US3300238A

US3300238A - Garage door latch

Info

Publication number: US3300238A
Application number: US433443A
Authority: US
Inventors: Lyle J Fleskes
Original assignee: PACIFIC SPRING AND HARDWARE Manufacturing CORP
Current assignee: PACIFIC SPRING AND HARDWARE Manufacturing CORP
Priority date: 1965-02-17
Filing date: 1965-02-17
Publication date: 1967-01-24
Anticipated expiration: 1984-01-24

Description

Jan. 24, 1967 L J. FLEsKr-:s 3,300,238

GARAGE DOOR LATCH Filed Feb. 17, 1965 s sheets-sheet 1 LYLEJ. FLES/(ES BY /A/vE/vron Buc/(Hom, B10/:15, KLARou/'sr 8 SPAR/(MAN y Arron/vers GARAGE DOOR LATCH Filed Feb. 17, 1965 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 BUCKHOEW, BLORE, KLAROU/ST SPAR/(MAN Arron/VHS Filed Feb. 17, 1965 FIG.\\

L. J. FLESKES GARAGE DOOR LATCH 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR LYLE' J. FLESKES BYv BUCKHORN, BLORE,

KLARQUIST 8 SPARKMAN ATTORNEYS United States Patent C) 3,300,238 GARAGE DOOR LATCH Lyle J. Fleskes, Portland, Greg., assignor to Pacific Spring & Hardware Manufacturing Corporation, Portland, Greg., a corporation of Oregon Filed Feb. 17, 1965, Ser. No. 433,443 8 Claims. (Cl. 292-173) This invention relates to a garage door latch, and more particularly to a ganage door latch reversible for both righthand and lefthand installations without disassembly of the latch or changing parts thereof.

In a .garage door latch for a sectional, overhead, garage door, a latching bar thereof emust have suicient throw to both surely engage a Xed latching part and to be retracted sufficiently to clear tracks guiding the ganage door. In the past, the latches have had to have large, bulky operating mechanisms in order to provide a suflciently long throw of the latching bar. As a result, it has been difcult to m-ount the latches in the limited space available on the edge portions of the garage door sections. It would be desirable to provide a garage door latch which is very compact while having a long throw from the latching bar thereof and which is also very rugged. It would also be desirable to provide such a latch which is reversible for both righthand and lefthand installations without disassembly of the latch or changing parts thereof.

An object of the invention is to provide a new and improved garage door latch.

Another object of the invention is to provide a garage door latch reversible for 1both righthand and lefthand installations without disassembly of the latch or changing parts thereof.

A further object of the invention is to provide a com pact garage door latch with a latching bar having a long throw.

The invention provides a garage door latch having a latching bar to which a long throw is imparted by a compact actuating mechanism. The actuating mechanism preferably includes a lslide arm connected by a pin-andslot connection to the latching bar and driven by a latch lever land adapted to extend beyond the latch lever at each end of the travel of the latch lever to increase the throw thereof. Preferably a lock ar-rn is mounted on a shaft serving to guide the slide arm and is movable between a locking position holding the latch lever in latching position and a releasing position permitting a spring to move the latch lever, the slide arm and the latching bar to releasing positions. A narrow housing encloses the actuating mechanism and has guideways for the latching bar along with oppositely disposed clearance openings through which the end of lthe slide arm projects alternately at opposite ends of its travel, thus providing long throw While permitting the housing to be compact. The latch preferably is reversible so that it may be used for either righthand installation or lefthand installation without disassembly of the latch or changing parts thereof.

