Patent Application
20140109635
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lock assembly, and more particularly to a lock assembly that can be locked actually and securely.
2. Description of Related Art
A conventional lock as U.S. Pat. No. 7,661,279, entitled “Lock Assembly” comprises a locking mechanism connected with and driven by a locking cylinder and having a locking bolt. When the locking cylinder is rotated, the locking bolt of the locking mechanism will be pushed to extend out of or retract into a body by a pushing lug of the locking cylinder.
However, the locking bolt of the '279 patent is pushed to extend out of the body by the rotation of the locking cylinder and the pivotal rotation of the pushing lug, and the travel path of the pivotal rotation of the pushing lug may not be sufficient to push the locking bolt to completely extend out of the body. Therefore, a bolt spring is necessary for the '279 patent to provide a pushing force to the locking bolt as so to ensure that the locking bolt can actually extend out of the body to the locking position. However, the locking bolt may not actually extend to the locking position with the force of the bolt spring when a drag force or a large friction force is applied to the locking bolt. Furthermore, when the locking bolt is not at the locking position, the user cannot be immediately aware of the situation merely from the appearance of the lock assembly, so the safety of the use of the conventional lock assembly is insufficient.
To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention tends to provide a lock assembly to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problems.
The main objective of the invention is to provide a lock assembly that can actually hold the lock assembly at a locked condition stably.
The lock assembly has a body, a latching device, a linking device and a locking mechanism. The latching device is mounted in the body and has a latch and a connecting device. The latch is mounted retractably in the body and can extend out from the body. The connecting device is connected to the latch to retract the latch into the body. The linking device is mounted in the body, is connected to and driven by the connecting device of the latching device. The locking mechanism is moveably mounted in the body and has a bolt base, a base spring, a pushing element, a lever element and a locking bolt. The bolt base is mounted slidably in the body. The base spring is mounted on the body and has two ends connected respectively to the body and the bolt base. The pushing element is moveably mounted on the bolt base. The lever element is pivotally connected to the body and is connected moveably to the pushing element. The locking bolt is slidably mounted on the bolt base and is connected moveably to and pushed by the lever element.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
With reference to
The locking mechanism 50 is moveably mounted in the body 10 and is preferably driven by a locking cylinder 40. The locking cylinder 40 is mounted operationally in the body 10, can be driven by a key, a thumb turn or the like and has a pushing lug 42 mounted on the locking cylinder 40. The locking cylinder 40 may be in different types and may further have a stop 44 formed on the locking cylinder 40. The body 10 further has a stopping post 14 formed on the body 10 and selectively abutting the stop 44 on the locking cylinder 40 to limit the rotating range of the locking cylinder 40.
The locking cylinder 40 and the locking mechanism 50 can be mounted near the top of the body 10 and are located above the latching device 20. Alternatively, the locking cylinder 40 and the locking mechanism 50 can be mounted near the bottom of the body 10 and are located under the latching device 20.
The locking mechanism 50 comprises a bolt base 52, a pushing element 54, a lever element 55 and a locking bolt 56. The bolt base 52 is mounted slidably in the body 10 at a position corresponding to the locking cylinder 40. The bolt base 52 has an edge 521 abutting the pushing lug 42 on the locking cylinder 40, and the edge 521 may be curved and may be formed as the top edge of the bolt base 52. In practice, the edge 521 abuts the pushing lug 42 at all time. Alternatively, the edge 521 may be spaced from the pushing lug 42 at an original position and abuts the pushing lug 42 after the locking cylinder 40 is rotated. In addition, when the locking mechanism 50 is mounted near the bottom of the body 10, the edge 521 is formed as the bottom edge of the bolt base 52.
To slidably mount the bolt base 52 in the body 10, the bolt base 52 has a base slot 522 defined longitudinally through the bolt base 52. The body 10 further has a guiding rod 12 formed on and protruding from the body 10 and extending slidably into the base slot 522 in the bolt base 52. A base spring 13 is mounted in the body 10 and has two ends connected respectively to the body 10 and the bolt base 52 to provide a force to pull the bolt base 52 to the original position. In addition, the bolt base 52 further has a limiting tab 525 and a guiding tab 524. A sliding space is defined between the limiting tab 52 and the guiding tab 524. Preferably, the limiting tab 525 is formed on the bottom edge of the bolt base 52, and the guiding tab 524 is formed on the top edge of the bolt base 52 and is connected to the base spring 13.
