Remotely controlled door lock

Abstract
A door lock which can be operated electrically, remotely, or mechanically using a lever or a key. The lock utilized a blocking bar which engages or disengages a notch in a locking latch. When the blocking bar is engaged within the notch, the latch is positioned in a strike plate of a door frame thereby locking the door. When disengaged, the latch can be retracted from the strike plate thereby allowing the door to be opened.
Description




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




1. Field of the Invention




The present invention relates generally to a door lock, and more particularly to a door lock for controlling access into a room or building with a portable remote controller.




2. Background of the Related Art




Various remotely controlled door locking devices have been developed over the years to more securely, efficiently, and easily control access to various structures. Typically, electrically actuated door locks require door preparation to install lock, in addition to installation of other components to complete a remotely activated system. Other components include an on-off system switch, a momentary release switch, a request to exit device, a power transformer to convert 110 volt ac current to required operating voltage, as well as wiring connected to join all of the components. Such devices are most often added after completion of the structure to meet changed or increased security needs. Providing the installation of components and necessary wiring to connect these components is often a significant portion of the cost to the purchaser.




Examples of remotely controlled security devices and related locks are described in the following U.S. Pat. No. 4,762,350 to Hurtado, U.S. Pat. No. 5,083,448 to Karkkaincn et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,262,504 to Inoue, U.S. Pat. No. 4,412,356 to Klaus et al, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,926,664 to Gartner et al.




The '350 patent discloses a remotely controlled electric door locked having a tubular housing affixed to a door between a pair of securing brackets positioned on either side of the door opening frame. Electric motors within the housing move slide members into and out of engagement with the securing brackets. Installation of the lock is somewhat time intensive and securing brackets must be in proper alignment.




The '448 patent discloses a locking device that is mounted within a cavity in a door, thus is relatively difficult to install requiring formation of such cavity. As well as being mechanically complex, guiding and centralizing of latch and bolt relative to respective receiving member is crucial.




The '504 patent discloses an electric locking system that is also manually operable. The lock is mounted in a cavity in the door opening frame and wall of structure, requiring an involved installation procedure.




The '356 patent discloses a locking system that is remotely operable by a transmitter generating a light beam to unlock the door. Such transmitting devices are commonly known as “line of sight” transmitters. In other words, transmitter must be pointed directly at receiver to activate mechanism.




The '664 patent disclosed a safe door lock which incorparates a bolt which is moved into and out of a gate notch in a bar. With the bolt retracted from the gate notch thereby freeing the bar to move, pivots and levers cooperate with the movement of the bar to operate two latches which cooperate with corresponding pairs of strike plates in the door frame. In other words, the bolt is positioned to lock or unlock the bar. The bar, when unlocked, is then operated manually to move a pair of latches to open or close the door.




3. Objects and Advantages




In response to these deficiencies in the prior art, it is an object of the present invention to provide a remotely controlled door lock that installs in a much easier and faster manner than current methods.




It is a further object to provide such a door lock that is electrically operated and also capable of manual operation from either side of the door without electrical power.




Another object is to simplify the electromechanical components as much as practical by incorporating a locking bar which interacts directly with the latch of the door thereby providing the desired locking and unlocking action.




It is a still further object to provide such a door lock that requires no external wiring of any kind for remotely controlled operation.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




The objects described above, as well as other objects and advantages are achieved by a remotely operated door lock that includes foremost a lock housing that is easily mounted to an inner face of door adjacent the edge. A spring biased latch being beveled on two faces is moveable along a linear path as defined by lock housing between extended and retracted positions. Means are mounted within lock housing for moving a latch blocking bar by electrical power into or out of a path perpendicular to latch, thereby blocking or allowing latch to retract into housing, locking or unlocking the door. Means are further disposed in the lock housing for manually urging the latch blocking bar out of the path of latch, independent of electrical moving means. Means are also disposed in the lock housing for receiving a wireless energy signal and controlling the operation of electric moving means with a control signal triggered by the wireless energy signal. Portable means are provided independently of lock housing for transmitting the wireless energy signal to the receiving and controlling means. A latch receiving member is provided for mounting to the door opening frame for engaging the spring latch to urge it to its retracted position as the door is being closed, and receiving latch in its extended position when the door is fully closed. The electrical power supply is a suitable battery with an on-off switch disposed between the battery and receiving and controlling means for opening and closing the circuit.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS




