US1394126A - Latch mechanism - Google Patents

Description

F. SCHMIDGALL.

LATCH MECHANISM.

APPLICATION rlLEovuAn. 29, 1921.

Patented Oct. 18, 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

gwuunto'c dM/.mf

F. SCHMIDGALL.

LATCH MECHANISM.

APPLICATIoN mso ma. 29. 1921.

Patented 001;. 18, 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- cw m,

UNITED STA'LES PATENT OFFICE.

LATCH MECHANISBI.

Ap'piication ined Marcil se, i921.

To all whom it may @moer-n.'

Be it known that l, FREDERICK Scrutin- GALL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cincinnati, in the county of Hamilton and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Latch Mechanism, of which the following is a specification.

effected. Another object is to provide conveniently for opening the door from the inside, either by hand or by the impact of .a truck against a latch releasing member.

Another. object is to provide an improved simple and reliable latch mechanism adapted tobe applied either right-hand or lefthand as may be required. Another object is to provide an improved latch mechanism adapted to be employed either as a single latch or to be connected in parallel arrange ment to latch theA door at more than one point and with all the latches actuated in unison. My invenion also `comprises certain detailsof form combination and arrangement, all of which will be fully set forth in the'description of the accompanying` drawings, in which; j Figure 1 is a plan of acold-storage room door and door frame with my improved latch mechanism applied thereto.

Fig. 2, is a vertical sectional detail on line 2 2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 8, is a horizontal sectional detail on line 3-8 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4, is a horizontal vsectional detail on line 4-4 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5, is a view similar to Fig. 4, on

line 4-4 of Fig. 1, showing a different position of the latch.

i Fig. 6, is a vertical sectional detail on line 6 6 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 7, is a perspective view of the vlatch l keeper detached.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the prefered embodiment of my invention in which 15 represents door and 16 the door Specification of Letters Patent.

' end to Patented Oct. 18, 1921.

Serial No. 456,609.

frame of1 a refrigerator or cold-storage room door. he door is mounted by means of hinges 17 to swing relative to the door frame, and at its opposite edge is provided with alatch mechanism comprising latch mechanism or members carried on the door to engage latch keeper mechanism mounted upon the door frame.

rllhe'latch mechanism carried by the door comprises a latch plate 18 rigidly attached to th door and provided with outwardly projecting lugs 19 and 20 between which is pivotally mounted a movable latch member having a handle 22 by means of which it may be manually actuated in closing and oi-iening the door. l

The latch plate 18 is also provided with a cylindrial stud 24 carried rigidly by the plate 18 and which overhangs the edge of the door and serves as a journal support for a cylindrical roller 25, which is rotatablyT mounted upon the stud 24. The stud 24 may be formed integral with the plate 18, or may be formed separately and detachably and rigidly attached to the Lplate. 1S as illustrated. A head 26 on the stud 24 serves to retain the roller 25 in place upon the stud rl`he forward end 27 of the movable atch member is crescent shaped-in cross ection and is movable to and fro from the roller 2 5, and 'ts concave face closely fits tnencyhr ical, exterior of the roller 25.

ihe latch teeper mechanism carried by the door frame comprises a keeper housing 30 rigidly attached to the door frame, a latch lkeeper 31 having double inclined faces 32 and at its upper engage the roller V25 and the -gips@ 27 of the movable latch member 21. ihe latchgkeerer 31l is provided with a shank 84 which is sheathed within the housing 30 and is engaged by a coil spring 35 housed within the housing 30, and which serves to thrust the latch keeper yielding-ly upward. The latch keeper engages the sides of a recess 36 in the housing S to Drevent the latch keeper turning rotatably upon its longer axis with reference to the housing 30. rlhe keeper 31 is also provided with a slot 37 through which passes a pin 38 wliich also passes through perforations in the casing 30 and serves to limit the upward movement of the latch keeper 31'relative to the housing 30. rlhe lower end of the spring 35 bears upon an anole plate 4() which is adjustable vertically relative to the door frame and housing- 30, in order to variably adjust the tension of the sprin upon the latch keeper. The angle plate 4:0 is provided with a series ot screw holes through any one of which the screw all may be passed and seated in the door trame to lock the plate l0 rigidly to the door trame.

It is -frequently desirable on large and heavy cold storage doors to employ two or more latch mechanisms, say one near the top of the door and one suliiciently above the bottom ot' the doei' to be conif'enientlf. operated7 while for smaller doors only a single latch n'iechanism is required. lli/There only a single latch mechanism is to be used a plain cylindrical pivot pin may be employed to pivotally attach the latch member 21 to the ears 19 and 20. l,Where two or more latch mechanisms are to be employed upon a single door and operated in unison by a single hand lever 22, l preferably provide a vertical connecting;` bar st ot polygonal cross section which passes through corresponding polygonal recesses in the respective upper and lower latch member 21j so that whenone oit said latch members 'x21 is actuated the other latch members 21 are also actuated through the connecting bar a5. In order to cmivenientlyv pivotally mount the connecting bar with reference to the projections 19 and 2O et the respective latch members 18, I preferably profile sleeves 46 and l? l'iavingi; cylindrical exteriors to be pivotally mounted relative to the projections 19 and 2O and with polygonal interiors to engage the polygonal faces ot the bar 45, so that said sleeves t@ and a7 may turn with said rod 45. 1 have illustrated the lower end of the sleeve 4f? as closed and the lower end of the bar stepped therein but the rod may pass entirely through the sleeve 4T and may be otherwise supported itl' desired.

