Push-button actuated latching mechanism

A latching mechanism for selective latching engagement to maintain a first member and a second member in secured engagement and for moving the first member along a release direction away from the second member upon selective release of the latching engagement, the latching mechanism comprising:

• a strike for mounting upon one of the first and second members, the strike having a securing face and a latching face spaced a distance from the securing face in a first direction, the first direction corresponding to the release direction when the strike is mounted upon one of the first and second members;
• a housing for mounting upon the other of the first and second members;
• a latching cam mounted in the housing for pivotal movement about a pivotal axis transverse to the first direction, between a latched position and a unlatched position;
• first and second arms on the cam, the first arm being spaced from the second arm in the first direction and establishing a space between the first and second arms, the space being essentially complementary to the distance between the securing face and the latching face of the strike;
• first biasing means coupled with the latching cam to bias the first arm for movement in a second direction opposite to the first direction;
• the first arm protruding from the housing when the latching cam is in the unlatched position so as to move along a first path of travel toward the strike as the latching cam is moved toward the striker such that the first arm engages the latch face of the strike and the latching cam is driven to move pivotally to the latched position, with the strike entering the space between the first and second arms, in response to selected movement of the latching cam toward the strike to move the latching mechanism into the latching engagement;
• a locking member mounted in the housing for movement between a locked position and an unlocked position;
• a second biasing means biasing the locking member toward the locked position;
• a locking element coupled with the latching cam for engagement with the locking member when the locking member is in the locked position and the latching cam is in the latched position to lock the latching cam in the latched position, with the second arm protruding from the housing and abutting the securing face of the strike to maintain the latching mechanism in the latching engagement;
• and
• an actuator coupled with the housing for movement along a second path of travel between a retracted position and an advanced position, the second path of travel intercepting the locking member such that upon movement of the actuator from the retracted position toward the advanced position, the actuator is coupled with the locking member to move the locking member, against the bias of the second biasing means, to the unlocked position, where the locking member is disengaged from the locking element to free the latching cam for movement toward the unlatched position in response to the first biasing means;
• whereby the second arm is biased by the first biasing means away from the securing face of the strike, and the first arm is biased by the first biasing means against the latching face of the strike to move the latching cam along the first direction away from the strike for moving the first member along the release direction away from the second member when the strike is mounted upon one of the first and second members and the housing is mounted upon the other of the first and second;
• the actuator including a push-button movable along the second path of travel, being linear and generally parallel to the first direction.

A latching mechanism for selective latching engagement to maintain a first member and a second member in secured engagement and for moving the first member along a release direction away from the second member upon selective release of the latching engagement, the latching mechanism comprising:

• a strike for mounting upon one of the first and second members, the strike having a securing face and a latching face spaced a distance from the securing face in a first direction, the first direction corresponding to the release direction when the strike is mounted upon one of the first and second members;
• a housing for mounting upon the other of the first and second members;
• a latching cam mounted in the housing for pivotal movement about a pivotal axis transverse to the first direction, between a latched position and a unlatched position;
• first and second arms on the cam, the first arm being spaced from the second arm in the first direction and establishing a space between the first and second arms, the space being essentially complementary to the distance between the securing face and the latching face of the strike;
• first biasing means coupled with the latching cam to bias the first arm for movement in a second direction opposite to the first direction;
• the first arm protruding from the housing when the latching cam is in the unlatched position so as to move along a first path of travel toward the strike as the latching cam is moved toward the striker such that the first arm engages the latch face of the strike and the latching cam is driven to move pivotally to the latched position, with the strike entering the space between the first and second arms, in response to selected movement of the latching cam toward the strike to move the latching mechanism into the latching engagement;
• a locking member mounted in the housing for movement between a locked position and an unlocked position;
• a second biasing means biasing the locking member toward the locked position;
• a locking element coupled with the latching cam for engagement with the locking member when the locking member is in the locked position and the latching cam is in the latched position to lock the latching cam in the latched position, with the second arm protruding from the housing and abutting the securing face of the strike to maintain the latching mechanism in the latching engagement;
• an actuator coupled with the housing for movement along a second path of travel between a retracted position and an advanced position, the second path of travel intercepting the locking member such that upon movement of the actuator from the retracted position toward the advanced position, the actuator is coupled with the locking member to move the locking member, against the bias of the second biasing means, to the unlocked position, where the locking member is disengaged from the locking element to free the latching cam for movement toward the unlatched position in response to the first biasing means;
• whereby the second arm is biased by the first biasing means away from the securing face of the strike, and the first arm is biased by the first biasing means against the latching face of the strike to move the latching cam along the first direction away from the strike for moving the first member along the release direction away from the second member when the strike is mounted upon one of the first and second members and the housing is mounted upon the other of the first and second members;
• and
• an auxiliary latch coupled with the latching cam, the auxiliary latch being coupled with the latching cam such that upon movement of the locking member out of the locked position, when the latching cam is in the latching position, the auxiliary latch engages the locking member to maintain the locking member disengaged from the locking element independent of the position of the actuator.