Door locking handle assembly with built-in combination lock

[0002] 1. Field of the Invention

[0003] The present invention relates to a door locking handle assembly with a built-in combination lock of a pull-out and side-swinging lever-action type, in which a door handle is pivoted to a base body of the assembly so as to be pulled out forward and pushed back rearward relative to the base body and turned on its pivoted end.

[0004] 2. Description of the Related Art

[0005] As is well known in the art, a door locking handle assembly of a conventional type shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,467,623, herein incorporated by reference, has a construction in which: a base body of the assembly is fixedly mounted on a door; a door handle is pivoted to the base body so as to be pulled out forward and pushed back rearward relative to the base body and further turned sideward on its pivoted end after completion of its pulling-out operation; when the door handle is pulled out of the base body to assume its pulled-up or raised inclination position relative to the base body or turned sideward after completion of its pulling-out operation, a catch plate which serves as a door bolt directly or indirectly connected with the door handle is released from a receiving portion of a stationary frame element (i.e., door frame). In this type of conventional door locking handle assembly, a cylinder lock is incorporated in either the door handle or the base body. On the other hand, the door handle is pushed back rearward relative to the base body and held in its pushed-back or locked position in the base body.

[0006] In the conventional door locking handle assembly, an available space for mounting the assembly is extremely limited in each of opposite sides of the door to which the assembly is fixedly mounted because the interior space of a box or container for housing various instruments therein is relatively limited due to the presence of the instruments housed in the box. Due to this, it is necessary to considerably limit in size the projections of the assembly in opposite directions perpendicular to the plane of the door's surface.

[0007] In order to fulfill the above need, it is necessary to reduce in thickness the assembly as a whole by reducing in thickness the door handle and in depth the base body. However, this forces a cylinder lock of the assembly to be small in thickness.

[0008] On the other hand, in a thin-type cylinder lock, since the number of sets of disc tumblers and/or pin tumblers incorporated in the cylinder lock as components of its internal locking mechanism is small, the number of available keys of the cylinder lock is naturally limited. Due to this, in the case where there are a large number of eligible users of the instruments contained in the box which is provided with the door locking handle assembly employing the cylinder lock in a condition in which these users are controlled through a computerized personal management system, it is difficult to use the conventional door locking handle assembly which employs the thin-type cylinder lock.

[0009] Although the conventional door locking handle assembly described above has been fully appreciated by users, a need exists in the art for an improved one of such door locking handle assembly, which is improved in performance.

[0010] Under such circumstances, the present invention was made. Consequently, it is an object of the present invention to provide a door locking handle assembly, which is small in thickness as a whole and capable of providing a very large number of available keys of a combination lock incorporated in the assembly, wherein a large number of eligible persons or users of various instruments contained in a box or container provided with the door locking handle assembly are precisely controlled through a computerized personal management system.

[0011] It is possible to accomplish the above object of the present invention by providing:

[0012] In a door locking handle assembly with a built-in combination lock (19), the assembly being provided with a base body (1) which is fixedly mounted on a door (2), wherein a door handle (13) is pivoted to the base body (1) so as to be capable of being pulled out forward and pushed back rearward relative to the base body (1) and also turning sideward on a locking shaft (10) after completion of its pulling-out operation, wherein a rack (12) serving as a door bolt for the door (2) is directly or indirectly connected with the door handle (13) so as to be engaged with and disengaged from a receiving portion of a stationary frame element such as a main body of a box when the door handle (13) is pulled out forward and then turned sideward on the locking shaft (10) after completion of the pulling-out operation of the door handle (13), said rack (12) being slidably supported and guided in its up and down linear motion relative to the door (2), the improvement wherein:

[0013] the combination lock (19), which is provided with a plurality of marked dial discs (22), is incorporated in the door handle (13) and opened by turning each of the marked dial discs (22) a given number of times to establish a predetermined combination of marks provided in outer peripheral surfaces of the dial discs (22);

[0014] a locking member (24) for preventing the door handle (13) from being pulled out of the base body (1) is juxtaposed with an inner surface of the door handle (13) to pass through a central portion of each of the plurality of marked dial discs (22) of the combination lock (19);

