Push button lock

A push-button lock for mounting on a door panel or the like at the location of a door panel opening having a front end region that opens through a front surface of the door panel and a rear end region that opens through a rear surface of the door panel, comprising:

• a) flush mountable means including a flush mountable housing having a front surface defined in part by a relatively thin, perimetrically extending mounting flange that also defines a rear surface configured to overlie front surface portions of a door panel that surround a front end region of a door panel opening at a location where the lock is to be mounted so as to close the front end region of the opening, with the flush mountable housing also having central portions that are configured to extend rearwardly into the front end region of the door panel opening when the rear surface of the mounting flange is positioned to closely overlie said front surface portions, with the rearwardly extending central portions defining a finger-receiving recess that opens through said front surface, and a first push button passage that opens through said front surface at a first button opening, and that extends rearwardly from the first button opening and through the central portions of the flush mountable housing;
• b) surface mountable means including a surface mountable housing having spaced front and rear faces that border central portions of the surface mountable housing which are perimetrically bounded by side wall means that connects the front and rear faces, with the rear face of the surface mountable housing having peripheral portions that are configured to overlie rear surface portions of the door panel that surround the rear end of the door panel opening at said location so as to close the rear end of the opening, with said central portions of the surface mountable housing defining a slide bolt passage 1) that is oriented transversely relative to the first push button passage, 2) that intersects the first push button passage, and 3) that has a passage end opening defined where the slide bolt passage opens through said side wall means, with said central portions of the surface mountable housing also defining a second push button passage 1) that substantially parallels the first push button passage, 2) that intersects with the slide bolt passage, and 3) that opens through said front face at a second button opening;
• c) fastener means for mounting the flush mountable housing and the surface mountable housing on the door panel by clamping the flush mountable housing and the surface mountable housing toward each other at said location so that the flush mountable housing and the surface mountable housing close said front and rear end regions of the door panel opening, respectively;
• d) an elongate slide bolt slidably mounted in the slide bolt passage for movement between latched and unlatched positions, with the slide bolt defining end formation means for projecting from said passage end opening when the slide bolt is in its latched position for latchingly engaging a suitably configured striker to latch the door panel in a closed position, and for retracting to disengage the striker when the slide bolt is in its unlatched position, with the slide bolt also defining 1) a first inclined cam surface that faces toward the first push button passage at an intersection of the first push button passage and the slide bolt passage, and 2) a second inclined cam surface that faces toward the second push button passage at an intersection of the second push button passage;
• e) biasing means for biasing the slide bolt away from its unlatched position toward its latched position;
• f) first push button means slidably mounted in the first push button passage having an outer end region that is configured to project from said first button opening when the first push button means is in a normal position, and that can be moved to an operated position by depressing the outer end region of the first push button means, with the first push button means also defining first inner end means configured to engage and cooperate with the first inclined cam surface of the slide bolt when the first push button means is moved to its operated position to cause the slide bolt to retract to its unlatched position in opposition to the action of said biasing means;
• g) second push button means slidably mounted in the second push button passage having an outer end region that is configured to project from said second button opening when the second push button means is in a normal position, and that can be moved to an operated position by depressing the outer end region of the second push button means, with the second push button means also defining second inner end means configured to engage and cooperate with the second inclined cam surface of the slide bolt when the second push button means is moved to its operated position to cause the slide bolt to retract to its unlatched position in opposition to the action of said biasing means;
• h) wherein a selected one of said first and second inclined cam surfaces is defined by a single inclined surface defined within a cavity formed within the slide bolt at a location substantially centered between opposite sides of the slide bolt passage, and the other of the first and second inclined cam surfaces is defined by a pair of identically inclined surfaces formed on the slide bolt adjacent said opposite sides of the slide bolt passage;
• i) wherein a selected one of the first and second inner end means is defined by a single, centrally located projection that extends into said cavity to engage said single inclined surface, and the other of the first and second inner end means is defined by a pair of spaced projections that extend into engagement with said pair of identically inclined surfaces;
• and,
• j) wherein the push button means that defines said centrally located projection also defines another pair of spaced projections that parallel said centrally located projection at locations spaced symmetrically on opposite sides of said centrally located projection, and the surface mountable housing is configured to engage at least portions of said pair of projections to assist in guiding movements thereof relative to the surface mountable housing.

