Technical Field

The present invention relates to an adjustable strike plate, of the type normally installed in a door jamb, for functioning in association with a lock installed in the door.

Background Art

As is known, the installation of a lock in a door requires a series of concluding adjustments, which are necessary in order to correctly align the spring latch and the bolt of the lock with the respective openings on the front surface of the strike plate installed in the jamb.

Currently these adjustments are achieved principally by altering the installation position of the strike plate.

Installation of the strike plate on the jamb is achieved by screwing the strike plate onto the jamb, using threaded means (screws, grub screws etc.), which can also directly engage the jamb. The adjustments are obtained by the presence of slots on the strike plate which allow its translational movement over short distances in the direction identified by the major axis of the slots. This solution has the disadvantage that it ensures the immobility of the strike plate only when the screws are completely tightened, and also the loosening of even one of the screws could allow small translational movements of one end of the strike plate, putting it out of alignment and rendering impossible, or complicating, the engagement of the spring latch and of the bolt of the lock in the corresponding openings of the strike plate.

Strike plates are also known which are provided with suitable adjustment means that, following complex and repeated adjustment operations, make it possible to fine-tune its installation position.

In some variations, the adjustment of the installation position of the strike plate is performed using adjustment assemblies that make it possible to simplify the installation and adjustment operations.

However, such adjustment assemblies have the main limitation of protruding from the strike plate itself, thus limiting their use with dedicated or suitably adapted locks and frames.

Disclosure of the invention

The aim of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks, by providing an adjustable strike plate for locks which is easily and quickly installed.

Within this aim, an object of the invention is to provide an adjustable strike plate for locks that makes it possible to correctly align the spring latch and the bolt of the lock with the respective openings in the front surface of the strike plate installed in the jamb.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an adjustable strike plate for locks with high versatility and flexibility of use.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an adjustable strike plate for locks at low cost, that is easy and practical to implement and safely applied.

This aim and these objects are fully achieved by the present adjustable strike plate for locks of the type that comprises at least one strike plate, substantially rectangular, provided with at least one through opening and with means of fixing to a jamb, characterized in that it comprises

- an upper plate and a lower plate, the width of said at least one opening of said lower plate being substantially less than the width of said opening of said upper plate, said at least one opening of said lower plate, in the installation configuration, being substantially comprised within the outline of said at least one opening of said upper plate;

- at least one adjustment unit arranged between said upper plate and said lower plate for the selective translational movement of said lower plate with respect to said upper plate;

- said upper plate comprising a seat for the movable reception of said unit when the outer surface of said upper plate is coplanar with the outer face of said unit, said unit comprising at least one protrusion which is inserted in a respective seat in said lower plate; a movement of said unit producing a shift of said protrusion and, consequently, of said lower plate with a modification of the position of the opening of said lower plate with respect to the opening of said upper plate.

Brief description of the drawings

Further characteristics and advantages of the invention will become better apparent from the description of a preferred, but not exclusive, embodiment of the adjustable strike plate for locks, illustrated by way of non-limiting example in the accompanying drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a front perspective view of a first embodiment of a strike plate according to the invention;

Figure 2 is a rear perspective view of the strike plate of Figure 1 ;

Figure 3 is an exploded front perspective view of the strike plate of Figure 1 ;

Figure 4 is an exploded rear perspective view of the strike plate of

Figure 1 ;

Figure 5 is a front perspective view of a second embodiment of a strike plate according to the invention;

Figure 6 is a rear perspective view of the strike plate of Figure 5;

Figure 7 is an exploded front perspective view of the strike plate of

Figure 5;

Figure 8 is an exploded rear perspective view of the strike plate of Figure 5;

Figure 9 is a front view of the strike plate of Figure 5, according to a first limit configuration;

Figure 10 is a front view .of the strike plate of Figure 5, according to an intermediate configuration;

Figure 1 1 is a front view of the strike plate of Figure 5, according to a second limit configuration. Ways of carrying out the invention

With particular reference to the figures, the reference numeral 1 generally designates an adjustable strike plate for locks which comprises at least one profiled plate 2, substantially rectangular, provided with at least one through opening 3 and with means 4 for fixation to a jamb.

According to the invention the escutcheon 1 comprises two plates, one upper plate 5 and one lower plate 6.

Conveniently, the width of the opening 7 of the lower plate 6 is substantially less than the opening 8 defined in the upper plate 5.

