Patent Publication Number: US-4546628-A

Title: Handle device for doors

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a handle device for doors, and more particularly to a handle device in a large-sized refrigerator or the like with which a door can be opened by unlocking the door from inside it. 
     With a prior-art handle device for a door which permits the door to be opened from inside it, a handle grip is directly pushed by a push rod located inside the door, so as to slide and retract a latch. 
     Therefore, the unlocking operation is cumbersome. Moreover, when the movement of the handle grip is limited by an obstacle such as baggage put in front of the door or when the handle grip is locked with a padlock or the like, it is impossible to unlock the door from inside the same. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide a handle device for a door with which the operation of unlocking the door is easily performed and with which the door can be readily unlocked from inside it even when the motion of a handle grip is limited by an obstacle lying in front of the door or when the handle grip itself is locked. 
     In one aspect of performance of the present invention, a handle device for a door comprises a device proper which is installed on a door panel, a handle grip which is connected to said device proper by a pivot pin, a latch which is retractably mounted on said device proper, an actuating lever which is connected in said device proper by said pivot pin and which is pushed by said handle grip to slide and retract said latch, a reset lever which is connected in said device proper by said pivot pin and which drives said actuating lever when pushed by a push rod extending inside the door, a lock plate which is secured to said device proper and which checks the retractive slide of said latch in engagement therewith, and a lock which is mounted on said device proper and which has a lock cam secured to a rotor, said lock cam releasing the engagement between said lock plate and said latch, so that when the inside push rod is pushed to turn said reset lever, the engagement between said lock plate and said latch is released, and said latch is slid and retracted by the turning of said actuating lever interlocked with said reset lever. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a handle device for doors illustrative of an embodiment of the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a front view of the handle device for doors; 
     FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line A--A&#39; in FIG. 2; and 
     FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line B--B&#39; in FIG. 3. 
    
    
     PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings illustrating an embodiment thereof. The handle device for doors according to the present invention has its device proper 1 installed on a door panel 25. A handle grip 2 is connected to the device proper 1 by a pivot pin 8. A latch 3 is retractably mounted on the device proper 1. An actuating lever 9 is connected in the device proper 1 by the pivot pin 8, and is pushed by the handle grip 2 to slide and retract the latch 3. A reset lever 10 is connected in the device proper 1 by the pivot pin 8, and drives the actuating lever 9 when pushed by a push rod 22 extending inside the door. A lock plate 15 is secured to the device proper 1, and checks the retractive slide of the latch 3 in engagement therewith. A lock 6 is mounted on the device proper 1, and has a lock cam 11 secured to a rotor 7, for releasing the engagement between the lock plate 15 and the latch 3. 
     In the illustrated embodiment, the lock plate 15 has its rear end part fixed to the device proper 1 by a screw 20, and it is pushed up by a coiled compression spring 18. The sideward lugs 15a of the lock plate 15 at the front end thereof, check the retractive slide of the latch 3 in engagement with the vertical walls 3a of the latch 3. The reset lever 10 has at its rear end part a driven piece 10a which is bent and formed at a right angle. 
     The lock cam 11 is secured to the rotor 7 by a screw 12. When the rotor 7 is rotated by 180 degrees by the use of a key inserted in the lock 6, the lock cam 11 releases the engagement between the sideward lugs 15a of the lock plate 15 and the vertical walls 3a of the latch 3 in such a manner that the slanted face 11a of the lock cam at the lower part thereof depresses the tongue 15b of the lock plate at the front end thereof. 
     When the handle grip 2 is drawn and rotated outside the door, e.g., outside a refrigerator, the actuating lever 9 is pushed by the driving portion 2a of the handle grip 2 at the front end thereof and is turned, and the front end part 9a of the actuating lever 9 drives a driven pin 14 at the rear end part of the latch 3 under traction. Owing to the tractive drive, the latch 3 is slid to recede against the urging of a spring 4. 
     During the rotation of the handle grip 2, the reset lever 10 rotates therewith under the traction of an interlocking pin 19 which is held in engagement with a circular slot 26 provided in this lever 10. Owing to the receding slide of the latch 3, the front end part 3b of the latch comes away from a seat 24 on the side of a refrigerator body 23, so that the door panel 25 is unlocked and becomes openable. 
     When the push rod 22 is pushed inside the door, namely, inside the refrigerator, its front end part pushes the back surface of the driven piece 10a of the reset lever 10 so s to turn this reset lever. At the initial stage of the turning, the lower part 10b of the reset lever 10 at the front end thereof, depresses the lock plate 15 so as to release the engagement between the lock plate 15 and the latch 3. 
     When the push rod 22 is further continued to be pushed in, the actuating lever 9 whose rear end part 9b abuts on the fore surface side of the driven piece 10a is driven to turn. The turning of the actuating lever 9 subjects the latch 3 to traction. Likewise to the foregoing, the door becomes openable owing to the receding slide of the latch 3. 
     With the device of the present invention constructed as thus far described, the handle grip 2 is not concerned at all by the operation of sliding and retracting the latch from inside the door. Therefore, even in such state in which the handle grip 2 is locked and fixed by passing the hook rod of a padlock through a keyhole or in which the handle grip 2 is immovable on account of an obstacle lying in front of the door, the latch 3 can be properly slid and retracted so as to open the door, and the danger of confining an operator within the refrigerator is eliminated. A further advantage is that, since the handle grip 2 need not be pushed and moved, the unlocking operation is easily performed.