US3269339A

US3269339A - Vault door

Info

Publication number: US3269339A
Application number: US509795A
Authority: US
Inventors: Harry J Lingal
Original assignee: Mosler Safe Co
Current assignee: Mosler Safe Co
Priority date: 1965-11-26
Filing date: 1965-11-26
Publication date: 1966-08-30
Anticipated expiration: 1983-08-30

Description

Aug- 30, 1966 H. J; LINGAL 3,269,339

VAULT DOOR Filed Nov. 26, 1965 7 Sheets-Sheet l Aug. 30, 1966 H. J. LINGAL 3,269,339

VAULT DOOR Filed Nov. 26. 1965 7 Sheets-Sheet 2 N @im MS NQ QW wm Wm Nm Aug- 30, 1966 H. J. LING/M 3,269,339

VAULT DOOR Filed Nov. 26, 1965 '7 Sheets-Sheet 3 Aug. 30, 1966 H. J. LINGAL 3,269,339

VAULT DOOR Filed Nov. 2e, 1965 fr sheets-sheet 4 H. J. LINGAL.

Aug. 30, 1966 VAULT DOOR '7 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed NOV. 26, 1965 wml Aug. 30, 1966 H. J. LINGAL 3,269,339

VAULT DOOR Filed Nov. 26, 1965 7 Sheets-Sheet 6 H. J. LINGAL Aug. 30, 1966 VAULT DOOR 7 Sheets-Sheet 7 Filed NOV. 26, 1965 United States Patent 3,269,339 VAULT DOOR Harry J. Lingal, Hamilton, Ohio, assigner to f lhe Mosler Safe Company, Hamilton, Ohio, a corporation of New York Filed Nov. 26, 1965, Ser. No. 509,795 Claims. (Cl. 109-74) This application is a continuation-inpart of application Serial No. 442,387, filed March 24, 1965 and now abandoned, which is in turn a division of application Serial No. 297,778, tiled July 26, 1963 and now U.S. Patent No. 3,223,057.

This invention relates to safe vaults and more particularly to a vault having a at floor sill.

Bank vaults have traditionally been equipped with a floor bridge which served as a walkway or ramp between the bank floor and the interior of the vault. The bridge was required to span the bank oor level and the higher vault floor level. Variance between the vault floor level and the bank floor resulted from the clearance gap` required between the bottom of the door and the bank floor in order to permit the door to swing open. However, the gap could not extend beneath the door and into the interior of the vault without reducing the vaults resistance to attack by explosives. Therefore the interior of the vault has traditionally been 1/2" to 11/2I higher than the bank floor level and the vault door has had a depending lip which abutted against the door sill with the door closed. It precludes explosives or any other device from being inserted beneath the vault door into the interior of the vault.

Generally, the floor bridges used to provide a ramp between the two levels have been of two types. The first is a removable plate of sheet steel which extends between the interior of the vault and the interior of the bank. The second and newer variety is a pivotal bridge mounted in the interior of the vault behind the closed door and which folds down so as to extend into the lbank when the door is opened and folds up into a vertical position when the door is closed. Both types have disadvantages. One is that it renders the movement of heavy teller buses, coin carts or bullion carts into the vault difficult because they must be forced up the ramp or oor bridge. Another is that it is a safety hazard to the bank customers. Oftentimes they are awed by the massiveness of the vault so that they gawk at the surroundings rather than wat-ch their step upon entering the vault. As a consequence, a ramp or even a slight step is a hazard.

It has been an objective of this invention to provide a completely flat bank vault entrance with no difference in levels between the interior fof the bank yand the interior of the vault. This `construction has the advantage of eliminating any safety hazard and facilitating the movement of carts, tellers buses, and other objects into and out of the vault.

