Patent ID: 6612629
Filing Date: 2003-09-02
Classification: E05B,Y10S,Y10T

Abstract:
A spring bolt and strike plate guard for preventing unauthorized entry through a door by reinforcing a strike plate of the door against impact and simultaneously protecting a spring bolt of the door from being accessed by burglary tools, the door being mounted to a door frame that defines a doorway, the door fame having a frame bolt cavity on one side thereof being formed by a blind bore in the door frame, the frame bolt cavity having an open end adjacent the doorway and a closed end inside the door frame, the frame bolt cavity receiving the spring bolt of the door upon closure of the door, the strike plate being attached to the door frame adjacent the open end of the frame bolt cavity, the strike plate having an aperture aligned with the open end of the frame bolt cavity that jointly receives the spring bolt with the frame bolt cavity upon closure of the door, the spring bolt and strike plate guard comprising:a base mounted to the closed end of the frame bolt cavity, the base having a hole therein and mounted to the closed end of the frame bolt cavity using a screw extending through the hole in the base and into the door frame; a front plate, integral with the base, extending along a wall of the frame bolt cavity in a direction perpendicular to the base, where the front plate and the base are joined at a juncture; two curved flanges, integral with the front plate, extending from opposite sides of the front plate from each other in a direction perpendicular to the front plate along opposing walls of the frame bolt cavity, the curved flanges having proximal ends that join with the front plate and distal ends extending to a side of the frame bolt cavity opposite the proximal ends; the front plate and the two curved flanges form a hollow U-shaped channel that receives the spring bolt upon closure of the door; the front plate and the two curved flanges extending from the closed end of the frame bolt cavity to beyond the open end of the frame bolt cavity through the aperture in the strike plate to beyond the strike plate and protruding into the doorway to block access to the spring bolt by burglary tools through a gap between the strike plate and the door; wherein the front plate and the two curved flanges prevent sliding motion of the strike plate wherein when the door is closed and the strike plate receives an impact from the spring bolt sufficient to cause the strike plate to slide on the door frame, an inside edge of the aperture of the strike plate is forced against the front plate of the spring bolt and strike plate guard thereby forcing the front plate to pivot about the juncture formed between the front plate and the base such that the distal ends of the curved flanges are forced into abutment with the base of the spring bolt and strike plate guard thereby transferring the impact on the strike plate into the door frame.