Abstract:
A latch for securing together two members such as a frame member to which the latch is connected and a door or panel which can swing into position and into a stop position when the door or panel member contacts a rotary pawl which is biased to the unlatched position. The latch has a trigger assembly which releases the rotary pawl from the latched position when the latch is unlocked and actuated.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention relates to a latch for securing two members together. For example, the latch can secure the free end of a panel or door to a frame on which the latch is mounted. The latch can be repeatedly latched, unlatched and locked by a user who desires to fasten and unfasten the two members. 
   Various latches are known for securing two members together. Prior art latches also include latches having a pawl which is rotated 90 degrees such that the pawl is rotated out of the region in which a gate member is located when the gate member is placed in the closed position and engages a frame member to which the latch is attached. Such latches did not provide a means to limit movement of the gate member in the axis of the rotating movement of the gate member when the gate member is closed and the latch is engaged with the gate member. 
   Also, a need exists for a latch which is spring loaded and biased toward the open position such that the latch has the ability to force the door or panel open when a user actuates the handle. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention is directed to a latch for securing together two members. In a preferred embodiment, as will be described herein, a latch is disclosed which fastens a door or panel member to a frame member to which the latch is attached. 
   In accordance with the present invention, it is an object to provide a latch for securing together two members. 
   It is another object of the present invention to provide a latch which can be attached to a frame member and can engage a striker on a door or panel member which is placed adjacent to the frame member. 
   It is still another object of the invention to provide a latch which has a trigger assembly which allows a user to open the latch upon actuation of a handle. 
   It is yet another object of the invention to provide a latch having a rotary pawl which has a ratcheting mechanism. 
   These and other objects of the present invention will be more readily apparent when taken into consideration with the following description and the attached drawings. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of a latch in accordance with the present invention with the latch in the unlatched and unlocked position showing a striker preparing to engage a rotary pawl. 
       FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the latch of  FIG. 1 ; 
       FIG. 3  is an enlarged detail view of a portion of  FIG. 2 ; 
       FIG. 4  is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of a latch in accordance with the present invention with the latch in the latched and unlocked position showing a striker engaged with a rotary pawl. 
       FIG. 5  is a perspective view of the latch of  FIG. 4  without the frame shown; 
       FIG. 6  is an enlarged detail view of a portion of  FIG. 4  without the frame shown; 
       FIG. 7  is a perspective view of the latch of  FIG. 1  in the latched and unlocked position shown with the rotary pawl engaged with the striker; 
       FIG. 8  is a perspective view of the latch of  FIG. 1  in the unlatched and unlocked position shown with the rotary pawl having released the striker; 
       FIG. 9  is a top plan view of the latch of the present invention in the latched and unlocked position; 
       FIG. 10  is a sectional view of the latch of  FIG. 9  taken along line A-A of  FIG. 9  in the latched and unlocked position; 
       FIG. 11  is a side elevational view of the latch of  FIG. 9  in the latched and unlocked position; 
       FIG. 12  is an elevational view partially in section of the front of the latch of  FIG. 9  in the latched and unlocked position; 
       FIG. 13  is a top plan view of the latch of the present invention in the latched position showing the lock plug rotated to the locked position and the lock slide prong withdrawn to the interior of the latch housing; 
       FIG. 14  is a sectional view of the latch of  FIG. 13  taken along line A-A of  FIG. 13  in the latched and locked position showing the lock slide trigger actuator withdrawn from the trigger slot; 
       FIG. 15  is a top plan view of the latch of the present invention in the unlatched and unlocked position; 
       FIG. 16  is a sectional view of the latch of  FIG. 15  taken along line A-A of  FIG. 15 ; 
       FIG. 17  is a side elevational view of the latch of  FIG. 15 ; 
       FIG. 18  is a front side elevational view partially in section of the latch of  FIG. 17  showing the rotary pawl in the unlatched position; 
       FIG. 19  is a left side elevational view of the latch of the present invention showing the latch in the latched position; 
       FIG. 20  is a perspection view of the left side of the latch of  FIG. 19 ; 
