GB1599417A

GB1599417A - Latch locks

Info

Publication number: GB1599417A
Application number: GB17533/77A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Lowe and Fletcher Ltd
Current assignee: Lowe and Fletcher Ltd
Priority date: 1977-04-27
Filing date: 1977-04-27
Publication date: 1981-09-30
Also published as: DE2818015A1; FR2388967B3; BE866486A; NL7804262A; SE7804791L; FR2388967A1

Description

(54) IMPROVEMENTS IN OR RELATING TO LATCH LOCKS (71) We, LOWE & FLETCHER 'LIMITED, of Church Street, Willenhall, Staffordshire, a British company, do hereby declare the invention, for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement:- This invention relates to dead bolt operating assemblies, and is particularly concerned with such assemblies which are arranged so that they can be secured against unauthorised operation.

Many public and private institutions, such as schools and sports clubs, provide storage space, such as cabinets or lockers, for use by persons using the institutions to store their personal belongings. It is desirable that such storage facilities be provided with means for preventing operation by unauthorised persons. It has been the practice for the anthority running the institution to provide the necessary securing facilities for these cabinets.

However, such provision has occasioned difficulties for the organising authority since it must be responsible for, for example, collecting and distributing keys and for maintaining the securing devices in good order. Accordingly, there is now a desire on the part of such authorities to be in a position to provide suitable storage facilities for whose securement against unauthorised opening the user of the storage facilities is responsible. In addition, it is desired that, even when the storage facilities are not secured against unauthorised entry, the doors can be retained in the closed position.

Furthermore, any system designed to meet the previous two requirements should also be as effective as possible in resisting unauthorised entry by way of destruction of the operating assembly from the outside.

In accordance with the present invention there is provided a deadbolt operating assembly comprising a door locking arm operating member and a handle member and interengageable cooperating means associated with the operating and handle members and wherein, when the cooperating means are in engagement, they provide for movement of the operating member on movement of the handle member and wherein the handle member is shaped to receive the hasp of a padlock provided by a user of the assembly and to retain said hasp when the padlock is closed, said hasp serving to prevent engagement of the cooperating means so that movement of the handle member is ineffective to move the operating member.

- P?.eThrably the handle member is movable from a first position in which the cooperating means are in engagement to a second position in which the cooperating means are disengaged and said handle member means is arranged to coact with said hasp to prevent movement from said second position to said first position and, preferably also, in said second position, the handle member is able to rotate freely in either direction about an axis extending in the direction of movement of the handle member between said first and second positions irrespective of whether or not said handle member is coacting with said hasp to prevent movement from said second position.

The operating and handle members may be mounted for rotary movement about a common axis and a locking arm may be secured to the end of the operating member remote from the handle member.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, there is provided a hole extending through the handle and adapted to receive said padlock hasp.

The invention also provides a door having mounted therein or thereon a deadbolt operating assembly as defined in any preceding paragraph. The door may further comprise a padlock fitted on said handle member to prevent engagement of the cooperating means.

Thus, in accordance with specified aspects of the present invention, there is provided a system in which the user of storage facilities provided with the deadbolt operating assembly of the invention provides a suitable padlock to prevent unauthorised entry to the storage facilities.

In addition, the handle member may be free to rotate in the situation in which the operating assembly is secured against unauthorised entry so that a person seeking to enter into the storage facilities cannot apply leverage to the handle member so as to break the securing means. A satisfactory device embodying the invention can be made simply and economically.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is an exploded plan view of a deadbolt operating assembly representing a first embodiment of the invention, several of the parts being shown in section or partly broken away; Figure 2 is a longitudinal section of the embodiment of Figure 1 in its assembled condition with the parts in a different position to that shown in Figure l; Figure 3 shows a view similar to that of Figure 2 of the embodiment of Figure 1 but with the parts in a still further position; and Figure 4 is a view, partly in section, of a second embodiment of the invention.

