Magnetic latch

A magnetic self-latching device for a gate has a main body with handles on either side for operation or has an arrangement to be remotely actuated. A latching body has a high strength magnet usually provided at the bottom of a cavity which defines a latching shoulder. The latching body is adapted to be fixed to a gate post. The main body, with its housing, can be mounted on the gate frame and incorporates a latch pin which, in the door-closed position, is displaced by magnetic attraction to an extended latching position and against the biasing of a return spring. The gate cannot be opened until actuation of the mechanism occurs, for example by rotating a handle to retract the pin against the magnetic force; the gate can then be swung open. When the handle is released, the biasing spring retains the latch pin in a retracted position.