Door latch for toilets or bathrooms, with privacy lock

摘要

A privacy adaptor for a door allows the door to be locked from one side, to ensure privacy for the occupants of, for example, a toilet or bathroom. The adaptor may be fitted to an existing door latch. A rotor 12 fits over the latch shaft, and rotates with it. The rotor fits within housing 10 which is attached to the door and does not rotate. A locking bar 24 abuts against the rotor. Lugs 19 extend from the locking bar and protrude through slots 18 in housing 10. The locking bar also has projections 24 which can engage V-shaped grooves 23 in rotor 12. To lock the door, the locking plate is moved towards the rotor so that the projections 24 engage the grooves 23 to prevent rotation of the lock shaft. The shape of the grooves 23 means that if sufficient force is applied to rotate the shaft, the projections 24 will cam out of the grooves 23 and allow the door to be opened without damaging the latch. This allows the door to be from the opened from the outside in an emergency.