GB2244512A

GB2244512A - "Door fastening mechanisms"

Info

Publication number: GB2244512A
Application number: GB9111683A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Peter Charles Remnant
Original assignee: STEEL SPACE
Current assignee: STEEL SPACE
Priority date: 1990-06-02
Filing date: 1991-05-31
Publication date: 1991-12-04
Anticipated expiration: 2011-05-31
Also published as: GB9111683D0; GB2244512B

Abstract

The mechanism 1 comprises two sliding bolts 4 and 5 extending along a common axis 8 parallel to the plane of the door so as to be slidable in opposite directions. A pivotable member g is attached to the door 2 so that its pivot axis 11 is substantially parallel to the plane of the door and perpendicular to the axis 8 and is pivotable by pulling/pushing on a handle 15. The mechanism is suitable for use on a security site storage container since, when the mechanism is in the fastened position, only a small part of the handle projects on the outside of the door, and it is virtually impossible to forcibly open the door by pulling on this part of the handle. As shown, handle 15 comprises an arcuate member 17 a radial part 18 and a plate 19. Figure 5 illustrates a modified arrangement for use with a padlock. A key-operated lock 22 is provided to move a locking member 23 to prevent pivoting of link 14. Figures 1, 3 illustrate a security flange 25 in the vicinity of hinges (3). <IMAGE>

Description

"Door Latching Mechanisms" This invention relates to door latching mechanisms and is concerned more particularly, but not exclusively, with door latching mechanisms for security site storage containers.

Security site storage containers are used on building sites and in other applications for storage of materials in a secure manner so as to prevent such materials from being stolen from site. Such site storage containers are generally in the form of large metal boxes, typically of dimensions about 6 metres long and 2.5 metres wide and high, having an outwardly opening hinged door which is securable in the closed position by a latch and a key-operated lock. It is known for the door to be fitted with a latching mechanism comprising two sliding bolts extending along a common vertical axis and projecting above and below the door in the latched position, and a handle on the outside of the door which may be pivoted about an axis normal to the plane of the door in order to latch and unlatch the mechanism.

However, experience in the use of site storage containers provided with such latching mechanisms has shown' that they possess certain disadvantages, particularly in terms of the possible use of the handle of the latching mechanism as a fixing point for forcing the door out of the door opening to gain access to the inside of the container. Thus, for example, a determined thief may couple a vehicle to the handle by a chain or rope and may use the vehicle to exert a substantial pulling force to pull the door away from the container.Furthermore the latching mechanism is generally provided with a lock having a locking member which may be moved into the locked position even when the latching mechanism is unlatched, and this has the disadvantage that the lock may be damaged by movement of the latching mechanism from the unlatched position to the latched position when the locking member in the locked position.

It is an object of the invention to provide an improved door latching mechanism which is particularly adapted to use in this application.

According to the present invention there is provided a door latching mechanism comprising two sliding bolts adapted to be attached to a door so as to extend substantially along a common axis parallel to the door and so as to be slidable in opposite directions to one another to effect latching or unlatching of the mechanism, a pivotable member which is adapted to be attached to the door so that its pivot axis is substantially parallel to the door and transverse to the common axis of the bolts and to effect unlatching by sliding of the bolts in opposite directions to one another in response to pivotal movement of the member in one direction and latching by sliding of the bolts in opposite directions to one another in response to pivotal movement of the member in the other direction, and a handle adapted to project from the door and to be manually movable relative to the door to effect latching or unlatching by pivotal movement of the member.

Preferably the handle is fixedly connected to the member so as to be pivotable therewith about said pivot axis, and has a part which extends substantially in a plane transverse to said pivot axis for projecting through a hole in the door. Said part of the handle may comprise an arcuate member positioned so that its centre of curvature lies on said pivot axis. The handle may also include a part intended to be grasped by the hand of the user extending transversely of the arcuate member.

The pivotable member preferably comprises a rotary shaft extending along said pivot axis and a link pivotable with the shaft and extending transversely of the shaft, the link being pivotally connected at each of its ends to a respective one of the sliding bolts.

Furthermore the latching mechanism may include a key-operated lock which, when in its locked position, retains the sliding bolts in their latched positions.

Preferably the lock includes a locking member which is movable in a direction generally parallel to said pivot axis to engage a part of the pivotable member to effect locking. Most preferably the locking member is engageable within a recess in a part of the pivotable member, such as said link, such that the locking member is movable to engage within said recess only when the pivotable member is in the latched position.

In a development of the invention an apertured extension part is provided on the pivotable member for receiving a padlock.

