US1703556A - Latch - Google Patents

Description

Feb. 26, 1929. 1,703,556

. J. STEWART LATCHl Filed 1 17, 1926 fhg 4Z im, 2.021

IN VEN TOR.

ATTORNEY v Patented Feb. `26, 19.29.

UNIT-ED .STATES f i '1,703,556 PATENT OFFICE.

y 'y yANiiiaEw J. STEWART, 0E LEBANON, INDIANA. l

LATCH.

Application filled` April 17, 1926. ASerial No. 102,791. f'

The present invention relates to an improved automatic latch'and handle, and has for an object to rprovidea latch'of this character of simple, strong, and inexpensive construction, and which will bejeificient and reliable in operation.l particular Object of the Ainventionis to pi'ovide aV latch connected to 'an operatingfhandle, constituting the knob or handle of the door, and "which handle 'upon beingpulled vin the direction to open the door will automatically release the latch; and as one feature of the invention, itl

is proposed tok provide a connection between the handle and latch by means of which the j door may be closed Vby Vpressing inwardly ,upon the handle, and-at the same time permitting the latch to have free retracting and keeper engaging movement as the door is ior the door, but the connection between.

the latch and handle was such that by pressing inwardly upon the-handle,'as in c-losing the door, a pressure would be applied to the latchdirectly opposed to vits retracting movement, preventing vtree engagement vof the latch with its keeper, so that it was necessary to close the doorvwithout pressing upon the handle 'to permit the-handle to follow the keeper engaging movements/of the latch, the handle irst moving ,outwardly and then snappingdnwardly. during suc kn'iovements of the latch. Obviously,7any Va- Y riation in the engaging relation of. the latch with its keeper, as mightfbe caused by warp- Y ing of the door, sagging,or other such'c'onditions, would be directly transmittedv tothe handle, so that it lwould either 'set awayf from. the door surface, .or ywould. prevent full' binding engagement of the latch.: v, f

Y According to the presentinvention la fixed normalrelation o'lthe handle is maintained with respect to the door surface, independ- `whichsimultaneously serves as a pivot support and a stop for vlimiting pivotal movetion; i Fig. latch, as shownlin Fig. ,1;.L n i,

ently of the latch, and the latter is therefore permitted to function with full eiiiciency, irrespective of variation in the door structure. g f e.

A further object is to provide a latch in-l cluding a vdetachable knob orhandle, and which in the detached ielat-ionof such knob or,` handle will' be substantiall lflush with theouter surface of the door, t ereby great'- ly facilitating'the packing and shipping of cabinets or the like latches. V

Another object consists inv the pivotal 'e5 equipped with. the

mounting of a latch in a sheet metal bracket,

ment oi. the latch in bothl directions-and further acts'as a guard for the latch and its actuating spring.

f Another ob `ect is to provide .a latch memyber formed from a single piece of sheet metal folded upon itself, and with angularV or offset ends forming the fulcrum, the offset portionV serving both as alguard and retainer for the spring;

f Still another object consists vin providing,

`as one embodiment, a roller type of catch associated with the latch, andv a lever handle y connected to the latch in a manner to assist in the wedging engagement of the latch, this type being especially desirable for refrigerator use.l i

With` the above andy otherobjectsin view,

embodiments of the invention are shown in;

the. accompanying drawings, and thesezembodinients will be herein after more fully de- Ascribed with reference thereto, and the invention will be iinally pointed out in the n claims.'-

In the drawingsz--- C Y 1. Fig. l is a horizontal sectional view vof a door and casing, showing thelatch, according to the present embodiment-ot the inven- '2 isan inner vend elevation 'off-the' .Fig 3 is a perspective View lmo showing thev latch, keeper, and knob, yin detached and separated relation; Y .y

Fig. 4 is a view, 'similar to Fig. 1, and

showing the position of the latch-and; knob,

as .theformer is released through opening thedoor; i `.1.

