Closure fasteners – Bolts – Sliding and rotary
Reexamination Certificate
1999-12-16
2002-02-26
Estremsky, Gary (Department: 3627)
Closure fasteners
Bolts
Sliding and rotary
C292SDIG001
Reexamination Certificate
active
06349981
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to latching devices. More particularly, the invention relates to latching devices which are particularly useful for animal cages.
2. State of the Art
A portion of a state of the art animal cage is shown in prior art FIG.
1
. The cage
10
is provided with a hinged door
12
and a spring biased latch
14
which is located to engage or abut a tab
16
on the door
12
when the door is closed. Details of the latch
14
are shown in prior art
FIGS. 2-5
.
As seen best in prior art
FIGS. 2 and 3
, the latch
14
generally includes a U-shaped bracket
18
having a front flange
20
and a rear flange
22
, each of which defines a keyed hole
24
,
26
, an L-shaped bolt
28
having two spaced apart flanges
30
,
32
(typically formed by crimping), and a coil spring
34
. The bolt
28
is placed so that it extends through the holes
24
,
26
as shown in
FIGS. 2
,
4
, and
5
. The spring
34
is arranged coaxially with the bolt
28
and is located between the rear flange
22
of the bracket
18
and the first flange
30
on the bolt
28
thereby biasing the bolt
28
forward into the hole
24
. As seen best in
FIGS. 2 and 3
, when the flange
32
on the bolt
28
is aligned with the keyed hole
24
in the front flange
20
of the bracket
18
, the biasing action of the spring
34
moves the bolt
28
forward through the hole
24
into a “latched” position. In the position shown in
FIG. 2
, the end of the bolt
28
can engage of abut the tab
16
(
FIG. 1
) on the door to latch the door shut. From the foregoing it will be appreciated that the latch
14
can be moved to an “unlatched” position by pulling the bolt
28
back against the spring
34
as shown in FIG.
4
. The bolt can be held in the “unlatched” position by rotating it so that the flange
32
is no longer in alignment with the keyed hole
24
as shown in FIG.
5
.
The prior art latch
14
provides a simple and inexpensive means for locking the door of an animal cage so that the animal cannot escape. However, as shown in
FIGS. 6-8
, the latch
14
is so simple in its design that it is possible to disable the latch by pulling the bolt
28
back far enough so that the end of the bolt is pulled out of the hole
24
as shown in FIG.
7
. When released from the position shown in
FIG. 7
, the bolt
28
is likely to fall away from the bracket
18
as shown in
FIG. 8
, at which time the latch is no longer effective. Those skilled in the art of animal care will appreciate that some animals possess the physiological ability as well as the intelligence to disable the latch in this manner. In particular, some large birds have demonstrated the ability to learn how to disable the state of the art latch and thereby release themselves from the cage.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a latch for an animal cage which cannot easily be disabled.
It is also an object of the invention to provide a latch for an animal cage which is resistant to operation by an animal.
It is another object of the invention to provide a latch for an animal cage which is relatively simple to operate.
It is still another object of the invention to provide a latch for an animal cage which is relatively inexpensive to manufacture.
In accord with these objects which will be discussed in detail below, the latch of the present invention includes an angled bracket having a front flange and a rear flange, each flange defining a hole, a cylindrical bolt having a front end and a rear end with an orthogonal bolt handle located intermediate of the front and rear ends, and a coil spring. According to the invention, the angled bracket includes at least two substantially orthogonal contiguous sides which extend from the front flange to the rear flange where these sides contain a substantially U-shaped slot, a portion of which lies on one of the sides and a portion of which lies on the other side. The bolt is arranged relative to the angled bracket such that the bolt handle extends through the slot and the ends of the bolt extend through the respective holes in the flanges. The spring is arranged coaxial to the bolt and biases the bolt forward to a latched position. In order to move the bolt to the unlatched position, the bolt must be both rotated and translated for the bolt handle to move through the U-shaped slot.
According to a presently preferred embodiment, the substantially U-shaped slot is formed with an additional forward bend so that the bolt must be translated, rotated, and translated again to be moved from the latched position to an unlatched position. According to the disclosed exemplary embodiment, the angled bracket is formed with five sides and is provided with mounting holes for attaching it to a cage. The disclosed bolt is formed as a stepped cylinder to provide a point of annular engagement with the spring.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reference to the detailed description taken in conjunction with the provided figures.
REFERENCES:
patent: 266601 (1882-10-01), Blayney
patent: 301005 (1884-06-01), Reiff
patent: RE10887 (1887-12-01), Reinsch
patent: 504262 (1893-08-01), Adams
patent: 706595 (1902-08-01), Potter
patent: 810045 (1906-01-01), Etzenhouser
patent: 1064313 (1913-06-01), Garlock
patent: 1262809 (1918-04-01), Kolody
patent: 1675033 (1928-06-01), Lefkovitz
patent: 1696045 (1928-12-01), Lach
patent: 1770751 (1930-07-01), Hall
patent: 2146142 (1939-02-01), Heasley
patent: 4744392 (1988-05-01), Tade
patent: 5125695 (1992-06-01), Hartwell
patent: 6003908 (1999-12-01), King
Estremsky Gary
Galgano & Burke
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