       FIG. 21  is a perspective view of the bottom of the latch of the present invention in the unlocked and latched position after the lock plug protuberance displaces the lock slide to the unlocked position; 
       FIG. 22  is a perspective view of the bottom of the latch of the present invention in the locked and latched position after the lock plug protuberance rotates and displaces the lock slide to the locked position; 
       FIG. 23  is a an exploded view of the pawl housing, lock slide, and trigger of the latch of the present invention; 
       FIG. 24  is an exploded view of the handle of the present invention showing the location of the handle spring; 
       FIG. 25  is an exploded view of the housing and lock plug of the present invention showing a screw being inserted into the housing; 
       FIG. 26  is an exploded view of rotary pawl, torsion spring, lock slide, conical spring and trigger of the latch of the present invention; 
       FIG. 27  is a perspective view of the assembled rotary pawl, torsion spring, lock slide and trigger of the latch of the present invention; 
       FIG. 28  is a perspective view of the latch housing of the latch of the present invention; 
       FIG. 29  is a top plan view of the latch housing of the latch of the present invention; 
       FIG. 30  is a bottom view of the latch housing of the latch of the present invention; 
       FIG. 31  is a perspective view of the trigger of the latch of the present invention; 
       FIG. 32  is a top plan view of the trigger of the latch of the present invention; 
       FIG. 33  is a side view of the trigger of the latch of the present invention; 
       FIG. 34  is a rear view of the trigger of the latch of the present invention; 
       FIG. 35  is a side view of the trigger of the latch of the present invention; 
       FIG. 36  is a perspective view of the pawl housing of the latch of the present invention; 
       FIG. 37  is a top plan view of the pawl housing of the latch of the present invention; 
       FIG. 38  is a front view of the pawl housing of the latch of the present invention; 
       FIG. 39  is a right side view of the pawl housing of the latch of the present invention; 
       FIG. 40  is a rear side view of the pawl housing of the latch of the present invention; 
       FIG. 41  is a top plan view of the view of the handle and latch housing of the latch of the present invention; 
       FIG. 42  is a side view partially in section along line A-A of  FIG. 41  of the handle, handle spring and latch housing of the latch of the present invention; 
       FIG. 43  is a perspective view of the handle of the latch of the present invention; 
       FIG. 44  is a side view of the handle of the latch of the present invention; 
       FIG. 45  is a bottom view of the handle of the latch of the present invention; 
       FIG. 46  is a perspective view of the lock slide of the latch of the present invention; 
       FIG. 47  is a top plan view of the lock slide of the latch of the present invention; 
       FIG. 48  is a bottom view of the lock slide of the latch of the present invention; 
       FIG. 49  is a perspective view of the rotary pawl of the present invention; 
       FIG. 50  is a perspective view of the torsion spring for the rotary pawl of the latch of the present invention; 
       FIG. 51  is a perspective view of the handle spring for the latch of the present invention; 
       FIG. 52  is a perspective view of the front of the lock plug of a side of the latch of the present invention; 
       FIG. 53  is a perspective view of the rear of the lock plug of a side of the latch of the present invention; 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
   Referring now to the drawings in detail, wherein like reference numerals indicate like elements through the several views, there is shown in  FIGS. 1 to 8 , perspective views of a preferred embodiment of a latch in accordance with the present invention. The latch  100  is shown attached to frame member  6 . The present invention is directed to a latch  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 a member to a frame member which is attached to another panel of a vehicle, 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 member, such as a door, window, panel, frame  6  or drawer, to a striker  16  on a second closure member  26 , such as another door, window, panel, or drawer or a frame. The latch assembly  100  of the present invention includes a housing  102 , a handle  104 , a pawl torsion spring  162 , handle actuator  98 , trigger  200 , lock slide  24 , and a pawl  110 . 
   As seen in  FIGS. 7 ,  8  and  28 , 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. 7 . The depression  112  has an essentially enclosed bottom  114  and is surrounded by a bezel or flange  118 . 
   The pawl housing  206  houses the pawl  110  and pawl torsion spring  162 . Cylindrical sleeves  134  project from the flange  118  and provides attachment holes, preferably screwholes for use in securing the latch to a frame or member. Referring to  FIGS. 1 to 6 , the housing  102  is installed in a frame by providing an opening in the frame. The housing  102  can then be secured to the panel using, for example, self-tapping screws which engage the sleeves from the underside of the panel. 
