Field of Search:
292/92,355,210,348,349,354,202 70/92
Claims:
What I claim is
1. A lock handle assembly for a door comprising,
2. A lock handle assembly as claimed in claim 1 wherein means are provided for retaining said cam in its retaining position relative to said shaft.
3. A lock handle assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein said rotor is formed as a bracket having a U-shaped end with an opening in opposite sides of said U-shaped end through which said shaft passes and said securing means extends between opposite sides of said U-shaped end and is moveable into engagement with said shaft.
4. A lock assembly for a door comprising,
Description:
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION
Many types of externally locking handles which are in use on garage doors, campers, mobile homes, cabinets, motor homes, baggage, storage compartments, etc., are designed only for operation from the outside of a door. Once a door is locked from the outside there is no way of opening the door from the inside without special tools. Release from the inside can be very important from a safety standpoint where children and even adults may become accidentally trapped or locked within.
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
The present invention overcomes the deficiencies of the prior lock handles by providing a novel means of quickly releasing the locked handle from the inside in case of emergency or other need. On many applications this could well provide the only means of emergency exit. As a further feature, the invention provides a novel means of rapidly installing and adjusting the lock handle in doors of different thicknesses and types.
DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
In the drawings:
FIG. 1 is a side view, partially in section, showing the novel lock handle.
FIG. 2 is a front view of the "three" point latch rotor of the lock showing it in a locked position as viewed along lines 2 -- 2 of FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 is a view of the "three" point latch rotor generally similar to FIG. 2 showing the rotor rotated 90° counterclockwise to an unlocked position.
FIG. 4 is a side view of the "three" point latch rotor taken along lines 4 -- 4 of FIG. 3 omitting the release lever and auxiliary locking bolts.
FIG. 5 is a side view of the release lever.
FIG. 6 is a front view of the release lever.
FIG. 7 relates to another embodiment of the invention with a different type latch rotor known as a single point latch rotor.
FIG. 8 is a view of the single point latch rotor of FIG. 7 taken along lines 8 -- 8 thereof.
FIG. 9 is a fragmentary enlarged side view of the release lever of the embodiment shown in FIG. 7.
DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring to FIG. 1, the door handle lock 10 is shown mounted on a door 11 and in locking position with respect to a door frame or jamb 12. The lock includes a handle 13, a shaft 14, a mounting face plate 15 and a latch rotor 16.
Shaft 14 is fixed in handle 13 and journaled for rotation in hub 17 of the mounting face plate 15. The shaft has a square end 19 (FIG. 2) which extends through an appropriate hole 20 in the door. Rotor 16 is removably secured to the shaft end 19 on the inside of the door by a release lever 21. The back side of the rotor has a boss 21' which extends inwardly into the door hole 20 and is journaled for rotation therein.
The rotor 16 includes a central body portion 22 (FIG. 1), relatively thin flat wings 23 and 24 (FIG. 4) extending outwardly away from the body on opposite sides thereof, a latching leg 25 extending outwardly from a side between the wings, and angle shaped overhanging arms 26 and 27 (FIG. 2) spaced away from the wings as at 28 (FIG. 4) but in a plane generally parallel to the wings. Each of the wings has a pin 29 projecting toward the plane of the arms 26 and 27 for a purpose to be discussed later.
When the door handle is in the position shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the rotor latching leg 25 is in locking engagement with the door frame 12. As the rotor 16 is turned counter-clockwise by the handle 13 in the direction of the arrow X in FIG. 2, the rotor will move out of locking in engagement with the door frame 12 and into the unlocked position of FIG. 3.
Now in accordance with the invention, to enable someone locked inside a trailer, cabinet, mobile home, etc. to unlock the handle in case of emergency, there is provided means for releasably securing the latching means to the shaft 14. The means for releasably securing the latching means includes the release lever 21 with a depending finger 30 and cam or eccentric knob 31 (FIGS. 5 and 6).
