Patent ID: 7329164

Claim:
A pressure activated latch for latching an emergency door of an aircraft emergency flotation system, comprising: a latch housing including a fluid inlet and a fluid outlet spaced longitudinally from the fluid inlet; a latch pin including an interface portion that extends out of the latch housing in a latched position and a sealing portion, the latch pin being configured to slide within the latch housing between the latched position and an unlatched position in which the interface portion is retracted into the latch housing; and an internal biasing element disposed within the latch housing and configured to bias the latch pin to the latched position, wherein the interface portion of the latch pin is engaged with a latch tab of the emergency door and the sealing portion of the latch pin is configured to prevent fluid communication between the fluid inlet and the fluid outlet when the latch pin is in the latched position, and wherein the interface portion of the latch pin is disengaged from the latch tab of the emergency door and the sealing portion of the latch pin is configured to allow fluid communication between the fluid inlet and the fluid outlet when the latch pin is in the unlatched position.