Patent Document

[0001]    This application claims benefit under 37 CFR 119(e) of U.S. Patent Application Ser. No. 60/876,722 filed on Dec. 21, 2006. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    This invention relates to door locks, namely, keyless, removable locks for inwardly opening doors. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    Door locks have been around probably since man invented the door. Some of the earlier versions had heavy metal lock boxes that were unlocked with a “skeleton key”, so named for its shape which resembles part of a skeleton. 
         [0004]    As doors, locks and door jams (that structure from which the door is hung so that it may pivot) improved, the use of the door extended beyond merely providing an entrance and exit to a dwelling. 
         [0005]    Internal doors such as bathroom, hotel/motel, bedroom or bathrooms in the home, public rest rooms, cruise ships etc. most commonly open inwardly toward the space that the door is providing access. Such doors in homes are typically bathroom and bedroom doors that may have no security locks or are limited to locking with a push button lock set. Hotel/motel or cruise ship doors usually have a security lock usually associated with the door knob or handle used to open the doors. These doors frequently provide additional security consisting of a short chain with one end attached to the door and another end attached to the jam. Theoretically, an inhabitant of the room could open the door slightly to view a person on the outside to determine whether the door should be opened fully so that the person could be allowed to enter. However, such an arrangement is easily defeated by an intruder who can easily break the chain to gain entry. 
         [0006]    Whether it is used to prevent crimes against the occupants of the room, or to ensure the privacy of a person in a bathroom, there is a need for an easily attachable, keyless, security lock that cannot be defeated by an unauthorized party trying to gain access to the room while the occupant(s) are located therein. There is no security lock in the prior art that meets this objective. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0007]    It is an aspect of the invention to provide a security lock for inwardly opening doors that can be easily attached by the occupants of the room. 
         [0008]    It is another aspect of the invention to provide a security lock that can be molded from a plastic that is extremely durable yet inexpensive to produce. 
         [0009]    It is still another aspect of the invention to provide a security lock that can be used with either left handed or right handed inwardly opening doors. 
         [0010]    Another aspect of the invention is to provide a security lock that can be used with most such doors noted above. 
         [0011]    It is another aspect of the invention to provide a security lock that can be taken with the user when that person is traveling to a distant location. 
         [0012]    Finally, it is another aspect of the invention to provide a security lock that does not require a key, which will make it extremely difficult to open the door from outside, and is easily attachable and removable. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0013]      FIG. 1  is an isometric view of the security lock in place on a typical door in accordance with the invention. 
           [0014]      FIG. 2  is an isometric view of an alternative embodiment of the security lock in place on a typical door. 
           [0015]      FIG. 3  is an isometric view of the preferred embodiment with the locking wedge in place. 
           [0016]      FIG. 4  is a top view of the locking bar. 
           [0017]      FIG. 5  is a side view of the locking bar. 
           [0018]      FIG. 6  is an isometric view of the locking bar. 
           [0019]      FIG. 7  is an isometric view of the locking bar showing how the locking bar is moved into position within the door&#39;s strike plate. 
           [0020]      FIG. 8  is an isometric view of the locking bar in place on the door&#39;s strike plate. 
           [0021]      FIG. 9A  is a top view of the two sections of the locking blocks attached together in the preferred embodiment. 
           [0022]      FIG. 9B  is a top view of an alternative embodiment showing two sections of the locking blocks attached together. 
           [0023]      FIG. 10  is a side view of the long locking block. 
           [0024]      FIG. 11  is a side view of the short locking block. 
           [0025]      FIG. 12  is a top view of the locking block indicating the difference in length from the long block to the short block. 
           [0026]      FIG. 13A  is a side view of the preferred embodiment with the short locking block in place to show attachment to the locking bar. 
           [0027]      FIG. 13B  is an alternative embodiment showing a side view of the locking blocks with the locking bar inserted therein. 
           [0028]      FIG. 14  is the preferred embodiment with the short locking block removed in order to show the locking mechanism. 
           [0029]      FIG. 15  is still another alternative embodiment with the short locking block removed in order to show a different locking mechanism. 
           [0030]      FIG. 16  is a side view of the anchoring wedge. 
           [0031]      FIG. 17  is a top view of the anchoring wedge. 
           [0032]      FIG. 18  is a bottom view of the anchoring wedge. 
