The invention disclosed herein pertains to a tamper-proof switch and latch device. There are many cases where access by per¬ sons to electrical, mechanical and hot equipment, for example, must be prevented until safe conditions prevail. Typically, such equipment is installed within an enclosure in which there is a door that should not be openable unless the equipment is deenergized, stopped or cooled.

Residential automatic clothes washing ma¬ chines, which are familiar to most persons, provide one example of a situation where some degree of pro- tection is provided against the user being injured by becoming entangled with the spin dryer which is still spinning after the access door is opened. The protective device used in existing machines is usu¬ ally a door operated switch that is operated to an open circuit state by opening the door. The open switch deenergizes the motor that drives the spin¬ ning basket rotationally at high speed. Although some clothes washing machines apply a braking means concurrently with deenergization of the motor, it is common for the basket to still be coasting at a

fairly high speed after the access door is opened. Thus, there is some risk of a user being injured until the basket comes to a complete stop. Summary of the Invention An objective of the invention is to provide a device for holding a closure device such as a door, lid or cover in a latched closed state for as long as any conditions that may cause injury exist in the enclosure and that allows the closure to be opened and closed freely if such conditions do not exist. For the sake of simplicity in this specifi¬ cation the word "door" is used as a generic term for designating closures including but not limited to doors, lids and covers. Another objective is to provide a door switch and latching device which is tamper proof and has protective capabilities that are difficult to evade or defeat.

Still another objective is to provide a door switch and latching device that can be used in a wet environment such as, but not limited to, laun¬ dry equipment.

The new door switch and latching device comprises a compartmentalized housing preferably made of a non-conductive plastic material. An actu¬ ator is journaled for rotation in forward and re¬ verse directions in a compartment of the housing. Mounted to or molded integrally with the actuator is a first radially extending striker actuating member and a second radially extending capturing member. These members are angularly spaced from each other about the actuator axis. A return preloaded spring, preferably a torsion spring, biases the actuator in the reverse rotational direction. A striker that is mounted to the door of an enclosure, for example, is

arranged to extend through an aperture in the device housing by closing the door. Striking of the first radially extending member of the actuator causes it to rotate in the forward direction to thereby over- come the force of the torsion spring with the result that the second radially extending striker capturing member rotates through the same angle as the first member and thereby overlays, conceals and captures the striker between the first and second radially extending members. The door is not locked even though the striker is inserted unless other condi¬ tions are satisfied as will be outlined below.

A latching member having a radially extend¬ ing stop element is arranged in axially spaced rela- tionship with the actuator. The latching member can be a disk or segment of a disk or a cam that has a certain relatively large radius over part of its periphery but reduces abruptly at a certain point along its periphery to define a riser or stop con- stituting the aforesaid stop element. An operator comprised typically of an electromagnet coil and magnetic pole piece is positioned adjacent the latching member. An armature, serving as a latch, in the form of a flat magnetizable clapper or finger is pivotally mounted and extends over the pole piece in the coil for being attracted to the pole piece when the coil is energized and for being pulled away from the pole piece under the influence of a spring when the coil is deenergized. The operator could be of the type in which the pole piece or latching ele¬ ment is a magnetizable plunger that is centered in the coil and is biased in opposition to the magnetic force of the coil.

If the striker on the door is inserted in the switch and latching device through the aperture

in the housing, the first and second radially ex¬ tending members of the actuator are rotated as de¬ scribed above, and if the coil is not energized, the armature constituting the latching element remains spring biased out of engagement with the latching member. The door can still be opened. When access to the interior of the enclosure should be denied because a hazardous condition in the enclosure is expected or exists, the relay coil becomes ener- gized. For example, a programmable controller in a clothes washing machine may determine that a high speed spin drying cycle should begin so the control¬ ler effects energization of the coil. In other equipment other types of sensors may be used to sense when the door must be locked. This drives the latching element into engagement with the latching member stop. Thus, the latching member is blocked against rotating oppositely of the direction in which the striker rotated it when the striker struck the first radially extending actuator member when the door was closed. Now, the door cannot be opened until the coil is deenergized since the latching member is blocked against rotation by the magnetic latch element being positioned in interfering rela- tionship with the stop on the latching member.

