FR2758846A1 - Dead bolt lock for door - Google Patents

Abstract

The lock consists of a casing with a key cylinder linked to a rotating lug (28) which actuates the dead bolt (15) by means of a shank on the bolt with a tooth (44) between two recesses (36). The lock cylinder is surrounded by a rotary collar (48) with a guide, turning about an axis parallel to that of the cylinder's lug and close to that of the tooth. The collar has two additional lugs (56, 57) situated on either side of a notch, and has a flat section (49) which is able to engage, when the collar is rotated, in a gap between the bolt shank and an inner wall lying contiguous with the casing. In addition, the tooth (44) is offset in relation to the bolt shank so that it can engage with the outer edge of the collar.

Description

"Deadbolt lock"
The invention relates to a deadbolt lock equipped with a safety block comprising at least one key cylinder associated with a rotary bit; it relates more particularly to an improvement of the mechanism transforming the rotary movement of the bit into a rectilinear movement of the deadbolt.

 The invention applies very particularly to a lock defined above equipped with a standardized security block of the so-called "European profile" type.

 In a conventional deadbolt, of the type in question, the bolt is operated by the action of a safety block comprising at least one and generally two key cylinders aligned along the same axis, both coupled to an interposed bit between them. The latter, during its rotary trajectory, meets a training means called "beard" defined on an edge of the bolt tail.

Conventionally, the beard has two notches separated by a central leg. During its rotation, the bit engages in one of the notches, which causes the bolt to move by a predetermined distance. The lock is thus operated in two turns of the key.

 The standardization involved in the dimensional characteristics of safety blocks of this type makes it possible in principle to equip a lock with any safety block whose corresponding cylinder or cylinders contain mechanisms of different principles, specific to the various manufacturers. Whatever the internal mechanism of the safety block, known as "with European profile", it always comprises two cylinders between which the common bit is arranged. However, despite this standardization, there are quite large disparities in the dimensional characteristics of these safety blocks, in particular with regard to the bit, particularly its length, to the point that the cooperation between said bit and said beard can be reveal defective, which makes the lock difficult or even impossible to operate. This defect may appear or worsen as the bit and beard wear out.

 The invention proposes a deadbolt lock in which a very simple, economical and space-saving mechanism, interposed between the bit and the beard of the bolt tail, makes it possible in all circumstances to ensure an excellent and optimal coupling between the block of security and the beard of the bolt, while allowing, to fully operate the lock, on closing or opening, in one turn of the key.

 More precisely, this primary objective is achieved by a deadbolt lock comprising, in a housing, a key cylinder associated with a rotary bit coupled to said bolt, the latter being extended by a bolt tail provided on one of its edges, of so-called "beard" drive crenellations for coupling to said bit, this beard essentially comprising two notches separated by a central tab, characterized in that a flange surrounding said cylinder is rotatably mounted in said housing while being held by means fixed guide thereof arranged so that said flange has an axis of rotation parallel to that of said bit of said cylinder and closer than it to said beard, in that said flange has a notch in which said bit is engaged, in that that said flange comprises two auxiliary bits located on either side of said notch and able to cooperate with said b arbe, in that said collar is located so that a flat part thereof can engage, during its rotation, in a space defined between said bolt tail and an internal wall, contiguous, of said housing and in that said central leg of said beard is offset with respect to said bolt tail in a direction such that it can come into abutment against the outer edge of said flange.

 With the arrangement which has just been described, even if the bit linked to the cylinder is ill-suited, from the point of view of its shape and / or its dimensions, to the beard cut along the edge of the bolt tail, the shape and dimensions of the intermediate bits are themselves well controlled, so that said intermediate bits are always perfectly capable of driving the bolt. Due to the distance of the axis of the bit from the beard, the latter cannot cooperate directly with the beard, it serves to drive the flange in rotation.

 The collar, which has just been described above, ensures very simply both the locking of the bolt in the closed position, thus resisting certain types of break-in and the return to a correct and stable position of this bolt , when it is retracted into the lock.

This function is therefore equivalent to that of a classic throat mechanism of a lock. In other words, the flange can be considered as a rotary groove cooperating directly with the beard and, consequently, the lock is advantageously devoid of any traditional groove mechanism.

