AU2005201246B2 - A Lock Having an Internal Handing Member - Google Patents

Description

1 A LOCK HAVING AN INTERNAL HANDING MEMBER Field of the Invention This invention is directed to a lock and is particularly directed to a simple mechanism by which the lock can be converted from a "left-hand" lock to a 5 "right hand" lock, and in particular to a lock where this can be achieved without disassembly of the lock components. Background Art There are many types of locks that need to be "handed". Handing of a lock is particularly required in respect of a lock which is provided with an internal 10 handle and an external handle. With these types of locks, it is often desirable to have one handle locked and therefore unable to retract the lock tongue, while the other handle is able to retract the lock tongue. As an example, a screen door lock may be provided with a selectable hand emergency function to enable the screen door to be opened from the inside even if the screen door is locked from the outside. 15 The reason why these locks need to the handed is that the installer does not often know in advance which of the handles is to be the "working" handle. With older lock designs, it was necessary to open up the lock and to rearrange the internal components to change the hand of the lock. Clearly, this was an unsatisfactory way to deal with the handing of a lock. 20 For this reason, there are many locks in the marketplace which can now be handed without substantial disassembly of the lock body. One example is given in Australian patent 647236. This particular lock had two hubs (these being the internal components that engage with and retract the lock tongue). Inside the lock body is a carrier means which could be moved towards 25 and away from the hubs. The carrier means supported a pair of catches which could engage with the hubs to prevent the hubs from rotating (thereby locking the tongue). The carrier means was spring biased and was held in place by a screw. The screw was inside the lock body, but the lock body was provided with an opening to enable a screwdriver to engage with and manipulate the screw. This particular lock is an 30 example of the known concept that has an internal mechanism that needs to be operated by a screw or similar device. A disadvantage with these internal mechanisms is their complexity (which increases the manufacture and assembly costs), and the difficulty in providing this type of mechanism within small lock bodies where there is 2 not much room. Another arrangement is described in our earlier patent application PCT/AU95/00376. This lock assembly provided a locking head on a detent which is slidingly adjustable to select the handle of the door which becomes the "working" or 5 "active" handle. Again, adjustment of the locking head is achieved by loosening a screw or rotating a cam. A third arrangement is described in Australian patent 717917. In this assembly, a lock handing member is positioned inside the lock body, and this can be rotated using an external screwdriver to change the hand of the lock. 10 The arrangement in our earlier patent application and in Australian patent 717917 was still quite complicated and required quite a large number of machined parts that needed to be assembled into the lock body. Again, this made the arrangement difficult for use in a small lock body. Therefore, there would be an advantage if it were possible to provide a 15 lock that could be handed without opening up the lock body and rearranging the components within the lock body but which also did not require rotation of a screw/cam etc and therefore which did not require the relatively complicated componentry in the lock body to enable the lock to be handed using a screw/cam etc. It will be clearly understood that, if a prior art publication is referred to 20 herein, this reference does not constitute an admission that the publication forms part of the common general knowledge in the art in Australia or in any other country. Object of the Invention It is an object of the invention to provide a lock that can be handed in a simple manner and which may overcome at least some of the above-mentioned 25 disadvantages or which may provide a useful or commercial choice in the marketplace. In one form, the invention resides in a lock, the lock having a lock body, a lock tongue that is movable between an extended position and a retracted position, a pair of hubs that are rotatable and that upon rotation cause the lock tongue 30 to move from the extended position to the retracted position, a locking bar that is movable between an unlocking position where the lock tongue can move from the extended position to the retracted position and a locking position where the lock tongue is locked in the extended position, a handing member in the lock body, the 3 handing member able to move the locking bar from the extended position to the retracted position, the handing member being operably associated with either of the hubs but not by both hubs together such that operation of one hub to retract the lock tongue causes the handing lever to retract the locking bar but operation of the other 5 hub does not engage with the handing lever, and selection means to enable the handing lever to engage with either of the hubs, the selection means being a member that can be pulled at least partially out of the lock body. Suitably, the handing lever is rotatably mounted to a post in the lock body, and is also able to slide along the post. Suitably, the handing lever engages with 10 one hub when the handing lever is on one position along the post and engages with the other hub when the handing lever is on another position along the post. Suitably, the selection means holds the handing lever in either the one position or the other position on the post. Thus, the hand of the lock can be easily adjusted by sliding the handing lever along the post from the one position to the other position. 15 Suitably, the handing lever is freely slidable along the post but is held in the required position by the selection means. The selection means may comprise a spacer member that can be removably attached to the post to hold the handing lever either on one side of the spacer member or on the other side of the spacer member. Suitably, the spacer 20 member can be pulled away from the post to enable the handing lever to slide from one side of the post to the other side of the post and then the spacer member can be pushed back in position to hold the handing lever in the desired position. The arrangement is simple in design and does away with the need to provide a complicated mechanism comprising rotatable screws etc to adjust the hand 25 of the lock. Instead, an installer can merely pull the spacer member away from the post (typically, the spacer member can be manipulated through an opening in the lock body), slide the handing lever along the post (this can be done by a screwdriver blade or by simply turning the lock upside down to drop the handing lever under the influence of gravity to the other end of the post) and then pushing the spacer member 30 back into engagement with the post. The spacer member may comprise a plastic part. The spacer member may comprise a pair of slightly spaced apart fingers that can grip the post. These fingers may be slightly curved to provide a more positive gripping action to the post.

