Door latch with double locking antitheft feature

A vehicle door latch assembly adapted to be mounted to a vehicle structure to engage a striker bolt, comprising:

• a frame including a notch defined therein;
• a rotor pivotally mounted on said frame and adapted in a first position to cooperate with said frame to capture the striker bolt in said notch;
• a pawl pivotally mounted on said frame and moveable between a blocking position retaining said rotor in said first position, and a release position permitting said rotor to move from said first position;
• an actuator member pivotally mounted on said frame and selectively rotatable between an unactuated position and an actuated position;
• and
• a link having a pivot pin extending therethrough mounting said link on said frame, said link being selectively moveable between an uncoupled position in which said pawl and said actuator member are uncoupled and a coupled position in which said actuator member and said pawl are coupled by said link and movement of said actuator member to said actuated position causes said pawl to move from said blocking position to said release position.

A vehicle door latch assembly including:

• a frame including a pivot pin extending therefrom;
• a rotor pivotal on said frame between a latched position and an unlatched position;
• a pawl engaging said rotor in a blocking position to prevent said rotor from moving from said latched position and moveable between said blocking position and a release position permitting said rotor to move from said latched position;
• a link pivotally mounted on said pivot pin and moveable between a first position engaging said pawl and a second position disengaged from said pawl;
• an actuator member selectively coupled to said pawl by said link and selectively moveable from an unactuated position to an actuated position to cause said pawl to move from said blocking position to said release position;
• a first latch actuating mechanism directly engaging said actuator member to move said actuator member from said unactuated position to said actuated position;
• and
• a second latch actuating mechanism directly engaging said actuator member to move said actuator member from said unactuated position to said actuated position.

A vehicle door latch assembly including:

• a frame including a pivot pin extending therefrom;
• a rotor pivotal on said frame between a latched position and an unlatched position;
• a pawl engaging said rotor in a blocking position to prevent said rotor from moving from said latched position and moveable between said blocking position and a release position permitting said rotor to move from said latched position;
• a latch actuating mechanism operatively coupled to said pawl to selectively move said pawl between said blocking position and said release position;
• and
• a link mechanism including a link mounted on said pivot pin such that said pivot pin extends through said link, said link mechanism having a plurality of locking mechanisms for actuating said link, said link coupling said latch actuating mechanism to said pawl when said link is in an unlocked position and uncoupling said latch actuating mechanism from said pawl when said link is in a locked position, said link being uncoupled from one of said locking mechanisms in a double lock position.

A latch assembly adapted to be mounted to a vehicle structure to engage a striker bolt, comprising:

• a pivotal rotor adapted in a first position to engage the striker bolt;
• a pawl operatively coupled to said rotor and moveable between a blocking position retaining said rotor in said first position, and a release position permitting said rotor to move from said first position;
• a link operatively coupled to said pawl and engaging said pawl in a coupled position, said link being selectively moveable between said coupled position and an uncoupled position in which said link is disengaged from said pawl;
• an actuator member operatively coupled to said link and engaging said link when said link is in said coupled position, said actuator member being disengaged from said link when said link is in said uncoupled position, said actuator member being selectively moveable between an unactuated position and an actuated position in which said actuator member causes, when said link is in said coupled position, said link to move said pawl to said release position;
• and
• a locking mechanism including a shaft operatively coupled to said link for locking said latch assembly, a lock/unlock lever coupled to said shaft for rotation therewith, said lock/unlock lever having a first arm, and a first fork operatively coupled to said link by said first arm of said lock/unlock lever and said shaft, said first fork selectively moving said link to said uncoupled position, said coupled position, and a double lock position in which said link is disengaged from said pawl and said actuator member.

A latch assembly adapted to be mounted to a vehicle structure to engage a striker bolt, comprising:

• a pivotal rotor adapted in a first position to engage the striker bolt;
• a pawl operatively coupled to said rotor and moveable between a blocking position retaining said rotor in said first position, and a release position permitting said rotor to move from said first position;
• a link operatively coupled to said pawl and engaging said pawl in a coupled position, said link being selectively moveable between said coupled position and an uncoupled position in which said link is disengaged from said pawl;
• an actuator member operatively coupled to said link and engaging said link when said link is in said coupled position, said actuator member being disengaged from said link when said link is in said uncoupled position, said actuator member being selectively moveable between an unactuated position and an actuated position in which said actuator member causes, when said link is in said coupled position, said link to move said pawl to said release position;
• and
• a locking mechanism operatively coupled to said link for selective locking of said latch assembly including a shaft keyed to said link for selectively rotating said link between said coupled and uncoupled positions.