Moreover, in the installation configuration the opening 7 of the lower plate 6 is comprised within the outline 9 of the opening 8 of the upper plate 5.

The invention comprises at least one adjustment unit 10, interposed between the upper plate 5 and the lower plate 6, for the selective translational movement of the lower plate 6 with respect to the upper plate 5.

The upper plate 5 comprises a seat 1 1 for the movable reception of the adjustment unit 10 when the outer surface 12 of the upper plate 5 is coplanar with the outer face 13 of the unit 10 itself.

In this way, once the strike plate 1 has been installed, no component protrudes from the jamb, except for any specific functional accessories imposed by applicative requirements, and therefore no interference is caused during use when the door in which the lock is installed passes from the closed condition to the open condition and vice versa.

More specifically, the unit 10 comprises at least one protrusion 14 which is inserted in a respective seat 15 in the lower plate 6: a movement of the unit 10 determines a shift of the protrusion 14 and, consequently, of the lower plate 6 with a modification of the position of the opening 7 of the lower plate 6 with respect to the opening 8 of the upper plate 5.

In this way the lower plate 6 can perform a translational movement with respect to the upper plate 5, within the stroke predefined by the seat 15 and by the shape of the unit 10.

The adjustment unit 10 has, on its outer face 13, a recess 16 that is designed to accommodate a utensil for moving the unit 10.

The user, by inserting a suitable utensil into the recess 16 and imposing a determined movement thereon, will cause the sliding of the respective protrusion 14 within the seat 15, and this shift will cause the translational movement of the lower plate with respect to the upper plate 5.

More specifically, according to a possible embodiment of undoubted practical and applicative interest, the adjustment unit 10 comprises an eccentric cam 17, which rests against the inner profile 18 of the seat 15 of the lower plate 6.

A shift of the cam 17 causes the translational movement of the lower plate 6 between a first limit configuration, where the opening 7 of the lower plate 6 is in proximity to a first lateral edge 19 of the opening 8 of the upper plate 5, and a second limit configuration, where the opening 7 of the lower plate 6 is in proximity to a second lateral edge 20 of the opening 8 of the upper plate 5.

According to another embodiment, of particular simplicity and effectiveness, the adjustment unit 10 comprises a selector that can perform a translational movement and rests against the inner profile 18 of the seat 15 of the lower plate 6.

The movement of the selector causes the translational movement of the lower plate 6 between the first and second limit configurations.

For both of the embodiments described, the movements of the cam 17 and of the selector are imposed by the user, who operates in the recess 16 with a specific utensil.

The strike plate 1 , according to the invention, comprises an abutment apparatus 21 , arranged underneath the lower plate 6, which has a threaded hole 22 inside which a shank 23 of a screw 24 is accommodated, the head 25 of which is arranged in an eyelet 26 defined in the upper plate 5. Rotation of the screw 24 makes it possible to couple the upper plate 5 to the abutment apparatus 21.

There are also spacer elements 27, which are interposed between the upper plate 5 and the lock and which are constituted by a slot 28, on the upper plate 5 and arranged at a wider slit 29 defined on the lower plate 6.

The slot 28 is used to accommodate an accessory element 30. The slit 29 has larger dimensions than the slot 28 to ensure that during the movement of the lower plate with respect to the upper plate, there is no interference of the lower plate with the protruding plate 31.

The mutual connection element 30 comprises a shaped plate 31 provided with a protrusion 32 that is adapted to engage in the slit 29 and in the slot 28.

The strike plate according to the invention also comprises guide elements 33 for the selective translational movement of the lower plate 6, which are constituted by a pin 34 accommodated within respective grooved guides 35 of the two plates 5 and 6, thus preventing the lower plate 6 from coming out of alignment during its translational movement.

The fixing means 4 are constituted by a first slot 36 in the upper plate 5 and by a second slot 37 in the abutment apparatus 21 ; the first 36 and the second 37 slot accommodate the means 4 for fixing to the jamb.

There are also spacers 38, interposed between the strike plate 1 and the jamb, which ensure the outer surface 12 of the upper plate 5 is coplanar with the jamb: each of these spacers 38 preferably is substantially C-shaped, adapted to partially cover a part of the abutment apparatus 21.

In another embodiment the at least one opening 3 of the lower plate 6 and of the upper plate 5 are respectively two in number; the first, 39, which is shorter, is designed to accommodate the spring latch, and the second, 40, which is longer, is designed to accommodate the bolt.

