One-way gate latch including a bracket mounted on a pivotable gate and a latch mounted on the bracket for latching the gate upon being closed to a fence post; the latch includes a pair of latch members, one fixedly secured to the bracket to prevent the gate from pivoting and opening in the direction away from the first latch member and a second latch member mounted pivotably on the bracket and which upon being pivoted upwardly permits the gate to pivot and open in the direction toward the first latch member.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates to a one-way gate latch for latching a gate closed 
and for permitting the gate to pivot and open in only one direction. 
Many gate latches are known to the prior art and gate latches are known 
which permit a gate to open in only one direction. However, such prior art 
gate latches are typically complicated and expensive to manufacture. 
Accordingly, there is a need in the gate latch art for one-way gate latch 
apparatus of the type described above which may be easily and simply and 
therefore inexpensively manufactured or fabricated from a plurality of 
parts such as a plurality of stamped parts which are thereafter easily and 
therefore inexpensively assembled. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
It is the object of the present invention to provide a simple and 
inexpensive one-way gate latch apparatus of the type noted above and which 
overcomes the above-noted prior art problems. 
One-way gate latch apparatus satisfying the foregoing object and embodying 
the present invention may include a bracket mounted on a pivotable gate 
and a latch mounted on the bracket for latching the gate upon being closed 
to a fence post. The latch includes a pair of latch members, one fixedly 
secured to the bracket to prevent the gate from pivoting and opening in 
the direction away from the first latch member and a second latch member 
mounted pivotably on the bracket and which upon being pivoted upwardly 
permits the gate to pivot and open in the direction toward the first latch 
member.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
To provide a background for understanding the one-way gate latch of the 
present invention, reference is first made to FIGS. 1 and 2 wherein there 
is shown a gate 10 mounted pivotably by hinges 11 and 12 to a fence post 
14 of a fence indicated by general numerical designation 15. The gate 10 
is provided with a one-way gate latch indicated by general numerical 
designation 18 and embodying the present invention. One-way gate latch 18 
is for latching the gate 10 to the fence post 19 upon the gate being 
closed. In addition, one-way gate latch 18, as may be better understood by 
reference to FIG. 2, includes first and second latch members 21 and 22 and 
is for preventing the gate 10 from pivoting an opening in the direction 
indicated by the arrow 23 away from the latch member 22 and is for 
permitting the gate 10 to pivot and open in the direction indicated by the 
arrow 25 toward the latch member 22. Further, generally, it will be 
understood that latch member 22 is mounted fixedly in the position shown 
in FIG. 2 and that latch member 21 is mounted pivotably to permit the 
latch member 21 to be pivoted upwardly so as not to engage the fence post 
19 upon the gate 10 being pivoted and opened in the direction of arrow 25. 
Reference is now made to FIGS. 3-6, and in particular to FIG. 3, for a 
detailed understanding of the structure of the one-way latch means 18 of 
the present invention. One-way latch means 18 includes a generally 
vertically extending bracket indicated by general numerical designation 30 
and a generally semi-annular split latch indicated by general numerical 
designation 40; split latch 40 is mounted on the bracket 30 and includes 
the first and second latch members 21 and 22. 
Bracket 30, FIGS. 4 and 6, is provided at its rearward portion with a pair 
of horizontally oriented, vertically spaced apart and outwardly extending 
members 31 and 32 provided with inwardly extending semi-circular recesses 
33 and 34, respectively. The recesses 33 and 34, as may be best seen in 
FIGS. 3 and 6 with regard to recess 33, are defined by surfaces provided 
with teeth or notches as shown for engaging a fence pole, such as fence 
post 14 (FIGS. 1 and 3) in high frictional engagement. Bracket 30 is 
provided at its forward portion with a vertically oriented, centrally 
positioned and outwardly extending member 35 provided with a horizontal 
aperture 36 extending therethrough. In addition, bracket 30 is provided at 
its forward portion with a pair of vertically oriented, horizontally 
spaced apart and outwardly extending members 37 and 38 positioned on 
either side of member 35 and having horizontal apertures 39 and 39A 
extending respectively therethrough. As may be noted from FIG. 6, the 
horizontal apertures 36, 39 and 39A are aligned. 
