Patent Publication Number: US-8534100-B2

Title: Door lock whose transmission mechanism is controlled by a key

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of Invention 
     The invention relates to a door lock and, in particular, to a door lock whose transmission mechanism is controlled by a key. 
     2. Related Art 
       FIG. 9  shows a conventional door lock. In its housing  90 , a key retracts a lock tongue  91  and opens it. Also a knob drives another lock tongue  92  to retract and open. They connect the auxiliary lock ensembles  93  on both ends of the door. Therefore, to open the lock, one has to use a key and turn the knob. Such a door lock structure is more complicated and expensive. It is thus an objective of the invention to solve this problem. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An objective of the invention is to provide a lock whose transmission mechanism is controlled by a key. It simplifies the door lock components and the structure thereof. The cost can thus be decreased. 
     To achieve the above objective, the door lock includes a main lock ensemble at the center of the door and an auxiliary lock ensemble on each end of the door. The main lock ensemble and the auxiliary lock ensemble on both ends of the door are connected by long bars. The main lock ensemble includes: a housing whose central position has a pivotal part that automatically returns to its original position after pivotally rotating to a fixed angle. The pivotal part drives a first connecting bar to move vertically and a second connecting bar to pivotally swing as it turns. As the first connecting bar moves vertically, it drives a third connecting bar to swing pivotally. One end of the third connecting bar leads a vertical bar to move vertically. One end of the housing has a position limiting element that positions the vertical bar at the unlocked state. Both ends of the vertical bar connect to the long bars of the auxiliary lock ensembles, controlling the auxiliary lock ensembles to open or close the lock. As the second connecting bar swings, it leads a lock tongue to retract into or extend out of the housing. One end of the housing has a lock core driven by a key. The lock core shifts a lock chip horizontally, and has a positioning element for positioning the lock chip after its shift. When the lock chip shifts toward the vertical bar, it blocks the vertical bar from moving sideways. It also prevents the pivotal part from extending the lock tongue. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given herein below illustration only, and thus is not limitative of the present invention, and wherein: 
         FIG. 1  is a three-dimensional view of the transmission mechanism in the disclosed door lock; 
         FIG. 2  is a three-dimensional assembly view of the transmission mechanism in the main lock ensemble of the invention; 
         FIG. 3  is a three-dimensional exploded view of the transmission mechanism in the main lock ensemble of the invention; 
         FIG. 4  shows the structure of the disclosed main lock ensemble and the bottom of the pivotal part; 
         FIG. 5  is a schematic view showing the transmission for the main lock ensemble to close the lock; 
         FIG. 6  is a schematic view showing the transmission for locking the door lock; 
         FIG. 7  is a schematic view showing the transmission for the main lock ensemble to open the lock; 
         FIG. 8  is a schematic view showing the transmission for opening the door lock; and 
         FIG. 9  shows the transmission mechanism of a conventional door lock. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The present application will be apparent from the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein the same references relate to the same elements. For the present application, the vertical direction shall be defined as parallel lengthwise to the long side of the lock housing, and the horizontal direction shall be defined as orthogonal to the vertical direction in the plane of the lock housing. 
     Please refer to  FIGS. 1 to 8  for an embodiment of the invention, which is only an example. This embodiment provides a door lock whose transmission mechanism is controlled by a key. The door lock includes a main lock ensemble A at the center of the door lock and two auxiliary lock ensembles B, one ensemble B on the top side of the door lock and another ensemble B on the bottom side of the door lock. The main lock ensemble A the connects to two auxiliary lock ensembles B through two long bars C, one long bar C on each side. The main lock ensemble A includes a housing  1 . The center of the housing  1  has a pivotal part  2  that automatically returns to its original position after pivotally rotating to a fixed angle. As it rotates, the pivotal part  2  drives a first connecting bar  21  to move vertically and a second connecting bar  22  to pivotally swing at the same time. As the first connecting bar  21  moves vertically, it drives a third connecting bar  23  to swing. One end of the third connecting bar  23  leads a vertical bar  3  to move vertically. One end of the housing  1  has a position limiting element  11  that positions the vertical bar  3  at the unlock state. Each end of the vertical bar  3  connects to a long bar C, which is engaged to an auxiliary lock ensemble B, thereby controlling both auxiliary lock ensembles B to open or close the lock. When the second connecting bar  22  swings, it causes a lock tongue  4  to retract into or extend out of the housing  1 . One end of the housing  1  has a lock core  5  driven by a key. The lock core  5  shifts a lock chip  6  horizontally, and has a positioning element  7  for positioning the lock chip after its shift. When the lock chip  6  shifts toward the vertical bar  3 , it blocks the vertical bar  3  from moving vertically. It also prevents the pivotal part  2  from extending the lock tongue  4 . 
