AU2016201778B2

AU2016201778B2 - Self-latching anti-lock latch device

Info

Publication number: AU2016201778B2
Application number: AU2016201778A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Audrius Macernis
Original assignee: Safetech Ip Pty Ltd
Current assignee: Safetech Ip Pty Ltd
Priority date: 2016-03-21
Filing date: 2016-03-21
Publication date: 2018-11-08
Anticipated expiration: 2036-03-21
Also published as: AU2016201778A1; AU2018250471A1; AU2018250471B2

Abstract

A self-latching anti-lock latch device is disclosed here for latching a hinged gate to a barrier member and further preventing locking of a pin when a key is turned inside a keyhole. The self-latching anti-lock latch device includes a latch bar assembly, and a magnet bar assembly. The latch bar assembly comprises latch assembly housing fitted to one of the hinged gate and the barrier member, and an anti-lock latch bar is slidably disposed within the latch assembly housing such that. The anti-lock latch bar is axially movable from a default backward disengagement position to a forward engagement position. The anti-lock latch bar is biased towards the disengagement position and attractable by a magnet, where the anti-lock latch bar comprises a washer member distally positioned to prevent the anti-lock latch bar from locking due to the rotation of the pin due to the turning of the key inside the keyhole.

Description

The present invention relates to gate latches, more predominantly to safety magnetic gate latches that are typically mounted on swimming pool gates and child enclosure gates and the operating methods thereof, which are out of the reach of small children. More particularly, the invention relates to a magnetic self-latching gate latch device that offers additional safety by not only keeping the operating means thereof out of the proximity of small children but also by arranging the operating means such that, a user has to execute a system of operational steps in order to disengage and engage the latch, and additionally a system which prevents the key and pin from getting jammed as compared to the gate latches known in the art.

[0002] A conventional swimming pool gate latch basically comprises a latch assembly preferably fitted to a hinged gate and a magnet assembly fitted to a fence post or in some cases another hinged gate. The magnet assembly usually is elongate in construction and is vertically fitted to the fence post. The magnet assembly comprises a release knob disposed atop thereof wherein, the release knob simply needs to be lifted in order to release or unlatch the gate. The gate latch is further designed to be a safety device as the release knob positioned is at a height that it is out of the reach of small children. However, for a determined child, the placement of release knob may not pose that big of a challenge as the release knob can be arguably easily lifted with the help of an elongate object. Further when a key is used to unlock the gate latch, the spring loaded pin might get jammed with the key lock tail which is driven by the key, thereby preventing the spring loaded latch pin from properly retracting to the fully unlatched position which may result in the spring loaded latch pin or bar preventing the gate properly closing and not latching at all thereby being disposed in a state where it could be opened by a child. It may also be the case that the key lock tail jams on the spring loaded latch pin or bar during the latching procedure with a similar result. So there is a need to prevent the jamming of the key lock tail with the spring loaded latch pin.

[0003] Hence, there is a need for a self-latching anti-jamming latch device for latching a hinged gate to a barrier member and further preventing jamming of a keylock tail against a latch bar when a key is turned in a keyhole of the self-latching latch device.

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SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0004] The self-latching anti-jamming latch device disclosed herein is used for latching a hinged gate to a barrier member and further preventing locking of a pin when a key is turned in a keyhole of the self-latching anti-jamming latch device. The self-latching anti-jamming latch device comprises a latch bar assembly, and a magnet bar assembly. The latch bar assembly comprises a latch assembly housing and a horizontally-disposed anti-jamming latch bar. The latch assembly housing is fitted to one or the other of the hinged gate and the barrier member, and the anti-jamming latch bar is slidably disposed within the latch assembly housing, such that the anti-jamming latch bar is axially movable from a default backward disengagement position to a forward engagement position. The anti-jamming latch bar is biased towards the disengagement position, where the anti-jamming latch bar is attractable by a magnet, where the anti-jamming latch bar further comprises a washer member distally positioned to the anti-jamming latch bar to prevent the anti-jamming latch bar from locking due to the rotation of the key lock tail due to the turning of the key inside the keyhole. Advantageously, the washer member (or spacer) prevents the key lock tail from engaging the latch bar other than on its end.

