Abstract:
A security door construction has a pair of door hinges fixed to the door, a pair of frame hinges fixed to the frame and a pair of intermediate hinges by combined links which allow the door hinge to swing outside the plane of the door opening when the door is opened through 180°. Slide motion of the door is imparted by a door handle and a reaction rod which acts against a link.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This is a national stage application filed under 35 USC 371 based on International Application No. PCT/AU2006/000983, filed Jul. 6, 2006, and claims priority under 35 USC 119 of Australian Patent Application No. 2005903611 filed Jul. 7, 2005. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     This invention concerns safes for valuables and guns. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     In our co-pending application for Patent No. PCT/AU03/001321, we describe safes with two pairs of hinges, one set is mounted on the safe body and the other set is mounted on the door. The two sets of hinges are interconnected to create an offset motion whereby the door is free to both slide left and right and to swing open and closed. 
     The hinges are installed inside the door opening and the door width exceeds the door opening width. The swing and slide motion allows the door to slide first to clear the door opening and then to swing toward the person opening the safe giving access to the safe interior. The geometry of this arrangement permits the door to open say 90-110°. There are instances where ammunition is kept in the safe and it would be more visible if it could be stored on shelves on the inside face of the door in the manner of egg shelves inside the door of a refrigerator. It would be more convenient if the door were to open wider say up to 180° or even 270°. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention provides a safe of the swing and slide type having a pair of door hinges fixed to the door, a pair of frame hinges attached to the frame and a pair of intermediate hinges fixed to both the door hinges and the frame hinges by links so that the hinge axes are all mutually parallel and the links allow the displacement of the door hinge to lie outside the plane of the door opening when the door is opened through 180°. 
     The door hinges may be connected to the intermediate hinges by a first link which allows the slide motion of the door. This link may be a pair of arms 5-25 mm long. 
     The frame hinges may be connected to the intermediate hinges by a second link and preferably this link is longer than the first link in order to give greater throw. It is this second link which allows rotation of the door and its sets of hinges into the space adjacent to the door opening, whereby the door is free to rotate through 180°. The second link may be a bar or angle member of sufficient width to space the door face from the body of the safe to permit the desired angle of swing. The width may be 50-70 mm. 
     The door sliding motion may be provided by a handle as described in our Patent No. PCT/AU03/001321 and the reaction rod may react against the second link instead of the rod or bar which connects the frame hinges. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       One embodiment of the invention is now described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a partial sectional plan view showing the door closed omitting the reaction bar. 
         FIG. 1A  is a partial sectional plan view indicating how door slide occurs from  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 2  is a partial sectional plan view showing the door half open omitting the reaction bar. 
         FIG. 3  is a partial section plan view showing the door fully open and the position of the reaction bar. 
         FIG. 4  is a partial front view of part of the safe with the door in the position shown in  FIG. 3  shown from the inside of the door. 
         FIG. 5  is a partial perspective view of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 5A  is a partial perspective view of  FIG. 1A . 
         FIG. 6  is a partial perspective view of  FIG. 2 . 
         FIG. 7  is a partial perspective view of  FIG. 3 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     The safe components are numbered as in U.S. Pat. No. 7,404,363 and co-pending U.S. patent application No. 12/220,301, which is a divisional of U.S. Pat. No. 7,404,363 and extra components which occur in the embodiment described below are given numbers which follow on from the numbering in the prior U.S. patent and U.S. application. 
     In U.S. Pat. No. 7,404,363 and co-pending U.S. patent application No. 12/220,301, a safe having a body is closed by a safe door which lies in front of the hinges upon which it swings thereby rendering the hinges inaccessible to tampering. Body has aligned upper and lower frame hinges and aligned upper and lower door hinges. Of these hinges, only frame hinge  22  and door hinge  26  are seen in the drawings of the present invention. 
