Pressure relief door assembly with temperature-actuated lock

A pressure relief door assembly, comprising:

• a latch body;
• a detent movably interconnected with said latch body;
• a lock comprising a bimetallic coil and a locking member interconnected and movable with said bimetallic coil;
• and
• a latch bolt movable relative to the latch body, wherein said latch bolt comprises a detent recess alignable with said detent and a locking recess alignable with said locking member of said lock, wherein a latch comprises said latch body and said latch bolt, wherein said latch is in a latched configuration when said detent is disposed in said detent recess of said latch bolt, said lock is disposed in a locked configuration when said bimetallic coil is in an expanded state and with said locking member being disposed in said locking recess of said latch bolt, and said lock is disposed in an unlocked configuration when said bimetallic coil is in a contracted state and with said locking member being disposed out said locking recess of said latch bolt.

A method of operating a pressure relief door assembly comprising a pressure relief door disposable in each of a closed position and an open position, a latch disposable in each of a latched configuration and an unlatched configuration relative to said pressure relief door, and a lock, said method comprising:

• changing said lock from an unlocked configuration to a locked configuration in response to a temperature satisfying a temperature threshold;
• retaining said pressure relief door in said closed position with said lock being in said locked configuration;
• increasing a temperature to which said pressure relief door assembly is exposed while said latch in said latched configuration to retain said pressure relief door in said closed position;
• and
• executing said changing said lock in response to said increasing a temperature and before said latch changes from said latched configuration to said unlatched configuration in response to said increasing a temperature.