Split latch 40, as may be understood by reference to FIGS. 3 and 5, 
includes first and second latch members 21 and 22 provided at their 
respective forward portions with inwardly extending quarter recesses 43 
and 44 which cooperatively provide a generally semi-circular recess 45 for 
receiving a fence post, such as fence post 19 of FIG. 1. Latch members 21 
and 22 are provided, respectively, at their rearward portions with pairs 
of downwardly extending members 46 and 47 and 48 and 49; note particularly 
FIGS. 5 and 7. As may be best understood from FIG. 7, the pairs of 
downwardly extending members 46 and 47 and 48 and 49 are provided, 
respectively, with horizontally aligned apertures 51, 52, 53 and 54. 
In addition, the one-way gate latch 18 of the present invention further 
includes a generally L-shaped rod indicated by general numerical 
designation 60 and including respective first and second rod legs 61 and 
62. As may be best understood by general reference to FIGS. 3 and 5, the 
rod leg 62 extends through horizontally aligned apertures 36, 39, 39A, 51, 
52, 53 and 54 and is freely rotatable therein; rod leg 62 functions as a 
handle for unlatching the one-way latch 18 to open the gate. 
It will be understood, and referring again to FIGS. 3 and 5, that latch 
member 21 is fixedly secured to the rod leg 61, such as by welding, for 
pivotal movement therewith and that latch member 22 is fixedly secured to 
the bracket 30 such as by welding. Accordingly, and referring to FIG. 3, 
it will be understood that upon the one-way gate latch 18 of the present 
invention being mounted on a gate such as gate 10 of FIG. 1, the one-way 
gate latch 18 of the present invention will function to latch the gate to 
a fence post such as fence post 19 of FIG. 1. Since latch member 22 is 
fixedly secured to the bracket 30, latch member 22 prevents the gate, such 
as gate 10 of FIG. 1, from pivoting and opening in the direction indicated 
by the arrow 23 of FIG. 2 away from the latch member 42. However, upon the 
rod leg 62 being pivoted upwardly by the hand of an operator in the 
direction indicated by the arrow 71 of FIG. 5, latch member 21 will be 
pivoted upwardly due to its above-noted fixed connection to rod leg 61 and 
will be pivoted upwardly sufficiently far to clear the gate post, such as 
gate post 19 of FIGS. 1 and 2, to open the latch and permit gate 10 to 
open by pivoting in the direction indicated by arrow 25 in FIG. 2 toward 
the latch member 22. 
Referring again primarily to FIG. 5, it will be noted that latch member 21 
may be provided on its outer edge with a generally upwardly and outwardly 
extending curved portion 75 for engaging a fence post, such as fence post 
19 of FIG. 1, upon closing of a gate, such as gate 10 of FIG. 1, to cause 
the latch member 21 to pivot vertically upwardly to open the one-way gate 
latch 18 and permits the latch to close over the fence post 19 as 
illustrated in FIG. 3; it will be understood that the latch member 21 upon 
closing of the gate and moving past the fence post 19 will move vertically 
downwardly in response to either gravity or downward pivotal movement 
provided by an operator to rod leg or handle 62. As may be noted from 
FIGS. 3 and 5, a stop member 76 may be provided on the central member 35 
to arrest the downward pivotal movement of latch member 21 to insure its 
proper horizontal alignment or orientation with respect to latch member 22 
upon closing of the latch. Further, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, the one-way 
gate latch 18 of the present invention may be conveniently secured to a 
gate pole such as gate pole 78 of gate 10 of FIG. 1 by being secured 
thereto by a suitable U-bolt 80 and the bracket 30, as shown in FIG. 5, 
may be provided at its outer sides with inwardly extending recesses as 
shown for receiving the respective ends of the U-bolt 80. 
Further, as may be noted from FIG. 4, the central member 35 may be provided 
with an additional aperture 82 extending therethrough for receiving the 
neck of a lock to lock the one-way gate latch 18 of the present invention 
upon closing around a fence post. 
Still further, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that if it 
is desired that a gate, such as gate 10 of FIGS. 1 and 2, be permitted to 
open in the direction of the arrow 23 and prevented from opening in the 
direction of the arrow 25, such may be readily accomplished in accordance 
with the teachings of the present invention by merely reversing latch 
members 21 and 22 and modifying and reversing their respective structures 
accordingly. 
It will be further understood by those skilled in the art that many 
variations and modifications of the present invention may be made without 
departing from the spirit and the scope thereof.