When the actuator and latching member be¬ came blocked against rotation by the magnetic latch¬ ing element being moved into engagement with the latching member a movable electric contact is driven into contact with a stationary contact in the hous¬ ing of the device. This results in closing a cir¬ cuit that sends a signal to the programmable con¬ troller or other signal receptive device indicating that the door is locked securely. The controller, in the clothes washer application of the new device,

responds by emitting control signals that control a motor to begin high speed spin drying, for example, or to allow some other hazardous condition to exist in whatever enclosure is under consideration. The coil is deenergized so the door can open, usually at the expiration of a time interval, that starts to run when hazardous conditions do not exist. In a washing machine, for example, the time delay affords an opportunity for the rotating basket to coast to a complete stop before the door can be opened.

How the foregoing and other objectives and features of the invention are implemented will ap¬ pear in the ensuing more detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the invention which will now be set forth in reference to the drawings. Description of the Drawings

FIGURE 1 is a rear end view of the housing that contains the components of the new switch and latch device; FIGURE 2 is a top plan view of the device looking at the cover of the housing;

FIGURE 3 is a side elevational view of the device;

FIGURE 4 is a bottom plan view of the de- vice;

FIGURE 5 is a vertical sectional view of the device taken on a line corresponding to 5-5 in FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 6 is a vertical sectional view of the device taken on a line corresponding to 6-6 in FIGURE 2 with the actuating striker shown in readi¬ ness for being inserted in device actuating posi¬ tion;

FIGURE 7 is a vertical sectional view that is basically the same as FIGURE 6 except that the

striker is shown inserted into the device;

FIGURE 8 is a top plan view of the device as viewed with the top part of the housing removed;

FIGURE 9 is a vertical sectional view taken on a line corresponding to 9-9 in FIGURE 6 showing the arrangement of the parts after the striker is inserted;

FIGURE 10 is a vertical sectional view, taken on a line corresponding to 10-10 in FIGURE 2 and showing the actuator striker in readiness for being inserted in the device;

FIGURE 11 is a sectional view that is basi¬ cally the same as FIGURE 10 except that the actuator striker is shown inserted in the device; FIGURE 12 is a view wherein the cam is bi¬ ased with a coil spring which is connected to pro¬ duce a toggle action and the cam is configured for closing an additional electric contact for signal¬ ling that the door is closed whether or not it is latched;

FIGURE 13 shows that the cam toggled to an angular position in which it allows the additional contact to open;

FIGURE 14 is a diagram of an alternative device for latching a door closed using a bimetal to drive a latch member into a position for blocking a cam against rotation;

FIGURE 15 is a diagram of an alternative device for latching a door closed using a wax motor to drive a latch member into a position for blocking a cam against rotation;

FIGURE 16 is a left side elevational view of the device depicted in FIGURE 16; and

FIGURE 17 is a view used for demonstrating an unsuccessful attempt to defeat the safety aspect

of the latching and switch device by trying to actu¬ ate it while the door is open. Description of a Preferred Embodiment

In FIGURE 1 the housing for the device is designated generally by the reference numeral 10. The housing comprises a lower part 11 and an upper part 12. The housing would ordinarily be mounted in a fixed position within an enclosure such as a do¬ mestic washing machine, dryer, or an enclosure for high voltage electrical components with which a user must not come in contact until parts within the en¬ closure have stopped rotating or have been deenergized. A fragment of a sheet metal top or wall 33 of an enclosure is shown. The hardware for supporting the housing in an enclosure is not de¬ picted. A fragment of a hinged door 13 for access¬ ing the interior of the enclosure 33 is identified by the numeral 13 in FIGURE 1. A striker for actu¬ ating the actuator within the housing is depicted in dashed lines in FIGURE 1 and is identified by the numeral 14. The striker is fastened to the door 13.