A complete understanding `of the invention may be obtained from the following detailed description of a ganage door latch forming a specific embodiment thereof when read in conjunction with the appended drawings, in which:

FIG. l is a fragmentary, elevation view of the inner side lof a garage door and |a garage door latch forming one embodiment of the invention mounted on the door;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged vertical section of the latch of FIG. l; Y

FIG. 3 is an enlarged vertical lsection taken substantially along line 3-3 of FIG. 2;

ICC

FIG. 4 is an enlarged elevation of a housing section of the latch of FIG. l;

FIG. 5 is a vertical section taken substantially along line 5-5 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged elevation of a housing section of the latch of FIG. l;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged vertical section taken substantially along line 7-7 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged vertical section taken substantially along line 8-8 of FIG. 2;

FIGS. 9 and 10 are enlarged front and side elevations, respectively, of a slide arm of the latch of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 11 and l2 are enlarged front and side elevations, respectively, of a l-ock arm of the latch of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 13 and 14 are enlarged front and side elevations, respectively, of a latch lever and a spring of the latch of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 15 is an enlarged front elevation of a latching bar of the latch of FIG. l.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, a garage door latch 20 (FIG. 1) is mounted on a section 22 of a typical sectional, overhead garage door 24 having rollers (not shown) movable along channel-like guides 26 to open and close the door. The latch includes a latching bar 28, which, when the latch is released by manually pressing a lock arm 29 to the left, as viewed in FIG. 2, or by rotation of the lock arm by a key operated lock 31, is spring urged out of a latching slot 3i) in the adjacent guide 26. To move the bar 28 to a latching position, the user, if at the inside of the door, grasps knob 32 and pushes the bar to the right, and if at the outside of the door, turns a handle 34.

The latch is reversible from the righthand installation shown for lefthand installation merely by mounting the knob 32 on the other face of the bar 28 from that shown. The latch includes a split housing or casing including diecast halves or sections 36 and 38 (FIGS. 2, 4, 5, 6 and 7). The

sections

36 and 38 are secured together by two screws 39 threaded into tapped bores 42 (FIG. 4) in :boss portions 41 of the section 36 and extending through aligned bores 40 (FIG. 6) in boss portions 43 of the section 3S. Screws 44 (FIG. 2) extend through

bores

46 and 48 in the boss portions of the

sections

36 and 38, respectively, into the garage door to secure the latch to the garage door in the desired position. The section 36 .has raised, tapered aligning pin portions 50 surrounding bores 46 therethrough. The pin portions 50 fit into complementary, countersunk portions 52 in the section 38.

The latching bar :28 is slidable in aligned notches 60 in the section 36 and is .guided by

opposed guide portions

62 and 64 formed on

bosses

63 and 65. A pin 66 (FIGS. 2 and 3) on forked slide arm 68 forminga part of an actuating mechanism extends into and is slidable along cross slot '70 in the bar 23. Fork 72 of the slide arm brackets is pivoted on and is slidable transversely relative to shaft 74 of the lock arm 29. A pin 76 (FIGS. 2, 13 and 14) of latch lever 78 projects into bore 80 in the slide arm 68 to drivingly interlock therewith. The latch lever 78 has a shaft 82 integral therewith and having reduced portions 84 and S6 tting rotatably into lower aligned bores 88 (FIG. 4) rand 90 (FIG. 6) in

bosses

91 and 93 of the

sections

36 and 38, respectively, to mount the latch lever 78 rotatably in the housing. Recessed bearing

portions

87 and 89 bear against the ends of the bosses 91 4and 93, respectively, and provide clearance for the

bosses

91 and 93.

A torsion spring 92 engaging hook-like projection 94 of the lever 78 and the adjacent wall of the casing urges the lever 78 counterclockwise, as viewed in FIG. 2, away from the latching position thereof. The shaft 74 has respectively into counterbore 100 (FIG. 6) in boss 103 and bore 102 (FIG. 4) in boss 105 of the