In order that the door 1na \Y be conveniently opened from the interior l provide a rod 50 passing' endwise through the door and havingi a handle 51 threaded to its inner end, and preferably locked thereto by a set screw 52. The opposite end of the rod 50 is bent at right angles and engages a slot 53 in the movable latch member 21, so that the latch member 21 may be actuated through the rod 50 from inside of the door, either by grasping and pushingor pulling on the handle 51, or by causing a truck to bump against the handle 50, or 4inner end of the rod 50. ln practice the thickness ot' the doors varies, and by threading' the handle 51 to the inner end ot the rod 50` the handle 51 may be 'be adjusted to the thickness of the door and the set-screw! tightened, alter which any excess in the length of the rod 50 may be cut of it desired. The rod 50 may be conveniently adjusted for either a right-hand door or a lett-hand door to the latch inember 21. rl strap handle 55 is also preterably provided on the inside ot' the door for the convenience ot the operator.

It is to be noted that the latch mechanism carried by the door and also that carried by the door trame can be applied without change to either a right-hand door or to a lett-hand door, and that due to the extent to which the latch members 25 and 2T project over the edge ot the door and their operative relation to the keeper, a considerable .latitude in the adjustment ot the latch mechanism upon the door and keeper mechanism upon the door trame is permissible without renderingY the mechanism inoperative, and also that relative movement of said latch and keeper mechanism due to dampness and swelling or shrinking ot' the door or door :traine is not liable to render the apparatus inoperative.

ln operation when the door is closed the -lpringg,` actuated keeper thrusts its upper end or nose yieldingly upwardly between the roller and the latch member 2 to separate themj at the same time forcingthe door into closed position by inclined tace 32 directly forcing the roller stud 2l and plate i8, and with them the door to closed position. The latch member 2l is also utili'fzed as a lever to the end 2i" ot which Ytorce .is applied through the incline 33, and the opposite end olf which at 21 bears upon the plate 18 to indirectly force the door to closed position. l

When the .latch member 2l is actuated by hand, the energy ot the keeper in holding the door closed is overcome, and the roller rides up the incline l2 of the keeper while the nose 27 rides up the incline ot' the keeper until the roller 25 contacts with the concave lace ot the nose "2T, and the latch member 21 has reached the limit of its nieveiuent, which carries the roller over the crest at the upper end of the keeper so that the roller is in position to ride down the in: eline 33 olt the keeper.- The closing otl the roller and nose 2T together forces the keeper downwardly endwise against its spring 35, but as soon as the roller has passed the crest of the keeper the keeper is thrust upward by its spring' causing' the roller to ride down the incline 38, thereby forcingF the door open. When the door is beingclosed, as soon as the roller has passed the crest of the keeper and commences to ride down the incline 32, the door is forced closed by the action of the keeper, and any tendency oit the door to rebound is absorbed resiliently by the keeper. @ne important action of the roller and nose 27 ointly when they meet and separate is to insure the roller crossinginstead of beinghung; up on the crest ot the keeper. Other advantages ot my improved latch mechanism are that the thickness of the jamb 58 may vary considerably without affecting the operativeness of the latch mechanism; the latch mechanism tends to lift or prevent sagging of the door both at the keeper, and also due to the latch 2l moving outwardly instead of being pressed downwardly; and the constant yielding pressure to hold the door closed. lf desired the door may be locked by attaching. a pad-lock to the keeper through the upper end of the slot 3T.

The apparatus herein illustrated and described is capable of considerable modifi cation without departing` from the principle of my invention.

lVhat I claimis:

l. A latch mechanism comprising a latch plate to be attached 'to a door having a roller journaled thereto and projecting into the path of a keeper yieldingly mounted upon the door frame, a latch lever movably mounted upon said latch plate and provided with a nose movable to and from said roller and having a recess to receive a portion of the face of said roller and a resiliently supported latch keeper having an upf-.vardly directed nose with outwardly directed inclined 'faces at opposite sides thereof, the nose of said latch keeper being interposed between said roller and latch member to hold the door in closed position.

2. A latch mechanism comprising a latch plate to be attached to a door having a roller journaled thereto and projecting into the path of a keeper' yielding-ly mounted upon the door frame, a latch lever movably mounted upon said latch plate and provided with a nose movable to and from said roller, a latch keeper housing mounted upon the door frame, a latch keeper resiliently supported by said housing and movable at the opening and closing of said door out of the patch of said roller, said latch keeper having a nose with outwardly directed inclined faces over which said roller is adapted to travel in opening and closing said door.

3. A latch mechanism comprising a latch plate to be attached to a door having a roller journaled thereto and projecting into the path of a keeper yieldingly mounted upon the door frame, a latch lever movably mounted upon said latch plate and provided with a nose movable to and from said roller, a latch keeper housing mounted upon the door frame, a latch 'keeper resiliently supported by said housing and having a limited movement relative to said keeper housing at the opening and closing of said door to enable said keeper to move out of the path of said roller, said latch keeper having two inclined faces meeting in a nose over which inclined faces and nose said roller is adapted to travel in opening and clesing said door, and one of said inclined faces serving to engage said roller to hold the door in closed position` l. A latch mechanism comprising a latch plate to be attached to a door having a roller journaled thereto and proj ecting into the path of a keeper yieldingly mounted upon the door frame, a latch lever movably mounted upon said latch plate and provided with a nose movable to and from said roller, a latch keeper housing mounted upon the door frame, a latch keeper resiliently supported by said housing and havin@` a limited movement relative to said keeper housing at the opening and closing of said door to enable said keeper to move out of the path of said roller, and means to adjust the resilient tension on said latch keeper, said latch keeper having two inclined faces meeting in a nose over which inclined faces and nose said roller` is adapted to travel in opening and closing said door, and one of said inclined faces serving to engage said roller to hold the door in closed aosition.

ln testimony whereo I have affixed my signature.

FREDERICK SCHMIDGALL.

Images