Patent ID: 7753418

Claim:
A door latch assembly, comprising: at least one latch bolt retractably protruding from a door free side edge; a latch bolt retractor mechanism including a rotatably mounted driven member for controllably retracting said at least one latch bolt; and a door latch operator including: a handle fixed to one side of the door, with a segment of said handle disposed in spaced relation to the door; an actuator lever pivotally carried by said handle generally at an inboard side thereof for manual grasping with the fingers when said handle is manually grasped, said actuator lever being manually pivotally retractable in a direction toward said inboard side of said handle; and a torque converter coupled between said actuator lever and said rotatably driven member, said torque converter including a drive member rotatably driven in response to pivotal retraction of said actuator lever for driving the rotatable driven member to retract said at least one latch bolt; said torque converter comprising a bearing lifter constrained against rotation and axially movable upon pivoting movement of said actuator lever, and a rotary cam constrained against axial displacement and rotatably movable with said drive member, said rotary cam defining at least one arcuate cam track, and said bearing lifter including at least one guide member engaged with said at least one cam track, whereby axial movement of said bearing lifter rotatably displaces said rotary cam.