GB2122887A - Door furniture - Google Patents

Abstract

A lever handle assembly comprises a door mounting portion 1, moulded in the form of a handleplate with screw-fixing holes, and a lever handle component 4. The handle 4 is rotatably mounted in a through aperture 6 in the mounting portion 1, and a radial flange 7 at the inner end of the shank 5 of the handle 4 takes a bearing within the portion 1 and engages the inner edge 10 of an internal circular wall 11 to locate the handle 4 against an outward pull. Around the aperture 6 the portion 1 is moulded with an outwardly projecting and curved lip 12 having a flat outer end face 13 engaging behind a rectangular step 14 on the shank 5. This engagement locates the handle 4 in the opposite or inward direction, and thus serves to retain the components in the assembled condition. The lever portion 15 of the handle is so shaped and dimensioned, as is the shank 5, that on assembly the handle can be threaded through the aperture 6 from the inner side of the portion 1 until it reaches the assembled position. During the assembly the lip 12 flexes outwardly to clear the maximum diameter of the shank 5 and then springs back to engage behind the step 14. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Door furniture This invention relates to door furniture, and in particular to lever handle assemblies.

Lever handle assemblies comprise a door mounting portion, usually in the form of a so-called rose or handleplate for screw-fixing to the door, and a lever handle rotatably fixed in the mounting portion. In existing assemblies the lever handle is fitted to the mounting portion from the outer side thereof, a shank of the handle being passed through a bearing aperture in that portion and retained in the latter by some form of fixing.

For example, either a circlip or spring ring may be fitted on to the shank, or a flange or retaining plate may be riveted on the inner end of the shank. This flange or plate commonly cooperates with a handle return spring housed within the mounting portion.

With these known assemblies the actual assembly of the components thereof represents a considerable fraction of the total production costs, the handle and mounting portion with the spring having to be held in the assembled position while the fixing is accomplished. The object of the invention is to provide a lever handle assembly with very considerably lower assembly costs and which does not require the provision of a separate fixing element, such as a circlip, or a fixing procedure such as riveting.

According to the invention a lever handle assembly comprises a lever handle and a mounting portion with a through aperture in which a shank of the handle is rotatably supported, these two components having formations which interengage to provide snap-in fixing of the shank in the aperture to which end at least one of them is moulded from a flexible and resilient plastics material, the shape and dimensions of the lever handle being such that on assembly it can be threaded through said aperture from the inner side of the mounting portion.

Preferably the mounting portion is moulded from said plastics material, for example an acetyl resin, with an outwardly directed fixing lip which, on assembly of the components, flexes outwardly and then springs back into position behind a retaining step on the handle shank. The handle may also be a plastics moulding, moulded with a flange or projection(s) at the inner end of the shank which engages (or engage) within the mounting portion to locate the handle against an outward pull. Thus the handle is located in one direction by the fixing lip and in the opposite (outward) direction by the flange or projection(s).

This flange or projection(s) may co-operate with a handle return spring.

The invention will now be further described with reference to the accompanying drawings which illustrate, by way of example, a preferred construction of lever handle assembly embodying the invention. In the drawings; Figure 1 is an outer face view of the assembly; Figure 2 is a fragmentary inner face view of the assembly; Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line Ill-Ill in Figure 1; Figure 4 is a detail inner face view of a handleplate of the assembly; Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view on taken on the line V-V in Figure 4; and Figure 6 is a sectional detail on the line VI--VI in Figure 1.

The lever handle assembly illustrated comprises a door mounting portion 1, in the form of a rectangular hollow handleplate with keyhole 2 and the usual corner screw-fixing holes 3, and the actual handle 4. Each of these two components 1 and 4 is injection moulded from a plastics material, for example an acetyl resin. The handle 4 has a shank portion 5 which passes through and is rotatably supported within a through aperture 6 in the handleplate 1.

At the inner end of the shank 5 the handle 4 has an integral circular radial flange 7 which takes a bearing within a circular wall 8 moulded within the handleplate 1. The outer surface 9 of this flange 7 engages the inner edge 11 of a smaller diameter circular wall 11, also moulded within the handleplate 1 and which terminates short of the inner face thereof to allow clearance for the flange 7 between the wall 11 and the door surface to which the assembly is fitted. This engagement retains the handle 4 captive within the handleplate 1 and resists any outward pull on the handle.

Around the aperture 6 the handleplate 1 is moulded with an outwardly projecting and curved lip 12 which has a flat outer end face 13 engaging behind a rectangular step 14 on the shank 5. This engagement locates the handle 4 in the opposite or inward direction, and thus serves to retain the components in the assembled condition. The lever portion 1 5 of the handle 4 is so shaped and dimensioned, as is the shank 5, that on assembly the handle can be threaded through the aperture 6 from the inner side of the handleplate 1 until it reaches the assembled position.The resilience and flexibility of the moulding material are such that on assembly the lip 12 flexes outwardly to clear the maximum diameter of the shank 5 and then springs back to engage behind the step 14, thereby providing snap-in assembly of the components and avoiding the need for a separate fixing element or fixing procedure.