The assembly shown in Figures 1 to 3 is of all-metal construction and consists of a housing body 10 of hollow cylindrical shape having a externally screw-threaded surface 11, so as to be capable of connection by its forward end to an internally-threaded housing head 12. The housing body 10 has a generally cylindrical internal surface which is provided at two diametrically opposed regions adjacent the forward end of the housing body 10 with grooves 13, which are of approximately semi-circular crosssectional shape. At its rearward end, the housing body 10 includes a base 14 having located therein a large cylindrical aperture 15. A stop 16, for cooperation with another stop on the lock barrel to limit pivotal movement of an operating member as explained in detail below, is also provided adjacent the base 14 on the inside surface of the housing body 10.The housing head 12 is provided with a smooth conical exterior surface 17. At its forward end, the housing head 12 has an inturned rim 18, defining a central aperture 19, and at its rearward end, a rear annular surface 20. The operative components of the lock are located in the housing constituted by the housing body 10 and the housing head 12 and these are assembled by engaging the screw threads as shown in Figures 2 and 3. Unauthorised opening of the lock housing is prevented by providing small apertures (not shown), in the rear face 20 of the housing head 12 and in the exterior surface 21 of the housing body 10, when assembled, and locating locking pins (not shown) in these apertures in a conventional manner, so as to prevent the housing body 10 from being detached from the housing head 12 until the locking pins have been extracted.The housing body 10 preferably has a pair of opposed flat surfaces (not shown) where the screw thread is not provided, to facilitate holding of the body 10 in place and also to allow location of the locking pins, as will be readily understood.

Within the housing body 10, an operating member in the form of a lock barrel 22 is located. This comprises a generally cylindrical metal member counterbored at its forward end to provide a deep well 23 and including at its rearward end a cylindrical stud 24 of reduced diameter, terminating in a square head 25. The cylindrical stud 24 is journalled in the circular aperture 15 in the base 14 of the housing body 10 and it also includes a second stop 26 for cooperation with the stop 16 in order to restrict rotation of the lock barrel 22 relative to the housing body 10.

The rearmost face of the lock barrel 22 includes a central tapped hole 27 (Figure 1), which receives the threaded shank of a locking screw 28, which secures a locking arm 29, provided with a square aperture 30 complementary to the square head 25, upon the lock barrel 22. The aperture 30 in the locking arm 29 is placed over the square head 25 and the screw 28 is tightened into place, with the intermediary of a spring washer 31.

At two diametrically opposed locations, the wall 32 defined by the well 23 in the lock barrel 22 is provided with apertures 33, each of which can receive a steel ball 34. In the assembled lock, the apertures 33 are arranged so as to be capable of registration with the grooves 13 in the housing body, as further explained below. At the forward extremity of the lock barrel 22, two rectangular cut-outs 35 are provided in the wall 32 at mutually opposed locations displaced approximately 90C from those where the apertures 33 are located.

A lock barrel carrier 36 forming part of a handle member is located within the well 23 of the lock barrel 22 and is capable of movement relative to it both rotatably and axially, to the extent explained in detail further below. The barrel carrier 36 comprises a cylindrical metal plug at its rearward end which has a counterbore 37.

Between the base of the counterbore 37 in the barrel carrier 36 and the base of the well 23 in the barrel 22, a coiled compression spring 38 is located, the purpose of which is to urge the barrel carrier 36 and the parts attached to it forwardly relative to the lock barrel 22. Approximately hemi-spherical recesses 39 are made in the external face of the barrel carrier 36 at two mutually opposed places and, in operation of the latching assembly, these can be brought into register with the apertures 33, as explained below, so that the steel balls 34 can be lodged partly in the recesses 39 and partly in the apertures 33. The lock barrel carrier 36 includes an enlarged cylindrical head 40 secured to the carrier 36 by a tension pin 40a and including a rearwardly extending opposed pair of rectangular lugs 41, which are disposed on a diameter approximately at right-angles to the recesses 39.The lugs 41 are arranged to fit into the cut-outs 35 in the wall of the lock barrel 22. The head 40 is attached to the rear of a disc-like flange 42 which is a loose sliding fit in the cylindrical interior 43 of the housing head 12, the rim of the flange 42 lodging, when the barrel carrier 36 is located in its most forward position, behind the rim 18 of the housing head 12. The flange 42 is integral with an actuating handle 44 in the form of a flat web which, as shown best in Figures 1 and 3, projects forwardly from the flange 43 and then turns laterally so as to form a lever arm for rotary action.When the latching assembly is located in place in a door, indicated by the chain-dotted lines 45, the laterally-projecting part of the handle 44 stands sufficiently forward of the outer face of the door 45 so that the user's hand or at least some fingers can be put behind the handle 44 so as to pull it forwardly Adjacent the flange 42, a hole 46 is formed in the web constituting the door handle 44 and the portion of the rim of the hole 46 nearest the flange 42 lies in the plane containing the foremost part of the rim 18 of the housing head 12.