The invention will be better understood and other advantages thereof will appear more clearly in the light of the following description of a deadbolt lock in accordance with its principle, given solely by way of example, and made in reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
- Figure 1 is a schematic elevational view with cutaway of a lock according to the invention;
- Figure 2 shows a safety block used in such a lock;
- Figure 3 is a detail view illustrating the bolt, the bolt tail and the beard;
- Figure 4 is a section IV-IV of Figure 3;
- Figure 5 is a detail view of the collar shown in the arrow V of Figure 1;
- Figures 6 to 13 are partial schematic views illustrating the different states of the mechanism during the release and re-entry of the deadbolt.

 The lock 11 shown is of the rebate type; it comprises a housing consisting of a trunk 12 closed by a catch 13 and mainly containing a deadbolt 15, a U-bolt 18 linked to a nut 19 by means of a driver 20 and drive elements for the upper and lower rods 16, 17. The trunk and the rods are mounted along a headrest 22. The mechanisms for actuating the latch bolt and the rods are conventional and do not form part of the invention; they will therefore not be described in more detail.

 This lock is equipped with a safety block 25 of standard type called "with European profile", recognizable in FIGS. 1 and 2. Such a safety block comprises two key cylinders 26 aligned axially and controlling the same bit 28, central . The two cylinders are rigidly attached to each other by a U-shaped connecting piece 29. A window 30 is thus defined between the cylinders and the connecting piece. The bit 28 passes through this window during its rotary stroke.

 As indicated above, depending on the origin of manufacture of the safety block 25, there are differences in shape and / or dimensions in the bits of various origins.

 Conventionally, the deadbolt 15 (see FIG. 3) is extended inside the trunk by a bolt tail 34 comprising, on one of its edges, drive crenellations called "beards". In the example, said beard 36 consists of two notches 40, 41 formed along an edge of the bolt tail parallel to the direction of movement of said bolt. These notches are separated by a central tab 44. The two notches 40, 41 have the form of slots extended by chamfered portions formed both on the bolt tail and on said central tab. The position of the safety block 25 relative to the bolt tail is such that the bit 28 cannot cooperate directly with said beard 36.

 More specifically, the distance separating the axis of rotation 0 of the bit 28 from said beard is greater than the length of the bit so that it cannot reach or in any case entrain the tail of the bolt. The axis of rotation 0 is also the axis of the cylinder (s) 26.

 According to an important characteristic of the invention, there is further provided a flange 48 surrounding the cylinder and comprising a flat part 49 perpendicular to the axis of rotation thereof. This flat part 49 has a generally circular outer contour. The flange is rotatably mounted while being held by the outer edge of the flat part 49 in the housing, by means of fixed guides 50, 51 of this housing. The collar 48 therefore crosses the window 30 of the safety block. The axis of rotation 0 ′ of the flange is parallel to that of the bit and closer than it to said beard. The flange 48 has a notch 54 in which is engaged the bit 28 and two auxiliary bits 56, 57 located on either side of said notch. They are able to cooperate successively with the beard 36, in place of the bit 28, whatever the direction of rotation of the safety block, therefore of the bit 28.

 Thus, it clearly appears that in a single turn of the key, the deadbolt 15 is driven twice and therefore moves a distance corresponding to two turns of the key in a conventional lock.

 At closing, the deadbolt is moved first by the auxiliary bit 56 then by the auxiliary bit 57. At opening, the deadbolt is actuated first by the auxiliary bit 57 then by the auxiliary bit 56.

 On the other hand, it is noted that the flat part of the flange is located by the guides 50, 51 so as to be able to engage, during its rotation, in a space defined between the bolt tail 34 and an adjoining internal wall of said housing, here the bottom wall 58 of the trunk 12.

 In addition, the central leg 44 of said beard is offset with respect to the bolt tail in a direction such that it can come into abutment against the outer edge of the flat part 49 of said flange, as shown in FIG. 4 .

 In other words, the central tab 44 is offset in the direction of the bottom wall 58 of the trunk. It is defined in the same part as the bolt tail and is offset from it by stamping and folding. As a variant, the bolt and the bolt tail can be obtained by molding and in this case, the shape of the central tab is itself defined by said molding. The auxiliary bits 56 and 57 project from the flat part 49 near the edges of the notch 54 in which the bit 28 is located, respectively. The latter is mounted with a predetermined circumferential clearance in the notch 54. The flange comprises a part forming a ferrule 60 surrounding the safety block and said auxiliary bits 56, 57 are attached to the base 49 and to said ferrule 60, like this is visible in Figure 5. We will now describe the closing and opening movement of the lock with reference to Figures 6 to 13. It is however already noted that the deadbolt 15 which has just been described does not cooperate with any other blocking or indexing part. Such a part is traditionally called "groove" and traditionally moves perpendicular to the deadbolt by cooperating with notches thereof.

