This invention relates to cylindrical locks for doors, and more particularly to a vandal-resistant cylindrical lock apparatus useful in commercial and other public applications.
A cylindrical lock for a door conventionally includes a spring-loaded retractor for retracting and releasing a latchbolt for unlatching and latching the door. The lock body is mounted in a large bore through the door while the latchbolt is housed in an intersecting smaller diameter bore through the edge of the door. The retractor is operated by rotating either one of an inside handle and an outside handle, with the outside handle generally equipped with a key-actuable lock for preventing rotation of the outside handle. Although cylindrical locks are considered to be economical in terms of their manufacture and installation, they are vulnerable to damage by vandals and burglars such as through destructive manipulation of the cylindrical lock's outside handle. The situation is exacerbated for cylindrical locks fitted with lever handles, as may be required for installation on exterior doors in schools and other public buildings in accordance with applicable regulations, since lever handles exert greater torque on the cylindrical lock assembly than do knob handles.
A more secure type of lock apparatus for a door, although more expensive in terms of both manufacture and installation than a cylindrical lock apparatus, is a mortise lock apparatus in which the latching and locking mechanisms are contained in a rectangular case mounted in a rectangular cavity in the edge of the door. A conventional mortise lock assembly is equipped with a lock cylinder, key-actuable from the outside, which enters the lock case independent of the outside handle. When the key is inserted in the mortise lock cylinder and rotated, a correspondingly rotated cam pivots an included tail piece which trips the locking mechanism within the lock case. In some mortise locks, further rotation of the key causes correspondingly further pivoting of the tail piece for tripping the mechanism for unlatching the door. Since only the face of the mortise lock cylinder is exposed outside the door, the lock cylinder is extremely difficult to grab or remove. Further, since the mortise lock mechanism having a locking and unlocking function typically operates independently of the handles, defeating or destroying the outside handle of an installed mortise lock—unlike a conventional cylindrical lock—gets a vandal no closer to gaining unauthorized access.
In view of this background, there has existed a need for a door lock having the economy of manufacture and installation of a cylindrical lock but with the security advantages of a mortise lock.
The present invention incorporates a cylinder lock device into a cylindrical lock apparatus, combining the security features of a mortise lock cylinder with the manufacturing and installation economies of a cylindrical lock. The cylinder lock device, which is preferably a mortise lock cylinder, is secured to the outside of the door or preferably to the outside of a door trim such as a plate secured to the outside face of the door, with the cylindrical lock mounted to the inside of the plate. A cam secured to and rotatable with the key-actuable mortise cylinder engages the retractor mechanism of the installed cylindrical lock assembly of the present invention for unlatching the latchbolt. The assembly is not fitted with an outside handle for unlatching the latchbolt, and the inside handle preferably includes a key-actuable hold-back feature, employing a lever handle the rotated position of which is indicative as to whether the hold-back feature has been engaged. Another preferred feature facilitates secured removal of the cylinder lock device from the cylindrical lock assembly, such as for re-keying.
A preferred embodiment of an anti-vandal door lock apparatus in accordance with the present invention comprises the combination of: a cylindrical lock assembly including a latchbolt, a lock body having a retractor for the latchbolt, a spindle extending from a first side of the lock body and coupled to the retractor for unlatching the latchbolt upon rotation of the spindle, and a handle secured to the spindle for rotating the spindle; a cylinder lock (preferably a mortise lock cylinder) including a housing and a cylinder actuable for rotation in the housing, the cylinder lock extending from a second side of the lock body opposite the first side; and a cam secured to the cylinder and rotatable therewith, the cam coupled to the retractor for unlatching the latchbolt upon rotation of the cylinder. The cylinder lock is preferably key-actuable for rotating the rotatable cylinder upon rotation of a provided key.
The preferred embodiment may further include a door trim securable to a face of the door, and the lock body is preferably secured to the door trim with the cylinder lock rotatably actuable from one side of the door trim and the handle of the cylindrical lock assembly is rotatable from another side of the door trim opposite the first side. The door trim is preferably a pull plate, including a door-engaging section securable to the door, a pull handle extending from the door-engaging section, and a top edge and a bottom edge tapering toward the pull handle from the door-engaging section.
