GB2537389A

GB2537389A - Locking handle for a bi-fold door

Info

Publication number: GB2537389A
Application number: GB1506369.6A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Counsell Steve; Northam Darren
Original assignee: SMART SYSTEMS Ltd
Current assignee: SMART SYSTEMS Ltd
Priority date: 2015-04-15
Filing date: 2015-04-15
Publication date: 2016-10-19
Also published as: GB201506369D0

Abstract

A handle arrangement 10 for operating a retaining mechanism of a bi-fold door having a handle 12 movable between retained and released positions for respectively engaging and releasing the retaining mechanism, a locking mechanism 16 for locking the handle 12 in the retained position, including a keyway 14 disposed behind an aperture 17 in the handle for allowing a key to be inserted into the keyway 14, through the aperture, when the handle is in the retained position, but preventing movement of the handle 12 out of the retained position whilst the key is inserted. As such the handle can only be operated when no key is inserted preventing a protruding key bow damaging adjacent door panels when folded. An end of the handle 12b may pivot away from the door panel, and then rotate about an axis 26, perpendicular to the panel, between retained and released position. The handle is preferably received in a recessed back plate 18.

Description

LOCKING HANDLE FOR A BI-FOLD DOOR

The present invention relates to a locking handle for a bi-fold door. BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION Bi-folding doors are a popular architectural feature for residential and commercial buildings.

They allow for a large and contiguous opening in a wall, which in the summer months allows ventilation and easy access to the outdoors.

Bi-folding doors comprise a series of door panels, which run along tracks at the base and/or top of the opening. Each door panel includes a retaining mechanism which allows the panel to be retained in the plane of the opening, or released and pivoted so that it lies perpendicular to the opening. To fully open the door, the panels can be concertinaed to one side of the opening, each panel lying substantially against its adjacent panel.

Each door panel is usually released by means of a handle. In many cases, the handle is lockable with a key, which provides security and can still allow the door to be opened from either the inside or the outside. Typically, the handle operates a spindle which in turn engages or releases a retaining mechanism in the door, and a locking mechanism, most commonly a cylinder cam lock, is provided which prevents movement of the handle when the lock is engaged.

One problem with bi-folding doors is that the handle is often unlocked with the key, and the door panel is then released and opened, without removing the key from the cylinder. The bow of the key is therefore protruding from the door panel when the door panel is slid along the tracks and against another door panel. This is a problem, because the bow of the key typically protrudes from the lock cylinder by at least around 25mm. The clearance between door panels is ideally as small as possible, so that the door when folded takes up minimum space. Typically, the clearance is around 11mm, much less than the extent of the bow of a key left in the lock. Because of the weight of the door panels, the momentum of each panel when being moved can be reasonably large, and the impact of a door panel against its adjacent panel can easily be enough to snap off the bow of the key, or at least damage the surface finish of the adjacent panel. This problem can be further exacerbated if the key is kept on a large bunch of keys, as is fairly common.

It is an object of the present invention to reduce or substantially obviate the above mentioned problems.

STATEMENT OF INVENTION

According to the present invention, there is provided a handle arrangement for operating a retaining mechanism of a bi-fold door, the handle arrangement including: a handle, the handle being movable between a retained position for engaging the retaining mechanism and a released position for releasing the retaining mechanism; and a locking mechanism for locking the handle at least in the retained position, the locking mechanism including a keyway for accepting a key to operate and unlock the locking 10 mechanism, the handle having an aperture and the keyway being disposed behind the aperture when the handle is in the retained position, for allowing the key to be inserted into the keyway, through the aperture, to operate the locking mechanism when the handle is in the retained position, but preventing movement of the handle out of the retained position when the key is inserted.

The handle arrangement of the invention provides a locking handle which can be locked and unlocked using a key, but which does not allow the door to be opened if the key is left in the lock. This prevents damage to adjacent door panels and/or the key itself, which can occur if the key is left in the lock when the door is opened.