Referring to Figure 1, the latch assembly is assembled so that the spring 38 is lodged within the counterbore 37 in the barrel carrier 36 and in the well 23 of the lock barrel 22 and the latter is located over the exterior surface of the barrel carrier 36.

Thus, the spring 38 normally urges the barrel carrier 36 forwardly relative to the lock barrel 22. The steel balls 34 are located in the apertures 33 and, as shown best in Figures 2 and 3, the wall 32 of the lock barrel 22 has a radial dimension which is at least approximately the same as the radius of the steel balls 34. Also, the recesses 39 in the barrel carrier 36 have a depth similar to the radius of the steel balls 34, as also do the grooves 13 in the housing body 10. Thus the steel balls 34 can either be located in the apertures 33 and the grooves 13 when these are in register so as to lock the barrel 36 to the housing body 10, or in the apertures 33 and the recesses 39 when these are in register so as to transfer rotational movement of the handle 44 to the barrel 36.

In order to install the latching assembly, as shown in Figure 2, the housing body 10 is inserted into a prepared hole in a door 45 and is secured by means (not shown) which may consist, for example, of set screws inserted from inside the door and passing into tapped holes formed in the rear surface 20 of the housing head 12. The rear end of the latching assembly, constituted by the rear parts of the housing body 10 and the square end 25 on the lock barrel 22, projects rearwardly of the inside surface of the door and the locking arm 29 is then located in place and secured by means of the screw 28 and the interposed spring washer 31. The only parts of the lock which are visible from the outside therefore are the housing head 12, which cannot be detached from the housing body 10 because of the aforementioned locking pins and the handle 44.The spring 38 urges the handle 44 and the barrel carrier 36 forwardly relative to the rest of the latch assembly, until the flange 42 abuts the back of the rim 18. In this position, the lugs 41 are disengaged from the cut-outs 35 and the balls 34 are located partly in the apertures 33 and partly in the grooves 13 (Figure 2), so that the handle 44 is not rotationally coupled to the locking arm 29 although it is free to rotate.

The latching assembly can be secured in this condition, for instance by passing a security member, e.g. a padlock hasp 47 (Figure 1).

through the hole 46. The door of the cupboard or other storage facility to which the latch assembly is fitted thus cannot be opened, because the handle 44 cannot be depressed so as to engage the barrel 36 and operate the arm 29 becuase the hasp engages the head 12 and coacts with the walls of the hole 46.

Opening of the door to which the assembly is fitted firstly requires the hasp of the padlock or other security member to be removed from the hole 46. When this is done, the handle 44 can then be depressed inwardly against the action of the spring 38 from the position shown in Figure 1, e.g. to the position shown in Figure 2, in which the handle 44 has also been rotated through a right-angle. The rotary movement aligns the lugs 41 with the cut-outs 35 and the recesses 39 with the apertures 33, although these parts are not yet in register. Further axial inward movement of the handle 44, causing further compression of the spring 38, is required in order to achieve this and when this is done the lugs 41 engage with the cutouts 35 and the recesses 39 register with the apertures 33, so that the balls can fall inwardly from the grooves 13.In this condition, additional rotation of the fully depressed handle 44, within the limits allowed by the stops 16 and 26, is transmitted by the balls 34 and the lugs 41 to the lock barrel 22 and from the latter to the locking arm 29. This pivots into the position shown in Figure 3, where it is free from the door frame (48 - Figure 1) or other fixed member (49 - Figure 1) which it normally lodges behind, and the door can be opened.

Closure of the door, without locking, merely involves returning the door to its closed position and reverse rotation of the handle 44 while still depressed (Figure 2).

On release, the spring 38 urges the handle 44 into the foremost position shown in Figure 1, where it can again be secured by means of the padlock or other security member.

Turning now to the embodiment shown in Figure 4 of the drawings, this is a somewhat simpler form of assembly constructed in accordance with the invention. In this embodiment there is provided a one-piece housing body 50 which has a head portion 51 adapted to lie against an outside face of a door 52 shown in chain-dotted outline. The housing 50 also has a shank portion 53 which extends through the thickness of the door.

