US2781214A - Hood latch - Google Patents

Description

Feb. 12, 1957 A. CLAUD-MANTLE HOOD LATCH 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 5, 1953 INVENTOR ATTORNEYS Feb. 12, 1957 A. CLAUD-MANTLE 2,781,214

HOOD LATCH Filed Oct. 5, 1953 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 u 30 1%.? :f 43 L35 INVENTOR 32 m Maud 34 57 D I Q 53 \p' i BY y ATTORNEYS Feb. 12, 1957 A. CLAUD-MANTLE HOOD LATCH 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Oct. 5, 1953 ATTOR NEYS A. CLAUD-MANTLE Feb.1f2,1957

HOOD LATCH 5 Sheets-Sheet 4' Filed Oct. 5, 1953 INVENTOR Chad, llafl W BY ML F Bum- ATTORNEYS Feb. 12, 1957 A. CLAUD-MANTLE 2,731,214

, HQOD LATCH Filed Oct. 5. 1953 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 1.\' V ENTOR Lima; @Qd-hw ATTORNEYfi United States Patent C HOOD LATCH Arthur Gland-Mantle, Trumbull, Conn., assignor to The Bassick Company, Bridgeport, Cnn., a corporation of Connecticut Application October 5, 1953, Serial No. 384,120

4 Claims. (Cl. 292-11) usually employed a lifting spring that lifts the lid to a certain extent when the primary latching means is released, and there is also employed a safety catch which prevents the lid from being lifted or raised to an undesirable extent, as by the action of the wind when the vehicle is in movement.

An object of the present invention is to provide an improved form of hood latch that is manually releasable by the service station attendant from a point within or associated with the grille portion at the forward end of the hood.

Another object is to provide a form of hood latch involving a novel arrangement or assembly of primary latch and secondary or safety latch.

A further object is to provide a simple and relatively inexpensive latch construction having an actuating and control device easily accessible for manual manipulation by the service station attendant.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. l is a fragmentary front elevation of the hood portion of an automobile equipped with a latch embodying the invention;

Fif. 2 is a top plan view partly in section of the hood shown in Fig. 1, with parts broken away to show the latch mechanism;

Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the latch shown in Fig. 2, the grille of the automobile being shown by broken lines;

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the latch looking from the right of Fig. l, the grille being shown by broken lines;

Fig. 5 is a view of the latch with the parts in the latched position looking from the side opposite that shown in Fig. 4;

' Fig. 6 is a section taken longitudinally of the hood on the line 6-6 of Fig. 3;

the mechanism;

Fig. 9 is a detail showing another position of certain parts illustrated in Fig. 9; and 'Fig. l0 is a view from below of the parts shown in Fig. 9.

In the form selected for illustration, the latch is of the general type previously mentioned, comprising a keeper in the form of a post or plunger carried by an upper plate fixed within the forward end portion of the lid, the keeper plunger having a generally conical head at its lower end adapted to be extended through an aperture or throat of a lower plate carried by the fixed part of the hood, the lower plate having pivoted thereto at its lower face a swinging latch lever adapted to engage the upper face of the keeper head to hold the lid in the closed position, the swinging lever being acted upon by a spring which urges it toward the latching position, and the lever being man ually operable by actuation of a tab or manipulating portion at the free end of the lever accessible in an opening provided in the grille which extends across the lower part of the hood. This latch has a lifting spring of known structure and arrangement associated with the keeper, this spring being a helical spring around the keeper, having its lower end in engagement with a cup member which in the latched position of the hood engages the upper face of the lower plate around the latch throat or aperture in that plate.

The upper and lower plates are adapted to be carried by transverse mounting plates supported in any preferred.

way in the upper and lower hood members.

As a part of the latch, there is a safety catch which, in this form, is constituted by a spring-pressed lever mounted upon the lower plate and controlled in the manner hereinafter described, this lever being adapted to prevent upward swinging of the lid by wind action when the vehicle is in motion, in case the parts of the primary latch are not properly interengaged.

In the drawings, the hood lid is indicated at 20, the lower fixed part of the engine enclosure at 21, the upper plate at 22, the transverse fixed support for the upper plate .at 23, the lower plate at 24, the transverse fixed support for the lower plate at 25, the keeper at26, the lifting spring at 27, the lifting spring cup at 28, the latching aperture or throat of the lower plate at 29, the latching lever at 30, the pivot mounting the latching lever on the lower plate at 31, and the manipulating tab of the operating lever at 32. In the form shown, a grille 33 is provided at the lower forward part of the engine enclovertical plane and being under the control of the latching lever in the manner hereinafter described.

