Tailgate handle assembly with sliding and pivoting lever
OwnerFrederick F. Bender, Earl L. Watsoninventors
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A tailgate handle assembly in a housing including a flush-mounted handle and an adjacent key cylinder. The housing is spaced apart from a latch mechanism. A laterally extending lever is slidably actuated on the housing from a locked mode to an unlocked mode manually by rotation of the key cylinder, or electrically via a power actuator, and then pivoted by manual lift-pulling on the handle, to thereby lift a latch rod extending between the lever and the latch mechanism to actuate the latter.
Claims11
A tailgate handle assembly for actuating a remotely mounted latch, said tailgate handle assembly comprising a housing including a handle outwardly pivotally mounted therein, a key cylinder rotatably mounted therein, a lever slidably and pivotally mounted thereon and operably connected to said handle and said key cylinder, and a latch rod connected between said lever and said latch, said lever adapted to being reciprocally slidably actuated between a locked and an unlocked mode by rotation of said key cylinder and downwardly pivotally actuated by manual outward lifting of said handle to move said latch rod to thereby operate said latch.
A tailgate handle assembly spaced apart from a tailgate latch, said handle assembly comprising a housing having a central pocket formed therein, a handle flush mounted in the housing and adapted to being pivotally lifted outward from a key cylinder rotatably mounted in the housing adjacent said pocket, a main lever horizontally slidably and pivotally mounted in the housing to the rear of said pocket, a key cylinder lever secured to said key cylinder and pivotally connected to said main lever to horizontally slide same between locked and unlocked modes upon rotation of said key cylinder, an actuator lug formed on said handle adapted to abut against and pivot said main lever when in the unlocked mode upon the manual pivotal lifting of said handle, and a latch rod connected between one end of said main lever and said spaced apart tailgate latch.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.