According to an aspect of a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a hold-back device is provided in the cylindrical lock assembly, including a lock in the handle for locking the spindle when the spindle is in a rotated position unlatching the latchbolt. The handle is preferably a lever handle and is in a rotated position when the spindle is locked in the hold-back position.
The hold-back device is preferably provided by a radial first notch included in a chassis plate of the lock body, the chassis plate rotationally supporting the spindle which includes a second notch in radial alignment with the first notch when the spindle is in a rotated position unlatching the latchbolt; a radially extending member, such as a tab, carried by the spindle and captured by the first notch; and a lock in the handle coupled to the tab for moving the tab longitudinally along the notches, when the notches are radially aligned, between a first longitudinal position captured by the second notch and a second longitudinal position not captured by the second notch. The lock may be a bored cylinder lock having a rotatable tail piece, and the hold-back apparatus may include a rotational-to-translational motion converter carried by the spindle for converting rotation of the tail piece to longitudinal movement of the tab. The bored lock cylinder is preferably key-actuated, in which case a key is provided which is insertable in the bored lock cylinder and rotatable for rotating the tail piece.
According to another aspect of the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the door trim includes an opening, and the apparatus further includes an attachment plate secured to the door trim, the attachment plate including an opening in registration with the opening in the door trim, the openings permitting insertion of the cylinder lock therein, the attachment plate adapted to releasably secure the cylinder lock thereto when the cylinder lock is inserted in the openings. The opening in the attachment plate and the opening in the door trim are configured for facilitating outward withdrawal of the cylinder lock upon rotation of the cylinder with the key inserted therein.
The novel features believed to be characteristic of the invention, together with further advantages thereof, will be better understood from the following description considered in connection with the accompanying drawings in which preferred embodiments of the present invention are illustrated by way of example. It is to be expressly understood, however, that the drawings are for the purpose of illustration and description only and are not intended as a definition of the limits of the invention.
a is a view of the chassis plate shown in
b is the combination shown in
a and 17b represent longitudinal partly cross-sectional views of the outwardly-directed end of a cylindrical lock spindle showing one type of mechanism for translating a spindle tab device during implementation of a hold-back feature in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention.
Turning first to
The words “outside” or “outer”, when used herein in connection with the door 16 or the pull plate 12, refer to the direction or disposition outside the room or building to which the door 16 permits persons to gain entry, and the words “inside” or “inner” refer to the direction or disposition within the room or building served by the door 16. For example, the outside or outer face 24 of the pull plate 12 faces outwardly of the room, shown in
The pull plate 12 is preferably of a type having a midsection 28 for engaging the door 16, an edge 30 preferably astragal extending along the door edge containing the cylindrical lock latchbolt 32 and outwardly of the gap between the door edge and door frame where the latchbolt 32 engages the strike 33 secured to the edge of the frame, and an outwardly extending pull handle 34 along the opposite edge of the pull plate 12. Examples of such pull plates are shown in U.S. Patent Des. 354,670, as well as in U.S. patent applications Ser. Nos. 29/142,165 and 29/142,129, each of which patent and patent applications are incorporated herein by reference. The curved or sloped top and/or bottom edges of the pull plate 12 along the outward extension arm 29 between the midsection 28 and the handle 34, tapering toward the handle 34, in combination with the cylindrical lock apparatus of the present invention increases the anti-vandal advantage of the assembly; e.g., a rope or chain looped about the handle 34 will tend to slip off the pull plate 12 when the rope or chain is pulled.
Except as noted later, the cylindrical lock assembly 18 may be of a type well known in the art, as exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 4,869,083 of DeMarseilles et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 4,428,212 of Best et al., the disclosures of which patents are incorporated herein by reference. In particular, except as modified by the present invention as described herein, the various components of the cylindrical lock assembly 18 shown in
The present invention utilizes one spindle 40 and handle 52, and one chassis plate device 54, which are located inside as shown in
According to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the lock body 56 and spindle 40 assembly is secured to the pull plate 12 with the outwardly facing side of the retractor 36 operatively accessible through the pull plate aperture or opening 22. The outside diameter of the lock body housing may be approximately 2 inches, the height of the retractor 36 may be 1{fraction (3/16)} inches, the length of the retractor 36 may be approximately 1⅛ inches, and the pull plate opening 22 may be approximately 1⅛ inches. The center of the pull plate opening 22 is preferably aligned slightly above the center of the substantially circular lock body housing 58, for reasons that will be apparent later in this description. In one manner of securing the cylindrical lock body 56 to the pull plate 12, the lock body 56 is positioned with the outwardly-directed circumferential edge 74 of the lock body housing 58 adjacent to or contacting the pull plate inner surface 26 (the outwardly directed prongs 76 of the chassis frame 38 having been shortened to permit such positioning), or preferably adjacent to or contacting an attachment plate 78 (see also
The preferred embodiment of the present invention utilizes a lock cylinder of a type conventionally used in mortise locksets, in combination with the cylindrical lock assembly 18, for unlatching the cylindrical lock latchbolt 32 by outside key operation. Mortise locks and the function and operation of mortise lock cylinders are discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,992,195 of Huang et al. and in U.S. Pat. No. 6,178,794 to Eller et al., the disclosures of each of which patents are incorporated herein by reference.
