GB2258684A

GB2258684A - Security closure.

Info

Publication number: GB2258684A
Application number: GB9202525A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Patrick Lister
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1991-02-08
Filing date: 1992-02-06
Publication date: 1993-02-17
Also published as: GB9202525D0

Abstract

A security closure comprises one or more panels each having a frame supporting means to prevent entry therethrough, at least one panel having at least one screw jack (8) extendible beyond the frame to jam the panel in an opening. In use the closure is placed inside the building behind the door or the glazing and the jack or jacks are tightened up to jam against the cill, head and/or reveals of the window or door opening. The closure can be made less conspicuous by placing it behind net curtains. Preferably the jacks are tightened on wood packing pieces. The jacks may comprise a threaded rod (10) movable in a tube (14) by a nut (16). <IMAGE>

Description

SECURITY CLOSURE This invention relates to closures by which a building or premises therein can be made secure against unauthorised entry.

Between occupancies, premises, eg houses and flats, are vulnerable to unauthorised entry. There is a growing problem, particularly in council owned property, that in the few days which often occur between one tenant moving out and the next moving in, thieves break in and steal everything of value, eg copper pipes, water cylinders, doors, floors and so on. Efforts to board up the properties have apparently merely provided easy identification to the thieves that the property is empty, and have not been effective to keep the thieves out.

In accordance with the invention there is provided a security closure for windows or door openings, comprising: one or more panels having a frame supporting means to prevent entry therethrough, the or at least one of the panels having a jack extendible beyond the frame to secure the closure in an opening.

The jack may be in any convenient form e.g. operated by a scissors mechanism or by gears or a worm and nut. A preferred form uses a screw jack. In use the closure is placed inside the building behind the door or the glazing and the jack or jacks are tightened up to secure the closure. The jack(s) may extend into sockets or slots around the opening. A slot may be provided by securing a section of angle iron to the building around the opening.

In a simple to fix preferred form, especially suited to closing window apertures, the jack or jacks are tightened to jam against the cill, head and/or reveals of the window or door opening. To that end, the outer end of the jack preferably has a head to spread the load so that the jack can be used conveniently to jam the closure in the opening.

As it is placed inside, the closure is much less evident from outside the building, so the premises are not so readily identified as was the case with previously attempted boarding. The closure can be made much less conspicuous by placing it behind net curtains. Preferably the jacks are not tightened directly on the cill, head or reveals, but on wood packing pieces, so protecting the property against damage by the jacks.

In a preferred form,the or each jack comprises a screw threaded rod and a nut; and the frame includes a plurality of tubes to receive a said threaded rod such that an outer end of the rod can be extended beyond the frame by adjustment of the nut.

The preferred head is preferably also formed, e.g. with teeth, to grip the surface against which it is jammed in the opening, so as to resist it being removed by forcing it sideways or by rotation of the rod to unscrew the jack. In use, the toothed head could be used to grip the cill, reveals or head directly or, more preferably, wood packing would be placed between them to avoid damage to the property.

In order to discourage a potential thief from unscrewing the jacks, the nut preferably has an extension by which it can be locked against rotation to the frame.

The extension preferably comprises a disc or one or more ears formed with one or more through holes, the frame also being formed with a through hole adjacent each tube in such a position that a hole in the disc or an ear may be aligned therewith to padlock the nut against rotation.

Alternatively or additionally to discourage a potential thief from unscrewing the jack, a flange extends round the frame to prevent direct access to the nut from outside the closure.

The means to prevent entry through the frame may comprise one or more bars.

In an alternative, to make the closure even less conspicuous, especially from behind net curtains, the means to prevent entry is a sheet material, eg steel.

To avoid having to make closures in separate sizes to fit every size of door or window opening, closures are preferably make so that they may be used separately or together with closures of the same or different sizes, to close an opening. This reduces the number of different sizes required.

To this end a plurality of dowels or rods may be provided for insertion, at one end, into a said tube of one closure and, at the other end, into a said tube of an adjacent closure in the same opening, so as to link the closures.

The dowel or rod preferably includes a central section between the two ends, the central section being too large in cross section to enter the tubes.

The invention also extends to a method of securing a building or premises therein, comprising placing one or more closures as defined above to substantially fill a window or door opening in the building or premises, and operating the jack or jacks to secure the closure in the opening.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figures 1 to 5 show elevations, seen from behind (inside the building), of security closures panel embodying the invention; Figure 6 is a pictorial view of a detail of a corner of one of the panels of Figures 1 to 5; Figure 7 is an elevational view of the detail of Figure 6; Figure 8 shows alternative extensions of locking the jacks; Figure 9 is a detail of a dowel for joining panels of Figures 1 to 5 together; Figure 10 shows a detail of a corner of an alternative panel with the jack removed; Figure 11 shows the detail of Figure 10 with a jack in position and locked in place; Figure 12 shows the detail of Figure 10 with an alternative arrangement for locking the jack;; Figure 13 shows a section through a part of the frame at the jacking point showing another alternative arrangement for locking the jack; and Figure 14 shows a view on the end of the jack of Figure 13.

