Push plate assembly

A push plate assembly for rotationally driving a bolt mechanism, the push plate assembly comprising:

• a housing and a backplate;
• a push plate rotatably coupled to the housing so as to rotate when pushed towards the housing;
• a slide plate mounted within the housing to slide when driven by rotation of the push plate;
• and
• a drive cam having a cam lobe, and a crank pin mounted on the cam lobe, the drive cam arranged to rotate within the housing when driven by the slide plate so as to drive the bolt mechanism, wherein the slide plate is formed as a rectangular ring, and the drive cam is coupled to the backplate by a bearing assembly within the aperture of the rectangular ring, and the drive cam is arranged to rotate within the aperture of the slide plate, and the crank pin is arranged to bear upon a horizontal cammed surface of the aperture within the slide plate,
• wherein the push plate assembly is adapted to be reversible for operation on lefthand and righthand opening doors, without disassembly of the push plate assembly, by reorientation of the drive cam within the aperture of the slide plate such that when driven by the push plate to retract a bolt of the bolt mechanism, the direction of rotation of the drive cam before reorientation is opposite to that after reorientation, thereby reversing the drive rotation direction to retract the bolt.