Lockable oven door latch

Claim 2

A latch mechanism for retaining an oven door in a closed and sealed relationship with an oven cavity which comprises, a latch arm longitudinally slidably moveable between forward and rearward positions, latch means on said oven door being operatively engageable by said latch arm, means for laterally moving said latch arm simultaneously with its longitudinal movement for engaging and confining said latch means on said oven door within a nose portion of said latch arm, and means for urging said latch arm forwardly when in its forward position and thereby maintain the latch arm in a ready position to receive the latch means on said oven door for closure, and for urging said latch arm rearwardly when in its rearward position so as to apply a continuous closing force to said oven door through said latch means for maintaining the oven door in a closed and sealed position.

Claim 3

A latch mechanism as defined in claim 1 wherein said means for laterally moving said latch arm simultaneously with its longitudinal movement includes an angular cam slot formed in said latch arm, and guide pin means extending upwardly therethrough for slidably guiding the cam slot during the longitudinal movement of said latch arm.

Claim 4

A latch mechanism as defined in claim 1 wherein said latch means on said oven door includes a door latch roller mounted on said door, and said latch arm is provided with a forward hook-like nose portion having a forwardly facing door roller contacting surface for initially engaging said door latch roller upon the closing of said door, and having a rearwardly facing door roller contacting surface for operatively engaging said door latch roller to retain said door in a closed and sealed position.

Claim 5

A latch mechanism as defined in claim 1 wherein said means for urging said latch arm forwardly and backwardly includes a pair of pivot arms each pivotally connected at one end to said latch arm intermediate its longitudinal extent, an opposite outer end of each said pivot arm being pivotally and slidably mounted on pin means positioned on opposite sides of said latch arm, and spring-tensioned means connecting the opposite outer end portions of said pivot arms together for urging such end portions toward one another.

Claim 6

A latch mechanism as defined in claim 1 including a locking recess formed in said latch arm, a pivotally mounted locking arm, flange means on one end of said locking arm for operative positionment within said locking recess to lock said latch arm in its rearward position and thus lock the oven door in a closed position, and coupling means for pivoting said locking arm into and out of operable relationship with said locking recess.

Claim 7

Positive action latch mechanism for retaining an oven door in a closed and sealed relationship relative to the opening of an oven cavity which comprises, a supporting surface above said oven cavity, an oven door pivotally mounted at its lower end for movement into a substantially vertical plane for closing the forward opening of an oven cavity, a door latch roller mounted on said oven door, a mounting plate secured to said support surface, a pair of guide pins extending upwardly from said mounting plate, a latch arm having slot means for receiving said guide pins, said latch arm being mounted on said guide pins for relative longitudinal movement with respect thereto, a pair of pivot arms each pivotally connected to said latch arm intermediate its longitudinal extent, pin means positioned on opposite longitudinal sides of said latch arm, each said pivot arm having a guide slot extending therethrough and operatively receiving one of said pin means for sliding movement with respect thereto, spring means connecting outer end portions of each of said pivot arms together so as to urge such ends towards one another and alternately spring-bias said latch arm in a forward and rearward position, and said latch arm having a hook-like nose portion for operatively engaging said door latch roller on said oven door and for retaining said oven door in a closed and sealed relationship with gasket material surrounding the outer wall of said oven cavity.

Claim 8

Positive action latch mechanism for retaining an oven door in a closed and sealed relationship relative to the opening of an oven cavity which comprises, a supporting surface above said oven cavity, an oven door pivotally mounted at its lower end for movement into a substantially vertical plane for closing the forward opening of an oven cavity, a door latch roller mounted on said oven door, a mounting plate secured to said support surface, a pair of guide pins extending upwardly from said mounting plate, a latch arm having slot means for receiving said guide pins, said latch arm being mounted on said guide pins for relative longitudinal movement with respect thereto, a pair of pivot arms each pivotally connected to said latch arm intermediate its longitudinal extent, pin means positioned on opposite longitudinal sides of said latch arm, each said pivot arm having a guide slot extending therethrough and operatively receiving one of said pin means for sliding movement with respect thereto, spring means connecting outer end portions of each of said pivot arms together so as to urge such ends towards one another and alternately spring-bias said latch arm in a forward and rearward position, and said latch arm having a hook-like nose portion for operatively engaging said door latch roller on said oven door and for retaining said oven door in a closed and sealed relationship with gasket material surrounding the outer wall of said oven cavity.

Claim 9

Latch mechanism as defined in claim 6 wherein said slot means includes an angular cam slot for imparting lateral movement to the nose portion of said latch arm during the longitudinal movement thereof so as to slidably engage said door latch roller with said nose portion and maintain the oven door in a closed and sealed relationship with the oven cavity.

Claim 10

A latch mechanism as defined in claim 6 including means for lockably retaining said latch arm in a rearward position so as to prevent the manual opening of said oven door when said latch arm is in a locked position.

Claim 11

A latch mechanism as defined in claim 6 wherein said hook-like nose portion has an outwardly facing roller-contacting surface which initially contacts said door latch roller upon the closing of said oven door and thereby initiates the rearward movement of said latch arm, and said spring means and pivot arms providing means for continuing to urge said latch arm rearwardly and thereby maintain a closing pull on said oven door through the hook-like nose portion of said latch arm.

Claim 12

A latch mechanism as defined in claim 6 including a locking arm pivotally connected to one of said guide pins, a locking recess formed in one edge of said latch arm, a flange portion on said locking arm for operative positionment within said locking recess, and means for pivoting said locking arm for positioning said flange within said locking recess to prevent said latch arm from being moved forwardly and thereby locking said oven door in a closed and sealed position.