Abstract:
A striker box assembly provides enhanced security when locking a door where the assembly includes a box and a cover plate which are secured to a stud in the frame around the doorway in at least three ways. The first way of securing the assembly is with screws in a jack flange that extends along a lateral side of the stud in flush contact therewith. The second manner is with a screw in the bottom of the box to hold the box firmly against the stud or through shims or a boot that solidly fills any gap between the bottom of the box and the stud. The third way is with offset screws that extend through the cover plate and the box into the stud. The cover plate includes a flange that provides additional strength to resist destructive forces involved when a person attempts to break down a door.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    None. 
       STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
       [0002]    None. 
       FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    This invention relates to strikes or striker plates used for locking doors. A strike or striker plate is typically installed in the jamb of a door to receive a bolt latch of a lock such as a deadbolt so that together, they securely hold the door closed. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0004]    To securely lock a door, one needs or wants a strong door, a strong door frame, a strong latch and a strong strike or striker plate. Like a chain, the combined strength of the locked door is limited by the strength of the weakest of the these elements. 
         [0005]    Focusing on the strike or striker plate, at an outside door to be securely locked, it is common to have a strong striker plate comprised of steel that is screwed into and maybe through the door jamb into the underlying supporting structure. One might use extra-long screws to hold the striker plate not just to the jamb, but also to a 2×4 stud behind the jamb that is part of the structure of the wall. However, even thicker steel striker plates with extra-long screws may be quickly defeated by a motivated thief that is able to apply a powerful kick to the door near the lock and the striker plate. The screws may hold firm to the 2×4 stud, but the striker plate is typically spaced about an inch from the 2×4 stud. The screws may have a lot of tensile strength, but they do bend. With the screws extending an inch out from the stud, such impacts from kicking the door may bend the screws sufficiently to allow the striker plate to pivot inwardly so that latch may slip out of the hole in the striker plate. The bending screws also are levers to break apart the jamb and the 2×4 studs, which is a second mode of failure of the striker plate. Regardless of the strength of the door and the strength of the latch, if the striker plate fails, the doorway may be breached based on the failure of the simplest and smallest element for an outside security door. 
         [0006]    While stronger materials are being continually developed, there is a need for a simple, but effective strike or striker plate to work with stronger doors and stronger latches to provide better security for people and things. There is a need for an improved design for a striker plate to take better advantage of the underlying structure of a doorway opening. 
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE 
       [0007]    The invention relates to a striker box assembly comprising a box, a cover plate and a boot. The box comprises four connected lateral walls where a first lateral wall is an inner wall, a second lateral wall is a back wall that is opposite the inner wall, a third lateral wall is an upper wall and the fourth of the four lateral walls is a lower wall. The four lateral walls are connected end to end to form a generally rectangular shape. The box further has an open front and a boot flange opposite the open front of the box and which is attached to at least three of the four connected lateral walls at a bottom of the box and arranged generally perpendicular to all four lateral walls. The box further includes a jack flange attached at or near the bottom of the inner wall and arranged to extend away from the open front of the box beyond the jack flange of the box. An upper wing of the box is attached to the upper wall at or near the open front of the box and arranged to extend away from the lower wall. A lower wing of the box is attached to the lower wall at or near the open front of the box and arranged to extend away from the upper wall and away from the upper wing. A base wing of the box is attached to the inner wall at the open front and arranged to extend away from the back wall, wherein the wings are generally arranged to be in a common plane that is generally parallel to the boot flange. The cover plate is attached to the wings of the box wherein the cover plate comprises a face plate and a back flange oriented generally perpendicular to the face plate. The face plate further has a hole arranged to receive a latch of a door locking system wherein the latch may enter into the hole and into the box such that the box and cover plate together resist against lateral movement of the latch which would occur when the door is to be opened. The boot is attached to the boot flange and has a foot side for being positioned flush against a structural element such as a stud within wall at the frame of a door in which the box is suited for installation. 