[0005] The magnet bar assembly comprises an elongate magnet assembly housing and an elongate vertical magnet bar. The magnet assembly housing is vertically fitted to another one of the hinged gate and the barrier member, the magnet assembly housing comprises a latch hole axially aligned with the anti-jamming latch bar. The elongate vertical magnet bar comprises a magnet secured to the bottom thereof, and the magnet bar is slidably disposed within the magnet assembly housing such that, the magnet bar is manually vertically movable from a default downward engagement position to an upward disengagement position. The magnet bar is biased towards the magnet bar engagement position, where the magnet, via the latch hole, is aligned with the anti-jamming latch bar, wherein the anti-jamming latch bar is selectively allowed to interlock within the latch hole in the downward magnet bar engagement position.

[0006] The barrier member may be a fence post or another gate or a wall or the like. In one embodiment, the magnet bar further comprises a release knob disposed on top of the housing , where the hollow of the magnet bar made through the release knob, where the release knob

PRO 111 02descriptionamd 11 October2018

2016201778 11 Oct 2018 is for enabling a user to manually lift the magnet bar towards the magnet bar disengagement position. In an embodiment, the anti-jamming latch bar comprises a head portion disposed at an extremity thereof, where the head portion abuts the magnet through the latch hole. In an embodiment, the magnet assembly housing comprises an open top removably fitted with a top cap having a central hole through which, the magnet bar extends.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0007] FIG. IA exemplarily illustrates a top perspective view of the self-latching antijamming latch device.

[0008] FIG. IB exemplarily illustrates a partial vertical sectional view of the self-latching anti-jamming latch device, showing a latch bar assembly, and a magnet bar assembly.

[0009] FIG. 2A exemplarily illustrates a partial vertical sectional view of the latch bar assembly when the pin is in open position.

[0010] FIG. 2B exemplarily illustrates a partial vertical sectional view of the latch bar assembly when the pin is in closed position.

[0011] FIG. 3 exemplarily illustrates an exploded view of the self-latching anti-jamming latch device.

[0012] FIG. 4 exemplarily illustrates a rear perspective view of the self-latching antijamming latch device.

[0013] FIG. 5 exemplarily illustrates a sectional view of the self-latching anti-jamming latch device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [0014] FIG. IA exemplarily illustrates a top perspective view of the self-latching antijamming latch device, and FIG. IB exemplarily illustrates a partial vertical sectional view of the self-latching anti-jamming latch device 100, showing a latch bar assembly 101, and a magnet bar assembly 102. The self-latching anti-jamming latch device 100 disclosed herein is for latching a hinged gate 106 to a barrier member 107 and further preventing jamming of a

PRO 111 02descriptionamd 11 October2018

2016201778 11 Oct 2018 keylock tail 112 when a key is turned in a keyhole 113 of the self-latching anti-jamming latch device 100. The self-latching anti-jamming latch device 100 comprises a latch bar assembly 101, and a magnet bar assembly 102. The latch bar assembly 101 comprises latch assembly housing 103 and a horizontally-disposed anti-jamming latch bar 108 as shown in FIG. IB. The latch assembly housing 103 is fitted to one of the hinged gate 106 and the barrier member 107, and the anti-jamming latch bar 108 is slidably disposed within the latch assembly housing 103 such that, the anti-jamming latch bar 108 is axially movable from a default backward disengagement position to a forward engagement position. The antijamming latch bar 108 is biased towards the disengagement position, where the antijamming latch bar 108 is attractable by a magnet, where the anti-jamming latch bar 108 further comprises a washer member 109 distally positioned to the anti-jamming latch bar 108 to prevent the anti-jamming latch bar 108 from locking due to the rotation of the keylock tail 112 due to the turning of the key inside the keyhole 113 to turn the keylock tail, as further explained in FIGS. 2A-2B.

