US2942909A

US2942909A - Door latch lever

Info

Publication number: US2942909A
Application number: US687586A
Authority: US
Inventors: Chase Marston
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1957-10-01
Filing date: 1957-10-01
Publication date: 1960-06-28
Anticipated expiration: 1977-06-28

Description

June 28, 1950 CHASE DOOR LATCH LEVER Filed Oct. 1,1957

INVE NTOR MARSTON CHASE A TTORNEYS DOOR LATCH IZEVER .Marston-Chase, 3033 16th St. NW., Washingtn,'D.C.

Filed Oct. '1, 19 57, Set. No. 687,586

-6 Claims. ((31. =292-'-'-347) The present invention relates to a le'ver attachment for door latch operating-mechanism particularly useful onexisting door knob operated latches providing for unlatching without requiring gripping 'by 'the hand.

Heretofore the conventional'latches used on doors included circular knobs on the inside and outside ofthe door with such knobs mounted on a generally square shaft with the shaft operatively connected 'tothe spring pressed latching slide belt which normally maintains a doorin closed position. Such door'knobs have been difficult to operate particularly when a persomhad both hands filled with packages 'or other-articles. A person with :a load frequently had tozpartially unload the articles placing them on the-flooror the ground and then open t e do s s n d e ay ant iinsr ased n a bili y of injury to persons. 7

An'object of the present inventionis to provide a sim- .ple attachment :readily applicable to existing installations of door slatches and providing forpperation without requiring gripping of the usual handle and .permitting operation of the-door latch -by ,a movement whichcan be accomplished even with the-hands filled.-

Another object -is to provide operating -mechanism for existing latches which can be applied by home pwner without requiring 'theservices 'of a skilled mechanic.

A further object is to provide-an operating means which may be used on practically all latch mechanisms.

Other and further objects-will be apparent as the description proceeds and upon reference to tl1e-,=drawing wherein: Y

Fig. 1 is a perspective of a fragment of a door vshowing the door latch with its operating knob. and a pre ferred form of the lever handle devices in operativeposition;

Fig. 2, a section taken on line of Fig. 1 showing the interconnectionofthe lever and theknob' carrying shaft; 7 1

Fig. 3, a perspective view of the lever atta'c-h'ment for use on the unseen side of the door shown'inFig; -l;

Fig. 4, an elevation'al 'vi'ew-of the iever-attachment of Fig, '3'-as observed from the door side thereof; i

Fig. =5, a perspective anothei form ofthei nvem tion showing a'paicr of tever device's;

ii, an elevation'al view 'o'f' one-of the' lever'devices 'ShOWH iH FigS; i

Figs. 7 and 8, a perspective, andelevational viewsrespectively, of another formof the invention adapted -for use on either side of the door;

' Fig. 9, a plan "view of a further modification in which the intermediate portion of the lever is rev'er'sely bent to provide additional spacing between the handle lever device and the door;

Fig. 10, a fragmentary plan view of a modified form of shaft mounting end for the lever handle device; and

Fig. 11, a fragmentary elevational view of the portion of the lever attachment device'in Fig. 10.

Briefly, the present invention comprises a lever having a concave-convex portion at one end with a polygonal opening preferably punched through such concaveconvex portion of a shape to fit existing square shafts Which carry conventional doorknobs, the lever projecting radially and in some case axially outwardly from such concave-convex portion and terminating in a hand or body engaging handle portion spaced sufiiciently from the doorknob and outwardly from the door to permit operation by simple engagement with the hand, by engagement with an object carried'in the hand, and/or by engagement with the knee or the like, whereby a person wanting to pass throughthe door may oscillate the latch operating shaft without requiring unloading of his burden. The concave-convex end is adapted to fit between the conventional escutcheon plate or ornamental rose and the doorknob being retained in place by such rose and doorknob whereby'no modification of the existing doorknob is required, the concave-convex end portion serving to paltially cover the shoulder or bearing surface on the doorknob.

