Abstract:
A latch having a housing, handle, actuators, pawl and rotary pawl torsion spring and two actuator torsion springs. The rotary pawl torsion spring biases the pawl toward the unlatched or opened position. The handle is pivotally attached to the housing and has two paddles that engage the actuator. The actuator is slidably supported by the housing. Lifting the handle to the open position causes rotating movement of the actuator which in turn causes the pawl to rotate to the unlatched or retracted position.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
   This application is a continuation of International Application No. PCT/US2005/023723, filed Jun. 30, 2005, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/584,739, filed Jun. 30, 2004. 

   BACKGROUND THE INVENTION 
   1. Field of the Invention 
   The present invention relates to a latching device for releasably securing a closure member, such as a panel or door, in the closed position. 
   2. Description of the Prior Art 
   Trunks of automobiles are usually provided with removable load floor panels. These panels ordinarily support the weight of objects placed in the trunks of cars and are removable to allow access to a spare tire, for example, which is commonly stored under the load floor panel. It is common for the load floor panel to be held in place by gravity and a floor mat that usually covers the load floor panel. The load floor panels are usually equipped with handles that are flush with the top surface of the load floor panel in order to allow a user to remove the panel when necessary. However, this commonly used arrangement has a draw back in that the load floor panel may become dislodged when travelling over rough roads. Further, because the panel is not positively secured in place, it may become loose and rattle around in the trunk resulting in undesirable noises. The need persists in the art for a latch to positively secure such load floor panels in place. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention is directed to a latch for use with closure members such as panels, drawers, doors, etc. Although the operation of the latch will be described in the context of securing the load floor panel of the trunk of an automobile, the latch of the present invention is widely applicable to many kinds of doors, windows, panels, and drawers The latch of the present invention releasably secures a first closure member, such as a door, window, panel, or drawer, to a second closure member, such as another door, window, panel, or drawer or a fame surrounding the first closure member. The latch of the present invention includes a housing, a handle having two protuberances, a pawl, a pawl torsion spring, an actuator with two paddles and two torsion springs connected to the housing. The latch housing has a depression which receives the handle when the handle is in the closed position. The depression has an essentially enclosed bottom and an open top surrounded by a bezel or flange. The latch housing further has a pawl receptacle attached to he bottom of the depression. The receptacle houses the pawl torsion spring and the pawl, which is rotatable. The handle can be in the form of a paddle or a ring to facilitate grasping of the handle by a user using three or four fingers. 
   The latch body is installed in an aperture in die closure member using any of several well-known fasteners. The receptacle houses the pawl and pawl torsion spring and biases the pawl such that the pawl is urged to rotate to the unlatched or open position. The handle is pivotally supported by the housing and has actuating protuberances that impinge upon paddles of the actuator. When the latch handle is lifted out of the depression of the housing, the protuberances on the handle act against paddles on the actuator to retract the actuator to the unlatched position against the spring action of the actuator torsion springs which urge the handle to the closed position. An arm on the actuator is displaced toward e rear of the housing when the handle is moved to the open position against the spring action of the actuator torsion springs, and the spring action of the pawl torsion spring urges the pawl to the open position against the rearwardly displaced actuator am thus opening the latch and releasing a keeper on a second closure member. 
   When the latch is in the open position and the closure member in which the latch is mounted is slammed closed, the shape of the outwardly exposed surfaces of the pawl permit the action of the keeper to provide slam-close action to the rotary pawl. 
   In order to close the latch in a manner other than ugh slam-close action of the latch a user can lift the handle and permit the keeper to contact the pawl and thereby rotate the pawl into the closed position. 
   Accordingly, it is a principal object of the invention to provide a latch assembly which automatically engages a keeper on a second closure member as a first closure member is slammed shut. 
   It is a further object of the invention to provide a latch having a low profile such that it does not project significantly above the surface of a panel to which the latch is mounted. 
   Still another object of the invention is to provide a latch assembly having a pivoting handle which rotates the pawl to the unlatched position. 
   Yet another object of the invention is to provide a latch assembly having a handle which can be used to move the panel to which the latch is attached. 
