AU685810B2 - A shrouded keeper - Google Patents

Description

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A STANDARD PATENT Name of Applicants: Address for Service: WHITCO PTY LTD CULLEN CO., Patent Trade Mark Attorneys, 240 Queen Street, Brisbane, Qld. 4000, Australia.

Invention Title: A SHROUDED KEEPER Details of Associated Provisional Applications: Nos. PM0421 The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to us: L I I ii THIS INVENTION relates to a keeper for a pivoting handle and which is provided with a shroud or protective walls or like members to prevent or resist an intruder from attempting to prise the handle away from the keeper.

Sliding wings (such as sliding doors, windows, security screen doors and the like) are often provided with a pivoting handle to allow the wing to be automatically latched when the wing is passed to its closed position.

•col•: S• The pivoting handle is provided with a recess which .0 can capture a lip or projection mounted on the door jamb or window surround frame. As the door or window is slid to its o:eo closed position, a leading nose portion of the handle contacts and rides over the lip or projection causing the handle to pivot upwardly. When the lip or projection passes into the S recess in the handle, the handle is caused to pivot to a latched position where the lip is latched within the recess.

The handle can be pivotally moved either manually or maybe biased by a spring. Once the handle is in the latched position, it can be locked by a key to prevent the handle from being moved to its unlatched position.

An example of this type of handle is disclosed in Aus: N 30 GjBL- S our earlier rp t= 4 d- c~i 6and also in Australian patent application 60988/90.

One disadvantage of the above handle is that even when in the locked position, there is sufficient flex in the handle and the surround frame to allow an intruder to insert a screwdriver or lever underneath the nose portion of the handle and to prise the handle away from the lip or projection to jjjjt enable the door or window to be opened.

Thus, the handle cannot be effectively deadlocked.

The present invention has been developed to provide a keeper which may have a projection or lip on which a pivoting handle can latch and where the keeper is also provided with protective walls or like members to hinder or prevent a screwdriver or like lever from being inserted underneath the handle to attempt to prise it to a free oo i S position.

.e In one form therefore, the invention resides in a S keeper for a pivoting handle, the keeper having a base wall, engaging means to engage with the handle, a pair of side walls extending upwardly from side portions of the base wall and a rear wall extending upwardly from a rear portion of the base wall.

The engagement means may comprise a lip extending upwardly from adjacent a front portion of the base wall.

*.The lip may include a ramped leading surface to facilitate passage of the handle over the lip.

The base wall is suitably adapted to be securable to a window or door surround frame or to a wing.

An embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to the following drawings in which:- FIG. 1 is a view of a pivoting handle mountable to a support.

FIG. 2 is a view of a keeper according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the handle of Fig. 1 in a I I 4 unmatched position.

FIG. 4 is a view of the handle of Fig. 1 in a latched position.

Referring to the drawings and initially to Fig. 1 there is shown a pivoting handle 10 which is of the same AuSr kv tP t-la Gat-t!S U 6, design as described in our earlier atenr, Pp l a =Et96 and the application is incorporated herein by suitable crossreference. Handle 10 is provided with a rear longitudinal bead 11 which can be pivotally mounted in a support 12.

Support 12 can be screwed or otherwise fastened to a sliding door or window as the case may be through suitable fasteners.

Handle 10 is provided with a leading nose portion 13 having a lower ramped face 14 and the handle is further provided with a longitudinal recess 15 which functions to engage with the keeper as shall be described in greater detail below.

It can be seen from Fig. 1 that handle 10 can pivot in support 12 between a release and engaged position.

Referring to Fig. 2 there is shown a keeper. Keeper 16 includes a base wall 17 which is provided with openings 18 to allow the keeper to be secured to a door jamb, window surround frame or a suitable support against which the sliding door or window can close.

A forward portion of keeper 16 is provided with an engagement means in the form of an upstanding lip 19 which has a ramped leading surface 20 which in use will contact ramped surface 14 of handle Keeper 16 further includes a pair of upstanding side -F~egs walls 21, 22 which extend upwardly at right angles from base wall 17 and further includes a rear wall 23 which also extends at right angles from a rear portion of base wall 17. Side walls 21, 22 and rear wall 23 are formed as a continuous unit.

Referring to Fig. 3 and 4 there is shown how the keeper operates. Initially, referring to Fig. 3, handle 10 is mounted to support 12 which itself is mounted to a sliding window or door. Keeper 16 is mounted to a door window ootoo S surround frame or like member. Upon closing of the window or door in the direction of arrow, the lower ramped face 14 of handle 10 initially abuts against ramped face 20 of keeper 16 and this causes handle 10 to pivot upwardly as shown in Fig.

3.

Upon further closing of the sliding window or door, handle 10 moves to a position where lip 19 is positioned in recess 15 and in this position, handle 10 can move downwardly to a latched position as shown in Fig. 4. In this position, handle 10 can be locked to prevent it from being pivoted back to an unlatched positin and a preferred locking mechanism is as is described in our earlier pc It can be seen from Fig. 4 that rear wall 23 and side walls 21, 22 (21 not shown) extend about the lower portion of handle 10 and make it extremely difficult for an intruder to insert a screwdriver or lever underneath the nose area of handle 10 to attempt to prise the handle away from lip 19.

Furthermore, by having screw openings 18 in the base wall 17, it is also difficult for an intruder to attempt to r remove keeper 16.

It should be appreciated that various other changes and modifications may be made to the embodiment described without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

S.

II

Claims (6)

1. A keeper for a pivoting handle, the keeper having a base wall, engaging means to engage with the handle to latch the handle to the keeper, a pair of side walls extending upwardly from side portions of the base wall and a rear wall extending upwardly from a rear portion of the base wall.

2. The keeper of claim 1, wherein the engaging means comprises an upstanding lip extending from a front portion of the keeper.

3. The keeper of claim 2, wherein the lip has a ramped leading surface to facilitate passage of the handle over the lip.

4. The keeper of any one of claims 1 3, wherein *000** 15 the base wall is a flat rectangular wall having longer 0000 front and rear edges and shorter side edges, the side walls extend upwardly at right angles from each side edge and are equally sized, the rear wall extends upwardly at I. right angles from the rear edge and is the same height as the side walls, and the engaging means is a raised lip extending upwardly from the front edge of the base wall and is of reduced height relative to the side walls.

5. A keeper substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to figures 2 4.

6. A kit comprising a handle and a keeper as claimed in any one of claims 1 DATED THIS 28TH DAY OF FEBRUARY 1997 WHITCO PTY LTD By their Patent Attorneys CULLEN CO 8 ABSTRACT A keeper for a pivoting handle is shrouded to prevent the handle from being prised off the keeper by an intruder. S* *o a S*a IN