In the FIGURE 1 embodiment, there are four electrical connector prongs 15 extending out of the bottom part 11 of the housing for connecting elec- trie circuit elements in the enclosure to a program¬ mable microprocessor based controller which is not shown. Although the new device may be used for pro¬ tection purposes on a variety of appliances for the sake of clarity that comes from a concrete example of its use, the functions of the device will be ex¬ plained as if it is affiliated with a domestic clothes washing machine. During one interval of an operating cycle of a clothes washing machine, as is well-known, the clothes are subjected to spinning at high speed to expel the water. It is important to

not let the user have access through an open door to the interior of the washing machine enclosure until it is certain that the spinning basket has come to a complete stop or is moving at a safe speed. The protective device disclosed herein latches the door closed at any time that hazardous conditions exist within the enclosure. The device prevents the door from being opened as long as the controller sends a signal to the device that a dangerous condition ex- ists inside of the enclosure. Moreover, the device signals the controller when the door is latched closed so that the controller is enabled to initi¬ ate a spin cycle. In the FIGURE 12 embodiment aux¬ iliary electric contacts are provided for signalling that the door is closed even though the door may not be latched.

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view of the housing for the device having an end 16 constituting a socket containing the connector prongs 15 which are shown in FIGURE 1. The housing is provided with flange elements such as the one marked 17 for an¬ choring it in a fixed position within the interior of an enclosure. The top part 12 of the housing has a rectangular aperture 18 which allows entry of the striker 14 into the device for actuating it to es¬ tablish a preliminary condition for allowing the door to be latched when a hazardous condition exists within the enclosure.

FIGURE 3 is a side elevational view of the device comprised of bottom and top housing parts 11 and 12 which, in conjunction with FIGURE 4 illus¬ trate that there is a drain opening 19 in the bottom of the housing. There is also a small drain hole 20, whose purpose will be described later, in the bottom part 11 of the housing.

Attention is now invited to FIGURE 8. for identifying some of the parts of the device which are involved in carrying out its protective func¬ tions. The actuator for the device is generally designated by the numeral 24. The actuator is fixed on a shaft 25 which is journaled for rotation in grooved housing parts 11 and 12. The shaft has ac¬ tuator 24 fastened to it. On the same shaft, a latching member 26, somewhat like a cam, is also fastened. A small compartment 27 is defined between walls 28 and 29. The shaft 25 passes through this compartment where it has a drip ring 30 fastened to it. The purpose of the drip ring is to preclude any water that may creep along shaft 25 from entering into proximity with electrical components situated in the space marked 31. The drip ring is actually a disk that tapers from both sides radially out¬ wardly from its center to provide a periphery which induces water to drip off a ring and fall into com- partment 27 for draining out. The drip ring may be molded integrally with the shaft. Although it is not visible in FIGURE 8, the drain hole 20 mentioned in connection with FIGURE 4 passes through the bot¬ tom of the housing for draining any liquid that may drop into compartment 27.

Refer now to FIGURE 10 where the new device 10 is shown mounted to an enclosure having a sheet metal top 33. The striker 14 is in readiness for being plunged into the housing through opening 18. The striker would normally be mounted to a door which, when swung closed, drives the striker into the housing 10. The configuration of the striker may be seen in FIGURE 6, for example, where it is shown to terminate in an open loop having a cross bar 34 spanning between its legs 35. In FIGURES 6

and 10, and the striker 14 is poised to plunge into the housing for striking the first radially extend¬ ing member 36 of actuator 24 and rotating it. It will be apparent that actuator 24 is comprised of unitary first and second members 36 and 37 which project radially outwardly from the axis of shaft 25. The space or gap between actuator members 36 and 37 is marked 38. In FIGURE 10 the actuator 24 is still in unactuated condition. In FIGURE 11, the striker 14 has been in¬ serted into the housing by reason of the door on the appliance having been closed. Upon this event, the striker strikes radially extending member 36 of ac¬ tuator 24 to thereby cause the actuator to rotate counterclockwise as viewed in FIGURE 11 as has al¬ ready been accomplished in that FIGURE. It will observed in FIGURE 10 that radially extending actua¬ tor members 36 and 37 are angularly spaced apart from each other about the axis 25 of the actuator. This provides a free space 38 between angularly spaced apart members 36 and 37 of the actuator so that when the striker strikes the first radially extending member 36 the actuator begins to rotate and the cross member 34 of striker enters the space between the angularly spaced apart members 36 and 37 so that, upon turning, the angularly lagging radi¬ ally extending member 37 swings into the open loop in the striker above the cross bar 34. In other words, the cross bar is now captured between radi- ally extending members 36 and 37 of the actuator 24. As will be explained, means are provided for locking the actuator 24 in actuated condition as in FIGURE 11. For the moment, one may assume that the door 13 is closed, the striker is set as in FIGURE 11, but the actuator is not locked against rotation. Thus,

- li ¬

the door may be opened and closed because the as¬ sumption is that a hazardous condition within the enclosure does not exist as yet.

