CLOSURE SECURITY SYSTEM

Abstract: A security system for a closure such as a door, for example a garage door (2), comprises lock means (4) mounted on the closure (2) and operable from outside the closure (2), a shaft (14) extending through the closure (2) perpendicular thereto to terminate internally of the closure (2) and rotatable on release of the lock means (4), a locking arm (16) mounted on the shaft (14) internally of the closure (2) and rotatable with the shaft (14), and locating means (40) fixedly mounted relative to and internally of the closure (2), preferably on the floor, the arrangement being such that rotation of the shaft (14) results in rotation of the locking arm (16) in a plane parallel with the closure (2) about an axis extending perpendicular to the closure (2) from an inoperative position displaced from the locating means (40) into an operative position co-operating with the locating means (40), the locking means (4) being operable to retain the locking arm (16) in its operative position to prevent opening of the closure (2).

Description: CLOSURE SECURITY SYSTEM TECHNICAL FIELD This invention relates to closure security systems, and more particularly to such systems for preventing unauthorised entry through an inwardly or outwardly opening door or the like. BACKGROUND ART It has become fairly standard practice to store or house valuable items such as large pieces of electrical equipment, golf clubs, lawnmowers and the like in garages. Most garage doors can be breached silently and very quickly, and consequently instances of thefts from garages are increasing rapidly. More particularly, the locking mechanism of a conventional garage locking system co-operates with the frame surrounding the door which is usually of wood and is in fact the most vulnerable part of the system. The full force of an assault on the door is concentrated on the relatively small area of the frame, which will eventually give way to enable a forced entry to be achieved. Similar situations exist with domestic main entrance doors, in that the weakest point of the closure is the frame which will eventually break under continuous assault and despite the effectiveness of the conventional lock on the door. DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION It would be desirable to be able to provide a security system for a closure less prone to forced entry then heretofore . According to the present invention there is provided a security system for a movable closure, the security system comprising lock means mounted on the closure and operable from externally of the closure, a shaft extending perpendicular to the plane of , and through, the closure to terminate internally of said closure, the shaft being rotatable on release of the lock means, a locking arm mounted on, to be rotatable with, the shaft internally of the closure, and locating means fixedly mounted relative to, and internally of, said closure, the arrangement being such that, on rotation of the shaft, the locking arm is rotated in a plane parallel with that of the closure about an axis extending perpendicular to the closure between an inoperative position displaced from the locating means, and an operative position co-operating with said locating means, the lock means being operable to retain the locking arm in said operative position whereby movement of the closure from its closed position is prevented. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the locating means is adapted to be secured to the floor, the free end of the locking arm being received within, to be retained by, the locating means when the locking arm is in its operative position, It will thus be appreciated that, with such an arrangement, the force of an assault on the door is transmitted through the locking arm to the largest and strongest area of the associated garage, passage or other enclosure, namely the floor, thereby firmly and securely locking the door and providing a system capable of withstanding severe attempts to achieve forced entry. Conveniently the free end of the locking arm is provided with a flange portion of increased lateral dimensions, and the locating means includes an upper wall portion which , in use, extends substantially parallel with the floor, said upper wall being recessed to receive therein the free end extent of the locking arm, the arrangement being such that, with the locking arm in its operative position, the flange portion of the locking arm underlies the upper wall portion of the locating means whereby movement of the closure from its closed position is prevented. The lock means may comprise a key-operated mechanism, the shaft being rotatable on appropriate turning of the key in the mechanism. Alternatively the security system may include a rotatable handle mounted externally of the closure and with which the shaft is interconnected, the lock means being operable to permit and prevent rotation of the handle. With such an arrangement, it is preferred that the lock means comprise a key-operated mechanism mounted within the handle. Preferably the shaft is of non-circular, for example hexagonal, cross-section, the free, inner end thereof being received within an aperture of corresponding section formed in, or in a component attached to, the locking arm. In one embodiment of the invention, the free inner end of the shaft is received within a corresponding aperture formed in a bush of circular cross-section, the bush being rotatable with, but axially fixed relative to, the shaft, the locking arm being mounted on said bush, releasable stop means reacting between the locking arm and the bush and being selectively operable to enable rotation of the locking arm with the bush, or rotation of the locking arm relative to the bush. With such an arrangement, it will be appreciated that, by appropriate operation of the stop means, which is conveniently a screw-threaded locking pin, the locking arm can be moved independently of the lock means from internally of the closure into and out of its operative position. Preferably the locking arm and locating means are each injection moulded and are of a glass-fibre reinforced composite which may include Nylon 66 and/or carbon fibre. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. 