ES2753210T3 - Latch lock with modifiable opening direction - Google Patents

Abstract

Lock (1), which includes a casing (2) that houses a latch (3) that is removable through a front window (10) of the casing (2), and a spring (4) for automatic extraction of the bolt (3) of said window (10), said latch (3) being mobile in contrast to and by the action of said spring (4), between a position for extraction with respect to the casing (2) to close the lock (1) and a position for retraction in the housing (2) to open the lock (1), said spring (4) having a configuration for engaging said latch (3) and a configuration for disengaging from said latch (3), said housing (2) having a retention element (11) to retain said spring (4) in said configuration to disengage from said latch (3), to move said latch (3) to a position to change the hand of the lock by turning the latch 180º, further back towards the interior of the housing (2) with respect to said position of ap opening, characterized in that said retaining element (11) is made with a hooking tooth (20) obtained in a wall (7) of said casing (2).

Description

DESCRIPTION

Latch lock with modifiable opening direction

The present invention relates to a latch lock equipped with a system for changing the use hand on doors that open both to the left and to the right.

As is known, the change of hand is done by turning the latch 180 ° before installing the lock on the door.

Many systems for changing the hand of a latch lock are known in the state of the art. These systems for changing the hand complicate the construction of the latch, therefore increasing its final cost.

As is known, the latch has a head and a horizontal guide rod.

Currently, to allow adjustment of the hand, further manufacturing processes are performed on the latch parts or further parts may also be provided.

For example, in one case, a threaded coupling is made between the stem and the head of the latch, so that the head can be rotated with respect to the stem.

In another case, the head and stem are integrated with each other and therefore a regulating screw is applied coaxially at the free end of the stem. This adjusting screw can be activated to completely release the head of the latch with respect to the front wall of the lock casing and therefore make rotation of the latch possible.

There are other known systems in which the head and stem are integrated with each other and further parts are provided which make it possible to conveniently position the latch in a position to change the hand, in which the casing does not obstruct its rotation around its stem. .

CH 277920 A describes a lock that includes a housing that houses a latch that is removable through a front window of the housing and a spring for automatic removal of the latch from said window, according to the preamble of claim 1.

The technical task of the present invention is, therefore, to make a latch lock with a modifiable opening direction, making it possible to eliminate the aforementioned technical drawbacks of the state of the art.

In the scope of this technical task, an object of the invention is to realize a simple and inexpensive latch lock with a modifiable opening direction.

Another object of the invention is to make a latch lock that includes a simplified procedure to change the opening direction thereof.

Another object of the invention is to realize a latch lock that includes a simplified mounting procedure.

Making a latch lock with a system to change the opening direction that requires the least possible number of components is another objective that is not less important.

Making a latch lock with a system to change the opening direction that requires the least possible number of manufacturing processes is another objective that is not less important.

The technical task, and also the last and other objectives, according to the present invention, are achieved by making a lock that includes a housing that houses a latch that is removable through a front window of the housing, and a spring for automatic extraction. of the latch of said window, said latch being mobile in contrast to and by the action of said spring, between a position for extraction with respect to the housing to close the lock and a position for retraction in the housing to open the lock, said spring having a configuration for engaging said latch and a configuration for disengaging from said latch, said housing having a detent element for retaining said spring in said configuration to disengage from said latch, to move said latch to a position to change the hand of the lock by turning the latch 180 °, further back towards the inside of the housing with respect to said opening position, characterized in that said retaining element is made with a hooking tooth obtained in a wall of said housing.

Preferably, said retaining element acts as a stop for said spring when said latch is pushed back past said opening position.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, said housing has lateral recesses configured to receive the head of the latch during the rotation of the latch around its own stem in said most backward position to change the hand of the lock.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, said housing has, in a rear wall, a recess configured to receive the bolt shank in said more backward position. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, in said rearmost position, said latch is disengaged from said front window and aligned with respect to said side recesses.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, said wall has a gap in the material, in the area surrounding said hooking tooth, said gap in the material being configured for the passage of a spring leg from the interior of the housing to the exterior of the housing to engage said tooth.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, said recess communicates with said recess.

The spring for the extraction of the latch is the element that, when it is displaced from its operating state between the open position and the closed position, allows the latch to reach a position to change the hand and in which it can be rotated.

