Safety door barrier with locking hinge and automatic latch

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6516568
  • Patent Number
    6,516,568
  • Date Filed
    Monday, July 16, 2001
    24 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, February 11, 2003
    22 years ago
Abstract
A safety door barrier includes a barrier post, barrier body, and a barrier stopper. The barrier post has upper and lower seats at the upper and lower ends thereof respectively. The upper seat has an upper stop with an upwardly slanted bottom and a lower stop with a downwardly slanted top. The lower stop has a lower stop hole, and the lower seat has a lower seat hole. The barrier body has an upper projection and a lower projection corresponding to the lower stop and the lower seat respectively, an upper pivot and a lower pivot extending downwardly from the upper and the lower projections respectively corresponding to the lower stop hole and the lower seat hole, and a latch device composed of a latch and a spring disposed at a lateral side of the barrier body opposite to the upper projection. The barrier stopper provides a latch hole corresponding to the latch device. The barrier body can be raised up and pushed forward or backward to open. The latch is inserted into the latch hole to lock the barrier body as soon as the barrier body is back.
Description




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




1. Field of the Invention




The present invention relates to a safety door barrier, and, more particularly, to an improvement on a safety door barrier, which can close automatically after being opened forward or backward without swinging back and forth.




2. Description of Related Art




The safety door barrier is usually mounted at a doorframe in a house temporarily to prevent a baby or a pet from entering through the doorway so that it is possible to effectively partition a space.




A conventional safety door barrier provides a lock mechanism between a barrier door and a lateral engaging seat such that the barrier door can engage with the engaging seat for positioning the barrier door. However, the barrier door of the conventional safety door barrier may be opened in one direction only.




In fact, in order to offer the user a convenience, it is not satisfactory for the user that the barrier door is only opened along one direction, that is, the barrier being able to be moved either along one direction or along a reversed direction is required. Moreover, it is tedious that the lock device, i.e., the locating device, for the barrier door is not automatically operated so that the lock device has to be turned whenever the barrier door is closed.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




An object of the present invention is to provide a safety door barrier, in which a barrier body can be opened either forward or backward as soon as the barrier body is lifted and then move back to the closed position automatically as soon as the barrier body is pressed down to prevent from a baby or a pet entering through.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS




The present invention can be more fully understood by referencing to the following description and accompanying drawings, in which:





FIG. 1

is a plan view of a safety door barrier according to the present invention;





FIG. 2

is a fragmentary perspective view illustrating a barrier body corresponding to a barrier post of the door barrier shown in

FIG. 1

;





FIG. 3

is a fragmentary perspective view illustrating the barrier body corresponding to a barrier stopper shown in

FIG. 1

; and





FIG. 4

is a fragmentary perspective view illustrating the barrier body corresponding to a barrier base.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS




Referring to

FIGS. 1

to


4


, a safety door barrier according to the present invention is possible to be joined to the door frame A or attached to a wall next to the doorway in a building, and comprises a barrier post


1


, a barrier body


2


, a barrier stopper


3


and a barrier base


4


. Wherein, the barrier post


1


and the barrier stopper


3


are fixedly mounted, and the barrier post


1


pivotally connects with the barrier body


2


. The barrier body


2


ceases motion by way of the barrier stopper


3


.




The barrier post


1


provides a size corresponding to the barrier body


2


and in order to enable turning of the barrier body, the barrier post


1


at the upper and the lower ends thereof has upper and lower seats


11


,


12


extending inwardly, i.e., extending toward the barrier body


2


. The upper seat


11


has an upper stop


111


with an upward slant bottom and has a lower stop


112


with a downward slant top such that the upper seat


111


is opposite to the lower seat


112


to limit up and down movements of the barrier body


2


. The lower stop


112


has a lower stop hole


1121


and a lower groove


1122


at the upper end edge thereof. The lower seat


12


at the downward slant top thereof has a lower seat hole


121


and a lower seat groove


122


such that the lower seat hole


121


communicates with the lower seat groove


122


. The lower stop hole


1121


and the lower seat hole


121


are provided for pivotally connecting with the barrier body


2


.




The barrier body


2


can be a shape of flat plate or a shape with grates as shown in

FIG. 1

, and provides an upper projection


21


and a lower projection


22


corresponding to the lower stop


112


and the lower seat


12


respectively. Further, an upper pivot


211


and a lower pivot


221


extend downward respectively corresponding to the lower stop hole


1121


and the lower seat hole


121


such that the upper pivot


211


and the lower pivot


221


can be inserted into the lower stop hole


1121


and the lower seat hole


121


in a state of being turned freely. Besides, an upper tenon


212


and a lower tenon


222


provided on the barrier body


2


have a size slightly less than the lower stop groove


1122


and the lower seat groove


122


so that the upper tenon


212


and the lower tenon


222


can engage with the lower stop groove


1122


and the lower seat groove


122


respectively.




A recess is provided at an upper lateral side opposite to the upper projection


21


and a lock


23


is located at the recess. The lock


23


has a conventional rotary lock


231


known in the art so that no detail will be described further. The lock


23


includes an automatic latch device


232


, which is different from the prior art and is composed of a latch


2321


and a spring


2322


, so that the latch


2321


may retreat inward during being pressed and protrude outward during being free from the pressed force. In addition, a gravity lock


24


is mounted at the bottom of the barrier body


2


and a lock pin


241


of the gravity lock


24


moves in a space in a way of hanging downward due to the force of gravity.




