Patent Application
20180216377
The invention relates to an electromechanical lock configuration for use in locking particularly curtain type doors typically used to close garage spaces but also used for closure of industrial and commercial spaces for alternative purposes. Aspects of the electromechanical lock configuration may also find applications in locking of other closure doors or panel members whether they be of the curtain door type or not.
Curtain doors commonly comprise thin formed sheet metal members spanning the door opening zone and hinged together so that they can be formed into a roll stored above the door opening zone when the door is open and extended to fully cover the door opening zone when the door is closed. In the closed state and when being moved to the closed state, lateral edges of the hinged sheet metal members are held in inwardly facing C-shaped channel members typically sandwiched between slide strips. In a known alternative form of curtain door, rigid panel members of a significantly wider dimension are hinged together along adjacent edges spanning the door opening zone. The panel members are supported by roller members adapted to roll along inwardly facing C-shaped channel members forming a guide track for the rollers. Because the rigid panel members are too wide to be rolled into a tight roll configuration in the open stage of the door, the guide tracks are configured to move the panel members from a vertical disposition when closing the door opening space to a generally horizontal position adjacent to or parallel to a ceiling inwardly of the door opening zone when in an open configuration.
Most commonly, curtain doors of the aforementioned kind are either moved between the open and the closed configurations either manually or by means of a remotely controlled drive motor. When the curtain door is moved manually, it is typically lockable in the closed position by means of a key operated lock mechanism mounted centrally intermediate its lateral edges, and intermediate its lower edge and an upper edge of the door opening zone. The lock mechanism typically throws locking bars outwardly towards a surround location to have laterally outermost regions of the locking bars retained in a stationary retaining zone in the surround to restrain the door or withdraws the locking bars laterally inwardly to free the door for movement towards an open disposition. More commonly, a remotely controlled drive motor is used to move the door and when such a drive motor is employed, the drive motor is used as a brake to effectively prevent the curtain door being forced opened without use of the remote control actuator or by use of an override arrangement from the inside.
Curtain doors of the above discussed type are widely in use and have numerous advantages including that they are capable of spanning relatively large door opening zones relatively cheaply. The doors are convenient in use, particularly when driven by a remotely controlled motor. They can, however, be relatively weak when forced compressively, for example, by an upwardly directed force on a lower edge zone of the door curtain. The panels or members of the door construction can crumple or the motor acting as a brake can fail, leading to the possibility of unwanted access through the door.
Any discussion of documents, devices, acts or knowledge in this specification is included to explain the context of the invention. It should not be taken as an admission that any of the material formed part of the prior art base or the common general knowledge in the relevant art on or before the priority date of the claims herein.
An objective is to improve lock configurations, particularly for use with curtain type doors. It is a further objective to improve the security of curtain type doors when in the closed and locked position.
Throughout this specification including the claims, reference is made to “curtain doors” or “curtain type doors” and these phrases are intended to identify any known door structure where the structure is made up of members that are at least partially hinged to one another where the members can be extended into substantially a single plane spanning an open door region that is desired to be selectively closed, or can be rolled, folded (for example in concertina fashion) or slid to a second (for example horizontal disposition) location where the open door region is open.
In a first aspect, the present invention provides a latchable restraining mechanism for restraining a closure means in a closed state spanning, in use, an opening zone having a stationary surround structure, said latchable restraining mechanism including a latch bolt assembly having a linearly movable latch bolt movable between a withdrawn position and an extended active position whereby, in use, in said extended active position, a free end of said latch bolt engages in a position to restrain said closure means from moving from the closed position, said latch bolt assembly further including selectively operable electrically activated latch drive means drivingly connected via drive coupling means to said latch bolt to move said latch bolt between said withdrawn position and said extended active position, said drive coupling means including a drive gear drivingly engaging with a first gear rack, said first gear rack forming part of or coupled to said latch bolt whereby rotation of said drive gear by said latch drive means results in linear movement of said latch bolt, said latchable restraining mechanism further including manual override means manually accessible from an external position to enable the first gear rack to be moved to move said latch bolt from said extended active position to said withdrawn position.
The latchable restraining mechanism may further include a second gear rack coupled to said drive gear whereby external manipulation of said second gear rack enables the latch bolt to be manually moved to the withdrawn position.
The latchable restraining mechanism may further include a second gear engaged with said first gear rack and a second gear rack engageable with said second gear whereby external manipulation of said second gear rack enables the latch bolt to be manually moved to the withdrawn position.
The latchable restraining mechanism may include housing support means supporting said latch bolt assembly, said housing support means including mounting means to enable the latchable restraining mechanism to be mounted, in use, to said stationary surround whereby in said extended active position, the free end of said latch bolt extends into said opening zone.
