Bolt for windows, French windows, doors or the like and method for the production thereof

Abstract

 The present invention relates to a bolt for windows, French windows, doors or the like, which has a box-shaped body which is intended to be flush-mounted in an upright of a leaf of a door or a window and in which an operating lever is pivotably mounted, said lever being able to operated between different operating positions where it causes engagement or non-engagement of a locking rod with a fixed frame. A front plate is envisaged and is intended to be mounted on the upright of the leaf using screws and has a slit for allowing the operating lever to pass through. The. slit has an elongated form which extends at its end with two wide openings substantially closed by two corresponding shaped elements able to define access areas for allowing gripping of the operating lever by a person using the fingers. The box-shaped body and the two shaped closing elements form a single assembly which is made as one piece and fixed to the front plate by means of spot welds in an improved spatial configuration.

Description

Technical field

[0001] The present invention relates to a bolt for windows, French windows, door or the like, as well as to a method for the production thereof.

[0002] The bolt in question falls within the sector relating to the production of accessories for window and door frames and is intended to be advantageously flush-mounted inside leaves or shutters of windows, doors or the like, made of wood, metal or other materials.

Background art

[0003] At present, as is known, numerous different constructional solutions of bolts are commercially available, said solutions generally all having in common the presence of a box-shaped body intended to be flush-mounted in an upright of a leaf of a door or a window. An operating lever is mounted on the abovementioned body, said lever being accessible from the outside so as to be operated by a person and being able to cause the displacement of a locking lever by means of a movement mechanism associated with the said box-shaped body.

[0004] In greater detail, the operating lever may be manually displaced between a first operating position, where it causes the protrusion of the ends of the locking rod (or only one end thereof) from the upright of the leaf so as to allow engagement thereof in corresponding seats formed in the fixed frame of the door or window, and a second operating position, where the locking rod is retracted inside the upright, allowing release of the leaf.

[0005] The box-shaped body encloses internally the movement mechanism which generally envisages the use of two plates mounted in a guided manner on the box-shaped body in a common longitudinal direction and connected at the opposite ends to two locking rods. The operating lever is pivotably hinged on the said box-shaped body and has mounted, in the portion which is inserted inside the box-shaped body, two nibs able to engage inside corresponding counter-shaped portions formed on the two plates. In this way, as a result of operation of the operating lever between the two abovementioned operating positions, the two plates slide inside the box-shaped body towards or away from each other. In so doing, the plates cause at the same time also the projection or retraction of the locking rods from the fixed seats, allowing operation of the bolt.

[0006] Advantageously a levering spring is envisaged, said spring able to act on the operating lever so as to resiliently retain it in the two different operative positions.

[0007] The box-shaped body is flush-mounted inside a receiving recess formed in the lateral profile of the upright of the leaf by means of a front plate which is fixed thereto and connected to the upright generally by means of screw means and is provided with an elongated slit closed by the box-shaped body so as to define a receiving recess for the operating lever.

[0008] The box-shaped body is traditionally obtained by means of a die-forming process and is fixed by means of a plurality spot welds to the front plate.

[0009] Conventionally, the operating lever has, at its two ends, two gripping portions for example consisting of simple widened portions for allowing easier raising of the said lever.

[0010] In greater detail, two openings are normally provided at the two ends of the slit in order to allow easy insertion of a finger for raising the end portions of the lever.

[0011] The abovementioned openings are conventionally delimited internally by separate shaped closing elements able to define small access areas inside which the fingers may be inserted. The shaped elements are fixed to the front plate by means of spot welds.

[0012] At present, on the basis of the technology known hitherto, the shaped elements and the box-shaped body are obtained by means of separate stepwise die-forming production processes and are assembled on the front plate by means of automatic spot welding.

[0013] Obviously, using several elements in order to form the bolt assembly negatively affects the efficiency of the production process both from the point of view of the time required and from the point of view of the overall cost.

[0014] It should remembered moreover that separate fixing, to the plate, of the box-shaped body and of the two shaped elements results in overall weakening of the assembly thus obtained.

[0015] A further drawback arises from the fact of having to manage, during the production process, a large number of mechanically and functionally different parts.

Disclosure of the invention

[0016] The main object of the present invention is therefore that of eliminating the drawbacks of the bolts of the known type mentioned above, by providing a bolt for windows, French windows, doors or the like, which is low-cost and particularly strong structurally.

[0017] Another object of the present invention is that of providing a bolt which is constructionally simple and operationally entirely reliable.

[0018] A further object of the present invention is that of providing a method for the production of the bolt, which envisages the manufacture and the assembly of a limited number of parts so as to facilitate production and reduce the costs thereof.

