Looking for a name of a clamp or latch

If you don't need impact-proof retention, a few spring loaded detent plungers might do. That is, if you have a way of getting them screwed in from the side of the box base plate...

Look for Deutz or 1/4 turn fasteners. You should be able to get them in stainless steel.

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Chisolm 
Republic of Texas

Picture frame fasteners or fasteners that hold glass in kitchen cabinet doors? They're avail in plastic and you can use brass screws with them. Art

Window latches? You know, the old vertical sliding window style, 1/4 to

1/2 turn thing, where a tongue fits into a separate receptacle thingy?

Overcenter latch indeed comes to mind. Very common for mechanical jigs and the like. Maybe not as drop-insensitive or visually appealing. Usually big enough that they're hard to miss visually and tactile...ly. Just whack your hand across them and they're set (or not).

The former might be available in stainless or plated brass for marine applications; the latter might be available in stainless or chrome for industrial applications.

There are plastic and metal clamps, pulls and latches in all sorts of styles. Example: spring loaded wedge shaped latches, so you can press the box-plate into the pocket-plate and it snaps in.

I should think there would also be more compact or 'stylish' sorts of clamps

Worth noting, assuming you don't need the flange-ness provided by the box-plate, you might have better results with tapered alignment pins: no need to mill an entire pocket (or have it fabbed), can be very tight (a few thou of slop can still be assembled quickly without careful alignment from the user, and without chafing as it slides in -- though it will take a little more care in machining the pin and hole positions, and requires ground steel pins and receptacles), and can still be retained with two latches or so, which might mate with hardware bolted onto the box, pockets milled/fabbed into the box sides, or a small flange (without needing the entire plate).

If you have the benefit of a very deep pocket (say, as deep as the box is tall), or some length of rails, or anything like that to maintain sliding alignment, you can get away with just one latch.

Why the aversion to McMaster? I understand they're basically mechanical Digikey: big inventory, quick search catalog, high prices. I've seen them called out for small production before, but -- as I am not an ME, I don't have the extended experience there.

Funny, I only now thought to crosspost to RCM, but I see you anticipated that idea. :-)

Tim

-- Seven Transistor Labs Electrical Engineering Consultation Website:

A rubber truck hood latch?

Expoy screw inserts into the big plate, use to screw down two plastic rectangular strips on parallel and opposite edges to clamp down the smaller plate in the pocket.

I don't have an aversion to McMaster per se. What I have an aversion to is buying "no name" parts from a place that does not have a long-term commitment to supplying the same thing each and every time.

It comes from the anticipated lifetime of the product, and the fact that once we design a latch in, any changes to the latch will create both a running change in the product, and a stocking issue for spare parts.

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Tim Wescott 
Wescott Design Services 
http://www.wescottdesign.com

Maybe something like this:

Avail online (Home Depot).

My first thought based on your description was those little closure clasps that are used on aircraft compartments and beverage carts to keep the drawers from sliding out. I don't know if those have a special name.

Carr Lane or Cleco Clamps?

Steve

Always did find it odd that they don't provide MFG/MFGPN on their stuff. It's effectively all store rebranded.

Manufacturers must have different supplier contracts and stuff. Not that you need to know nearly as much to make a washer as a transistor, but it still seems odd in comparison. Like RadioShack (when they sold a lot of components..).

Tim

--
Seven Transistor Labs 
Electrical Engineering Consultation 
Website: http://seventransistorlabs.com

Take a look at the Southco catalog; they have many things in this direction and have been around for a while. Top level at

. Some things that seem like what you want include...

Cam latches (quarter turn)

Draw latches

A "rotary draw latch" is the thing that goes on big transit cases for musical equipment, stage productions, etc - kind of like a sliding window latch but the handle folds flat when you're not using it.

Their over-center latches are also on the "draw latch" page.

Captive screws

The problem with these is that somebody either buggers up the male thread or tears the female thread out of where it's mounted. If they tear up the male thread on the fancy captive screw, a regular screw inevitably gets substituted. If the female thread tears out, it gets drilled through, and a longer screw and regular nut are used (assuming you can stand the screw sticking out on the back side).

Dzus fasteners

These are the canonical quarter-turn fasteners... airplanes use them a lot. The action is similar to how a BNC connector works. Most often you see them with a screwdriver slot, but you can get them with a wingnut-like handle. Sometimes you can get a screwdriver slot wide enough to use a coin with. These die when somebody bends the latch wire beyond recognition, or possibly when the wire slots in the "screw" part get buggered up. Also, nobody knows how to spell Dzus, so you have to train your repair parts people ahead of time. :)

Standard disclaimers apply: I don't get money or other consideration from any companies mentioned.

Matt Roberds

Apparently my babbling is too disjointed. My ideal latch would look like these, only prettier and not quite so drunken-hobbyist-with-a-CAD-program:

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Tim Wescott 
Wescott Design Services 
http://www.wescottdesign.com

I would make corner 'grabs' out of the advanced polymers we are seeing these days. I mean Bayer aspirin can put it on their aspirin bottle lids, it should be easy. You could probably even get some carbon filled to be an ESD dissapator. They would be a triablge with a depression in them where the PCB rests.

But you could use those pre-tweaked PEM nut that grab the screw by being out of round, and nail it down against the corner pads with that.

You get some additional vib withstand on rubbery mounts as well.

I have drive enclosures where the drive sits on top of a silicon gasket type 3mm square surround, making it a spongy mount, but firm.

The material they use for the drive mount screw surrounds is the polymer I am talking about. There are a few, actually.

Southco has a much better alternative to Dzus, solid screw part, spring steel plate it goes in. I got real tired of Dzus fasteners while working on Dad's cropdusters. But neither would be worth much after 2 yrs of salt spray. A simple 316L stainless washer cut off on one side with an angle handle on the other could work if the tension was right (fairly stiff). Southco probably has something like that.

I used to use a lot of Southco stuff, liked it.

Pete Keillor

Magnets.

Ideally embedded in the plastic, so they don't get wet.

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RoRo

I should have checked that link first. Did not realize it would take you to their home page instead of the product page.

Return to:

and enter "L5760" in the search bar.

Wing latch, or windshield latch on this site:

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Ned Simmons

make it generic and another part of similar function can be substituted. since it's marine "hatch dogs"

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umop apisdn