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Some doors have this plate that guards the latch mechanism.

For some reason my search-fu is failing, I found tons of diagrams of lock and door parts but I can't find that plate.

What is that called?

double doors with metal plate covering latch circled

Jason C
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    My locksmith calls them jimmy plates or jimmy guards because they prevent the catch from being jimmied if that is a word lots of good answers below. – Ed Beal Jan 12 '21 at 18:45
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    @EdBeal Definitely a word, though also definitely slang. Out in the real world I'd call that a good name for it, even if not a 'proper' one. – TylerH Jan 12 '21 at 18:47
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    Note these are only effective against the most amateur of break-ins. They can be easily defeated with a simple piece of stiff wire or string (as I learned after locking myself out of my dorm room back in college - the handle from a Chinese food takeout box works great.) For any real security, you're going to want at least a deadbolt, unless you want to go as far as an actual alarm system of some kind. – Darrel Hoffman Jan 13 '21 at 15:09
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    those plates slow down someone that uses an angle grinder to cut the lock bolts – jsotola Aug 01 '21 at 21:01

4 Answers4

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Some doors have this plate that guards the latch mechanism.

You have one answer in that sentence, Guard and latch, just reverse them to "Latch Guard".

It is called many things,

A "latch shield"

Or "Door latch guard"

Or "Latch protector".

To name a few.

Niall C.
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Alaska Man
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8

One match is "Latch Guard":

Latch Guard

manassehkatz-Moving 2 Codidact
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The protective plate around the keyhole in a door is called an escutcheon plate, but the term can be used to describe a metal plate serving a similar purpose, either protecting a mechanism or a surface or finish, on architectural fittings like doors and windows as well as on furniture. Hope this is somewhere close to useful.

Ben
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    I think of the escutcheon as the (typically but not always) round plate around and/or between the lock or knob and the door. A latch guard is usually (from my experience) a separate piece specifically to cover the gap between the door and the frame to prevent jimmying. – manassehkatz-Moving 2 Codidact Jan 13 '21 at 02:25
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If the plate went the entire height of the door, it would be called an Astragal.

The best citation I found for this is Oxford Languages (Google's dictionary search partner), but there is no link.

noun: astragal; plural noun: astragals a convex molding or wooden strip across a surface or separating panels, typically semicircular in cross-section. ARCHITECTURE a small semicircular molding around the top or bottom of a column. a wooden molding that covers the gap between a pair of doors or casement windows. a glazing bar, typically one used in cabinetmaking.

Jim
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    While this is _very_ valid for a strip covering the entire height of the door (and the pair of double doors in the OP's picture has, I'm sure, some sort of astragal on the inside for them to weather seal against), this doesn't address the lock-protection _only_ plate that the OP is asking about. – FreeMan Jan 13 '21 at 19:00
  • Free, I should have made clearer that this response wasn't trying to directly answer the OP's question. I just thought this cool word was somewhat relevant. I only know it because we had to add an astragal to our front door recently, and liked the word. – Jim Jan 14 '21 at 22:47