The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Dec. 16, 1997
Filed:
Dec. 11, 1995
Bernard Strong, Tarzana, CA (US);
Other;
Abstract
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.