Strike plate for spring-latch locks, of the type comprising a spring latch that engages a latch bore, particularly with a magnetic spring latch

Abstract

 A strike plate (10) for spring-latch locks, of the type comprising a spring latch (14) that engages a latch bore (13), particularly with a magnetic spring latch, to be associated with a support (12) constituted by a frame of a door or window or by a leaf. The strike plate (10) comprises a body (15), which forms an accommodation seat (16) for the spring latch (14) of the lock (11) and at least two longitudinally opposite engagement seats (19) for means (20) for fixing the body (15), such as screws or the like, and defining fixing directions (A) that are inclined with respect to an axis (B) of extension of the latch bore (13) in the support (12) in a mutually diverging manner. The body (15) is provided by mating two parts:
- a first substantially tray-like part (17) to be fixed to the support (12) and provided with a protrusion (18) with the engagement seats (19),
- a second part (21), which closes the first one and is substantially hollow in order to form the accommodation seat (16) and is provided with a slot (22), in a manner that corresponds to each engagement seat (19), for the insertion of the fixing means (20), the slot (22) being wider than the opening of the engagement seat (19).

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a strike plate for spring-latch locks, of the type comprising a spring latch that engages a latch bore, particularly with a magnetic spring latch.

[0002] Currently, strike plates are known which are to be fixed to a support, constituted by the frame or the leaf of a door or window, and comprise a body that forms an accommodation seat for the latch and an elongated front in which the seats for the screws for fixing the strike plate to the support are formed.

[0003] If the lock is a magnetic spring-latch lock, the body that forms the accommodation seat for the spring latch has conveniently an accommodation chamber for a magnet for drawing back the spring latch.

[0004] The support has to be machined appropriately in order to provide therein the space needed for the insertion of the strike plate, so that said strike plate, once it has been mounted, is flush with the surface of the support.

[0005] Performing these machining operations is often not easy, due to the difficulty of using a cutter to provide a latch bore, for the accommodation seat of the spring latch, that is narrow and deep with respect to the track for the front, which is less deep.

[0006] Moreover, in order to facilitate the step of assembly of the strike plate on the support, said strike plate has been improved, according to Italian Patent 1393734 in the name of this same Applicant, by provision with adapted spacers in abutment against the lateral walls of the latch bore, delimiting therein the accommodation seat of the spring latch in an axially offset position with respect to a longitudinal axis of extension of the latch bore. According to this solution, the two spacers have different thicknesses and in this manner, during the assembly of the strike plate on the support, it is possible to modulate the position of the accommodation seat of the spring latch, with respect to the thickness of the support, according to two configurations that correspond to alternative arrangements of the thicker spacer toward a first one of the lateral walls of the latch bore or toward the second wall opposite thereto, by rotating the strike plate by 180°.

[0007] However, this solution, while facilitating the fixing of the strike plate to the support, allows fixing only in an axially aligned position or in two alternative positions that are axially offset with respect to the longitudinal axis of extension of the latch bore.

[0008] The aim of the present invention is to improve a strike plate for spring-latch locks, particularly with magnetic spring latch, that can be easily inserted in the latch bore formed for this purpose in the support and can be installed in the support, in axial alignment or axially offset with respect to the longitudinal axis of extension of the latch bore, in order to receive the spring latch.

[0009] Within this aim, an object of the invention is to provide a strike plate that can be installed in supports of limited depth, such as frames of glazed doors or windows with narrow perimetric frames.

[0010] Another object of the invention is to provide a strike plate that allows hiding the screws, or other suitable means, for fixing to the support.

[0011] Another object of the invention is to propose a strike plate that is structurally simple and easy to use and can be manufactured at little cost.

[0012] This aim and these and other objects that will become more apparent hereinafter are achieved by a strike plate for spring-latch locks, of the type comprising a spring latch that engages a latch bore, particularly with a magnetic spring latch, to be associated with a support constituted by a frame of a door or window or by a leaf, said strike plate comprising a body, which forms an accommodation seat for the spring latch of the lock and at least two longitudinally opposite engagement seats for means for fixing said body, such as screws or the like, and defining fixing directions that are inclined with respect to an axis of extension of said latch bore in said support in a mutually diverging manner,
said strike plate being characterized in that said body is provided by mating two parts:

• a first substantially tray-like part to be fixed to said support and provided with a protrusion with said at least two engagement seats,
• a second part, which closes the first one and is substantially hollow in order to form said accommodation seat and is provided with a slot, in a manner that corresponds to each engagement seat, for the insertion of said fixing means, said slot being wider than the opening of said engagement seat for the lateral sliding of said second part on said first part, with respect to a longitudinal axis of extension of the latter.