The barrier stopper


3


has a stop head


31


extending outward with a lock hole


311


so as to receive a lock pin of the rotary lock


231


as soon as the rotary lock


231


is turned and the lock pin moves outward. Besides, a T-shaped latch hole


32


is provided in the stop head


31


corresponding to the latch


2321


to receive the latch


2321


while the latch. device


232


is in operation.




The barrier base


4


may be fixedly joined to the barrier post I and the barrier stopper


3


so that the barrier body


2


can be turned with respect to the barrier base


4


too. A pinhole


41


is provided in the barrier base


4


corresponding to the lock pin


241


for receiving the lock pin


241


while the gravity lock is in operation.




Referring to

FIGS. 1

to


4


again, once the safety door barrier is in use, the upper and the lower pivots


211


,


221


of the barrier


2


are inserted into the lower stop hole


1121


and the lower seat hole


121


respectively. While the safety door barrier is disposed at the closed position, both the upper and the lower tenons


212


,


222


fall into the lower stop groove


1122


and the lower seat groove


122


respectively to constitute a state of being located. The latch


2321


of the barrier body


2


is pushed outward by a spring force and moves into a generally vertically extending portion of the latch hole of the barrier stopper


3


, and the lock pin


241


moves downward to engage with the pinhole


41


. At this time, the rotary lock


231


can be turned to pierce into the lock hole


311


of the barrier stopper


3


so as to form a state of locking in case of a further lock being required.




In case of the safety door barrier being needed to open, the rotary lock


231


is released first and then the barrier body


2


is pulled upward with the upper pivot


211


and the lower pivot


221


. At this time, the barrier body


2


can be opened by way of being pushed with respect to the upper and the lower pivots


211


,


221


. Next, the barrier body


2


is put down and slides downward such that the upper and the lower tenons


212


,


222


engage with the lower stop groove


1122


and the lower seat groove


122


respectively. Further, the lock pin


241


enters the pinhole


41


in the barrier base


4


too, and the latch


2321


of the barrier body


2


is inserted into the latch hole


32


in the barrier stopper


3


so that it forms multiple point locations to keep the barrier body


2


out of swinging back and forth. If the safety door barrier is to be locked, simply turn the rotary lock


231


to engage with the stop hole


311


so that the safety door barrier is in a state of being locked.




Accordingly, the advantages of the present invention can be summarized hereinafter:




(1) It is possible for the barrier body to be opened forward or backward instead of being opened in a single direction done by the conventional barrier so that there are more choices for the user and it is more flexible during mounting the safety door barrier to be compatible with various doorframes of buildings.




(2) It is possible for the barrier body to stay in a state of closing automatically instead of the barrier body with the conventional hinge having to swing a little while before staying in a state of closing so that the safety door barrier of the present invention can executes a movement of opening and a movement of closing definitely without any vagueness.




(3) The safety door barrier of the present invention provides a function of natural positioning and it is not easy to be opened unless the barrier body is raised. The feature is much helpful to prevent from being opened by a baby or a pet.




While the invention has been described with reference to preferred embodiment thereof, it is to be understood that modifications or variations may be easily made without departing from the spirit of this invention, which is defined in the appended claims.



Claims
  • 1. A safety door barrier, comprising:a barrier post having an elongated shape with upper and lower ends, with upper and lower seats at the upper and lower ends respectively, the upper seat having an upper stop with an upwardly slanted bottom and a lower stop with a downwardly slanted top, the lower stop having a lower stop hole, and the lower seat at a top thereof having a lower seat hole; a barrier body having a height corresponding to a height of the barrier post, the barrier body having upper and lower projections corresponding to the lower stop and the lower seat respectively, an upper pivot and a lower pivot extending downwardly from the upper and the lower projections and engaging the lower stop hole and the lower seat hole, respectively, so as to pivotally attach the barrier body to the barrier post such that the barrier body is vertically and pivotally movable relative to the barrier post between a closed position and an open position; an elongated stopper having a height corresponding to the height of the barrier body and being located adjacent to the barrier body, the stopper having a stop head with a lock hole and a T-shaped latch hole; a manually operated lock on the barrier body and operable so as to engage and disengage the lock hole in the stopper; and, an automatic latch device on the barrier body including a protruding latch member, the latch member only engaging a generally vertically extending portion of the latch hole in the stopper when the barrier body is in the closed position so as to prevent pivoting of the barrier body relative to the barrier post, and disengaging the latch hole when the barrier body is moved to the open position thereby permitting pivoting of the barrier body relative to the barrier post.
  • 2. The safety door barrier according to claim 1, wherein the lower stop includes a lower stop groove and the top of the lower seat includes a lower seat groove, and further comprising an upper tenon and a lower tenon on the barrier body engaging the lower stop groove and the lower seat groove respectively when the barrier body is in the closed position.
  • 3. The safety door barrier according to claim 1 further comprising:a) a barrier base located below the barrier body, the barrier base including a pinhole; and b) a lock pin mounted on the barrier body and protruding from the barrier body so as to engage the pinhole when the barrier body is in the closed position to thereby prevent pivoting movement of the barrier body relative to the barrier post.
Priority Claims (1)
Number Date Country Kind
90203404 U Jul 2001 TW
US Referenced Citations (8)
Number Name Date Kind
1017488 Zindars Feb 1912 A
1603408 Rickenbacher Oct 1926 A
1687174 Mountford et al. Oct 1928 A
5442881 Asbach et al. Aug 1995 A
5638885 Freese et al. Jun 1997 A
5657809 Longoria et al. Aug 1997 A
6112461 Cheng Sep 2000 A
6301832 Andersen Oct 2001 B1