The flange 7 also co-operates with a handle return spring 16 which is a helical compression spring housed in an annular groove in the shank 5 adjoining the flange 7. The spring 16 is retained within this groove in an arcuate shape by the surrounding wall 1 The ends of the spring 16 respectively engage opposite sides of a radial and rectangular projection 1 8 across the groove 1 7 and a similar projection 19 on the inner side of the wall 1 Thus the spring urges the handle 4 to the normal central resting position illustrated in the drawings, in which the equal thickness projections 18, 19 are precisely aligned radially.

As will be appreciated the return spring arrangement described has the advantage that the handle is not "handed" as is the case with the torsion return springs normally used in door handle assemblies, and the spring 1 6 serves to return the handle in both angular directions. A segmental projection 20 within the handleplate 1 and which projects from the wall 8 provides a positive stop to limit handle movement in either direction. For this purpose the projection 20 engages one or other of two radial steps 21 formed on the flange 7 at opposite ends of an arcuate edge recess 22 which provides clearance for the stop 20 as the flange 7 turns.

Because the flange 7 is an integral part of the handle moulding, and the latter is fitted from the inside of the handleplate 1, the spring 1 6 cannot be fitted before the flange 7. To allow insertion of the spring 16 between the components 1 and 4 after the handle 4 has been snapped into position the flange has a generally elliptical and tangentially elongated through aperture 23 disposed above the spring position and near to one end thereof. This aperture is angled away from that end so that the spring 16 can be inserted through the aperture 23 and threaded into position along most of its normal arcuate track, the final end portion of the spring being compressed and pushed through the aperture 23 when it springs back beneath the flange 7 into engagement with the projections 18, 19.

The handle shank 5 is moulded with a squareprofile blind bore 24 adapted to receive the usual square-section spindle (not shown) which couples the handles on two sides of a door and operates the mortice latch let into the edge of the door.

Claims (15)

1. A lever handle assembly comprising a lever handle component and a mounting portion with a through aperture in which a shank of the handle is rotatably supported, the handle component and the mounting portion having formations which interengage to provide snap-in fixing of the shank in the aperture for which purpose at least one of them is moulded from a flexible and resilient plastics material, the shape and dimensions of the handle component being such that on assembly It can be threaded through said aperture from the inner side of the mounting portion.

2. A lever handle assembly according to claim 1, wherein the mounting portion is moulded from said plastics material with an outwardly directed fixing lip which, on assembly of the handle component and mounting portion, flexes outwardly and then springs back into position behind a retaining step on the handle shank.

3. A lever handle assembly according to claim 2, wherein said fixing lip is curved outwardly of the mounting portion and radially inwardly of said aperture.

4. A lever handle assembly according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the handle component is a plastics moulding, moulded with a flange or projection at the inner end of said shank which engages within the mounting portion to locate the handle against an outward pull.

5. A lever handle assembly according to claim 4, wherein said flange or projection co-operates with a handle return spring within the mounting portion.

6. A lever handle assembly according to claim 4 or claim 5, wherein said flange is a radial flange the periphery of which engages with a circular bearing surface within the mounting portion.

7. A lever handle assembly according to claim 6, wherein said radial flange takes a bearing within a circular wall within the mounting portion and which provides said bearing surface.

8. A lever handle assembly according to claim 6 or claim 7, wherein the outer side surface of said flange engages a retaining surface in the mounting portion to locate the handle in the outward direction.

9. A lever handle assembly according to claim 7 and claim 8, wherein said retaining surface is provided by the inner edge of a smaller diameter circular wall of the mounting portion, disposed coaxially with the circular wall providing said bearing surface, said smaller diameter circular wall terminating short of the inner face of the mounting portion to allow clearance for the flange between that wall and a door surface to which the assembly is fitted.

10. A lever handle assembly according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein a or the handle return spring is a helical spring disposed in an arcuate shape around the handle shank with the ends of the spring engaging a projection on the shank and also an internal projection within the mounting portion, which projections are aligned to define a central resting position of the handle so that relative displacement of the projections compresses the spring to provide a return force on a rotation of the handle in either direction.

11. A lever handle assembly according to claim 6 and claim 10, wherein the return spring is disposed immediately adjacent said flange on the outer side thereof, and the flange has an aperture through which the spring can be inserted into its operative position around the handle shank and engaging said projections.

12. A lever handle assembly according to claim 9 and claim 10 or claim 1 wherein the return spring is housed between the handle shank and said smaller diameter circular wall from which the spring-engaging projection of the housing projects, and the spring is partially housed within an arcuate groove in the handle shank across which groove the other of said spring-engaging projections projects.

1 3. A lever handle assembly according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said mounting portion is moulded in the form of a handle plate with screw-fixing holes for attachment to a door and with a keyhole if this is required.

14. A lever handle assembly according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said flexible and resilient plastics material is an acetyl resin.

15. A lever handle assembly constructed and arranged substantially as herein particularly described with reference to the accompanying drawings.