Description

A key lock handle for doors and windows

Technical Field

This invention relates to a key lock handle for doors and windows, in particular a cremone handle.

Background Art At present, some cremone handles available on the market have a built-in key lock device for locking the handle in a certain position, normally the position where the door or window the handle is mounted on is closed.

In one prior art solution (see patent EP-446.566 to the same Applicant), there are key-operated interference means on the handgrip of a handle which, in this specific case, is shaped in such a way as to cover part of a boss between the handle casing and the handgrip.

The interference means act on the handle casing at the boss, which presents a pair of non-cylindrical external surface areas whose axis coincides with the axis of rotation of the handgrip (allowing reversibility of the handle): in this way, the handgrip can be locked stably in one of the positions that it can adopt as it turns about its axis of rotation. In the case just mentioned, the boss is quadrangular in shape so that locking is possible on whatever side of the bush the handgrip is positioned on, there being four positions at angular intervals of 90° from each other. The key-operated interference means consist of a barrel that can be inserted horizontally and slidably into the handgrip which affords a through hole made under the axis of the handgrip and in such a way that the barrel can be operated from the outside. Operating the barrel actuates a slide positioned horizontally on a pair of rails fixed to the inside of the handgrip surrounding the boss, in such a way as to move the slide from a point inside the handgrip to a point where the slide is

positioned between the handgrip itself and the outside surface of the boss: this produces interference between these two parts which prevents rotation of the handgrip from one position (closed) to another position (open) or vice versa.

If on the one hand this solution meets the requirements of making handles reversible, of providing security in the key locked position and of allowing handgrips to be mounted with or without key lock mechanisms without having to operate on the handle casing, its technical characteristics are, on the other hand, such that it cannot be applied to the latest handle designs which may have up to three operating configurations and above all such that it cannot satisfy operating and security requirements in certain situations.

One such situation is due to the fact that these handles may be installed in public buildings such as kindergartens, schools and hospitals where only members of staff are authorized to open a door or window by turning (besides tilting it open and closing it), while, for security reasons, other users may only close the door or window or tilt it open (solely to air a room).

To this must be added that, for aesthetic purposes, some of the latest handle designs have cylindrical bosses which means the interference type locking mechanism described above cannot be used.

Disclosure of the Invention

This invention therefore has for an aim to overcome the above mentioned disadvantages by providing a key lock handle for doors and windows, in particular a cremone handle, made in such a way that the user can select the position of the key lock means in order to set the positions which can be adopted by the handle grip and which correspond to predetermined positions of the door or window; while at the same time maintaining the optimum dimensions and appearance of the handle.

Accordingly, this invention achieves this aim by providing a handle, in particular, a key lock handle, for doors and windows comprising the technical characteristics set out in one or more of the appended claims.

Brief Description of the Drawings

The technical characteristics of the invention, with reference to the above aims, are clearly described in the claims below and its advantages are apparent from the detailed description which follows, with reference to the accompanying drawings which illustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention provided merely by way of example without restricting the scope of the inventive concept, and in which:

- Figure 1 is an exploded perspective view of a key lock handle according to the invention;

- Figure 2 is a partial cross section of the handle of Figure 1 in a first operating configuration;

- Figure 3 is a plan view, with some parts cut away in order to better illustrate others, illustrating the handle of Figure 1 in the first configuration of Figure 2;

- Figure 4 is a partial cross section of the handle of Figure 1 in a second operating configuration;

- Figure 5 is a plan view, with some parts cut away in order to better illustrate others, illustrating the handle of Figure 1 in the second configuration of Figure 4;

- Figure 6 is a partial cross section of the handle of Figure 1 in a third operating configuration;

- Figure 7 is a plan view, with some parts cut away in order to better illustrate others, illustrating the handle of Figure 1 in the third configuration of Figure 6;

- Figure 8 is an exploded perspective view of a detail of the handle of Figure 1.

Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments of the Invention With reference to the accompanying drawings, in particular Figure 1, the

handle according to the invention can be used to operate doors or windows and is provided with key lock means.

This handle, denoted in its entirety by the numeral 1, basically comprises: a handle casing 2; a handgrip 4; a spindle 5 for transmitting motion to control means 6; and key-operated security means 7.

In particular, the handle casing 2 has, on one side of it, a boss-like protrusion 3 from which extends the handgrip 4, the latter being designed to turn the spindle 5 housed inside the handle casing 2 about an axis Y transversal to the handle casing 2 from at least a first position to a second position and vice versa (that is to say at least from a closed position to an open configuration).

On the other side of it, the handle casing 2 has control means 6 engageable with a door or window operating device; the control means 6 and the operating device are of well known type and therefore not described in this specification.

The key-operated security means 7 are positioned and operative between the handgrip 4 and the handle casing 2 to enable the handgrip 4 to be locked stably relative to the handle casing 2 in at least one of the two above mentioned positions.

As clearly shown also in Figures 2 to 8, the key-operated security means 7 comprise: a setting pin 8 and positioning means 10. The setting pin 8 can be actuated by the key 9 and can be moved into three stable positions, namely, a distal position, a middle position and a proximal position relative to the handgrip 4.

