US399423A - Paul l - Google Patents

Description

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PAVE L. Mrfll'lllll l, ()F NEXARK, NE\Y JERSEY, ASSTGNOF TO hElYlS l). )lAll'llllE, OF SAME PLACE.

LATCH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent NO. 399,423, dated March 12, 1889.

Application filed hugust 20, 1888. Serial No. 283,180. (Modeld To (all 2071/0111. 21! may concern:

Be itknown that 1, PAUL L. MALTBIE, a citizen of the l nited States, residin at Newark, Essex county, New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Latches, fully described and rc n'escntcd in the following specilicat ion and the acmnnpanying drawings, forming a part of the same.

The object ol this invention is to furnish a latch which will forcibly close and hold shut a heavy door with but slight exertion upon the partof the operator without strain upon the fastenings of the latch.

With my construction the latch may, it desired, be operated with equal facility from either side of the door, as from the interior or exterior of a large refrigerator. The construction is also such that the fixtures are adapted for application to the right or left hand side of a door without alteration.

My improvement will be understood by reference to the annexed drawings, in which- Figures 1 and 2 represent views upon the inner side of the door with a portion of the surrounding casing, the latch in Fig. 1 being shown in the position itnormallyassumes, and the latch in Fig. 2 being shown fully closed. In Fig. l. the handle upon the opposite side of the door is shown in dotted lines; but in Fig. 2 such handle is omitted, and the latch and handle upon the nearer side of the deer are shown in dotted lines turned to open the door and in full lines to secure the door. Fig. 3 is a plan, in section where hatched, on line or L1, in Fig 2: and Figxl a section 011 line y y in Fig. 2. Fig. is a plan, upon a larger scale, of one of the spimile-bearings with a portion of the spindle. Fig. 6 is a front elevation of the same bearing and spindle, with the external handle shown in black lines in oneposition and in dotted lines in another position, and the handle being broken for want of space. Fig. 7 is an end view similar to that shown in Fig. i of the head of the latch and the guard-plate, showing the latch partly moved upon the plate in the act of closing the door. Fig. R is a plan view in detail of the guard c.

A is the door-frame; B, the door; C, its hinges, andl) a rabbet and bevel formed upon the edge of the door, as is common in refrigerators, to form a close joint. The guard 12 is in my invention placed upon the innerside of the door-future, and is formed with a lip, e, beveled to receive the head of the latch when the door closed, and to thus open the latch ant'omatically.

The latch consists in a pivoted head, f, attached to a spindle, y, and provided on its head with a convex seat, 71, and one or two rolls, 1?. The rolls are pivoted in one or both ends of the seat to bear upon the guard in advance of the seat, and to thus diminish the frictional resistance in operating the latch to close the door.

The head is secured upon the spindle g, which is mounted in bearings 7., let into the door adjacent to the guard, and the opposite ends of the spindle are provided with. leverhandles 7 and l, by which the latch may be operated respectively from the inner and outer sides of the door. For convenience the head f is formed in one casting or piece with the inner handle, 7; but the outer handle is applied merely to the spindle, and its movement is restricted by stops m m, affixed upon the flange of the outer bearing to limit the movement of the latch.

The handle I is preferably aflixed to the spindle at an angle of about forty-five de grees with the handle I, as shown in Fig. 1, so that the handles naturally assume a position beneath the pivot, as shown. in Fig. l, which holds the latch in readiness to close the door. \Vhen in this position, the head projects within the extreme edge of the guard 6, but as the door closes is forced back by the sloping lip c, and when the door is fully closed automatically assumes its normal position. (Shown in Fig. l.)

The head of the latch. ad j accnt to the guard is rounded, as shown in the seat 71 in Figs. 4c and 7, and the guard is also rounded or tapered to operate as a wedge when the seat is forced thereon and draw the door tightly shut.

The pivot of the roll L .lixed radially in one corner of the head 1", and the roll projects slightly beyond the head, and when the latch is turned to close the door the roll therefore bears upon the guard and permits the turning of the latch with very little frictional resistance. Owing to the convex or wedge-like form of the guard, the seat 7L, when it comes to a bearin g thereon, operates to raise the roll from the guard, and thus by its friction retains the latch in its closed position. When the latch and its inner handle, Z, are in the position shown in Fig. 2 in full and dotted lines, respectively, the handle Z is in contact with the stops m and m, and the head of the latch may thus be moved to the highest part of the seat without any adjustment on the part of the operator.

