Patent Application
20130088025
This invention relates generally to emergency egress, and in particular, to a self-engaging door lock assembly which will release when in an alarm condition.
By code, buildings such as industrial, school and public buildings require emergency egress capability. Access openings, such as entranceways, doorways and hallways are often secured by either overhead (vertically traveling) closures or accordion folding (horizontally traveling) closures.
Overhead closures travel within a pair of tracks mounted at opposite sides of the access opening. Segmented panel overhead closures are comprised of hinged panels which pivot relative to one another as they successively shift through an arcuate path as the closure opens and closes. Single panel closures are comprised of a single panel capable of arcuate movement to an open position in which the panel is generally disposed in a horizontal position parallel to the floor upon full opening. Both segmented and single panel overhead closures are usually provided with rollers mounted to the panel(s) which extend laterally from the panel(s) to engage and roll within the tracks.
Overhead coiling closures, also referred to as rolling steel doors, move in a generally vertical path, coiling above the opening as the door is opened. They travel within a pair of tracks positioned on either side of the opening. Rollers are usually not utilized. Because rolling steel doors have many fewer parts than sectional doors, with less risk for damage and inoperability, they make a better solution for facilities that cannot afford opening downtime. For emergency egress applications, downtime, i.e. an inoperable door, can be life threatening.
Accordion folding closures are mounted to an overhead horizontally positioned track.
Regardless of the type of closure, for emergency egress applications any locking mechanism used to secure the closure must automatically release when in an alarm condition regardless of the locking mechanism's power state.
Often times the closures is operated by a powered door operator which also provides locking capability. However, for many applications the locking capability provided by the operator is not sufficient. Consequently it is necessary to provide additional locking to achieve required security.
Accordingly, there is still a continuing need for improved locking assembly designs that will release when in an alarm condition. The present invention fulfills this need and further provides related advantages.
A lock assembly is mounted to a door track. The operative geometry of the locking assembly is such that as a door lock strike element contacts a lock strike assembly contained within the lock assembly, the strike assembly hinges over the door lock strike element. When the door reaches a predetermined down limit power is applied to activate an actuator. Upon activation, the actuator engages a lock strike stop which prevent the strike assembly from disengaging the door lock strike element.
If the door is attempted to be opened while the lock strike stop is engaged, the lock strike assembly pushes against the stop, preventing the door from traveling upward. In an emergency egress (alarm) condition, power to the actuator is terminated, thereby releasing the lock strike stop and by extension, the strike assembly, thus disengaging the door lock strike element, thereby providing emergency egress capability.
One advantage of the locking assembly is the ability to provide additional security while maintaining fail safe emergency egress capability.
A second advantage is the ability to use the locking assembly with both vertically and horizontally positioned tracks.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following more detailed description of the preferred embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings which illustrate, by way of example, the principles of the invention.
The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the present invention. These drawings are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate one or more embodiments of the present invention, and together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the present invention.
Other features and advantages will be apparent from the following more detailed description of the preferred embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings which illustrate, by way of example, the principles of the invention.
As required, detailed embodiments are disclosed; however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention that may be embodied in various forms. The figures are not necessary to scale, and some features may be exaggerated to show details of particular components. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a basis for the claims and as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present invention.
While an overhead coiling (rolling steel) door is described as an exemplar, the locking assembly is not limited to an overhead coiling door. One skilled in the art can readily visualize that the door lock strike element may be, for example, the roller of a segmented door or the hanger of an accordion folding door.
Turning now to
Strike stop 20 is mounted to bottom of an actuator, for example, solenoid 22 such that strike stop 20 travels within elongated openings 24 of channel 6 as solenoid 22 is energized/de-energized. Solenoid 22 is in electrical communication with a receiver, for example, a rectifier 26 in known fashion (not shown). Solenoid 22 is mounted to channel 6 with screws 28, and rectifier 26 is mounted to channel 6 with bolt 30 and nut 32. Flag terminals 34 are utilized with rectifier 26 to provide electrical communication to an alarm condition/lock release signal generator (not shown).
Optional switch 36 is mounted to channel 6 with screws 38. Switch 36 is in electrical communication with and is used to control the door operator 92 (
Turning now to
Door track 60 further comprises upper slot 68 and lower slot 70 used to operatively receive upper flange 12 and lower flange 14, respectively.
In use, the self-engaging emergency egress lock assembly operates as follows:
The lock assembly 2 is mounted to the door track 60 which is mounted to the door opening (not shown). In an unlocked state, solenoid 22 is de-energized which allows spring 16 to rotatably withdraw upper flange 12 from track channel 62. Lower flange 14 remains extended within track channel 62.
As the door closure 66 is closed, for example, using a powered operator, the door lock strike element 74 (door channel element leading edge 76) bypasses the retracted upper flange 12 and continues to close until it engages the lower flange 14, causing the lock strike assembly 4 to rotatively hinge such that the upper flange 12 reinserts into track channel 62 and extends over the door lock strike element 74 (door channel trailing edge 78), thereby preventing opening travel of the door closure 66.
When the door closure 66 reaches a predetermined down limit, the solenoid 22 is energized. Upon activation, the solenoid 22 engages the lock strike stop 20, causing it to travel within elongated openings 24 to engage actuator stop 18, which prevents the lock strike assembly 4 from rotating to the unlocked position (retraction of the upper flange 12) and disengagement of the door lock strike element 74.
If opening of the door closure 66 is attempted while the strike stop 20 is obstructively engaging the actuator stop 18, the lock strike assembly 4 is pushed against the strike stop 20, which prevents the lock strike assembly 4 from rotating to its unlocked position and disengaging the door lock strike element 74. In this manner it prevents the door closure 66 from traveling upward.
In an emergency egress (alarm) condition or when a manual unlock signal is generated the solenoid 22 (actuator) is de-energized, thereby retracting the strike stop 20, allowing the spring 16 to bring the lock strike assembly 4 to an unlocked state (retraction of upper flange 12), thus disengaging the door lock strike element 74 and allowing the door closure 66 to open. In this manner emergency egress capability is insured.
Upper flange 12 angle α (
When optional switch 36 (operatively connected to the operator) is utilized, switch 36 disables the operative connection to the operator when the lock strike stop 20 is in its locked position, thereby preventing operator damage if it were to try to power open the door closure 66 while the lock assembly 2 is engaged.
A self-engaging lock assembly without emergency egress capability, where the assembly remains in the locked position regardless of power state, can be achieved by omitting or disabling the ability to receive the unlock signal. One example would be to use a manually retractable plunger rather than a solenoid for the activator. This would have application, for example, in loading dock type doors, where emergency egress is not required but security is desired.
Although the present invention has been described in connection with specific examples and embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the present invention is capable of other variations and modifications within its scope. For example, while an overhead coiling door has been used as an exemplar, the operative principles can also be applied to any door utilizing a tracked design.
These examples and embodiments are intended as typical of, rather than in any way limiting on, the scope of the present invention as presented in the appended claims.
