US2790665A

US2790665A - Refrigerator latch

Info

Publication number: US2790665A
Application number: US604187A
Authority: US
Inventors: Vanderveld Anthony
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1956-08-15
Filing date: 1956-08-15
Publication date: 1957-04-30
Anticipated expiration: 1974-04-30

Description

April 30, 1957 A. VANDERVELD 2,790,665

I REFRIGERATOR LATCH Filed Aug. 15, 1956 v 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Af/omey April 30, 1957 A. VANDERVELD 2,790,665

REFRIGERATOR LATCH Filed Aug. 15, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I I L"-:--/ l 4 v liiyl/llllll n5 7/2 /nvenf0r Anfhony l/anoerve/o nited States Patent REFRIGERATOR LATCH Anthony Vanderveld, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Application August 15, 1956,'Serial No. 604,187

Claims. (Cl; 292-336) This invention relates to and is concerned with a door latch which in practice has been used with refrigerator doors with especial advantage, though not restricted to such use alone.

I have heretofore filed an application for patent on a refrigerator latch, having Serial No. 572,555, filed March 19, 1956. The present-invention discloses improvements in the construction of the refrigerator latch which eliminates all Pivot pins and the cost and expense attendant thereto and which, while shown in vertical position at the front edge of a refrigerator casing, may be reversed in position and used on the door, and is also useable in either vertical position as disclosed or in. horizontal position. Exceptional economy in manufacture, particularly in the assembly of the latch is attained with increased sturdiness of structure and durability in use.

With the latch of my invention the door may be pulled open upon exerting a predetermined outward force thereon, usually by grasping, a handle fixed onthe door and pulling outwardly. Also, as is evident, the same force pushing against the door at the inner side thereof will 2,790,665 Patented. Apr. 30, 195.7

in the same direction at right angles, while at the inner edge of the back. 1 a like inner flange or side 4 is bent, the width ofthe

parts

2, 3 and 4 being equal. Additionally at the outer edge of the back 1 two outer side sections 5 and 6, having the same width as the

other sections

2, 3, and 4 are turned at right angles, being separated at adjacent ends by an opening at 7 made by cutting away an intermediate portion of the outer side to leave the sections 5' and 6. The sections 5 and 6 at their upper and lower ends, respectively, extend beyond the upper sides 2 and 3 as shown in Fig. 6.

in the back 1 a circular opening 8 is pierced, located toward the upper end thereof. At the. juncture of the integral connection of the. upper side 2 with the back 1 a slot 9 is cut lengthwise of the part 2. In the inner side 4, upper and lower spaced slots 10 and 11 are cut lengthwise of said side 4 and in the upper edge portion of the section 6. a vertical slot 12 is made. The slots it 11 and 12 are located in the same plane and the upper end of slot 12 is open having conjunction with the opening 7 previously described.

open it, thereby eliminating thedanger of entrapment which with respect to children has happened many times in connection with refrigerators which refrigerators are equipped with openings closed by doors which are held in positive and closed position against opening by pressure against the inside of the door.

An understanding of the invention showing the novelty, simplicity and economy of structure in the form in which my invention is preferably embodied may be had from the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which,

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a refrigerator with the door closed and which is equipped with my invention, the latching structure being disguised and only the pulling handle on the door shown at the outside.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary, much enlarged horizontal section on the plane of line 22 of Fig. 1 with the door closed.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the readily releasable latch showing it with the parts thereof in the position occupied as the door is in the process of being closed and approaches closed position. I

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary vertical section substantially on the plane of line 4-4 of Fig. 2 looking in the direction indicated, with the door fully closed. 1

Fig. 5 is a transverse vertical section substantially on the plane of the broken line 5--5 ofFig. 3 looking in the direction indicated, and a [I Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the latch casing or housing used in my invention.

Like reference characters refer to like parts in the different figures of the drawings. c

The latch housing is made from a plate of flat metal to provide a vertical side 1, which may be termed the back side, from the ends of which an upper, flange or side 2 and a lower flange or side 3 are turned and bent spring 27, one end of which nears against the side section- Such housing for the latch is inserted through an opening made at the vertical front 13 of the door casing outwardly-of the door opening which is present in a refrigerator, as 14-, and against which the free vertical edge ofa refrigerator door is adapted to hear when the door is. closed. The upper and lower extensions of the sections 5 and 6' overlap such front side l3 and are secured I inner side 4 and from it lower end an integral, outwardly extending generally horizontal arm 18 which passes through the opening at i and slot 3.2 at the outer side of the housing. It terminates in a keeper head 1% which, as shown in Figs. 3' and 4, has an upwardly and inwardly extending upper cam edge -26, at its inner end joining with a downwardly and inwardly inclined edge 21. The inclination of the edge 21 is at an acute angle to the vertical While that oftho. edge 2% is an acute angle to the horizontal. The arm 18 back of the keeper head 19 has a short downward extension 22 which terminates in a laterally turned arm 23-1 t ri ht angles to the plane of the latch lever, extending toward the vertical back or side 1 (Fig. 5).