A push-button lock for mounting on a door panel including an exterior housing and an interior housing that are configured to be clamped toward engagement with opposite side portions of the door panel to mount the lock on the door panel, with a selected one of the housings defining a slide bolt channel within which an elongate, spring-projected slide bolt is mounted for movement between latched and unlatched positions, with the exterior housing defining an exterior push button passage that intersects the slide bolt passage at a first location along the length of the slide bolt passage and within which an exterior push button is mounted for movement, with the interior housing defining an interior push button passage that substantially parallels the exterior push button passage and that intersects with the slide bolt passage at a second location along the length of the slide bolt passage and within which an interior push button is mounted for movement, and with the slide bolt having a pair of oppositely inclined cam surfaces formed at locations along the length of the slide bolt that are spaced apart by a distance that corresponds to the spacing between the locations where the exterior and interior push button passages intersect with the slide bolt passage, with the first and second oppositely inclined cam surfaces of the slide bolt extending substantially the full width of the slide bolt measured in a direction that parallels the exterior and interior push button passages and being configured to cooperate 1) with first inner end means defined by the exterior push button that engages the first inclined cam surface, and 2) with second inner end means defined by the interior push button that engages the second inclined cam surface for retracting the slide bolt from its latched position toward its unlatched position in response to depression of either of the exterior and interior push buttons, with a selected one of the first and second inner end means being defined by a central projection that extends into a cavity that is defined by the slide bolt at a location that is substantially centered between opposite side portions of the slide bolt for engaging one of said oppositely inclined cam surfaces which is defined by an inclined surface of the slide bolt located within said cavity, with the other of the first and second inner end means defined by a pair of spaced projections that extend along said opposite side portions of the slide bolt for engaging a pair of identically inclined surface portions that are formed on said opposite side portions of the slide bolt to extend in a common plane, with the pair of inclined surface portions 1) defining the other of said oppositely inclined cam surfaces and 2) being located along the length of the slide bolt at a position where the inclined surface portions nest there-between at least a portion of said cavity.

A push button lock for mounting at an opening formed through a door panel near an edge of the door, comprising a flush mountable exterior housing having a thin mounting flange that encircles central portions of the exterior housing that are configured to extend into the door panel opening;

• and a surface mountable interior housing that defines a slide bolt passage that carries a spring-projected slide bolt having an end formation that is configured to extend out of the slide bolt passage when in its latched position to latchingly engage a suitably configured striker for retaining the door panel closed, and to be retractable from its latched position to an unlatched position wherein the slide bolt is disengaged from the striker;
• with the interior housing and the mounting flange of the exterior housing being configured to overlap and to be clamped toward engagement with interior and exterior door panel surfaces that extend closely about the door panel opening;
• with the interior and exterior housings defining separate interior and exterior push button passages, respectively, that intersect with the slide bolt passage;
• with separate interior and exterior push buttons being provided that each are slidably mounted in a passages, respectively;
• with inner end regions of the interior and exterior push buttons defining separate, oppositely inclined cam surfaces that are engageable with interior-facing and exterior-facing, oppositely inclined cam surfaces that are defined by the slide bolt at locations where the interior and exterior push button passages intersect with the slide bolt passage, respectively;
• with the interior-facing and the exterior-facing inclined cam surfaces being configured to cooperate with the interior and exterior push buttons, respectively, to cause retraction of the slide bolt from its latched position when either of the interior and exterior push buttons is depressed, with a selected one of the interior-facing and the exterior-facing inclined cam surfaces of the slide bolt being defined by a single inclined surface defined within a cavity formed in the slide bolt at a location substantially centered between opposite sides of the slide bolt passage, with the other of the interior-facing and the exterior-facing inclined cam surfaces being defined by a pair of identically inclined surface portions of the slide bolt that extend in a common plane along opposite sides of the slide bolt passage at a location along the length of the slide bolt where the identically inclined surface portions nest at least a portion of said cavity therebetween, with a selected one of the inclined cam surfaces of the push buttons being defined by a single, centrally located projection that extends into said cavity to engage said single inclined surface, and with the other of the inclined cam surfaces of the push buttons being defined by a pair of spaced projections that extend into engagement with said pair of identically inclined surface portions.