Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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1 ¦ It is common practice to provide interior and
2 ¦ exterior doors of buildings with knobs which must be ro-
3 ¦ tated to effect openin~ of the doors. Rotation of a door
4 ¦ knob is not a simple undertaking for many persons, such ~s
5 ¦ those afflicted with arthritis or whose hands or arms are
B ¦ otherwise handicapped. A rockable lever is more easily
7 manipulated by such persons, but by the time the handicap
8 of some persons manifests itself the doors of the building
9 ¦ occupied by such persons may already be fitted with rotary
knobs. The expense of replacing rotary knobs with rockable
11¦ leversmay be beyond the means of many persons who would
12¦ desire such replacement.
131
14 The desirabilit~ of converting rotary knobs to
rockable levers by the attachment of a lever to a rotary
16¦ knob has been recogniæed heretofore. Typical of conversion
1~¦ devices heretofore proposed are those disclosed in Sutter
18 U.S. patents Nos. 2,756,088 and 2,801,122; Hohl U.S. patent ~ ,
19¦ No. 3,575,~53; and Overholser U.S. patent No~ 3,827,739.
20 ¦ Although the constructions disclosed in these patents enable
21¦ a rotary knob to be converted to a rockable lever, each of such
22¦ constructions requires the use of one or more tools to effect
231 the conversion. Quite often, the person who desires to
~41 make the conversion is incapable of using the necessary
251 tools, thereby requiring the assistance of some other person.
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~7 ¦ Another objection to conversion devices o the
~81 kind heretofore proposed is that, when such devices are in-
~01 stalled, some or all of the mounting means is visible, thereby
~ol detracting from the appearance of the door knob and the door
,," ..11
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1 on which it is mounted.
31 An ob~ect of the present invention is to provide
41 a lever attachment adapted to be fitted to a rotary door
51 knob and which requires the use of no tools in mounting the
61 attachment on the knob.
8 Another object of the invention is to provide an
9¦ attachment of the kind re~erred to and wherein the mour.ting
means is invisible or disguised.
11
12¦ A lever attachment for a rotary door knob comprises
13 an arcuate collar terminating at its opposite ends in a pair
14 ¦ of arms which diverge when the attachment is conditioned for
mounting on the door knob. The collar is formed from a ma-
16¦ terial having a resiliency such that the radius of the collar
17 ¦ may be reduced to effect movement of the arms toward and into
18¦ engagement with one another. The radius of the collar, when
19¦ reduced, is such that the collar will embrace and grip tightly
20 ¦ a rotary knob, and the resilience of the collar material will
21¦ tend to separate the arms. Latch means is provided for re-
22¦ leasably latching the arms in engagement with one another,
231 and the tendency of the collar to expand radially maintains
~41 the latch means snugly in latching condition. The collar
251 thus will be retained in snug, frictional engagement with
~61 the knob so as to enable rotation of the knob in response
~7 ¦ to rocking of the lever attachment.
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Attachments constructed in accordance with the
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1 ¦ invention are disclosed in the following description and
2 ¦ in the accompanying drawings, wherein:
4 ¦ Figure 1 is an elevational view of a lever
5 ¦ attachment according to one embodiment of the invention
6 ¦ and prior to assembly with a door knob;
7 Fi.gure 2 is an elevational view of the attachment
8 applied to a rotary knob;
91 Figure 3 is a sectional view taken on ~he line
10 ¦ 3-3 of Figure 2;
11 Figure 4 is a fragmentary, plan view o~ a portion
12¦ of the apparatus as viewed in the direction of the arrows
13 4-4 of Fi~ure 2;
~41 Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure 1, but illus-
trating another embodiment;
16¦ Figure 6 is an elevational view of a modified
17 ¦ form of latch adapted for use with the attachment of Figure
181 5;
19¦ Figure 7 is a view similar to Figure 2, but illus-
20 ¦ trating another embodiment of the attachment; and
21¦ Figures 8 and 9 are sectional views on the lines
22¦ 8-8 and 9-9, respectively, of Figure 7.
251
241 An attachment constructed in accordance with all
251 embodiments of the invention is adapted for use in con-
26¦ ~unction with a rotary door knob 1 that is rotatably mounted
27 ¦ on a sleeve 2 mounted on a door 3 via a garnish ring 4.
28¦ rotary stem (not shown) extends through the sleeve 2 and
~¦ is connected at one end to the knob 4 and at its other end
301
~ 5
l to a bolt operating mechanism (not shown) as is conventional.
2 To effect movement of the bolt hetween its retracted and
31 projected positions, the knob l must be rotated.
41
51 An attachment according to the embodiment of the
~ invention disclosed in Figures 1-4 is designated generally
7 by the reerence character 5 and comprises a one-piece~
8 molded member having an arcuate collar 6 terminating at
9 its opposite ends in a pair of arms 7 and 8. The collar
has a groove 9 in its inner surface defining a pair of
ll arcuate, parallel ribs lO and ll. The rib lO preferably is
12 radially thicker than the rib ll, for a purpose presently to
13¦ be explained, but the ribs could be of the same radial thick-
l4¦ ness or the rib ll could be thicker than the rib lO. The
attachment 5 is formed from a material such as polypropylene,
18¦ polyethylene, nylon, or the like~ which has sufficient re-
l7 siliency to enable the arms 7 and 8 to be moved toward and
18¦ into engagement with one another and in substantially paral-
l9 lel overlying relation as is shown in Figure 2. Such move-
ment of the arms 7 and 8 results in radial contraction of21¦ the collar 6 and stressing of the latter so as to exert a
22¦ constant force on the arms tending to return them to their
23 diverging positions. This tendency is restrained and the
2~ arms are releasably maintained in overlying, substantially
parallel relationship by separable latch means.
