US1917240A - Striker plate - Google Patents

Description

July 11, 1933. CHURCH 1,917,240

STRIKER PLATE Filed May 11, 1931 Patented July 11, 1933 we. STAT-ES Parent LOUIS K. CHURCH, OF SEATTLE, WASHINGTON; RC-BERTA H. GHURdIl-I-EXECUTRIX OF SAID LOUIS K. CHURCH, DECEASED STRIKER PLATE Application filed May 11, 1931 Serial No. 536,514.

My invention pertains in general I to str plates for latches and bolts, and more especially to such striker plates as are intended for use in connection with automobile doors. 1 p I It is not possible to supportan automobile oor so rigidly with relation to the body that vill not be a. slight vibrational movement between the bolt and the striker plate which retains it. This creates'a very objectionabl and annoying squeak. While to a certain'extent this can be eliminated by placing a lubricant, such as graphite, upon the bolt and upon the striker plate, this in turn has its objectionable feature in that this lubricant frequently comes in contact with the clothing of persons entering or leavf the automobile, resulting in the formation of a spot. Such a squeal: is the accompaniment of wear, and as the striker plate wears the bolt becomes unable to hold the door t g'ht against the usual resilient buffers, to pre 1d rat le develops, and the wear progresso eiy increases. This rattle can only be eliminated by removing the worn striker plate replacing it with anew one.

nate all of these objectionable features,'to striker plate construction wherein there is no appreciable wear andwhichtherefore does not need to be renewed from time to time, which resiliently holdsthe door against the butters, in which the squeak and rattle is elnninatedand whlch requires no lubricant, and which therefore will not tend to spot the clothing. lt s also an ob ect to provide a. str1ker plate of this general. character, which may be quickly and cheaply manufactured of pressed nel'al, steel, for instance, and which may be quickly and easily assembled.

'My invention comprises the novel parts and the novel combination and arrangement thereof, as shown in the accompanying drawing, described inthe specification, and

as will be more particularly defined by the claims which terminate the same;

In the accompanying drawing I have shown my invention eml'iodied' in a typical striker plate of the general type commonly in use upon automobiles, it being understood that the principles of my invention may be variously incorporated in striker plates of this or of any other suitable form.

ent in and out movement f the door,

It is the object of my invention to elimi- "Figure l'is a face view of my striker plate in association with an automobile door frame.v v i Figure 2 is transverse section through the door frame, illustrating my striker plate and the bolt and associated parts in plan view.

Figure 3 is a transverse section through thestriker plate and the door frame with which it is associated and Figure t is in part anelevation and in part a longitudinal section through the striker plate. 7

For convenience of desciption, I have shown my striker plate in association with the door frame 9 of an automobile, usually made of steel'formed to shape, and having associated with it an interior post 90 which may be of woodor steel. Such a door frame is preferably recessed, asindicated at 91, for the receptionof the striker plate. Fitting closely within such adoor frame is the door 8, having usually a flange 80 which overlaps the edge of the door frame 9, and which thus The door has prowould close the recess 91. jecting from its'vertieal swinging edge the tip of the latching bolt 81, and would be provided with the usual exterior and interior handles, 82- and 83 respectively, for withdrawing the bolt 81; resilient buffers, not shown, ordinarily limit inward or closing movement of the door.

A striker plate employed in such constructions usually is provided with two bolt-retaining ledges 1 and 10, with which, in the normal construction, the flat ed g'e of the bolt 81 is di{ rectly engaged to hold the door wholly or partiallyelosed. Sincetheengagemcntoftho bolt with the ledge 10 is only to prevent the door flying open. should the bolt he accidentally re-,

leased from theledge 1, perhaps by reason of having been imperfectly engaged therewith, no change need be made in the ledge 10. Standing above the ledge 1, however, are a series of anti-friction devices, such as the balls 2, each .of which is freely re'voluble.

" These balls stand up above the surface of the ledgel sufiiclently to engage the bolt 81 and to prevent direct engagement between this J r l e let -'e .i ecause t we noividua bolt and tb d9, 1 l *l 1 l i l tions, any movement of the bolt relative to the ledge 1 in a plane parallel to the ledge is freely permitted by the revolution of the balls upon their individual centers, and thus balls are each freely revoluble all direcup-and-down movement of the door relative to its frame, or forwardand-backward movement, or any combination thereof, is freely permitted by the rolling of the bolt surface over the anti-friction balls 2.

