GB2360546A

GB2360546A - Protective sleeve for a cylinder lock

Info

Publication number: GB2360546A
Application number: GB0107159A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Donald Malcolm Fullard
Original assignee: FULLEX Ltd
Current assignee: FULLEX Ltd
Priority date: 2000-03-23
Filing date: 2001-03-22
Publication date: 2001-09-26
Anticipated expiration: 2021-03-22
Also published as: GB2360546B; GB0006919D0; GB0107159D0

Abstract

A cylinder Lock (1) for a door or window comprises a protective sleeve (9) which in the installation of the lock is located on a stile (7) of the door or window in front of the front end part of the cylinder of the lock. Key access to the cylinder is through the sleeve(9). The front end part of the cylinder is thus able to be contained within the stile (7) which makes it inaccessible for manipulation, for example by mole grips, to force the lock open, even if an associated handle (2) and mounting plate (3) are forcibly removed from the stile. The protective sleeve (9) may locate in the back of the mounting plate. A key protector (8) may be rotatably housed in the sleeve (9) in front of the cylinder, the key for operating the cylinder having to be inserted through a slot (12) in the key protector.

Description

2360546 IMPROVEMENTS RELATING TO CYLINDER LOCKS This invention relates to

cylinder locks for doors or windows. 5 Cylinder locks are used extensively in many and varied applications for security. They are used to lock shut doors and windows of houses and other buildings. Commonly the locks are provided in combination with handles of door or window latches, being included in a mounting plate of a handle, for example, or mounted directly in a stile of a door or window near to a handle.

A problem experienced with cylinder locks when used in combination with handles with key access to the cylinders through the mounting plates of the handles, is that if a handle and mounting plate are broken away from the stile of the door or window containing the cylinder lock for forced entry through the door or window, for example by a burglar, the front end part of the cylinder is then accessible to be engaged, for example by mole grips or a comparable tool, for the cylinder to be turned bodily to manipulate the lock to gain entry through the door or window.

The present invention is aimed at avoiding the aforesaid problem.

According to a first of the present invention a cylinder lock for a door or window is provided with a protective sleeve which in the installation of the lock in a stile of the door or window is located on the stile in front of the front end part of the cylinder of the lock such that the front end part is contained within the stile and key access to the cylinder is through the sleeve.

2 By having the front end part contained within the stile of the door or window to which the cylinder lock is fitted for use it is inaccessible for turning by mole grips or a comparable tool, if an associated handle and mounting plate should be forcibly removed from the stile. Thus the cylinder is protected from being manipulated by such a tool to force the lock open.

The protective sleeve may be adapted to be located on the stile in front of a body of the cylinder lock in separate relationship thereto. Alternatively the sleeve may be adapted to be engaged by the body of the cylinder lock as a means of positioning the sleeve with regard to the cylinder for use. In regard to this alternative arrangement the sleeve may be shaped to receive and locate a frontal part of the body of the cylinder lock.

The sleeve may be adapted to extend into the stile on which it is located for use.

A key protector may be housed in the sleeve so as to be positioned in front of the cylinder when the protective sleeve is located on a stile, the key protector providing access for a key through the sleeve to the cylinder. The key protector may be cylindrical and rotatable in the sleeve. A slot may be formed through the key protector for insertion therethrough of a key to be engaged with the cylinder. The key protector may be rotatable with the sleeve independently of the cylinder when a key is not applied, and be brought into common rotation with the cylinder by manipulation of the key through the key protector and into engagement with the cylinder. The key protector assists in preventing operative access to the cylinder other than by a key.

3 Because of the provision of the protective sleeve, the key for operating the cylinder will generally be required to have a longer shank than is usual for cylinder locks.

The sleeve may be made of a suitable plastics material, for example as a moulding, or it may be made of metal, for example as a casting. It may have an integral plate element or flange by means of which the sleeve is located in position for use. The plate element or flange may co-operate with a mounting plate of a door or window handle.

