Door latch assembly for motor vehicles

A vehicle door latch assembly, comprising:

• a ratchet moveable between a striker capture position wherein said ratchet is positioned to retain a striker and a striker release position wherein said ratchet is positioned to release the striker;
• a pawl moveable between a ratchet hold position wherein said pawl is positioned to hold said ratchet in its striker capture position and a ratchet release position wherein said pawl permits movement of said ratchet out of its striker capture position;
• a pawl lever coupled for movement with said pawl;
• and
• a locking mechanism including an inside release lever, an outside release lever and a release link, said inside release lever is operatively connected to an inside door handle and is moveable between a Rest position and a Released position in response to movement of the inside door handle, said outside release lever is operatively connected to an outside door handle and is moveable between a Rest position and a Released position in response to movement of the outside door handle, said release link is coupled to said inside release lever and is moveable between an Unlock position and a Lock position in response to actuation of an operating mechanism, wherein movement of said inside release lever between its Rest position and its Released position causes movement of said release link between a Retracted position and an Extended position relative to said pawl lever, wherein said release link is operable to selectively engage said pawl lever and move said pawl from its ratchet hold position toward its ratchet release position when said release link is positioned in its Unlock position and movement of said inside release lever from its Rest position into its Released position causes said release link to move from its Retracted position into its Extended position, wherein said outside release lever is engaged with said release link when said release link is positioned in its Unlock position and is disengaged therefrom when said release link is positioned in its Lock position, and wherein movement of said outside release lever from its Rest position into its Released position when said release link is in its Unlock position causes said release link to move from its Retracted position into its Extended position for engaging said pawl lever and moving said pawl out of its ratchet hold position.

A vehicle door latch assembly, comprising:

• A ratchet moveable between a striker capture position wherein said ratchet is positioned to retain a striker and a striker release position wherein said ratchet is positioned to release the striker;
• a ratchet biasing member for biasing said ratchet toward the striker release position;
• a pawl moveable between a ratchet hold position wherein said pawl is positioned to hold said ratchet in the striker capture position and a ratchet release position wherein said pawl permits movement of said ratchet out of the striker capture position, said pawl having a pawl lever;
• a pawl biasing member for biasing the pawl to the ratchet holding position;
• an inside release lever operatively connected to an inside door handle and moveable between a Rest position and a Released position in response to movement of the inside door handle;
• an outside release lever operatively connected to an outside door handle and moveable between a Rest position and a Released position in response to movement of the outside door handle;
• a release link pivotably connected to said inside release lever for movement between an Unlock position and a Lock position;
• and
• a lock gear rotatable between a Non-Actuated position and an Actuated position, said lock gear having a cam segment engageable with said release link for positioning said release link in its Unlock position when said lock gear is in its Non-Actuated position and for positioning said release link in its Lock position when said lock gear is in its Actuated position;
• wherein movement of said inside release lever between its Rest and Released positions causes movement of said release link between a Retracted position and an Extended position relative to said pawl lever, and wherein said release link is operable to engage said pawl lever and move said pawl out of its ratchet hold position when said release link is located in its Unlock position and said inside release lever causes said release link to move from its Retracted position to its Extended position.