The keeper 26 in this form is one having a bolt-like shank at the lower end of which is a conical head 37. The keeper-receiving aperture is elongated longitudinally of the hood so as to permit some relative forward and rearward movement of the lid and hood body when the lid is in the operative position, the lower plate having two depending and continuous flanges, each flange extending along one side of the elongated aperture so as to provide a skirt which prevents the keeper head from extending under the plate and becoming jammed therewith. The latching lever is pivoted to the plate adjacent one end of the aperture and extends along one side of the aperture (the left side as viewed in Fig. 2), and the lever is provided with a lug 38 normally projected through the flange or skirt structure 39 between the ends of the aperture, said lug'being supported so that it can overlie the keeper headin any position of the head along the length of the aperture.

' As shown in Fig. 2, a portion of the latch lever extends laterally from the left side of the latch plates, with a manipulating portion extended somewhat forwardly, and the safety catch lever 36 is located laterally of the plates and is adapted to co-act in the manner hereinafter described 7 plate is provided with a depending flange 45 the middle part of which is aperture'cl andbent outwardly to provide lugs 46. These lugs are used in pivoting the safety lever by means of a pivot pin 47 which passes through these" lugs and through a part of the safety lever 36 whichlis confined between them, as best shown in Fig. .10. The

lower end portion of the safetylever, which leverf'is made of, sheet metal, is'formed tofpr'ovide'a U-s'haped'c'ross sectiori that presents inturnedside lugs48 which are placed between the lugs 46, and the pin '47 passes throughholes in-the four lugs. A helical spring 49 is disposed about the pin 47 and has one terminal bearing againstlthe'flange of the latch plate and the other terminal 'bearing'ag'ainst the .U-shapedflower part 5016f the safety lever. This spring ur es the safety lever toward the part '40 of the upper latch plate 22 for a purpose whichwill hereinafter appear. The's'afety lever 36 has its upper end portion formed as ajhoolc -1 made of a single thickness-of metal. The lower extremity of'the lever is widened to provide the U-shaped portion 50, previously :mentioned,; used for pivoting purposes, and somewhat abovethe portion 50 the lever has a narrower U-shaped cross section, as indicated at ,52, presentingone side wall which is in the same plane a as the hook portion 51 and another-side wall that is in line with one of the lugs 48.. The side wall which is'in line with the hook 51, has a gently rounded camrning edge 53 adapted to engage the part 40.

As will be seen from Fig. 9, the lower plate is apertured at 54 adjacent its left-hand edge to provide anopening through which the .latch lever projects, the arrangement being such that a portion 55 of the latch lever projects laterally somewhat from the side of the latch plate in a location where thispart of the lever can engage the part '52 of the safety lever, this particular part of the safety 'lever being somewhat below the camming edge 53.. The part .55 of the lach lever is in theplane of the lever body, aslbest shown in Figs. '7 and 8, but apart 56 of the lever, which forms acontinuation of .the part 55, is 'bent downwardly, this part being disposed toward the forward edge of the latch plate. From this part 56 the lever is bent to ,form a forwardly extending part 57 arranged ina generally verticalplane, this part being bent laterally to form the tab'orfingerpiece 32; g

The side of the tipperplate 22 which is disposed toward the 'safetyeatehis provided with the part 49 to cooperate the safety member, and this part is in this form'con- V stituted by adepcnding fiangelike member integral with the plate and providing an aperture 59 in-whieh the ,h O

portionofthe safety member can be received; Theaperture preferably takes the form of a rectangular opening occupying onlya part of the width of thegfiange. The 1 flange fitllis at a slightinclination'to' a vertical plane directed longitudinally of the hood so that the flange 'has' an inward and upward taper (Figlj). At the lower edge of-the flange, which-is only slightly below the aperture 59, the flange has an inturned extremity fiflst'rengthening the loweredge of the flange, and,*as shown in:.Fig. 7 this 55 which confronts and is in close proximity to "a part of the body 52 of the safety catch, and this edge'portion 55?. in the'region adjacent the safety catch body is curved V in plan, as shown inFig. 'to present a camming edge,

.theaarrangement" being such that the spring of the safety catch holds'it against the'edge portion 55 movemcntof thellatch lever from the latchediposition to the'unlatched 7 position resulting in the shift of the safety hook in a lat- 4. v eralIy outward direction. Fig. 9 shows how the safety catch is shifted by this movement of'the latch lever. When the tab of the lever is released, the latch lever and the safety catch will be returned to their initial positions by their respective springs.

When the latch is in the latched position, as shown in Fig. 7, the lower part of theflange 4i) abuts against the safety catch so as to hold the catch in the position shown in that view.