[0015] The magnet bar assembly 102 comprises an elongate magnet assembly housing 104 and an elongate vertical magnet bar 105. The magnet assembly housing 104 is vertically fitted to the hinged gate 106 but in other situations it could be fitted to the barrier member 107.The magnet assembly housing 104 further comprises a latch hole 110 axially aligned with the anti-jamming latch bar. The elongate vertical magnet bar 105 comprises a magnet 111 secured to the bottom thereof, and the magnet bar 105 is slidably disposed within the magnet assembly housing 104 such that, the magnet bar 105 is manually vertically movable from a default downward magnet bar engagement position to an upward magnet bar disengagement position. The magnet bar 105 is biased towards the magnet bar engagement position, where the magnet 111, via the latch hole 110, is aligned with the anti-jamming latch bar 108, wherein the anti-jamming latch bar 108 is selectively allowed to interlock within the latch hole 110 in the downward magnet bar engagement position. In this embodiment, the barrier member 107 comprises a fence post, but in other situations it might be another gate or a wall or other structure.

[0016] FIG. 2A exemplarily illustrates a partial vertical sectional view of the latch bar assembly 101 when the key lock tail 112 is in an open position, and FIG. 2B exemplarily illustrates a partial vertical sectional view of the latch bar assembly 101 when the key lock tail 112 is being moved to a closed position. As shown in FIG. 2A, when before a user inserts

PRO 111 02descriptionamd 11 October2018

2016201778 11 Oct 2018 a key into the keyhole 113 of the latch bar assembly, the key lock tail 112 is in open position. When the user inserts a key and locks the key lock tail 112 onto the horizontally-disposed anti-jamming latch bar 108, there is a possibility of the key lock tail 112 jamming on the surface of the anti-jamming latch bar 108 if it has not moved to the latched position. Therefore, the anti-jamming latch bar 108 further comprises the washer member 109, as disclosed in the detailed description of FIGS. 1A-1B, which prevents the key lock tail 112 from making direct contact with the anti-jamming latch bar 108 and only allows the keylock tail to move to the locked position against the end of the latch bar when the head portion 115 of the latch bar 108 is engaged in the latch hole 110 and abuts the magnet 111 as will be appreciated from Figs 2 A, 2B and 3, thereby ensuring a smooth operation of the keylock tail 112 and anti-jamming latch bar 108 during the locking and unlocking of the self-latching anti-jamming latch device 100 using a key.

[0017] FIG. 3 exemplarily illustrates an exploded view of the self-latching anti-jamming latch device 100. As disclosed in the detailed description of FIGS. 1A-2B, the parts of the self-latching anti-jamming latch device 100, such as latch bar assembly 101, magnet bar assembly 102, latch assembly housing 103, magnet assembly housing 104, magnet bar 105, anti-jamming latch bar 108, washer member 109 (removed for clarity), latch hole 110, magnet 111, key lock tail 112, keyhole 113 are as shown in FIG. 3.

[0018]In one embodiment, the self-latching anti-jamming latch device 100 further comprises mounting brackets 114 positioned at a rear section of the magnet bar assembly 102, where the mounting brackets 114 are configured to mount the magnet bar assembly 102 to either the hinged gate 106 or the barrier member 107 as the case may be. In an embodiment, the antijamming latch bar 108 comprises a head portion 115 disposed at an extremity thereof, where the head portion 115 abuts the magnet 111 through the latch hole 110. In an embodiment, the magnet assembly housing 104 comprises an open top removably fitted with a top cap 116 having a central hole 117 through which the magnet bar 105 extends. In an embodiment, the magnet bar 105 further comprises a release knob 118 disposed on top thereof, where the hollow of the magnet bar 105 made through the release knob 118, where the release knob 118 is for enabling a user to manually lift the magnet bar 105 towards the magnet bar disengagement position.

