EP0611864B1 - Lock for sliding door or window - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to locks, more particularly locks for doors and windows which slide on rails as, in particular, in certain houses and apartment buildings, and which technicians call sliding.

In order to obtain the closure of these sliding devices, locks of a particular type have been produced, essentially constituted by a hollow slide-shaped body, a slide mounted in translation in the hollow of the slide, and a hook mounted integral with the slide and emerging from the body through a slot made in the body, this hook constituting the bolt of the lock. This lock is then embedded in a sliding upright, a groove being formed in this upright so that users can access the slide and maneuver it by sliding it in the body of the lock. The lock is further arranged and installed in the amount of the sliding so that the bolt or hook can cooperate with a keeper which is mounted integral with the door frame or window.

To close a slide with such a lock, simply push the slide on its rail until the bolt enters the keeper, then operate the slide so that the hook comes to be positioned behind a projecting part of this keeper .

To open the sliding door, all you have to do is maneuver the slider in the opposite direction to release the hook from the protruding part of the strike plate, then slide the door or window on the rails to open it.

The locks schematically described above make it possible to obtain a very good closure of the slides for which they have been developed, but provided that the slide has been maneuvered so that the hook occupies perfectly the position which it must have behind the protruding part of the keeper. Likewise, the sliding opening can only be carried out easily if the hook has been fully released from this projecting part.

So that users of this type of closure can be assured to have carried out a complete maneuver of the slide, systems have been developed integrated into the locks which make it possible for sure to bring the slide into two extreme positions, that is to say at the end stop for closing and opening the sliding door.

The systems of this type which currently exist work well, but are very complicated and considerably increase the cost price of the locks in which they are integrated.

The present invention therefore aims to achieve a lock comprising a system to help the slide to reach without any doubt its extreme end position, the structure of which is simple and easy to implement and which does not involve mounting by specialists, this system causing only a small increase in the cost price of the lock compared to those which do not have one.

• une tige ressort solidaire, par l'une de ses extrémités, dudit coulisseau et comportant, à son autre extrémité, un moyen de frottement, et
• une première rampe comportant une partie inclinée comprise entre un sommet et une base, ladite rampe étant située sur ledit corps et étant apte à coopérer avec le moyen de frottement de façon que, lorsque ledit coulisseau est dans une position intermédiaire entre ladite position d'ouverture et ladite position de fermeture, ledit moyen de frottement se trouve sur le sommet de ladite première rampe et bande ladite tige ressort et que, lorsque ledit coulisseau arrive en fin de course, ledit moyen de frottement parcourt la partie inclinée de cette rampe et amène ladite tige ressort en position détendue.

More specifically, the subject of the present invention is a lock comprising a body in the form of a hollow slide, a slide mounted in translation in the hollow of said slide and capable of taking two extreme positions called "open position" and "position of closure ", and a hook mounted integral with said slide and emerging from said body by a slot made in this body, this hook constituting the bolt of the lock able to cooperate with a projecting part of a keeper, characterized in that it comprises in addition at least:

• a spring rod secured at one of its ends to said slide and comprising, at its other end, a friction means, and
• a first ramp comprising an inclined part between a top and a base, said ramp being located on said body and being able to cooperate with the friction means so that, when said slide is in an intermediate position between said open position and said closed position, said friction means is located on the top of said first ramp and strips said spring rod and, when said slide reaches the end of its travel, said friction means travels through the inclined part of this ramp and brings said rod spring in relaxed position.

Other characteristics and advantages of the present invention will appear during the following description given with reference to the drawing annexed by way of illustration but in no way limitative in which:

The single Figure shows an embodiment of a lock according to the invention.

The closing device 1 illustrated in the single figure is more particularly intended to be associated, on the one hand, with a sliding device schematically represented in 2, that is to say for example a window or a door which slides on rails, to obtain the opening or closing of this window or the like, and on the other hand to a frame 3.

This device comprises a lock 4 arranged, in the example illustrated, on the amount of the slide 2 and a keeper 5 arranged on the other element, that is to say the jamb 3, this keeper comprising in a known manner a housing open 6, delimited and bordered by at least one projecting part 7.

The lock 4 comprises a body 8 in the form of a recessed slide 9 10 formed, for example by a hollow cylindrical profile. In this body is disposed a slide 11 mounted in translation in the hollow 10 of the slide 9 and able to take two extreme positions, an open position shown in dotted lines 11-1 and a closed position shown in broken lines 11 -2. A hook 12 is mounted integral with the slide 11 and emerges from the body 8 through a slot 13 produced in this body. This hook 12 constitutes the bolt of the lock which is able to cooperate with the keeper 5 and more particularly with the projecting part 7 which borders the housing 6.

According to a characteristic of the invention, the lock 4 further comprises at least one spring rod 20 advantageously having a transverse elasticity giving it a certain value of elastic deflection, but a longitudinal stiffness. This spring rod is integral, by one of its ends 21, with the slide 11, and comprises at its other end 22 a friction means 23, for example a rounded part 24 offset from the rod, coming to cooperate, as demonstrated below. -after, with a sliding surface.

In fact, the lock 4 also comprises at least a first ramp 25 comprising an inclined part comprised between a top 26 and a base 32. This ramp is located on the body 8 and is able to cooperate with the friction means 23 so that, when the slide is in an intermediate position such as that which is shown in solid lines in the Figure, that is to say between the open position 11-1 and the closed position 11-2, this means of friction 23 is on the top 26 of the ramp 25 and subjects the spring rod 20 to an elastic deformation to bandage it. On the other hand, when this slide 11 arrives towards one of its two possible limit switches, for example the closed position 11-2, the friction means 23 travels through the inclined part of the ramp 25 and brings the spring rod into its relaxed resting position.