.tendant takes hold of thetab or finger-piece 32-and piills it forwardly so as to move the latching lever to therelease position. The lid is thenlifted by the spring 27, the

latch lever,'and thus the lid .is raisedto a certain. extent. The latch'lever being held by one hand of the attendant in a fully :released position, the other hand of theattendant can be employed to lift the lid to a fully raised position. v 'In this ope'ratidn of releasing the lidthe safety catch is swung forwardly by its engagement with the cainming portion of the latching lever, and thus the safety catch does not interfere with the full raising of the lid. If, however, for any reason the safety e'atch engages the upper plate to hold the lid in the safety position, the movement of the latching lever can herepeated to shift the safety catch into a position allowing ffull raising of the lid. Owing to the concealment of the safety catch by the adjacent parts of the car, the safety catch cannot be shifted directly by manual manipulation in a convenient manner, but it may be shifted easily and conveniently by movement of the latching lever in a releasing. direction. 7 p

When the lid is fully released and has been raised to a substantial extent, the safety catch will be held byits spring in an approximately'vertical position, as shown, for example, in Fig. 8. The lower end of the flange 40 will, therefore, be above an inclined surface 61' ,at the upper end of the safety catch. Therefore when the .hood is again lowered, the flange 40 will engage the surface 61 in a manner to cam the hook ,part of the catch in a forward direction. This permits theflange 40 to pass the hook part of thecatch, and the curved camming edge 53 of the catch willengage the flange 40 in a manner to hold the catch in the position shown in Fig. 7, which is the normal latched position of themechapism. Then when the latch is released by moving'the latch lever to the keeper-releasing position, the lever will be moved to a position in which it holds the safety catch in position by engagement of the lever edge portion 55 with the body of the safety catch, as shown -in Fig. 94.

lever. .sWiJlgsLin ahorizontalplane and has a partf5pr0 truding from its mounting plate, this partahavingaacljacent the side margin of the mounting plate acamming. edge, This amming edge ,is engaged by a vertically swinging spring-pressed safety catch member. pivotedgbe-L low the plane of the mountingplatebody, the plane 'I'of 'swingg being transverse :to 'thefelongated ;latch;-aperture, the arrangement being such that, on forward pull .of .themanipulating.portion of the latch lever the safcty catch member is engagedfbetween-jits lower pivotednendj and its upper' free end and the :upper freeiend of the.

catch member swung awayfromthe'upper mounting Plate :of the latch. AS will be noted from Fig. 9, for example, 7 'ztheplane of' swing of the catch nziemherin formpin ".t'eri'sects the latching lug 38 when :the parts are his the position shown.

The hood latch, as herein described,- is 'an effective "and satisfactory onefor alligator hoods in cases where it is desirable to have thehood lidreleafiblea-byithe service station attendant by manual manipulation;

When the hood lid is tobe released, the service at a lever, operable by the attendannserves to latch and release the keeper in an effective manner. The safety catch arrangement is also of an improved construction. The safety catch although concealed within the hood can be effectively controlled by the latch lever so that when it is desired the pivoted safety catch member can be moved to or held in its lid-releasing position. Notwithstanding the fact that the latch lever moves in one plane and the safety catch member in a plane perpendicular thereto, an efiective control of the safety catch movement is provided by a construction such as described.

It is to be understood that the present disclosure is by way of example only and that various modifications and changes in the details may be made within the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a hood latch, an upper plate attachable to the forward end of an alligator hood lid and carrying a rigid depending post-like keeper with a latching head at the lower end, said plate having at one side a depending apertured marginal flange, a lower plate attachable to the fixed part of the hood below the upper plate and having an aperture for the latching head of the keeper which aperture is elongated in a direction lengthwise of the hood, a compression spring between said plates tending to lift the lid from the closed position, a latch lever pivoted to the lower plate adjacent the forward edge of said plate and extending rearwardly at one side of said aperture and having a lug projectable into said aperture to engage said latching head for latching the lid, said lever being provided at one side of the lower plate with a lateral extension which extension is provided with a forwardly disposed manipulating fingerpiece adapted to be located in a grille slot at the front end of the hood, a spring normally holding said latch lever in latching position, a spring-biased safety catch lever having a lower end pivoted on said lower plate to swing in a vertical plane directed transversely of the hood, said catch lever having a hook at the upper end adapted to cooperate with said marginal apertured flange of said upper plate in latching the lid in the safety position and in moving said catch lever laterally upon closing of the lid, said catch lever having an upwardly extending portion adjacent and extending across said lateral extension of said latching lever and said upwardly extending portion and said lateral extension being provided with interengaging means whereby on releasing movement of said latch lever said catch lever is swung laterally to disengage the apertured flange of said upper plate so as to release the lid, said depending apertured marginal flange being inclined downwardly and outwardly from the upper plate and having a lower camming edge portion below an aperture in said flange into which in safety position said hook projects, said camming edge portion on closing of the lid from the fully opened position being engageable sequentially with a surface on the upper part of said hook and a second surface on the body of said catch lever to swing said lever laterally away from said flange.

