Toggle latch

A toggle latch for joining together two members comprising:

• a fixed engageable keeper element adapted to be secured to one of the members;
• a lever assembly adapted to be secured to the other member;
• said lever assembly including a bracket, an operating lever secured to the bracket by a fixed pivot at an intermediate portion of the lever and a drawbar secured to one end of the lever beyond the fixed pivot by means of movable pivot;
• the opposite end of the lever forming a handle;
• the movable pivot being positioned relative to the fixed pivot so that when the drawbar is engaged with the keeper and the handle is shifted to the latched position the movable pivot and portion of the drawbar connected and adjacent thereto will be shifted around and into a latched position behind and above the fixed pivot with the remainder of the drawbar extending outwardly from the underside of the fixed pivot and the drawbar being substantially obsecured from view by the handle and lever;
• spring means on the lever assembly to facilitate engagement of the drawbar and the keeper element and shifting of the lever assembly to the latched position where the members are maintained in tight joined condition;
• the bracket including a base and two opposed upstanding sides, the lever assembly mounted within the opposing upstanding sides, and the fixed pivot being a continuous pin extending through the lever assembly and through the opposed upstanding sides of the bracket;
• the spring means being in the drawbar which is a substantially rigid member and is corrugated to provide sufficient resilience for the necessary axial play required to assure proper engagement between the drawbar and the keeper element and latching of the assembly;
• one of the corrugations in the drawbar being positioned so that when the assembly is in the latched position the one corrugation will partially surround the fixed pivot in relatively close proximity thereto and provide additional support for the latch in the latched position by being in position to quickly engage the fixed pivot upon an excess of tension applied to the drawbar;
• and
• the corrugations being shallow and the fixed pivot being positioned with a minimum clearance between the underside of the fixed pivot and the base of the bracket and the one corrugation can pass therebetween so as to form a compact toggle latch with a pleasing visual appearance.