The invention also provides a security site storage container having a hinged door fitted with the latching mechanism as described and/or a security flange on the inside of the door in the vicinity of the door hinges, the security flange overlapping the adjacent edge of the door opening so as to prevent the door from being removed from the door opening even if the door hinges are removed.

In order that the invention may be more fully understood, a preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is an inside view of the door of a security site storage container fitted with the latching mechanism; Figure 2 is a side view in the direction of the arrow II in Figure 1; Figure 3 is a section taken along the line III III in Figure 1; Figure 4 is an outside view of the door fitted with the latching mechanism; and Figure 5 is a detail of a variant of the latching mechanism.

Referring to the drawings, and specifically Figures 1, 2 and 4 thereof, the latching mechanism 1 is fitted to the inside of the door 2 of a security site storage container (not shown in full). The door 2 is hinged along one side by three external hinges 3 (see Figure 4) so as to open outwardly of the container and forms one end wall of the container which is generally cuboid in shape. As is well known the container is formed from welded steel sheet which is corrugated to increase its rigidity, and includes corner blocks for lifting and stacking, and fork tunnels to enable the container to be manoeuvred on site by means of lifting machinery and fork lift trucks.

The latching mechanism 1 comprises two bolts 4 and 5 extending through upper and lower apertured flanges 6 and 7 on the inside of the door 2 and along a common axis 8 generally parallel to the plane of the door 2. The bolts 4 and 5 project above. and below the door in the latched position, as shown, and are slidable in opposite directions to one another to effect unlatching of the mechanism, that is withdrawal of the bolts along the axis 8 so that they no longer project above and below the door, thus permitting the door to be opened, and are similarly slidable in opposite directions to one another to effect subsequent latching, that is movement of the bolts along the axis 8 so that they again project above and below the door so as to latch the door within the door opening.

Furthermore the latching mechanism 1 includes a pivotable member 9 pivotable about a pivot axis 11 parallel to the plane of the door 2 and perpendicular to the axis 8. The pivotable member 9 comprises a rotary shaft 10 extending through two apertured flanges 12 and 13 provided on the inside of the door 2 and along the pivot axis 11 and a transverse link 14 fixed to the shaft 10 and pivotally connected at each of its ends to a respective one of the sliding bolts 4 and 5.

The latching mechanism 1 also includes a handle 15 fixedly connected to the latching mechanism 9 and projecting through a hole 16 in the door 2. The handle 15 comprises an arcuate member 17, as best seen in Figure 2, positioned so that its centre of curvature lies on the pivot axis 11, and a radial part 18 welded between the end of the rotary shaft 10 and the end of the arcuate member 17. The handle 15 also includes a part in the form of a plate 19 welded to the end of the arcuate member 17 which projects through the hole 16 to the outside of the door and adapted to be grasped by the hand of the user to effect latching and unlatching.

Thus, with particular reference to Figure 2, the part 19 of the handle 15 may be pulled outwardly in the direction of the arrow 20 to effect pivoting of the pivotable member 9 and to thereby cause withdrawal of the bolts 4 and 5 to effect unlatching of the door 2.

Correspondingly, beginning in the unlatched position, the part 19 of the handle 15 may be pushed in the direction of the arrow 21 towards the door 2 to effect pivoting of the pivotable member 9 in the opposite direction and to cause the bolts 4 and 5 to project outwardly above and below the door 2 to effect latching of the door 2.

The latching mechanism 1 also includes a key operated lock 22 of a standard type having a locking member 23 which may be moved in the direction of the pivot axis 11 between a locked position and an unlocked position by turning of a removable key (not shown) inserted through a keyhole 24 (see Figure 4) provided on the outside of the door 2. When the latching mechanism is in the latched position movement of the locking member 23 into the locked position causes the locking member 23 to engage within a suitably shaped cut-out or recess in the link 14, thus preventing pivoting of the link 14 to effect subsequent unlatching. On unlocking the locking member 23 is moved out of the cut-out in the link 14 and the link 14 is permitted to pivot in response to movement of the handle 15 to effect unlatching.Furthermore the shape of the link 14 itself will prevent the locking member 23 being moved into the locked position when the link 14 is in a position which does not correspond to the latched position. This prevents the lock 22 being damaged by a shearing force being applied to the locking member 23 by movement of the latching mechanism from the unlatched to the latched position when the locking member is in the locked position.

The above-described latching mechanism 1 is rendered particularly advantageous in use by virtue of the fact that the major part of the handle 15 extends substantially in a plane transverse to the plane of the door and is pivotable about the pivot axis 11 extending parallel to the door, rather than having a major part extending substantially parallel to the door and positioned on the outside of the door, as in prior arrangements, which can be used for attachment of a chain, for example, to forcibly open the door in the manner already described. Instead the plate 19 is the only part of the handle 15 to which such a chain could be attached, and this plate 19 is welded to the remainder of the handle 15 such that the plate 19 will be detached from the handle 15 before the door is forcibly opened or any substantial damage is done to the door.Also, when the mechanism is unlatched, the handle 15 projects from the door 2 to enable it to be easily grasped to pull the door open.

