Handle operable rotary latch and lock

A flush-mountable, handle-operable rotary latch for mounting on a closure for releasably retaining the closure in a closed position by latchingly engaging a suitably configured strike formation that is located within relatively close proximity to the rotary latch when the closure is in its closed position, comprising:

• a) flush-mountable front assembly means for mounting as a first modular assembly on a closure adjacent a mounting opening that is formed through a front wall of the closure, including:
• i) first housing means including a pan-shaped housing for mounting on the closure adjacent the mounting opening, including a one-piece housing that defines:
• A) mounting flange means for defining a front wall of the pan-shaped housing, including a mounting flange that is configured 1) to extend perimetrically about the closure's mounting opening, 2) to closely overlie portions of a front surface of the closure's front wall that extend perimetrically about the mounting opening, and 3) to be clamped toward engagement with said portions of the closure's front surface to substantially flush-mount the pan-shaped housing on the closure;
• B) side walls and a back wall that cooperate to define a forwardly-facing recess, 1) with the side walls being configured to extend forwardly and rearwardly through the closure's mounting opening when the mounting flange closely overlies said portions of the closure's front surface, 2) with front portions of the side walls joining smoothly with and being perimetrically surrounded by the mounting flange, 3) with rear portions of the side walls joining smoothly with and perimetrically surrounding the back wall, 4) with the back wall being configured to extend substantially parallel to the front wall of the pan-shaped housing, 5) with the back wall having a front surface that faces forwardly into the recess and a rearwardly-facing back surface on the opposite side thereof, and 6) with an opening being formed through the back wall;
• ii) handle means including an operating handle that is at least partially nested within the recess, and that is connected to the first housing means for movement relative to the pan-shaped housing between a non-operated position and an operated position;
• iii) biasing means connected to and interposed between the first housing means and the handle means for biasing the handle away from its operated position toward its non-operated position;
• b) rear assembly means for mounting as a second modular assembly on the closure, for being connected to the front assembly means to clampingly draw the mounting flange toward engagement with said portions of the closure's front surface to securely mount the rotary latch on the closure, including:
• i) mounting bracket means including a mounting bracket for overlying at least a portion of the back surface of the back wall of the pan-shaped housing, for bridging at least a portion of the closure's mounting opening at a location behind the back surface of the closure's front wall, for being fastener-connected to the front assembly means, and for defining back-surface engaging means for being clamped toward engagement with the back surface of the closure's front wall when the mounting flange of the first housing means is being clamped toward engagement with said portions of the closure's front surface;
• ii) rotary means including second housing means rigidly connected to the mounting bracket means, with the second housing means including:
• A) an elongate, generally rectangular first housing side plate having opposed end regions near opposite ends of the length thereof, and defining a first U-shaped notch located near one of the opposed end regions of the first housing side plate;
• B) an elongate, generally rectangular second housing side plate having opposed end regions near opposite ends of the length thereof, and defining a second U-shaped notch located near one of the opposed end regions of the second housing side plate, with the second U-shaped notch being substantially aligned with the first U-shaped notch;
• C) spacer means for extending transversely between, for rigidly connecting with, and for maintaining a substantially parallel relationship between the first and second housing side plates, with the spacer means including a first spacer that extends along a first transverse axis that intersects each of the first and second housing side plates at a location that is relatively near to the other end regions thereof, and with the spacer means also including a second spacer that extends along a second transverse axis that intersects each of the first and second housing side plates at a location that is substantially mid-way between the opposite ends thereof;
• iii) with the rotary means additionally including a rotary jaw and a rotary pawl that extend substantially within a common plane located between the first and second housing side plates, with the rotary jaw being connected to the second spacer and being rotatable through a limited range of angular movement about the second transverse axis between latched and unlatched positions but being spring-biased toward its unlatched position, with the rotary pawl being connected to the first spacer and being movable relative to the housing about the first transverse axis between jaw-retaining and jaw-releasing positions to selectively release and retain the rotary jaw in its latched position but being spring-biased to move the rotary pawl toward its jaw-retaining position as the rotary jaw moves to its latched position, with an operating arm being provided for moving the rotary pawl to release the rotary jaw from its latched position, with the rotary jaw defining a third U-shaped notch that is configured to cooperate with the first and second U-shaped notches to concurrently receive and to latchingly retain within the confines of the first, second and third U-shaped notches a suitably configured strike formation when the rotary latch latchingly engages the strike formation, and with a selected one of the first and second housing side plates being strengthened and enhanced in rigidity by the close proximity presence of a transversely extending flange that is formed integrally with said selected housing side plate;
• and,
• iv) with the rotary means additionally including linkage means movably connected to the mounting bracket means for extending through the back wall opening of the pan-shaped housing for interconnecting the operating handle with the operating arm for moving the operating arm to effect movement of the rotary pawl to release the rotary jaw from being retained in its latched position in response to movement of the operating handle away from its non-operated position toward its operated position to thereby release the striker from being concurrently received within and latchingly retained within the confines of the first, second and third U-shaped notches;
• and,
• c) fastener means for connecting and clamping toward each other the housing means and the mounting bracket means to thereby clamp the back-surface engaging means of the mounting bracket toward a position of engagement with the back surface of the closure's front wall, and to clamp the mounting flange of the pan-shaped housing toward a position of engagement with said portions of the closure's front surface.