As is apparent in FIGURE 6, member 37 of actuator 24 is longer in the axial direction than is integrally formed member 36. The profile of the actuator can be seen in FIGURE 10 where the actuator is presently in its non-rotated unactuated position and is being constrained in that position tenta- tively by a torsion spring 40 which appears in FIG¬ URES 6 and 9 besides other FIGURES. In FIGURE 11, on the other hand, actuator 24 is driven rotation- ally to its activated position which corresponds to position in which it participates in maintaining the enclosure door 14 locked as will be explained. In FIGURE 11, the door 13 is closed and the actuator 24 is rotated counterclockwise compared to FIGURE 10 by reason of the striker 14 cross bar 34 having entered the gap 38 between actuator members 36 and 37 to rotate the actuator as the door 13 is closed. The top surface 32 of radial actuator member 37 is curved for making avoidance of the tamper proof fea¬ ture as will be elaborated later in reference to FIGURE 17. FIGURES 10, 11 and 17 show a blocking ele¬ ment projection 42 molded in the bottom half 11 of the housing 10. FIGURE 8 shows the top of another blocking element projection 43 which is similar to projection 43 and is spaced from it. One may see in FIGURES 8 and 11, for example, that when the actua¬ tor members 36 and 37 arrive between spaced apart blocking elements 42 and 43. FIGURE 10 and 11 also show another blocking element 44 which is molded integrally with the upper part 12 of the housing and is slotted and bevelled to let members 36 and 37

pass when the actuator 24 is rotated from its FIGURE 10 position to its FIGURE 11 position by striker 14. As will be explained in detail later in reference to FIGURE 19, the blocking elements are involved in making the locking and switching device 10 tamper proof, that is, making it difficult to defeat the safety purposes of the device.

A latching member 26 was briefly alluded to in reference to FIGURE 8. This member is, as previ- ously explained, fastened to shaft 25 so as to cou¬ ple it for joint rotation to actuator 24. The pro¬ file of the latching member 26 can be seen in FIG¬ URES 5 and 9 particularly well. It's periphery con¬ stitutes a segment of a circle 39 which is also a camming surface. A torsion spring 40, serving as a return spring, is fastened at one end to the housing part 11 and the other end is fastened to latching member 26 to bias latching member 26 in a direction of rotation opposite of the direction in which the latching member 26 and actuator 24 turn when the striker 14 is inserted. In other words, the spring biases latching member 26 in a counterclockwise di¬ rection as viewed in FIGURE 5. The torsion spring is preloaded for rotating the latching member 26 into the angular position in which it is shown in FIGURE 5. It will be understood, that a preloaded coil spring shown in FIGURES 12 and 13 could be used in place of torsion spring 40 which would involve having one end of the coil spring attached to the latching member 26 and the other end attached to the housing. Notice also in FIGURE 5 that the latching member 26 is provided with a radially extending riser 41 which serves as a stop element for stopping latching member 26 against counterclockwise rota- tion. In FIGURE 9, on the other hand, the striker

- 13 -

14 is assumed to have been inserted in which case latching member 26 is rotated and secured in the position in which it is shown in FIGURE 9 after hav¬ ing been rotated clockwise relative to its position in FIGURE 5.

Referring again to FIGURE 5, one may see that there is an electromagnet coil 45 mounted within space 31 of the housing. The coil is fitted on a magnetizable core 46. The core 46 is secured to a flat surface 47 by means of a screw 48 which threads into the core. A flat blade constituting an armature 49 is pivotally mounted at a point 50 on a magnetizable frame 51 which is also secured with screw 48. Core 46 can either have low magnetic rema- nence, in which case energization of coil 45 must be maintained to keep armature 49 (latch element) en¬ gaged with core 46, or remanence can be high in which case a strong engage pulse is required to en- gage latch element 49. Alternatively, a permanent magnet core could be used such that a magnetically aiding electric pulse attracts latch element 49 which is held by the permanent magnetism and re¬ leased by a lower energy reverse electric pulse. With pulse operation, if the door 13 is open, latching member 26 is blocking latching ele¬ ment 49 from being engaged with core 46 even though the coil receives a first control pulse from the controller. Thus, when the door is closed by the user so the latching member 26 is rotated as it is in FIGURE 9, a second pulse must be applied to the coil to attract the latching element 49 to the core latching the door.