Turning to
The mortise cylinder 21 is secured to the pull plate 12 by inserting the rear end of the cylinder 21 through the pull plate opening 22 with the cam 102 or 104 in operative engagement with the cylindrical lock retractor 36 inwardly of the pull plate 12. Although a threaded nut may be threaded upon the cylinder's threads 96 and inwardly engage the pull plate inner surface 26, it is preferred that securement be implemented by means of the attachment plate 78. The mortise cylinder 21 is positioned in the pull plate opening 22 such that the internal key cylinder 92 is at the 6 o'clock position; when using a mortise cylinder 21 having the longitudinal grooves 98, 98′, the opening 22 may include centrally oriented circumferential protrusions 110 (
The pull plate 12 with the secured lock body 56/spindle 40 assembly and the secured mortise lock cylinder assembly 20, is secured to the outer face 14 of the door 16. In one manner of effecting such securement, the pull plate's rear or inner surface 26 has secured thereto (as by soldering) a plurality of inwardly extending internally threaded posts 116 (such as the six posts 116 shown in
The cylindrical lock body 56 is positioned within the large bored hole 122 (typically 2½ inches in diameter) through the faces of the door 16, intersecting a smaller diameter bore containing the latchbolt unit 32 at the door's edge (such bores being conventional as previously described), and the posts 116 (which are slightly shorter than the width of the door 16) extend within respective bores 124 parallel to and spaced about the large bore 122. An internally threaded spacer hex nut 126 threadedly engages the threads on the tubular portion 70 of the chassis plate device 54 while securing the support plate 118 against the door's inner face. Securement is completed by installing the rose 120 with the screws 128 extending through the apertures in the rose 120 and threadedly engaging the respective internally threaded posts 116, and positioning the rose scalp 130 in place. The handle 52 is then installed onto the spindle 40 with spacer bushing 132 in place. The installation of cylindrical door locks employing a handle 52, a support plate 118, a spacer nut 126, a rose 120, a rose scalp 130, and a spacer bushing 132 is well known; see, for example, the disclosure of U.S. Pat. 4,869,083, incorporated herein by reference.
When installed on a door, the present invention provides a cylindrical lock having increased security against unauthorized entry and vandalism, while permitting free egress and authorized entry. The door may be latched and unlatched from inside by rotating the handle, while the door may be unlatched from outside only with a key in which case entry may be gained by pulling the pull handle 34 of the pull plate 12. Since only the face of the mortise cylinder 21 and its collar 106 are exposed on the outer face of the door, it is extremely difficult for a prospective vandal to grab or remove the mortise lock 21 and to damage the cylindrical lock assembly 18. In a preferred embodiment of the pull plate 12, its overlapping astragal edge 30 prevents destructive access to the cylindrical lock's latchbolt 32 while its curved top and bottom edges tapering toward the pull handle 34 prevent forced entry by a looped rope or chain as previously discussed.
The mortise cylinder assembly 20 may be removed from the pull plate 12 (to permit re-keying thereof), by removing certain of the components of the cylindrical lock assembly 18 situated inside the door. A feature of the preferred embodiment precludes removal of the mortise cylinder assembly 20 without the mortise cylinder key 94 operating the rotatable cylinder 92 of the mortise cylinder 21, as described below.
