Patent 7798540 was granted and assigned to Southco on September, 2010 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
A latch having a housing, handle, actuators, pawl and rotary pawl torsion spring and two actuator torsion springs. The rotary pawl torsion spring biases the pawl toward the unlatched or opened position. The handle is pivotally attached to the housing and has two paddles that engage the actuator. The actuator is slidably supported by the housing. Lifting the handle to the open position causes rotating movement of the actuator which in turn causes the pawl to rotate to the unlatched or retracted position.