Door closing mechanism
View Patent ↗A camming member for a door may have a camming surface which lifts the door as the door is traversed from an opened position to a closed position. The lifting movement of the door caused by the camming member facilitates one or more latches used to reinforce a periphery of the door to be engaged without further user intervention.
1. A vertical wall comprising:
a panel fabricated from a plurality of interconnected horizontal and vertical wire rods, the plurality of interconnected horizontal and vertical wire rods arranged to form an opening for allowing an animal to pass through the panel;
a door fabricated from a plurality of interconnected horizontal and vertical wire rods, the door being pivotally hinged to a first vertical wire rod of the panel and traversable between a closed position and a closed position, the door being sufficiently large to cover the opening to block the opening and prevent the animal from passing through the opening of the panel when the door is in the closed position, and the animal being capable of passing through the opening when the door is in the opened position,
a bottom surface of a distal end portion of a first horizontal wire rod of the door adjacent to the first vertical wire rod of the panel defining a camming surface configured to slide against a first horizontal wire rod of the panel as the door is traversed from the opened position to the closed position to lift the door upward; and
a latch mounted to the panel or door which allows the door to be pivoted to the opened or closed position only by lifting the door upward to disengage the latch.
2. The vertical wall of the claim 1 wherein the panel is one of a plurality of panels that form a pet crate or a play pen for an animal.
3. The vertical wall of claim 1 wherein the distal end portion of the first horizontal wire rod of the door is bent to gradually extend downward.
4. The vertical wall of claim 1 wherein the first horizontal wire rod of the door is wrapped around the first vertical wire rod of the panel.
5. The vertical wall of claim 1 wherein the latch is an inverted hook, upright hook, inverted tab or an upright tab.
6. The vertical wall of claim 1 wherein the caroming surface lifts the door upward to at least a point so that the latch clears a horizontal wire rod of the door or panel.
7. The vertical wall of claim 1 wherein the camming surface is closer to the first vertical wire rod of the panel compared to a free distal end of the door.
8. The vertical wall of claim 1 further comprising a clip defining a first portion rotatably attached to a horizontal wire rod of the panel and a second opposed portion removably attachable to a horizontal wire rod of the door, the second portion of the clip being curved or bent so that the horizontal wire rod of the door is traversed over center of the second portion of the clip when the clip is traversed between an engaged position and a disengaged position.
9. The vertical wall of claim 1 further comprising a clip defining a first portion rotatably attached to a horizontal wire rod of the door and a second, opposed portion removably attachable to a horizontal wire rod of the panel, the second portion of the clip being curved or bent so that the horizontal wire rod of the panel is traversed over center of the second portion of the clip when the clip is traversed between an engaged position and a disengaged position.