GB2026589A

GB2026589A - A door handle retaining assembly

Info

Publication number: GB2026589A
Application number: GB7920613A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: SCOVILL SECURITY PROD
Current assignee: SCOVILL SECURITY PROD
Priority date: 1978-07-27
Filing date: 1979-06-13
Publication date: 1980-02-06
Also published as: GB2026589B

Abstract

A door handle assembly comprises a support plate 10 mounting a pivotal operating member 11 including a shank 13 which projects through the support plate 10 and through an internal opening in a retaining member 23,25 said opening being shaped so that the retaining member 23,25 is movable angularly relative to the shank 13 between an operative position, in which the retaining member 23,25 is trapped by a groove or abutment 16 on the shank to prevent removal of the retaining member 23,25 from the shank 13 and withdrawal of the shank 13 through the aperture in the support plate 10, and an inoperative position, in which said wall is clear of the abutment so that the retaining member 23,25 can be removed from the shank 13 and the shank 13 can be removed from the support plate 10. Resilient means, conveniently defined by the retaining member 23, or a helical spring 27 urges the operating member 11 to a rest position, and a stop 21 limits angular movement of said operating member away from said rest position. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION A door handle assembly This invention relates to a door handle assembly.

A door handle assembly, according to the invention, comprises a support plate, an operating member mounted on the support plate for angular movement relative thereto and including a shank portion which projects through an aperture in the support plate and is adapted to receive the drive spindle of a latch mechanism to be controlled by the operating member, the shank portion being formed with an abutment, a retaining member having an internal opening through which said shank portion extends, the wall of said opening being shaped so that the retaining member is movable angularly relative to the shank portion between an operative position, in which part of the retaining member is trapped by said abutment to prevent removal of the retaining member from the shank portion and withdrawal of the shank portion through said aperture, and an inoperative position, in which said wall is clear of the abutment so that the retaining member can be removed from the shank portion and the shank portion can be removed from the support plate, resilient means urging said operating member to a rest position, and stop means limiting angular movement of said operating member away from said rest position.

Preferably, said abutment is defined by one wall of a peripheral groove formed in said shank portion.

Preferably, the stop means includes a stop plate which is mounted on said shank portion for angular movement with the operating member and which is engageable with a fixed stop on the support plate to limit angular movement of the operating member.

Preferably, said stop plate includes a projection which engages said retaining member, when the retaining member is in its operative position, to drivingly couple the retaining member to the operating member.

Preferably, said stop plate includes a pair of said projections and said projections engage and extend along opposite side walls respectively of the shank portion to mount said stop plate for angular movement with the operating member.

Preferably, said resilient means and said retaining member are defined by a single, elongated, resilient element which is wound as a generally flat coil having said internal opening.

Alternatively, said retaining member and said resilient means are formed as separate components with said resilient means acting on said retaining member to urge the operating member into its rest position.

In an alternative embodiment, the stop means includes a shoulder which is defined by the wall of the aperture in said support plate and which is engageable by the shank portion during angular movement of the operating member, the wall of the said opening in the retaining member being shaped to drivingly couple the retaining member to the shank portion in said operative position of the retaining member.

It is to be appreciated that the term "operating member" is used throughout the present specification to include both lever handles and angularly movable knobs.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 is a plan view of a door handle assembly according to a first example of the invention, Figures 2 and 3 are diagrammatic illustrations of the handle of the first example, with the support plate removed for the sake of clarity, showing two stages respectively during assembly of the handle; Figure 4 illustrates diagrammatically the movement imparted to resilient element of the handle of the first example during assembly of the handle; Figure 5 is a perspective view of a part of a handle according to a second example of the invention, with the support plate removed for the sake of clarity, Figure 6 is a plan view of handle according to a third example of the invention; and Figure 7 is a plan view of the retaining member of the handle shown in Figure 6.

Referring to Figures 1 to 4, the handle assembly of the first example includes a support plate 10 and a lever handle 11 mounted in an aperture in the support plate for angular movement relative to the support plate. The handle 11 includes a body portion 12 which is stepped inwardly at one end to define a shank portion 13. The shank portion 13 includes a pair of opposite planar side walls 14 and a pair of opposite, part-cylindrical side walls 1 5 centred on the rotational axis of the handle.

Formed at equivalent positions in each side wall 1 5 is an open ended groove 16 having its base defining part of a cylinder which is co-axial with, but is of smaller radius than, the cylinder defined in part by the walls 15. Thus formation of the grooves 1 6 can be effected by the same machining operation as is used to produce the walls 15 of the shank portion 13.

In addition the shank portion 1 3 is formed at its free end with a square section bore 1 8 for receiving a complementary drive spindle of a door latch mechanism. This arrangement is of course entirely conventional with operation of the handle serving to retract a bolt of the latch mechanism.

