US2883698A - Latch construction - Google Patents

Description

Ap1 ii 28, 1959 H. J. LANDRY LATCH CONSTRUCTION Filed April 11, 1956 l l'llyl l I 7 NVENTOR HENRY J. LANDRY 7mfiq v ATTORNEY United States Patent LATCH CONSTRUCTION Henry J. Landry, Ashburnham, Mass.

Application April 11', 1956,- Serial No, 577,510

8 Claims. (Cl. 16-444) This invention relates to a new and improved latch. construction particularly adapted for latching, together in. aligned condition the folding side walls. of a folding playpen or the like; said walls when. unlatched. being. capable of pivoting into side-by-side relationship. for folding the playpen, and when extended, these walls are automatically latched in aligned position. for use of the playpen- I Objects. of the invention include the. provision. of. av latch of the class. described comprising, a pair. of articu" lated hinge. members, each of which is. secured to a portion. of an. articulated wall member adapted for pivoting. into: side-by-side or extended. aligned condition. with re.- spect to each other, one hinge. member being, provided with. a cam. nose extending therefrom into the range of the. other member and. the. latter being; provided with means for. automatically latching; the.- same when. the sections 015 the wall are. pivoted. into thealigned extended. condition thereof- Further objects of. the invention include theprovision of. an. automatic latch as above described including extremely easily operated. means. for releasing both latches, there being one at the break. of. each folding, sidev wall, said means comprising. an extension. upon. one. of the hinge members. of. each latch, said extensions each. being in. position. to be. operated by a. single finger. of. the operator merely by pressing upon the same in, a direction. toward the operator, whereby the hands of' the operator are. normally and naturally in a position for swinging; in the in-swinging articulated side walls of the playpen tosi'd'e-hy-side relationship as above described; and the provision of a novel latch having a construction to allowpositioning. of upright spindles for the side walls closely adjacent the hinge members.

Other objects and advantages of. the invention will ap pear hereinafter.

Reference. is to be had to the accompanying; drawings inwhich Fig. 1 is a plan view of a play-yard to which the present: invention is applied to illustrate the positions. of the latches;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged diagrammatic view illustrating the operation of the device;

Fig; 3" is a view in side elevation, looking in the direction of. arrow 3 in Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged section on line 4-4 of Fig. 5;;

Fig; 5 is. an enlarged section on line. 5-5 ofFig, 4;.

Fig; 6 is a section on line 66 of" Fig. 51;.

Fig; 7 is a perspective view of one of theiparts. of the: latch; 4

Fig; Sis a. sectional view' illustrating the operation of the latch; and

Fig. 9' shows. the latch with the side walls folded.

' Although the present latch. is shown as applied. to a play-yard as illustrated in. Fig. 1 herein, this latch may of course. be. used in. any relationship. where. it is. found desirable or convenient without departing from. the, scope of. the present invention. In Fig 1,. there is "ice 2 shown a plan view of a play-yard which has a rigid front wall 10, a rigid rear wall. 12, and a pair of in.-' swinging side walls made upof articulated parts, the top rails of which are indicated at. 14' and 16 on the one hand and 18 and 20 on the other hand. These-parts are articulated by means. of the. latch to be described. and forming av part of the invention in thepresent case and they are also pivoted as by hinges generally indi cated. by the reference numeral. 22 to the respective ends: of the front and. rear walls as is. well. known. in. the art.

The. floor of. the playpen is illustrated at 24- and 26",. the fioor part 26 having a free edge and the floor 24: being. hinged at its opposite edge to the front. wall. 10- at the lower portion thereof. There: is. a: lever on the likev 28 which may be utilized to: extend. and. retract. the floor and this may be: constructed as further described in my copending application. Serial: No. 577,515,. filed- April 1.1,v 1956 The above description is. merely to illustrate. the use and operation: of. the. present invention which. comprises in. general a. pair of hinge leaves 30' and 32- joined by at: pintle 34-. received. in. ferrules 36, the; latter being. oiiset from the plane: of the hinge leaves as shown in Figs. 2 and 9 to provide for accommodation of parts oh the device when in the folded condition. of the. side wall members 18 and 20 and 14 and. 16.

The. latch described isshown as applied to thfi31fte hand. members 18 and 20 of the play-yard. but the; op posite latch which is generally indicatedat 38 inv Fig. l. is exactly the same merely being turned up-side down. in. orderv to provide. for a right-hand and left handi op erated latch for the convenience of the operator folding; the playpen.