   These and other objects of the present invention will become readily apparent upon further review of the following specification and drawings. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view of the latch assembly of the present invention, showing the latch assembly in the closed or latched configuration. 
       FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the latch assembly of the present invention, showing the latch in the open and unlatched configuration. 
       FIG. 3  is a side view of the latch assembly of the present invention in the closed or latched configuration. 
       FIG. 4  is a side view of the latch assembly of the present invention in the open or unlatched configuration. 
       FIG. 5  is a perspective view of the underside of the latch assembly of the present invention, showing the latch assembly in the closed or latched configuration. 
       FIG. 6  is a perspective view of the underside of the latch assembly of the present invention, showing the latch in the open and unlatched configuration. 
       FIGS. 7 and 8  are perspective views of the bottom of the housing of the latch assembly of the present invention showing the pawl receptacle. 
       FIG. 9  is a top plan view of the of the latch assembly of the present invention, showing the latch assembly in the closed or latched configuration with the latch handle removed. 
       FIG. 10  is a top plan view of the latch assembly of the present invention, showing the latch in the open and unlatched configuration with the latch handle removed. 
       FIG. 11  is a perspective view of the top of the housing of the latch assembly of the present invention showing the pawl receptacle. 
       FIG. 12  is a perspective view of the bottom of the handle of the latch of the present invention. 
       FIGS. 13 and 14  are perspective views of the top of the actuator of the latch of the present invention. 
       FIG. 15  is a perspective view of the pawl and pawl torsion spring of the latch of the present invention. 
       FIG. 16  is a perspective view of the housing of the latch of the present invention. 
   

   Similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistently throughout the attached drawings. 
   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
   Referring to  FIGS. 1-16 , the present invention is directed to a latch assembly  100  for use with closure members such as panels, drawers, doors, etc. Although the operation of the latch  100  will be described in the context of securing the load floor panel of the trunk of an automobile, the latch of the present invention is widely applicable to many kinds of doors, windows, panels, and drawers. The latch  100  of the present invention releasably secures a first closure member, such as a door, window, panel, or drawer, to a keeper on a second closure member, such as another door, window, panel, or drawer or a frame surrounding the first closure member. The latch assembly  100  of the present invention includes a housing  102 , a handle  104 , a pawl torsion spring  162 , actuator  98 , actuator torsion springs  232 , and a pawl  110 . 
   The latch housing  102  has a cavity or depression  112  which receives the handle  104  when the handle is in the closed position shown in  FIG. 1 . The depression  112  has an essentially enclosed bottom  114  and is surrounded by a bezel or flange  118 . The latch housing further has a receptacle  206  attached to the underside of the enclosed bottom  114  of the depression  112 . The receptacle  206  houses the pawl  110  and pawl torsion spring  162 . Cylindrical sleeves  134  project downward from the flange  118 . Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the housing  102  is installed to a loadfloor panel by providing an opening in the loadfloor panel. The perimeter of the opening in the loadfloor panel should be smaller than the perimeter of the flange  118 . The housing  102  is installed in the opening with the underside of the flange  118  abutting the outer surface of the panel. The panel should have cutouts for the sleeves  134 , or be otherwise dimensioned and/or configured to allow access to the sleeves  134  from the underside of the panel. The housing  102  can then be secured to the panel using, for example, self-tapping screws which engage die sleeves from the underside of the panel. 
   The handle  104  can be in the form of a ring, as shown in  FIG. 12  to facilitate grasping of the handle  104  by a user using three or four fingers. The handle  104  also has a pair of cylindrical projections  142  that project from either side of the handle  104 . The projections  142  snap into openings  144  to pivotally attach the handle  104  to the housing  102 . When the handle  104  is in the closed position, the handle  104  is received in the cavity  112  such that the top of the handle  104  is flush with the flange  118 . This feature gives the latch  100  a very low profile, because the flange  118  projects only slightly from the outer surface of the panel. The handle  104  must be lifted in order to move the handle  104  to the open position. The handle  104  is preferably sized to allow insertion of three or four fingers of the user&#39;s hand, which allows the handle  104  to be grasped and lifted by a user. 