The handle 11 is mounted in the aperture in the support plate so that its shank portion 1 3 projects through said aperture and extends through a rectangular section bore 19 in a stop plate 21. The grooves 16 are located in the region of the shank portion 13 extending from the stop plate 21 and the dimensions of the bore 1 9 are such that its longer side walls engage the walls 14 of the shank portion 1 3. Formed integrally with the stop plate 21 are a pair of projecting plate-like lugs 22 which extends towards the free end of the shank portion 1 3 from the longer side walls respectively of the bore 19 and are located adjacent opposite ends respectively of said longer side walls.Thus, the lugs 22 extend along and in contact with the walls 14 of the shank portion 13 and serve with the longer sides walls of the bore 1 9 to drivingly couple the stop plate 21 to the handle 11.

Extending around the shank portion 1 3 is a flat coil spring 23 which passes through the grooves 16 and engages the lugs 22. Thus the spring 23 serves to prevent removal of the stop plate 21 from the shank portion 13, while at the same time the spring is itself trapped between the plate 21 and the outermost walls of the grooves 1 6. Thus the spring 23 prevents the shank portion 13 being withdrawn from the bore 1 9 and the aperture in the support plate.

At its outer end, the spring 23 is permanently flexed against a peripheral skirt 20 which is formed integrally with the support plate and which extends beyond the shank portion 13 to conceal the working components of the handle assembly when the assembly is mounted on a door. Thus the spring 23 acts by way of the lugs 22 on the plate 21 to continuously urge the plate 21 and the handle 11 in a direction to relieve the spring.

However, the arrangement of the plate 21 is such that when moved in said direction it engages said skirt to limit the movement of the handle 11 , and thereby define a stable rest position for the handle.

When the handle 11 is moved in the opposite direction, such as for example to retract the bolt of an associated latch mechanism, the interaction between the handle 11 and the spring 23 is again transmitted by the lugs 22 on the plate 21, although now of course the effect is to further stress the spring. Moreover, during movement in said opposite direction, the plate 21 again engages the peripheral skirt 20 on the support plate to prevent movement of the plate 21 and handle 11 beyond an operated position and thereby avoid excessive flexure of the spring 23.

It is to be appreciated that driving the spring 23 by way of the lugs 22 on the stop plate 21 means that there is no necessity to ensure that the recesses 1 6 in the shank portion 1 3 mate with the spring 23. This not only simplifies production of the spring but, as described above, allows the recesses 1 6 to be shaped such that they can be machined simultaneously with the walls 1 5 of the handle 11.

Referring now in particuiar to Figures 2 to 4, the coiled spring 23 is designed so as to allow rapid assembly and disassembly of the handle.

Thus, the spring is wound so that it defines an internal, generally rectangular opening 24 whose length exceeds the length of the side walls 14, and whose width exceeds the width of the bore 1 9 by an amount approximately equal to the combined thicknesses of the lugs 22. In this way, if the orientation of the spring 23 relative to the remainder of the handle assembly is such that the longer sides of the opening 24 extend parallel with the side walls 14, then during assembly of the handle the shank portion 13 can be inserted into the opening 24 substantially without flexure of the spring 23. This is the position shown in Figure 2 and in this position it will be seen that the spring 23 is not engaged in the grooves 16.However, by rotating the spring 23 in an anti-clockwise direction as shown in Figure 3, the spring is gradually moved into the the grooves 16, which movement is assisted by the curved base surfaces of the grooves. Further rotation of the spring in the same direction then moves the spring into its normal operative position, as shown in Figure 1, in which the spring is drivingly coupled by the lugs 22 to the stop plates 21 and shank portion 13, and serves to prevent disassembly of the handle.

If, however, it is subsequently required to disassemble the handle, it is merely necessary to rotate the spring 23 back to its inoperative position as shown in Figure 2, whereafter the spring 23 can readily be removed from the shank portion 13 and the shank portion can be withdrawn from the stop plate 21 and the support plate 10.

As shown best in Figure 4, each lug 22 extends from one end of a respective side wall of the bore 1 9 beyond the centreline of the bore so as to lie in the path of movement of the spring 23 as the spring is moved angularly from its inoperative position, indicated by the suffix a in Figure 4, to its operative position indicated by the suffix b. Thus, during this movement, when the spring reaches the intermediate position indicated by the suffix c, the walls of the opening 24 are flexed by the innermost ends of the lugs 22 to provide resistance to further angular movement of the spring. This resistance can readily be overcome to allow assembly of the handle, but is provided to prevent accidental disassembly in operation as a result of sudden breakage of the permanently flexed, outer end of the spring 23.

Referring to Figure 5, the handle assembly of the second example is similar to that described above, but retention of the shank portion 13 relative to the support plate 10 and stop plate 21 is now effected by an annular retaining plate 25.