The armature 49 is in the nature of a clap- per but it actually serves as a latch element for

blocking the latching member 26 against counter¬ clockwise rotation if someone attempts to pry the door 13 open. The configuration of the armature, hereafter called the latch element 49 can be seen most clearly in the FIGURE 8 plan view.

In FIGURE 5, the latching element 49 is presently not in contact with magnetizable core 46 because it is constrained in the angular position in which it is shown by means of a coil spring 52 which is in tension. The outermost tip 53 of magnetically attractable latch element 49 is presently spaced from camming surface 39 of latching member 26, but the tip is limited in the movement it could make by cam surface 39. Thus, even if coil 45 were pres- ently energized, the magnetic latching 49 element cannot be attracted sufficiently to reach the core 46. Latching element 49 has a flat electrically conductive, preferably bronze, spring 54 fastened to it as can be seen in FIGURES 5, 8 and 9. There is an electric button or point contact 55 fastened to flat conductive spring 54. Contact 55 is movable with magnetizable latching element 49 into electri¬ cal contact with a stationary contact 56 so contacts 55 and 56 are elements of a switch in a circuit. The circuit includes connector prongs 57 and 58 to provide for leading to the programmable controller, not shown, that controls various functions of the machine. The controller also serves the purpose of determining whether safe conditions exist before, a basket in a washing machine is enabled to spin at high speed to centrifuge water from clothes. An¬ other pair of connector prongs 59 and 60 are con¬ nected to the leads of coil 45 and also lead to the programmable controller which is programmed to ener- gize and deenergize the coil at appropriate times

such as when a spin cycle is to be initiated or is stopped, respectively. Note that stationary contact 56 is mounted to a metal support 57 which is secured in the housing by means of a screw 58. It is important to observe in FIGURES 5, 8 and 9, for example, that the tip 53 of magnetizable latching element 49 extends laterally of the latch¬ ing element and results from a notch or gap 65 hav¬ ing been stamped out of the element. As is evident in FIGURES 5 and 8, the distal end of flat conduc¬ tive spring 54 is spring biased such that is rests on tip 53 of latch element 49 when magnet coil 45 is not energized so it is impossible for contact point 55 on flat spring 54 to make contact with stationary contact point 56 as long as cam surface 39 is in the way. Expressed in another way, the arrangement guarantees that contact point 55 cannot touch con¬ tact point 56 unless cam surface 39 of latch member 25 is rotated out of the way. This assures that contacts 55 and 56 cannot touch unless the striker 14 has turned actuator 24 to its FIGURE 11 position and latch member 26 to its FIGURE 9 position by rea¬ son of door 13 being fully closed. Because the dis¬ tal end of the flat contact spring 54 can rest on the tip 53 of latch element it is possible to have spring 54 prestressed so its contact point 55 con¬ tacts stationary contact point 56 in the latch ele¬ ment when the latter is attracted to magnet pole piece 46. In FIGURE 9, the striker 14 has been in¬ serted in the housing and is captured between the first and second radially extending members 36 and 37 of actuator 24 although those parts are not visi¬ ble in FIGURE 9. Assume now that the programmable controller, not shown, determines that it is time to

start a spin cycle so that the door 13 of the appli¬ ance enclosure should be latched. Upon this event, the controller causes electromagnet coil 45 to be¬ come energized so as to create a magnetic force that would tend to pull the latch element 49 against mag¬ netic core 46. If the door 13 were open, that is, if the striker is not inserted, the tip 53 of mag¬ netic latch element 49 will simply bear on camming surface 39 of the latch member 26 as in FIGURE 5 and contacts 55 and 56 will remain separated so they will not close a circuit that allows a signal to the controller which tells the controller that spin dry¬ ing can be initiated.

