved by hand, the distinction between lock body and hand engageable portion being somewhat arbitary since together they preferably comprise a single assembly.

The body includes a substantially hollow casing and this supports and houses other components including an angularly displaceable bolt supported by the casing at a substantially horizontal axis of rotation and having a hook portion which is displaceable from a position substantially within the casing to a position where it protrudes from the casing and where in usage it would engage behind a portion of a catch plate. The bolt preferably is extended to include an operating lever.

15 In an embodiment there is an exterior handle assembly which includes a key operable barrel which is preferably supported to have an axis of rotation coaxial with that of the bolt and by which the bolt is operable.

In a preferred embodiment the lock includes and interior and exterior barrel and 2o in which case the interior barrel can be used to lock the bolt such that the interior cylinder or exterior barrel must be used to unlock the lock before the lever can be operated to the bolt. The cylinder in the exterior assembly is coupled to the internal handle assembly by a shaft that passes through an aperture in the door.

Locks providing the above described functionality are well known but are expensive and have a number of deficiencies. The present invention provides an improved lock while complying to an industry standard of employing only three apertures within the door at substantially 41mm spacings; two for through fixing screws and one for the shaft.

In a preferred embodiment, the interior handle assembly, Fig 2 has a casing 1 and a raised handle portion disposed away from the door edge and accessible to enable hand access and by which the door is moved. The assembly includes an operating lever 2 to operate a "hooked" bolt 3 and an angularly displaceable cam 4 member supported within the body to have an axis of rotation coaxial with that of the bolt. It is through the cam that the barrel or barrels operably connect to the bolt.

The mechanism functions by allocating parts of the cam angular displacement to different functions. In the retracted position of the bolt the cam is undisplaced at 0 deg.

of rotation and in the fully displaced protruding position the cam is rotated 90 degrees.

In the range of 0 to 90 deg. the lever/bolt and cam move together, in a second range of cam movement, preferably 90 to 100 degrees, the lever/bolt remains stationery while the t0 cam rotates this small movement being employed to fix the bolt in relation to the casing.

In an embodiment the cam comprises a first disc-like member herein referred to as a cam disc 5, supported towards the base of the casing and a cylindrical shaft 7, 15 portion having a disc-like head 6, a shaft,. The shaft protrudes through an aperture 9 in a plate comprising a base 10 of the casing to be attached to the base by a circlip or other means. The cam disc is coupled to the shaft through splined engagement 11 so they simlultaneously displace.

20 Supported on the shaft between the cam disc and head is another disc-like member, herein called a bolt base 12, which is cross slotted 13 to accept and support the bolt.

The bolt base has an arcular portion 14 which extends to the casing base and which outwardly and inwardly comprises the arcs of a circle. Adjacent the bolt base and having a surface defined by a axis which is coaxial with the axis of rotation of the bolt is a raised arcular fin portion 15 extending from the casing base to be adjacent the outer peripheral face of the arcular portion and extending for a length including the arc of movement of arcular portion, so that the fin in-part always abuts the arcular portion.

Within the arcular portion there is a radial slot 16 which supports a ball 17 while permitting radial movement of the ball. This arcular portion is configured to accept a ball to the extent that it is only partly received radially within the slot, i.e. it must always protrude from the inner or outer radial surface of the arcular portion. Preferably the fin aperture supports a radially displaceable second ball 18 which is biassed towards the bolt base by a spring 19.

Coincidental with the bolt being displaced 90 deg. (and the bolt meeting a shoulder comprising part of the casing to prevent further movement there is a slotted aperture 20 in the wall of the fin adjacent the ball so that the ball may be driven partly into this aperture in the fin to bind the bolt base to the fin to prevent it being rotated in this means the bolt is locked.

The cam disc has an outwardly ramped peripheral shoulder 21 within the contoured portion and coincidental with the bolt being in the extended portion and the ball being adjacent the aperture while residing entirely within the periphery of the bolt base while in-part protruding radially inwards from the arcular portion inner face, the ramp is adjacent the ball so that futher rotation of the cam disc forces the ball into the 15 finned aperture to protrude from the other side to have been displaced into the aperture in the fin. In this configuration the cam disc peripheral face is adjacent the inner peripheral face of the arcular portion.

During normal usage when the cam is caused to rotate from 0 to 90 degrees by barrel operation, the cam disc and bolt base are locked together because the ball and ramp are configured so that when the outer portion of the ball is adjacent the fin (as it is for 0 to 90 deg. displacement) the inner portion of the ball protrudes partly out of the "inner side of the slot to be adjacent the ramp the ball efectively being "stuck" between a peripheral edge of cam disc and the fin to restrain cam disc and bolt base locked together so that operation of a key to rotate the cam simultaneously operates the bolt.

When the ball becomes adjacent the aperture, at which time the bolt base ceases to rotate, coupling between the cam disc and bolt base ceases and the cam can further rotate to drive the ball into the aperture.

When the cam is made to turn in the opposite, unlocking direction, to the configuration where the finish of the ramp is adjacent the ball, and the ball has been urged back into the cam disc periphel recess by the spring, i.e. to not engage the fin, a drive shoulder of the cam disc engages the outwardly protruding pin of the bolt base.

During further unlocking displacement of the cam, the pin and bolt are angularly displaced while the ball is retained between the fin and cam disc whereby the cam disc and bolt base become locked together again so that further unlocking rotation of the cam causes the bolt to be moved towards the retracted position corresponding to 0 deg.

displacememt.

In a preferred embodiment, the bolt is supported between raised shoulders of the bolt base defined by the cross slot referred to above. In this embodiment, the aperture within the bolt though which the shaft has passage has an elongagted aperture 23 which when the bolt is fully extended is substantially horizontal. Within this aperture is a spring which outwardly biases the bolt and in the extended position biases it outwardly in a horizontal direction. The bolt has a shoulder disposed towards head preferably comprising the arc of a circle having a nominal centre coaxial with that of the shaft. The leO* underside of the head covers the bolt shoulder which is accommodated in a curved 15 recess having an outer peripheral wall The recess is configured such that when the bolt is fully extended and urged fully out by the spring, the cam disc is at 90 degree, the bolt shoulder lies within the recess in the head. When the cam is caused to turn an additional amount the bolt the wall is wiped over the bolt shoulder which remains stationery and because the curved recess is configured to be closer to the axis of rotation of the shaft at a point coinciding with a fully turned cam, the hooked end of the bolt is in drawn towards the axis of rotation by cam rotation past 100 degrees, i.e. it remains angularly displaced by 90 degrees but withdrawn rectlinearly as far as the elongated slot permits and the cam provides. The outer wall of the recess in the head between these limits can be continuously curved to progressively withdraw the bolt but preferably it comprises a number of ramps and portions comprising arcs of a circle so that on reaching correct adjustment the cam effectively is stopped from further turning- this providing a more definte feel for a person operating the lock.

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 have in general no absolute significance.

a *o e