This invention pertains to auxiliary dead bolt type, surface-mounted security door latch apparatus that are operable from within the protected enclosure with the additional capability of allowing partial opening of the protected door while still providing some door security. More specifically, the security door latch apparatus includes reinforcement for existing internal dead bolt striker plates and external, emergency latch release mechanism.
The security of enclosures accessible by way of doors has been the subject of many forms of latch and lock contrivances. Latches accessible only from within the served enclosure include key-served tumbler locks, dead bolts, slotted latches, and links such as chains, just to name a few. Tumbler locks and the usual dead bolts lose their security feature when actuated to open the door a small amount. Occasionally there is a need to allow a slight opening of a door without totally losing control of the access limitation a small opening provides such as in hotels and motels where room cleaning services are often provided with a passkey. Normally the short chains, secured to the doorframe and fastened to the door with screws, serve quite well. However, unauthorized entry is often gained through the use of bolt cutters extended through the slightly opened door, thereby readily cutting the chains. Slotted ridged latches and chains are both only as strong as the fasteners by which they are attached. Therefore, extreme force is often used to break such latches or simply dismount them. Most such latches are made from light weight stamped plate, such as may be seen in U.S. Pat. Nos., 5,531,490, 646,810, 6,354,32 1,799,265, and 1,388,712, and are mounted, in most cases, in a manner whereby the shot bolt receiver is located on the door frame adjacent the door and the latch bolt is fastened to the door, thus exposing the bolt to potential shearing by an intruder. When such sliding bolt latches are used as security latches for personnel entrance or access doors they are generally mounted with light screws secured to the door facing and the door itself. Generally speaking, the slide bolt latch is the only defense the occupant has when partially opening the door. It should be essential that the allowable opening be kept to an absolute minimum and that the elements of the slide bolt latch be of sufficient strength to resist extreme force and still be able to maintain a substantial purchase on the mounting surface. The wider the door is allowed to open when latched, the more adverse strain may be applied.
Mounting such light weight latches, such as those cited above, to the door and door facing have proven to be insufficient for security purposes due to poor construction, light weight materials, and insufficient depth of the screws to penetrate the facing and reach into the wall framing located behind the facing. Such slide bolt door latches are quite well known for their ability to pinch fingers when attempting to release the latch for opening the door. In addition these latches tend to hang on the door when not in use and cause damage to the door or door casing, especially in the case of the 1,388,712 patent cited above.
More recently it has become mandatory in some apartment building, hotels, motels, and the like to provide some means of over-riding the internal latch apparatus to allow emergency access in cases where the occupant has actuated both the door's dead bolt and the internal security latch. The use of a passkey for the dead bolt lock is ineffective in such cases. Therefore, unauthorized tactics must be employed to gain entry to disabled occupants in situations where time is critical. Such entry over-riding tactics are often very destructive, time consuming, and very disturbing to adjacent occupants. Obviously, if such tactics can be avoided lives may be saved and property destruction can be reduced. It is therefore an object of the invention disclosed herein to provide a security bolt latch for the limited opening of doors that includes a way to physically release the latch assembly in an emergency by authorized personnel without damage to the door or wall framing with a minimal disturbance to adjacent occupants.
A dead bolt latch body is externally mounted to an interior door encasement by an unconventional method. The latch, including a slotted receiver fastened to a door hinged adjacent the latch, further includes a shot bolt carried by the latch body for engagement with the slotted receiver. The shot bolt has a straight portion ending in a crank with an extending journal. The latch bolt has three indented positions. A first position exists when the bolt is fully retracted and inactive. A second position exists when the bolt is advanced toward the door and the journal engages the slotted receiver for limited door opening. A third position exists when the bolt is advanced toward the slotted receiver until the straight portion of the bolt engages the slotted receiver to act as a conventional dead bolt to prevent any opening of the door. When the journal is engaged with the slot defined as the second position, the door can be opened as the journal moves along the slot, rotating the bolt, to an extent permitted by the crank throw and is defined as a fourth position. To prevent the bolt being pushed to release the striker plate when the door is slightly opened, the body has an abutment that engages the crank, if it is not vertical, to prevent movement of the bolt toward the first, or unlatched, position. An alternative provides an enlargement on the end of the journal and an enlarged opening near the end of the slot to accept the enlargement. Once the door opens some to move the journal along the slot, the narrower slot will not permit the enlargement to be withdrawn. A second alternative is to provide a cam on the bolt to engage a slot in the surface of the bore to limit movement of the crank to rotation or axial movement but not both. The crank can rotate in only one axial position of the bolt and it cannot move axially when the crank is anything but vertical. This third position provides full dead bolt locking and, in that position, the door cannot be opened any amount. A finger lever is provided on the bolt to prevent operation of the latch by gripping the crank to protect fingers. To stabilize the bolt, a side load-biasing device is used. A leaf spring attached to the body and bearing upon the bolt is one example of providing biasing for the detents on the bolt at the positions represented by the four principal positions. A common spring and ball detent assembly may replace the leaf spring. The slotted receiver may, as an alternative, be provided as a box structure to prevent access to the crank and striker interface to prevent pinching of fingers if the door is moved during the latching process.
Providing a more secure dead bolt striker plate for existing internal keyed dead bolts provides even greater security when the striker plate is extended from between the door and the casement and secured between the security door latch body and the door casing. A unique mounting is provide for the latch body by providing a threaded mounting stud extending from the interior located latch body through the door encasement and retained exteriorly by a recessed threaded collar. A special key may remove the collar or the threaded stud, thereby allowing the door latch to be released from the door casement in an emergency.
