US3361466A - Adjustable strike - Google Patents

Description

Jam 2, 1968 F. J. RUSSELL ETAI. 3,361,466

ADJUSTABLE STRIKE Filed sept. 2o, 1966 INVENTORS H0652 J. No4/M BY im U Rw J.

United States Patent Ofiice 3,361,466 Patented Jan. 2, 1968 3,361,466 ADJUSTABLE STRIKE Fred .1. Russell, 8635 Otis St., South Gate, Calif. 90281), and Roger J. Nolin, Monterey Park, Calif.; said Nolm assigner to said Russell Fned sept. 20, 1956, ser. No. 580,778 4 Claims. (Cl. 292-341.18)

ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE An improved adjustable strike device, one member of which is permanently fastened to the door frame, and a movable member which can be adjusted relative to the permanent member by a simple screw means without disturbing the permanent member.

The invention here under consideration is a lock accessory attached to the door frame and directly associated with the operation of a door lock. The hardware is cornmonly identified in the trade as a strike.'0ne of the most common expedients heretofore employed as a strike has consisted of a simple plate having a strike lip on one side and a usually rectangular hole in the plate, said hole being designed to receive the latch Ibolt. Customarily, a hole is chiseled in the door frame to coincide With the hole in the strike, the strike being mounted upon the door rframe with Wood screws. i i

When a strike of this type is mounted upon the frame by the average workman, it is not always possible on each and every occasion to prepare the hole and fasten the strike with the desired degree of accuracy. When this happens, the location of the strike must be readjusted, sometimes only a slight amount, and this usually means resetting the screws. If the adjustment is one of only a small fraction of an inch, it is not always possible to make new screw holes at a new location close to the old ones without having the screws slip back into the original, erroneous location, unless some time-consuming operation, such as filling the original holes, is resorted to.

On `other occasions, even though the strike is properly located in the first instance, the door or the frame may Warp or settle slightly, sufi'icient to misalign the strike with the lock. Again, readjustment by slight increments del velops the same difculties as has been noted above.

1t is therefore yone of the objects of the invention to provide a new and improved strike with an adjustable latch bolt retaining element.

Still another object yof the invention is to provide a new and improved strike with an adjustable latch bolt retaining surface which can be -readjusted without disturbing the position of the strike on the door frame.

Still further among the objects of the invention is to provide a new and improved adjustable strike device, one member of which is permanently fastened to the door frame, and the other member of which can be adjusted relative to the first member at any time and Without disturbing the :permanent location of a first member, the adjustment being made possibly by simple screw means easily tightened and loosened at will by employment of a screwdriver, an-d which, once properly tightened, fastens the parts together with a lgreat degree of firmness sufficient to hold the adjustment, despite innumerable openings and closings yof the door.

Still another object is to provide a new and improved adjustable strike device which has a neat, finished appearance, as to those parts exposed to view when in place on the frame, and which has the adjustable part substantially concealed, Ibut capable ofadjustment at any time without disturbing the mounting of the exposed part on the lframe.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in the construction, arrangement, and combination of the various parts of the device, whereby the objects contemplated are attained, as hereinafter set forth, pointed out in the appended claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is an elevational view of the device mounted upon a door frame, partially broken away to show the construction.

FIGURE 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the device taken on the line 2--2 of FIGURE 1,.

FIGURE 3 is a cross-sectional View taken on the lint 3 3 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 4 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 5 is a cross-sectional View taken on the line 5 5 of FIGURE 1.

For purposes of illustration, the embodiment of the adjustable strike device, indicated generally by the reference character 10, is shown mounted upon a frame 11 of a conventional doorway, the frame 11 being provided with a rectangular hole `12 yfor reception of the device 10, where it is shown mounted adjacent a stop 13.

The device 10 consists in the main of two members, namely an exterior anchoring member 14 and an interior movable member 15.

The exterior anchoring member 14 consists of a plate element 16, preferably having a smooth, polished finish, so as to neatly cover the hole 12, and resting in Irecesses 17 and 18, so as to be flush with the surface of the frame l1. The plate element 16 has a strike lip 19 and a latch bolt clearance opening 20 in alignment with the midportion of the strike lip 19. The latch bolt clearance Opening 21B is made substantially oversize relative to the customary conventional latch bolt (not shown), to take advantage of adjustability of the interior movable member 15. Screws 21 and 22 extending through screw holes 23 and 24 respectively in the plate element 16, and through aligned screw holes 25 and 26 in a lightweight sheet metal liner 27, fasten the plate element 16 to the door frame 11.