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2016201778 11 Oct 2018 [0019] In order to latch the hinged gate 106 to the barrier member 107 or the fence post, the hinged gate 106 simply needs to be aligned with the fence post 107 at which point, the magnet 111, which, by default, is aligned with the latch hole 110, attracts the anti-jamming latch bar 108 towards itself. As the attraction force of the magnet 111 is configured to be stronger than the opposing force of the spring 108a coiled around the anti-jamming latch bar 108, the anti-jamming latch bar 108 adheres to the magnet 111 through the latch hole 110 thereby latching the hinged gate 106 to the fence post 107 as seen in FIG. IB. In order to release the hinged gate 106 from the fence post 107, initially, the release knob 118 is depressed causing the magnet bar 105 to be free. At this point, the release knob 118 is manually lifted upward (through), which causes the magnet bar 105, and thereby the magnet 111, to move upwards. The elevation of magnet 111 causes the attraction power between the anti-jamming latch bar 108 and the magnet 111 to weaken resulting in the anti-jamming latch bar 108 being retracted into the latch assembly housing 104, due to the spring force, thereby unlatching the hinged gate 106 from the fence post 107. The self-latching anti-jamming latch device 100, is a safety device and therefore, the release knob 118 is configured to be at a height that is unreachable for small children.

[0020] FIG. 4 exemplarily illustrates a rear perspective view of the self-latching antijamming latch device 100. The magnet bar 105 has a release knob 118 positioned upwardly, wherein the hollow of the magnet bar 105 extends through to the release knob 118. The release knob 118 is designed for enabling a user to manually lift the magnet bar 105 towards the magnet bar disengagement position whereby the user can open the self-latching antijamming latch device 100. The mounting brackets 114 are designed in a partially rectangular and oval shape, with hook members 114a, and are positioned at a rear section of the magnet bar assembly 102. The mounting brackets 114 enable the mounting of the the magnet bar assembly 102 to either the hinged gate 106 or the barrier member 107, or any other support structure where the magnet bar assembly 102 is required to be mounted.

[0021] FIG. 5 exemplarily illustrates a sectional view of the self-latching anti-jamming latch device 100. The elongate vertical magnet bar 105 includes the magnet 111 fastened to the bottom section, and the magnet bar 105 is disposed within the magnet assembly housing 104 to be in sliding communication with the magnet assembly housing 104. Therefore, the magnet bar 105 is facilitated to move from a default downward magnet bar engagement position which is set by the spring unit 105 a to an upward magnet bar disengagement

PRO 111 02descriptionamd 11 October2018

2016201778 11 Oct 2018 position which is performed by manually releasing the magnet 111. The magnet bar 105 is substantially biased towards the magnet bar engagement position enforced by the spring unit

105 a, where the magnet 111, via the latch hole 110, is aligned with the anti-jamming latch bar 108 as shown in FIGS. 2A-3.

[0022] The foregoing examples have been provided merely for the purpose of explanation and are in no way to be construed as limiting of the present concept disclosed herein. While the concept has been described with reference to various embodiments, it is understood that the words, which have been used herein, are words of description and illustration, rather than words of limitation. Further, although the concept has been described herein with reference to particular means, materials, and embodiments, the concept is not intended to be limited to the particulars disclosed herein; rather, the concept extends to all functionally equivalent structures, methods and uses, such as are within the scope of the appended claims. Those skilled in the art, having the benefit of the teachings of this specification, may affect numerous modifications thereto and changes may be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the concept in its aspects.

