Cam follower push button latch

A latch mechanism, comprising:

• a housing;
• a push button mounted to the housing for linear motion;
• a pair of locking pawls pivotably mounted independently to the housing, each locking pawl being movable between a latched position and an unlatched position;
• and
• a pair of cam rollers, each cam roller being rotatably mounted to the push button, and each cam roller positioned to interface with a cam profile formed on a corresponding one of the pair of locking pawls;
• wherein the push button is biased toward an undepressed position corresponding to the latched position, and the pair of locking pawls are biased toward their respective latched position;
• wherein, when the push button is pressed toward the housing, the pair of cam rollers ride along their respective cam profile to pivot the pair of locking pawls toward their respective unlatched position;
• and
• wherein, when the push button is released, the push button moves toward the undepressed position allowing the pair of locking pawls to pivot independently toward their respective latched position.

A tray table assembly, comprising:

• a tray table moveable between a stowed position and a deployed position;
• and
• a latch mechanism configured to engage the tray table to maintain the tray table in the stowed position and disengage the tray table to allow the tray table to be moved to the deployed position, the latch mechanism comprising:
• a housing;
• a push button mounted to the housing for linear motion;
• a pair of locking pawls pivotably mounted independently to the housing, each locking pawl being movable between a latched position and an unlatched position;
• a pair of cam rollers, each cam roller being rotatably mounted to the push button, and each cam roller positioned to interface with a cam profile formed on a corresponding one of the pair of locking pawls;
• a first biasing system configured to bias the push button toward an undepressed position corresponding to the latched position;
• and
• a second biasing system configured to bias the pair of locking pawls toward their respective latched position;
• wherein, when the push button is pressed toward the housing, the pair of cam rollers ride along their respective cam profile to pivot the pair of locking pawls toward their respective unlatched position disengaged from the tray table;
• and
• wherein, when the push button is released, the first biasing system moves the push button toward an undepressed position allowing the pair of locking pawls to pivot independently toward their respective latched position under the force of the second biasing system and into engagement with the tray table.