Preferably, the handle pivots on an axis substantially perpendicular to the door panel to move from the retained position to the released position. In this way, the protruding part of a key inserted into the keyway will prevent the handle from moving out of the released position to open the door. The handle may additionally or alternatively move slightly away from the door panel to move from the retained position to the released position, for example by pivoting at one end. In such an embodiment, the aperture may be sufficiently large to allow the blade of the key to be inserted into the keyway, but sufficiently small to prevent the aperture in the handle from being passed over the bow of the key. For example, the aperture may have a maximum extent of substantially between 8mm and 22mm, more preferably between 12mm and 20mm, and most preferably around 15mm.

Preferably, the handle lies substantially flat against the door panel in the released position. This allows for minimum clearance between panels in a bi-fold door. Most preferably, the handle may be provided in a recess in the door panel, so that in the released position the handle does not protrude at all from the surface of the panel. Ideally, the handle may be disposed within a recess in either the retained or released position.

The handle may be movable towards and away from the door panel, to assist with operating the handle, for example by pivoting it away from the door panel to move the handle from one position to the other, and then pivoting it back against the door panel to reduce the clearance required when the door is released for folding, or alternatively to achieve a low-profile aesthetic when the door is closed. In one embodiment, the handle is moved from the retained position to the released position by pulling the handle away from the door, out of a recess, rotating it by 360 degrees about an axis perpendicular to the door panel, and then pushing the handle back into the same recess.

The handle arrangement may be provided in combination with a bi-folding door panel, which may be part of a bi-folding door including multiple panels. The handle arrangement is most suited for use as an intermediate handle in a bi-folding door, but can also be used as a traffic door handle if required. The handle arrangement may also be provided in combination with a key for operating the locking mechanism, the key having a blade which is small enough to pass through the aperture and having a bow which is larger than the aperture, and will not pass through.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a better understanding of the present invention, and to show more clearly how it may be carried into effect, a preferred embodiment will now be described with reference to and as illustrated in accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a handle arrangement according to the invention, fitted to a door panel; and Figure 2 is an exploded view of the handle arrangement of Figure 1. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring firstly to Figure 1, a handle arrangement is indicated generally at 10. The handle arrangement 10 is shown installed on part of a bi-fold door panel 100.

The handle arrangement 10 includes a handle 12 and a locking mechanism 14. The locking mechanism includes a keyway 16, and the handle 12 includes an aperture. As shown in Figure 1, the keyway 16 of the locking mechanism is disposed behind the aperture of the handle. In this way, a key can be inserted into the keyway 16, through the aperture in the handle 12, to operate the locking mechanism 14. The locking mechanism 14 when locked prevents movement of the handle, and when unlocked allows movement of the handle between a retained position and a released position.

In this embodiment, the handle is moved from the retained position to the released position by tilting the handle about a pivot near its top end 12a, so that the bottom end 12b of the handle moves away from the door panel. The handle can then be rotated all the way around, i.e. 360 degrees, into the released position, where it can be pivoted back to lie flat against the door panel 100. The handle is provided in a recess in the door panel 100, so in either the retained position or the released position the handle protrudes minimally from the surface of the door panel 100.

It will be noted that, in this particular embodiment, the actual location of the handle is identical in the released position and the retained position. However, the released rotational position is distinct from the retained rotational position of the handle, since in one rotational position the handle can only be rotated clockwise to the other position, and in the other position the handle can only be rotated anticlockwise back to the first position.

Regardless of whether the locking mechanism 14 is locked or unlocked, the handle cannot be moved between positions when the key is inserted in the keyway 16. This is firstly because the bow of the key is larger than the size of the aperture, and so the bottom end 12b of the handle 12 cannot be moved away from the door panel with the key in the keyway, and secondly because the key protrudes from the keyway 16, preventing pivoting of the handle 12 by obstructing sideways movement of the bottom end 12b of the handle 12. In this way, a user is forced to remove the key after unlocking the locking mechanism 14, in order to move the handle from the retained position to the released position.

