US3871694A

US3871694A - Door lock safety release means

Info

Publication number: US3871694A
Application number: US328859A
Authority: US
Inventors: Clarence E White
Original assignee: White Welding and Manufacturing Inc
Current assignee: White Welding and Manufacturing Inc
Priority date: 1973-02-01
Filing date: 1973-02-01
Publication date: 1975-03-18
Anticipated expiration: 1992-03-18

Abstract

Retainer means is disposed at the outer face of a door for holding door fastening means against rotation and maintaining the door locked in closed position. Safety means carried by the door is releasably engageable with the retainer means for normally securing the latter to the door. The safety means is manually operable at the inner face of the door for releasing the retainer means from the door whereby to unlock the door fastening means so that the door may be opened from the inside.

Description

White 11 3,871,694 [4 1 Mar. 18,1975

1 DOOR LOCK SAFETY RELEASE MEANS [75] Inventor: Clarence E. White, Kenosha, Wis.

[73] Assignee: White Welding & Mfg. Inc.,

Kenosha, Wis.

[22] Filed: Feb. 1, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 328,859

[52] US. Cl 293/92, 292/218, 292/340 [51] Int. Cl. "1805c 1/04 [58] Field of Search 292/92, 93, 218, 285, 286, 292/251, DIG. 32, DIG. 53, DIG. 65, DIG.

69, DIG. 71; 70/92, 441, 465; 151/69; 240/1 EL; 116/114 R, 129 L [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 710,896 10/1902 Samson 292/251 2,461,426 2/1949 King 292/DIG. 65 2,636,767 4/1953 Groeger 1 292/DIG. 65 2,784,022 3/1957 North et a1. 292/DIG. 65

2,823,940 2/1958 Squire 292/92 3,120,032 2/1964 Burnette 292/DIG. 65 3,212,805 10/1965 Olander 292/218 3,346,286 10/1967 Wescott 151/62 X Primary ExaminerRichard'E. Moore Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Johnson, Dienner, Emrich & Wagner 57 ABSTRACT Retainer means is disposed at the outer face of a door for holding door fastening means against rotation and maintaining the door locked in closed position. Safety means carried by the door is releasably engageable with the retainer means for normally securing the latter to the door. The safety means i s manually operable at the inner face of the door for releasing the retainer means from the door whereby to unlock the door fastening means so that the door may be opened from the inside.

8 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures PATENTED MAR 1 81975 a &

. l DOORLOCK SAFETY RELEASE MEANS FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to door fastening means for locking in closed position the doors of containers, transport vehicles, and the like, and more particularly to door lock safety release means operable from the inside of a locked door.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Large cargo containers, transport vehicles, or highway trailers having enclosed bodies are provided with a door frame and one or two doors which are adapted to be swung within the plane of the door frame for closing the latter. Frequently, there is provided door fastening means which may be actuated to locked position from the outside of the enclosed body to retain the door or doors within the door frame, and such fastening means is usually designed so that it will not accidentally become unlocked when outward forces are imposed on the doors, for example, as a result of shifting loads within the trailer body. Similar door fastening means are sometimes associated with the door or doors of safety enclosures used for enclosing electrical switch gear, valve boxes, animal cages, and the like. Door fastening means of the type indicated presents one serious hazard: a person accidentally locked within the enclosure cannot open the doors.

One general type of door fastening means for locking a door in closed position includes a revolvable element at the outer face of the door, and retainer means at the outer face of the door for holding the revolvable element against rotation and thus maintaining the door locked in closed position. The present invention is directed to the provision of safety means which is carried by the door for releasably engaging the retainer means and'normally securing the latter to the door, and which is manually operable at the inner face of the door for releasing the retainer means from the door whereby to unlock the door fastening means. Such safety means allows a person, who is locked within the enclosure, to open the door from the inside.

