Locking and controlling means for double doors.

Application filed February 12, 1913. Serial No. 747,928.

To dll whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, Henry G. Voight, a citizen of the United States, residing at New Britain, Hartford county, State of 5 Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Locking and Controlling Means for Double Doors, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to locking and controlling means for swinging doors of the double “ fire door ” type and aims to provide locking means operable to lock both sections to each other and to the door casing, 15 the locking means being rendered inoperative when the door sections are opened and being automatically operated upon closing of the door. Doors of this double swinging type always open outwardly and are gener20 ally self-closing, being actuated to closed position either by spring hinges, overhead door closers or other suitable means. The active section of these doors or that carrying the interlocking mechanism, has an astragal 25 attached to its outer face to overlap the. adjacent meeting edges of the door sections and shut off all openings between said sections. It is very essential in such cases that means be provided, in case both door sec30 tions are opened outwardly at the same time, whereby the active door section is retarded from closing until the inactive door section has preceded it in its closing movement.

My present invention contemplates, there35 fore, the provision of such timing and controlling means in conjunction with the locking means heretofore referred to. These locking ancl controlling means are further ancl fully described in detail in the follqw40 ing specification, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings forming part thereof ancl illustrating a preferable embodiment of my invention.

In these drawings: Figure 1 is a view in 45 front elevation of two complemental swinging door sections and their casing embodying the present invention, the faces of the door being broken away to disclose the interior locking mechanism ancl the doors 50 being shown in their closed locked position. Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1 but with the interlocking parts of the door sections moved to unlocked position. Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the door casing with the door ⁵⁵ sections in closed position, illustrating the stop mechanism employed. Fig. 4 is a similar view showing the door sections opened and the stop mechanism in operative position relative to the active section of the door. Fig. 5 is a view in edge elevation of 60 the door casing with the door sections nlosed ancl the stop mechanism inoperatively positioned. Fig. 6 is a similar view but with the door sections opened and moving toward closed position. 65

Referring to the drawings by numerals, 1 indicates the door casing and 2 ancl 3 the inactive and active hinged sections of a double door structure, these sections being hinged at their outer ends ancl having their 70 free ends abutting when closed. The active door section 3 carries on its outer face an astragal 3^a which, when the door sections are closed, overlaps the edge of the inactive section ancl shuts off all openings between 75 the adjacent edges of said sections. Seated within the outer or swinging edge of the active section 3 is a lock frame 4, this frame extending substantially the entire height of the door. The frame 4 carries a plurality 80 of guide brackets 5 in vertical alinement, these brackets serving to guide a bar 6 for operating the latch bolts.· The upper end of this bar is provided with a locking offset head 7 for the purpose hereinafter described. 85 Rigidly secured to the bar 6 intermediate its ends and extending therefrom is a yoke member 8 which normally rests upon and is supported by a roll-back 9, which roll-back is mounted within a lock casing suitably 90 carried by the lock frame 4. The hub of this roll-back is suitably connected with an operating handle (not shown) on one side of the door so that the oscillation of the rollback will serve to move the yoke 8 upwardly 95 to in turn effect a like movement of the operating bar 6, which bar is supported by its yoke resting upon said roll-back.

At a plurality of points longitudinally of the lock frame a plurality of latch bolts 12 100 are pivotally mounted as at 11, these latch bolts being operable through the. bar 6. It) the drawings, I am only illustrating the uppermost of these latch bolts, the structure and operation of each being the same. The 105 bolt mechanism is of the general type shown in my Patent No. 1,047,900, dated December 17, 1912, wherein a plurality of spaced locking bolts are operable through a common operating bar corresponding to the bar 6 of 110 the present invention. Each latch bolt 12 Lis provided adjacent one end with a curved

1,070,366 slot 13 which slot adjacent its outer edge is formed with a shoulder 14. The operating bar (> carries a plurality of pins 15, one for each latch bolt, which pins extend through the curved slot of each latch bolt. The weight of the operating bar normally tends to move its pins 15 downwardly in the cam slots 13 of the latch bolts, swinging said bolts on their pivots to project the same. When the operating handle of the bar is turned to oscillate the roll-back 9, the yoke 8 will he raised, moving the operating bar 6 with its. pins 15 upwardly, these pins rising against 1 be curved edges of the latch bolls, which edges act as cams and by reason of their curvature, cause the latch bolts to be swung inwardly on their pivots from the projected position shown in Fig. 1 to the retracted position shown in Fig. 2. If the operating handle is released, the operating bar 6 will drop by gravity, swinging the latch bolts outwardly to projected position again. These latch bolts are preferably of the type, illustrated in my pending application 'Serial No. 745,386, the locking shoulders 14 of their cam slots preventing the retraction of these bolts independently of their common operating bar inasmuch as pressure imparted to these bolts, as by the insertion of a tool between tlie edge of one section and the bolt head, will cause the shoulders 14 to press against their cooperating studs 15 and move the operating bar 6 laterally, jamming it against the sides of its guiding brackets 5 and blocking it against upward^bolt-retracting movement.

