Patent Application
20200063468
The present disclosure relates to latch assemblies for movable closures and the like, and, in particular, to a slam door latch assembly for a recreational vehicle storage compartment door that can be assembled without tools through the use of a plurality of integral fasteners.
Latch assemblies are generally well-known in the art, and may be flush mounted on an associated closure, such as a storage compartment door of a recreational vehicle, to facilitate selectively shifting the closure between an open position and a closed position. Such latch assemblies are typically equipped with a lock to secure the closure in the closed position. In the case of storage compartments doors used on recreational vehicles, manually actuated rotary latch lock assemblies are often used to secure the storage compartment door in the closed position.
Alternatively, so-called slam door latch assemblies are becoming increasingly more common as latch assemblies used to secure recreational vehicle storage compartment doors in the closed position. Such slam door latch assemblies may include an outside housing and an inside housing, within which is generally situated a retractable latch plunger that is readily displaced by contact with a latch striker mounted to the recreational vehicle proximate the opening for the recreational vehicle storage compartment door. The recreational vehicle storage compartment door can be closed without manual retraction of the retractable latch plunger and can thus be effectively “slammed” shut. An exterior paddle handle assembly mounted to the outside housing is operably coupled with the retractable latch plunger, whereby the retractable latch plunger may be shifted between a latched and an unlatched position. Typically, such slam door latch assemblies also include a lock that restrains the exterior paddle handle and thus prevents operation of the retractable latch plunger for security.
Heretofore, while such slam door latch assemblies have proven generally effective, they experience certain drawbacks. For example, it is sometimes difficult to align the outside housing and inside housing disposed on either side of the opening for the slam door latch assembly in the storage compartment door during the assembly process. Separate threaded fasteners used to operably couple the outside housing and the inside housing typically extend through openings extending through the inside housing that are received within a corresponding plurality of bosses situated on the outside housing. Thus, simultaneous alignment of each of the openings and each of the bosses may be problematic. Further, the installation of separate threaded fasteners to assemble the slam door latch assemblies, which typically number between two and four separate threaded fasteners per slam latch, is a relatively time-consuming and expensive process. Finally, the separate threaded fasteners themselves represent a cost of the slam door latch assembly. While individually these labor and material costs related to the installation of separate threaded fasteners may not be significant, in the case when hundreds of such slam door latch assemblies may be assembled per day, collectively the aforementioned costs may become significant. Hence, a slam door latch assembly that overcomes these drawbacks would be advantageous.
According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a door latch assembly for a closure pivotable between an open position and a closed position is disclosed. The door latch assembly includes an inside housing and an outside housing in juxtaposed relation with one another and mounted to an opening in the closure to define an enclosure. A resilient integral latch post is substantially disposed upon and extending from one of the inside or outside housing and a corresponding integral receptacle is substantially disposed upon the other of the inside or outside housing. The integral receptacle is aligned with the resilient latch post so as to receive and restrain a notch on the resilient latch post upon a catch on the integral receptacle and thereby secure the inside and outside housing one to the other.
According to another aspect of the present disclosure, the door latch assembly includes an inside housing and an outside housing in juxtaposed relation with one another and mounted to an opening in a closure to define an enclosure. A retractable latch plunger is situated within the enclosure. A biasing member is mounted within the enclosure urging the retracted latch plunger to an extended latched position. An exterior handle assembly is mounted to the outside housing and operably coupled with the retractable latch plunger, whereby the retractable latch plunger may be shifted between the latched position and an unlatched position. A plurality of resilient integral latch posts is substantially disposed on the inside or outside housing and a corresponding plurality of integral receptacles is substantially disposed on the other of the inside or outside housing, wherein the plurality of integral receptacles are aligned with the plurality of resilient integral latch posts so as to receive and restrain a notch on each of the plurality resilient integral latch posts upon a catch on each of the plurality of integral receptacles and thereby operably connect the inside and outside housing one to the other.
