Ruotolock a door handle that also locks your door by boaz saragossi from italy

designed for interior doors, the ruotolock is a door handle which allows you to lock the room from the inside, using the handle as the lock itself. for opening and closing of the door, the ruotolock functions as an ordinary door handle. when locking the door from the inside, the ruotolock rotates 180 degrees in the other direction forming a barrier that blocks the door from opening.

the ruotolock project began with studying and evaluating all the basic movements and interactions between man and door.
one day, while using the public toilet during a school break, the idea came up - to make an inner door lock that could be integrated into the door handle itself.
I naturally thought of the classic sliding-pin lock that one can still find in use in public toilet rooms. I then thought why not rotate the handle 180 degrees so that it would physically block the door, and thereby eliminate the need of a second lock.

as for the design and appearance of the handle, I thought of a "lock and key" concept where the key would be the handle and the lock would be the fixed base on the doorframe. When the door is locked, the lower part of the handle would sit on the upper part of the base, thereby creating an Impression of a closed lock.

how does it work?

the handle mechanism had to meet a few basic requirements:
1. the basic rules of an inside lock should apply
(locking of the door is only possible from the inside and the door cannot be opened from the outside).
2. be as simple as possible.
3. fit into a standard interior lever-latch mechanism.

the outcome was a handle that was constructed of four parts:
1. out-door part
2. in-door fixed part
3. in-door moving part
4. a base fixed into the door frame

(inside the door, a standard lever-latch mechanism is used)

when opening or closing the door, the handle functions as a basic standard lever. Pressing down on the lever from either side of the door will insert the latch, enabling the door the option of opening and closing.

when you are inside the room, and you want to lock the door, you simply rotate the handle in the opposite direction until its tip rests on the base that is fixed to the door frame. By doing so, the handle and base forms a physical barrier, preventing the door from opening.

while the handle inside the room can rotate in both directions, the one outside can only rotate downwards (like a regular lever). this one way rotation of the outside handle means it will not be able to open the door once its locked.

Rotation in both directions was achieved by making the inside handle from two pieces, a fixed one and a rotating one. The rotating component travels along a rail that is carved into the fixed component. When the rotating component reaches the end of the rail (the horizontal position of the handle), continuing the rotation will now also rotate the fixed component. Rotation of the fixed component will result in rotation of the spindle and the insertion of the latch, allowing the door to open.

the ruotolock can be used in public buildings or private houses for closing doors or windows in bathrooms, bedrooms or any other space that need a simple and elegant inner locking system.