Door lock apparatus

Abstract

A locking apparatus, particularly desirable for modifying a "push/pull" latch apparatus for a hospital door, by which it may be released from a locked condition by manual effort applied from either side of the door, thus giving an unlocking effect to a door even though its locking has been caused by a manual locking effort applied by the person on the other side of the door. The apparatus has a particularly beneficial use in a large commercial installation such as a hospital, and provides that the lock-releasability may be achieved by a manual effort applied wholly on the outside of the door, as well as the person on the inside of the door being able to either lock or unlock the door; and, although the door may be locked or unlocked from either side, the unlocking component manually operable to lock or unlock the door from the outside is provided to be of such an inconspicuous nature that it would be realistically considered to not be a component with a door-unlocking effect. Thus the door may have the advantage of granting privacy to a person on the inside of the room, even though during an emergency a nurse or other authorized person would be able to achieve a locking-release effect of the door.

I claim: 
     
       1. A locking means including a retractable latchbolt means, for providing particular locking and unlocking characteristics for a movable panel, the movable panel having first and second faces opposite one another, and being movable into and between a first panel position and a second panel position, and the movable panel being supported by an associated rigid structure;   the rigid structure providing support for the movable panel in its movement into and between said positions; and the rigid structure also providing for the locking means a retainer means for providing releasable retention co-operation with the retractable latchbolt means,   the latchbolt means providing a releasable latching and releasable locking in said co-operation with the retainer means,   the latchbolt means being carried by the panel for providing a panel-maintaining of the panel in its first panel-position in which position the panel is restricted against movement which would move the panel toward the second panel-position when the latchbolt means is retracted from retention by the retainer means,   and the latchbolt means being movable into and between an extended position in which it provides said panel-maintaining, and a retracted position in which it permits such panel movement;   the locking means also comprising, in combination:   a first latch device .Iadd.adapted to be .Iaddend.carried on the first face of the panel, and a second latch device .Iadd.adapted to be .Iaddend.carried on the second face of the panel,   each of the latch devices having .Iadd.a latch-releasing linkage including .Iaddend.an actuator means which is rotationally movable about an axis parallel to the plane of the panel, and in a plane perpendicular to the plane of the panel,   . .the first latch device.!. .Iadd.each latch-releasing linkage .Iaddend.having a force-transmission means, . .and the second latch device having a force-transmission means..!.   each of the force-transmission means. ., independently of one another,.!. being operable in response to movement of its respective actuator means to move in a plane perpendicular to the plane of the panel. .-.!., and in so moving, to move the latchbolt means to its retracted position to permit the panel to move to its second panel-position,   each latch . .device.!..Iadd.-releasing linkage .Iaddend.having in its force-transmission means one or more controllable components which are controlled in response to the movement of its respective actuator means,   a lock for the latch device of at least . .a.!. .Iadd.the .Iaddend.first . .one.!. of the panel faces . .comprisings.!. .Iadd.comprising.Iaddend.:   (a) at least one movable manual control member,   (b) support means for supporting the control member for its movement,   (c) the control member being provided with at least one abutment member which is operable, in accordance with the control member's movement, to move to a position of operative abutment-encounter of . .the actuator means.!. .Iadd.a member of the latch-releasing linkage .Iaddend.and the abutment member, in which the abutment member imposes a blocking force against the . .actuator means.!. .Iadd.member of the latch-releasing linkage.Iaddend.. .,   the abutment member being supported so as to have a plane of movement in its movement into and from its position of operative encounter with the actuator means, which plane is perpendicular to the plane of movement of the actuator means, in its movement for causing withdrawal of the latchbolt from its panel-maintaining extended position,   the abbutting encounter being operable to prevent the actuator means from any engagement of the force-transmission means to an extent which would enable the actuator means and the force-transmission means to achieve latchbolt means withdrawal by the action of the force-transmission means in response to the movement of the actuator means and the force-transmission means.!..Iadd.; and   means for achieving a locking of the second latch device's actuator means.Iaddend.. . .2. The locking means as set forth in claim 1, with means for achieving a locking of the other second latch device's actuator   
     
     
        means..!.3. The locking means as set forth in claim . .2.!. .Iadd.1.Iaddend., in which each latch device is engageable by said lock . .each which is.!..Iadd., the lock being .Iaddend.manually operable to effect a locking engagement of .Iadd.the .Iaddend.actuator means with said .Iadd.at least one .Iaddend.abutment . .members.!. .Iadd.member, .Iaddend.. .by.!. the lock preventing . .the.!. .Iadd.any .Iaddend.movement of the actuator means sufficient to . .each.!. achieve 
     
