Abstract:
An electronic deadbolt lock arrangement including a lock having a bolt movable between locked and unlocked conditions. The lock includes a manual control means and a power drive to operate the lock that are connected by a decouplable transmission enabling the lock to be operated by either the manual control means or the power drive. The transmission includes two concentric cylinders that can be locked or unlocked for relative rotational movement, with manual operation of the lock decoupling the power drive. A biased pin engages co-operating apertures in the cylinders to lock the two cylinders to each other. A cam operated by the manual drive means acts against the pin to cause the two cylinders to be decoupled.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     The present invention is directed to a deadbolt. In particular the invention is directed to a deadbolt lock arrangement that is operable both manually and electronically.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     Traditionally secure locking systems such as deadbolts have been operated and controlled manually. However, the use of electronic systems for the control and operation of locks is becoming increasingly common. The present invention is directed to an arrangement that permits the electronic and manual control of the lock operation to be separated to allow manual operation of the lock independently of the electronic drive system for the lock. The lock of the present invention is useful in situations where an electronic controller is temporarily unavailable, for example where a controller has been lost, misplaced or damaged.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0003]     Therefore, according to a first aspect of the present invention, although this need not be the broadest, nor indeed the only aspect of the invention there is provided an electronic deadbolt lock arrangement including: 
    a lock having a bolt movable between locked and unlocked conditions, the lock having a manual control means serving to operate the lock between said locked and unlocked conditions;     a power drive coupled by a transmission to the manual control means whereby the lock is operated between the locked and unlocked conditions in response to operation of the power drive;     a transmission means coupling the manual control means and the power drive whereby the lock moves between said locked and unlocked conditions;     the transmission means operable to decouple the power drive from the manual control means to enable the lock to be operated by the manual control means independently of the power drive.    
 
         [0008]     In preference said manual control means is a thumb turn.  
         [0009]     In preference said manual control means is a key.  
         [0010]     In preference said power drive is an electric motor.  
         [0011]     In such a manner the electronic deadbolt lock arrangement of the invention may be used to lock or unlock a door by operation of a key, a thumb turn or an electric motor.  
         [0012]     In preference said transmission means includes an inner and outer concentric rotatable cylinders.  
         [0013]     In preference the two cylinders are biased into a coupled position by biasing means and are decoupled by a centrally located cam acting on a pin engaging mechanism urging a pin out of engagement to thereby decouple the cylinders.  
         [0014]     In preference said inner and outer cylinders may be coupled and de-coupled by said pin extending from one cylinder engaging an aperture in the other cylinder.  
         [0015]     In preference said pin extends from and is biased from said outer into said inner cylinder.  
         [0016]     In preference said lock further includes a projection adapted to engage said pin, said projection operable by a cam to move the pin out of said inner cylinder to cause a decoupling thereof.  
         [0017]     In preference said cam is mounted on a drive shaft passing axially through said cylinders.  
         [0018]     In preference said inner cylinder is connected to a rack and gear mechanism whereby rotation of the inner cylinder serves to move said bolt between locked and unlocked positions, said outer cylinder is operatively connected to a motor serving as a power drive that rotates the outer cylinder.  
         [0019]     The electric motor rotates in a clockwise or anti-clockwise direction to extend or retract a lock bolt.  
         [0020]     However when operating the lock bolt with the key or thumb turn the transmission can decouple the electric motor so that rotation of the lock bolt can occur independently of the electric motor.  
         [0021]     In one form of the invention the transmission takes the form of a pair of concentric cylinders movable over one another that may be coupled and de-coupled by a pin extending from one cylinder engaging an aperture in the second cylinder.  
         [0022]     Preferably there are two or more manual control means.  
         [0023]     In preference the thumb turn is coupled through a transmission to a rotatable shaft, said transmission multiplying the relative rotation of the thumb turn applied to the shaft.  
         [0024]     In preference said key operates a lock barrel said lock barrel operatively connected to the bolt through a coupling enabling the key to operate the bolt only when fully inserted into said lock barrel.  
         [0025]     In preference said biased coupling includes a biased connector adapted to engage a coupling element, said element operatively connected to said bolt.  