   The handle  104  can be in the form of a paddle, as shown in  FIGS. 7 and 8  to facilitate grasping of the handle by a user using fingers. The handle as seen in  FIGS. 43 to 45  also has an opening  142  that extends to both sides of the handle. The opening  142  permits the installation of handle pin  42  into opening  142  as seen in  FIG. 26  to pivotally attach the handle  104  to the housing  102 . When the handle  104  is in the closed position, the handle 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. The handle  104  must be lifted in order to move the handle  104  to the open position and place the latch in the unlatched position. The handle  104  is preferably sized to allow insertion of the 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 member or panel using any of several well-known fasteners. 
   The pawl housing  206  houses the pawl  110  and pawl spring  162  such that the pawl 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. 4-6 , while the unlatched position of the latch is shown in  FIGS. 1-3 . 
   The handle  104  is pivotally supported by the housing  102  and has handle actuator  98  which extends into the interior of the latch housing  102 . In addition, the handle  104  is biased, preferably by a torsion spring  105  to the closed position which is placed in handle spring indent  143 , as seen in the exploded view shown in  FIG. 24 ,  FIG. 44  and  FIG. 51 . 
   Lock slide  24  as seen in  FIGS. 46 to 48 , has lock slide slot  32 , which extends across at least a portion of a major dimension of the lock slide  24 . Lock slide guide  28  and lock slide trigger actuator  30  extend to one side of lock slide  24 . 
   To place the latch in the unlatched position seen in  FIGS. 15-18 , the latch handle  104  is lifted out of the depression of the housing  102 , and the handle actuator  98  extends into the interior of trigger  200  such that the handle actuator  98  slides lock slide trigger actuator  30  together with trigger  200  shown in  FIG. 16  such that the pawl engaging means  204  of the trigger  200  no longer supports or engages pawl projection  156 . Preferably, in the latched position, however, the pawl  110  engages pawl engaging means  204  of the trigger  200  by contact of pawl flat surface  180  on the pawl engaging means  204  as seen in  FIG. 12 . 
   Trigger  200  as seen in  FIGS. 31-35  has pawl engaging means  204  which has a flat surface  205  for supporting the pawl  110  and the biasing forces acting upon the pawl  110  when the latch is in the latched position. Trigger  200  also preferably has trigger actuator slot  208  for receiving lock slide trigger actuator  30 . Further, lock slide guide slot  210  is provided for receiving lock slide guide  28  when the latch is placed in the unlocked position such that the latch can be latched and unlatched. Further, trigger biasing means, preferably a conical spring, such as conical spring  216  as seen in  FIG. 26  extends between trigger protuberance  212  and pawl housing wall  218 . When a user desires to close a door or member configured having a striker such as striker  16  in  FIG. 1 , the user pushes the door closed so that striker  16  acts upon pawl  11 . The conical spring  216  urges the trigger  200  due to the forces on the trigger protuberance  212  further toward the interior of pawl housing  206  such that pawl engaging means  204  slides into position below the pawl projection  156  and thereby supports pawl  110  against the biasing forces acting upon the pawl by torsion spring  162 . The ability of the conical spring  216  to urge the trigger  200  into a position in which the pawl engaging means  204  supports or engages the pawl projection  156  can be seen in a comparison between  FIG. 18  where the conical spring  216  has yet to slide trigger engaging means  204  underneath pawl projection  156  as compared to  FIG. 12  in which pawl engaging means  204  engages the pawl  110  against the urging of pawl torsion spring  162  after the pawl has been rotated into a latched position by the application of force on striker  16  on pawl  110 . 
   Trigger  200  also has exterior guide portion  214  which extends along a portion of the major axis of the trigger  200  and the pawl housing  206  has pawl housing slot  220  which extends in the direction of the pawl engaging means  204  such that the pawl engaging means  204  of the trigger  200  is guided by the movement of the exterior guide portion  214  in pawl housing slot  220 . As can be seen in  FIG. 34 , pawl engaging means  204  can have a beveled surface  222  on the lower bottom portion thereof which provides for ease of operation. 