The present invention is also concerned with the provision of light transmitting means in a door adjacent door lock safety release means for transmitting light from the outer face of the door interiorly of the door FIG. 1 is an elevational view of a pair of doors and 1 door fastening means with which the safety release means and the light transmitting means of the present invention are incorporated;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary elevational view of the lower portion of the door fastening means of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view of the safety release means of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is an end elevational view of the safety release means of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional view, taken substantially along the line 55 in FIG. 4, looking in the direction indicated by the arrows; and

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary elevational view showing the door fastening means of FIG. I in released position.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED 1 EMBODIMENT Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown a portion of a vertical wall of a conventional enclosed body 8, for example, of a cargo containeror transport vehicle. The enclosed body 8 is provided with a door frame 10 comprised of horizontal upper and lower structural elements l2 and 14 and vertical side

structural elements

16 and 18. Disposed within the door frame 10 for closing the same are a pair of

doors

20 and 22 which are. respectively, pivotally mounted along their vertical edges to the side

door frame elements

16 and 18 by means of

hinges

24 and 26. To provide a suitable seal in closure, resilient strip material 28 is secured about the edges of the

doors

20 and 22, with the strip material along the vertical free edge of the door 22 being arranged to overlap the vertical free edge of the door 20.

Door fastening means or latching mechanism, which is adapted to secure the

doors

20 and 22 within the door frame 10, comprises a pair of keeper members 30 mounted to the upper and lower door frame elements 12 and 14. Each keeper member 30, as shown in FIG. 2, has laterally spaced forwardly extending

projections

32 and 34. The projection 32 has a lateral opening 36 therein. The projection 34 has a recess 38 therein with an open forward end and with upper and lower

inner surfaces

40 and 42 tapering toward each other in a rearward direction.

Arranged for operative association with the keeper members 30, as shown in FIG. I, is a vertically extending shaft 44 rotatably journaled in

bracket members

46 and 48 suitably secured to the outer face of the door 22. Means for rotating the shaft 44 is provided in the form of a revolvable element or hand lever 50 pivotally mounted to a bracket 51 secured to the shaft 44. The hand lever 50 is normally retained, as shown in FIG. 1, in a conventional seal assembly or retainer means 52 which will be discussed more fully hereinafter.

Secured at the lower and upper ends, respectively, of the shaft 44 are shaft extensions or carrier members 54 and 54'. As shown in FIG. 2, the :shaft extension 54 is formed with first and

second arm portions

56 and 58 adapted to be received, respectively, in the lateral opening 36 and in the recess 38 of the lower keeper member 30. The upper shaft extension or carrier member 54' is formed with arm portions 56' and 58 which are identical to the aforedescribed

arm portions

56 and 58 respectively.

The elements of the described door fastening means are shown in a locked or closed position in FIG. 1. To unlock the door fastening means in a conventional manner, the hand lever 50 is released from the seal as sembly 52 and swung in a horizontal plane toward a forwardly extending position so that the shaft 44 and shaft extensions 54-54 are caused to rotate on their common axis. As the shaft extensions 54-54 are thus rotated, the arm portions 58-58 are removed outwardly of the recesses 38 in the keeper members 30 and the arm portions 56-56 are withdrawn from the openings 36. Thereafter, the

doors

20 and 22 may be swung outwardly of the plane of the door frame 10 to an open position. In closing the door frame It), the

doors

20 and 22 are swung to a position generally in the plane of the frame 10. The hand lever 50 is then pivoted from a forwardly extending position toward the position shown in FIG. 1 whereupon the shaft 44 is rotated for causing the arm portions 56-56' to enter the lateral openings 36 in the keeper members 30 and for causing the arm portions 58-58 to be engaged in the recesses 38. After the arm portions 5656 and 5858 have been disposed in full locking engagement with the keeper members 30, the hand lever 50 is secured within the seal assembly 52. For further details concerning the construction and operation of the door fastening or lock means described above, reference may be had to United States letters Patent 3,212,805, issued on Oct. 19, 1965 to Roland .l. Olander.

