GB2245305A

GB2245305A - Strike plate assembly for door lock or latch

Info

Publication number: GB2245305A
Application number: GB9013538A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Henry Thomas York
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1990-06-18
Filing date: 1990-06-18
Publication date: 1992-01-02
Also published as: GB9013538D0

Abstract

The strike plate assembly has an outer strike plate 10, and an inner plate 12 which is sandwiched between the outer plate and a door jamb 40 and which is adjustable horizontally in order to facilitate an initial perfect fit for the lock and also enable the fit to be adjusted as the door or door frame settles. As shown, plates 10, 12 have serrated regions 36, 38 and plate 12 has elongate holes 34 aligned with screw holes 18 in outer plate 10, which allow of the adjustment. Plate 12 is received between lips of outer plate 10. In the modification of Figure 4 pairs of apertures (20A, 20B and 32A, 32B) are formed in the plates and edges (46A, 46B) of apertures in the inner plate (12) have raised lips to protrude into the apertures in the outer plate (10) to increase the area of engagement with a latch and a locking bolt. <IMAGE>

Description

STRIKE PLATES FOR DOOR LOCKS, ETC.

This invention relates to strike plate assemblies for locks for doors and the like.

A conventional strike plate assembly comprises a plate having a formation (such as a rectangular aperture to receive a latch or bolt of the lock and means (such as a pair of screws which pass through respective holes in the plate) for attaching the plate to a door jamb or the like.

Usually the conventional strike plate is sunk into a recess in the door jamb to provide a flush finish. Once a certain degree of skill has been acquired in fitting door locks, a reasonably good fit of the lock can initially be achieved. However, as the door warps slightly with age, or the door frame distorts, or other settling occurs, the alignment of the strike plate with the latch or bolt of the lock can change, with the result either that the door rattles when closed, or that the door will not close sufficiently for the latch or bolt to fit the strike plate. The conventional strike plate can then be refitted, but this requires re-cutting of the recess for the strike plate, filling of the screw holes, the forming of new screw holes, filling of the remaining space in the recess, and possibly making good the surrounding paintwork.This is laborious and time-consuming, and many people may put-up with a rattling door, rather than going to the trouble of having the strike plate re-fitted.

The present invention was conceived in order to alleviate the above-mentioned problems with conventional strike plates, and also to facilitate the initial correct fitting of a strike plate.

The strike plate assembly of the present invention is characterised by a second plate sandwiched between the outer plate and the jamb. The second plate has a formation (such as a rectangular aperture) to receive the latch or bolt of the lock, including an edge which engages the latch or bolt when in the locked position. The second plate is adjustable in postion behind the outer plate to adjust the locked position of the latch or bolt.

Accordingly, the outer plate can remain static and the recess in the jamb can be cut to receive the outer plate, whilst behind the outer plate the second plate can be adjusted in position to achieve a good fit of the latch or bolt with the strike plate assembly.

Further features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description, given by way of example only, of specific embodiments of the present invention, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is an exploded view of a first embodiment of strike plate assembly; Figure 2 is a partial cross-sectional view of the strike plate assembly of Figure 1, taken along line II-II, fitted to a door frame with a door in the closed position; Figure 3 is similar to Figure 2, but taken along the line III-III in Figure 2; and Figure 4 is an exploded view of a second embodiment of strike plate assembly.

Referring to Figures 1 and 3, the first embodiment of strike plate assembly comprises an outer plate 10, an inner plate 12 and a pair of screws 14.

The outline shape of the outer plate 10 is conventional, that is it has a generally rectangular portion 16 with countersunk holes 18 at the top and bottom to receive the screws 14, a central rectangular aperture 20 to receive the latch 22 of a lock 24 which is morticed into the edge of a door 26, and a projecting tab 28 to provide a run-in for the latch 22.

The width W1 of the aperture 20 is slightly greater than that provided in a conventional strike plate for the latch 22. Also, the outer plate 10 has a pair of vertically extending lips 30 projecting from its rear face.

