Hands-Free Stall Latch Mechanism for Sanitary Door Operation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional toilet latches require manual operation, leading to unsanitary conditions as users must touch potentially contaminated surfaces, and they are not accessible for individuals without hands or with disabilities.
Innovation Solution
A hands-free latch mechanism that allows operation using the forearm or elbow, featuring a sliding latch with a user contact portion and a door movement section, enabling the latch to be opened and closed without direct hand contact, and is designed to be ADA compliant and easily sanitized.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a conventional manual latch is used, then the door can be locked securely, but the user must touch potentially contaminated surfaces with their hands
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a knee-operated mechanism as an intermediary between the user and the latch. The user's knee activates a release mechanism that opens the door without requiring hand contact with contaminated surfaces. This mediator transfers the locking function from hand-operated to knee-operated, eliminating direct contact with harmful contaminants.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the traditional hand-operated mechanical latch system with a knee-operated mechanical system. The knee actuator substitutes for manual hand operation, maintaining the mechanical locking function while changing the input method to avoid contamination. The mechanism includes a knee-operated release that triggers the latch opening through mechanical linkage.
2Ease of operation
If a manual latch requires hand operation, then the latch can be operated precisely, but it is not accessible for individuals without hands or with disabilities
Solution Approach 1:
The patent designs the knee-operated latch mechanism to serve multiple user needs simultaneously. It provides precise operation for able-bodied users while also being accessible to individuals without hands or with limited hand mobility. The universal design approach allows the same mechanism to accommodate diverse user capabilities, including ADA compliance for disabled users.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If the latch is made easily sanitizeable, then germ transmission is reduced, but the latch structure becomes simpler and harder to operate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the primary contact surface from the latch mechanism by eliminating the need for hand contact entirely. By removing the hand-operated interface and replacing it with knee operation, the surfaces that would normally require frequent sanitization are no longer touched by users. This extraction of the contact function reduces germ transmission risk without complicating the latch structure.
Data Source
AI summary
A latch mechanism for a bathroom stall door includes: a sliding latch having an engagement portion and a user contact portion, the user contact portion having a latch movement section and a door movement section; a door bracket configured to attach to a door and that restrains movement of the sliding latch relative to the door, the movement being restrained to a sliding movement; and a latch catcher configured to attach to a frame adjacent to the door, the latch catcher receiving the engagement portion of the sliding latch when the sliding latch is in a latched position. The latch movement section is configured to translate movement of the user to movement of the sliding latch between an unlatched position and the latched position, and the door movement section is configured to translate movement of the user to movement of the door between an open position and a closed position.