[0015] a rotor (44) of a cylinder lock (43) is embedded in a lock sleeve (46) in a manner such that the rotor (43) is not capable of rotating relative to the lock sleeve (46), the cylinder lock (43) being embedded in the base body (1);

[0016] the lock sleeve (46) is provided with a locking projection (48) in its outer peripheral surface to make the locking projection (48) engageable with a lower-end latch member (35) connected with a lower end portion of the locking member (24);

[0017] both the marked dial discs (22) and the locking member (24) are resiliently pressed under a spring member (27), which permits the lower-end latch member (35) to be engaged with and disengaged from the locking projection (48) of the lock sleeve (46) when the rotor (44) of the cylinder lock (43) is turned to its locked and its unlocked position by means of a key, respectively, the key being inserted into a keyhole of the rotor (44); and

[0018] formed in the locking projection (48) of the lock sleeve (46) is a rear cam slope (50) for driving the locking member (24) upward against a resilient force exerted by the spring member (27) when the door handle (13) is pulled out of the base body (1) after the combination lock (19) is unlocked.

[0019] The above and other objects, advantages and features of the present invention will be more apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

[0020] FIG. 1 is a front view of a first embodiment of the door locking handle assembly of the present invention;

[0021] FIG. 2 is a left side view of the door locking handle assembly shown in FIG. 1;

[0022] FIG. 3 is a plan view of the door locking handle assembly shown in FIG. 1;

[0023] FIG. 4 is a rear view of the door locking handle assembly shown in FIG. 1 in a condition in which a door latch mechanism including the rack is removed;

[0024] FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view of the door locking handle assembly, taken along the line A—A of FIG. 1;

[0025] FIG. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view of the door locking handle assembly, taken along the line B—B of FIG. 2;

[0026] FIG. 7 is a longitudinal sectional view of the door locking handle assembly, taken along the line A—A of FIG. 1, which illustrates the door handle having been unlocked from the base body in the beginning of unlocking process of the door handle;

[0027] FIG. 8 is a longitudinal sectional view of the door locking handle assembly, taken along the line A—A of FIG. 1, which illustrates the door handle after completion of its unlocking process;

[0028] FIG. 9 is a longitudinal sectional view of the door locking handle assembly, taken along the line A—A of FIG. 1, which illustrates the door handle having been unlocked using the cylinder lock;

[0029] FIG. 10 is a longitudinal sectional view of the door locking handle assembly, taken along the line A—A of FIG. 1, which illustrates the door handle after completion of its unlocking process using the cylinder lock;

[0030] FIG. 11 is a side view of the locking member built in the door locking handle assembly shown in FIG. 1;

[0031] FIG. 12 is a front view of a lower-end latch member connected with a lower end portion of the locking member shown in FIG. 11;

[0032] FIG. 13 is a left side view of the lower-end latch member shown in FIG. 12;

[0033] FIG. 14 is a plan view of the lower-end latch member shown in FIG. 12;

[0034] FIG. 15 is a cross-sectional view of the lower-end latch member, taken along the line C—C of FIG. 12;

[0035] FIG. 16 is a rear view of the lock sleeve of the cylinder lock incorporated in the door locking handle assembly shown in FIG. 1;

[0036] FIG. 17 is a plan view of the lock sleeve shown in FIG. 16.

[0037] FIG. 18 is a cross-sectional view of the lock sleeve, taken along the line D—D of FIG. 16;

[0038] FIG. 19 is a cross-sectional view of the lock sleeve, taken along the line E—E of FIG. 16;

[0039] FIG. 20 is a front view of the door handle employed in the door locking handle assembly shown in FIG. 1;

[0040] FIG. 21 is a left side view of the door handle shown in FIG. 20;

[0041] FIG. 22 is a rear view of the door handle shown in FIG. 20;

[0042] FIG. 23 is a longitudinal section view of the door handle, taken along the line F—F of FIG. 20;

[0043] FIG. 24 is a plan view of the door handle shown in FIG. 20;