The key protector, if provided, may also be made of a plastics material or metal.

When a key protector is provided the key protector is preferably arranged to be received into the sleeve from the rear end of the sleeve, in advance of the front end part of the cylinder. An internal shoulder may be formed in the sleeve against which the key protector abuts when in its working position, the key protector may have a reduced diameter portion to extend forwards in the sleeve past the shoulder. A front face of the key protector may be flush with or inset from the front end of the sleeve.

According to a second aspect of the present invention a protective sleeve is provided adapted for inclusion in a cylinder lock according to the foregoing first aspect of the invention.

The sleeve may be adapted to be located in a mounting plate of a door or window handle. A frontal section of the sleeve may engage in a complementary aperture in a front wall of the mounting plate. It may be adapted to have a connection behind the front wall to restrain it from turning movement relative to the mounting plate. Where, as is usual, the 4 mounting plate has a rearwardly projecting peripheral rim, the sleeve may have the integral plate element or flange as mentioned, which engages between opposite side regions of the rim to restrain it from turning movement. The sleeve andlor plate element or flange may have a projection which keys with a complementary aperture or recess in the front wall of the mounting plate as a means of resisting turning movement of the sleeve relative to the mounting plate.

According to a third aspect of the present invention a door or window handle is provided having a mounting plate in which is located a protective sleeve adapted for inclusion in a cylinder lock according to the foregoing first aspect of the invention.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention there is provided in 15 combination a door or window handle having a mounting plate and a cylinder lock according to the foregoing first aspect of the invention.

Instead of being located in a mounting plate of a door or window handle, the sleeve may possibly be located in a stile of a door or window. In the case of a solid stile the sleeve may be received into a suitably formed recess in the stile and be adapted to be secured by fastening means concealed from the front of the stile. If the stile is hollow, the sleeve may be located at the front wall of the hollow section of the stile. It may be located, for example, in a manner similar to that described above for location of the sleeve with a rearwardly rimmed mounting plate of a door or window handle.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention a door or window is provided including a cylinder lock in accordance with the foregoing first aspect of the invention installed in a stile of the door or window, the protective sleeve being located on the stile in front of the front end part of the cylinder of the lock such that the front end part is contained within the stile and key access to the cylinder is through the sleeve.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figures 1 and 2 are a front view and rear perspective view respectively of a patio door handle and mounting plate associated with a cylinder lock in accordance with the present invention; Figure 3 is an exploded perspective view of a protective sleeve and key protector of the cylinder lock; is Figures 4 and 5 are front and rear views respectively of the protective sleeve and key protector shown in Figure 3, and Figures 6 and 7 are respectively a rear view and a rear perspective view of a modified form of the protective sleeve.

In this embodiment a cylinder lock 1 in accordance with the present invention is provided in combination with a lever handle 2 for a door.

The lever handle 2 is rotatably mounted in a known manner on a mounting plate 3. The mounting plate 3, made for example as a metal casting, is oblong, the lever handle 2 being mounted towards an upper end of the mounting plate and the cylinder lock 1 being accessible through a lower end of the mounting plate. The mounting plate 3 has a front wall 4 and a rearwardly projecting peripheral rim 5. Internally screw-threaded bosses 6, Figure 2, are formed on the rear of the front wall 4 for engagement by 6 fixing screws, not shown, for securing the mounting plate to the front wall of a hollow stile 7, Figure 1, of a door.

The cylinder lock 1 is provided with a key protector 8 and a protective sleeve 9, a body 10 of the cylinder lock, Figure 2, and remainder of the lock being of a known form to operate a bolt, not shown, at the stile 7.

The key protector 8 is of cylindrical form with a reduced diameter forward portion 11, Figure 3, and has a through slot 12 for a key to be inserted therethrough. It is made from a plastics material.

