Latch assembly for a mine door and a mine door having such an assembly

A latch assembly for a door having a door body mounted on a door frame, the door body being moveable relative to the door frame between an open position of the door and a closed position of the door, the latch assembly comprising:

• a retainer movable between a latching position and a non-latching position, the retainer configured in the latching position to retain the door body in the closed position of the door, and the retainer configured to permit the door body to move with respect to the door frame in the non-latching position to permit the door body to move to the open position of the door;
• an actuator selectively moveable by a user to change the retainer from the latching position to the non-latching position;
• a shaft to which the actuator is mounted;
• and
• a linkage operatively linking the actuator to the retainer, the linkage being configured to move the retainer in a latching direction toward the latching position and in an unlatching direction toward the non-latching position responsive to actuation of the actuator, wherein the linkage is configured to be in an over-center configuration when the retainer is in the latching position, the linkage including a curved segment defining a recess sized and shaped for capturing the shaft when the linkage is in the over-center configuration and the retainer is in the latching position.

A mine door installed in a mine for selectively opening and closing a door passageway of a door frame, the mine door comprising:

• a door body moveable between a closed position of the door and an open position of the door to selectively close and open the door passageway, the door body including a first face configured to face the door passageway when in the closed position, and a second face configured to face away from the door passageway when in the closed position;
• a latch assembly supported by the door body, the latch assembly moveable between a latching configuration for retaining the door body in the closed position and in a non-latching configuration for permitting the door body to be moved to the open position, the latch assembly comprising:
• a first retainer and a second retainer, each of the first retainer and the second retainer being movable between a latching position and a non-latching position, the first and second retainers in the latching position retaining the door body in the closed position, and permitting the door body to move with respect to the door frame in the non-latching position to move to the door body to the open position, the first retainer including a first latch and a first lever, and the second retainer including a second latch and a second lever;
• an actuator actuable to change the latch assembly from the non-latching configuration to the latching configuration;
• and
• a linkage including a first linkage and a second linkage, the first linkage operatively connecting the first retainer to the actuator independent of the second linkage, and the second linkage operatively connecting the second retainer to the actuator independent of the first linkage, the first linkage being connected to the first lever and configured to pull the first lever to move the first retainer toward the latching position, and the second linkage being connected to the second lever and configured to pull the second lever to move the second retainer toward the latching position, the first linkage and the second linkage being configured to be in an over-center configuration when the first and second retainers are in the respective latching positions;
• and
• a resiliently compressible seal having an at-rest state and being configured to be resiliently deformed from the at-rest state by compression between the door body and the door frame when the door body is moved to the closed position, and wherein the first linkage and the second linkage are configured to be biased by the resiliently deformed seal toward the over-center configuration.