Spring retaining assembly for vehicle latch actuator mechanism
AssigneeInteva Products, LLC
InventorsHongqiang Zhang, Michel Noel
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An actuator mechanism of a vehicle latch assembly includes an electric motor having an output shaft. Also included is a worm coupled to the output shaft. Further included is a worm gear driven by the worm. Yet further included is a spring operatively coupled to the worm gear and to a latch housing, the spring having a first leg extending through an aperture defined by the worm gear and a second leg extending into a receiving hole defined by the housing, the first leg including a first segment extending along a first leg axis and a second segment oriented at a non-parallel angle to the first leg axis, the second segment contacting a face of the worm gear to prevent removal of the spring.
Claims20
An actuator mechanism of a vehicle latch assembly comprising:
- an electric motor having an output shaft;
- a worm coupled to the output shaft;
- a worm gear driven by the worm;
- and
- a spring operatively coupled to the worm gear and to a latch housing, the spring having a first leg extending through an aperture defined by the worm gear and a second leg extending into a receiving hole defined by the housing, the first leg including a first segment extending along a first leg axis and through the aperture and a second segment extending from the first segment to a distal end of the first leg, the second segment oriented at a non-parallel angle to the first leg axis, the second segment contacting a face of the worm gear to prevent removal of the spring.
A vehicle latch assembly comprising:
- a fork bolt;
- a pawl selectively engageable with the fork bolt to move the assembly between a first latch condition and a second latch condition;
- a housing for at least partially retaining the fork bolt and the pawl;
- and
- an actuator mechanism for moving the pawl between the first latch condition and the second latch condition, the actuator mechanism comprising:
- an electric motor;
- a worm operably coupled to the electric motor;
- a worm gear driven by the worm;
- and
- a spring operatively coupled to the worm gear and to the housing, the spring having a first leg extending through an aperture defined by the worm gear and a second leg extending into a receiving hole defined by the housing, the first leg including a first segment extending along a leg axis and through the aperture and a second segment extending from the first segment to a distal end of the first leg, the second segment oriented at a non-parallel angle to the leg axis.
The vehicle latch assembly of claom 10, wherein the second leg extends along a second leg axis that is parallel to the leg axis.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.