In the drawings, wherein like reference characters are used throughout to describe like parts:





FIG. 1

is an elevation view of a remotely controlled door lock mounted on the face of a door in accordance with the present invention, having a spring latch in an extended position within a latch receiving member and a latch blocking bar engaged within square notch in latch, blocking retraction of latch into housing thereby locking door;





FIG. 2

is similar to

FIG. 1

with blocking bar disengaged from square notch in latch allowing retraction of latch into housing, unlocking door;





FIG. 3

is an edge-wise sectional view showing both interior and exterior manual operation means;





FIG. 4

is a top view of the remotely controlled lock with latch extended into latch receiving member, and latch blocking bar engaged with square notch in latch, this being the locked condition;





FIG. 5

is a top view of the remotely controlled lock with latch blocking bar disengaged from square notch in latch, allowing latch to retract into housing as door is being opened;





FIG. 6

is detail of latch with latch blocking bar seated and engaged within square notch in latch, in relation to parts of the manual moving means in the neutral or rest position; and





FIG. 7

is detail of manual moving means having disengaged blocking bar from square notch in latch, allowing latch to retract into housing as door is being opened.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS





FIGS. 1-7

illustrate a preferred embodiment of a remotely operated door lock, generally referred to as a door lock


9


.





FIG. 1

is an elevation view of a door lock


9


mounted on an inner face


11


of a door. As shown in

FIG. 1

, the door lock


9


contains the parts to control movement of a latch


12


and a latch blocking bar


14


. The door lock


9


includes foremost a lock base plate


10


for mounting to the inner face


11


of the door adjacent the door edge


13


. The lock


9


is surface mounted on the door face


11


by screws


82


that are set in the door within longitudinal openings


40


in the base plate


10


. The openings


40


permit the lateral positioning of the base plate


10


to be set as desired for proper engagement of the latch


12


with a latch receiving member, commonly referred to as a strike plate


50


. The strike plate


50


is surface mounted with screws


90


set in a face


92


of a door opening frame


94


. Similar longitudinal openings in the strike plate


50


further facilitate guiding and centralizing of engagement with the latch


12


.




Still referring to

FIG. 1

, the base plate


10


contains the latch


12


which is biased by a spring


80


and predisposed to the extended position that is moveable along a linear path as defined by a control housing


34


. Control housing


34


is the central point of the control of the latch


12


by movement of the blocking bar


14


in a path perpendicular to the latch


12


within control housing


34


. Engagement of the blocking bar


14


into the rectangular notch


13


in the latch


12


prevents retraction of the latch


12


into the control housing


34


, thereby locking the door.





FIG. 2

is an elevation view similar to

FIG. 1

showing the door unlocked. Referring to

FIG. 2

for the moment, the blocking bar


14


is moved upwardly thereby disengaging the notch


13


in the latch


12


. The latch


12


can then move to the right into the control housing


34


as shown in

FIG. 2

, disengage the strike plate


50


, and thereby unlock the door. Disengagement of blocking bar


14


from rectangular notch in latch


12


permits retraction of latch


12


into control housing


34


, unlocking the door.





FIGS. 4 and 5

are top views of the lock


9


.

FIGS. 1 and 4

illustrate the blocking bar


14


engaged with the rectangular notch


13


(see

FIG. 1

) of the latch


12


thereby blocking retraction of the latch


12


into control housing


34


and therefore locking the door.

FIGS. 2 and 5

illustrate the blocking bar


14


disengaged from the rectangular notch


13


in the latch


12


, permitting retraction of the latch


12


into the control housing


34


thereby unlocking the door. Using this movement, only a small amount of energy is required to shift and maintain lock


9


to either locked or unlocked condition.





FIGS. 4 and 5

illustrate another important feature of the lock


9


, namely the cooperative action of the latch


12


, the blocking bar


14


, the notch


13


and the striker plate


50


. As shown in

FIGS. 4 and 5

, retraction of the latch


12


into the control housing


34


is urged by the action of strike plate


50


on either of the beveled surface


12


′ of latch


12


. The latch


12


, being beveled on two faces


12


′, permits retraction into the control housing


34


as door is being opened or closed when the blocking bar


14


is disengaged from rectangular notch


13


in latch


12


. Stated another way, the door can be freely opened or closed without turning any lever, or door knob, or the like when the door is “unlocked” by withdrawing the blocking bar


14


from the notch


13


in the latch


12


.




