WO2009047780A2

WO2009047780A2 - A recessed mounting latch for a case

Info

Publication number: WO2009047780A2
Application number: PCT/IN2008/000324
Authority: WO
Inventors: Krishnaprasad S. Hegde
Original assignee: Hegde Krishnaprasad S
Priority date: 2007-05-25
Filing date: 2008-05-22
Publication date: 2009-04-16
Also published as: WO2009047780A3

Abstract

A recessed mounting latch having a locking mechanism, which is fully submerged in a full cup plate portion such that the winged portion is at the same level as the recessed mounting latch is provided. The recessed mounting latch includes two separate half-cup plate portions, a hook half-cup plate (110) portion and a lock half-cup plate portion (120), having plurality of holes to be mounted onto a lid and a body of a case. The hook half-cup plate portion (110) has a hook (111). The lock half-cup plate portion has a bracket (210) with a hinged plate (200) connected to a lock plate (150). The lock plate can slidably extend to engage the hook. The bracket has a leaf spring (230). The hinge plate (200) rests on the leaf spring (230).

Description

TITLE

A RECESSED MOUNTING LATCH

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to recessed latches, and more particularly, to a locking mechanism of the recessed mounting latch.

PRIOR ART OF THE INVENTION Recessed mounting latches are ubiquitous and used to secure adjacent members to each other, such as a lid and a body of an equipment case. Recessed mounting latches, when used for the lid and the body equipment application, plurality of said recessed mounting latch assemblies are typically spaced along the parting line between the lid and the body of the equipment cases. Each said recessed mounting latch includes two separate portions; a hook plate assembly provided within one half of a cup plate portion, and a lock assembly provided within another half of the cup plate portion. The hook plate assembly and the lock plate assembly are mounted to the lid and the body respectively. The lock plate assembly includes a hinge plate, which has an lock that slidably extends to engage a hook of the hook plate assembly.

The prolongation and abjuration of the lock from the lock plate assembly is controlled by the rotation of a wing, which is rotatably connected to the lock assembly. The wing is rotatable to a stowed position so as to be substantially enclosed within the lock half cup to protect it from accidental engagement with other equipment and/or persons when the lid is secured to the body of the equipment case.

Both the half cup plate portions of the recessed mounting latch has plurality of holes at their outer extended portion to receive fasteners for the attachment of the latch assemblies to the lid and the body. Both attached half cup plate portions forms the full cup plate when the lid and the body are joined together to each other. The full cup plate portion receives and protects the latch apparatus, with the lock and hook half.

There has been developed in the prior art a latch assembly which is disclosed in U.S. Pat Document US5511834 entitled automatically positioned latch assembly filed April 6th, 1994 whereby a latch assembly is disclosed having structure for controlling and restricting the rotation of a bolt carrying lock. The structure facilitates securement together of first and second members, e.g., an equipment case lid and body, by preventing inadvertent abutment between the bolt and a latch striker plate. The structure also reduces the hazard of an uncontrolled lock. The said document a locking assembly, whereby the whole of the locking assembly has been supported on a single thin metallic strip.

The aforesaid patent document discloses a structure for controlling and restricting the rotation of the blot carrying lock (which is similar to the lock assembly provided within the lock half cup plate portion) at closed position. The lock assembly of the latch apparatus (as disclosed in aforesaid patent document) protected within the full cup is enough above from the surface of the mounting latch. This uprise of the latch apparatus often results the wing to leave it's original position, to freely rotate outward from the body along an arc, whenever there is sudden strike of any external element. The wing at upward position is easily rotatable to an angle disengaging the lock from the striker Moreover, in aforesaid lock assembly of the latch apparatus, the internal members of the locks are accessible, which is supported over a single thin metallic strip that is easily breakable whenever anything accidentally strikes on it. The thin metallic strip is not enough strong to hold the exerting force or stress and easily break-up resulting problem to authorized person to open the lid and the body arrangement. Further, internal members of the lock assembly of the latch apparatus are accessible and open, which results accumulation of the dust and unwanted material within resulting the jamming of the latch apparatus locking mechanism. This jamming of the locking mechanism can cause enough problems to the responsible person to disengage the lid from the striker because with large equipment cases, there are several latches involved. To open each said jammed locking assembly lots of unnecessary time and energy are consumed.

