Latching apparatus for a panel door
AssigneeMorgan Trailer Mfg. Co.
InventorsPaul L. Whiteman, William Hurst
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A door panel latching apparatus including first and second elongated rods telescoped together for relative sliding movement. The first rod is mounted to the door with a free end for latching near an upper door edge and free to rotate about its longitudinal axis but is prevented from moving longitudinally. The second rod is mounted to the door with a free end for latching near a lower door edge and free to rotate about its longitudinal axis and to move along its longitudinal axis. A handle is connected to the rods by a linkage for longitudinally moving the second rod when the handle is rotated about an axis perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the rods and for rotating both rods when the handle is rotated about an axis which is coincident with the longitudinal axes of the rods.
Claims13
Apparatus for latching a door closed, the door having upper and lower edges, the apparatus comprising:
- (a) first and second elongated rods telescoped together for relative sliding movement;
- (b) first means for mounting the first rod to the door with its free end proximate the upper door edge so that the first rod is free to rotate about its longitudinal axis but is prevented from moving longitudinally;
- (c) second means for mounting the second rod to the door with its free end proximate the lower door edge so that the second rod is free to rotate about its longitudinal axis and to move longitudinally;
- (d) a manipulable operating handle;
- (e) linkage means interconnecting the rods and the handle for
- (i) longitudinally moving the free end of the second rod toward or away from the lower door edge in response to rotation of the handle about an axis which is generally perpendicular to the longitudinal axes of the rods;
- and
- (ii) rotating the free ends of the rods in a first or a second direction in response to rotation of the handle in the first or the second direction about an axis which is coincident with the longitudinal axes of the rods;
- (f) third means for latching or unlatching the lower edge of the closed door in response to movement of the free end of the second rod toward or away from the lower edge;
- and
- (g) fourth means for latching or unlatching the upper edge of the closed door in response to rotation of the free end of the first rod in the first or the second direction.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.