AU2020200633A1

AU2020200633A1 - Pull handle entrance lock assembly with dead lock and privacy function

Info

Publication number: AU2020200633A1
Application number: AU2020200633A
Authority: AU
Inventors: James Yu
Original assignee: CLASSIC HARDWARE SUPPLIERS Pty Ltd
Current assignee: CLASSIC HARDWARE SUPPLIERS Pty Ltd
Priority date: 2020-01-29
Filing date: 2020-01-29
Publication date: 2021-08-12

Abstract

The pull handle entrance lock assembly comprises a latch mortise lock 5, a key operable lock cylinder 28 to engage the dead bolt member 8 and latch member 9, a latch operating mechanism contained within a housing portion 13, 14 located on the internal and external side of the door, a rotatable spindle 10 that is adapted to co operate with the latch mortise lock 5, and a privacy mechanism adapted to co operate with the latch operating mechanism either to allow or prevent rotation of the spindle 10. The latch operating mechanism includes a manually engageable trigger 22, 23 extending through an opening in the housing portion 13, 14, which when engaged causes an actuating member 11, 12 within the housing portion to move from a first position to a second position to cause rotation of the spindle 10. 1/2 1A VF lB 14 i=2 18 29 23 4 2 24 IE 1D 13 6 8 17 5 9 22 7 1G I 2718 1H 10 & 17 27- k - -15 16 11 14 -23 A 30 A B OA 19 20 C B '12 C - 2 24 c2 26 21 11 -25 0-C (12) B-B(10) A-A(1 1) FIGURE1I

Description

1/2

1A VF lB 14

i=2

18

29 23

4 2

24

IE 1D 13 6

8 17

5

9 22

7

1G I

2718

16 27- k 1H- 10

11 & -15 17

A 14 -23 30 A

B OA 19 20 C B '12 C - 2 24 c2 26 21 11

-25 0-C (12) B-B(10) A-A(1 1)

FIGURE1I

PULL HANDLE ENTRANCE LOCK ASSEMBLY WITH DEAD LOCK AND PRIVACY FUNCTION FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] This invention relates to pull handles and entrance lock assemblies which may include latch mortise dead locks and cylinders.

BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION

[0002] Entrance dead locks are known to provide security. They have been requested by many Australian insurance companies and are often needed for an application for a home and contents insurance policy to be successful.

[0003] One known type of dead lock is key operated from both sides of the door to which the lock is fitted. Such a lock can present problems in an emergency situation when a person inside the dwelling or locked space must have access to or find a key to unlock the dead lock. In the pressure of an emergency situation, this can be a difficult task and precious time may be lost in finding a key. It is therefore desirable to provide an entrance lock which is not only capable of being key locked from the inside or outside, but also which has a manually operable privacy locking mechanism for locking the door from the inside.

[0004] Our Australian patent application AU 2004100100 discloses a dead lock construction with a first dead lock member which is key operable by means of a key from the inside or outside, and a second dead lock member which is operable by a manually operated lever actuator from the inside to provide a privacy function.

[0005] Our Australian patent application au 2004100601 also discloses a roller-bolt dead bolt with a privacy function configured for pull handles.

[0006] Recently there has been a new trend in residential and commercial architecture with the use of a thick architrave on an entrance door becoming increasingly in demand. However, the designs of the above identified patent applications are not suitable for such an entrance door with a relatively thick architrave. Lever handles can not be installed because of the thick architrave, and a roller-bolt entrance lock can fail to keep the door in position in windy conditions. Roller-bolt entrance lock doors may also fail to keep the door securely in place when they are directly exposed to sunlight, as the timber door will bow from excessive heat exposure, causing the roller-bolt to be misaligned.

[0007] There have been attempts to address this issue by using a separate locking and latching mechanism. For example, in commercial glass doors, solutions have included situating the lock at the edge door frame so it is out of sight. While this solution makes the lock or latch less visible, it is inconvenient and impractical especially for residential use where the door lock and latch is frequently used.

[0008] It is therefore desirable to provide an alternative type of handle - a pull handle incorporating a latch mortise dead lock and cylinder with a privacy function, where the latch is designed to keep the securely door in place.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0009] The invention provides for a pull handle entrance lock assembly incorporating a latch mortise lock, a key-operable lock cylinder to engage the dead bolt member and latch member, with the lock having at least one key-operable dead lock member and a latch member; a latch operating mechanism including a rotatable spindle for operating the latch member, and a privacy mechanism adapted to co operate with the latch operating mechanism either to allow or prevent rotation of the spindle.