4 The fingers may extend from a base portion of the spacer. The base portion of the spacer may extend at least partially into or through an opening in the lock body to enable an installer to remove the spacer member. Although the spacer member has been described as having a pair of spaced apart fingers that can grip the post, it is 5 envisaged that any other type of post gripping means could be used. For instance, the post may be provided with a small passageway or slot and the spacer member may be provided with a finger that can pass at least partially into or through the slot to hold the spacer member to the post and to hold the handing lever between the spacer member and another part of the lock. Alternatively, the spacer member may have a 10 "circlip" type configuration and the post may be provided with a groove to enable the "circlip" portion of the spacer member to be releasably attached to the post. Thus, it should be appreciated that the term " spacer member" may comprise configurations other than that specifically described above but which can be removed and replaced to hold the handing lever in position. 15 The post will typically extend from adjacent one side of the lock to adjacent the other side of the lock. However, the post will preferably at least be long enough to enable the handing lever to selectively engage with either of the hubs. It is considered that the post should have a length of between 5-10 millimetres although no particular limitation is meant thereby. The post will typically comprise a cylindrical 20 post as this is most convenient to hold the handing lever. However, the post may have other configurations if required. It is considered easiest to have the post fixed relative to the lock body and to have the handing lever rotatably mounted to the post. However, it is envisaged that the post may also be rotatably mounted and the handing lever may then be non-rotatably mounted (but still slidable along) the post. For 25 instance, the post may be positioned within a socket on each end to enable the post to rotate about its longitudinal axis. The handing lever will typically comprise a substantially flat plate-like member that is positioned within the lock body. The handing lever is preferably able to retract the locking bar. For ease of assembly, it is preferred that the handing lever 30 directly engages with and retracts the locking bar as this can reduce the number of components within the lock body. However, it is envisaged that the handing lever may also indirectly operate the locking bar and therefore intermediate components may be provided. It is preferred that the handing lever contains a finger portion that 5 engages with part of the locking bar such that rotation of the handing lever in one direction causes retraction of the locking bar. However, the handing lever need not be limited to containing a finger portion and any other means or mechanism to enable the handing lever to directly or indirectly operate the locking bar may form part of the 5 present invention. The handing lever is also preferably operable by one of the hubs. Which hub operates the handing lever will depend on the position of the handing lever along the post. Typically, when the handing lever is adjacent one end of the post it is operated by one of the hubs and when the handing lever is adjacent the other end of 10 the post it is operated by the other of the hubs. For ease of assembly and to minimise components, it is preferred that the handing lever is directly engaged by a particular hub. However, if considered desirable, the handing lever may also be indirectly engaged by a particular hub, for instance via intermediate components. Suitably, the handing lever is provided with a configuration to be 15 engaged directly by a hub. The configuration may comprise a shoulder portion on the handing lever, a stop part on the handing lever, any other type of projection on the handing lever, a recess on the handing lever, a boss on the handing lever, or any other means or mechanism to enable the handing lever to engage with a hub. The lock will typically be provided with a pair of hubs that for 20 convenience can be called a top hub and a bottom hub. Each hub will typically be substantially identical and will typically be placed substantially on top of each other. This arrangement of a pair of hubs is known. Each hub can move between a tongue extending position and a tongue retracting position independently of the other hub. Each hub will typically be operated by an external handle which may comprise a lever 25 handle (as a lever handle is more prone to the requirements of "handing"), although no particular limitation is meant thereby and the external handle may also comprise a knob, snib and the like. Typically, an external handle will only operate one hub. The lock tongue may comprise a reciprocating lock tongue (typically used for hinged doors) or a rotating lock tongue (more common for sliding doors). 30 The type of tongue, the configuration of the tongue and the like can vary and no particular limitation should be placed on the type of lock tongue. If desired, a plurality of lock tongues may be provided. The locking bar will typically comprise a reciprocating locking bar that 6 can slide between an extended locking position and a retracted unlocking position. However, it is also known to provide a locking bar that has some degree of pivoting movement as well as sliding movement and this type of locking bar can also be used with the present invention. It is envisaged that the locking bar may also comprise a 5 rotating locking bar. The size, shape and configuration of the locking bar can vary and no particular limitation should be placed on a precise shape and size of the locking bar. The lock may comprise a cylinder barrel or a means to accommodate a cylinder barrel to enable the lock to be deadlocked. 