US 5,852,943 AGranted

Door lock mechanism for an automotive vehicle

AssigneeUT Automotive Dearborn, Inc.

InventorsHarry F. Dutka, Ronald L. Merckling

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Abstract

A rotatable cam of the present invention has an internal edge completely surrounding an elongated slot, a portion of which serves as a camming surface for interfacing with a cam follower. A further aspect of the present invention employs a door lock control member linearly slidable from a locked position to an unlocked position while also being pivotable between a nominal latching position and an unlatching position. In yet another aspect of the present invention, one end of the door lock control member is coupled to a liftgate door latch and the other end is coupled to a multi-functional electric motor by way of a drive transmission and a cable. In still a further aspect of the present invention, a window wiper assembly is drivably coupled to the drive transmission. A method of unlatching an automotive vehicle door is also provided.

Claims9

Dependent claims

An apparatus for use in an automotive vehicle, said apparatus comprising:

a door lock control member linearly movable between a locked position and an unlocked position, said door lock control member further pivotable between a nominal latching position and an unlatching position;
a cam follower projecting from said control member;
a body rotatable about a pivot point;
and
a tab extending from said body, said tab further being offset from said body;
means for pivoting said control member from said nominal latching position to said unlatching position when said body is manually rotated, said pivoting means pivoting said control member even when said control member is disposed in said locked position
a camming surface of said tab operably moving said cam follower and said control member, said camming surface being substantially perpendicular to a linear axis along which said control member slides between said locked and unlocked positions;
and
a continuously closed internal edge defining and completely surrounding an elongated slot being disposed within said tab and including said camming surface.

6 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.