ELECTRICAL OPERATION OF THE LOCK




Referring now to

FIGS. 1 and 2

, the base plate


10


further includes means connected therein for moving the blocking bar


14


under electrical power between positions of engagement and disengagement in relation to the rectangular notch


13


in the latch


12


. The moving means preferably includes an electric motor


16


connected to the base plate


10


via screws


61


that extend through a motor bracket


60


for securing the motor


16


to base plate


10


. The electric motor


16


produces torque that rotates an output shaft


18


upon receipt of a control signal from a receiving and controlling circuit as described further below. The central portion of output shaft


18


is externally threaded with threads


19


and positioned on the centerline of a longitudinal opening


62


in the blocking bar


14


. A nut


20


, having internal threads and engaging the shaft threads


19


, is positioned axially within opening


62


about centerline of output shaft


18


such that their respective threads are in engagement. The nut


20


is in slidable engagement within the walls of the opening


62


and is prevented from rotating relative to the blocking bar


14


.




A pair of helical springs


22


are disposed in the opening


62


on opposing sides of nut


20


and ends


63


and


65


of opening


62


to transfer forces applied to the nut


20


via the respective threads to the blocking bar


14


. Rotation of output shaft


18


induces a linear movement of the nut


20


within the longitudinal opening


62


, urging the springs


22


to move the blocking bar


14


along a linear and vertical path as defined by the control housing


34


. In other words, the combination of the output shaft


18


, the nut


20


, the helical springs


22


, and the motor


16


form an electric moving means for positioning the blocking bar


14


between the position of engagement and disengagement of the rectangular notch


13


in the latch


12


. Hereafter, these elements will be referred to simply as “electrical moving means”.





FIG. 3

is an edgewise view of the lock


9


. As shown in

FIG. 3

a lock housing cover


42


is releasably connected to the base plate


10


with threaded screws


57


that extend through openings


57


′ in cover


42


to engage threadedbores


58


. A power supply preferably in the form of four “AA” batteries


64


is mounted to base plate


10


to power a receiver


73


and energize the electric motor


16


in accordance with a control circuit


99


. An ON-OFF power switch


66


(see

FIG. 1

) is mounted adjacent a circuit board


72


in the cover housing


42


, and is electrically connected between the batteries


64


and the circuit board


72


. Setting the switch


66


to the OFF position induces electric moving means to disengage the blocking bar


14


from latch


12


placing door in unlocked condition. Setting switch


66


to the ON position energizes the electric moving means to urge the blocking bar


14


to engage the notch


13


in the latch


12


as previously described, placing door in a locked condition. The circuit board


72


includes the receiver


73


for receiving a wireless energy signal, illustrated conceptually with a broken line


73


′ and preferably a radio signal of a predetermined frequency, from a portable transmitter


56


, as shown in FIG.


3


. The wireless energy signal induces the control circuit


99


, which is preferably mounted on the circuit board


72


, to deliver the control signal to motor


16


which controls operation of motor


16


. In this manner, control circuit induces the electric moving means to move the blocking bar


14


to disengage the notch


13


in the latch


12


for a predetermined time upon receipt of the wireless energy signal


73


′ from the transmitter


56


, thereby allowing door to be opened.




Attention is again directed to

FIGS. 1 and 2

. When door is closed a magnetic reed switch


48


mounted in the cover housing


42


comes into alignment with a magnet


52


embedded in strike plate


50


. Upon receipt of signal from magnetic reed switch


48


, the control circuit


99


thereafter induces electric moving means to position the blocking bar


14


into the notch


13


in the latch


12


thereby locking door.




It is emphasized that the blocking bar


14


interacts directly with the door latch


12


to provide the desired door “locked” and “unlocked” status. With the lock


9


in the “unlocked” state, the door can be open or closed by simply pulling or pushing, respectively, due to the bevels


12


′ interacting with the striker plate


50


. Operation of the unlocked door does not require the operation of levers or knobs.