[0044] FIG. 25 is a cross-sectional view of the door handle, taken along the line G—G of FIG. 22;

[0045] FIG. 26 is a cross-sectional view of the door handle, taken along the line H—H of: FIG. 22;

[0046] FIG. 27 is a cross-sectional view of the door handle, taken along the line I—I of FIG. 22;

[0047] FIG. 28 is a cross-sectional view of the door handle, taken along the line J—J of FIG. 22;

[0048] FIG. 29 is a cross-sectional view of the door handle, taken along the line K—K of FIG. 22;

[0049] FIG. 30 is a cross-sectional view of the door handle, taken along the line L—L of FIG. 22;

[0050] FIG. 31 is a cross-sectional view of the door handle, taken along the line M—M of FIG. 22;

[0051] FIG. 32 is a front view of a back plate member employed in the door handle shown in FIG. 20;

[0052] FIG. 33 is a plan view of the back plate member shown in FIG. 32;

[0053] FIG. 34 is a left side view of the back plate member shown in FIG. 32;

[0054] FIG. 35 is a rear view of the back plate member shown in FIG. 32;

[0055] FIG. 36 is a longitudinal sectional view of the back plate member, taken along the line N—N of FIG. 32;

[0056] FIG. 37 is a cross-sectional view of the back plate member, taken along the line O—O of FIG. 32;

[0057] FIG. 38 is a cross-sectional view of the back plate member, taken along the line P—P of FIG. 32;

[0058] FIG. 39 is a cross-sectional view of the back plate member, taken along the line Q—Q of FIG. 32;

[0059] FIG. 40 is a cross-sectional view of the back plate member, taken along the line R—R of FIG. 32;

[0060] FIG. 41 is a cross-sectional view of the back plate member, taken along the line S—S of FIG. 32;

[0061] FIG. 42 is a front view of the dial disc of the combination lock incorporated in the door locking handle assembly shown in FIG. 1;

[0062] FIG. 43 is a plan view of the dial disc shown in FIG. 42;

[0063] FIG. 44 is a longitudinal sectional view of the dial disc, taken along the line T—T of FIG. 43;

[0064] FIG. 45 is a plan view of a cam disc of the combination lock incorporated in the door locking handle assembly shown in FIG. 1;

[0065] FIG. 46 is a bottom view of the cam disc shown in FIG. 45;

[0066] FIG. 47 is a front view of the cam disc shown in FIG. 45;

[0067] FIG. 48 is a rear view of the cam disc shown in FIG. 45;

[0068] FIG. 49 is a left side view of the cam disc shown in FIG. 45;

[0069] FIG. 50 is a longitudinal sectional view of the cam disc, taken along the line U—U of FIG. 45;

[0070] FIG. 51 is a front view of a resilient detent member incorporated in the combination lock of the door locking handle assembly shown in FIG. 1;

[0071] FIG. 52 is a left side view of the resilient detent member shown in FIG. 51;

[0072] FIG. 53 is a plan view of the resilient detent member shown in FIG. 51;

[0073] FIG. 54 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view of an essential part of the door handle, taken along the line A—A of FIG. 1, which illustrates the lower-end latch member held in its extended position;

[0074] FIG. 55 is a cross-sectional view of the door handle, taken along the line V—V of FIG. 54;

[0075] FIG. 56 is a cross-sectional view of the door handle, taken along the line W—W of FIG. 54;

[0076] FIG. 57 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view of an essential part of the door handle, taken along the line A—A of FIG. 1, which illustrates the lower-end latch member held in its retracted position;

[0077] FIG. 58 is a cross-sectional view of the door handle, taken along the line X—X of FIG. 57; and

[0078] FIG. 59 is a cross-sectional view of the door handle, taken along the line Y—Y of FIG. 57.