The latch is assembled with the. housing by the insertion of two spaced

apart projections

24 and 25 from the inneredge of the arnril'l. The projection 25 is substantially horizontally aligned with the horizontal arm 18 and passes through the lower slot ii. When thus assembled the lower part of the keeper head 19 is received and guided in the slot 12. The projection M25 at its juncture with the latch lever rides against the lower cnd of slot 11. 'Thc lever as thus mounted is adapted to turn or rock about the corner or point at Zo'where the lever engages the vertical side 4- at the lower end of slot ii at the inside corner thereof. T he latch lever is normally moved in a counterclockwise direction by a coile 5 and theother telescopes over a forwardly extending projection 28 on the arm 17.

The spring 27 will have a preselected strength such that it will resist clockwise turning movement of the keeper head 19 until asuflicient force is applied to overcome the spring resistance. The latch lever and spring are very easily assembled by a mere insertion of the projections ,24 and 2 5;throh'gh their respective slots with the spring 27 at its inner end over the projection 28 and with the keeper head 19 in slot 12. By reason of the

slots

10, 11 and 12 lying in the same plane, which plane is parallel to the vertical side or back 1, and with such slots only sufficiently wider than the thickness of the metal plate from which the latch lever is cut to permit free movement, the lever is held, guided and maintained in such plane. q

A trigger for holding the latch lever in inoperative position is located within the housing. It is made from a plate of flat metal 29 which at its upper end portion lies against the adjacent back 1, and at its upper edge portion extends through the slot 9 and is provided with an integral sleeve bearing 30 struck therefrom and having an exterior diameter to pass freely through the opening 8. The trigger is normally turned in a counterclockwise direction (Fig. 4), having a vertical tongue 31 struck laterally therefrom back of its pivotal axis, over which a coiled compression spring 32 is placed with the upper end bearing against the top side 2 of the housing.

The lower portion of the trigger 29 is offset away from the back 1, as at 29a, and at its lower end portion parallels the plane of the latch lever 16, spaced a short distance therefrom. The lower end of the trigger 29 is divided vertically substantially midway between its side edges to provide a downwardly extending leg 33 which, at its lower end, has a lower corner removed to provide a downward projection 34 narrower than the leg 33 and a recess at 34a having a generally horizontal upper shoulder and a vertical shoulder at the outer edge of said projection 34. The other leg 35, positioned outwardly from the leg 33 at its lower end is turned as at 36 toward and preferably reaches to the back plate 1. The part 36 riding against the back plate 1 stabilizes and holds the trigger member 29 against undesired movement at its lower portion.

The relative location of the member 23 with respect to the recess 34a is such that when the latch lever is turned clockwise by the outward movement of the roller 39 bearing against the cam surface 21 it will be lowered and assume a position near the inner side of the flange 3. The outward movement of the roller 39 which causes part 23 'to be depressed now allows the trigger 29 under the urge of spring 32 to move counterclockwise and swing the notched out shoulder 34a of the arm 33 with a slight clearance over the part 23 at which point it is held from further movement by the projection 34.

When the roller 39 moves beyond the high point of the cam surface 21 and begins to contact the cam surface 20 the upper side of the part 23 under the urging of spring 27 will be lifted and come to rest firmly against the notched out shoulder in arm 33 and hold until the door is again closed.

The keeper which is to cooperate with the latching mechanism is made from a plate of flat metal with a vertical back 37 and two spaced arms 38 extending therefrom generally horizontally, between which a roller 39, preferably of nylon material, is rotatably mounted to turn about a horizontal axis. A mounting plate 40 permanently secured within the door 41 of the refrigerator at its free vertical edge portion carries the keeper by means of screw bolts similar to the bolts 15. The inner,

side of the free verticaledge portion of the door has an opening 42 (Fig. 2) through which the arms 32 of the keeper extend. The usual sealing gasket 43 is carried at the inner side of the door at its edges to press against the outer faces of the refrigerator casing (Fig. 2) around the refrigerator opening. The door is supplied with a handle 44 fixed at any convenient location for operation which handle maybe pulled outwardly upon.