In FIGURE 9, the assumption is that the door 13 is closed and the electromagnet coil 45 is energized since the controller wants to start a spin dry cycle. Closing the door 13 caused the striker 14 to rotate the actuator 24 and, hence, the latch¬ ing member 26 so that the tip 53 of latch element 49 is no longer restrained upwardly in opposition to coil spring 52. Consequently, contacts 55 and 56 are able to close and signal the programmable con¬ troller that the door is securely latched and the spin dry cycle can be initiated. With the tip 53 of latch element 49 presented in the path of stop ele¬ ment 41 on the latch member 26 it will be impossible to open the door by any substantial amount since this would cause stop element 41 on the cam type latch member 26 to rotate into the tip 53 of latch element 49 against the opposition of torsion spring 40 which would prevent the door from being opened. In a washing machine, the controller may initiate a time delay interval coincident with the moment the motor driving the spin dryer should be deenergized. The time delay interval is long enough to assure

that the basket which does the spin drying has coasted to a complete stop. In some machines, de¬ tector devices are used to detect when the spin bas¬ ket has come to a stop. Thus, after expiration of the time interval, coil 48 is deenergized and latch element 49 is retracted by spring 52 from the path of stop 41 on latching member 26 so it is free to turn. Then, the door of the appliance is free to be opened. Notice that when the appliance door 13 is latched as in FIGURE 9, there is a gap between the tip 53 of latching element 49 and stop 41 on latch member 26. The gap is slightly exaggerated in FIG¬ URE 9 but the gap serves the useful purpose of al- lowing some tolerance in the parts so tip 53 assur¬ edly drops into the path of stop 41 when the door is closed. An attempt to open the door would drive stop 41 on latch member 26 into tip 53 of magnetiz¬ able latching elements 49. FIGURE 6 shows the position of the radially extending actuator members 36 and 37 and latching member 26 in positions which correlate with their positions in FIGURE 5. FIGURE 7 shows the first and second radially extending members 36 and 37 on the actuator and the latching member 26 which correlates with their positions in FIGURE 9 where the cover is latche .

The opening 18 through which the striker enters the appliance housing and the particular con- figuration of the radially extending first and sec¬ ond radially extending members 36 and 37 are such that it would be quite difficult to turn the actua¬ tor 24 by inserting any sort of an instrument such as a knife, screwdriver or coin which anyone might try to use to defeat the device. In other words, it

is not inconceivable that with the door open and the striker retracted someone may try to make the spin cycle start for one reason or another. If the striker is not inserted, the latch element or ag- netic armature 49 rests on the curved cam surface 39 of the latching member which is the large diameter part of the circular cam so the latch element 49 could not close the indicator contacts 55 and 56 so there would be no signal to the controller that would otherwise be present if the door were closed and actuated by the striker. The width of radially extending actuator member 37, being much wider than the radially extending member 36, conceals the mem¬ ber 36 and makes it almost impossible to reach mem- ber 36 to operate the actuator. Notice also that the radially extending member 37 of the actuator is much wider in the axial direction than the hidden member 36 under it.

Attention is now invited to FIGURE 17 for explaining how difficult it is to defeat or evade the tamper proof features of the new door locking and switching device. Assume that someone would like to perform the imprudent act of getting the spin dryer basket to rotate at high speed while the door of the appliance is open. The first approach is likely to be inserting some kind of a tool such as a screwdriver, knife blade, coin or other flat and relatively thin tool through hole 18 where the striker would ordinarily fit if the door were closed. Initially, of course, the actuator 24 would be rotated and at rest in its full clockwise posi¬ tion as is the case in FIGURE 10. Assume that a thin, narrow piece of sheet metal or other blade 100 is intended for forcing the actuator 24 to rotate counterclockwise as demonstrated in FIGURE 19. This

