Weatherproof paddle latch

A latch assembly for use as a closure device in a door or compartment cover has a pan adapted to be flush mounted in an exterior panel, with a paddle-type handle hinge mounted within a recessed area of the pan. A mounting plate on an interior side of the pan includes a latch mechanism mounting flange which extends away from the pan, and to which a latch mechanism having a pawl and a trip latch jaw is mounted. A cam is rotationally mounted tightly parallel against the mounting plate, and has a paddle contact pin which extends through cooperating openings in the mounting plate and a floor of the pan. Lifting of the paddle causes the cam to rotate and engage the pawl of the latch mechanism, thereby releasing the trip latch jaw from a locked position. A lock cylinder may be mounted in the pan with a locking cam positioned proximate to a portion of the cam, to thereby interfere with rotation of the cam. The rotational mounting of the cam tightly against the mounting plate occludes the cooperating openings in the mounting plate and pan floor to prevent the passage of moisture or foreign objects to the interior of the latch assembly.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention pertains generally to latches, latching systems, and 
lockable latches of the type used in closures such as doors and 
compartment covers. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
Latches with manually operated pawls are used on all types of closures such 
as doors, including vehicle compartment doors and doors to storage 
compartments. Typically, such latches have a rotatable latch which engages 
a striker bar to hold a panel or door closed. The latch is actuated either 
directly by a handle, or by a pawl which is rotated by connection to a 
handle. Some latches are actuated by a pivotally mounted paddle-type 
handle which is lifted out of the plane of the panel or door in which it 
is mounted to pivot about the hinge mount to actuate the pawl and/or latch 
with a sliding motion generally in the plane of the latch mount. Because 
the paddle induces a lateral force on the latch/pawl mechanism, the 
operation of many designs is not smooth. 
In purely mechanical latch systems, because the latch is located on the 
interior side of the door or panel, and the handle on the exterior side, 
there must necessarily be an opening in the panel or door in which the 
latch is mounted. This opening presents the problem of moisture entering 
both the latch assembly and the compartment. In latches which employ 
rotatable handles to actuate the latch or pawl, the problem is fairly well 
managed by use of annular gaskets and seals. However, latches which have a 
sliding-type mechanism such as the paddle handled type have not heretofore 
been provided with adequate weather and moisture resistant structure. 
The present invention overcomes these and other disadvantages of the prior 
art. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
In accordance with one aspect of the invention, there is provided a latch 
assembly adapted for installation in an openable closure such as a door or 
compartment cover and operable to engage a striker to hold a closure in a 
closed position and to release engagement with a striker to allow the 
closure to be opened, the latch assembly including a mounting pan having a 
peripheral flange and side walls and a floor which define a recessed area 
in which a paddle is rotationally hinge mounted upon a hinge pin which 
traverses the recessed area of the pan, the paddle having an actuation tab 
proximate to an exterior side of the floor of the pan, a mounting plate 
attached to the pan on an interior side of the floor of the pan, the 
mounting plate having a major flat portion and a latch mounting flange 
which extends out of a plane of the major flat portion and generally away 
from the floor of the pan, a cam pivotally attached to the mounting plate, 
the cam having a pawl contact arm which is located proximate to a pawl of 
a latch mechanism mounted on the latch mounting flange of the mounting 
plate, and a paddle contact pin which extends through the mounting plate 
and the floor of the pan for contact with the actuation tab of the paddle, 
the latch mechanism having a pawl rotationally mounted within a housing 
and operably engaged with a trip latch jaw also rotationally mounted 
within the housing and spring biased to an open position whereby rotation 
of the pawl induced by contact with the pawl contact arm of the cam allows 
the trip latch jaw to rotate to the open position to thereby release the 
latch from engagement with striker. 
These and other aspects and objects of the invention are herein described 
in particularized detail with reference to the accompanying to the 
accompanying Figures and claims.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
Referring to the Figures, there is shown a paddle latch assembly indicated 
generally at 10, which includes a mounting pan 12 with a peripheral flange 
11 contiguous with generally orthogonal walls 15 which surround a recessed 
area 13 in which is mounted a paddle type handle 14, also referred to 
herein simply as a paddle. The paddle is rotationally mounted upon a hinge 
pin 16, the ends of which are mounted in holes within opposing walls 15 
proximate to one end of the recessed area 13. Preferably, the ends of 
hinge pin 16 are formed as flat heads which are substantially flush with 
the walls 15. The paddle 14 has a major planar surface 17 which is 
substantially flush with the peripheral flange 11 when in a nested 
position within the recessed area 13. The paddle further includes flanges 
18 which extend downward from surface 17 and terminate in stands 19 which 
contact a floor 20 of the recessed area 13. One edge of surface 17 of the 
paddle is provided with a lip 21 to facilitate gripping of the paddle by 
insertion of fingers under surface 17. Opposite lip 21 is an actuation tab 
22 which extends downward from surface 17 and is thereby located within 
the recessed area 13 proximate to floor 20. 
As shown in FIGS. 2-5, a latch mounting plate 25 has a major flat portion 
26 which is attached substantially flush against an interior side of the 
mounting pan 12, on the interior side of floor 20, opposite paddle 14. The 
mounting plate 25 is attached to the mounting pan 12 by rivets, spot welds 
or other suitable means of attachment. The mounting plate 25 further 
includes a latch attachment flange 27 which extends out of the plane of 
the major flat portion 26, somewhat away from the floor 20 of the mounting 
pan 12. In the example shown, the latch attachment flange 27 is 
substantially perpendicular to the major flat portion 26, and located 
parallel and proximate to the plane of the end wall 15 of the recessed 
area 13. With this construction, a latch mechanism, indicated generally at 
30, is attachable to the latch attachment flange 27 and thereby positioned 
so that a striker-engaging opening 31 of the latch is oriented to face 
away from the mounting pan 12, and is preferably positioned to engage a 
striker S in the middle of the paddle latch assembly 10, as shown in FIGS. 