sections

38 and 36, respectively, to mount t-he shaft 74 (FIG. 2) rotatably in the housing. The arm 29 has a recessed, bearing portion 107 to provide clearance for the boss 105. The lock arm y29 has an offset portion 104 projecting through slot 106 in arcuate wa-ll portion 108 of the section 36 and also has a knob or handle portion 109 forming, with a portion 109, a clearance slot 111. The wall portion 108 is concentric with the bore 102 and has an enlarged, riblike, reinforcing stop 110 at the upper lefthand end of the slot 106 as viewed in FIG. 4. The arm 29 has a locking arm portion 120 (FIG. 2) and is urged by compression spring 122 toward a slightly overcenter locking position, as shown in FIG. 2, engaging lever 78 and holding the lever 78, and thereby the latching bar 28, in their latching positions. T-he spring 122 nests at one end thereof under retaining lug 123 (FIGS. 2 and ll) of the arm 29 and nests at its other end between the wall `108 (FIG. 4) and ribs 125 and 127 (FIGS. 2, 4, and 6). Thus, the spring is well nested at both ends and bears at its ends against boss 133 and the edge of thearm 29. The spring is exible so that its compression urges it laterally against the arcuate wall 108 as illustrated best in FIG. 4, the wall 108 acting as a guide for the spring to limit buckling thereof. The spring 122 being positioned against the wall 8 is out of the path of movement of the slide arm 68.

A thin shaft 129 (FIG. 2) of the known, key-operated lock 31 (FIG. 3) mounted in the door section 22 extends into either selected end of a keying or splining hole 134 in the shaft 74, projections 135 being engaged when shaft 129 of the lock is turned counterclockwise, as viewed in FIG. 2, to turn the shaft 7-4. When the shaft 74 is turned counterclockwise by pushing the handle portion 109, the spaces between the projections 135 provide clearance or lost motion relative to the thin shaft 129 so that the arm 29 is moved without turning the shaft of thelock. The

sections

36 and 38 have shallow recesses 136 (FIG. 5) and 138 (FIG. 7) in the outer faces thereof to provide clearance for plate 140 (FIG. 3) of the lock 31 and the

recess

136 or 138 which is not being used in the position of the latch illustrated, is filled by a thin name plate 142 having a pressure sensitive yadhesive on the inner face thereof and fitting into the

recess

136 or 138. A square sha-ft 148 carrying outer handle 34 and inner handle 149 is mounted rotatably on the door section 22 and fits into complementary, keying or splining hole 152 in the shaft 82 from either selected end of the shaft 82.

To lock the latch from the outside of the door 24, the user turns the handle 314 (FIG. 3) to turn the latch lever 78 clockwise, as viewed in FIG. 2, against the action of the spring 92, from the releasing position thereof to the latching position thereof which .is shown in FIG. 2. This moves the latching :bar from its releasing position to the right to the shown, latching position thereof, and the lock arm 29 is urged by the spring 122 to its overcenter locking position shown in FIG. 2 in locking engagement with the lever 78.

To release the latch 20 from the outside, the user inserts a key into the lock 31 (FIG. 3) and turns the key to turn shaft 74 (FIG. 2) counterclockwise, as viewed in FIG. 2, against the light action of the spring 122. The spring 92 then t-urns latch lever 78 counterclockwise to the broken-line, releasing position thereof, and the lever 78 moves, through the slide arm 68, the latching bar 28 to the left to its releasing position and holds the bar 28 in its releasing position. As the arm '78 so moves, the forked slide arm slides on the shaft 74 4and the pin 66 moves in slot 70 in the bar 28 to prevent binding. By mounting the slide arm slidably on the shaft 74 and connecting the slide arm pivotally to the latch lever 78 intermediate the end of the slide arm, the slide arm projects lbeyond the latch lever in the latchnig direction when the A latch lever is in its latching position and projects beyond the latch lever in the releasing direction when the latch lever is in its releasing position. Thus, the slide arm multiplies the length of the throw of the latch lever.

To release the latch 20 from the inside of the coor 24, the user merely swings the lock arm 29 counterclockwise as viewed in FIG. 2. The spring 9-2 then swungs the latch lever 78 to its releasing position and the latch lever swings the slide arm 68 clockwise about the shaft 74 to pull the latching bar 28 to the left .to its releasing position.

To latch the door `from the inside, the user merely -grasps the knob 32 and pushes the latching bar to the right, as viewed in FIG. 2, and, when the lever 78 reaches its latching position, the lock arm 29 is swung by spring 122 to its locking position. Latching can also be accomplished by turning the inner handle 149 to turn the shaft 148.

