Patent Application
20090314042
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a door lock, and more particularly to a door lock with a large handle.
2. The Prior Arts
Currently available door locks having a large handle may have either of the following two constructions. As shown in
The present invention provides a door lock with a large handle that is simple in construction and convenient to operate.
The door lock includes an inner lock portion, an outer lock portion and a lock bolt, in which the outer lock portion has a large handle and a handle base. The outer lock portion mainly includes a transmission case having a drive shaft hole; a cover adapted to attach on the transmission case to form a receiving space, in which the cover has a through hole; an inner actuating plate and an outer actuating plate respectively disposed in the receiving space, in which the inner actuating plate comprises a first rib, a central region of the inner actuating pate has a row of inner teeth adapted to engage with an inner transmission wheel, a top surface of the inner transmission wheel has a first wedge-shaped protuberance, and the outer actuating plate comprises a second rib corresponding to the first rib, a central region of the outer actuating plate has a row of outer teeth adapted to engage with an outer transmission wheel, a bottom surface of the outer transmission wheel has a second wedge-shaped protuberance that abuts against the first wedge-shaped protuberance; a drive shaft having a front end securely fixed with a square drive hole of the inner lock portion, a rear end respectively passing through the through hole of the cover, a rotary axle hole of a rotary axle, a through hole of the outer transmission wheel, a through hole of the inner transmission wheel, and the drive shaft hole of the transmission case, in which the rear end of the drive shaft is securely fixed with the inner transmission wheel and is able to rotate through the through hole of the outer transmission wheel, and the outer transmission wheel comprises a mount hub having a through hole corresponding to the rotary axle; and a key button having a drive surface that passes through the handle base and abuts against with a lower surface of the outer actuating plate.
A separator plate is disposed between the inner actuating plate and the outer actuating plate, a central region of the separator plate has a recess through which the inner actuating plate and the outer actuating plate are disposed, and a bottom of the separator plate includes a plurality of support lugs that connect with a bottom of the transmission case.
A lower end of the outer actuating plate comprises a tab extending perpendicular to the outer actuating plate.
Each of two shoulder portions of the outer actuating plate respectively comprises a stud, and a reposition spring is respectively disposed between each stud and a top inner wall of the transmission case.
The transmission case comprises at least two fastener catches, the cover comprises a plurality of slots corresponding to the fastener catches, the fastener catches adapted to insert through the slots to attach the cover on the transmission case.
The inner transmission wheel further comprises a hub provided with a hole passing therethrough, and the rear end of the drive shaft has a cylindrical shape provided with a cut portion corresponding to the hole through the hub, the cut portion being adapted to pass through the hole of the hub.
The rear end of the drive shaft comprises a retainer slot, the rear end passes through the inner transmission wheel and the drive shaft hole of the transmission case, and being securely fixed via a fastener engaging with the retainer slot.
The through hole in the mount hub of the outer transmission wheel has a square shape, and a cross-section of the rotary axle has a square shape corresponding to the through hole in the mount hub.
The cover comprises at least two through holes, the handle base has a plurality of threaded holes corresponding to the two through holes of the cover, and fixing bolts pass the through holes in the cover and threadly engage with the threaded holes in the handle base.
The cover comprises a plurality of matching holes corresponding to the positioning holes of the lock bolt, support nuts have matching ends passing through the positioning holes of the lock bolt to fit in corresponding matched holes on the cover.
With the door lock of the present invention, the lock bolt can be unlatched respectively from the inner lock portion and outer lock portion to open the door. When the lock bolt is unlatched by actuating the key button from the outer lock portion, the reposition spring in the inner lock portion is not deformed, which improves the life span of the door lock and prevents the conventional problems of requiring an excessive force for opening the door owing to a deformation of the reposition spring. Additionally, unlike the conventional approach that uses two rotary axles respectively inserting into the lock bolt cam to drive the lock bolt in movement, the door lock according to the present invention simply uses one rotary axle to drive the lock bolt in movement. Therefore, when the thickness of the door varies, adjustment of the lengths of the two rotary axles is no longer necessary.
The present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art by reading the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof, with reference to the attached drawings, in which:
The following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings set forth embodiments for achieving a door lock provided with a large handle.
As shown in
In addition, the inner lock portion 17 also includes a reposition spring 172′ adapted to exert a restoring force after the knob has been rotated to cause the knob to recover its initial position.
