Patent Publication Number: US-2009229322-A1

Title: Storm door lock assembly

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     (1) Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a storm door lock assembly which can be opened from inside by one action. 
     (2) Description of the Prior Art 
     A conventional door lock generally includes a latch bolt and a dead bolt, the latch bolt is operated by rotating the door knob and the dead bolt can only be operated by using a key to unlock the lock. The user can easily open the door from outside simply by rotating the door knob or using the key, the latch bolt and the dead bolt are both operated and the door can be opened. However, the user cannot open the door from inside by one action as from the outside, the user has to rotate the inside door knob by one hand and rotate the other knob to remove the latch bolt. 
     Although an improved door lock assembly is developed and allows the user to open the door from inside by one action, the number of parts of this type of door assembly makes the assembling processes complicated and time-consuming. Besides, the cost of fabrication is high and therefore reduces the competitiveness in the market. 
     The present invention intends to provide a storm door assembly which involves a simple structure and allows the user to open the door by one action from outside or inside. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a storm door lock assembly that comprises an escutcheon composed of a front panel, a rear panel and a face plate connected between the front panel and the rear panel. Each of the front and rear panels includes a door knob hole and a lock hole so that an outside door knob and an inside door knob (both not shown) are respectively connected to the door knob holes. The lock holes are cooperated with a lock set (not shown). The face plate includes a latch hole and a bolt hole. A latch bolt retractably extends through the latch hole and a dead bolt retractably extends through the bolt hole of the face plate. 
     An operation unit is located between the front and rear panels and includes an outer member, an inner member and a movable member which is located between the outer and inner members. The outer member includes a first link, a first push bar and a first extension extending radially therefrom. The outer member is connected with an outside door knob. The inner member includes a second link, a second push bar and a second extension extending radially therefrom. The inner member is connected with an inside door knob. The first and second links are connected with the movable member. The first and second push bars drive the latch bolt to retract into the escutcheon. 
     A mounting member is mounted to the dead bolt. A boss extends from one side of the dead bolt and movably engaged with an elongate hole in the mounting member. The mounting member includes a positioning piece extending therefrom which is movably engaged with the positioning hole in the front panel. The mounting member is connected to the movable member and biased by a spring. A spring board has one end pivotably connected to the escutcheon and the other end of the spring board is inserted into a bottom chamber in the dead bolt. 
     The primary object of the present invention is to provide a storm door lock assembly which can be unlocked by rotating the inside door knob. 
     The present invention will become more obvious from the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings which show, for purposes of illustration only, a preferred embodiment in accordance with the present invention. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is an exploded view to show the storm door lock assembly of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  shows that the dead bolt is retracted in the escutcheon and the latch bolt extends from the face plate, the door is not locked; 
         FIG. 3  shows that both of the dead bolt and the latch bolt extend from the face plate, the door is locked; 
         FIG. 4  shows that the operation unit is operated by rotating the inside door knob and the latch bolt is retracted into the escutcheon, and 
         FIG. 5  shows that the dead bolt is retracted into the escutcheon when the mounted member is lifted to a position and the dead bolt is retracted into the escutcheon by the spring board, the door is unlocked and can be opened. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , the storm door lock assembly of the present invention comprises an escutcheon  10  composed of a front panel  12 , a rear panel  13  and a face plate  11  connected between the front panel  12  and the rear panel  13 . Each of the front and rear panels  12 ,  13  includes a door knob hole  121  and a lock hole  122  so that an outside door knob and an inside door knob (both not shown) are respectively connected to the door knob holes of the front panel  12  and the rear panel  13 . The lock holes  122  are cooperated with a lock set (not shown). The front panel  12  includes an inverted U-shaped positioning hole  124  which includes a horizontal passage. The face plate  11  includes a latch hole  111  and a bolt hole  112 . A latch bolt  21  retractably extends through the latch hole  111  of the face plate  11  and a dead bolt  51  retractably extends through the bolt hole  112  of the face plate  11 . A shank  22  has one end connected to the latch bolt  21  and a stop  23  is connected to the other of the shank  22 , a first spring  24  is mounted to the shank  22  and biased between the latch bolt  21  and the stop  23 . A U-shaped member  123  extends from an inside of the front panel  12  and the shank  22  is movably engaged with the U-shaped member  123  and the stop  23  is stopped by the U-shaped member  123 . 