Referring now to FIGS. 3 and 4, there will be described the door lock safety release means of the present invention. The door 22, in which the safety release means is mounted, comprises an outer panel 60 and an inner panel 62. The retainer means 52, with which the safety release means is cooperatively related, comprises a base member 64 normally abutting the outer face of the door panel 60, a pair of fasteners 66 with the inner ends being received in bores 68 formed in the door panel 60, and an axial hub 70 extending through an aperture 72 in the door panel 60 and projecting into the door 22. The hub 70 is interiorly threaded as at 74.

The safety means, which is associated with the retainer means 52, comprises a rotatable release handle 76 which includes an axial shank 78 and a transverse hand grip 80. The outer end portion of the handle shank 78 is exteriorly threaded as at 82, and the threaded portion 82 normally has threaded engagement with the threaded hub 70. The mounting means for the rotatable release handle 76 comprises a plate member 84 which is suitably secured to the door panel 62, and which is formed with a central depressed portion 86. The handle shank 78 is rotatably supported in the depressed portion 86, and adjacent the rotatable support is formed with an annular groove 88. A strap member 90 is suitably secured to the depressed portion 86 of the plate member 84, and is formed with a side slot 92 which is engaged in the annular groove 88 of the handle shank 78. The strap member 90 and the annular groove 88 serve as securing means for preventing axial movement ofthe release handle 76 while accommodating rotation thereof. In assembled relation, the central depressed portion 86 ofthe plate member 84'serves to locate the hand grip 80 in a recessed position. The described safety means releasably engages the retainer means 52, normally secures the latter to the door 22, and is manually operable to release the retainer means 52 from the door 22 in a manner to be described more fully hereinafter.

As best shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, light transmitting means, indicated generally by the reference numeral 94, is provided in the door 22 transversely thereof adjacent the safety means for transmitting light from the outer faceof the door 22 interiorly of the latter to illuminate the safety means. The light transmitting means 94 comprises a cylindrical light transmitting plastic rod 96. The inner end of the plastic rod 96 is threaded into a retaining member or nut 98 suitably secured to the depressed portion 86 of the plate member 84, and the inner end face of the rod 96 is exposed interiorly of the door 22 through an aperture 100 in the depressed portion 86. The outer end of the plastic rod 96 extends through an aperture 102 formed in the door panel 60 and has threaded thereon a retaining member or collar 104, with the outer end face of the bar 96 being exposed at the outer face of the door 22. A suitable resilient O-ring 106 is provided between the retaining member 104 and the door panel 60. Light at the outer face of the door 22 is transmitted by the rod 96 through the door to illuminate the hand grip when the door is in closed position. Preferably, the aperture is formed in the shape of an arrow to indicate the direction in which the hand grip 80 should be rotated to operate the safely release means.

Surrounding the shank 78 of the release handle 76, as shown in FIG. 3, is a sleeve member 108 having an outer flared end 110. The inner end of the sleeve member 108 is suitably secured to the depressed portion 86 of the plate member 84, while the outer flared end 110 pro ects into the aperture 72 formed in the door panel 60. During assembly of the door 22, and after the safety release means has been mounted in position, conventional foamed-in-place insulation 22 is introduced intermediate of the door panels 60 and 62. As will be appreciated, the sleeve member 108 serves to shield the hub 70 and the handle shank 78 from the insulation 112 and other foreign material.

The described safety release means of the present invention allows a person, who is locked within the enclosed body 8, to open the door 22 from the inside. By grasping the hand grip 80 and turning the release handle 76 counterclockwise, as viewed in FIG. 4, the threaded shank 78 serves to thread and force the hub 70 axially outwardly. The retaining means 52 is thereby pushed outwardly and away from the door 22 toward the position shown in dotted lines in FIG. 3, and ultimately falls away from its normal mounted position as the hand lever 50 swings downwardly to the position shown in FIG. 6 when the hub 70 is disengaged from the shank 78. The outward movement of the retaining means 52 effects unlocking rotation of the hand lever 50 and the shaft 44 which causes disengagement of the shaft arm portions 5656 and 58-58 from the keeper members 30. After the latching mechanism has been released, the unlocked door 22 may be pushed open from the inside. The light transmitting means 94 directs enough light interiorly of the door 22 to identify the presence of the safety release means, to illuminate the arrow 100, and to illuminate the hand grip 80 during manual operation. With the door 22 in an open position, the retainer means 52 may be returned to its normal mounted position by turning the release handle 76 clockwise, as viewed in FIG. 4, and threading the shank 78 back into the hub 70.