At two sides of the drive hole 1601, the lock bolt 16 further includes two positioning holes 1602 in which support nuts 10 of the outer lock portion 1301 are inserted to assemble the lock bolt 16.
The outer lock portion 1301 comprises a handle base 13 on which a large handle 134′ is fixed. A key button 7 is provided above the large handle 134′. A rear end of the key button 7 is located on an outer side of the handle base 13, and a front end of the key button 7 passes through a square hole 133′ of the handle base 13. A through hole 71′ is provided on a central region of the key button 7, and corresponding grooves 131′ are also provided on the large handle 13. A transverse pin 8 passes through the through hole 71′ and have two ends thereof respectively received in the grooves 131′, so that the key button 7 can be pivoted upward and downward about the transverse pin 8. A front end of the key button 7 has a drive surface 72′ that abuts against a lower surface of an outer actuating plate 3.
The handle base 13 is provided with at least two threaded holes 132′ in which fixing bolts 18 passing through threaded holes 93′ of the cover 9 are engaged to securely fix the cover 9 on the handle base 13.
The outer lock portion 1301 further comprises the following elements.
A transmission case 12 has a rectangular slotted structure with four bent sides. A central portion of the transmission case 12 has a drive shaft hole 121′. The four bent sides are provided with at least two fastener catches adapted to pass through attachment slots provided on the cover 9 to securely fix the cover 9. As shown in
The cover 9 attaches on the transmission case 12 to form a receiving space. A central area of the cover 9 includes a through hole 94′ located at a position that corresponds to the drive shaft hole 121′ on the transmission case 12. In addition, the cover 9 is provided with two matching holes 91′ adapted to fit with matching portions 101′ of the support nuts 10, which also pass through the positioning holes 1602 of the lock bolt 16.
The receiving space formed by the cover 9 and the transmission case 12 also includes an inner actuating plate 5, an inner transmission wheel 4, the outer actuating plate 3, and outer transmission wheel 2. Each of these elements is further described below.
The inner actuating plate 5 comprises a row of inner teeth 51′ adapted to engage with the inner transmission wheel 4. As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
Referring to
In this embodiment, a lower surface of the outer actuating plate 3 can also include a tab 33′ arranged perpendicular to the body of the outer actuating plate 3. The drive surface 72′ of the key button 7 can thereby abut against the tab 33′, which increases the contact surface area and improves work reliability.
The outer actuating plate 3 when being driven by the key button 7 moves upward. Based on its own weight, the outer actuating plate 3 may also reversely move downward. However, relying on the sole weight for the downward movement cannot warranty the location and speed of the downward movement, which may affect the operation of the door lock. Therefore, in this embodiment, two shoulder portions of the outer actuating plate 3 are respectively provided with a stud 34′. When the outer actuating plate 3 is located in the receiving space formed by the cover 9 and transmission case 12, a reposition spring 6 placed between each stud 34′ and a top inner wall of the transmission case 12 can interact with the outer actuating plate 3 and cause it to quickly recover its initial position. In this manner, a correct operation of the door lock is ensured.
The outer lock portion 1301 further includes a drive shaft 14. A front end of the drive shaft 14 inserts into the square drive hole 171′ of the inner lock portion 17 to be secured therein. When the knob of the inner lock portion 17 rotates, the drive shaft 14 is driven in rotation. A rear end of the drive shaft 14 has a cylindrical shape that passes through the through hole 94′ of the cover 9, a rotary axle hole 12′ of the rotary shaft 1, the circular through hole 23′ of the outer transmission wheel 2, the hole 42′ of the inner transmission wheel 4, and drive shaft hole 121′ on the transmission case 12. The cylindrical rear end of the drive shaft 14 passing through the rotary axle hole 12′ and the circular through hole 23′ of the outer transmission wheel 2 is enabled to freely rotate relative to these holes. However, the cylindrical rear end of the drive shaft 14 is securely mounted through the hole 42′ of the inner transmission wheel 4 so that no rotation is enabled therebetween. Practically, a radial cut portion 141′ may be provided on the rear end portion of the drive shaft 14 corresponding to the hole 42′. The radial cut portion 141′ engages in the hole 42′ so as to securely fix the drive shaft 14 with the inner transmission wheel 4.