More specifically, it has been an objective of this invention to provide a flat floor sill vault door which has the same degree of security as the conventional varied iloor level vault door. To this end this invention incorporates a movable Hoor sill plate which when the vault door is open has a top surface at the same level as that of the bank and vault floor and when the vault door is closed moves upwardly into a recess in the vault door. When in the upward position, the floor sill plate occupies or fills the gap which would lotherwise occur between the bottom of the vault door and the floor sill.

Sti-ll another objective of this invention has been 4to provide an automatically actuated movable oor sill plate movable into its upward position or door locked posiice tion upon closing of the vault door and automatically lowered to its floor level position upon opening of the door.

Still another objective of this invention has been to provide a movable floor sill plate mounted in the sill of a vault doorway which may be used -in conjunction with a conventional vault door of the typeA having the locking mechanism mounted directly upon the door.

These and other objects and advantages of this invention will be more apparent from the following description of the drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a vault incorporating this invention with the door in an opened position,

FIGURE 2 is a diagrammatic perspective view of the sill and its related mechanical components,

FIGURE 3 is a cross sectional view taken along line 3-3 of FIGURE 1,

FIGURE"l 4 is a cross sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIGURE 1 With the door in the closed position,

FIGURE 5 is a cross sectional view taken along line 5-5 of FIGURE 3,

FIGURE 6 is `a view similar to FIGURE 5 but showing the vault door closed,

FIGURE 7 is a cross sectional view taken along line 7-7 of FIGURE 3,

FIGURE 8 is a partially diagrammatic cross sectional view of another modification of a vault door which incorporates a hydraulic actuator system for lowering and raising the vault door in response to opening and closing of the door,

FIGURE 9 is a partially diagrammatic illustration of the hydraulic system of FIGURE 8,

FIGURE 10 is a diagrammatic illustration of a pneumatic system operable to raise and lower avault floor sill plate in response to closing and opening of a vault door,

FIGURE 11 is a diagrammatic illustration of an electrical system operable to raise and lower a vault Hoor sill plate in response to closing and opening of a vault door,

FIGURE 12 is a diagrammatic illustration of a magnetic system yoperable to raise and lower a vault floor sill plate in response to closing and opening of the vault door.

Referring to FIGURE 1, it w11 be seen that a vault door 10 is mounted within a door frame 11 for pivotal movement about hinges 13. The door 10 fis generally a conventional vault door having the locking mechanism including the lock bars 14 mounted upon the back of the door. It differs from a conventional vault only in that it includes a recess 15 across the bottom which extends the full width ofthe door.

A movable floor sill plate 25 is mounted beneath the door when it is closed and extends upwardly into ya recess 15 in the bottom of the door. It is automatically lowered when the door is opened so thatrthe top surface 27 is at the same level as that of the bank oor 28 and the vault oor 29 when the door is opened.

The frame The door frame 11 is rectangular in shape. Covering the frame 11 is `an architrave 30 Awhi-ch is located on both sides and over the top of the door. It is surrounded by

architrave trim plates

31, 32, and 33. For purposes of appearance, the trim plates, the architrave and the door are all covered with decorative steel.

Forming a part of the door frame at the floor level is ya bar 34 set into the bank floor with its top surface 35 in the horizontal plane of the bank lioor. At the bottom, bar 34 is Welded to a bed plate 36 which serves to prevent attack of the vault by digging under the door.

The

trim plates

31, 32 and 33 overlap the exterior vault wall 38 at their outer edges as shown in FIGURES 1 and 4. The inner edges overlap and are `attached to architrave plates 30 which in turn are attached to steel e: plates extending inwardly int-o the vault. The inwardly extending plate 40 attached to the upper plate 30 is inclined down-wardly and inwardly so as to provide an inclined surface 41 against which an upper inclined s-urface 42 of `the door abuts. At its lower outer edge the plate 40 is recessed as shown at 43 to provide a seat for an upwardly extending lip 44 yon the door. The rear surface Iof the plate 40 is welded to a reinforcing bracket 45 which in turn is secured to a U-shaped channel 46 which extends across Athe door between the vertical sections of the frame.

