Cable-actuated inertial lock for a vehicle door

A vehicle door assembly comprising:

• an outside door handle and a latching mechanism;
• a moveable linkage having a lever for actuating the latching mechanism, and containing an inertial lock having a deployable toggle piece that selectively prevents the actuation of the latching mechanism during a threshold acceleration;
• a housing having a reaction surface;
• and
• a cable having a first end connected to the handle and a second end connected to a first end of the linkage, wherein a motion of the handle pulls the linkage to actuate the latching mechanism unless prevented from doing so by a deployment of the toggle piece during the threshold acceleration;
• wherein the toggle piece deploys by rotating within the linkage in response to the threshold acceleration, thereby engaging the reaction surface to prevent the latching mechanism from actuating.

An inertial lock for use with a vehicle door assembly having an outside door handle, the inertial lock comprising:

• a housing defining an internal cavity;
• a linkage that is selectively moveable within the cavity in response to a motion of the handle;
• a lever connected to the linkage and configured to actuate a latching mechanism of the door assembly;
• a deployable toggle piece configured to rotate in response to a threshold vehicle acceleration;
• and
• a cable having a first end connected to the handle and a second end connected to the linkage;
• wherein the toggle piece deploys in response to the threshold vehicle acceleration by rotating into locking engagement with a reaction surface of the housing to prevent actuation of the latching mechanism.