In order to prevent accidental disengagement of the drive shaft 14, the rear end of the drive shaft 14 further includes a retainer slot 142′ that is able to secure with a fastener piece having a corresponding shape after the rear end of the drive shaft 14 is inserted through the inner transmission wheel 4 and the drive shaft hole 121′ of the transmission case 12. The drive shaft 14 is thereby prevented from accidental disengagement.
In the aforementioned door lock structure, a separator plate 11 is also provided between the inner actuating plate 5 and the outer actuating plate 3. The separator plate 11 isolates the inner actuating plate 5 from the outer actuating plate 3 to prevent undesirable interaction when the inner actuating plate 5 and outer actuating plate 3 are moving relative to each other, which would affect the operation of the door lock. A central area of the separator plate 11 is provided with a recess for receiving the inner transmission wheel 4 and outer transmission wheel 2. In addition, a bottom end of the separator plate 11 has lugs 112′ that couple with the bottom of the transmission case 12 to securely fix the separator plate 11.
To achieve the present invention, embodiments for assembling the door lock are described hereinafter.
Referring to
Next, the outer actuating plate 3 and outer transmission wheel 2 in engagement are placed in the transmission case 12. At this stage, the outer transmission wheel 2 is closely fit on the support hub 44′ of the inner transmission wheel 4, the protuberance 24′ engages with the protuberance 43′, and the rib 32′ on the outer actuating plate 3 engages with the rib 52′ of the inner actuating plate 5.
The stud 34′ on the outer actuating plate 3 abuts against the reposition spring 6, which has its opposite end connected with the inner wall of the transmission case 12.
After the rotary shaft 1 is inserted in the square hole 22′ of the mount hub 25′, the cylindrical rear end of the drive shaft 14 is passed through the rotary axle hole 12′, the circular through hole 23′ of the outer transmission wheel 2, and the hole 42′ of the inner transmission wheel 4, respectively. The rear end portion of the drive shaft 14 provided with the retainer slot 142′ then extends out of the drive shaft hole 121′ and is secured with a fastener element. At this stage, the cut portion 141′ of the drive shaft 14 fully inserts into the hole 42′.
Next, the support nuts 10 are secured on the cover 9 so that its matching portions 101′ fit into their respective matching holes 91′. The cover 9 is then put in place over the transmission case 12, and the fastener catches 122′ on the transmission case 12 are passed through the corresponding slots 92′ on the cover 9 and are then bent to tightly press thereon. The assembly of the transmission case 12 is thereby completed.
The key button 7 is inserted from the outer side into the square hole 133′ of the handle base 13. After the transverse pin 8 is passed from the interior of the handle base 13 through the through hole 71′, the two ends of the transverse pin 8 are respectively mounted in their corresponding grooves 131′ on the handle base 13, which thereby securely mounts the key button 7.
Lastly, the above assembled transmission case is secured on the handle base 13 using fixing bolts 18 engaging threaded holes 132′ of the handle base 13. At this stage, the tab 33′ at the lower end of the outer actuating plate 3 is in close contact with the drive surface 72′ at the front end of the key button 7. The assembly of the outer lock portion 1301 is thereby completed.
After the drive shaft 14 is mounted through the drive hole 1601 of the lock bolt 16, the two positioning holes 1602 of the lock bolt 16 are respectively inserted into the support nuts 10. The front end of the drive shaft 14 is then mounted through the square drive hole 171′ of the inner lock portion 17, which thereby completes the assembly of the door lock.
Reference is now made to
With the door lock according to the present invention, the lock bolt thus can be unlatched respectively from the inner lock portion and outer lock portion to open the door. When the lock bolt is unlatched by actuating the key button from the outer lock portion, the reposition spring 172′ in the inner lock portion is not deformed, which improves the life span of the door lock and prevents the conventional problems of requiring an excessive force for opening the door owing to a deformation of the reposition spring 172′. In addition, unlike the conventional approach that uses two rotary axles respectively inserting the lock bolt cam to drive the lock bolt in movement, the door lock according to the present invention simply uses one rotary axle to drive the lock bolt in movement. Therefore, when the thickness of the door varies, adjustment of the length of the two rotary axles is no longer necessary.
While the foregoing is directed to embodiments of the present invention, other and further embodiments of the invention may be devised without departing from the basic scope thereof, and the scope thereof is determined by the claims that follow.
