Night latch

Type of keyed door lock

A night latch (or night-latch or nightlatch) is a lock that is fitted on the surface of a door; it is operated from the exterior side of the door by a key and from the interior (i.e. "secure") side of the door by a knob.^[1]^[2]^[3]

Overview

Night latches are usually rim locks^[4] and are available as deadlocking (automatically locks once shut) and non-deadlocking versions.

Historically, such locks were intended for use at night-time, hence the name.^[5] The keyless egress that they offer is a valuable fire safety measure, but may be a security risk if breaking a glass panel (usually in the door) or a nearby small window allows an intruder to reach the knob inside and open the door from the outside.

References

^ "Definition of NIGHT LATCH". www.merriam-webster.com.
^ Hasluck, Paul N. (8 February 2011). The Handyman's Guide: Essential Woodworking Tools and Techniques. Skyhorse Publishing, Inc. ISBN 9781626366589 – via Google Books.
^ Mitchell, John Ames (26 September 2018). "Life". Life – via Google Books.
^ Jones, Tony L. (1 January 2003). COURT SECURITY: A Guide for Post 9-11 Environments. Charles C Thomas Publisher. ISBN 9780398084356 – via Google Books.
^ Sturgis, Russell; Davis, Francis A. (23 April 2013). Sturgis' Illustrated Dictionary of Architecture and Building: An Unabridged Reprint of the 1901-2 Edition. Courier Corporation. ISBN 9780486145921 – via Google Books.

Sources

Streeter, Donald (26 September 1973). "Some Signed American Iron Rim Locks". Bulletin of the Association for Preservation Technology. 5 (2): 9–37. doi:10.2307/1493393. JSTOR 1493393.
ProQuest. "How much security is enough? - ProQuest". Retrieved 2018-09-26 – via ProQuest.
Harrington-Lynn, J.; Pascoe, T. (1995). "A strategy for security of buildings". A strategy for security of buildings - IEEE Conference Publication. Ieeexplore.ieee.org. pp. 189–196. doi:10.1109/CCST.1995.524911. ISBN 978-0-7803-2627-9. S2CID 62740777.
"NCJRS Abstract - National Criminal Justice Reference Service". www.ncjrs.gov.
Anonymous (26 September 1961), Code of Practice for means of escape in the case of fire at houses in multiple occupation, hdl:1842/4859
ProQuest. "Simple security measures: how to safeguard your practice - ProQuest". Retrieved 2018-09-26 – via ProQuest.