1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an electric lock, and more particularly to an electric lock that can be operated either electrically or manually.
2. Description of the Related Art
In US Patent Application Publication No. 2007/0169525, the applicant discloses an electric lock operable either electrically or manually to increase convenience during use. However, protrusions of rotatable members of the electric lock experience fast wear due to frequent contact therebetween, thereby reducing the service life of the electric lock. Furthermore, locking and unlocking of the electric lock cannot be controlled precisely.
The object of this invention is to provide an electric lock that is durable and that can be locked and unlocked precisely.
According to this invention, an electric lock includes a manual operation mechanism and an electric control mechanism. The manual operation mechanism includes a rotary knob unit, a first attracting member mounted fixedly to the rotary knob unit, a key-operated lockset, and a lock-connecting rod connected to and rotatable by the rotary knob unit and the key-operated lockset. The electric control mechanism includes a power source unit, a clutch gear driven by the power source unit to rotate in two directions, and a second attracting member mounted fixedly to the clutch gear. When the clutch gear is driven by the power source unit to rotate to align the first and second attracting members with each other, a magnetic attraction force is generated between the first and second attracting members to allow for co-rotation of the rotary knob unit with the clutch gear.
As such, since no friction occurs among rotating parts of the electric lock, wearing of the rotating parts can be prevented, thereby increasing the service life of the electric lock and precision in controlling locking and unlocking of the electric lock.
These and other features and advantages of this invention will become apparent in the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments of this invention, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Referring to
The lock housing unit 3 includes a first lock housing 31 mounted to an inner side surface of the door, and a second lock housing 32 mounted to an outer side surface of the door. The first lock housing 31 has an upright wall 311, and a surrounding wall 313 extending from a periphery of the upright wall 311 toward the door to define an accommodating chamber 312. The upright wall 311 has a circular mounting hole 314 and two mounting blocks 315 (only one is shown in
The handle unit 4 includes a first handle 41 disposed rotatably on the first lock housing 31 and extending into the mounting hole 314, a second handle 43 disposed rotatably on the second lock housing 32 and extending into the mounting hole 323, two return units 44 for respectively returning the first and second handles 41, 43, a first connecting seat 45 sleeved on and co-rotatable with the first handle 41, a second connecting seat 46 connected to the second handle 43, and a handle-connecting rod 47 extending into and co-rotatable with the first and second connecting seats 45, 46.
The first handle 41 includes a handle housing 411, and a mounting seat 412 fixed within the handle housing 411. The handle housing 411 has a cylindrical mounting portion 413, and a rotary lever portion 414 extending radially and outwardly from the mounting portion 413. The mounting seat 412 has a surrounding wall 416 defining a mounting passage 415. The surrounding wall 416 has a rotation-limiting portion 40 extending into the accommodating chamber 312. The rotation-limiting portion 40 is formed with diametrically opposed first and second notches 401, 402, a circumferentially extending limiting slot 403 having a first end 405 and a second end 406 that is in spatial communication with the first notch 401, and a ring-engaging groove unit 404 disposed in proximity to an end of the rotation-limiting portion 40.
The second handle 43 includes a handle housing 431 and a mounting seat 433 fixed within a mounting portion 432 of the handle housing 431. The first connecting seat 45 has a central portion 451 extending into the mounting passage 415 in the first handle 41, and two wings 452 extending respectively from two opposite sides of the central portion 451 and engaging respectively the first and second notches 401, 402 in the first handle 41 so as to allow for co-rotation of the first connecting seat 45 with the first handle 41. The second connecting seat 46 is mounted rotatably within the mounting seat 433 of the second handle 43. The handle-connecting rod 47 is configured as a rectangular tube, and extends through a rectangular hole 453 in the first connecting seat 45 and into the second connecting seat 46. The handle-connecting rod 47 can drive a spring bolt (not shown) in a known manner.
The manual operation mechanism 5 includes a rotary knob unit 50 (see
The rotary knob 51 includes a disc portion 511, an actuation block 512 extending from the disc portion 511 in a direction away from the first handle 41 and allowing for manual operation, a surrounding wall 513 extending from a periphery of the disc portion 511 in a direction toward the first handle 41, and a hole-defining wall 514 extending from the disc portion 511 in a direction toward the first handle 41. The surrounding wall 513 is disposed around the hole-defining wall 514, and has two hook-engaging slots 515 (only one is shown in
The electric control mechanism 6 includes a power source unit 61 mounted within the accommodating chamber 312 in the first lock housing 31, a pushbutton unit 62 mounted on the second lock housing 32 and aligned with the pushbutton-receiving holes 324, a positioning seat 63 mounted to the mounting blocks 315 of the first lock housing 31, a clutch gear 64 mounted to the positioning seat 63 and driven by the power source unit 61 to rotate in two directions, a pair of second and third attracting members 65, 65′ mounted fixedly to the clutch gear 64 and spaced apart from each other by an angle of 180°, a circuit board 67 mounted to the first lock housing 31, a micro-switch 66 disposed on the circuit board 67, and a sensing switch 68. The power source unit 61 includes a motor 611 disposed in the accommodating space 312 in the first lock housing 31, a worm rod 612 driven by the motor 611, and a reduction gear 613 driven by the worm rod 612. The clutch gear 64 has a meshing portion 641 meshing with the reduction gear 613, a pair of first and second control portions 642, 642′ projecting toward the circuit board 67 and each rotatable to contact and activate the micro-switch 66 to thereby stop operation of the power source unit 6, and a central hole 643. The meshing portion 641 has two diametrically opposed mounting holes 644 allowing the second and third attracting members 65, 65′ to be mounted respectively therewithin. In this embodiment, the first, second, and third attracting members 54, 65, 65′ are magnets. Alternatively, the first attracting member 54 or the second and third attracting members 65, 65′ may be made of a magnetically conductive metallic material.
