GB2550520A

GB2550520A - Improvements in door handle mechanisms

Info

Publication number: GB2550520A
Application number: GB1712515.4A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Agrawal Ankesh
Original assignee: Hiatt Hardware (uk) Ltd
Current assignee: Hiatt Hardware (uk) Ltd
Priority date: 2016-08-09
Filing date: 2017-08-03
Publication date: 2017-11-22
Anticipated expiration: 2037-08-03
Also published as: GB2550435A; GB2550435B; GB2550520B; GB201712515D0

Abstract

A mechanism, for a door handle, comprising a cam assembly including a resilient biasing element 38, e.g. a spiral spring, with a hooked end (56, fig.7) engaging a spigot 36, and a cam member 40 having two stop members (74, 76, fig.8-10). The stop members are laterally offset such that the stop members extend out of the plane of the main cam into a laterally spaced parallel plane. The stops are preferably spaced from the resilient spring to reduce wear. The cam stops limit rotation of the handle and preferably abut the spigot 36. The spigot is preferably square and the hooked portion of the spring abuts planar surfaces of the spigot.

Description

Improvements in Door Handle Mechanisms

The invention relates to improvements in door handle mechanisms. The invention also relates to door handles including improved mechanisms.

It is known for door handles to include mechanisms that bias a door latch in a closed position until a user moves a lever or knob, which moves the mechanism and causes the door latch to be released.

Such door handles include a lever or knob that is mounted on a front face of a back plate. The back plate includes a hole, through which a barrel at one end of the lever extends. A cylindrical spigot or peg is included on the rear face of the back plate. The barrel is connected to one end of a spring, the other end of the spring including a hook portion that loops over the spigot. A cam is mounted on the spring and includes a first stop that is biased toward the spigot by the spring. Movement of the lever or knob causes the barrel and cam to rotate and thus the latch to be released. The range of movement of the lever and cam is restricted by a second stop on the cam, which abuts the spigot when the latch is released.

It is known for the components of known door mechanisms to stick, resulting in failure of the mechanism. As a consequence, the service life of known door handle mechanisms is poor.

According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided a mechanism for a door handle, the mechanism including a spigot having a planar surface and a cam assembly, wherein the cam assembly includes a resilient biasing means having a hook portion that is configured to engage with the planar surface of the spigot so that the biasing force is in the direction of and resisted by the planar surface.

The configuration of the hook portion of the resilient biasing means and the spigot reduces the risk of the resilient biasing means becoming detached from the spigot and improves the service life of the mechanism.

The spigot may include two planar surfaces. The spigot may have a quadrilateral cross section, for example a square cross section.

The hook portion may include at least one straight edge. Two straight edges of the hook portion may engage the two planar surfaces of the spigot.

The cam assembly may further include a cam member having a stop, the cam member having a first position, in which the stop abuts the spigot, and, a second position, in which the stop is spaced apart from the spigot, wherein the cam member is biased toward the first position by the resilient biasing means.

When the cam member is in the first position, the stop may be spaced apart from the resilient biasing means.

At least a portion of the stop may extend out of the plane of the cam member.

The spacing of the stop from the resilient biasing means prevents wear damage to the resilient biasing means caused by repeated movement of the cam member relative to the resilient biasing means and further improves the service life of the mechanism.

The stop may be a first stop and the cam member may further include a second stop. When the cam member is in the first position, the second stop may be spaced apart from the spigot and, when the cam member is in the second position, the second stop may abut the spigot.

At least a portion of the second stop may extend out of the plane of the cam member.

In this way, wear damage to the resilient biasing means caused by repeated movement of the cam member relative to the resilient biasing means is reduced and the service life of the mechanism is further improved.

The resilient biasing means may be a spring, for example a spiral spring.

According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided a mechanism for a door handle, the mechanism including a spigot and a cam assembly, the cam assembly including a resilient biasing means having a hook portion that is configured to engage with the spigot and a cam member, wherein the cam member includes at least one stop that extends out of the plane of the cam member.

The stop may be spaced apart from the resilient biasing means.

The spacing of the stop from the resilient biasing means prevents wear damage to the resilient biasing means caused by repeated movement of the cam member relative to the resilient biasing means and improves the service life of the mechanism.

According to a third aspect of the invention there is provided a door handle including a lever, a back plate and a mechanism according to the first or second aspects of the invention, wherein the back plate includes an opening for receiving a first portion of the lever, and, in use, a second portion of the lever is mounted on a first face of the back plate and the spigot and cam assembly are mounted on a second face of the back plate.