10 The lock may also be provided with an array of other ancillary members or features. These may include anti-intrusion means, electric or electronic components in the lock, devices to enable the latch tongue to move between a partially extended and a fully extended position, locks with remote latches, and the like and it is considered that the present invention should not be limited only to the mechanism 15 described in the embodiments but should extend to any lock or lock type arrangement that has the features of the present invention. Brief Description of the Drawings An embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to the following drawings in which: 20 Figure 1 illustrates the main parts of a lock according to an embodiment of the invention and with the locking bar in the locking position and the lock tongue in the extended position. Figure 2 illustrates the lock of Figure 1 with the locking bar in the retracted position and the lock tongue in the retracted position. 25 Figure 3 illustrates the initial process in changing the hand of the lock. Figure 4 illustrates the final process in changing the hand of the lock. Figure 5 illustrates a rear view of an assembled lock showing how the spacer member is accessible through an opening in the lock. Best Mode 30 Referring initially to figure 1, there is illustrated the main components of the lock according to the particular embodiment. The main components comprise a lock body 10, a lock tongue 11, a locking bar 12, two hubs 13, 14 which overly each other so figure 1 mainly illustrates the "top" hub 13 although beneath the top hub is a 7 second "bottom" hub 14, a handing lever 15 which is rotatable about but also slidable along a post 16, and a spacer member 17. Referring specifically to the components, the lock body 10 can be more or less of conventional design and the size and shape of the lock body can vary to suit. 5 The lock body is typically formed from metal. Lock tongue 11 is typically formed of steel and in the particular embodiment, the lock tongue is of a reciprocating type and therefore slides between an extended locking position illustrated in figure 1, and a retracted unlocking position illustrated in figure 2. Lock tongue 11 comprises an array of serrations 18 to provide 10 an "anti-jemmying" protection to the lock tongue. The rear of lock tongue 11 contains a recessed portion 19 to accommodate the various other components in the lock body that engage with the lock tongue. Lock tongue 11 is biased into the naturally extending position illustrated in figure 1 by a small spring 20. As mentioned previously, no particular limitation should be placed on the invention by the precise 15 shape and type of lock tongue 11. Locking bar 12 is typically made of metal and is positioned in a front part of the lock. Locking bar 12 contains a front nose portion 21 which protrudes into recessed portion 19 when the locking bar is in the "locking" position illustrated in figure 1. In this position, lock tongue 11 is prevented from being manipulated to the 20 retracted position as the lock tongue will strike the nose portion 21 of locking bar 12. The tip of nose portion 21 is ramped in a manner such that slight retraction of locking bar 12 will allow lock tongue 11 to be retracted and retraction of lock tongue II may also cause part of the lock tongue 11 to ride along the ramped area of nose portion 21 to assist in the retraction of locking bar 12. Locking bar 12 in the particular 25 embodiment can also be operated by a key cylinder cam 22 which is best illustrated in figure 3, and this general action is conventional. Lock tongue 11 is retracted by operation of either one of hubs 13, 14. Each hub is substantially identical and the hubs overlie each other. Each hub contains a long finger portion 23 which extends into recessed portion 19 and it can be seen that 30 upon clockwise rotation of the hub, finger portion 23 will engage against the wall of recessed portion 19 and will retract lock tongue 11 from the position illustrated in figure 1 to the position illustrated in figure 2 and against the bias of spring 20. One of the hubs 13 is operated by a handle (not illustrated) on one side of the lock and the 8 other hub 14 is operated by a separate handle (not illustrated) on the other side of the lock. The handle may be a lever handle, a knob, a snib and the like. Each hub rotates independently which means that operation of the handle on one side of the door only operates the particular hub to which the handle is connected. The hubs are provided 5 with a lower enlarged portion 24 to engage with handing lever 15 as will be described in greater detail below. Handing lever 15 in the particular embodiment comprises a substantially flat plate. The plate has a finger portion 25 which abuts against a shoulder on locking bar 12, this being illustrated in figures 1-4. Handing lever 15 10 contains a central aperture to enable the handing lever to rotate about cylindrical post 16. Finally, handing lever 15 contains a shoulder portion 26 (most clearly illustrated in figure 4). In use, the handing lever is attached to post 16 and the size of the aperture in the handing lever is such that the handing lever can freely slide