[0079] The best modes for carrying out the present invention will be described in detail using embodiments of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings. In a first embodiment of a door locking handle assembly with a built-in combination lock according to the present invention, as shown in FIG. 5, a base body 1 of the door locking handle assembly is fixedly mounted on a front surface of a door 2, which is provided with a mounting hole 3. More specifically, a screw 7 is inserted into a through-hole 8 of a fastening casing 5 from its rear side, passes through this fastening casing 5 forward, and is threadably engaged with a threaded hole 6 of a rear portion of the base body 1, so that a door 2 is firmly sandwiched between the base body 1 and the fastening casing 5. Incidentally, the fastening casing 5 is combined with a rack 12 to form a door latch mechanism 4, wherein the rack 12 serves as a door bolt for the door 2.

[0080] On the other hand, a bearing hole 9 is formed in an upper portion of the base body 1 to extend in a direction perpendicular to a front surface of the door 2. Rotatably received in such a bearing hole 9 of the base body 1 in an insertion manner is a locking shaft 10. As is clear from FIG. 5, the locking shaft 10 is provided with a shoulder portion in its substantially intermediate portion. This intermediate shoulder portion of the locking shaft 10 prevents the locking shaft 10 from axially sliding relative to the base body 1. The locking shaft 10 is provided with a square hole 10ain its rear portion. Fixedly received in such a square hole 10aof the locking shaft 10 in an insertion manner is a corresponding square column portion formed in a front end portion of a pinion shaft 11. As is clear from FIG. 6, the pinion shaft 11 is provided with a pinion gear formed in an outer peripheral surface of its rear end portion. Such a pinion gear of the pinion shaft 11 meshes with a rack 12, which serves as a door bolt for the door 2. The rack 12 is slidably supported and guided in the door latch mechanism 4 of the door 2, and capable of moving up and down relative to the door latch mechanism 4 so as to be engaged with and disengaged from a receiving portion “3” of a stationary frame element “2” of a box containing the instruments therein, which permits the door “1”, of the box to be opened, wherein: the reference numerals “3”, “2” and “1” enclosed in double quotation marks are used in the prior art: U.S. Pat. No. 5,467,623, herein incorporated by reference.

[0081] As is clear from FIG. 5, formed in an upper rear portion of the door handle 13 is a concave portion 14. This concave portion 14 assumes a substantially fan-like shape in longitudinal section to swingably receive therein a front end portion of the locking shaft 10. More specifically, the door handle 13 had its upper end portion corresponding to its concave portion 14 pivoted to the front end portion of the locking shaft 10 through a cross pivot 15. This cross pivot 15 extends in parallel with a front surface of the door 2 in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the door handle 13. In operation, when the door handle 13 is folded down so as to be embedded in the base body 1, it is possible for a front concave portion 16 of the base body 1 to receive therein a rear portion of an essential part of the door handle 13. Formed in each of opposite sides of a lower end portion of the door handle 2 is a flange serving as a fingertip engaging edge portion 17, which bulges out sideward in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the door handle 13, as shown in FIG. 20. As is clear from FIG. 2, even when the door handle 13 is in its folded position, both the fingertip engaging edge portions 17 of the door handle 13 are still spaced apart forward from a front surface of the corresponding lower portion of the base body 1, which enables the user to pick up the lower free end portion of the door handle 13 in an easy manner.

[0082] On the other hand, when the door handle 13 is in its raised position in which the door handle 13 is inclined forward as viewed in FIG. 8, it is possible for the user to swing sideward or rotate the door handle 13 on the locking shaft 10 together with this locking shaft 10 relative to the base body 1. In construction, as shown in FIG. 5, the locking shaft 10 has its rear end portion coaxially fixed to a pinion shaft 11. As shown in FIG. 6, the pinion shaft 11 is provided with a pinion gear in an outer peripheral surface of its rear end portion. Due to the above construction, the locking shaft 10 thus rotated together with the door handle 13 drives the pinion shaft 11 so as to rotate the pinion gear of the pinion shaft 11. Since the pinion gear of the pinion shaft 11 meshes with the rack 12 (shown in FIG. 6), the rack 12 is slidably moved up and down relative to the door 2 when the door handle 13 is turned on the locking shaft 10. As a result, the door 2 is unlocked or released from the stationary frame element which is denoted by the reference numeral “2” in the prior art: U.S. Pat. No. 5,467,623, herein incorporated by reference. This makes it possible for the user to open the door 2 by simply pulling the door handle 13 forward. Consequently, it is possible for the user to inspect and maintain his or her instruments contained in the main body of the box.

