Latch and lock structure

Claim 1

In combination, a truck van having a door frame defining an access opening into the interior of said van, a door movably supported on said van and having interior and exterior surfaces, said door being positionable in a closed position wherein it closes said access opening and being movable upwardly into an open position, catch means mounted on the bed of said van, and latch means movably mounted on said door adjacent said exterior surface and coacting with said catch means for holding said door in said closed position, said latch means including a hook-shaped latch bolt swingably mounted on said door and releasably engageable with said catch means, said latch means further including an elongated actuating handle pivotally supported on said door for swinging movement about a pivot axis and coacting with said latch bolt for controlling the movement thereof, said actuating handle being pivotally movable relative to said door between latched and unlatched positions, the improvement comprising: bracket means fixedly mounted on said door adjacent the exterior surface thereof and projecting outwardly therefrom, said bracket means comprising a boxlike casing cooperating with said exterior surface to define a substantially closed compartment therebetween, said compartment being totally closed except for an opening formed in the top wall of said casing; said casing also having a front wall which is spaced outwardly from and is substantially parallel to the exterior surface of said door; said actuating handle having a recessed portion defining a recess therein, the recessed portion of said handle comprising a C-shaped portion fixedly connected to said handle adjacent the free end thereof and defining said recess which extends radially with respect to said pivot axis, the bight and the lower leg of said C-shaped portion projecting through said opening and being totally enclosed within said compartment when said handle is in said latched position, the upper leg of said C-shaped portion abutting the top wall of said casing and overlapping said opening for closing same, whereby said comparTment is totally closed when the handle is in said latched position; lever means disposed within said compartment and pivotally mounted relative to said bracket means, said lever means having a projection means fixedly mounted thereon and disposed for movement between locked and unlocked positions responsive to swinging movement of said lever means, said projection means being disposed within said recess when said projection means is in said locked position and said actuating handle is in its latched position for positively preventing material movement of said handle away from said latched position; resilient means coacting with said lever means for yieldably urging said lever means in a direction whereby said projection means is automatically moved into said locked position; and key-operated release means mounted upon said bracket means and engageable with said lever means for pivoting said lever means so that said projection means is moved from its locked position into its unlocked position, said key-operated release means being operated solely by a key and being the sole means for permitting movement of said lever means away from its locked position so as to release said actuating handle, said keyoperated release means including a rotatable lock cylinder disposed within said compartment for rotation about an axis which is substantially perpendicular to the front wall of said casing, said lock cylinder being rotatably mounted solely on said front wall and having the key-receiving end thereof projecting through said front wall.