Sliding door lock

Abstract

A lock for sliding doors and including a strike adapted to be mounted on a door frame and having opposite sides for reception of a pair of latch hooks mounted for linear movements toward and away from each other in supporting means adapted for mounting in a sliding door. A motion transfer member imparts movement to one of the latch hooks in either direction of its movement responsive to movement of the other latch hook in the opposite direction. An actuator is mounted on a slide element associated with one of the latch hooks for imparting latching and unlatching movements to the hooks, and cooperates with a supporting member to releasably lock the latch hooks against unlatching movement, when it is desired to lock the door in a closed position. A key operated lock is provided for latching and unlatching the door from the side opposite the actuator.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates particularly to door latches and locks for sliding doors which are supported by rollers or the like adjacent either upper or lower edges of the door and guided in tracks or rails at the opposite ones of the upper and lower edges. These locks are usually mounted on a door adjacent a vertical edge of the door for cooperation with a strike mounted in a vertical portion or stile of a door frame.

It has been found, in sliding door latches or locks using a single latch hook, that sometimes a locked sliding door may be raised or tilted sufficiently in its track to cause disengagement between the latch hook and strike, whereby access may be gained to the interior of a room or building. With other locks of similar type, a key operated lock may be sometimes picked or opened by a key from the exterior, and access thus gained.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An important object of this invention is the provision of a sliding door lock which cannot be unlatched by raising or tilting of the door.

Another object of this invention is the provision of a sliding door lock having a latch actuator on one side and a key-equipped latch operating mechanism on the opposite side, the actuator being operable to render the key-equipped mechanism inoperative to open the door.

Yet another object of this invention is the provision of a door lock as set forth which is relatively simple and inexpensive to produce, and which is efficient in operation and durable in use.

To the above ends, I provide a lock including supporting structure for mounting in a door, a strike adapted to be mounted in a door frame, a pair of opposing latch hooks having slide elements whereby the latch hooks are mounted in the supporting structure for linear movements toward and away from each other, each of the latch hooks being disposed to having hooking engagement with a different one of spaced or opposite portions of the strike. A key operated locking device is utilzed to latch and unlatch the door lock from one side, such as the outside of a door, and an actuator is used for the same purpose from the opposite, or inside, of the door. The actuator is disposed to be manipulated to lock the door from the inside of the room or building in a manner to prevent the door from being opened from the outside, even with the key normally used.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary view in perspective of a conventional sliding door and door frame with the door lock of this invention applied thereto;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary view partly in elevation and partly in section, taken generally on the line 2--2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged vertical section taken on the line 3--3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary section taken substantially on the line 4--4 of FIG. 3, showing the door in a slightly open position;

FIG. 5 is a view corresponding to FIG. 4 but showing the door closed and latched;

FIG. 6 is a further enlarged detail in section taken on the line 6--6 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary view in elevation, as seen from the line 7--7 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged fragmentary detail, partly in elevation and partly in vertical section, taken generally on the line 8--8 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 9 is a further enlarged transverse section taken on the irregular line 9--9 of FIG. 8; and

FIG. 10 is a further enlarged fragmentary section taken on the line 10--10 of FIG. 8.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

In the drawings, a conventional vertically disposed sliding door is indicated at 1, the same being assumed to be movable toward and away from a vertically disposed door frame member or stile 2 which defines a vertically extending door edge receiving groove or channel 3. The door 1 is provided with a vertically elongated opening 4 extending transversely therethrough and a branch opening 5 extending from the opening 4 to the adjacent edge or end 6 of the door 1. The branch opening 5 is partially closed by a metallic plate 7 that is secured to the end 6 by screws 8, the plate 7 being provided with a generally rectangular central opening 9.

A strike 10 comprises an elongated base portion 11 and a laterally outwardly projecting body portion 12 which defines opposite or upper and lower recesses 13 each having a wall surface 14 adjacent the outer end of the body 12. As shown, the strike 10 is disposed within the channel 3 of the stile 2, the base 11 being provided with vertically elongated slots 15 for reception of mounting screws 16 that are screw threaded into the stile 2 to mount the body portion 12 in alignment with the opening 9 in the end plate 7 and the branch opening 5.