   As previously stated, the housing  102  is installed in an aperture in the first closure member or panel using any of several well-known fasteners. The receptacle  206  houses the pawl  110  and pawl spring  162  such that the pawl  110  rotates in the receptacle  206  to the open or unlatched position due to the biasing force of the pawl torsion spring biasing the pawl  110 . The extended or latched position of the pawl  110  is shown in  FIGS. 1 ,  3 ,  5 , and  9 , while the retracted or unlatched position of the latch  100  is show in  FIGS. 2 ,  4 ,  6  and  10 . 
   The handle  104  is pivotally supported by the housing  102  and has actuating protuberances  126  that impinge upon paddles  234  of the actuator  98  when the handle  104  is lifted. When the latch handle  104  is lifted out of the depression  112  of the housing  102 , the protuberances  116  seen in  FIG. 12  on the handle  104  retract the actuator  98  to the unlatched position against the spring action of the actuator torsion springs  232  on actuator torsion spring prongs  236  which urge the handle  104  to the closed position. An arm  204  on the actuator  98  is displaced toward the rear of the housing  102  as seen in  FIG. 6  when the handle  104  is moved to the open position against the spring action of the actuator torsion springs  236 . The spring action of the pawl torsion spring  162  urges the pawl  110  to the open position such that lug  156  of pawl  110  is released from engagement with actuator arm  204  which has been displaced toward the rear of the housing  102  thus opening the latch  100  and permitting the pawl  110  to release a keeper (not shown) on a second closure member. 
   Lifting the handle  104 , causes the protuberances  126  of handle  104  to push the actuator  98  and in turn actuator arm  204  toward the rear of the housing  102  which in turn permits the pawl torsion spring  162  to urge pawl  110 , toward the open or unlatched position until the pawl  110  reaches its fully retracted, open or unlatched position as shown. The panel can then be opened, i.e. lifted away from the second closure member. 
   During closing of the first closure member, contact of a keeper with the pawl  110  in receptacle  206  acts to rotate the pawl  110  to the latched position as the first closure member is slammed shut. Thus, the first closure member is releasably secured in place. 
   As seen in  FIG. 15 , the pawl  110  is has a body portion  154  with the pair of pawl pivot members  138  extending therefrom. The pawl  110  has a lug or projection  156  and is provided with a pawl slot  158  to retain the keeper member (not shown) when the pawl  110  is in the latched position. The keeper member will be positioned or caught in the closed or latched position in pawl slot  158 . The pawl  110  is also provided with an arm portion  160  extending from the pawl boy  154 . 
   A pawl torsion spring  162  is installed on the pawl  110  with the coiled portions  166  and  166  surrounding the base portions  142  of the pawl pivot members  138 . The cross bar  168  of the torsion spring  162  engages the notch  70  in the arm portion  160 . In the illustrated example the notch  170  is enlarged to more positively retain the cross bar  168  in position relative to the pawl  110 . The torsion spring  162  also has tail portions  172  and arms  176 . The vertical spring arms  176  extend from the respective coiled portions  166  of the torsion spring  162  and connect to cross bar  168 . The pawl arm  160  is positioned intermediate the spring arms  176 . When the pawl  110  is installed in the housing  102 , the notch  170  is located further to the rear relative to the pawl slot  158 . The projection or lug  156  has a flat surface  180  that extends roughly in a radial direction relative to the pivot axis of the pawl  110 . 
   As seen in  FIGS. 13 and 14 , actuator  98  has actuator arm  204  extending downwardly below the housing  102  when the actuator  98  is mounted thereon. Actuator spring indents  238  on the actuator  98  provide for engagement of one of two actuator torsion spring legs  240 . The actuator  98  can be mounted in the housing  102  by feeding the actuator yokes  296  through actuator cutouts  290 . 
   The latch of the present invention is fitted with cover piece  202  as shown in  FIG. 2 , which has cover piece prongs  300  which snap fit into cover piece aperture  288  on cover piece support  286 . 
   The latch  100  of the present invention also optionally has a bump stop  284  seen in  FIG. 10  which can dampen the motion of the handle  104  as the handle  102  returns to the at rest and closed position. 
   It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, but encompasses any and all embodiments within the scope of the following claims.