The lever 78 swings about 90 between the bosses 63 (FIG. 4) which act as stops, and, at the extreme positions of the lever 78, the end of the slide arm 68 projects through clearance notches 184 (FIGS. 4 and 5) slightly out of the section 36 as the slide arm imparts la long throw to the latching bar 28 of a length nearly as great -as the width of the section 36. This construction permits the throw to be of the length necessary for good latching and ample clearance when desired, and also permits the housing to be quite narrow, which is desirable for mounting the latch on the limited available space of the portion of the door on which the latch can =be securely mounted. By the provision of the slide arm, the throw of the actuating mechanism is made long while the actuating mechanism is quite compact and the housing is permitted to be correspondingly small.

It is to be understood that the abovedescribed arrangements are simply illustrative of the application of the principles of the invention. Numerous other arrangements may be readily devised by those skilled in the art which will embody the principles of the invention and fall within the spirit and scope thereof.

What is claimed is:

1. In a garage door latch,

a latching bar,

a housing of a predetermined width having aligned guide openings mounting the bar slidably,

and a manually operable member in the housing and drivingly engaging the bar for moving the bar along the guide openings,

the housing being provided with clearance openings adjacent the guide openings to permit the member to extend therethrough partly out of the housing to permit a throw of the latching bar that is long compared with said width, the manually operable member being pivotally connected at the end portion thereof,

said end portion of the manually operable member being adapted to extend through the clearance openings in the housing when in extreme positions of movement thereof relative to the housing.

2. In a garage door latch,

a Ilatching bar having rst coupling means,

means guiding the latching bar between a latching position and a releasing position,

means urging the bar toward its releasing position,

a latch lever mounted pivotally on a rst fixed axis and having second coupling means spaced from the fixed axis thereof,

a throw-multiplying slide arm having third coupling means drivingly engaged with the second coupling means of the latch lever,

the slide arm also having fourth coupling means drivingly engaged with the first coupling means of the latching bar and spaced along the slide arm from the third coupling means and the slide arm also being provided with a slotted portion,

and a. lOk. arm having a shaft mounted pivotally on a second fixed axis parallel to the first fixed axis and ond position adjacent the opposite edge of the extending through the slotted portion of the slide housing,

arm, v an arm pivotally secured at a first point therealong to the lock arm also having an arm urged into engage- Said one end of the member and secured pivotally ment with the latch lever to hold the latch lever in 5 at a second point therealong spaced from the first its latching position and movable manually away point to thelatching bar, from the latch lever, and guide means carried by the housing for engaging 3. In a garage door latch, a portion of the arm at the side of said first point a latching bar having a transverse slot therein, opposite to the side at which said second point is means guiding the latching bar between alatching posilocated relative to said first point and operable to tion and a releasing position, swing the arm to a position extending in one direcmeans urging the latching bar toward its releasing tion away from the member as the member is moved position, to the first position thereof and to swing the arm to a latch lever mounted pivotally on a first fixed axis and a position extending away from the member in the having a pin offset from the fixed axis thereof, direction opposite to said one direction as the member is moved to the second position thereof, whereby the throw of the member is increased.

7. In a garage door latch adapted to be installed on the inner face of a garage door having a lock shaft extending inwardly from the inner face and a shaft of a handle extending inwardly from the inner face and parallel to the lock shaft,

a slide arm having a hole receiving the pin of the latch lever, a pin extending into the slot in the latching bar and a forked portion,

and a lock arm having a shaft mounted pivotally on a second fixed axis parallel to the first fixed axis and extending through the forked portion of the slide arm, the lock arm also having an arm urged into engagement with the latch lever to hold the latch lever in its a housing adapted to be secured to the inner face of the garage door and having a pair of openings spaced latching position and being movable manually away to receive the lock shaft and the shaft of the handle, from the latch lever. the housing also having a pair of aligned guide openings 4. In a garage door latch, in opposite sides thereof,

