US2514317A

US2514317A - Pull locking control for closures

Info

Publication number: US2514317A
Authority: US
Inventors: Eichacker Homer
Original assignee: VONNEGUT HARDWARE CO
Current assignee: VONNEGUT HARDWARE CO
Priority date: 1947-08-29
Filing date: 1947-08-29
Publication date: 1950-07-04
Anticipated expiration: 1967-07-04

Description

y 1950 H; EICHACKER PULL LOCKING CONTROL FOR CLOSURES 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 29, 1947 INVENTOR. HOMER .E'fwC'KER,

HTTOHZVEK l lllllll J F.

b D p July 4, 1950 H. EIQHACKER PULL LOCKING CONTROL FOR CLOSURES 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 29, 19

IN VEN TOR. 112721121? ETCHQC'JZ'L'ZP) Patented July 4, 1950 PULL LOCKING CONTROL FOR CLOSURES Homer Eichacker, Indianapolis, Ind, assignor to Vonnegut Hardware Company, Indianapolis, Ind., a corporation of Indiana Application August 29, 1947, Serial No. 771,169

Claims. 1

The present invention relates to a pull locking control for closures, and is more particularly concerned with the provision of a latch actuat ing and locking assembly, associable, if desired, with a standard panic exit device or latch assembly, and so constructed that a pull handle, presented on the outside surface of the door, will be automatically operated, by the exertion of a pulling force. thereon, to retract the standard panic device latch bolts and to swing the door toward open position. So far as I am advised, I am the first to have conceived the provision of such an assembly adapted to be mounted on the outer surface of a door equipped with a standard panic exit device, for cooperation with that device.

While the primary object of the invention is to provide such an organization as that just described, a further important object of the invention is to provide key-actuated blocker means operable, at times, to block the latch actuating mechanism against movement in a latch-retracting direction. A further object is to provide improved blocker means for cooperation with such an actuator. A still further object is to provide an improved association between a standard mortise lock cylinder cam and a blocker means of the character above-described. And a still further object is to provide a blocker element, in an assemblage of the character here under consideration, of such character that it may be assembled in one position to prevent removal of the key from the lock cylinder unless the blocker element is in blocking relation with the latchactuating element, or may alternatively be assembled in another position so that the key can be removed whether the blocker element is or is not in blocking relation with the latch-actuating element.

Still further objects of the invention will appear as the description proceeds.

To the accomplishment of the above and related objects, my invention may be embodied in the form illustrated in the accompanying drawings, attention being called to the fact, however, that the drawings are illustrative only, and that change may be made in the specific construction illustrated and described, so long as the scope of the appended claims is not violated.

Fig. l is a front elevation of an assembly constructed in accordance with the presen invention;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section therethrough, showing the assembly mounted upon a door and showing also its cooperation with the center case of a standard form of panic exit device;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section taken substantially on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. i is a similar section taken substantially on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a rear elevation of the locking control assembly, parts being shown in section;

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 5, but showing the blocker element arranged in a different position;

Fig. 7 is a fragmental rear elevation of the assembly of Fig. 6-, showing parts after actuation to a difierentpos-ition; and

Fig. 8 is a perspective view, upon a reduced scale, of my improved blocker element.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, it will be seen that I have illustrated a fragment of a door I ll to the inner surface of which is secured a panic exit device center case H enclosing latch actuating mechanism, not shown except for an abutment element 12 associated with a pull rod l3 and providing a pressure shelf M, illustrated in dotted lines in Fig. 2, forming no part of the present invention, but illustrated for the purpose of disclosing the manner of cooperation of my improved actuator with standard equipment.

My pull locking control, indicated generally by the reference numeral 15, comprises a housing I 6 formed to provide bearings 11, I! for a journal pin l 8, whose axis is parallel with the outer surface of the door I8 when the assembly I5 is mounted thereon, and upon which is journalled a lever l9. An aperture 2|] in the lower front wall of the housing it permits the projection of one arm 2| of the lever from the housing and into substantial parallelism with the adjacent surface of the door l0; and an aperture 22' in the rear wall of the housing permits the projection therefrom of the arm 23 of the lever 19. A spring 24 tends to hold the lever l9 against clockwise movement about its axis.

Above the bearings 11, the housing 16 is formed to provide a mounting sleeve 25 for a standard mortise lock pin tumbler cylinder 26, the inner end of said cylinder being threaded as at 21 for the accommodation of a nut 28 adapted to be turned up against the inner end of the sleeve 25 to secure the cylinder in place. The standard actuator cam of the cylinder is indicated by the reference numeral 29; and the cylinder is pro-- vided with the usual key-way 30 in its rotating plug.

A blocker element, indicated generally by the reference numeral 3!, is provided intermediate its ends with a journal aperture 32 adapted to be mounted upon a stud 33 which is preferably integral with the housing I 6'; and a screw 34- may be turned into a tapped bore in said stud to secure said blocker element oscillably in position upon said stud.

The blocker element is formed to provide an arm 35 offset from the axis of the bore 32 and terminating in an. abutment member 36; When the element 3i is mounted upon the stud 33, the

' 3 offset arm 35 will be positioned to flank the lever arm 23, the ram 35 lying closely adjacent the lever arm 23 when the abutment 36 is positioned in blocking relation with the lever arm 23.

