Door control mechanism

A door control mechanism for a door hinged to a door frame of a cargo container, said door frame including a header and a sill interconnected through a pair of side frame members, said aligning and latching mechanism comprising:

• an operating shaft adapted to be rotatably mounted generally parallel to an outer face of said door about a substantially fixed vertical axis spaced from a hinged edge of the door;
• first and second latching members arranged toward opposite ends of and secured for rotation with said operating shaft, with said latching members being configured such that one latching member has significantly greater gather than the other latching member, and wherein each latching member comprising a locking tine extending in a first lateral direction from a head portion of the latching member and a heel portion extending in an opposite lateral direction from said head portion of the latching member, and wherein the tine of at least one latching member is configured with inner and outer curved surfaces which converge relative to each other and toward a distal end of said tine, with the distal end of said tine of at least said one latching member being configured with at least one slanting surface leading from the distal end of said tine;
• and
• first and second keeper members configured to cooperate with said latching members in a manner promoting alignment and positioning of said door as a function of the rotation of said shaft, with each keeper member including a base having first and second projecting portions arranged toward opposed ends of said base, with the first projecting portion of each keeper member defining a latch locking zone with a wedge-like stem portion defining a cam surface configured to cam the tine of a respective latching member into said locking zone when said mechanism is operated to move said latching members into cooperative locking relation relative to their respective keeper members, and with the second projecting portion being configured to releasably accommodate the heel portion of a respective latching member therebetween in a manner facilitating alignment of the door relative to the door frame, and wherein the cam surface on one keeper members is specifically configured to cooperate with that latching member having greater gather whereby facilitating alignment of the door relative to the door frame, and
• wherein both latching members are configured and secured to said operating shaft such that either the latching member having the greater gather engages with its respective keeper member before the other latching member engages its respective keeper member or the distal end of the tine on each locking member is introduced into the latch locking zone of the respective keeper members substantially simultaneously thereby offering an improved gathering range when said mechanism is operated to position said latching members in locking relation relative to their respective keeper members.