[00010] In one preferred arrangement, the pull handle entrance lock assembly comprises a housing portion which houses the privacy and latch operating mechanism. The housing portion may or may not house the key cylinder. The housing portion may be affixed to the pull handle or may come as a separate piece to the rest of the pull handle to be used universally with different handle designs.

[00011] This preferred arrangement with the latch and privacy operating mechanism incorporated within the pull handle design allows users to operate the latch mechanism with ease while they are pushing or pulling the handle. The location of the latch and privacy operators behind the front facing surface of the pull handle allows for a more minimalistic architectural design, as it does not detract visually from the appearance of the handle. Unlike common pull handle entrance lock assemblies where the lock cylinder is located separately from the pull handle, in this invention, the lock cylinder is installed through the pull handle, allowing users to operate the key cylinder and latch mortise lock on the front facing surface of the pull handle. The present invention also overcomes current issues with lever handles coming into contact with thick architraves; where conventional door handles describe a horizontal lever member that operates in a downward pivoting movement, potentially hitting the architrave or protruding door design elements, the present invention describes a latch-operating trigger located on the side of the housing portion. The invention provides greater security and functionality than conventional roller-bolt door handles which do not have a latch mechanism to secure the door in place in windy or sunny weather conditions.

[00012] In one embodiment, the latch operating mechanism includes a trigger which when engaged, causes another actuating member to move between a first position and a second position to cause rotation of the spindle. Preferably, the entrance lock assembly includes a manually engageable trigger for operating the latch. The trigger may be in the form of a retractable member, such as a push button, a rotatable member, such as a turn piece, or a sliding member, such as a slider. The manually engageable latch-operating trigger preferably protrudes from the housing portions. The latch operating mechanism may be arranged to translate translational or rotational movement of the manually engageable latch-operating trigger into rotational movement of the actuating member and hence spindle.

[00013] The privacy mechanism is located on the internal side of the door and is preferably operated by a manually engageable member which may be in the form of a retractable member, such as a push button, a rotatable member, such as a turn piece, or a sliding member, such as a slider.

[00014] The privacy mechanism preferably includes a manually operable restraining member, located on the internal side of the door, which prevents the movement of the latch actuating member between the first and second positions on the external side of the door. The restraining member may be movable between one position or orientation which allows movement of the actuating member from the external side of the door and another position or orientation which prevents movement of the actuating member from the external side of the door.

[00015] This invention may be adapted for different uses; for example, it may be compatible with different types of latch mortise locks, and it may be compatible with previously installed latch mortise locks and pull handles.

[00016] This invention may also be used in conjunction with a latch mortise lock, such as a fire escape latch mortise lock, that can simultaneously release the latch and dead bolt with one action from the internal side of the door, to provide increased accessibility and safety. Engaging the latch-operating trigger on the internal side of the door will allow the latch and dead bolt of the fire escape latch mortise lock to be released simultaneously thereby providing greater accessibility and safety in emergency situations when it is desirable to exit expediently without relying on a key to unlock the door.

[00017] This invention may also be suitable for internal use where only a tubular latch with or without a privacy mechanism is utilised. In these configurations, a mortise dead lock and key cylinder would not be required.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[00018] An embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[00019] FIGURE 1A is a schematic view of the pull handle located on the internal side of the door;

[00020] FIGURE 1B is a housing portion located on the internal side of the door;

[00021] FIGURE 1C is a lock cylinder;

[00022] FIGURE 1D is a latch mortise lock;

[00023] FIGURE 1E is a housing portion located on the external side of the door;

[00024] FIGURE 1F is a schematic view of the pull handle located on the external side of the door;

[00025] FIGURE 1G is a cross-sectional view of the housing portion located on the internal side of the door;

[00026] FIGURE 1H is a schematic view of the actuating members and the spindle;

[00027] FIGURE 11 is a cross-sectional view of the housing portion located on the external side of the door;

[00028] FIGURE 2 is a cross-sectional view of the housing portion located on the internal side of the door with the privacy member in the first disengaged position;

[00029] FIGURE 3 is a cross-sectional view of the housing portion located on the internal side of the door with the privacy member in the second engaged position.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[00030] Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 shows a pull handle entrance lock assembly incorporating a latch mortise lock, comprising of a pull handle 1, 3 a latch mortise lock 5, a lock cylinder 28, a privacy member 24, and a trigger 22, 23 for operating the latch mechanism for which the external view is shown in Figures 1B and 1E, and the cross-sectional view is shown in Figures 1G and 11. The entrance lock assembly has a key-operable latch mortise lock 5 providing the latch dead lock function, a lock cylinder 28 and a key for operating the latch mortise lock 5. The latch mortise lock 5 as described above may be commercially available lock components. The lock cylinder 28 must be custom-made to be compatible with this pull handle design as it needs so suit the thickness of the door and the projection of the handles.

