The present invention relates to a bolt housing which

- comprises a bolt that can be operated with a handle, said bolt being able to function both as a latch-bolt and as a dead bolt, wherein the bolt comprises a bolt head portion at a first end and a bolt tail portion at a second end, and the bolt can be in a first terminal position wherein the bolt head of the bolt head portion is brought maximally outside the bolt housing and in a second terminal position wherein the bolt head is brought maximally within the bolt housing, wherein the bolt housing comprises an organ for the pushing of the bolt head in a direction of the second terminal position towards the first terminal position.

Such a bolt housing is commonly known in the art. More in particular the possibility is known to temporarily decouple the operation of the handle. When this is done the bolt can, when it is in the first terminal position, act as a dead bolt. Within the scope of the present application with a dead bolt a bolt is meant that can exert a blocking function in the first terminal position which can not be canceled by means of an organ like a follower that can be operated with a handgrip (such as a handle), whereas the blockage can be ended by the organ that can be operated with the handle when the bolt acts as a latch-bolt. To this end generally a key or the like, or in case of for instance a lock of a toilet door, a pin of a turning knob present at a side of the bolt housing is required. By way of example the bolt can prevent the opening of a door when the bolt head is received in a lock hole of a doorpost. Although in this situation the handle can be operated, it does not move the bolt. The advantage of such a bolt housing is that the movable parts within the bolt housing are not subjected to forces when the handle is being misused (i.e. excessive force is applied thereupon) . The known bolt housings have as a disadvantage that the construction for the decoupling of the handle and the bolt is relatively complex. It is also a disadvantage that the decoupling of the handle and the bolt and/or also the restoring of the operative coupling between the handle and the bolt, is only possible in a specific posi- tion of the handle. The object of the present invention is to provide a bolt housing having a simple construction for the decoupling of the handle and the bolt and for the restoring of the coupling between them.

To this end the present invention provides a bolt housing which - comprises a bolt that can be operated with a handle which can function both as a latch-bolt and as a dead bolt, wherein the bolt comprises a bolt head portion at a first end and a bolt tail portion at a second end, and the bolt can be in a first terminal position wherein the bolt head of the bolt head portion is brought maximally outside the bolt housing and in a second terminal position wherein the bolt head is brought maximally within the bolt housing, wherein the bolt housing

- comprises a first organ for the pushing of the bolt head in a direction of the second terminal position towards the first terminal position; and

- comprises an abutment which abutment

- can be in a first position of the abutment wherein the bolt can be moved from the first position of the bolt to the second position of the bolt; and - can be in a second position of the abutment wherein the bolt can not be moved from the first position of the bolt to the second position of the bolt; wherein the bolt housing is designed for keeping the abutment in the first position of the abutment when the abutment is in the first state and for the keeping in the second position of the abutment when the abutment is in the second state; and the bolt housing further has a coupling-decoupling organ for moving the abutment from the first position of the abutment to the second position of the abutment and vice versa. Thus a bolt housing with the desired simple construction is provided. Compared to existing constructions the present invention also offers the advantage that the restoring of the coupling between the second organ (such as a follower) and the bolt can be effected in a relatively broad range of positions of the second organ and/or the bolt. Little force is required to move the abutment from the first position of the abutment to the second position of the abutment and vice versa, making the bolt housing also perfectly suitable for electrical operation. Electrical operation is also hardly impeded by other intentional or unintentional forces to which the bolt housing is exposed. It doesn't matter for instance whether the bolt is in the first terminal position or in the second terminal position. The first organ is for instance a spring. The abutment has advantageously the form of a cam. Because the bolt head portion and the bolt tail portion are coupled, a very simple construction is provided that will do with a reduced number of parts. Depending on the position of the abutment the bolt is tilted to a greater or lesser degree. From an aesthetic point of view it is preferred that in the situation where the follower can engage the bolt, the bolt is in a non-tilted state.

In the second position of the abutment the bolt is in a state in which it can move freely. The bolt can not be engaged by the second organ and thus a closed door can not be opened. If the door is open, the bolt can be pushed in and will reappear upon release (by a spring or the like as the first organ) . When the door falls into the groove, the bolt will end up in the lock hole such as a striking plate hole after which the door cannot open until the abutment is brought in the first position with the aid of the coupling-decoupling organ. The coupling-decoupling organ may comprise two separate organ members, wherein the first organ member serves for moving the abutment from the first position of the abutment to the second position of the abutment and the other organ member for moving the abutment from the second position of the abutment to the first position of the abutment . A preferred embodiment is characterized in that the second organ is a follower which follower

- is rotatable with a handle about an axis of rotation, and

- the contact area is at a distance of the axis of rotation of the handle, which contact area can cover a trajectory by rota- tion of the follower about the axis of rotation, for moving the bolt head in the direction of the second terminal position using the handle; wherein the abutment

- in the first position of the abutment is in the trajectory of the contact area of the follower situated at a distance of the pivot of the follower and the contact area of the follower can engage the abutment so as to be able to move the bolt in the direction of the first position of the bolt to the second position of the bolt; and - in a second position of the abutment is outside the trajectory of the contact area and the follower can not engage the abutment as a result of which the bolt can not be taken along by the follower.