[0013] Further characteristics and advantages of the invention will become more apparent from the description of a preferred but not exclusive embodiment of the strike plate according to the invention, illustrated by way of non-limiting example in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is an exploded perspective view of the strike plate according to the invention;

Figure 2 is a sectional transversal view of a strike plate according to the invention installed on a support;

Figure 3 is a front elevation view of a strike plate according to the invention installed on a support according to a first configuration;

Figure 4 is an enlarged-scale sectional view of Figure 3, along the plane IV-IV;

Figure 5 is a front elevation view of a strike plate according to the invention installed on a support with a second configuration;

Figure 6 is an enlarged-scale sectional view of Figure 5, along the plane VI-VI;

Figure 7 is a front elevation view of a strike plate according to the invention installed on a support according to a third configuration;

Figure 8 is an enlarged-scale sectional view of Figure 7, along the plane VIII-VIII;

Figure 9 is a lateral elevation view of a strike plate according to the invention;

Figure 10 is an enlarged-scale sectional view of Figure 9, along the plane X-X;

Figure 11 is an enlarged-scale view of a detail of Figure 10.

[0014] It is noted that anything found to be already known during the patenting process is understood not to be claimed and to be the subject of a disclaimer.

[0015] With reference to the cited figures, a strike plate for spring-latch locks 11, particularly with a magnetic spring latch, is designated generally by the reference numeral 10.

[0016] The strike plate 10 is provided for locks 11 of the type comprising a spring latch 14 that engages a latch bore 13. In particular, it is to be associated with a support 12 constituted by a frame of a door or window or by a leaf and provided with the latch bore 13 in a position that corresponds to the spring latch 14 in order to receive it upon closure of the lock 11.

[0017] The strike plate 10 comprises a body 15, which forms an accommodation seat 16 for the spring latch 14, to be arranged in the latch bore 13, and two longitudinally opposite engagement seats 19 for means 20 for fixing said body 15, of the type of screws (as illustrated) or the like, and defining fixing directions A that are inclined with respect to an axis B of extension of the latch bore 13 in the support 12 in a mutually diverging manner, as clearly shown in Figure 2.

[0018] The strike plate 10 has a particularity in that the body 15 is provided by mating two parts, which are clearly and distinctly visible in the exploded view of Figure 1 and are described hereinafter.

[0019] A first substantially tray-like part 17, to be fixed to the support 12 inside the latch bore 13 and provided with a protrusion 18, indicated in Figure 2, for insertion in the latch bore 13 provided with the engagement seats 19 for the means 20 for fixing the body 15 to the support 12. As is clearly visible, the engagement seats 19 are arranged inside the latch bore 13 when the protrusion 18 is inserted therein.

[0020] A second part 21 closes the first part 17 and is substantially hollow in order to form the accommodation seat 16. It is provided with a slot 22, which corresponds to each engagement seat 19 and is wider than the opening of said engagement seats 19 for the lateral sliding of the second part 21 with respect to the first part 17 relative to a longitudinal axis C of extension of the latter. The slots 22 are substantially oval and are visible in the subsequent figures as well as in the first one.

[0021] In this manner, the fixing means 20, particularly screws, sink diagonally into the support 12 with respect to the axis B of extension of the latch bore 13.

[0022] Advantageously, the body 15 is adapted to be accommodated substantially in an integral manner in the latch bore 13, with its two parts that compose it flush with said latch bore in relation to the support 12.

[0023] As is visible in Figure 1 and Figure 2, the second part 21 of the body 15, which forms the accommodation seat 16 for the spring latch 14, has under its bottom a receptacle 23 for a magnet 24 for drawing back the spring latch 14, closed in the receptacle 23 by a cover 35.