[00031] The preferred embodiment utilises a latch mortise lock 5 with a spring loaded latch member 9, which is operated by rotation of a spindle 10. The key operated lock cylinder 28 operates the dead bolts 8 and the spring-loaded latch member 9. The mortise lock 5 shown in Figure 1D shows standard latch mortise lock having a body portion and a fascia plate for mounting to an end surface of a door. The latch mortise lock may have a plurality of dead lock members 8 and a spring-loaded latch member 9. As shown in Figure 1D, the main body portion has a through opening 6 for receiving the lock cylinder 28 which is shown in Figure 1C, and a second through opening 7 which is adapted to receive a spindle 10. The spindle rotates to operate the latch 9.

[00032] The spindle 10 may be spring loaded, making the length adjustable to suit different door thicknesses. The spindle element may comprise a single or double spindle depending on the mortise lock that is used; a fire escape mortise lock for example typically has a square slot 7 that receives double square spindles from both the internal and external side of the door.

[00033] As shown in Figure 1C, the lock cylinder 28 has a cylinder cam rotatably mounted within a cylinder body which is arranged to extend through the opening 6 in the body portion of the mortise lock 5 shown in Figure 1D. The lock cylinder 28 operates the dead bolt 8 and the latch 9. The lock cylinder 28 is fixed through the pull handle 2, 4, 6, 17, 18.

[00034] The pull handle 1, 3 are shown in Figures 1A and 1F. The housing portions 13, 14 house the privacy and latch mechanism and may be adapted such that various components of the latch or lock can be contained within or adjoined the housing, such as a lock cylinder.

[00035] The housing portions 13, 14 are diametrically opposed on both sides of the door and are preferably located directly behind the pull handle and affixed to the door face. A person operating the handle, will engage the trigger 22, 33 to operate the latch 9, and will push or pull on the handle to open the door.

[00036] As shown in Figures 1G and 11, the trigger 22, 23 is spring loaded 15, 16. In Figure 1G, trigger 23 on the internal side of the door preferably has two slider components 20, 21; component 20 engages the actuating member 12; component 21 engages the inclined surface of the privacy member 25. The trigger 22 on the external side of the door has a similar configuration, where the gear racking slider component 19 of the trigger 22 engages with the actuating member 11. It should be noted that the latch operating trigger 22, 23 is not limited to that of a sliding member, and can be in other shapes and forms of known latch operators, including a turn piece, push button and lever. Any combinations of triggers and actuating members may be used on either side of the door. The members and components 11, 12, 19, , 21 shown in Figure 1G and 11 illustrate one possible variation of the trigger and spindle mechanism. The purpose of the trigger is to translate a certain movement to rotation of the spindle. The components of the latch and privacy mechanism as shown in the drawings in Figure 1 with a sliding trigger member will be described hereafter.

[00037] The housing portion 13, 14 houses a retractable spring 15, 16 a trigger 22, 23 an actuating member 11, 12 and a privacy member in the housing portion located on the internal side of the door. The manually engageable latch-operating trigger preferably protrudes from the side of the housing portion such that it is accessible to a user gripping the pull handle. The internal portion of the trigger 22, 23 is connected to a spring 15, 16 which is located above the trigger and extends towards the upper inner wall of the housing portion. The spring 15, 16 retracts the trigger 22, 23 back to its disengaged position when the trigger is released. The internal portion of the trigger 22, 23 is an elongated member which slides vertically along the internal wall of the housing portion 13, 14 from which the external portion of the trigger protrudes.

[00038] The housing portion 13, 14 contains an actuating member 11, 12 which can be in any shape or form that is capable of cooperating with the privacy and latch mechanism. Figure 1G, 1H and 11 show the configuration of the actuating members in the preferred embodiment, however, it will be appreciated that the actuating member can be varied considerably to include a variety of other shapes, forms and combinations of the two in the housing portion on the internal and external side of the door. Figure 1G shows the housing portion on the internal side of the door, where the actuating member is a rounded member with two flat sides. As shown in Figure 2, the actuating member has a flat bottom surface 27 and an inclined surface 30. Figure 11 shows the housing portion on the external side of the door, where the actuating member is a rotatable gear wheel that cooperates with a gear racking on the internal portion of the trigger. The actuating members 11, 12 are positioned at either ends of the spindle 10 as shown in Figure 1H and are joined as one rotatable piece.

