Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to the field of doors. More particularly, the invention relates to an auxiliary mechanism for assisting in closing a safe room door.

Background of the invention

A safe room or panic room is a fortified room that is installed in a private residence or business to provide a safe shelter in the event of bomb attack, terror attack, or other threat. Usually, the walls, ceiling, and door of the safe room should withstand collateral damage that might occur due to nearby explosions. Moreover, the safe room door should prevent toxic gases from penetrating into the shelter space. As such, a safe room door usually includes a locking mechanism and other elements suitable to ensure maximum protection for the people that use that room in an emergency case.

For example, installation of elastomeric (rubber) band on a frame of a shelter door/window is required by the Israeli standard (IS 1984, parti). This standard is required primarily for preventing toxic gases from penetrating into the shelter space, as well as for absorbing shockwaves in case of high explosions in the proximate area. However, such rubber band around the door frame deforms significantly when closing the door, and hence makes the closing of the safe room door a challenging task, in particular in terms of applying the force required for such task, mostly for population with special needs, like children and elders.

Therefore, in order to overcome such challenging task it is offered to use a mechanism that physically makes the closing of a safe room door a much easier task.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a mechanism which is capable of applying the force needed for closing a door, in particular, a safe room door. Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the description proceeds.

Summary of the Invention

The present invention relates to a closing assistance mechanism for a door, comprising:

- An activation unit configured to drive an engageable member; and

- A docking unit adapted to engage with said activation unit upon receiving said engageable member, thus the driving of said engageable member causes said door to be pressed against a doorpost of said door, thereby applying the force required for closing said door.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the activation unit is adapted to be installed on the doorpost or adjacent to the door in a way that will enable the engagement of the activation unit with the docking unit.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the docking unit is adapted to be installed on the door.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the activation unit is configured to drive the engageable member by converting a rotational motion into a linear motion. According to an embodiment of the invention, the rotational motion is done by rotating a lever.

According to some embodiment of the invention, the docking unit is adapted to be installed on the doorpost or adjacent to the door and the activation unit is adapted to be installed on the door.

According to some embodiment of the invention, the docking unit having a "ready- to-lock" state and a lock state, thus receiving the engageable member of the activation unit triggers the docking unit to automatically hold/lock the engageable member, by changing its states from a "ready-to-lock" state into a lock state.

According to some embodiment of the invention, the docking unit adapted to lock/hold the engageable member with an automatic "Puncture" motion by a loaded spring.

According to some embodiment of the invention, the activation unit comprises a rack and pinion mechanism that converts the rotational motion of the lever into the linear motion of the engageable member.

According to some embodiment of the invention, the docking unit comprises a disengagement arrangement adapted to release the engageable member from said docking unit, thereby to disconnect the activation unit from said docking unit.

According to some embodiment of the invention, the disengagement arrangement comprises a pressing surface and a spring system that are configured to force the docking system to change its state from a lock state to a "ready-to-lock" state.

According to some embodiment of the invention, the disengagement arrangement is activated by a release lever.

According to some embodiment of the invention, the release lever can be connected to a door handle of the door, in a way that an opening of said door by said door handle will cause said release lever to apply pressure on the pressing surface and thereby to activate disengagement arrangement and release the engageable member of the activation unit from the docking unit.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the door is a safe room door. Brief Description of the Drawings

In the drawings:

Fig. 1A schematically illustrates an assisting mechanism for closing a door in a "ready-to-lock" state (i.e., compressed state) that is comprised of an activation unit and a docking unit, according to an embodiment of the invention;

Fig. IB schematically illustrates the mechanism of Fig. 1A in a locking state (i.e., released state), according to an embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 2A schematically illustrates a front view of a docking unit of the mechanism of Fig. 1A in a compressed state, according to an embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 2B schematically illustrates a cross-section side view of the docking unit of Fig. 2A, according to an embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 2C schematically illustrates a front view of the docking unit of Fig. 2A in a locking state, according to an embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 2D schematically illustrates a cross-section side view of the docking unit of Fig. 2C, according to an embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 3 schematically illustrates a perspective view in a realistic form of the docking unit, according to an embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 4 schematically illustrates a perspective view in a realistic form of the activation unit, according to an embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 5 schematically illustrates the mechanism of Fig. 1A installed on a door (and a doorpost), according to an embodiment of the invention; and

Fig. 6 schematically illustrates the mechanism of Fig. 1A installed on a door (and a doorpost) in which the docking unit comprises a cover/housing, according to an embodiment of the invention.

Detailed Description of the Invention

The door herein refers to a hinged or otherwise movable barrier that allows ingress and egress into an enclosure. Conventionally, the door is a panel that fits into an opening of a building or a room, e.g., an opening of a safe room. Although embodiments of the closing assistance mechanism of the present invention are shown herein with respect to doors that are commonly attached by hinges to a doorpost (in which the door may move at angles away from the opening of the room), the closing assistance mechanism can be installed mutatis mutandis to doors that can move by other means, such as slides or counterbalancing.