           [0033]      FIG. 19  is an isometric view of the anchoring wedge. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0034]    Invention  10  is a security lock for inwardly opening doors, either left or right handed. As shown in  FIG. 1 , it is being used on a generic right handed door  28 . Door  28  is opened by knob  26 . This particular lockset is shown without a locking button; for example, one that would be used to prevent someone else from walking into a bathroom when it was occupied or other security measures such as a keyed lock set. Note that the embodiment shown has the front of the long locking block  22  rests securely on the surface of door  28  along plane  32 , while the short locking block  20  rests securely on the surface of the door jam  30  along plane  34 . Measurement  36  is between planes  32  and  34 . As shown below in  FIG. 9B  of an alternative embodiment, insert  37  can be used to adjust variations that may occur in measurement  36 . 
         [0035]    Locking bar  12  is positioned between locking blocks  20  and  22  and urges invention  10  firmly against door  28  and jam  30  via rocking locking arm  17  that is activated using handles  16  and  18 . Opening  14  is used merely to provide a means to hang invention  10  for display, for sale or for storage. Locking bar is preferably made of fiberglass material, as are the other parts of invention  10 . In this manner, invention  10  can withstand 500 lbs. of pressure without breaking. 
         [0036]    Recesses  24  are provided in both the long block  22  and the short block  20  to reduce the amount of plastic required for molding yet not reduce the strength of the apparatus. 
         [0037]    The inventor has found that once the security lock  10  is firmly in place on door  28 , the amount of force required to open it is much greater than can be provided by a typical adult male, even a very strong one. This required force far exceeds what is necessary to break a chain lock and defeats someone who may have an unauthorized key for doors having keyed entries. 
         [0038]    As shown in  FIG. 3 , the preferred embodiment&#39;s anchoring wedge  70  is firmly in place so that the differences between measurement  36  and  32  can be accommodated. Anchoring wedge  70  is thus able to accommodate different jam door configurations. 
         [0039]    As shown in  FIGS. 4  thru  7 , a detailed view of the locking bar  12  is provided. Preferably, this part is molded of the same fiberglass material used for blocks  20 , 22 . The backward facing teeth  13  are designed to engage meshing teeth  40  that are provided on rocking locking arm  17  so that the two blocks  22 ,  20  are pulled tightly against door  28  and jam  30  via blocks  22 ,  20  respectively. (See  FIG. 14 ) Also, indent  21  is made thinner than the remaining section of locking bar  12  so that locking bar  12  can be inserted between the space between door  28  and jam  30 . This distance  34  is identified in  FIG. 1 . 
         [0040]    As shown in  FIGS. 7 and 8 , locking bar  12  with its insertion bar  15  is merely inserted in the opening in striker plate  19 . This provides an anchoring for locking bar  12  to pull against once blocks  20 ,  22  are placed on door  28  and jam  30 . As shown in  FIG. 12 , activating the locking arm  17  causes the blocks to be pulled tightly against the door, wherein opening door  28  becomes impossible unless sufficient force is applied to break insertion section  15  ( FIGS. 4  thru  6 ) of locking bar  12 . This amount of force is well beyond the strength capabilities of most people. The use of a pry bar (not shown) would probably be needed to accomplish a break in. Even if the security lock  10  were defeated, the amount of time and noise would be sufficient to provide the occupant with sufficient time to either escape via another exit or call the police. 
         [0041]      FIG. 9A  is the preferred embodiment of the top view of the two sections of locking blocks  20 ,  22  that are locked together. Note that section  38  prime is rigidly attached to locking block  20 . Anchoring wedge  70  is not shown in this view. 
         [0042]      FIG. 9B  is an top view of blocks  20 ,  22  showing the alternative extension block  37  that may be placed when in use in slots  38  or merely being stored in slot  39 . 
         [0043]      FIG. 10  provides a side view of long block  22  showing screws  25  which fasten the two blocks together. Also, slot  38  is shown which can accommodate extension block  37  to provide an even greater distance  36  for those cases where the difference between surface plane  32  on door  28  and surface plane  34  on jam  30  is even greater. 
         [0044]      FIG. 11  is a side view of short block  20  showing slot  39  for storage of extension block  37  or for the door situations where plane  32  and  36  are in the same plane as noted in  FIG. 10 . 
         [0045]      FIG. 12  is a top view of the locking blocks indicating the difference in length between the long block and the short block. 
         [0046]      FIG. 13A  is a side view of the preferred embodiment with the short locking block removed so as to show how the locking block is releasably attached to the bar. 
         [0047]      FIG. 13B  is an alternative embodiment showing a side view of the locking blocks  20 ,  22  with the locking bar  12  inserted therein. 
