GB2363421A

GB2363421A - Security bar

Info

Publication number: GB2363421A
Application number: GB0014402A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Thomas Currie
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2000-06-14
Filing date: 2000-06-14
Publication date: 2001-12-19
Also published as: GB0014402D0

Abstract

A security bar 20 is fixed across an exit such as a doorway and is pivotally mounted on pivot 22 at one end and the other end is positioned when locked in keep 30 . The bar is pivoted into position through gap 38. The bar can be hinged at each end to allow a door to be partially opened and may have a slidable sleeve 28 to keep a hinged section rigid when the door is locked. There may also be a sensor in the keep to activate an alarm if the bar is forced. This sensor is composed of thin magnet 40 and electrical contacts 42, 44. When the bar is pushed against the electrical contacts an alarm is triggered which comprises loudspeaker 50 and warning light 52.

Description

2363421

DESCRIPTION

SECURITY DEVICE.

The present invention relates to security devices, and in particular to security devices for securing 5 doors of a building.

The problem of the security of buildings, in particular of houses, is of increasing concern as the incidence of burglary increases. In many areas, it Is not sufficient to lock the doors of a building, since 10 burglars are becoming increasingly sophisticated and often possess tools to unlock the locks. This has prompted many people to install burglar alarms in their homes, which aim to alert the occupants that an intruder has gained access. However, it is well known 15 that, normally, the only people to take notice of a Purglar alarm are the occupants of the house in which the alarm has been set off, and it is rare that neighbours will Investigate an alarm.

Often, the setting off of an alarm will persuade 20 the burglar to leave the premises, and the alarm will thus have had Its desired effect. However, if the burglar knows that the occupants are elderly or disabled., he may choose to ignore the alarm, since he can be sure that he will be in no danger if challenged 25 by the occupants. Moreover, elderly occupants are -2often too scared to challenge a burglar, and might be seriously injured by the burglar if they attempted to do so. In other words, once the burglar is inside the house of an elderly or disabled person, he is unlikely to be disturbed, even if he sets off an alarm in the process.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a device which will prevent a potential burglar from entering a door of a house, but which 10 will alert the occupants of the house when the burglar tries to force the door open.

In accordance with the present invention, a security device comprises a door restraining device releasably securable across a doorway to prevent a 15 door from being opened, and sensor means associated with said door restraining device adapted to detect an attempted opening of the door when the door restraining device is secured across the doorway.

Such a security device can detect when somebody is 20 trying to force the door open, and the sensor means can then trigger one or more alarms before the intruder has actually entered the premises. This alerts the occupants of the premises and gives them time for help to arrive with the knowledge that the 25 person attempting to gain access will not be inside the premises.

Preferably, the door restraining means comprises a bar, e.g. a metal bar, which is releasably securable across the doorway. In a preferred embodiment, the bar is pivotally mounted, for ease of use. The bar is 5 preferably pivotally mounted at one end, the other end being positionable in a keep. Preferably, the pivot and the keep are positioned on a door frame of a doorway.

In another embodiment, for use with doors which 10 open towards the opposite side of the doorway from where the security device is positioned, the door is also provided with one or more keeps into which the bar may be f itted, in order that the door may be prevented by the bar from being opened.

15 The bar may comprise two portions hinged together. This allows more manoeuvrability of the bar, and allows easier positioning in the or each keep. Also, the hinged bar may be provided with a sleeve which is slidable over the hinge. By 20 positioning the sleeve over the hinge, the bar is substantially rigid, whereas by sliding the sleeve away from the hinge it is possible to open the door slightly (while still preventing the full opening of the door) in order to identify a person on the other 25 side of the door.

I The sensor means may comprise two spaced-apart electrical contacts situated on an inner face of a keep, whereby movement of the door causes the bar to abut the two contacts, thereby completing a sensing 5 circuit. The bar may be biassed out of abutment with the electrical contacts, for example by means of a magnet.

The sensor means may be adapted to activate an alarm at or near itself and/or at a remote location, 10 e.g. on the exterior of the premises, in another room of the premises (for example a bedroom) or in a police station. The alarm may be audible and/or visual. There may also be a provision for providing a vibrating alarm, e.g. in a bed, to alert a deaf 15 occupant of the premises.