As shown in FIG. 5 the knob or cam 31 extends at right angles to the depending finger 30. The knob (including lever 21) is pivotally secured to the rotor by a stub shaft 32 which is headed as at 32'. The knob or cam 31 is nested in a socket 33 (FIG. 1) formed in the rotor 16 which breaks out into the bore 34 in the rotor. For a purpose to be described below, knob 31 is somewhat oblong with the distance H (FIG. 6) being slightly larger than the distance W.
When the lever 21 is in the vertical solid line position of FIGS. 1 and 2, the top surface 35 of the knob contacts the underside of the shaft 19. This causes the rotor to be held tightly on the shaft by the wedge action the knob exerts between the shaft and the rotor.
To release the wedge action of the knob, the lever 21 is swung clockwise (FIG. 2) to the dotted line position. Such movement places the thinner side 36 of the knob adjacent the flat of the shaft 19. The rotor 21 can then be pulled off the shaft 19 to thereby release the handle and, in effect, unlock the door.
During normal operation, the lever 21 is held in its retaining position by ribs 37 (FIG. 2) which project outwardly from the outside face of the latching leg 25. Ribs 37 are of sufficient height to allow the lever to be snapped over them by using reasonable hand pressure. The central body 22 of the rotor is relieved as at 38 to allow for swinging movement of the lever 21. An edge wall 39 of the relieved area also serves as a stop abutment for the lever when it is in its retaining position (solid line position of FIG. 2).
In the embodiment of FIGS. 1 to 6, in addition to the locking action provided by the rotor leg 25, two retractable latch bolts 40 and 41 can be actuated by the rotor. The bolts are pivotally secured to the pins 29 on the rotor wings 23 and 24. The right angle arms 26 and 27 spaced upwardly from the wings as at 28 (FIG. 4) extend in somewhat surrounding relation to the respective pins 29. The arms 26 and 27 act as overhanging guards to prevent the bolts 40 and 41 from slipping off the pivot pins 29 in the locked position of FIG. 2 and in the unlocked position of FIG. 3. (In FIG. 3 the bolts are in an unlocked or retracted position relative to the edges of a door.) The bolts are initially snapped onto the pins 29 by rotating the rotor 90° clockwise from the position of FIG. 2 in the direction Z. This places the opening or pockets 42 formed by the open end of the arms facing the ends of the respective bolts, i.e. 180° opposite the position of FIG. 3.
Another embodiment of the invention is shown in FIGS. 7 to 9 which differs from the previous embodiment by using a different type rotor 43.
Specifically, the rotor 43 is somewhat J-shaped. It has a latching leg 44, a short right angle leg 45 and a reverse bend leg 47 extending parallel to the latching leg 44 thereby forming a U-shaped end. Square openings 48 and 49 aligned with one another are provided in the latching leg 44 and in the parallel leg 47 to allow the shaft end 19 to slide therethrough.
Partial circular openings 50 and 51 in the respective latching leg 44 and parallel leg 47 serve as bearing surfaces and break out into the respective square openings 48 and 49.
As shown in FIGS. 7 and 9, the release lever 52 of this embodiment has trunions 53 extending on opposite sides of the cam or knob 54. The width "W" (FIG. 9) of the cam 54 is generally of the same width as the trunion diameter while the height "H" of the cam extends above the diameter of the trunion to thereby provide the eccentric effect wedge locking effect along the surface 55.
In use, the release lever 52 is mounted via the trunions 53 pivoted in the partial circular openings 50 and 51. Release lever 52 is retained in its holding position by a depression 56 formed on the under side of the lever which engages an embossed catch or detent 57 in the rotor latching leg 44.
While a three point lock is shown in the embodiment of FIGS. 1 to 6 and a one point lock in the embodiment of FIGS. 7 to 9, it is within the concepts of the invention to provide any number of combinations of one, two, three or more latching points. Likewise the parts may be made by molding or stamping.
As another feature of the invention, it is clear from the foregoing that the concepts of the invention allow the handle to be applied to doors of different thicknesses. This is easily accomplished since the rotor can be released by the release lever and slid back and forth on the handle shaft 19 until it is in tight engagement with the inside of the door. The release lever is then swung into its retaining position to bring the knob into engagement with the shaft.