         [0008]    The invention may also be described as related to an installed striker box assembly comprising a jack stud, a door jamb arranged generally flush against the jack stud, a box attached into the door jamb and to the jack stud, and a cover plate attached to the box. The box comprises four connected lateral walls where a first lateral wall is an inner wall, a second lateral wall is a back wall that is opposite the inner wall, a third lateral wall is an upper wall and the fourth of the four lateral walls is a lower wall, wherein the four lateral walls are connected end to end to form a generally rectangular shape. The box has an open front and a boot flange positioned opposite the open front and attached to at least three of the four connected lateral walls at a bottom of the box and arranged generally perpendicular to all four lateral walls. The boot flange is particularly arranged to have firm contact directly or indirectly with the jack stud. The box further includes a jack flange attached at or near the bottom of the inner wall and arranged to extend away from the open front of the box beyond the jack flange of the box. An upper wing of the box is attached to the upper wall at or near the open front of the box and arranged to extend away from the lower wall. A lower wing of the box is attached to the lower wall at or near the open front of the box and arranged to extend away from the upper wall and away from the upper wing. A base wing is attached to the inner wall at the open front and arranged to extend away from the back wall. All of the wings are generally arranged to be in a common plane that is also generally parallel to the boot flange. The cover plate is attached to the wings wherein the striker plate comprises a face plate and a structural flange oriented generally perpendicular to the face plate wherein the face plate has a hole arranged to receive a latch of a door locking system wherein the latch may enter into the hole and into the box such that the box and cover plate resist against lateral movement of the latch. The assembly further includes machine screws holding the cover plate to the box, a primary screw through the boot flange into the jack stud, at least one jack screw through the jack flange into the jack stud at substantial angle to the primary screw and at least two secondary screws holding the cover plate to the box and firmly to the jack stud. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0009]    A more complete understanding of the present invention and benefits thereof may be acquired by referring to the follow description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which: 
           [0010]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a door having a door knob and a deadbolt lock each of which are arranged to latch into conventional prior art striker plates; 
           [0011]      FIG. 2  is a top sectional view of the door closed with the latch of the deadbolt extended into and engaged with the conventional striker plate in the door jamb while the door is closed against the door stop; 
           [0012]      FIG. 3  is a second top cross sectional view showing the failure of a conventional striker plate when the door has been kicked open; 
           [0013]      FIG. 4  is an exploded view of the striker box and the cover plate oriented to be installed into a door jamb; 
           [0014]      FIG. 5  is a perspective view of the box according to the present invention; 
           [0015]      FIG. 6  is front view of the box of the present invention; 
           [0016]      FIG. 7  is a bottom perspective view of the box providing an alternative angle to better understand the structure of the box; 
           [0017]      FIG. 8  is a top cross sectional view of the box and cover plate attached firmly to the stud; 
           [0018]      FIG. 9  is a top cross sectional view like  FIG. 8  showing the jamb spaced from the stud, but where the box and cover plate are installed firmly to the stud using a shim or pair of shims to fill the space between the back wall of the box and the stud; 
           [0019]      FIG. 10  is a top cross sectional view of an embodiment of the box with an adjustable boot installed therein for adapting the box to fit various door installations with the normal varying dimensions of spacings between the jamb and the supporting stud; 
           [0020]      FIG. 11  is a perspective view of the boot; 
           [0021]      FIG. 12  is a top cross sectional view like  FIG. 8  showing the boot filling the space between the back wall of the box and the stud; and 
           [0022]      FIG. 13  is a top cross sectional view like  FIG. 8  showing the finish carpentry including drywall and trim around the doorway. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0023]    Turning now to the detailed description of the preferred arrangement or arrangements of the present invention, it should be understood that the inventive features and concepts may be manifested in other arrangements and that the scope of the invention is not limited to the embodiments described or illustrated. The scope of the invention is intended only to be limited by the scope of the claims that follow. 
         [0024]    Turning now to  FIG. 1 , a conventional door D is shown that swings closed to a door jamb J and stops against door stop S. Once closed, a spring latch  11  engages a strike or striker plate  21  attached to the jamb by descending into the opening  25  in the striker plate  21 . The door D may be re-opened by turning the knob  10  to pull the spring latch  11  from the striker plate  21 . However, to securely lock the door D, a deadbolt  15  having a bolt latch  16  engages striker plate  22  by descending into opening  26  in the striker plate  22 . The bolt latch may be hardened steel and the deadbolt is designed to prevent the withdrawal of the bolt latch  16  unless the cylinder is properly engaged by a key or the inside thumb switch (neither of which is shown). 
