EP1724420B1

EP1724420B1 - Improvements relating to security locks with joint operation hook-shaped lock bolts

Info

Publication number: EP1724420B1
Application number: EP05103873A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Metin Orcan
Original assignee: KALE Kilit ve Kalip Sanayi AS
Current assignee: KALE Kilit ve Kalip Sanayi AS
Priority date: 2005-05-10
Filing date: 2005-05-10
Publication date: 2009-01-07
Anticipated expiration: 2025-05-10
Also published as: DE602005012239D1; ATE420261T1; WO2006120210A2; CN101010475A; CN101010475B; WO2006120210A3; EP1724420A1

Abstract

The present invention proposes a security lock comprising regular sliding latches, along with a set of separate hook-shaped latches in the form of curvilinear projections operating jointly in the manner to interlock with suitable latch slots on the door frame. According to the present invention, said curvilinear latches are additionally provided with a plurality of pins vertically projecting from the lateral surfaces of said curvilinear latching means. Those engage into lithe latch slots and keep the latches and thereby the door fixedly joined to the door frame in case of an unauthorized attempt to release the lock by bending the lock panel inwardly so as to let the latches come out of the slots even though the latches are still in their locking positions.

Description

Technical Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a door lock intended to involve an improved security for residential door locks so as to provide a plurality of sliding latches with suitable pins secured thereto in order to interlock with latch slots.

Background of the Invention

Security locks in the present field basically comprise a metal lock assembly, a plurality of latches engaging in suitable slots on the opposite side of said assembly, an actuator mechanism and a transmission mechanism transferring motion to said plurality of latches.
Among others, one of the patents/patent applications available to the public is the Italian patent ITT020000226 , which is issued in the name of Tesio S.r.l. The same discloses hook-shaped latches in the form of curvilinear projections interlocking with latch slots laid on the lock panel. Said curvilinear latches are rotated by way of axles connected thereto. Rotation of the axles by an actuation mechanism is realized by a movable element commanding an arm incorporating suitable pivots rotating said axles and therefore said curvilinear latches. The same applies also to patent application CA-A1-2 326 478 .
The system outlined above is especially advantageous in that it is embedded with additional latching means in the form of hook-shaped lock bolts interlocking with the lock panel. The curvilinear latches are typically provided with two engaging positions, each with a 45 degrees displacement with regard to the vertical axis. In other words, the rotational advance of said curvilinear hook-shaped latches provides two locking positions at 45 and 90 degrees.
According to the present invention, on the other hand, said curvilinear latches are additionally provided with a plurality of pins vertically projecting from the lateral surfaces of said curvilinear latching means. Those engage into the latch slots and keep the latches fixedly joined to the lock panel in case of an unauthorized attempt to release the lock by bending the lock panel e.g. by using a jack in the horizontal direction, so as to let the latches come out of the slots even though the latches are still in their locking positions.
It is a well-known fact that various techniques are used for releasing a door lock in burglary attempts. One of those techniques is to employ a perpetual screw or endless screw like that of a jack, a screw that is fixed so that it cannot move longitudinally as it rotates. Thus, once fixed at two sides of the door frame at a position parallel to the door surface, it remains stationary and forces the door frame to bend toward hollow spaces outside the door. This can eventually bend the frame to the extent that the latches come out of the slot panel and all security aspects of the door become practically nonfunctional.
The Italian patent disclosure briefly explained above is deficient in that interlocking of the curvilinear latches with the lock panel is only reliable in case said curvilinear latches are advanced two times and are set to a 90 degrees advanced position. In case of a burglary attempt like the one exemplified above, a set of curvilinear latches only locked at 45 degrees may easily come out of the lock panel and let the burglar in since no interlocking tales places with the lock panel at 45 degrees and rearward linear movement of the lock panel, as is the case by use of an endless screw, is impeded by no means in this position.
Due to the fact that a careless or uncaring resident may leave the door with the key rotated to set the hook-shaped lock bolts to a semi-locked 45-degree position, the present invention eliminating this serious security drawback provides an improved security lock.

