This present invention relates to door lock tools, and more particularly, to specialized tools for installing hardware on a door to receive a portable door shelter lock therein, as well as for forming a floor strike to receive a portion of the portable door shelter lock therein for releasably securing the door in a locked condition.
After multiple and ongoing active shooter and workplace violence events, the need for defending/securing oneself in a particular room has significantly increased. While there are an abundant number of current ways to “close”, “latch” and/or “lock” a door, it is the “how” that is of prime concern.
In U.S. Pat. No. 12,227,975 (Schmutter) entitled “System and Method for a Sheltering In Place with Advanced Responder Notification and Ready Access”, whose entire disclosure is incorporated by reference herein, the inventor of the present invention disclosed a novel and inventive door shelter lock (DSL) that is installed at the bottom portion of the door and when activated by the people in the room where the door is located, the door is strongly secured against opening by a malefactor. The locking device itself is stowed in an enclosure in the room and should the people feel threatened, they can remove the DSL from the enclosure and couple it to a “door assembly” which has been previously installed on the bottom portion of the door. A floor strike (i.e., well in the floor) has also been previously formed in the floor to allow a plurality of latch pins to descend from the DSL and into the well when the DSL is activated. The invention of the present application is a specialized tool designed to install the door assembly on the door at the proper location, as well as to form the strike plate in the floor at the proper location. Without this tool, installing the door hardware and the floor strike improperly will result in the DSL not functioning properly. Thus, there remains a need for an installation tool that can address all of the foregoing. The present invention solves these problems.
All references cited herein are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.
An installation tool for simultaneously defining precise locations on a door where a mounting plate is to be mounted and on a floor where a corresponding floor strike must be installed is disclosed. The mounting plate is configured for receiving a door lock (e.g., a door shelter lock) therein and which comprises a plurality of mounting apertures and latch pins, wherein the latch pins are configured to be received into the floor strike to lock the door. The installation tool comprises: a pair of upright panels, each having opposite sides positioned within corresponding U-shaped braces, separated by a distance which can be adjusted such that a first one of the upright panels can be placed against an inside surface of the door and the other one of the upright panels can be placed against an outside surface of the door and the pair of upright panels are configured for being releasably tightened against the door using the adjustment member, and wherein the pair of upright panels comprises a plurality of apertures that correspond to the plurality of mounting apertures on the mounting plate, wherein the U-shaped braces are mounted on a plurality of vertical members that are adjustable in height; and a floor strike template coupled to a pair of the vertical members adjacent the first one of the upright panels, and wherein the floor strike template is configured for positioning on top of the floor and comprising and indicator that defines the precise location of the floor strike.
An installation tool for forming a well in a floor, adjacent a door, into which a floor strike is to be placed is disclosed. The door was previously configured for receiving a mounting bracket thereon to hold a door lock (e.g., a door shelter lock) therein, and wherein the door lock has latch pins that interact with the floor strike to lock the door. The installation tool comprises: a frame upon which is located a base that is adjustable along an axis that is parallel to the door when the installation tool is positioned at the door, and wherein the frame further comprises a coupling assembly for releasably coupling the installation tool to the door; a drill that is mounted to a vertical control assembly that can displace the drill in a vertical direction, and wherein the vertical control assembly is coupled to the base; and wherein the base is configured for being manually displaced along the axis and the drill is activated and displaced downward against the floor to form the well in the floor into which the floor strike is positioned.
A method for precisely defining the locations of a door lock mounting bracket on a door and a corresponding floor strike in a floor and the installation of the same such that a door lock (e.g., door shelter lock) mounted in the bracket consistently and precisely engages the floor strike is disclosed. The method comprises: (a) releasably securing a first installation tool to the door that simultaneously and mechanically aligns locations of mounting apertures in the door lock mounting bracket with a location on the floor for forming a well to receive a floor strike therein; (b) forming a plurality of apertures in the door, corresponding to the mounting apertures, using the first installation tool which comprises a pair of plates that couple to an outer door surface and an inner door surface, respectively, each plate comprising the plurality of apertures; (c) using the first installation tool to define the precise location of the well on the floor; (d) disengaging the first installation tool from the door); (e) releasably securing a second installation to the door using the plurality of apertures in the door, and wherein the second installation tool has a vertically-mounted drill that, when the second installation tool is releasably secured to the door, is fixedly positioned at a precise distance from the door corresponding to the location of the floor strike, and wherein the vertically-mounted drill is displaceable along an axis parallel to the door, and wherein the drill is also vertically-displaceable; (f) activating the drill and lowering the drill such that a drill bit drills down into the floor to form a portion of the well; (g) raising the drill and incrementally displacing the drill along the axis; (h) repeating steps (f)-(g) until the well is formed within the floor; and (i) disengaging the second installation tool.
Many aspects of the present disclosure can be better understood with reference to the following drawings. The components in the drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the present disclosure. Moreover, in the drawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views.