In FIGS. 1-3, the inner surface of the door 1 is indicated at 17, the outer surface thereof being indicated by the reference numeral 18. A pair of elongated inner and outer support members 19 and 20 respectively are disposed in opposed relationship in the transverse opening 4 adjacent respective inner and outer sides 17 and 18 of the door 1, and are locked in place by a pair of anchoring screws 21, see FIGS. 1 and 3-5. Adjacent the upper ends, the support members 19 and 20 are formed to provide vertically elongated recesses 22 for reception of one's fingers to aid in imparting opening or closing movements to the door 1. As shown in FIG. 3, the support member 20 is provided with screw threaded bosses 23 for reception of the screws 21, and a transverse tubular boss 24 for reception of a conventional cylinder lock 25, the purpose of which will hereinafter become apparent. Although not shown, it may be assumed that the cylinder lock 25 is provided with a suitable key for operating the same.

The inner support member 19 is formed to provide inner bearing surfaces 26 and 27, and laterally spaced pairs of guide flanges 28 and 29. A pair of opposed upper and lower latch hooks 30 and 31 respectively, are provided with respective plate-like slide elements 32 and 33. As shown, the slide elements 32 and 33 are rigidly secured to their respective latch hooks 30 and 31 by machine screws 34 and dowels 35. The latch hooks 30 and 31 extend into the branch opening 5, the slide element 32 having sliding engagement with the bearing surface 26 and contained within the guide flanges 28. In like manner, the slide element 33 has sliding engagement with the bearing surfaces 27, and is contained between the guide flanges 29.

The slide elements 32 and 33 have overlapping inner ends that define respective overlapping longitudinally extending slots 36 and 37, and respective notches 38 and 39, each of which opens transversely outwardly of an opposite side edge of its respective slide element 32 and 33. A lever 40 provides a motion transfer element for imparting sliding movement to one of the latch hooks 30 and 31 in one direction responsive to movement of the other latch hook 30 or 31 and its respective slide element in the opposite direction. The lever 40 extends generally transversely of the direction of movement of the latch hooks 30 and 31, and is pivotally mounted intermediate its ends on the extended end of a boss or shaft 41 integrally formed with the inner support member 19. The boss or shaft 41 projects through the slots 36 and 37 in the slide members 32 and 33, and a pair of washers 42 and 43 are mounted on the shaft 41 intermediate the lever 40 and adjacent inner end portions of the slide elements 32 and 33 to yieldingly hold the slide elements against their respective bearing surfaces 26 and 27. With reference to FIGS. 3, 9 and 10, it will be seen that the washer 42 is a spring washer. Preferably, the extended end of the shaft or boss 41 is upset or peened over the intermediate portion of the lever 40, as indicated at 44, to hold the lever 40 on the end portion of the shaft 41. At its opposite ends, the lever 40 is provided with transverse pins 45, each of which is received in a different one of the notches 38 and 39 in the slide elements 32 and 33 respectively.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the latch hooks 30 and 31 are moved between a relatively widely spaced apart unlatched relationship and a relatively closely spaced apart latching relationship wherein the latch hooks 30 and 31 are adapted to each engage a different one of the strike surfaces 14. Means for releasably holding the latch hooks in either of their unlatched or latching positions comprises a detent member 46 integrally formed with the inner support member 19 and a pair of longitudinally spaced notches 47 in the slide element 33, see particularly FIG. 10.

The latch hooks 30 and 31 are adapted to be moved from the outside of the door 1 by means of a key, not shown, operating the lock 25, and from the inside of the door 1 by an actuator 48 mounted in the inner support member 19. The cylinder lock 25 includes a rotary shaft 49 on which is mounted a crank 50 that carries a crankpin 51 that is received in a notch 52 in the slide element 33. The notch 52 is generally V-shaped to permit limited independent linear movement of the slide element 33 between latch-opened and latch-closed positions, when the crank 50 is in an unlocked position of the lock 25. When the crank 50 is pivotally moved to its locked position of the lock 25, the crank pin 51 moves the latch hooks 30 and 31 to their latching position of FIG. 5. Thus, latching and unlatching of the door 1 may be done from the exterior thereof, only with the use of a key.

