Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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BACKGROUND OF INVENTION:
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~`ield of Inven-tion
The present invention relates to a door lock
structure comprising one or two locking bolts displace-
ably engaged in a longitudinal cavity provided in a
door vertical free edge por-tion or a folding door edge
post or the like door closures and wherein the bolt
is automatically held in a locked position when manually
extended to a locking position and released by means
of a key-operated cam which is accessible from an outer
face of -the edge portion of the door or door post.
Description of Prior Art
A multitude of door lock structures exist
utilizing locking bolts. However, with accordion-type
folding doors, some-times referred to as closure screens
to close off an open store front, such as in a shopping
mall, the only type of lock that exists is of the latch
type which is normally located at the center of the
edge post. These latch-type locks either engage between
edge posts when two folding screens are provided on
either side of an opening, or else they will engage
in a fixed vertical column provided on a side wall of
the opening. A disadvantage of such latches is that
they are easily opened by applying wedge pressure between
the edge post and vertical column in an area adjacent
the latch. Another disadvantage of -these latches is
that the door structures are usually not very structur-
ally strong, and by applying wedge pressure -the locked
edge is pried open. A still further disadvantage of
these door locks is that the lock is only operated from
the outside wall of the screen structure. Because the
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lock cylinder is on the outside wall of the door structure,
one cannot lock the door while inside -the area -to be closed
off by the door, and the door therefore can be closed, but
in an unlocked position. This does not provide adequate
protection, for example, to a jewellery shop or to the people
inside the enclosUre.
SUMMARY OF INVENTION:
It is a feature of the present invention to provide
an improved door lock struc-ture which substantially overcomes
all of the above-mentioned disadvantages of prior art
closures.
Another feature of the present invention is to
provide a door lock structure for an accordion-type folding
door and wherein the lock structure comprises a pair of
axially aligned locking bolts disposed in a door edge post
for engagement in -the ceiling and fLoor.
Another feature of the present invention is to
provide a door lock structure wherein the locking rods are
manually placed in their lock position from either side of
the locking post and are released by a key-operated cylinder
lock which may be provided on one or both sides of the door
edge post.
According to the above fea-tures, from a broad
aspect, the present invention provides a door lock structure
for securement in a longi-tudinal cavity in a door vertical
free edge portion or a folding door edge post. The door lock
s-tructure comprises an elonga-ted locking rod supportingly
guided in the longitudinal cavity. Each rod has a locking
free end which is movable above an open end of -the longitudi-
nal cavity above a horizontal edge of a door. The rod is
manually biased in a re-tracted position in -the cavity, wlth
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the rod locking free end disposed inwardly of the horizontal
door edge. External rocl displacemen-t means is secured to
the rod for displacing the rod and the locking free end out-
wardly of the longi-tudinal door edge to a locked position.
Bolt engaging means is disposed adjacent the rod for engaging
the rod when placecl in its locking position. Key operated
cam means is also accessible from an outside face of the
door vertical free edge portion for disengaging the rod
engaging means from engagement with the rod. There are two
longitudinal cavities axially aligned in -the door edge. A
locking rod is associated with each of the cavities and each
biased with -their respective locking free end inwardly of a
top and bo-ttom horizontal edge of the door. The bolt engag-
ing means engages both the bolts simultaneously in their
locking position and permits either of the bolts to be
independently displaced to their locking position. The bolt
engaging means is an elongated lock arm having an arresting
finger at opposed ends thereof. The lock arm is spring
biased in the direction of the bolts with the arresting
fingers arresting an associated one of the bolts.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS:
A preferred embodiment of the present invention
will now be described with reference to an example thereof
as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIGURE 1 is a fragmen-ted front view of an
accordion-type closure screen embodying the door lock
struc-ture of the present inven-tion,
FIGURE 2 is a fragmented section view of the door
edge post illustrating the door lock structure of the present
inven-tion in its locked position;
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FIGURE 3 is the same as Figure 2 but illustrating
the door lock struc-ture of the presen-t invention in its
retracted position;
FIGURE 4 is a fragmen-ted front view illustrating
the bolt retracting mechanism; and
FIGURE 5 is a fragmented section view illustrating
the lock bolt disengaging cylinder and its position relative
to the lock arm~
DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED E~BODIMENTS:
Referring now to Figure 1, there is shown generall
at 10, a door structure or door screen 10 which comprises a
plurality of folding door panels 11 hinged together by hinge
pins 12 and slidingly supported in a ceiling track 13.
Referring now -to Figures 2 to 4, i-t can be seen
that the door edge post 14 is a hollow post defining therein
longitudinal cavities 15 in which the door lock s-tructure of
the present invention is mounted.
:~ The door lock structure of the present invention
comprises an elongated l.ocking rod 16 and 16' mounted respec-
tively in the longitudinal cavity 15 in opposed end portions
of the edge post 14. Each rod has a locking free end portion
17 and 17', respectively, which is movable above an open end
of the longitudinal cavity 15 in the top horizon-tal edge 18
and bottom horizontal edge 19 of the door edge post 14,
respectively.
