US595676A - Gate-latch - Google Patents

Description

AJ. A. GREEN.

GATE LEEEGE.

Patented Dec. 14, 1897.

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(No Model.)

UNITED STATES PATENT @Prien JAMES ALPHEUS GREEN, OF' MILLDALE, VIRGINIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO AMOS RICHARD SIMPSON, OF PARIS, VIRGINIA.

GATE-LATCH.

SPECIFICATION formingvpart f Letters Patent No. 595,676, dated December 14, 1897.

Application filed February 19, 1897. Serial No. 624,158. (No model.)

To all' whom; t may concern.-

Be it known that I,- J AMES ALrHEUs GREEN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Milldale, in the county of Warren and State of Virginia, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Gate-Latches, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my improvement is to provide a tumbler-latch wherein the tumbler is fastened and released from the post-pin or keeper by a hooked latch-bar and to adapt the tumbler-carrying parts andthe post-'pin `or keeper for adjustment in relation to each other, and I will more particularly describe, and set out in the claims, the parts and the 'combinations of parts which constitute my invention.

The accompanying drawings illustrate my improved latch as it is applied to the gate and its relation to the post-pin or keeper with which the tumbler engages, and in Which- Figure l shows the tumbler, latch, and its casing or housing in vertical section, with its tumbler device in the position it occupies when engaged with the post-pin or keeper. Fig. 2 shows a like view, enlarged, the tumbler device being in open position, as when receiving or when releasing the post-pin. Fig. 3 shows the latch device in edge View as secured upon the panels of the gate, the latter being, shown as closed and engaged with the post-pin. Fig. 4 shows the post-pin or keeper in side View as engaged with the latch-tumbler. Fig. 5 shows in horizontal section, enlarged, the latch on the gate in engagement with the post-pin, the section being taken on the line a: a: of Fig. 1; and Fig. 6 shows a face yview of the lower part of the latch-casing and its slotted fastening-danges, through which bolts pass into the gate-panel.

The latch device is secured in a vertical position upon the panels A at the closing side of the gate, so that when the latter is closed it'will lap upon the outer side of the post B and bring the latch-tumbler in position to strike and engage the post-pin on the inner side of the post.

The latch devices proper are inclosed in a metal casing. orl housing, preferably of malleable iron, and I Amake the casing preferably of two sections l 1, suitably bolted together and between which the latch devices are fitted. These devices consist of a tumbler 2, pivotally mounted upon hubs 3, within the enlarged lower end of the casing, which projects at right angles from the closing side of the gate. The enlarged part of this casing has an opening I in its edge, and the hubs 3 of the tumbler are so relatedto this opening that a hook 5 on the tumbler will, when the gate is open, fall outward by gravity and stand down between the cheeks of the casing, leaving the opening in the casing free for the entrance of the post-pin in closing the gate. At the upper side of and back of the hook the tumbler has a recess 6 in its edge which, when the tumbler-hook is thrown upward in spanning position at the front of the opening, will bring the edge recess 6 in position to be engaged by a hook on the latch-bar 7, which is fitted for vertical movement within the case back of the tumbler.` The case-opening is so shaped as to be closed in front by the tumbler-hook, so that when the gate is closed the post-pin will be inclosed between the tumblerhook and the casing at the base of the opening. Between the recess 6 and its hook the tumbler has a cam or finger part 8, which, when the tumbler-hook is in open position, as in Fig. 2, stands across the case-opening in position to be struck by the post-piu 9 to swing the tumbler back, throwing the tumbler-hook up around the pin, as in Figs. 1 and 5, latching the gate. The tumbler-hook 5 and cam-inger 8 may coperate with the upper edge of the walls of the casing at the opening in engaging the post-pin; but the upper edge of the opening may be made by the circumference of a disk 10, mounted to turn freely upon hubs 11, fixed in the casing, to render it easy for the movement of the post-pin in striking the tumbler, as the tumbler and the disk will move together into latching position over the post-pin.

I prefer to make the latch-bar in two parts, the lower one of which, 7, has ahook projection 13, adapted for engagement with the tumbler-recess 6 to hold it in position when the gate is latched, as in Fig. l, while the tumbler back of the recess forms a rest or seat 14 for the latch-bar-hook projection 13 to support it in position when the gate is unlatched,

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as in Fig. 2, and to allow said hook to drop off said seat into engagement with the tumbler-recess in the closing and latching of the gate. This latch-bar part, therefore, by its hook 13 hangs upon the tumbler whether the gate be latched or open. This hook-latch part 7 extends below the tumbler and has a thumbpiece l5, access to which is had through openings 16 in the side walls of the case, by which persons on foot can unlatch the tumbler to open the gate by lifting the thumb-piece so as to free the latch-hook from the tumblerrecess to allow the tumbler by gravity to fall outward. This outward movement of the tumbler to uncover the case-opening in unlatching the gate is limited by the engagement of the seat part of the tumbler with the disk above the tumbler or with the casing at 17 below the tumbler, as may be preferred, while the inward latching movement of the tumbler is limited, preferably, by side beads or ribs 1S on the tumbler, engaging the walls at the base of the case-opening, so as to relieve the thrust of the tumbler upon the hook of the latch-bar, as in Fig. 1.

The post-pin or keeper I prefer to make in the form of a rectangular hook 19, Fig. 5, secured by a plate-shank 2O to the post, so that the hook end will stand horizontally on the inner side of the post in the direction of the opening of the gate,with the latch-pin 9 standing inward to the post, so as to form a loop, as in Fig. 5.

