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EP-4320324-B1 - ENERGY SOURCE ACCESS IN A LOCK

EP4320324B1EP 4320324 B1EP4320324 B1EP 4320324B1EP-4320324-B1

Inventors

  • AYRE, MICHAEL EDWIN
  • CLAYTON, Martin James
  • RYAN, Dominic Michael

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20220324

Claims (15)

  1. A lock (10) comprising a chassis (11) mountable on one of two parts to be locked and unlocked relative to one another and carrying locking means (17 - 23) transferrable between a locking state and an unlocking state respectively for the locking and unlocking, the locking means (17 - 23) being electrically operable to cause or allow transfer from the locking state to the unlocking state, and a control module (16) mounted on the chassis (11) and carrying control means (30) for controlling supply of electrical operating power to the locking means, the chassis having a receptacle (25) for reception of an electrical energy source (24) for providing the operating power, characterised in that the control module (16) inclusive of the control means (30) is so movable relative to the chassis (11) and to said electrical energy source (24) when received in the receptacle (25) of the chassis as to permit access to the receptacle (25) and the electrical energy source (24) therein.
  2. A lock (10) according to claim 1, wherein the control module (16) is slidable relative to the chassis (11).
  3. A lock (10) according to claim 2, wherein the control module (16) is mounted on the chassis (11) by guide means for guidance of sliding movement of the control module relative to the chassis.
  4. A lock (10) according to claim 3, the guide means comprising interengaging slideways (28) respectively of the control module (16) and chassis (11).
  5. A lock (10) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the control module (16) inclusive of the control means (30) is removable from the chassis (11) by the movement relative thereto.
  6. A lock (10) according to any one of the preceding claims, comprising releasable securing means (29) for releasably securing the control module (16) against movement relative to the chassis (11).
  7. A lock (10) according to claim 6, wherein release of the securing means (29) is prevented by the locking means (17 - 23) in the locking state.
  8. A lock (10) according to claim 7, wherein the securing means (29) is covered by a handle (20) of the locking means (17 - 23) in the locking state.
  9. A lock (10) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the chassis (11) and control module (16) are provided with mutually contacting electrical contacts (35, 36) in electrical paths between the control means and energy source connecting means (27) in the receptacle (25), the contacts (35, 36) being separable to interrupt the paths on movement of the control module (16) relative to the chassis (11) to permit access to the receptacle (25).
  10. A lock (10) according to claim 9, wherein the contacts (35, 36) are sliding wiper contacts.
  11. A lock (10) according to claim 10, wherein the contacts (35, 36) when in mutual contact are resiliently urged against one another.
  12. A lock (10) according to any one of the preceding claims, the control means (30) comprising a plurality of control elements selectively actuable in a predeterminable sequence to provide correspondingly sequential transmission of signals for triggering transfer of the locking means (17 - 23) from the locking state to the unlocking state.
  13. A lock (10) according to claim 12, the control means (30) comprising electronic means (33) responsive to the signals to cause or allow supply of operating power to the locking means.
  14. A lock (10) according to claim 12 or claim 13, wherein the control elements comprise buttons (31).
  15. A lock (10) according to any one of the preceding claims, the locking means (17 - 23) comprising fastening means (17) transferrable between a fastening state and a release state respectively representing the locking state and the unlocking state of the locking means, and blocking means (22) for blocking transfer of the fastening means from the fastening state to the release state, the blocking means being electrically operable to cancel the blocking.

Description

The present invention relates to a lock and has particular reference to energy source access in a lock. Surface-mounted mechanical, electromechanical, electrical and electronic locks exist in a wide variety of forms for use in the latching of doors or other closures to surrounds. A popular form of lock in widespread use for multi-user operation without the inconvenience of needing to supply keys to all users is a code-controlled lock with control means in the form of actuating elements such as press buttons, which can be operated in a set sequence - representing a numeric code - to release a fastening, in particular latching, mechanism of the lock and allow door opening. Such a lock is of compact construction and has the actuating elements arranged at an accessible external side, which may also carry a handle for fastening mechanism operation. If the lock is electromechanical or essentially electrical in nature then necessary electrical operating power can be provided by a mains or, more usually, an individual energy source such as one or more batteries. Batteries periodically require recharging or replacing. Due to the compact nature of such locks, batteries have to be accommodated within the lock and access for recharging, replacing or even initial installation in the case of a mounted lock represents a problem due to the occupation of much of the external area of the lock by the actuating elements, of which there may be ten or more in the case of buttons offering a ten-digit code, and a handle when present. Current practice in locks of this kind is to install the energy source in a compartment accessible at a face of the lock remote from the side with the actuating elements, thus at the face which, in the case of a surface-mounted lock, serves as a mounting face. Consequently, access to the energy source requires demounting of the lock, which is a laborious and sometimes complicated procedure, particularly since the lock may have components on both sides of a door and a connecting shaft passing through the door. EP 0 721 036 discloses a lock allowing access to a battery without demounting of the lock, but only by complete removal of a lock part holding the battery from the rest of the lock. It is therefore the principal object of the present invention to provide a lock which is of such a construction that access to an energy source when the lock is fitted does not require demounting or removal of a lock part holding the source. Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description. According to the present invention there is provided a lock comprising a chassis mountable on one of two parts to be locked and unlocked relative to one another and carrying locking means transferrable between a locking state and an unlocking state respectively for the locking and unlocking, the locking means being electrically operable to cause or allow transfer from the locking state to the unlocking state, and a control module mounted on the chassis and carrying control means for controlling supply of electrical operating power to the locking means, the chassis having a receptacle for reception of an electrical energy source for providing the operating power and the control module inclusive of the control means being so movable relative to the chassis and to said electrical energy source when received in the receptacle of the chassis as to permit access to the receptacle and the electrical energy source therein. A lock embodying the present invention allows a convenient means of access to an installed on-board or integrated power source even when the lock is mounted in a use location, thus access without lock removal. The access can be such as to enable removal of the source and replacement or - if the source is rechargeable - recharging at a mains supply. Reinstatement of the source, typically a pair of batteries, can be carried out by a reverse procedure. By contrast to prior art locks of the relevant kind the lock is divided into a chassis with the locking means and a movable module with control means for controlling the locking means, in particular the supply of operating power to the locking means. The lock casing is no longer a single unit, but has a multi-component construction with separation into a component which has to remain stationary at one of two parts to be locked and unlocked relative to one another, such as a door, and a component which can be moved. In departure from usual prior art locks, the space issue represented by the area occupied by the control means is resolved by incorporating the control means into the module, thus the movable component, rather than being left as part of the fixed component. In practice, the control means can be a lightweight control arrangement electrically connected with an energy source, when present in the receptacle of the chassis, by an appropriate connection accommodating the relative movement of module and chassis. The movement of