         [0026]     Preferably said connector includes a cavity adapted to be engaged by a projection of said connector, the cavity of a size and shape to be engageable by said projection regardless of the relative rotational position of said connector and said coupling element. 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS  
       [0027]     The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate several implementations of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the advantages and principles of the invention. In the drawings,  
         [0028]      FIG. 1  represents schematically an upper perspective representation of a lock bolt contained in a lock housing in accordance with the present invention;  
         [0029]      FIG. 2  represents schematically an alternative perspective representation of the lock of  FIG. 1 ;  
         [0030]      FIG. 3  illustrates the lock bolt of  FIG. 1  within a housing;  
         [0031]      FIG. 4  illustrates in exploded schematic view a detail of a part of the mechanism of the lock of  FIG. 1 ;  
         [0032]      FIGS. 5-17  are sectional views of the preferred embodiment of this invention relating to the operation of the transmission means;  
         [0033]      FIG. 18  is a perspective view of a thumb turn according to a second aspect of the invention;  
         [0034]      FIG. 19  illustrates the thumb turn of  FIG. 18  in exploded view;  
         [0035]      FIG. 20  is an exploded view of the key lock according to a further aspect of the invention;  
         [0036]      FIG. 21  is a partial perspective view of the key lock before engagement by a key;  
         [0037]      FIG. 22  is the view as in  FIG. 21  after the key has engaged the lock;  
         [0038]      FIG. 23  illustrates in perspective exploded view a lock embodying the various aspects of the present invention; and  
         [0039]      FIG. 24  illustrates an alternate perspective exploded view of the lock of  FIG. 23 . 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0040]     The following detailed description of the invention refers to the accompanying drawings. Although the description includes exemplary embodiments, other embodiments are possible, and changes may be made to the embodiments described without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings and the following description to refer to the same and like parts.  
         [0041]     The drawings illustrate a door lock  10  incorporating a locking mechanism in accordance with the invention. The lock  10  is adapted for both manual and electronic operation and includes a lock bolt  12  operatively attached to a locking mechanism (discussed later) located in a generally circular housing  14 . The lock  10  is adapted to be fixed to a door and the lock  10  may be operated by rotation of either of a key  16  in the lock, a thumb turn  18  disposed on an opposite side of the door to the key, or by remote controlled electronic means (not shown).  
         [0042]     In broad outline the lock bolt  12  is attached at one end to a rack  20 . The rack  20  is driven by the locking mechanism and either extends the locking bolt  12  to thereby effecting a locking action, or retracts the lock bolt  12  thereby releasing the lock  10 .  
         [0043]     As can be seen in  FIGS. 3 and 4  a drive shaft gear  22  engages the rack  20 . Thus rotation of the drive shaft gear  22  produces a corresponding linear movement in the rack  20 . In turn, the drive shaft gear  22  is retained on an inner cylinder output shaft  24 . The inner cylinder output shaft  24  is supported within an inner cylinder  26 . Thus, rotation of the inner cylinder  26  produces a corresponding rotation in the inner cylinder output shaft  24  and, in turn, a rotation in the drive shaft gear  22  leading to the extension/retraction of the lock bolt  12  through rack  20  as described.  
         [0044]     The inner cylinder  26  is supported inside the body of an outer cylinder  28 . Further, during operation and control of the locking mechanism by electronic means the inner cylinder  26  is coupled to the outer cylinder  28  by a mechanism to be described herein below such that any rotation of the outside cylinder  28  results in rotation of the inside cylinder  26  and inner cylinder output shaft  24  which in turn rotates the drive shaft gear  22  to act on the rack  20  to thereby move the lock bolt  12 .  
         [0045]     The outer cylinder  28  incorporates an axial projection  30  located on an opposing side of the outer cylinder  28  to the drive shaft gear  22 . The axial projection  30  carries a perimeter gear  32 . The perimeter gear  32  meshes with at least one electric motor gear  34  driven by an electric motor  36 . Thus in normal electronic operation of the lock  10 , the rack  20  and lock bolt  12  are activated by the drive shaft gear  22  which is driven through the perimeter gear  32  acted on by the motor gear  34 . As described the inner cylinder  26 , outer cylinder  28  and associated perimeter gear  32  act together as a transmission where the force from the motor is transmitted to the rack  20 .  
         [0046]     The electric motor  36  is of the high torque geared type making any non-electrical rotation of motor gear  34  very difficult.  
         [0047]     It can thus be seen that under control of the electric motor  36 , the drive shaft gear  22  and the motor gear  34  are coupled and that the lock  10  is only operable in response to rotation of the motor gear  34 . It will be realised that in order for the motor gear  34  to operate on the drive shaft gear  22  and therefore the lock bolt  12  as described it is necessary that the relative positions of the inner cylinder  26  and outer cylinder  28  be maintained during the lock/unlock operation.  
