Patent ID: 8770634

Claim:
A combination comprising a panel having front and rear surfaces and an easily modified closure latching system, said easily modified closure latching system comprising the combination of two discrete assemblies, one being a bolt mechanism assembly having a backing plate and the other an actuator housing assembly, said combination including complementary means extending through said panel attachably and detachably joining said backing plate of said bolt mechanism assembly to said actuator housing assembly, said panel being adapted to be received in a frame having a striker, said bolt mechanism assembly comprising: said backing plate having a surface abutting a complementary surface of said rear surface of said panel and an opposed exposed surface which is generally smooth and generally parallel to said surface of said panel, a bolt mechanism assembly housing attached to said backing plate and received within said panel, a sliding bolt assembly carried by said bolt mechanism assembly housing, said sliding bolt assembly being received in said panel, said sliding bolt assembly including a bolt having at one end a cam adapted to extend from an edge of said panel and engage and latch to said striker, said bolt having an actuating pin extending laterally therefrom, a spring in said bolt mechanism assembly housing for biasing said end of the bolt having said cam out of said bolt mechanism assembly housing to latch to the striker, said bolt mechanism assembly housing including passage access for a hammer adapted to compress said spring and withdraw said end of the bolt having said cam to unlatch said cam from said striker; and said actuator housing assembly comprising: an actuator housing having an opening therein, a movable paddle actuator member received in said opening in the actuator housing, said movable paddle actuator member having a front digitally accessible surface and an opposed rear surface and being digitally outwardly movable in said opening in said actuator housing, said paddle actuator member carrying said hammer on said opposed rear surface, said paddle actuator member being carried adjacent one of its ends by said actuator housing about a pivotal connection and being digitally outwardly movable at its other end in said opening about said pivotal connection, said hammer being rigidly affixed to and extending at about a right angle from said rear surface of said movable paddle actuator member, said hammer adapted to compress said spring by contact with said laterally extending actuating pin on said bolt upon outward movement of said paddle actuator member to withdraw said bolt sufficiently into said bolt mechanism assembly housing to unlatch said cam from said striker.