Figr is a similar view, showing'they position of the latch and'knob, as the fornieris Cil 4the inner Surfaces ofthe ears 16.

retracted by the keeper through closing the door bypreeeure applied to the knob;

Fien 6 is a detail sectional view of the knob attaching latch. actuating rod and its guide support; and

Fig. 7 is a view, similar to Figl, showing,

a modified ferm of the invention.

Similar reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several .iguree of the drawings.

Referring to the drawings, the latch is adapted to be Secured at the inner eide of a hingedly mounted door 10 having a flange 11 adapted Vto 'Close against a or frame 12,- `the door being provided. in inwardly spaced relation to its; flanged edge with a drilled hole or passage 13 extending therethrough. n

The'latch, according to the preeent eml'iod'mcnt of the invention, n :omprieee a bracket formed of Sheet metal, and including a flat triangular base 14, provided centrally of its forward edge with an upwardly bent bearing support 15, 'ing aa a latch stop, and side ears 16 ben -nwardly therefrom. 4Between the ears 1b there is secured a transverse pin 17 upon which the bell crank lever type of latch is pivotally mounted. This latch is preferably formed of a single piece of `sheet metal folded upon itself along tlie top edge 1S, and comprises a nose portion 19, a rearwardly extending tail portion 20 having `an upwardly projecting end 21, and downwardly extending mounting ears 22 bent outwardly and downwardly i into spaced parallel. relation with each otherand pivotally engaged upon the pin 17 adjacent A coil spring 23 ie coiled about the pin 17, one projecting end being` engaged against the under surface of the upper lateral portion of the moruiting ears` 22, waile the other end beare upon the base plate, whereby the latch is pressed in counter-clockwise direction against the portion 15 acting ae a limiting Stop. The forward yedge of the nose portion 19 of the lat-ch is cut away above the ears 22 to form ra notch 24, and is rounded above said notch, as at 25, to provide a camming surface.

At the rearward portion of the base plate 14 there is provided an aperture 26 in which ie secured the upper end of a tubular guide member 27, adapted to be engaged in the drilled passage 13 in the doorI with its lower edge substantiallyflush with the outer surface of the door, the base plate being secured to the inner surface of the door byy screws 28 engaged throughholes 29 formed inithe forward cornersof the plate.

lVithin the guidemember there is slidably engaged a handle or knob attaching pull rod including an upper enlarged diameter portion 30, guided m the upper yend, and a smaller diameter stem portion 31, guided in the inwardly flanged lower end 32, a coil flange 32 of theguide member, soV thatwith the handle or knobl detached, 4as in'Fig. 6,-

the end surface is flush with the outer door sru'face.V The pull rec ie provided. with a threaded hole 36, within which the` Screw 37 of the knob 38 adapted tobe engaged.

At the inner end of the pull rod there-is formed a stud 39, `upon which is secured the base '4G of yan angular yokefll, having a slot 42 in its upright portion. in which is engaged the tail portion of the latch. I r1`he slot 42 is of such leneth that a short lost motion space' isprovided above the tail piece 20 inthe normal latched position of the latch, while a relatively long Space. is provided beneath said tail piece to permit independent rcn tracting or keeper engagingmovement of the latch with respect to the knob, asindicated in Fig. 5.

The keeper, adapted to cooperatewith the latch, is formed of a stripof sheet metal, and consists of a. base portion 43 adapted to be Secured to thecasing 12, as by screws 44, an angularlybent latch, retaining or keeper portion 45, and an. inclined strike portion V 46, with'which,therounded camportion 25 adapted to coact during closingof r*thY door to force back the latch. y