The interior movable member 15 includes a crossbar 36 which extends beneath the latch bolt clearance opening 2) at a location close to the bottom of the hole 12. Webs 31 and 32 at opposite ends of the crossbar 30 terminate in tabs 33 and 34 respectively, the tabs 33, 34 being bent intov parallel relationship with the plate element 16. The tab 33 has an elongated transversely extending hole 35 in alignment with a hole 36 in the plate element 16 adapted to receive a bolt 37 provided with a nut 38 and suitable lock Washers 39 and 39' for securely fastening the interior movable member 15 in position on the exterior anchoring member 14 when the necessary adjustment has been made. A similar bolt 37, nut 38, and washers 39 and 39' are provided lfor a corresponding hole 35' in the tab 34. It will be noted that there is a lock washer located between the respective tabs 33 and 34 and the underside of the plate element 16, as Well as there being a lock washer between the nut 38 in each case and the adjacent side of the respective tabs 33 or 34. Employment of a double set of lock washers prevents inadvertent loosening of each bolt 37. Each nut 38 is nonrotatable, ibecause of the abutment of the non-round nut with each web 31.

Also, as part of the interior movable member 15, is a latch bolt engaging portion 40 having one end 41 attached to the crossbar 30 and having at the other end -a foot piece 42 which is parallel to and in slidable engagement with the underside of the plate element 16. If desired, hole 45 may also be provided in the crossbar 30 for the purpose of providing an engagement means with a tool (not shown), such -as a screw driver, to facilitate the shifting of the crossbar 30 to the desired location when the bolts 37 are loosened.

.member transversely until the latch bolt engaging portion 40 is in precisely the desired position of engagement with the latch bolt, when the door is closed. After this has been accomplished, the bolts 37 -are tightened securely, thereby to anchor the interior movable member 15 to the exterior anchoring member 14. If the adjustment turns out to be not quite right with the first setting, the bolts 37 can be loosened and the interior movable member 15 readjusted to the necessary extent, after which the bolts 37 are again tightened down.

Should any warping of the frame 11 occur, possibly resulting in -a shift of the position of the door where it is mounted on the frame 11, causing the latch bolt to Y shift from a position of proper alignment with the adjustable strike device 10, readjustment can be readily made by again loosening the bolts 37, shifting the interior movable member 15 to a new position of adjustment and thereafter tightening Vthe bolts 37 to anchor the interior movable member 15 in the new position of adjustment. As previously noted, by having the interior movable member 15 entirely beneath and in underlying relationship to the exterior anchoring member 14, the exterior of the adjustable strike device 10 always remains a neat, presentable exterior. A desirable degree of ruggedness is built into the adjustable strike device 10 by having the length ofthe latch bolt engaging portion 40 at the location of the foot piece 42 thereon such that vthe foot piece 42 is drawn into engagement with the underside of the plate element 16 when the bolts 37 are tightened in position.

While the invention has herein been shown and described in what is conceived to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is recognized that departures may be made therefrom within the scope of the invention, which is not to be limited to the details disclosed herein, but is to be accorded the full scope of the claims so as to embrace any and all equivalent devices.

Having described the invention, what is claimed yas new in support of Letters Patent is:

1. An adjustable strike device for a door frame wherein said frame has a latch bolt hole having a front wall, a back wall and side walls, said strike device being adapted to be mounted in said frame and adapted to cooperate with the latch bolt of a lock, said device including an anchoring member adapted to be attached to the frame and a movable member located entirely in said hole and under the anchoring member and adapted to engage the latch bolt, said anchoring member including a plate element adapted to overlie a portion of the frame, a strike lip on said plate element, said plate element having an oversize latch bolt clearance opening therein spaced laterally from said strike lip, said plate element having apertures respectively for fastening screw means adapted to engage the door fra-me and for adjusting screw means adapted to engage the movable member, said movable member including a latch bolt engaging portion having an extension parallel to the mounting plate forming a foot piece in engagement with the underside of said plate element, and closing Ya portion of said clearance opening lbetween said latch bolt engaging portion and an edge of said clearance opening adjacent Vthe strike lips, and at least one tab parallel to said plate element, said foot piece being clear of engagement with the frame during adjustment, said tab having a transversely extending elongated hole therein at a location underlying the respective aperture in the plate element for said adjusting screw means, said latch bolt engaging portion being shifta-ble toward and away from the strike lipwhereby to vary the location of the latch boltY engaging portion relative to the position of the latch bolt when the latch bolt is extended into said latch bolt `clearance opening.

2. An -adjustable strike device according to claim 1 wherein there are two tabs on the movable member on opposite sides of the latch bolt clearance opening, each having a transversely extending elongated hole for said adjusting screw means.

3. An adjustable strike device according to claim 1 wherein said movable me-mber has a crossbar spaced from and lying beneath said latch bolt clearance opening and said crossbar has ka hole therein for reception of a pry for shifting the position of the movable member when an adjustment is to be made.

4. -In an adjustable strike device, according to claim 1,

wherein there is a nut on said adjusting screw means andV at least one lock washer Vbetween the nut and said members.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Y 1,563,667 12/1925 Smith 292-341.18 2,678,843 5/ 1954 Steffan 292-341.18 3,257,139 6/1966 Russell 292-341.18 3,265,427 8/ 1966 Williams 292-341.18

MARVIN A. CHAMPION, Primary Examiner.

E. I. MCCARTHY, Assistant Examiner.

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