[0083] Formed in an intermediate portion of the door handle 13 to extend in the longitudinal direction of the door handle 13 is an elongated hollow portion 20 for receiving therein a combination lock 19. The hollow portion 20 of the door handle 13 is open at the rear side of the door handle 13 to form an opening which is covered by a back plate member 21.

[0084] The combination lock 19 is constructed of a plurality of its components. Essential ones of these components of the combination lock 19 are: a plurality of marked dial discs 22; a plurality of cam discs 23 combined with the dial discs 22; and, a rod-shaped locking member 24 for preventing the door handle 13 from being pulled out of the base body 1. As is clear from FIG. 5, a lower end portion of the locking member 24 is bent to form a lower-end bent portion which is inserted in a bent recess 35aof a lower-end latch member 35, so that the locking member 24 is connected with the lower-end latch member 35.

[0085] As is clear from Fig. FIG. 50, each of the cam discs 23 assumes a short cylindrical shape, and is provided with a through-hole 23awhich axially passes through a center of the cam disc 23. The locking member 24 passes through the through-hole 23aof the cam disc 23. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 44, each of the marked dial discs 22 is provided with a small-diameter bore portion 22aand a large-diameter bore portion 22b.These bore portions 22a, 22bare combined with each other to form a through-hole, which axially passes through a center of each of the dial discs 22. As is clear from FIG. 54, a spring member 27 is constructed of a compression coil spring to exert its resilient force on the uppermost one of the cam discs 23. In operation, when the lowermost one of the cam discs 23 is axially moved upward against a resilient force of the spring member 27 relative to the corresponding dial disc 22 to have its upper end portion enter the small-diameter bore portion 22aof the corresponding dial disc 22, this cam disc 23 has an interlocking projection 26 of its outer peripheral surface engaged with an interlocking groove 25 of an inner peripheral surface of the small-diameter bore portion 22aof the corresponding dial disc 22. In contrast with this, in locked condition of operation shown in FIG. 54, the cam disc 23 has its lower portion extend downward from the small-diameter bore portion 22aof the corresponding dial disc 22 under the effect of the resilient force exerted by the spring member 27. Consequently, as is clear from FIG. 54, in this locked condition of operation, the interlocking projection 26 (shown in FIG. 49) of the cam disc 23 is disengaged from the interlocking groove 25 (shown in FIG. 43) of the corresponding dial disc 22.

[0086] As shown in FIG. 46, the cam disc 23 is provided with a plurality of positioning projections 26ain its outer peripheral surface. The number of these positioning projections 26ais equal to the number of a plurality of marks having been applied to an outer peripheral surface of the dial disc 22. These marks are denoted by the Roman numerals, for example such as “2”, “1”, “0”, as shown in FIG. 42, and spaced apart from each other at predetermined equal angular intervals. As shown in FIG. 49, the positioning projection 26aof the cam disc 23 is formed in a proximal end portion of the interlocking projection 26. On the other hand, the back plate member 21 is fixedly mounded on the inner surface of the door handle 13 by means of a plurality of screws 30 (shown in FIG. 10), each of which screws 30 is threadably engaged with a threaded hole 29 (shown in FIG. 23) of each of a plurality of guide projections 28. As shown in FIG. 36, the back plate member 21 is provided with at least one positioning groove 31, which is engaged with at least one of the positioning projections 26aof the cam disc 23.

[0087] As shown in FIG. 42, a plurality of detent grooves 32 are formed in an outer peripheral surface of the dial disc 22 at predetermined equal angular intervals in a manner such that each of the detent grooves 32 is sandwiched between adjacent ones of the marks having been applied to the outer peripheral surface of the dial disc 22. Consequently, the number of the detent grooves 32 is equal to that of the marks applied to the outer peripheral surface of the dial disc 22. As shown in FIG. 55, a detent leaf spring 33 is fixedly mounted in the elongated hollow portion 20 of the door handle 13 to have its free end portion detachably engaged with each of the detent grooves 32 of the dial disc 22. This enables each of the dial discs 22 to be held in its predetermined angular position, and therefore to establish a unique combination of the marks of the dial discs 22.

