Patent Application
20140191515
Research and development of this invention and application have not been federally sponsored, and no rights are given under any Federal program.
NOT APPLICABLE
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to door latching devices, in general, and to such devices for high-end interior room and cabinet door designs, in particular.
2. Description of the Related Art
Latching devices for interior room doors typically include a shaft which extends from a door knob to fit within an opening of a strike plate attached to the door jamb. As is well known and understood, maintenance is often required as the latch has a tendency to stick over time so the door is difficult to remain closed; likewise, the screws holding the knob to the door themselves loosen with continued use and the door frequently loses alignment. However, even when operating as intended, the latching mechanism and strike plate are visible and exposed when the door is ajar. Similarly, with the magnetic or bullet catches employed in cabinetry, those, too, are exposed when the cabinet is opened, even where their operations of securement and release are as intended. For high-end interior door constructions, and for high-end fashionable cabinetry installations, it would be desirable if they could remain out-of-sight when the doors are open.
It is an object of the present invention, therefore, to provide such a new and improved latching mechanism for interior room and cabinet door installations where such mechanisms are substantially hidden.
It is an object of the invention, also, to provide this latching mechanism whose manner of operation essentially remains the same over an extended period of use, thereby requiring a far lesser degree of maintenance.
It is another object of the invention, furthermore, to provide a new and improved latching mechanism which can be easily installed to begin with, reducing the time and effort required to set them to proper operation.
It is another object of the invention to provide a single type of latching mechanism which can be used both for interior room door and cabinet door installations alike.
As will become clear from the following description, the latching mechanism of the present invention consists of a device having a downwardly facing catch member within a door jamb or frame, along with an upwardly facing probe member within a top surface of a movable door. In a preferred embodiment, the catch member has an open bottom end, a closed top end, and an embedded rare earth magnet affixed inwardly of the closed top end—along with the probe member having a steel pin within a nonmagnetic shell having an open top end and a closed bottom end. In accordance with the teachings of the latching device, the probe member pin is sized to move upwardly within the nonmagnetic shell into the catch member under the attracting forces of the embedded rare earth magnet.
To facilitate the upward movement of the probe member steel pin, the pin is of a downwardly tapering dome shape, with the tapering extending on either side of the pin. Where the catch member is embedded within an underside of an interior door frame and the probe member is embedded within a top surface of a movable interior room door, pushing the movable door to align the steel pin with the embedded rare earth magnet of the catch member secures the movable door closed. Pulling of the movable door thereafter to align a tapering portion of the steel pin with the embedded rare earth magnet then releases the movable door to open. As will also be seen, where the catch member is embedded within an underside of a cabinet frame and where the probe member is embedded within a top surface of a movable door, the securement and release in a cabinet door installation through pushing and pulling movements operate in a like manner.
A preferable composition of neodymium alloy for the embedded rare earth magnet within a circular aperture drilled within the underside of the door jamb head or frame allows an easy and simple installation when the nonmagnetic shell (with its included steel pin) is sized to seat within a circular aperture similarly drilled within the top surface of the movable door.
These and other features of the invention will be more clearly understood from a consideration of the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:
a and 3b are perspective left (or right) side mirror image views and a rear bottom view, respectively, of the steel pin of the probe member of the invention;
a, 4b and 4c are perspective, front and rear views, respectively, of the nonmagnetic shell of the probe member;
The probe member steel pin of the latching device of
The nonmagnetic shield 30 of
The bore 32 in
In the catch member of
The bottom of the bore 40 is 0.1250 inch from the bottom, into which space the embedded rare earth magnet (preferably a neodymium alloy) is inserted.
In
As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the installation and operation of the latching device described thus maintains both the catch member and the probe member hidden from view when the door is open—be it an interior room door or a cabinet door. Easy installation follows simply by drilling the circular apertures in the underside of the jamb head or frame on the one hand, and in the top surface of the movable door on the other hand once the sizing of the catch member and probe member is selected. With the attracting forces provided between the embedded rare earth magnet and the steel pin, the closure and release operations between the two are maintained over time, thus requiring little maintenance of the latching device performance. Essentially with a steel pin being of cylindrical configuration of a ⅜ inch diameter sized to fit with a clearance of ⅛ inch within the nonmagnetic shield, and with the width of the embedded neodymium magnet being some ⅛ inch greater than the diameter of the steel pin, a latching mechanism results (according to the invention) in providing a single type of latching mechanism which can be used both for interior room door and cabinet door installations alike, while being hidden from view.
While there has been described what is considered to be a preferred embodiment of the present invention, it will be readily appreciated by those skilled in the art that modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the teachings herein. For example, whereas the invention has been described in the context of an upwardly facing probe member within a top surface of a movable door and with a downwardly facing catch member within a door jamb head or frame, it will be understood that the two orientations could be reversed (or even placed in a side-to-side orientation between a door edge and the door jamb with or without a biasing spring return for the steel pin), and the operation continue as before, with the steel pin being drawn into the catch under the attracting forces of the rare earth magnet when the door is pushed to close, and released therefrom when the door is pulled to open. Additionally, whereas both the steel pin and nonmagnetic shell are described as being installed within a circular latching device of the invention, bore configurations other than cylindrical can be utilized instead without affecting the attractive-release operation between the 2 component parts. And whereas the preferred embodiment of the invention illustrated by
A Provisional patent application covering the invention described herein was filed Jan. 17, 2012, and assigned Ser. No. 61/631,997.
