EP1247927B1 - Reversible latch bolt for mortise lock or rim lock - Google Patents

Abstract

The bolt body has its head, its tail and a deformable tongue (13) located longitudinally against it. The bolt free end constitutes a stop limiting the travel of the bolt in the lock case (2) by engaging the bottom (120b) of the corresponding cut-out (12b) in which it is located. The tongue is elastically deformable so that, for the reversal operation, its free end can be plated against the body and pass under the wall (2a) against which it is normally abutted. This increases the bolt return travel and allows the head to escape from the guide (10) and completely enter the cut-out zones of the casing and cover.

Description

The invention relates to a reversible latch bolt with lock mortise or apply.

In mortise or overlay locks, the latch bolt is arranged to be turned 180 ° around its axis of movement to be able to cooperate normally with a strike, that the door opens right or left.

In current locks, turning the latch bolt requires removing at least the cover of the lock box with the may allow certain parts to move under the action of springs various, with the consequence of increasing the duration of reassembly for reposition the portable parts between trunk and cover.

Document FR 1 376 716 describes a lock in which the trunk and the lid of the lock have, each and near the headrest, a coated T cut made up of a part allowing the rotation of the bolt and a part formed by cutting and folding down protruding legs in the trunk and used to support the spring driving the bolt outside. To bring the bolt into the turning position, that is to say in coincidence with the aforementioned cutouts, unscrew and remove a transverse screw forming stop for limiting the bolt re-entry stroke.

In document NL 30270, the bolt is in two parts, and is therefore composed of a body mounted sliding in the trunk, and reacting to follower and a return spring, and a head with a cylindrical rod which, fitted with an elastic tongue, is engaged in a body bore and is wedged into it by snapping a notch of the tongue on the edge a groove on each side of the body. In this montage, it is the notch of the elastic tongue which ensures the translational wedging and the wedging in rotation of the head in the body of the bolt. The notch being small dimensions and cannot be oversized, it results in it being fragile and that such a lock can very easily be broken.

The object of the present invention is to remedy these drawbacks by providing a latch bolt whose reversibility requires no disassembly of the lock, thereby reducing the time required for this operation, eliminating the risk of losing a part without affecting the invulnerability of the lock.

It relates more particularly to locks comprising a chest in the shape of an open box, whether or not linked to a faceplate, and of which the opening is closed by a cover, a follower mounted free to rotate around a transverse axis in respective bearings of the trunk and the cover, and a spring return latch bolt slidably mounted in the trunk, between a projecting position of the trunk, an erasing position in the trunk, and a turning position in which it can be pivoted by rotation in T-shaped cutouts in the trunk and lid, the head of this bolt having, in cross section, a general shape quadrangular circulating in a guide of the same shape cut in the faceplate or in the trunk, and being integral a) with a body and a tail sliding in the trunk, b) a flange cooperating with the follower and with a return spring, and c) a stop means limiting the reentry travel of the bolts in the trunk.

In the lock according to the invention, the body of the bolt is monolithic with its head, its tail and an elastically deformable tongue, arranged longitudinally against this body and whose free end, opposite the head of the bolt, constitutes a stop means limiting the retraction stroke of the bolt in the chest, cooperating with the bottom of the corresponding cut in which it is arranged, this tongue being elastically deformable so that, for the turning operation, its free end can be pressed against the body to pass under the wall against which it normally comes in abutment, for, on the one hand, increasing the retraction stroke of the bolt, and on the other hand, allow the head of this bolt to escape from the shaped guide and come completely into the cutout, trunk and lid area, where this head can be turned 180 ° with the body.

With this arrangement, when the lock is not yet in place place on the door, turning the latch bolt is very easy pressing transversely on the tongue to bring its free end below the level of the wall against which it abuts, then in pressing the bolt head to cause it to retreat into the trunk until that his head escapes from the guide cutout made in the headrest or the trunk wall.

From there, and while keeping the bolt pushed, it is enough to rotate 180 ° in the cutouts provided for this purpose, in the trunk and in the trunk lid. As soon as this rotation is complete and the head returns to coincide with its guide shape provided in the headrest or the wall of the trunk, the loosening of this bolt allows its return means automatically return it to its operating position, allowing its tongue to resiliently return to its position for constitute a stop limiting the retraction of the bolt in the trunk.

It appears from the above that this operation is carried out very quickly, without the need to disassemble any of the components of the lock.

In one embodiment of the invention, a shoulder, formed between the body and the tail of the bolt, is set back from the free end of the tongue to form, by cooperating with the bottom of the cutouts, a second stop means limiting the retraction stroke of the bolt during its turnaround.

