Mounting hardware assembly for glass door cutouts

An improved and simplified lock housing assembly for positioning and retaining lock or latch assemblies in cutouts in glass doors provided for that purpose which, outside of standard components such as screws, uses extrusion produced components so that the requirement for heavy machining and complex manual assembly is eliminated. The assembly includes a pair of spacers cut from the same extrusion which nest against an extruded elastomeric, channel shaped grommet about the cutout and position the lock assembly. The spacers are retained in the plane of the door by lengths of extruded plate which are fastened by screws to the opposite sides of the spacers and extend over upper and lower portions of the grommet. The screws and the grommet portion still exposed are in turn covered by extruded cover plates which include channels which slide over and dovetail with chamfered edges of the screw plates. The cover plates are, in turn, retained by the lock cylinder of the lock assembly or portions such as the handle and latch plate of the latch assembly.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
Hardware to secure mortise lock assemblies or to attach panic bar or push 
paddle latch assemblies or handles to cutouts in a glass door provided for 
that purpose, traditionally has been comprised of complex milled and 
machined components whose manufacture and assembly requires a 
sophisticated machine and assembly shop resulting in a high cost for the 
hardware. Therefore, there has been a need to design such hardware so that 
it can be produced at a greatly reduced price without reducing the 
security thereof. 
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT INVENTION 
The present assembly includes a pair of spacer members preferably cut from 
the same extrusion in identical widths. The spacer members have shoulders 
to engage the latch plate of the lock assembly on the outer edge side and 
facing channel fittings on the inner edge side thereof into which a 
longitudinal extruded spacer member is positioned. This forms a spacer 
assembly frame whose outer edges mate with an extruded channel shaped 
grommet positioned around the cutout of the glass door. The spacer 
assembly is thick enough side-to-side to accommodate for the thickness of 
the glass door plus the thickness of the sides of the grommet as it 
extends about opposite sides of the glass adjacent the cutout. Screw 
plates are then fastened to the opposite sides of the spacer assembly by 
suitable flush fasteners. The screw plates normally extend over both sides 
of the upper and lower portions of the grommet. These members preferably 
are sawn from an extrustion identical to the one from which the 
longitudinal spacer member was cut. The screw plates have chamfered outer 
edges with ribs formed thereon. Extruded cover plates each having a 
dovetail channel are then slid over the screw plates and the previously 
exposed central portions of the grommet to further retain the spacer 
members in the cutout of the glass door by friction through the grommet. 
The lock cylinders, latch components or handles are then installed in 
aligned holes in the cover and screw plates which thereafter prevent 
relative sliding movement therebetween. 
Therefore, beside a few standard screws, all of the components needed to 
secure lock or latch assemblies or handles to glass doors are constructed 
from extruded pieces whose length or width, depending upon the part, is 
merely sawn off to the proper size with very little machining needed 
thereafter. This results in a low cost assembly, which due to its design, 
is adaptable to various sizes and types of locks, latches, and handles. 
Installation is also economical because the extrusions are formed to make 
installation a simple operation, it only requiring a minimum of hand 
tools. 
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide hardware 
constructed primarily from extrusions for retaining, locks, latches, 
pushbars and the like, in glass doors having one or more cutouts for that 
purpose. 
Another object is to provide hardware for retaining a mortise type lock 
assembly in a glass door at a greatly reduced cost. 
Another object is to provide lock assembly retaining hardware which can be 
easily installed by unskilled workers. 
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become 
apparent to those skilled in the art after considering the following 
detailed specification in conjunction with the accompanying drawings 
wherein:

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE SHOWN EMBODIMENTS 
Referring to the drawings more particularly by reference numbers, number 20 
in FIG. 1 refers to a mounting hardware assembly for retaining a mortise 
lock 22 and handle 24 to a glass door 26. As shown in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, 
such glass doors 26 include a cutout 28 at a mid position in their outer 
edge 30 for installation of the mortise lock 22. Heretofore the retention 
of the mortise lock 22 has required numerous expensive machined parts 
which are difficult to manufacture and assemble. However, the present 
assembly 20 is constructed from three metallic extrusions and an 
elastomeric extrusion. 
The mortise lock assembly 22 is retained in proper position with respect to 
the edge 30 of the door 26 by a pair of spacer members 32 and 34 which, as 
can be seen more clearly in FIG. 5, are pieces cut off the same extrusion. 
The members 32 and 34 include outer edges 36 and 38 respectively, which 
with surfaces 40 and 42, formed by small milling cuts, provide a back 
supporting surface for the latch plate 44 through which the latch bolt 46 
of the mortise lock 22 extends. Portions 47 and 48 adjacent the surfaces 
40 and 42 of the original extrusion shape are cut off to provide space for 
the lock 22. If a large quantity of the latch plates 44 are of a standard 
size and are to be centrally located, then the spacer members 32 and 34 
can have the surfaces 40 and 42, and the cut off portions 47 and 48 formed 
by the extrusion die which forms the other edges thereof. Threaded holes 
49 and 50 are provided through the surfaces 40 and 42 so that the latch 
plate 44 can be retained thereto by means of fasteners 52 and 54. 