The pushing element 54 is mounted moveably on the bolt base 52 and selectively engages and is driven by the pushing lug 42 on the locking cylinder 40. Preferably, the pushing element 54 is mounted moveably around the guiding rod 12 on the body 10. The pushing element 54 has a guiding channel 546, a notch 542 and a pushing rod 544. The guiding channel 546 is elongated and is mounted slidably around the guiding rod 12. The notch 542 is defined in an edge of the pushing element 54 and selectively engages the pushing lug 42 on the locking cylinder 40. The pushing rod 544 is formed on and protrudes from an end of the pushing element 54.
The lever element 55 is elongated, is pivotally mounted on the body 10 and has a pivotal hole 552, a guiding hole 554 and a driving rod 556. The pivotal hole 552 is defined through one end of the lever element 55 and is mounted rotatably around a pivotal rod 16 formed on the body 10. The guiding hole 554 is elongated and is defined through the lever element 55 at a position near the pivotal hole 552 and is mounted slidably around the pushing rod 544 on the pushing element 54. The driving rod 556 is formed on and protrudes from the lever element 55 at an end opposite to the pivotal hole 552.
The locking bolt 56 is slidably mounted on the bolt base 52 in the sliding space, is connected movably to and pushed by the lever element 55 to be retractable into and extendable out from the body 10 so as to extend into a locking recess in the doorframe. The locking bolt 56 further has a bolt slot 564 defined longitudinally through the locking bolt 56 and being parallel with the base slot 522 in the bolt base 52. The driving rod 556 on the lever element 55 extends slidably into the bolt slot 564 in the locking bolt 56 to push the locking bolt 56 relative to the sliding space in the bolt base 52 when the lever element 55 is pivoted.
The locking bolt 56 may abut the limiting tab 525 on the bolt base 52 when the locking bolt 56 retracts completely into or extends out from the body 10. The locking bolt 56 may further have a blocking tab 562 formed on the locking bolt 56 to selectively abut and block the linking device 30. Preferably, the locking bolt 56 may be an integral single piece or be implemented by multiple boards.
With reference to
Because the locking cylinder 40 drives the locking bolt 56 to move with the transmission of the moving pushing element 54 and the pivoting lever element 55, the movement travel of the locking bolt 56 can be prolonged by the pivoting lever element 55. Accordingly, the locking bolt 56 can completely and actually extend out of the body 10 to make the locked condition. In addition, a bolt spring is necessary. Furthermore, when a drag force or a large friction force is applied to the locking bolt 56, the user can be aware of this situation with the reaction force from the drag or friction force such that the reaction and friction forces can be immediately eliminated, and the safety of the use of the lock assembly is improved.
Moreover, when the locking cylinder 40 is rotated and the pushing lug 42 disengages from the notch 542, the bolt base 52 is moved upward due to the curved travel path of the pushing lug 42 and with the force provided by the base spring 13. The limiting tab 525 will move to a position corresponding to the locking bolt 56. Consequently, the locking bolt 56 cannot be retracted into the body 10 due to the abutment of the limiting tab 525, even if a huge force is applied to the locking bolt 56.
When the lock assembly is at a locked condition, the blocking tab 562 abuts or engages the linking device 30 to provide a blocking effect to the linking device 30. Accordingly, the linking device 30 is prevented from moving relative to the body 10, and the latching device 20 is kept from being operated. Therefore, the lock assembly will be kept at the locked condition stably.
When the locking cylinder 40 is rotated in reverse, the pushing lug 42 will push the bolt base 52 to move downward and to move the pushing element 54 and pivot the lever element 55 in reverse. Accordingly, the locking bolt 56 is then retracted into the body 10 by the transmission of the pushing element 54 and the lever element 55 to unlock the lock assembly.
Even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the invention, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.
