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EP-4567232-B1 - A MORTICED BOLT KEEP AND A CLOSURE SYSTEM COMPRISING THE SAME

EP4567232B1EP 4567232 B1EP4567232 B1EP 4567232B1EP-4567232-B1

Inventors

  • CNOCKAERT, Arne

Dates

Publication Date
20260513
Application Date
20241204

Claims (15)

  1. A morticed bolt keep (1) configured to cooperate with a lock (11) having a latch bolt which is slidable between a retracted position and an extended position, the morticed bolt keep comprising: - an elongated body (5) extending in a longitudinal direction (10) and configured to be positioned inside a hollow tubular member (7) which extends in the longitudinal direction; and - a cavity (14) inside the elongated body and configured to receive the latch bolt in its extended position, wherein the morticed bolt keep further comprises: - a latch bolt engager (25) mounted in the elongated body which is displaceable between a rest state and an actuated state; and - a magnetic actuator (30) mounted inside the elongated body and configured to displace the latch bolt engager from its rest state to its actuated state upon activation, the magnetic actuator comprising: - a core (32) which extends in the longitudinal direction and comprises: - a frame comprising a first mounting space and a second mounting space separated by a frame part (37), wherein the first mounting space and the second mounting space are spaced apart from one another in the longitudinal direction by the frame part; - a first permanent magnet (36) mounted in the first mounting space; and - a second permanent magnet (38) mounted in the second mounting space, the permanent magnets being oriented such that they repel one another in the longitudinal direction; and - a coil assembly (31) which extends in the longitudinal direction and comprises at least one coil (41, 42, 70, 71, 72, 73) which is disposed at least around the frame part, wherein one of the core and the coil assembly is slidable in the longitudinal direction and is operatively connected to the latch bolt engager.
  2. The morticed bolt keep according to claim 1, characterised in that each permanent magnet has a north pole and a south pole with a magnetic axis parallel to the longitudinal direction, wherein the first and second permanent magnets are oriented such that either their north poles or their south poles are facing one another in the longitudinal direction.
  3. The morticed bolt keep according to claim 1 or 2, characterised in that the frame comprises a third mounting space spaced apart from the second mounting space in the longitudinal direction by a further frame part (39), wherein the first mounting space and the third mounting space are on opposite sides of the second mounting space in the longitudinal direction, wherein the core comprises a third permanent (40) magnet mounted in the third mounting space, the second and third permanent magnets being oriented such that they repel one another in the longitudinal direction, wherein said at least one coil comprises a first coil (41) and a second coil (42), the first coil being disposed at least around the frame part and the second coil being disposed at least around the further frame part.
  4. A morticed bolt keep (1) configured to cooperate with a lock (11) having a latch bolt which is slidable between a retracted position and an extended position, the morticed bolt keep comprising: - an elongated body (5) extending in a longitudinal direction (10) and configured to be positioned inside a hollow tubular member (7) which extends in the longitudinal direction; and - a cavity (14) inside the elongated body and configured to receive the latch bolt in its extended position, wherein the morticed bolt keep further comprises: - a latch bolt engager (25) mounted in the elongated body which is displaceable between a rest state and an actuated state; and - a magnetic actuator (30) mounted inside the elongated body and configured to displace the latch bolt engager from its rest state to its actuated state upon activation, the magnetic actuator comprising: - a core (32) which extends in the longitudinal direction and comprises: - a frame comprising a first mounting space and a second mounting space separated by a frame part (37), wherein the first mounting space and the second mounting space are spaced apart from one another in the longitudinal direction by the frame part; - a first permanent magnet (36) mounted in the first mounting space; and - a second permanent magnet (38) mounted in the second mounting space, the permanent magnets being oriented such that their magnetic axis are perpendicular to the longitudinal direction and such that they attract one another in the longitudinal direction; and - a coil assembly (31) which extends in the longitudinal direction and comprises a first coil (70) and a second coil (71), wherein one of the core and the coil assembly is slidable in the longitudinal direction and is operatively connected to the latch bolt engager.
  5. The morticed bolt keep according to claim 4, characterised in that the coils are disposed adjacent the frame on opposite sides thereof and have a same magnetic polarity.
