Patent ID: 7922224

Claim:
A connector device for a curtain wall system having structural members secured to the building framing to define frames to support glazing panels, the glazing panels each having a sash by which the glazing panels are secured to the frames of structural members to form an outer wall portion of a building, the curtain wall system having at least one of the connector device securing one of the glazing panels to one of the frames of structural members, the connector device comprising: a keeper adapted to be secured to the frame; and a latch mechanism adapted to be secured on the sash opposite the keeper, the latch mechanism comprising a latch bolt in a casing, a spring biasing the latch bolt to a projecting position with respect to the casing, and a pin having an interference head extending from a rear end of the latch bolt, the latch bolt having a ramp surface oriented toward the keeper prior to engaging contact when installing the sash in the frame and a flat abutment surface at a front end thereof oriented away from the keeper prior to engaging contact when installing the sash in the frame, the latch bolt in the projecting position being aligned with respect to the keeper for the ramp surface to contact the keeper when installing the sash in the frame, the latch bolt retracting from the projecting position in a retracting direction as a result of the contact between the keeper and the ramp surface, the latch bolt returning to the projecting position when the ramp surface is beyond the keeper by movement in a projecting direction, the keeper and the abutment surface of the latch mechanism in said projecting position cooperating beyond the keeper to retain the glazing panel to the frame, the interference head blocked by interference into the casing when forced toward the projecting direction into engagement with the casing to block the latch bolt beyond the projecting position into a locking position.