Abstract:
A locking apparatus for a garage door which utilizes a pair of actuators with one actuator being mounted at a side edge of the garage door and the other actuator mounted at the opposite side edge of the garage door. One actuator is mounted on a carrier gear which connects to a worm gear which is driven by an electric motor. Each operator connects with a locking bolt with there being a separate locking bolt for each actuator. Each locking bolt is to be movable in conjunction with the door jamb of the garage door to lock the garage door to the jamb. Both actuators pivot in the same direction. Both locking bolts are linearly slidable. A connecting member connects between the first actuator and the second actuator so that the actuators move in unison. One actuator has a back end which extends through a slot formed in a latch housing. This back end is manually accessible to cause the actuator to move manually if electricity fails.

Description:
REFERENCE TO PRIOR APPLICATION 
   This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/869,329, filed Jun. 15, 2004 now abandoned, entitled LOCKING APPARATUS FOR A GARAGE DOOR by the present inventors. 

   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Field of the Invention 
   The field of this invention relates to a door locking apparatus and more particularly to a door locking apparatus for a garage door that is to be activated by means of a remote control with the door locking apparatus to prevent unauthorized opening of the garage door. 
   2. Description of the Related Art 
   The subject matter of the present invention is deemed to be an improvement over U.S. Pat. No. 6,382,005, issued on May 7, 2002, by the present inventors. The subject matter of this invention achieves the same objective as the aforementioned patent but constitutes a far less complex structure which can be manufactured at less cost and thereby sold to the ultimate consumer at less cost. Automatic garage door mechanisms have now become exceedingly common in conjunction with garage doors of residences, such as houses, condominiums and apartments. These garage door opening mechanisms are principally for the purpose of allowing the user the convenience to open his or her garage door by a radio actuated switch, which is commonly referred to as a remote. Conventional garage door operating mechanisms are intended to provide security for the garage door so that when the garage door is in the closed position, the garage door is to be maintained closed unless it is actuated only by the individual with the remote. However, this has been known to impart a false sense of security for the garage door as residential burglary is commonly achieved by burglars which pry open the garage door. 
   One common form of garage door is having the door constructed of a single flat piece with the flat piece to be pivoted from a vertically oriented position when the garage door is closed to a substantially horizontal position when the garage door is open. Another common form of garage door is where the garage door is made of a series of panels. These panels are in alignment with each other when the door is closed. Opening of the garage door causes the panels to sequentially pivot from a vertical position to a horizontal position, and when the garage door is in the fully open position, the panels again are again in alignment. When the garage door is in the closed position, it is possible for a burglar to pry open the bottom edge of the garage door to create an opening of sufficient size that would permit a burglar to wiggle through the opening and gain access to the interior of the garage. After burglarizing of the residence, the burglar may load burglarized goods into a vehicle that is located within the garage, then start the vehicle, open the garage door and proceed with an unnoticed escape. 
   In the past, it has been known to provide solenoid actuated latches in the lower corner of the garage door that, when latched, would prevent a person from causing an unauthorized opening of the garage door. However, these solenoid types of latches are large in size and inherently expensive. Also, the mounting arrangement for the latches is complex with this complexity greatly increasing the cost of the installation of such a locking arrangement. 
   In the past, it has been known to utilize a separate manual garage door unlocking mechanism. While satisfactory for the intended purpose, such manually operated locking mechanisms are not readily adaptable for use with garage doors that incorporate automatic openers as such would not provide the convenience of automatic operation. In other words, with an individual approaching a garage door with one&#39;s car, it would require that the individual leave the car, go the garage door, open the garage door, and then get back into the car and move the car within the garage. The individual then would be required to exit the car and close the garage door prior to entering within the residence. It is far more convenient to use a remotely operated opening mechanism which does not require that the individual leave the car in order to gain access to within the garage and then can close the garage door as the individual is entering the residence not requiring the procedure of separately closing the garage door. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The basic embodiment of locking mechanism for a garage door of the present invention utilizes a first actuator designed to be pivotally mounted on the garage door directly adjacent a first side edge of the garage door and a second actuator designed to be pivotally mounted on the garage door directly adjacent a second side edge of the garage door. The first actuator is mounted on a carrier gear. A worm gear connects with the carrier gear. An electric motor rotates the worm gear hence pivoting of the carrier gear and the first actuator. The first actuator is mounted on a latch housing. A connecting member connects together both the first actuator and the second actuator so both the first actuator and the second actuator will move in unison. A first locking bolt is connected to the first actuator with sliding movement of the first locking bolt to occur between a first locking position in conjunction with the door jamb of the garage door and a first unlocking position spaced from the door jamb. The first locking bolt has a cutout which has a cutout wall. The first actuator has a rounded end which has a somewhat flattened configuration. This flattened configuration is to abut against this cutout wall when the first locking bolt is in the first locking position producing an “over-the-center” position which prevents movement of the first locking bolt by interference being created. Movement of the first locking bolt is only possible by initiating movement of the first actuator. The first actuator has a back end which extends through a slot formed in the latch housing. The first actuator extends exteriorly of the latch housing. The back end is manually accessible to cause the first actuator to pivot to cause the first locking bolt to move. A second locking bolt is connected to the second actuator. Movement of the second actuator causes sliding movement of the second locking bolt between a second locking position in conjunction with the door jamb and a second unlocking position spaced from the door jamb. With the first locking bolt in the first locking position and the second locking bolt in the second locking position, the garage door is fixed to the door jamb. With the first locking bolt in the first unlocking position and the second locking bolt in the second unlocking position, the garage door is movable relative to the door jamb that will permit the garage door to move from a closed position to an open position, and vice versa. 
