초록 ▼

A ball operated, automatic vibration safety latching device including a cantilevered arm which is gravity biased to a radial position to leave a catch normally disengaged, a ball positioned atop a ball support, and a retaining cup attached to the arm and arranged beneath the ball support. Any undue

A ball operated, automatic vibration safety latching device including a cantilevered arm which is gravity biased to a radial position to leave a catch normally disengaged, a ball positioned atop a ball support, and a retaining cup attached to the arm and arranged beneath the ball support. Any undue vibration such as that caused by an earthquake or nearby explosion will dislodge the ball causing the ball to drop into the retaining cup which will cause the cantilevered arm to rotate around its pivot so as to then engage the catch or otherwise block the door. A single latching device may be used with two catches to serve two doors or other items that need to be restrained. The door is normally completely unimpeded and only requires unlatching in the event that undue vibration has occurred since the door was last closed. Unlatching the arm allows the door to be opened and automatically resets the device to the normal unlatched mode.

대표청구항 ▼

A vibration actuated latch mechanism for a door comprising: a base; a pivot mounted on the base; an arm pivotally mounted on the pivot, the arm comprising a latch end and a retaining cup, the retaining cup having a hole in a bottom portion thereof; a ball support mounted on the base and extending up

A vibration actuated latch mechanism for a door comprising: a base; a pivot mounted on the base; an arm pivotally mounted on the pivot, the arm comprising a latch end and a retaining cup, the retaining cup having a hole in a bottom portion thereof; a ball support mounted on the base and extending upward through the hole in the retaining cup; and a ball positionable atop the ball support, wherein the arm is balanced so as to be pivotally biased via gravity in a first rotational direction to locate the latch end of the arm in a first position, and wherein the ball and ball support are constructed and arranged that upon being subjected to a predetermined vibration, the ball is dislodgeable from its position atop the ball support and into the retaining cup, whereupon the ball adds to mass of the retaining cup causing the arm to pivot in a rotational direction opposite to the first rotational direction thereby moving the latch end of the arm to a second position.