Referring now to Figure 2, the construction of the handle arrangement 10 will now be described in more detail. In particular, a recessed backplate 18 provides a structural housing for the rest of the arrangement 10. The backplate 18 includes three screw fixing apertures 20a, 20b, 20c for fixing the backplate 18 to the door panel (100).

A handle fixing aperture 24 is provided near a top end of the backplate 18. The handle is attached to a spindle 26 such that when the handle 12 rotates the spindle 26 also rotates. The spindle 26 is suitable for operating a multi-point door retaining mechanism fitted to the door panel (100), and as such the handle 12 is used to release or retain the door by releasing or retaining the multi-point door retaining mechanism. The handle and the spindle 26 are pivotably attached to each other by mating pivoting fixings 22a, 22b, so that the handle 12 can pivot with respect to the spindle 26. The handle 12 and spindle 26 are provided at either side of the backplate 18, and connect with each other through the handle fixing aperture 24, so that the handle 12, spindle 26 and backplate 18 are all held together by means of the pivoting fixings 22a, 22b.

The locking mechanism 16 is in the form of a cam cylinder lock, including a cylinder 15 having a keyway 14, and a cam 15. The cam 15 is rotatable with respect to the backplate, and the cylinder 15 prevents rotation unless the correct key is inserted. When rotated to a locked position, the cam 15 engages a detent 17 on the handle 12, preventing the handle from being moved away from the backplate 18, and therefore preventing movement of the handle from the retained position to the released position.

The handle arrangement can be provided on each door panel of a bi-fold door. Because the handle cannot be moved from the retained position to the released position when the key is inserted, the risk of snapping the key in the lock or scratching an adjacent door panel with a protruding key is eliminated. The handle is substantially flush against the door in either position, since it sits within the recessed backplate.

The embodiments described above are provided by way of example only, and various changes and modifications will be apparent to persons skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.

Claims

CLAIMS1. A handle arrangement for operating a retaining mechanism of a bi-fold door, the handle arrangement including: a handle, the handle being movable between a retained position for engaging the retaining mechanism and a released mechanism for releasing the retaining mechanism; and a locking mechanism for locking the handle at least in the retained position, the locking mechanism including a keyway for accepting a key to operate and unlock the locking mechanism, the handle haying an aperture and the keyway being disposed behind the aperture when the handle is in the retained position, for allowing the key to be inserted into the keyway, through the aperture, to operate the locking mechanism when the handle is in the retained position, but preventing movement of the handle out of the retained position when the key is inserted.
2. A handle arrangement as claimed in claim 1, in which the handle pivots about a pivot point, one end of the handle moving away from the door panel, as part of the movement of the handle between positions.
3. A handle arrangement as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, in which the movement of the handle between positions includes turning the handle about an axis which is substantially perpendicular to the plane of the door panel.
4. A handle arrangement as claimed in any of the preceding claims, in which the aperture in the handle has a maximum extent of between 8mm and 22mm.
5. A handle arrangement as claimed in claim 4, in which the aperture in the handle has a maximum extent of between 12mm and 20mm.
6. A handle arrangement as claimed in claim 5, in which the aperture in the handle has a maximum extent of substantially 15mm.
7. A handle arrangement as claimed in any of the preceding claims, in which a recessed backplate is provided for receiving the handle in at least one of the retained position and the released position.
8. A handle arrangement as claimed in claim 7, in which a recessed backplate is provided for receiving the handle in either of the retained position and the released position.
9. A handle arrangement as claimed in any of the preceding claims, in combination with a bi-fold door including a retaining mechanism, the handle arrangement being fitted to at least one panel of the bi-fold door to operate the retaining mechanism.
10. A handle arrangement as claimed in any of the preceding claims, in combination with a key for operating the locking mechanism, the key having a blade which is small enough to pass through the aperture in the handle and having a bow which is larger than the aperture in the handle, and will not pass through.
11. A handle arrangement substantially as described herein, with reference to and as illustrated in Figures land 2 of the accompanying drawings.