         [0048]     However, the engagement of the inner cylinder  26  and outer cylinder  28  as described is able to be de-coupled to thereby override the electronic motor control of the locking process.  
         [0049]      FIGS. 5-15  detail the manual operation of the lock  10  and show how the decoupling of the transmission is achieved. The Figures illustrate cross-sectionally the arrangement of the inner cylinder  26  and outer cylinder  28 .  
         [0050]     A radial aperture  38  extends through the wall of the inner cylinder  26  from an outer surface to an inner surface. Similarly, a radial aperture  40  in the outer cylinder  28  extends through the wall thereof from an outer surface to an inner surface. In the engaged condition, in which the motor  36  is coupled to the transmission, the apertures  38  and  40  are aligned as shown in  FIG. 5 . Inner and outer radial pins  42  and  44  located in the apertures  38 ,  40 , maintain the relative alignment of the inner cylinder  26  and outer cylinder  28 . The inner pin  42  has a tapered sidewall that allows it to lodge in the aperture  38 . The inner pin  42  terminates in an abutment shoulder or taper  46  that extends beyond the inner surface of the  48  of the aperture  40  and that then forms a narrow shoulder portion  50  projecting into the bore  52  of the inner cylinder  26 . Further, when the inner pin  42  projects into the bore  52  of the inner cylinder  26  as described a recess  54  is created behind the outer edge  56  of the pin  42 . The depth of the recess  54 , measured from an outer surface  58  of the inner cylinder  26  to the outer edge  56  of the inner pin  42  to form a protrusion distance  60 .  
         [0051]     The outer pin  44  is, as shown in  FIG. 5  flush at its outer end  62  with the outer cylinder  28  and extends through the aperture  40  into the recess  54  behind the inner pin  42  contacting the inner pin  42  and thereby occupying the protrusion distance  60 . A circumferential spring member  62  that extends partially around the circumference of the outer cylinder  28  biases the inner and outer pins  42 ,  44  into position. The spring  62  is secured at opposing ends in a pair of lugs  64  that are spaced around the outer cylinder  28 . With no forces operating on the cylinders  26 ,  28  the spring  62  serves to maintain the pins  42 ,  44  in position. Because a portion of the outer pin  44  extends into the aperture  38  in the inner cylinder  26 , that is, across the protrusion distance  60  the two cylinders  26 , 28  are locked into position.  
         [0052]     Thus, during electric operation, rotation of the outer cylinder  28  in a clockwise direction causes a shoulder  66  of outer cylinder aperture  40  to abut the pin  44  causing it to rotate and that portion of the pin  44  in the aperture  38  in the protrusion distance  60  then acts on the inner cylinder  26  causing it to rotate in unison.  
         [0053]     Within the bore  52  of the inner cylinder  26  a cam  68  abuts the shoulder  46  of the pin  42 . The cam  68  is carried on a shaft  70  that is attached at one end to the thumb turn  18  and at a second end to the output drive shaft  24 . Thus, the cam  68  rotates directly in response to either rotation of the thumb turn  18  or rotation of the key  16 .  
         [0054]     In  FIG. 6  manual operation of the lock  10  occurs when insertion and rotation of a key  16  or rotation of a thumb turn  18  in an anti clockwise direction causes the cam  68  to move in an anti clockwise direction until it is moved into abutment with shoulder  46  of pin  42 .  
         [0055]     Operation of the cam  68  causes the pin  42  and consequently the pin  44  to move radially away from the centre of the inner cylinder  26  against spring  62  as shown in  FIG. 7 . The spring  62  flexes outwardly from the outer cylinder  28  under force from the pins  42 ,  44 . As can be seen in the drawing the pins  42 ,  44  move radially outwardly through the protrusion distance  60  such that the point at which the pins  42 ,  44  abut one another eventually aligns with the outer edge  58  of the inner cylinder  26 . At this point the inner cylinder  26  and outer cylinder  28  become rotationally de-coupled because of the movement of the outer pin  44 . Thus any rotational force applied from the cam  68  is now translated directly into rotation of the inner cylinder  26  without any corresponding rotation of the outer cylinder  28 .  
         [0056]     The disengagement of the inner cylinder  26  and outer cylinder  28  effectively decouples the operation of the lock bolt  12 , which is influenced by rotation of the inner cylinder  26  through the output drive shaft  24  and the drive shaft gear  22 , from the motor gear  34  which is influenced by rotation of the outer cylinder  28  through the perimeter gear  32 .  
