ES360730A1 - Door lock - Google Patents

Abstract

In a door latch, e.g. for vehicle doors, the keeper 10 is engaged by a pawl-shaped latchbolt 4 and an anti-rattling cam or 'wedge' 6 on top and bottom sides respectively, the loading on both being provided by a tension spring 21 whose tension is increased as the keeper engages. The cam 6 also engages a recess 14 to provide an intermediate 'safety' latched engagement. The pawl 4 is of semicylindrical shape and engages keeper notches 12, 13. The manually operable lever 15 is is loaded by spring 17, and has a tab 18 engaging an arcuate slot 19 in a segment 20 secured to the spindle 5 of the pawl 4. This segment is loaded by spring 21 and when it rotates, its limb 24 engages a limb 25 on a lever 26 secured to the spindle 8 of the cam 6. Hence movement of the lever 15 against spring 21 disengages both the pawl 4 and cam 6. Closure of the door causes the keeper 10 to engage the pawl and cam simultaneously to tension the spring 2, Fig. 4. In the fully engaged position, the pawl 4 engages slot 13 and the cam 6 is rotated by frictional engagement with the keeper to an extreme position (Fig. 5, not shown). In the form shown, there is an additional 'safety' latch position 12, but in a modification (Fig. 7-12, not shown) this is dispensed with. In this form, initial entry engages the cam 6 only, further entry rotates the cam by friction as before and the spring tension turns a pawl into its latching position. The cam 6 may be of plastics.