Simplified lever handing apparatus
AssigneeSchlage Lock Company LLC
InventorsVijayakumar Mani, Saagar Mohammed, Prem Ratan Mohan Ram, James D Ohl, Daniel J Compton
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present disclosure defines a lever handing apparatus that permits simplified changing of the handing of a lever handle between a left hand and a right hand orientation. The lever handing apparatus includes an assembly with a rotatable spring cage housing and lever spindle that can be selectively rotated within an escutcheon housing to change the handing position of a lever arm. The handing orientation of the lever can be repositioned without removing a back plate or accessing internal components positioned within the escutcheon housing assembly.
Claims11
A lever handing apparatus comprising:
- a spring cage housing having a first wall with a through aperture formed therein and an outer rim extending from the first wall;
- a lever spindle connected to the spring cage housing, wherein the lever spindle includes a body portion with a shaft extending through the through aperture of the first wall of the spring cage housing;
- an escutcheon housing with a front wall extending to a perimeter wall formed about the front wall;
- an aperture formed through the front wall of the escutcheon housing configured to receive a portion of the shaft of the lever spindle therethrough;
- a lever handle positioned on a side of the escutcheon housing opposite of the spring cage housing, wherein the lever handle is connected to the portion of the shaft of the lever spindle extending through the aperture of the escutcheon housing;
- a resilient member positioned about the shaft of the lever spindle, the resilient member engageable between the spring cage housing and the escutcheon housing;
- wherein actuation of the lever handle causes the spring cage housing to selectively rotate about an axis of rotation and move in an axial direction between a first position and a second position relative to the escutcheon housing when connected to the lever handle through the aperture of the escutcheon housing;
- wherein the escutcheon housing includes at least one a hutment protruding inwardly from the perimeter wall;
- and
- wherein the outer rim of the spring cage housing includes at least one recessed portion protruding radially inward and complementary to the at least one abutment of the perimeter wall of the escutcheon housing.
A method comprising:
- connecting a lever spindle to a spring cage housing;
- inserting a portion of a shaft of the lever spindle through an aperture of an escutcheon housing;
- connecting a lever handle to the shaft of the lever spindle on a side of the escutcheon housing opposite to a side on which the spring cage housing is located;
- gripping the lever handle;
- pulling, the lever handle in first axial direction along an axis of rotation;
- moving the spring cage housing in the first axial direction from a first position to a second position such that the spring cage housing moves towards the escutcheon housing in response to the pulling;
- rotating the lever handle approximately 180 degrees about the axis of rotation to change a lever handing orientation of the lever handle;
- urging the spring cage housing to move in a second axial direction along the axis of rotation from the second position to the first position;
- and
- locking the spring cage housing with respect to the escutcheon housing to prevent rotation of the spring cage housing relative to the escutcheon housing when the spring cage housing is in the first position.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.