Thus a bolt housing having a very simple construction is pro- vided. In the present application by "handle" any tool is understood that allows operation of the follower from outside the bolt housing, such as for instance a turning knob or a door handle. In general, the handle will not be supplied together with the bolt housing according to the invention. The coupling-decoupling organ is advantageously a sliding bolt. Because of the linear movement of such a lock sliding bolt, this allows for a very simple and therewith inexpensive construction. In a first terminal position of the lock sliding bolt the follower can engage the bolt and the bolt acts as a latch-bolt. In the second terminal position of the lock sliding bolt in which the follower can not engage the bolt the bolt acts as a dead bolt.

The abutment is preferably fixedly connected to the bolt tail portion and the coupling-decoupling organ is designed to tilt the bolt tail portion. Thus the abutment can be brought within or outside the trajectory in a simple way.

A preferred embodiment is characterized in that the bolt housing is provided with a third organ in order to - when the abutment is between the first and the second position of the abutment - move the abutment in the direction of one or the other of these terminal positions of the abutment.

Thus it is guaranteed that the abutment will not be undesirably between both positions of the abutment (other than during a desired transition of the abutment from the one position to the other posi- tion) .

Here, the third organ advantageously engages the coupling- decoupling organ.

As a technical construction this can be realized in a simple way. Then the bolt housing advantageously comprises a bolt case, the third organ is a spring which is connected with one of i) the bolt case and ii) the coupling-decoupling organ, and the spring comprises a V-shaped portion of which the apex is oriented to a cam on the other of i) the bolt case and ii) the coupling-decoupling organ.

Thus the coupling-decoupling organ can in very simple manner be brought to and/or held into either the first or the second position. According to an advantageous embodiment the coupling-decoupling organ and the bolt engage each other via a co-moving guide.

The co-moving guide is for instance formed by a cam and a recess for the cam, which recess has been designed to be so wide that it allows tilting of the bolt tail portion while the cam is in the recess. It makes no difference whether the cam is on the bolt and the coupling-decoupling organ has the recess or the other way around. An accompanying guide enables a very simple, reliable and nevertheless simple operative coupling between the coupling-decoupling organ and the bolt. According to an advantageous embodiment the bolt can be blocked.

In this way it can be prevented that the bolt, when acting as a dead bolt, can be moved from the first to the second position.

A preferred embodiment is characterized in that the bolt hous- ing is provided with a second abutment.

This second abutment serves to prevent that, when acting as a dead bolt, the bolt can be pushed inwardly. The second abutment, for instance in the shape of a cam, will be in the trajectory of the bolt when the abutment of the bolt is in the second position. Thus it can be prevented that the bolt is pushed inwardly by a miscreant. This reduces the susceptibility to burglary of the bolt housing .

A preferred embodiment is characterized in that a side-plate of the bolt housing is provided with the second abutment. This is a practical location for the second abutment. The abutment has for instance the form of a rivet or a bent plate part of the side-plate. Both possibilities mentioned here are as such well-known ways in which the side-plate is functionalized in a bolt housing.

The present invention will now be illustrated by the drawings, where fig. la-c show a side view of a first embodiment of a bolt housing according to the invention; and fig. 2a-c show in side view a second embodiment of a bolt housing according to the invention, and fig. 2d shows a detail of fig. 2c.

Fig. Ia shows in side view a bolt housing 100 according to the invention. A front plate 101, a back plate 102, and a side-plate 103 can be seen. The front plate 101 is provided with a through opening (not shown) for a bolt 105. The bolt 105 has a bolt head 106 and is movable between a first terminal position wherein the bolt head 106 protrudes maximally from the bolt housing 100 (fig. Ia, Ic) and a second terminal position of the bolt 105 wherein the bolt 105 is received in the bolt housing 100 as far as possible, or - said differently - the bolt head 106 is situated within the bolt housing 100 as much as possible (fig. Ib) .

