Latching assembly
OwnerZachary Simmonds, Stuart Parkerinventors
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A latching assembly for releasably securing a first member to a second member, the latch assembly comprising a housing, at least two jaws pivotally mounted to the housing, the jaws pivotable between an open position and a closed position, the assembly comprising a locking member moveable between a locked position to lock the jaws in the closed position and an unlocked position to allow the jaws to revert to the open position.
Claims16
A latch receiving assembly comprising:
- a housing;
- at least two jaws arranged symmetrically and at least partially inside the housing, wherein the at least two jaws are pivotally mounted to the housing and are able to pivot independently of one another, wherein each of the least two jaws are pivotable between a respective open position and a respective closed position, wherein the at least two jaws each comprise a slot, and wherein the at least two jaws are arranged such that in their respective closed positions their slots align with each other forming a common void;
- a first spring configured to bias one of the at least two jaws towards its respective open position;
- a second spring configured to bias a different jaw of the at least two jaws towards its respective open position;
- and
- a locking member at least partially arranged in the housing, said locking member moveable between a locked position, where the locking member enters the common void created by the slots to prevent further rotation of the at least two jaws to lock the at least two jaws in their respective closed positions, and an unlocked position to allow the at least two jaws to revert to their respective open positions.
The latch receiving assembly, wherein the at least two jaws and the locking member are configured such that when one jaw of the at least two jaws is in its closed position and another jaw of the at least two jaws is not in its closed position, the locked member in its locked position occupies the slot of the one jaw without occupying the slot of the other jaw.
A latch receiving assembly comprising:
- a housing;
- at least two jaws arranged symmetrically and at least partially inside the housing, wherein the at least two jaws are pivotally mounted to the housing and are able to pivot independently of one another, wherein each of the least two jaws are pivotable between a respective open position and a respective closed position, wherein at least one of the at least two jaws comprise a slot;
- a first spring configured to bias a first jaw of the at least two jaws towards its respective open position;
- a second spring configured to bias a second jaw of the at least two jaws different from the first jaw towards its respective open position, wherein the housing has a recess through which an arm of the second jaw extends when the second jaw is in its respective open position, wherein the arm of the second jaw presents a region to accept a latch when the arm extends through the recess, and wherein the second jaw is configured to pivot around a received latch upon force of the latch against the received region of the arm;
- and
- a locking member at least partially arranged in the housing, said locking member moveable between a locked position, where the locking member enters the slot to prevent further rotation of at least one of the two jaws to lock the at least one jaw in its respective closed position, and an unlocked position to allow the at least one jaw to revert to its respective open position.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.