[0088] It is possible for the user to arbitrarily modify such a unique combination for unlocking the combination lock 19 by simply turning any one of dial discs 22 using his or her fingertip.

[0089] Such modification procedure of the combination of the marks is as follows: namely, in a condition in which the door handle 13 is in its raised position shown in FIG. 8, at first, it is necessary for the user to push up the lower-end latch member 35 into a hollow portion 36 of the door handle 13 by using his or her finger, as shown in FIG. 57. When the lower-end latch member 35 is pushed up relative to the door handle 13, the lowermost one of the cam discs 23 is moved upward against a resilient force exerted by the coil spring member 27 since the lowermost cam disc 23 has its bottom surface abut against an interlocking ring 37 which is fixedly mounted on the locking member 24. As is clear from FIG. 54, the locking member 24 has its lower end portion engaged with the lower-end latch member 35, which makes it possible to move up the lowermost one of the cam discs 23 against the resilient force exerted by the coil spring member 25 when the lower-end latch member 35 is moved up into the hollow portion 36 of the door handle 13. As a result, an upper end portion of the cam disc 23 enters the small-diameter bore portion 22aof the dial disc 22, so that the positioning projection 26aof the cam disc 23 is axially moved up out of the positioning groove 31 (shown in FIG. 36) of the back plate member 21. At this time, the interlocking projection 26 of the cam disc 23 is engaged with the corresponding interlocking groove 25 of the dial disc 22.

[0090] As a result, the cam disc 23 is interlocked with the corresponding dial disc 22. Consequently, under such circumstances, when the dial disc 22 is turned through a predetermined angle by the user, the cam disc 23 is also turned through the same predetermined angle. After completion of modification in combination of the marks, when the lower-end latch member 35 is released from the pressure applied by the user's finger, the coil spring member 27 drives the cam disc 23 downward to force the upper end portion of the cam disc 23 to separate from the small-diameter bore portion 22aof the corresponding dial disc 22. As a result, only the dial disc 22 thus separated from the corresponding cam disc 23 become rotatable. Under such circumstances, p when the dial disc 22 thus separated from the cam disc 23 is turned arbitrarily, it is possible to move the interlocking groove 25 of the dial disc 22 to an angular position in which the interlocking groove 25 fails to align with the interlocking projection 26 of as the corresponding cam disc 23. In such an angular position, it is not possible for the cam disc 23 to enter the small-diameter bore portion 22aof the corresponding dial disc 22. This realizes the locked condition of operation.

[0091] When the eligible user who knows the combination of the marks of the dial discs 22 establishes such combination by turning the individual dial discs 23, the interlocking grooves 25 of the dial discs 22 align in angular position with the corresponding interlocking projections 26 of the cam discs 23 to receive these projections 26 therein, so that the combination lock 19 is unlocked.

[0092] As is clear from FIG. 54, a plurality of the cam discs 23 are vertically stacked into a neat pile between the coil spring member 27 and the interlocking ring 37 in a manner such that such a neat pile of the cam discs 23 are resiliently urged against the interlocking ring 37 under the effect of a resilient force exerted by the coil spring member 27 which is mounted over an upper portion of the locking member 24.

[0093] In order to make it easy for the user to catch the marks applied to the outer peripheral surfaces of the dial discs 22 and also make it easy for the user to turn these dial discs 22 using his or her fingertip, the dial disc 22 is so arranged as to have a part thereof extended forward (i.e., upward in FIG. 55) from a slot 38 formed in the front surface of the door handle 13. In this first embodiment, as is clear from FIG. 42, each of the marks of the dial discs 22 is constructed of a predetermined numeric character, for example such as any one of numerals from “0” to “9”. These marks or numerals are angularly spaced apart from each other at predetermined equal angular intervals. On the other hand, the locking member 24 passes through the though-holes 23aformed in the centers of the cam discs 23.