[00039] As shown in Figure 1G, the privacy member 24 is only included in the housing portion on the internal side of the door to prevent the privacy mechanism from being operated from the external side of the door, as is standard for privacy mechanisms. The privacy member 24 is preferably located on the housing portion wall that is opposite to that on which the trigger is located. The privacy member 24 illustrated in Figure 1G is in the form of a push member that extends laterally from the opening in the housing portion wall, such that it is accessible to a user gripping the pull handle. The privacy member 24 has an inclined surface 25 on the opposite end of the external protruding portion and is positioned closely adjacent to or contacting the actuating member 12, depending on whether the latch and privacy mechanisms are in the engaged or disengaged (retracted) position. It should be noted that the privacy member 24 may be in other forms that are capable of preventing the spindle from rotating, such as a sliding member or turn piece.

[00040] In accordance with a preferred feature of the invention a novel privacy latch mechanism for co-operating with the mortise lock 5 will be described with particular reference to Figures 1G and 11.

[00041] The latch operating mechanism translates translational or rotational movement of the manually engageable latch-operating trigger 22, 23 into rotational movement of the actuating member 12, 13 and hence the spindle 10. Figure 2 shows the latch operating mechanism when both the privacy and latch mechanisms are disengaged (retracted). In this position, the bottom flat surface of the actuating member 27 is above the privacy member 24. The rounded edge of the actuating member 12 that is closely adjacent to the trigger 23, is positioned between the upper and lower sliding components 20, 21 of the internal portion of the trigger, such that when the trigger 23 is moved from a first disengaged position to a second engaged position, the upper sliding component 20 engages with the inclined surface of the actuating member 30. Figure 1G shows the trigger 23 in the fully engaged position where the translational movement of the trigger to the second position causes rotation of the actuating member 12. The actuating members 11, 12 and the spindle are joined as one rotatable piece such that rotation of the actuating member 12 will rotate the spindle 10 which is operably associated with the mortise lock to operate the latch mechanism and retract the latch bolt 9. When the trigger 23 is released, the spring 16 will retract the trigger back to the first disengaged position and the actuating member 12 will be rotated back to the first position.

[00042] Figure 11 shows the housing portion 13 on the external side of the door. The actuating member is in the form of a gear wheel 11 that cooperates with the gear racking 19 on the internal portion of the trigger 22. Similar to the latch mechanism of the internal housing portion 14 described above, when the user engages the trigger 22 from the external side of the door the trigger will slide downwards to a second engaged position and the actuating member 11 will rotate in response to the sliding motion. This will rotate the spindle 10 and hence operate the latch. When the trigger 22 is released, the spring 15 will retract the trigger back to the first disengaged position, which will rotate the gear wheel 11 and spindle 10 back and release the latch 9.

[00043] Figures 2 and 3 show the operation of the latch and privacy mechanism in different stages of operation. Figure 2 shows the latch operating mechanism when the privacy member 24 is not engaged. Figure 3 shows the latch operating mechanism when the privacy member 24 is engaged.

[00044] The privacy latch mechanism includes a rotatable spindle 10, actuating members 11 and 12, and a privacy member 24 which prevent or allow the latch to be operated. The privacy member 24 prevents external operation of the latch 9 when it is in the engaged position as shown in Figure 3. The privacy member 24 is also designed so that the user can operate the latch member 9 from the internal side of the door using the trigger 23 without manually disengaging the privacy member 24; the trigger 23 will operate the latch from the internal side of the door even when the privacy member 24 is engaged, overriding the privacy function. This is shown in Figures 3 and 1G.

[00045] The present invention therefore provides a privacy function in addition to the conventional dead lock function of a mortise lock. It will be appreciated that the privacy function can be used regardless of whether the dead bolts 8 are in the engaged (extended) position or in the disengaged (retracted) position. When the dead bolts 8 are in the engaged position and/or the privacy member 24 is engaged, a user from the external side of the door may still use a correctly shaped key to unlock the mortise lock 5 to retract the dead bolt or latch.

