Latch with hold open lever

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10669750-B2
Application number	US-201514724179-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 28, 2015
Priority date	May 30, 2014
Publication date	Jun 2, 2020
Grant date	Jun 2, 2020

Abstract

A latch having: a fork bolt movably mounted to the latch for movement between an open position and a closed position; a detent lever movably mounted to the latch for movement between a latched position and a released position, wherein the detent lever prevents the fork bolt from moving from the closed position when the detent lever is in the latched position; a hold open lever configured for movement between a first position and a second position wherein the hold open lever has a feature configured to engage a feature of the detent lever such that the detent lever is retained in the disengaged position by the hold open lever when it is in the first position, wherein the hold open lever moves in a plane or directions that are angularly oriented to a plane or directions in which the fork bolt and the detent lever move.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A latch, comprising:
a fork bolt movably mounted to a housing portion of the latch for movement between an open position and a closed position;
a detent lever movably mounted to the housing portion of the latch for movement between a latched position and a released position, wherein the detent lever prevents the fork bolt from moving from the closed position to the open position when the detent lever is in the latched position;
a hold open lever configured for movement between a first position and a second position, the hold open lever having a feature configured to engage a feature of the detent lever such that the detent lever is retained in the released position by the hold open lever when it is in the first position, wherein the hold open lever moves in a substantially vertical plane or a substantially vertical direction that is oriented substantially perpendicular to a horizontal plane or horizontal directions in which the fork bolt and the detent lever move;
a cam surface configured to move the hold open lever from the first position to the second position as the fork bolt moves from the closed position to the open position, the cam surface extending angularly from a surface of the fork bolt to an elevated surface located above the surface of the fork bolt; and
wherein the hold open lever is an elongated member integrally formed with the housing portion at one end and the feature of the hold open lever is located at a distal end of the hold open lever, and the hold open lever further comprises a protrusion located away from the distal end of the hold open lever and extending from a surface of the hold open lever, the protrusion being configured and positioned to contact the cam surface and the elevated surface as the fork bolt moves from the closed position towards the open position.

2. The latch as in claim 1 , wherein the hold open lever is formed from plastic.

3. The latch as in claim 2 , wherein the hold open lever is formed from a different material than that of the housing portion.

4. The latch as in claim 1 , wherein the hold open lever is formed from a different material than that of the housing portion.

5. The latch as in claim 1 , wherein the hold open lever is biased into the first position.

6. The latch as in claim 5 , wherein the hold open lever is formed from a different material than that of the housing portion.

7. A latch, comprising:
a fork bolt movably mounted to a housing portion of the latch for movement between an open position and a closed position;
a detent lever movably mounted to the housing portion of the latch for movement between a latched position and a released position, wherein the detent lever prevents the fork bolt from moving from the closed position to the open position when the detent lever is in the latched position;
a hold open lever configured for movement between a first position and a second position, the hold open lever having a feature configured to engage a feature of the detent lever such that the detent lever is retained in the released position by the hold open lever when it is in the first position, wherein the hold open lever moves in a substantially vertical plane or a substantially vertical direction that is oriented substantially perpendicular to a horizontal plane or horizontal directions in which the fork bolt and the detent lever move;
a bell crank lever movably mounted to the housing portion for movement between a first position and a second position, wherein the bell crank lever moves the detent lever from the latched position to the released position as the bell crank lever moves from the first position to the second position; and
an over center spring secured to the bell crank lever at one end and a portion of the housing portion at another end, wherein the over center spring provides a biasing force to the bell crank lever in a first direction creating a rotational force towards the first position when the bell crank lever is in the first position and the over center spring provides a biasing force to the bell crank lever in a second direction creating a rotational force towards the second position when the bell crank lever is in the second position.

8. The latch as in claim 7 , wherein the hold open lever is formed from a different material than that of the housing portion.

9. The latch as in claim 7 , wherein the hold open lever is biased into the first position.

10. The latch as in claim 7 , wherein the hold open lever is formed from plastic and is integrally formed with the housing portion.

11. The latch as in claim 10 , wherein the hold open lever is formed from a different material than that of the housing portion.

12. The latch as in claim 10 , wherein the hold open lever is biased into the first position.

13. A method of disengaging a detent lever from engagement with a fork bolt, comprising:
pivoting the fork bolt between an open position and a closed position;
pivoting the detent lever between a latched position and a released position, wherein the detent lever engages the fork bolt and prevents the fork bolt from pivoting from the closed position to the open position when the detent lever is in the latched position;
biasing a hold open lever into a first position, wherein the hold open lever is integrally formed with a portion of the housing on which the fork bolt and detent lever are pivotally mounted, and the hold open lever is configured for movement between the first position and a second position, the hold open lever having a feature configured to engage a feature of the detent lever such that the detent lever is retained in the released position by the hold open lever when it is in the first position, and wherein the hold open lever moves in a substantially vertical plane or a substantially vertical direction with respect to a horizontal plane or horizontal directions in which the fork bolt and the detent lever pivot;
engaging a cam surface located on a surface of the fork bolt with a protrusion of the hold open lever, the cam surface extending angularly from a surface of the fork bolt to an elevated surface located above the surface of the fork bolt, the protrusion being configured and positioned to contact the cam surface and the elevated surface as the fork bolt moves from the closed position towards the open position; and
wherein the feature of the hold open lever is located at a distal end of the hold open lever and the protrusion is located away from the distal end of the hold open lever and extends from a surface of the hold open lever.

14. The method as in claim 13 , wherein the hold open lever is formed from plastic.

15. The method as in claim 13 , wherein the hold open lever is formed from a different material than that of the portion of the housing.

16. The method as in claim 15 , wherein the hold open lever is formed from plastic.

Assignees

• Dow Ian
• Rice John R
• Perkins Donald M
• Inteva Products Llc

Inventors

• Dow Ian
• Rice John R
• Perkins Donald M

Classifications

• Y10T292/108

  Lever · CPC title

• Y10T292/1047

  Closure · CPC title

• E05B2015/0493

  Overcenter springs · CPC title

• E05B81/15

  with means preventing the detent to return to its latching position before the bolt has moved to the unlatched position · CPC title

• Y10T292/1082

  Motor · CPC title