WO2003083237A2

WO2003083237A2 - Locking mechanisms

Info

Publication number: WO2003083237A2
Application number: PCT/GB2003/001433
Authority: WO
Inventors: Glen William Wallis
Original assignee: Mila Hardware Limited
Priority date: 2002-04-02
Filing date: 2003-04-02
Publication date: 2003-10-09
Also published as: GB0207579D0; WO2003083237A3; AU2003222957A8; AU2003222957A1

Abstract

A locking mechanism is provided comprising a mechanical lock (11) having an operating member (16) which can be operated manually from one side of the lock (11), the operating (16) member being such that it is not easily operable by a small child. Such a locking mechanism overcomes the disadvantages of prior art locking mechanisms and reduces the risk that a small child can operate the locking mechanism and wander out of a building fitted with the locking mechanism (11). In a preferred embodiment the operating member (16) comprises a knob which has depressed and then rotated, in order to operate the locking mechanism (11).

Description

LOCKING MECHANISMS

The invention relates to locking mechanisms.

Cylinder locks, for example for use with access doors of domestic properties, are well known, the locks being mechanically operable from the inside or the outside, by means of a key.

While the known locking mechanisms provide a high degree of security against unauthorised access, a disadvantage is that if an occupant of the property has to leave the property hurriedly, for example in an emergency such as a fire, they have to find the key and insert it into the lock before they can operate the lock and escape.

The invention provides a locking mechanism which does not suffer from this disadvantage.

The invention provides a locking mechanism comprising a mechanical lock having an operating member which can be operated manually from one side of the lock, the operating member being such that it is not easily operable by a small child.

Such a locking mechanism overcomes the disadvantage of the prior art locking mechanisms but reduces the risk that a small child can operate the locking mechanism and wander out of a building fitted with locking mechanism.

Preferably the locking mechanism is also operable from the other side, by means of a key.

The operating member may be a rotatable operating member. The operating member may be such that it has to be depressed to engage cooperating drive members, before it is rotated, in order for it to operate the locking mechanism.

Preferably the locking mechanism has a rotatable drive member adjacent to the operating member, the drive member and operating member having a cooperating projection and recess arrangement such that when the operating member is depressed, it becomes drivingly engaged with the drive member.

Preferably the operating member is biased, for example by means of a spring, into a position in which it is not in driving engagement with the driving member.

The invention includes a door, window or other openable panel fitted with a locking mechanism according to the invention.

The invention includes a building, for example a domestic property, fitted with a locking mechanism according to the invention.

By way of example, a specific embodiment of the invention will now be described, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a locking mechanism according to the invention;

Figure 2 is a side view showing the cylinder lock of the mechanism;

Figure 3 is a perspective view showing internal components of the locking mechanism in an inoperative condition; and

Figure 4 shows the components of Figure 3 in the operative position. Figure 1 shows the side plate 10 of a door for a domestic property (not shown). Attached to the side plate 10 is a locking mechanism indicated generally at 11 which is conventional, apart from the lock cylinder mechanism indicated generally at 12.

The locking mechanism has a spring catch 13 to retain the door in the closed position when the lock is unlocked, this catch being releasable by means of a conventional handle (not shown).

The locking mechanism also has a deadbolt 14 operable by the cylinder lock mechanism 12 as described below.

The mechanism 12 is shown in Figure 2 removed from the conventional locking mechanism 11. The mechanism shown in Figure 2 can be operated in a conventional manner from outside the property by inserting a key into the end 15. However, at the other end of the lock, which will be on the inside of the property, there is a manually rotatable knob 16.

Rotation of the knob 16, as described below, from inside the building, or operation of the key, from outside the building, rotates a cam 17 which can project or retract the deadbolt 14 by means of a conventional linkage (not shown).

The cylinder lock is shown removed from its outer casing in Figures 3 and 4.

The cam 17 is connected to the cylinder 18. At its inner end the cylinder 18 has a projection in the form of a tongue 19.

The outer end 20 of the knob 16 has a slot 21 therein.

When it is desired to operate the lock from outside the property, a key is used in the conventional manner. However, when it is desired to operate the locking mechanism from the interior of the property, the knob 16 is used. The knob is normally biased into the position shown in Figure 3 by means of a compression spring 22, so the tongue 19 does not engage in the slot 21. Thus simply turning the knob 16 will not operate the locking mechanism.

If a householder wishes to exit the property, they must first depress the knob 16 to compress the spring 22. This causes the components to move into the position shown in Figure 4 in which the tongue 19 engages in the slot 21. The spring is not shown in Figure 4 to aid the visibility of the other components.

With the components in the position shown in Figure 4, the knob 16 can be rotated to operate the cam 17 and hence the deadbolt 14.

The strength of the spring 22 is selected to make it difficult for a small child to depress the knob. Thus the mechanism makes it possible for an adult to escape from the property quickly, for example in the event of an emergency such as a fire, but reduces the risk that the young child might wander out of the property.

The reader's attention is directed to all papers and documents which are filed concurrently with or previous to this specification in connection with this application and which are open to public inspection with this specification, and the contents of all such papers and documents are incorporated herein by reference.

All of the features disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings), and/or all of the steps of any method or process so disclosed, may be combined in any combination, except combinations where at least some of such features and/or steps are mutually exclusive. Each feature disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings), may be replaced by alternative features serving the same, equivalent or similar purpose, unless expressly stated otherwise. Thus, unless expressly stated otherwise, each feature disclosed is one example only of a generic series of equivalent or similar features.

The invention is not restricted to the details of the foregoing embodiment(s). The invention extends to any novel one, or any novel combination, of the features disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings), or to any novel one, or any novel combination, of the steps of any method or process so disclosed.

Claims

1. A locking mechanism comprising a mechanical lock having an operating member which can be operated manually from one side of the lock, the operating member being such that it is not easily operable by a small child.

2. A locking mechanism as claimed in Claim 1 , in which the locking mechanism is also operable from the other side, by means of a key.

3. A locking mechanism as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2, in which the operating member is a rotatable operating member.

4. A locking mechanism as claimed in Claim 3, in which the operating member is such that it has to be depressed to engage cooperating drive members, before it is rotated, in order for it to operate the locking mechanism.

5. A locking mechanism as claimed in Claim 4, in which the locking mechanism has a rotatable drive member adjacent to the operating member, the drive member and operating member having a cooperating projection and recess arrangement such that when the operating member is depressed, it becomes drivingly engaged with the drive member.

6. A locking mechanism as claimed in Claim 5, in which the operating member is biased into a position in which it is not in driving engagement with the driving member.

7. A locking mechanism as claimed in Claim 6, in which the operating member is biased by means of a spring.

8. A door, window or other panel fitted with a locking mechanism as claimed in any one of the preceding claims.