Upon more detailed reference to the drawing, a door 15 having a mortised latch 16 therein is operated by a conventional doorknob 17 'fixed'to the square latch operating shaft 13 which is operatively connected through suitable mechanism to the bevelled bolt 19 in a well known manner, the usual face plate 20 providing the ornamental covering for the key hole and latch operating shaft. The doorknob is gripped by the hand and turned to withdraw the bevel bolt 19 'to permit opening of the door 15. However, when a person is carrying a load it is diflicult to grip and operate the conventional doorknob and the "present invention provides an attachment including a'lever 21 formed of a fiat sheet of 'metal having a concave-convexrportion 22 projecting inwardly toward the door '15 at one end with a radially extending rim portion 22A. A square opening 23 extends through the concave-convex portion and is preferably formed by a punching operation in which the metal of the concave-convex portion 22 is displaced inwardly from the convex surface toward the door to provide tongues 24 which engage opposite sides of the square shaft 18 to provide a substantial area of contact between the said one end of the fiat lever member 21 and the shaft 18. I

It will be noted that the flat lever 21 extends an apprcciable distance beyond the outline of the doorknob 17 and in the normal position of the shaft 18, such lever projects upwardly and toward the hinge edge of the door at approximately 45 to the horizontal so that the upper end o'fthelever 21is substantially above the doorknob 17 with which the attachment cooperates.

A web 25 prdjecting outwardly from the door and the flat lever member '21 forms a handle, a vertically projecting flange :26 on the outer edge of handle portion 25 providing for a positive engagement with a persons hand -or fingers for either pushing or pulling the door as desired. 7

The handle portion 2'5 is located above the top of the doorknob 17 whereby a person may place an "object such as a box being carried on top of the handle web portion 25 and allow the weight of the box to move such handle web portion downwardly with resulting ro tation of the shaft 18, whereby the bolt 19 will be released, the doorknob 17 serving as an automatic stop to prevent the box from being dropped during the door opening operation.

Although the structure is particularly useful for pushing a door open a person may push his hand or a projection on the box in a position to engage the flange portion 26 to permit pulling of the door while the box or other load is being carried by the person who is passing through the door.

It will be noted that the face plate 20 is provided with a sleeve portion 27 which normally receives the stem portion 28 of the doorknob 17 serving as a bearing for such doorknob, the doorknob being held in place by a conventional set screw 29 whereby after loosening of the set screw 29 the doorknob 17 may be removed and the lever handle device of the present invention applied with the convex surface and

tongues

24, 24 extending inwardly toward the door and being hidden by the sleeve portion 27 of the face plate 20, the concave-convex portion 22 serving to cover the inner end of the shank portion 28 of the doorknob and thevarious parts serving to maintain the lever handle device in a fixed operative location relative to shaft 18 so the parts are accurately guided to assure the operative location of the lever handle device at all times.

It will be noted that the showing in Figs. 3 and 4 illustrates the lever handle device for application on the hidden side of the door as viewed in Fig. l, the parts thereof being identified with the same reference numerals although the lever handle device of Figs. 3 and 4 are mirror images of the lever handle device shown in Fig. l.

The modification shown in Figs. 5 and 6 is similar to that shown in Figs. 1 to 4 inclusive but the flat lever portion 30 thereof extends approximately horizontal from the concave-convex portion 22, the other parts being identified by the reference characters previously used,

the one lever handle device 31 being the mirror image of the lever handle device 32.

Referring to Figs. 7 and 8, a modified form of the invention includes a lever portion 33, the concave-convex ptgtion glwithl the opening 23 therein and tongues 24 being substantially the same as structure previously described, the flat lever portion 33"extending substantially horizontally from the opening. 23 and carrying a web handle portion'34. With this modification shown in Figs. 7 and 8, the same lever handle device. may be used. on

each side of the door. since the web handle portion 34,

34 will extend substantially horizontal on either side of thedoor. i a

In Fig. 9 a further modification includes a lever por- 'tion 35 which is shown as bent outwardly from the plane of the radially extending rim portion 22A and out of the plane thereof away from the convex surface and then bent ina generally parallel relation to such rim portion 22A with a web handle portion 25 and a flange portion 26 similar to that previously described, the construction providing for greater clearance between the suriface of the door and the handle portion .25 whereby a persons hand or fingers may extend between thev lever portion and the door to provide for pulling on the handle device without regard to. the presence or absence Upon reference to l0 and 1 1, the lever portion 36 of the handle .is provided with a concaveconvex portion 37 with radially projecting rim portion 38, the concave-convex. portion, being punched to provide a'. square aperture 3 9, formed with triangular tongue gamma 5;

on each edge thereby providing a tongue for engaging eachsurface ofthe square shaft 18. This structure is usable on anyofthe'lever handle devices previously described providing'for a positive engagement with the shaft and sufficient area of contact on each surface to assure that lever 36 remains in a definite radial plane under all conditions of operation.

