Submerged cam actuated rotary latch for front access panels
AssigneeNorthrop Corporation
InventorJames F. Randall
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A submerged panel latch having an eccentric cam rotatable in the plane of the panel near the panel outer surface and accessible to the user, a latch rotor engaged by the cam and rotatable in a plane perpendicular to that of the cam, inward facing strikers on facing edges of a pair of facing panels, at least one of which is removable at the opposite edge thereof, and concentric openings in said pair of strikers which are concentric and through which said latch rotor is extendable in the closed or locked position of the panels and from which it is withdrawn in the unlocked position.
Claims28
A cam actuated rotary latch apparatus for locking a front access panel relative to a panel member adjacent and parallel said front access panel, comprising:
- a first striker connected to and extending inwardly from an edge of said front access panel and having a first opening therein;
- a second striker connected to said panel member and being parallel to said first striker whenever said front access panel and said panel member are mutually parallel in a closed position, said second striker having a second opening therein which is aligned with said first opening whenever said panel member and said front access panel are in said closed position;
- a rotary latch rotatable about a first axis which is fixed relative to said panel member between a locked position in which said rotary latch is at least partly inserted through said first and second openings and an unlocked position in which said rotary latch is withdrawn from at least said first opening;
- and
- a cam engaging said rotary latch and having an eccentric region of maximum extent and a normal region of minimum extent, said cam being movable in a plane parallel to a plane of said panel member between a closed position at which said eccentric region abuts said rotary latch inserted through said first and second openings and an open position at which said normal region faces said rotary latch withdrawn from at least said first opening, said cam being located near and submerged relative to said plane of said panel member, whereby user access to said cam without protrusion of said cam beyond an external surface of said panel member is permitted.
A cam actuated rotary latch apparatus for locking a front access panel relative to a panel member adjacent and parallel said front access panel, comprising:
- (I) plural latch devices disposed at respective locations along a boundary between said panel member and said front access panel, each of said plural latch devices comprising:
- (A) a first striker connected to and extending inwardly from an edge of said front access panel and having a first opening therein,
- (B) a second striker connected to said panel member and being parallel to said first striker whenever said front access panel and said panel member are mutually parallel in a closed position, said second striker having a second opening therein which is aligned with said first opening whenever said panel member and said front access panel are in said closed position,
- (C) a rotary latch rotatable about a first axis which is fixed relative to said panel member between a locked position in which said rotary latch is at least partly inserted through said first and second openings and an unlocked position in which said rotary latch is withdrawn from at least said first opening,
- (D) a cam engaging said rotary latch and having an eccentric region of maximum extent and a normal region of minimum extent, said cam being movable in a plane parallel to a plane of said panel member between a closed position at which said eccentric region abuts said rotary latch inserted through said first and second openings and an open position at which said normal region faces said rotary latch withdrawn from at least said first opening;
- (II) single point latcher means for actuating all said cams of all of said plural latch devices from a single point.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.