US1495373A - Latch - Google Patents

Description

' May 27, 1924, 1,495,373

W. S. WITTEN LATCH 'Filed March 3, 1922 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 .ul l

w. s. WITTEN May 27 LATCH Filed March 5, 1922 3 Sh'ets--Sheet 5 @Las imatented lit/'lay 27, 1924.

WILLIAM S. WITTEN, OF CHICAGO,

ILLINOIS.

LATCH.

Application mea March 3,1922. serial No. 540,688. f.

To' all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, WILLIAM S. IVITTEN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Chicago, in the ycounty of Cook and State j of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Latches, of which the following is a specification, reference bein had to the accompanying drawings.

ffy invention relates primarily to latches or locks of the type in which the latching or locking bolt moves to its operative posivtion by gravity, as distinguished from those in which it is moved to such position by a spring, although certain features thereof may be incorporated in spring actuated latches. It has for its object to provide an improved latch together with a keeper y therefor, in which the bolt will operatively and securely engage the keeper upon the closing of the door` or gate to which the latch is attached even if for any reason, such as the incomplete closing of the door, or inaccurate mounting of the latch or keeper, the bolt engages the keeper only to a limited extent. I accomplish this object as illustrated in the drawings and hereinafter described. What I regard as new is set forth lin the claims.

In the accompanying drawings,-

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of my improved latch with one of the side plates of the case removed, showing also the keeper in section;

Fig. 2 is a view of part of the side of a barn or other outhouse showing my improved latch and keeper applied to the door thereof;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail, being a partial vertical section on line 8-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. et is an enlarged detail, being a partial vertical section on line t-f-f of Fig. 1 showing the locking device for locking the latch in operative position;

Fig. 5 is a view showing a modified. construction designed for use in connection Ll5 with a swinging door. said view being a section on line 5 5 of Fig. 6;

Fig. 6 is a horizontal section on line 6-6 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a view showing my improved latch applied to a vertically sliding door;

Fig. 8 is another modification showing my improved latch and keeper adapted for use on a freight car door;

Fig. 9 is a side view of part of a freight car showing the manner in which the latch shown in Fig. 8 may be applied thereto;

Fig. 10 is a section on line 10'-10 of Fig. 8; and y Fig. 11 is a detail, being a cross-section on line 11'-11 of Fig. 8.

Referring first to the construction shown in Figs. 1 to 1, inclusive,-12 indicates the latch as a whole, said latch 4comprising a. stem or shank 13 mounted at its upper end on a pivot 14; and having at its lower end 65 a curved latch bolt 15 projecting at one side of the stem 18, anda counterbalancing arm 16 which projects at the opposite side of the stem, thus giving the latch as a whole somewhat the appearance of an inverted T. At the upper end of the stem 18 is an oper ating arm or handle 17 rigidly connected with the stem 13 and` extending at an angle with said stem over the arm 16. The balance of the latch is such as to tend to swing the latch in a clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 1 so that the` latch bolt 15 is pro jected and normally assumes that position.4 The latch is mounted in a suitable case comprising a side plate 18 having a flange 19 SG along its lower margin forming the bottom of the case.; a flange 2O at its outer edge between the pivotal portion of the latch and the latch bolt 15 forming a stop which limits the extent to which the latch vbolt 35 may project; and a flange 21 at 'the opposite side of the case which serves as a spacing block and also to limit the inward movement of the latch. A cover plate 22 fits upon theflanges 19, v2() and 21 and forms 90 a closure Vfor that side of the case, said cover plate being preferably fitted on dowel pins 28 provided at suitable points to position the cover plate.v 24 indicates screws lfor securing the case to the door or other structure to which it is applied. 25 indicates an arcuate slot in the side plate 18 ad jacent to the stein 18 thri'iugh which prol jects a pin 2G connected with the stem. as shown in Fig. 8. The door 27 o1' other part 100 to which the latch is applied is provided with an arcuate slot 28 similar to and reg istering with the slot 25, and the pin 26 extends through the slot 28 so that when the latch is applied to the door it may be moved out of operative position by means of the pin 26. notwithstanding the fact that the arm 17 is at the opposite side of the door.

As will be readily understood from an inspection of Fig. 1, the latch normally occupies the position shown in full lines in said Vor substantially so. vtherefore that so long as .any part ofthe va pivot fitted between `the side 1members of the case at a point .adjacent to the inner end of the .counterbalancing arm 16, said dog being so arranged that it may be swung into or out of position back .of said arm,

either by ,a key arranged to engage .one .of

the yends of the pivot 3 0, which are .made non-,circular in contour v.for that purpose as shown in Figs. 1 and 4, or by means of va finger piece 3.1 carriedY by the dog 29 and ,projecting out beyond the members of the case as shown. tin Fig. 1. rlhe dog 29 Ais also provided with laterallyextending lugs q32 lwhich are arranged .to overlap the side members of the case to limit `the .extent .to which `the dog may be swung down i behind the counterbalancing arm 15. By this construction, whenthe dog- 29 is in the position Vshown in Fig. 1 it lies in the path of the counter-balancing arm 16 and prevents the `latch from being swung out of operative position, but by swinging said .dog` ina clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 1 it may be moved out .of the .way :to permit 4 the latch `to be moved toits inoperative positioii. lf fthen it .be desired `tosecure the latch in the latter position ithe dog may be swung back yto its operative position when it .will .under- .lie the inner end of the counterbalancing anni 16, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1, .and thereby will operate to prevent the latch .from swinging back into .locking position.