MANUAL OPERATION




As indicated in

FIGS. 3

,


4


and


5


, the lock


9


further includes means for disengaging the blocking bar


14


from the notch


13


in the latch


12


so that door can be manually opened from the interior side of door without electrical power. A typical lever type handle


26


extends ninety degrees outwardly on a preferably cylindrical body


27


concentric with the axis about which it rotates, and further extends through the lock housing cover


42


. The handle


26


includes a square interior shaft


28


which extends through a circular opening


68


in a flanged portion


69


of the housing cover


42


, permitting rotation of the handle


26


and the shaft


28


relative to the cover


42


and the base plate


10


. A lever return spring


30


functions to return lever to the neutral position when the lever is released.





FIGS. 6 and 7

are views in the same orientation as

FIGS. 1 and 2

, but show elements associated with the manual operation of the lock. A lever shaft cam


38


is positioned on square shaft


28


so as to engage the blocking bar


14


as shown in

FIGS. 6 and 7

. Referring to

FIG. 6

, while the lever


26


is at rest or neutral position, the lever shaft cam


38


allows the blocking bar


14


to seat in the rectangular notch


13


of the latch


12


. Now referring to

FIG. 7

, depressing the lever handle


26


will rotate the lever shaft


28


and the attached lever shaft cam


38


so as to disengage the blocking bar


14


from the notch


13


in the latch


12


thereby unlocking door. Simultaneously, manual rotation of the lever


26


and attached cam


38


depresses a micro switch


54


signaling the circuit board


72


to induce electrical moving means to the disengaged or unlocked position of the blocking bar


14


, thereby allowing the latch


12


to retract into the control housing


34


so that the door can close. When door is fully closed, the magnetic reed switch


48


mounted in the housing cover


42


is aligned with the magnet


52


embedded in the strike plate


50


. Closing of the switch


48


signals the control circuit


72


of a “door closed” status thereby inducing the electrical moving means to the engaged or locked position as previously described.




Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the handle


26


is capable of rotation in a clockwise as well as counterclockwise direction. In this manner the door lock


9


is adaptable to doors that are hinged on either left or right hand side, simply by rotating the lock


9


one hundred eighty degrees and moving the lock


9


adjacent the appropriate edge of door.




KEY OPERATION




Referring again to

FIG. 3

, the door lock


9


further includes a means for enabling manual disengagement of the blocking bar


14


by means of a key inserted from the exterior side of the door. Thus, a standard type key locking cylinder


74


is mounted in a bore formed in the door for operation with a key (not shown). The key locking cylinder


74


includes shaft, commonly referred to as a tailpiece


70


, that extends through a flange in the base plate


10


and is connected to a tailpiece adapter


44


A tailpiece adapter cam


46


is attached to the tailpiece adapter


44


to provide movement of the blocking bar


14


. Rotation of the key in the lock cylinder


74


induces rotation of the tailpiece


70


, the tailpiece adapter


44


and the tailpiece adapter cam


46


. As illustrated in

FIGS. 6 and 7

, rotation of the tailpiece adapter cam


46


from neutral position will engage a roll pin


36


which extends outwardly from the blocking bar


14


. Rotation of key will cause rotation of the tailpiece


70


, the tailpiece adapter


44


, and the tailpiece adapter cam


46


which will induce the blocking bar


14


to disengage from the notch


13


in latch


12


thereby unlocking door.




REMOTE OPERATION




Elements required to operate the lock


9


remotely were introduced in section


3


of this disclosure. The remotely controlled operation of door lock


9


will now be described in detail with reference to

FIGS. 1

,


2


,


3


, and


5


. Initially, the setting of power switch


66


to the ON position induces control circuit


72


to send signal to the motor


16


that moves the blocking bar


14


via the shaft


18


, nut


20


and springs


22


, from the disengaged or unlocked position (as shown in

FIGS. 2 and 5

) to the engaged or locked position (as shown in FIGS.


