US2525187A - tabler - Google Patents

Description

Oct. 10, 1950 v H. K. TABLER 2,525,187

GATE LATCH Original Filed May 18, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 HM I H; K. TABLER Oct. 10, 1950 GATE LATCH 2 Shee ts-Sheet 2 Original Filed m 18, 1 945 m Mull-Ii? II m m R E B Attorney:

f UNITED ,STATES PATENT orries Patented Oct. 10, 1950 2,525,187 GATE LATCH Herbert K. Tabler, Plymouth, Ill., assigno'r to Imogene Tablet, Plymouth, Ill. I Original application May 18, 1945, Serial No.

594,509, new Patent No. 2,469,019, dated May 3, 1949. Divided and this application June 24,

1946, Serial No. 678,940

1 Claim. (Cl. 292-153) This invention relates to improvements in gate latches and more particu arly to farm gates, especially of the type disclosed inmy co-pending application entitled Gates, filed May 18, 1945,

of points by transverse, vertical bars H. The

gate ;9 is adapted to be disposed between spaced 7 sa e posts 12 and i3 and i swi eably c nnecte at one end thereof by conventional hinges l4to the post 12 and by'means of which the gate 9 and bearing Serial No. 594,509,.now Patent No. is supported in a vertical plane for swinging 2,469,019, issued May 3, 194 9, of which this apmovement in a horizontal plane, all as clearly plication constitutes a division. illustrated in Figure 1.

A primary object of the present invention is As best seen in Figure 2, the transverse bars to provid a safety latch which will prevent cattle ll are preferably disposed in pairs on opposite from accidentally unlatching and opening the 10 sides of the rails ii] and the bars ll, located at gate by rubbing against the latch. the free end of the gate 9 and between two of A further object of the invention is to provide otheurails it r-nountfla pair of vertically spaced a latch of simple and practical construction, pins l5, as best seen in Figure 5-,Which form a which is durable and strong, efficient and reliable guide for a reciprocally mounted latch bar 15, in operation, relatively inexpensive to manuone end of which is reciprocally disposed therefacture and otherwise Well adapted for the purbetween. A pair of vertically disposed bars I] poses for which the same is intended. are arranged on opposite sides of the rails it),

Other objects and advantages of the invention disposed above and below the latch bar L6 and Will hereinafter become more fully apparent are secured to said rails, adjacent their ends, by from the following description of the drawings, fastenings it. A bolt or pin {9, as best seen in which illustrate preferred embodiments thereof, Figure 3, extends :between the bars ll, interand wherein: mediate of their ends and between said afore- Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a farm mentioned rails l0 and through an elongated gate of the type disclosed in my co-pending aplongitudinally disposed slot '20 inthe latch bar plication, previously referred to, and with the i6 and .which is located adjacent the opposite, preferred embodiment of the latch applied thereinner end thereof. v I to and-shown-in a position for retaining the gate The post i3 is provided with an inwardly facin in a closed position; socket or recess 2! forminga keep r for receiv- Figure 2 is a horizontal sectional view thereof ing the outer end of the latch bar it when the taken substantially along a plane as indicated latteris in a projected position, asseen in Figures by the'line 2-2 of Figure 1; :1 and 2. A latch lever 22 is pivotally mounted Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary horizontal adjacent one end thereof beneath the latch bar sectional view taken substantially along a plane 16 and, between, the bars ll on a pivot pin 213 as indicated by the line 33 of Figure 1; which extends through the bars ll. Th upper Figure dis a transversevertical sectional view .edge of the pivoted end of the latch lever ,22 is taken substantially along a plane as indicated by provided with a hook shaped extension ,24, as the line 44 of Figure 1; 7 best seen in Figure 5, which engages one end of Figure 5 is afragmentary side elevational view, a contractile coiled Spring 25, the opposite end p r ly in vertical section showing the latch in of which is anchored to a bracket 26 secured to an open position; 40 the rail l0, which is disposed below the latch bar Figure 6 is an enlarged transverse sectional I6 and between the latch lever 22 and the free view taken substantially along a plane as indiend of' the gate 9. The latch 22 is curved upcated by the line 66 of Figure 2; wardly intermediate of its ends so that the upper Figure 7 is a fragmentary side elevational view free end portion thereof will bear against the of a slightly modified form of the latch, and inner end of the latch bar It, when the latter is Figure 8 is a transverse sectional view thereof, in a projected position in engagement with the taken substantially along a plane as indicated keeper 2|. The spring 25 acts to turn the latch by the line 8--8 of Figure '7. lever 22 in a clockwise direction, as seen in Figure Referring more specifically to the drawings, 1, for yieldably bearing against the rear end of for the purpose of illustrating the invention, the latch bar It to resiliently retain it in an hereinafter to be described, a conventional type operative position in engagement with keeper 2|. of farm gate, designated generally 9 is illustrated As best seen in Figures 5 and 6, the inner side in Figure 1 and includes a plurality of spaced of the latch lever 22 is provided With a longisuperposed horizontal rails [G which are contudinal groove 2? for bearing engagement with nected in spaced apart relationship at a plurality the latch bar It.

