Two point latching system
AssigneeSouthco, Inc.
InventorsFabrice Vitry, Andrew Thornton
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The present invention relates to a latch having a button pawl shaft for attaching two panels together at two different points. The shaft of the latch has bezels in which the shaft rotates connected to one of the panels. The shaft has pawls at both ends which engage a keeper on a second panel and disengage and clear the keeper when a force is applied to the button on the shaft thereby rotating the shaft. A precompressed torsion spring provides a force on the button at all times. When a user presses on the button thereby rotating the shaft such that the pawls disengage with keepers the spring will rotate the shaft and button back to the same position as that prior to the user applying a force on the button.
Claims17
A button pawl shaft for releasably latching a first panel to a second panel comprising a shaft connected to one of the first and second panels, said shaft having:
- two opposite ends;
- a pawl on each of said two opposite ends of said shaft, each of said pawls having a portion thereof which is shaped so as to be engageable with a respective keeper on the second panel upon rotation of said shaft;
- at least one pocket within said shaft;
- a spring located in said at least one pocket, said pocket configured to receive the outer periphery of a central portion of said spring therein, wherein said spring applying a biasing force which urges said shaft to rotate said pawls toward the keeper, and
- a button on said shaft between said pawls, said button permitting rotation of the shaft in a direction opposite to that of the biasing force when a force is applied to said button such that each of said pawls can disengage the keeper on the second panel.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.