Abstract:
A locking device ( 20 ) for double-wing gates ( 10, 12 ). The lock comprises a pair of base plates ( 16, 18 ), each secured to one of the wings so that in the closed position thereof the members ( 18   d   , 16   d ) are located side by side. At least one of the projecting members is formed with a dead-body receiving cavity ( 16   g   , 18   g ). A lock body ( 20 ) is provided, having a side portion formed with respective recesses ( 20   a   , 20   b ) configured and located so as to fit over both the projecting members. The lock body ( 20 ) is equipped with a key-operated locking mechanism ( 22 ) comprising at least one dead-bolt receiving cavity of the respective anchor member thereby preventing the disengagement of the lock body ( 20 ) from both anchor members. The projections ( 16   d   , 18   d ) may be in the form of elongated ribs, or cylindrical pins.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to locking devices, and particularly to locks for swingable or slidable doors and windows. 
     The invention is particularly useful for locking hinged wings of gates and therefore will be described in conjunctions with such application although, as will be explained, is by no means limited thereto. 
     Conventional gate locks are in the form of a pair of protective matching shells which are welded to opposite edges of the door wings the two abut one against the other forming a protective hasp into which the two legs of an ordinary padlock shackle can be inserted (from above). The padlock body is brought from below and locked to the shackle. 
     These devices suffers a main disadvantage due to the fact that matching or assembly is required of at least two separate parts, namely the shackle on the one hand, and the lock body on the other hand; and then, the parts must be separately stored for the following use. 
     From another, human engineering aspect, this locking method is cumbersome, inconvenient and time consuming apart from the chance that the padlock body may drop on the foot of the user and cause him injury. 
     Furthermore, the welding method of the two protective shells is unsafe, and liable to be tampered with or forced away by sawing or flame-cutting tools. 
     Thus it is a general object of the invention to provide a lock of the kind referred to above which is more simple in installation and in use, with lesser number of separable parts. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Thus provided according to the invention is a locking device, particularly for locking to each other wings of gates, sliding doors and the like. First and second anchor members, each with a projecting member, are respectively mounted to the wings so that in the closed position thereof the members are located side by side. At least one of the projecting members is formed with a dead-bolt receiving cavity. A lock body is provided, having a side portion formed with respective recesses configured and located so as to fit over both the projecting members. The lock body is equipped with a key-operated locking mechanism comprising at least one dead-bolt adapted to become inserted into the dead-bolt receiving cavity of the respective anchor member thereby preventing the disengagement of the lock body from both anchor members. 
     It is preferable, according to a first embodiment that the projections are in the form of ribs of a varying width seen in a direction perpendicular to the plane of their respective wing. 
     According to a second embodiment, the projections are in the form of elongated cylindrical bolt pins extending perpendicularly to the planes of their respective wings. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     These and additional features of construction and advantages of the invention will become more clearly understood in the light of the ensuing description of several preferred embodiments thereof, given by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
     FIG. 1 is general, schematic, perspective view of a locking device according to a first preferred embodiment of the invention, in its locked position; 
     FIG. 2 illustrates the first stage of unlocking of the device of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 illustrates the opening of the door wings after unlocking; 
     FIG. 4 is a fragmental elevation of the lock body of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 5 is a top view of the lock body of FIG.4; 
     FIG. 6 a  is a section taken along line  6   a — 6   a  of FIG.4; 
     FIG. 6 b  shows the device of FIG. 6 a  in the locking position of its dead-bolt; 
     FIG. 7 a  is a section along line  7   a — 7   a  of FIG. 4; 
     FIG. 7 b  illustrates the locking position of the device of FIG. 7 a;    
     FIG. 8 a  illustrates a further improvement of the locking device of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 8 b  shows the lock of FIG. 8 a  in its unlocked position; 
     FIGS. 9-12 illustrate several modified embodiments of the locking device according to the teachings of the present invention; 
     FIG. 13 is a still further modified embodiment of the invention suitable for locking of a sliding door or window against a wall or the like stationary object. 
