Method of locking galley without strap latches

[yayeric]

Hello,

I'm trying to build a way of locking my galley while I'm away. I know strap latches on the galley side doors would work, however it doesn't acclomplish the asthetic look I'm going for. Additionally, have dangling master locks dangling about won't look good either.

So, I'm toying around with alternative ideas and wondering what you guys think. I just started thinking about keyed locks, this is my first idea

Here's the photo reference for my drawing

Here's my concept sketch

The cam lock would be accessed from the bottom, so the lock would be somewhat out of view. Metal fingers would surround the same lock arm so that the cam lock itself doesn't take all the force to hold the galley down

A weakness I see is the cam lock can be eaaily dissassembled just by loosening the 'thing' on the thread, however I could make a metal shield that surrounds the lock so that it's only accessable when the galley is open.

I'm unfamiliar with the types of locks available on the market, so any thoughts on this are welcome.

Thanks!

 

[TimC-TNT]

I think that is a workable system. I understand the concept of wanting it to look like it fits.

The one thing I would caution you about is there is a tremendous amount of road grit that is going to end up on/in the locking mechanism. Solve the potential problem of dirt entering the cylinder with some type of weather protection. That might complicate the locking/unlocking operation though.

Have you thought about needing to get down on the ground to lock/unlock it?

 

[Wolfgang92025]

In theory that should work.
Couple concerns....
Vertical shear strength. Going down the road, the hatch will try to bounce up and down. Not sure if the lock will stand the strain.
Dirt. Being on the bottom trailing edge the lock will see lots of dust, dirt and water. Once it gets inside the lock, you may not be able to turn it to open the hatch.

Below are a couple of pictures of my set-up.

Was not easy to align it all to work. But it has held up for 16 years. the lock itself was from a camper shell. Rods are 1/4" with ball joint swivel at the pivot arm.

 

[Pmullen503]

What about putting the release INSIDE the cabin like an automobile hood? You could use a cable or torque rod to operate the release mechanism.

 

[KCStudly]

My concern is that you show the tab coming down from the bottom edge of the hatch fitting between two fixed bars, and yet I presume your hatch pivots out and away from the galley in an arc... meaning that the fixed bar arrangement shant block the path of the tang on the hatch. Also, because the cam lock isn't pulling or pinning the hatch against the seal or galley walls, it isn't really holding the door closed, just preventing it from opening. To compress hatch seals takes a bit of force (or so it has been reported) and I don't think your current concept addresses this adequately. That's why draw type latches are so ubiquitous.

 

[yayeric]

Okay, draw latches it is. I really like your suggestion Pmullen503, but I think I'm too far in to engineer that. If I ever do this again I'll engineer that into the next trailer.

Wolfgang, I like it but I only have 3/8" of space available between the galley door and the cabinets. Ugh!

I'll be putting the draw latches on the metal frame below the wooden body - I think it's an aesthetic compromise I'm okay with. Thanks for the input everyone!