.ln the construction shown in Fig. 1, the .keeper comprises a block vwhich is preferably substantially Semicylindrical rsince it is provided with two convenoppositelydisposed curved surfaces 34, extending to a plane surface 36, the latterbeingthe outer surface of the keeper .when it is -mounted in position. It will be understood, however, .that the two curved surfacesB/l, 35 are provided tomakethe keeper reversible. andftbat only one of such surfaces vor its equivalent is essential. These curved surfaces of lthe -keeper preferably .conform in curvature to theconcaveor operative surface of the latch .bolt 15, which in Athe arrangement shown in ll? 1 lis its upper edee, andthe keeper is so .disposed with Erefe ence 4to the bolt and the .pivot ,of Vthe latch that the bolt will always operatively bear against the keeper along a lineradial `tothe .pivot ofthe latch, lt will be apparent latch bolt engages any partofthe keeper th.; door 'will be securely .latclied, because if n.. be attempted to open the door, the line of direction of the force applied through the lbolt to the keeper will approximately intersect the pivot 14 and consequently the bolt will not tend to swing out of operati ve position. This feature is of great importance because it frequently happens that the door is closed carelessly so that a complete closure is not effected, or sometimes through an ac- .cumulation of snow, dirt, the., the door can- Ithe latch, but on the contrary will tend to cause the latch bolt to project further.' since ,gravity has a constant tendency to project it to the limit of its movement in that direction. The keeper is preferably fitted loe- Itween suitable side plates 37 and `is .wholly or partially enclosed by a flange `38, as shown in 1. It may either be secu d to the jainb 39 of a door as shown .in f2. or Ait may be fitted in a recess .in Ithe door iainb as shown in Figs. 5 and 6.

In Figa@ I have illustrated my yimproved latch asinounted on a sliding barn doorQ', vin .whichcase it is secured to :the front niar- 4,ginal portion of the .door at Aany 4suitable height.

The construction shown ,in Figs. l1 to 4lis adapted for use inconnection with auvordi- .nary horizontally slidingdoor, and it may also be used in connection with a vertically sliding door as shown in Fig. 7, in which case the latch is preferably secured .adjacent to the upper plate 4.0 of the ,doonopening and the keeper, indicated as a whole vby rel erence numeral 11, is secured to the lower portion of the door 4.2. In this ar angeinent the .latch is turned to a position .at right angles to that shown in Fig. 1 so .that the latch bolt 15 projects downward. Consequently. when the door is raised the `keeper will be engaged by the latch bolt, Vwhich lwill operate to hold the door in its elevated position.

.ln Figs. 5 and G l :have shown my i1nproved. construction applied Vto a horizontally-swinging door 43 Ahinged at all. ,ln this arrangement the keeper is set into a :recess 45 formed inthe door iamb 46 so that its plane face 36 is parallel with the inner snr- Iface of the door -when the latter is closed. The latch is secured to .the outer edge of the door in such position that whenthe door is closed the latch bolt 15 ywill beadapted to engage the keeper, as shown ,in Figs. 5 and 6. The construction. shown in. these lll() ures is substantially the same as that shown in Figs. 1 to 4, except that preferably instead of the operating arm 17 arranged as shown in Fig. 1 I provide an operating arm 47 which is connected with lthe lower portion of the latch and extends outward at an angle thereto so that it may conveniently be operated when the door is closed. This handle may, if desired, be pr'ovided with an enlarged head 48 to increase its counterbalancing action.

In Figs. 8 to 11, inclusive, I have shown my improvements applied toa latch adapted for freight car doors., In the lattergures 49 indicates a freight car and 50 the usual sliding door thereof adapted to slide longitudinally of the car and also to be swung outwardly away from the side of the car, its lower margin being free to swing in that direction when unlocked. The general construction of the latch shown in these figures forms the subject-matter of a separate application tiled by me of even date herewith, and the purpose of these illust-rations therefore is merely to show the mannerin which my improved latch bolt and keeper may be incorporated in a latch for use in freight car doors. In the construction shown in these figures the stem portion 51 of the latch is curved, but the latch bolt 52 is the same as that shown in the preceding figures except that it is rounded at the sides, as shown in Fig. 11, to cooperate with an inclined guide plate 53 provided' at one side of the keeper 54 so that when the door is swung inwardly or toward the side of the car the latch bolt 52 will ride up on said guide plate and drop behind the keeper block 55, as best shown in Figs. 8 and 10, thereby assuming its operative relation thereto. When the door is slid to its closed position without being swung outwardly the curved outer surface of the locking bolt 52.will ride up on the outer surface of the keeper block 55 until it passes back of said block, whereupon the locking bolt will drop into its operative position.