Referring to Figures 1, 6 and 7, a security closure comprises a panel which is welded from steel and has a peripheral frame 2 constructed from angle-section frame members. To prevent a person from entering premises protected by the closure through the frame, a bar 4 and flat 6 sub-divide the area enclosed by the frame into smaller areas. In an alternative arrangement the area enclosed by the frame is closed by steel sheet. This has an advantage in not being so conspicuous from outside the protected premises, especially through net curtains.

The panel is fixed inside a door or window to be protected by jacks indicated generally at 8 in Figures 6 and 7. Each jack 8 comprises a screw threaded rod 10 at the end of which is a toothed head plate 12. The plate 10 is formed by pressing a flat square plate to a generally concave shape, see Figure 7, so that the corners project away from the threaded rod 10. In an alternative the plate may have concave sides when flat, ie before pressing to the concave form. Teeth may be provided by other processes or the head plate may be provided in other forms suitable to grip the surface against which it is jacked.

The rods 10 are loosely received by the' open ends 13 of tubular members 14 which open through part of the frame 2, that is to say the rods are not retained in the open ends of the tubes. Each tubular member has two open ends so 4 jacks can be accommodated. The position of each jack in the end of its tube may be adjusted by a nut 16 which bears on a surface 17 of the frame 2 around the open ends of the tubular members 14. In use, the panel is placed in the window or door opening inside the window or door with a jack in each tube 14. The nuts 16 are adjusted to extend the rods so as to tighten the plates 12 against the cill and head, and/or the reveals, of the opening, so as to jam the closure in the opening.In practise so as not to damage the property, wood strips up to, say, locum in thickness, are placed against the cill and head, or the reveals. The head plate 10 of the jacks bite into the wood and, especially in the case where one wood strip is engaged by the head plate 10 of two or more jacks, prevent or discourage rotation of the jacks. The head plate 12 may be formed with two through holes (not illustrated) to enable it to be nailed to the wood packing, so as to further resist attempts to rotate or move the rod 10.

In one arrangement (not illustrated) jacks are provided on only one side of the closure, fixed rods and head plates being provided on the other side. All the adjustment is then made by means of the jacks on the one side.

The tubular members 14 are illustrated in Figure 1 as extending fully across the frame. This is not essential and in Figure 6 tubular members 14 are illustrated extending only as far as the flat 6, in one case, and as far as the bar 4, in the other. Thus in the case illustrated in Figure 6 jacks 8 could secure the panel against both the cill/head of the opening and against the reveals. In another arrangement, the flat 6 may be a square section tube, possibly with a round one inside it, to provide another jacking point.

In order to discourage a potential thief from undoing the nuts with a spanner, each nut has an extension fixed thereto. In Figure 6 the extension is in the form of a disc or washer 18.

In Figure 8 another alternative is illustrated in which the nut is extended by two opposed ears 20. The extension is provided with through holes 22. The frame is also provided with through holes 24 positioned so that by rotation of the nut 16 the holes 22 may be aligned with the holes 24 so that the hasp of a padlock 26 may be passed through to lock the nut against rotation.

In order, further to discourage a potential thief from undoing the jacks, the frame is constructed with the angle so oriented as to provide with a flange 28 in the general lane of the panel, which obscures the jacks and prevents direct access to them from outside the panel. (The drawings show the panel as seen from inside). The flange illustrated extends completely round the frame. In other embodiments (not illustrated) the flange extends round the frame only sufficiently to prevent direct access to the nuts.

In order to fit openings of different sizes, the panel is made in a range of different widths eg 290 mm (Figure 1), 490 mm (Figure 2 and 3), and 680 mm (Figures 4 and 5); and, for each width, in a range of different heights 450 mm (Figures 1 and 2), 700 mm (not illustrated), 950 mm (Figures 3 and 4), 1200 mm (not illustrated), and 1800 for doors only (Figure 5). Not all the different combinations of height and width are illustrated.

A rod or dowel is illustrated in Figure 9. The dowel has two ends 30 with cross section dimensioned to fit snugly in the open ends of the jack tubes 14. A central section 32 has a large cross section which prevents the dowel from disappearing completely into the tubes 14.

Dowels are used to link panels of different sizes together so that the limited range of widths and heights will provide for a much larger variation in the size of the openings which may be accommodated. The shoulders between the ends and the centre section of each dowel abut the frames of the panels linked thereby, and transmit the compressive forces produced by jacks in the outermost tubes 14, from one frame to another.

In an arrangement, not illustrated, additional panels which are not fitted with any form of jack are bolted to or between panels such as those illustrated which are fitted with screw jacks. This further facilitates adjustment of the size of the closure to the size of an opening to be closed. Thus referring to Figures 6 and 15, the non-jacked panel 50 has a frame formed of angle section 52 oriented so as to provide a peripheral flange 54 at right angles to the plane of the panel, in contrast to the flange 28 shown in Figure 6 which is in the general plane of the panel. The flange 54 is formed with holes 56 at standard spacings corresponding to holes 56 in the web 58 of the frame members 2 in Figure 6 so that the non-jacked panel can be bolted to the jacked panel.Two jacked panels may be joined by one or more non-jacked panels and the bolts joining them are not accessible from outside. In addition to facilitating fitment to openings of different sizes, the non-jacked panels may be removed temporarily to allow more light into the premises if that is desirable to enable work such as decorating to be carried out.

