Today we are going to answer the question ‘How Does My Door Lock Work?’ and ‘How To Tell When Your Office Door Is Locked?’ and ‘How To Understand Different Lock Functions.’
At Loc Doc, Our Mission is to help you protect your people and your property. We recently had a customer that experienced this problem and today we are going to share how we walked through helping them solve the problem.
A customer of ours was getting locked out of their office even when they tested the lever handle before they left. They asked us why it kept happening? After examining the door we noticed that they had a push button on the back of their lock. This button was being inadvertently activated every time it hit the doorstop on the wall. The type of lock they had on their office door is called an Entry Function Lock or Office Lock.
Entry Lockset Function: This is a very common type of lock that is prevalent on offices. On the backside of this lock will be a small button on the lever that allows you to manually lock the door from the inside or use a key to open it from the outside.
When you push the button in or push and turn the button, it can result in the lock remaining locked even after a key is used to open the door.
So how can you tell when your office door is locked?
One way to check if the lock is engaged is to look at the latch on the side of the door. When the lever is pushed down to open the door, you can see if the latch retracts. If it does, the lock is in an unlocked state. If it doesn’t retract, the lock is in a locked state.
So how can you avoid this frustration of getting accidentally locked out from your suite, your office, or even a storage room? Knowing what type of lock is the first step. We just explained what an Entry Lockset function is and now we will explain a few additional functions for different locksets.
Storeroom Lockset: This type of lock is mostly found on supply closets. There is no locking button on the inside and the door stays in an always locked function. The storeroom lock is opened by a key and is always in a locked state. You can exit anytime, but you can’t reenter without a key to unlock the door. The storeroom lock keeps the door locked at all times which is useful in a storage area or supply room.
Classroom Lockset: A Classroom function lock has no locking button on the inside and uses a key to unlock or lock the outside lever. One of the benefits is being able to keep the lock in an unlocked or locked state with the key. Anyone inside is still able to exit the room but the outside can remain locked.
The back of classroom function locksets are designed to prevent tampering with the lock from people since there is no push button on the inside. They are commonly found in office suite entrances, corridors and even as the name states, Classrooms in schools.
Privacy Lockset: This type of lockset is usually found on bathrooms, changing rooms, or mother’s rooms. This type of lock ensures that people inside the room can have privacy and prevents people from walking in while in a venerable state.
The lock can be activated from inside the room. Often times, there is a visual indicator stating if the room is occupied or vacant.
Passage Lockset: This type of lockset is used on closets, passage ways, and halls where a key is not necessary but you would like the door to remain closed. There is no locking mechanism and the lock just ensures that the door is latched.
To help our customer that was struggling with not knowing if their office door was locked, we recommended using a Classroom lockset so the button was no longer accidentally pushed and activated. We also showed them how to know when your door is still locked even when you open it with a key. By checking if the latch retracts when the lever is pressed, you can know that the door is unlocked. We hope this has helped to understand the different functions of a lockset and how to know when your office door is locked.
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