US2791458A - Rotary type door lock - Google Patents

Description

May 7, 1957 R. MARPLE ROTARY TYPE DOOR LOCK 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 4, 1951 INVENTOR. 272220 )farp/e.

alkni May 7, 1957 R. MARPLE ROTARY TYPE DOOR LOCK 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 4, 1951 INVENTOR. 770ZZ0 )fdr le, BY 22? RGTARY TYPE DOOR LOCK Rollo Marple, Jackson, Mich, assignor to Hancock Manufacturing Company, Jackson, Witch, :1 corporation of Michigan Application January 4, 1951, Serial No. 204,439

8 flaunts. (Cl. 292-280) This invention relates to locking mechanisms, and more particularly to a door lock of the rotary type especially adapted for vehicular installations.

It is an object of the present invent-ion to provide an improved door lock of the class described, capable of being operated from inside or outside the door, and which has novel structural features cooperating with the rotary bolt which result in a greatly decreased cost of production. in particular, it is an object to provide a door lock of the type having a rotary bolt and dogging means cooperating with said bolt, which eliminates the necessity of having a rotary cam member rotating with said bolt to cooperate with the dogging means.

It is another object to provide an improved door lock construction of the rotary type, in which the bolt dogging means acts directly on a conventional toothed rotary bolt cooperating with the stationary keeper, whereby the rotary bolt serves the dual purpose of engaging the keeper and coasting with the dogging means. More particularly, it is an object to provide a clogging element for the rotary bolt having a bolt-engaging cam surface which extends through the lock supporting plate and is adapted to engage portions of the rotary bolt adjacent the exterior surface of the supporting plate, thus permitting one portion of the bolt to engage-the keeper while another portion is simultaneously engaged by the dogging cam surface to prevent unlocking movement of the bolt.

Other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings: 7

Figure 1 is a side view of the interior of one of the supporting plate flanges, the other flange being broken away for clarity, and showing the operative portions of the lock;

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view, taken along the line 22 of Figure 1, and showing the outer flange of the supporting plate, together with its operative elements;

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view, taken along the line 33 of Fig. l, and showing the detailed construction of the bol -engaging dogging cam portion extending through the supporting plate;

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view, taken along the line 44 of Fig. 1, and showing the rollback locking construction;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary side view of the rollback locking means shown in its locked position; and

Fig. 6 is a side view of the exterior surface of the supporting plate flange shown in Fig. 1, the view being taken in the direction of the arrow 6 of Fig. 4.

The locking mechanism is shown for illustrative purposes as embodied in a construction especially adapted for vehicular door installations, although it will be understood that the principles of this invention are equally applicable to other types of installations. The locking mechanism is shown as supported by a base member or supporting plate 11 which comprises two flanges 12 and 13, the flanges each being of generally flat configuration States Patent" O H 2,791,458 Patented May 7, 1957 ice and preferably normal to each other. The flange 12 is substantially wider than flange 13 and is adapted to be secured in flush position at the outer edge of a vehicle door (not shown). For this purpose, flange 12 may be provided with a plurality of mounting holes 14 adjacent the edges thereof. A bolt generally indicated at 15 is rotatably supported at an intermediate portion of the flange 12 by means of a stud pivot 16. This bolt is of the conventional rotary type well known in the art, and comprises a plurality of evenly spaced teeth 17 for e11- gaging a conventional keeper 18, which is mounted on adjacent door pillar 19 as shown in dot-and-dash lines in Fig. 2. A dovetail member 21, also of conventional construction, is secured to flange 12 above rotary bolt 15, and as shown in Fig. 2 is engageable with the opposite side of keeper 18 when the door is closed.

It will be noted, especially from an examination of Fig. 4, that the rotary bolt 15 is in adjacent relation with the outer surface of flange 12, and this flange is preferably provided with a slightly raised circular boss 22 which is flush with the flat inner surface of the bolt. it is important to observe that this construction differs from that of previous devices wherein the rotary bolt is provided with an inner portion having a number of dogengaging teeth corresponding to the keeper'engaging teeth of the bolt. In the improved construction of this invention, it will be noticed that there is no projecting element on the interior of the supporting plate opposite the bolt other than a flat rivet head 23, by means of which the stud shaft 16 is secured to the flange 12.