         [0025]    Referring to  FIG. 2 , the bolt latch  16  is shown fully extended into the opening  26  in the striker plate  22  to resist opening of the door. As shown in  FIG. 3 , if a powerful force is applied from the outside of the inwardly swinging door D, such as from a person kicking or charging the door or by some type of battering ram, the screws  23  holding the striker plate to the jamb J and perhaps the jack stud  31  tend to bend inwardly. Eventually, the jamb J breaks and the bolt latch  16  pops loose from the striker plate  22  as the striker plate rolls away from the door stop S. The length that the screws extend out from the jack stud  31  also tends to give leverage to the forces being applied to the striker plate and tears up the jamb J and the jack stud  31 , especially if the screws  23  are installed close to the edge or inside lateral face of the stud  31 . 
         [0026]    It should be noted that most conventional doors are framed with jack studs on either side of the opening with a header spanning across the top of the rough opening. Flush against the jack studs are king studs which extend fully to the top plate. 
         [0027]      FIGS. 1-3  are prior art arrangements. 
         [0028]    Turning now to the present invention shown in  FIGS. 4, 5, 6 and 7 , a striker box assembly is shown comprising a cover plate  40  and a box  50 . The box  50  is the central element in the striker box assembly and comprises a number of elements that are best shown in  FIGS. 5, 6, 7 and 10 . It should first be understood that the box  50  should be made of strong and robust material. It would be expected that the box  50  would be made of steel and that the walls would have a robust dimension. For example, the thickness of the walls of the box  50  might be between about 1/32″ and about 3/16″ steel depending on the security desired for the door D. 
         [0029]    The box  50  includes four connected lateral walls  61 ,  52 ,  54  and  55 . The first lateral wall  61  is also an inner wall  61 . A second lateral wall  53  is also a back wall  52  that is opposite the inner wall  61 . A third lateral wall  54  is also an upper wall  54  and the fourth lateral wall  55  of the four lateral walls is a lower wall  55 . The four lateral walls are connected end to end to form a rectangular shape. The box  50  has an open front or top and a bottom wall  58  that at least partially closes the bottom of the box  50 . The bottom wall  58  may optionally extend fully across that bottom of the box so that it is closed on five sides and open on the front or top, but in the preferred embodiment, it is partially closed on the bottom. The bottom wall  58  is also called the boot flange  58  and is arranged generally perpendicular to the four lateral walls  61 ,  52 ,  54  and  55 . 
         [0030]    The back wall  52 , the upper wall  54  and lower wall  55  all have a common depth dimension when considering the dimension from the front or top of the box  50  to the bottom. However, inner wall  61  includes a portion that extends beyond the bottom wall  58 . This extended portion may be called a jack flange. It may be viewed by some that it is not clear where the inner wall  61  ends and the jack flange begins, but it may be viewed or understood that the jack flange begins about where the plane of the bottom wall  58  intersects the inner wall  61 . The function of the jack flange  61  will be explained below. 
         [0031]    The box  50  further includes an upper wing  62  attached to the upper wall  54  and which extends generally flush with the open top of the box  50  and generally perpendicular to the upper wall  54 . Similarly, a lower wing  63  is attached to the lower wall  55  and which extends generally flush with the open top of the box and generally perpendicular to the lower wall  55 . It should be noted that these wings  62  and  63  extend away from the interior of the box. 
         [0032]    The box  50  further includes a base wing  65  that is somewhat similar to the upper and lower wings  62  and  63 , but attaches to the inner wall  61  and which extends generally flush with and away from open front of the box  50  and generally perpendicular to the inner wall  61 . Preferably, the three wings  62 ,  63  and  65  generally lie in a common plane. 