In operation, a pull upon the knob tilts the latch upon its pivot, releasing it from the keeper portion 45, and continued pull swings thedoor uponr its hinges to open it. rliVhcn the door is closed, either by pushing against its Surface, or preferably by pushing directly upon t-he knob, the latch first vengages the strike 46, camming back, as shown in Fig. 5, and thereupon engages the keeper portion 45, the latchA spring automatically seat ing the latch with abinding closing pressure upon the door;v During the closing operation the pressure'upon the knob does not op,-

ico

pose thekeeper engaging action ofthelatch,

nor is this action imparted to the knob. The

lost motion relation between the latch and:

the slotted yoke portion 41 permite Vfull bindingv engagement ofthe'latch under variations in'` the.l doorfor. latch structure, as

Amight be causedy by warping of the door, or

inaccurate attachment of. the keeper plate.

In Fig. 7 .there is illustrated avmodiied `form ofthe invention, inY which themountv ing base for the latch consists of a base plate pivotally of sheet metalfolded upon its-elf along. the

edge 50, providing a smooth camming surface, and including a nose portion 51 r'and outwardly and downwardly bent spaced portions 52, pivotally engaged at their forward ends upon the pin 49 within the bo'X structure 48, and provided at their rearwardly projected -ends 'with a transverse pin 53 adapted for connection with the handle'fpull rod, presently to be described. A1coil spring 54 about the pin 49 coacts in a similar manner to the first form to press Vthe notch edge portion 55 of the latch into engagementywith the keeper. The -l eeper, as shown in this embodiment, comprises a base plate 56 having an angular portion57 in rwhich a roller 58 is supported, the angle of the notch 55 being such that increasing inward move-v ment of the latch increasingly presses the door closed with a wedging action. l

The handle 59 Vinfthe form of a lever, which is pivoted at 60 in a bracket 61 and is pivotally connected at 62 to ytheouter end of a pull rod 63 guidedV in a bushingy 64 formed upon the base plate 65 of thebracket and engaged in a passage 66 in the door, the

pull rod extending through said passage and being provided at its inner 'end with an en# largement engaged between the spaced ends of the latch and provided with a slot 67 en-l gaged by the pin 53. i

The operation in opening thefdoor is substantially the same as in the first embodiment.. In closing, however, an increased pressure may beapplied upon the latch after it is engaged withy the keeper by pressingthe handle inwardly, this action pressing the door tightly closedl with an increasing wedgiugaction. This is especially desirable in refrigerator usefand in other uses where a very tight closure is desired. j I' It will be understood that the. forni of keeper and the type'of handle shown vin connection with either of the two embodiments y illustrated maybe used with the other;

I have illustrated and described'aA pre. ferred and satisfactory embodiment of the invention, vbut it will be obvious that changes may be made therein, within thespirit and scope thereof, as defined in the appended claims. l

Having lthusfdescribed my invention, what ,I claim andk desire to secure by Letters.

Patent is y v 1. Ina latch for a movable closure vor the like, a belll crank latch member adapted to f lbe projected andrretracted and including' rigidly connected nose and tail portions, a mounting bracket pivotally supporting said latch member, a spring acting between said bracket and latch member-adapted to yield-vk ingly press the latter to projected position,

'a normally projected actuating member adapted tohave latch retracting movement in the opening direction of saidgmovable closure and including a slotted portion engaged by the tail portionof said latch member, said latch member adaptedto have retracting lmovement independently of the actuating member through free movement of said tail portion in saidslotted portion, and spring means adapted to yieldablyV retain independently of said latch member. j

2. 'In a latchv for a movable closure or the like, a bell crankflatch member adapted to be projected and retracted.y and including 'saidactuating member in normal positionl rigidly connected nose and tail portions, a v' thetail portion of said rlatch member having a lost motion` connection therewith adapted to permit retractingmovement ofV said latch member independently of the actuating member, and spring means adapted to yieldably retain said actuating member .in normal position independently of said latch member.

Signed'` at Lebanon, in the county of Boone `and State of Indiana, thisl'th day ofJanuary, 1926. f .f

n f vANDREW J. STEWART.

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