There has also been developed in the prior art a latch assembly which is disclosed in U.S. Pat Document US20030070456 entitled Covered Latch Mechanism filed October 12th, 2001, whereby a covered latch assembly is provided. The covered latch assembly includes a recessed latch housing that supports a retractable latch and a stationary catch. The covered latch assembly comprises a cover assembly that is pivotally attached to the latch housing. The cover assembly is pivotable between an access position wherein the latch is exposed and can be grasped and a secure position wherein the latch is shrouded and cannot be grasped. The aforesaid patent document described improved latch mechanism, wherein the improvement comprises a cover assembly rivetted to the latch housing, whereby the cover hides the locking arrangement protecting accidental engagement with other equipment, but the solution for dust accumulation and provision of strong support for locking assembly is not touched. Moreover, the above disclosed cover at closed position is above the surface of the equipment case, which is problematic for the responsible person, to open when the cover is damaged during loading/unloading of the equipment case. Additionally, said cases for large equipment are built with a base of small height and the lid of much larger height. This provides for using the equipment by simply lifting off the lid and using the equipment in a shallow tray. In such cases the lock assembly is fitted in reverse direction. In this case if the kick out spring fails the striker plate will fall by virtue of gravity in a position that will hamper the lid being removed unless one person per lock are employed to hold the lock in an open position. It is quite evident there is a room for improvement in the locking mechanism for recessed mounting latches, which eliminates the drawbacks of prior-art solution, without providing the covering.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is the object of the present invention to provide a locking mechanism for recessed mounting latch that overcome the disadvantages of the prior art. More particularly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a recessed mounting latch having a locking mechanism, which is fully submerged in a full cup plate portion such that the winged portion is at the same level as the recessed mounting latch. The fully submerged locking mechanism avoids wing accessibility to external elements, and does not allow the wing to open-up when accidentally stricken by said external elements.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a strong supporting base, which is able to withstand whatever force or stress exerts on the locking mechanism either accidentally or in normal working condition to open or close the lid and the body arrangement.

It is the further object of the present invention to provide completely covered said supporting base for said locking mechanism, that resist dust to accumulate in the locking mechanism so that jamming of the locking mechanism can be avoided in order to save unnecessary time and energy wastage. It is a yet another object of the present invention to avoid excessive lateral sideways force on the lock by providing an elongated fastener that is inserted between two adjacent plates (a hinged plate and the lock plate) and holds them together by rivets and a crank pin in such a way so that the one plate is sliding over other, when the wing is rotated at an angle. The elongated fastener is hereinafter referred to as a connector.

It is a further object of the present invention, to ensure that the hinged portion can be retained in open position when the lock assembly is mounted in reverse direction for the cases of large equipment, which are built with a base of small height and the lid of much larger height.

Other objects, feature and advantage of the invention will be apparent from the drawing, and from the detailed description that follows below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS So that the manner in which the above recited features of the present invention can be understood in detail, a more particular description of the invention, briefly summarized above, may be had by reference to various embodiments, some of which are illustrated in the appended drawings. It is to be noted, however, that the appended drawings illustrate only typical embodiments of this invention and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope, for the invention may admit to other equally effective embodiments.

FIG. 1 an exploded view of recessed mounting latch with all its elements and connection thereof, according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows the top view of recessed mounting latch with improved locking mechanism, according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 shows the side view of recessed mounting latch with improved locking mechanism, according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 (a) and FIG. 4 (b) respectively shows top and side view of a hook of the hook plate assembly, according to the present invention. FIG. 5(a) and FIG. 5(b) respectively shows the top and side view of the lock plate, according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 (a) and FIG. 6 (b) respectively shows the top and side view of the hinged plate, according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 (a) and FIG. 7 (b) respectively shows the top and side view of a knob, according to the present invention. FIG. 8 (a) and FIG. 8 (b) respectively shows the top and side view of a washer, according to the present invention.

FIG. 9 (a) and FIG. 9 (b) respectively shows the top and side view of a connector, according to the present invention. FIG. 10 (a) and FIG. 10 (b) respectively shows the top and side view of a rivet of the washer, according to the present invention.

