WO2001093729A1

WO2001093729A1 - Locking arrangement

Info

Publication number: WO2001093729A1
Application number: PCT/DK2001/000390
Authority: WO
Inventors: Boye Pihl; Mogens Kaae Nielsen
Original assignee: Pakcept Aps
Priority date: 2000-06-08
Filing date: 2001-06-07
Publication date: 2001-12-13
Also published as: EP1294259A1; DK200000201U3; AU2001263783A1

Abstract

A locking arrangement for a door (2) pivotally hinged in a casing comprises a spring-loaded lock (3) on the door (2) with an associated strike plate (7) on the casing, and a support (12; 24) mounted movable mainly vertically for a temporarily placed load (19) and assuming a lower position in unloaded state and an upper position in loaded state. The strike plate (7) is pivotally mounted about a swivelling axis but has a blocking position in which at least a part of the strike plate (7) is extending in over the blocking pawl (4) of the spring-loaded lock (3) when the door (2) is closed, and is locked in the blocking position by the support (12; 24) when this support is in its lower position. The locking arrangement has a simple, safely functioning design. It can advantageously be utilised as a letter box for receiving e.g. packets or for containers serving for receiving larger packages for e.g. a company.

Description

Locking arrangement

The creation relates to a locking arrangement for a door pivotally hinged on a casing, and comprising a spring-loaded lock on the door with an associated strike plate on the casing, and a support mounted so that it is movable mainly vertically. The support is for a temporarily placed load and will assume a lower position in loaded state and an upper position in unloaded state.

Cabinets with locking arrangement are known that comprise a vertically movable base which will block the locking arrangement and thereby the door when a load is placed on the base and the door is closed. In unloaded state, the door can be opened freely.

When the cabinet is empty, a delivery boy can unobstructedly place e.g. a packet on the base of the cabinet, the base is then weighed down into the lower position. When the delivery boy then closes the door, the locking arrangement is blocked as mentioned above. Now, the door can only be opened by means of a key or a code to the lock, that is normally by the person who owns the cabinet .

These known locking arrangements are relatively complicated and unsafe, and the object of the creation is therefore to provide a locking arrangement of the kind mentioned in the opening paragraph, which has a simple design and is safe to utilise.

The novel and unique features according to the locking arrangement of the creation, whereby this is achieved, is the fact that the strike plate is pivotally mounted about a swivelling axis but has a blocking position in which at least part of the strike plate is extending in over the locking pawl of the spring-loaded lock when the door is closed, and is blocked by the support in the blocking position when this support is in its lower position. By letting the strike plate be pivotal in this way, the locking arrangement obtains a simple, safely functioning design.

In an especially simple embodiment the strike plate can be designed as a blocking plate mounted with the swivelling axis parallel to the end edge of the locking pawl and having a blocking section on one side of the swivelling axis, said blocking section extending at least partly in over the locking pawl when the door is closed, and a locking section on the other side of the swivelling axis, said locking section at the same time being locked by the support in the lower position of this support.

The swivelling axis of the blocking plate can be placed in a area under the door and be extending parallel to the bottom of this door, and the support can be extending with a front edge: almost all the way to the blocking plate in the blocking position of this plate. When this front edge is under the swivelling axis of the blocking plate in the lower position of the support, the locking arrangement and thereby the door are- locked, and when the front edge is above the swivelling axis in the upper position of the support, the locking arrangement allows the door to be opened freely.

As it appears, the above locking arrangement is placed at the bottom of the door. This entails the disadvantage that the cabinet is relatively easy to break open if the door is larger than a certain size as the door then can be twisted wry relatively easily unless it has a very strong and thereby costly structure.

This disadvantage is remedied by an alternative embodiment where the spring-loaded lock is placed higher up on the cabinet . To obtain this, the swivelling axis of the blocking plate can be extending parallel to the swivelling axis of the door at a distance above the support, and an interlocking rod displaceable mainly vertically in the casing and articulated with the support at the bottom and provided with a blocking pin at the top for engaging with a complementary aperture in the locking section of the blocking plate when the blocking plate is in its blocking position and the support in its lower position.

The support can be spring-actuated so that it automatically will assume its upper position in unloaded state.

In an expedient embodiment the support can be designed as a plate forming the base in a cabinet and pivotally mounted at the back of the cabinet. This solution is simple and inexpensive but has the disadvantage that the base is not always weighed safely down into its lower position by loads placed relatively near the back of the cabinet .

Alternatively, the locking arrangement can have a mechanism which is arranged to positively operate the base in such a way that it is only allowed a translational, vertical movement. Thereby, the locking arrangement will not be susceptible to the placing of the loads on the base.

The creation will be explained in greater detail below, describing only exemplary embodiments with reference to the drawing, in which

Fig. 1 is a cross sectional view of a first embodiment of a locking arrangement according to the invention,

fig. 2 is a front view of a strike plate for the locking arrangement in fig. 1, and fig. 3 is a front view of a second embodiment of a locking arrangement according to the creation partly in section.

In the following it is assumed that the locking arrangement 5 according to the creation is utilised for a cabinet 1 serving for temporarily storing packets delivered by a delivery boy to the owner of the cabinet.

The cabinet has a top- or side-hinged door 2 with a spring- L0 loaded lock 3 which in the figure is seen with a locking pawl 4 pushed out and having a relatively sharp edge 5 at the transition between its front and bevelled back.

The strike plate 6 which is part of the spring-loaded lock and 15 seen from front in fig. 2 consists of a blocking plate 7 pivotally mounted in an area under the door 2 by means of a swivel shaft 8. A torsion spring 9 is trying to keep _rthe blocking plate in the blocking position shown. The blocking plate 7 is divided into a blocking section 10 and a locking 20 section 11.

