Security apparatus

A security apparatus adapted to prevent the opening of a door by intruders and which comprises an elongate rigid bar, and a pair of brackets for selectively mounting the bar across the door opening. The bar carries a hollow cylinder of resilient foam material or the like which is adapted to contact the door to thereby cushion the shock of the door being forceably opened against the bar to thereby minimize damage to the door and reduce the possibility of the mounting brackets being released from the wall. In the preferred embodiment, means are provided for insuring that the resilient cylinder is positioned to overlie the doorknob side of the door, and means may also be provided for hanging the bar from one of the brackets in a non-operative position.

The present invention relates to a security apparatus for overlying a door 
or the like to prevent the forceable opening thereof by intruders. 
Various security devices have heretofore been proposed for precluding the 
forceable opening of a door. For example, the patent to Howard, U.S. Pat. 
No. 3,280,606 discloses a tubular metal crossbar which is adapted to 
extend through screw-eyes mounted in the wall on each side of the door 
opening. The patent to Craig, U.S. Pat. No. 3,809,417 illustrates a 
similar device, wherein a crossbar is mounted between a ring on one side 
of the door frame and a pin on the opposite side. 
Prior security devices of the above type suffer from a series deficiency 
however, in that such devices permit the door to be opened slightly before 
contacting the transverse bar, thereby permitting the door to be forceably 
battered against the bar. As will be readily understood, such battering 
can quickly destroy the door, particularly in the case of lightweight, 
hollow doors of the type now widely used in home construction. Also, such 
repeated battering can result in the impact release of the holding 
brackets or eyelets along the sides of the door. 
It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide a security 
apparatus of the described type and which is adapted to both minimize the 
damage to the door and resist the release of the mounting brackets upon an 
attempted battering of the door against the transverse bar. 
It is a more particular object of the present invention to provide a 
security apparatus of the described type which includes resilient 
cushioning means between the door and transverse bar, such that the shock 
of an attempted battering of the door against the bar is absorbed and 
dissipated. 
It is another object of the present invention to provide means for insuring 
that the resilient cushioning means is positioned to overlie the doorknob 
side of the door when the bar is operatively positioned between the 
brackets, to thereby most effectively cushion the movement of the door 
against the bar. 
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention are 
achieved in the embodiment illustrated herein by the provision of a 
security apparatus which comprises an elongate rigid bar, and a pair of 
brackets which are adapted to be mounted to the wall along the sides of 
the door opening. The brackets are each configured to permit the bar to be 
selectively secured thereto, and such that the bar may be mounted to 
extend between the brackets and across the door opening. Resilient means, 
which preferably comprises a cylinder of foam plastic material, is carried 
by the bar and extends radially outwardly therefrom so as to be adapted to 
at least closely approach the surface of the door when the bar is mounted 
between the brackets. By this arrangement, the resilient means serves to 
cushion the shock of the door being forceably opened against the bar to 
thereby minimize damage to the door and reduce the possibility of the 
brackets being released upon the forceable battering of the door against 
the bar. 
In the preferred embodiment of the invention as illustrated herein, one of 
the brackets is in the form of a substantially closed loop of generally 
rectangular cross-sectional outline, while the other bracket has a 
generally J-shaped cross-sectional outline. Thus to mount the bar between 
the brackets, one end of the bar is inserted through the loop of the first 
bracket, and the other end of the bar is then lowered onto the J-shaped 
bracket. An abutment is carried at the other end of the bar to preclude 
the same from passing through the loop of the first bracket, whereby the 
bar may be mounted between the brackets in only one orientation, thereby 
insuring that the resilient means is positioned to overlie the doorknob 
side of the door. Also, the other end of the bar may include a laterally 
directed extension for hanging the bar from the other bracket in a 
non-operative storage position.