.may be done in various ways, so that 1 do not desire to be understood as restricting myself to any one form; that which I will now describe has been found aconvenient one. In this form, the ledge 1 is provided with'a slot 11, and the balls are of such diameter thatthey will project through this slot from within the interior or cavity 12 of the striker plate sufliciently to project well above the surface of the ledge 1, yet they are restrained from passing out through the slot 11. In order that they may be supported and properly spaced, they may be held in a ball retainer :20 similar to the retainer which is commonly employed to space the balls of a ball bearing, and this retainer is supported. from within the cavity 12.

Since I prefer that the balls be yieldingly supported, so that they may yield under large stresses and may yield, for instance, to permit passage of the bolt over the balls, and so that they will tend to press the door againstthe resilient buffers, 1 have provided a flat, fairly stiff, bowed spring 3, the ends of which engage the ends of the retainer 20, as may be seen in Figure l, and the central portion of which. is supported upon a shelf 13 project ing within the cavity 12.

v For convenience and cheapness of manufacture and assembly, I prefer that the striker plate'be formed of a piece of sheet metal bent into proper shape, and to this end it comprises a back 10, from which the shelf 13 may be struck up, a front 1, in which the ledge 10 is formed, and the end pieces 41. To form the upper ledge 1 the ends of the front 1 and the back 40 may be bent in towards each other, these ends being complementally notched to form the slot 11. In assembling the device, the front and back would be left apart sufficiently that the spring 3. and retainer 20 with its balls 2 could be'seated be tween the shelf 13 and the flanged top of the back 10, and then the front would be closed in over the ball retainer and spring, and held in place perhaps by welding.

The striker plate is suitably secured to the door frame 9, as for instance, by means of a screw 5 passing through holes provided in the front'd and back 40, and by screws 50 passing through ears 15 struck out from the ends 1-1.

Whatl claim as my invention is:

1. In a striker plate having a bolt-retaining ledge, freely revoluble balls projecting above the surface of the ledge, to engage the bolt and to prevent contact between the bolt and said ledge, and yieldable means permitting limited movement of the balls under pressure of the bolt towards and from the face of the ledge.

2. In a striker plate having a bolt-retaining ledge, anti-friction means projecting above said ledge to prevent contact between the bolt and ledge, and permitting free movement of a bolt in contact therewith in all directions in a plane parallel to the ledge, and yieldable means normally holding said anti-friction means projected, but yieldable to permit slight movement of the bolt towards and from the ledge.

3. In a striker plate having a cavity and a slotted bolt-retaining ledge, freely revoluble balls within the cavity and projecting through said slot above the surface of the ledge, to engage the bolt and to prevent con tact between the bolt and said ledge, and a ball retainer separate from and movable relative to the plate, and disposed within the cavity to maintain the balls spaced from one another.

1. In a striker plate having a cavity and a slotted bolt-retaining ledge, freely revoluble balls 'within the cavity and projecting through said slot above the surface of the ledge, to engage the bolt and to prevent c011- tact between the bolt and said ledge, a ball retainer within the cavity to maintain the balls spaced from one another, and a spring normally maintaining the balls projected.--

5. In astriker plate having a cavity and a slotted bolt-retaining ledge, freely revoluble balls within the cavity and projecting through said slot above the surface of the ledge, to engage the bolt and to prevent contact between the bolt and said ledge, a ball retainer within the cavity to maintain the balls spaced from one another, a shelf within the cavity, and a bowed flat spring engaging by its ends the ends of the ball retainer, and between its ends resting upon the shelf to maintain the balls normally and yielding ly projected.

6. A striker plate comprising a hollow body of pressed sheet metal having a slotted bolt-retaining ledge, a shelf pressed from the metal into the cavity of the body beneath the slot, a plurality of balls disposed in said slot, ball retaining and spacing means engaged with the balls, and means reacting between said shelf and said ball retaining and spacing means to hold the balls normally yieldingly projected through the slot.

Signed at Seattle, King County, l/Vashing ton, this 26th day of December, 1930.

LOUIS K. CHURCH.

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