Objects of the Invention

Primary object of the present invention is to take the hook-shaped latch security locks to one further step by providing additional means to impede disconnection of the door frame lock slots from the hook-shaped lock bolts in any locked position.
Another object of the present invention is to prevent the hook-shaped latches detach from the lock panel and to provide a secure interlocking of the panel with the lock bolts in semi-locked and fully-locked positions.

Summary of the Invention

The present invention proposes a security lock comprising regular sliding latches along with a set of separate hook-shaped latches in the form of curvilinear projections operating jointly in the manner to interlock with suitable latch slots on the door frame. According to the present invention, said curvilinear latches are additionally provided with a plurality of pins vertically projecting from the lateral surfaces of said curvilinear latching means. Those engage into the latch slots and keep the latches and thereby the door, fixedly joined to the door frame in case of an unauthorized attempt to release the lock by bending the lock panel outwardly so as to let the latches come out of the slots even though the latches are still in their locking positions.

Brief Description of the Figures

Accompanying drawings are given solely for the purpose of exemplifying a locking assembly whose advantages over prior art were outlined above and will be explained in detail hereinafter:

Fig. 1 demonstrates a perspective side view of the lock assembly with all mechanical parts shown in an assembled manner.
Fig. 2 demonstrates a perspective side view of a lock cell of the lock assembly according to the present invention.
Fig. 3 demonstrates a perspective side view of the closed lock assembly.
Fig. 4 demonstrates a perspective side view of the closed lock assembly with additional lock cells.
Fig. 5 demonstrates a perspective side view of the lock panel facing the main locking assembly.