On the opposite side of the bore 32, the element 3| is formed as a ring 31 having a radially projecting pocket 38 flanked by

walls

39 and 49 which are parallel with each other and with a plane including the axis of the-actuator cam 29 and the axis of the bore 32, said walls being equally and oppositely offset from said plane. As is most clearly illustrated in Fig. 8, the wall 39 has a dimension, in a direction normal to the plane of oscillation of the blocker element 3|, considerably greater than the corresponding dimension of the cam 29, while the wall 4|! has a much smaller dimension in that direction, being cut away or notched at 4| to definea wall 42 parallel with the

walls

39 and 49 and considerably farther spaced from said reference plane. I prefer to space the walls 39 and 40 a distance substantially equal to the dimension of the cam 29 in the direction of oscillation of said cam; while the wall 42 is spaced from the wall 39 by a distance substantially equal to such dimension of the cam 29 increased by the distance through which the wall 39 moves as the blocker element 3| shifts from one limit of its path to the other limit thereof. The functions of these walls will appear herebelow.

A finger 43 projects upwardly from the blocker element 3|, and a finger 44 projects downwardly from a portion of the housing IS, :a coiled spring 45 being confined between said fingers to act as a resilient toggle tending to hold the blocker member 3| resiliently at either limit of its stroke.

The lever arm .23 is formed with a surface 46 engageable by the abutment 39, at times, whereby said lever is positively held against latch-retracting movement. The assembly may preferably be secured in place on the door H] by means of screws 41 projected through the door and entering threaded studs provided on the rear surface of the housing l6; and the door will, of course, be formed with a perforation 48 through which projects the lever arm 23 into cooperative relation with the surface l4.

When the parts are assembled in the positions illustrated in Fig. 5, the

walls

39 and 49 of the pocket 39 lie in closely straddling registry with the opposite sides of the cam 29. Oscillation of said cam in a counter-clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 5, will withdraw the abutment element 36 from registry with the surface 46 of the lever arm 23. Thereupon, if the handle 2| is grasped and a force is exerted toward the left. as viewed in Fig. 2, the lever 9 will be oscillated in a clockwise direction, the pull rod l3 will be drawn downwardly to release the latches from their keepers, and a continuation of the force exerted upon the handle 2| will swing the door l9 toward the left as viewed in Fig, 2. The cylinder 28, of course, is of such character that the key cannot be withdrawn from the key-way 3|) except when the cam 29 is in the position illustrated in Fig. 5. Since any movement'of the cam 29 in either direction will bring that cam into contact with the wall 39 or with the wall 49, it will be clear that the key cannot be removed from the cylinder until the abutment element 36 has been returned to blocking relation with the surface 46 of the lever arm 23. It will be clear that, as the blocker element 3| moves from the solid line position to the dotted line position of Fig. 5, the lower end of the spring 45 will be 4 moved past dead center to hold the blocker element 3| resiliently in the dotted line position; and that, when the blocker element has been returned to its solid line position, this spring 45 will return to its illustrated position to hold the blocker element resiliently in its solid line position.

If the purchaser of the illustrated assembly desires to arrange to withdraw the key from the cylinder while leaving the latch in condition to be actuated by the lever l9, he need only remove the entire assembly l5 from the door by withdrawing the screws 41, withdraw the screw 34 and, after removing the blocker element 3| from the stud 33, invert that element and replace it on the stud. The screw 34 will now be replaced, the assembly I5 will be rearranged on the door, with the lever arm 23 again projecting through the opening 48 into cooperative relation with the table l4, and the screws 41 will be replaced to secure the assembly IS in position. Now, the blocker element will occupy the position illus trated in Fig. 6. Movement of the cam 29 in a clockwise direction will remove the abutment element 36 from engagement with the surface 46 of the lever arm 23, and will shift the blocker element to the position illustrated in Fig. 7. The spring 45, of course, will resiliently hold the blocker element in its new position. Since the notch 4| now registers with the cam 29, the key may be returned to its initial position, swinging the cam .29 to the position illustrated in Fig. 7, in which position said cam merely contacts the wall 42, whereupon the key may be removed from the cylinder leaving the blocker element 3| out of cooperative relation with the lever arm 23, In order to return the abutment element 33 to engagement with the surface 46, the key must be reinserted in the key-way and turned in the opposite direction, to swing the cam 29 in a counter-clockwise direction from the position 11- lustrated in Fig, 7. During such movement, the cam 29 cooperates with the wall 42 of the blocker element 3| to return said element to the position of Fig. 6; whereafter the cam 29 is key-turned to the position of Fig. 6, whereupon the key may be withdrawn from the cylinder.

I claim as my invention:

1. Latch actuating means comprising a lever, a blocker element comprising a bar pivotally mounted intermediate its ends for swinging movement in a plane substantially parallel with the axis of movement of said lever and provided, adjacent one end, with an abutment positionable at times in the path of movement of said lever. and an actuator for said blocker element, said blocker element providing two surfaces located at opposite sides of said actuator and respectively engageable by said actuator, upon movement of said actuator in opposite directions, to shift said blocker element in opposite directions.