1 shows a first security system according to the invention mounted on a metal garage door; Fig. 2 is an exploded view of the security system of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 shows a second security system according to the invention mounted on a wooden door; Fig. 4 is an exploded view of the security system of Fig. 3, and Fig. 5 is a schematic illustration of part of a security system according to the invention mounted on a garage door and moving towards its operative position. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, there is illustrated a security system mounted on a metal up-and-over garage door part of which is shown at 2. The system includes a key-operated lock 4 extending through the door 2 and internally secured thereto by a nut 6 received on a threaded extent of the body of the lock 4. Co-operating washers 8,10 externally and internally of the door ensure a weatherproof connection of the lock 4 to the door 2, while a weather cap 12 is provided externally of the door for covering the entry end of the lock 4. The lock 4 includes a shaft 14 of the hexagonal cross- section located inwardly of the door 2 and rotatable relative to the body of the lock 4 on insertion of the associated key into the lock 4. A locking arm is indicated generally at 16 and is mounted on, for rotation with, the shaft 14. More particularly, the locking arm 16 includes an upper end extent 18 in the end face of which is formed a dovetail groove 20. Frictionally received within this groove is a correspondingly shaped dovetail 22 of a connecting piece indicated generally at 24, this connecting piece 24 further including a cylindrical bush portion 26 in which is formed a hexagonal bore adapted to receive therein the shaft 14. On assembly of the system, the shaft 14 is received within the bore in the bush portion 26, a connecting pin 28 extending through aligned holes 30,32 in the shaft 14 and bush portion 26 respectively to secure the locking arm 16 to the lock 4. A fixed sleeve 34 houses the internal components of the lock mechanism and receives therein the bush portion of 26 of the connecting piece whilst permitting rotation of said bush portion 26. The locking arm 16 includes a lower end extent 36 provided with a circular plate portion 38 at the free end thereof located in a plane perpendicular to the plane of the end face of the upper end extent 18. The system is completed by a base plate indicated generally at 40 secured to the floor internally of the door 2 and adapted to receive therein the plate portion 38 of the locking arm 16. More particularly the base plate 40 includes an upper wall 42 in which is formed an open ended recess 44 (best seen in Fig. 5) shaped to allow passage therein of the lower end extent 36 of the locking arm 16 with the plate portion 38 received within the base plate 40 to underlie said upper wall 42 as seen in Fig. l. When installing the security system, and in order to ensure accurate reception of the plate portion 38 of the locking arm 16 in the base plate 40, the position of the dovetail 22 in the recess 20 can be adjusted axially until the desired relative positions of the plate portion 38 and base plate 40 are achieved. Aligned holes are then drilled through the upper end portion 18 of the locking arm 16 (at 46) and through the dovetail 22, and a locking pin 48 is inserted to secure the components of the assembly in the chosen positions. It will thus be appreciated that, on insertion of the associated key into the lock 4, rotation of the key results in rotation of the shaft 28 and consequential rotation of the locking arm 16 in a plane parallel with that of the door 2. The locking arm 16 can thus be rotated from an inoperative position angularly displaced from the vertical and remote from the base plate 40 (as schematically illustrated in Fig. 5) into an operative position in which the plate portion 38 is received within the base plate 40 and the locking arm 16 is in a substantially vertical plane. In this position and on removal of the key to prevent rotation of the shaft 14, the base plate 38 is fixedly and irremovably located in the base plate 40 whereby the door 2 is securely locked by the security system. The locking arm 16 and the base plate 40, as well as the associated components 8,10,24,34, are all injection moulded from an extremely tough glass-fibre reinforced composite material including, for example, Nylon 66 and/or carbon fibre, such that any attempt to force entry will be unsuccessful. It will be appreciated that the forces of any assault on the door are transmitted through the arm 16 to the base plate 40 which is secured to the floor, the largest and strongest area of the associated garage. Release of the door is achieved by reverse rotation of the key in the lock 4 to pivot the locking arm 16 out of the base plate 40. The security system of the invention can be applied to other than metal garage doors, for example to timber doors such as garage doors or entrance doors. Such a timber door is referenced 50 in Figs. 3 and 4 to which reference is now directed and in which components equivalent to those of Figs . 1 and 2 are similarly referenced. The lock 4 is screw-threaded into a carrier tube 52 which is itself secured in position in the door 50 by means of a nut 54 screwed onto the inner end thereof to abut the inner face of the door, the shaft 14 projecting through the door 50. A bush 56 provided with a hexagonal bore receives therein the end of the shaft 14, the front end extent of the bush 56 being located in position by means of a co-operating plate 58 screwed to the door 50 such as to prevent axial movement of the bush 56 but to permit rotation thereof. The upper end extent 18 of the locking arm 16 is provided with an open-sided recess therein adapted to locate over and receive therein the rear portion 60 of the bush 56, a side plate 62 being provided to close said recess once the locking arm is located on the bush 56. The locking arm 16 as so far described is rotatable relative to the bush 56. A screw-threaded locking pin 64 extends through a threaded aperture formed in a plate 66 in the upper end extent 18 of the arm 16, said pin 64 being selectively movable into a recess 68 in the bush 56 to secure the locking arm 16 to the bush 56. With the locking arm 16 secured to the bush 56 by means of the pin 64, the system of Figs. 3 and 4 operates in accordance with the description of Figs. 1 and 2. An added advantage of the system of Figs. 3 and 4 is that, on release of the pin 64, the locking arm 16 can be moved manually