The lock-connecting rod 56 is configured as a plate having a rectangular cross-section.
With further reference to
With particular reference to
Alternatively, the electric lock may be locked electrically by operating the pushbutton unit 62 or a remote controller (not shown) to activate the motor 611 of the power source unit 6. When the motor 611 is activated, the clutch gear 64 is rotated clockwise. Upon clockwise rotation of the clutch gear 64 by 45°, the second attracting member 65 comes into alignment with the first attracting member 54 to generate a magnetic attraction force therebetween, to thereby allow for subsequent co-rotation of the hand-operated connecting rod 52 and the rotary knob 51 with the clutch gear 64. When the connecting portion 523 of the hand-operated connecting rod 52 is disposed at the second end 406 of the limiting slot 403, the second control portion 642′ contacts and activates the micro-switch 66 to stop operation of the power source unit 61.
To unlock the electric lock electrically, the pushbutton unit 62 or the remote controller is operated to rotate the clutch gear 64 counterclockwise.
To unlock the electric lock manually, the rotary knob 51 is rotated counterclockwise.
Upon counterclockwise rotation of the clutch gear 64 by 45°, the third attracting member 65′ comes into alignment with the first attracting member 54 to generate a magnetic attraction force therebetween to thereby allow for subsequent co-rotation of the hand-operated connecting rod 52 and the rotary knob 51 with the clutch gear 64.
Two first attracting members 54 are disposed fixedly on the rotating shaft portion of the rotary knob unit 50, and are spaced apart from each other by an angle of 180°. The clutch gear 64 is sleeved rotatably around the rotating shaft portion of the rotary knob unit 50. The second and third attracting members 65, 65′ are disposed fixedly in the clutch gear 64. Each of the second and third attracting members 65, 65′ is rotatable relative to the rotary knob unit 50 to align with the corresponding first attracting member 54 along a radial direction of the rotary knob 51.
Since co-rotation of the clutch gear 64 with the rotary knob unit 50 is enabled by a magnetic attraction force generated between the first attracting member(s) 54 and the second and third attracting members 65, 65′, no friction occurs among rotating parts of the electric lock. As a result, wearing of the rotating parts can be prevented, thereby increasing the service life of the electric lock and precision in controlling locking and unlocking of the electric lock.
With this invention thus explained, it is apparent that numerous modifications and variations can be made without departing from the scope and spirit of this invention. It is therefore intended that this invention be limited only as indicated by the appended claims.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
3785188 | Drathschmidt | Jan 1974 | A |
4438962 | Soloviff et al. | Mar 1984 | A |
4562343 | Wiik et al. | Dec 1985 | A |
4625848 | Meyers et al. | Dec 1986 | A |
4825992 | Skrobisch | May 1989 | A |
4956984 | Chi-Cheng | Sep 1990 | A |
5447047 | Lin | Sep 1995 | A |
5862903 | Gruden et al. | Jan 1999 | A |
5884515 | Milman | Mar 1999 | A |
5970759 | Trilk | Oct 1999 | A |
5974912 | Cheng et al. | Nov 1999 | A |
6145353 | Doucet | Nov 2000 | A |
6334348 | Ming-Chih | Jan 2002 | B1 |
6418765 | Chiu | Jul 2002 | B1 |
6471257 | Lu et al. | Oct 2002 | B1 |
6517127 | Lu et al. | Feb 2003 | B1 |
6807834 | Tsai | Oct 2004 | B2 |
7284745 | Keane et al. | Oct 2007 | B2 |
20020144526 | Ming-Chih | Oct 2002 | A1 |
20030209042 | Yeh et al. | Nov 2003 | A1 |
20030209043 | Yeh et al. | Nov 2003 | A1 |
20040089037 | Chang | May 2004 | A1 |
20050044908 | Min | Mar 2005 | A1 |
20060150694 | Frolov et al. | Jul 2006 | A1 |
20070051145 | Chang | Mar 2007 | A1 |
20070169525 | Chang | Jul 2007 | A1 |