In normal operation, when the door is moved to its closed position, the lock will be moved to the right as seen in Fig. 6. During this action the teeth on the bolt 15 will engage the stationary keeper by means of the forward surfaces 24 on teeth 17 and the bolt will be rotated counterclockwise as seen in Fig. 6. The dogging means for the bolt may therefore be such as to prevent clockwise rotation of the bolt after the door has reached its fully closed position. The bolt dogging means comprises a member generally indicated as 25 which is pivotally mounted on the interior surface of the flange 12, at the outer edge portion thereof, by a pivot pin 26. Dogging member 25 is best seen in Figs. 1 and 6, and comprises an arm 27 which is engageable by the outside handle rollback means, to be later described, and a bolt dogging leg 28 extending transversely to arm 27. As is best seen in Fig. 3, the bolt dogging leg 28 is bent outwardly at an intermediate portion 29 and extends through supporting flange 12 to the exterior thereof. For this purpose, the supporting flange is provided with an aperture 31 of elongated generally rectangular shape. The outer end 32 of the leg 28 extends in parallel relation with the supporting flange and is provided with a cam surface .33 and a bolt dogging surface 34. The cam surface33 is so disposed as to be engageable by surfaces 35 (opposite surfaces 24) of the bolt teeth when the bolt is rotated counterclockwise. Dogging surface 34 of leg 28 extends transversely to surface 33 and is engageable with surfaces 24 of the bolt teeth when the dogging member 25 is in its locking position. As is best seen in Fig. 1, a spring 36 is provided for urging the dogging surface 34 into operative engagement with teeth 17 to prevent the bolt from rotating in an unlocking direction. For this purpose, one end portion 37 of spring 36 is fixed to the supporting flange 12 between lugs 38, the spring being coiled around the lugs and having its opposite end portion 39 engageablev with the underside of the dogging member 25 so as to urge the dogging member in a clockwise direction as seen in Fig. 1.

The dogging member is movable in an unlocking direction by means of outside handle rollback member 41 which is piovtally mounted to flange 12 by pin 26, the

rollback being spaced from the inner surface of the flange by the dogging member, as seen in Fig. 3. The rollback is provided with an ear 42 engageable by an actuating portion 43 of the outside door handle (not shown) to move the rollback in a counterclockwise direction as shown in Fig. l. The outer end of arm 27 of the dogging member 25 has a laterally extending toe 44, which projects through an elongated slot 45 in the rollback member. Spring 36 normally urges toe 44 against one end 46 of slot 45 so as to hold the rollback 41 in its solid line position as shown in Fig. 1, the rollback being limited in its clockwise movement by a stop tab 47 on flange 12. It will be noted in Figure 1 that upon counterclockwise movement of rollback 41 to its dotdash line position, engagement of end 46 of slot 45 with ear 44 will rotate dogging member 25 counterclockwise into its dot-dash position, in which the dogging cam 32 clears the teeth 17 of bolt 15.

Means are provided for actuating dogging member 25 by an inside door handle (not shown) independently of the outside rollback means. This linkage comprises a bell crank 48 which is pivotally mounted on the exterior surface of the supporting flange 13. One arm 49 of this bell crank extends generally upwardly and has pivotally connected thereto a link 51, the other end of which may be connected to the inside door handle. The other arm 52 of bell crank 48 is laterally bent so as to extend into a clearance aperture 53 in flange 13, and is engageable with the underside of one end 54 of a lever 55. This lever is pivotally secured to supporting flange 12 by means of a pin 56, and the end 54 thereof is adapted to move vertically within clearance aperture 53. Dogging member 25 is provided with an inside handle actuating arm 57 which extends radially intermediate the outside handle actuating arm 27 and the dogging leg 28. Lever 55 has an arm 58 opposite arm 54, and arm 58 is engageable with the upper surface of the arm 57 of the dogging member. It will be seen from an examination of Fig. 1 that spring 36 will normally urge arm 57 into its clockwise or dotted position, thus urging lever 55 counterclockwise and urging bell crank 48 clockwise as shown in Fig. 2. However, upon leftward movement of link 51 in Fig. 2 due to actuation of the inside door handle, the counterclockwise rotation of bell crank 48 will cause lever 55 to rotate clockwise as seen in Fig. 1, thus moving dogging member 25 into its retracted or dot-dash position. It will be observed that this action is entirely independent of the position of the outside handle rollback member 41, since if the latter member remains in its solid line position, toe 44 will move to the other end of slot 46.

Locking means are provided for preventing retraction of the dogging member by actuation of the outside door handle. As best seen in Figs. 1 and 2, this means comprises a lock-actuating bell crank 59 pivotally secured to supporting flange 13 by means of a pin 61. Bell crank 59 is shown in the illustrated embodiment as being actuatable by a push rod 62 which may extend to the garnish mold (not shown) of a vehicle window. It will be understood however that bell crank 59 could alternatively be operated by other means, such as reverse movement of the convention-a1 inside door handle used to operate link 51. The outer end of arm 63 of the bell crank 59 is provided with spaced transversely extending lugs 64 which receive therebetween one arm 65 of a bell crank 66, the latter being pivotally mounted on supporting flange 13 by a pin 67. Arm 68 of bell crank 66 is provided with a slot 69 receiving therein arm 71 of a locking lever 72 pivoted to supporting flange 12 by a pin 73. A plate 74 may be provided in flush relation with the interior surface of the supporting flange 12 to hold locking lever 72 in proper spaced relation therewith, and in particular this plate may also serve as a supporting portion of dovetail member 21. The opposite arm 75 of locking lever 72 has a toe 76 extending into a slot 77 in rollback member 41,

V 4 and arm 75 also has a locking surface 78 immediately above toe 76.