  6. A morticed bolt keep (1) configured to cooperate with a lock (11) having a latch bolt which is slidable between a retracted position and an extended position, the morticed bolt keep comprising: - an elongated body (5) extending in a longitudinal direction (10) and configured to be positioned inside a hollow tubular member (7) which extends in the longitudinal direction; and - a cavity (14) inside the elongated body and configured to receive the latch bolt in its extended position, wherein the morticed bolt keep further comprises: - a latch bolt engager (25) mounted in the elongated body which is displaceable between a rest state and an actuated state; and - a magnetic actuator (30) mounted inside the elongated body and configured to displace the latch bolt engager from its rest state to its actuated state upon activation, the magnetic actuator comprising: - a core (32) which extends in the longitudinal direction and comprises a permanent magnet which has a north pole and a south pole with a magnetic axis parallel to the longitudinal direction; and - a coil assembly (31) which extends in the longitudinal direction and comprises a first coil and a second coil separated from one another in the longitudinal direction, the first coil being disposed at least around the north pole and the second coil being disposed at least around the south pole, the coils having an opposite magnetic polarity, wherein one of the core and the coil assembly is slidable in the longitudinal direction and is operatively connected to the latch bolt engager.
  7. The morticed bolt keep according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that each permanent magnet has a substantially constant cross sectional area viewed perpendicular to its magnetic axis, each permanent magnet particularly being a bar magnet.
  8. The morticed bolt keep according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the magnetic actuator further comprises a magnetic shielding (60) extending in the longitudinal direction and radially enclosing the coil assembly, the magnetic shielding preferably comprising a metal cylinder.
  9. The morticed bolt keep according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the core is slidable in the longitudinal direction and is operatively connected to the latch bolt engager.
  10. The morticed bolt keep according to claim 9, characterised in that the core is operatively connected to the latch bolt engager by means of a rigid rod (80) extending between a first end and a second end, wherein the first end is pivotable with respect to the core and the second end is pivotable with respect to the latch bolt engager, and wherein the rigid rod has a first smallest angle ( θ 1 ) with respect to the longitudinal direction when the latch bolt engager is in its rest state and a second smallest angle ( θ 2 ) with respect to the longitudinal direction when the latch bolt engager is in its actuated state, the second smallest angle being larger than the first smallest angle.
  11. The morticed bolt keep according to claim 10, characterised in that the rigid rod is connected to the elongated body by means of two guiding levers (84, 87).
  12. The morticed bolt keep according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that in its rest state, the latch bolt engager is in a depressed position within the cavity and, in its actuated state, the latch bolt engager is in an extended position within the cavity, wherein the latch bolt engager is configured to push the latch bolt towards its retracted position when being displaced from its rest state to its actuated state.
  13. The morticed bolt keep according to any one of claims 1 to 11, characterised in that in its rest state, the latch bolt engager is in an extended position within the cavity and, in its actuated state, the latch bolt engager is in a depressed position within the cavity, wherein the latch bolt engager is configured to allow the latch bolt to slide to its extended position into the cavity when being displaced from its rest state to its actuated state, wherein the morticed bolt keep preferably comprises a biasing member (49) inside the elongated body which exerts a biasing force urging the latch bolt engager to its rest position, the magnetic actuator being configured to, upon activation, slide said one of the core and the coil in the longitudinal direction against said biasing force.
  14. The morticed bolt keep according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the morticed bolt keep further comprises an electromagnet (50) mounted inside the elongated body and a magnetic catch (55) fixed to said one of the core and the coil, the electromagnet being configured to temporarily attract the magnetic catch to maintain the latch bolt engager in its actuated state.
  15. A closure system comprising a closure wing (13) and a support, the closure wing being provided with a lock (11) having a latch bolt which is slidable between a retracted position and an extended position, the support extending in a longitudinal direction and comprising a hollow tubular member (7), characterised in that the closure system further comprises a morticed bolt keep (1) according to any one of the preceding claims mounted in the hollow tubular member.