According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a kit of parts for assembling a door handle, the kit of parts including a lever, a back plate and a mechanism according to the first or second aspect of the invention, wherein the mounting plate includes an opening that is configured to receive a portion of the lever.

According to a further aspect of the invention there is provided a method of assembling a door handle, the method including the steps: (a) providing a back plate having a first face, a second face and a through hole, the back plate further including a spigot on the second face, the spigot including a planar surface; (b) providing a lever; (c) passing a first portion of the lever through the opening in the mounting plate such that a second portion of the lever is mounted on the first face of the back plate and the first portion of the lever extends through to the second face of the back plate; (d) providing a resilient biasing means having a hook portion at a one end; (e) connecting a second end of the resilient biasing means to the first portion of the lever; (f) connecting the hook portion of the resilient biasing means to the planar surface of the spigot so that the biasing force is in the direction of and resisted by the planar surface; and (g) mounting a cam on the resilient biasing means.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to the Figures, in which:

Figure 1 is an exploded front view of a door handle;

Figure 2 is an exploded rear view of the door handle of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a rear view of the door handle of Figure 1 in a first position;

Figure 4 is a rear view of the door handle of Figure 2 in a second position;

Figure 5 is a plan view of a back plate of an alternative door handle;

Figure 6 is a side view of a spigot for the door handle of Figures 1 and 5;

Figure 7 is a front view of a spiral spring for the door handle of Figures 1 and 5;

Figure 8 is a front view of a cam for the door handles of Figures 1 and 5;

Figure 9 is a side view of the cam of Figure 8; and

Figure 10 is the side view of Figure 9 with the relative positions of a spigot and spring shown in dotted line.

Referring now to Figures 1 and 2 there is a door handle 10. The door handle 10 includes a lever 12, a back plate 14, a spindle 15 and a door handle mechanism 16.

The lever 12 includes a handle portion 18, a mounting portion 20 and a barrel 22. The barrel 22 includes a groove 24 extending longitudinally thereof and has a hollow cylindrical body 25.

The back plate 14 includes a front face 26 and a rear face 28. The back plate 14 further includes a plurality of through-holes 30, a key hole 32 and a locating hole 34.

The rear face 28 of the back plate 14 includes a spigot 36.

The spigot 36 is generally cuboid and has a square cross section. With particular reference to Figures 5 and 6, the spigot 36 has an upper surface 44, a lower surface 46 a first planar side surface 48, a second planar side surface 50, a rearward face 52 and a front face (not shown). The first and second planar side surfaces 48, 50 taper from the lower surface 46 of the spigot 36 toward the upper surface 38 of the spigot 36.

The door handle mechanism 16 includes a resilient biasing means in the form of spiral spring 38, a cam 40 and a circlip 42.

With particular reference to Figure 7, the spiral spring 38 has a first end 54, a second end 56 and a spiral body 57 that is defined between the first end 54 and the second end 56. The second end 56 of the spring 38 includes a hook portion 58. The hook portion 58 includes a first hook surface 60 and a second hook surface 62. The spring 38 further includes a central aperture 64.

With particular reference to Figures 8, 9 and 10, the cam 40 includes a generally circular plate 66 having a central aperture 68 into which two tabs 70, 72 of the plate 66 extend. The generally circular plate 66 has an upper surface 67 from which a first stop 74 and a second stop 76 extend. The plate 66 has a rearward face 78 and a forward face 80. The first stop 74 extends out of the plane of the plate 66 in the rearward direction and has a rearward face 83, a forward face 85 and an inner edge 82. The first stop 74 lies in a plane that is parallel to the plane of the generally circular plate 66. The second stop 76 extends out of the plane of the plate 66 in the rearward direction and has a rearward face (not shown), a forward face 89 and an inner edge 84. The second stop 76 lies in a plane that is parallel to the plane of the generally circular plate 66. The first stop 74 and the second stop 76 lie in the same plane.

The circlip 42 has a generally circular body 86, a first end 88 and a second end 90.

Assembly of the door handle 10 will now be described.

The lever 12 is mounted on the back plate 14 such that the barrel 22 extends through the location hole 34 and the mounting portion 20 of the lever is mounted on the front face 26 of the back plate 14.

The spring 38 is positioned on the rear face 26 of the back plate 14 such that the barrel 22 of the lever 12 is passed through the central aperture 64 of the spring 38.