I prefer to secure the shank of the post-pin to a plate 21, which is screwed in vertical position to the post, and to provide a slot 22 in the pin-shank and a slot 23 in the post-plate, whereby the post-pin may be adjusted horizontally toward and from the closing side of the gate and vertically upon the post, so as to set and maintain the said pin in position to strike the tumbler cam-arm and push it back in passing within and engaging the tumbler-hook, as seen in Fig. 4. For this adjustment a nutted bolt 24 connects the two plates, the head of the bolt being countersunk on the inner side of the post-plate, as seen in Fig. 5. The post-pin shank, however, may be secured by a bolt through the post. When the slotted plates are used, they may be engaged by ratchetteeth 25 to hold them firmly connected, and the post-plate may have dowelpins to drive into the post.

The provision for adjusting the casing containing the latch devices consists of the slotted flanges 2G, through which bolts 27 pass to permit the casing to be set higher or' lower. A staple 2S secures the upper part of the casing to the top gate-panel, and for giving a rm hold of the casing upon the panel the back of the casing has ratchet-teeth 29 to bite into the lower panel, as in Fig. 1, under the pressure of the bolts 27 which bind the casing.

As seen in Fig. l, I prefer to make the upper end of the casing open like a shovel-handle to receive the handle end 30 of the upper part 31 of the latch-bar for the convenience of riders to unlatch the gate. This upper latch part 3l I prefer to couple with the upper end of the hook-latch part in a way to permit the hook part to be raised and lowered by its thumb-piece 15 independent of the upper handle part. A simple way of forming this coupling is by the angle engaging ends 32 of the two-part latch-bar seen in Figs. 1 and 2. In the latter iigure the hook-latch part is raised without raising the upper handle part. At 33 is seen the interior casingribs, which form bearings for thc latch-bars.

34 are the nutted bolts forsecu ring the case parts together.

In the walls at the lower end of the casing are coincident openings 35, and with these openings coincides an opening 36 in the lower end of the latch-bar part 7 when the gate is latched, whereby to permit the shackle of a padlock to be passed through these openings to lock the tumbler with the post-pin when desired.

I claim as my improvement- 1. In a latch, the combination with a gravity-acting tumbler having a hook 5, an arm 8, a recess G back of said arm and a seat 14 back of and terminating in said recess, of a gravity latch-bar having a hook adapted to rest upon said seat in the open position of the tumbler and to automatically drop from said seat into engagement with the tumbler-recess in the closing movement of thetumbler, and a casing or housing for said parts having an opening with which the hook cooperates in its latching function and means for lifting said latch-bar.

2. In a gate-latch the combination, with a tumbler having a hook 5, cam-arm 8, recess G and surface seat 14, of a loosely-mounted disk above the tumbler, and a latch-bar having a hook and a thumb-piece, and a casing or housing for said parts, secured to the gate whereby in closing the gate the tumbler and the disk are caused to roll into fastening engagement with the post-pin or keeper.

3. The combination in a gate-latch of a housing or casing secured to the gate having coincident wall-openings 1G at its lower end, a tumbler above said openings having a hook, a cam-arm, a recess and a surface seat standing from the upper side thereof, the said surface seat being at its inner end and the hook at its outer end, a latch-bar arranged in Vertical position back of the tumbler, and having a hook or detent 13 above the tumbler and a thumb-piece accessible through said caseopenings, whereby the latch-bar is suspended upon the tumbler in its closed and in its open position.

4. The combination of a gravity-acting tumbler having a hook, an arm, a recess back of said arm and a seat back of said recess, of a gravity-acting latch-bar of two parts coupled for movement together or independent of each other, the lower part having a hook or detent adapted to automatically engage said recess, the upper coupled part having a handle at its IOO IIO

upper end and the lower coupled part having a thumb-piece at its lower end whereby either latch part may be raised to unlock the tum- ,bleu

5. In a gate-latch, the combination with a gravity-acting tumbler having a'hook on its outer end standing upward, a casing or housing having an opening with the upper edge of which, the said hook cooperates for engaging and releasing the post-pin or keeper, and a vertically-sliding latch-bar of two parts coupled for movement, Jthe lower part independent of the upper part, the said lower part having a hook or deteut adapted to engage and release said tumbler, and the said coupled parts each having means for raising it.

6. In a gate-latch, a gravity-acting tumbler having a hook on its outer end standing upward, a vertically-sliding latch-bar having a hook or detent standing downward, and a casing or housing for said parts, having an opening adapted to coperate with said tumblerhook, in combination, with a post-pin, or keeper, means for vertically adjusting said housing upon the gate and means for adjusting said pin or keeper upon the post whereby the latch-engaging parts may be adjusted in relation to each other.

7. The combination, in a gate-latch, of a tumbler having a hook on its outer end standing upward, a housing having an opening with which said hook coperates, a vertically-sliding latch-bar having a hook, adapted to engage said tumbler, and a thumb-piece at its lower end, the said housing having coincident openings 16, for access to said thumb-piece and openings 35 coincident with an opening 36 in said latch-bar, whereby the latch and the housing may be locked together when the gate is latched.

JAMES ALPHEUS GREEN.

Witnesses:

A. E. H. JOHNSON, A. ROLAND JoHNsoN.

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