Patent Application
20050082841
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
This invention relates generally to the field of door accessory hardware and more specifically to a door and cabinet catch.
Cabinet doors and doors that can close off or open up an entrance to a room or the like are well known. On a moving vessel or vehicle such as a boat or a recreational vehicle, doors present a particular problem in that they must remain open or closed during times when the vessel or vehicle are in motion. For boats in particular, motion is a constant factor of life even when the boat is not traveling to a destination but still in water. Various solutions have been tried and marketed for helping to keep doors in boats or vehicles in the closed position or in the open position until the user desires to change the open or closed status. In particular, the present invention is designed to hold doors in the open position. Current mechanisms for holding doors in the open position include standard question mark shaped hooks that pivot on a retaining bracket mounted on a door and interact with a second retaining bracket mounted on a wall or the like. Also included are magnetic catches that help keep a door open, wedge shaped devices that can slide under an open door to hold it open. Still other designs include various types of mechanical catches that, by spring force, retain a door in the open position until the user overcomes the spring tension and releases the catch to allow the door to close. However, there are deficiencies in the prior designs that the present invention overcomes. First, most catches that are available today have a certain amount of play or looseness with respect to the retaining portion of the device and the catch portion of the device. This looseness can cause annoying rattling to occur. Second, There are occasions where the relationship between the open door and the wall that the retaining member is attached to are not parallel to each other thereby making the interaction between the catch and the retaining member difficult or impossible. Finally, there are instances where the distance between the open door and the wall where the retaining member is, is significantly greater than the the length of the catch mechanism thereby making it impossible to use the catch mechanism.
The primary object of the invention is to provide a catch for holding doors open.
Another object of the invention is to provide a catch that does not rattle in environments such as the interior of a boat, motor home or the like.
Another object of the invention is to provide a catch that can work even if the relationship between the catch and the catch plate is not parallel.
A further object of the inv ntion is to provide a catch that can work for full length doors as well as cabinet doors.
Another object of the invention is to provide a catch that can be extended to work on an open door whose distance from a wall is excessive.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following descriptions, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein, by way of illustration and example, an embodiment of the present invention is disclosed.
In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, there is disclosed a door and cabinet catch comprising: a bumper member, a bumper housing, a compression spring, a ball with stem, a ball joint mounting plate, a ball joint nut, a catch member, an L shaped catch retaining member, said bumper housing including a clevis that hingably retains said catch member, said catch member hingably pinned to said clevis and including a spring biased tab for releasing said catch member, said compression spring retained in said bumper housing and abutting the back end of said bumper, said ball joint nut threaded onto mating male threads on said bumper housing thereby retaining said ball of said ball joint, said bumper member held in an extended position and able to compress during use when said catch member engages with said catch retaining member thereby reducing the chance of rattling, and said ball fixedly attached to said ball joint mounting plate so that said ball is centrally located and raised off of said mounting plate by said ball stem which is an ideal orientation, to adjust up to approximatly thirty degrees in any direction, for a door catch where said mounting plate is fastened to a wall or floor.
The drawings constitute a part of this specification and include exemplary embodiments to the invention, which may be embodied in various forms. It is to be understood that in some instances various aspects of the invention may be shown exaggerated or enlarged to facilitate an understanding of the invention.
Detailed descriptions of the preferred embodiment are provided herein. It is to be understood, however, that the present invention may be embodied in various forms. Therefore, specific details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but rather as a basis for the claims and as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to employ the present invention in virtually any appropriately detailed system, structure or manner.
Referring now to
While the invention has been described in connection with a preferred embodiment, it is not intended to limit the scope of the invention to the particular form set forth, but on the contrary, it is intended to cover such alternatives, modifications, and equivalents as may be included within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.