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Claims

THE CLAIMS DEFINING THE INVENTION ARE AS FOLLOWS:

1. A self-latching anti-jamming latch device for latching a hinged gate to a barrier member and further preventing jamming of a keylock tail when a key is turned in a keyhole of the self-latching anti-jamming latch device, the self-latching anti-jamming latch device comprising a latch assembly and a magnet bar assembly:

the latch assembly comprising:

a latch assembly housing adapted to be fitted to one of the hinged gate and the barrier member; and a horizontally-disposed anti-jamming latch bar slidably mounted within the latch assembly housing such that the anti-jamming latch bar is axially movable from a default backward disengagement position to a forward engagement position, the anti-jamming latch bar being biased towards the disengagement position, and the antijamming latch bar being attractable by a magnet; and a key lock assembly mounted to the latch assembly housing, the key lock assembly having a key hole and a selectively removable key engageable in the key hole and a keylock tail arranged to turn in unison with the key between a locked position and an unlocked position;

the magnet bar assembly comprising:

an elongate magnet assembly housing adapted to be vertically fitted to the other one of the hinged gate and the barrier member, the magnet assembly housing comprising a latch hole axially aligned with the anti-jamming latch bar;

PRO 111 02claimsamd 11 October2018

2016201778 11 Oct 2018 an elongate vertical magnet bar comprising a magnet secured to the bottom portion thereof, the magnet bar being slidably mounted within the magnet assembly housing such that the magnet bar is manually movable from a default downward magnet bar engagement position to an upward magnet bar disengagement position, the magnet bar being biased towards the magnet bar engagement position where the magnet via the latch hole, is aligned with the anti-jamming latch bar, whereby in use, the anti-jamming latch bar is selectively allowed to interlock within the latch hole in the downward magnet bar engagement position; and wherein a washer member or spacer is mounted on the anti-jamming latch bar and arranged to prevent the key tail engaging the latch bar while the latch bar is in an unlatched position.
2. The self-latching anti-jamming latch device of claim 1 wherein the latch bar comprises a head portion disposed at an extremity thereof which is adapted to abut the magnet through the latch hole.
3. The self-latching anti-jamming latch device of claim 2 wherein the latch bar further comprises a shank portion extending from the head portion.
4. The self-latching anti-jamming latch device of claim 3 wherein the washer member or spacer is mounted on the shank portion.
5. The self-latching anti-jamming latch device of claim 4 wherein the anti-jamming latch bar is biased towards the disengagement position by a spring mounted on the shank portion.
6. The self-latching anti-jamming latch device of claim 5 wherein the spring biases the washer member or spacer towards the end of the shank portion opposite the head.

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7. The self-latching anti-jamming latch device of claim 6 further comprising a circlip on the shank and the washer member or spacer is biased towards engagement with the circlip by the spring.
8. The self-latching anti-jamming latch device of any one of the preceding claims wherein the washer member or spacer has opposed circular ends.
9. The self-latching anti-jamming latch device of any one of the preceding claims wherein the washer member or spacer is shaped so that engagement by the key tail applies a force thereto towards the latched position.
10. The self-latching anti-jamming latch device of any one of claims 3 to 9 wherein the average diameter of the washer member or spacer is substantially greater than the diameter of the shank portion.
11. The self-latching anti-jamming latch device of any one of the preceding claims wherein the washer member is frustoconical, or has a conical portion.
12. The self-latching anti-jamming latch device of claim 11 wherein the end of the frustoconical washer member or conical portion nearer the head is larger than the other end.
13. The self-latching anti-jamming latch device of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the magnet assembly housing comprises an open top removably fitted with a top cap having a central hole through which the magnet bar extends.
14. The self-latching anti-jamming latch device of claim 1, wherein the magnet bar further comprises a release knob disposed on top thereof, the release knob being configured for enabling a user to manually lift the magnet bar towards the magnet bar disengagement position.
15. The self-latching anti-jamming latch device of claim 1 wherein the barrier member comprises a fence post.

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16. The self-latching anti-jamming latch device of claim 1 wherein the barrier member comprises another gate.
17. The self-latching anti-jamming latch device of claim 1, further comprising mounting brackets positioned at a rear section of the magnet bar assembly, wherein the mounting brackets are configured to mount the magnet bar assembly to one of the hinged gate and the barrier member.

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FIG. 1A

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FIG. IB

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FIG. 2B

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FIG.3

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FIG. 4

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FIG. 5