Patent Application
20100307060
This invention relates to vault door. More particularly, the present invention relates to a vault door that is selectively positionable between closed, partially opened, and fully opened orientations.
The use of access doors in known in the prior art. These doors are often mounted within the ground and control access to underground utilities. Access doors have to be strong enough to prevent unauthorized access as well as to withstand vehicle traffic. But access doors must also be light enough to permit opening by a single user. Access door must also be capable of opening wide enough to ingress of larger equipment.
An example of a prior art access door is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,133,074 to Schack. Schack discloses a spring assisted door construction. The door of Schack includes both closed, raised, and fully open positions. A first pair of torsion rods are arranged to be loaded when the door is swung down to a closed position from a raised position. A second pair of torsion bars are arranged to be stressed when the door is swung down to its fully open position from its raised position.
Although Schack addresses issues associated with the weight of the door via torsion bars, it nonetheless does not provide a door with discrete opened orientations. Nor does Schack otherwise relate to mechanism for locking an access door in one of two opened positions.
It is therefore one of the objectives of this invention to provide an access door with two discrete opened orientations.
It is also an object of this invention to provide an access door that must be brought to a partially opened orientation before being fully closed.
Still another object of this invention is to provide an access door that can be locked in a partially opened orientation.
The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the more pertinent and important features of the present invention in order that the detailed description of the invention that follows may be better understood so that the present contribution to the art can be more fully appreciated. Additional features of the invention will be described hereinafter which form the subject of the claims of the invention. It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the conception and the specific embodiment disclosed may be readily utilized as a basis for modifying or designing other structures for carrying out the same purposes of the present invention. It should also be realized by those skilled in the art that such equivalent constructions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.
For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention, reference should be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:
Similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the several views of the drawings.
The present invention relates to a vault door mechanism that assists a user in opening or closing the door. A hold-open arm and hinge plate pivotally interconnect the door to a surrounding frame and are fixed in place by an associated locking mechanism. The locking mechanism stops the door in the partially opened position prior to being fully opened or closed, thereby assisting the user in handling the door. The details of the present invention, and the manner in which they interrelate, will be described in greater detail hereinafter.
With reference to
A series of anchor studs 26 are positioned upon the outer peripheral extent of frame 24 and permit frame 24 to be set within a cementitious material such as concrete. With reference to
Vault door 22 includes interior and exterior surfaces (32 and 34) and depending peripheral edges 36. Door 22 is pivotally connected to the surrounding frame 24 via a conventional hinge assembly 38. Door 22 is preferably fabricated from aluminum diamond plate and comes with a mill finish. An optional anti-slip coating can also be supplied upon exterior surface 34. The interior surface 32 of door 22 includes a series reinforcing ribs 42 to strengthen the door leaf. Although the typical installation will be in off-street areas, the door 22 should ideally be strong enough to withstand occasional vehicle traffic. Thus, the door must be strong enough to withstand a 16,000 LB wheel load.
With reference to
Vault door 22 further including a pair of drop down lifting handles 56 positioned within the face of door 22. Handles 56 typically lie flush with the exterior face 34 of door 22 but can be raised in order to be grasped and used to pivot open door 22. Door 22 further includes a male detent 58 upon the forward peripheral edge 36. Male detent 58 cooperates with the associated female receiver 28 upon frame 24. In the preferred embodiment, detent 58 is a tamper resistant Pentahead bolt. The preferred mechanism is a slam lock with an inside release handle. Detent 58 automatically latches to receiver 28 when door 22 is closed. A locking key 62 can be used to thereafter unlatch door 22 for opening. In the preferred embodiment, locking key 62 has a pentahead female socket that engages the pentahead bolt 58.
Door 22 can be retained in the partially opened position by way of hold-open arm 54. Hold-open arm 54 is preferably formed from a one piece construction. The arm 54 includes a first end 64 that is attached to hinge plate 72 via, for example, a threaded fastener. The second end 66 of arm 54 is slidably received within slide 44. A grip 68, which can be formed from vinyl or other similar soft material, is positioned along intermediate extent of arm 54. Thus, as illustrated in
The relationship between hinge plate 72 and hold-open arm 54 is most clearly illustrated in
Hinge plate 72 and hold-open arm 54 permit three door orientations. In the closed orientation, hinge plate 72 is in its first orientation and the second end 66 of hold-open arm 54 is positioned within the first detent 46 (
The locking mechanism 82 is described next in connection with
Thus, the locking mechanism 82 locks door 22 in the partially opened position prior to it being fully closed or fully opened. This, in turn, prevents loss of control when a user is taking door 22 from the closed to the fully opened positions or vice versa.
The present disclosure includes that contained in the appended claims, as well as that of the foregoing description. Although this invention has been described in its preferred form with a certain degree of particularity, it is understood that the present disclosure of the preferred form has been made only by way of example and that numerous changes in the details of construction and the combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
Now that the invention has been described,