In both embodiments the strike plate according to the invention comprises at least one reference notch 41 on the outer surface 12 of the upper plate 5 and on the outer face 13 of the adjustment unit 10, for the simple selection of the position of the lower plate 6 with respect to the upper plate 5 by means of a suitable mutual alignment of the notches 41.

Advantageously, the at least one adjustment unit 10 are two in number, and are positioned substantially at the ends of the strike plate with the objective of ensuring the simultaneous translational movement of the ends of the lower plate 6 and its consequent constant parallelism with the upper plate 5.

The strike plate 1 is furthermore provided with a tightening screw 42 that is used to firmly couple the adjustment unit 10 to the upper plate 6 and to the abutment apparatus 21.

Rotation of the screw 42 thus determines an approach, and the optional clamping, of the lower plate 6 to the upper plate 5 : in practice the lower plate 6 will be vice-gripped between the upper plate 7 and the abutment apparatus 21 ; the intensity of the clamping will depend on the possible forcing of the » screw 42.

The functioning of the invention is as follows: during the first step of installation, the strike plate 1 is fixed to the jamb by the fixing means 4.

Indeed, the jamb is normally made with profiles of various materials that have a break on the face thereof, within which the strike plate 1 is mounted.

Once the strike plate 1 has been positioned on the window or door, the lower plate 6 can perform a translational movement within a predefined stroke.

In order to achieve this, it is sufficient to insert the utensil in the recess

16 of the adjustment unit 10, thus imposing a rotational movement, or a translational movement, depending on the shape of the adjustment unit 10, thus causing the shifting of the lower plate 6 between the first limit configuration where the opening 7 of the lower plate 6 is in proximity to a first lateral edge 19 of the opening 8 of the upper plate 5, and the second limit configuration where the opening 7 of the lower plate 6 is in proximity to a second lateral edge 20 of the opening 8 of the upper plate 5.

Indeed, the tightening screws 42 are gently screwed into the eyelet 26 of the upper plate 5 and into the hole 22 of the abutment apparatus 21 , thus enabling the lower plate 6 to perform a horizontal translational movement until it is positioned in such a way as to ensure the correct coupling with the lock on the door.

Once the right position of the lower plate 6 has been determined, the fixing thereof is achieved by tightening of the screws 24, until the complete locking (stable clamping) thereof between the upper plate 5 and the abutment apparatus 21.

In practice it has been observed that the adjustable strike plate 1 for locks fully achieves the set aim in that it provides a strike plate that is simple and quick to install.

This advantage is achieved by the fact that, even though the strike plate 1 is already fixed to the door, the lower plate 6 can perform a translational movement, thus enabling the correct alignment between the spring latch and the bolt of the lock with the respective openings 7 in the lower plate 6 of the strike plate 1.

It should also be noted that, during the translational movement for the positioning of the lower plate 6, the latter item is contained in the space comprised between the upper plate 5 and the abutment apparatus 21, thus preventing the lower plate 6 from being inclined with respect to its longitudinal axis of symmetry (there are two abutments 21 , arranged at the ends of the lower plate 6, and these dictate that the translational movements take place while maintaining the lower plate 6 parallel to itself).

The lower plate 6, moreover, cannot be inclined or misaligned thanks to the limit imposed by the guide elements 33.

Another advantage of the strike plate 1 according to the invention is that of having high versatility and flexibility in use. Indeed, the invention does not need to be used only with dedicated or suitably adapted locks and frames, since both the outer surface 12 of the upper plate 5, and the outer face 13 of the adjustment unit 10, are coplanar: no component protrudes from the jamb, and therefore no interference is caused during use when the door on which the lock is installed passes from the closed condition to the open condition and vice versa.

The invention thus conceived is susceptible of numerous modifications and variations, all of which are within the scope of the appended claims.

Moreover, all the details may be substituted by other, technically equivalent elements.

In the embodiments illustrated, individual characteristics shown in relation to specific examples may in reality be interchanged with other, different characteristics, existing in other embodiments.

Where the technical features mentioned in any claim are followed by reference numerals and/or signs, those reference numerals and/or signs have been included for the sole purpose of increasing the intelligibility of the claims and accordingly, such reference numerals and/or signs do not have any limiting effect on the interpretation of each element identified by way of example by such reference numerals and/or signs.