According to a possible and advantageous embodiment, the spring rod 20 is mounted on the slide 11 in a direction which is substantially parallel to the sliding direction of the slide in the body 8.

The lock described above allows the slide to reach its extreme end position without fail, for example so that the hook cooperates ideally with the keeper 5 to close the sliding, that is to say so that it comes to be placed exactly and entirely behind the projecting part 7.

To describe the operation of this lock, it is first considered that the slide is in an intermediate position like that which is illustrated in solid lines in the Figure and that the slide must be closed. The slide 2 is therefore brought against the frame 3 so that the hook 12 enters the housing 6, then the slide 11 is slid to make it rise in the body 8 so as to bring the spout 30 of the hook 12 behind the part in projection 7.

During this maneuver, the friction means 23 is firstly located on the top 26 of the ramp 25 and the spring rod 20 is bandaged as much as possible and is kept in this situation of elastic deformation until the arrival of the means of friction at the high point of the inclined part of the ramp 25. As soon as the friction means has passed this point, the forces exerted on it are essentially the following: a reaction force exerted by the surface 31 of the first ramp 25 and substantially perpendicular to this surface and a return force, substantially horizontal, due to the elastic deformation of the spring rod. In known manner in mechanics, the restoring force can be broken down into two forces, for example one perpendicular to the surface 31 and the other parallel to this surface. The component perpendicular to the surface 31 opposes the reaction force and the friction means is therefore only subject to the component parallel to the first ramp 25 which automatically drives it towards the base 32 of this first ramp, because the slope of the inclined portion of the first ramp 25 gives this component an orientation in the ascending direction (relative to the orientation of the figure).

This force is applied indirectly to the slide by being transmitted to it by the longitudinal stiffness of the rod, and automatically pushes the slide up to its extreme closed position which it reaches when the friction means has arrived at the base. 32 of the inclined part of the ramp 25, that is to say when the spring rod is relaxed. The hook 12 then automatically reaches, behind the projecting part 7 of the keeper 5, the location provided for perfect closure of the slide, even if the user had not taken care to push the slide up to end of its race.

It can therefore be seen that the means described above provide this lock with security for automatically reaching its perfectly closed position.

It has been described above only the means providing the slide a help to automatically reach its end position 11-2 for closing the slide, but it is obvious that the lock can also include an end of travel aid for the slide to automatically bring it into its open position 11- 1.

The lock then comprises a second ramp 40 comprising an inclined part between a top and a base 42. Advantageously, the top of this second ramp 40 is coincident with the top 26 of the first ramp 25 and its inclined part is symmetrical with the inclined part of the first ramp 25 relative to the direction perpendicular to that of the sliding of the slide in the body 8. In addition, so that the inclined parts of the two ramps cooperate with the friction means 23 to provide the slide with assistance end of stroke and bring it, either in its closed position or in its open position, it is necessary that the distance separating the bases 32 and 42 from these two inclined parts is substantially equal to the distance which the slide must travel when it goes from its closed position 11-2 to its open position 11-1.

The operation of the lock at the end of the slide stroke to automatically bring it into its perfect opening position is the same as that described above, with the difference that the slope of the inclined part of the second ramp 40 is opposite to that of the inclined part of the ramp 25 and gives the force which is exerted automatically on the slide a downward orientation.

In a preferred embodiment, the two ramps 25 and 40 can be directly produced in the wall 43 of the body 8, for example by deformation and cutting according to the technique known as "puncture".

In the example described above, only one spring rod has been described associated with a pair of ramps. It is however very obvious that, in order to increase the intensity of the force exerted automatically on the slide at the end of the stroke, both in one direction and in the other, it is possible to mount in parallel several spring rods identical to that referenced 20 and to provide, for example in the wall of the body 8, as many pairs of ramps identical to the couple 25-40. As an example, the single figure comprises two spring rods and two pairs of symmetrical ramps.

Claims (6)

1. Lock comprising a body (8) in the form of a guide (9) which is hollow (10), a slide (11) mounted to move in translation in the hollow of said guide and able to assume two extreme positions, a so-called "opening position" (11-1) and "closing position" (11-2) and a hook (12) mounted to be integral with said slide and emerging from said body through a slot (13) provided in this body, this hook constituting the bolt of the lock able to cooperate with a projecting part (7) of a keeper (5), characterised in that it also comprises at least:

   - a spring rod (20) integral, by one of its ends (21), with said slide (11) and comprising, at its other end (22), friction means (23), and

   - a first ramp (25) comprising an inclined part comprised between an apex (26) and a base (32), said first ramp being situated on said body (8) and being able to cooperate with the friction means (23) so that, when said slide (11) is in an intermediate position between said opening position (11-1) and said closing position (11-2), the said friction means are located on the apex (26) of said first ramp and stretch said spring rod (20) and that, when said slide arrives at the end of its travel, said friction means travel over the inclined part of this ramp and bring said spring rod into the relaxed position.
2. Lock according to Claim 1, characterised in that said spring rod (20) is mounted in a direction substantially parallel to the sliding direction of said slide (11).
3. Lock according to Claim 2, characterised in that it also comprises a second ramp (40) substantially symmetrical with said first ramp (25) with respect to a direction perpendicular to the sliding direction of said slide, the distance, separating the low points (32, 42) of these two first and second ramps, being substantially equal to the sliding path of said slide when it passes from the closing position to the opening position.
4. Lock according to one of Claims 1 to 3, characterised in that the two ramps are formed in the wall (43) of said body (8).
5. Lock according to Claim 4, characterised in that the two ramps are constituted by a "recess" formed with the wall of said body.
6. Lock according to one of Claims 1 to 5, characterised in that said spring rod (20) has transverse elasticity and longitudinal rigidity.

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