GB2380518A

GB2380518A - Security device to restrict the opening of a door

Info

Publication number: GB2380518A
Application number: GB0222427A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Roger James May
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2001-10-03
Filing date: 2002-09-27
Publication date: 2003-04-09
Anticipated expiration: 2022-09-27
Also published as: GB0222427D0; GB0123693D0; GB2380518B

Abstract

The security device includes a track that is fixed substantially parallel to a horizontal part of a door frame. A first slider 5 travels along the track and an arm 6 is pivoted at one end to the slider about a vertical axis. An abutment 10 carried at the other end of the arm is adjustable between a position clear of the door as it is opened and an obstructing position in the path of the opening door. To further increase the reliability of the device it may include a second slider (11) slidable in the track, the second slider being pivotally connected to a first end of a second arm 12, the other end of the second arm being pivotally connected to the abutment 10. To limit the movement of the sliders along the track, at least one adjustable stop 16 may be fitted to the track, and a locking component 14, may be provided.

Description

Security Device For A Door The present invention relates to a security device for a door.

When a door is not fully closed, for example when a front door is opened to check the identity of a visitor, it is vulnerable to an intruder forcing it open.

Conventionally, a chain is fixed between the door and its frame to limit the extent to which it can be opened but the chain and its fixings may not be strong enough to withstand a large force pushing the door open.

An embodiment of the present invention aims to provide a security device which allows a door to be partially opened, but resistant to being opened fully when the device is in use.

According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a security device for a door, the device including: a track for fixing substantially parallel to a horizontal part of a door frame ; a first slider that can travel along the track; an arm pivoted at one end to the slider about a vertical axis, and an abutment carried at the other end of the arm and adjustable between a position clear of the door as it is opened and an obstructing position in the path of the opening door.

The track is typically fixed substantially parallel to a horizontal part of a door frame base.

To further increase the reliability of the device it may include a second slider slidable in the track, the second slider being pivotally connected to a first end of a second arm, the other end of the second arm pivotally connected to the abutment.

At least one limiting component may be fitted to the track to limit the movement of the or each said slider. The limiting component may include a stop fitted in the track.

The position of the stop in the track is preferably adjustable.

Alternatively or additionally, the limiting component may include a moveable protrusion extending from the or each slider for engaging with a recess or orifice located in the wall of the track. The protrusion may be biased, e. g. by a spring. The track may include a further recess or orifice located in an opposing wall of the track so that the device is reversible. It will be appreciated that the side wall could have a protrusion and the slider could have an orifice to achieve a similar limiting effect.

Both of the arms may be connected to the abutment by the same pivot. The abutment preferably includes a soft surface intended to prevent damage to the door. The soft surface may comprise one or more pad fitted to a face of the abutment.

The opening action of the door with the abutment in the obstructing position may swing the arm from a position substantially aligned with the track to a position transverse thereto, the arm simultaneously pulling the slider along the track.

According to a further aspect of the invention there is provided a door or door frame including the security device.

Whilst the invention has been described above, it extends to any inventive combination of the features set out above or in the following description.

The invention may be performed in various ways, and, by way of example only, an embodiment thereof will now be described, reference being made to the accompanying diagramatic drawings in which: Figure 1 is a plan view of a security device for a door with a rotatable abutment in its out of use position; Figure 2 is a perspective view of the device in a similar position to that shown in Figure 1 ; Figure 3 is a plan view detailing the rotatable abutment; Figure 4 is a view through the track of the device detailing how its locking component is spring bound; Figure 5 shows a locking rod which can be used in conjunction with the device; Figure 6 is a plan view of the device where the abutment has been moved towards a ready-to-use position;

Figure 7 is a plan view of an alternative embodiment of the device having two pads on its abutment engaging a partially open door; Figure 8 is a perspective view of the device in a similar position to that shown in Figure 7; Figure 9 is a perspective drawing of a telescopic section which can be used to cover at least part of the device.

Referring to Figure 1, the device includes a track 1 having a channel defined by two sidewalls 2. The track 1 is fitted substantially parallel to the base of a doorframe 3 on the side of the frame over which the door passes when it is opened and closed.

The track 1 is fitted to the floor adjacent to the frame by fixing bolts or screws through apertures 4 (as shown in Figure 1) spaced apart along the base of the channel. The type of fixtures used depend upon the surface to below the device. For example, if a wooden suspended floor is present then coach screws may be used. On the other hand, if the floor is concrete then a rawlbolt may be fixed through the apertures 4.