[0094] When the unique combination of the marks of the dial discs 22 is established by the eligible user who knows such unique combination, the interlocking groove 25 of the dial disc 22 is aligned in angular position with the interlocking projection 26 of the cam disc 23 to receive therein the interlocking projection 26 of the cam disc 23 when the cam disc 23 is moved upward as shown in FIG. 54, which permits the combination lock 19 to be unlocked.

[0095] Under such circumstances, when the user has his or her fingertip engaged with the fingertip engaging edge portions 17 of the lower free end portion of the door handle 13 and swingably pulls forward the door handle 13 from the front surface of the base body 1, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the locking member 24 is pushed upward against a resilient force exerted by the coil spring member 27 since the lower end portion of the lower-end latch member 35 having been connected with the locking member 24 is pushed upward by means of a rear cam slope 50 of a locking projection 48 which is provided in an outer peripheral surface of a lock sleeve 46. As shown in FIG. 5, the lock sleeve 46 is rotatably mounted on a fixed casing portion 47 of the base body 1 to cover an outer peripheral surface of the fixed casing portion 47, wherein the fixed casing portion 47 assumes an inner sleeve-like projection extending from the front to the rear. Therefore, at this time, the front end portion of each of the cam discs 23 enters the small-diameter bore portion 22aof the corresponding dial discs 22, so that the interlocking projection 26 of the cam disc 23 is engaged with the interlocking groove 25 of the corresponding dial disc 22.

[0096] In a brief summary, a time when the door handle 13 is released from the base body 1 is a time when the lower-end latch member 35 is pushed upward to reach its uppermost position shown in FIG. 7. After the lower-end latch member 35 reaches its uppermost position, the door handle 13 is further pulled up or swung forward through a predetermined angle, as shown in FIG. 8. Then, the door handle 13 is turned on the locking shaft 10 through a predetermined angle in a direction perpendicular to the paper of FIG. 8, so that the rack 12 of the door 2 is retracted from a stationary frame element, wherein such a stationary frame element is disclosed in the prior art: U.S. Pat. No. 5,467,623, herein incorporated by reference. As a result, the door 2 is unlocked from the stationary frame element.

[0097] In the above embodiment described with reference to FIGS. 5, 7 and 8, the cylinder lock 43 is completely out of use in a condition in which the locking projection 48 of the lock sleeve 46 serves as if it were a stationary receiving portion for receiving a door bolt and were fixedly mounted on the base body 1. Further, the door handle 13 is locked and unlocked using only the combination lock 19.

[0098] The following describes a second mode of operation of the door locking handle assembly of the present invention. Such a second mode of operation is shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, in which the locking projection 48 of the cylinder lock 43 is positively used in locking and unlocking operation of the door locking handle assembly.

[0099] In other words, in the second mode of operation, the unique combination of the marks of the dial discs 22 is not established in the combination lock 19. The lower-end latch member 35 mounted on a lower end portion of the locking member 24 serves as if it were a receiving portion having been fixedly mounted on the door handle 13.

[0100] When the eligible user, who keeps a regular key, inserts the key into a keyhole of a rotor 44 of the cylinder lock 43 and turns the rotor 44 in a predetermined direction through a predetermined angle, the lock sleeve 46 is rotated together with the rotor 44, so that the locking projection 48 is rotatably driven from a position shown in FIG. 5 to a new position shown in FIG. 9.

[0101] Due to the above rotational motion, the lower-end latch member 35, which is connected with the locking member 24 in the side of the combination lock 195 is disengaged from the locking projection 48 of the cylinder lock 43. This permits the door handle 13 to be unlocked from the base body 1. As a result, it is possible for the door handle 13 to be swingably raised from its folded position.