     FIG. 14 a  is a still further modified embodiment a locking device, employing pin-shaped bolts instead of elongated ribs; 
     FIG. 14 b  shows the lock body engaging the bolts of FIG. 14 a;    
     FIG. 15 shows the locking device of FIG. 14 b  in the unlocked state; 
     FIG. 16 is a sectional view of the lock body of FIG. 14 b;    
     FIG. 17 is a sectional view showing the locking device in an unlocked position; 
     FIG. 18 shows the device of FIG. 17 in the locked position; 
     FIGS. 19 a - 19   c  illustrate the use of a modified locking mechanism; 
     FIG. 20 is another modification of the locking mechanism, co-operating with two pairs of locking bolts; 
     FIG. 21 a  is a top view of an operator disc used in the mechanism of FIG. 20; 
     FIG. 21 b  is a section along line  21   b — 21   b  of FIG. 21 a;    
     FIG. 21 c  is a section along line  21   c — 21   c  of FIG. 21 a;    
     FIGS. 22 a - 22   d  illustrate a modified embodiment of the locking mechanism useful in the device of FIG. 16; and 
     FIG. 23 is a modified version of the lock of FIG.  22 . 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Referring now to FIGS. 1-3 there are shown a pair of gate wings  10  and  12  hinged to respective gate jambs  10   a  and  12   a . The wings  10  and  12  are locked one against the other by locking device generally denoted  14 . 
     The locking device  14  essentially comprises three elements: a first anchor member generally designated  16 ; a second anchor member  18 ; and the lock body  20 . 
     The anchor member  16  (see FIG. 2) comprises a base plate  16   a  fastened to door wing  10 , e.g. by a pair of bolts  16   b  and  16   c . The member  16  further comprises a projecting rib, generally denoted  16   d  which, as will be explained below, may be of various shapes and configurations. 
     In the present example the rib  16   d  has a stem rib portion  16   e  and a circular head portion  16   f  with a dead-bolt receiving cavity  16   g.    
     Likewise, anchor member  18 , attached to door wing  12 , comprises the corresponding elements denoted  18   a - 18   g . However, the head portion  18   f  is closer to the plate portion  18   a , so that the counter part of the rib stem (corresponding to  16   e ) is non-existent in this example. 
     The plates  16   a  and  18   a  may be provided with intermatching projections  16   h  and  18   h  fitting one into a complementary notch formed in the other ( 16   k ;  18   k ), to achieve lateral alignment and stabilization of the two members (and of the door wings proper). 
     The lock body  20  is generally block shaped, the parts and components incorporated therein will be described later. At this stage it will suffice to note (see FIG. 2) that the sidewall of block  20  is formed with a pair of profiled slots  20   a  and  20   b  of shapes and dimensions complementary (with some freedom) to the ribs  16   d  and  18   d  associated with the members  16  and  18 . 
     Locking mechanism generally denoted  22  is provided for effecting the locking of the block to one or both of the ribs  16   d ,  18   d  (see below). When unlocked, the lock body  14  can be simply removed by sliding upwards or downwards until separated and released from the grip of the respective ribs. The gate is than openable as illustrated in FIG.  3 . 
     The locking of the gate is performed of course in the opposite order of operations. 
     Proceeding now to the particulars of the locking mechanism within the block  20 , it should be emphasized that this is but one of many possible designs. Hence, as shown in FIG. 4, there is provided a key-operated locking mechanism, denoted  24 , e.g. of the cylinder-lock type, held within the block  20  by fixing means such as set-screw or pin  26 . This will enable easy replacement of the cylinder, if required, and also facilitate the supply of “key-alike” series of devices at no extra effort. 
     The rotor of the cylinder locking device (not shown) is extended by spindle  28  down to the other side of the block. A first gear pinion  30  is mounted, being engaged with a first, toothed rack operated dead-bolt  32 . The dead-bolt  32  is so located that upon rotation of the pinion  30  it will become displaced into the slot  20   b , (and thus into the dead-bolt slot  18   g ); likewise, a second gear  36  and a second rack  38  may be included for locking the rib  16   d  accommodated in the slot  20   a , as shown in FIGS. 7 a  and  7   b.    
     It should however be noted that a single dead-bolt displacing arrangement will suffice for the operation of the locking device. 
     It will be further noted that access to the mounting bolts  16   b ,  16   c  and  18   b ,  18   c  is effectively prevented in the locked position of the device unlike the conventional devices where the welding around the protective shells is always exposed and liable to forceful burglary. 
     The modification of FIGS. 8 a  and  8   b  resides in that in order to avoid the complete separation of the lock body  20 , the rib head portion  16   f  is extended downwards beyond the bottom surface of the housing  20 . The extended portion comprises a shoulder  16 I. Further, a slot  16   j  is made all along the rib head portion  16   f , cooperating with a set screw  40 . In this arrangement, the lock body  20 , when released from engagement with both ribs  16   d  and  18   d , may slide down and rotate sidewise while being held by the shoulder  16   I  (against the screw  40 ) so that the opening of the door wings (as described in FIG. 3) is not interfered, and the lock body is kept safe and not liable to become lost. 