Advantageously, the tail of the bolt has an axial bore opening which, in the phase of turning the bolt and when it last is in the retracted position, cooperates with a finger of the housing to guide the turning rotation of this bolt.

These guide means, which come into action as soon as the bolt is flush with the headrest, on the one hand, guarantee the longitudinal positioning of the bolt and, on the other hand, its guiding in rotation in the turning phase.

Figure 1 est une vue de côté en élévation de la serrure de la serrure,

Figure 2 est une vue en perspective, et à échelle agrandie du pêne selon l'invention,

Figure 3 est une vue en perspective avec coupe partielle de la serrure, lorsque le pêne est en position sortie,

Figures 4 et 5 sont des vues en coupe transversale selon l'axe longitudinal du pêne, lorsque celui-ci est, respectivement en fonctionnement normal, en position rentrée en butée, et lorsqu'il est davantage rentré avant lancement de l'opération de retournement,

Figure 6 est une vue partielle en perspective représentant partiellement le coffre de la serrure, lorsque le pêne est dans la phase de retournement.

Other characteristics and advantages will emerge from the description which follows with reference to the appended schematic drawing representing, by way of example, an embodiment of the latch bolt according to the invention in the case of its application to a lock with mortise.

Figure 1 is a side view in elevation of the lock of the lock,

FIG. 2 is a perspective view, on an enlarged scale of the bolt according to the invention,

FIG. 3 is a perspective view with partial section of the lock, when the bolt is in the extended position,

Figures 4 and 5 are views in cross section along the longitudinal axis of the bolt, when the latter is, respectively in normal operation, in the retracted into abutment position, and when it is further retracted before launching the turning operation ,

Figure 6 is a partial perspective view partially showing the trunk of the lock, when the bolt is in the inversion phase.

This lock is composed of a trunk 2, in stamped sheet metal and open box shape, with a cover 3 closing the opening of the box above, a bolt 4 and a headrest 5.

As shown in more detail in Figure 2, the bolt 4 is monolithic and is composed of a prismatic head 4a, a body 4b, a tail 4c. In the embodiment shown, the body 4b and the tail 4c are generally cylindrical, but of different diameters, the body being bigger than the tail. The head 4a has, in cross section, a shape quadrangular, delimited between two parallel flat faces 6 and 7, and two concave faces 8 and 9. The headrest 5 is crossed by a guide cutout 10 whose shape is complementary to that of the head 4a, so as to guiding whatever the position of use of this head. The figure 4 shows that the thickness E1 of the head 4a is greater than the thickness E of the whole lock case.

The body 4b of the bolt has a transverse dimension, and in the occurrence of a diameter D2 whose value is substantially equal to that of the thickness E of the entire lock case.

To allow the bolt movements, the wall 2a of the trunk 2 and the wall 3a of the cover 3, are each provided with a cutout 11a, 11b of which the height allows the rotation of the bolt. This cut is extended by a cutout 12a, 12b of lower height for the passage of the body of the bolt. These two cutouts form a coated T cutout.

The body 4b of the bolt 4 is integral with the foot of a tongue longitudinal 13 the free end of which is turned away from the head 4a of the bolt. This tongue is delimited in the body 4b by a slot 14 which is parallel to the two flat faces 6 and 7 delimiting the head 4a of the bolt.

As shown in Figures 1, 3 and 4, the tongue 13 can circulate in cutout 12a or 12b and, for example, in cutout 12b in Figure 3.

In the embodiment shown, a shoulder 15 is formed between the body 4b and the tail 4c of the bolt. This shoulder is set back of the free end of the tongue 13, to constitute a usable stop during the turning phase.

It should be noted here that the entire bolt 4 as shown can be produced by traditional machining, but also by sintering according to the process MIM.

The tail 4c of the bolt is integral with a flange 16, one of the diametrical faces cooperates with the nose 17a of a follower 17, mounted free in rotation in bearings of the trunk 2 and of the cover 3, while its other diametral face serves as a support for a spring 18. The latter is supported, by its other end, on a tab 19, formed by knocking down the wall 2a of the chest 2. This tab 19 is bent to form a finger 20 which is substantially arranged in the longitudinal axis of the bolt, and which is intended to enter a blind axial bore 22 emerging from the free end of the tail of the bolt.

Finally, as shown more particularly in FIG. 3, of the wall 2a of the boot 2 protrude two legs 23 which, arranged on either side of the body 4b of the bolt, participate in its guide in longitudinal translation.

When the lock is mounted on a door and the door is open, the latch bolt is in the position shown in Figures 1 and 3, position in which its head 4a projects from the headrest 5, its body 4b is fully disposed in the cutouts 11a, 11b and 12a, 12b, its tongue 13 is distant from the bottom 120a or 120b of the cutout 12a or 12b and its tail 4c is disposed between the walls 2a and 3a of the housing.

