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US 10,563,435 B2Granted
Double ratchet, double pawl vehicular latch with soft stop on reset
AssigneeMagna Closures Inc.
InventorsMarco Taurasi, Francesco Cumbo
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A low release effort eccentric double ratchet, double pawl vehicle latch includes a ratchet, a primary pawl, an auxiliary ratchet and a secondary pawl. A drive mechanism including a gear cam wheel sequences movement of the secondary pawl to open and reset the latch. Upon reset, the drive mechanism actuates the auxiliary ratchet back to a closed state in a soft manner without using a hard stop; instead the latch has a cushioning spring that is used to softly stop the gear train during the reset absorbing motor energy and thus eliminating impact noise.
Claims20
A vehicle latch, comprising:
- a ratchet movable between a striker release position wherein the ratchet is positioned to receive a striker and a striker capture position wherein the ratchet is positioned to retain the striker, the ratchet being biased towards the striker release position;
- a primary pawl movable between a ratchet checking position wherein the primary pawl is positioned to keep the ratchet in the striker capture position and a ratchet release position wherein the primary pawl permits the movement of the ratchet out of the striker capture position, the primary pawl being biased towards the ratchet checking position;
- an auxiliary ratchet pivotably supporting the primary pawl and movable between an enabling position in which the primary pawl is enabled to move to the ratchet checking position and a disabling position in which the auxiliary ratchet locates the primary pawl in the ratchet release position, the auxiliary ratchet being biased toward the disabling position;
- a secondary pawl movable between an auxiliary ratchet holding position in which the secondary pawl is positioned to hold the auxiliary ratchet in the enabling position, and an auxiliary ratchet release position in which the secondary pawl is positioned to permit movement of the auxiliary ratchet to the disabling position, the secondary pawl being biased to the auxiliary ratchet holding position;
- and
- a cam operatively connected to the auxiliary ratchet and the secondary pawl, the cam moveable in a first direction to place the vehicle latch in an open state by moving the secondary pawl into the auxiliary ratchet release position, the auxiliary ratchet thereafter moving to the disabling position such that the primary pawl is moved to the ratchet release position for releasing the ratchet and allowing the ratchet to move to the striker release position, the cam moveable in a second direction to place the vehicle latch in a reset state by moving the auxiliary ratchet into the enabling position, the secondary pawl thereafter moving to the auxiliary ratchet holding position while the ratchet remains in the striker release position, wherein the cam, when moving in the first direction also actuates the auxiliary ratchet to the disabling position in the event that the auxiliary ratchet does not enter the disabling position upon movement of the secondary pawl out of the auxiliary ratchet holding position, and wherein the cam, after moving the auxiliary ratchet to the enabling position, continues to move in the second direction.
3 more elements
A vehicle latch, comprising:
- a ratchet movable between a striker release position wherein the ratchet is positioned to receive a striker and a striker capture position wherein the ratchet is positioned to retain the striker, the ratchet being biased towards the striker release position;
- a primary pawl movable between a ratchet checking position wherein the primary pawl is positioned to keep the ratchet in the striker capture position and a ratchet release position wherein the primary pawl permits the movement of the ratchet out of the striker capture position, the primary pawl being biased towards the ratchet checking position;
- an auxiliary ratchet operatively connected to the primary pawl, wherein the auxiliary ratchet is movable between an enabling position in which the primary pawl is enabled to move to the ratchet checking position and a disabling position in which the auxiliary ratchet locates the primary pawl in the ratchet release position, the auxiliary ratchet being biased to the disabling position;
- a secondary pawl movable between an auxiliary ratchet holding position in which the secondary pawl is positioned to hold the auxiliary ratchet in the enabling position and an auxiliary ratchet release position in which the secondary pawl is positioned to permit movement of the auxiliary ratchet to the disabling position, the secondary pawl being biased to the auxiliary ratchet holding position;
- a cam operatively connected to the auxiliary ratchet and the secondary pawl, the cam moveable in a first direction to place the vehicle latch in an open state by moving the secondary pawl into the auxiliary ratchet release position, the auxiliary ratchet thereafter moving to the disabling position such that the primary pawl is moved to the ratchet release position for releasing the ratchet and allowing the ratchet to move to the striker release position, and the cam moveable in a second direction to place the vehicle latch in a reset state by moving the auxiliary ratchet into the enabling position, the secondary pawl thereafter moving to the auxiliary ratchet holding position while the ratchet remains in the striker release position;
- and
- a reset lever operatively connected between the cam and the auxiliary ratchet;
- wherein movement of the cam in the first direction causes the cam to actuate the reset lever which in turn actuates the auxiliary ratchet in the event the auxiliary ratchet has not yet entered the disabling position, and movement of the cam in the second direction causes the cam to actuate the reset lever which in turn actuates the auxiliary ratchet.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.