GB2196688A

GB2196688A - A striking plate for a door or window lock or catch

Info

Publication number: GB2196688A
Application number: GB08724555A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Glenn Christopher Harland; Mark Adrian Harland
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1986-10-22
Filing date: 1987-10-20
Publication date: 1988-05-05
Anticipated expiration: 2007-10-20
Also published as: GB8724555D0; GB2196688B

Abstract

The invention provides a striking plate assembly for use with a catch or lock as fitted to a door or window. The assembly itself comprises a mounting plate 10 which is secured to the jamb 12, and a striking plate 16 which is adapted to be mounted on the mounting plate in any one of a series of angularly adjustable locations. For this purpose, there are top and bottom screw connectors 18 passing through clearance holes 32,34 in the striking plate and engaging in screw-threaded holes 24,26 in the mounting plate. However, a set of holes in one of the mounting and striking plates is angularly disposed with respect to its corresponding set of holes, so that a series of locations are provided at which the striking plate brings one of its clearance holes into alignment with one of the screw-threaded holes in the mounting plate. In the preferred construction there are three clearance holes above the mortice and three clearance holes below the mortice of the striking plate with corresponding sets of three screw-threaded holes above and below the mortice in the mounting plate. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION A striking plate for a door or window lock or catch When a door is fitted with a spring-loaded catch; a spring-loaded lock, or a lock with a deadbolt, it is necessary to provide a striking plate which is secured to the jamb of the door frame, there being a hole or socket in the striking plate to receive the tongue of the catch or lock. Modern high security locks sometimes employ striking plates with metal mortices, which are recessed into the jamb to provide a secure housing for the tongue, and the present invention has been adapted for use with this type of striking plate, though it is to be understood, that it could be employed with the conventional striking plate, which simply has a hole for the tongue, which is received in a mortice formed in the jamb itself.

Reference has been made above to a striking plate being used with a door: it is to be understood that a striking plate in accordance with the invention could equally be used with a window, but for convenience, the invention will be described hereinafter in relation to a door frame.

The alignment of a striking plate hole or mortice with the tongue of a catch or lock is often difficult and it is extremely difficult to adjust the position of the striking plate after the fixing screws have been driven into the timber jamb. This problem is of special importance where the striking plate has a recessed metal mortice. It is the object of the invention to provide a striking plate which has an adjustment feature, enabling it to be adjusted relatively to the jamb to which it is secured, but which at the same time is adapted to be held very securely in a selected location.

According to this invention a striking plate assembly for a door or window comprises a mounting plate which is adapted to be secured to a jamb or the like and a striking plate which is adapted to be secured to the mounting plate in any one of a series of locations (to provide a required adjustability feature) with top and bottom screw connectors each passing through a clearance hole in the striking plate and engaging in a screw-threaded hole in the mounting plate, there being a set of clearance holes and a corresponding set of screw-threaded holes for the top and/or bottom screw connectors, the two sets of holes being so arranged as to provide a set of angularly displaced locations of the striking plate relatively to the mounting plate in each of which one, and only one, of the clearance holes and screw-threaded holes of those sets are aligned to accept the screw connector.

in a preferred arrangement, one of the sets of holes is arranged in a vertical row and the corresponding set of holes is arranged in a row inclined with respect to the vertical. The inclined set of holes may be arranged in- a straight line or in a curved line. It is further preferred to provide three clearance holes and three screw-threaded holes in a set.

According to a preferred feature of the invention there are sets of holes for the screw connectors above and below the hole for the catch or lock, both the top and bottom sets of holes in one of the mounting plate and striking plate being substantially vertical; the top set of holes in the other of the mounting plate and striking plate being inclined to the vertical in one direction and the other set of holes in that other member being inclined to the vertical in the opposite direction. The vertical set or sets of holes may be provided in either the mounting plate or the striking plate.