These three positions of the pin 8 correspond to three configurations which can be adopted by the door or window and which, as described in more detail below, are a closed position, a turned open position and tilted open position.

The positioning means 10 are located on the boss 3 and act on the setting pin 8 in such a way that the latter can move to:

- a first, distal position for closing the door or window, where the setting pin 8 locks the handgrip 4 stably by interference; - a second, middle position for only a first open configuration of the door

or window, where the handgrip 4 can turn through a right angle α; and

- a third, proximal position for two different open configurations of the door or window, where the handgrip 4 can turn through a flat angle (β).

To avoid the need for additional machining of the handle casing 2, the boss- like protrusion 3 and the positioning means 10 are formed on a cover 2a of the handle casing 2.

This solution has two other advantages:

- allowing handle 1 design or colour to be changed by simply substituting the cover 2a and the handgrip 4 while leaving the operating parts of the handle 1 unchanged;

- a handle 1 with a key lock device can be easily changed into one without a key lock device and vice versa without having to remove the entire handle assembly but only the handgrip 4 and the cover 2a.

Changing the handle in this way does not require special skills and might be done by the user without specialized help.

The only novel feature of the handle casing 2 is a facing 2b in the area under the hole 11, for accommodating the end of the pin 8 in the first, distal position Hl (facings of this kind are usually also made to reduce the weight of the casing). Looking in more detail, the positioning means 10 comprise a through hole

11 made in the boss 3, aligned with the pin 8 when the handgrip 4 is in the position corresponding to the closed position of the door or window (see Figures 2 and 3).

The through hole 11 can be engaged with the pin 8 when it is in the first, distal position Hl where the pin 8 protrudes from the handgrip 4 (see Figure 2).

The positioning means 10 further comprise at least one arcuate segment 12 protruding from the top surface 13 of the boss 3 and one end of which defines a side wall for abutting against the pin 8 in the middle position H2, where the pin 8 only partly protrudes from the handgrip 4, in such a way as to allow the handgrip 4 to turn only through the right angle α (see Figures 4 and 5).

The pin 8 in the proximal position H3, on the other hand, is totally inside the handgrip 4 so as to avoid contact with the arcuate segment 12 and thus allowing the handgrip 4 to turn through the flat angle β (see Figures 6 and 7).

To enable the handgrip 4 to turn correctly, the arcuate segment 12 is slidably coupled, in use, with an uninterrupted circular groove 14 afforded by the underside of the handgrip 4 itself.

As clearly shown in the drawings, the pin 8 moves between the aforementioned three positions in a line parallel to the transversal axis of rotation Y of the handgrip 4. With reference to Figure 1, it should be noticed that the positioning means

10 comprise two arcuate segments 12 and 12a positioned symmetrically on the top surface 13 of the boss 3: this permits handle 1 reversibility so that the door or window can be opened by turning the handgrip 4 in one direction or the other (right or left) without having to exchange any part of the handle. As also shown in Figure 8, the above mentioned key-operated security means 7 may, in one example embodiment, comprise a cylindrical shell 15 housed in a matching hole 16 made in the handgrip 4.

The shell 15 houses the key-operated control means comprising a cylindrical element 17 for slidably accommodating the pin 8 which has a transversal hole 18 for engaging a rod 19 to connect the pin 8 to the cylindrical element 17.

At least one end of the rod 19 is locked to a cam profile 20 formed on the cylindrical element 17 so that turning the key 9 (and hence the cylindrical element

17, as indicated by the arrow F17) to predetermined positions causes the pin 8 to slide in one direction or the other along the cylindrical element 17 and to stop at one of the predetermined positions.

At each of the predetermined positions of the pin 8, the key 9 can be removed from the cylindrical element 17: that means the positions which can be adopted by the door or window can be set and the setting cannot be changed unless the key is inserted again.

In other words, the pin 8 enables the door or window:

- to be locked in the closed position (corresponding to the first, distal position Hl, Figures 2 and 3);

- to be set so that it can be moved from a closed position to a tilted open position (corresponding to the second, middle position H2, Figures 4 and 5) and vice versa, thanks to contact between the pin 8 and the arcuate segment 12;

- to be set so that it can be moved from the tilted open position to the turned open position (corresponding to the third, proximal position H3, Figures 6 and 7) and vice versa. A handle made as described above fully achieves the aforementioned aims thanks to the interaction between the key lock means and the positioning means present on the cover of the handle casing.

This feature makes it possible, for security reasons, not only to lock the door or window but also to choose the way it can be opened, without affecting either the appearance or the ease of operation of the handle.

Setting the type of opening can help reduce security risks in public buildings (such as kindergartens, schools or hospitals) where authorized users can set the door or window so that, under normal circumstances, it can only be closed and opened by tilting while, for maintenance or cleaning purposes, it can also be fully opened by turning.

Applying the positioning means on the cover means that handle colours and designs and also handle use (handgrip with or without key) can easily be changed without operating invasively on the casing of the handle 1, thus enabling manufacturers to optimize their stocks. The invention described above is susceptible of industrial application and may be modified and adapted in several ways without thereby departing from the scope of the inventive concept. Moreover, all the details of the invention may be substituted by technically equivalent elements.