Locking mechanism with status indicator
AssigneeSargent Manufacturing Company
InventorsIan Sweeney, Lee Griswold, Ryan Piantek
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A status indicator for a locking mechanism may include a status indicator face, a status indicator plate, a cam coupling, and a locking mechanism coupler. The status indicator face and status indicator plate may be at least partially moveable relative to one another. The locking mechanism coupler may have a greater rotational range of motion than the cam coupling. The status indicator face may indicate the state of a locking mechanism and may have a viewing angle greater than or equal to 180 degrees.
Claims18
A status indicator assembly for a locking mechanism, the locking mechanism moveable between a locked state and an unlocked state, the locking mechanism coupled to an actuation mechanism, the actuation mechanism operatively coupled to the status indicator such that movement of the locking mechanism moves the status indicator, the status indicator assembly comprising:
- an escutcheon plate having a curved front face portion, wherein the curvature of the front face portion includes at least two radii of curvature;
- an indicator window disposed on the front face portion of the escutcheon plate;
- a status indicator having a status indicator plate and a status indicator face, the status indicator operatively couplable to the locking mechanism, the status indicator disposed behind the escutcheon plate and visible through the indicator window,
- wherein the status indicator displays a locked indication when the locking mechanism is in the locked state, and wherein the status indicator displays an unlocked indication when the locking mechanism is in the unlocked state, and wherein the curvature of the of the front face portion allows the front face portion to be visible through the indicator window from a viewing angle greater than or equal to 180 degrees;
- and
- a biasing element configured to couple the status indicator face to the status indicator plate, wherein the biasing element allows the status indicator face to be moved independently relative to the status indicator plate.
A method of indicating a locking state of a locking mechanism, the locking mechanism moveable between a locked state and an unlocked state, the locking mechanism coupled to an actuation mechanism, the actuation mechanism operatively coupled to a status indicator such that movement of the locking mechanism moves the status indicator, the method comprising:
- displaying an unlocked indication when the locking mechanism is in an unlocked state, wherein the unlocked indication is displayed by a status indicator operatively couplable to the locking mechanism, the status indicator visible through an indicator window formed in an escutcheon plate, and wherein the escutcheon plate includes at least two radii of curvature;
- changing a state of the locking mechanism from the unlocked state to a locked state;
- displaying a locked indication when the locking mechanism is in the locked state, wherein the locked indication is displayed by the status indicator visible through the indicator window;
- and
- providing a biasing element to couple a status indicator face of the status indicator to a status indicator plate of the status indicator, wherein the biasing element allows the status indicator face to be moved independently relative to the status indicator plate.
A status indicator for a locking mechanism, the locking mechanism moveable between a locked state and an unlocked state, the locking mechanism coupled to an actuation mechanism, the actuation mechanism operatively coupled to the status indicator such that movement of the locking mechanism moves the status indicator, the status indicator comprising:
- a status indicator face including a locked indication and an unlocked indication;
- a status indicator plate operatively coupled to the locking mechanism, wherein the status indicator plate is configured to move the status indicator face to display the locked indication when the locking mechanism is in the locked state, and wherein the status indicator plate is configured to move the status indicator face to display the unlocked indication when the locking mechanism is in the unlocked state;
- and
- a biasing element configured to couple the status indicator face to the status indicator plate, wherein the biasing element allows the status indicator face to be moved independently relative to the status indicator plate.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.