   A further embodiment of the present invention is where the basic embodiment is modified by having the first actuator being designed to be connected to a limit switch with this limit switch to deactivate movement of the actuators when the garage door is in the fully closed position and also in the fully open position. 
   A further embodiment of the present invention is where the first basic embodiment is modified by the first locking bolt being movable in a direction opposite to movement of the second locking bolt. 
   A further embodiment of the present invention is where the basic embodiment is modified by both the first locking bolt and the second locking bolt each being linearly movable. 
   A further embodiment of the present invention is where the basic embodiment is modified by having the pivotable movement of the first actuator being in the same direction as the pivotable movement of the second actuator. 
   A further embodiment of the present invention is where the basic embodiment is modified by defining the connecting member as a thin rod. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     For a better understanding of the present invention, reference is to be made to the accompanying drawings. It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the precise arrangement shown in the drawings. 
       FIG. 1  is an elevational view of an inside surface of a garage door on which is being mounted the locking apparatus of the present invention; 
       FIG. 2  is a cross-sectional view taken through a portion of the locking mechanism of the present invention taken along line  2 - 2  of  FIG. 1 ; 
       FIG. 3  is a cross-sectional view through the first actuator assembly utilized in conjunction with the locking apparatus of the present invention; 
       FIG. 4  is a cross-sectional view through the first actuator assembly of the present invention taken along line  4 - 4  of  FIG. 3 ; 
       FIG. 5  is a cross-sectional view through the second actuator assembly utilized in conjunction with the locking apparatus of the present invention taken along line  5 - 5  of  FIG. 1 ; 
       FIG. 6  is a cross-sectional view through the second actuator assembly included within the locking apparatus of the present invention taken along line  6 - 6  of  FIG. 5 ; and 
       FIG. 7  is a cross-sectional view taken through the garage door to show the mounting of an indicator light in conjunction with the garage door which indicates that the garage door is in a locked position taken along line  7 - 7  of  FIG. 4 . 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
   Referring particularly to  FIG. 1  of the drawings, there is shown a garage door opening  10  which is formed between a right side door jamb  12  and a left side door jamb  14 . The door jambs  12  and  14  are connected together at their top edge by a header  16 . The header  16  as well as the jambs  12  and  14  form part of a vertical building or house wall  18 . A garage door  20  is mounted within the opening  10 . The garage door  20  is mounted in a manner to substantially be capable of closing of opening  10 . The garage door  20  is counterbalancingly supported by spring assemblies  22  and  24  which will permit the garage door  20  to be opened with a low amount of force. The garage door  20  is to pivot by means of a linkage assembly, which is not shown, about a pivot axis  26 , which is depicted within  FIG. 1 . There will be attached to the door  20  an automatic garage door opening mechanism, which will be described later. 
   Mounted on the right side door jamb  12  is a latch plate  28 . Although a separate latch plate  28  is shown, it is considered to be within the scope of this invention that instead of a latch plate there could be just formed a hole directly within the door jamb  12 . The latch plate  28  includes a through hole  30 . A locking bolt  32 , which comprises a rigid metallic bar, is to be extendable through the hole  30 . 