The vertical trim plate 32 on the hinge side of the door is secured to the architrave 30 which is attached to the door frame. The inner edge of the architrave 30 is welded to the door jamb 47 which extends between the upper trim plate 33 and lower frame bar 34. The front surface of the door jamb 47 is located in the plane of the front surface of the frame. A section of the frame overlaps approximately one half of the front surface of the jamb member 47 so as to define a recess 49 for the reception of a vertically extending lip on the inside of the door.

The inside surface of the jamb 47 extend inwardly and rearwardly to define an inclined surface 50 against which the hinge side surface 51 of the door abuts. At the rear the door jam'b 47 is wel-ded to a box shaped vestibule frame section 55, the inside edge plate 56 of which denes a portion of the doorway when the vault door 10 is opened. The other vertical trim plate 31 on the opposite side of the door is secured to the architrave 30 in the same manner as side trim plate 32.

As may be seen in FIGURES 1 and 3, an inner security door 57 or day gate is mounted between the side plates 56 inside the door 10. The security door 57 is mounted upon hinges (not shown.)

Floor sill mechanism In order to provide a flat walking surface between the inside of the bank and the interior of the vault while still retaining some means for closing the gap between the bottom of the vault door 10 and the floor still, a portion of the door oor still is movable between the two positions shown in FIGURES and 6. To this end, the door sill plate 25 is movable into the recess 15 of the door when it is closed. Upon opening of the door the sill automatically retreats into a position in which its upper surface 27 is located in the horizontal plane of the interior of the bank floor 28 and the interior of the vault 29.

When the door is open, the door sill surface is defined by the top surface 35 of the plate 34, the top surface 27 of the floor sill plate 25, a top surface 60 of a mounting plate 61 and a top surface 62 of a floor plate 63. The top surface of all of these members extends across the complete width of the doorway. If desired, a thin rubber floor mat may be provided over the top of the floor sill plate 25.

The mechanism for automatically moving the oor sill plate 25 upwardly into the door when it is closed and for lowering it to oor level when the door is open is contained within a housing 65 recessed in the Ib-ank oor below the door. The housing is defined by the vertical plate 34, a horizontal base plate 36, a horizontal plate 66, a vertical plate 67 and the floor plate 63. This housing structure thus defines a generally rectangular cavity within which is mounted the oor sill mechanism.

The vertical plate 34 is welded to the bed plate 36 with a reinforcing block 68 welded in the inside corner between these -two members to give added attack resistance .to the floor structure. A `floor sill seating notch 69 is machined out of the upper inside edge of the vervtical plate 34 so as to provide a horizontal seating surso as to provide a seating surface 73 for the leading edge -of the plate 66. The inside end of the plate 66 rests upon a oor plate 74 (FIGURE 4) .to which the plate 66 is welded. Welded to the top surface of the plate 6-6 is the vertical plate y67 on the top surface of which is mounted the inside edge portion of the floor plate 63. The forward edge of the floor plate 63 is seated within a recess 75 in the top surface of the vertical plate 61 which is welded a-t its bottom to the bed plate 36.

With the door open, the sill plate 25 extends between the notch 70 in the Vertical plate 34 and a similar sill pla-te seating notch 76 along the upper forward edge of the vertical plate 61. A pair of spaced depending U- shaped supporting brackets 80, 81 are bolted to the bottom of sill plate 25 by -bolt 82. The depending brackets 80, 81 each serve as a mounting bracket for a horizontal pivot shaft 83. The end of each shaft 83 extends through the mounting plates 80, 81 and through an elongated aperture 84 in one end of a rocker arm 85.