         [0033]    Looking back at  FIG. 4 , the cover plate  40  includes a face plate  41  and a back flange  42 . The face plate  41  is arranged to cover the open top or front of the box  50  and includes a main opening  43  and two sets or pairs of screw holes  44  and  45  (for a total of four screw holes). The box  50  includes two sets or two pairs of screw holes  74  and  75  in the wings  62 ,  63  and  65  which are arranged to align with screw holes  44  and  45 , respectively, of the cover plate  40 . The screw holes  74  in the base wing  65  are preferably provided with threads for securely receiving machine screws  83 . Once assembled, the cover plate  40  is attached to the box  50  by the machine screws through the holes  44  and threaded into the holes  74 . Screw holes  45  and  75  do not have screw threads but are arranged to have secondary long screws  85  secure the cover plate  40  and box  50  together and to the door jamb J. 
         [0034]    Still focusing on  FIG. 4 , prior to installation of the striker box assembly, a portion of the door jamb J is cutout exposing the jack stud  31 . A similar cutout is made in the drywall  28  exposing the side or lateral face of the jack stud  31  and possibly part of the king stud  32 , into this cutout, the box  50  is positioned for installation. Typically, a surface portion of the door jamb J would also be removed with a chisel by mortising a recess M both above and below the cutout C to let the upper and lower wings  62  and  63  recess below the face surface of the door jamb J at a sufficient depth so that the cover plate  40  ends up generally flush with the same face surface of the door jamb J. 
         [0035]    As shown in  FIG. 8 , the box  50  would first be attached to the jack stud  31  by a primary screw  81  through a screw hole  94  or by a pair of primary screws  81  through screw holes  77  in the bottom wall  58 . The attachment of the box  50  to the jack stud  31  will be strongest if the bottom wall  58  is flush against the jack stud  31  as shown in  FIG. 8 . However, in most situations, the door jamb J is spaced somewhat from the jack stud  31  to make the door jamb J square, straight and vertical. Also, the frame for the door (which includes door jamb J) is typically slightly smaller than the rough opening in the wall for the door. Centering the frame in the door creates space between the door jamb J and the jack stud  31 . Typically, shims are used to fill the space and firmly attach the jamb J to the jack stud  31 . In the present invention as shown in  FIG. 9 , a shim  91  is also used to fill the space between the bottom wall  58  and the jack stud  31  providing firm support to the box  50  and the striker assembly from the jack stud  31 . A shim is a thin wedge typically made of wood, but may be plastic or metal and is inserted into the space between the bottom wall  58  and the jack stud  31  until the shim  91  is in contact with both at the same time. With the shim  91  in place, the primary screw or screws  81  is/are installed through the shim  91  to hold the box  50  in position. 
         [0036]    A third alternative installation arrangement is shown in  FIGS. 10, 11 and 12  where hole  94  in bottom wall  58  is a threaded hole and a boot  92  having screw threads  93  is arranged to engage the threads of the threaded hole  94  and extend to from the bottom wall  58  to the jack stud  31 . It is this configuration where the bottom wall  58  is sometimes called a boot flange  58  as it provides the connection of the boot  92  to the box  50  and gains the support of the jack stud  31  for the box  50  and the striker box assembly. By simple rotation of the boot  92 , the distance between the bottom surface  95  of the boot  92  and the bottom face  58 f of the bottom wall  58  may be adjusted. The boot, as shown in  FIG. 11  has a slot  96  suitable for turning with a straight bladed screw driver. By trial and error, the depth of the boot is adjusted until the box  50  may be positioned in the cutout at the right depth with respect to the door jamb J and the bottom surface  95  of the boot  92  is flush to the jack stud  31 . It is preferred that the boot have the same diameter as the threaded portion  93  so that the boot may fully or nearly fully recessed into the box  50  in the event that the door jamb J is quite close or flush with the jack stud  31 . Center bore  98  within the boot  92  is arranged to receive the primary screw  81  to hold the boot  92  to the jack stud  31  and thereby secure the box  50  firmly in place within the cutout. 