According to a further aspect of the present disclosure, a method of assembling a door latch assembly for a closure pivotable between an open position and a closed position is disclosed. The door latch assembly includes an inside housing and an outside housing in juxtaposed relation with one another and mounted to an opening in the closure to define an enclosure, wherein the size of the opening in the closure is smaller than the periphery of each of the inside housing and an outside housing, a retractable latch plunger situated within the enclosure, a biasing member mounted within the enclosure urging the retracted latch plunger to an extended latched position, an exterior handle assembly mounted to the outside housing and operably coupled with the retractable latch plunger, whereby the retractable latch plunger may be shifted between the latched position and an unlatched position, a plurality of resilient integral latch posts extending from the outside housing, each of the plurality of resilient integral latch posts further comprising a notch disposed at a distal end, a corresponding plurality of integral receptacles, each of the plurality of integral receptacles comprising an opening disposed on the inside housing, the opening further defining a catch on an edge thereof. The method comprises the steps of disposing the inside housing adjacent an interior surface of the closure and proximate the opening in the closure, disposing the outside housing adjacent an outside surface of the closure and proximate the opening in the closure, aligning the plurality of resilient integral latch posts with the plurality of integral receptacles, and moving the inside housing and the outside housing together to push the notch on each of the plurality of resilient integral latch posts into registration with the catch on the plurality of integral receptacles and thereby operably couple the inside and outside housing one to the other.
These and other features, advantages, and objects of the present invention will be further understood and appreciated by those skilled in the art by reference to the following specification, claims, and appended drawings.
In the drawings:
For purposes of description herein, the terms “upper,” “lower,” “right,” “left,” “rear,” “front,” “vertical,” “horizontal,” “interior,” “exterior,” and derivatives thereof shall relate to the invention as oriented in
Referring to
The storage compartment door assembly 38, to which the door latch assembly 40 of the present disclosure may be applied, is primarily installed to provide access to the interior of a storage compartment 42 through the exterior side walls 24 of the body 12 of the recreational vehicle 10. That is, the storage compartment door assembly 38 is typically operable between a closed position, in which the contents of the storage compartment 42 may be secured and the elements, such as the rain, snow, and wind, may be sealed from the interior 34 of the body 12 of the recreational vehicle 10, and an open position, by which access to the interior of the storage compartment 42 and the contents secured therein may be allowed relative the exterior sidewalls 24 of the body 12 of the recreational vehicle 10.
Typically, such storage compartments 42 and corresponding storage compartment door assemblies 38 are arranged about the exterior of the recreational vehicle 10 at locations and in quantities and capacities as may be dictated by the design of the recreational vehicle 10 and the needs of the users of the recreational vehicle 10. As shown in
As shown in
The storage compartment door assembly 38 is further provided with the door latch assembly 40 disposed on a side of the storage compartment door assembly 38 opposite the side having the hinge assembly 48. The door latch assembly 40 preferably engages a corresponding latch striker 52 on an interior surface 36 of the storage compartment 42, as best shown in
The door latch assembly 40 of the storage compartment door assembly 38 generally includes an inside housing 70 and an outside housing 72 in juxtaposed relation with one another and mounted to an opening 74 in the closable door panel 58 of the storage compartment door assembly 38 to define an enclosure 75, as perhaps best shown in shown in
As perhaps may be best appreciated from
As seen in
The elongated recess 82 preferably includes a first spring seat 96 at a first end 98 of the elongated recess 82, and the main body 86 of the retractable latch plunger 76 preferably includes a second spring seat 100, whereby a biasing member 102 may be mounted within the inside housing to urge the retractable latch plunger 76 to the extended position. Preferably, the biasing member comprises a compression spring 102 disposed in axial alignment with the retractable latch plunger 76 within the elongated recess 82, such that the compression spring 102 is disposed between the first spring seat 96 and the second spring seat 100.