Referring now to the figures, wherein like reference numerals represent like parts throughout the several views, exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail. Throughout this description, various components may be identified having specific values, these values are provided as exemplary embodiments and should not be limiting of various concepts of the present invention as many comparable sizes and/or values may be implemented.
The door shelter lock 20 (DSL, most clearly shown in
As shown most clearly in
The floor strike 32 (
Thus, in view of the foregoing, as one can appreciate, mounting the inner door plate 26, outer door plate 24 (as well as the overall door assembly 22 onto the door 10 at the proper location, as well as forming the floor strike 32 in the precise location in the floor 12) is critical to making the DSL 20 work properly. Not only that, but many doors 10 are skewed in their installation. Arriving at what is shown in
In view of the foregoing, there are no installation tools that simultaneously and mechanically align the location of the DSL mounting brackets 24/26 with the location of the DSL floor strike 32, ensuring consistent and precise positioning for the DSL 20 to engage properly with the floor strike 32. So that is where the door assembly and floor strike installation tools of the present invention come in. They allow for the installers to precisely locate the mounting holes 16 (see
As will be discussed in detail below, forming the precise locations for the holes 16/18 in the door 10 (for mounting the door assembly 22 thereto) and forming the well 14 (to receive the floor strike 32 therein) at the precise location in the floor 12 are accomplished using two devices, a first installation tool or “first jig” 100 (FJ,
FJ 100 is used to generate the mounting holes 16 in the door 10 for the door assembly 22, for key/lock cylinder hole 18 and for marking the floor 12, precisely where the well 14 for the floor strike 32 is to be formed. Once the installer completes the use of Jig 1, it can be removed and the door assembly 22 is installed. Next, SJ 200 is brought into proximity with the inside surface of the door 10 in order to form the well 14 within the floor 12 for the floor strike 32. SJ 200 is a more complex device than FJ 100 since SJ 200 requires the application of a vertically-mounted drill located above an adjustable precision assembly (APA).
It should be noted that, as will be discussed in detail below, FJ 100 has adjustable feet for engaging FJ 100 with the floor 12 and, as such, FJ 100 can be moved slightly aside to allow the placement of SJ 200 at the door but the FJ 100 can be re-engaged with the door 10 to minimize vibration of the door 10 while SJ 200 is operating.
As mentioned, the first step for installing the door assembly 22 is to use FJ 100 to locate the mounting holes 16 and the key/lock cylinder hole 18 on the door 10 while also defining the precise location of the well 14 in the floor 12 for the floor strike 32. To accomplish that, FJ 100 comprises two aperture templates, namely, an outer door template 102A and an inner door template 102B. As can be seen most clearly in
As can be seen most clearly in
Each template 102A/102B has a U-shaped member 124 on the outside surface with a plurality of apertures. The U-shaped member 124 provides an additional thickness to each template 102A/102B to provide a sufficient support surface for bushings 126 that are inserted into the plurality of apertures 128. These bushings 126, when inserted into the plurality of apertures 128, provide precise guidance of a drill bit when forming the mounting holes 16 and the key/lock cylinder hole 18. Next to each aperture 128, there is a small aperture 130; these apertures 130 are provided to receive a lock screw (not shown) therein which stabilizes the bushing 126 in its corresponding aperture 128 during drilling.
If the operator wishes to further stabilize the inner and outer door templates 102A/102B to the door 10 while using the FJ 100, two additional apertures 132 are provided in the templates 102A/102B to receive fasteners (not shown, e.g., screws). Once the mounting holes 16, key and lock cylinder hole 18 are formed in the door 10, the fasteners can be removed from the additional apertures 132.
Once all of the holes 16/18 are formed, the FJ 100 can be completely removed from the door 10. Alternatively, FJ 100 can be used to stabilize the door 10 (e.g., from vibrating, etc.) when the SJ 200 is engaged with the door 10. In particular, once all of the holes in the door 10 are formed, the FJ 100 can be disengaged from the door 10 and then slid toward the hinge side of the door 10 and then re-engaged to the door 10. The FJ 10 can thus stabilize the door 10 from vibration/movement while the SJ 200 is operating because the height adjustment members 118 and the template adjustment members 114 can be releasably secured to the door 10 at the FJ 100′s new position.
Although there are a wide variety of adjustment members that can be used for the template adjustment members 114 and the height adjustment members 118, by way of example only, the adjustment member 114/118 can be activated by inserting a tool (e.g., an Allen key) into the free end of the adjustment members 114/118. Furthermore, it should be understood that it is within the broadest scope of the present invention whereby adjustment of the distance between the two templates 102A/102B, as well as releasably securing the FJ 100 to the door 100, is achieved with a single adjustment member, rather two of them 114. Similarly, it is within the broadest scope of the present invention whereby adjustment of the height of FJ 100 may be accomplished via the use of a single adjustment member rather than four of them 118.
