Silent Door Closure with Integrated Sensor and Antifriction Strike
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional electric lock systems for main doors and gates are not silent and secure, often requiring a manual final push for closure, and lack integrated sensors to detect the open or closed state, making them inefficient in various weather conditions and inconvenient to install.
Innovation Solution
A silent closure system with a modified lock case and a novel strike plate design using an antifriction plastic shell with a convex surface for smooth latch retraction, combined with integrated magnetic sensors to detect the door's state and indicate it remotely or locally.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a conventional strike plate with small plastic wheel is used, then the striker can return within the lock case, but the system is not silent and requires a manual final blow for closure
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the small plastic wheel from the strike plate, extracting the problematic element that causes noise and requires manual intervention. The strike plate is simplified to a flat surface that guides the spring latch directly into the lock case hole without needing the wheel's striking action, thereby eliminating noise and the need for manual final blows.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical wheel-striker system with a direct spring-latch-to-hole engagement system. The spring latch is designed to enter the lock case hole directly under spring pressure, substituting the complex wheel-mechanism with a simpler direct mechanical engagement that achieves silent closure.
2Reliability
If the spring latch enters the strike plate hole at the end of rotation, then the door can be locked, but the closure is not silent and may fail in cold weather or wind
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by designing the spring latch to enter the lock case hole during the closing rotation rather than requiring completion of the rotation. The latch is positioned and guided to engage the hole in advance, ensuring reliable closure before the door fully closes, which prevents noise and ensures operation in adverse weather conditions.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary guide surface on the strike plate that facilitates the spring latch's entry into the lock case hole. This guide surface acts as a mediator between the spring latch and the hole, ensuring proper alignment and smooth engagement, thereby improving reliability while maintaining silent operation.
3Reliability
If sensors are added to detect door state, then security is improved, but the installation becomes more complex requiring separate electric lines
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the sensor system with the existing lock case structure. The sensor is integrated into the lock case assembly, combining the security detection function with the existing mechanical lock components. This integration eliminates the need for separate sensor mounting and wiring, reducing installation complexity while maintaining security functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
The lock case is designed to serve multiple functions: it houses the mechanical lock mechanism, provides the strike plate surface, and integrates the sensor for door state detection. This multi-functionality reduces the overall number of separate components and wiring requirements, simplifying installation while enhancing security.
4Volume of moving object
If the strike plate has limited interior space, then it can be compact, but no sensor can be mounted in the strike plate itself
Solution Approach 1:
The patent moves the sensor mounting from the two-dimensional strike plate surface to the three-dimensional lock case structure. The sensor is positioned within the lock case's internal volume, utilizing the third dimension (depth) to accommodate the sensor without compromising the compactness of the strike plate surface, thereby achieving both compactness and sensor capability.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Ensures silent and secure closure in all conditions, including wind and winter, while simplifying the installation of the detection system by integrating sensors within the lock case, enhancing safety and comfort.
Implementation Method 1
a magnetic sensor (43, 44) for detecting the closed or open state of the main door or the like
Data Source
Figure 1
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AI summary
Silent closure system for main doors, comprising an electric lock case (1; 1a,1b), mountable on the movable wing (7), and a device (2) that receives the spring latch (14) of the electric lock case, in the closed condition of the lock, and which is mountable on the fixed wing (6). The device (2) is formed by a shell ( 18) comprising antifriction plastic material, having a smooth and convex surface (19) on which the spring latch (14) can gradually slide during the closure of the movable wing (7). The device (2) also comprises plate means (16; 3) in order to fix the shell (18) to the fixed wing (6), and the shell (18) has a height greater than about 5 cm, measured starting from its lower edge up to a vertex (20) thereof, while the plate means (16; 3) have a thickness on the order of several millimeters. The convex surface is extended between the vertex (20) of the shell up to the lower edge thereof. In addition, in the silent closure system, a system for detecting the open/closed state of the main door is directly integrated, along with a system for adjusting the alignment between the spring latch and the inlet opening (22) of the same in the shell, and between the parts of the detection sensor that cooperate with each other.