Low energy clutch for electronic door lock
AssigneeUTC Fire & Security Corporation
InventorsJohn M. Milton-Benoit, Ulf J. Jonsson, Robert H. Dold, Fanping Sun, Zaffir A. Chaudhry
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A clutch for an electronic door lock includes a primary mover, a pivotal pawl, a first shaft, and a second shaft. The second shaft is axially co-aligned with the first shaft and is rotatably mounted adjacent the rotatable first shaft. The primary mover is selectively actuatable to engage the pawl such that rotation of the first shaft relative to the second shaft by a user pivots the pawl into coupling engagement between the first shaft and the second shaft.
Claims20
A drive clutch for an electronic door lock, the clutch comprising:
- a rotatable first shaft;
- a second shaft axially co-aligned with and rotatably disposed adjacent the first shaft;
- a pivotal pawl;
- and
- a prime mover selectively actuatable to cause the pawl to pivot such that rotation of the first shaft relative to the second shaft by a user completes pivoting of the pawl into coupling engagement between the first shaft and the second shaft.
An electronic door lock, comprising:
- a rotatable door handle;
- a handle shaft operably connected to the door handle and capable of being rotationally actuated thereby;
- a spring attached to the handle shaft;
- a latch mechanism;
- a lock shaft axially co-aligned with and rotatably mounted adjacent the handle shaft and rotatably connected to the latch mechanism;
- a pawl pivotally coupled to the lock shaft;
- a primary mover that pivots a pawl into engagement with the handle shaft thereby coupling the lock shaft with the handle shaft to unlock the latch mechanism.
A method of coupling a first shaft with a second shaft in an electronic door lock using a pivotal pawl, the method comprising:
- actuating a prime mover to eliminate a clearance between a movable mechanism and the pawl;
- and
- rotating the first shaft relative to the second shaft to engage the mechanism with the pawl to pivot the pawl into engagement between the first shaft and the second shaft.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.