In the arrangement in illustrated in Figure 9, the surface 17 of the angle-section frame members has to be wide enough to accommodate the disc. This may be wider than is strictly necessary for the strength of the frame and may thus lead to otherwise unnecessary weight and expense.

Alternative arrangements for locking the jack an which do not need such wide surfaces 17 are shown in Figures 10 to 14. A corner of the frame 2 is illustrated in Figure 10. A dual purpose locking member 34 is welded to the flange 28 spaced from the surface 17 on which the nut of the jack bears. A through hole 36 is provided in the surface 17 in addition to that through which the tubular member 14 opens.

As may be seen in Figure 11, in one arrangement, to lock the jack, a locking plate 38 is slid between the flange 28 and the nut and retained by an arm 40 which has a hole 42 aligned with the hole 36 in the surface 17 so that a padlock or nut and bolt can be inserted. The plate 38 is sufficiently thick that the nut 16 jams against it and cannot be rotated until the plate is removed. The locking member 34 prevents the plate 38 from being lifted clear of the nut in this arrangement.

In another arrangement shown in Figure 12, the nut 16 has a tube 43 welded thereto and to the end of that is welded the disc 18 so that the disc can extend beyond the width of the angle-section frame member as illustrated. The locking member 34 has a through hole so positioned that the holes 22 in the disc can be aligned therewith. The disc can thus be locked to the member 34 by a padlock or nut and bolt so preventing its rotation. If a nut and bolt were used a dome headed bolt would be preferred so that removal would be difficult from outside.

Yet another arrangement is illustrated in Figures 13 and 14. Here the locking member 34 is located outside the disc 18 so that it retains the disc and thus the entire jack.

The nut in this embodiment is spaced from the surface 17 by a tubular spacer 43 which is, but need not be, welded thereto. The head plate 12 in this embodiment has teeth in the form of spikes 46.

Claims

1. A security closure for windows or door openings, comprising: one or more panels having a frame supporting means to prevent entry therethrough, the or at least one of the panels having a jack extendible beyond the frame to secure the closure in an opening.

2. A security closure as claimed in claim 1, wherein the or each jack comprises a screw threaded rod and a nut; and wherein the frame includes a plurality of tubes to receive a said threaded rod, the nut bearing directly or indirectly on a surface of the frame such that an outer end of the rod can be extended beyond the frame by adjustment of the nut.

3. A security closure as claimed in claim 2, wherein the outer end of the rod has a head to spread the load so that the jack can be used to jam the closure in the opening.

4. A security opening as claimed in claim 3, wherein the head is formed to resist sideways movement or rotation of the rod when the closure is jammed in an opening.

5. A security closure as claimed in claim 3 or 4, wherein the nut has an extension by which it can be locked against rotation to the frame.

6. A security closure as claimed in claim 5, wherein the extension comprises a plate, disc or one or more ears formed with one or more through holes, the frame also being formed with a through hole in such a position that a hole in the plate, disc or an ear may be aligned therewith to padlock the nut against rotation.

7. A security closure as claimed in any of claims 2 to 6, wherein a flange extends round the frame to prevent direct access to the nut from outside the closure.

8. A security closure as claimed in claim 7, when appendant to claim 6, wherein the plate, disc or ears are spaced from the surface of the frame on which the nut bears and extend beyond the width of the frame, a lock member containing the through hole depending from the flange and also being spaced from the surface of the frame on which the nut bears proximate the plate, disc or ears.

9. A security closure as claimed in claim 8, wherein the nut is located between the surface on which it bears and the lock member so being retained thereby.

10. A security closure as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the means to prevent entry through the frame is a one or more bars.

11. A security closure as claimed in any of claims 1 to 9, wherein the means to prevent entry is a sheet material.

12. A security panel as claimed in claim 7 when appendant to any of claims 2, 3,4 or 5, including a plate movable to a position interplaced between the nut and the flange and lockable to the frame so as to prevent rotation of the nut.

13. A security closure system comprising a plurality of panels as claimed in any preceding claim, including closures of different sizes which may be used separately or together with panels of the same or different sizes, to close an opening.

14. A security closure system as claimed in claim 13, including panels without jacks for fixing to or between panels having said at least one jack.

15. A security system as claimed in claim 13 or 14 when appendant to claim 2, including a plurality of dowels or rods for insertion, at one end, into a said tube of one panel and, at the other end, into a said tube of an adjacent panel in the same opening, so as to link the panels.

16. A security system as claimed in claim 15, wherein the dowel or rod includes a central section between the two ends, the central section being too large in cross section to enter the tubes.

17. A method of securing a building or premises therein, comprising placing one or more closures as claimed in any of claims 1 to 13 to substantially fill a window or door opening in the building or premises, and operating the jack or jacks to secure the closure in the opening.

18. A closure substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.