The housing 50 has a stepped bore therethrough, one step 54 of which is located towards the inner end of the housing 50. An operating member 55 is located in this portion of the housing body and has a flanged portion 56 providing with the remainder of the operating member a step which is complementary to the step 54 in the housing bore. The smaller diameter end of the operating member 55 protrudes from the inner end of the housing bore and has a locking arm 56 secured to it by a screw 57. A wavy washer 58 acts resiliently between the locking arm 56a and the inner end of the housing 50 to provide a frictional force to counter free rotation of the locking arm 56a.

A single-piece handle member 60 is located in and extends outwardly from the outward end of the housing. The handle member 60 has a main portion which is rotatably mounted in the head portion 51 of the housing 50 and has a thumb grip 61 attached thereto. The inner portion of the handle member 60 has a reduced diameter so as to provide a step corresponding to a second step 59 in the housing bore. The reduced diameter portion is of a length to abut the operating member 55 when the handle member is pushed so as to abut the step 59. The end face of the reduced diameter portion of the handle member 60 is provided with a polygonal, in this case rectangular, rearwardly extending tongue 62. A complementary recess is formed in the forward face of the operating member 55. The tongue and the recess are provided on the longitudinal axis of the latch assembly.

The reduced diameter portion 63 of the handle member 60 has a waisted portion 64 and a securing pin 65 extends across the housing bore and within the waisted portion 64 to determine the maximum outward movement of the handle portion 60. A hole 66. extends through the larger diameter portion of the handle member and is so located that its periphery closest to the waisted purtion 64 is substantially coplanar with the forward face of the head 51 of the housing 50 when the handle member 60 is in its extreme outward position. In this outward position the tongue 62 is disengaged from its recess in the operating member 55.

In this embodiment also, therefore, axial outward movement of the handle member 60 disengages the handle member from the operating member 55 and means that rotation of the handle member has no effect on the locking arm 56a. Also, in this outward position of the handle member it is possible to introduce the hasp of a padlock into the hole 66 and this hasp coacts with the hole 66 and the head 51 to prevent axial inward movement of the handle member 60 and therefore prevents engagement of the tongue 62 in its corresponding recess and movement of the operating member 55 and locking arm 56a upon rotational movement of the handle member 60 which is still possible. Removal of the hasp from the hole 66 allows the handle 60 to be pushed axially inwardly and the tongue 62 to engage in its recess.Rotation of the handle member 60 now effects movement of the operating member 58 and the locking arm 56a to close or open the door.

The construction of assembly described with reference to Figures 1 to 4 therefore provides for the closing of a door to which the latching assembly is fitted and the ability to hold the door in the closed position without the need for a lock or other security device to be actuated. It is open to the user of the storage facility provided with the door and operating assembly to provide a suitable padlock for locking the storage facility against unauthorised entry in the manner described above. Also, unauthorised entry into the storage facility is rendered difficult by the fact that the handle member is free to rotate. It is also difficult, therefore, for the handle assembly to be damaged by somebody attempting to effect unauthorised entry.

The present invention has been described with particular reference to constructions in which the handle member is moved axially with respect to the operating member in order to engage and disengage the respective cooperating means on the two members to provide for movement, or otherwise, of the operating member and the attached locking arm. The invention contemplates other constructions. In one alternative construction the tongue 62 is not made integral with the handle member 66 but is the end of a pin member extending axially of the handle member and intersecting the hole therein. The pin member is so arranged and formed that insertion of a shackle into the hole has the effect of withdrawing the tongue from the recess.In another construction, the operating member is arranged about an axis which is paralled to but displaced from the axis of the handle member and the handle member and the operating member are provided with respective gear elements which can intermesh on relative axial movement of the handle member to the operating member. In yet another construction, the operating member is in the form of a plane ratchet member capable of reciprocal movement in the linear direction and provided with teeth for engagement with teeth on a corresponding gear element on an axially movable handle member. In another construction representing a modification on the construction shown in Figures 1 to 4, the aperture or hole 66 and 46 is replaced by a groove around the periphery of the handle member in the same general location as the hole which it replaces.A hasp can then be placed in the groove so as to abut against the head of the housing when the handle is moved to its axially outwardmost position.

