Patent ID: 6843082

Claim:
A latch mechanism comprising: a housing having a first end and a second end, said second end of said housing having an opening; a first sleeve rotatably supported by said housing; a slide supported for slidable movement relative to said first sleeve and for rotation with said first sleeve; a lock plug supported by said first sleeve, said lock plug being selectively rotatable between a locked position and an unlocked position relative to said first sleeve using a key, said lock plug moving said slide to an engaged position when said lock plug is in said unlocked position; a cam having at least one cam slot, said cam being rotatably supported within said housing, said cam being coupled to said slide so as to rotate between latched and unlatched positions in response to rotation of said first sleeve when said lock plug is in said unlocked position; means defining an edge supported in said housing; and a shaft positioned at least in part within said housing, said shaft extending through said opening in said second end of said housing, said shaft having at least one projection which is engaged at least to said at least one cam slot, said at least one cam slot being configured such that said shaft moves substantially rotationally as said cam moves from said unlatched position toward said latched position until said projection abuts said edge, thereafter said shaft moving substantially axially as said cam rotationally moves to said latched position, whereby said first sleeve rotates without rotating said cam when said lock plug is in said locked position to thereby prevent said latch mechanism from being defeated by application of excessive torque to the first sleeve.