In operation, on closingthe door and with the latch lever held and trigger retained as in Fig. 3, spring 27 being compressed, the keeper arms 38 and roller 39 being located so that roller 39 will reach the keeper head 19 only slightly before. passing over its highest point, when the roller does engage such keeper head 19 it depresses such head a short distance moving the part 23 downwardly from the upper horizontal shoulder at the recess 35 whereupon as the roller passes over such uppermost portion of the head 19 and strikes the trigger 29 the trigger is moved against the force of spring 32 in a clockwise direction to the. position shown in Fig. 4. This automatically releases the latch lever 16 so that it swings to the position in Fig. 4, the inner edge 21 pressing upwardly on roller 39 and tending, through the force of the spring 27, to pull the door snugly to closed position and compress gasket 43.

The inclination of the inner edge 21 of the head 19 to the vertical is such that an outward horizontal pull on handle 44 will supply a downwardly acting vertical component of such force against the outer end of the latch lever so that the latch lever will rock clockwise against the spring 27 when such pulling force reaches a predetermined amount sutficient to overcome spring 27. As the roller 29 approaches the uppermost point of the head 19, the trigger 29 automatically follows the rollerv 39 as it is withdrawn, reaching and passing outwardly beyond the position shown in Fig. 3. As the roller passes farther outward and disengages from head 19 the automatic counterclockwise turning of the latch lever brings the part 23 against the upper horizontal shoulder at recess 35, holding the head 19 in a lower position.

The latch lever accordingly is held substantially in the position shown in Fig. 3 when the door is opened. It is triggered to released position by roller 39 coming against the trigger 29 when the door is closed. However, should the trigger be inoperative at any time, or ineffective, or fail to hold the latch lever in the position shown in Fig. 3, and with the latch lever positioned as in Fig. 4 with the door open, the automatic latching of the door when it is swung shut follows from the roller 39 riding against the upper outer edge 20 of the keeper head 19 and de pressing it until such roller reaches and is engaged by the inner edge of head 19 at 21.

The latch structure shown is one which is very readily manufactured and assembled. The casing has no parts which require depth drawing, the flanges or

sides

2, 3, 4, 5 and 6, being merely bent at right angles from the back 1. The assembly is easily accomplished by merely putting the latch lever in place in the casing, together with its spring, after the trigger member has been put in place by inserting its integral sleeve 30 through the openings in the back. No pivot pins are required with riveting over of the ends thereof. The latch lever is held and retained against undesired movements, rocking in a plane of movement from which it does not deviate. The production of the latch lever and the trigger member by simple punch press operation is evident. A marked improvement in simplicity, economy and durable sturdy structure is made.

The invention is defined in the appended claims and is to be considered comprehensive of all forms of structure coming within their scope.

I claim:

1. Alatch comprising a casing, a latch lever within said casing, said casing at one side having spaced aligned slots lengthwise of said side thereof, an opening in the opposite side of said casing, and a slot in said opposite side, lengthwise thereof extending from an end of said opening, said lever having an arm generally paralleling the first mentioned side of said casing, said arm having projections thereon passing'through the slots of said first mentioned side, and a second arm connected with and located generally at right angles tothe first arm extending through said opening in the opposite side of the casing and through said slot therein, and spring means acting on the first arm to turn said lever to move the first arm toward said first side of the casing.

2. Structure as defined in claim 1, the free end of said second arm of said lever having a keeper retaining head with which a latch keeper is adapted to cooperate and be releasably held by said head.

3, A latch structure comprising, a casing having a back and sides at right angles thereto, one of said sides having an opening therethrough, and a second side opposite the first mentioned side having a plurality of slots lengthwise thereof, a latch lever having projections passing through said slots rockingly mounted therein, and having a keeper engaging portion extending through said opening, means on said first side for retaining and guiding said keeper engaging portion to move in a generally fixed plane, and spring means acting on said lever normally rocking it in one direction.

4. Latch structure comprising, a casing having a back side plate, upper, lower, inner and outer sides integral with and located substantially at right angles to and extending in the same direction from said back plate, a latch lever of bell crank form within said casing spaced from the back plate, having a generally vertical arm rockingly mounted on the inner side adjacent the lower end of said arm, and a generally horizontal arm extending outwardly from the lower end of said vertical arm and passing through said outer side, said outer side having a vertical guiding slot through which said horizontal arm passes, and a coiled compression spring bear- 6 ing at one end against said outer side of the casing and at its other end against said vertical arm, said outer casing side having a keeper passing opening above said guiding slot therein, connecting therewith.

5. Structure having the elements in combination defined in claim 4, and a trigger member having a cylindrical sleeve adjacent its upper end integral therewith passing through said back plate rotatably connecting the trigger member with said plate, said trigger member being between said latch lever and back plate, means at the free end of the trigger member, and cooperating means on said horizontal arm for holding the latch lever away from normal spring actuated position and against the force of the spring acting thereon.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,528,864 Curtiss Nov. 7, 1950 2,622,910 Jacobson Dec. 23, 1952 2,634,151 Russell et al. Apr. 7, 1953 2,692,789 Rivard Oct. 26, 1954