Each rocker arm 85 is pivotally mounted near its center upon a rocker shaft 86. The ends of each rocker shaft 86 are journalle-d within upstanding legs 87 of a U-shaped mounting bracket 88, the web 89` of which rests upon the bed plate 36 and is secured lt-hereto by a pair of bolts 90. Thus the rocker arms 85 are free f-or limited rotational movement about the rocker shafts 86. When the rocker arms 85 are rotated in the countercl-ockwise direction as viewed in FIGURES 5 and 6, the floor sill is lowered and when rotated in the clockwise direction the floor sill is raised. Since the ver-tical plate 6,1 is located between the ends of the rocker arms 85, vertical channels or recesses 92 are provided in the plate through which the rocker arms extend.

Referring to FIGURES 3 and 7, it will be seen that 4the floor sill plate 25 is guided during vertical movement by a pair of guide assemblies 95 located adjacent the sides of the door sill. Each of these assemblies consists of a depending guide rod 96 secured to a pad 97 by a washer 98 and bolt 99. Pad 97 is aixed to the underside of plate 25 by bolts or welds, not shown. Each of 4the rods 96 extends through a bushing 1100 mounted within an inverted U-shaped bracket 101 secured to the base plate 36 by a pair of bolts 102 and locating pins 103.

The rear end of each of the rocker arms 8S is bolted to an upstanding bracket 106 of an -operating arm assembly 107. The brackets 106 are lL-shaped in cross section and have a block 108 welded between the legs of the bracket adjacent their lower ends. Each rocker arm 85 has a cut out section 109 in its upper edge which lits over the block. The rocker .arms are secured t-o the brackets 106 by a bol-t 110 threaded int-o an aperture 111 in the bottom of the block 108.

At the upper end of each bracket 106, an adjustable arm is secured within the elbow of the L-shaped bracket 106 and extends forwardly from it. Each is secured to its respective bracket by a pair of bolts 116 and a rearwardly extending stud 117 over which is threaded a nut 118. The bolts .116 pass through slots in the arm and are threaded into the brackets 106 so as to permit adjustment of the arms by the nuts 118.

On the forward end of each arm is mounted a door engaging roller 120 rotatably jo-urnalled upon a pin 121 sec-ured to the arm by a locking pin 122. When the vault door 10 is closed, a rear surface 123 abuts against the rollers during approximately its last half inch of movement and forces the operating -arm assemblies 107 rearwardly causing the rocker arms 85 to pivot about the rocker arm shafts 86 so as to move the sill plate 25 upwardly into the recess 15 in the bottom of the door 10. Upon opening of the door, the rear surface 123 disengages the rollers 120 permitting the sill plate 25 to drop down under its own weight onto the

seats

70 and 76 in the vertical plates 34 and 161. Thus the top surface of the sill -plate 25 is located in the plane of the vault floor 29 and bank iloor 28 when the door is open and is raised into the gap between the bottom of the door and the sill when the door is closed.

Referring now to FIGURES 8l2 there are illustrated other alternatives and equi-valent modifications of door -actuators for raising the sill plate in response to closing of the vault door and for lowering the sill plate in response to opening of the door. While in each instance the actuators have been illustrated as being responsive to open-ing and closing of the vault door, they could as well be responsive to an incident of closing, such as locking and unlocking of the door, in the manner of the vault door illustrated and claimed in application Serial No. 297,778.

Referring first to FIGURES 8 and 9, there is illustrated a Vault door having a hydraulic actuator for raising and lowering the floor sill plate in response to closing and opening of the door. The only difference between this modification and that illustrated in FIGURES 1-7 resides in the sill plate actuator, and therefore identical numerals have been applied to identical elements of the door and frame followed by the sufiix a.

The sill plate 25a of this embodiment is mounted for vertical movement in the same fashion as the sill plate 25 in FIGURES l-7. It is actuated however by a Sylphon bellows 201 of a closed hydraulic circuit 202 which includes a second door operated Sylphon bellows 203. The connection between the two bellows is such that one -must be compressed in order for the other to expand, and vice versa.