The face of the guard is shown rounded or tapered in both directions from the middle point, and the head f is shown provided with two rolls, 2', pivoted in its opposite upper corners equidistant from the center of the seat h; but it is obvious that with the operation of closing the door just described only one end of the guard would be used and only the roller which first encounters the guard.

The construction of the seat and head symmetrically enables the latch and guard, however, to be applied to either the right or left hand side of a door without change.

The handles Z Z are shown formed with square holes fitted to the square shank of the spindle, and the outer end of the latter is shown formed in Fig. 5 upon its corners with a screw-thread, to which a nut, 13, may be applied, and such nut may thus be readily used to hold the spindle and handles in position and to compensate for variations in the thickness of the door. As the head of the handle Z against which the nut bears cannot turn upon the spindle, the nut retains its position without any fastening. By removing the nut the handle 1" may, if desired, be projected above the spindle instead of below, as in Fig. 6, and the square holes formed in the handles Z and Z are arranged at such inclination to the axes of the two handles that the handle Z may be placed upon the spindle at equal opposite angles with the head f, so as to operate upon either the left or right side of the door.

The bearings k are shown formed with flanges it, by means of which they may be screwed or bolted to the door, the bearings themselves projecting into the door a sufiicient distance to support a square spindle by contact with its corners.

By placing the latch upon the inner side of the door and forming the guard upon the adjacent frame, the strain of closing the door tends to press the guard close to the frame instead of straining it off, as in many other constructions. As the spindle passes entirely through the door, the end-thrust which is imposed upon it in forcing the door shut is fully sustained by the nut 19, and the strain upon the door is no greater than if the latch-head were operated upon the outer side of the door, and serves to press the same shut by engaging with a guard upon the door-casing. As the frames of the doors to which my latch is particularly adapted are comm only made with a bevel to permit of closing the same tightly,

such bevel affords a convenient means for fitting the lip 01 to the door-casing to receive the impact of the head when it is turned in its normal position, as shown in Fig. 1, the lip then serving to push the head of the latch back, so that the weight of the handles may serve to automatically throw its corner over the guards when the door is fully shut, as shown in Fig. 1. In opening the door the inner handle, I, is turned straight downward, as shown in Fig. 2, and thus wholly avoids interference with the door-frame, while the weight of the outer handle, which is placed at an angle therewith, as shown in Fig. 1, operates automatically to throw the head into its norm alposition when the handle is released by the operator, so as to engage with the guard.

By reference to Fig. 1 it will be seen that when the latch is in its normal position and unlocked both handles hang at equal angles with the perpendicular, and one corn er of the head f projects slightly beyond the edge of the door. Thus when the door is pushed shut the projecting corner of the head, which is rounded or beveled on its outer side, as shown in Figs. 4 and 7, strikes against the beveled lip 6 upon the door-frame, and the head is forced backward until the door is entirely closed, when the head again assumes its normal position, thereby automatically latching the door. The door may be jammed shut to any desired degree by applying sutficient force to one of the handles in the proper direction after the door is latched.

I am aware that it is not new to apply handles to a spindle operating a door-latch at each side of the door; but my invention differs from othersin having such handles set at an angle with each other and operating by their weight to proj ect the latch slightly beyond the edge of the door when in its normal position and to avoid interference with the door-frame when the latch is withdrawn to open or close the door. I am also aware that it is not new to provide the head of a latch with a roller; but my invention differs from any construction heretofore in use in having a curved seat to bear .upon the sloping guard intermediate to the rollers to operate as above described. I hereby disclaim such previous constructions, limiting myself to that specifically claimed herein.

Having thus set forth my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, 1s

1. In a latch, the combination, with a sloping guard affixed upon the inner side of the door-frame, of a head pivoted upon a spindle extended through the door and provided with handles upon the inner and outer sides of the door, set at an angle with each other and projectin g downwardly to operate by their weight to hold the latch in its normal position, substantially as shown and described.

2. In a latch, the combination, with a sloping guard affixed upon the inner face of the door-frame, of a head pivoted upon a spindle extended through the door and provided with rollers in its opposite corners and with a curved seat intermediate to the rollers to bear upon the guard, and a handle upon the spindle at each side of the door to turn the head, as and for the purpose setforth.

3. In a latch, the combination, with a sloping guard affixed upon the inner face of the door-frame and having a beveled lip extending inside the d0oropening, of a head pivoted upon a spindle and provided with rollers in its opposite corners, and with a curved seat intermediate to the rollers to bear upon the guard and having its outer corners beveled, as described, and a handle upon the spindle at each side of the door to turn the head, as and for the purpose set forth.

PAUL L. )LUJlBIE.

Witnesses:

IJJIJEE, II. .T. MILLER.

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