The hinge leaf 30 is secured as by conventional fasteners 40 to. the. member 18 of the play-yard, this being the upper rail. thereof as will be understood bythose skilled in the art. This. upper; rail member 18 is provided with an inwardly-extending slot best. seen in Fig; 4 and indicated at. 42. Extending into this slot is a latching plate 44 which is made integral with. hinge leaf 30 or is secured thereto as by welding. or peening. as; indicated at 46. In. any event, the. latching plate 44 is normal to the. hinge leaf- 30 and it. extends beyond. the pintle. 34- as clearly shown. in Figs. 4- and 8 for entry into a transverse slot. 46 which is provided in the end of. the sidewall member. 20 centrally thereof.

The hinge leaf 32- is' secured to the member 20 by similar fasteners 48 and. this hinge leafcovers the slot. 46 at one side. of the member 20. as: the hinge leaf. 30* covers the. slot 42. Slot 42, however, need. not. extend.- all. the way through member 18 but the slot. 46 does so extend- Upon the outer face ofihinge leaf. 32, there is fixedly mounted a block generally indicated at 50,, see particularly Fig. 7. This block is undercut at its edges at. 5 2 and also at its rear edge as at 56. The. block is' secured by any means such as rivets 58 extending. through holes 60 into the hinge leaf. 32,. see Fig. 4. The. bloclc 50. is provided with aspring or springs. which may be conveniently located in. holes 62 in the block. or other: wise and these springs are illustrated at 64 extending out-.- wardly from said holes toward the hinge pintle. S4.

A. metal housing generally indicated at. 66. is provided with. sides 68 which are in-turned at.7 0 to underlie undercut. portions .52 and. 54 and. this provides for a guided sliding action of thev housing 66 relative to the block. 50.: Housing. 66 also has a forward wall bent down. at 76 so: that. front block 50 is enclosed. and the spring 64 beats upon the. inner surface of wall 76, thus normally butyield ingly holding the entire housing to the leftin Figs. 3 and; 4",. whereinthe terminal portion74- of rear; wall. 72 is firmly held-under the undercutportion. 56.

aeaaess The latching plate 44! extends to the right as seen in Fig. 4 and it terminates in a laterally extending cam nose indicated at 78. This cam nose is projectible through a slot 77 in fringe leaf 32 and into a slot 79 in block 50. This cam nose is provided with an inwardly extending notch 80 and this is the latching notch which cooperates with the inner terminal edge of the terminal portion 745 to latch the parts together. The cam portion of the nose 78 is indicated at 82, see particularly Fig. 8.

Assuming that the parts are latched together as indicated in Figs. 1, 3 and 4, the operator who stands adjacent the pedal 28 in front of the front wall 10, merely bends over slightly and places the forefinger of the left hand upon the housing 66 at the left in Fig. l and the forefinger of the right hand on the housing 66 at the right hand in Fig. l, gently pulling these toward him. At the same time, the operator steps upon the pedal 28 raising the floor parts 24 and 26 as shown in the copending application above identified. Since the terminal portion 74 has now been retracted from the notch 80, see Fig. 8, the hands are then moved toward each other folding in the side walls (see the arrows, Fig. l) behind the folding floor, the floor assuming a position in parallel folded condition with respect to front wall 10. Continuing the motion of the two hands, the in-folding side walls are brought into overlapping folded relation with respect to the folded floor parts.

Upon extending the playpen for use, the operator merely pushes the rear wall outwardly, and moves the swinging sidewalls at 16 and 20 oppositely to the direction of the arrows in Fig. l. The floor then extends to a horizontal condition and when the side walls members 18 and 20 and 14 and 16 become aligned, the cam noses of the latches automatically retract the housings 66 as in dotted lines in Fig. 8, and the terminal portions 74 of housings 66 snap into the notches 80, whereupon the parts are fully automatically latched together.

This invention provides the easiest operated folding play-yard of any construction and the easiest operated latching mechanism. Only a very slight pressure of the fingers is required to unlatch the members and nothing on the part of the operator is required to be done at all in order to latch them, except to unfold the pen. There is no mechanism underneath the top rails of the side walls 14, 16 and 18 and 20 and there is no mechanism at the inside of the play-yard at all, all of the latching mechanism being at the outside aspects of the side wall members as clearly shown. The operating mechanism is not in a position where it may be accidentally actuated by the occupant of the play-yard; there is no fumbling about on the part of the operator to find the actuating member, i.e. housing 66, as is the case when the actuator is located underneath the rail; and the latch itself is extremely easy to be operated by anyone Without danger of pinching the fingers in any way, the actuation of the latches being extremely smooth and easy and positioned in a novel manner relative to the folding side walls for operation in a natural manner.