1


and


3


). When it is desirable to permit access through door, an operator grasps the portable transmitter


56


, places his/her thumb on transmitter button


56


′ and depresses button to transmit a radio signal of predetermined frequency to door lock


9


. The transmitted signal is then received by the receiver


73


on the circuit board


72


. When the signal is received, the control circuit


99


sends a control signal to the motor


16


, which outputs a torque to the shaft


18


for a predetermined time. The torque applied to shaft


18


is transferred by the engaging threads


19


of shaft


18


and nut


20


into linear motion within the opening


62


of the blocking bar


14


. Action of nut


20


compresses one of the springs


22


, which, in turn, applies a reactive force to the blocking bar


14


thereby moving blocking bar to disengagement with the rectangular notch


13


in the latch


12


. This unlocks the door as shown in

FIGS. 2 and 5

. After a predetermined time period, the control circuit


99


confirms the “door closed” status by alignment of magnetic reed switch


48


with magnet


52


embedded in strike plate


50


. Upon confirmation of “door closed” status, control circuit


99


signals motor


16


, reversing shaft rotation to move the blocking bar


14


into engagement with the square notch in the latch


12


thereby locking door as shown in

FIGS. 1 and 3

.




SUMMARY




From the foregoing, it will be seen that this invention is well adapted to attain all the ends and objects set forth above, together with other advantages that are obvious and inherent to this apparatus and structure.




It will be understood that certain features and subcombinations are of utility and may be employed without reference to other features and subcombinations. This is contemplated by and within the scope of the claims.




Because many possible embodiments may be made of the invention without departing from the scope thereof, it is to be understood that all matter set forth herein or shown in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.