6 and 7. 
As further shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, one type of latch mechanism 30 which can 
be used with the present invention includes a rotationally mounted torsion 
spring biased trip latch jaw 32 mounted upon a pin 33 within a housing 34, 
with one striker-engaging arm 35, and a pawl-contact arm 36. A pawl 40 is 
also rotationally mounted upon pin 42 and torsion spring biased within 
housing 34 adjacent trip latch jaw 32 whereby one or more teeth 43 of the 
pawl contact the pawl contact-arm 36 of the trip latch. As viewed in FIGS. 
6 and 7, clockwise rotation of the pawl 40, induced by a pawl contact arm 
53 of cam 50 as further described below, releases the latch jaw 32 to the 
spring-biased open position shown in FIG. 7. Preferably, the housing 34 is 
attached to the latch attachment flange 27 by pins 33 and 42, and torsion 
springs 44 are journalled upon the pins. 
A cam 50 is rotationally mounted upon the major flat portion 26 of the 
latch mounting plate 25, about a pin 51 which extends through the mounting 
plate and which may also extend through floor 20 of the mounting pan. The 
cam 50 includes a head 52 which is oriented to extend away from latch 
mechanism 30, and is located proximate to a locking cam 48 attached to a 
rotatable lock cylinder 49 mounted in pan 12. The lock cylinder 49 may be 
of the well known tumbler type operated by a key or electronic control 
system. With the distal end of the locking cam 48 positioned very near or 
against the head 52 of the latch cam 50 (a position ninety degrees from 
that shown in FIGS. 2 and 4) the cam 50 is prevented from rotating about 
pin 51. 
In a region of cam 50 spaced from head 52 is located a paddle contact pin 
55 which extends through an opening 28 in the mounting plate 25 and an 
opening 23 in the floor 20 of pan 12, to extend into the recessed area 13. 
The paddle contact pin 55 is thus positioned to be contacted by the 
actuation tab 22 of paddle 14 as the paddle is rotated out of the recessed 
area 13 about hinge pin 16. The paddle contact pin 55 moves with the cam 
50 which rotates about pin 51, making a short arcuate path within openings 
28 and 23. Because the cam 50 is in close sliding contact with the 
mounting plate 25, the opening 28 in the mounting plate through which the 
paddle contact pin 55 extends is blocked by the cam 50 so that moisture or 
foreign objects cannot pass through the mounting pan to the interior of 
the latch assembly or compartment in which the latch assembly is mounted. 
The cam 50 stays in close sealing contact with the latch mounting plate 25 
regardless of the position of the paddle 14, so that the interior of the 
latch assembly is never exposed, as for example during operation of the 
latch. 
The cam 50 further includes a pawl contact arm 53 which extends generally 
orthogonal to a major plane of the cam 50 and somewhat laterally into 
proximity with the latch mechanism 30, and more particularly into close 
proximity with the pawl 40. As shown in FIG. 4, as the cam 50 is rotated 
about pin 51 by the translation of pin 55 within openings 23 and 28, the 
pawl contact arm 53 is brought into contact with pawl 40, thereby causing 
the pawl 40 to rotate about its mounting pin 44, and thereby allowing the 
trip latch jaw 32 to rotate to its spring-biased open position. 
A spring 56 is connected between the cam head 52 and the latch mounting 
flange 27 to bias the cam 50 in a position wherein the pawl contact arm 53 
is not in contact with the pawl 40, and the paddle contact pin 55 biases 
the paddle 14 in a closed/recessed position by contact with paddle 
actuation tab 22. 
In a typical installation, the described latch assembly 10 is mounted in a 
door or other compartment cover, with the peripheral flange 11 flush 
against a planar exterior surface, and the remainder of the pan 12 within 
the door, with the exterior surface of paddle 14 also substantially flush 
with an exterior surface of the door. With the latch assembly in an 
unlocked condition, rotation of the paddle 14 about hinge pin 16 contacts 
pin 55 of cam 50 to induce rotation of cam 50, about pin 51, to cause 
rotation of pawl 40 which releases the trip latch jaw 32 from engagement 
with a striker secured to the accompanying structure. The trip latch jaw 
32 remains in an open position ready for re-engagement with the striker, 
irrespective of the position of locking cam 48. With the locking cam 48 in 
a locked position, the paddle 14 cannot be rotated about its hinge 16 as 
pin 55 of cam 50 is immovable when contacted by tab 22 of paddle 14, given 
that the cam 50 cannot rotate about pin 51 as the head 52 of cam 50 buts 
against locking cam 48. 
The invention thus provides a paddle operated latch assembly which is 
substantially impervious to the passage of moisture or foreign objects 
through the pan and mounting plate, and which is easily operated by the 
paddle operated rotation of the pivotally mounted cam which contacts the 
pawl to release the trip latch jaw. The rotational mounting of the cam 
substantially flush against the mounting plate creates a barrier to the 
interior of the latch assembly which is not removed or opened even upon 
operation of the paddle and release of the trip latch jaw. 
The invention has been shown and described with reference to a particular 
embodiment. It is to be appreciated that certain modifications and 
alterations may be made by those of skill in the art which although not 
expressly described herein are nonetheless within the panoply of concepts 
of the invention, as defined by the accompanying claims and equivalents 
thereto.