a pair of housing sections having an arcuate upper edge a latching bar mounted slidably in first portions of the portion, a slot in the arcuate upper edge portion, an guide openings, upper pair of aligned bores, a lower pair of aligned latch lever means mounted pivotally in the housing and bores and a pair of aligned guideways in the side edge having a socket receiving the shaft of the handle in portions thereof, splined relationship and including coupling lever a latching bar extending through the guideways and means drivingly interconnecting the latch lever and slidable therealong and having a s'lot extending transthe latching bar, versely thereof, guide means carried by the housing and engaging the a lock arm having a handle portion extending through coupling lever means for swinging the coupling lever the slot in the upper edge portion, a locking arm means between extreme positions extending in genportion and a shaft portion having reduced ends jourerally opposite directions relative to the housing, naled in the upper pair of aligned bores and also and a lock arm mounted pivotally in the housing and having keying sockets in the ends thereof, 40 having a socket receiving the lock shaft and operable a slide arm having a forked end portion slidable on the when in one position to lock the latch lever in a shaft portion ofthe lock arm, a pin at the other end latching position and when in a second position to portion extending into the slot in the latching bar release the latch lever for movement to an unlatch and a bore therein extending parallel to the pin, ing position,

a latch lever having an arm provided with a pin exthe coupling means including portions adapted to extending into the bore in the slide arm and also being tend through second portions of the guide openings provided with a shaft portion having reduced end and extend beyond the opposite sides of the housing portions fitting rotatably into the lower pair of aligned having the guide openings therein. bores in the housing and having keying sockets in 8. The garage door latch of claim 7 including knob the ends thereof, means mounted on a portion of the latching bar at one side of the housing for pushing the latching bar to its latching position,

and spring means urging the latching bar toward its unlatching position.

spring means urging the latch lever toward a releasing position in -which the latching bar is in a releasing position and permitting movement of the latch lever to a latching position in which the latching bar is in a latching position, and means urging the lock arm toward a locking posi- References Cited by the Examiner tion in which the locking arm portion engages and UNITED STATES PATENTS holds the latch lever in the latching position thereof. 0 5. The garage door latch of claim 4 wherein the hous- 2574415 11/1951 Robinson 70- 10 ing is provided with openings permitting the slide arm to 2628117 2/1953 Robmson 70-100 X extend therethroughl Backhouse 6. In a garage doordatch, 3,163,033 12/1964 Boyles 70-141 X a housing, FOREIGN PATENTS a latching bar mounted movably by the housing, 463,885 6/1951 hay a latch member mounted pivotally in the housing for movement of one end of the member between a first BOBBY R. GAY, Primary Examiner. POSIUOIl adlallt 0116 edge 0f the housing and a sec-

Claims

2. IN A GARAGE DOOR LATCH, A LATCHING BAR HAVING FIRST COUPLING MEANS, MEANS GUIDING THE LATCHING BAR BETWEEN A LATCHING POSITION AND A RELEASING POSITION, MEANS URGING THE BAR TOWARD ITS RELEASING POSITION, A LATCH LEVER MOUNTED PIVOTALLY ON A FIRST FIXED AXIS AND HAVING SECOND COUPLING MEANS SPACED FROM THE FIXED AXIS THEREOF, A THROW-MULTIPLYING SLIDE ARM HAVING THIRD COUPLING MEANS DRIVINGLY ENGAGED WITH THE SECOND COUPLING MEANS OF THE LATCH LEVER, THE SLIDE ARM ALSO HAVING FOURTH COUPLING MEANS DRIVINGLY ENGAGED WITH THE FIRST COUPLING MEANS OF THE LATCHING BAR AND SPACED ALONG THE SLIDE ARM FROM THE THIRD COUPLING MEANS AND THE SLIDE ARM ALSO BEING PROVIDED WITH A SLOTTED PORTION, AND A LOCK ARM HAVING A SHAFT MOUNTED PIVOTALLY ON A SECOND FIXED AXIS PARALLEL TO THE FIRST FIXED AXIS AND EXTENDING THROUGH THE SLOTTED PORTION OF THE SLIDE ARM, THE LOCK ARM ALSO HAVING AN ARM URGED INTO ENGAGEMENT WITH THE LATCH LEVER TO HOLD THE LATCH LEVER IN ITS LATCHING POSITION AND MOVABLE MANUALLY AWAY FROM THE LATCH LEVER.