FIG. 11 shows the front view of a crank pin, according to the present invention. FIG. 12 (a) and FIG.12 (b) respectively shows the top and side view of a bracket.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION

The present invention provides a recessed mounting latch having a submerged locking mechanism, which is provided within a rectangular submerged portion of a drawn cup plate spilt into two parts. Consequence to said rectangular submerged portion the locking mechanism along with a wing is fully submerged in a full cup plate portion, resulting leveling to the top surface of the recessed mounting latches.

Another effective result of the rectangular submerged portion is that it provides strong supporting base to avoid damages, and resistance to the dust to accumulate within the internal member of the locking assembly. Fig.1 shows an exploded view of recessed mounting latch (100), with all its elements and connection thereof, according to the present invention.

The recessed mounting latch (100) essentially consists of two separate half-cup plate portions, a hook half-cup plate portion (110) and a lock half- cup plate portion (120), having plurality of holes (250) to be mounted onto a lid and a body of a case. The hook half-cup portion (110) has a hook (111). The lock half-cup plate portion (120) adopts a bracket (210), which has a hinged plate (200) connected to a lock plate (150) that slidably extends to engage the hook (111) of the hook plate portion (120). The bracket (210) adapts a leaf spring (230), which allows the hinge plate (200) to rest on it. The prolongation and abjuration of the lock (150) of the lock plate portion (120) is controlled by the rotation of a wing (140), which is rotatably connected to a knob (130) provided on the hinge plate (200). The knob (130) eccentrically incorporates a crank pin (160) to get enough stroke, when the knob (130) is rotated by the help of the wing (140). The hinge plate (200) and the lock plate (150) are connected to each other by a connector (180), which is responsible for the straight line sliding motion of the lock plate (150). The lower portion of the connector (180), as shown in fιg.8 (a) and (b), which goes below the knob (130) has a hole (182) to receive the crank pin (160), and a hole (183) (shown in fig. 1 and 2) to facilitate insertion of a rivet (260), (clear view shown in fig. 9(a) and 9(b)). The rivet (260), which joins a washer (190), when inserted in a hole (192) to the knob (130) to keep it connected with the hinge plate (200). Said lower portion of the connector (180) along with the washer (190) is provided within a rectangular submerged portion

(151) (shown in fig. 4 (a) and (b)) of the lock plate (150). With the effect of the rectangular submerged portion (151), the locking arrangement moves slightly inside, which avoids the accessibility of the wing (140) to any external element, when folded to the horizontal position because of being below the top recessed of the full-cup plate portion. The wing (140) is kept pressed downwards by a spring washer (170), which is connected to the knob (130) to prevent it from rattling. Said submerged portion (151) also provides covering to the locking mechanism that prevents dust accumulation therein. Further, due to elongated connector (180) excessive concentration of force at one particular point is minimized as the maximum angle between the center line of the connector and the hinge is 12.9 degrees.

Fig. 2 and 3 shows the top and side view have assembled recessed mounting latch with improved locking mechanism, according to the present invention. The wing (140) attached to the knob (130), which is provided on the hinge plate (200). The hinge plate (200) incorporates the arm plate (150), which moves backward to adapt the hook (111) of the hook plate assembly (110) when the wing (140) is axially rotated in clockwise direction. When the wing is rotated in anti-clock wise direction the arm plate (150) moves forward to release the hook (111) of the hook plate assembly (110). At arm close position the wing (140) is laterally moved downward to rest on the hinge plate. Further out word motion of the wing (140) is forbid by the spring-washer (170), which avoids any accidental measures to occur to disengage the arm plate (150) from the hook (111). The whole assembly of the hinge plate (200) is allowed to rest on the leaf- spring (230). Apart from that, the leaf spring (230) facilitates the proper outward motion of the hinge plate assembly (200) when the arm plate (150) is disengaged from the hook (111). The hinged plate (200) further is anchored on straight arms of two torsion-springs (220), which are assembled within two side holes (213) of the bracket (210) facilitating the outward and inward motion of the hinge plate (200) assembly.

Fig. 4 (a) and (b) shows the top and side views of the hook (111) that is mounted on the hook plate portion (110), according to the present invention. The hook (111) is a bent portion of an elongated metallic thick sheet. The elongated metallic thick sheet has two side holes (112) to adopt a riveting means to attach it on the hook half cup plate portion (110).

