US Patent Issued to THE EASTERN on Oct. 27 for "Latch apparatus" (Ohio, Illinois Inventors)

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Oct. 27 -- United States Patent no. 12,774,620, issued on Oct. 27, was assigned to THE EASTERN COMPANY (Strongsville, Ohio).

"Latch apparatus" was invented by Lee S. Weinerman (Medina, Ohio), Scott Arthurs (Brunswick, Ohio), Robert Pliml (Wheeling, Ill.), James C. Fournier (Gurnee, Ill.), Keith Braun (Strongsville, Ohio) and James Paxitzis (Strongsville, Ohio).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A latch (10,120,200) includes a rotatable jaw (18, 124, 204) that engages and holds a striker (32,128,210) in a latched position. A rotatable pawl (28, 132, 214) in an engaged position is operative to hold the jaw in the latched position. Movement of the pawl to a disengaged position enable...