   The locking bolt  32  is slidingly mounted within a channel  34  formed within a latch housing  36 . The locking bolt  32  includes a cutout  38  located intermediate the ends of the locking bolt  32 . Mounted within the cutout  32  is a ball shaped or rounded end  40  of an actuator  42 . Actuator  42  comprises an elongated lever which is mounted on a pivot pin  44  intermediate the ends of the actuator  42 . The pivot pin  44  is mounted on the latch housing  36 . It is to be understood that the actuator  42  is located within internal chamber  46  of the latch housing  36 . The latch housing  36  is fixedly mounted by nails, screws or other similar type of fasteners  48  to the door  20  directly adjacent the right edge  50  of the door  20 . It is to be understood that there will be used a plurality of the fasteners  48 . 
   Extending within the internal chamber  46  is one end of a rod  52 . The rod  52  is mounted within a hole  54  formed in one end of the actuator  42 . The rod  52  extends exteriorly of the latch housing  36  until the rod  52  passes within internal chamber  56  of a latch housing  58 . Latch housing  58  is also mounted on door  20  but directly adjacent the left edge of door  20 . The rod  52 , in between the latch housings  36  and  58 , may be covered as with an elongated plastic sleeve  60 . The end of the rod  52  that is located within the internal chamber  56  is conducted through a hole in cutout wall  62  which forms one end of a cutout  64 . Cutout wall  62 , as well as cutout wall  66 , are formed integral with locking bolt  68 . Locking bolt  68  is slidable within a channel  70  formed within the latch housing  58 . The outer end of the locking bolt  68  extends exteriorly of the latch housing  58  and passes through a hole  72  formed within a latch plate  74 . Latch plate  74  is fixedly mounted onto the left side door jamb  14 . Again, instead of using latch plate  74 , there actually could be formed just a hole within the left side door jamb  14 . 
   The rod  52  extends entirely across the cutout  64 . Retraction of the rod  52  from the cutout  64  is prevented by means of bulbous member  76  which is fixedly secured to the rod  52  directly adjacent the cutout wall  62 . Mounted within the latch housing  58  is a motor  78 . Motor  78  is to be operated electrically by means of an electrical wire assembly  80 . The electrical wire assembly  80  is formed into a tightly wound coil  82  which is conducted along the pivot axis  26  to the left side door jamb  14  and then extends up to the header  16 . The electrical wire assembly  82  then connects to an electronic controller  88 . Bracket  84  is mounted on header  16  and is used to mount one end of rail  86  of the garage door opener. Movably mounted on the rail  86  is a link  90  which connects to the garage door  20 . Actuating of the controller  88  by means of a hand held remote  92  will result in the link  90  being moved along the rail  86  which will result in opening of the garage door  20  from the closed position to the open position. Actuating of the remote  92  again will result in reverse movement of the link  90  and result in closing of the garage door  20 . 
   Included in conjunction with the controller  88  is the appropriate controls for operating of the locking apparatus of the present invention. These controls also will be operated by a remote similar to remote  92  or could even be the same remote. Activating of that remote manually will result in an electrical voltage being applied to the motor  78 . Activation of motor  78  causes turning of shaft  94 . Shaft  94  has mounted thereon a worm gear  96 . Worm gear  96  engages with a carrier gear  98 . Carrier gear  98  is pivotally mounted on a pivot pin  100  which is mounted on the latch housing  58 . Also mounted on the pivot pin  100  is an actuator  102  in the form of an elongated lever. The actuator  102  has a front end  104  which is formed into a rounded end  106 . The rounded end  106  rides within the cutout  64 . Activation of the motor  78  will cause the worm gear  96  to rotate and also cause rotation of the carrier gear  98  as well as the actuator  102 . This will cause the rounded end  106  to force linear movement of the cutout  64  resulting in the locking bolt  68  to be moved from the position shown in  FIG. 4  to a position where the locking bolt  68  is substantially totally confined within the latch housing  58 . The actuator  102  is pivoted in a clockwise direction, as is readily apparent in  FIG. 4  of the drawings. The rod  52 , being also connected to actuator  42 , causes actuator  42  to pivot clockwise. The end  40  of the actuator  42  riding within cutout  38  will cause the locking bolt  32  to move linearly and also be substantially totally confined within its internal chamber  46  of the latch housing  36 . At this particular time, the reed  108  of a reed switch assembly  110  abuts against shoulder  112  of a slot  114  formed within the actuator  102 . The reed switch assembly  110  will then cause shut down of the motor  78  not permitting any further rotation of the worm gear  96 . In this particular position, the garage door  20  can be pivoted within the opening  10 . 