along post 16 as well as rotate about post 16. The position of the handing lever in the lock body 15 is such that its shoulder portion 26 abuts against portion 24 on a particular hub. This is best illustrated in figure 1 and figure 3. Handing lever 15 is held in place by the spacer member 17 as illustrated in figure 1 and figure 2. Spacer member 17 in the particular embodiment is made of plastic and comprises a pair of spaced apart resilient fingers 27, 28 which 20 are slightly curved and which can pass about and grip post 16 to hold the spacer member to the post. Fingers 27, 28 are attached to a base portion 29 and the entire spacer member is made of a single piece of material. The rear portion of lock body 10 contains an opening 13 to allow the base portion 29 to be gripped (typically by a screwdriver) to enable the entire spacer 25 member 17 to be pulled out of the lock body. Changing the hand of the lock will now be described. Initially, and referring to figure 1, handing lever 15 is sandwiched between the lock body and spacer member 17 and thus handing lever 15 cannot slide up and down post 16 but can still rotate about the post. In this position, handing lever 15 engages to the 30 lowermost hub 14 but does not engage against the top hub 13. Thus, in this position the handle which is attached to the lower most hub 14 is the "working" or "active" handle. Rotation of the handle causes rotation of the lowermost hub 14 in the clockwise direction. Simultaneously, the clockwise rotation of lowermost hub 14 9 begins to retract lock tongue 11 but as portion 24 on the lowermost hub also engages against portion 26 on handing lever, this causes handing lever to rotate in an anticlockwise direction. Rotation of the handing lever causes the locking bar 12 to be retracted. The result is that lock tongue 11 is unlocked and able to be retracted by 5 rotation of the handle which is attached to lowermost hub 14. However, the handle which is attached to upper hub 13 does not cause lock tongue II to retract. This handle cannot be operated as it is attached to the upper hub and the upper hub does not engage with handing lever 15. Because the upper hub does not engage with the handing lever 15, the locking bar 12 is not retracted and therefore lock tongue 11 is 10 locked in the extended position. Because the lock tongue 11 is locked in the extended position, upper hub 13 cannot rotate in the clockwise direction as it is engaged to lock tongue 11 which cannot move. However, the key operated cam 22 (see figure 3) can always be operated to retract the locking bar, and now the upper hub 13 can be operated. 15 So, in summary, the lower hub can retract the locking bar even in the absence of a key (i.e. a panic exit from the inside of the room), but the upper hub can only be operated when the locking bar has been retracted by operation of a key inserted into the cylinder (i.e. on the outside or inside of the door). Also when the inside handle has been actuated to cause the locking bar 2 0 to move into the unlocked position, the outside handle is also made operable to prevent a person from inadvertently being locked out. To change the hand of the lock such that the handle that is attached to the upper hub is now the active or working handle, it is necessary to pull spacer member 17 out of the rear of the lock body. Once this has happened, handing lever 15 25 can be slid up post 16 until it engages with portion 24 of upper hub 13 (and thus no longer engages with portion 24 of lower hub 14). Handing lever 15 can be slid up post 16 by inserting a screwdriver blade through the rear of the lock body and underneath handing lever 15 to push handing lever 15 up post 16. Alternatively, the lock can be simply inverted and handing lever 15 will slide under the influence of gravity to the 30 other side of post 16. Once the handing lever is in the new position, spacer member 17 is pushed back into position and the lock is now as illustrated in figure 4 which shows handing lever 15 on top of spacer member 17 as opposed to the lower spacer member 17 which is illustrated in figure 1. Handing lever 15 now engages with upper 10 hub 13 only and not lower hub 14. The handle which engages with upper hub 13 can now be turned to rotate handing lever 15 which in turn retracts locking bar 12 to release lock tongue 11 for retraction. It can be seen that this arrangement is very simple in design and merely 5 requires a small handing lever to be rotatably attached to a small post and the hand of the lock can be quickly changed by sliding the handing lever up or down the small post. The handing lever is held in either desired position by being on one side or the other side of a spacer member. The spacer member is not a complicated design and is a simple plastic piece that can be pulled out and pushed back in to the lock body. 10 Throughout the specification and the claims (if present), unless the context requires otherwise, the term "comprise", or variations such as "comprises" or "comprising", will be understood to apply the inclusion of the stated integer or group of integers but not the exclusion of any other integer or group of integers. Throughout the specification and claims (if present), unless the context is requires otherwise, the term "substantially" or "about" will be understood to not be limited to the value for the range qualified by the terms. It should be appreciated that various other changes and modifications can be made to any embodiment described without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. 20

