Closure fasteners – Bolts – Swinging
Reexamination Certificate
1997-12-01
2001-01-09
Pham Luu, Teri (Department: 3627)
Closure fasteners
Bolts
Swinging
C292S050000, C292S237000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06170892
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an improved gate latch and, to a gate latch pull of improved design and performance.
2. Brief Statement of the Prior Art
Gate latches commonly employ a latch bar with a cooperating latch mechanism. Typically the latch bar is installed on the gate and the latch mechanism is installed on the gate post. Quite a few attempts have been made to provide facile operation of the latch mechanism from the opposite side of the gate and the following patents are cited as typical of these attempts.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,078,438 discloses a gate latch that can be opened from the opposite side of the gate by a grasp ring
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that is attached to a cord that passes through a hole in the gate and is connected to the latch. U.S. Pat. No. 5,358,292 discloses a gate latch having a pivoted latch lever to which is attached a wire rope, cable or nylon cable with a molded nylon latch clip that extends from the latch lever through a compression spring and bore
44
in gate post to a plastic handle. U.S. Pat. No. 5,655,801 discloses a gate latch that has a handle and rod mechanism provided for opening the latch from the opposite side of the gate. U.S. Pat. No. 1,558,917 discloses a door latch that may be operated from outside the door with a pawl and chain. U.S. Pat. No. 5,498,041 discloses a gate latch assembly that includes a cable that passes through the gate post to allow operation from the other side.
OBJECTIVES OF THE INVENTION
It is an objective of this invention to provide an improvement in a gate latch.
It is an additional objective of this invention to provide a gate latch pull which is simple in construction and installation.
It is also an objective of this invention to provide a gate latch pull which has improved durability and service life.
It is a further objective of this invention to provide a gate latch pull having sufficient stiffness to permit it to exert pushing force on the latch mechanism of the gate latch.
It is likewise an objective of this invention to provide a gate latch pull formed of inexpensive plastics.
Other and further objectives of this invention will be apparent from the following description of the invention.
BRIEF STATEMENT OF THE INVENTION
This invention comprises an improvement in a latch for a gate which comprises a latch bar and a cooperating latch mechanism. The latch mechanism has a frame with a flange base for attachment to a gate post and a tongue that is pivotally mounted on the frame with a slot to receive the latch bar. A lever arm extends from the tongue and a gate latch pull is attached to the lever arm and extended through a bore in the gate post to permit operation of the latch from the opposite side of the gate. In this invention the gate latch pull is formed of a flexible material, preferably plastic, having a flexural strength (modulus) no less than about 5,000 psi and a thickness sufficient to permit the latch pull to flex and follow the arcuate movement of the lever arm while retaining sufficient stiffness to permit the pushing of the lever to overcome interference in closing the latch. Preferably the latch pull is provided with a snap retainer to secure one end to the latch tongue lever, and with finger grips at each end.
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patent: 5116090 (1992-05-01), Nichandros
patent: 5358292 (1994-10-01), Van Wiebe et al.
patent: 5386713 (1995-02-01), Wilson
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patent: 5517838 (1996-05-01), Moore
patent: 5581850 (1996-12-01), Acker
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patent: 5669111 (1997-09-01), Rohaly
patent: 5687455 (1997-11-01), Alexander
Lantiegne Paul
Luu Teri Pham
Myers Dawes & Andras LLP
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