For a further understanding of the nature and objects of the present invention, reference should be made to the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which, like parts are given like reference numerals, and wherein:
a is a rear isometric view of the second embodiment latch body with releasable mounting assembly showing reversibility of the T-nut;
a is an isometric view of an alternative release key and handle assembly;
a is an isometric view of the release key shown in
In some drawing figures certain features well established in the art and not bearing upon points of novelty are omitted in the interest of descriptive clarity. Such omitted features may include weld lines, some threaded fasteners, threaded joints, pins, and the like. In all drawing figures, the structure of the door, doorframe, and mounting screws may be considered symbolic. The latch being described is intended for use as a security latch for personnel access doors. Its size, materials, and safety release mechanism may make it prohibitive for use in most other applications. The latch may be used on most door arrangements provided that the door is hinge-mounted and opens in the direction of the latch or interior of a dwelling or occupied space. The screw locations and the screw centerlines are defined as mounting means in some figures. It should be understood that, although one embodiment of the latch utilizes an external releasable mounting means, the latch body of either embodiment may be conventionally mounted with screws, if desired, without the release mechanism.
In
Unlike the usual surface-mounted dead bolt latch, whereby the bolt is rotated into position within the receiver by a gear rack, one end of the shot-bolt 3b in the latch disclosed herein includes a crank shaped arm 3c carrying neck, or journal, 3d culminating in an enlargement 3e at the end. It should be noted that the length of arm 3c should be kept to approximately 1½ to 3 times the door thickness, thus maintaining a minimal opening of the door. This minimum opening also reduces stress applied to the receiver portion 2b as a result of the enlargement 3e being extracted from the slot 4 as a result of the pivotal arch of the door. Lengthening the arm 3c to allow for a greater opening of the door requires a lengthening of the neck 3d and or a greater space between the body 3a and the receiver 2a to insure contact between the shot-bolt and the receiver slot 4 when the door is in the retained open Pos. 4. It should also be noted that the bend angles of the arm 3c and straight portion of the bolt and the between the arm and neck are not true 90 degree bends but are slightly larger and reflect the combined angle of the allowed door opening, thus preventing lateral stress on the receiver 2a by the enlargement 3e and binding of the bolt against the inner edge 24 of the door 2.
The body 3a may be attached to the wall and structural door framing in several ways, for example in the conventional manner using several screws 3f having sufficient length to penetrate the wall covering and extending a considerable depth into the structural door framing 1. It is also recommended that a portion of the doorframe molding or facing 20 shown in
Enlargement 3e can just pass through the enlarged bore 5 of the bolt receiver 2e but it cannot move through narrower slot 4 portion of the bolt receiver. The shot-bolt 3b moves axially between the three positions 1, 2, and 3 shown in
It should be observed that locating the body member 3a on the door and the receiver on the door jamb, as is common in the prior art, is not recommended for this type of security latch since linear force applied to the door would be applied directly to the thinnest portion of the receiver 2a and place its mounting screws in tensile. Such an arrangement would allow the receiver 2a to be easily broken with minimum effort. The arrangement as shown herein in
When the bolt 3b is moved to Pos. 3, the crank 3c portion of the bolt 3b extends through the slot 4 portion of the receiver 2a, thus the door cannot be opened. The effect is that of a conventional dead bolt. In Pos. 3, the crank arm 3c could move away from the door 2 and rotate the shot bolt 3b. Such rotation would not compromise the latch assembly 3 but it is undesirable. To prevent rotation of the bolt while in Pos. 3, a pin 7 is inserted into the shot-bolt 3b situated to enter a slot 8 machined into the latch body 3a via bore 9 to keep the crank vertical as shown in FIG. 6.
The bolt projection 6 located on the latch body 3a seen in
Finger lever 3g provides for the operation of the bolt without getting the fingers in position to be pinched by action of the crank arm 3c in the slot 4.
An alternate striker configuration is shown in
Looking now as
As seen in
As seen in
The collar 30 may be tightened or removed in a variety of ways. For example, a spanner key 46 as seen in
The collar 30 as shown in
Alternatively, the stud 40 may be counter bored at one end with an internal, irregular spline 66 rotatable by a matching key 70 having a cooperative external spline 68 as shown in FIG. 19. In this case the stud is being removed from the T-nut 42 instead of removing the collar 30. In either case one of the unique release key tools 46, 70 may be provided for each group of latches 50 particularly identified with a particular key configuration.
It should be also observed that the latch body 50 may fitted with an alternative crank shaped shot bolt 80, as seen in
The indenting ball assembly means 86 is provided for temporarily retaining the shot bolt in the latched position as shown in FIG. 21 and in the unlatched position as seen in FIG. 22. Looking now at
Because many varying and different embodiments may be made within the scope of the inventive concept herein taught, and because many modifications may be made in the embodiments herein detailed in accordance with the descriptive requirement of the law, it is to be understood that the details herein are to be interpreted as illustrative and not in any limiting sense.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
635432 | Doyle | Oct 1899 | A |
646810 | Doyle | Apr 1900 | A |
1388712 | Hoffman | Aug 1921 | A |
1394278 | Cirac | Oct 1921 | A |
1799265 | Unkelbach et al. | Apr 1931 | A |
2116001 | Schlage | May 1938 | A |
2581629 | Calderwood | Jan 1952 | A |
3797868 | Carey | Mar 1974 | A |
4524590 | Budish | Jun 1985 | A |
4655487 | Korn et al. | Apr 1987 | A |
4758032 | Tindall | Jul 1988 | A |
5007669 | Pomerleau | Apr 1991 | A |
5531490 | Parker | Jul 1996 | A |
5613718 | Lin | Mar 1997 | A |
5899509 | Ferguson et al. | May 1999 | A |
6003908 | King | Dec 1999 | A |