One construction of a striking plate assembly in accordance with the invention will now be described by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is an exploded perspective view showing a mounting plate secured to the jamb of a door frame, and Figure 2 is an end view of the assembly looking from the inside of the door frame, with the striking plate in an angularly adjusted position.

The striking plate assembly in this particular example comprises a mounting plate 10, which is adapted to be secured to the jamb 12 of a door frame by four fixing screws 14, and a separate striking plate 16 which is adapted to be secured to the mounting plate 10 by means of screws 18 (see Figure 2).

Both the mounting plate 10 and the striking plate 16 are made in sheet steel and if the striking plate is for use with a security type lock, the steel will be of high quality and a relatively thick gauge. The mounting plate 10 in this particular example generally comprises a rectangular plate which is recessed into a reveal face 20 of the jamb 12 and a metal mortice 22 which is formed integrally with the plate. Four clearance holes are formed through the plate to receive the fixing screws 14. In addition, there are top and bottom sets of screw-threaded holeS 24 and 26 formed in the rectangular plate above and below the mortice 22. Each of these sets of screwthreaded holes comprises three such holes, arranged in a row, such that the top set of holes are inclined to the vertical in one direction, and the bottom set of holes are inclined to the vertical in the opposite direction.This is apparent from the dotted locations of the holes 24 and 26 as seen in Figure 2. It should also be mentioned, that the mortice 22 is somewhat larger in its internal dimensions than is required for the tongue of the catch or lock with which the striking plate assembly is adapted to operate.

The striking plate 16 also generally com prises a rectangular plate, although it is also formed with the conventional lip 28 having a curved extremity, for engagement with the curved side of the tongue of a door catch. A generally rectangular hole 30 is formed through the striking plate and this hole is intended to be aligned with the mortice 22 to provide the mouth of the mortice, but it is of rather smaller dimensions than the mortice hole 22 (see Figure 2) because the mouth of the effective hole provided in the striking plate is intended to be only a clearance hole for the thickness of the tongue of the catch or lock.

It is an important feature of the invention that it is possible to adjust the location of the striking plate 16 relatively to the mounting plate 10, but in any of the adjusted positions, the hole 30 in the striking plate must remain aligned with the mortice 22 in the mounting plate to allow the tongue to enter the mortice.

The striking plate 16 is also formed with top and bottom sets of holes 32 and 34 but in this case, the holes are clearance holes and they are preferably countersunk holes to receive the heads of countersunk headed metal screws engageable in the screw-threaded holes 24 and 26 of the mounting plate 10.

Again, it will be seen that there are three holes 32 and 34 in each of the top and bottom sets of holes, and these are arranged at the same vertical spacings as the holes 24 and 26 in the mounting plate. However, the two rows of holes in the striking plate are each vertical rows, and preferably the two rows are In longitudinal alignment with each other.

When the striking plate assembly is being fitted to the jamb 12, the mounting plate 10 is first located as accurately as possible, and then secured in position by the fixing screws 14. The striking plate 16 is then brought into face-to-face contact with the mounting plate, but Its angular location is adjusted until (i) it is in the best possible position relatively to the tongue of the catch or lock, and (ii) one clearance hole in each of the two sets 32 and 34 is in alignment with one of the screw-threaded holes in each of the sets 24 and 26. The two metal screws 18 are then passed through the clearance holes of the aligned holes and screwed into the aligned screw-threaded holes of the mounting plate in order to fasten the striking plate 16 to the mounting plate.

Referring to Figure 2, it will be seen that the top screw 18 is passed through the bottom one of the three clearance holes 32 into the bottom screw-threaded hole of the set 24 in the mounting plate, and the bottom screw 18 is passed through the bottom hole of the set of clearance holes 34 into the aligned bottom hole of the set of holes 26 in the mounting plate. Now because the rows of holes in the mounting plate are inclined with respect to the vertical rows of holes in the striking plate, this provides a tilted position for the striking plate which is clearly shown in Figure 2. In fact, this represents the maximum tilt of the striking plate in one direction.