The base 12 of the cabinet is pivotally mounted about a swivelling axis 13 at the back 14 of the cabinet and can swing between an upper position which is shown in dotted line and a 25 lower position which is shown in full line. The upper position is defined by an upper stop 15 and the lower by a lower stop 16. The front edge 17 of the base is in immediate proximity of the blocking plate 7.

30 One or several pressure springs 18 force the base 12 up into abutment against the upper stop 15 when the base in unloaded. When the base is loaded by for example the packet 19 shown in the figure, the base is weighed down against the action of the pressure spring toward the lower stop 16.

35 When the base 12 is unloaded and therefore in its upper position with the front edge 17 on a level with the blocking section 10 of the blocking plate, the pushed-out locking pawl 4 can turn this blocking section outward and thereby allow the 5 door 2 to be opened.

Consequently, a delivery boy can open the door without difficulty and place the packet 19 in the cabinet, that is on the base 12 which thereby is weighed down into the lower L0 position.

In this position, the front edge 17 of the base will be on a level with the locking section 11 of the blocking plate and thereby block the blocking plate in the blocking position L5 shown.

Then, the delivery boy can close the door, after which it only can be opened by means of the owner's key or code.

20 Fig. 3 shows a second embodiment of the locking arrangement according to the creation. The lock is now placed higher up on the door where the door therefore is convenient to unlock when the cabinet is placed at floor level, and the cabinet cannot or can only with difficulty be broken up by twisting the door.

25 This embodiment moreover corresponds essentially to the one mentioned above and shown in figs. 1 and 2, and like parts are therefore designated by the same reference numerals.

In fig. 3, the cabinet 1 is seen from the front and, as shown, 30 the door 2 is pivotally mounted by means of side hinges 20.

When the lock is placed at a distance above the base, this base will not be able to block the blocking plate directly in its blocking position. Blocking takes place indirectly by 35 means of a vertical interlocking rod 21 which is displaceably placed in the casing or the wall of the cabinet. At the top, the interlocking rod is provided with a blocking pin 22 engaging with a complementary aperture 23 in the locking section 11 of the blocking plate 7 when the blocking plate 7 is in its blocking position and the support in its lower position. Thereby, the blocking plate is blocked in its blocking position.

The base 24 in fig. 3 is not hinged but is instead positively operated by means of a mechanism (not shown) so that the base is only allowed a translational, upward and downward, vertical movement. By means of this arrangement, the packet 19 will force the base 24 safely down into the lower position irrespective of where on the base the packet is placed.

When the base is unloaded, it is, in the case shown, taken up into the upper position by means of pressure springs 25.

The locking arrangement according to the creation can advantageously be utilised as letter box for e.g. a private home. Thereby, the postman is able to safely deliver a parcel post packet without key or code to a resident who is not at home. Upon returning, the resident can now conveniently get his packet without the trouble of first having to go to the post office.

The locking arrangement can also be utilised for e.g. containers serving for receiving larger packages for e.g. a company.

Utility model claims

1. A locking arrangement for a door (2) pivotally hinged in a casing and comprising a spring-loaded lock (3) on the door (2) with an associated strike plate (7) on the casing and a support (12; 24) mounted movable mainly vertically for a temporarily placed load (19) , and said support assuming a lower position in loaded state and an upper position in unloaded state, characterised in that the strike plate (7) is pivotally mounted about a swivelling axis but has a blocking position in which at least part of the strike plate (7) is extending in over the locking pawl (4) of the spring-loaded lock (3) when the door (2) is closed, and is blocked in the blocking position by the support (12; 24) when this support is in its lower position.

2. A locking arrangement according to claim 1, characterised in that the strike plate is designed as a blocking plate (7) mounted with the swivelling axis parallel to the end edge (5) of the locking pawl.

3. A locking arrangement according to the claim 2 , characterised in that the blocking plate (7) has a - blocking section (10) on one side of the swivelling axis extending at least partly in over the locking pawl (4) when the door (2) is closed, and a locking section (11) on the other side of the swivelling axis locked simultaneously by the support (12;24) when this support is in its lower position.

. A locking arrangement according to claim 2 or 3 , characterised in that the swivelling axis of the blocking plate (7) is placed in an area under the door (2) and extending mainly parallel to the bottom of this door, that the support (12; 24) has a front edge (17) in immediate proximity of the blocking plate (7) in the blocking position of this blocking plate, and that this front edge (17) is under the swivelling axis of the blocking plate (7) in the lower position of the support 5 (12;24) and above this axis in the upper position of the support (12; 24) .

5. A locking arrangement according to claim 2, 3 or 4, characterised in that the swivelling axis of the blocking

LO plate (7) is extending parallel to the swivelling axis of the door (2) at a distance above the support (24), and that in the casing is an interlocking rod (21) displaceable mainly vertically and articulated with the support (24) at the bottom and provided with a blocking

L5 pin (22) at the top for engaging with a complementary aperture (23) in the blocking section (10) of the blocking plate (7) when the blocking plate (7) is in its blocking position and the support (24) in its lower position.

20

6. A locking arrangement according to any of the claims 1 -

5, characterised in that the locking arrangement comprises at least one spring (18; 25) for affecting the support (12; 24) with an upward force.

25

7. A locking arrangement according to any of the claims 1 -

6, characterised in that the support (12; 24) is mainly designed as a plate.

30 8. A locking arrangement according to claim 7, characterised in that the plate-shaped support forms the base (12; 24) in a cabinet (1) .

9. A locking arrangement according to claim 8, characterised 35 in that the base (12) is pivotally hinged at the back of the cabinet (1) . 0. A locking arrangement according to claim 8, characterised in that it comprises a mechanism arranged to positively operate the base (24) in such a way that the base is only allowed translational, vertical movements.