GB2146689A - Vaults door locks - Google Patents

Abstract

A door primarily intended for vaults, such as bank vaults, comprises a door leaf incorporating on the inside thereof a locking mechanism which includes at least one lock (17, 18), lock bolts (15), and at least one safety device (29) for locking the lock bolts in a door- locking position. A covering of hardened-glass (14, 14'', 14''') preferably glass plate, is arranged externally in relation to a lock and a safety device adjacent the inside of the door leaf, so that the safety device arranged to be triggered when the aforementioned glass- covering part breaks. The locking mechanism of the door, with the exception of the outer parts of the lock bolts (15), is concentrated to a central portion (9) of the inside of the door leaf, and is protectively covered by the hardened glass (14, 14'', 14'''), arranged so that an attack on any part of the protective glass covering (14, 14'', 14'''), such as to break the glass, causes breaking means to break other parts of the glass. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Improvements in or relating to vault doors The present invention relates to a door which is primarily, although not exclusively, intended for a vault, such as a bank vault, and which comprises a door leaf having arranged therewithin a locking mechanism, which includes at least one lock, lock bolts, and mechanisms for activating said lock bolts.

Such vault doors are known to the art. The door leaf of such a door normally comprises a substantially plane-parallel core of reinforced concrete clad with armoured plating. The lock mechanism is normally mounted on the inside of the door leaf, with the locking bolts or plunges arranged for axial movement parallel with the plane of the door leaf, this axial movement being effected by means of an attachment beam or like member which is arranged to be moved by means of racks or like devices which co-act, via at least one gear means, with a turning device located on the outside of the door.

It is also known in such doors to arrange a hardened-glass plate between the inside of the door leaft and the lock, and to provide in connection with the lock at least one safety bolt or catch, which is held in a non-latching position by means of the glass plate and which when occupying its latching position is arranged to latch one of said racks against displacement, for example by entering a recess therein. The safety latch is intended to move to its latching position should the glass break, for example as the result of an attempt to attack the lock mechanically from without.

The extent of the protection afforded by such a door can be said to reside mainly in the time taken to force the door, by making holes therein. When a small hole is made in order to attack the lock, the safety device is triggered. In consequence hereof, before the door can be forced it is necessary to make further holes, in order to eliminate the safety device. Alternatively, the door can be forced by making a larger hole, through which the lock bolts can be manipulated. Still another alternative is one in which there is made a hole sufficiently large for a person to pass therethrough, a so-called man-hole. When this latter alternative is applied, the hole is normally made in a lower corner to the door, on the hinge-side thereof, in order to minimize the work involved.

Even though the time required to force a door of this nature is quite considerable, it may still not be long enough, at times, for the break-in to be observed. With the right amount of expertise, it is possible to manipulate the lock and associated safety devices in a manner to enable the lock bolts to be withdrawn relatively quickly.

In addition to the above methods, an attack can be made on such a door through the central parts of the door not protected by a glass plate. An object of the present invention is therefore to provide a vault door which cannot be forced with the ease at which known doors can be forced. A further object is to provide a bolt door with which considerably more time is required to force the door than that required to force a conventional door of the said kind.

Accordingly, this invention consists in a door, primarily intended for a vault, such as a bank vault, and comprising a door leaf which incorporates therein a locking mechanism comprising at least one lock, a plurality of lock bolts, and mechanisms which can be operated from outside the door to move said lock bolts in a controlled fashion between a door-release position and a door-locking position, and further comprising at least one releasable safety device operative, when released, to lock said bolts in said door-locking position, and at least one hardened-glass plate which is arranged externally of said at least one lock and said releasable safety device and which holds said safety device in its in-operative state, the arrangement of said safety device being such that when an attack is made on the lock and/or the safety device from without and/or if the glass breaks, the safety device is released to lock said bolts, wherein the locking mechanism, with the exception of the outer ends of the lock bolts, is concentrated to the centre region of the inside of the door leaf and is protectively covered by said at least one hardened-glass plate, and wherein said door also comprises glass-breaking means arranged to ensure that the whole of the glass plate protecting said locking mechanism is shattered should any part of said plate be broken as a result of an attack thereon.