       FIGS. 1 and 5  of the present disclosure show a portion of safe body  2  in a fully closed position. Body  2  supports aligned upper frame hinge  22  and lower frame hinge. Frame hinge  22  in turn supports an L-section steel link  138  as shown in  FIG. 1 . L-section link  138  extends substantially the full length of door  16 . L-section link  138  includes a first leg  139  and a second leg  141 , where first leg  139  is substantially perpendicular to second leg  141 . L-section link  138  also comprises a first leg flange  143  and a second leg flange  142  for stiffening of L-section link  138 . First leg flange  143  is operatively connected to frame hinge  22  which allows L-section link  138  to pivot. 
     L-section link  138  also includes intermediate hinges  68  located on first leg  139  between first leg flange  143  and second leg  141 . Preferably, intermediate hinge  68  is located midway between first leg flange  143  and second leg  141 . Intermediate hinge  68  is operatively connected to upper door hinge  26  via a rigid link  140 , which in turn operatively connects L-section link  138  to door  16 . Link  140  pivots about intermediate hinge  68 , which in turn allows door  16  to slide laterally (throw) as shown in  FIGS. 1 and 1A . Door  16  also pivots about upper door hinge  26 . The throw afforded by the combined links  138  and  140  allows the door  16  to slide laterally left and right in  FIG. 1  and to swing open through 180° as shown in  FIG. 3  which will be described below. 
     The present invention also includes a reaction bar  58  located on the inside of door  16  as shown in  FIG. 4 . 
     Referring now to  FIGS. 1-4 , the body  2  supports frame hinges  22  and these hinges  22  in turn support L-section steel link  138  which extends substantially the full length of the door  16 . Intermediate hinges  68  are welded to the face of the first leg of the L-section steel link  138  20 mm from hinge  22 . Door hinges  26  are welded to the edge of door  16 . The door hinges  26  are connected to the intermediate hinges  68  by links  140  (one only shown). In this instance the links  68  are steel spacer bars 20 mm long. The throw afforded by the combined links  138  and  140  allow the door  16  to slide left and right in  FIG. 1  and to swing open through 180° as shown in  FIG. 3 . It is still necessary to join the top and bottom intermediate hinges  68  through link  138  so that the hinges  68  and door hinge  26  act as a unitary assembly eliminating waggle in the door  16 . The L-section link is stiffened by a flange  142 . 
     The slide motion of the door  16  requires modification in that in U.S. Pat. No. 7,404,363 and co-pending U.S. patent application No. 12/220,301, the rod connecting the top and bottom hinges is not in the same position and is not available as a reaction surface against which reaction bar  58  can abut. In  FIGS. 3 ,  4  and  7 , reaction bar  58  passes through an aperture  144  in the door edge and abuts the second leg  146  of the L-section link  138  where it is fixed by a bolt  148 . Rotation of a handle  52  causes the door to slide between the positions shown in  FIGS. 1 and 1A . The operaton of the door will now be explained in detail. 
     Rotation of handle  52  turns a crank  54  which exerts force on reaction bar  58 . Reaction bar  58  reacts against the second leg  146  of the L-section link  138 . As leg  146  is part of rigid L-section link  138  and door  16  is mounted on hinges, door  16  slides sideways between the positions shown in  FIGS. 1 ,  1 A,  5  and  5 A. A spring  90  assists the operator to start rotation of handle  52 . Aperture  144  in second leg  146  admits bolt  148  and bolt  148  anchors one end of reaction bar  58 . The opposite end of reaction bar  58  is free to slide through a double bracket  60  fixed to the inside of door  16 . Reaction bar  58  is subject to push and pull forces when handle  52  turns. 
     We have found the advantages of the above embodiment to be: 
     1. Wider door opening while retaining the swing and slide operation. 
     2. Automatic closing and safety features disclosed in co-pending Australian application nos. 2004231234, 2005201187 and 2005903610 are relevant and some of these features may be used in combination with this invention. 
     It is to be understood that the word “comprising” as used throughout the specification is to be interpreted in its inclusive form, ie. use of the word “comprising” does not exclude the addition of other elements. 
     It is to be understood that various modifications of and/or additions to the invention can be made without departing from the basic nature of the invention. These modifications and/or additions are therefore considered to fall within the scope of the invention.