Positioning to change the hand is done deliberately and therefore the position to change the hand cannot be reached during the normal operating state of the lock, whether it is installed or not. The system for changing the hand has been minimized, since it is performed with only the latch and the extraction spring, which has the function of stopping the latch during the normal operating state and releasing it to reach the position to change the hand.

In addition, the latch can be made as a single piece or as a maximum of two pieces, one for the head and one for the stem, with one attached to the other.

Advantageously, in the normal operating state, the retaining element does not function as a limit stop for the latch. The handle and key have been equipped with their own stops. The pull spring works as a limit stop only if the latch is manually pushed past the faceplate of the lock inside the housing.

Therefore, in the normal operating state, the retention element is never activated.

Further features and advantages of the invention will become clearer from the description of a preferred, but not exclusive, embodiment of the latch lock according to the invention, which is illustrated by way of approximate and non-limiting example in the drawings of accompaniment, in which:

Figures 1a, 1b and 1c are views of the lock with the latch arranged for use on doors opening to the right;

Figures 2a and 2b are views of the lock with the latch in the open position;

Figures 3a, 3b and 3c are views of the lock with the latch in position to change the hand;

Figures 4a, 4b and 4c are views describing a phase for changing the latch hand;

Figures 5a and 5b are views that describe the reintroduction phase of the latch in the window in the front panel of the housing; and

Figures 6a, 6b and 6c are views of the lock with the latch now ready for use on doors opening to the left;

With reference to the mentioned figures, a lock 1 is shown and indicated in its entirety with the reference number 1.

The lock 1 comprises a casing 2 that houses a latch 3 and a spring 4 for the automatic extraction of the latch 3.

The casing 2, which is generally parallelepiped-shaped, comprises, in a known state of the art, two sides 5, a front plate 6 equipped with a window 10 for the extraction of the latch 3, a rear wall 7, a lower wall and a top wall.

Again in a manner known in the state of the art, inside the casing 2 the lock has a control panel for retracting the latch 3, in which a control handle not shown is engageable, and a lever 9 rotating integrally with panel and connected directly to latch 3 to control latch 3 retraction.

Latch 3 has a head 12 and a stem 13, which has an enlarged terminal end 14.

The latch 3 is removably supported thanks to the guided coupling of the head 12 in the window 10 and of the stem 13 in a specific guide 15 obtained in the housing 2.

The window 10 is quadrangular and formed in a complementary way to the head 12, so as not to allow rotation, but only the transfer along the axis of the stem 13.

The spring 4 is a torsion spring having a leg 16 hooked with the terminal end 14 of the latch 3 and a leg 17 linked in correspondence of an internal front point 30 of the casing 2.

The latch 3 is movable in contrast to and by the action of the spring 4 between a position in which it is extracted from the housing 2 to close the lock and a retracted position in the housing 2 to open the lock.

According to the invention, the spring 4 has a configuration to engage the latch 3 and a configuration to disengage from the latch 3. In addition, the housing 2, according to the invention, has a retaining element 11 to retain the spring 4 in the configuration to disengage. of latch 3, to move latch 3 to a position to change the lock hand. The position assumed by the latch 3 to change the lock hand is further back towards the interior of the housing 2 with respect to the open position. More specifically, in the configuration for engaging latch 3, leg 16 of spring 4 engages abutting against terminal end 14 of stem 13, while in configuration for disengaging from latch 3, leg 16 engages with the retention 11.

The retaining element 11 acts as a stop for the spring 4 only when the latch 3 is manually pushed back, past the open position.

The casing 2 has lateral recesses 18 on its sides 5, said recesses 18 being configured to receive the head 12 of the latch 3 during the rotation of the latch 3 around its own stem in said position to change the hand of the lock.

On the rear wall 7, the casing 2 also has a recess 19 configured to receive the shank 13 of the latch 3 in the position to change the lock hand.

In the position for changing the lock hand, the head 12 of the latch 3 disengages from the window 10 in the front plate 6 and aligns with the lateral recesses 18 on the sides 5.

The retaining element 11 is made with a hooking tooth 20 obtained on a wall of the housing 2.

More specifically, the tooth 20 is obtained on the rear wall 7 of the housing 2 and extends coplanar with respect to the rear wall 7 of the housing 2.

The rear wall 7 of the casing 2 has a gap in the material 21, in the area surrounding said hooking tooth 20, said gap in the material 21 being configured for the passage of the leg 16 of the spring 4 from inside the casing 2 to the outside of the housing 2 to hook the tooth 20.

