Patent ID: 7347460

Claim:
A latch device for a door of an appliance, said latch device comprising: a support fixable to the door; a latch member rotatably attached to the support and adapted to cooperate, in use, with a fixed striker fitted to a casing of the appliance; and a control button moveably supported by the support and adapted to be positioned, in use, at a front surface of the door; the latch member being rotatable between a unlatched position, in which the latch member is not latchable with the striker, and a latched position, in which the latch member is latchable with the striker; the device further comprising a contact member attached to the support to be moveable between first and second positions, and operatively interposed between the control button and the latch member to selectively lock the latch member when the latch member is in the latched position and the contact member is in the first position, and to be selectively locked by the latch member when the latch member is in the unlatched position and the contact member is in the second position; wherein when said latch member is in the latched position and said contact member is in the first position, said contact member engages said latch member, prevents said latch member from moving to the unlatched position, and is moveable by a movement of said control button to the second position in which said contact member disengages said latch member and allows said latch member to be moveable to the unlatched position; and when said latch member is in the unlatched position and said contact member is in the second position, said latch member engages said contact member, prevents said contact member from moving to the first position, and is moveable to the latched position in which said latch member disengages said contact member and allows said contact member to be moveable to the first position; said device further comprising an electric control element for controlling the appliance, said electric control element being attached to the support and adapted to be activated by the contact member; wherein the contact member, in the first position, rests against a rear end of said control button and does not activate the electric control element, and, in the second position, activates the electric control element; and wherein said latch member and said contact member have first and second pairs of corresponding contact elements, which are respectively engageable to lock said latch member selectively in said latched position when said contact member is in said first position, and lock said contact member selectively in said second position when said latch member is in said unlatched position.