might be done when the relay coil 45 is energized so that switch contacts 55 and 56 would be closed so the controller would have found one condition exist¬ ing for allowing the basket of the washing machine to spin at high speed. Observe what happens when blade 100 is inserted to apply its force for rotat¬ ing actuator 24 by pressing on radially extending member 36. It is conceivable that if the article 100 is thin enough that partial rotation of the ac- tuator can be achieved as is illustrated in FIGURE 19. However, as the tip of member 36 begins to en¬ ter the space between blocking elements 42 and 43 upper member 37 of actuator 34 comes around and jams the tool 100 against blocking element 42 so that further counterclockwise rotation of actuator 24 is stopped sufficiently far ahead of the counterclock¬ wise limit to which it must be turned before the electric contacts 55 and 56 would touch. The per¬ son, after having failed to rotate actuator 24 suf- ficiently to get the basket to spin might consider applying the tool 100 to the curved surface 32 of radially extending member 37 of the actuator. The advantage of having the surface 32 curved is that as the actuator 24 begins to rotate counterclockwise, the surface 32 becomes steeper or more vertical, and the tool 100 pressing on it slides off of the sur¬ face and gets jammed up against blocking element 44 and/or blocking elements 42 and 43. It must also be remembered that radially extending member 37 is lon- ger in the direction axially of shaft 25 so that member 37 has member 36 concealed under it immedi¬ ately after counterclockwise rotation of actuator 24 begins.

Attention is now invited to FIGURES 12 and 13 wherein some alternative structures are shown for

accomplishing the same functions that can be accom¬ plished with the previously described embodiment of the switching and door latching device. In FIGURES 12 and 13 the modified cam-like latching member is given the reference numeral 26A. Latching member 26A is fastened to shaft 25 and, as in the previous embodiment, rotates in phase with the actuator 24. The electromagnet coil is the same as in the previ¬ ously discussed embodiment of the device. Contacts 55 and 56 are the same. The prestressed flat con¬ ductive spring member 54 again lies on latching ele¬ ment 49 and the contact 55 projects into a gap or notch 65 in the latch member 49 and the laterally extending end portion 53 of latch element 49 rests on latch member 26A, as in FIGURE 13, when latch member 26A is in its unactuated counterclockwise limited position as in FIGURE 13. Thus, as in the previously described embodiment, contact 55 can never touch contact 56, unless actuator member 26A is rotated to its set for fully clock-wise position as it is in FIGURE 12. In the FIGURES 12 and 13 embodiment, a prestressed helical spring 70 is used in place of a torsion spring to hold the latching member 26A in alternate angular positions. One end of spring 70 is fastened to a hook 71 and the other end is hooked onto a pin 72 which is fixed in latch¬ ing member 26A. Because pin 72 is at a greater dis¬ tance from the anchor point 71 of the spring and is radially beyond the axis of shaft 25, a toggle ac- tion is obtained. In FIGURE 13, the latching member 26A is unactuated, and the axis of the helical spring 70 crosses the axis of shaft 25 to thereby hold latching member 26A in its counterclockwise limited position. In FIGURE 12, the actuator has been rotated by insertion of the striker such that

cam-like latching member 26A is toggled under the influence of spring 70 to the angular position in which it appears in FIGURE 12. Assuming that coil 51 is energized, latch element 49 in FIGURE 12 is now positioned in alignment with the stop surface 73 on latching member 26A. As in the previous embodi¬ ment, if an attempt is made to open the door of the appliance and withdraw the striker member, the ten¬ dency would be to rotate latching member 26A in a counterclockwise direction which would be prohibited by stop surface 73 on latching members 26A butting against the end portion 53 of latching element 49. On the other hand, when coil 51 is deenergized as would be the case when the controller had been in- formed by sensors that it is safe to open the door of the appliance, tension spring 52 will lock latch¬ ing element 49 so as to prevent the end 53 of the latching element to block rotation of the latching member 26A. The FIGURES 12 and 13 embodiment also fea¬ ture an additional pair of switch contacts 74 and 75 which are in mutual contact in FIGURE 12 when the appliance door is closed. One contactor 74 is fas¬ tened to a conductive strip 76 and the other contact 75 is fastened to a conductive spring strip 77. A flat stop surface 78 on latching member 26A comes around to press contacts 74 and 75 together when the appliance door is closed as is the case in FIGURE 12. Contacts 74 and 75 are for the purpose of closing a circuit, not shown, that provides a signal to the controller indicative of the door being closed.

When the controller indicates that it is safe for the door to be opened, electromagnet coil 45 is deenergized by the controller and spring 52

removes the tip 53 of latching element 49 from the path of stop 73 on latching member 26A. Thus, when the door of the appliance is opened, latching member 26A is rotated counterclockwise as it is in FIGURE 13 and the second pair of electric contacts 74 and 75, thereby informing the controller that the door is now open.