         [0048]      FIG. 14  is the preferred embodiment with short locking block  20  removed to show the locking mechanism. 
         [0049]      FIG. 15  is still another embodiment with the short locking block  20  removed to show the locking mechanism. 
         [0050]    Note that all of these mechanisms show the locking bar being urged against security locking teeth  10  so that locking bar  12  is firmly urged against door  28  and its door jam  30 . Also, all of these locking arms have a rocking pin/integrally molded pin  56  to provide a locked and unlocked position when the appropriate handles  18  and  16  are activated. For example, as shown in  FIG. 14 , an identical rocking locking arm  17  and its handles  16 ,  18  can pivot on integral molded pin  56 . A corresponding locking arm  17  (not shown) can be situated opposite one another with sufficient distance between them so locking bar  12  may be placed between them. When teeth  13  and  40  are fully engaged, locking bar  12  is tightly held. When the respective rocking locking arms  17  are pivoted away from the teeth as shown, locking bar  12  is easily removed from the two blocks  20 ,  22 . Note that pins  56  are molded into long locking block  22  with a corresponding indent being molded into the short locking block  20  so that the two blocks  20 ,  22  are properly aligned. In this case, to switch from left handed to right handed doors, or vice versa, a user merely places the insertion bar  15  into the opening of striker plate  19  and flips the locking blocks  20 ,  22  over. 
         [0051]    As illustrated in  FIG. 15 , still an alternative locking arrangement is provided.  FIG. 15  is also a detailed side view of long locking block  22  with short locking block  20  removed to show how locking bar  12  urges the security lock  10  against a door and its door jam. As shown, pivoting locking arm  41  has a set of teeth  40  which mesh with teeth  13  on the locking bar  12 . Each pivoting locking arm  41  has a handle  42 . When handle  42  is pushed down, pivoting locking arm&#39;s  41  teeth  40  and  50  engage teeth  13 . Pivoting locking arm  41  and its handle are able to pivot on integral molded pin  54  in the direction of radius  50 . Correspondingly, an identical arm  41 , handle  42  and an integral molded pin  54 , is situated opposite, providing sufficient distance is between them so locking bar  12  may be placed between them. When teeth  13  and  40  are fully engaged, locking bar  12  is tightly held. When the respective arms  41  are pivoted away from the teeth as shown, locking bar  12  is easily removed from the two blocks  20 ,  22 . Note that only half of pins  54  and  50  are molded into long locking block  22  with the corresponding half being molded into the short locking block  20 . To switch from left handed to right handed doors, or vice versa, a user merely places the insertion bar  15  into the opening of striker plate  19  and flips the locking blocks  20 ,  22  over and then pushes the locking arms  41  via handles  42 . 
         [0052]    As shown in  FIG. 3 , which is the preferred embodiment of the invention, anchoring wedge  50  is positioned against door  28  to make up the difference in distance between the door jam  30  and door surface  28 . This works by attaching to the long arm  22  of the long locking block  22  using slot  61  (See detail of this slot in  FIGS. 17 and 19 .) 
         [0053]    To install the unit, insertion bar  15  is placed in strike plate  19  as shown in  FIGS. 7 and 8 . Locking bar  12  is then held in position while locking blocks  20 ,  22  are slid over the locking bar  12  as shown in  FIG. 3 . To complete the installation, the invention  10  is pushed tightly against the door and jam with the appropriate locking button  16  or  18  pushed downward on handle  76  of anchoring wedge  70  and anchoring wedge  70  is slid down against door  28  along sides  62  in the direction as shown. Note that the difference in dimension  60  and sides  62  correspond to the thickness of the ends of blocks  20 ,  22 . As noted above, anchoring wedge  70  is held onto long locking block  22  via slot  61  engaging the end of long locking block  22 . 
         [0054]    There are no critical dimensions in invention  10 . However, the thickness of locking bar  12  in indent  21  must be selected to fit within the space between door  28  and door jam  30  and have a width that does not exceed the opening provided by striker plate  19 . In the preferred embodiment, the thickness of locking bar  12  is approximately ⅛ of an inch and the width is about ¾ of an inch. The selection of the material that is used is also not critical but it must be easily moldable. The material must have sufficient durability to prevent breakage if the security lock  10  is being forced open when it is in the locked position. As noted above, fiberglass is preferred because of its superior strength and low cost. 
         [0055]    Although the present invention has been described with reference to certain preferred embodiments thereof, other versions are readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the preferred embodiments contained therein.

Technology Category: e