Closure fasteners – Operators with knobs or handles
Reexamination Certificate
1998-12-16
2001-07-24
Estremsky, Gary (Department: 3627)
Closure fasteners
Operators with knobs or handles
C292S348000, C292SDIG005
Reexamination Certificate
active
06264255
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates generally to door handles and the associated latch operating mechanisms and is concerned in particular with providing a mechanism which facilitates greater scope for the aesthetic design of door handles. Also included as part of this invention is a “privacy” handle locking mechanism which can be installed with the latch drive assembly where a privacy locking function is required. The doors referred to herein being access doors to buildings and rooms within buildings.
BACKGROUND ART
Most hinged doors in any building are equipped with door handles. The handles facilitate the manual operation of the latching mechanism and the manual opening and closing of the door. A door handle requires some componentry to facilitate these two functions and typically comprise the following; The handle itself, being a knob or lever with a projecting stem rotatably attached to a mounting plate, generally defined as an escutcheon. The escutcheon provides a bearing for the stem and for attachment to the door, and means provided within the handle stem for rotational actuation of the latch mechanism, usually via mutual engagement with a square section shaft.
The handle and the escutcheon, being visible components, are generally required to have a good appearance and traditionally have been designed, ornamented and finished to maximise their esthetic appeal. Various methods have been devised to improve their appearance by concealing the fixing screws, commonly used to attach the escutcheon to the door. This is generally achieved by providing a mounting plate, which employs the normal screw attachment to the door, and some concealed coupling arrangement which provides for the attachment of the escutcheon to the mounting plate. Examples of this are disclosed in Australian patent 653083 in which a threaded central boss within the escutcheon engages within a central thread of the mounting plate, and the lug and groove twist action of Australian patent 14803/95.
Lever handles are preferable to knobs from a functional point of view, and are the normal form of door handle in most commercial or public premises. Knobs cannot be operated by any means other than hand rotation, and are thus more difficult to operate for persons with some types of disability of the hand. Lever handles are less reliant on the strength of grip and can be easily operated by downward pressure of a hand or even an elbow. However, lever handles are not without disadvantages. A spring is generally required within the mechanism to return the lever after operation to its “at rest” position and to prevent lever droop. Also, the requirement for the lever to be fixed at one end to a stem has meant that the range of lever handle shapes, though often embodying good design, has been quite limited.
Prior art also acknowledges the requirement to include a “privacy” locking function as an option within a door handle product range. This facility is generally required in toilets and bathrooms where the occupant is able to engage the locking function to prevent the accidental intrusion of other persons. Typical examples of this facility are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,505,508 and Australian patent 653083 wherein the locking function is provided as a separate accessory which is adapted to be installed together with the handle assembly. These patents also, coincidentally, include an example of a concealed handle mounting arrangement mentioned above.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of this invention to at least in part overcome the above-mentioned limitation on the range of possible designs of lever handles and also to incorporate a concealed mounting arrangement.
To achieve this objective, the invention provides an arrangement which allows different methods and locations for the attachment of lever handles, thus avoiding the prior insistence on the attachment of lever handles to a stem at the axis of rotation.
The invention provides, in a first aspect, a latch drive assembly comprising:
a pair of latch drive mechanisms each being mountable on opposite sides of a door and including means to engage with and rotationally actuate a conventional door latch mechanism mounted within the door via engagement with a drive shaft;
each latch drive mechanism comprising a mounting plate member with means for mounting to an outer surface of a door and including concentric bearing means for rotationally locating a drive member;
the drive member comprising a substantially circular plate and includes a cylindrical boss component projecting from the center of one face, the boss being rotatably engaged within the central bore of the mounting plate member and the face of the circular plate overlying and in parallel contact with the outer face of the mounting plate,
the boss component further includes a concentric passage shaped to engage with and transmit rotational action to the drive shaft,
the latch drive mechanism preferably includes a spring means acting between the mounting plate member and the drive member for returning the drive member to the rotational stop position after actuation;
the latch drive assembly further includes a pair of handle units, each comprising a manually graspable lever element joined to a preferably circular escutcheon; and
means within the escutcheon to attach the handle unit to the drive member by engagement with complementary means provided at the periphery of the drive member such that rotation of the handle is transmitted to the drive mechanism via its attachment to the escutcheon, the escutcheon, when so attached, substantially enveloping and concealing the latch drive mechanism;
the drive member further includes disengagable latch means for irrotationally retaining the escutcheon;
The shaped passage within the boss section of the drive member can be of a partially circular cross section which permits a limited degree of free rotation within the drive shaft engagement, the orientation of these passages in the two opposing latch drive units arranged to provide the transmission of rotational drive to the latch unit by the actuation of either handle whilst allowing the opposite latch drive unit to remain stationary.
It has been recognised that the market requires that any product range of door handle fittings must include a privacy locking function for bathroom, toilet, and bedroom applications. To this end the invention preferably includes a novel privacy locking arrangement and, in a second aspect, provides a latch drive set including this feature. More specifically, the invention according to the first aspect preferably includes privacy locking means, which includes;
a control unit for mounting at one side of a door and having finger operable setting means;
a lock unit for mounting at the other side of the door selectively settable at a lock condition in which the handle unit at that side of the door is locked against rotation;
means for linking the control unit to the lock unit whereby finger operation of the setting means is effective to set the lock unit in its lock condition; and
means in the control unit whereby rotation of the handle at the one side of the door actuates the setting means and in turn, by virtue of the linking means, disengages the lock condition, during the independent operative rotation of the handle at one side of the door relative to the handle at the other side of the door,
In its second aspect, the invention provides for use in conjunction with a door latch set including a latch unit, drive shaft means, a pair of handle units adapted to be mounted at opposite sides of a door panel, and means for drivingly coupling the handle units to the shaft means so that the respective handle means independently rotate the shaft means without rotation of the other handle unit, a privacy locking set including;
a control unit for mounting at one side of the door and having finger operable setting means;
a lock unit for mounting at the other side of the door selectively settable at a lock condition in which the handle unit at that side of the door is locked against rotation
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