It will be seen that when lock actuating member 59 is in its solid line or unlocking position as shown in Fig. 2, bell crank 66 will be held in its counterclockwise position, thus raising arm 71 of the locking lever 72 and lowering locking surface 78 into alignment with slot 77. In this position there will be no obstruction to the counterclockwise or unlatching movement of the outside handle dogging member 41. However, when upon downward movement of the push rod 62 the lock actuating member 63 is rotated counterclockwise, or to the dot-dash position of Fig. 2, bell crank 66 will be rotated clockwise, thus rotating arm 72 counterclockwise as shown in Fig. 1 and moving locking surface 78 upwardly into the path of ear 42. This position is shown in Fig. 5, and it will be seen that rollback member 41 is incapable of counterclockwise movement, so that it is impossible to retractdogging member 25 by actuation of the outside door handle. The locking movement of locking arm 72 is limited by the engagement of toe 76 with the upper end of slot 77, an overcenter spring 79 being provided for holding the lock actuating member 59 in each of its limiting positions. The member 59 is further provided with a series of rack teeth 81 which mesh with a series of complementary teeth 82 in a key station actuator 83. This actuator is rotatably supported by supporting flange 13 and is adapted to be connected to a key station (not shown) accessible from the outside of the door, so that the locking means may be operated by an outside key as well as by the inside push rod 62.

In order to enable unlatching of the door by the inside door handle even when the outside handle locking arm 72 is in its locked position, the locking arm is provided with an extension 84, which projects into the path of dogging member toe 44. It will be seen from an examination of Fig. 5, that when the locking arm 72 is in its locking position, extension 84 will be adjacent toe 44. Upon clockwise rotation of lever 55 in Fig. 5 due to actuation of inside door handle as previously described, the initial counterclockwise rotation of the dogging member 25 will cause toe 44 to engage extension 84, thus rotating arm 72 into its lower or unlocking position. The locking arm 72 will remain in this position even after the door is opened and again closed, and it will thus be seen that it is impossible for a person to inadvertently lock himself out of the car by setting arm 72 in its locked position and then opening the door from the inside to leave the car. This kickoff action, that is the engagement of toe 44 with unlocking extension 84, will also occur even if arm 72 is set in locking position while the door is open. In this case, closing of the door Will rotate bolt 15 counterclockwise, as seen in Fig. 6, causing teeth 17 to engage cam surface 33 of the dogging member and rotating the dogging member counterclockwise as seen in Fig. 5 to again move arm 72 into unlocked position.

The advantages of the improved bolt dogging and latching means of this invention may perhaps best be illustrated by a sequential summary of the operational steps involved in entering and leaving the car. Starting from an initial position in which the door is closed and locked and assuming that it is desired to enter the car, the dogging member 25 and the rollback member 41 will initially be in a position as shown in Figs. 1 and 6. When in this position, the latching engagement of rotary bolt 15 with keeper 18 will urge the surface 24 of a particular tooth 17 into engagement with dogging surface 34 of dogging cam 32. Upon actuation of locking arm 72 into its unlocked position by rotation of key station actuator 83, the rollback member 41 may be urged by outside handle actuator 43 into its dot-dash position of Fig. 1. This movement will urge dogging cam 32 into its undogging position as shown by the dot-dash lines of Fig. 6. When in this position, the dogging surface 34 will clear the ends of teeth 17, allowing the bolt to freely rotate. The door may thus be opened and the handle released, allowing the dogging member 25 to return to its normal position. When the door is closed, bolt 15 will engage keeper 18 and will rotate counterclockwise as shown in Fig. 6, the surfaces 35 of the teeth 17 camming the dogging cam 32 out of their path by engagement with cam surface 33. The position of the keeper is such that when the door reaches its fully closed position, one tooth 17 will have just completed its movement past the cam surface 33 of the cam 32, and spring 36 will urge the cam into position behind this tooth so as to prevent any clockwise rotation. If it is desired to open the door from the inside, link 51 may be actuated in the manner described so as to again withdraw cam 32 from its dogging engagement with the bolt. It will therefore be seen that a construction has been provided which entirely eliminates the need for an extra rotary cam member on the bolt behind the supporting plate, and which nevertheless retains all the advantages of the conventional rotary bolt type of door lock.

