643,032. Latches. HOUDAILLE-HERSHEY CORPORATION. July 23, 1947, No. 19744. Convention date, Dec. 3, 1945. [Class 44] Door latching mechanism, particularly for vehicle doors, comprises a keeper, a rocker element movable into latching engagement therewith, a holding and take-up lever, a locking lever pivotally mounted on the rocker element and engaging the holding and take-up lever, means guiding the locking lever into position for such engagement as the rocker element moves into engagement with the keeper, and resilient means urging relative movement between the locking lever and the holding and take-up lever. The lock mechanism is mounted on a plate bent at right-angles to form two limbs 10, 101, Fig. 1, the part 101, which is mounted on the edge of the door, carrying a housing 38 within which is provided a two-armed catch 39 which engages when the door is latched with the keeper K, Fig. 9, on the door jamb. The mechanism comprises a roll-back lever 11 mounted on the spindle 12 of the outside handle, a second lever 13 also mounted on spindle 12 and pressed upward by a spring 14, one end of which is secured to a metal loop 18. A lever 16 is pivoted about the loop 18, and has a projection 17 adapted to cooperate with the roll-back lever 11, which when rotated clockwise engages the projection 17. A pin 19 on the lower part of the lever 16 engages in a slot in a strap 20 connected to the inside handle mechanism 100, and a lug 21 is formed on the lower part of the lever 16. An arcuate slot 22 in the upper part of lever 16 receives a pin on the end of a push-rod 65 extending through the moulding of the door. Rotation of the lever 16 counter-clockwise, either by the roll-back lever 11, or by means of the strap 20, brings the mechanism into the unlatched position of Fig. 2. A dogging lever 24 is mounted on the roll-back plate 10, and has a projecting tongue 24a to cooperate with a tongue 25 on lever 16, and a latching arm 26 extending through the plate 101 and acting as a safety-catch arm and as a means for rotating lever 24, which is biassed against clockwise rotation by a spring 27. A locking lever 29 is mounted on the square spindle 30 of the outside key-operated lock, and has arms 31, 32, between which is engaged the lug 21 of the lever 16. A spring 34 engages in one or other of two notches 36, 37 in the lever 29. Mounted on the outer face of the plate 101 is a housing 38, Fig. 9, within which is mounted a rotor 39 of V-shape, a stud 43, Fig. 4, on the arm 41 of the rotor projecting through an arcuate slot in the plate, and carrying on its inner end a rotor locking lever 45 under bias by a spring 46. At its upper end the lever 45 has an inwardly projecting tongue 50 adapted to engage the serrated edge 49a of a holding and take-up lever 49, which has an arm 51 extending through a slot in the plate 10, and engaged by the dogging lever 24 to hold it up in latching position.