It will be understood, that all safety devices are triggered simultaneously, irrespective of the forcing method used, thereby making it necessary to take a large number of subsequent additional steps before the door is successfully forced. In accordance with one embodiment of the invention means are provided which render the task of making a man-hole in one corner of the door extremely time consuming and laborious.

So that the invention will be more readily understood and other features thereof made apparent, embodiments of a door according to the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a schematic, horizontal sectional view of a door constructed in accordance with one embodiment of the invention, said view not showing the locking mechanism of the door in any great detail; Figure 2 illustrates the door shown in Fig. 1 from the inside of said door, with the cover plate of the door removed so as to expose the locking mechanism arranged therein; Figure 3 is a sectional view taken on the line A-A in Fig. 2; Figure 4 is a sectional view taken on the line B-B in Fig. 2; and Figure 5 is a sectional view taken on the line C-C in Fig. 2.

In Fig. 1 the reference 1 identifies generally a preferred embodiment of a door leaf comprising a core 3 of reinforced concrete clad with metal plating 2. The reference 4 identifies the outside of the door leaf 1. Extending along the edge portions 6 of the inside 5 of the door leaf 1 is an edge beam 7, which preferably comprises a reinforced concrete core 8 clad with metal plate. The edge beam 7 defines a central portion 9 of the door leaf 1 on the inside thereof, and is intended to increase the thickness of the door leaf substantially, in regions adjacent said edge portions 6.

The reference 10 in Fig. 1 identifies an encapsulating box, which is preferably of generally parallelepipedic configuration and which substantially covers the central portion of the door leaf 1. The box 10 has a bottom 11, which faces the inside 6 of said door leaf.

The box 10 is intended to accommodate a locking mechanism, not shown in Fig. 1, and is attached to the edge beam 7, said beam being intended to form an attachment means for the locking mechanism. The reference 1 2 identifies a cover, which is also attached to the edge beam 7 and which forms a door arranged to cover the open side 1 3 of the box 10, remote from the bottom 11 thereof.

Reference 14 identifies a sheet arrangement of hardened glass located adjacent the inner surface 6 of the door leaf 1 and covering the central portion 9 thereof. In the illustrated embodiment, the glass is not laminated or reinforced, and is arranged to shatter totally if a part thereof is caused to break.

The reference 1 5 identifies a lock bolt or plunger which is connected to the locking mechanism, not shown in Fig. 1, and protrudes through an aperture 16 in the edge beam 7, externally of the box 10 and said central part 9, and is axially movable substantially parallel with the door leaf, between a door-locking position, shown in Fig. 1, and a door-release position.

Fig. 2 illustrates the locking mechanism of the door shown in Fig. 1. As will be seen from the Figure, the illustrated locking mechanism incorporates two locks, a top lock 1 7 and a bottom lock 18, which are arranged to be activated in a known manner from the outwardly facing side 4 of the door. The illustrated locking mechanism has seven lock bolts 15, which can be moved axially in a controlled fashion from the outer side 4 of the door, by means of a knob or like device (not shown), there being provided for this purpose a rotatable vertical rod 1 9 which can be rotated by means of a bevel gear arrangement 20, which co-acts with said knob or like device and said rod in a manner to effect rotation of the rod. As also illustrated in Fig.

3, the upper end 21 and the lower end 22 of the rod 1 9 are arranged to co-act respectively with an upper 23 and a lower 24 horizontally acting rack in a manner to move horizontally a vertically extending support beam 25, on which the lock bolts 1 5 are firmly mounted.

Each of the locks 17, 1 8 is arranged for vertical movement in a respective top and bottom slide 26 and 27, which have an opening 28 arranged therein, between an unlocked position (Fig. 2), in which the horizontally movable racks are able to pass through a respective opening 28 in said slides 26 and 27, thereby to move the lock bolts 1 5 to an unlocking position, and a locking position in which the openings 28 are out of register with the racks, so that the racks are unable to move horizontally and the lock bolts remain located in their locking position.

In the illustrated embodiment, there is arranged adjacent each bolt 1 5 a safety device 29 of known kind which is held in its inoperative state by means of the aforementioned glass-plate arrangement 1 4 and which when triggered passes to an operative state in which it effectively locks an associated lock bolt 1 5 in its locking position. In the illustrated embodiment one safety device 29 is allotted to each of the lower and upper lock bolts, while two safety devices are allotted to each of the bolts located therebetween.