Claims (17)

1. A lock having a lock body, a lock tongue that is movable between an extended position and a retracted position, a pair of hubs that are rotatable and that upon rotation cause the lock tongue to move from the extended position to the 5 retracted position, a locking bar that is movable between an unlocking position where the lock tongue can move from the extended position to the retracted position and a locking position where the lock tongue is locked in the extended position, a handing member in the lock body, the handing member able to move the locking bar from the extended position to the retracted position, the handing member being operably 10 associated with either of the hubs but not by both hubs together such that operation of one hub to retract the lock tongue causes the handing lever to retract the locking bar but operation of the other hub does not engage with the handing lever, and selection means to enable the handing lever to engage with either of the hubs, the selection means being a member that can be pulled at least partially out of the lock body. 15

2. The lock of claim 1, wherein the handing lever is rotatably mounted to a post in the lock body, and is also able to slide along the post.

3. The lock as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the handing lever engages with one hub when the handing lever is on one position along the post and engages with the other hub when the handing lever is on another position 20 along the post.

4. The lock as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the selection means holds the handing lever in either the one position or the other position on the post.

5. The lock as claimed in claim 2 wherein the handing lever is freely 25 slidable along the post but is held in the required position by the selection means.

6. The lock as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the selection means comprises a spacer member that can be removably attached to the post to hold the handing lever either on one side of the spacer member or on the other side of the spacer member. 30

7. The lock as claimed in claim 6, wherein, the spacer member can be pulled away from the post to enable the handing lever to slide from one side of the post to the other side of the post and then the spacer member can be pushed back in position to hold the handing lever in the desired position. 12

8. The lock as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the spacer member may comprises a pair of slightly spaced apart fingers that grip the post.

9. The lock as claimed in claim 8, wherein the fingers extend from a base portion of the spacer which is adapted to extend at least partially into or through an 5 opening in the lock body to enable an installer to remove the spacer member.

10. The lock as claimed in any one of claims 2-9, wherein the post extends from adjacent one side of the lock to adjacent the other side of the lock.

11. The lock as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the handing lever comprises a substantially flat plate-like member that is positioned 10 within the lock body.

12. The lock as claimed in claim 11, wherein the handing lever directly engages with and retracts the locking bar.

13. The lock as claimed in claim 12, wherein the handing lever contains a finger portion that engages with part of the locking bar such that rotation of the 15 handing lever in one direction causes retraction of the locking bar.

14. The lock as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the handing lever is operable by contact with one of the hubs.

15. The lock as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the hub are substantially identical and will typically be placed substantially on top of each 20 other, each hub being moveable between a tongue extending position and a tongue retracting position independently of the other hub, each hub being operated by an external handle.

16. The lock as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, the locking bar comprises a reciprocating locking bar that can slide between an extended locking 25 position and a retracted unlocking position.

17. A lock substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the illustrations. DATED this 2 3 rd day of March 2005 Assa Abloy Australia Pty Limited 30 By their Patent Attorneys CULLEN & CO.