Turning to
When installing the mortise cylinder 21 on the pull plate 12, the rotatable cylinder 92 is key-rotated until one of the notches 144 on the arcuate cam member 136 is rotationally aligned with one of the longitudinal grooves 98 or 98′ along the mortise cylinder housing 90 and with the portion of the arcuate member 136 between the notches 144 positioned within the upper semicircle of the mortise cylinder housing 90. Alignment of a notch 144 with the groove 98′ is shown in the example of FIG. 16. The pull plate opening 22 is configured with cutouts 146 immediately below the projections 110, each cutout generally conforming to (and slightly larger than) the profile of the end portions 148 of the arcuate cam member 136 between the notch 144 and a cam surface 138. Although the general circular outline of the pull plate opening 22 is of diameter slightly greater than the diameter of the mortise cylinder housing 90, the opening 22 in this preferred embodiment includes at its 6 o'clock position an arcuate extension generally conforming to the portion of the circumference of the disk 134 extending below the circumference of the mortise cylinder housing 90; in
A feature of the invention is the ease of removal of the mortise cylinder assembly 20 from the pull plate 12 and cylinder lock assembly 18, such as for re-keying. Referring to
A hold-back capability may be provided as a feature of the preferred embodiment of the present invention. The handle 52 (
In a conventional cylindrical lock assembly, such as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,869,083 and 4,428,212, the lock body 56 includes both an inner chassis plate device and an outer chassis plate device respectively coupled to an inside spindle and an outside spindle operatively attached to respective inside and outside handles. A conventional outside handle may include a locking device for operating a mechanism in the outside spindle that cooperates with the outer chassis plate device for preventing rotation of the outside spindle while the door is latched in order to prevent the door from being opened from the outside without a key, such as embodied in the commercially available locksets marketed by Sargent Manufacturing Corporation under the designation “10-Line NFW-Line Locks.” The outside handle of such locksets is provided with a bored lock cylinder similar to the bored lock cylinder 162 shown in FIG. 1. The outside chassis plate device is provided with a radial notch horizontally positioned along the direction of retractor retraction and extending from the chassis plate of the outside chassis plate device through its tube portion, for example the notch 168 shown in FIG. 8 and in phantom in FIG. 9. The outside spindle 40 is also provided with a longitudinal notch 170 (see
The hold-back feature of the present invention, in a preferred embodiment, is implemented by employing on the inside of the door 16 the handle with contained bored lock cylinder 162, the spindle 40 configured with the rotational-to-translational motion converter and tab 172 as in FIG. 17—each of which is conventionally employed on the outside of the door—in combination with the chassis plate device 54 according to the present invention.
As shown in
The tab 172 is positioned within and captured by one of the chassis plate notches 180, as shown in FIG. 10.
When it is desired to release the hold-back and return the door to normal operation in accordance with the present invention, the key 184 is inserted in the bored lock cylinder 162 of the handle 52 and rotated in the opposite direction until the tab 172 longitudinally travels beyond the spindle notch 170, releasing the spindle and permitting its rotation for permitting normal latching and unlatching of the door.
The provision of a bored lock cylinder 162 in the handle 52 further assures that re-keying of the mortise cylinder 21 is performed by authorized personnel, since removal of the handle 52 (by conventional push-pin depression of a lever catch in the spindle) from its spindle 40 requires that the key 184 be inserted and rotated in the lock 162. This feature, which is conventional for outside handles, provides added security when applied to the inside handle 52.
Thus there have been described preferred embodiments of a door lock apparatus in which a cylinder lock such as mortise lock cylinder is employed for unlatching a cylindrical lock assembly. The mortise lock cylinder is preferably secured to the outside of the door trim such as a pull plate, with the cylindrical lock mounted to the inside of the pull plate, and the pull plate is mounted to the door, in such manner as to effect an anti-vandal door lock assembly. Preferred embodiments include a hold-back feature, as well as a feature for facilitating secured removal of the mortise lock cylinder as for re-keying, although other preferred embodiments need not include such features. Handles other than the preferred lever handle for the cylindrical lock assembly, including knob handles, may be utilized. Although the two lock cylinders 92 and 162 are preferably key-actuated, other types of actuator devices may be employed, for example electronic, magnetic, optical or computer coded devices. It may be appreciated that other embodiments of the present invention, and variations of the embodiments described herein, may be developed without departing from the essential characteristics thereof. Accordingly, the invention should be limited only by the scope of the claims listed below.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20030019257 A1 | Jan 2003 | US |