into and out of its operative position co-operating with the base plate 40, whereby the door 50 can be locked and unlocked from internally thereof. Clearly the precise construction of the security system can differ from those illustrated without departing from the scope of the invention. In particular, the means of connecting the lock 4 to the locking arm 16 may be other than by a hexagonal shaft/bore combination, while the base plate 40 may be arranged to be sunk into the floor, for example with its upper wall 42 flush with the floor or with the floor covering if present. The locking arm 16 may be of a configuration other than the angled brace as illustrated, while the material of the arm 16 is chosen to suit particular requirements. One or more security systems may be mounted on a single door, for example one at the centre of the door and/or one at each lower corner of the door. The dovetail 22 of the embodiment of Figs. 1 and 2 may be reversibly locatable in the recess 20 to provide for additional adjustability of the height of the locking arm 16 relative to the lock 4. The base plate 40 may be secured to other than the floor of the associated room or the like, for example to a metal frame surrounding the door providing the frame is capable of withstanding assault. The lock 4 may be other than key-operated, for example under remote infra-red control. In the described embodiments, the shaft 14 is secured to the lock 4 and is rotated when the key is inserted into the lock 4 and is itself rotated. In an alternative embodiment the shaft 14 is interconnected with a handle mounted externally on the door 2 or 50, rotation of the handle resulting in rotation of the shaft 14 and the attached locking arm 16. A key-operated lock is mounted centrally within the handle in such a manner that, with the lock in an operative position, the handle cannot be rotated, and, with the lock in a released position achieved by insertion and rotation of the key in the lock, the handle can be rotated. Clearly the security system of the invention has application to hinged doors, up and over doors, roller shutter doors, as well as to closures other than doors which are to be secured in a closed position, all of which may be of metal, timber, glass reinforced plastic or other rigid material. Other modifications and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

Claims: CLAIMS 1. A security system for a movable closure (2) , the security system comprising lock means (4) mounted on the closure (2) and operable from externally of the closure (2) , and a shaft (14) extending perpendicular to the plane of, and through, the closure (2) to terminate internally of the closure (2) , the shaft (14) being rotatable on release of the lock means (4) , characterised by a locking arm (16) mounted on, to be rotatable with, the shaft (14) internally of the closure (2) , and locating means (40) fixedly mounted relative to, and internally of, said closure (2) , the arrangement being such that, on rotation of the shaft (14) , the locking arm (16) is rotated in a plane parallel with that of the closure (2) about an axis extending perpendicular to the closure (2) between an inoperative position displaced from the locating means (40) , and an operative position co-operating with said locating means (40) , the lock means (4) being operable to retain the locking arm (16) in said operative position whereby movement of the closure (2) from its closed position is prevented. 2. A security system as claimed in claim 1 in which the locating means (40) is adapted to be secured to the floor, the free end (38) of the locking arm (16) being received within, to be retained by, the locating means (40) when the locking arm (16) is in its operative position. 3. A security system as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2 in which the free end of the locking arm (16) is provided with a flange portion (38) of increased lateral dimensions, and the locating means (40) includes an upper wall portion (42) which, in use, extends substantially parallel with the floor, said upper wall (42) being recessed (44) to receive therein the free end extent (36) of the locking arm (16) , the arrangement being such that, with the locking arm (16) in its operative position, the flange portion (38) of the locking arm (16) underlies the upper wall portion (42) of the locating means (40) whereby movement of the closure (2) from its closed position is prevented. 4. A security system as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3 in which the lock means comprise a key-operated mechanism (4) , the shaft (14) being rotatable on appropriate turning of the key in the mechanism. 5. A security system as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3 and including a rotatable handle mounted externally of the closure (2) and with which the shaft (14) is interconnected, the lock means being operable to permit and prevent rotation of the handle . 6. A security system as claimed in claim 5 in which the lock means comprise a key-operated mechanism mounted within the handle. 7. A security system as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 6 in which the shaft (14) is of non-circular transverse section, the free inner end thereof being received within an aperture of corresponding section formed in, or in a component (24) attached to, the locking arm (16) . 8. A security system as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 6 in which the free inner end of the shaft (14) is received within an aperture of corresponding section formed in a bush (56) of circular cross-section, the bush (56) being rotatable with, but axially fixed relative to, the shaft (14) , the locking arm (16) being mounted on said bush (56) , releasable stop means (64,66) reacting between the locking arm (16) and the bush (56) and being selectively operable to enable rotation of the locking arm (16) with the bush (56) , or rotation of the locking arm (16) relative to the bush (56) . 9. A security system as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 8 in which the locking arm (16) and the locating means (40) are each injection moulded from a glass-fibre reinforced composite.

Inventors: LEWIS GARY OWEN, SPENCE FRANK, LEWIS, GARY, OWEN, SPENCE, FRANK
Applicants: LEWIS GARY OWEN, SPENCE FRANK, LEWIS, GARY, OWEN, SPENCE, FRANK
Application year: 1996
Main classification: E05B65
IPC codes: E05B65, E05C17