While there has been shown and described a preferred embodiment of the present invention, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various rearrangements and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

The invention claimed is:

1. For use with an enclosed body having a door frame with upper and lower elements, a door having inner and outer faces and being movable into and out of the door frame between open and closed positions, keeper means mounted on the upper and lower elements of the door frame, a vertically extending shaft rotatably mounted on the outer face of the door and having radially extending arm portions at the upper and lower ends thereof which are engageable with the keeper means for locking the door in closed position, and a revolvable element connected to the shaft for effecting rotation thereof, the combination of: retainer means at the outer face of the door'for holding the-revolvable element against rotation and thus maintaining the shaft arm portions engaged with the keeper means and the door locked in closed position; said retainer means comprising a base member normally abutting the outer face of the door, and an axial threaded hub projecting into the door; safety means carried by the door for releasably engaging said retainer means and normally'securing the latter to the door; said safety means comprising a rotatable release handle having an axial shank with a threaded portion normally in threaded engagement with said threaded hub, and having a hand grip at the inner face of the door; securing means for preventing axial movement of said release handle in either direction while acommodating rotation thereof; and said release handle being manually rotatable at the inner face of the door for threading said threaded hub out? wardly of the door and therebypushing said retainer means outwardly and away from the door whereby to effect unlocking rotation of the revolvable element and the shaft causing disengagement of the shaft armportions from the keeper means so that the door may be opened from the inside of the enclosed body.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said safety means includes a plate member secured to the inner face of the door, and said shank of said release handle is rotatably supported in said plate member.

3. The combination of claim 2 wherein said securing means is comprised of an annular groove formed in said shank of said release handle, and a strap member secured to said plate member and having a side slot engaged in said annular groove.

4. The combination of claim 3 wherein said plate member has a central depressed portion for locating said hand grip of said release handle in a recessed position.

5. The combination of claim 4 including a sleeve member secured at its inner end to said plate member and surrounding said shank of said release handle whereby to shield said shank from foreign material.

6. The combination of claim 4 including light transmitting means in the door adjacent said safety means for transmitting light from the outer face of the door interiorly of the door to illuminate said safety means.

7. The combination of claim 6 wherein said light transmitting means comprises a light transmitting plastic rod having one end face exposed at the outer face of the door and the other end face exposed at said central depressed portion of said plate member.

8. The combination of claim 7 including a retaining member carried by the door for receiving the inner end of said plastic rod, and a collar member on the outer end of said plastic rod for securing said outer end at the outer face of the door.

Claims

1. For use with an enclosed body having a door frame with upper and lower elements, a door having inner and outer faces and being movable into and out of the door frame between open and closed positions, keeper means mounted on the upper and lower elements of the door frame, a vertically extending shaft rotatably mounted on the outer face of the door and having radially extending arm portions at the upper and lower ends thereof which are engageable with the keeper means for locking the door in closed position, and a revolvable element connected to the shaft for effecting rotation thereof, the combination of: retainer means at the outer face of the door for holding the revolvable element against rotation and thus maintaining the shaft arm portions engaged with the keeper means and the door locked in closed position; said retainer means comprising a base member normally abutting the outer face of the door, and an axial threaded hub projecting into the door; safety means carried by the door for releasably engaging said retainer means and normally securing the latter to the door; said safety means comprising a rotatable release handle having an axial shank with a threaded portion normally in threaded engagement with said threaded hub, and having a hand grip at the inner face of the door; securing means for preventing axial movement of said release handle in either direction while acommodating rotation thereof; and said release handle being manually rotatable at the inner face of the door for threading said threaded hub outwardly of the door and thereby pushing said retainer means outwardly and away from the door whereby to effect unlocking rotation of the revolvable element and the shaft causing disengagement of the shaft arm portions from the keeper means so that the door may be opened from the inside of the enclosed body.