The outer peripheral edges 56 and 58 of the spacer members 32 and 34 nest 
against a channel-shaped grommet 60 whose center 62 is positioned between 
the peripheral edges 56 and 58 and the cutout 28. The sides 64 and 66 of 
the grommet 60 extend over the glass door 26 adjacent the cutout 28 for 
frictional engagement therewith. 
The edges 56 and 58 of the spacer members 32 and 34 include a plurality of 
transverse notches 68 and 70 which are threaded to receive flush fasteners 
72 and 74 which extend through and connect the screw plates 76 and 78 to 
the opposite side surfaces 80 and 82, and 84 and 86 of the spacer members 
32 and 34 respectively. The screw plates 76 and 78 are constructed from a 
relatively flat extrusion having chamfered longitudinal edges 88 and 90, 
and 92 and 94 respectively, and whose upper and lower portions 98 and 100, 
and 102 and 104 extend beyond the spacer members 32 and 34 to make tight 
frictional contact on their inner surfaces 106 and 108 with portions of 
the sides 64 and 66 of the channel-shaped grommets 60 when tightened by 
the fasteners 72 and 74. The screwplates 76 and 78 retain the spacer 
members 32 and 34 and their connected mortise lock 22 in the plane of the 
door 26. The same extrusion that is used to form the screw plates 76 and 
78, is also used to make a longitudinal spacer 110 which extends between 
channels 112 and 114 formed in the innermost edges of the spacer members 
32 and 34, the channels 112 and 114 being shaped to mate with the 
chamfered edges 116 and 118 thereof. 
Once the spacer members 32 and 34, the longitudinal spacer 110 and the 
screw plates 76 and 78 have been installed on the door 26, outer slide 
covers 120 and 122, having dovetail channels 124 and 126 respectively, are 
slid over the screw plates 76 and 78 to prevent access to the fasteners 72 
and 74. The edges 88 and 90, and 92 and 94 of the screw plates 76 and 78 
include ribs 128 which accommodate the sliding between the edges 88, 90, 
92 and 94 and the dovetail channels 124 and 126 by deforming slightly. The 
dovetail channels 124 and 126 are offset on the covers 120 and 122 so that 
back abutment surfaces 130 and 132 are formed on the covers 120 and 122 
respectively. These contact and cover the otherwise uncovered portions of 
the sides 64 and 66 of the channel-shaped grommet 60 and also help 
maintain the assembly 20 to the door 26 and distribute any load that might 
be applied thereto by means of the handle 24 or the latch bolt 46. The 
outer slide covers 120 and 122 are cut from the same extrusion so that 
only three extrusions are required for the seven main metallic components 
of the assembly 20, the spacer members 32 and 34, the screw plates 76 and 
78, the longitudinal spacer 110 and the outer slide covers 120 and 122. 
The lock cylinders 134 and 136 are thereafter installed in the mortise lock 
through holes 138 and 139 in the outer slide covers 120 and 122 and 
aligned holes 140 and 141 in the screw plates 76 and 78. The outer slide 
covers 120 and 122 are also locked against sliding movement by the handle 
24, a portion of which passes through holes 142 and 143 in the slide 
covers 120 and 122 and holes 144 and 145 in the screw plates 76 and 78, 
and the fastening of the latch plate 44 which extends into longitudinal 
cutouts 148 and 150 in the slide covers 120 and 122 and whose attaching 
fasteners 52 and 54 are not accessible when the door 26 is closed. 
Although the foregoing description has assumed that a mortise lock is being 
retained in the glass cutout 28 of the door 26, the assembly 20 with 
suitable holes therethrough for the fastening of standard hardware can be 
used to retain a panic bar 152 and latch handle 154 to the opposite sides 
of a glass door 156, as shown in FIGS. 7, 8 and 9, or to retain a single 
push paddle latch 160 to the door 26 as shown in FIG. 10. In the case of 
the panic bar 152 wherein the latches are provided at the top and bottom 
of the door, a blank latch plate 162 is fitted in the cutouts 148 and 150 
on the surfaces 40 and 42 for retention by the fasteners 52 and 54. 
Therefore, the same basic extrusions can be used to manufacture parts for 
all types of door latches without major machining modifications. 
Therefore, there has been shown and described novel lock housing assembly 
hardware which fulfills all of the objects and advantages sought therefor. 
Many changes, modifications, variations and other uses and applications of 
the subject invention will however become apparent to those skilled in the 
art after considering the foregoing specification together with the 
accompanying drawings and claims. All such changes, modifications, 
variations and other uses and applications which do not depart from the 
spirit and scope of the invention are deemed to be covered by the 
invention which is limited only by the claims which follow.