Two-way door latch

A two-way door latch that is swingable relative to a door jamb, the door having an opening adjacent its edge whose opposing ends are covered by a pair of escutcheons. Rotatably mounted on each escutcheon is a knob having a short shaft that extends into the escutcheon and terminates in a cam, the knobs being rotable about a common axis. One of the cams is spring-biased and so shaped as to maintain the related knob at a rest position, whereby when the knob is turned in either direction to unlatch the door, when released the knob will be returned to its rest position. The cams are bridged by a pair of pins that are offset with respect to the common axis, and when a knob is turned, the pins then travel in a circle concentric with the axis. Received within a bore in the edge of the door is a latch bolt assembly having a spring-biased bolt that normally projects into a strike plate mounted over a cavity in the door jamb and a pair of ramp elements operatively coupled to the bolt and engaged by the pins, whereby when an escutcheon knob is turned in either direction, the ramp elements are advanced to retract the bolt and unlatch the door.