As may be seen in FIGURE 9, the second bellows 203 is attached to the door sill frame member 47a by a generally Z-shaped bracket 204. Compression of the bellows 203 is controlled by a connector rod 205 one end of which is connected to the free end of the bellows 203 and the opposite end of which is connected by a pivot pin 206 to a door engageable bell crank 207. The bell crank 207 is mounted on a pivot pin 208 for movement from the door closed position of FIGURE 9 to a second door open position in which a portion of tthe crank extends into the doorway.

In operation, opening of the door, as indicated by the arrow 210, permits pivotal movement of the bell crank into the open doorway. As the door opens, the weight of the sill plate 25a compresses `the bellows 201 and lforces fluid through the hydraulic circuit and a metering valve 209 into the bellows 203. Since the door is open, the bellows 203 is free to expand from the compressed condition of FIGURE 9 and move the bell crank 206 into the `open doorway. When the door is closed, the edge 211 of the door Contacts the bell crank 207 causing it to pivot inwardly into the position illustrated in FIGURE 9. As a consequence, the bellows 203 is compressed so that fluid is forced through the metering valve 209 and hydraulic circuit 202 back into the bellows 201. As fluid is forced into the bellows, it expands and -moves the sill plate 25a upwardly into the door closed position of FIG- URE 8 in which the sill plate 25a resides within the recess a in the bottom of the door 10a.

One advantage of this particular modification is that it results in a deceleration of the door immediately prior to sealing of the door within the door frame. This occurs as a result of the door striking the bell crank 207 and forcing the liuid from the bellows 203 through the metering valve 209. The degree of deceleration may be adjusted by changing the setting of the metering `valve 209.

Referring now to FIGURE 10, there is illustrated a pneumatic actuator system for raising and lowering the sill plate in response to closing and opening of the vault door. In this embodiment, the vault door is identical to the door of FIGURES l-7 except for the different actuator for raising and lowering the sill plate, and therefore ident-ical elements have been given identical numerals followed by the suffix b.

In this modification, movement of the sill plate b is controlled by a toggle linkage 301, 303, the upper link 301 of which is pivotally attached at one end to a depending lug 302 on the bottom of the sill plate 25b. The other end of the link 301 is pivotally connected by a pivot pin 305 to the upper end of the second link 303. The link 303 in turn has its lower end pivotally connected to a lug 304 welded or otherwise secured to the top surface of the bed plate 36]?. The pivot pin 305 which interconnects the toggle links 301 and 303 is also pivotally connected to a piston rod 306 of `a pneumatic motor 307. The motor 307 includes a cylinder 308 having an inlet port 309 on one side of a piston 310 and an outlet port 311 on the opposite side. The inlet port 309 is connected by an air line or conduit 313 to a Sylphon bellows 314. This bellows 314 is normally spring biased to extended position and is compressed, as shown in FIGURE 10, by engagement of the rear side 123b of the door with the free end of the bellows. The opposite end of the bellows is secured to a bracket 315 which is welded or otherwise secured to the fioor plate 29h.

In operation, opening of the door 10b permits the spring biased bellows 314 to expand. Expansion of the bellows 314 results in air being drawn through the port 309 from the cylinder of motor 307 into the bellows. Simultaneously, air at atmospheric pressure is admitted to the cylinder through port 311. When this occurs, the piston 310 moves to the left as viewed in FIGURE l0 causing the toggle linkage 301, 303 to move over center and lower the sill plate until it seats upon the support elements 34b and 61b. When the door 10b is closed, the rear side 123b of the door abuts against and compresses the bellows 314. This results in air being forced lfrom the bellows through the conduit 313 into the cylinder of motor 307 so as to effect movement of the piston 310 to the right as viewed in FIGURE l0. As the piston 310 moves to the right, it causes the toggle linkage 301, 303 to move into the position of FIGURE l0 so as to lift the sill plate 25b upwardly into the recess 15b in the bottom of the vault door 10b.