As can be seen in
As can be seen most clearly in
The mobile base 210, as mentioned previously, is movable in the x-direction 211 which is a direction that is parallel to the door's surface, when the SJ 200 is releasably secured to the door 10, as will also be discussed below. An adjustable precision assembly (APA) 214 is provided to permit precise placement of the drill 202 along the x-direction 208. The APA 214 may comprise a lead screw linear actuator 214A (e.g., PBC Linear Actuator) that is manually controlled by the operator using a star knob 214B (
As mentioned previously, the horizontal adjustment of the drill 202 is manually-driven using the star knob 214A. Precisely locating the drill bit is achieved by monitoring a scale 216 (
SJ 200 has to be precisely placed against the door 10 before the drill 202 is activated. To accomplish that, the coupling assembly 204 is used. As shown most clearly in
To couple the SJ 200 to the door 10, the back plate 204B is positioned on the inside surface of the door 10 and the threaded rods 204C are passed through the apertures 16 the door 10 so that they protrude outward from the outside surface of the door 10. The top of front plate 204A has attachment arms 203A/203B that are releasably secured to respective tops of the manually-adjustable vertical actuators 204D and 204E (e.g., MR Mini Rail Mr20-0150-1 Linear Rail). These vertical actuators 204D/204E are independently adjusted by the operator to align the front plate 204A with the threaded rods 204C; for example, an Allen key can be engaged with the top of the actuators 204D/204E in opposite directions to either raise or lower the corresponding side of the front plate 204A. A bottom flange 204F (
It should be understood that that the position of the APA 214 on the frame 200A is important in the SJ 200 because that location determines how far the drill 202 is positioned from the door 10 when the drill 202 is activated to form the well 14 in the floor 12 and into which the floor strike 32 will then be positioned. Recall that the position of the latch pins 20A of the DSL 20, when the DSL 20 is installed in the inner door plate 26, determines the required position of the floor strike 32, such that when the DSL 20 is activated, the latch pins 20A will pass downward and into the floor strike 32. Thus, as shown most clearly in
The SJ 200 is then moved into close proximity with the outside surface of the door 10 so that the front plate 204A is pressed up against the outside surface of the door 10 (not shown). As shown most clearly in
With the threaded rods 204C protruding through the front plate 204A, nuts (not shown) can engage on the protruding ends of the threaded rods 204C and tightened to releasably secure the SJ 200 to the door 10.
Formation of the well 14 is accomplished by drilling a series of overlapping holes into the floor 12. This process is also referred to as “coring” whereby cylindrical holes are drilled into the floor structure (e.g., concrete, etc.) typically using a diamond-tipped drill to extract a “core” of material to form the well in the floor. This coring method allows for cutting holes in the floor structure without causing significant damage to the surrounding area.
Once the well 14 is formed, the floor strike 32 is then inserted and then secured therein.
In summary, the goal FJ 100 and SJ 200 is to install floor strikes 32 into floors 12 (e.g., concrete, carpet, linoleum, vinyl tiles, tiles, etc.; but, as also mentioned earlier, any carpet, linoleum, vinyl tiles, tiles, etc., must be removed from the area where the floor strike 32 is to be located). The floor strike 32 must be flush with the floor 12 and parallel with the door 10. The installation tools need to be easy to transport. The center of the floor strike is a maximum of 5.5 inches from the edge of the door. SJ 200 must be flush with the edge of the door 10 for at least 7 inches. Doors can be: left-hand doors, right-hand doors, left-hand reverse bevel and right-hand reverse bevel. Moreover, the bottom of doors 10 can be 0.5 inches-1.5 inches above the floor 12.
A diamond bit is used in the drill when forming the floor strike. The diamond bit is used to drill through cement or other hard flooring materials when forming the floor strike.
Although not shown in the figures, SJ 200 may also include the following features to further stabilize the jig during operation: adding suction cups that releasably secure to the door and adding adjustable feet to the portion of the floor rests that go under the door.
While the invention has been described in detail and with reference to specific examples thereof. it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope thereof.
This non-provisional application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) of Application Ser. No. 63/557,670 filed on Feb. 26, 2024 entitled DOOR HARDWARE AND FLOOR STRIKE INSTALLATION TOOL and also claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. § 120 as a Continuation-in-Part application of application Ser. No. 19/016,460 filed on Jan. 10, 2025 which in turn is a Continuation application, and claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. § 120, of application Ser. No. 18/777,125 (now U.S. Pat. No. 12,227,975) filed on Jul. 18, 2024 both entitled SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR SHELTERING IN PLACE WITH ADVANCED RESPONDER NOTIFICATION AND READY ACCESS which in turn claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) of Application Ser. No. 63/528,503 filed on Jul. 24, 2023 entitled SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR A UNIVERSAL TAMPER-RESISTANT SHELTER-IN-PLACE BARRICADE LOCKING DEVICE and all of whose entire disclosures are incorporated by reference herein.
Number | Date | Country | |
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63557670 | Feb 2024 | US | |
63528503 | Jul 2023 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 18777125 | Jul 2024 | US |
Child | 19016460 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 19016460 | Jan 2025 | US |
Child | 19061096 | US |