The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Sep. 27, 1988
Filed:
Oct. 20, 1986
William R Foshee, Noblesville, IN (US);
Best Lock Corporation, Indianapolis, IN (US);
Abstract
A torque-releasable door handle assembly is provided for normally rotating a bolt-retracting sleeve to operate a door latching system. The door handle assembly includes a body for coupling to the bolt-retracting sleeve and a handle shell mounted on the body for rotational movement thereabout. A drive assembly is provided for yieldably connecting the body and handle shell to establish a normal driving connection so that the body is rotated normally to rotate the bolt-retracting sleeve and operate the door latching system in response to rotation of the handle shell. The drive assembly is configured to release the normal driving connection between the body and the handle shell in response to application of a rotation-inducing torque to the handle shell in excess of a predetermined amount. In preferred embodiments, the drive assembly includes a matched pair of mateable female and male drive rings positioned in a space between an exterior surface of the body and an interior surface of the handle shell. The male drive ring is reciprocable in the space away from a torque-transmitting position in engagement with the female drive ring toward an inactive position in spaced relation to the female drive ring in response to said excessive torque.