Referring now to FIGURE l1, there is illustrated an electrical actuator system for raising and lowering the sill plate of t-he door in response to opening and closing of the door. In this modification, the door is identical to that illustrated in FIGURES l-7 except that it incorporates the electrical actuator mechanism rather than the purely mechanical one of FIGURES 1-7. Therefore, identical portions of the door have been given identical numerals followed by the suffix c in this modification.

Attached to the bottom of the sill plate 25C of this modification is an actuating rod 401 slidable within a guide bushing 402 of the bed plate 36C. The lower end of the rod 401 is pivotally connected to one end of a linkage element 403, the other end of which is pivotally connected by an eccentric pivot pin 404 secured to a worm wheel 405. Rotation of the worm wheel 405 is controlled by a worm screw 406 attached to the output shaft 407 of a reversible electric motor 408. The direction of motor rotation is controlled by a pair of

switches

410 and 411 located beneath the sill plate 25e and a pair of

switches

412, 413 located behind the vaul-t door 10c. The actuator 414 of

switches

412 and 413 is controlled by engagement with the rear surface 123C of the vault door. This actuator 414 is normally spring biased by a spring 424 to an extended position in which the switch 413 is closed and switch 412 is open. Closing of the door 10c` results in opening of the switch 413 and closing of the switch 412.

Switches

410 and 411 both include a wiper arm 415, 416 respectively, connected to the bottom of the sill plate 25C. Both of the wiper arms 415, 416 are insulated from the sill pla-te by a section of insulative material 418. The contacts 420, 421 with which the wiper arm 415 is engageablel are so positioned that the wiper effects a closed circuit through the contacts when the sill is in the raised position illustrated in FIGURE 11. In -this position of the sill plate, the wiper 416 forms an open switch with the contacts 422, 423 of switch 411.

In operation, opening of the vault door 10c results in the actuator arm 414 of

switches

412, 413 being moved to an extended position by actuator arm spring 424. This movement closes the switch 413 and opens the switch 412. With the switch 413 closed, a circuit is completed from a positive terminal of a battery 425 through a lead 426, switch 413, lead 427, switch 410, through the motor 408, and to ground. This circuit causes the motor 408 to be driven in a direction to effect llowering of ythe sill plate 25C as a result of rotational movement of the worm wheel 425 and its connected eccentric4 pin 404. Immediately prior to the seating of the bottom of the sill plate 25e on the seats 70C, 76C, the switch 410 opens as a result of the wiper 415 disengaging the contacts 420, 421. The sill plate thus remains in this lower position until the vault door is closed. Closing of the door 10c results in closing of the switch 412 so that a circuit is completed.

to t-he motor 408 from the battery 425, via lead 426, through switch 412, via lead 430, through switch 411, lead 431, andthrough the motor 408 to ground. This results in rotational movement of the worm wheel 408 in a direction opposite that which lowered the sill plate 25C so that the sill is moved upwardly until the wiper 416 of switch 411 disengages the contacts 422, 423. When this occurs, rotation of the motor stops with the sill plate in its raised position in which its upper portion is located within the door recess C.

While the motor 408 has been described as a reversible motor, it is manifest that a unidirectional motor could be utilized if `the eccentricity of the pin 404 is selected to be half the vertical movement of the sill plate o such that the worm wheel moves through exactly 180 in lowering the sill plate. If this condition were effected, continued movement of the worm wheel in the same direc- -tion through another 180 would result in returning the worm wheel and its connected link to its original position to raise the sill plate into the door recess 15e.

Referring now to FIGURE 12, there is illustrated still another actuator system for raising and lowering the sill plate in response to closing and opening of the vault door. In this embodiment, the only difference from t-hose heretofore described resides in the sill plate actuator, and therefore identical portions of the vault door have been given identical numerals followed by the suffix d.

