초록 ▼

A sliding door having an improved handle and lock assembly associated therewith. The assembly enables a closed and locked sliding door to be unlocked and opened by manual application of a single-motion to the door handle, such as a substantially horizontally-directed force applied to the door handle

A sliding door having an improved handle and lock assembly associated therewith. The assembly enables a closed and locked sliding door to be unlocked and opened by manual application of a single-motion to the door handle, such as a substantially horizontally-directed force applied to the door handle in the opening direction to effect unlocking of the door followed by movement of the sliding door into an open position.

대표청구항 ▼

What is claimed is: 1. An openable and closable sliding door arrangement for a doorway, comprising: an upright door positioned for generally horizontal and rectilinear sliding movement between opened and closed positions relative to an upright doorway defined by a stationary structure, said door de

What is claimed is: 1. An openable and closable sliding door arrangement for a doorway, comprising: an upright door positioned for generally horizontal and rectilinear sliding movement between opened and closed positions relative to an upright doorway defined by a stationary structure, said door defining inside and outside surfaces on opposite sides thereof; a locking mechanism supported on the door for movement between locking and unlocking positions, said locking mechanism including a locking member supported on the door for pivoting movement about a generally horizontal axis which extends transverse to the door, and a locking bolt arrangement which cooperates with and is movably displaced into a locking position in response to pivoting of the locking member from said unlocking position to said locking position, said locking bolt arrangement having an end portion which projects outwardly beyond the door when in said locking position for engagement with an adjacent retainer structure which is fixed to the stationary structure when the door is in the closed position; a manually accessible and moveable lock actuator mounted on said door adjacent said inside surface thereof and interconnected to said locking member for permitting manual pivoting thereof into the locking position; and a manually accessible inner activating handle adjacent said inside surface in the vicinity of, but independent of, said lock actuator for controlling opening and closing sliding movement of said door, said inner activating handle being movably supported on said door for movement through a small generally horizontal distance in a direction generally parallel with the opening and closing directional movement of the door, and a motion transfer mechanism connected between the inner activating handle and the locking member so that manual movement of the inner activating handle relative to the door in the door-opening direction initially causes pivoting movement of the locking member to effect release of the locking bolt arrangement with continued application of a generally horizontally oriented opening force to the inner activating handle in the door opening direction thereafter causing opening movement of the door, and wherein manual movement of the inner activating handle relative to the door in the door-closing direction is incapable of effecting movement of the locking bolt into said locking position. 2. A door arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the locking bolt arrangement includes a vertically elongate bolt member which is vertically slidably supported on the door and has an end portion which, when the bolt member is in a locking position, projects vertically beyond one of the upper and lower edges of the door for engagement with the fixed retainer. 3. A door arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the locking bolt arrangement includes a first bolt member which is acted on by the locking member and is vertically movably supported within the door and which in turn movably couples to a second bolt member which is pivotally supported on the door and has an end portion which projects outwardly from the door for engagement with the fixed retainer when in the locked position. 4. A door arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the locking bolt arrangement includes a lock bolt member supported on the door for pivoting movement and having an end portion which projects outwardly of the door for engagement with the fixed retainer when in said locking position. 5. A door arrangement according to claim 1, wherein said inner activating handle is a vertically elongate lever which adjacent one end thereof is pivotally supported on the door for swinging movement about an axis which extends substantially transverse with respect to the inside surface of the door, said inner activating handle being swingable through a small angular extent between first and second positions which define locking and unlocking positions so that swinging movement of said handle between said positions in response to application of a horizontal force thereto causes the lever movement to be predominantly horizontal and generally parallel to the door opening and closing direction. 6. A door arrangement according to claim 5, wherein the activating handle is movable through an angle of no more than about 30째. 7. A door arrangement according to claim 1, including a key-activated actuator mounted adjacent the outside surface of the door and interconnected to the locking member for effecting rotation thereof in either direction into the respective locking and unlocking positions. 8. A door arrangement according to claim 7, including a manually accessible outer handle fixed to said door and accessible from the outside surface thereof, said outer handle being incapable of effecting engagement or release of the locking mechanism. 9. An openable and closable door arrangement for a doorway, comprising: an upright sliding door positioned for generally solely horizontal movement between opened and closed positions relative to a doorway, said door being supported on a generally horizontally elongated track which extends substantially parallel to one of the horizontally-extending upper and lower edges of the door; an activating handle mounted on the door and manually accessible from solely one side thereof for controlling opening and closing movement of the door, said activating handle comprising a vertically elongate activating lever which adjacent one end thereof is pivotally supported on said door for vertical swinging movement about a first substantially horizontal pivot axis which extends transverse to the door, said activating lever being angularly swingably moveable solely through a small angular extent as defined between first and second end positions, said activating lever having a significant vertical orientation when in either of said end positions or at any position therebetween; a locking mechanism supported on said door in the vicinity of said activating handle and including a rotary locking member rotatably supported on the door for pivoting movement about a horizontal axis which extends transverse to the door, said locking mechanism including a vertically elongate locking bolt supported on the door for vertical sliding movement and which is interconnected to and is vertically displaced into a locking position in response to rotation of the rotary locking member, said locking bolt having an end portion which projects outwardly beyond the door for engagement with an adjacent stationary structure when the door is closed and the locking bolt is in the locking position; a manually moveable actuator disposed adjacent and accessible from solely said one side of the door and inter-connected to the locking mechanism to effect manual locking of the locking bolt; and a motion transfer mechanism connected between a rotary hub of said activating handle and said locking mechanism for effecting rotation of the locking member in a release direction and to effect unlocking of the locking bolt in response to application of a manually-applied generally sidewardly-directed horizontally oriented opening force against said activating handle so as to effect swinging of the activating handle from one end position into the other end position to cause retraction of the locking bolt with the continued application of said opening force to said activating handle thereafter effecting opening of the sliding door; whereby application of a single direction opening force and motion against the activating handle is effective for initially unlocking and thereafter effecting opening of the sliding door, and whereby application of a single direction closing force and motion against the activating handle is incapable of effecting movement of the locking bolt into the locking position. 