It will be understood that all the constructions described in the preceding paragraph provide the same facets of the present invention, namely the requirement for the user of the assembly to provide a suitable ancillary locking device, a disengagement of the handle member from the operating member when the assembly is utilised with a padlock to provide a defence against unauthorised entry, and the provision that the handle is freely rotatable when the assembly is secured against unauthorised entry.

WHAT WE CLAIM IS: 1. A dead bolt operating assembly comprising a door locking arm operating member and a handle member and interengageable cooperating means associated with the operating and handle members and wherein, when the cooperating means are in engagement, they provide for movement of the operating member on movement of the handle member and wherein the handle member is shaped to receive a hasp of a padlock provided by a user of the assembly and to retain said hasp when the padlock is closed said hasp serving to prevent engagement of the cooperating means so that movement of the handle member is ineffective to move the operating member.

2. An assembly according to claim 1, wherein the handle member is movable from a first position in which the cooperating means are in engagement to a second position in which the cooperating means are disengaged and said handle member means is arranged to coact with said hasp to prevent movement from said second position to said first position.

3. An assembly according to claim 2 wherein, in said second position, the handle member is able to rotate freely in either direction about an axis extending in the direction of movement of the handle member between said first and second positions irrespective of whether or not said handle member is coacting with said hasp to prevent movement from said second position.

4. An assembly according to any preceding claim in which said operating and handle members are mounted for rotary movement about a common axis.

5. An assembly according to claim 4 wherein an arm for locking a door is secured to the end of the operating member remote from the handle member.

6. An assembly according to claim 4 or 5 wherein said cooperating means comprise a tongue of polygonal cross-section on one of said handle and operating members and an aperture of complementary cross-section on the other of said members.

7. An assembly according to any preceding claim wherein said handle member is provided with a hole extending through said handle and adapted to receive said padlock hasp.

8. An assembly according to any preceding claim further comprising a housing in which said handle and operating members are mounted.

9. An assembly according to claim 8 when dependent directly or indirectly on claim 2 wherein, in said second position of the handle member, the portion of said handle member shaped to receive said hasp lies immediately outside the housing and said hasp when received therein is able to act against said housing to prevent movement of the handle member to the first position.

10. An assembly according to claim 8 or claim 9 further comprising means for holding said operating member fixed with respect to said housing when the cooperating means are disengaged.

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. members to provide for movement, or otherwise, of the operating member and the attached locking arm. The invention contemplates other constructions. In one alternative construction the tongue 62 is not made integral with the handle member 66 but is the end of a pin member extending axially of the handle member and intersecting the hole therein. The pin member is so arranged and formed that insertion of a shackle into the hole has the effect of withdrawing the tongue from the recess. In another construction, the operating member is arranged about an axis which is paralled to but displaced from the axis of the handle member and the handle member and the operating member are provided with respective gear elements which can intermesh on relative axial movement of the handle member to the operating member.In yet another construction, the operating member is in the form of a plane ratchet member capable of reciprocal movement in the linear direction and provided with teeth for engagement with teeth on a corresponding gear element on an axially movable handle member. In another construction representing a modification on the construction shown in Figures 1 to 4, the aperture or hole 66 and 46 is replaced by a groove around the periphery of the handle member in the same general location as the hole which it replaces. A hasp can then be placed in the groove so as to abut against the head of the housing when the handle is moved to its axially outwardmost position. It will be understood that all the constructions described in the preceding paragraph provide the same facets of the present invention, namely the requirement for the user of the assembly to provide a suitable ancillary locking device, a disengagement of the handle member from the operating member when the assembly is utilised with a padlock to provide a defence against unauthorised entry, and the provision that the handle is freely rotatable when the assembly is secured against unauthorised entry. WHAT WE CLAIM IS:

1. A dead bolt operating assembly comprising a door locking arm operating member and a handle member and interengageable cooperating means associated with the operating and handle members and wherein, when the cooperating means are in engagement, they provide for movement of the operating member on movement of the handle member and wherein the handle member is shaped to receive a hasp of a padlock provided by a user of the assembly and to retain said hasp when the padlock is closed said hasp serving to prevent engagement of the cooperating means so that movement of the handle member is ineffective to move the operating member.

11. A door having mounted therein or

thereon a dead bolt operating assembly as claimed in any preceding claim.

12. A door according to claim 11 further comprising a padlock iftted on said handle member to prevent engagement of said cooperating means.

13. A door latching assembly substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 1 to 3 or Figure 4 of the accompanying drawings.