The construction is such as to allow the use of spindles 84 close to the hinge, and this cannot be done in prior art structures using automatic hinges.

' Having thus described my invention and the advantages thereof, I do not wish to be limited to the details herein disclosed, otherwise than as set forth in the claims, but what I claim is:

1. An automatically latching hinge construction for a pair of members articulated by the hinge comprising a pair of interpivoted hinge elements each secured to a respective member, an extension on one element extending toward the other hinge element, the latter having a slot receiving the extension when the articulated members are aligned, a movable latch in the form of a closed housing on the other element, means on the extension causing retraction of the latch when the extension moves into said slot, means on the extension to latchingly receive the latch,

4 fixed means on a member movably mounting the latch= housing, the latter being exposed and accessible for manual manipulation to release the extension, and a spring to spring-press the latch-housing, the spring being concealed in the latch housing, said fixed means also mounting the spring.

2. An automatically latching hinge construction for a pair of members articulated by the hinge comprising a pair of interpivoted hinge elements each secured to a respective member, an extension on one element extending toward the other hinge element, the latter having a slot receiving the extension when the articulated members are aligned, a slidable latch in the form of a closed housing on the other element, a fixed abutment, a spring thereon, the spring and abutment being located in the housing, the spring urging the housing to latching condition, means on the extension causing retraction of the spring-pressed latch when the extension moves into said slot, means on the extension to latchingly receive the latch, said extension being located at one side of its hinge element and the spring-pressed latch being located at the respectively opposite side of the other hinge element, the

latch housing being located at said opposite side and re-' ceiving the extension therein.

3. An automatically latching hinge construction for a pair of members articulated by the hinge comprising a pair of interpivoted hinge elements each secured to a respective member, an extension on one element extending toward the other hinge element, the latter having a slo't receiving the extension when the articulated members are aligned, a slidable housing on the other element, said it to latching position, means on the extension causing retraction of the housing when the extension moves into said slot, and means on the extension to latch with the housing, said extension being located at one side of its hinge element and the housing being located at the respectively opposite side of the other hinge element, a slot' extending through the articulated member upon which the said slotted hinge element is mounted, said slots coincid housing, said extension being located at one side of its hinge element and the housing being located at the re-' spectively opposite side of the other hinge element, and means mounting the housing for sliding motion on the said slotted hinge element.

5. A latching hinge for a pair of members arranged for alignment or selective swinging motion by the hinge, said latching hinge comprising a first hinge leaf secured to one member, a second hinge leaf secured to the other member, a pivot hinging the leaves together, an extension,

on the first hinge leaf extending past the pivot to engage the second hinge leaf in aligned condition of the members, the second hinge leaf having a slot to receive a part of the extension, a latch associated with the slotted hinge leaf and a reception means therefor on the extension, said latch being manually retracted to release the extension,

the extension being located normal to the hinge leaves,

a manually slidable housing, the latch forming a part thereof, a mount on the second hinge leaf, a slot in the mount coincident with the first-named slot to receive the extension in latched condition, said latch being located in the housing, and the housing concealing the latch, exten-' sion, and mount.

6. The latching hinge of claim 5 wherein the members housing forming a latch, a spring in the housing to urge are elongated, and there being an offset on each leaf, said offsets being laterally located relative to the members and containing the pivot.

7. The latching hinge of claim 5 wherein the extension lies partly within a member and extends outwardly thereof at its end.

8. An automatically latching hinge construction for a pair of members articulated by the hinge comprising a pair of interpivoted hinge elements each secured to a respective member, an extension on one element normal thereto and extending toward the other element when the articulated members are aligned, a spring-pressed movable housing including a latch fixed thereto on the other hinge element, a cam on the extension causing retraction of the spring-pressed housing and latch when the extension moves to a position to engage the latch, the extension being provided with a slot adjacent said cam to receive a portion of the latch, said housingv forming means for digital operation of the latch to release the extension, a fixed mount for the housing on the said other hinge element, said housing enclosing the mount and concealing the same.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 646,347 Betty 1 Mar. 27, 1900 952,059 William Mar. 15, 1910 1,185,171 Bofird May 30, 1916 1,456,886 Gober May 29, 1923 1,603,409 Rickenbacher Oct. 19, 1926 1,714,698 Stoll May 28, 1929

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