Closure fasteners – Bolts – Emergency operating means
Reexamination Certificate
1999-08-30
2001-09-04
Estremsky, Gary (Department: 3627)
Closure fasteners
Bolts
Emergency operating means
C292SDIG006
Reexamination Certificate
active
06283513
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to locking means, and more particularly, to an improved locking device for a pair of panic doors.
2. Description of Related Art
A pair of panic doors are typically provided with a special type of locking device that includes an actuating bolt and a latching bolt and operates in such a manner that, when the door is closed, one of the two door panels will urge against the actuating bolt mounted on the other door panel which in turn actuates the latching bolt to be protruded out to a recessed portion in the doorframe or floor, whereby the paired panic doors are locked by the locking device. One type of this locking device is illustratively depicted in the following with reference to FIG.
1
through FIG.
4
.
FIG. 1
is a schematic side view of a coxventional locking device for a pair of panic doors, which is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,527,074. As shown, the locking device
1
′ is mounted on one door panel of a pair of panic doors. The locking device
1
′ includes an actuating bolt
8
′. In
FIG. 1
, the actuating bolt
8
′ is protruded out of the swinging stile
11
′ of the door panel. When the other door panel (not shown) of the paired panic doors is closed, it will run into the actuating bolt
8
′, thereby pushing the actuating bolt
8
′ to the inside of the locking device. This action then causes a curved pivotable member
9
′ to be pivotally turned about an pivotal axis
71
′ disposed in a mounting casing
7
′ for accommodating the actuating bolt
8
′ and curved pivotable member
9
′, as illustated in FIG.
2
. In consequence, the curved pivotable member
9
′ urges against an L-shaped board
51
′ provided at the bottom of a movable tube
5
′, thereby pushing the movable tube
5
′ to move upwards, and consequently causing a slidable bar
6
′ to move upwards. The upward moving of the slidable bar
6
′ then causes a latching bolt
61
′ to be protruded out of the top plate
12
′ into a recess
130
′ formed in the doorframe
13
′, whereby the paired panic doors are locked to the doorframe
13
′.
FIG. 3
is a schematic exploded perspective view of the actuating mechanism in the locking device of
FIG. 1
(i.e., the combined structure of the actuating bolt
8
′ and the curved pivotable member
9
′). As shown, the actuating bolt
8
′ is subgtantially triangular in shape having inclined surfaces with respect to its moving directon, and is integraly formed with a block having a crosswise guide slot
81
′ for accommodating the guide pegs
90
′ on the curved pivotable member
9
′ and a longitudianal slot
82
′ for accomodating the main body of the curved pivotable member
9
′ . When the paired panic doors are closed, it will urge against the inclined surface of the actuating bolt
8
′, thereby pushing the actuating bolt
8
′ inward, consenquently causing the curved pivotal member
9
′ to be turned about the pivotable axis
71
′, of a mountig
7
′ for accomodating the actuating bolt
8
′ and curved pivotable member
9
′ as shown in
FIGS. 4A through 4C
.
FIG. 4A
shows a top view of the actuating mechanism when the actuating bolt
8
′ is protruded out of the swinging stile
11
′; and
FIG. 4B
shows a top view of the same except when the actuating bolt
8
′ is being pushed inward.
One drawback to the forgoing locking device, however, is that the actuating bolt
8
′ could be easily tilted, as illustrated in
FIG. 4C
, if the direction of the exerting force F is unaligned with the longitudianl axis of the actuating bolt
8
′, which would cause the actuating bolt
8
′ to be unsmoothly pushed into the casing of the locking device. One solution to this problem is to apply lubricant to the actuating bolt
8
′. However, the provided effect would be unsatisfactory.
Still one drawback to the foregomg locking device is that the forming of the cross-wise slot
81
′ and the lorgtudinal slot
82
′ in the actuating bolt
8
′ is quite laborious and complex in machining, causing the manufacture cost to be undesirably high.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an objective of this invention to provide a locking device for paired panic doors, whose actuating bolt would not be tilted when being pushed inward, so that the actuating mechanism can be operated more smoothly than the prior art.
It is another obective of this invention to provide a log device for paired panic doors, which can be maufactured in a more cost-effective manner.
In accordance with the foregoing other objectives, the invention provides an improved locking device for paired panic doors. The locking device of the invention comprises an actuating bolt including a triangularly-shaped body and being formed with a stopper porton and a recessed portion; a pivotable member which is formed with a pair of opposite guide pegs slidably abutting on the stopper portion on the actuating bolt and is pivotably turnable when the actuating bolt is being pushed inwards, a movable tube which is axially movable when the pivotable member is being pivotally turned; a slidable bar which is slidable with the axial movement of the movable tube; a member spring sleeved to the slidable bar, and a latching bolt linked to the slidable bar so that when the slidable bar is axially moved, the latching bolt is protruded out of the locking device for locking purpose.
It is a characteic feature of this locking device that the external force can be aplied at various angles to the actuating bolt, while nevertheless allowing the actuating bolt be smoothly pushed inwards to actuate the latching bolt to lock the paired panic doors.
REFERENCES:
patent: 202474 (1878-04-01), Ruggles
patent: 1244443 (1917-10-01), Hurd
patent: 2718420 (1955-09-01), Teetor
patent: 3799591 (1974-03-01), Taniyama
patent: 4005886 (1977-02-01), Lirette
patent: 4099753 (1978-07-01), Gwodz
patent: 5527074 (1996-06-01), Yeh
Estremsky Gary
Shoemaker and Mattare
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