From the foregoing it will be readily obvious that the latch bar I6 can be manually retracted for retracting the outer end thereof out of engagement with the keeper 2I to permit opening of the gate 9. The latch bar I6 is retracted against the action of the spring due to the fact that the retraction thereof forces the latch lever 22 to swing downwardly on its pivot 23 out of the path of movement of the latch bar and so that the rear end thereof can pass over the free end of the latch lever, as illustrated in Figure 5. With the free endof the. latch lever 22 disposed beneath the rear end of the latch bar I6 the groove 21 thereof will bear against the under side of the latch bar and will be frictionally held in engagement therewith by the pull of the spring 25 for frictionally retaining the latch bar I6 in a retracted, inoperative position, as seen in Figure 5. The latch bar I6 can be returned to an operative position by manual movement thereof in the opposite direction, and as said latch bar approaches its outermost position, the upper end of the latch lever 22 will move into a position behind the inner end of the latch bar for urging it to a fully projected position.

A slightly modified form of the invention is illustrated in Figures 7 and 8 and which is especially adapted for use on wire gates. A portion of such gate, designated generally 28 is illustrated in Figures 7 and 8 and includes a portion of a tubular metal gate frame 29 across the opening of which is stretched a plurality of strands of wire, two of which are indicated at 36. The gate 29 also includes a pair of laterally spaced uprights 3I having a pin 32 extending therethrough for slidably engaging the slot 20 of the latch bar I6. The latch bar I6 is guided adjacent its opposite end by being reciprocally disposed in an opening 33 of the upright 29. The gate 28 may be hingedly mounted in the same manner as the gate 9 and the post 33 thereof, corresponding to the post I3 is provided With an inwardly opening recess or socket 34 forming a keeper for receiving the outer end of the latch bar I6, in the same manner and for the same purpose as the keeper 2|. The latch structure of Figures '7 and 8 includes a latch lever 35 which may be of substantially the same shape as the latch lever 22 but which differs therefrom in that in lieu of the hook 24, the latch lever 35 is provided with an eye extension 36 which projects from the pivoted end thereof. The pivoted, lower end of the latch lever 35 is disposed between the bars 3I and in pivotal engagement with a pin 31 which extends therethrough. A contractile spring 38 is connected at one end to the eye 36 and is connected at its opposite end to an anchor pin 39 which is mounted in the bars 3|, below the lever 35. The groove in the inner side of the lever 22 may, if desired, be omitted from the lever 35, as illustrated.

The lever 35 operates in connection with the latch bar I6 of the gate 28 in the same manner and for the same purpose as the latch lever 22, and as the operation of the latch bar I6 of the gate 28 is the same as that of the latch bar of the gate 9, a further description of the operation of the gate latch shown in Figures 7 and 8 is considered unnecessary.

Various modifications and changes are contemplated and may obviously be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter defined by the appended claim.

I claim:

A gate latch comprising a latch bar adapted to be slidably mounted on a gate, a lever having right angularly disposed ends, one of said ends being pivoted to the gate, and spring means connected to the gate and lever and rocking the lever in a direction to urge the other end thereof toward the latch bar, the inner edge of said last mentioned end of the lever engaging an end of the latch bar when the other end of the latch bar is in a projected, latching position, said first mentioned end of the latch bar being rounded, the distance between the pivot of the lever and the apex of the lever ends being less than the distance from the apex to the point of engagement of the last mentioned lever end with the first mentioned rounded end of the latch bar, said last mentioned end of the lever being held by the spring means in engagement with a longitudinal edge of the latch bar, when the latch bar is in a retracted position, for frictionally retaining the latch bar in a retracted position.

HERBERT K. TABLER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number

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