In this modification, a permanent magnet is relied upon to effect vertical movement of the sill plate 25d into and out of the recess 15d in the bottom of the vault door 10d. T o this end, the sill plate 25d is formed from a permanently magnetized steel bar which is magnetically attracted to the steel door 10d when the door is closed.

In this modification of the door, the recess 15d is deeper at the front of the door than at the back so that it slopes downwardly yfrom front to rear. The

seats

505, 506 in the sill plate support blocks 34d and 61d are defined by

nonmagnetic inserts

501 and 502 fitted into and secured within the upper corners of the support blocks. These inserts may -be made from any non-magnetic material such as a high impact polystyrene.

Preferably a spring 503 is fitted between the top surface of the reinforcing block 68d and t-he bottom of the sill plate 15d so as to effectively form a counterbalance helpful to overcome lifting the weight of the sill 25d. The spring may or may not be necessary depending upon the weight of the sill plate 15d and the magnetic properties of the door and sill plate.

In operation, opening of the vault door 10d causes the sill plate 25d, which is secured against forward movement by the vertical surface 504 of the insert 501, to be wiped or forced from the bottom of the door as the downwardly sloping surface on the bottom of the door forces the sill plate to drop downwardly. The strength of the spring 503 is selected to be less than that required to support the weight of the sill plate 25d so that the plate rests upon the seating surfaces 505, 506 of the

inserts

501, 502 Iespectively, when the door is open. When resting upon these surfaces, the top surface of the sill plate is located in lthe same horizontal plane as the bank and vault doors.

As the vault door 10d is closed, the magnetic attraction of the permanently magnetized sill plate 25d causes the plate to move upwardly to engage the bottom surface of the recess 15d in the bottom of the door. The sill plate 25d is then held in this position as long as the door rcmains closed.

While several different embodiments of door actuators have been disclosed and described herein, it will readily be appreciated by those skilled in this art that they are all structural and functional equivalents for purposes of this invention. While in each embodiment, the actuator has been disclosed as being responsive to opening and closing of t-he door, it is manifest that the actuators could with equal facility be operable in response to an incident of opening and closing the door such as actuation of the vault door locking mechanism as in the case of the door described and claimed in the application from which this application was originally divided.

While several different embodiments of my invention have been described and disclosed herein, those skilled in the art to which this invention pertains will readily appreciate numerous changes and modifications which may be made wit-hout departing from the spirit of this invention. Therefore l do not intend to be limited except by the scope of the appended claims.

Having described -my invention, I claim: 1. A walk-in Vault comprising, a door frame, a vault having a floor located behind said frame, a pair of hinges mounted on one side of said frame, a door mounted upon said hinges, said `door having a bottom recess therein, a movable floor sill plate mounted beneath said door, said plate having a top surface located in substantially the same horizontal plane when the door is open as that of the vault fioor and the floor of the building within which the vault is adapted to be installed,

means operable automatically in response to closing of said door to move a portion of said sill plate including said top surface upwardly into said door recess, whereby said top surface resides within said recess, and operable automatically in response to opening sa-id door to lower said plate until said top surface is located in substantially the same horizontal plane as said vault floorand the floor of said building.

2. The walk-in Vault of claim 1 wherein said sill plate moving means includes a door engageable actuator element and a mechanical linkage system interconnecting sa-id actuator element and said sill plate.

3. The walk-in vault of claim 1 wherein said sill plate moving means includes hydraulic motor means for raising and lowering said sill plate.

4. The walk-in vault of claim 1 wherein said sill plate moving means includes pneumatic motor means for raising and lowering said sill plate.

5. The walk-in vault of claim 1 wherein said sill plate moving means includes an electrical motor and associated control circuitry for raising and lowering said sill plate.

6. The walk-in vault of claim 1 wherein said sill plate moving means includes at least one magnetic element operable to effect upward movement of said sill plate.