Furthermore, as shown in the section of Figure 3, the door 2 is provided on its inside with a security flange 25 in the vicinity of the hinges 3. The security flange 25 overlaps the adjacent edge of the door opening so as to prevent the door 2 from being removed from the door opening in the event that the hinges are removed or destroyed in an attempt to gain access to the container.

Finally the described latching mechanism 1 may be modified for use with an external padlock, in place of the lock 22. In this case the handle 15 is formed with an extension part 26, as shown in the detail of Figure 5, which extends through a further hole in the door and which projects outside the door when the handle 15 is in the latched position so as to enable a padlock to be passed through an aperture 27 in the part 26.

Claims

1. A door latching mechanism comprising two sliding bolts adapted to be attached to a door so as to extend substantially along a common axis parallel to the door and so as to be slidable in opposite directions to one another to effect latching or unlatching of the mechanism, a pivotable member which is adapted to be attached to the door so that its pivot axis is substantially parallel to the door and transverse to the common axis of the bolts and to effect unlatching by sliding of the bolts in opposite directions to one another in response to pivotal movement of the member in one direction and latching by sliding of the bolts in opposite directions to one another in response to pivotal movement of the member in the other direction, and a handle adapted to project from the door and to be manually movable relative to the door to effect latching or unlatching by pivotal movement of the member.

2. A mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the handle is fixedly connected to the member so as to be pivotable therewith about said pivot axis, and has a part which extends substantially in a plane transverse to said pivot'axis for projecting through a hole in the door.

3. A mechanism according to claim 2, wherein said part of the handle comprises an arcuate member positioned so that its centre of curvature lies on said pivot axis.

4. A mechanism according to claim 3, wherein the handle also includes a part intended to be grasped by the hand of the user extending transversely of the arcuate member.

5. A mechanism according to any preceding claim, wherein the pivotable member comprises a rotary shaft extending along said pivot axis and a link pivotable with the shaft and extending transversely of the shaft, the link being pivotally connected at each of its ends to a respective one of the sliding bolts.

6. A mechanism according to any preceding claim, wherein it includes a key-operated lock which, when in its locked position, retains the sliding bolts in their latched positions.

7. A mechanism according to claim 6, wherein the lock includes a locking member which is movable in a direction generally parallel to said pivot axis to engage a part of the pivotable member to effect locking.

8. A mechanism according to claim 7, wherein the locking member is engageable within a recess in a part of the pivotable member such that the locking member is movable to engage within said recess only when the pivotable member is in the latched position.

9. A mechanism according to any preceding claim, wherein an apertured extension part is provided on the pivotable member for receiving a padlock.

10. A security site storage container having a hinged door fitted with a latching mechanism according to any preceding claim and/or a security flange on the inside of the door in the vicinity of the door hinges, the security flange overlapping the adjacent edge of the door opening so as to prevent the door from being removed from the door opening even if the door hinges are removed.

11. A door latching mechanism substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

12. A security site storage container substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Amendments to the claims have been filed as follows 1. A door latching mechanism comprising two sliding bolts adapted to be attached to a door so as to extend substantially along a common axis parallel to the door and so as to be slidable in opposite directions to one another to effect latching or unlatching of the mechanism, a pivotable member which is adapted to be attached to the door so that its pivot axis is substantially parallel to the door and transverse to the common axis of the bolts and to effect unlatching by sliding of the bolts in opposite directions to one another in response to pivotal movement of the member in one direction and latching by sliding of the bolts in opposite directions to one another in response to pivotal movement of the member in the other direction, and a handle coupled to the member and having an arcuate part adapted to project through a hole in the door so as to be manually actuable externally of the door to move the arcuate part relative to the door about an arcuate path along which the arcuate part extends to effect latching or unlatching of the mechanism by pivotal movement of the member.

2. A mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the handle is fixedly connected to the member so as to be pivotable therewith about said pivot axis, and said arcuate part extends substantially in a plane transverse to said pivot axis.

3. A mechanism according to claim 1 or 2, wherein said arcuate part is positioned so that its centre of curvature lies on said pivot axis.

4. A mechanism according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the handle also includes a part intended to be grasped by the hand of the user extending transversely of the arcuate part and intended to lie closely adjacent the surface of the door when the mechanism is latched.

10. A security site storage container having a hinged door fitted with a latching mechanism according to any preceding claim.