The top and side view of the lock plate (150) according to the present invention is shown in figure 5 (a) and (b). As mentioned above, the lock plate (150) has the rectangular submerged drawn portion (151), which incorporates a lower portion of the connector (180) along with the washer (190) (shown in fig. 9 (a and b) and 8 (a and b) respectively). The rectangular submerged portion (151) has a hole (152) to insert the rivet (260), at a position offset from centerline in the unlocked position of assembly for providing engagement. The hole (152) is sealed off after the rivet (260) is inserted for proper proofing of the locking mechanism. Another hole (153) on the lock plate (150) incorporates a pitman (181) (shown in fig. 9 (a)) of the connector (180). Others holes (182) and (183) of the connector (180) receive the crank pin (160) and facilitate the rivets (260). Additionally the bottom of the rectangular drawn portion of the lock plate (150) has a lanced portion 2.5mm wide, which serves as a positive stop on achieving the exact locking position of the lock plate as well as the rotation of the knob. A folded portion (202) of the hinge plate (200), according to the present invention, as shown in figure 6 (a) and (b) is hinged on to the bracket (210) through torsion springs along with the lock plate (150). The lock plate (150) is provided within a folded portion (201) of the hinged plate (200). The folded portion (201) guides the lock plate. A hole (203) is provided to adopt the knob (130) by the help of the washer (190) and rivet (260). As shown in fig. 7 (a and b), the knob having plurality of recess (134), (133), (132) that adopts the rivet, the crank pin and the wing respectively. The hinged plate (200) is anchored on straight arms of two torsion-springs (220), which are assembled within two side holes (213) of the bracket (210).

The bracket (210) as shown is fig. 12 (a) and (b), has holes (211), which incorporate a riveting means to attached the bracket within lock half cup plate portion (120). The embossed bottom portion and the narrow slot in the bracket (210) hold a leaf spring, which keeps the rectangular submerged portion (151) of the lock plate (150) above the hook (111) to facilitate easy movement of the lock plate assembly (120) while opening lid of the case.

There has also been provided two side indentations (212), which restricts the backward angular motion of the lock plate assembly (120), avoiding accident. Additionally, the lock plate (120) can be kept in disengaged position if required to avoid the risk of spring conking out. Moreover, the full cup plate portion additionally incorporates a pad lock arrangement, which can be padlocked at closed position of the lid and the body. One portion of the pad-locking clamp is provided within the half-cup hook plate assembly (110) and another portion of the pad locking clamp is provided on the lock half cup plate portion (120). When the lid and the body are closed, the pad lock with in the full cup plate portion can be locked to avoid opening the lid and the body by unauthorized person. It should now be recognized that embodiments of the lock assembly has been disclosed herein and has a structure that is dustproof and a strong supporting base. The above description of the invention has been described for purpose of clarity and understanding. In practicing the invention, the used materials, contingent size and mere arrangement is possible depending upon the requirement. It is not intended to limit the invention to the precise from disclosed. Various other modifications may be possible within the scope of the invention.

Claims

1. A recessed mounting latch for securing together a body and a lid of a case, said recessed mounting latch comprising: a. a hook half-cup plate portion, the hook half-cup plate portion being mounted on the body of the case, the hook half-cup plate portion having a hook; and b. a lock half-cup plate portion, the lock half-cup plate portion being mounted on the lid of the case, the lock half-cup plate portion has a bracket with a hinged plate connected to a lock plate, the lock plate slidably extending to engage the hook, the bracket adapting a leaf spring, the hinge plate resting on the leaf spring.]

2. The recessed mounting latch according to claim 1 further comprising a wing, the wing being able to control the prolongation and abjuration of the lock plate portion, the wing being rotatably connected to a knob provided on the hinge plate.

3. The recessed mounting latch according to claim 2, wherein the knob incorporates a crank pin.

4. The recessed mounting latch according to claim 1 , wherein the hinge plate and the lock plate are connected to each other by a connector, the connector being responsible for the straight line sliding motion of the lock plate.

5. The recessed mounting latch according to claim 4, wherein the maximum angle between the centerline of the connector and the hinge is 12.9 degrees.

6. The recessed mounting latch according to claim 1 further comprising a pair of torsion-springs, the hinged plate being anchored on straight arms of the pair of torsion-springs, each of the torsion springs being assembled within a side hole of the bracket.

7. The recessed mounting latch according to claim 1 further comprising a knob having plurality of recesses.