As clearly shown in Fig. 8, in this arrangement the locking bolt 52 extends downward, the latch being mounted upon a pivot 56 in the lower portion of the case 57. The latch is released by means of an operating arm 58 connected with the pivotal portion of the stem 51, and may be locked in operative position or be held out of operative position by means of a locking arm 59 provided for that purpose, as more fully explained in the copending application hereinbefore referred to. It is not believed to be necessary to describe the construction shown in these figures more in detail at this time inasmuch as they do not relate to the subject-matter of this application.

In the construction shown in all the figures as the door moves to its closed position the outer end portion of the latch bolt strikes the plane face 36 of the keeper and consequently the latch swings back out of operative position, but as soon as the backward swinging of the latch brings it into position to pass the outer edge of the said face the latch bolt swings back again into engagement with the. operating face of the keeper and the latch becomes eective to hold the door closed regardless of the extent to which the operative surfaces overlap, as above pointed out. So far as I am aware I am the first in the art to provide a latch and keeper cooperating in this manner, and my invention, therefore, includes such construction generically. Furthermore, my invention is not limited to a latch bolt and keeper of the specific shape illustrated as such shape may be modified considerably without departing from my invention. It will be understood alsov that while the latch is usually applied to the door and the keeper to the door jamb or other suitable support, the arrangement may be reversed.

Vhat I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination with a pivotally mounted latch comprising a shank and a hook-shaped bolt projecting laterally therefrom, of a keeper arranged to be contacted by the outer end portion of the bolt to turn the latch and thereafter be operativelyengaged by said -bolt along a line substantially radial to the pivot of the latch.

2. The combination with a pivotally mounted latch comprising a shank and a hook-shaped bolt projecting laterally therefrom, of a keeper arranged to be contacted by the outer end portion of the bolt to turn the latch and thereafter be operatively en- A gaged by said bolt along a line substantially radial to the pivot of the latch, said bolt being normally held in operative position by gravity.

3. The combination with a hook-shaped pivotally mounted latch comprising a shank and a latch bolt extending at an acute angle from the shank at a point remote from the pivot thereof, of a keeper adapted to be contacted` by the outer end portion of the bolt to turn the latch and thereafter be operatively engaged by the inner marginal portion of said latch bolt.

L1. The combination with a hook-shaped latch comprising a pivotally mounted shank and a latch bolt extending at an acute angle from the shank at a point remote from the pivot thereof, said latch bolt being normally held in operative position by gravity, of a keeper adapted to be contacted by the outer end portion of the bolt to turn the latch and thereafter be operatively engaged ly the inner marginal 'portion of said latch olt.

5. The combination with a pivotally lll) mounted latch comprising` a shankand a laterallyproj,ecting bolt provided with a concave engaging Surface, of a keeper comprising a member having a convex `surface adapted to be engaged by the concave surface of the bolt ivhenthe latter is projected, said keeper being adapted to be contacted bytheout-er end portionof the bolt to turn the latch into position to enable it to make such operative engagement with the keeper.

`6. rlhe combination with a pivotally ymounted. latch comprising a shank vand a laterally-projecting bolt provided with a lconcave engaging' surface, of a keeper comprising a member having` a convex surface vadapted to ,be engaged by the concave surface of the bolt When the latter is j nojeeted, said bolt being normally projected by gravity, and said keeper being` .adapted to be contacted by the outer end portion ot the bolt-to turn the latchiinto position tojenable it to make such operative engagement `With the keeper.

7. The combination with a sliding door, and a latch comprising a pimta-lly mounted Shank having` a hook-shaped bolt projecting laterally therefrom, of a keeper arranged to be contacted by the outer end portion ot the bolt to turn the latch and thereatter be operativelyT engaged by ysaid bolt rvalong a line substantially radial to the pivot of the latch.

8. The combination With a sliding door,

'thereafter be operatively engaged by Said lbolt along a line substantially radial to the L pivot of the latch, said bolt being normally projected by gravity.

9. The combination With a door arranged to slide endvvise and also to swing laterally,

and a latch comprising a pivotally mounta ed shank having a hook-shaped bolt, of a Vkeeper operating to move Said bolt out oit operative position when the `door is being mov-ed inward or endwise to its closed position, and to permit the bolt to move into en gagement With the keeper When the door is closed, said keeper being arranged to be operatively engaged by said bolt along a line substantially radial to the pivot ot the latch.

10. The ,combination with a pivotally .mounted latch comprising a shank and a hook-shaped bolt projecting laterally therefrom, of a keeper yarranged to be contacted bythe outer end portion of the bolt to turn the ,latch and thereafter be operatively engaged by said bolt along a line substantially .radial to the pivot of the latch, and means `r1Cor locking Said bolt in its operative posh tion.v

WILLI AM S. WETTEN.

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