The retractable latch plunger 76 is thus readily displaced to its retracted position by contact of the inclined surface 78 at its exposed distal end 80 with the latch striker 52 mounted to the recreational vehicle proximate the opening 56 for the storage compartment door assembly 38, as best shown in
As shown in
The return torsion spring 118 may be provided to return the exterior paddle handle 114 to the closed position when released by the operator and thereby allow the retractable latch plunger 76 to return to its extended position within the elongated recess 82 disposed to within the inside housing 70 by the urging of the compression spring 102. Alternatively, the torsion spring 118 may be omitted in favor of a suitably stiff compression spring 102. That is, the retractable latch plunger 76 is operably coupled with the latch cam 94, which is in turn operably coupled with the exterior handle assembly 110, including the exterior paddle handle 114. Displacement and return of the retractable latch plunger 76 to its extended position by the compression spring 102 thus displaces the offset portion 90 of the retractable latch of plunger 76, which in turn rotates the latch cam 94 clockwise, as shown in
As a particularly advantageous feature of the present disclosure, a plurality of resilient integral latch posts 130 are preferably disposed on the inner face 132 of the outside housing 72, as perhaps best seen in
Preferably, each of the plurality of resilient integral latch posts 130 is substantially disposed proximate and about the perimeter 134 of the outside housing 72. In turn, the corresponding plurality of integral receptacles 140 is preferably and substantially disposed proximate and about the perimeter 144 of the inside housing 70. In the embodiments disclosed herein, the door latch assembly 40 is essentially square and preferably four resilient integral latch posts 130 are disposed about the perimeter 134 of the outside housing 72 and four corresponding integral receptacles 140 are disposed about the perimeter 144 of the inside housing 70 proximate each corner of the door latch assembly 40.
Alternatively, although not shown, the plurality of resilient integral latch posts 130 may be substantially disposed on opposed sides of one of the outside housing 72 and the corresponding plurality of integral receptacles 140 may be disposed on opposed sides of the inside housing 70. As a further alternative, also not shown, depending on the location and configuration of the paddle handle assembly, the plurality of resilient integral latch posts 130 and corresponding plurality of integral receptacles 140 may be disposed at locations proximate a more central location of the door latch assembly 40. Finally, again depending on the location and configuration of the paddle handle assembly, it is contemplated that a single, centrally located resilient integral latch post 130 and a corresponding single, centrally located integral receptacle 140 may advantageously employ the benefits of the door latch assembly 40 disclosed herein.
Preferably, each of the resilient integral latch posts 130 comprises a proximal end 146 thereof integrally formed with the outside housing 72 and a notch 148 at a distal end 150 thereof, as best shown in
The plurality of integral receptacles 140 preferably comprises the plurality of openings 152 though the inside housing 70 through which the plurality of resilient integral latch posts 130 extend during and after assembly. Alternatively, although not shown, the integral receptacles 140 may be integrally molded as a blind hole having the catch 154 disposed therein, as discussed further below. However, in such configuration, it may be difficult to disassemble the door latch assembly 40 by manually disengaging the resilient integral latch posts 130 from the integral receptacles 140 after assembly by displacing the notch 148 on the resilient integral latch posts 130 relative the catch 154 in the integral receptacles 140 to allow the withdrawal of the resilient integral latch posts 130 from the integral receptacle 140 after assembly.
