Abstract:
A door lockset mounting tool includes a base body, which has a first plate member and a second plate member fixedly arranged at right angles, a first positioning hole defined in the first plate member, and a second positioning hole defined in the second plate member, a positioning mechanism, which is movably mounted in the first positioning hole of the base body for defining a first drilling center, and a positioning device, which is mounted in the second positioning hole for defining a second drilling center.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0002]     The present invention relates to joiner&#39;s tools and more particularly, to a door lockset mounting tool for guiding installation of a lockset in any of a variety of door panels.  
         [0003]     2. Description of the Related Art  
         [0004]     When a worker or user wishes to install a door lockset in a door panel, he/she may adhere a positioning sticker, which is contained in the purchased door lockset, to the door panel, and then defines the front drilling center and the side drilling center subject to the marks at the positioning sticker, and then use a drill to drill holes on the door panel for mounting the door lockset. This positioning sticker is easy to use. However, inaccurate positioning of the positioning sticker on the door panel may affect the performance of the installed door lockset. Further, the side hole mark on the positioning sticker is not adjustable subject to different door panels having a different thickness.  
         [0005]     There is also known an L-shaped positioning plate for guiding the installation of a lockset, as shown in  FIG. 1 . According to this design, the L-shaped positioning plate  80  has a front hole  82  and a side hole  84 . When in use, the L-shaped positioning plate  80  is secured to the door panel  12 , and then a hole saw  86  is used to make holes on the door panel  12  corresponding to the front hole  82  and side hole  84  of the L-shaped positioning plate  80 . This L-shaped positioning plate  80  does not allow the user to adjust the position of the side hole  84  to fit different door panels having a different thickness.  
         [0006]     Further, U.S. Pat. No. 4,280,776 discloses a door lockset mounting tool, entitled “Apparatus for installation of a door lockset.” According to this design, the apparatus comprises a drill guide for use during the installation of locksets in doors. The guide has a base body with preferably two recesses formed on the flat faces of opposite sides of the guide. One of the recesses has a flat base for straight-edged doors and the other has a sloped base for beveled-edged doors. An aperture extends through the base body from recess to recess and is centered relative to the recesses so that the flat face serves as a guide for drilling pilot holes on the face of the door, while the recesses selectively serve as self-centerable guides for drilling pilot holes for either straight- or beveled-edged doors. A drift punch can be inserted into the edge pilot hole after the face hole has been made so that upon closing the door and urging the drift punch into the jamb, a mark will be made which is the center of the strike hole. This apparatus is functional; however, the operation procedure of this apparatus is complicated.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0007]     The present invention has been accomplished under the circumstances in view. It is one objective of the present invention to provide a door lockset mounting tool, which can quickly define the center line of different door panels that have a different thickness.  
         [0008]     It is another objective of the present invention to provide a door lockset mounting tool, which can define the door lockset mounting hole on different door panels at a different pitch.  
         [0009]     To achieve these objectives of the present invention, the door lockset mounting tool comprises a base body, a positioning mechanism and a positioning device. The base body comprises a first plate member and a second plate member fixedly arranged at right angles, a first positioning hole defined in the first plate member, and a second positioning hole defined in the second plate member. The positioning mechanism is movably mounted in the first positioning hole of the base body for defining a first drilling center. The positioning device is mounted in the second positioning hole for defining a second drilling center. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0010]      FIG. 1  is a schematic drawing showing the use of an L-shaped positioning plate according to the prior art.  
         [0011]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view of a door lockset mounting tool according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0012]      FIG. 3  is an exploded view of the door lockset mounting tool according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0013]      FIG. 4  is a schematic side view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention, showing the positioning mechanism clamped on a relatively thinner door panel.  
         [0014]      FIG. 5  is another schematic side view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention, showing the positioning mechanism clamped on a relatively thicker door panel.  
         [0015]      FIG. 6  is a schematic front view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention, showing the circular ring of the positioning device set relatively closer to the side edge of the door panel.  
         [0016]      FIG. 7  is another schematic front view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention, showing the circular ring of the positioning device set relatively farther to the side edge of the door panel.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0017]     As shown in  FIG. 24 , a door lockset mounting tool  10  in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention comprises a base body  20 , a positioning mechanism  50 , and a locating device  66 .  
         [0018]     The base body  20  comprises a first plate member  22  and a second plate member  24  perpendicularly connected to the first plate member  22 , that is, the first plate member  22  has one side perpendicularly connected to one side of the second plate member  24 . The first plate member  22  has a positioning hole  26 , and two hooks, namely, the first hook  30  and the second hook  32  disposed at two sides relative to the positioning hole  26 . The first plate member  22  has two sliding slots, namely, a first sliding slot  34  and a second sliding slot  36  bilaterally disposed adjacent to the second plate member  24 . The second plate member  24  has a positioning hole  28 , four locating holes  38  equiangularly spaced around the positioning hole  28 , and four pads  40  respectively affixed to the locating holes  38 .  