From the above description it is believed evident that applicant has provided a latch operating lever handle device which can be readily applied on all doors by relatively unskilled persons withoutspecial tools, thereby converting a conventional doorknob operated latch to a lever operating latch.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes may be made in the invention without departing from thespirit and scope thereof and therefore the invention is .not limited by that which is illustrated in the drawing and described in the specification, but only as indicated in the accompanying claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A device for attachment to a doorknob shaft of a conventional latch operating mechanism, said attachment including an elongated relatively flat member having a concave-convex portion at one end with a square opening extending therethrough, flat portions extending outwardly from the edges of said opening to form an extended surface area of contact with the square shaft of said latch operated mechanism said member projecting radially from the concave-convex portion a substantial distance beyond the outline of a conventional doorknob, the square open- 'ing in said attachment being arranged so that when the attachment is on a doorknob shaft the member extends upwardly and laterally at substantially 45 toward the hinge edge of the door so that the upper end thereof is substantially above the doorknob with which the attachment cooperates, a handle web portion projecting laterally from the other end of said body in the direction opposite the convex surface of said one end, said handle web portion having a vertically projecting flange generally parallel with the plane of said concave-convex portion whereby a person may grip said handle and move the same to release the latch and either push or pull the door, the handle web portion being located so that an object may be placed upon the handle to move the handle downwardly thereby rotating the shaft and releasing the latch to permit a person to open the door without unloading the object fromhishands. v j

v 2. The invention according to claim 1 in which the member is offset to'space the handle outwardly from a door a greater distance than the plane of the concaveconvex end. Q 4

3. 'In a releasable latch operated by a door knob; the combination of a face plate having a sleeve bearing portion and a latch'operatingrectangular shaft extending through said face plate, of a lever handle device including a relatively fiat levermember having at one end a concave-convex formation with a rectangular aperture and said rectangular shaft inserted therein, saidconvex formation providing engagement with the sleeve bearing portion of'said face plate whereby the flat lever member will be maintained in-a path extending radially from the shaft, said lever handle having tongues adjacent said aperture and extending from said concave-convexportion to provide for substantial areas of contact with the shaft to prevent relative movement thereto, and the other free end of "the flatmember'extending'outwardly to a-point portion being movable up'wardly'or downwardly about the axis of the door. knobshaft andfixedlyconnected thereto for turningthe shaft and operating the; latch, H v

4. A lever device forqnon-rotatable attachment directly to a non-circular shaftina knob operateddoor latchhaving a face plate knobgeceiving-bearing', said lever device comprising an-elongated lever ;body, said. lever body having a concave-convex portion near one end thereof projecting therefrom and a.non-circular.aperture with tongues at the edges thereof projecting laterally outwardly of the convex surface for insertablyreceiving the shaft in nonrotatable relation, the concavity and convexity of the concave-convex portion being of a size and shape to be at least partially received within the face plate knob bearing and of a size to receive a portion of the shank of a door knob whereby the lever will be maintained in a definite radial position with respect to the shaft and the door knob and face plate while permitting the lever to pivot with the shaft, an intermediate portion of the lever body extending away transversely from the axis of the shaft and terminating in a web handle portion for engagement with the hand, said web handle portion projecting from the face of the lever opposite to the face from which the concaveconvex portion projects, said web handle portion and said intermediate portion serving as a lever with a mechanical advantage to provide for ease of operation of the door latch.

5. A lever handle for attachment to the shaft of a door latch device between a face plate of the latch and a door knob comprising an elongated lever having a concaveconvex formation and a non-circular opening at one end thereof and of a size and shape to be at least partially received within the face plate and adjacent the door knob and to snugly engage the latch operating shaft and having means to prevent angular movement of said lever with closed by engagement with the handle portion of said lever.

6. The invention according to claim 5 in which a handle portion projects substantially radially from the aperture to provide for use of identical levers on both sides of the door.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,538,438 Lawrence et a1 May 19, 1925 1,603,722 Stanley Oct. 19, 1926 1,624,051 Hansen Apr. 12, 1927 1,818,612 Floraday Aug. 11, 1931 2,254,040 Kuckhotf Aug. 26, 1941 2,355,978 Keeler Aug. 15, 1944 2,733,942 Palmer Feb. 7, 1956 2,801,122 Sutter July 30, 1957