The inner plate 12 is generally rectangular, having a height about equal to that of the outer plate 10, and a width W2 which is smaller than the distance W3 between the lips 30 of the outer plate 10, for example 4 mm smaller. The inner plate 12 also has a central rectangular aperture 32 having a height about equal to that of the aperture 20 in the outer plate 10 and a width W4 which is smaller than the width W1 of the outer plate's aperture 32, for example 4 mm smaller. The inner plate 12 further has a pair of holes 34 which are aligned with the holes 18 in the outer plate, but which are elongate in the horizontal direction so that the inner plate 12 can be moved horizontally between the two lips 30 on the outer plate without the holes 34 fouling the screws 14.Near the tops and bottoms of the plates 10, 12, the inner plate 12 has vertically serrated regions 36 on its outer face, and the outer plate has vertically serrated regions 38 on its inner face. The serrations have a pitch of, for example 0.5 to 1 mm.

In order to fit the strike plate assembly to a door jamb 40, a recess 42 is cut of a size and depth exactly to match the outer plate 10 and such that the latch 22 of the door lock will be aligned generally with the centre of the aperture 20 in the outer plate 10 when the door is closed. A portion 44 of the recess is then cut deeper, in conventional manner, to accept the latch 22. The outer plate 10 is then attached to the jamb 40 in the recess 42 by the screws 14 such that the inner plate 12 is sandwiched between the outer plate 10 and the jamb 40. The inner plate 12 might conveniently be positioned so that it is half-way through its range of horizontal adjustment behind the outer plate, and the screws are tightened. The door is then closed.If it rattles, the screws 14 are partly loosened, the inner plate 12 is moved slightly to the right, as seen in Figure 2, and the screws are re-tightened. If, on the other hand, the latch will not engage in the aperture 32, the inner plate 12 is moved slightly to the left. This adjustment procedure can be repeated until a perfect fit is achieved with the face of the latch 32 closely engaging the left edge 46 of the aperture 32 in the inner plate 12, as shown in Figure 2. Furthermore, when the door, door-frame or lock settles, the inner plate 12 can be conveniently and easily adjusted to achieve a perfect fit again.

The strike plate assembly shown in Figure 4 is somewhat similar to the assembly described above and therefore does not need to be described in detail. Suffice it to say that pairs of apertures 20A, 208 and 32A, 32B are formed in the outer and inner plates 10, 12 to receive a sprung latch and a locking bolt of a lock. Furthermore, the left edges 46A, 468 of the apertures 32A, 328 in the inner plate are provided by raised lips which protrude into the apertures 20A, 208 in the outer plate 10 in order to increase the area of engagement with the latch and bolt. The plates 10, 12 shown in Figure 4 are vertically symmetrical so that they can be used both for left-handed and for right-handed doors.

Claims

1. A strike plate assembly for a latch or bolt of a lock, comprising a plate (10) having a formation (20) to receive the latch (22) or bolt, and means (14) for attaching the plate to a jamb (40) or the like, characterised by a second plate (12) sandwiched between the first plate and the jamb, the second plate having a formation (32) to receive the latch or bolt including an edge (46) to engage the latch or bolt when in the locked position, and the second plate being adjustable in position relative to the first plate to adjust the locked position of the latch or bolt.

2. An assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the attaching means can be fully tightened to fix the positions of both plates and can be partly loosened to permit the adjustability of the inner plate.

3. An assembly as claimed in claim 2, wherein the outer and inner plates have complementarily-serrated engaging faces (36, 38) to assist in fixing the position of the inner plate when the attaching means is fully tightened.

4. An assembly as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the attaching means comprises a pair of screws (14) which pass through respective circular holes (18) in the outer plate to fix the position of the outer plate on the jamb, but which do not hinder the adjustability of the inner plate.

5. An assembly as claimed in claim 4, wherein the inner plate has a pair of holes (34) through which the screws pass, the holes being elongate to permit the adjustability of the inner plate.

6. An assembly as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the inner plate is disposed between raised lips (30) from the outer plate extending parallel to said edge.

7. An assembly as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein said edge is provided by a raised lip (46A,8) from the inner plate which protrudes into the latch or bolt receiving formation of the outer plate.

8. A strike plate assembly substantially as described with reference to the drawings.