US 4,982,984 AGranted

Active door latch assembly

AssigneeHonda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha

InventorsChitoshi Yokota, Minoru Kawano, Masahiko Sueyoshi, Toshiro Nishida, Shohachi Setoguchi, Akira Fujimoto

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Abstract

An active door latch assembly having a striker mounted on a vehicle body so as to be moveable towards and away from the vehicle body, a latch mechanism mounted on a vehicle door for latching the striker thereto upon closing of the door against the vehicle body, and a motor for moving the striker along the direction of the motion of the striker. A detector detects a latched stage of the latch mechanism, and a control circuit for activates the motor so as to move the striker away from the vehicle body when the detector has detected the unlatching of the latch mechanism and towards the vehicle body when the detector has detected the latching of the latch mechanism. Because the motor is activated upon detecting of the latching, premature or belated activation of the motor can be avoided. The detection can be accomplished by detecting the motor of either a latch member which engages the striker or a pawl which engages the latch member at its latched state.

Claims9

Dependent claims

An active door latch assembly, comprising:

a striker mounted on a vehicle body so as to be moveable inwardly toward and outwardly away from said vehicle body by a certain stroke;
a latch mechanism mounted on a closure member such as a door for latching said striker thereto upon closing of said closure member against said vehicle body;
electrically powered drive means for moving said striker toward and away from said vehicle body;
detecting means provided separately from said latch mechanism for directly detecting a latched and unlatched state of said latch mechanism;
and
control means for activating said electrically powered drive means so as to move said striker away from said vehicle body when said detecting means has detected the unlatching of said latch mechanism and towards said vehicle body when said detecting means has detected the latching of said latch mechanism;
wherein said latch mechanism includes a movable latch member which can move between a latch position to engage said striker and an unlatched position to disengage said striker, and a pawl member which engages said latch member at said latched position;
and said detecting means comprises a limit switch which is activated by said pawl member as the latter moves to a position activated by said pawl member as the latter moves to a position to engage said latch member at said latched position.

5 more elements

An active door latch assembly, comprising:

a striker mounted on a vehicle body so as to be moveable inwardly toward and outwardly away from said vehicle body by a certain stroke;
a latch mechanism mounted on a closure member such as a door for latching said striker thereto upon closing of said closure member against said vehicle body;
electrically powered drive means for moving said striker toward and away from said vehicle body;
detecting means provided separately from said latch mechanism for directly detecting a latched and unlatched state of said latch mechanism;
and
control means for activating said electrically powered drive means so as to move said striker away from said vehicle body when said detecting means has detected the unlatching of said latch mechanism and towards said vehicle body when said detecting means has detected the latching of said latch mechanism;
wherein said powered drive means includes and electric motor to move said striker, and said control means comprises a current detector for detecting the electric current supplied to said motor and for stopping said motor when the detected electric current has exceeded a certain threshold level.

4 more elements

An active door latch assembly, comprising:

a striker mounted on a vehicle body so as to be moveable inwardly toward and outwardly away from said vehicle body by a certain stroke;
a latch mechanism mounted on a closure member such as a door for latching said striker thereto upon closing of said closure member against said vehicle body;
electrically powered drive means for moving said striker toward and away from said vehicle body;
detecting means provided separately from said latch mechanism for directly detecting a latched and unlatched state of said latch mechanism;
and
control means for activating said electrically powered drive means so as to move said striker away from said vehicle body when said detecting means has detected the unlatching of said latch mechanism and towards said vehicle body when said detecting means has detected the latching of said latch mechanism;
wherein said powered drive means includes an electric motor to move said striker;
and said control means comprises means to detect the position of said striker, and a current detector for detecting the electric current supplied to said motor and for reversing said motor when said striker is at a position intermediate between limits of its permitted stroke of motion and, at the same time, the detected electric current has exceeded a certain threshold level.

5 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.