Description

Technical field The present invention relates to a morticed bolt keep configured to cooperate with a lock having a latch bolt which is slidable between a retracted position and an extended position. The present invention further relates to closure system comprising a closure wing and a support with the morticed bolt keep mounted in the support. Background art EP 4 159 962 A1 discloses a morticed bolt keep comprising: an elongated body extending in a longitudinal direction and configured to be positioned inside a hollow tubular member which extends in the longitudinal direction; and a cavity inside the elongated body and configured to receive the latch bolt in its extended position. The morticed bolt keep is designed to receive the latch bolt in its extended position thereby keeping the closure wing on which the lock is mounted in the closed position. A user can unlatch the closure wing by actuating the lock thereby sliding the latch bolt from the morticed bolt keep. A downside of this morticed bolt keep is that manual user intervention is required to unlatch the closure wing. In order to alleviate this problem, electrically operated bolt keeps are known. For example, EP 3 421 695 A1 discloses a surface mounted electric strike which allows a side wall of the bolt keep to pivot away thereby allowing exit of the latch bolt without needing to retract this. However, such a solution is not feasible for a morticed bolt keep as the side walls of the bolt keep are morticed into a support. DE 10 2009 056 348 A1 discloses a morticed bolt keep for use in a conventional massive wing. The morticed bolt keep comprises: an elongated body extending in a longitudinal direction and configured to be positioned inside a closure wing; a cavity inside the elongated body and configured to receive the latch bolt in its extended position; a latch bolt engager mounted in the elongated body which is displaceable between a rest state and an actuated state; and a magnetic actuator mounted inside the elongated body and configured to displace the latch bolt engager from its rest state to its actuated state upon activation. The magnetic actuator disclosed in DE 10 2009 056 348 A1 relies on a fixed coil surrounding an iron core. Upon activation of the coil, the iron core is withdrawn into the coil thereby actuating an L-shaped lever to tilt so that a roller provided on the free end of the L-shaped lever pushes the latch bolt outside the cavity thereby unlatching the latch bolt. A main issue with the morticed bolt keep disclosed in DE 10 2009 056 348 A1 is its size. More particularly, the morticed bolt keep is not suited to be inserted in a hollow tubular member having only limited dimensions. Such hollow tubular members are common in outdoor applications (e.g. as part of a fence) and tend to have square or rectangular cross-sections with external dimensions of 4 cm, 5 cm or 6 cm (e.g. a rectangular cross-section of 3x6 cm or 4x6 cm). The morticed bolt keep disclosed in DE 10 2009 056 348 A1 is unlikely to fit into such a narrow space. Another issue with this known morticed bolt keep is the force required to push the latch bolt. More specifically, locks used in outdoor applications tend to have a latch bolt which is pushed outwards with a higher force when compared to the latch bolt of indoor locks. The throw of the latch bolt in outdoor application is also much longer when compared to indoor use. More specifically, a lock for outdoor use may have a throw exceeding 10 mm, e.g. 15 mm, whereas this is typically 2 to 4 mm in indoor applications. The main reason therefor is that a longer throw allows to compensate for misalignment (e.g. sagging, crooked, etc.) between the closure member and the support. DE 10 2009 056 348 A1 further discloses a mechanical catch to keep the iron core in its withdrawn position. The mechanical catch more specifically engages a groove at the lower end of the iron core. Once the coil is deactivated by a circuit breaker, a return spring biases the L-shaped lever back to its rest position thereby disengaging the mechanical catch. In the context of outdoor use, the mechanical catch can lead to malfunctions of the bolt keep. More specifically, dirt, insects, misalignment in post/closure member spacing etc. can hamper the operation of the mechanical catch thereby increasing the force required to pull the iron core from the mechanical catch. Disclosure of the invention It is an object of the present invention to at least partially alleviate one or more of the above-mentioned disadvantages. The present invention is characterised in that the morticed bolt keep further comprises: a latch bolt engager mounted in the elongated body which is displaceable between a rest state and an actuated state; and a magnetic actuator mounted inside the elongated body and configured to displace the latch bolt engager from its rest state to its actuated state upon activation, the magnetic actuator comprising: a core which extends in the longit