[0019] These objects, together with others, are all achieved by the bolt for windows, French windows, doors or the like according to the present invention, which comprises a box-shaped body which is intended to be flush-mounted in an upright of a leaf of a door or a window; at least one locking rod able to engage with a fixed frame so as to lock said leaf; an operating lever pivotably hinged on the box-shaped body and accessible from the outside so that it can be operated between a first operating position, where it causes engagement of the locking rod with the fixed frame, and a second operating position, where it causes disengagement of the locking rod from the fixed frame; a front plate fixed to the box-shaped body by means of first fixing means and provided with a slit through which it is possible to access the operating lever from the outside, the slit having an elongated form with a substantially rectangular central portion closed by the box-shaped body, which portion extends at its ends with two widened openings substantially closed by two corresponding shaped elements fixed to the front plate by means of second fixing means, the shaped elements being able to define access areas for allowing gripping of the operating lever.

[0020] According to the invention, the bolt for windows, French windows, doors or the like is characterized in that the box-shaped body and the two shaped closing elements form a single assembly made as one piece.

Brief description of the drawings

[0021] The technical features of the invention, in accordance with the abovementioned objects, may be clearly determined from the contents of the claims indicated below and the advantages thereof will emerge more clearly from the detailed description which follows, with reference to the accompanying drawings, which show a purely exemplary and non-limiting embodiment thereof and in which:

Fig. 1 shows a front schematic view of the bolt forming the subject of the present invention;

Fig. 2 shows a rear schematic view of the bolt according to Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 shows a lateral schematic view of the bolt according to Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 shows a second lateral schematic view of the bolt according to Fig. 1;

Figs. 5 and 6 show two enlarged details of Fig. 2 relating to two shaped closing plates and with some parts removed so that other parts may be seen more clearly.

Detailed description of a preferred example of embodiment

[0022] With reference to the accompanying drawings 1 denotes in its entirety a bolt for windows, French windows, doors or the like according to the present invention.

[0023] In accordance with the example of embodiment illustrated in the accompanying figures, it comprises a box-shaped body 2 made of sheet metal and intended to be flush-mounted inside an upright of a passive leaf of a door or a window not shown in the drawings in that they are per se of the conventional type.

[0024] The box-shaped body 2 is preferably delimited by three side surfaces 3 and is closed by a cover element 4 with the aid of screw/female thread means 40.

[0025] A locking rod 5 formed by two separate sections is envisaged and is able to engage at its respective free ends inside suitable seats formed in a fixed frame so as to lock in position the passive leaf of the door or the window.

[0026] The bolt 1 is manually operated by an operating lever 6 which is rotatably hinged on the box-shaped body 2 about an axis of rotation indicated by X in Fig. 1. The lever 6 is accessible from the outside so that it can be operated by a person between two separate operating positions in a manner known per se. In the abovementioned positions, the lever 6 acts by means of a movement mechanism 7 on the two rods 5 so as to cause operation of the bolt 1.

[0027] In greater detail, the lever 6 may be manually displaced between a first operating position, where it causes engagement of the rod 5 with the fixed frame, and a second operating position, where it causes disengagement of the rod 5 from the said fixed frame.

[0028] The abovementioned movement mechanism 7 is mainly contained inside the box-shaped body and has not been shown in detail in this description in that it is of the type which is well-known to the person skilled in the sector to which the present patent relates.

[0029] Advantageously, the abovementioned movement mechanism 7 comprises two plates 8 and 9 mounted in a guided manner inside the box-shaped body 2 in a common longitudinal direction Y and having, at two opposite ends, two threaded bushes 10, 11 able to receive the corresponding counter-threaded ends of the two rods 5.

[0030] The operating lever 6 is provided, on a portion which engages inside the box-shaped body 2, with two nibs able to engage in corresponding counter-shaped parts formed on the two plates 8 and 9.

[0031] In this way, as a result of operation of the operating lever between the two abovementioned operating positions, the two plates 8 and 9 slide inside the box-shaped body 2 towards and away from each other and cause correspondingly the insertion and the extraction of the ends of the rods 5 into/from the seats formed in the fixed frame.

[0032] The bolt 1 also comprises a flat, metal, front plate 12 which is fixed to the box-shaped body 2 by means of first fixing means 13 and is designed to be mounted by means of connecting means 14 on an upright of the leaf.

[0033] The connecting means 14 may simply consist of screws which can be inserted inside holes formed at the ends of the front plate 12 (see Fig. 1).

[0034] The plate 12 has, formed centrally therein, a slit 15 through which it is possible to access, from the outside, the operating lever 6 so as to move it into the two operating positions.

[0035] The slit 15 has an elongated shape which extends in the longitudinal direction Y with a central portion 15', which is substantially rectangular and terminates at the ends in two widened openings 15''.

[0036] The central portion 15' is closed by the box-shaped body 2 fixed at the rear by means of the first fixing means 14, while the two widened openings 15" arranged at their ends are substantially closed by two corresponding shaped elements 16 fixed in turn to the front plate 12 by means of second fixing means 17.

[0037] The two shaped elements 16 define two corresponding access areas for insertion of a person's fingers in order to allow gripping of the ends of the operating lever 6, said areas being advantageously widened as shown in the accompanying Fig. 1.