     The center of the pivotal part  2  has an axle hole  24  for the axle bar of a knob to go through. Its bottom has an extension part  25 . The top of the pivotal part  2  has two stopping walls  26 . The top of the extension part  25  has a first driving part  251  that drives the first connecting bar  21  to move vertically. The bottom of the pivotal part  2  has a long arc groove  27  and a long arc wall  28 . The pivotal part  2  further has a first long arc hole  29  through its top and bottom surfaces. 
     Both ends of the first long arc hole  29  are provided with a plate  291 . The bottom of each plate  291  has a stopping part  291   a . The housing has a second long arc hole  12  corresponding to each of the stopping parts  291   a . The stopping part  291   a  of each plate  291  extends into the corresponding second long arc hole  12 . A compressed spring  292  is disposed in the first long arc hole  29 , with both ends urging against the two plates  291 . The compressed spring  292  in the first long arc hole  29  has a long arc plate  293  whose length is shorter than the first long arc hole  29 . 
     The second connecting bar  22  has a protruding part  221  at the pivotal place. The protruding part  221  is disposed in the long arc groove  27 . A driving wall  222  is formed next to the protruding part  221  of the second connecting bar  22  for the long arc wall  28  to push as the pivotal part  2  rotates. 
     The second connecting bar  22  has a first notch  223  at the other end of the pivotal place. One end of the lock tongue  4  has a connecting part  41  disposed in the first notch  223 . 
     A second notch  224  is formed between both ends of the second connecting bar  22 . The housing  1  has a protruding post  13  corresponding to the second notch  224 . When the second connecting bar  22  swings towards the protruding post  13 , it urges against the protruding post  13  and stays at its vertical position for the lock tongue to extend out of the housing  1 . 
     One end of the third connecting bar  23  is pivotally disposed on the housing  1 . Its other end has a second driving part  231 . A protruding post  232  is provided between the two ends. One end of the first connecting bar  21  has a third notch  211 . The first driving part  251  engages the third notch  211 . As the pivotal part  2  rotates, the first driving part  251  pushes the first connecting bar  21 , through the third notch  211 , to move vertically. It also drives the third connecting bar  23  to swing. The second driving part  231  of the third connecting bar  23  drives the vertical bar  3  to move vertically. 
     Each end of the vertical bar  3  connects to the long bars C of an auxiliary lock ensemble B. One end of the vertical bar  3  has a fourth notch  31  for engaging the second driving part  231 . The other end has a concave part  32 . When the vertical bar  3  moves toward the position limiting element  11 , the lock is opened. The position limiting element  11  is elastic and makes a sound when it engages the concave part  32 , indicating a successful positioning. 
     The positioning element  7  on the lock chip  6  urges via a compressed spring  71  against a stopping board  15  of the housing  1 . It urges toward the lock core  5 . The bottom of the positioning element  7  has a triangular blocking part  72 . Correspondingly, the lock chip  6  has a triangular guiding part  61 . When the lock chip  6  moves horizontally, the slant surfaces between the blocking part  72  and the guiding part  61  push against each other, so that the blocking part  72  of the positioning element  7  is limited to both sides of the guiding part  61 . This positions the lock chip  6  when the lock is opened or closed. A sound is made when the positioning is successful. 
     The lock chip  6  has a blocking part  62 . The vertical bar  3  has another blocking part  33  on the end opposite to the lock chip  6 . When the lock chip  6  moves toward the vertical bar  3 , the blocking part  62  and the blocking part  33  block each other, preventing the vertical bar  3  from moving vertically. 
     According to the above-mentioned door lock structure, the rotation of the lock core  5  moves the lock chip  6  horizontally. As shown in  FIGS. 5 to 8 , it controls whether the vertical bar  3  can move vertically. When the lock core unlocks the lock, as shown in  FIGS. 5 and 6 , one can rotate the pivotal part  2  via the knob. This brings the lock tongue  4  into the housing  1 . It further drives the two long bars C and thus the two auxiliary lock ensembles B to unlock the lock. Therefore, the invention features simplicity in the transmission mechanism of the door lock and cheaper component costs. 
     Although the invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments, this description is not meant to be construed in a limiting sense. Various modifications of the disclosed embodiments, as well as alternative embodiments, will be apparent to people skilled in the art. Therefore, it is contemplated that the appended claims will cover all modifications that fall within the true scope of the invention.