The first end 54 of the spring 38 is engaged in the groove 24 of the barrel 22 and the second end 56 of the spring 38 is mounted on the rear face 26 of the back plate 14 such that the first hook surface 60 abuts the planar side surface 48 of the spigot 36 and the second hook surface 62 abuts the upper surface 44 of the spigot 36. In this way, the spring 38 is securely mounted on the spigot 36.

The cam 40 is mounted on the spring 38 such that the forward face 80 of the cam 40 abuts the spring 38 and the inner surface 82 of the stop 74 is biased toward the planar side surface 48 of the spigot 36. The first and second stops 74, 76 are spaced apart from the spring 38 as they extend out of the plane of the plate 66, which is away from the spring 38. The circlip 42 is mounted on the rearward face 78 of the cam 40 to hold the mechanism in position.

As shown in Figures 1 and 2, a spindle 15 having a square cross section is positioned through the central aperture 68 of the cam 40, through the central aperture 64 of the spring 38 and into the hollow cylindrical body 25 of the barrel 22. The tabs 70, 72 of the cam 40 abut the side walls of the spindle 15.

In this configuration, the door handle is in the closed position, with the handle portion 18 of the lever 12 perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the back plate 14, as shown in Figure 3. With the door handle in the closed position, the stop 74 abuts the spigot 36, but is clear of the spring 38. A gap 91 is defined between the spring 38 and the forward face 85 of the first stop 74. In this way, wear damage to the spring 38, which may otherwise be caused by movement of the cam 40 relative to the spigot 36 (for example if the forward face 85 of the first stop 74 were to rub against the first hook surface 60 of the spring 38) is prevented.

In order to move the door handle to the open position, as shown in Figure 4, the handle portion 18 of the lever 12 is moved downward. The barrel 22 is rotated within the locating hole 34. The cam 40 is rotated against the force of the spring 38 such that the inner surface 82 of the stop 74 is moved away from the planar side surface 48 of the spigot 36 and the stop 76 of the cam 40 is moved toward the planar side surface 50 of the spigot 36. When the inner surface 84 of the stop 76 abuts the planar side surface 50 of the spigot 36, further rotation of the cam 40, the barrel 22 and the handle portion 18 is prevented.

In the embodiment described above, the door handle includes a spigot having at least one planar surface, a spring having a hook portion that is configured to engage the at least one planar surface in order to securely engage the spring with the spigot. In the embodiment described above, the cam also includes a pair of stops each of which has a portion that extends out of the plane of the cam. It will be understood that alternative embodiments having any combination of these advantageous features are within the scope of the present invention.

In the embodiment described above, the spring is a spiral spring. In alternative embodiments, the spring may be any type of spring having a hook portion that is configured to engage the spigot at one of its ends.

In the embodiment described above, the door handle includes a lever for actuating the door mechanism. In alternative embodiments, the door handle may include a knob for actuating the door mechanism.

Claims

1. A mechanism for a door handle, the mechanism including a spigot and a cam assembly, the cam assembly including a resilient biasing means having a hook portion that is configured to engage with the spigot and a cam member, wherein the cam member includes a first stop and a second stop, each of the first stop and the second stop being arranged to extend out of the plane of the cam member and wherein each of the first stop and the second stop has a stop portion that lies in a plane that is parallel to the plane of the cam member.

2. A mechanism for a door handle according to claim 1, wherein each of the first stop and the second stop extend from an upper edge of the cam member.

3. A mechanism for a door handle according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the spigot has a first planar surface and a second planar surface, and the mechanism has a first position in which the stop portion of the first stop abuts the first planar surface and a second position in which the stop portion of the second stop abuts the second planar surface.

4. A mechanism for a door handle according to claim 3, wherein the first stop is spaced apart from the resilient biasing means.

5. A mechanism for a door handle according to claim 4 wherein the hook portion engages the first planar surface of the spigot and, when the mechanism is in the first position, a gap is defined between the hook portion of the resilient biasing means and the stop portion of the first stop.

6. A door handle including a lever, a back plate and a mechanism according to any of claims 1 to 5, wherein the back plate includes an opening for receiving a first portion of the lever, and, in use, a second portion of the lever is mounted on a first face of the back plate and the spigot and cam assembly are mounted on a second face of the back plate.

7. A kit of parts for assembling a door handle, the kit of parts including a lever, a back plate and a mechanism according to any of claims 1 to 5, wherein the mounting plate includes an opening that is configured to receive a portion of the lever.