By way of example only, specific embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig.1 is a perspective view of a door and door 20 frame fitted with a first embodiment of security device in accordance with the present invention; Fig.2 is a cross-sectional side elevation of one portion of the device of Fig.1, in more detail; Fig.3 is a perspective view of a door and door 25 frame fitted with a second embodiment of security device in accordance with the present invention; and Fig. 4 is a detail view of a modification which may be used with either of the above embodiments.

Referring firstly to Figs. 1 and 2, a conventional door frame on a wall 10 comprises two vertical 5 uprights 12,14, and a horizontal cross beam 16 extending between the upper ends of the uprights 12)14. A conventional door 18 is hingedly attached to upright 14, such that the door can be opened inwardly, i.e. towards the viewer of the Figure, in the 10 direction of arrow A.

In order to secure the door, a mild steel restraining bar 20, slightly longer than the width of the door, about 1 inch (25.4 mm) wide and 0. 25 inch (6.37 mm) thick, is pivotally mounted by means of a 15 pivot 22 on a mounting bracket 24 which is itself rigidly screwed to the upright 12 of the.door frame. A hinge 26 is provided about 4 inches (100 mm) from the pivot 22, by means of which the longer portion of the bar 20 can be hinged in a direction perpendicular 20 to the plane in which the bar 20 pivots about the pivot 22. This allows easier manoeuvring of the bar and limited movement of the bar, as will be explained. The bar 20 is also provided with a sleeve 28 which is slidable along the bar and over the hinge 26, and 25 which is used to permit the door to be opened slightly, as will be explained. The end of the bar 20 remote from the pivot 22 is received in a keep 30 which is rigidly screwed to the upright 14.

The keep 30 is illustrated in more detail in cross-section in Fig.2, and comprises a base plate 32 which is secured to the upright 14 by means of two screws 34. The keep further comprises a securing 5 flange 36 which initially extends perpendicularly to the base plate 32, but which is shaped so that its main portion lies parallel to the base plate 32, thereby defining a gap 38 which is approximately twice as wide as the thickness of the bar 20. The_portion 10 of the base plate 32 which is opposite the securing flange 36 is provided with a thin magnet 40, such that the bar 20 is biassed towards the base plate 36, and into contact with the magnet 40.

The inner face of the securing flange 36 is 15 provided with two exposed metal electrical contacts 42,44 which have connecting wires 46 leading to a control unit 48, which is best seen in Fig. 1. The control unit 48 is cuboidal and is provided with a loudspeaker 50, a flashing warning light 52 and an 20 on-off switch 54. The unit 48 contains a dry cell battery (not visible) and electronic circuitry, such that when the electrical contacts 42,44 are abutted by the bar 20, the circuitry causes an audible warning to be emitted from the loudspeaker 50, and causes the 25 warning light 52 to flash. The circuitry is conventional, and is arranged so that the audible and I visual alarms continue even if the bar 20 is withdrawn out of abutment with the contacts 42,44 until the on-off switch is used to switch off the system.

Also, the control unit is connected to an exterior 5 alarm system, e.g. positioned on an exterior wall of the building, which gives an audible and/or visual warning whenever the alarms 50 and 52 are actuated.

For the majority of the time, the apparatus will not be in use. and the bar 20 is removed from the keep 10 30 and is allowed to hang unobtrusively from its pivot 22, parallel to the upright 12 in the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1. A stop 29 on the bar 20 prevents the sleeve 28 from falling off. When it is desired to affix the bar, for example at night, the 15 bar is pivoted upwardly about its pivot 22 and the end of the bar remote from the pivot 22 is let down into the keep 30, into the gap 38 between the base plate 32 and the securing flange 36. The provision of the hinge 26 allows the bar 20 to be swung away in order 20 to avoid the control unit 48. When the end of the bar is held in the keep, the bar is given a push to ensure that it is held in contact with the magnet 40 which is situated on the base plate 32, thereby preventing the bar 20 from making contact with the two electrical 25 contacts 42,44. The sleeve 28 is then slid over the hinge 26, and finally the on-off switch 54 is moved to the "on" position.