     An operation unit is located between the front and rear panels  12 ,  13  and includes an outer member  41 , an inner member  42  and a movable member  30  which is located between the outer and inner members  41 ,  42 . The outer member  41  includes a first link  411 , a first push bar  412  and a first extension  413  extending radially therefrom. A first polygonal hole  414  is defined through the outer member  41  so as to be connected with an outside door knob (not shown). The inner member  42  includes a second link  421 , a second push bar  422  and a second extension  423  extending radially therefrom. A second polygonal hole  424  is defined through the inner member  42  so as to be connected with an inside door knob (not shown). The first link  411  has a hole and the second link  421  has another hole  425 , the movable member  30  has a passage  31 , a pin  43  extends through the two holes in the first and second links  411 ,  421  and the passage  31  in the movable member  30 . The first and second push bars  412 ,  422  are located between the stop  23  and the U-shaped member  123  so that when either of the outer member  41  or the inner member  42  is rotated, the latch bolt  21  is retracted into the escutcheon  10 . A rod  33  extends from the movable member  30  and a through hole  521  is defined through the mounting member  52 , the rod  33  extends through the through hole  521 . The movable member  30  further includes an elongate slot  32  and a rod extending from the inside of the front panel  12  movably extends through the elongate slot  32  so that the movable member  30  can be traveled a distance the same as the length of the elongate slot  32 . A support board  125  extends from the inside of the front panel  12  and two second springs  44  are located between the support board  125  and the first and second extensions  413 ,  423 . 
     A dead bolt  51  retractably extends through the bolt hole  112  in the face plate  11  and a mounting member  52  is mounted to the dead bolt  51 . A boss  514  extends from one side of the dead bolt  51  and movably engaged with an elongate hole  522  in the mounting member  52 . The mounting member  52  includes a positioning piece  523  extending therefrom which is movably engaged with the positioning hole  124  in the front panel  12 . It is noted that the positioning hole  124  is an inverted U-shaped hole and includes a horizontal path through which the positioning piece  523  passes. The positioning piece  523  can be positioned in two inner ends of the positioning hole  124 . The dead bolt  51  has a recess  512  defined in a bottom thereof and a third spring  513  is located in the recess  512  and biased between an inner end of the mounting member  52  and an inner end of the recess  512 . A spring board  60  has one end pivotably connected to a rod  126  on the front panel  12  of the escutcheon  10  and the other end of the spring board  60  is inserted into a bottom chamber  511  in the dead bolt  51 . 
       FIG. 2  shows that the dead bolt  51  is retracted in the escutcheon  10  and the latch bolt  21  extends from the face plate  11 , the door is not locked. The user can retract the latch bolt  21  from inside or outside of the door.  FIG. 3  shows that both of the dead bolt  51  and the latch bolt  21  extend from the face plate  11 , the door is locked and the positioning piece  523  is located at the position “A” in one inner end of the positioning hole  124 . 
       FIGS. 4 and 5  show two consecutive actions when unlocking and opening the door, the user users a key (not shown) to unlock the lock core (not shown) in the lock holes  122  so as to rotate the outside door knob. The outer member  41  is then rotated to retract the latch bolt  21  and lift the movable member  30  upward. The movement of the movable member  30  lifts the mounting member  52  by the rod  33  on the movable member  30 , so that the third spring  513  is compressed as shown. When the positioning piece  523  is moved to the horizontal passage at position “B” in the positioning hole  124 , the dead bolt  51  is pulled by the spring board  60  to retract into the escutcheon  10 . the door can be opened. 
     The door can be opened by rotating either of the inside door knob or the outside door knob to operate the operation unit, the operation of the operation unit then lifts the mounting member  52  to retract the dead bolt  51 . 
     While we have shown and described the embodiment in accordance with the present invention, it should be clear to those skilled in the art that further embodiments may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.