The protective sleeve 9 is of a generally keyhole shape. It has a main tubular cylindrical body portion 13 and a radial lateral extension 14 which is hollow at the back but closed at the front. The bore 15 of the body portion 13 is stepped to receive, from the rear end of the sleeve, the key protector 8 as a close rotatable fit therein. When in position in the bore 15 for use, the front face of the key protector is flush with the front end of the sleeve 9.

Integral with the front end of the sleeve 9 is a rectangular plate element 16. The lateral extension portion 14 is joined to and closed at the front by the plate element 16 and extends centrally with respect to the central longitudinal axis of the plate element.

The bore 15 of the body portion 13 of the sleeve opens through the plate element 16. Formed on the front of the plate element is an elongate protrusion 17, which extends radially from the bore 15 directly over the lateral extension 14 of the sleeve.

7 Conveniently the sleeve and integral plate element are formed as a plastics moulding. The sleeve is located in the back of the mounting plate, the width of the plate element 16 being such that the plate element is a close push fit into the back of the mounting plate between opposite side regions 5 of the rim 5. When the sleeve is in position its bore registers with a hole 18 of corresponding diameter in the front wall 4 of the mounting plate, and the protrusion 17 on the plate element engages in a corresponding lateral extension 19 of the hole 18. Thus the sleeve is held against turning movement relative to the mounting plate. The sleeve projects rearwardly beyond the rim of the mounting plate. The sleeve may be fixed in the mounting plate.

A forward portion 20 of the body 10 of the cylinder lock containing the front end part of the cylinder of the lock, engages just for a short distance, typically 2 - 3 mm, in the rear of the rotative sleeve behind the key protector 8. The forward portion 20 engages with the bore 15 and hollow interior of the lateral extension 14 of the sleeve so that the lock 10 and sleeve are restrained from relative rotation.

When the mounting plate is fixed in place on the stile 7, by means of the fixing screws secured into the bosses 6, the rear end of the sleeve extends into an aperture in the front wall of the stile. The forward portion 20 of the body 10 of the cylinder lock, and the front end part of the cylinder, is inset from the front wall of the stile. It will be understood that with the forward portion of the body 10 of the cylindrical contained within the stile, if the handle and mounting plate were to be broken away from the stile, the body and cylinder are not accessible by mole grips or other comparable tools for turning to release the lock. If the handle and mounting plate are broken away from the stile the sleeve and key protector fall away from the stile with the mounting plate.

8 In the modified form, as shown in Figure 6 and 7 of the drawings, the protective sleeve 9 is preferably made of brass although it may possibly be of a plastics material or another metal or alloy. The protective sleeve 9, which again has the integral plate element 16, is tubular with an exterior 21 of elliptical cross-section and an interior 22 of a generally key-hole cross-section the central longitudinal axis of which is co-axial with that of the elliptical exterior. A main bore 23 of the interior 22 is concentric with the axis of curvature of one end of the cross-section of the exterior 21. A radial lateral extension 24 of the interior 22 extends from the main bore 23 towards the opposite end of the cross-section of the exterior, leaving a wall thickness from the exterior corresponding substantially to that of the main bore 23 from the exterior. It will be seen that there is an appreciable increase in wall thickness between the opposite longitudinal sides of the exterior 21 and the adjacent surfaces of the interior, thereby appreciably increasing the strength of the protective sleeve 9.

The plate element 16 is rectangular with rounded corners, being of corresponding width to the width of the elliptical cross-section of the exterior 21 of the sleeve but of greater length than the elliptical crosssection. The plate element 16 is eccentrically positioned with respect to the sleeve 9 so that it projects further from the adjacent part of the sleeve containing the main bore 23 of the interior 22 than from the opposite part containing the radial lateral extension 24. The interior 22 opens through the plate element 16.

The sleeve locates in the back of a mounting plate of a lever handle as before, and is similarly engaged by the forward portion of the body of the cylinder lock.