 In the example described, this conventional groove does not exist, its function is ensured, as will be seen below, by the collar itself which constitutes a true "rotary groove".

 In the situation illustrated in FIG. 6, the deadbolt 15 is fully retracted inside the trunk but the user has already started to close the lock using his key, by turning the bit 28 in the opposite direction to the clockwise, considering the drawing. The bit 28 therefore drives the flange in rotation and therefore it also drives the auxiliary bit 56 against which it abuts. As shown, in its travel, the bit 28 does not meet the beard; it is the auxiliary bit 56 which advances the bolt by a certain distance (FIG. 7) by engaging in the front notch 40 of the beard. Continued rotation of the bit 28 and the flange 48 (Figures 7 and 8) causes the engagement of the auxiliary bit 57 in the rear notch 41 of the beard, then said auxiliary bit 57 comes into contact with the central tab 44 , which causes a second movement of the bolt 15 to the fully closed position of the lock. Thus, it is noted that as soon as the bit 28 has reached its position illustrated in FIG. 8, the deadbolt 15 is completely released from a distance which would correspond to two turns of the key in a conventional lock. The user completes his turn of the key until the mechanism reaches the position illustrated in FIG. 9, position for which he can remove the key from the safety block.

 It should be noted that the collar 48 and its auxiliary bits 56 and 57 are, by construction, rigorously adapted to the kinematics of the mechanism and the paths of these auxiliary bits are determined precisely by the guides 50, 51 of the collar.

 In the position of FIG. 9, it is noted that the central leg 44 of the beard is in abutment against the field of the flat part 49 of the flange 48. The deadbolt is therefore well locked in the closed position and cannot be brought back inside the trunk, during an attempted break-in, since the withdrawal of the bolt requires the effective actuation of the safety block 25.

It is in this that the flange 48 constitutes a real rotary groove of the lock.

 The opening of the door is illustrated in FIGS. 10 to 12. The user, provided with his key, maneuvers the safety block so as to move the bolt in the opposite direction of rotation, that is to say here clockwise, until the auxiliary bit 57 engages in the rear notch 41 of the beard, as illustrated in FIG. 10. The auxiliary bit therefore causes the re-entry of the bolt inside the trunk and, in doing so, the auxiliary bit 56 engages in the front notch 40 of the beard (FIG. 11) to complete the retract movement of the bolt.

 In FIG. 12, the auxiliary bit 56 emerges from the beard and more particularly from the central tab 44 of the latter. At the end of the opening key turn, we arrive at the situation illustrated in Figure 13 where we notice that, again, the retracted position of the deadbolt is perfectly defined and blocked by the contact between the field to circular outline of the flat part 49 and the central leg 44 of the beard. This ensures perfect indexing and stabilization of the bolt in the retracted position, avoiding any adjustment of the lock.

Claims (4)

 1- Deadbolt lock comprising, in a housing, a key cylinder associated with a rotary bit (28) coupled to said bolt, the latter being extended by a bolt tail provided on one of its edges, crenellations of so-called "beard" drive (36) for coupling to said bit, this beard essentially comprising two notches (40, 41) separated by a central tab (44), characterized in that a flange (48) surrounding said cylinder is rotatably mounted in said housing being held by fixed guide means thereof arranged so that said flange has an axis of rotation parallel to that of said bit of said cylinder and closer to it than said beard, in that said flange has a notch ( 54) in which said bit is engaged, in that said flange comprises two auxiliary bits (56, 57) located on either side of said notch and capable of cooperating with said beard, in that said flange is located so that a flat part (49) thereof can engage, during its rotation, in a space defined between said bolt tail and an internal wall, contiguous, of said housing and in that said central tab (44) of said beard is offset with respect to said bolt tail in a direction such that it can come into abutment against the outer edge of said flange.  2- Lock according to claim 1, characterized in that said auxiliary bits (56, 57) protrude from the flat part (44) of the flange, near the edges of said notch, respectively.  3- Lock according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that said central tab (44) is defined in the same part as said bolt tail (34) and offset therefrom by stamping or molding.  4- Lock according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said flange comprises a part forming a ferrule (60), surrounding said cylinder and in that said auxiliary bits (56, 57) are attached to said flat part and to said ferrule.