2. In a hood latch, an upper plate attachable to the forward end of an alligator hood lid and carrying a rigid depending post-like keeper, said plate having at one side of the hood a depending apertured flange inclined downwardly and outwardly toward the side of the hood, a lower plate attachable to the fixed part of the hood below the upper plate and having a keeper aperture elongated lengthwise of the hood in which the keeper can be latched in any of a number of longitudinal positions, a compression spring between said plates tending to lift said lid from the closed position, a latch lever pivoted to the lower plate and having a latching part at one side of said aperture adapted to engage the keeper to latch the lid, said latch lever also having an extension disposed in a laterally extending position with respect to said aperture which extension is provided with a forwardly extending fingerpiece adapted to be located in a slot of a hood grille, a safety-catch lever having a lower end pivoted to said lower plate and provided at the upper end with a hook adapted toengage and disengage the apertured flange of the upper plate, said safety-catch lever being provided between its ends with a camming means engageable by a part of said latch lever for releasing said catch lever from safety position, said apertured flange having a lower camming edge portion sequentially engageable with a surface on the upper part of said hook and a second surface on the body of said safety-catch lever for the purpose of shifting the book of said safety lever laterally to an upwardly and outwardly inclined position with the hook somewhat above said aperture when and as the lid is closed, and a torsion spring acting on the lower end portion of said safety catch lever to bias it toward said depending apertured flange so that when the keeper is released said hook will enter said aperture as the lid rises to thereby inhibit full opening of the hood.

3. In a hood latch, an upper plate attachable to the forward end of an alligator hood lid and carrying a depending post-like keeper, said plate having at one side a depending flange sloped downwardly toward the side of the hood and having an aperture therein, a lower plate attachable to the fixed part of the hood below the keeper plate and having a keeper aperture elongated lengthwise of the hood in which the keeper can be latched in any of a number of longitudinal positions, a latch lever pivoted to the lower plate at the forward part thereof and having a latching lug at one side of said aperture adapted to engage the keeper to latch the lid, said latch lever also having a forward extension at one side of said aperture which extension is provided with a forwardly extending fingerpiece adapted to be located in a slot in a hood grille, and a safety catch lever pivoted to a flange depending from said lower plate at one side of the plate so that said safety catch lever can swing in a vertical plane disposed transversely of the hood, the pivot for said safety catch lever being located at the lower end of said lever and said safety catch lever having at the upper end thereof a hook adapted to extend into said aperture in said apertured flange, said safety catch lever being spring-biased laterally in the direction of the said apertured flange, said safety catch lever being provided in a location above the lower plate with a camming surface which in the latched position of the latch is engaged by the lower end of said apertured flange to energize the spring of said safety catch lever, said hook of said safety catch lever having a downwardly sloping portion engageable by the lower end of said apertured flange when the fully opened hood lid is moved in a closing direction, and said safety catch lever being further provided in a location between its pivot and said first camming means with a portion engageable by the proximate portion of said latch lever whereby on forward pull of the latch lever fingerpiece said safety catch lever is swung laterally to a hood releasing position. I

4. In a hood latch, an upper plate attachable to the forward end of an alligator hood lid and carrying a depending postlike keeper, a lower plate attachable to the fixed part of the hood below the keeper plate and having a keeper aperture elongated lengthwise of the hood, a latch lever pivoted to the lower plate forwardly of said aperture and slightly to one side of the longitudinal axis of said aperture and having a latching lug at one side of said aperture to engage the keeper for latching the lid, said latch lever also having a lateral extension through a slot in a side flange extending downwardly from said lower plate, which extension is continued forwardly laterally of said plate at a lower level and provided at the forward end with a finger piece adapted to be located in a slot of a hood grille, a

, safety catch lever having a hooked upoer ehd and a Eeih'g provided between its-ends with a body portion q nti y th w Pa t f said pe u sd .fiap c to fswing "the iu pe; end of "said 'Iever 1te1jally 1 5151 the ilppe'r' latewhenth'e lid 'is lowered ,fics'm itfk fiill'y raised position. I

I "Reg r el'ijces 'ci ted in thefile o'fth ie patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 193,132 :Hynes :Ma r. 12, 1940 2,197,648 xMfilShfiiDlCl Apr; 16, 1940 2,227,144 Kranse Dec. 31, :1940 2,622,907 Hynes Dec. "23, 1952 2,646,299 :Kramer Iu1y21, 1953 r FOREIGN PATENTS r Greait Btitaih June, :24,

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