If the bottom screw 18 were removed from the bottom pair of aligned holes, and the inclination of the striking plate to the vertical decreased slightly, then the middle pair of holes 34 and 26 would come into alignment, and if the screw 1 8 were then fitted at this middle position, the striking plate would again be securely fixed to the mounting plate, but at a slightly different position to that illustrated in Figure 2. It will be appreciated that if the bottom connecting screw 18 were removed and the top pair of holes 34 and 26 of the bottom set brought into alignment, so that the connecting screw could be used at that position, the angle of inclination of the striking plate to the vertical would be further reduced.

Hence, with the top connecting screw 1 8 in one position, it is possible to obtain three slightly different angular locations of the striking plate.

If now the position of the top connecting screw 18 is adjusted by bringing either the middle pair of holes 32 and 24 into alignment or the top pair of holes 32 and 24 into alignment, still further angular locations of the striking plate can be selected. Since there are three possible locations for the top connecting screw and three possible locations for the bottom connecting screw, it is possible to select any one of nine locations for the striking plate. Hence, one can obtain almost infinite adjustment of the angular location of the striking plate within the small range provided by the two sets of pairs of co-operating connecting holes.This should enable the striking plate to be located in an optimum position, but it is an important feature of the invention, that once the striking plate has been attached to the mounting plate by means of the pair of connecting screws 18, it is firmly held in that location and cannot be dislodged by the tongue of a catch or lock repeatedly striking the lip 28 of the striking plate. This is an important advantage which cannot be obtained if adjustment is attempted using a screwthreaded hole in the mounting plate and a slot in the striking plate.

In an alternative arrangement which is not illustrated, the only difference from the arrangement described above is that the vertical rows of holes are provided in the mounting plate 10 and the inclined rows of holes are provided in the striking plate. However, this still gives the same facility for adjusting the angular location of the striking plate on the mounting plate. It will be understood of course that there may be only two holes in each set, and indeed there may be only one set of holes either above or below the mortice 22, utilising a single pair of co-operating holes below or above the mortice. It will also be appreciated that there may be more than three holes in each set, although it has been found 'that by having three holes in each of the two sets as illustrated, an adequate range of adjustment locations can be obtained.

Claims

1. A striking plate assembly for a door or window comprising: a mounting plate which is adapted to be secured to a jamb or the like and a striking plate which is adapted to be secured to the mounting plate in any one of a series of locations (to provide a required adjustability feature), with top and bottom screw connectors each passing through a clearance hole in the striking plate and engaging in a screw-threaded hole in the mounting plate, there being a set of clearance holes and a corresponding set of screw-threaded holes for the top and/or bottom screw connectors, the two sets of holes being so arranged as to provide a set of angularly displaced locations of the striking plate relatively to the mounting plate in each of which one, and only one, of the clearance holes and screw-threaded holes of those sets are aligned to accept the screw connector.

2. A striking plate assembly as claimed in Claim 1, in which one of the sets of holes is arranged in a vertical row and the corresponding set of holes is arranged in a row inclined with respect to the vertical.

3. A striking plate assembly as claimed in Claim 2, in which the inclined set of holes is arranged in a straight line.

4. A striking plate assembly as claimed in Claim 2, in which the inclined set of holes is arranged in a curved line.

5. A striking plate assembly as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 4, in which there are three clearance holes and three screwthreaded holes in a set.

6. A striking assembly as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 5, in which there are sets of holes for the screw connectors above and below the hole for the tongue of the catch or lock, both the top and bottom sets of holes in one of the mounting plate and the striking plate being substantially vertical; the top set of holes in the other of the mounting plate and striking plate being inclined to the vertical in one direction and the other set of holes in that other member being inclined to the vertical in the opposite direction.

7. A striking plate assembly for a door or window constructed and arranged substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.