[0024] By observing the subsequent sectional figures, it can be noted that the second part 21 has two spacers 25a, 25b of different thicknesses that delimit laterally the accommodation seat 16 so as to form it in an asymmetric manner in the first part 17, as shown in the front elevation figures, with respect to a longitudinal axis C of extension of the strike plate 10, i. e. in an asymmetric position in the thickness D of the support 12.

[0025] This particularity, in combination with the fact that the slots 22 of the second part 21 are wider than the engagement seats 19, makes it possible to modulate, during the assembly of the strike plate 10 on the support 12, the position of the accommodation seat 16 of the spring latch 14 with respect to the thickness D of the support 12.

[0026] In particular, the second part 21 can be inserted in the first part 17 in a centered position with respect to it, as shown in Figures 3 and 4 or, as shown in the subsequent Figures 5 to 8, in an off-centered position with respect to the first part 17, according to alternative arrangements of the thicker spacer 25a of the spacers 25a and 25b toward a first wall 26a of the lateral walls 26a and 26b of the first part 17, or toward the second lateral wall 26b opposite thereto, by rotating this second part 21 by 180° about the axis of extension B.

[0027] During the installation of the strike plate 10 it is also possible to rotate the assembled body 15 about the axis B of extension by 180°, thus comprising both the first part 17 and the second part 21.

[0028] The lateral movement of the second part 21 in the first part 17 can be performed before the body 15 is fixed to the support 12 or subsequently, simply by loosening the fixing screws and moving the second part 21 laterally with respect to the first part 17. Obviously, the lateral movement is allowed by the slot 22.

[0029] Conveniently, the second part 21 comprises a frame 27 for the accommodation seat 16, which in use is adapted to surmount, in order to conceal it, the edge 28 of the latch bore 13.

[0030] Figures 9 to 11 show that the body 15 of the strike plate 10 comprises advantageously means 29 for aligning the second part 21 on the first part 17.

[0031] In particular, these alignment means 29, indicated in Figure 10, comprise, at the interface between the two parts, at the protrusions 18, a series of first teeth 30 on the first part 17 and correspondingly second teeth 31 on the second part 21. More particularly, by looking at Figure 11 it can be noted that the second teeth 31 extend on opposite sides of each slot 22.

[0032] Moreover, the body 15 comprises conveniently also means 32 for the mutual engagement of the second part 21 and the first part 17.

[0033] Said means comprise, at each one of two longitudinally opposite sides of the body 15, a snap-acting engagement tab 33 that extends from the second part 21 to engage a corresponding protrusion 34 of the first part 17.

[0034] The use of the strike plate, according to the invention, is evident from what has been described and illustrated, and in particular it is clear that the improvements provided improve its adjustment during installation on a support.

[0035] In fact, it should be noted that thanks to the division of the body 15 into two parts, the second part 21 of which is provided with the two spacers 25a and 25b of different thicknesses, it is possible to install the strike plate 10 with the accommodation seat 16 in a centered position or more or less off-center with respect to the thickness D of the support 12 simply by rotating the body 15 by 180° about the axis B of extension and/or by mating the second part 21 with the first part 17 in a non-aligned manner, as needed.

[0036] Moreover, the fixing means 20 allow fixing the body 15 to the support 12 and keeping the two parts joined and rigidly coupled. Simply by loosening these fixing means 20 (the screws in the example), the first teeth 30 and the second teeth 31 tend to disengage and the second part 21 of the body 15 can translate laterally with respect to the first part 17. This movement occurs while the engagement between the engagement tab 33 and the protrusion 34 is maintained, which are of such width as to allow the translation of one over the other. In this manner the possibility of adjusting the position of the accommodation seat 16 during installation of the lock 11 is ensured.

[0037] It should be also noted that the fact that the screws are inserted obliquely in the support 12 with respect to the axis B of extension of the latch bore 13 allows the use of long screws for an effective fixing of the strike plate 10 to the support 12, even when the depth E of the support 12 is limited.

[0038] Moreover, it should be noted that the mutual engagement means 32 allow a simple and fast mating of the two parts, the first part 17 and the second part 21, which, thanks to the presence of the alignment means 29, can be maintained easily in the mating position during the fixing of the strike plate 10 with the screws that press the two parts together. These alignment means 29, as mentioned above, consist of first and second teeth 30 and 31, which when coupled ensure a better resistance of the strike plate 10 to lateral stresses.