The inactive section 2 has inserted therewithin, a bolt frame 16 extending vertically of the edge of the section. This frame is provided with a plurality of spaced alined guide brackets 17 apertured to receive and guide a bolt shank 18 whose head 19 is adapted to be projected upwardly into socket 21 formed in a strike plate 22 seated in the under face of the door casing 1. A pin 20 carried by the bolt shank 18 serves to limit its downward movement by engagement with the upper face of its lower guide bracket 17. The lower encl of the bolt shank 18 is positioned relative to the upper latch bolt 12 of. the active door section 3 and in such relation thereto that when this upper latch bolt moves outwardly to projected position, the upper edge of its head will engage the lower end of the bolt, shank 18 and lift the same upwardly to project its locking head 19 in the socket 21 of the casing strike plate. It will be seen, therefore, that the projection of the. latch bolts 12 serves not only to interlock the active and inactive door sections but also operates a casing bolt mechanism to lock said sections to the casing.

It. is desirable to provide some means whereby the latch bolts 12 are held in their retracted position when the active door sec tion is open., and whereby these latch holts may be projected upon the closing of said active section. Γ have, therefore, provided at the outer end of the lock frame 4, spaced ears 23 between which is pi vote 1 the upper ₇θ end of a locking dog 24 whose head 25 is adapted to project, upwardly beyond the upper edge of the door. The strike plate 22 seated in the under face of the door casing is flush at the point where the head 25 of this ₇₅dog engages the same so that when the door m closed, the head 25 of the dog is forced inwardly, causing the dog to swing on its pivot. This dog 24 is provided at one edge with a locking shoulder 26 positioned to engage under the offset head 7 of the operating bar 6 when the latter lias been moved upwardly to bolt-retracting position. When the operating bar 6 is moved upwardly to retract the latch bolts and this section then ₈₅moves upwardly to open position, the dog 24 will swing downwardly by gravity and bring its locking shoulder 26 beneath the offset head 7 of this operating bar, locking the bar in its raised position ancl projecting the. ₉₀head 25 of the dog out beyond the upper edge of the bar. In order to insure this locking movement of the clog, a weight in tlie form of a bar 27 is pivoted thereto at a point below its point of pivotal, connection to the ears 23 as at 28. This weight 27, therefore, tends to swing the dog ^24 inwardly and its head 25 upwardly and out beyond the upper edge of the door. When this section of the doer closes, however, the jqq head 25 of the dog will engage the flush face of the strike plate 22 and be moved inwardly, swinging its shoulder 26 out from beneath the offset head 7 of the operating bar and permitting said bar to drop by gravity, this ₁₀₅movement of the bar projecting the latch bolts as heretofore described, and the projection of the upper latch bolt serving to move the casing bolt 18 upwardly into its socket in the strike plate 22.

When both sections of the door are swung open, the astragal carried by the active section makes it necessary for the inactive section to close before the active section. I have, therefore, provided automatically op- 115 enable stop means arranged to hold tlie active section away from the casing sufficiently far to permit the inactive section to swing therebeyond and into closed position first, the stop means being inoperatively 120 positioned when the inactive section is moved past the active section and toward door closed position. To this end, the inactive section 2 of the door is provided adjacent its upper edge with a bracket plate 29 from 125 which a strike arm 30 extends upwardly to a point above the upper edge of the door and in line with the door casing. The outer face of the door casing is provided with spaced bracket plates 31—32 provided with bear- ₃₃₀

1,070,366 tracted position independently of the operating bar 6, the door sections cannot be unlocked and moved to open position except through the operating handle or other means under manual control. . . 70

While I have herein described a specific embodiment of my invention, it should be understood that the same may be altered in detail and relative arrangement of parts within the spirit of the invention and the 75 scope of the appended claims.