2. The device of claim 1 in which said two surfaces are spaced apart a distance substantially equal to the dimension of said actuator in the direction of actuator movement.

3. The device of claim 1 in which said two surfaces face each other and are spaced apart a distance substantially equal to the dimension of said actuator in the direction of actuator movement increased by substantially the xtent of movement of one of said surfaces when said blocker element moves from one limit of its path to the other.

4..The device of claim 1 in which one of said surfaces has a dimension, in a direction normal to the plane of movement Of said actuator, at least double the dimension of said actuator in the same direction, while the other of said surfaces has a portion adjacent one face of said blocker element spaced from said first-named surface a distance substantially equal to the dimension of said actuator in the direction of actuator movement, and a portion adjacent the opposite face of said blocker element spaced from said firstnamed surface a distance substantiall equal to the dimension of said actuator in the direction of actuator movement increased by substantially the extent of movement of One of said surfaces when said blocker element moves from one limit of its path to the other.

5. In a device of the class described, a housing, a transverse fulcrum member terminally supported in said housing, a latch actuating lever mounted for oscillation on said fulcrum member and projecting at both ends from said housing, pivot means in said housing substantially in the plane of movement of said lever, a blocker element formed intermediate its ends for cooperation with said pivot means, whereby said blocker element is pivotally supported in said housing to swing in a plane substantially perpendicular to the plane of movement of said lever, said blocker element including a bar offset from said pivot means and flanking said lever, said bar carrying abutment means associable with said lever to block movement thereof in one direction, an actuator for said blocker element mounted within said housing for oscillation about an axis parallel with said pivot means, said blocker element including means oppositely engageable by said actuator for shifting said blocker element in opposite directions.

6. In a device of the class described, a housing, a transverse fulcrum member terminally supported in said housing, a latch actuating lever mounted for oscillation on said fulcrum member and projecting at both ends from said housing, pivot means in said housing substantially in the plane of movement of said lever, a blocker element formed intermediate its ends for cooperation with said pivot means, whereby said blocker element is pivotally supported in said housing to swing in a plane substantially perpendicular to the plane of movement of said lever, said blocker element including a bar offset from said pivot means and flanking said lever, said bar carrying abutment means associable with said lever to block movement thereof in one direction, an actuator for said blocker element mounted within said housing for oscillation about an axis parallel with said pivot means, said blocker element including a pair of oppositely-facing abutments respectively engageable by said actuator, upon movement of said actuator in opposite directions, for shifting said abutment means into and out of blocking relation with said lever.

7. In a device of the class described, a housing, a transverse fulcrum member terminally supported in said housing, a latch actuating lever mounted for oscillation on said fulcrum member and projecting at both ends from said housing, pivot means in said housing substantially in the plane of movement of said lever, a blocker element formed intermediate its ends for cooperation with said pivot means, whereby said blocker element is reversibly pivotally supported in said housing to swing in a plane substantially perpendicular to the plane of movement of said lever, said blocker element including a bar offset from said pivot means and flanking said lever upon one side or the other thereof depending upon the reversible position of said blocker element, said bar carrying abutment means associable with said lever to block movement thereof in one direction, an actuator for said blocker element mounted within said housing for oscillation about an axis parallel with said pivot means, said blocker element including a pair of mutually facing surfaces located, when said blocker element is in one position on said pivot means, in the opposite paths of said actuator and spaced apart a distance substantially equal to the dimension of said actuator in the direction of actuator movement, and a pair of mutually facing surfaces located, when said blocker element is in reversed position on said pivot means, in the opposite paths of said actuator and spaced apart a distance substantially equal to the dimension of said actuator in the direction of actuator movement increased by substantially the extent of movement of one of said surfaces when said blocker element moves from one limit of its path to the other.

8. The device of claim 5 including spring toggle means cooperating with said blocker element to hold the same resiliently at either end of its path.

9. The device of claim '7 including spring toggle means cooperating with said blocker element to hold the same resiliently at either end of its path.

10. As an article of manufacture for use with an oscillatory actuator, a blocker member adapted to be supported, intermediate its ends, for oscillation about an axis parallel with the axis of such actuator, said member providing, in planes parallel with a single plane including said axis, a first surface offset in one direction from said single plane, a second surface oppositel offset from said single plane and spaced from said first-named surface a distance substantially equal to the dimension of said actuator in the direction of actuator movement, and a third surface likewise oppositely offset from said single plane and spaced from said first-named surface a distance substantially equal to the dimension of said actuator in the direction of actuator movement increased by substantially the extent of movement of one of said surfaces when said blocker element moves from one limit of its path to the other, said second and third surfaces being offset from each other in a direction normal to the plane of movement of said actuator, and said third surface having a dimension in said direction at least equal go the dimension of said actuator in said direcion.

HOMER EICHACKER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,406,231 :Seaholm Feb. 14, 1922 1,867,606 Van Sickles July 19, 1932 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 351,516 Italy Aug. 13, 1937