Referring more specifically to the drawings, FIG. 1 illustrates a 
conventional door opening comprising the door 10, frame 12, hinges 13, and 
doorknob 14. To prevent the door from being forceably opened, there is 
provided in accordance with the present invention an elongate rigid bar 16 
having a length sufficient to extent transversely across and beyond the 
door opening as defined by the frame 12. The bar 16 is fabricated from a 
relatively high strength material, such as tubular steel, and one end 17 
thereof is closed by means of a plastic end cap 18 or the like. The other 
end 19 is closed by a plastic end cap 20 which forms an abutment as 
hereinafter further described. 
A pair of metal brackets 22, 24 are provided for selectively mounting the 
bar in its operative position as shown in FIG. 1. More particularly, one 
bracket 22 is in the form of a substantially closed loop of generally 
rectangular cross-sectional outline and comprises a relatively flat inner 
portion 26 adapted to be positioned against a supporting wall surface, and 
a relatively flat outer portion 27 which is parallel to and spaced from 
the inner portion. The other bracket 24 has a generally J-shaped 
cross-sectional outline and comprises a generally flat inner portion 28 
adapted to be positioned against the supporting wall surface and a 
generally flat outer flange 29 which is parallel to and spaced from the 
inner portion 28. 
The two brackets 22 and 24 each include means for mounting the same to the 
wall along the sides of the door opening and in horizontal alignment with 
respect to each other. In the case of the bracket 22, this mounting means 
comprises a total of four apertures 32 extending through both the inner 
portion 26 and outer portion 27 thereof, and a threaded member 33 adapted 
to extend through each of these apertures and into the wall. In order to 
insure that the bar 16 may be mounted to clear the door frame 12, a number 
of shims 34 may be positioned between the inner portion 26 and wall in the 
manner shown in FIG. 2. The means for mounting the bracket 24 comprises a 
pair of apertures 36 in the inner portion 28 and cooperating threaded 
members 37. 
Each bracket 22 and 24 further comprises means for selectively securing the 
bar 16 to the bracket when the brackets are mounted on opposite sides of 
the door opening and such that the bar may be selectively mounted to 
extend between the brackets and across the door opening. In the case of 
the bracket 22, this securing means comprises the spacing between the 
inner portion 26 and outer portion 27 whereby the end 17 of the bar 16 is 
adapted to be received therebetween by inserting the end 17 into and 
through the loop of the bracket. In the case of the bracket 24, this 
securing means comprises the spacing between the inner portion 28 and 
flange 29 whereby the end 19 of the bar is adapted to be lowered between 
the inner portion 28 and flange 29 after the end 17 has been received 
within the closed loop of the bracket 22. 
The security apparatus of the present invention further comprises resilient 
means 40 carried by the bar 16 and extending radially outwardly therefrom 
so as to be adapted to at least closely approach the surface of the door 
10 when the bar 16 is mounted between the brackets, note FIG. 5. In the 
preferred embodiment, the resilient means comprises a right circular 
cylinder 41 having an opening 42 extending coaxially therethrough, and 
with the bar 16 extending through the opening. The cylinder 41 is 
preferably fabricated from a relatively dense foam plastic material or the 
like. Thus upon any attempted forceable opening of the door 10, the 
resilient cylinder 41 will serve to cushion the shock of the door being 
opened against the bar to thereby minimize damage to the door and reduce 
the possibility of the brackets 22, 24 being released from the wall. 
In order to achieve maximum efficiency from the resilient cylinder 41, it 
is desirable that the cylinder be positioned on the bar 16 at a point 
adapted to overlie the doorknob side of the door 10 when the bar is 
mounted between the brackets in its operative position. To insure such 
orientation, the cylinder 41 may be adhered to the bar 16 by an adhesive 
or the like at a point spaced a short distance from the end 17, and the 
abutment 20 is of a size to preclude the same from passing through the 
closed loop of the bracket 22. Thus the bar 16 can be mounted between the 
brackets in only one orientation, and the resilient cylinder 41 will 
necessarily be positioned to overlie the doorknob side of the door. 
To provide a convenient arrangement for storing the bar 16 in a 
non-operative position, means may be provided for releasably attaching the 
end 19 of the bar to the outer flange 29 of the bracket 24, and with the 
bar depending vertically downwardly from the bracket. In the illustrated 
embodiment, this releasable attaching means comprises a laterally directed 
extension 44 which forms an integral part of the abutment 20, and a 
cooperating aperture 45 in the outer flange 29 which is adapted to receive 
the extension 44 therein in the manner shown in FIG. 6. 
In use, the bar 16 is initially removed from its storage position as shown 
in FIG. 6 by withdrawing the extension 44 from the aperture 45. The end 17 
is then inserted through the loop of the bracket 22, and the end 19 is 
lowered between the inner portion 28 and flange 29 of the J-shaped bracket 
24. The bar 16 is thereby securely held in its operative position to 
preclude an attempted forceable entry. Should the door 10 be battered 
against the bar as part of an attempted forceable entry, the shock of the 
door striking the bar will be absorbed and dissipated by the resilient 
cylinder 41 to thereby minimize the damage to the door and resist the 
release of the brackets 22, 24 from the wall. 
To return the bar 16 to its non-operative storage position, the bar is 
merely lifted from the bracket 24 and the end 17 is withdrawn from the 
bracket 22. The extension 44 of the abutment 20 is then inserted into the 
aperture 45 to support the bar in a downwardly depending position along 
the hinged side of the door, note FIG. 6. 
In the drawings and specification, there has been set forth a preferred 
embodiment of the invention, and although specific terms are employed, 
they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes 
of limitation.