[00046] Figure 3 shows the latch operating mechanism when the privacy member 24 is in the engaged position. When the privacy member 24 is engaged, the latch cannot be operated without a key from the external side of the door because the upper flat surface of the privacy member 26 in its extended engaged position engages with the bottom flat surface of the actuating member 27 to provide a friction force sufficient to prevent unwanted rotation of the actuating member 12 and spindle 10. As shown in Figures 1G and 11, the privacy member 24 is only on the internal side of the door. On the internal side of the door, the privacy mechanism can be overridden by engaging the trigger 23. As shown in Figures 3 and 1G, when the privacy member 24 is in the engaged position and the trigger on the internal side of the door 23 is engaged, the lower sliding component 21 engages with the inclined surface of the privacy member 25 which releases the privacy member 24 from the engaged position. Simultaneously, the upper sliding component 20 engages with the actuating member 12 causing rotation of the spindle to operate the latch.

[00047] The present invention can also be used without the dead bolt mortise lock 5 and key cylinder 28 and with a tubular latch instead. This variation may be suitable for use in passage or privacy doors.

[00048] Persons skilled in the art will recognize that modifications, variations and changes can be made without departing from the concepts disclosed in the accompanying claims.

Claims

THE CLAIMS DEFINING THE INVENTION ARE AS FOLLOWS:

1. A pull handle entrance lock assembly for a latch-operable door comprising; a pair of pull handles, a latch member, and a housing portion located on the internal and external side of the door containing a latch-operating mechanism, the latch operating mechanism comprising an actuating member connected to a spindle which passes through an opening in the door surface, and a manually engageable latch operating trigger, wherein said trigger comprises an internal portion and an external portion, said external portion extending through an opening in the housing portion, whereby in use, is moveable between a first and second position to translate translational or rotational movement into rotational movement of the actuating member and spindle to operate the latch, said internal portion, whereby in use, cooperates with the actuating members.

2. A latch-operating mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the actuating member is in the form of a rounded member with a bottom flat surface and an inclined flat surface and the internal portion of the trigger includes an upper and lower sliding component, said inclined flat surface engaging with the upper sliding component of the internal portion of the trigger, whereby said actuating member rotates in response to movement of the trigger between a first disengaged position and a second engaged position.

3. A latch-operating mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the actuating member is in the form of a gear wheel that is responsive to the movement of the trigger between a first disengaged position and a second engaged position, the internal portion of the trigger having a gear racking that cooperates with the gear wheel.

4. A pull handle assembly according to the above claims wherein the actuating members are positioned at the end of the spindle and are joined as one rotatable piece, the rotational movement of which will operate the latch member, said spindle extending from the external side of the door to the internal side of the door.

5. A pull handle assembly according to any of the above claims, wherein the manually engageable latch-operating trigger is connected to a spring system which urges the trigger the back to the first position when the trigger is disengaged.

6. A pull handle assembly according to any of the above claims, further including a privacy mechanism comprising a manually operable privacy member located on the housing portion on the internal side of the door which can be moved between a first position and a second position to allow or prevent the actuating members and spindle to rotate, and which can be engaged to prevent the operation of the manually engageable latch-operating trigger from the external side of the door.

7. A privacy mechanism according to claim 6 wherein the actuating member located in the housing portion on the internal side of the door has a flat bottom surface that is flush against the upper flat surface of the privacy restraining member when the privacy restraining member it is in the second engaged position, to provide a friction force sufficient to prevent unwanted rotation of the actuating member and spindle to prevent operation of the latch from the external side of the door without the use of a key.

8. A pull handle assembly according to claim 6 wherein the privacy mechanism can be manually overridden by engaging the manually engageable latch-operating trigger on the internal side of the door.

9. A privacy mechanism according to claim 8 whereby engaging the latch operating trigger from the internal side of the door overrides the privacy mechanism by moving from a first to a second position causing the lower sliding component of the trigger to engage with the inclined surface of the restraining privacy member and push the restraining member back to the first position, while simultaneously causing the upper sliding component of the trigger to engage with the inclined surface of the actuating member to rotate the spindle and operate the latch.

10. A pull handle assembly according to any of the above claims, further including a mortise lock that may comprise one or more dead bolts.

11. A pull handle assembly according to any one of the above claims, further including a lock cylinder which extends through a cylinder hole on the face of the pull handle on the internal side of the door, through the door, to a cylinder hole on the face of the pull handle on the external side of the door, said lock cylinder operably associable with the dead bolt function such that dead bolt is key operable from either side of the door to override the privacy mechanism.

12. A pull handle assembly according to any one of the above claims, wherein the latch is key operable from both the external and internal side of the door.

13. A pull handle assembly according to claim 1 wherein the housing portion is a housing component that is connected to and projecting outward from the surface of the door.

14. A pull handle assembly according to claim 3 wherein the gear means includes a gear train.