Door lock with integrated door position sensor

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10435917-B2
Application number	US-201214353679-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 1, 2012
Priority date	Nov 3, 2011
Publication date	Oct 8, 2019
Grant date	Oct 8, 2019

Abstract

A door lock with integrated door position sensor includes rectangular magnets positioned behind the door strike to maximize magnetic field strength in available space limited by industry-standard dimensions for the door strike. A beveled or stepped mounting opening for the sensor is formed in a front plate of the door lock and behind a non-magnetic faceplate. The shape of the mounting opening allows the magnetic field to penetrate deeply through the faceplate and front plate to actuate the door position sensor. The sensor may be used in mortise locks or bored locks. In an alternative embodiment, the sensor is spring mounted to eliminate all mounting tolerances and ensure that the sensor is maximally forward and flush against the back of the non-magnetic faceplate.

First claim

Thus, having described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. A door lock mechanism comprising:
a lock adapted for mounting to a door and having a latchbolt;
a magnetically actuated door position sensor assembly comprising a sensor mount having a shaped opening and a magnetically actuated sensor, the shaped opening receiving and holding the magnetically actuated sensor;
a front plate for the lock, the front plate having a front face, a back face, a mounting opening for the magnetically actuated door position sensor assembly, and a latchbolt opening for the latchbolt, the latchbolt opening and mounting opening extending through the front plate from the front face to the back face, wherein the mounting opening has a first end at the front face of the front plate and a second end at the back face of the front plate that define a space between said first and second ends that is larger at the first end than at the second end of the mounting opening, wherein the sensor mount of the magnetically actuated door position sensor assembly snaps into the mounting opening so that a portion of the magnetically actuated sensor, held in the shaped opening of the sensor mount, resides within and is surrounded by the space to allow a magnetic field to penetrate into the space within the mounting opening to actuate the magnetically actuated sensor;
a non-magnetic faceplate covering the front plate, the non-magnetic faceplate having an opening for the latchbolt, at least a portion of the magnetically actuated sensor of the magnetically actuated door position sensor assembly contacting the non-magnetic faceplate;
a non-magnetic strike adapted for mounting to a door frame, the strike having a strike opening for receiving the latchbolt; and
a first magnet mounted to the strike for producing the magnetic field that actuates the magnetically actuated sensor, whereby the magnetic field penetrates into the space within the mounting opening, extending from the first end of the mounting opening to the second end of the mounting opening, and surrounds the portion of said magnetically actuated sensor within the space to actuate the magnetically actuated sensor.

2. The door lock mechanism according to claim 1 wherein the first magnet is a rectangular magnet.

3. The door lock mechanism according to claim 2 wherein the rectangular magnet is mounted to a corner of the strike only on a backside of the strike, the rectangular magnet has a width substantially corresponding to a distance from an edge of the strike to a mounting opening in the strike for mounting the strike to the door frame.

4. The door lock mechanism according to claim 1 wherein the first and second ends of the mounting opening are respectively first and second distal ends of said mounting opening.

5. The door lock mechanism according to claim 1 wherein the first magnet is mounted within a recess on a backside of the strike and has a thickness less than a thickness of the strike, when the first magnet is mounted in the recess on the backside of the strike, the first magnet contacts a planar surface of backside of the strike residing within said recess.

6. The door lock mechanism according to claim 1 wherein the magnet is a disc magnet.

7. The door lock mechanism according to claim 1 wherein the strike defines opposed ends about a horizontal centerline and the strike further includes a second magnet symmetrically mounted relative to the first magnet about the centerline of the strike to allow the strike to be mounted with either of the opposed ends above the other end with either of the first or second magnets aligned with the magnetically actuated door position sensor assembly when the latchbolt engages the strike, the first and second magnets residing within recesses on a backside of the strike.

8. The door lock mechanism according to claim 1 wherein:
the lock further includes a deadbolt; and
the front plate further includes a deadbolt opening for the deadbolt, the deadbolt opening extending through the front plate from the front face to the back face.

9. The door lock mechanism according to claim 1 wherein the non-magnetic faceplate covers the mounting opening for the magnetically actuated door position sensor assembly to prevent visual detection of the magnetically actuated door position sensor assembly when the door is open.

10. The door lock mechanism according to claim 1 wherein the mounting opening is a beveled opening defining the space as a beveled space, the beveled space surrounding said portion of said magnetically actuated sensor residing within said beveled space and allowing the magnetic field from the first magnet in the strike to penetrate through the non-magnetic faceplate and fill the beveled space of the mounting opening to actuate the magnetically actuated sensor.

11. The door lock mechanism according to claim 1 wherein the mounting opening is a stepped opening defining the space as a stepped space, the stepped opening surrounding said portion of said magnetically actuated sensor residing within said stepped space and allowing the magnetic field from the first magnet in the strike to penetrate through the non-magnetic faceplate and fill the stepped space of the mounting opening to actuate the magnetically actuated sensor.

12. The door lock mechanism according to claim 1 wherein the sensor mount is constructed of a non-magnetic material.

13. The door lock mechanism according to claim 1 wherein the sensor mount is shaped to fit within the mounting opening in the front plate.

14. The door lock mechanism according to claim 1 wherein the shaped opening of the sensor mount is shaped to receive and hold the magnetically actuated sensor only in a correct orientation such that the magnetically actuated sensor is actuated by the magnetic field.

15. The door lock mechanism according to claim 14 wherein the sensor mount is shaped to snap into the mounting opening in the front plate with a predetermined orientation corresponding to the magnetic field produced by the first magnet mounted to the strike.

16. The door lock mechanism according to claim 1 wherein the magnetically actuated door position sensor is a reed switch or a Hall effect sensor.

17. The door lock mechanism according to claim 1 wherein the lock having the latchbolt is a mortise lock or a bored lock.

18. The door lock mechanism according to claim 1 wherein at least a portion of the magnetically actuated sensor resides within the sensor mount.

19. The door lock mechanism according to claim 1 wherein at least one portion of the sensor mount and the at least one portion of the magnetically actuated sensor contact the faceplate.

20. A door lock mechanism comprising:
a lock adapted for mounting to a door and having a latchbolt;
a sensor mount having a shaped opening;
a magnetically actuated sensor residing within the shaped opening of the sensor mount;
a non-magnetic faceplate having an opening for the latchbolt;
a front plate adjacent and contacting the non-magnetic faceplate, the front plate having a latchbolt opening for the latchbolt and a mounting opening for the magnetically actuated sensor, the mounting opening being larger at an end adjacent the faceplate than at a second end extending away from the faceplate, the sensor mount is shaped to fit within the mounting opening in the front plate such that a portion of the sensor mount and portion of the magnetically actuated sensor residing in the sensor mount both contact the non-magnetic faceplate;
a non-magnetic strike adapted for mounting to a door

Assignees

• Sargent Mfg Co

Inventors

• Nunez Paul
• Bogdanov Victor
• Wong Wai P

Classifications

• E05B47/0038 Primary

  using permanent magnets · CPC title

• E05C1/12

  with operating handle or equivalent member moving otherwise than rigidly with the latch · CPC title

• E05B55/005

  Cylindrical or tubular locks · CPC title

• Y10T292/097

  Operating means · CPC title

• E05B2047/0068

  Door closed · CPC title