Detailed Description of the Invention

Referring now to the figures outlined above, the first embodiment of the present invention comprises a metal lock assembly (11), a plurality of latches (12, 13 and 14) movable relative to said assembly (11) in the manner to engage in suitable slots (15, 16 and 17) on the lock panel (18) on the opposite side of said assembly, an actuator mechanism for switching said plurality of latches between a locking and an unlocking positions and last but not least a transmission mechanism transferring motion to said plurality of latches (13, 14).
According to the present invention, beside a regular sliding lock bolt (12), a set of separate hook-shaped latches (13, 14) in the form of curvilinear projections operating reciprocally in an integral manner are employed so as to interlock with suitable latch slots (16, 17) laid on the lock panel (18). Said curvilinear latches (13, 14) are designed to be operated jointly and to be rotating by way of axles (19) connected thereto. Each curvilinear latch-axle couple is secured to a casing within the lock assembly (11). Rotation of the axles (19) so as to effect movement of the curvilinear latches (13, 14) is realized by an actuation mechanism started by rotation of a key (20) in the manner to advance a movable element, the latter commanding an arm incorporating suitable pivots rotating said axles (19) and therefore said curvilinear latches (13, 14). Due to the fact that the actuation mechanism and the transmission means are well-known and widely practiced in the art, they need not be furthermore mentioned herein.
According to the present invention, the curvilinear lock bolts (13, 14) are conventionally provided with two separate engaging positions into the panel slots (16, 17), each with a 45 degrees displacement with regard to the vertical axis. That is to say, each turning of the key (20) is transferred to the axles (19) that lead to a one step 45-degree slip of the curvilinear latches (13, 14) in a reciprocal manner. With the first turning of the key (20), the curvilinear latches (13, 14) advance to a 45- degree inclined semi-locked position, in which linear movement of the latches on the exact horizontal axis, so as to release from the panel slots (16, 17) is still possible since the hook-shaped heads (21) of the latches do not entirely pass over the vertical surface defined by the space of the lock panel (18) slots (16, 17).
To prevent the above-mentioned situation and to avoid a burglary attempt of the type defined earlier, in which an endless screw is used to bend the lock panel (18), the present invention features a set of special arrangements to keep the lock panel (18) and the curvilinear latches (13, 14) fixedly attached to each other is semi locked positions. Accordingly, said curvilinear latches (13, 14) are additionally provided with a plurality of pins (22) vertically projecting from the lateral surfaces of the head portions (21) of said curvilinear latching means (13, 14). The hook-shaped latches (13, 14) are conventionally designed to have a curvilinear side on the outer portion of the head part (21), the latter extending inward in the form of a right-angled corner and forming therein a space between two projecting blocks. One of those projecting blocks is actually the head portion (21), which engages into the slot (16, 17) on the lock panel (18).
The position of the pins (22) on the lateral surfaces of said curvilinear latches (13, 14) are arranged such that when the latches (13, 14) are in semi-locked 45-degree position, the pins (22) reach a second division (24) within the panel (18) slots (16, 17). To this end, said panel (18) slots (16, 17) are formed of two separate divisions in the form of rectangular apertures in different heights and widths. The difference of heights of the two divisions (23, 24), that is the distance Δd, is arranged so that the pins (22) are fixedly secured to the lock panel (18) and the curvilinear latches (13, 14) are prevented from falling back to their released positions.
To this end, the pins (22) engage into the latch (13, 14) slots (16, 17) and the second division (24) crossing at 45-degree position of the latches (13, 14) ensures that they and the door rest fixedly joined to the door frame in case of an unauthorized attempt to release the lock by bending the lock panel (18) in the reverse direction of the lock assembly (11) so as to let the latches (16, 17) come out of the slots (13, 14) at 45- degree position.
When the 45-degree position is reached, the pins (22) already reach said second division (24) and any rearward linear movement of the latches (16, 17) at this point is thereby prevented. The latches (16, 17) can only be released by effecting a rearward rotational movement of the axles (19), which can certainly be realized by a correct key (20) owner.
According to the present invention, more additional lock cells (25) may be incorporated to the lock assembly (11). Those cells (25), intended to further improve security of the locking assembly (11), are connected thereto through suitable transmission means. They have suitable lock panels located on the top or bottom parts of the door frame.
The hook-shaped latches (26) within the cells (25) are driven by actuation means within the same so as to lock the door simultaneously with the curvilinear latches (13, 14). Since suitable actuation and transmission means for said additional cells (25) are widely practiced in the art, they need not be further mentioned herein, with the exception that the hook-shaped curvilinear latches (26) of the additional cells (25) also engage in suitable slots on the opposite side, i.e. on the lock panel in a similar way to the ones within the main assembly (11).
Further, a 45-degree rotated position of the additional latches (26) also ensures that additional latches' pins (27) engage into a two-division slot, firmly interlocking with said latches. The lock panels having two-division slots facing said additional cells (25) are not shown in the figures since no explicit feature of the present invention other than those disclosed so far are left unrevealed in relation to those lock panels..

Claims

A locking assembly (11) comprising a plurality of regular and curvilinear latches (12, 13 and 14) movable relative to said assembly (11) in the manner to engage in suitable slots (15, 16 and 17) on the lock panel (18, an actuator mechanism for actuating said latches (12, 13 and 14) and a transmission mechanism transferring motion to said plurality of latches (13, 14) characterized in that ;
said curvilinear latches (13, 14) are provided with a plurality of pins (22) projecting from the lateral surfaces of the head portions (21) of said curvilinear latching means (13, 14),
said panel (18) slots (16, 17) are formed of two divisions (23, 24) in the form of rectangular apertures in different heights and widths.
A locking assembly (11) according to Claim 1 wherein said assembly (11) is connected to at least one additional locking cell (25) having curvilinear latches (26) engaging into lock panel slots located on the top or bottom parts of the door frame.
A locking assembly (11) according to Claim 2 wherein said locking cells (25) comprise hook-shaped curvilinear latches (26) with a plurality of pins (27) projecting from the lateral surfaces of the head portions of said curvilinear latching means (26).
A locking assembly (11) according to Claim 3 wherein said panel slots are formed of two divisions in the form of rectangular apertures in different heights and widths.