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Antidraught deadbolt

Another boring home improvement idea
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(+8)
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It's winter for some of us, and I felt an aweful draft from the front door. Pulling the door closed (closer?) made it stop, but that gets tiresome. New weatherstripping is an option but to get it tight enough to stop drafts makes the door tough to close with the normal latch, and the discrete thicknesses of weatherstripping usually end up being not quite right.

So, i thought, what if the deadbolt was tapered, so that when it was engaged it would pull the door closed a little more than the regular latch. The mechanical advantage of the wedge plus the bolt mechanism would make it easier to get a tight seal.

afinehowdoyoudo, Dec 19 2012

A close-up of shipping container doors (similar but effective) http://upload.wikim...2011-02-03_0362.JPG
Wiki Commons. [Letsbuildafort, Dec 19 2012]


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Annotation:







       Bit of a bitch to undo from the outside with the leverage of a key slotted in a tumbler. Certainly would be a great boon to the deadbolt and key replacement industry.
WcW, Dec 19 2012
  

       I was going to try to make with some snarky witticisms but this is actually a fine idea. It would work.
bungston, Dec 19 2012
  

       Put a roller on the side of the hole that the wedge-bolt pushes against. That should make it easy enough to turn with a key and also reduce wear.   

       Be sure to make the roller easily adjustable.
scad mientist, Dec 19 2012
  

       I seem to recall a similar way of closing a door on a shipping container in a vaguely no-so-similar method.

Seriously, though - the front door to my apartment has the same issue and I would most certainly order one.
Letsbuildafort, Dec 19 2012
  

       Of course if you don't want to wait for this product to come out, just adjust the plate on your deadbolt so although the latch engages easily, but you need to put additional pressure to close the door tighter before you can turn the deadbolt.   

       Unfortunately I don't remember most deadbolt plates being really easily adjustable since they have large bolts going into the house framing, but perhaps shims can be added inside the hole without moving the plate.
scad mientist, Dec 19 2012
  

       I really think that this overestimates the amount of force that you can apply through a lock tumbler without making multiple turns.
WcW, Dec 19 2012
  

       Just have a door mechanism like that on a safe - a key which when turned allows a lever or wheel to be turned which actuates the sliders - which in this case could be cammed to pull the door against the frame.   

       The other option is to have actuated door seals around the perimeter of the door which are pushed out with the turning of the key or handle.   

       Or you could machine galleries into the door periphery and create an o-ring seal....   

       I like the safe door option. Added benefit of being rediculously secure.
Custardguts, Dec 19 2012
  

       I had the same problem; the door also rattled in the wind. My boring solution was to fit a soft, open-cell foam strip (sold for the purpose) to the jamb. It works perfectly, and also softens the blow when it slams shut. It doesn't stop air coming under the door, though.
spidermother, Dec 20 2012
  

       //o-ring seal// I had the idea a while back of a circular, Hobbit-style door, with tapered edge (a frustrum), fitting into a matching tapered opening, to allow the efficient use of an o-ring seal.
spidermother, Dec 20 2012
  

       [+] but mostly for my consistently reading it as "Anti-Dreadnaught Bolt" : helluva crossbow.
FlyingToaster, Dec 20 2012
  

       The problems of key torque and friction are real. I was thinking of it from the inside view, that has a sturdy lever. A roller would surely help! I don't know how to make a roller small and strong and cheap enough to suit. My thought for adjusting the tension was to make reversible plates, each with a hole off-center by increments of 0.02" (0.5 mm). Each plate does + or - so n plates would span n millimeters. I guess the stock plate is usually neutral. These would be thicker, to have countersinks for screws on both sides, and a nice wide round profile on the business edge.   

       Oh hey and while we're at it lets
afinehowdoyoudo, Dec 20 2012
  

       or you could use the kind of weatherstripping which is slightly sprung to press against the door.
FlyingToaster, Dec 20 2012
  

       Yes, as (spidermother) and (flyingtoaster) mention, soft foam weatherstripping or that V-shaped plastic strip material are expedient solutions. Trouble is that soft materials tend to'pack out' easily, especially in cold weather. This extra force mechanism would allow the use of harder and more durable materials.
afinehowdoyoudo, Dec 20 2012
  

       // harder and more durable materials. // If you usea harder material and use a large force in the center of the edge of the door to hold it shut, it seems like you might eventually have problems with the door warping. Then you'll never get it to seal.   

       I like the image of the big 3 handled wheel from a safe on the outside of a front door. I wonder if it might make a burglar think twice (or decide that there must be something inside worth stealing).
scad mientist, Dec 22 2012
  

       I have Rationel made patio doors and when you close them they are tight, but pushing the handle upwards by 45 degrees pulls them even tighter, as they have a similar feature to that described in the idea here. This takes the form of a set of additional bolts that come out when the handle is pushed up into the lock position. The seal is really air tight.
xenzag, Dec 22 2012
  

       //I have Rationel made patio doors and when you close them they are tight, but pushing the handle upwards by 45 degrees pulls them even tighter// I know someone whose house has a back door like that. Second set of bolts top and bottom, operated by pulling handle up. Only door like it I've seen, so apparently not common.   

       Building it with the bolts top and bottom eliminates the problem [scad scientist] mentions with using the center edge only...warping from the pressure all being on the one center point. Problem is the door needs to be made with this system in mind...not exactly retrofit-friendly.   

       Regardless of implementation though...[+]
wolstech, Dec 25 2012
  


 

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