The latchable restraining mechanism may also include a striker plate means adapted, in use, to be mounted to said closure means, said striker plate means including operative or recess means into which the free end of said latch bolt extends when the latch bolt is in the extended active position and said closure means is in said closed state.
The striker plate may be formed from sheet metal having a first portion in a first plane securable, in use, to said closure means adjacent to an edge region of said closure means, said striker plate having a second portion in a second plane bent from said first portion, and a third portion bent from said second portion back towards said first plane, the aperture or recess being formed at least in said third portion.
The latchable restraining mechanism may also include control means and an electrical power source to drive said electrically activated drive means, said control means including sensor means to establish limit positions of said latch bolt in said extended active position and in said withdrawn position. In this regard, the sensor means may include limit micro switches.
In a second aspect, the present invention provides a latchable restraining mechanism for restraining a closure means in a closed state spanning, in use, an opening zone having a stationary surround structure, said latchable restraining mechanism including a latch bolt assembly having a linearly movable latch bolt movable between a withdrawn position and an extended active position whereby, in use, in said extended active position, a free end of said latch bolt engages in a position to restrain said closure means from moving from the closed position, said latch bolt assembly further including selectively operable electrically activated latch drive means drivingly connected via drive coupling means to said latch bolt to move said latch bolt between said withdrawn position and said extended active position, housing support means supporting said latch bolt assembly, said housing support means including mounting means enabling the latchable restraining mechanism to be mounted, in use, to said stationary surround whereby in said extended active position, the free end of said latch bolt extends into said opening zone.
The latchable restraining mechanism may further include a striker plate means adapted, in use, to be mounted to said closure means, said striker plate means including opening or recess means into which the free end of said latch bolt extends when the latch bolt is in the extended active position and said closure means is in said closed state.
In a third aspect, a latchable restraining mechanism is provided for restraining a closure means in a closed state spanning, in use, an opening zone having a stationary surround structure, said latchable restraining mechanism including a latch bolt assembly having a linearly movable latch bolt movable between a withdrawn and an extended active position whereby, in use, in said extended active position, a free end of said latch bolt engages in a position to restrain said closure means from moving from the closed position, said latch bolt assembly further including selectively operable electrically activated latch drive means drivingly connected via drive coupling means to said latch bolt to move said latch bolt between said withdrawn position and said extended active position, said latchable restraining mechanism further including control means and an electrical power source to drive said electronically activated drive means, said control means including sensor means to establish limit positions of said latch bolt in said extended active position on said withdrawn position.
In one embodiment, the sensor means comprises limit micro switches. Further, the electrical power source may be provided by electrical batteries.
In a still further aspect, a curtain door configuration is provided for closing and enabling access through an opening zone, said curtain door configuration having:
The control means may include a remote actuation system which activates said second electric motor at the same time or prior to said first electric motor.
The curtain door configuration may further include housing support means supporting said latch bolt assembly, said housing support means including mounting means to enable the latchable restraining mechanism to be mounted, in use, to a said guide track whereby in said extended active position, the free end of said latch bolt extends into said opening zone.
The or each said latchable restraining mechanism is preferably cooperable with a said laterally opposed edge region of the curtain door assembly adjacent a lower edge zone of the curtain door assembly.
In a preferred embodiment, two said latchable restraining mechanisms are provided, a said latchable restraining mechanism being cooperable with each said laterally opposed edge region of the curtain door assembly.
The curtain door configuration may further include manual override means manually accessible only from an internal side of said opening zone, said manual override means enabling said latch bolt to be manually moved from the extended active position to said withdrawn position.
The drive coupling means may include a first drive gear drivingly engaged with a first sliding gear rack, said first gear rack forming part of or coupled to said latch bolt whereby rotation of said first drive gear by said second electric motor results in linear movement of said latch bolt.
A second gear rack may be coupled to said first drive gear whereby external manipulation of said second gear rack enables the latch bolt to be manually moved to the withdrawn position.
The curtain door configuration may further include a second gear engaged with said first gear rack and a second gear rack engageable with said second gear whereby external manipulation of said second gear rack enables the latch bolt to be manually moved to the withdrawn position.
In yet another aspect, a lockable curtain door configuration is provided for closing and locking a door opening zone having a lower horizontal edge zone, an upper horizontal edge zone, and opposed laterally spaced upright edge zones, said lockable curtain door configuration including:
DRAWINGS
The annexed drawings represent one preferred embodiment of a latchable restraining mechanism 10 used with a curtain type door 11 lifted or lowered by a drive motor (not shown in the drawings) in the usual manner and operated by a remote control system and associated actuator.
The curtain type door 11 may be of any known type as discussed earlier in this specification.
