Door latch mechanism for soft-sided vehicle door

This invention relates to a door latch for use with a soft-sided door closure in a door opening of a utility vehicle. The latch includes an elongated cup-shaped housing having a back wall, side walls extending forwardly from the back wall and a laterally extending flange extending outwardly around the periphery of the side walls generally parallel to the back wall. The flange includes means for attaching the housing to the door closure and the back wall has a circular opening adjacent one end thereof. An outside door handle member is sized to fit within the length of the housing and has a lever arm formed integrally with a cylindrical body at one end thereof. A sleeve connected to the cylindrical body is extendable through and pivotal in the circular opening. An inside elongated handle member has a length greater than the length of the housing with a handle arm which extends beyond the housing in a forward direction and an offset flange at the opposite end with a releasable locking means formed therein. The inside handle member is fixedly attached to the cylindrical body of the outside handle member for rotation therewith in the circular opening between a latched position and an unlatched position. Spring means is connected to one of the handle members normally urging them toward the latched position. A striker member is mountable on the door opening and positionable to be engaged by the releasable locking means to hold the door closure in closed position when the handle members are in the latched position.