     
        latchbolt means withdrawal. 4. The locking means as set forth in claim 3, . .in which one said.!. .Iadd.further comprising a .Iaddend.manual control member . .of.!. .Iadd.for .Iaddend.the second latch device .Iadd.which .Iaddend.is able to release the lock, even though the manual control member of said first latch device has established a locked condition of 
     
     
        abutment encounter of the said abutment member and the actuator means. 5. The locking means as set forth in claim 3, in which the control member . .operatively extends.!. .Iadd.is adapted to operatively extend .Iaddend.through the panel and through covers provided as housings for the latch device, . .providing.!. .Iadd.and the control member further comprises .Iaddend.manually operable means sufficiently to accept manual 
     
     
        operable manipulation to achieve . .the.!. locking and unlocking. 6. The locking means as set forth in claim 1, in which the said abutment member moves about 45 degrees from . .its.!. .Iadd.a .Iaddend.position of locking engagement with the . .actuator means.!. .Iadd.latch-releasing linkage.Iaddend., to a withdrawn condition in which it is fully released from abutment with the . .actuator means.!. .Iadd.latch-releasing 
     
     
        linkage.Iaddend.. 7. The locking means as set forth in claim 1, in which the control member for at least one of the latch . .devices is provided to be.!..Iadd.-releasing linkages comprises .Iaddend.an inconspicuous movable 
     
     
        body member. .Iadd.8.  The locking means as set forth in claim 1, in which the member of the latch-releasing linkage on which the blocking force is applied by the abutment member comprises the actuator means. .Iaddend..Iadd.9. The locking means as set forth in claim 1, further comprising a support for the abutment member, the support providing a plane of movement for the abutment member which is perpendicular to the 
     
     
        plane of movement of the actuator means. .Iaddend..Iadd.10.  A lock for a door having two faces and being moveably in a frame between an open and a closed position, the lock including a latchbolt, the frame supporting the door and including a latchhole to receive the latchbolt, the latchbolt being moveable between an extended position holding the door closed when in the latchhole and a retracted position permitting the door to open when withdrawn from the latchhole, the lock also comprising: a latch-releasing linkage including a first handle adapted to be carried by a first of the two door faces and second handle adapted to be carried by a second of the two door faces, each of the handles being constrained to rotate about an axis parallel to the plane of the door, and a series of components coupled to each of the handles for transmitting a force from each of the handles to said latchbolt to retract the latchbolt,   a control for preventing retraction of the latchbolt by at least one of the handles including: (a) a movable control rod,   (b) a support for the control rod to allow manual movement of the rod, and   (c) a blocking element coupled to the control rod which can be positioned by movement of the rod to encounter at least one component of the latch-releasing linkage for preventing movement of the latch-releasing linkage sufficient to prevent retraction of the latchbolt; and     
     
     
       means for achieving a locking of the second handle. .Iaddend..Iadd.11.  A lock as claimed in claim 10 wherein each of the handles includes a head forming a first of said series of components, the blocking element being positionable to encounter the head of one of the handles to prevent movement thereof. .Iaddend..Iadd.12. A lock as claimed in claim 10 wherein the blocking element includes two block elements coupled to the control rod, each block element operating separately to prevent latchbolt 
     
     
        retraction by one of the handles. .Iaddend..Iadd.13.  A lock as claimed in claim 10 wherein the blocking element comprises an arm radially extending from the control rod, the arm having a surface for encountering a member of the latch-releasing linkage. .Iaddend..Iadd.14. A lock as claimed in claim 13 in which the blocking element moves about 45° between an encountering position preventing movement of one member of the latch-releasing linkage and a non-encountering position allowing the latchbolt to be retracted. .Iaddend..Iadd.15. A lock as claimed in claim 10 wherein the blocking element comprises a bar constrained to move linearly in response to movement of the control rod, the blocking element having a surface for encountering a member of the latch-releasing linkage. .Iaddend..Iadd.16. A lock as claimed in claim 10 further comprising a knob coupled to one end of the control rod to facilitate manual movement of the control rod. .Iaddend..Iadd.17. A lock as claimed in claim 16 in which the control rod is adapted to extend through the door and includes an inconspicuous feature located on the side of the door opposite the knob which permits the latchbolt to be retracted from both sides of the door. .Iaddend..Iadd.18. A lock as claimed in claim 10 wherein the blocking element comprises a bar constrained to move linearly in response to movement of the control rod, the blocking element having a surface for encountering one member of one of said latch-releasing linkages. .Iaddend..Iadd.19. A lock as claimed in claim 10 further comprising a support for the blocking element permitting movement of the blocking element only within a plane perpendicular to the plane of movement of at least one handle. .Iaddend..Iadd.20. A lock as claimed in claim 10 wherein at least one of the handles includes a head carrying at least one stop pin, the blocking element being positionable to encounter the stop pin to prevent movement of the latch-releasing linkages. .Iaddend.