The bolt 105 can be moved by a follower 120 from the first po- sition of the bolt 105 to the second position of the bolt 105. To this end the follower 120 has an abutment face 121 that can move the bolt 105 to the second position of the bolt 105 through contact with an abutment 122 on a bolt tail portion 123 of the bolt 105. Furthermore a spring 124 is present which counteracts this movement and serves to move the bolt 105 towards the first position of the bolt 105. Thus the bolt 105 acts as a latch-bolt. The follower 120 can be operated by means of a door handle or the like and is to that end provided with a recess 125 to receive a pin of the door handle (not shown) . This is known per se. In one embodiment of the invention the bolt tail portion 123 can be brought from a first position in which the abutment face 121 of the follower 120 can engage the abutment 122 of the bolt tail portion 123 (fig. Ia and Ib), to a second position of the abutment 122 (fig. Ic) in which this is not possible. In that case the spring 124 will push the bolt 105 towards the first terminal position and the bolt 105 will act as a dead bolt. In the embodiment illustrated in fig. la-c this is achieved by means of a sliding bolt 130. It has a cam 131 which forms a co-moving guide together with recess 132 in the bolt tail portion 123. By means of the cam 131 of the sliding bolt 130 the abutment 122 can be moved from a first position of the abutment 122 (see fig. Ia and Ib) to a second position of the abutment 122 (see fig. Ic) and back again. The bolt housing 100 may be provided with a second abutment, which in the embodiment disclosed here has the form of a cam 140 on the side-plate 103. This cam 140 prevents the bolt 105 from being pushed inwardly when it acts as a dead bolt, which for certain applications enhances the resistance against burglary . In the embodiment shown, the sliding bolt 130 is operated using a second follower 150. This may be operable using a key but in the present case is provided with a recess 151 for a pin of a turning knob (not shown) , allowing this bolt housing 100 to be used for for instance a WC. The spring 124 is designed such that it contributes to the follower 150 being either in a first position of the follower 150 (wherein the bolt 105 acts as a latch-bolt) or in a second position of the follower 150 (wherein the bolt 105 acts as a dead bolt) . The follower 150 is provided with a cam 152 that engages a recess 153 and cooperates therewith in order to move the sliding bolt 130 from a first position to a second position and back. To further ensure that the sliding bolt is always in one of the first and the second position thereof, and not in a position in between, in the embodiment illustrated the sliding bolt 130 is provided with a spring 158 with a V-shaped end 154. The side-plate 103 is provided with a cam 155, and the cam 155 pushes the V-shaped end in (to the back wall 102 of the bolt housing 100). The V-shaped character of the spring 158 makes that the sliding bolt 130 is forced to either the first position thereof (fig. Ia and Ib) or the second position (fig. Ic) thereof. The spring 158 could also have been fixed to the bolt housing 100, in which case the cam 155 would sit on the sliding bolt 130, through which the same functionality is achieved. In order to prevent undesirable movement of the sliding bolt 130 it is provided with two spacer cams 156 that rest slidingly against the cover plate (not shown) of the bolt housing. Fig. 2a-d show a bolt housing 200 strongly resembling that of fig. 1, and identical parts have been indicated with identical reference numerals. In the illustrated embodiment a cam 260 is provided that cooperates with a recess 261 in the bolt 105. In the second position of the bolt tail portion 123, i.e. when the bolt 105 acts as a dead bolt, the cam 260 is admitted in the recess 261. When a large force is exerted onto the bolt head 106, in particular when the bolt 105 was brought into the latch bolt position with the door open and the door in which the bolt housing 200 is incorporated falls shut, than the bolt 105 is pushed to the second position thereof, and by virtue of (a plane oriented at an angle with the direction of travel of the bolt of) the recess 261 acting as a guide for the cam 260, the bolt tail portion 123 and the sliding bolt 130 are brought to the re- spective first position thereof. The force necessary to effect this is adjustable by choosing the strength of the spring 158 and the arrangement thereof with respect to cam 155. This force can be chosen to be so strong that this does not go easily, and only for a very large force as exerted on the bolt head 106 when slamming a door shut. Thus, damage to the doorpost or damage to the bolt housing is prevented and yet a major level of resistance against burglary exists .

Fig. 2 also shows that the simple construction of a bolt housing according to the invention nevertheless allows the bolt 105 to be mounted reversible, i.e. suitable for doors that close to the left as well as for doors that close to the right. Herewith a principle already known is used which will nevertheless be briefly elucidated. A moveable stop 270 is provide which is held in a first, blocking position by a spring 271 (fig. 2a-c) . More specifically the spring 271 pushes the moveable stop 270 downwards. By moving the moveable stop 270 upwards by means of a tool, it loses its blocking function and the spring 124 pushes the bolt head 105 further outward. This permits the bolt head 106 to turn 180° and to subsequently push the bolt head 106 so far into the bolt housing 200 again that the moveable stop 270 returns to its first, blocking position. This is shown in detail in fig. 2d (detail d has been circumscribed in fig. 2c) .