The actuator 48 comprises an inner shaft portion 52 that is journaled in an opening 53 in the slide element 33, the shaft portion 52 having a radially outwardly projecting lug 54 that moves circumferentially within a segmental notch 55 opening into the opening 53, see particularly FIG. 5, to limit rotary movement of the actuator 48. The actuator 48 includes a diametrically enlarged shaft portion 56 at one side of the slide element 33, the shaft portion 56 defining an annular shoulder that cooperates with a washer 57 mounted on the shaft portion 52 at the opposite side of the slide element 33, to hold the actuator 48 against axial movement relative to the slide element 33, see particularly FIG. 3. The shaft portion 56 extends through a slot 58 in the inner support member 19, the slot 58 extending longitudinally of the support member 19 to permit movement of the actuator 48 in the direction of latching and unlatching movement of the latch hooks 30 and 31 and their respective slide elements 32 and 33. Outwardly of the support member 19, the shaft portion 56 is provided with an enlarged head 59 and a handle portion 60, whereby the actuator 48 may be moved to latch or unlatch the hooks 30 and 31, or rotated on its own axis from the interior side of the door 1.

Adjacent the slot 58, the support member 19 defines a pair of arcuate surfaces 61 which provide a seat for engagement with a portion of the actuator 48, said portion being defined by a pair of lugs 62 integrally formed with the shaft portion 56 of the actuator 48, see particularly FIGS. 3 and 6. When the actuator 48 is rotated to one limit of its rotary movement, wherein the lug 54 engages one end of the segmental recess 55, the lugs 62 are positioned as indicated by full lines in FIG. 6, so that the actuator 48 and slide member 33 are free to move longitudinally in a latching or unlatching direction. Rotation of the actuator 48 to its opposite limit of rotary movement, when the latch hooks 30 and 31 are in their latching positions of FIG. 5, disposes the lugs 62 in seating engagement with the arcuate surfaces 61 to positively hold the actuator 48 and slide element 33 against movement in an unlatching direction. It will be noted that, when the actuator 48 is thus rotated to its locked position, the latch hooks 30 and 31 cannot be disengaged from the strike surfaces 14 from the outside of the door 1, even with the use of a proper key.

When the latch hooks 30 and 31 are disposed in latching engagement with the strike 10, as shown in FIG. 5, it is impossible to unlatch the door 1 by moving the same vertically either upwardly or downwardly. Further, when the door 1 is closed and latched, a key is required to unlatch the door from the exterior; and, as above described, if the actuator is rotated to a locked condition with the lugs 62 in seating engagement with the arcuate surfaces 61, the door cannot be unlatched from the exterior even with a key.

While I have shown and described a commercial embodiment of my sliding door lock, it will be understood that the same is capable of modification without departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, as defined in the claims.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A door lock for a sliding door mounted in a frame for movements toward and away from a closed position in operative engagement with a cooperating frame member, said latch comprising:

a. a pair of elongated support members adapted to be mounted in opposed parallel relationship in an opening extending transversely through a door adjacent an edge of the door, one of said support members including longitudinally aligned pairs of laterally spaced guide flanges;

b. a pair of opposed latch hooks;

c. a pair of slide elements each connected to a different one of said latch hooks and each longitudinally slidable between a different pair of said guide flanges, said slide elements having overlapping inner end portions and aligned longitudinally extending slots through said overlapping portions;

d. a transverse shaft on said one of the support members extending through said slots;

e. slide element mounting means including a lever journaled intermediate its ends on said shaft for holding said slide elements between their respective guide flanges;

f. connections between said lever and said slide elements for imparting longitudinal movement to one of said slide elements in one direction responsive to longitudinal movement of the other slide element in the opposite direction;

g. a strike adapted to be mounted on a door frame, said strike having opposite sides, each including a surface portion disposed for hooking engagement with a different one of said latch hooks, when the door is closed and said latch hooks are moved toward their respective portions of said strike;

h. and an actuator including a shaft, said one of the support members defining a longitudinal slot therethrough, said actuator shaft extending through said longitudinal slot and being journaled in one of said slide elements for limited rotation relative to said one of the slide elements and for sliding movements therewith longitudinally of the support members.

2. The door lock defined in claim 1, in which said one of the support members defines a seat adjacent said longitudinal slot therein, said actuator shaft having a lug portion movable into engagement with said seat responsive to rotary movement of said actuator shaft to one limit of rotary movement thereof to positively lock said latch hooks in latching engagement with said strike.

3. The door lock defined in claim 1, in which said slide element mounting means includes a spring on said transverse shaft between said lever and said slide elements and yieldingly urging said slide elements into sliding engagement with said one of the support members; characterized by a detent on said one of the support members and cooperating notches on one of said slide elements for releasably holding said slide elements in spaced portions of said longitudinal sliding movement thereof.