   If for reason of electrical failure it is desired to operate the locking apparatus manually, an individual only needs to apply sufficient force to back end  103  of actuator  102  to cause retraction of locking bolt  68 . Back end  103  protrudes through slot  57  of latch housing  58  to make both end  103  accessible to manual movement. 
   Let it now be assumed that it is desired to close the garage door  20  thereby closing of the opening  10 . Activating of remote  92  will start the closing operation for the garage door  20 . When the garage door  20  is in the completely closed position, activation of the motor  78  is to occur which will cause the actuator  102  to pivot counterclockwise slidingly moving of the locking bolt  68  to extend through the through hole  72  and also to move locking bolt  32  to extend through the through hole  30 . When the locking bolts  68  and  32  are moved to their maximum outward position, the reed  108  will abut against the shoulder  116  which will cause deactivation of the motor  78  thereby no further pivoting movement will occur of the actuator  102 . In this particular position, the garage door  20  is now locked relative to the door jambs  12  and  14 . 
   When the garage door  20  is in the locked position, the reed switch  110  will also cause transmission of a voltage through a line  18  to an indicator light bulb  120 . This indicator light bulb  120  is mounted within the wall  18 . This indicator light bulb  120  can be observed exteriorly of the garage door  20  so that when a user comes up to the exterior surface of the door  20 , the user can readily see that the garage door is locked by the bulb  20  shining brightly. 
   The rounded end  106  of the actuator  102  has a somewhat flattened configuration. When the locking bolt  68  is in the position shown in  FIG. 4  and the garage door  20  is locked, the face  106  is to be abutted against cutout wall  66 . This creates and “over-the-center” position which will prevent movement of the locking bolt  68 . If a burglar thinks he or she can deactivate the locking apparatus of this invention by manually moving of the locking bolt  68  to the unlatched position, such is not possible because of the interference it has created by the cutout wall  66  abutting against the rounded end  106  of the actuator  102 . 
   If the electricity to the locking apparatus is not being conducted and it is desired to move the locking apparatus to the unlocked position so that the door  20  can be opened, a manual graspable lanyard  122  is provided which extends exteriorly of the housing  58  and exteriorly of the garage. The lanyard  122  connects to a link  124  which is also mounted on the pivot pin  100  and is fixed to the actuator  102 . A coil spring  126  connects between the link  124  and the latch housing  58  with the function of the coil spring  126  is to tend to exert a bias on the link  124  to insure that it is in the position shown in  FIG. 4 , which is the inactivated position. Pulling on the lanyard  122  will cause the actuator  102  to be pivoted clockwise and cause the locking bolt  68  to be withdrawn from the hole  72  and also cause locking bolt  32  to be withdrawn from hole  30  and will then permit the garage door  20  to be pivotally moved relative to the opening  10 . 
   The latch housing  58  is to be mounted by a plurality of fasteners  128  to the door  20  directly adjacent the left edge  130  of the door  20 . The rod  52  is mounted within a guide  132  which is mounted on the latch housing  58  and is located within the internal chamber  56 . In a similar manner, the rod  52  is mounted in conjunction with a guide  134  which is mounted on the latch housing  36  and is located within the internal chamber  46 . 
   The discussion included in this patent is intended to serve as a basic description. The reader should be aware that the specific discussion may not explicitly describe all embodiments possible and alternatives are implicit. Also, this discussion may not fully explain the generic nature of the invention and may not explicitly show how each feature or element can actually be representative of a broader function or of a great variety of alternative or equivalent elements. Again, these are implicitly included in this disclosure. Where the invention is described in device-oriented terminology, each element of the device implicitly performs a function. It should also be understood that a variety of changes may be made without departing from the essence of the invention. Such changes are also implicitly included in the description. These changes still fall within the scope of this invention. 
   Further, each of the various elements of the invention and claims may also be achieved in a variety of manners. This disclosure should be understood to encompass each such variation, be it a variation of any apparatus embodiment, a method embodiment, or even merely a variation of any element of these. Particularly, it should be understood that as the disclosure relates to elements of the invention, the words for each element may be expressed by equivalent apparatus terms even if only the function or result is the same. Such equivalent, broader, or even more generic terms should be considered to be encompassed in the description of each element or action. Such terms can be substituted where desired to make explicit the implicitly broad coverage to which this invention is entitled. It should be understood that all actions may be expressed as a means for taking that action or as an element which causes that action. Similarly, each physical element disclosed should be understood to encompass a disclosure of the action which that physical element facilitates. Such changes and alternative terms are to be understood to be explicitly included in the description.