A first slider 5 can travel along the track 1 and one end of a first arm 6 is pivotally connected to the slider 5 at 7. As can best be seen in Figure 3, the other ends of both of the arms 6,12 are pivotally connected at 8 to the horizontal flange of an inverted L-shaped member 9 to whose

vertical flange is pivoted a parallel door engaging plate 10.

A second slider 11 can also travel in the track 1. One end of a second arm 12 is pivotally connected at 13 to the slider. The other end of the arm 12 is connected to the member 9 by means of the pivot 8.

As can be seen in Figure 2, a locking component 14 is attached to the second slider 11. The locking component 14 is an elongate member with a first flat horizontal portion leading to a middle portion which depends at an angle of around 450. A further flat portion extends horizontally from the middle portion and a perpendicular bar 15 crosses it, forming a T-shape. A substantially horizontal nib 30 protrudes perpendicularly from the centre of the bar 15.

The locking component 14 is connected to the slider by means of the pivot 13 and is spring loaded so that one end of the bar 15 is biased towards the side wall 2 of the track adjacent the door engaging plate 10.

The locking component 14 is biased by means of a spring 25 which is detailed in Figure 4. The coil spring 25 is located between a spacer 26 under the slide plate 11 and a slide retaining nut 27A fitted above a nut 28A on the bottom of the pivot 13. A hook on one end of the coil spring 25 engages the side of the locking bar 14. The other end of the coil spring 25 is cranked and passes through an orifice in the slider 11.

As will be appreciated, connecting the L-shaped member 9 and door engaging plate 10 to the sliders by means of the pivoting arms 6,12 allows the door engaging plate 10 to move to a limited extent in a direction transverse to the main direction of the track 1.

A first adjustable stop 16 is fitted towards one end of the track 1 with another adjustable stop 17 fitted towards its other end. Thus, the movement of the two sliders 5,11 can be limited between the stops 16,17.

When the security device is not in use the two sliders 5,11 are positioned as shown in Figure 1, i. e. the second slider 11 is located near the second stop 17 and the first slider 5 is as far away from the other slider as possible on the track 1. In this position the arms 6,12 are virtually in alignment and the door engaging plate 10 is almost in contact with the side wall 2. The plate 10 is rotated on the pivot connecting it to the elongate member 9 so that the plate does not protrude above the top of the side wall 2 and so should not come into contact with the bottom of the door when it is opened or closed.

When the security device is to be used the sliders can first be moved to the position shown in Figure 6, i. e. the first slider 5 abuts the first stop 16 with the two arms 6, 12 still virtually aligned. The sliders can be moved using a hooked end 18 of a lever rod 19 as shown in Figure 4 or simply moved by hand.

The door engaging plate 10 is then rotated on its pivot so that it partially protrudes above the top of the side wall 2 of the track and can therefore contact the side of the door 21 when it is opened, see Figures 7 and 8. The door engaging plate 10 can be rotated between the engaging and non-engaging positions using the hook end 18 of the lever rod 19. The plate 10 has attached to it a cylindrical pad 22 formed of a soft material, such as rubber, to avoid damaging the door 21. The embodiment of Figure 7 further includes a second pad 22A. The pad 22A is also generally cylindrical and is attached to the same side (i. e. the side adjacent the door) of the door engaging plate 10 as the first pad 22. However, the pad 22A is located at the other (trailing/nearest the hinge of the door) end of the plate 10 than the first pad 22. The side of the door 21 comes into contact with the pad 22A and this causes the plate 10 to swivel on the pivot 8 so that the plate 10 is substantially parallel with the opening door. The further pad 22A is better at preventing damage of the door 21 than the first pad 22 alone. The pad 22 may be larger in size than the further pad 22A (as shown in Figure 7) so that the pad 22 can also contact the door.

Before or after the plate 10 is rotated to its door engaging position the plate 10 is moved away from the track 1 and this causes the first arm 6 to rotate about its pivot 7, which is stationary as the first slider 5 cannot move beyond the first stop 16. The plate 10 also causes the

second arm 12 to swing out while it draws the second slider 11 along the track towards the first slider 5.

As the slider 11 travels along the track, the bar 15 of the locking component 14 comes into alignment with an orifice 20 in the side wall 2. The spring 25 pushes an end of the bar 15 into the orifice and this engagement prevents further movement of the slider 11, thereby stopping the plate 10 moving further away from the track 1. The plate 10 is then in the way of the door when it is opened and prevents it from opening any further, leaving a gap (indicated by arrow 23) of around 75mm is set between the door and the corner of the wall 24A where the door frame is located. It will be appreciated that the gap could be of any reasonable size desired by changing the position of the stop 16, the lengths of the arms 6,12 and/or the position of the orifice 20.

