AU605970B2 - Lock with reversible bolt - Google Patents

Description

605&o IThis document contains the amendments made under bection 49 and is correct for printing COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA The Patents Act 1952 Name of Applicant(s): Address of Applicant(s): WHITCO PTY LTD P.O. Box 75, Corinda, 4075, Australia Queensland,

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Actual Inventor(s): Address for Service: o so r rr r o r o OTTO GUNTHER GUSTAV SPREKELER G.R. CULLEN COMPANY, Patent Trade Mark Attorneys, Dalgety House, 79 Eagle Street, Brisbane, Qld. 4000, Australia.

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR THE INVENTION ENTITLED: LOCK WITH REVERSIBLE BOLT The following statement is a full description of the invention including the best method of performing it known to us: E~f~r I 2; j.) o "t ~0 0 0 00 '00 0 0 00 00 0 0 or,, 0 00 4, #0 00 #0 00 0 THIS INVENTION relates to a lock and, in particular, to a lock for a sliding panel such as a sliding door or window, having a bolt which is reciprocally movable through a lock body and is lockable to that body when the bolt is in an extended position.

In locks of this type, the bolt'. is conventionally prevented from being removed from the lock body by a suitable restraint acting between co-acting elements associated with the bolt and lock body. One reason for preventing such removal is that when the lock is secured to the top section 0 of the vertical edge of a sliding panel, the bolt will not drop out of the lock body when it is in, an unlocked mode.

Another reason is that when the lock is secured to the bottom section of the vertical eage of a sliding panel, the bolt is not acoidentaliy removed when it is moved from its locked mode to its unlocked mode. Such removal could easily happen 0 if one exerts undue force on the bolt aiuring unlocking and, although it would be no great problem to re-insert it in the look body, the consumer would soon tire of this. Furthermore, readily removable bolts could be easily misplaced, Another feature of these types of locks is that the lock cylinder which co-acts with the bolt, is offset to one side of the lock body and the bolt a offset to the other side of the lock body. Consequently, in ordee t1-o be able to manipulate the bolt when the look i.s szcured to the edge of a sliding panel, the bolt must assume a position furtherest ~,I0 I I II I I Y away from the edge of the sliding panel. That is, there is only one possible orientation that the lock body can have when it is secured in place. This relative positioning of the bolt within the lock body, and the relationship of the lock with the edge of the sliding panel, necessitates the production of a lock specifically for a right opening door and another lock specifically for a left opening door, The production of two forms of the same lock adds to the expense of the product and is also incoivenient in use as consumers TO' often mistakenly purchase the incorrect lock.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a lock of the aforementioned type but which may be universally used for both right and left opening doors.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a lock of the aforementioned type in which the bolt may be removed if so required, but which is normally held in place within the lock body.

According to the present invention, there is provided a lock of the type having a bolt which is reciprocally movable through a lock body in either of two mutually opposing directions, said bolt including a constricted region enabling the bolt to co-act with one of two retaining means located within the lock body to prevent withdrawal of the bolt from the lock body when the bolt has one orientation and to allow withdrawal of the bolt from the lock body when the bolt is rotated about its longitudinal h~ I axis to another orientation, wherein one of the said two retaining means enables such co-action when the bolt is moved through the lock body from one direction and the other of said two retaining means enables such co-action when the bolt is moved through the lock body from the mutually opposing direction.

The retaining means may be separate acting elements housed within the lock body or they may be an integral part of the lock body itself. Preferably, the retaining means W will be resilient to permit them to be deformed to a state which enables the bolt to pass by when the bolt is rotated.

oo To this end, it is preferred that the retaining means be "oo, spring elements. A particularly preferred form of spring element will be one that is substantially U-shaped.

The constricted region on the bolt body will either be a modification of a typical necked portion which is adapted to co-act with the lock barrel or it will be a separate and distinct feature on the bolt body. For ease of S manufacture and better functioning, the former of these two possibilities is preferred. In this preferred embodiment, the shape and configuration of the constricted region will depend on the particular type of retaining means employed.

For instance, for a U-shaped spring element, the constricted region may include two diametrically opposed flat surfaces formed in a cylindrical bolt body with an adjacent ledge. In I- -CI this arrangement, withdrawal of the bolt through the arms of the U-shaped spring element is possible until the constricted region is reached, as the spring element will close about the flats and the ledge will prevent further withdrawal. To allow the bolt to be withdrawn further, the bolt must be rotated so that the flats are taken out of cortact with the spring and the outer circumference of the bolt is brought into contact with the spring. The portion of the constricted region which extends from the ledge area to the. outer circumference of the bolt, preferably forms a 0 00 smooth continuous formation so that the bolt may be moved to S 0o 0*0 a locked position without difficulty.

0 0 The bolt body will generally have a substantially cylindrical shape, but square or rectangular profiles are also possible. The end of the bolt body which is adapted to «iO~a co-act with an aperture of an associated door frame may be o* 0 tapered and the opposite end which is adapted for 0 Q manipulation may include a flange or knob to assist in its QO 00 a o o manipulation.