         [0057]     Therefore, rotation of the inner cylinder  26  now produces a corresponding rotation of the drive shaft  24  and drive shaft gear  22  and consequently the rack  20 . Accordingly, the lock bolt  12  is extended and retracted in response to manual turning of the thumb turn  18  and key  16 .  
         [0058]     In FIGS.  5  to  9  an anticlockwise direction for rotation of the key  16  or thumb turn  18  is shown. However it is to be understood that either anti clockwise or clockwise rotation of the key will effect a disconnection of the electric motor gear  34 . In  FIG. 9  the cam  68  has been rotated to the point where it meets and bears against the shoulder  50  of the inner pin  42 . The shoulder  50  limits the travel of the cam  68 . This position represents the outer limit of deadbolt movement. The limits of movement of the inner cylinder  26  is thus limited by the movement of the deadbolt  12 .  
         [0059]     In FIGS.  10  to  13  the interlocking of outer cylinder  28  and inner cylinder  26  is re-established by rotating the thumb turn  18  or key  16  in an opposite direction to the rotation that effected a disconnection of the engagement between the two cylinders.  
         [0060]     The effect of rotation of the thumb turn  18  or key  16  in a clockwise direction on the relative positions of the two cylinders  26 ,  28  and the pins  42 ,  44  is shown in these Figures. As will also be appreciated the rotation of the thumb turn  18  or key  16  in a clockwise direction also causes a retraction in the lock bolt  12  thereby causing an unlocking action.  
         [0061]     As the lock is rotated the inner cylinder  26  is moved back to the re-lock position, the inner pin  42  is moved into alignment with the outer pin  44  allowing the spring  62  to bias the pin  44  downwards radially toward the centre of inner cylinder  26  and back into engagement with the inside cylinder aperture  38  as shown in  FIG. 14 . As shown in this position the inner and outer cylinders  26 ,  28  are now re-engaged and accordingly, rotation of the motor gear  34  now induces a corresponding rotation in the outer cylinder  28  and hence the inner cylinder  26  and ultimately the lock bolt  12 . That is, the lock  10  is now under electrical control rather than manual control.  
         [0062]     It is important to realise that the electrical control of the operation of the lock  10  of the present invention can be instituted and can override the manual operation of the lock at any point in the locking/unlocking cycle.  
         [0063]     An advantage of this arrangement is that the lock  10  may be operated with the key  16  to disconnect the electric motor and operate the lock bolt  12  but may be reset either with the use of a the key  16  or thumb turn  18 , or by operation of the electric motor.  
         [0064]     This allows the lock to be manually operated and then automatically reset when the next electrical lock command is given.  
         [0065]     Thus, as illustrated in  FIGS. 16 and 17  the lock  10  in  FIG. 16  is in a disengaged position but is intermediate between the locked and unlocked positions. In this case re-engagement occurs by rotation of the outer cylinder  28  until the outer pin  44  is aligned with the inner pin  42  to effect the re-engagement as shown in  FIG. 17 . The arrangement of the lock  10  is such that the permitted range of movement of the outer cylinder  28  is greater than the movement of the inner cylinder  26  ensuring that the motor  36  can always be re-engaged irrespective of the position of the lock  10  when the motor  36  is operated.  
         [0066]     The above mode of operation may be of use if one imagines a situation in which manual operation of the lock has been initiated because of a temporary misplacement of a remote electronic opening device. Should the device be located and activated this will not have any adverse affect on the lock if manual operation is partially complete. The motorised operation of the lock will simply take over from the manual operation.  
         [0067]     The lock of the invention has been described with reference to a lock having a generally cylindrical transmission in the form of the inner and outer cylinders. In further embodiments of the invention the lock may be exemplified in the form of a linear transmission in which engaging members move relative to one another.  
         [0068]     It is to be understood that when under manual operation of the lock the inner and outer cylinders have been disengaged or decoupled, it would require a fair bit of precision to align the cylinders again for them to couple. Accordingly, it may be desirable for the manual thumb turn or key to always be biased to a first position and hence, the cylinders being coupled by the operation of the electric motor driving the outer cylinder until the cylinder apertures align and the pin drops down.  