[0039] In practice it has been found that the invention achieves the intended aim and objects, providing a strike plate for spring-latch locks, particularly with a magnetic spring latch, that can be inserted easily in the latch bore and installed in the best position with respect to the spring latch that it must have in the accommodation seat, in centered positions in the thickness of the support or in adjustable positions that are off-centered and not aligned with respect to the longitudinal axis of extension of the latch bore.

[0040] Moreover, the strike plate can be installed even in supports of limited depth, such as frames of glazed doors and windows with narrow frames.

[0041] Furthermore, the inclined arrangement of the fixing means makes it possible to conceal their heads at least partially, which can be optionally also completely hidden by means of flaps that are hinged to the peripheral region of the slots and are to be lowered onto them.

[0042] From what has been described, the strike plate is furthermore structurally simple and easy to use and can be reproduced with known technologies and at low cost.

[0043] The invention thus conceived is susceptible of numerous modifications and variations, all of which are within the scope of the appended claims; all the details may furthermore be replaced with other technically equivalent elements.

[0044] In practice, the materials used, so long as they are compatible with the specific use, as well as the contingent shapes and dimensions, may be any according to the requirements and the state of the art.

[0045] The disclosures in Italian Patent Application No. PD2013A000327 from which this application claims priority are incorporated herein by reference.

[0046] Where technical features mentioned in any claim are followed by reference signs, those reference signs have been included for the sole purpose of increasing the intelligibility of the claims and accordingly such reference signs do not have any limiting effect on the interpretation of each element identified by way of example by such reference signs.

Claims

1. A strike plate (10) for spring-latch locks, of the type comprising a spring latch (14) that engages a latch bore (13), particularly with a magnetic spring latch, to be associated with a support (12) constituted by a frame of a door or window or by a leaf, said strike plate (10) comprising a body (15), which forms an accommodation seat (16) for the spring latch (14) of the lock (11) and at least two longitudinally opposite engagement seats (19) for means (20) for fixing said body (15), such as screws or the like, and defining fixing directions (A) that are inclined with respect to an axis (B) of extension of said latch bore (13) in said support (12) in a mutually diverging manner, said strike plate (10) being characterized in that said body (15) is provided by mating two parts:

- a first substantially tray-like part (17) to be fixed to said support (12) and provided with a protrusion (18) with said at least two engagement seats (19),

- a second part (21), which closes the first one and is substantially hollow in order to form said accommodation seat (16) and is provided with a slot (22), in a manner that corresponds to each engagement seat (19), for the insertion of said fixing means (20), said slot (22) being wider than the opening of said engagement seat (19) for the lateral sliding of said second part (21) on said first part (17), with respect to a longitudinal axis (C) of extension of the latter.

2. The strike plate according to claim 1, characterized in that said second part (21) that forms said accommodation seat (16) for the spring latch (14) has, at its bottom, a receptacle (23) for a magnet (24) for drawing back said spring latch (14).

3. The strike plate according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least said second part (21) of said body (15), in the installation of said strike plate (10), can rotate by 180° about said axis of extension (B).

4. The strike plate according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said body (15), which comprises said first part (17) and said second part (21), in the installation of said strike plate (10), can rotate by 180° about said axis (B) of extension of said strike plate (10).

5. The strike plate according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said second part (21) has two spacers (25a, 25b) of different thicknesses that delimit laterally said accommodation seat (16) so as to form it optionally in an asymmetric manner in said first part (17) with respect to said longitudinal axis (C).

6. The strike plate according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said body (15) comprises means (29) for aligning said second part (21) on said first part (17).

7. The strike plate according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said alignment means (29) comprise, at the interface between said first part (17) and said second part (21), at said protrusion (18), a series of first teeth (30) on said first part (17) and correspondingly second teeth (31) on said second part (21), on opposite sides of each slot (22).

8. The strike plate according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said body (15) comprises means (32) for the mutual engagement of said second part (21) with said first part (17).

9. The strike plate according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said mutual engagement means (32) comprise, at each one of two longitudinally opposite sides of said body (15), a snap-acting engagement tab (33) that extends from said second part (21) to engage a corresponding protrusion (34) of said first part (17).

Drawing