An alternative way of using the device is to first rotate the plate 10 to its door engaging position when the door is closed without moving the plate substantially out of alignment with the side-wall 2. The opening door can then push the plate 10 away from the track 1 until the locking component engages with the orifice 20 as described above.

When the device is in the position shown in Figure 6, i. e. with the two sliders 5 and 11 in contact with each other a substantial portion of the locking component 14 is concealed, to make it more difficult for a potential

intruder to see how the door is being blocked. The top of the stop 16 is equal in height to the top of the arm 6. When the locking bar 15 is engaged in the orifice 20, the arm 6 is locked in position and so the device is unable to move in either direction, with the arm 6 being restrained at 90 to the track 1.

A second orifice 20A is present in the opposite sidewall. This allows the device to be reversible if the bias of the locking component is changed accordingly to allow the device to be used with the doors which open in the other direction.

A lateral protrusion 24 of the lever rod 19 shown in Figure 5 is of similar dimensions to the orifice 20 and can be used to push in the bar 15 to disengage it from the orifice 20. The small size of the gap between the door and the wall means that it is difficult for anyone on the outside of the door to reach inside to disengage the bar 15. Alternatively, the end of the rod 19 can be used to push the nib 30 to disengage the locking component. The lateral protrusion 24 fits on top of the side wall 2 of the track to help the user locate the nib 30. The sliders 5,11 can then be moved back to their positions as shown in Figure 1 and the door-engaging plate 10 can be rotated to its non-engaging position to allow the door to be opened and closed normally.

For cosmetic purposes and to reduce the risk of somebody tripping over the device, a cover section 27

(illustrated schematically on Figure 2 and detailed in Figure 9) may be provided. An outer cover section 27 is attached to the doorframe 3 by means of a retraining strip 28 which is fixed to the bottom of the doorframe. The outer section strip 27 is substantially an inverted L-shape and covers the top and exposed side-wall 2 of the track and is fitted at the end of the track covering the stop 17. The remote end of the cover section 27 has formed ends. A smaller cover section 29 of similar shape telescopes out from under the section 27 and a further relatively smaller cover section 30A telescopes out of the section 29. The cover section 30A has a plain end to allow it to be cut for adjustment.

In a typical UPVC door there is a space of around 80 millimetres from the floor covering to the underneath of the door, which would can accommodate a device as shown.

For other types of doors the space may be less (50 millimetres for example) but it will be appreciated that the dimensions of the device, in particular the height of the track, can be manufactured to be of different sizes so that it can be used in conjunction with different types of doors.

As the track 1 is fixed to the floor and between the walls around the doorframe, it is secure and difficult for an intruder to remove.

If the device is to be used where a less firm suspended floor is present adjacent the doorframe then an

extension plate can be fixed to the base of the track 1. The extension plate has apertures for receiving screws or the like to fix it to the suspended floor to make it more secure.

Claims

CLAIMS 1. A security device for a door, the device including: a track for fixing substantially parallel to a horizontal part of a door frame; a first slider that can travel along the track; an arm pivoted at one end to the slider about a vertical axis, and an abutment carried at the other end of the arm and adjustable between a position clear of the door as it is opened and an obstructing position in the path of the opening door.
2. A device according to Claim 1, wherein the track is typically fixed substantially parallel to a horizontal part of a door frame base.
3. A device according to Claim 1 or 2, further including a second slider slidable in the track, the second slider being pivotally connected to a first end of a second arm, the other end of the second arm pivotally connected to the abutment.
4. A device according to any one of the preceding Claims, further including at least one limiting component fitted to the track to limit the movement of the or each said slider.
S. A device according to Claim 4, wherein the limiting component includes a stop fitted in the track.
6. A device according to Claim 5, wherein the position of the stop in the track is adjustable.

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7. A device according to any one of Claims 4 to 6, wherein the limiting component includes a moveable protrusion extending from the or each slider for engaging with a recess or orifice located in the wall of the track.
8. A device according to Claim 7, wherein the protrusion is biased.
9. A device according to Claim 8, wherein the protrusion in biased by means of a spring.
10. A device according to any one of the preceding Claims, wherein the track includes a further recess or orifice located in an opposing wall of the track.
11. A device according to any one of Claims 3 to 10, wherein both of the arms are connected to the abutment by the same pivot.
12. A device according to any one of the preceding Claims, wherein the abutment includes a soft surface.
13. A device according to Claim 12, wherein the soft surface comprises one or more pad fitted to a face of the abutment.
14. A door frame including a security device according to any one of the preceding Claims.