When the door is closed, the contact of the bolt head 4a with the strike causes the recoil of it inside the case by compressing the spring 18. To open the door, actuate the follower 17 in the direction of the arrow 21 in FIG. 3 causes, by pressing its nose 17a on the flange 16, moving the entire bolt in the direction of arrow 31 to a stop position, shown in Figure 4, in which, on the one hand, the tongue 13 bears on the bottom 120a or 120b of the cutout 12a or 12b in which it moves, and on the other hand, the end face of the bolt head 4a is set back from the outer face of the headrest 5. It will be noted that, in this position, the bore 22 of the tail of the bolt is already engaged on the finger 20 trunk 2.

To turn the latch, you just have to brought into a position close to that shown in Figure 4, to exercise on the free end of its tongue 13, a radial force deforming it elastically by allowing this end to pass under the wall 3a against which it had hitherto come up against. In this position of the tab shown in Figure 5, the latch can be pushed further to the interior of the housing, so that the end face of its head 4a escapes from the guide profile 10 formed in the headrest 5. When the bolt is in this position, and as shown in figure 6, it is very easy to carry out its manual turning by rotating it 180 °. This reversal is all the easier since, during this rotation, the bolt is guided, on the one hand, close of its head by the two legs 23, and on the other hand, at the end of its tail 4c, by the finger 20 which forms an axis of rotation by cooperating with the wall of blind bore 22.

FIG. 5 shows that the engagement of the tail 4c of the bolt in the housing is limited by abutment of the shoulder 15 of its body 4b against the edge 120a of the cutout 12a formed in the wall 2a of the trunk, and this, in order to firstly, to limit the compression of the spring 18, and secondly, to avoid the jamming of the tongue 13 under the wall 3a of the cover 3.

When the bolt has rotated 180 °, and its head 4a coincides with its guiding form 10, it is released so that, under the action of its spring 18, it returns to its operating position. This displacement, in the direction of arrow 32 in FIG. 5, allows the free end of the tongue 13 to escape from beneath the wall 3a and, by elasticity, to return to its initial position and in the cutout 12a of the boot 2.

Claims (3)

1. Latch bolt for a mortise lock or a rim lock which can be reversed without having to be dismantled, comprising a case (2) in the form of an open box, which may or may not be linked to a head plate (5), and the opening of which is closed by a cover (3), a cam (17) mounted so as to rotate freely about a transverse axis in respective bearings of the case (2) and the cover (3), and a latch bolt (4) mounted so as to slide in the case (2) between a position in which it extends out from the case, a position in which it is retracted in the case and a turning position in which it can be pivoted by rotation in T-shaped cut-outs (11a, 12a, 11b, 12b) disposed respectively in the case and the cover, the head (4a) of this latch bolt being substantially square-shaped in cross section, circulating in a guide (10) of the same shape cut out from the head plate (5) or from the case, and being of an integral design incorporating a) a body (4b) and a tail piece (4c) sliding in the case, b) a collar (16) co-operating with the cam (17) and incorporating a return spring (18), and c) a stop means limiting the return travel of the latch bolt (4) in the case, characterised in that the body of the latch bolt (4b) is of a monolithic design incorporating its head (4a), its tail piece (4c) and an elastically deformable tongue (13) disposed longitudinally against this body (4b), the free end of which opposite the head (4a) of the latch bolt constitutes a stop means limiting the return travel of the latch bolt in the case (2) by co-operating with the base (120a, 120b) of the matching cut-out (12a, 12b) in which it is disposed, this tongue (13) being elastically deformable so that, to effect a turning operation, its free end can be applied against the body in order to pass underneath the wall (2a or 3a) against which it normally abuts so as to increase the return travel of the bolt (4), on the one hand, and, on the other hand, to permit the head (4a) of this latch bolt to be extracted from the shaped guide (10) and moved completely into the region of the cut-outs (11a, 11b) of the case and the cover, where this head can be turned with the body by 180°.
2. Latch bolt as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that a shoulder (15) disposed between the body (4b) and the tail piece (4c) of the latch bolt is recessed back from the free end of the tongue (13) so as to form a second stop means in co-operation with the base (120a, 120b) of the cut-outs (12a, 12b), thereby limiting the return travel of the latch bolt in its turning phase.
3. Latch bolt as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that the tail piece (4c) of the latch bolt has an open axial bore (22) which, during the turning phase of the latch bolt and when the latter is in the retracted position, co-operates with a finger (20) of the case (2) in order to guide the rotation as said latch bolt is being turned.

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