Claims
  • 1. A door lock comprising:(a) a lock housing for mounting to an inner face of a door adjacent the edge; (b) a spring latch with two beveled faces moveable within said housing between extended and retracted positions; (c) a spring latch blocking bar moveable within said housing, in a path perpendicular to said spring latch, with (i) one position engaging said latch at a notch within said latch thereby restricting retraction into said lock housing, and (ii) a second position disengaging said latch at said notch thereby permitting retraction into said housing; (d) electric moving means within said housing for moving said latch blocking bar under electrical power between its engaged and disengaged positions, the electric moving means comprising (i) an electric motor connected to said housing; (ii) an output shaft having external threads and connected to said motor wherein said motor produces a torque in said output shaft, and the output shaft extends into a longitudinal opening in said blocking bar; (iii) a power supply connected to said housing for energizing said motor; (iv) a nut having internal threads which engage said external threads of said shaft, wherein said nut is disposed within said longitudinal opening and about said output shaft for slidable engagement with walls of said longitudinal opening, and the engagement of said nut preventing rotation relative to said blocking bar, and (v) a pair of helical springs disposed in said opening on opposing sides of said nut between said nut and opposing ends of said opening, whereby torque applied to said output shaft will apply a force to said nut via the respective threads which transfers the force to said blocking bar via the helical springs to move said blocking bar between its engaged and disengaged position with said latch; (e) means mounted within said housing for receiving a wireless energy signal and controlling the operation of said electrical moving means with a control signal triggered by the wireless energy signal to move said blocking bar from said engaged position to said disengaged position, hold said blocking bar to its disengaged position for a predetermined time period, and then return said blocking bar to its engaged position; (f) portable means for transmitting the wireless energy signal to said receiving and controlling means; and (g) a latch receiving member for mounting to a door opening frame adjacent said lock housing for engaging said spring latch to urge it to its retracted position as the door is being opened or closed and receiving said spring latch in its extended position when a door is fully closed within a door opening frame.
  • 2. The door lock of claim 1, wherein the moving means includes;(a) an electric motor connected to said housing for producing an output torque upon receipt of the control signal from the receiving and controlling means; (b) a power supply connected to said lock housing for energizing said motor; and (c) linkage means for converting the output torque of said motor into movement of said blocking bar between the engaged and disengaged position with said latch along a linear path defined by said lock housing.
  • 3. The door lock of claim 2, further comprising a switch disposed between said electric motor and the power supply for opening a circuit between said motor and said power supply.
  • 4. The door lock of claim 3, wherein the receiving and controlling means sends a signal to said motor for moving said blocking bar to its disengaged position with said latch when the switch is set to an OFF position.
  • 5. The door lock of claim 1, wherein the receiving and controlling means comprises:(a) a receiver tuned to a frequency range within which the wireless energy signal is transmitted; and (b) a control circuit operatively connected between the receiver and the moving means for inducing said moving means to move said blocking bar to its disengaged position for a predetermined time period upon receipt of the wireless energy signal from the transmitting means enabling a door to be opened, the control circuit thereafter moving said blocking bar to its engaged position when a door is fully closed.
  • 6. The door lock of claim 1, wherein the wireless energy signal is a radio frequency signal.
  • 7. The door lock of claim 1 wherein said power supply is at least one electric storage battery.
  • 8. The door lock of claim 1 further comprising:(a) a reed switch mounted in said housing; (b) a magnet embedded in said latch receiving member; wherein (c) said reed switch and said magnet are aligned when said door is closed thereby generating a signal indicative of said door being closed.
  • 9. The door lock of claim 1 further comprising means within said housing for yieldably urging said blocking bar to its disengaged position independently of said electrical moving means.
  • 10. The door lock of claim 8 further comprising mechanical means for manually moving said blocking bar from its engaged position to its disengaged position so that a door can be opened without electrical power.
  • 11. The door lock of claim 10 wherein said mechanical means comprises a lever handle which, when turned, moves said blocking bar to said disengaged position.
  • 12. The door lock of claim 10 wherein said mechanical means comprises a key lock mechanism, wherein rotation of a key in said key lock mechanism moves said blocking bar to said disengaged position.
  • 13. A door lock comprising:(a) a lock housing for mounting to an inner face of a door adjacent the edge; (b) a spring latch; (c) a spring latch blocking bar moveable within said housing, in a path perpendicular to said spring latch, with (i) one position engaging said latch at a notch within said latch thereby restricting retraction into said lock housing, and (ii) other position disengaging said latch at said notch thereby permitting retraction into said housing; (d) means within said housing for moving said latch blocking bar between its engaged and disengaged positions, the means for moving comprising (i) an electric motor connected to said housing; (ii) an output shaft having external threads and connected to said motor wherein said motor produces a torque in said output shaft, and the output shaft extends into a longitudinal opening in said blocking bar; (iii) a power supply connected to said housing for energizing said motor; (iv) a nut having internal threads which engage said external threads of said shaft, wherein said nut is disposed within said longitudinal opening and about said output shaft for slidable engagement with walls of said longitudinal opening, and the engagement of said nut preventing rotation relative to said blocking bar, and (v) a pair of helical springs disposed in said opening on opposing sides of said nut between said nut and opposing ends of said opening, whereby torque applied to said output shaft will apply a force to said nut via the respective threads which transfers the force to said blocking bar via the helical springs to move said blocking bar between its engaged and disengaged position with said latch; and (e) a latch receiving member for mounting to a door opening frame adjacent said lock housing for engaging said spring latch to urge it to its retracted position as the door is being opened or closed and receiving said spring latch in its extended position when a door is fully closed within a door opening frame.
  • 14. The door lock of claim 13 wherein said means for moving said latch blocking bar comprises a lever handle which, when rotated, causes said blocking to be moved to said disengaged position.
  • 15. The door lock of claim 13 wherein said means for moving said latch blocking bar comprises a key lock cylinder which, when rotated, causes said blocking bar to be moved to said disengaged position.
US Referenced Citations (18)
Number Name Date Kind
655476 Carleton Aug 1900
1361317 Dulczewski et al. Dec 1920
1833572 Hardesty Nov 1931
3751088 Schlage et al. Aug 1973
4262350 Inoue Apr 1981
4412356 Klaus et al. Oct 1983
4669283 Ingenhoven Jun 1987
4762350 Hurtado Aug 1988
4902053 Hakkarainen et al. Feb 1990
4904005 Frolov Feb 1990
4926664 Gartner et al. May 1990
5083448 Karkkainen et al. Jan 1992
5473922 Bair et al. Dec 1995
5715715 Nunez Feb 1998
5920268 Bucci et al. Jul 1999
5943888 Lawson Aug 1999
5983739 Feder Nov 1999
6035676 Hudspeth Mar 2000
Foreign Referenced Citations (5)
Number Date Country
10446 Jan 1903 AT
57484 Jul 1911 CH
176394 Mar 1922 GB
1342729 Jan 1974 GB
352014000 Feb 1977 JP