Apartment Key

[Robittybob1]

From inside you use the lever and go out. You pull the door closed with that fixed knob and off you go. It answers another question for me too. I wondered how the children got far away down the gardens the day they ran off without being overtaken by a parent. If Madeleine opened the front door and the parents didn't notice straight away that would have given them a start.

The only sentence I still dispute is "You pull the door closed with that fixed knob and off you go".  If that was so, why didn't the cleaners just push the door shut?

[ShiningInLuz]

From inside you use the lever and go out. You pull the door closed with that fixed knob and off you go. It answers another question for me too. I wondered how the children got far away down the gardens the day they ran off without being overtaken by a parent. If Madeleine opened the front door and the parents didn't notice straight away that would have given them a start.

Whereas I simply thought it might be a game.  As in parent chases child, because both are having fun.

[Innominate]

The only sentence I still dispute is "You pull the door closed with that fixed knob and off you go".  If that was so, why didn't the cleaners just push the door shut?

The video you posted showed a deadlatch mechanism, which is one explanation for the rectangular section.

But if you look at the strike plate the edge of the latch and the deadbolt 'holes' appear to line up.

This would defeat a deadlatch mechanism. The whole idea is that the deadlatch section remains depressed while the latch is springs back in the strike plate. A deadlatch is an anti tamper device to prevent forcing the latch from the outside with a screwdriver/credit card/etc.

There seems to be doubt as to whether this is a deadlatch.

Do you have a link to the 'cleaner' video?

[Robittybob1]

The video you posted showed a deadlatch mechanism, which is one explanation for the rectangular section.

But if you look at the strike plate the edge of the latch and the deadbolt 'holes' appear to line up.

This would defeat a deadlatch mechanism. The whole idea is that the deadlatch section remains depressed while the latch is springs back in the strike plate. A deadlatch is an anti tamper device to prevent forcing the latch from the outside with a screwdriver/credit card/etc.

There seems to be doubt as to whether this is a deadlatch.

Do you have a link to the 'cleaner' video?

Cleaner video:
https://youtu.be/5HHZYs15tCM?t=307  it was in Misty's post  previous page. 

I must have a look at the striker plate you talk about.

[Robittybob1]

[/quote]

I now realise that the latch approaches the striker plate from the right to the left and the cut out is large enough to accommodate the rectangular shaft John called the "dead latch" (http://miscarriageofjustice.co/index.php?topic=8288.msg412425#msg412425), so in this case it definitely is acting differently to a dead latch in the video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jM7i9u0VwkY).  We originally were calling it an anti-slam device but our local hardware store had nothing with a similar design.

[Alice Purjorick]

I would say NO.  the door does not know if it is being shut from the inside or the outside. We have seen the cleaner pull the latch back manually from the inside, that action would need to be done through the use of the key on the outside.  That way in all times the person outside has a key, either that or there is another person on the inside.

What do think the raked face is for on the latch?

[John]

The only sentence I still dispute is "You pull the door closed with that fixed knob and off you go".  If that was so, why didn't the cleaners just push the door shut?

She appeared to move the slide when shutting the door so the question still arises, can the door be closed without drawing the slide across?   These types of locks must be very common in Luz, maybe SiL can investigate?

A short video would be brill SiL?   

[John]

What do think the raked face is for on the latch?

That's to allow it to be pushed back when the door is closed. By the looks of it though the lower deadlock part has to be pulled back using the slide before the door will close completely.  If that turns out to be the case then the door cannot be closed from the outsdide without a key.

[G-Unit]

That's to allow it to be pushed back when the door is closed. By the looks of it though the lower deadlock part has to be pulled back using the slide before the door will close completely.  If that turns out to be the case then the door cannot be closed from the outsdide without a key.

My impression is that the deadlock doesn't engage automatically. It has to be activated in some way or it stays inside the housing. Kate said the door wasn't locked. If that's true, the dead lock would be inside it's housing and wouldn't prevent the door from being closed with a pull from outside.

[Robittybob1]

What do think the raked face is for on the latch?

At least it would soften the slam against the stop.  Look I don't know the technical names for all the parts but if both were squared faced the striker plate would get knocked around.  The raked face would take up some of this impact.

[Alice Purjorick]

That's to allow it to be pushed back when the door is closed. By the looks of it though the lower deadlock part has to be pulled back using the slide before the door will close completely.  If that turns out to be the case then the door cannot be closed from the outsdide without a key.

It was a rhetorical question John.....
The spring latch is fabricated see several bits I have already posted.
Pull the door "to" on way out the raked face hits the striker plate and pushes the spring loaded latch back. Reverse action by ne'er do wells if you forget to lock the door is prevented by the flat face on the inside...simples.
I still don't see why the hang up on locks built to standard codes of practice. For fifty quid you can buy one, pull it to bits and cop a dekko at how it works.

[Robittybob1]

It was a rhetorical question John.....
The spring latch is fabricated see several bits I have already posted.
Pull the door "to" on way out the raked face hits the striker plate and pushes the spring loaded latch back. Reverse action by ne'er do wells if you forget to lock the door is prevented by the flat face on the inside...simples.
I still don't see why the hang up on locks built to standard codes of practice. For fifty quid you can buy one, pull it to bits and cop a dekko at how it works.

The whole issue is to prevent someone pulling the door closed and then finding they haven't got the one and only key with them.  Your explanation does not prevent that happening, so I think you have not captured the essential part.

[Alice Purjorick]

The whole issue is to prevent someone pulling the door closed and then finding they haven't got the one and only key with them. Your explanation does not prevent that happening, so I think you have not captured the essential part.

Oh I think I have it pretty well taped. The "crutch" of the matter, as one might say, is to attempt to keep unauthorised persons out.
It is possible to lock oneself out of a property and has been for many years even current state of the art UK locking makes it all too easy.

[Robittybob1]

Oh I think I have it pretty well taped. The "crutch" of the matter, as one might say, is to attempt to keep unauthorised persons out.
It is possible to lock oneself out of a property and has been for many years even current state of the art UK locking makes it all too easy.

And they often try and get around that by issuing more than 1 key at reception time.

[misty]

Oh I think I have it pretty well taped. The "crutch" of the matter, as one might say, is to attempt to keep unauthorised persons out.
It is possible to lock oneself out of a property and has been for many years even current state of the art UK locking makes it all too easy.

Do you think the lower latch has been modified because I can't find an identical one on the internet? It also looks as if the upper dead bolt has been replaced at some stage as it's a different colour.