As herein shown, each of the locking rods 16 and
16l are provided with one or more retention notches 20 to
receive therein a bolt engaging means which is constituted
by an arresting finger 21 formed at the respective ends of
an elongated lock arm 22. The lock arm is a metal plate
having a flat elongated section and right-angled end sections
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consti-tu-ting -the arresting fingers. A suppor-t wall 23 is
secured in the door edge pos-t 14 and extends parallel to the
locking rods. Guide means in the form of a pair of spaced
apart guide pins 24 permits displacement of the lock arm 22,as
shown ln Figure 3, and securement thereof with respect -to
the support wall 23. The lock arm 22 is also spring-biased
against -the support wall 23 by a pair of compression leaf
springs 25. The guide pins 24 extend through holes (not
shown, but obvious from Figure 3) provided in -the lock arm
22 to guide the arm 22 when displaced against the compression
springs 25.
The support wall 23 is also provided with a central
opening 26 to permit passage of a cam finger member 27 when
rotated by the key-operated cam cylinder 28. The support
wall 23 is also provided with guide apertures 29 for passage
of the arresting fingers 21 of the lock arm 22. When the
key-operated cam cylinder 28 is rotated, the cam finger moves
in the direction of the lock arm 22 to push the lock arm away
from the support wall, as shown in Figure 3. When in this
position, the arresting fingers 21 move out of their respec-
tive engagement with the notches 20 in their respective lock-
ing rods 16 and 16' to cause the rods to retract within the
door edge post 14.
As is shown in Figures 2 and 3, the bottom locking
rod 16' is secured to a recoil spring 30 which is disposed
inwardly in the longitudinal cavity 15 and coiled about the
bolt 16' to spring bias the bottom locking bolt inwardly into
its longitudinal cavity, as shown in Figure 3. The top or
upper locking bolt 16 is retracted inwardly by its own weight.
Both bolts are guided in guide bushings 31 to assure smooth
and quiet sliding displacement of the bolts within the door
edge post 14. These may, for example, be nylon-type guide
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bushings. The bo-t-tom guide bushing 31' is also utilized to
arres-t the bot-tom portion of the recoil spring 30.
Referring now -to Figure 4, -there is shown an
external ro~ displacement means in the form of a hand grip-
ping knob 32 which is secured -to a respective one of the
locking bolts 16 and 16' and movable along a longitudinal
slot 33 provided on the outside wall 34 of the door edge post
14. With both bolts in their retracted position, this knob
is located adjacen-t an end of its respective slot. The knob
32 also limits the travel distance of the bolts in and out
of their cavities. In order to move the bolts outwardly of
the top and bottom horizontal edge of the post, it is neces-
sary to move the hand-gripping knob 32 in a direction toward
the end of the pos-t. The key has been removed from the lock
cylinder with the cam member positioned as in Figure 2 where~
by the fingers 21 of the lock arm are spring-biased against
the rods 16 and 16' to engage in the notches 20 when the
bolts are moved to their locking position. As the locking
rod moves out of the top or bottom edge of the door post,
the arresting finger 21 of the lock arm 22 engages within
the notches and retains -the bolt in an extended locking
positionO As shown in Figures 2 and 3, each notch has an
arresting straight edge 35 and a sloped edge 36. The
straight edge prevents inward displacement of the bolt in
its longitudinal cavity when the arresting finger 21 is
located in one of the notches. The sloped edge permits ou-t-
ward movement of the bolt from i-ts longitudinal cavity with
the arresting finger sliding on the sloped edge of the
notches.
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As previously described, the door closure as
shown in Figure 1 is an accordion--type door closure
having a plurality of hinged panel strips in-terconnected
to one another by vertical pins (not shown) and supported
by ceiling track 13. This track 13 is also provided
with a bolt-receiving cavity 37 to receive the locking
free end portion 17 of the upper lock bolt 16. The
bottom locking bolt free end portion 17' is received in
a floor socket 38 whereby the post is locked solidly
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by an elongated steel rod extending out of its top edge
18 and bottom edge 19. The key-operated cam cylinder
28 as well as the external rod displacement means in
the form of the hand-gripping knob 32 are all located
S on the outside wall 34 of the door or post whereby the
door or post may be locked when one exits the premises
that it protects. However, the door or ed~e post 14 may
also be provided with a locking bolt activating mechanism
on the inside face of the post. That is to say, the in-
side face would also have a hand-gripping knob 32 as well
as a key-operated or hand-operated cylinder 28 whereby
to lock and unlock the door edge post frorn both sides.
For this purpose, the additional cylinder 28', as shown
in Figure 5, would also be coupled to the cam finger member
27 by suitable coupling means, not shown herein, but well
known to a person skilled in the art.
Although the particular door lock structure as
hereinshown has been described with respect to its secure-
ment in a door edge post of an accordion-type door, this
door lock structure can also be provided in the free edge
of any door including folding doors. Further, although
a pair of compression leaf springs 25 have been shown
for biasing the lock arm 22 towards its lock position,
a single leaf spring or coil spring(s) could be utilized
to effect this biasing. Other obvious modifications of
the example of the preferred embodiment described herein
are intended to be covered by the present specification,
provided such modifications fall within the scope of the
broad claim as contained herein.