Claims

9 CLAIMS

1. A cylinder lock for a door or window provided with a protective sleeve which in the installation of the lock in a stile of the door or window is located on the stile in front of the front end part of the cylinder of the lock such that the front end part is contained within the stile and key access to the cylinder is through the sleeve.

2. A cylinder lock according to claim 1 wherein the protective sleeve is adapted to be located on the stile in front of a body of the cylinder lock in separate relationship thereto.

3. A cylinder lock according to claim 1 wherein the protective sleeve is adapted to be engaged by a body of the cylinder lock as a means of positioning the sleeve with regard to the cylinder for use.

4. A cylinder lock according to claim 3 wherein the sleeve is shaped to receive and locate a frontal part of the body.

5. A cylinder lock according to any preceding claim wherein the protective sleeve is adapted to extend into the stile on which it is located for use.

6. A cylinder lock according to claim 5 wherein the protective sleeve is adapted to be secured to the stile by fastening means concealed from the front of the stile.

7. A cylinder lock according to any of claims 1 to 4 wherein the protective sleeve is adapted to be located in a mounting plate of a door or window handle.

8. A cylinder lock according to claim 7 wherein the protective sleeve has a frontal section adapted to engage in a complementary aperture in a front wall of the mounting plate.

9. A cylinder lock according to claim 8 wherein the protective sleeve is adapted to have a connection behind the front wall of the mounting plate to restrain the sleeve from turning movement relative to the mounting plate.

10. A cylinder lock according to claim 9 wherein the protective sleeve is adapted to engage between opposite side regions of a rearwardly projecting rim of the mounting plate to provide the connection behind the front wall of the mounting plate.

11. A cylinder lock according to any preceding claim wherein the protective sleeve has an integral plate element or flange by means of which the sleeve is located in position for use.

12. A cylinder lock according to any preceding claim wherein the protective sleeve has an interior of key-hole cross-section.

13. A cylinder lock according to any preceding claim wherein a key protector is housed in the sleeve so as to be positioned in front of the 25 cylinder when the protective sleeve is located on a stile, the key protector providing access for a key through the sleeve to the cylinder.

14. A cylinder lock according to claim 13 wherein the key protector is cylindrical, is rotatable in the protective sleeve and has a slot for insertion 30 therethrough of a key to be engaged with the cylinder.

11

15. A cylinder lock according to claim 13 or claim 14 wherein the key protector is received into the protective sleeve from a rear end of the sleeve, in advance of the front end part of the cylinder.

16. A cylinder lock according to claim 15 wherein the sleeve has an internal shoulder against which the key protector abuts in its working position.

17. A cylinder lock according to claim 16 wherein the key protector has a reduced portion which extends forwards in the sleeve past the internal shoulder.

18. A cylinder lock according to any preceding claim wherein the 15 protective sleeve is made of plastics material.

19. A cylinder lock according to any of claims 1 to 17 wherein the protective sleeve is made of brass.

20. A protective sleeve adapted for inclusion in a cylinder lock according to any preceding claim.

21. A door or window handle having a mounting plate in which is located a protective sleeve adapted for inclusion in a cylinder lock 25 according to any of claims 1 to 19.

22. In combination a door or window handle having a mounting plate and a cylinder lock according to any of claims 1 to 19.

12

23. A door or window including a cylinder lock according to any of claims 1 to 19 installed in a stile of the door or window, the protective sleeve being located on the stile in front of the front end part of the cylinder of the lock such that the front end part is contained within the stile and key access to the cylinder is through the sleeve.

24. A cylinder lock substantially as described herein with reference to Figures 1 to 5, or to Figures 1 to 5 as modified by Figures 6 and 7, of the accompanying drawings.

25. A door handle including a cylinder lock substantially as described herein with reference to Figures 1 to 5, or to Figures 1 to 5 as modified by Figures 6 and 7, of the accompanying drawings.

26. A protective sleeve for a cylinder lock substantially as described herein with reference to Figures 1 to 5, or to Figures 6 and 7, of the accompanying drawings.