As shown in Fig. 4, each safety device 29 comprises a latching plunger 34 which is axially movable in a guide passage 35 located in a housing 33, under the action of a spring (not shown), between an unlatching position and a latching position, in which latter position it enters a groove 36 arranged on one end of its associated lock bolt 15, transversely of the direction of movement of said bolt.

Extending upwardly from the housing 33, through an opening 37 in the wall of said housing, is a peg 32, to which there is attached one end of a wire or like means 31, said wire passing from the peg 37 to a stud 30 firmly anchored in the glass plate or sheet 14, and from there to a similar peg of an adjacent safety device. The latching plunger is held in its retracted, non-operative position, by means of the arrangement of said wire 31 and peg 32, against the action of the aforesaid spring (not shown). As will be seen from the Figure, movement of the latching plunger 34 in the guide passage 35, and thus into the groove 36, is restricted by a defining surface of the opening 37 and the peg 32. Although not shown, the latching plunger 34 is provided with catch means arranged to co-act with a suitably located recess when the safety device is released, in a manner to prevent the latching plunger from being moved out of its latching position.

In the illustrated embodiment, the glass plate 14 covers the central part 9 of the door leaf and is arranged to co-act at its outer portions 14' with the safety devices 29 on the lock-bolt side of the door, in a manner to hold said safety devices in their non-operative position. The Fig. 2 embodiment incorporates two glass plates 14", 14"' which abut one another along mutually opposing edges 14"" and 14""' thereof, and together cover the whole of the central door-part 9.Arranged in the location of the abutment line between the two glass plates, is a glass breaking means 38 which comprises two breaking devices 39, hereinafter described in more detail with reference to Fig. 5 which act upon a respective one of the glass plate 14", 14"', the arrangement of the glass-breaking means being such that if one of the glass plates breaks, the other plate is also broken by one of the breaking devices 39.

As shown in more detail in Fig. 5, the glass-breaking devices 39 act upon respective glass plates through an opening 40 located in the bottom 11 of the box 10 and, in the nonoperative position of said devices, brace against the edges of respective plates. Each device 39 comprises a supporter 41, by means of which the device 39 braces against respective plate edges 14"", 14""', and a glass-breaking arm 43, which is preferably provided with a glass-breaking pin, such as the illustrated pin 42. The device 39 is arranged for rotation about an axis 44 located between the arms 41 and 43 and extending substantially at right angles to the longitudinal direction of said arms, whereupon if the glassplate allotted to the support arm 41 breaks, the other glass plate is broken by the breaking arm 43.

The reference 45 identifies glass-breaking devices which are substantially similar to the devices 39 and which have a spring-loaded glass-breaking arm 46 arranged in the vicinity of the lower lock 1 8 and in the vicinity of each slide 26, 27, said arm being arranged to break the glass 1 4 should an attack be made on the locks or on the slides.

The operational mode of the door arrangement should be apparent from the aforegoing.

As will have been observed, the locking mechanism, with the exception of the outer parts of the lock bolts 15, is concentrated in a central region 9 of the inside of the door and is protectively covered by the glass 14, glass plates 14", 14"'. When an attempt is made to make a hole in the door, within said central region, the glass will shatter before an attack can be made on the lock mechanism, whereupon all safety devices 29 are triggered and all lock bolts locked in their locking positions by means of the latching plungers 34. Once these events have taken place, a considerable length of time and considerable work is required to force the door.

With regard to the making of man-holes in the corner regions of the door, this is made extremely difficult by the provision of the aforesaid edge beam 7, which also provides an attachment means for the locking mechanism, and optionally also for the encapsulation thereof, thereby greatly facilitating manufacture and assembly. The edge beam 7 also forms a strenghtening and guide means, and an attachment means for the lock bolts 15, thereby to make blasting of the door more difficult.

As will be understood from the aforegoing, the described and illustrated door provides, with the use of but simple means, good protection against burglary attempts. The fact that the locking mechanism is concentrated in the central region of the door leaf enables the mechanism to be readily encapsulated in the box 10, thereby affording manufacturing and assembly advantages. According to one suitable embodiment, the thus concentrated locking mechanism, the protective glass plate or plates, and the lock-bolt latching means are combined with the edge beam 7, so as to impede the making of man-holes in the corner regions of the door.

