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US 6,305,727 B1Granted
Vehicle door latch assembly
AssigneeMeritor Light Vehicle Systems (UK) Limited
InventorTimothy Bland
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A passenger vehicle door latch assembly (10) includes a cam e.g. (90a) rotating in common with a latching claw (30) which is retained by a pawl (34) at first safety and fully closed positions of an associated door, the shaping of the cam controlling operation of locking mechanism of the assembly. Lobes, e.g. (92a,92b) on the cam co-act to shift a release lever (64) of the mechanism back to an active position at which it will free the pawl by operation of a door handle for opening of the door even if it has previously been set to a disabled condition at which the door would otherwise be locked so as to prevent inadvertent slam locking of the door Different cams (90a, 90b, 90c or 90d) may be substituted in an otherwise common assembly to provide a selection of logic sequences of self-cancelling or prevention of locking operations.
Claims19
A latch assembly (10) for a passenger vehicle door including:
- a) a pivoted claw (30) having ratchet formations (38,40) and a mouth (32) for operatively receiving a coacting striker (18) as the latter enters a recess of the assembly body (24) on closing the associated door;
- b) a resiliently loaded pawl (34) engaging the ratchet formations of the claw to releasably retain the latter against rotation which would allow the door to open at either of two angular positions, a safety position at which the door is not fully closed, and a fully latched position at which the door is fully closed;
- c) a locking mechanism for preventing unauthorised access by way of the door in use acting to block or disable the action of an element or elements (60,84) worked by a handle or handles of the door in releasing the pawl from engagement with the claw for opening the door;
- d) means for operatively sensing different conditions of the claw and pawl combination respective to the door being open, at the safety position, or fully latched, or between at least any two of those conditions, in response to the operative angular position of the claw;
- and
- e) a purely mechanical logic sequence means operating to control the action of the locking mechanism in response to the displacement of said ratchet formations;
- characterized in that said means for sensing includes a sensing cam formation (90) operatively co-acting with an element (68) of the locking mechanism to control the action of the latter in a logic sequence dictated by the cam profile, action of the element effecting mechanical action of the locking mechanism, said sensing cam formation being operatively mounted co-axially with the claw and coupled for rotation therewith so as to be positively angularly indexed by angular movement of the claw (30) for sensing said conditions.
4 more elements
A latch assembly for a passenger vehicle door comprising:
- a) a pivoted claw having ratchet formations and a mouth for operatively receiving a coacting striker as the latter enters a recess of an assembly body on closing of the associated passenger vehicle door;
- b) a resiliently loaded pawl engaging the ratchet formations of the claw to releasably retain the latter against rotation which would allow the door to open at either of two angular positions, a safety position at which the door is not fully closed, and a fully latched position at which the door is fully closed;
- c) a locking mechanism to block or disable the action of at least one element worked by at last one handle of the door in releasing the pawl from engagement with the claw for preventing unauthorized access by way of the door;
- d) a sensor for operatively sensing different conditions of the claw and pawl combination respective to the door being open, at the safety position, or fully latched, or between at least any two of those conditions, in response to the operative angular position of the claw;
- and
- e) a purely mechanical logic sequence controller to control the action of the locking mechanism in response to the displacement of said ratchet formations.
3 more elements
A latch assembly (10) for a passenger vehicle door including:
- a pivoted claw (30) having a mouth (32) for operatively receiving a coacting striker (18) as the latter enters a recess of the assembly body (24) on closing the associated door, a resiliently loaded pawl (34) engaging notches or ratchet teeth (38,40) of the claw to releasably retain the latter against rotation which would allow the door to open at either of two angular positions, a safety position at which the door is not fully closed, and a fully latched position at which the door is fully closed;
- and
- a locking mechanism for preventing unauthorized access by way of the door in use acting to block or disable the action of an element or elements (60,84) worked by a handle or handles of the door in releasing the pawl from engagement with the claw for opening the door:
- characterized in that the assembly further includes means for operatively sensing or distinguishing between different conditions of the claw and pawl combination respective to the door being open, at first safety, or fully latched, or between at least any two of those conditions, said means including a sensing formation (90) displaced by rotation of the claw so that said sensing or distinguishing is effected in response to the operative angular position of the claw;
- and a purely mechanical logic sequence means operating to control the action of the locking mechanism in response to the displacement of said formation, in which formation (90d) acts to return the release element to the active position from previous setting to the disabled position upon rotation of the claw in door closing direction to the first safety position without restricting setting of the release element to the disabled position at or past the first safety position.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.