Locks – Special application – For control and machine elements
Reexamination Certificate
1999-08-02
2001-04-17
Barrett, Suzanne Dino (Department: 3627)
Locks
Special application
For control and machine elements
C070S223000, C292S336300, C292S357000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06216500
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general, to tubular-type door locks with indoor and outdoor handles and, more particularly, to a device for unlocking such a tubular-type door lock in conjunction with the indoor handle, the unlocking device quickly and simultaneously performing both a door latch opening action and an unlocking action in conjunction with a rotating motion of the indoor handle, thus allowing a user to easily and quickly open a door by rotating the indoor handle without separately unlocking the lock.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As well known to those skilled in the art, door locks are typically classified into two types: cylinder-type locks and tubular-type locks. The typical cylinder-type door locks are designed as follows. That is, when the indoor locking button of a cylinder-type lock is pressed to lock the door, it is impossible to operate the outdoor handle without using a key. Therefore, the lock with the pressed indoor locking button cannot be unlocked outside the door if a user does not use a key. However, in such a case, the indoor handle is rotatable, so that a user can unlock and open the door by rotating the indoor handle.
Meanwhile, tubular-type door locks are designed so that when the lock is locked by rotating an indoor locking lever, neither the indoor handle nor the outdoor handle of the lock can be operated if a user does not use a key. Therefore, when it is necessary for a user to open a door with a tubular-type door lock being locked by the locking lever, the user has to unlock the door lock prior to operating the indoor handle. The tubular-type door locks are thus inconvenient to users.
In order to overcome the above-mentioned problems, a tubular-type door lock with a somewhat improved structure is proposed. The above lock is designed as follows. That is, when the lock is locked by rotating an indoor locking lever, the indoor handle is operable with the locked state of the lock being maintained, while the outdoor handle is not operable if a user does not use a key. Since the locked state of the lock is maintained even though the indoor handle is operated by a user, such locks sometimes render users puzzled. That is, some users may open the door by rotating the indoor handle and go out of a room without unlocking the locking lever or having the key of the lock. In such a case, the door lock cannot be unlocked outside the door, thus forcing the user to send for a locksmith while paving charges for such services. It is thus necessary for users, wanting to be free from such mistaken conditions, to always confirm the locked or unlocked position of the locking lever at a time he goes out of a room and this is an inconvenience to the users.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, the present invention has been made keeping in mind the above problems occurring in the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide a device for unlocking a tubular-type door lock in conjunction with the indoor handle of the lock, said device quickly and simultaneously performing both a door latch opening action and an unlocking action in conjunction with a rotating motion of the indoor handle, thus allowing a user to easily and quickly open a door by rotating the indoor handle without separately unlocking the locking lever.
In order to accomplish the above object, the present Invention provides a device for unlocking a tubular-type door lock in conjunction with an indoor handle of the lock, comprising: a holed outdoor plate coupled to an outdoor handle of the door lock, the plate having a locking slot and defining an opening at a position outside the locking slot; a hollow shaft fitted into the holed outdoor plate; a bearing fixedly seated in the hollow shaft at a predetermined position; a hollow sleeve axially received in the hollow shaft to be movable in opposite directions and normally biased by a first spring in a direction toward the indoor handle, the sleeve thus being normally and rotatably positioned in the opening of the outdoor plate to be unlocked, but selectively engaging with the locking slot of the outdoor plate to be locked by the outdoor plate; a ratchet unit received in the hollow sleeve while being normally biased in a direction toward the indoor handle, the ratchet unit being operable in conjunction with the indoor handle, thus moving the sleeve from a locked position into an unlocked position, the ratchet unit comprising: an unlocking ratchet positioned in the sleeve at a position toward the indoor handle, the unlocking ratchet having a first ratchet face consisting of first top and bottom surfaces with a first slope surface extending between the top and bottom surfaces; and a locking ratchet positioned in the sleeve at a position toward the outdoor handle while being normally biased in the direction toward the indoor handle, the locking ratchet having a second ratchet face consisting of second top and bottom surfaces with a second slope surface extending between the second top and bottom surfaces, the locking ratchet engaging with the unlocking ratchet at their ratchet faces to be relatively slidable on the slope surfaces in conjunction with the indoor handle, thus being selectively movable in an axial direction to move the sleeve from the locked position into the unlocked position of the sleeve.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5157952 (1992-10-01), Lin
patent: 5157953 (1992-10-01), Hung
patent: 5177987 (1993-01-01), Shen
patent: 5301526 (1994-04-01), Fann et al.
patent: 5598726 (1997-02-01), Cordle
patent: 5657653 (1997-08-01), Hensley et al.
patent: 5784909 (1998-07-01), Huang
patent: 5816086 (1998-10-01), Russell, IV
patent: 5868018 (1999-02-01), Kang
patent: 5916281 (1999-06-01), Kester et al.
patent: 5934117 (1999-08-01), Shen
patent: 5941108 (1999-08-01), Shen
patent: 6021654 (2000-02-01), McCaa
Barrett Suzanne Dino
Hyundai Metal Co., Ltd.
Jacobson Price Holman & Stern PLLC
LandOfFree
Device for unlocking tubular-type door lock in conjunction... does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Device for unlocking tubular-type door lock in conjunction..., we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Device for unlocking tubular-type door lock in conjunction... will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2492631