US2843411A

US2843411A - Door safety latch

Info

Publication number: US2843411A
Application number: US592815A
Authority: US
Inventors: William W Nettleship
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1956-06-21
Filing date: 1956-06-21
Publication date: 1958-07-15
Anticipated expiration: 1975-07-15

Description

July 15, 1958 w. w. NETTLESHIP DOOR SAFETY LATCH Filed June 21. 1956 FIG.4

FIG.2

INVENTOR. WILLIAM W. NETTLESHIP FIG.5.

United States Patent DOORSAFE-TYLATCH William W. Nettleship, Yakima, -Wash. Application June 21, 1956, Serial No. 592,815 2 Claims. Cl. 292-278) This invention is a safety latch for restricting the opening movement of a closure for a wall opening and effecting release of the closure at manual selection.

In many structures .1 have found that doorsopen into stairwells or other hazardous conditions, and in many instances it is impractical to swing the door in the opposite direction. Many homes have the basement door swinging into the stairwell, and this provides a hazard especially for small children who may unwittingly lean against or push against the door and thus accidentally fall down the stairs.

The primary object of the present invention is to provide a safety latch which will restrict the opening movement of a door to such an extent that it would be impossible for a child to fall through the restricted opening, and yet permit the door to open sufficiently wide so that the restricting mechanism can be manually released when it is desired to completely open the door for use.

To preclude the possibility of a child falling through a door opening by accidentally releasing the restricting latch, I provide the latch releasing mechanism on the side of the wall from which the door swings, therefore providing a very acceptable safety latch for hinged doors.

Another object of the invention lies in the provision of a safety latch for hinged doors which comprises a minimum number of parts assembled with facility and one which is sufficiently strong and well constructed to preclude the possibility of breakage and therefore is not liable to become inoperative.

These and other objects of the present invention will become apparent during the course of the following description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein like numerals are employed to designate like parts.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary vertical side elevation of a wall having an opening therein and a hinged door closure with the safety latch associated therewith;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary horizontal cross section upon an enlarged scale taken substantially on the plane indicated by line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a vertical view partially in side elevation and partially in cross section showing the bracket supported ways and the slidable latch mechanism associated with the latch bar, as though the door were in the closed position;

Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 3 and showing the latch bar released from the latch mechanism in full line and secured thereby in dotted line; and

Figure 5 is a lateral cross section as at line 5--5 of Figure 2.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing, I have shown (Figure 1) a wall having a near side 11 and (Figure 2) a far side 12. The wall is provided with an opening 13 therein and a closure 14 for the opening. In the present illustration of the drawing, it is seen that the opening is a doorway having a door frame 15 shaped to receive the door or closure 14 which is hinged at 16 2,843,411 Patented July 15, 1958 ice tothe door frame. (Eonventional doorknobs 17 with the usual spring loaded keeper and plate (not shown) are provided as is well known.

An anchoring plate 18 is shown to be secured to one side face of the door 14 by means of conventional fastening members such as screws 19. Rigidly fixed to this tion latchmember 23 comprises apair of vertically spaced horizontally extending way members 24 and25 which are supported by means of a bracket 26. The upper way member 24, as is seen most clearly in Figure 5, comprises-a pair of horizontal side by side spaced bars 27--27, while the lowerway member 25 is channel shaped in lateral cross section. A spacing bolt 28 extends through the free ends of the upper way member bars 27, thus securing them in spaced relationship. A stop bolt 29 extends through the channel shaped member 25 side walls to restrict or close the end thereof and preclude accidental removal of a slidable housing 30 from the ends of the

way members

24 and 25, by means of which it is supported for rectilinear movement.

The housing 30 is provided with a latch 31 which is pivoted on the pivot pin 32 having its ends supported in the housing 30. The latch 31, as seen in Figure 4, is adapted for pivotal movement from the full line position thereof to the dotted line position in which it is moved from a latch-bar-releasing position to a latch-bar-securing position.

It will be seen that with the latch 31 disposed in the dotted line position and with the door moving from an open position to a closed position, the latch bar 22 will strike the curvilinear face 33 and shift the latch 31 toward the full line position of Figure 4, whereupon the latch bar 22 will subsequently strike the bulbous extension 34 and force the latch 31 back to the dotted line position wherein the latch bar 22 is confined as shown at the dotted line position of Figure 4 and the full line position of Figure 3. The door may then continue to the closed position as shown in Figure 2 wherein the housing 30 slides along the

ways

24 and 25.

A latch release mechanism, here shown to be a length of cord 35 is secured to the latch 31 and the frame 15 at opposed ends, is of such length that it will not tauten when the housing 30 has been shifted to its extreme outward position, as shown by broken lines in Figure 4. However, pull on the cord 35 will cause the latch 31 to pivot to the full line position of Figure 4, thus releasing the latch bar 22.

It is assumed that the door 14, as seen in Figure 2, opens inwardly to the dotted line position, into a stairwell or other hazardous condition.

Obviously, if the door is not completely secured by its conventional keeper and plate, accidental pressure upon the door will cause it to pivot openly, whereupon a person may be caused to fall down a flight of stairs. With the structure disclosed, the door may shift to the dotted line position of Figure 2 when pressure is applied thereto, but the pressure from the swinging door will not release the latch bar 22 and therefore the safety latch will prevent accidental movement of the door beyond the restricted open position as heretofore described.

When it is desired to use the door and move it to the full open position, one need only reach through the restricted opening which is defined by the edge of the door 1. In a device for releasably locking a door against I opening beyond a predetermined restricted open position,

7 in combination, a latch bar fixed relative to said door and extending substantially parallel to a plane thereof; a bracket secured relative to the frame of said door and having upper and lower way members extending at right angles to the plane of said door in its closed position and disposed to receive said latch bar therebetween; a housing slidable in said way members for restricted rectilinear movement; a latch pivotally carried by said housing and adapted to receive and releasably secure said latch bar, whereby said door may freely move between its closed position and said restricted open position; and manually operable latch actuating means adapted to release said latch from said latch bar, whereby the door may be freed to move to its completely open position.

2. A safety latch for hinged closures in wall openings comprising interacting locking members rigidly secured respectively to the closure and the wall; one said member being a bracket having a way therein; a normally closed releasable latch carried by said way for free rectilinear movement thereon within defined limits and adapted to automatically receive and releasably secure the other said member during closing movement of the closure, Whereby to limit the movement of said closure to a restricted open position; and manually operable means for releasing said latch to move to the open position, whereby the other said member is released therefrom.

References Cited in the file of this patent France Dec. 1, 1923