When formed as the opening 152, the opening 152 of the plurality of integral receptacles 140 may be formed as a circular opening 152, as shown in the embodiment depicted in
Even more preferably, the openings 152 of each of the plurality of integral receptacles 140 are substantially rectangular, and one side edge 156 of the substantially rectangular opening 152 defines the catch 154, as particularly shown in the embodiment depicted in
At least one of each of the resilient integral latch posts 130 or the integral receptacles 140 preferably comprises an inclined cam surface 160, respectively, facing the other of the resilient integral latch posts 130 or the integral receptacles 140, whereby as each of the resilient integral latch posts 130 is inserted within its corresponding integral receptacle 140, the distal end 150 of the resilient integral latch post 130 is displaced by the inclined cam surface 160 inward toward the central axis of the integral receptacle 140 during and after the assembly process. Even more preferably, both the resilient integral latch posts 130 and the integral receptacles 140 each comprises complimentary facing and interacting inclined cam surfaces 160 facing the other of the resilient integral latch posts 130 and the integral receptacles 140, as shown in
In order to assemble the door latch assembly 40 of the present disclosure, the inside housing 70 is disposed by the installer to a position adjacent the interior surface 46 of the storage compartment door assembly 38 and proximate the opening 74 in the closable door panel 58 of the storage compartment door assembly 38. The outside housing 72 is similarly disposed by the installer to a position adjacent an exterior surface 44 of the storage compartment door assembly 38 and proximate the opening 74 in the closable door panel 58 of the storage compartment door assembly 38. The installer then aligns the plurality of resilient integral latch posts 130 with the plurality of integral receptacles 140, and subsequently pushes the inside housing 70 and the outside housing 72 together. By applying a predetermined force during assembly by simply pushing the resilient integral latch posts 130 on the outside housing 72 into the integral receptacles 140 disposed on the inside housing 70, the resilient integral latch posts 130 are displaced relative the integral receptacles 140, as describe above. This, in turn, moves the notches 148 on the resilient integral latch posts 130 forward and into registration and engagement with the catches 154 on the integral receptacles 140, whereby the resilient integral latch posts 130 are operably coupled with the integral receptacles 140 and the inside housing 70 and outside housing 72 are operably coupled one to the other, as perhaps best shown in
As an additional feature of the construction herein described, preferably the resilient integral latch posts 130 may be manually disengaged from the integral receptacles 140 after assembly via the access provided by the openings 152. This is accomplished by displacing the distal end 150 of the resilient integral latch posts 130 to the side relative the opening 152 of the integral receptacles 140 to disengage the notch 148 from the catch 154 and thereby allow the withdrawal of the resilient integral latch posts 130 from the opening 152 of the integral receptacle 140. Preferably, such displacement of the resilient integral latch posts 130 is accomplished via a simple hand tool, such as a screwdriver. Moreover, given the location of the openings 154 of the integral receptacle 140 on the inside housing 70, which is inaccessible when the storage compartment door assembly 138 is in the closed position and the door latch assembly 40 is in the latched position, the door latch assembly 40 cannot be readily disassembled from outside the recreational vehicle 10. The door latch assembly 40 disclosed herein thus does not permanently interfere with serviceability of the storage compartment door assembly 138 or door latch assembly 40, yet still provides reliable door latch assembly 40 retention in the normally closed position subsequent assembly.
Alternatively, the components for the door latch assembly 40 may be reversed, and the resilient integral latch posts 130 may be mounted on the inside housing 70, while the integral receptacles 140 may mounted on the outside housing 72. However, in this configuration, the integral receptacles 140 may be preferably integrally molded as a blind hole, as noted above, which would then be inaccessible from an exterior surface 170 of the outside housing, in order to prevent tampering with the door latch assembly 40 and separation of the outside housing 72 from the inside housing 70, as discussed above.
Another particularly advantageous feature of the present disclosure is that each of the inside housing 70 and outside housing 72 may be preferably comprised of an integrated injection molded polymeric material within which each of the resilient integral latch posts 130 and integral receptacles 140 may be readily integrally molded, respectively. Preferably, each is fabricated from nylon, although it is contemplated that polypropylene (PP), thermoplastic polyolefin (TPO), compositions of PP and TPO, or blends thereof, with and without additional fillers, may also be used.
As a feature of the construction herein described, the plurality of resilient integral latch posts 130 and the plurality of integral receptacles 140 may be simply incorporated in the molds for these components and molded-in during the injection molding process. These molded-in features may be designed with existing die draft orientations. Thus, there are no incremental tooling costs or additional component complexities required to implement the improvement in the disclosed door latch assemblies 40. Indeed, the need for separate threaded fasteners is completely eliminated, as are the labor and material costs associated with the use of such separate threaded fasteners.