The gap in the material 21 communicates with the recess 19 in the rear wall 7 of the casing 2.

The process for changing the lock hand prior to installing the lock on a door is performed as follows.

Using one hand, from the window 10, the operator pushes the head 12 of the latch 3, thereby causing it to move backwards, overcoming the opposition force of the spring 4, the leg 16 of which is therefore dragged from the terminal end 14 of stem 13 towards tooth 20.

When the latch 3 reaches the open position, the leg 16 of the spring 4 moves so as to rest against the inner side of the tooth 20, which therefore acts as a stop.

In this position, the leg 16 of the spring 4 is in front of the recess 19 in the rear wall 7 of the housing 2 and is therefore easily accessible to the operator.

To make the latch 3 perform a further backward travel to reach the position to change the hand, at this point the hooking of the leg 16 of the spring 4 on the inner side of the tooth 20 needs to be removed.

Using his fingers directly or possibly with the help of a tool, the operator moves the end of the leg 16 of the spring 4 laterally and allows it to pass through the gap in the material 21, in order to overcome the tooth 20.

After having extracted the end of the leg 16 of the spring 4 from the rear wall 7 of the casing 2, the operator moves it laterally, positioning it against the external side of the tooth 20.

When released by the operator, the end of the leg 16 of the spring 4 is automatically hooked on the external side of the tooth 20, due to its state of tension.

After that, the latch 3, now released from the spring 4, is finally free to move backwards until reaching the position to change the hand.

After pushing latch 3 into the change hand position, the operator rotates latch 3 180 ° while grasping it through side recesses 18.

Rotation of the latch 3 on itself is made possible by the fact that it is not retained by the window 10 and by the fact that the head 12 can freely rotate in the lateral recesses 18.

After the latch 3 has been rotated, the operator moves the end of the leg 16 of the spring 4 laterally until it no longer rests on the tooth 20, so that it rests again on the terminal end 14 of the stem 13 of the latch 3 .

As conceived, the hand changing system is susceptible to numerous modifications and variations, all included within the scope of the inventive concept, as defined in the appended claims.

Claims (9)

1. Lock (1), which includes a casing (2) that houses a latch (3) that is removable through a front window (10) of the casing (2), and a spring (4) for automatic extraction of the latch (3) of said window (10), said latch (3) being mobile in contrast to and by the action of said spring (4), between a position for extraction with respect to the casing (2) to close the lock ( 1) and a position for retraction in the housing (2) to open the lock (1), said spring (4) having a configuration to engage with said latch (3) and a configuration to disengage from said latch (3), said casing (2) having a retention element (11) to retain said spring (4) in said configuration to disengage from said latch (3), to move said latch (3) to a position to change the hand of the lock by turning the 180 ° latch, further back towards the inside of the housing (2) with respect to said position of opening, characterized in that said retention element (11) is made with a hooking tooth (20) obtained in a wall (7) of said casing (2). 2. Lock (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that said latch (3) has a head (12) and a stem (13), and in that said spring (4) is a torsion having a leg (16) hooked with said stem (13) in said hooking configuration, and with said retaining element (11) in said releasing configuration. 3. Lock (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said retention element (11) interferes with said spring (4), acting as a stop for said spring (4) when said latch (3 ) is pushed back past said open position. 4. Lock (1) according to claim 2 or claim 3, characterized in that said casing (2) has lateral recesses (18), configured to receive the head (12) of the latch (3) during the rotation of the latch (3) around its own stem (13) in said position to change the hand of the lock. 5. Lock (1) according to any one of claims 2 to 4, characterized in that said casing (2) has, in a rear wall, a recess (19) configured to receive the bolt stem (13) (3) in said position to change the lock hand. 6. Lock (1) according to claim 4, characterized in that in said position to change the hand of the lock, said head (12) of the latch (3) is disengaged from said front wall (10) and aligned with said lateral recesses (18). 7. Lock (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that said wall (7) has a gap in the material (21), in the area surrounding said hooking tooth (20), said gap in the material ( 21) being configured for the passage of said leg (16) of the spring (4) from the inside of the casing (2) to the outside of the casing (2) to engage said tooth (20). 8. Lock (1) according to claim 5, characterized in that said gap in the material (21) communicates with said recess (19). 9. Lock (1) according to any one of claims 7 and 8, characterized in that said tooth (20) is coplanar with respect to said wall (7).