However, as in the previous example, the internal opening 26 in the plate 25 is arranged so that the plate is movable between the operative position shown, in which part of the retaining plate is located in the grooves 1 6 to locate the shank portion 13 relative to the remainder of the handle assembly, and an inoperative positiOn, in which the walls of the opening 26 are clear of the grooves 1 6, so that the plate 25 can be removed from the shank portion and the handle disassembled. In this example, the lugs 22 again serve to drivingly couple the retaining plate 25 and the shank portion 13. However, since the plate 25 only acts as a retaining member, a separate helical tension spring 27 acts on the plate 25 to urge the handle 11 into its stable rest position.

Referring to Figures 6 and 7, the handle assembly of the third example is similar to that shown in Figure 5 in that it includes an annular retaining plate 28 and a separate spring 29 for urging the handle 11 into its rest position.

However, in the third example, the stop plate employed in the first and second examples is omitted and angular movement of the handle 11 is limited by projecting shoulders 31 which are provided on the wall of the aperture in the support plate 10 so as to be engaged by the shank portion 13 when the handle is in each of its rest and operated positions. Moreover, the internal opening 30 in the retaining plate 28 is arranged not only to permit angular movement of the retaining plate between the operative and inoperative positions discussed above, but also to include abutments 32 which drivingly couple the retaining plate 28 to the shank portion 1 3 when the plate 28 is in its operative position.

Claims

1. A door handle assembly comprising a support plate, an operating member mounted on the support plate for angular movement relative thereto and including a shank portion which projects through an aperture in the support plate and is adapted to receive the drive spindle of a latch mechanism to be controlled by the operating member, the shank portion being formed with an abutment, a retaining member having an internal opening through which said shank portion extends, the wall of said opening being shaped so that the retaining member is movable angularly relative to the shank portion between an operative position, in which part of the retaining member is trapped by said abutment to prevent removal of the retaining member from the shank portion and withdrawal of the shank portion through said aperture, and an inoperative position, in which said wall is clear of the abutment so that the retaining member can be removed from the shank portion and the shank portion can be removed from the support plate, resilient means urging said operating member to a rest position, and stop means limiting angular movement of said operating member away from said rest position.

2. An assembly as claimed in Claim 1, wherein said abutment is defined by one wall of a peripheral groove formed in said shank portion.

3. An assembly as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2, wherein said stop means includes a stop plate which is mounted on said shank portion for angular movement with the operating member and which is engageable with a fixed stop on the support plate to limit angular movement of the operating member.

4. An assembly as claimed in Claim 3, wherein said stop plate includes a projection which engages said retaining member, when the retaining member is in its operative position, to drivingly couple the retaining member to the operating member.

5. An assembly as claimed in Claim 4, wherein said stop plate includes a pair of said projections and said projections engage and extend along opposite side walls respectively of the shank portion to mount said stop plate for angular movement with the operating member.

6. An assembly as claimed in any preceding Claim, wherein said resilient means and said retaining member are defined by a single, elongated, resilient element which is wound as a generally flat coil having said internal opening.

7. An assembly as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2, wherein said stop means includes a shoulder which is defined by the wall of the aperture in said support plate and which is engageable by the shank portion during angular movement of the operating member, the wall of the said opening in the retaining member being shaped to drivingly couple the retaining member to the shank portion in said operative position of the retaining member.

8. An assembly as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 5 or Claim 7, wherein said retaining member and said resilient means are formed as separate components with said resilient means acting on said retaining member to urge the operating member into its rest position.

9. A door handle assembly comprising the combination and arrangement of parts substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to, and as shown in, Figures 1 to 4 of the accompanying drawings.

1 0. A door handle assembly comprising the combination and arrangement of parts substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to, and as shown in, Figure 5 of the accompanying drawings.

11. A door handle assembly comprising the combination and arrangement of parts substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to, and as shown in, Figures 6 and 7 of the accompanying drawings.

12. A method of assembling a door handle assembly as claimed in Claim 1 comprising the steps of: a) inserting the shank portion of the operating member through the aperture in the support plate, b) with the retaining member in its inoperative position relative to the shank portion, engaging the shank Dortion in the opening in ttie retainiq member and pushing said retaining member onto the shank portion over said abutment, and then c) moving the retaining member angularly relative to the shank portion into its operative position so that the retaining member is trapped by said abutment to prevent removal of the retaining member from the shank portion and withdrawal of the shank portion from said aperture.

13. A method as claimed in Claim 12, wherein said retaining member includes an elongated, resilient element wound as a generally flat coil having said internal opening and movement of the retaining member between its inoperative and operative positions is resisted by temporary flexure of the region of the resilient element defining said opening.

14. A method of assembling a door handle assembly substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 2 to 4 of the accompanying drawings.

1 5. A door handle assembly assembled by a method as claimed in any one of Claims 12 to 14.