Although the invention has been described and illustrated with respect to a preferred embodiment thereof, it will be understood that this embodiment in no way limits the scope of the invention and that modifications can be made within the scope of the following claims. For example, the locking mechanism can be designed in a number of ways, incorporating one or more locks and a varying number of lock bolts, and including one or more glass plates arranged to protectively cover the central door part 9.

Further, according to one embodiment, the edge beam 7 may have a height, thickness, when seen at right angles to the plane of the door leaf 1, which corresponds substantially to the thickness of the door and a width which extends substantially to the central portions of the door leaf, from the edges, said edge beam having a greater width on the side thereof opposite to that in which the lock bolts are arranged, so as to render the making of a man-hole in the corner of the door particularly difficult and time-consuming.

In the aforegoing, the invention has been described with reference to a relatively large vault door. It will be understood, however, that the invention is not restricted for use solely to vault doors, but can be successfully applied with other strong room doors, of varying sizes.

Claims (11)

1. A door, primarily intended for a vault, such as a bank vault, and comprising a door leaf which incorporates therein a locking mechanism comprising at least one lock, a plurality of lock bolts, and mechanisms which can be operated from outside the door to move said lock bolts in a controlled fashion between a door-release position and a doorlocking position, and further comprising at least one releasable safety device operative, when released, to lock said bolts in said doorlocking position, and at least one hardenedglass plate which is arranged externally of said at least one lock and said releasabie safety device and which holds said safety device in its inoperative state, the arrangement of said safety device being such that when an attack is made on the lock and/or the safety device from without and/or if the glass breaks, the safety device is released to lock said bolts, wherein the locking mechanism, with the exception of the outer ends of the lock bolts, is concentrated to the centre region of the inside of the door leaf and is protectively covered by said at least one hardened-glass plate, and wherein said door also comprises glass-breaking means arranged to ensure that the whole of the glass plate protecting said locking mechanism is shattered should any part of said plate be broken as a result of an attack thereon.

2. A door according to Claim 1, wherein each lock bolt is provided with an individual releasable safety device, which is held in a non-operative position by said glass plate and which, when released, locks its associated lock bolt against axial movement.

3. A door according to Claim 2, wherein a number of said lock bolts are each provided with two releasable safety devices, and wherein each safety device comprises a latching plunger arranged, when released, to move into, a recess in its associated lock bolt.

4. A door according to any one of the preceding Claims, wherein the locking mechanism is encased in a box having a bottom facing the glass plate and spaced therefrom, and wherein the box is attached to the inside of the door leaf.

5. A door according to any one of the preceding Claims, wherein the protective glass covering comprises at least two separate, mutually rectangular glass plates, which are arranged in mutually abutting relationship so as to cover said central leaf-portion, and wherein said glass-breaking means comprises two glass-breaking devices arranged in the location of the abutment line of said mutually abutting glass plates, the glass-breaking devices being arranged to co-act with one another in a manner such that when one of the glass plates breaks the other glass plate is broken by means of its breaking device.

6. A door according to Claim 5, wherein the glass-breaking devices are springbiassed against the edges of respective glass plates, wherein each device includes a support arm by means of which said device is brought to bear against said edge of said respective glass plate and a glass-breaking arm, preferably provided with a glass-breaking pin; and wherein said device is arranged for rotation about an axis located between said arms and extending substantially at right angles to the longitudinal direction thereof, the arrangement being such that when the plate cooperating with one support arm breaks, the other glass plate is broken by the other breaking arm.

7. A door according to any one of the preceding Claims, wherein arranged along the edge portions of the inside of the door leaf is an edge beam or like device intended for substantially increasing the thickness of the door leaf adjacent said edge portions, said beam preferably comprising a core of reinforced concrete clad with metal plate.

8. A door according to Claim 7, wherein the edge beam is arranged outside the aforesaid central portion of the door leaf.

9. A door according to Claim 7 or Claim 8, wherein the edge beam forms an attachment means for the locking mechanism.

10. A door according to Claims 7, 8 or 9, wherein the lock bolts are arranged to extend through openings in the edge beam.

11. A door primarily intended for a vault, such as a bank vault, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to, and as illustrated in, the accompanying drawings.