36
~7 In the embodiment shown in Figures 1-4, the latch
~8 means comprises an integral finger or pawl 12 depending from
2~ ¦ the free end of the arm 7 and terminating in a lip 13. The
30 1
. 1
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1 arm 8 is provided with a slot or socket 14 between the side
21 edges of the arm and of such width as snugly to accommodate
3 the ~inger 12. At the base of the slot 14 is an undercut
4 shoulder 15 on which the lip 13 i5 adapted to seatO
51
B To apply the attachment 5 to the rotary knob 1,
7 the arms 7 and 8 are spread apart, as shown in Figure 1,
8 and the collar 6 is fitted over the knob 1 to embrace the
9¦ latter. The arms 7 and 8 then may be moved toward one
10 ¦ another, thereby radially contracting the collar 6 to cause
11 the latter tightly to grip the surface of the knob 1. The
12¦ arms 7 and 8 are of sufficient flexibility to enable the
13¦ latch lip 13 to snap under the shoulder 15 and maintain the
14¦ attachment 5 assembled with the knob 1. The attachment may
be removed from the knob 1 by disengaging the lip 13 from
16 the shoulder 15.
17 1
18¦ When the attachment is applied to the knob 1, the
19¦ attachment functions as a rockable lever to transmit rota-
tion to the knob. The attachment may be applied to the knob
21 with the arms extending horizontally, vertically, or at
22 any angular position therebetween.
231
~41 The knob 1 shown in Figure 3 has a tapered con-
figuration. Such a knob is in wide usaye, thereby making
~6 it economical to produce attachments in large quantities
~7 for use with such knobs. When the attachment is applied to
28 ¦ a tapered knob like that shown in Figure 3, the radially
2~ thicker rib 10 will overlie the marginal edge of the face
30 l
,.1
l ~ 5
1 of the knob, to prevent movement o the ~ollar 6 toward the
21 door 3, and -the radially thinner rib 11 will bear against
31 the surface of the knob and prevent movement of ~he collar
41 away from the door 3. The different thicknesses of the
51 ribs thus function to position the collar axially of the
6 axis of rotation of the knob.
8 If the rotary knob to which the attachment 5 is
9 to be applied has a configuration other than that shown in
Figure 3, the attachment nevertheless may be used inasmuch
11 as the resiliency of the material from which the collar 6
12 ¦ is formed will enable the latter to adapt to differently
13 ¦ shaped surfaces. However, the cross-sectional configuration
14¦ of the collar 6 can be molded in such manner as to comple-
ment knobs of many different configurations.
161
17 If the knob has no key slot therein, a decorative
18 membrane (not shown) may overlie the face of the knob and
19 ¦ be held in place by the rib 10. A decorative membrane a]so
20 ¦ may be used if the knob has a key slot, but in this case
21 ¦ the membrane also should have an opening in register with the
22 ¦ key slot.
23
~4 ¦ The attachment 5a shown in Figures 5 and 6 is
similar to the previously described embodiment and in-
26 cludes a collar 6a and arms 7a and 8a having grooves 16 and
~7 17, respectively, in their outer surfaces and grooves 18
28 and 19, respectively, at their free ends. Means for latching
2~ the arms 7a and 8a in overlying, substantially parallel
3~
I - 6 -
, 1
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1 positions comprises a U-shaped clip 20 having parallel legs
2 21 and 22 joined by a web 23 of such length as to span both
legs. Serrations or teeth 24 are provided on the confronting
41 surfaces of the legs 21 and 22 adjacent their free ends~
~¦ The clip 20 may be accommodated in the grooves
7 16-19 when the arms 7a and 8a are in overlying, engaged
8 positions so as to maintain the collar 6a in snugly em-
9 bracing relationship with a rotary knob.
11 The attachment 5b shown in Figures 7-9 is similar
12 to the earlier described embodiments and has a collar 6b
13 from which extends a pair of arms 7b and 8b. Adjacent
14¦ their junctures with the collar the arms 7b and 8b are re-
lieved to form cavities 25 and 26, respectively, for the
16¦ purpose of increasing the flexibility of the arms adjacent
17 ¦ the collar. The latch means comprises a loop or ring 27
18 that is adapted to encircle the arms 7b and 8b and be re-
19 tained in recesses or grooves 28 and 2g formed in the outer
20 ¦ surfaces of the arms 7b and 8b respectively.
21
22¦ In all of the disclosed embodiments of the inven-
23 tion the latching means not only maintains the arms of the
~41 attachments in engagement with one another, but also pre-
vents lateral movement of the arms relative to one another.
~6 ¦ The lever attachment, therefore, is extremely stable when
~7 it is applied to a rotary knobO
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The disclosed embodiments are representative o
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1¦ presently pref~rred forms of the invention~ but are intended
21 to be illustrative rather than definitive thereof. The
9 ¦ nvention is defined in the claim~.
22
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