10. A door arrangement according to claim 8, wherein the actuator for the rotary locking member comprises a manually rotatable actuator knob or lever which is coupled to said locking member and is disposed adjacent and accessible solely from said one side of the door. 11. A door arrangement according to claim 10, including a key-activated actuating member which is accessible solely from adjacent the other side of the door for effecting rotation of the locking member to effect locking or unlocking of the locking bolt from said other side of said door solely by insertion of a key into said key-activated actuating member. 12. A door arrangement according to claim 11, wherein a second handle is nonmovably fixedly secured to the other side of the door, said second handle being incapable of effecting release of the lock mechanism from its locked position. 13. A door arrangement according to claim 11, wherein the actuator comprises a manually rotatable actuator knob or lever which is coupled to said locking member and is disposed adjacent and accessible solely from said one side surface of the door to effect movement of the locking mechanism into the locking position, said actuator being disposed adjacent but separate of said activating handle. 14. A door arrangement according to claim 10, wherein said activating lever is movable through an angle of no more than about 45째, and wherein the rotary locking member is rotatable through a significantly greater angle in effecting movement of the locking bolt between locking and unlocking positions. 15. An openable and closable door arrangement for a doorway, comprising: an upright sliding door positioned for generally solely horizontal movement between opened and closed positions relative to a doorway; an activating handle mounted on one side of the door for controlling opening and closing movement thereof, said activating handle comprising an elongate activating lever which is pivotally supported on said door for vertical swinging movement about a first substantially horizontal pivot axis which extends transverse to the door, said activating lever being angularly swingably moveable through only a small angular extent as defined between first and second end positions, said activating lever having a significant vertical orientation when in either of said end positions or at any position therebetween; a locking mechanism supported on said door in the vicinity of said activating handle and including a vertically elongate locking bolt, supported on the door for vertical sliding movement, said locking bolt having an end portion which projects outwardly beyond the door for engagement with an adjacent stationary structure when the door is closed and the locking bolt is in a locking position; a manually accessible and manually moveable actuator disposed adjacent said one side of the door and inter-connected to said locking mechanism for permitting manual movement thereof to effect locking of the locking bolt from said one side of said door; and a motion transfer mechanism connected between said activating lever and said locking mechanism to effect unlocking of the locking bolt in response to application of a manually-applied generally sidewardly-directed horizontally oriented opening force against said activating handle so as to effect swinging of the activating handle from one end position into the other end position to cause retraction of the locking bolt with the continued application of said opening force to said activating handle thereafter effecting opening of the sliding door; wherein application of a single direction opening force and motion against solely the activating handle by a person positioned adjacent said one side of said door is effective for initially unlocking the locking mechanism and thereafter effecting opening of the sliding door, and wherein application of a closing force and motion against the activating handle by a person positioned adjacent said one side of said door is effective solely for closing but not locking said sliding door. 16. A door arrangement according to claim 15, including a key-activated actuating member which is accessible solely from adjacent the other side of the door for effecting solely locking or unlocking of the locking bolt from said other side of said door. 17. A door arrangement according to claim 16, including a second handle fixedly mounted on said door and manually accessible only from the other side thereof, said second handle being independent of said activating handle and incapable of effecting engagement or release of said locking mechanism. 18. An openable and closable door arrangement for a doorway, comprising: an upright sliding door positioned for generally solely horizontal and rectilinear movement between opened and closed positions relative to a doorway, the door defining inside and outside surfaces on opposite sides thereof; an activating handle mounted on the door adjacent the inside surface thereof for controlling the horizontal opening and closing rectilinear movement of the door, said activating handle being movably supported on said door for movement through a small horizontal extent as defined between first and second end positions; a locking mechanism supported on said door in the vicinity of said activating handle and including a locking member supported on the door for movement between a retracted position and a locking position wherein an end portion of the locking member projects outwardly beyond an edge of the door for engagement with an adjacent stationary structure when the door is closed; a manually accessible actuator mounted on the door adjacent the inside surface thereof and interconnected to the locking member for permitting manual movement thereof into said locking position; and a motion transfer mechanism connected between the activating handle and said locking mechanism for effecting movement of the locking member in a release direction to effect unlocking of the locking member in response to application of a manually-applied generally sidewardly-directed horizontally oriented opening force against said activating handle so as to effect movement of the activating handle from said first end position into said second end position to cause retraction of the locking member with the, continued application of said opening force to said actuating handle thereafter effecting horizontal opening of the sliding door; wherein application of a single direction opening force and motion against the activating handle is effective for initially unlocking and thereafter effecting opening of the sliding door, and wherein application of a single direction closing force and motion against said activating handle is incapable of effecting locking of the sliding door. 19. A door arrangement according to claim 18, including a key-activated actuating member accessible solely from adjacent the outer surface of the door for effecting movement of the locking member to effect either locking or unlocking of the locking member. 20. A door arrangement according to claim 18, including a second handle fixedly mounted on said door and manually accessible only from the other side thereof, said second handle being independent of said activating handle and incapable of effecting engagement or release of said locking mechanism. 21. A door arrangement according to claim 18, wherein the motion transfer mechanism includes a lost motion connection which enables the activating handle to move from said second end position into said first end position in response to application of the closing force and motion to the activating handle without effecting engagement of the locking mechanism.