Clothes drier latch

• US 4,047,616 A
• Filed: 03/10/1976
• Issued: 09/13/1977
• Est. Priority Date: 03/11/1975
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Terence Dale Seabrook
• Original Assignee: Terence Dale Seabrook
• Inventors: Seabrook, Terence Dale
• Primary Examiner(s): Gilliam, Paul R.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Dorner, Kenneth J.
• Application Number:
  US05/665,544
• Time in Patent Office: 552 Days
• Field of Search: 135/41, 135/40, 135/39, 135/38, 135/37, 135/28, 135/25 R, 135/4 B, 135/4 C, 211/183, 211/197, 248/525, 248/528
• US Class Current: 211/183
• CPC Class Codes: A45B 25/08 Devices for fastening or locking
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 57/04 and having radial arms, e.g. collapsible

Abstract

A latch for a clothes drier of the type having a sliding bush with arms pivoted thereto and radiating outwardly therefrom, the latch having a latching tongue with a ramp face which slides over the striker plate as the bush is elevated on a standard and a shoulder which latches the striker plate so as to effect an interlock between the bush and the standard, but when the tongue is depressed away from the striker plate and radially inwardly towards the standard it releases the interlock.

Claims

1. A latch useful on a clothes drier of the type wherein one member is slidable over another member, one of the members being a bush having a series of arms pivoted thereto and radiating therefrom, the arms being movable from a retracted position with the bush in a downward location to an extended operative position with the bush in a relative upward location, the latch comprising:

a latching body on one of the members and a striker plate co-operable therewith on the other member, the latching body having a boss, a retaining tongue and a latching tongue with a ramp face and the striker plate having a sliding surface and a latching surface, said ramp face upon upward movement of the bush sliding over the sliding surface, the ramp face terminating in a latching shoulder engageable with said latching surface to thereby effect an interlock between the bush and said another member when the bush is in said relative upward location, the tongues being of resilient material deformable away from the striker plate to effect interlock release and engagement,

said latching body also comprising a retaining shoulder spaced from one end surface of the retaining tongue to define a notch, said bush having a web which is engaged in said notch, said boss engaging a surface of said sliding bush when the web is engaged in the notch to thereby retain the latching body to the sliding bush.

2. A latch according to claim 1 further comprising a latch sleeve, means fixing the latch sleeve to the standard, said striker plate being on the sleeve and having its sliding surface displaced from and facing an outer peripheral surface of the sleeve and its latching surface extending from the sliding surface and away from the sleeve.

3. A latch according to claim 1 wherein the latching body is resilient polymeric material.

4. A clothes drier bush assembly comprising a latch sleeve having a depending skirt and a striker plate, said striker plate having a sliding surface and a latching surface,

means for securing the latch sleeve to an upper elevating standard of a clothes drier of the type wherein the upper elevating standard is slidable and rotatable in and projects upwardly from a lower fixed standard,

a bush having a central cylindrical portion of such dimension that the bush is slidable over both said standards and also over said latch sleeve skirt, and

a latching body on said bush co-operable with said striker plate, the latching body having a resilient retaining tongue, a latching tongue with a ramp face which slides over said sliding surface of the striker plate upon upward movement of the bush and terminates in a shoulder engageable with said latching surface and thereby effects an interlock between the bush and the standard when the bush is in said relative upward location, the tongues being of resilient material deformable away from the striker plate to effect interlock release and engagement,

said sliding bush comprising a web defining with said central cylindrical portion an aperture, said retaining tongue engaging the web upon insertion of the latching body into the aperture and thereby retaining the latching body to the sliding bush.

5. A clothes drier bush assembly according to claim 4 wherein said striker plate has its sliding surface displaced from and facing an outer peripheral surface of the sleeve and it latching surface extending from the sliding surface and away from the sleeve.

6. A clothes drier bush assembly according to claim 4 further comprising a bearing bush, means securing the bearing bush in the upper end of said fixed standard, said bearing bush comprising an inner bearing surface for rotational and slidable engagement by an outer surface of said upper elevating standard, an upper edge of said bearing bush being of wave formation.

a lower edge of said latch sleeve also being of wave formation co-operable with said bearing bush upper edge to snub rotation of said upper standard when it is in its lowermost position.