         [0019]     The positioning mechanism  50  is installed in the base body  20  and comprises a first positioning ring  52 , a second positioning ring  54 , a lock ring  56 , two plug pins  581  and  583 , two sliding pins  59   a  and  59   b , four rollers  60 , a first spring member  62 , and a second spring member  64 . The first positioning ring  52  is rotatably and slidably mounted in the positioning hole  26  of the first plate member  22  and provided with two arms, namely, the first arm  521  and the second arm  522  respectively disposed at two opposite sides adjacent to one end thereof and aligned in a line, and an outer thread  525  extending around the periphery at the other end remove from the arms  521  and  522 . The arms  521  and  522  each have a round hole  523  or  524  near the respective free end. The second positioning ring  54  is sleeved onto the first positioning ring  52  and provided with two arms, namely, the first arm  541  and the second arm  542  respectively disposed at two opposite sides and aligned in a line. The arms  541  and  542  each have a round hole  543  or  544  near the respective free end. When the first positioning ring  52  and the second positioning ring  54  are coupled together, each two adjacent arms define a contained angle. The lock ring  56  has an inner thread  561  threaded onto the outer thread  525  of the first positioning ring  52 , and a plurality of grooves  562  equiangularly spaced around the periphery.  
         [0020]     The two plug pins  581  and  583  each have a protruding portion  582  or  584  at one end. The protruding portions  582  and  584  of the plug pins  581  and  583  are respectively inserted into the round hole  524  of the second arm  522  of the first positioning ring  52  and the round hole  544  of the second arm  542  of the second positioning ring  54 . The two sliding pins  59   a  and  59   b  are respectively inserted through the round hole  543  of the first arm  541  of the second positioning ring  54  and the round hole  523  of the first arm  521  of the first positioning ring  52  and respectively slidably inserted through the first sliding slot  34  and the second sliding slot  36 . The rollers  60  are tubular members respectively sleeved onto the plug pins  581  and  583  and the sliding pins  59   a  and  59   b . The first spring member  62  is a compression spring having a first end hook  621  fastened to the protruding portion  582  of one plug pin  581 , and a second end hook  622  fastened to the first hook  30  of the first plate member  22 . The second spring member  64  is a compression spring having a first end hook  641  fastened to the protruding portion  584  of the other plug pin  583  and a second end hook  642 .fastened to the second hook  32  of the first plate member  22 .  
         [0021]     The locating device  66  is mounted in the positioning hole  28  of the second plate member  24 . The locating device  66  has a circular ring  70  and an oval ring  72 . The circular ring  70  is formed in the oval ring  72 .  
         [0022]     Referring to  FIG. 6  and  FIGS. 3 and 4  again, when using the door lockset mounting tool  10  in a door panel  12  that is relatively thinner, the pads  40  at the second plate member  24  are stopped against one side of the door panel  12 , and then bias the second arm  522  of the first positioning ring  52  and the second arm  542  of the second positioning ring  54  through an angle θ1, and then set the door panel  12  in the positioning mechanism  50 . Thereafter, release the hands from the second arm  522  of the first positioning ring  52  and the second arm  542  of the second positioning ring  54 , for enabling the arms  522  and  542  to be returned by the respective spring members  62  and  64  and forced to clamp on the door panel  12 , keeping the center hole  51  of the first positioning ring  52  on the center of the thickness of the door panel  12 . At this time, the distance between the center of the first positioning ring  52  and a side edge of the door panel  12  is defined to be t1. After the positioning mechanism  50  has defined the centerline of the door panel  12 , the lock ring  56  is rotated and moved from position B 1  to position B 2  to lock the first positioning ring  52  and the second positioning ring  54 .  
         [0023]     Referring to  FIG. 5 , when using the door lockset mounting tool in a door panel  12  that is relatively thicker, the installation procedure is substantially similar to  FIG. 4  with the exception that the second arm  522  of the first positioning ring  52  and the second arm  542  of the second positioning ring  54  are biased through a relatively greater angle θ2 than θ1. After the arms  522  and  542  have been biased through angle θ2, the door panel  12  is set in the positioning mechanism  50 , and then the hands are released from the arms  522  and  542 , for enabling the arms  522  and  542  to be returned by the respective spring members  62  and  64  and forced to clamp on the door panel  12 , keeping the center hole  51  of the first positioning ring  52  on the center of the thickness of the door panel  12 . At this time, the distance between the center of the first positioning ring  52  and each side of the door panel  12  is defined to be t2. After the positioning mechanism  50  has defined the centerline of the door panel  12 , the lock ring  56  is fastened tight to lock the first positioning ring  52  and the second positioning ring  54 .  
         [0024]     Referring to  FIG. 6  again, the when the circular ring  70  of the positioning device  66  is attached to the door panel, the distance between the center of the circular ring  70  and the outer side of the door panel  12  is defined to be h1. Subject to this distance h1, the user can accurately drill the designed hole out of the door panel  12  for door lockset.  
         [0025]     Referring to  FIG. 7 , the positioning device  66  of the door lockset mounting tool  10  can be rotated through 180 degrees and then set in the positioning hole  28  of the second plate member  24 . At this time, the distance between the center of the circular ring  70  and the outer side of the door panel  12  is changed from h1 to h2. The user can then drill the designed hole out of the door panel  12  for door lockset subject to distance h2.  
         [0026]     As indicated above, by means of the positioning mechanism  50  and the positioning device  66  of the door lockset mounting tool  10 , the user can accurately drill the door lockset hole and the related side hole for latch. Further, the positioning mechanism  50  and the positioning device  66  can be set to fit different door panels having different thickness or different door lockset mounting positions.  
         [0027]     Although a particular embodiment of the invention has been described in detail for purposes of illustration, various modifications and enhancements may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the invention is not to be limited except as by the appended claims.