While it will be apparent that the preferred embodiment of the invention herein disclosed is well calculated to fulfill the objects above stated, it will be appreciated that the invention is susceptible to modification, variation and change without departing from the proper scope or fair meaning of the subjoined claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a door lock of the rotary bolt type, a supporting plate for the elements of said lock having a flat surface portion, a rotary bolt supported by said flat surface portion on one side thereof, said bolt having a plurality of teeth and being adapted for rotary movement by engagement with a keeper element, a dogging member supported by said fiat surface portion on the other side thereof, said dogging member having a portion extending through the supporting plate and normally in the path of movement of one side of said bolt teeth and in non-obstructing relation with the other side to prevent rotary bolt movement in one direction only, and retracting means mounted on said supporting plate, said retracting means being en gageable with another portion of said dogging member to move the latter from its normal position into a retracted position in which said dogging portion is clear of the path of movement of said teeth.

2. In a door lock of the rotary bolt type, a supporting plate for the elements of said lock, a rotary bolt supported on the exterior of said plate, said bolt having a plurality of teeth and being adapted for rotary movement by engagement with a keeper element, said supporting plate having a clearance aperture adjacent said bolt, a dogging member supported on the interior of said supporting plate and movable between a dogging and an undogging position, a leg on said dogging member extending through said clearance aperture and having a dogging surface thereon, said dogging surface being in obstructing engagement with one side of each of said bolt teeth and in nonobstructing relation with the other side when said dogging member is in its dogging position to prevent rotary bolt movement in one direction only, and a retracting member engageable with another portion of said dogging member to move the latter from its dogging to its undogging position, whereby said dogging surface is moved out of the path of said bolt teeth.

3. In a door lock of the rotary bolt type, a supporting plate for the elements of said lock, a rotary bolt supported on the exterior of said plate, said bolt having a plurality of teeth and being adapted for rotary movement by engagement with a keeper element, said supporting plate having a clearance aperture adjacent said bolt, a dogging member pivotally supported on the interior of said supporting plate and movable between a dogging and an undogging position about an axis parallel to the bolt rotary axis, a leg on said dogging member extending through said clearance aperture and having a dogging surface thereon, said dogging surface being in obstructing engagement with one side of each of said bolt teeth and in nonobstructing relation with the other side when said dogging member is in its dogging position to prevent rotary bolt movement in one direction only, 'a spring engageable with said dogging member for urging the latter into its dogging position, and rollback means mounted on said supporting plate and engageable with another portion of said dogging member to urge said member into its undogging position against the action of said spring, whereby said dogging surface is withdrawn from the path of movement of said bolt teeth.

4. The combination according to claim 3, said dogging member and said rollback means having a common pivotal support, the rollback means having a slotted portion therein, and a toe on said dogging member extending loosely into said slotted portion, whereby the dogging member may be moved independently of said rollback means.

5. In a door locking mechanism, a supporting plate having a fiat surface portion adapted to be positioned at the outer edge of a vehicle door, a rotary bolt on the exterior of said surface portion and having a plurality of teeth, said teeth having corresponding oppositely disposed surfaces, a dogging member mounted on the interior of said surface portion and movable between a dogging and an undogging position in a plane parallel to the plane of movement of said rotary bolt, a leg on said dogging member extending through said supporting plate to the exterior thereof, a dogging surface and a cam surface on said leg, said dogging surface being in obstructing relation. with one surface of one of said bolt teeth when the dogging member is in dogging position so as to prevent rotation of said bolt in one direction, the opposite surface of another of said bolt teeth being engageable with the cam surface of said leg when the bolt is rotated in the opposite direction, so as to urge said clogging member into its undogging position.

6. The combination according to claim 5, said dogging member being further provided with a pair of actuating arms, a rollback member engageable with one of said arms and adapted to move said dogging member into its undogging position, a lever engageable with the second of said arms, and actuating means for rotating said lever to move said dogging member into undogging position independently of said rollback member.

7. The combination according to claim 6, further provided with locking means engageable with said rollback member to prevent the latter from moving said dogging member into undogging position, and a toe on said dogging member engageable with a portion of said locking means when the dogging member is moved by means of said second arm, whereby such movement will cause said locking means to move into unlocking position.

8. The combination according to claim 7, said rollback member being further provided with a slotted portion, said dogging member toe extending through said slotted portion, whereby said toe serves to transmit the undogging motion of said rollback member to the dogging member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 861,681 Scott July 30, 1907 1,544,960 Watts July 7, 1925 2,256,909 Rightmyer Sept. 23, 1941 2,270,559 Rolph et al. Jan. 20, 1942 2,499,111 Roethel Feb. 28, 1950 2,511,636 Hoppe June 13, 1950 2,557,468 Roethel June 19, 1951

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