         [0037]    For all the embodiments, a set of jack screws  82  are used to attach the inner wall or jack flange  61  to the jack stud  31  via screw holes  76 . It should be noted that jack screws  82  are oriented generally perpendicular to the primary screw  81 . Having these screws at such strongly divergent angles makes it so only one screw is oriented in a weaker orientation for failure under a destructive load while the other screw is in a stronger orientation to resist failing. For example, if a fully inserted screw is weakest in pure tension, then if the box  50  were being pulled straight out from the door jamb J, jack screw  82  would strongly resist that load and tend to provide support for primary screw  81  preventing he primary screw  81  from failing. If the load were shifted to push the box  50  inwardly into the room in which the door would swing when opened, the jack screw  82  would be in tension, but the primary screw  81  would be in an orientation to the load that would be able to provide the additional resistance to this second type of load or force. Secondly, with the box  50  secured by a jack flange  61  to the side of the jack stud  31 , the box  50  is better prevented from rolling or rotating in the cutout while the door D is being forced open. 
         [0038]    After the box  50  is attached to the jack stud  31  by primary screw or screws  81  and jack screws  82 , cover plate  40  is attached to the box by machine screws  83 . A third way of attaching the box  50  along with the cover plate  40  to the jack stud  31  is with secondary screws  85  that extend through screw holes  45  in the cover plate  40  and screw holes  75  in the box  50  and then through the jack stud  31  and into king stud  32 . The screw holes  45  and  75  align such that the screws  85  hold the cover plate  40  and the box  50  together while attaching to the jack stud  31  and king stud  32 . It should be noted that the screw holes  75  are off center relative to the box  50  (as identified by centerline  51  in  FIGS. 5 and 6 ) and especially with respect to the main opening  43  in the cover plate  40  so that the secondary screws  85  will be positioned closer to the center of the jack stud  31  as shown in  FIGS. 8, 9, 12 and 13  and further away from the edge of the jack stud  31  to avoid the vulnerability of tearing up the jack stud as described when discussing  FIGS. 2 and 3  above. Focusing on  FIG. 6 , the center line  51  is shown extending vertically across the face or front opening of the box  50  and the holes  75  are positioned on the opposite side of the centerline from the jack flange  61  and closer to the inner wall  52 . It should also be noted that the center bore  98  is arranged to be outside the alignment of the screw holes  75  and  77  to reduce the probability that all three screws will hit the same grain line in the wood. If all three screws hit the same grain line, the stud would be likely to split and be seriously weakened. 
         [0039]    One feature of the invention that provides additional strength to the striker box assembly is the way the inner wall  61 , the base wing  65  and the back flange  42  are arranged to create a U-channel as seen in  FIGS. 8, 9, 12 and 13 . This U-channel provides resistance to distortion of the striker box assembly under a severe load in a manner similar to the way an I-beam or a piece of channel iron resists bending. 
         [0040]    Another aspect of the striker box assembly is that the boot  92  is arranged to be offset from where the latch  16  may set into the box  50 . The box  50  is generally preferred to be about  5 / 8 ″ in depth to work with a conventional jamb dimension of  11 / 16 ″. 
         [0041]    When the drywall  28  and door trim  99  are attached as shown in  FIG. 13 , the striker box assembly will appear to be reasonably similar to conventional systems and the cutout will not be visible. 
         [0042]    Ultimately, the striker box assembly will only be as strong as the materials from which it is constructed and to which it is attached. This invention is intended to take as much advantage of the available structure within the wall surrounding the door as possible in a cost considered manner and reduce the likelihood of failure of the door system based on the striker being the weak link. 
         [0043]    In closing, it should be noted that the discussion of any reference is not an admission that it is prior art to the present invention, especially any reference that may have a publication date after the priority date of this application. At the same time, each and every claim below is hereby incorporated into this detailed description or specification as a additional embodiments of the present invention. 
         [0044]    Although the systems and processes described herein have been described in detail, it should be understood that various changes, substitutions, and alterations can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the following claims. Those skilled in the art may be able to study the preferred embodiments and identify other ways to practice the invention that are not exactly as described herein. It is the intent of the inventors that variations and equivalents of the invention are within the scope of the claims while the description, abstract and drawings are not to be used to limit the scope of the invention. The invention is specifically intended to be as broad as the claims below and their equivalents.