[0102] The cylinder lock 43 is provided with an internal locking mechanism, for example such as a conventional pin tumbler locking mechanism. In such an internal locking mechanism, the lock sleeve 46 is non-rotatably mounted on a rear end square shaft portion 45 of the rotor 44 of the cylinder lock 43 in an insertion manner. As is clear from FIG. 5, the lock sleeve 46 covers substantially the entire outer peripheral surface of the fixed casing portion 47 of the cylinder lock 43. The lock sleeve 46 is provided 14 with the locking projection 48 in its outer peripheral surface. As shown in FIG. 5, the locking projection 48 of the lock sleeve 46 extends radially outwardly to form an angle of approximately 270 degrees at its crest (i.e., outermost portion). In other words, the locking projection 48 forms substantially a triangular shape in cross section, as shown in FIG. 5, wherein: such a triangular shape is formed of a front cam slope 49 and a rear cam slope 50. This rear cam slope 50 functions to drive the locking member 24 upward through the lower-end latch member 35 against a resilient force exerted by the spring member 27 when the door handle 13 is pulled out of the base body 1 after the combination lock 19 is unlocked.

[0103] The internal locking mechanism of the cylinder lock 43 may be of any one of conventional types such as a disc tumbler type, a pin tumbler type and the like, in other words, the internal locking mechanism of the cylinder lock 43 does not relate to anything about the gist of the present invention.

[0104] In operation, as is clear from FIG. 7, when the door handle 13 is pushed back to its folded position, the lower-end latch member 35 is brought into press-contact with the front cam slope 49 of the locking projection 48 of the lock sleeve 46, and moved upward against the resilient force exerted by the coil spring member 27 to pass the crest of the locking projection 48. When the lower-end latch member 35 passes through the crest of the locking projection 48 of the lock sleeve 46 to reach the rear cam slope 50 of the locking projection 48 as shown in FIG. 5, the lower-end latch member 35 is forcibly driven downward under the influence of the resilient force exerted by the coil spring member 27 to permit the door handle 13 to reach its folded position, so that the door handle 13 is locked to the base body 1.

[0105] In the door locking handle assembly of the present invention, a control operator of the instruments housed in the box allocates to each of a large number of eligible users a unique combination of marks of the marked dial discs 22 of the combination lock 19 for unlocking and locking the combination lock 19.

[0106] Each of the eligible users is capable of unlocking the combination lock 19 of the door locking handle assembly by turning in a normal or a reverse direction each of the marked dial discs 22 a given number of times to establish the unique combination having been allocated to each user, wherein the marks are provided in an outer peripheral surface of each of the dial discs 22.

[0107] Once such a unique combination of the marks is established, the combination lock 19 is capable of moving to its unlocking position. Through this movement to the unlocking position of the combination lock 19, the locking member 24 is released from its restricted condition and capable of moving to its unlocking position. Due to this, the door handle 13 is released from the base body 1 of the assembly to move to its pulled-up or inclined position. At this time, i.e., when the door handle 13 is swingably pulled out of the base body 1, the lower-end latch member 35, which is connected with the lower end portion of the locking member 24 and brought into contact with the rear cam slope 50 of the locking projection 48 of the lock sleeve 46, is pushed upward against the resilient force, which is exerted by the spring member 27 on the lower-end latch member 35 through the locking member 24, to permit the lower-end latch member 35 to be disengaged from the locking projection 48 of the lock sleeve 46. As a result, it is possible for the user to turn the door handle 13 forward through a predetermined angle up to its pulled-up or raised position.

[0108] On the other hand, even when any unique combination of the marks of the dial discs 22 is not established in the combination lock 19, it is possible for a person holding a key of the cylinder lock 43 to release the lower-end latch member 35 from the locking projection 48 of the lock sleeve 46 by using such a key enabling the person to rotate the rotor 44 of the cylinder lock 43 through a predetermined angle. Once the locking member 24 is released from the lock sleeve 46 of the base body 1, it is possible for such a person to pull forward the door handle 13 out of the base body 1 and further turn it through a predetermined angle up to the pulled-up position of the door handle 13.

[0109] When the door handle 13 is pulled forward out of the base body 1 and then turned on its locking shaft 10 sideward, the rack 12 serving as a door bolt for the door 2 is slidably moved downward relative to the door 2 and therefore disengaged from the receiving portion of the stationary frame element such as the main body of the box, so that the door 2 of the box is opened.

[0110] While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to the preferred embodiments and a modification thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications and changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.