US 5,364,139 AGranted

Door latch assembly

AssigneeKwikset Corporation

InventorsGary R. Bergen, Thomas J. Ghostley

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Abstract

A door latch assembly (10) includes a latch bolt mechanism (60) having a bolt (62) movable between a door latching position and a door unlatching position. Assembly (10) further includes handle lever (16) and (36) at opposite ends of a square spindle 64. An adapter 68 is attached to spindle 64 and engages cam surfaces 158 and 160 of a slide 142 within mechanism (60) to facilitate movement of bolt 62 when either of the levers (16) or (36) are operated. A locking plate 44 is attached to spindle 64 for movement therewith and is formed with a peripheral notch 138. A locking dog 48 is selectively positionable within notch 138 to prevent rotation of spindle 64 and movement of bolt 62 when an attempt is made to operate either of the levers 16 or 36. A stop plate 230 is also mounted on spindle 64 for rotation therewith and is positioned to engage fixed stems 28 to preclude attempted movement of either of the levers 16 or 36 in an upward direction but permits downward movement thereof to facilitate movement of bolt 62.

Claims5

Dependent claims

A door latch assembly, which comprises:

a latch bolt mechanism;
a bolt contained with the latch bolt mechanism and movable between an extended door latching position and a retracted door unlatching position;
a drive system extending from outside the latch bolt mechanism to a location within the latch bolt mechanism to facilitate movement of the bolt between the latching position and the unlatching position;
a door operator coupled to the drive system at a location spaced from the latch bolt mechanism for facilitating operation of the drive system to move the bolt;
the drive system including a spindle having a spindle axis which extends between the door operator and the latch bolt mechanism for coupling the door operator to the latch bolt mechanism;
a locking plate mounted on the spindle at a location intermediate of and spaced from the door operator and the latch bolt mechanism for rotation with the spindle;
the locking plate formed with a slot in the periphery thereof so that the slot is located in a plane which includes the locking plate;
a locking dog mounted within the door latch assembly in a position for reciprocal movement along a dog axis which is parallel to and spaced from the spindle axis, and
means for moving the locking dog into the peripheral slot of the locking plate at a location spaced from and independently of the latch bolt mechanism and the portion of the drive system associated therewith.

6 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.