         [0069]     In a further aspect of the invention and as illustrated in  FIGS. 18 and 19  the thumb turn  18  is geared to amplify the rotational motion of the shaft  70  with respect to the rotation of the thumb turn  18 . Accordingly drive shaft  70  includes a driving gear  72  meshed with intermediate gear  74  that is in turn driven by thumb turn gear  76  located on the inside of the thumb turn  18 . Due to the relative dimensions of the gears, rotation of the thumb turn through an angle translates into rotation of the drive shaft though a much greater angle, typically doubled. The thumb turn  18  is biased to a central position. This biasing in this particular embodiment is achieved by using compression springs  78  housed within angular cavity  80  within thumb turn  18 . Plate  82  encloses cavity  80  and includes a central aperture  84  for the passage of shaft  70  therethrough, slit  86  correspondingly shaped to the cavity  80  to enable for observation of the springs  78 , the width of the slit  86  being smaller than the springs. Bores  88  in plate  82  fit over locating pins  90  in the thumb turn  18 . The whole arrangement is then housed within a case  91  that is bolted to a door. The case also includes a locating pin  93  or other arrangement that positonally holds bush  92  located in the cavity  80  and separating the two springs  78 . Since the bush  92  remains in fixed position, rotation of the thumb turn  18  causes one of the springs to be compressed between the shoulder end  94  of the cavity  80  and the bush  92 , rotation of the thumb turn  18  in the opposite direction obviously compressing the other spring.  
         [0070]     In a further aspect of the invention there is provided a key bypass mechanism that enables the lock to be unlocked in case the electric motor fails with the lock being locked or in an intermediate position.  
         [0071]     Referring specifically to FIGS.  20  to  22 , key  16  is inserted into lock barrel  94  the end of lock barrel  94  including a rotatable driver  96  including a groove  98  within which is located a connector  100 , the connector  100  biased within groove  98  by the use of springs  102 . A rotational coupling element  104  includes a rectangular groove  106  adapted to engage and rotatingly lock correspondingly shaped end  108  of drive shaft  70 . Coupling element  104  includes an outer wall  110  and base  112  through which extends the groove  1061 . Base  112  also includes a partially circular cavity  114  whose angular extent  116  is equal to or greater than the total effective rotation of the drive shaft able to be driven by the electric motor  36 . The cavity  114  includes end shoulders  118  that are adapted to be engaged by shoulders  120  of projection  122  of connector  100 .  
         [0072]     In one instance, by virtue of the size and shape of cavity  114 , projection  122  can always be inserted into the cavity  114 , regardless of the state of the lock  10 . Rotation of key  16  then causes one of the shoulders  120  or projection  122  to engage corresponding shoulder  118  in the cavity thereby rotating the coupling element  104  and hence shaft  24 .  
         [0073]     Springs  102  are held within lugs  124  of connector  100  that are positioned so that the springs always abut against the base  112 . The skilled addressee should now appreciate that the key has to be used to press the connector  100  to that the projection  122  engages within cavity  114 .  
         [0074]     In another instance, however, it may be that the cavity is not sufficiently large and accordingly the coupling element  104  is longitudinally biased using spring  107  so that the whole coupling element  104  can move longitudinally forward to enable the key to be fully inserted into the barrel  94  to operate the lock. Then upon rotation of the key, the projection eventually algin with the cavity at which point the rive means returns to its biased position.  
         [0075]      FIGS. 23 and 24  illustrate an exploded view of embodying the new aspects of the invention Including the fact that there are now two motor gears  34  driven by two motors thereby increasing the torque available to drive the lock.  
         [0076]     The invention has been described by way of example. The examples are not, however, to be taken as limiting the scope of the invention in any way. Modifications and variations of the invention such as would be apparent to a skilled addressee are deemed to be within the scope of the invention.  
         [0077]     It is to be understood that the cutch mechanism as described above may be used with different types of thumb turns and key barrel lock arrangement and it is not indented to limit the invention to the embodiment as described above.  
         [0078]     It is also to be understood that the mechanical stroke or angular rotation is always less than the electronic stroke or rotation to enable the clutch mechanism to be reset after a key has operated the lock.  
         [0079]     In principle what one can do is turn the thumb turn to disconnect the transmissions to open the lock manually, shut the door behind them and then electronically operate the lock to lock it.  
         [0080]     Electronic micro switches may be included in the lock bolt to sense the true position of the lock bolt for lock monitoring and control.  
         [0081]     Further advantages and improvements may very well be made to the present invention without deviating from its scope. Although the invention has been shown and described in what is conceived to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is recognized that departures may be made therefrom within the scope and spirit of the invention, which is not to be limited to the details disclosed herein but is to be accorded the full scope of the claims so as to embrace any and all equivalent devices and apparatus.  
         [0082]     In any claims that follow and in the summary of the invention, except where the context requires otherwise due to express language or necessary implication, the word “comprising” is used in the sense of “including”, i.e. the features specified may be associated with further features in various embodiments of the invention.