Patent Publication Number: US-4929004-A

Title: Vehicle door latch

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     This invention relates to a latch and, more particularly, to a latch that is simple, positive and rugged for use on relatively large doors of vehicles whereby the door is held securely in the open position. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     Latch devices are well known for holding the doors of truck bodies, trailers and other vehicles in the open position. Prior art latches commonly consisted of a latch bar pivotally mounted on the truch body with an enlarged free end receivable in a recess of a keeper that would be mounted on the door which keeper is capable of being positioned, by opening the door, in close proximity to the latch bar. Then one finds that U.S. Pat. No. 3,934,907 teaches to make a latch that is strong, durable and reliable. That prior art patent teaches the use of a leaf spring which is normally untensioned and spaced out of contact with the latch bar that is depending from pin fixed on the body. To use the latch, the bar is lifted whereby it makes sliding contact with the spring. The end of the latch can now be placed into a suitable keeper. Although this system has its advantages, i.e., will not become accidentally unlatched, for example, when moving the vehicle, as stated in the patent it is subject to permanent damage whenever the latch is subjected to relatively large lateral forces. Obviously, the latch then must be replaced. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Statement: 
     The present invention teaches that the latch bar for the door latch, like in the prior art, should be mounted onto the body of the vehicle so that the bar is free to pivot at one end about a fixed horizontal axis. Along its body a plurality of pairs of fingers protrude therefrom. The fingers on the same pair are oppositely disposed and each pair is spaced from the adjacent pair. This arrangement allows the bar to be shortened when needed and still have a T-shaped head disposed on the free end. The head as in the prior art is what the keeper receives. However, I have provided a novel keeper that is economically made of sheet metal. The sheet metal has at least one 90-degree bend and is mounted so that is has a portion disposed horizontally and another portion attached thereto depending spaced from the vehicle. An elongated slot is formed in the horizontal portion along the edge formed by the bend and an elongated slot is formed in the depending portion also along the bend, whereby a T-shaped slot is formed. The keeper is then provided with a spring loaded tongue whereby its free end depends and is disposed wthin the elongated portion of the slot. The free end of the tongue is urged by the spring action against the depending portion of the keeper. The T-slot is capable of receiving the T-head on the latch. In so doing the tongue is pivoted away from the depending portion and is urged back after the head is within the slot. 
     Object: 
     A primary object of this invention is to provide a door latch that is simple, positive, rugged and adjustable. 
     Another object of this invention is to provide a door latch that is simple and becomes securely latch. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING 
     FIG. 1 is a pictorial view of my novel door latch in the latched position and being shown, for example, in relation to a truck body represented in phantom. 
     FIG. 2 is an enlarged pictorial view of my latch showing my latch consisting of a bar assembly and a keeper assembly. 
     FIG. 3 is a side elevation of my latch showing the two assembly parts in engagement and showing, in phantom the bar assembly coming into engagement with the keeper assembly. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING 
     Referring to the drawing and to FIG. 1, in particular, the numeral 10 generally designates a vehicle, such as a truck, having a body portion 11, and one or more doors such as door 12. My latch 13 is provided to hold the door 12 in its open position. 
     Referring to FIG. 2, my latch 13 consists of two parts, a bar assembly 21 and a keeper assembly 22. The bar assembly 21 has a mounting plate 23 made of, for example, sheet metal wherein two flaps 24 and 25 are formed integral with a plate 25, are shown folded as at edge 31 and are so formed to define two aligned openings 32. Assembled to the plate 23 is a latch bar 33 having at one end a pair of laterally projecting, aligned talons of which one talon 34 is more clearly shown. Each talon 34 is disposed to rotate within respective aligned openings 32. In this embodiement the latch bar 33 is shown made of sheet metal. At the other end of the bar 33, a plurality of pairs of fingers 35 are formed. Because the bar is made of sheet material the fingers 35 are conviently disposed within the plane of the material as shown. Also in this embodiment, the bar 33 is shown to have four pairs 35a, 35b, 35c and 35d of fingers 35. The respective fingers in each pair are aligned with each other for reasons that will become apparent hereinafter. More or less than fours pairs of fingers 35 can be used without departing from the sprit of my invention. I have chosen multiple pairs of fingers 35 to be placed on my bar 33 so that my bar can be generic, i.e., can be used with various vehicles as will become apparent hereinafter. 
     The keeper assembly 22 is also made of, for example, sheet metal and has a bracket 41 shaped as shown in FIG. 2. The bracket could be described as having a U-shaped body 42 with two coplanar mounting flanges 43 and 44. The body 42 has a base 45 and two legs 46 and 47 disposed preferably at 90 degrees to the base 45. An opening 51 is formed in one leg 46 and base 45 as shown formed in the shape of a &#34;T&#34;. As shown in FIG. 2, the longer portion or head of opening 51 is formed in leg 46 while the narrow portion or stem of opening 51 is formed in base 45. As shown in FIG. 3, since leg 46 has the longer portion or head of opening 51, the pair 45a of fingers can be readily received therein and after being received the bar 33 readily falls within the narrow portion or stem of opening 51 whereby the two become engaged. The phanton lines 61 in FIG. 3 show the bar 33 just before the fingers 35 are retained within the opening 51. 
     The keeper assembly 42 also has a spring activated lock flap 62 which has a suitably shaped edge 63 hinged connected to bracket 41, as shown, by a suitable pin 64. Then there is provided a spring 65 so positioned to urge the flap 62 away from the flange 43. As seen the flap 62 is so shaped that its edge removed from edge 63 is disposed within the opening 51, so that the flap 62 is urged by the spring 65 against the base 45. 
     OPERATION OF THE DEVICE 
     The latch 13 operates as follows. After the door 12 is opened to the position shown in FIG. 1, wherein the bar assembly 21 and keeper assembly 42 are in close proximity, one lifts the bar 33 whereby its talons 34 rotate within the respective openings 32. When the bar 33 is in the position defined by phantom lines 33a in FIG. 2 so that the pair 35a of fingers is above the leg 46 on the bracket, the door 12 is moved closer to the body portion 11. The bar 33 is lowered so that the pair 35a of fingers enters the T-shaped opening 51. This causes the lock flap 62 to pivot to the postion defined by phantom lines 62a. The pair 35a of fingers 35 are nested within opening 51 as shown in FIG. 2. Obviously, the flap 62 positively secures the two assemblies whereby they cannot be disengaged unless one pivots the lock flap 62 out of the way to its position marked as 62a. 
     As mentioned above, bar 33 is provided with more than one pair of fingers 35. This feature allows one, in certain application where the door 12 is free to swing closer to the body 11 than in others, to take advantage of this allowance. This is done by making a cut, for example, on a line define as A--A in FIG. 2, whereby two pairs 35a and 35b of fingers 35 are removed so that pair 35c of fingers 35 now engage the keeper assembly 42.