Preferred embodiments of the invention will now be "oo 0 described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Fig 1 is a perspective view of a typical lock body adapted to incorporate the features of the present invention; Fig. 2 is a cross-section of a typical lock body showing a bolt secured by a retaining means;

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Fig. 3 is a cross-section through III-III of Fig, 2; Fig. 4 is a cross-section through IV-IV of Fig. 3 and Fig. 5 is a plan view of a lock bolt.

Referring to Fig. 1, there is depicted a lock body of the type typically used for doors and sliding panels.

Cover plates, cylindrical lock barrel, attachment means and other peripheral elements which are not features of the 10 invention, are omitted for clarification purposes as these oa 0 are well known to the skilled addressee.

Basically, the lock body 10 is a solid casting with 0o o a plurality of apertures 11, 12, 13, 14 formed therein.

0 00 Aperture 13 is dimensioned to receive a lock cylinder and this communicates with aperture 12 through an opening 15. The lock cylinder is shaped so that in one orientqcion itf permits a bolt 20 to move past it when the bolt is moved in the longitudinal direction through the lock body indicated by the arrows, and in another orientation it mates with a necked portion 21 on the bolt and prevents removal of the bolt from the lock body.

A recess, one end 37 of which can be seen in Fig.

1, extends from one end of the lock body to the other. This recess is shaped so as to snugly accommodate the bolt where it passes through the lock body, and is dimensioned to permit easy slidable movement of the bolt through the lock I L body.

Retaining means in the form of spring clips 30, 31 are shown in exploded view in Fig. 1 and in their normal locations in Figs. 2 and 4. These spring clips are adapted to be housed in grooves 33, 33a and 34, 34a which communicate with housings 14 at each end of the lock body. The legs 36 of each spring clip are arranged to extend into the bolt accommodating recess and pass over the bolt 20 as depicted in Figs. 2 and 4 when the bolt is housed in the lock body.

The bolt 20, see Figs. 1 and 5, includes a tapered end portion 22 for ease of location within the lock body, and a knurled end piece 23 to assist manipulation. In another embodiment the end piece is a knob. The important feature of "o the bolt, however, is the configuration about the constricted region 21, The constricted region comprises a tapered portion 24 and two diametrically opposed flat surfaces 26, 27 (see Figs. 1, 4, These flat surfaces define adjacent ledges 28, 29 which extend perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the bolt.

It is these ledges which normally prevent the bolt from being withdrawn from the lock body by virtue of the spring clip legs 36 (or 37 if the bolt extends into the casing in the opposite direction to that shown in Fig. 1) mating therewith, In order to withdraw the bolt, it is necessary to rotate it through ninety degrees about its longitudinal axis so that the legs 36 of the spring clip cam lr: up to the outer circumferential edge of the bolt.

Referring to Figs. 2, 3 and 4, a bolt 20 is depicted within a lock housing 10 in a normally retracted position. In this position, the legs 35 of the spring clip 31 rest against the ledges 28, 29 of the bolt and prevent its removal from the lock body. Removal is as described above.

The reason for the second spring clip 30 is so that it will come into mating conLact with the ledge of the bolt when the bolt Js inserted from the opposite end of the lock body.

In this manner, it can be seen that a universal lock is provided insofar as it can be attached to either a right or left opening door with the simple expedient of «a.o0 providing a bolt which can be inserted in the lock body from 0 either of two directions and which is normally held within the lock body.

Whilst the above has been given by way of illustrative example of the invention, many modifications and variations may be made thereto by persons skilled in the art without departing from the broad scope and ambit of the a 0 4* invention as herein set forth.

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Claims (4)

1. A lock of the type having a bolt which is reciprocally movable through a lock body in either of two mutually opposing directions, said bolt including a constricted region enabling the bolt to co-act with one of two retaining means located within the lock body to prevent withdrawal of the bolt from the lock body when the bolt has one orientation and to allow withdrawal of the bolt from the lock body when the bolt is rotated about its longitudinal 99'1 axis to another orientation, wherein one of the said two retaining means enables such co-action when the bolt is moved S through the lock body from one direction and the other of o said two retaining means enables such co-action when the bolt is moved through the look body from the mutually opposing direction,

2. A lock as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the retaining means are spring elements housed within the lock body.

3. A look as claimed in Claim 2, wherein the spring elements are substantially U-shaped spring clips,

4. A lock as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the bolt is substantially cylindrical and the constricted region on the bolt includes two diametrically opposed flat surfaces with adjacent ledges which( eAtend perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the bolt. A lock as claimed i, Claim 4, wherein the portion of the constricted region of the bolt which extends from the ledges to the outer circumference of the bolt hask a smooth continuous formation. 6, A lock as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the bolt is tapered at one end and includes a flange or knob at the other end to assist manipulation, 7, A lock substantially as h, reintdescribed with reference to the accompanying drawings, DATED this 2nd day of October' 1990 WHITCO PTY LTD By their 'Patent Attorneys 0 A. U W94