     From the foregoing description it will be evident that each of the locking ribs and complementary slots may lend itself to a great variety of configurations and geometrical shapes. Hence, in the example of FIG. 9, simple rectangular or somewhat conical ribs  116  and  118  are used. In that case, two dead-bolts  132 ,  138  are required, each engaging its respective rib, as clearly shown. 
     In FIG. 10 rib  216  is planner, while rib  218  has an undercut surface  218   k , which dictates a sliding movement mounting of the housing  220 . One locking bolt  238  is provided, associated with rib  216 . 
     The same applies to the configuration of FIG. 11 where rib  318  is arcuate and rib  316  is conical or wedgelike. 
     In FIG. 12 both ribs  416  and  418  are wedge-shaped, having their narrow side merging from the respective plates  410  and  412  (a dove-tail engagement). 
     Yet another embodiment of the invention is shown in FIG. 13 applicable for locking a sliding door denoted  50  against wall  52  or any other stationary object. In more detail, and following the same design principles, mounting plate  54  with circular rib  56  is mounted to the wall  52 , and plate  58  with similar rib  60  is mounted to the outer face edge of the sliding door  50 . The lock body  62  has slots  62   a  and  62   b  conforming (with some freedom) to projections  56  and  60  with at least one displaceable dead-bolt  64  movable by pinion  66  of cylinder or other locking mechanism. The locking and unlocking of the lock body  62  is performed in a similar manner as described above. 
     FIGS. 14-23 generally pertain to a diversified form of the present invention, wherein the common denominator resides in that the protruding members are pin-like bolts—rather than elongated ribs—which are interlocked not by sliding of the lock body, but in a head-on fashion (as already mentioned in connection with the embodiment of FIG. 9 above). 
     As already seen in FIG. 14 a , gate wings  510 ,  512  (sliding or hinged—as the case may be) are again provided with anchor members  516 ,  518  in the form of base plates  516   a ,  518   a  with projecting pins  516   d ,  518   d  and dead-bolt cavities  516   g  and  518   g.    
     A cylindrical recess  516 I is also proposed—similar in function to that described and shown in FIG. 8 a.    
     The pins are preferably somewhat loosely held on their base plates, to facilitate smooth insertion into the matching bores of the lock body  520  (see below). 
     The locking and unlocking of the device—including the option to leave the lock body  520  arrested to one of the bolts ( 516   d )—is self-explanatory with regard to FIGS. 14 b  and  15  in general and FIGS. 16-18 in particular. Thus, there is proposed in the last mentioned example a simple rotary cylinder-type locking mechanism  570  installed in the lock body  520 . An elliptic operator member  572  is coupled to the rotor, designed to push away from each other a pair of steel balls  574 ,  576  into the recesses  516   d ,  518   d , respectively (FIG.  18 ). 
     It is sometimes advisable to have the key-hole ( 622  in FIG. 19 a ) be located at aside wall of the lock body—rendering same more burglary-safe (by boring through the cylinder-pin assembly). 
     Hence, the lock body  620  of FIGS. 19 a - 19   c  satisfy this condition, by employing a tapered disc  680 . 
     The locking and unlocking states are thus represented in FIGS. 19 b  and  19   c , respectively. 
     Yet, another possibility, of using four lock bolts rather than only two, is exemplified in FIGS. 20,  21  with respect to lock body  720 . 
     The disc  780  is of composite profile, as clearly seen in FIGS. 21 a - 21   c , namely having alternately varying widths regarding its main axises (sections  21   b — 21   b  and  21   c — 21   c ). 
     The lock body  820  of FIGS. 22 a - 22   d  has the key-hole  822  installed at its front wall. To enable that—rotor  870  is coupled via an eccenter pin  890  and slot  892  to a reciprocable plate  894  having at least one bolt releasing disperation  894   b ; the bolt  816  is formed with a transverse slot  894   a  and the bolt  818 —with slot  894   c . The locked and unlocked states are illustrated in FIGS. 22 b  and  22   d , respectively. 
     The embodiment of FIG. 23 is modified only in that the locking bolts  916  and  918  are positioned at different, opposite sides of the reciprocable plate  994 , i.e., in separate, distanced planes. 
     It has thus been established that the locking device featuring the characteristics of the presenting better security properties than the conventional devices for parallel uses. 
     Those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that numerous changes, variations and modifications may be applied to the invention as hereinbefore exemplified without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in and by appended claims.