7. A walk-in vault comprising,

a door frame,

a vault having a floor located behind said frame,

a pair of hinges mounted on one side of said frame,

a door having front and rear surfaces mounted upon said hinges,

said door having a bottom recess therein,

la movable floor sill plate mounted beneath said door,

said plate having a top surface located in substantially the same horizontal plane as that of the vault floor when the door is open,

a oor sill plate actuating arm mounted beneath said sill plate and connected at one end to the bottom of said plate, and

`means operatively connected to said arm operable to move a portion including said top surface of said sill plate upwardly into said door recess upon closing of said door, said means being engageable with the rear surface of the door upon closing of the door.

8. A walk-in vault comprising,

a door frame,

a vault having a floor located behind said frame,

a pair of hinges mounted on one side of said frame,

a door having front and rear surfaces mounted upon said hinges,

said door having a bottom recess therein,

`a movable floor sill plate mounted beneath said door,

a pivotally mounted floor sill plate actuating arm mounted beneath said sill plate and connected at one end to the bottom of said plate, and

means connected to the opposite end of said arm operable to move la portion including said top surface of said sill plate upwardly into said door recess upon closing of said door, said means being engageable with the rear surface of the door upon closing of the door.

9. A walk-in vault comprising,

a vault having a floor located behind said frame,

a pair of hinges mounted on one side of said frame,

a door having front and rear surfaces mounted upon said hinges,

said door having a bottom recess therein,

a movable floor sill plate mounted beneath said door,

said plate having Ia top surface located in substantially l 0 the same horizontal plane when the door is open as that of the vault door,

a pivotally mounted floor sill plate actuating arm mounted beneath said plate and having one end connected to the bottom of said plate, and

door engaging means connected to the opposite end of said arm and operable in response to closing of said door to move a portion of said si-ll plate including said top surface upwardly into said door recess, said door engaging means being engageable with said rear surface of said door.

10. A walk-in vault comprising,

a door frame,

a vault having a floor located behind said frame,

a pair of hinges mounted on one side of said frame,

a door having front and rear surfaces mounted upon said hinges,

said door having a bottom recess therein,

a movable floor sill plate mounted beneath said door,

said plate having a top surface located in substantially the same horizontal plane when the door is open as that of the vault iloor,

a pivotally mounted floor sill plate actuating arm mounted beneath said plate and having one end connected to the bottom of said plate,

a support having a portion extending above said sill plate connected to the opposite end of said arm, and

a roller mounted on said support and engageable with said rear surface of said door so that upon closing of said door and engagement of said door with said roller, said sill plate is forced upwardly until a portion including the top surface of said plate extends into said door recess.

No references cited.

REINALDO P. MACHADO, Primary Examiner.

Claims

1. A WALK-ING VAULT COMPRISING, A DOOR FRAME, A VAULT HAVING A FLOOR LOCATED BEHIND SAID FRAME, A PAIR OF HINGES MOUNTED ON ONE SIDE OF SAID FRAME, A DOOR MOUNTED UPON SAID HINGES, SAID DOOR HAVING A BOTTOM RECESS THEREIN, A MOVABLE FLOOR SILL PLATE MOUNTED BENEATH SAID DOOR, SAID PLATE HAVING A TOP SURFACE LOCATED IN SUBSTANTIALLY THE SAME HORIZONTAL PLANE WHEN THE DOOR IS OPEN AS THAT OF THE VAULT FLOOR AND THE DOOR OF THE BUILDING WITHIN WHICH THE VAULT IS ADAPTED TO BE INSTALLED, MEANS OPERABLE AUTOMATICALLY IN RESPONSE TO CLOSING OF SAID DOOR TO MOVE A PORTION OF SAID SILL PLATE INCLUDING SAID TOP SURFACE UPWARDLY INTO SAID DOOR RECESS, WHEREBY SAID TOP SURFACE RESIDES WITHIN SAID RECESS,