Reference will now be made to several embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying figures. Wherever practicable similar or like reference numbers may be used in the figures and may indicate similar or like functionality. The figures depict embodiments of the present invention for purposes of illustration only. One skilled in the art will readily recognize from the following description that alternative embodiments of the structures and methods illustrated herein may be employed without departing from the principles of the invention described herein.

Figs. 1A and IB schematically illustrate a closing assistance mechanism for a door, according to an embodiment of the invention. The mechanism generally indicated by numeral 10 in the figure comprises a docking unit 11 and an activation unit 12. Docking unit 11 is adapted to be installed on a door (e.g., above a door handle 33 of a door 32 as demonstrated in Figs. 5 and 6) and the activation unit 12 is configured to be installed on a doorpost 31 or in other location adjacent to the door, i.e., in a location that will enable to connect/engage activation unit 12 with docking unit 11 (e.g., as shown in Figs. 5 and 6).

Docking unit 11 comprises an elongated "puncturing" element 2 (e.g., of a circular cross section), a shoulder 22 radially protruding from element 12 at an upper end thereof, a spring 21, a stopper 23 and a disengagement arrangement that includes a pressing surface 1 and a spring system 25. The components of docking unit 11 are arranged on a corresponding supporting frame 9 that, according to some embodiments, it also can be used to enable the installation of docking unit 11 on a door surface. Shoulder 22 sized and configured to sit on a portion 26 of stopper 23 when mechanism 10 is in a "ready-to-lock" state (i.e., when spring 21 is compressed/loaded), as best seen in Fig. 2B.

Activation unit 12 configured to engage with docking unit 11 by driving an engageable member. In this embodiment, activation unit 12 comprises a rack and pinion mechanism (as indicated by numerals 4 and 5), a lever 3B that is adapted to activate the rack and pinion mechanism by rotating pinion 5 when applying force that radially turns lever 3B (e.g., by manually rotating lever 3B with handle 3A). In this embodiment, as can be easily seen in Figs. 1A and IB, lever 3B having a proximate end 31 to which handle 3A is connected, and a distal end 32 that is connected to pinion 5 of the rack and pinion mechanism in a way that enable the rotation of pinion 5 upon the rotation of lever 3B. For example, in such configuration, a user may use handle 3B to manually rotate level 3B.

According to an embodiment of the invention, rack 4 is used as an engageable member. For example, rack 4 can be provided in form of an arm with an opening (e.g., a cylindrical hole) at its distal end. In this embodiment, the distal end 6 of rack 4 comprises an opening 7 through which a lower end of elongated "puncturing" element 2 is adapted to be inserted as to form an engagement between docking unit 11 and activation unit 12. Such an engagement occurs when shoulder 22 is released from stopper 23. In a mechanical aspect, activation unit 12 converts a circular motion of lever 3B into a linear motion of rack 4 until the distal end 6 of rack 4 pushes stopper 23 away from elongated "puncturing" element 2 which eventually causes the release of loaded spring 21 that urges a linear movement of elongated "puncturing" element 2 towards the opening 7 of rack 4. As a result, elongated "puncturing" element 2 locks activation unit 12 (i.e., the distal end 6 of rack 4) within docking unit 11, which makes the closing of a door, in particular, a safe room door, a much easier task. According to an embodiment of the invention, stopper 23 is configured to be pivotally moved in accordance with axis 27, thus when the distal end 6 of rack 4 pushes stopper 23 it is pressed against a rear wall of supporting frame 9 which causes the compression of a spring 24 (as best seen in Fig. 2B).

Disengagement arrangement is configured to enable the release of activation unit 12 from docking unit 11 by applying force on pressing surface 1 in way that causes pressing surface 1 to return elongated "puncturing" element 2 into a "ready-to-lock" state. When activation unit 12 disengaged from docking unit 11 by the disengagement arrangement, spring 24 is released and pushes stopper 23 against elongated "puncturing" element 2 to enable shoulder 22 to sit on portion 26.

According to an embodiment of the invention, disengagement arrangement can be activated by a release lever 34. In some embodiments, release lever 34 is connected to door handle 33 of door 32, in a way that an opening of door 32 by door handle 33 will cause release lever 34 to apply pressure on pressing surface 1 and thereby to activate disengagement arrangement and release rack 4 of activation unit 12 from docking unit 11.

As will be appreciated by the skilled person the arrangement described in the figures results in a mechanism that physically makes the closing of a safe room door a much easier task. The mechanism can be designed in accordance with the force needed for the door closing, ergonomics, and according to the standard for the installation on safe room doors. Moreover, the closing assistance mechanism of the present invention can be installed either on the left side or right side of a safe room door or any other suitable door, preferably, in accordance with the door installation and the position of the door's handle.

All the above description and examples have been given for the purpose of illustration and are not intended to limit the invention in any way. Many different mechanisms can be employed, all without exceeding the scope of the invention.