The or each latch restraining mechanism 10 includes a base housing support structure 21 which may be formed by die casting from a suitable metal for strength and rigidity, however, certain plastics materials might also be employed. The forward (in use) side 22 of the housing support structure 21 has a first cavity zone 23 adapted to receive and mount a battery casing 24 adapted, in use, to operationally mount batteries 25. Typically C type batteries are used but it is also possible to use AA batteries. The battery casing 24 is typically moulded from an electrically insulating material such as a suitable plastics material. The first cavity zone 23 also has sufficient space adjacent the battery casing 24 to enable mounting of a power control board (PCB) 26 acting as a control device for the latch restraining mechanism 10. An antenna 27 and support structure 28 for the antenna 27 is mounted between the batteries 25 and the PCB 26 such that the antenna 27 extends in a forward direction. The antenna 27 allows a signal from a remote control actuator (not shown) to be picked up and via the PCB 26, controls operation of the latch restraining mechanism 10 in response thereto.
On a rearwardly facing side 29 (in use) of the housing support structure 21, a second cavity zone 30 is formed covered by a cover plate 31. A sealing gasket 41 might be positioned between the cover plate 31 and the housing support structure 21. Conveniently screw fasteners are passed through openings 42 in the cover plate 31 and openings 43 in the housing support structure 21 to connect the cover plate 31 to the housing support structure 21. The second cavity zone 30 comprises an upper section 32, a lower section 33 with the sections 32, 33 being joined by an intermediate section 90. Each of the upper and lower cavity zone sections 32 and 33 are designed as a slide track to house a gear rack member 34 or 35 to slide in parallel directions therealong. The gear rack members 34, 35 have their gear teeth facing toward one another and engagable with a pinion gear 36 located in the intermediate section 90. The pinion gear 36 has a central, non-circular bore 37, through which a correspondingly shaped drive shaft 38 of a drive motor 39 is passed. The drive motor 39 is mounted in a correspondingly shaped section 40 of the forwardly facing cavity zone 23 whereby the motor drive shaft 38 passes into the rearwardly facing intermediate section 90 of the second cavity zone 30.
The lower gear rack member 35 has a forwardly extending grip projection 44 extending through an elongated slot 45 in the forwardly facing wall 46 forming the rear wall of the rearwardly facing cavity section 33 such that the projection 44 can be gripped or engaged from the forward side of the housing support structure 21 to enable the gear rack member 35 to be manually moved along its slide track and in so doing rotate the pinion gear 36 against any forces applied by the drive motor 39.
The upper gear rack member 34 is integrally formed with the latch bolt 19 and consequently any sliding movement of the gear rack member 34 causes a corresponding movement of the latch bolt 19. While integral forming of this part is preferred, it is also possible to fabricate the part from separate pieces to be assembled. The latch bolt 19 has a free end 91 engagable, in use, with the striker plate 20 secured to the door 11. The latch bolt 19 includes an enlarged section 92 spaced from the end of the free end 91 to act as a limit stop to prevent the latch bolt from extending outwardly from the housing support structure 21 too far. The enlarged section 92 engages with abutments 47 on the cover member, the housing support structure 21, or both.
The latch bolt 19 further includes a forwardly, in use, extending projection 48 positioned between the enlarged section 92 and an inner end 49 of the latch bolt 19. The projection 48 moves with the latch bolt 19 and extends through a slot 50 in a wall 51 of the housing support structure 21. As can be seen in
The housing support structure 21 has on one side wall 54 a mounting structure comprised of spaced bosses 55, 56, each with a threaded bore to receive a fastener 57, 58. Conveniently a laterally extending flange 59, 60 increases the contact surface area around the threaded bores to increase stability of the housing support structure 21 when mounted to a surface of the web of the channel shaped guide track 14. The free end 91 of the latch bolt 19 projects through an opening 61 in the side wall 54 of the housing support structure 21. The spaced threaded bores in the mounting bosses 55, 56 and the opening 61 are sufficiently aligned such that to mount the housing support structure to a guide track 14, all that is required is to drill three suitably positioned holes in the web of the channel section forming the guide track 14. The upper and lower holes permit fasteners 57, 58 to secure the housing support structure 21 to the guide track 14. The intermediate hole permits the free end 91 of the latch bolt 190 pass therethrough. Essentially the same latchable restraining mechanism 10 can be secured to both sides of a door 11 by rotating the mechanism 10 through 180°.
A cover member 62 is formed as a shell and is arranged to cover the forwardly facing (in use) side of the housing support structure 21. A seal gasket 63 seals the contacting edges of the cover member 62 and the rim surrounding the first cavity zone 23. The cover member 62 is secured by fasteners 64 to the housing support structure by being threaded into threaded bores 65. The cover member 62 includes an enlarged zone 66 to provide space to cover the PCB 26 and the antenna 27. Conveniently a slot 67 surrounded by a depending wall 68 might be provided through the outer shell of the cover member 62 (
Referring now to
While the drawings show a preferred embodiment, variations and modifications of same are possible within the scope of the annexed patent claims.