The latching element 49 can also be oper¬ ated by means other than an electromagnet coil 45 as is demonstrated in FIGURE 14. In this case, the rotor 26A can be identical with that in FIGURES 12 and 13. The same latching element 49 can be used as is used in the other embodiments. The same spring contact member 54 that is used in the other embodi- ments can also be used in the FIGURE 14 arrangement. Preloaded flat spring 54 has a contact point 55 mounted to it. Contact point 55 resides in a notch 65. The active element is a bimetal strip 80 which terminates in a hooked end 81 after having passed through slot 65. Hooked end 81 is superimposed over laterally extending end portion 53 of latching ele¬ ment 49. An electrically insulating, thermally con¬ ductive member 82 wraps around bimetal strip 80. The bimetal strip is anchored at one end 83 to bracket 51. An electric heater wire 84 surrounds insulator 82. When current is passed through heater wire 84, the bimetal deflects or curves downwardly, thereby causing hooked end 81 to move downwardly and pull latching element 49 downwardly with it, so the end 53 of the latching element is placed in blocking position in the path of stop surface 73 on latching member 26A. This arrangement has time delay proper¬ ties. It is desirable to keep the door closed long enough so that in any case the spinning basket will have an opportunity to coast to a stop before it is

accessible. The time delay is achieved inherently by the time it takes to dissipate the heat from wire 84 and the insulating layer 82 so that the spring 52 can rock the latching element 49 out of the path of stop surface 73 on latch member 26A.

In FIGURES 15 and 16, a wax motor, desig¬ nated generally by the numeral 90, is used to oper¬ ate latching element 49 for keeping the door locked until it can be opened safely. In FIGURE 15, the latching element 49 is presently in its unoperated state wherein its tip or end portion 53 is not in¬ terposed in the path of stop surface 53 on latching member 26A. The wax motor is comprised of a sealed cylinder 91 that is filled with wax having particu- lar thermal properties. There is a piston, not shown, inside of cylinder 91 from which a piston rod 92 extends. The piston rod is connected to latching element 49 at a place marked 93. The rod 92 is con¬ nected to latch element 49 in such manner that the piston rod can exert a downward pulling force or an upward pushing force on latching element 49. The latching element pivots on an axis 94. On one side of the cylinder there is a positive temperature co¬ efficient heating element 95 contact with wax filled cylinder 91. A coil spring 96 is fastened to latch element 49 at point 97 at one end and is hooked to a pin 98 at the other end. In FIGURE 15, the pre- stress in spring 96 has rocked latching element 49 to its counterclockwise limit which means that the piston, not visible, in the cylinder 91 is driven downwardly in the wax within cylinder 91. An elec¬ trical contact is symbolized by the rectangle 99 for conducting current through the heating element 95. Contact 99 may connect to a positive source of elec- tricity and the cylinder 91 may be grounded to es-

tablish a conductive path through heater element 95. When heated, the wax goes through a phase change from solid to liquid, and its volume increases sub¬ stantially by about 50%. Typically, the wax melts at 250°F (121°C) at which time the piston begins to move up and latch element 49 in FIGURE 15 begins to move counterclockwise. In practice, current flow through the heating element 95 is continued until the wax is at a 350° (282°C)to maximize driving force. Thus, there is a slight delay between the time that the controller initiates current flow through the heating element of the wax motor and the time that the latching element 49 can obstruct rota¬ tion of rotatable latching member 26A and allow con- tacts 55 and 56 to close. Typically, the wax motor can develop a thrust force of about 10 pounds (4.5 kg) in about a 1/4 inch (6.45 mm) stroke. FIGURE 17 is a left side elevational view of the device de¬ picted in FIGURE 16 whose primary surface is to show that two springs are used to drive the piston down into the cylinder 91 of the wax motor when current flow through the heating element 95 is discontinued under the influence of the controller. Upon this event, the heating element cools and converts back to a solid state, providing a time delay upon re¬ lease.

Although variations of the new door latch¬ ing and switching device have been described in de¬ tail, such description is intended to be illustra- tive, rather than limiting, for the invention may be variously embodied and is to be limited only by in¬ terpretation of the claims which follow.