Accordingly, the door latch assembly 40 of the present disclosure provides an exceedingly elegant solution to the drawbacks of the prior art storage compartment door latch assemblies noted above. In particular, the disclosed door latch assembly 40 may be relatively quickly assembled, that is, by merely pushing the inside housing 70 and the outside housing 72 against each other, with the opening 74 for the door latch assembly 40 of the storage compartment door assembly 38 situated therebetween, as noted above. The foregoing disclosure provides a door latch assembly 40 that also effectively reduces misalignment during assembly, while simultaneously providing positive mechanical retention of the inside housing 70 relative the outside housing 72. Rather, proper alignment is readily obtained through the resilient integral latch posts 130 and integral receptacles 140 that are positioned internal to the door latch assembly 40. The foregoing disclosure further provides a door latch assembly 40 that may be simply disassembled should the need arise. Disassembly of the door latch assembly 40 is readily obtained by merely displacing the resilient integral latch posts 130 to the side relative the integral receptacles 140. Finally, the labor and material costs associated with separate threaded fasteners is eliminated. The disclosed door latch assembly 40 is thus obtained at minimal cost and complexity.
It will be understood by one having ordinary skill in the art that construction of the present disclosure and other components is not limited to any specific material. Other exemplary embodiments of the disclosure disclosed herein may be formed from a wide variety of materials, unless described otherwise herein.
For purposes of this disclosure, the term “coupled” or “operably coupled” (in all of its forms, couple, coupling, coupled, etc.) generally means the joining of two components (electrical or mechanical) directly or indirectly to one another. Such joining may be stationary in nature or movable in nature. Such joining may be achieved with the two components (electrical or mechanical) and any additional intermediate members being integrally formed as a single unitary body with one another or with the two components. Such joining may be permanent in nature or may be removable or releasable in nature unless otherwise stated.
For purposes of this disclosure, the term “connected” or “operably connected” (in all of its forms, connect, connecting, connected, etc.) generally means that one component functions with respect to another component, even if there are other components located between the first and second component, and the term “operable” defines a functional relationship between components.
It is also important to note that the construction and arrangement of the elements of the present disclosure as shown in the exemplary embodiments is illustrative only. Although only a few embodiments of the present innovations have been described in detail in this disclosure, those skilled in the art who review this disclosure will readily appreciate that, unless otherwise described, many modifications are possible (e.g., variations in sizes, dimensions, structures, shapes and proportions of the various elements, values of parameters, mounting arrangements, use of materials, colors, orientations, etc.) without materially departing from the novel teachings and advantages of the subject matter recited. For example, elements shown as integrally formed may be constructed of multiple parts or elements shown as multiple parts may be integrally formed, the operation of the interfaces may be reversed or otherwise varied, the length or width of the structures and/or members or connector or other elements of the system may be varied, the nature or number of adjustment positions provided between the elements may be varied. It should be noted that the elements and/or assemblies of the system may be constructed from any of a wide variety of materials that provide sufficient strength or durability, in any of a wide variety of colors, textures, and storage compartments. Accordingly, all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the present innovations. Other substitutions, modifications, changes, and omissions may be made in the design, operating positions, and arrangement of the desired and other exemplary embodiments without departing from the spirit of the present innovations.
It will be understood that any described processes or steps within described processes may be combined with other disclosed processes or steps to form structures within the scope of the present disclosure. The exemplary structures and processes disclosed herein are for illustrative purposes and are not to be construed as limiting.
It is also to be understood that variations and modifications can be made on the aforementioned structures and methods without departing from the concepts of the present invention, and further it is to be understood that such concepts are intended to be covered by the following claims unless these claims by their language expressly state otherwise.