[0038] According to the invention, the box-shaped body 2 and the two shaped closing elements 16 form a single assembly made as one piece.

[0039] Advantageously, both the fixing means 13 and 17 consist of spot welds.

[0040] In greater detail, in accordance with the preferred example of embodiment of the present invention shown in the accompanying figures, the first fixing means 13 consist of four spot welds 13' arranged in a line along a longitudinal connecting edge 18 of the assembly which extends outwards from a side surface 3 of the box-shaped body 2.

[0041] The second fixing means 17 consist of three spot welds 17' associated spatially with each of the two shaped elements 16.

[0042] More precisely, the second fixing means 17 comprise four spot welds 17' arranged at four vertices defined by the ends of two transverse connecting edges 19 of the assembly, and two spot welds 17" arranged on two support feet 20, each of which extends longitudinally from a shaped element 16 and is set opposite the abovementioned longitudinal edge 18 (see Fig. 2).

[0043] In accordance with a further characteristic feature of the present invention, the two outermost spot welds 13' of the series which forms the first fixing means 13 are positioned more centrally than the spot welds 17" arranged on two support feet 20 so as to fasten simultaneously the box-shaped body 2 and the two shaped elements 16.

[0044] Advantageously, by means of the configuration of spot welds described above, a notable mechanical strength is obtained for the rigid connection between the front plate 12 and the assembly composed of the box-shaped body 2 and the two shaped elements 16, albeit with an overall limited number of spot welds. This is made possible in particular by the fact that the two shaped elements form, according to the present invention, one piece with the box-shaped body 2.

[0045] Moreover, the absence of one or several spot welds does not result in a loss of mechanical strength of the support structure of the bolt 1 nor in separation of any of its parts.

[0046] The present invention also relates to a method for producing a bolt 1 for windows, French windows, doors or the like, of the type described above, whereby, during production, the abovementioned box-shaped body 2 and the two shaped elements 16 are advantageously made as one piece by means of a single die-forming process involving several successive steps.

[0047] Moreover, in the abovementioned production process, during assembly of the various components, the box-shaped body 2 and the two shaped elements 16 are fixed to the front plate 12 in a single welding step performed by means of a single automatic spot-welding process.

[0048] The invention thus conceived therefore achieves the predefined objects.

[0049] Obviously, it may also assume, in its practical embodiment, forms and configurations different from that illustrated above, without thereby departing from the present scope of protection.

[0050] Moreover, all the details may be replaced by technically equivalent elements and the dimensions, forms and materials used may be of any nature according to requirements.

Claims

1. Bolt for windows, French windows, doors or the like comprising:

- a box-shaped body which is intended to be flush-mounted in an upright of a leaf of a door or a window;

- at least one locking rod able to engage with a fixed frame so as to lock said leaf;

- an operating lever pivotably hinged on said box-shaped body and accessible from the outside so that it can be actuated between a first operating position, where it causes engagement of said locking rod with said fixed frame, and a second operating position, where it causes disengagement of said locking rod from said fixed frame;

- a front plate fixed to the box-shaped body by means of first fixing means and provided with a slit through which it is possible to access said operating lever from the outside, said slit having an elongated form with a substantially rectangular central portion closed by said box-shaped body, which portion extends at its ends with two widened openings substantially closed by two corresponding shaped elements fixed to said front plate by means of second fixing means, said shaped elements being able to define access areas for allowing gripping of said operating lever, characterized in that said box-shaped body and said two shaped closing elements form a single assembly made as one piece.

2. Bolt according to Claim 1, characterized in that said and second fixing means consist of spot welds.

3. Bolt according to Claim 1, characterized in that said second fixing means consist of three spot welds associated with each of said two shaped elements.

4. Bolt according to Claim 1, characterized in that said box-shaped body is provided with a longitudinal connecting edge intended to rest on said front plate and characterized in that said first fixing means consist of four spot welds able to fix together said assembly and said front plate.

5. Bolt according to Claim 1, characterized in that said shaped elements have two transverse connecting edges arranged opposite and parallel to each other so as to delimit said shaped elements and able to define four vertices at their ends and characterized in that said second fixing means comprise four spot welds arranged on said four vertices and able to fix together said assembly and said front plate.

6. Bolt according to Claim 4, characterized in that said shaped elements are provided with two support feet, each of which extends from said shaped element and is set opposite said longitudinal connecting edge, and characterized in that said second fixing means comprise two spot welds arranged on said support feet and able to fix together said assembly and said front plate.

7. Bolt according to Claims 2 and 6, characterized in that the outermost spot welds of said first fixing means are positioned more centrally than the spot welds arranged on said two support feet 20.

8. Method for producing a bolt for windows, French windows, doors or the like according to Claim 1, in which said box-shaped body and said two shaped closing elements are made as one piece by means of a single die-forming process involving several successive steps.

9. Method for producing a bolt according to Claim 8, in which said box-shaped body and said two shaped closing elements are fixed by means of a spot-welding process to said front plate.

Drawing