   In addition, in order to improve reliability of the latch and simplify assembly thereof, pawl housing  206  is provided with an aperture  224  in the shape of the side view of the trigger  200  when viewed along the longitudinal axis of trigger  200 . As can be seen in  FIG. 39 , aperture  224  has a profile which matches the above-described side view of the trigger  200 . Pawl assembly  206  is also provided with cylindrical sleeves  134  which allow for a user to fasten the pawl housing into a predetermined position on a frame or member. The lock slide  24 , pawl  110 , pawl torsion spring  162 , trigger  200 , conical spring  216  and pawl housing  206  are assembled as can be seen in the exploded view of  FIG. 26 .  FIG. 27  shows the lock slide  24 , pawl  110 , pawl torsion spring  162 , trigger  200  and pawl housing  206  assembled and the pawl  110  in an unlatched position. Pawl pin  226  is provided for mounting of the pawl  110  in pawl housing  206 . 
   As seen in  FIG. 18  the pawl  110  has a 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 striker  16  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 body. 
   A pawl torsion spring  162  seen in  FIG. 50  is preferably installed on the pawl  110 . Cross bar  168  of the torsion spring  162  engages the notch  170  in the arm portion  160 . In the illustrated example the notch  170  more positively retains the cross bar  168  in position relative to the pawl  110 . The torsion spring  162  also has tail portions  172 . 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  FIG. 28 , the latch housing  102  can be provided with a lock cylinder  228 . The lock plug shown in  FIGS. 52 and 53  has a lock plug protuberance which is configured and dimensioned to fit in lock slide slot  32 . 
   In order to unlock the latch  100  so that an authorized user can take the latch  100  from a latched and locked state to an unlocked state and then an unlatched position, reference is made by to  FIGS. 21 and 22 . In  FIG. 22 , the latch  100  is in a locked state and lock plug protuberance  232  is in lock slide slot  32  after a key (not shown), for example, has rotated lock plug  230  into the locked state. Lock slide  24  is shown in  FIG. 22  withdrawn to the maximum extent possible from trigger  200 . In addition, as can be seen from  FIG. 22 , when the latch  100  is in the locked state or position, lock slide guide  28  and lock slide trigger actuator  30  are withdrawn from the interior portion of trigger  200 . As can be seen in  FIG. 14 , the handle  104  of the latch  100  is capable of rotation when the latch  100  is in the locked state. The handle  104  can be rotated but actuation of the trigger  200  to release the pawl  110  is not possible because rotation of the lock plug  230  and thereby the lock plug protuberance  232  has moved the lock slide  24  away from the trigger  200  such that the lock slide trigger actuator  30  is no longer positioned in the interior of the trigger  200  at a location which can be actuated by the handle actuator  98  when rotated and therefore the trigger  200  cannot be actuated by the handle actuator  98 . 
   In  FIG. 21 , however, the latch is in an unlocked state as rotation of the lock plug protuberance  232  in the lock slide slot  32  has moved the lock slide  24  into a position such that the lock slide trigger actuator  30  as seen in  FIG. 16  permits the handle actuator  98  to engage the lock slide trigger actuator  30 . Rotation of handle  104  drives the trigger  200  away from the pawl  110  and the biasing forces of the torsion spring  162  acting upon the pawl  110  rotate the pawl  110  to an unlatched position. 
   When the latch is unlatched and the handle actuator  98  triggers the trigger  200 , the released force of the torsion spring  162  upon the pawl  110  can provide sufficient force on the striker to partially open the door to which the striker is affixed. Thus, the user can grasp the door itself without the necessity of grasping a latch or another fastening device on the door having the striker. 
   Referring to  FIGS. 9-18 , it can readily be seen that the trigger  200  moves in rectilinear translation in a direction parallel to the pivot axis of the pawl  110  in response to pivotal movement of the handle  104  from the closed position to the open position when the pawl  110  is initially in the latched position and engaged by the trigger  200 . 
   All of the above-described parts can be made of plastic or metal, such as stainless steel not to the exclusion of other materials. 
   In addition, parts of the latch which are shown as being made out of only one component can be made from multiple components. 
   It will be recognized by those skilled in the art that changes may be made by the above-described embodiments of the invention without departing from the broad inventive concepts thereof. For example, each of the features described above do not all need to be included in a single device. Rather, one or more features can be provided in a single device where desired and in any combination. It is understood, therefore, that this invention is not limited to the particular embodiment disclosed, but it is intended to cover all modifications which are within the scope and spirit of the invention.