Spring box for door handle

The spring box contains a base piece, a front plate, a back plate, a rotational piece, and a torsion spring. The base piece and the front and back plates have aligned through holes. A radial gap is configured on the rim of the base piece. The rotational piece has a curved sliding element along a section of the circumference. The sliding element has a groove, a weight block configured at one end of the sliding element, and a notch at the other end. The rotation piece is placed in the through hole of the base piece. The two ends of the torsion spring are embedded in the gap and the notch. The rotational and base pieces are sandwiched between the front and back plates. Then, by the weight of the weight block and the resilience of the torsion spring, a door handle is restored to its default position after being turned.

(a) TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is generally related to door handles, and more particular to a spring box for restoring a door handle to its default position after being turned clockwise or counterclockwise.

(b) DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART

Conventionally, a door handle is integrated with some resilient mechanism so that, after the door handle is turned, the door handle is restored to its original position. The resilient means is usually specifically designed for a particular door handle and cannot be used interchangeably between different door handles. Furthermore, conventional resilient means allows the door handle to turn in a single direction which is rather inconvenient, especially when a user's hand is occupied.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A major objective of the present invention is to provide a spring box for integration with a door handle so that the door handle can be turned clockwise or counterclockwise and that the door handle is restored to its default position after the door handle is turned.

The spring box contains a base piece, a front plate and a back plate sandwiching the base piece, a rotational piece, and a torsion spring. The base piece and the front and back plates have aligned through holes in the center. A radial gap is configured on the rim of the base piece connecting the through hole. The rotational piece has a curved sliding element along a section of the circumference. The sliding element has a groove, a weight block configured at one end of the sliding element and a notch at the other end. The rotation piece is placed in the through hole of the base piece. The two ends of the torsion spring are embedded in the gap and the notch. The rotational piece and the base piece are then jointly sandwiched between the front and back plates. Then, by the weight of the weight block and the resilience of the torsion spring, a door handle is restored to its default position after being turned.

The base piece and the front and back plates have aligned bolt holes around the trough holes for a number of bolts to lock the spring box assembly.

A pin is configured on the rotation piece adjacent to the weight block. The pin is embedded in a limiting slot on the front or back plate so that, together with a blocking piece of the sliding element, the rotational range of the rotation piece is confined.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

As shown inFIGS. 1 to 3, a spring box according to an embodiment of the present invention contains a base piece1sandwiched between a front plate2and a back plate3. Additionally, the spring box contains a rotational piece4and a torsion spring5. The base piece1and the front and back plates2and3has aligned through holes11,21, and31in the center, and a number of bolt holes12,22, and32around the through holes11,21, and31, respectively. The base piece1has a radial gap13on the rim of the base piece1connecting the through hole11and the outside of the base piece1. The base piece1thereby forms a C-like shape. Also on the front and back plates2and3, there are curved limiting slots23and33adjacent to an upper section of the through holes21and31, respectively. On an inner side of the back plate3, there are two parallel flakes34protruding towards the front for embedding into the gap13.

The cylindrical rotational piece4has an axle41and an indentation411at a front end of the axle41. A curved sliding element6is formed along a section of the circumference of the rotation piece4. The sliding element6has a blocking piece65, and a groove61extended from one end of the sliding element6to another. A weight block62is configured at one end of the sliding element6and a notch64at the other end. A pin63is configured on the sliding element6protruding along the axial direction adjacent to the weight block62.

To assemble the spring box, the rotation piece4is placed in the through hole11of the base piece1. The two ends of the torsion spring5are embedded in the gap13of the base piece1and between the flakes34in the notch64of the sliding element6. The rotational piece4and the base piece1are then jointly sandwiched between the front and back plates2and3with the flakes34embedded in the gap13and the pin63embedded in the limiting slot23or33. Together with the blocking piece65, the rotation of the rotational piece4is limited and confined. Then a number of bolts run through the bolt holes12,22, and32to complete the assembly. To integrate the spring box with a door handle7, the axle of the door handle7is joined to the indentation411of the rotational piece4. Then, by the weight of the weight block62and the resilience of the torsion spring5, the door handle7is restored to its default position after being turned.

FIG. 4illustrates the configuration of the spring box after the handle7is turned clockwise. As illustrated, the rotational piece4and the sliding element6are turned clockwise as well. When the weight block62is at a high location and the door handle7is released, the weight of the weight block62causes the weight block to move downward and therefore the rotational piece4is turned counterclockwise, restoring the door handle7to its default position. Please note that the movement of the pin63is confined by the limiting slot23or33and by the blocking piece65so as to guarantee the rotational range of the rotational piece4.

FIG. 5illustrates the configuration of the spring box after the handle7is turned counterclockwise. As illustrated, the rotational piece4and the sliding element6are turned counterclockwise as well. In the meantime, the torsion spring5is stretched. When door handle7is released, the resilience of the torsion spring5causes the rotational piece4to turn clockwise, restoring the door handle7to its default position. Please note that the movement of the pin63is confined by the limiting slot23or33so as to guarantee that rotational range of the rotational piece4.