-8 If a person tries to push open the door 18 from the outside (i.e. on the opposite side of the door from that visible in Fig.1), he will be prevented from doing so by the metal bar 20 which extends across the 5 door 18. Furthermore, any attempt to open the door causes the door to push against the bar 20, causing the bar 20 to disengage from the magnet 40 and to contact the two exposed electrical contacts 42,44, thereby setting off the audible and visual alarms 10 50,52 on the control unit 48 and the audible and/or visual alarms on the exterior of the building. Thus, not only does the device prevent entry of unwanted people, but it also alerts the occupant of the building that someone is attempting to gain 15 unauthorised access.

In order to turn off an activated alarm, it is merely necessary for the occupant to switch the on-off switch 54 to the "off" position, and the occupant is still protected by the bar 20 across the door 18. If 20 the occupant wishes to see who is on the other side of the door but does not want to open the door fully, he may open the door slightly by switching off the system and sliding the sleeve 28 along the bar 20 away from the hinge 26, into the position shown in Fig.l. The 25 inherent slight flexibility of the bar 20 and the provision of the hinge 26 allow the door to be opened -9slightly, sufficient to determine the identity of the person on the other side of the door. If that person tries to gain entry while the door is slightly ajar, entry will still be prevented by the bar 20 extending 5 across the door. Moreover, if the occupant considers himself to be in danger, it is merely necessary to switch the on-off switch 54 into the "on" position to activate the alarm, since the opening of the door causes the bar 20 to be lifted off the magnet 40 and 10 pushed into abutment with the electrical contacts 42,44.

A second embodiment of the invention is illustrated in Fig.3, and is used where a door opens outwardly, i.e. away from a viewer of Fig.3. This 15 embodiment is almost identical with the first embodiment, except that two further keeps 56 are securely screwed to the door 18, and are positioned on the door such that the bar is positioned in the keeps 56 when the end of the bar 20 remote from the pivot is 20 positioned in the keep 30 on the upright 14. Also, the position of the magnet 40 and contacts 42,44 is reversed, since the bar 20 will be moved in the opposite direction when the door 18 is pulled. Finally, this particular embodiment is not provided 25 with a hinge 26 and sleeve 28, but it can be appreciated that these items may be provided if _10 desired. Otherwise, the construction and operation of this embodiment are identical to the first embodiment, and similar items have been given identical reference numerals.

5 Referring to Fig. 4, a modification which may be used with either of the above embodiments is illustrated. The modification is in the form of a cover 58 which comprises a flat portion 60 connected to a U-shaped portion 62. The cover is pivotally -10 mounted along its f ree edge to the upper edge of the keep base plate 32 by means of a hinge 64. The cover is pivotable between a near vertical position (illustrated in chain dot in Fig. 4) and a securing position (illustrated in full lines in Fig. 4). The 15 U-shaped portion 62 is shaped and dimensioned such that when the cover is in its securing position, the end of the bar 20 and the securing flange 36 of the keep 30 are enclosed by the U-shaped portion 62, the free end of which is then in abutment with the keep 20 base plate 32.

This prevents the bar 20 from being lifted out of the keep 30 by a potential intruder hooking an article, e.g. a piece of wire, under the bar 20 from the other side of the door and pulling upwardly.

25 Indeed, if such an action is attempted, the provision of the cover is likely to cause the bar to connect the i 1 -11 two contacts 42.44 and thereby set off the alarm. If the occupant of the building wishes to disengage the bar 20, it is merely necessary to pivot the cover 58 upwardly (in the direction of arrow B), whereupon the 5 bar can be removed from the keep, as before.

The invention is not restricted to the details of the foregoing embodiments. For example, the alarm may be vibrational (e.g. situated in a bed or chair) instead of, or as well as, audible and/or visual, in 10 order to alert a deaf occupant.

. 0 12.

Claims

1. A metal bar fixed across a exit pivotally mounted at one end the other being positioned in a keep.

2. A bar as claimed in claim I is hinged at each end.

3. A bar as claimed in claimed I or 2 as sleeve fixed over track run thus maintaining its rigidity, this section of sleeve is rivoted to this part of embodiment.

4. A bar as claimed in claim 3 free running sleeve over hinged section at keep end, gives it, it's flexibility to motivate the bars main function.

5. A bar as in claims proceeding claims when forced triggers a sensory reaction in the keep.

6. A bar as claimed in any of the proceeding claims is made of steel in its main embodiment.

7.A bar is described substantially here in and fully illustrated in the accompany drawings.