Vehicle door latch with power operated release mechanism

A vehicle door latch having a forkbolt that moves between a latched position and an unlatched position, a detent that moves between a latched position holding the forkbolt in the latched position and a release position allowing the forkbolt to move to the unlatched position, the detent being spring biased to the latched position, and a power operated release mechanism for moving the detent from the latched position to the release position, the power operated release mechanism comprising:

• a slide that engages the detent at one end,
• a rotary cam that engages an opposite end of the slide so that the slide reciprocates when the rotary cam is rotated,
• an electric motor that is operatively connected to the cam to rotate the cam in one direction, the electric motor being operatively connected to the cam by a gear set including a gear wheel that is concentric with the rotary cam and that has a pin engaging the rotary cam to drive the rotary cam in the one direction,
• a rotary block-out lever that rotates between a by-pass position and a block-out position where the block-out lever engages a shoulder of the gear wheel to stop rotation of the gear wheel, the rotary block-out lever being drivingly connected to the forkbolt so that the rotary block-out lever is rotated to the by-pass position when the forkbolt is moved to the latched position, and
• a mechanical override mechanism comprising a ratchet wheel that is concentrically and non-rotatably attached to the rotary cam and a manual release lever that cooperates with the ratchet wheel to rotate the rotary cam to unlatch the vehicle door latch.

A vehicle door latch having a forkbolt that moves between a latched position and an unlatched position, a detent that moves between a latched position holding the forkbolt in the latched position and a release position allowing the forkbolt to move to the unlatched position, the detent being spring biased to the latched position, and a power operated release mechanism for moving the detent from the latched position to the release position, the power operated release mechanism comprising:

• a slide that engages the detent at one end,
• a rotary cam member that has a spiral shaped cam that engages an opposite end of the slide so that the slide reciprocates when the rotary cam is rotated,
• an electric motor that is operatively connected to the rotary cam member to rotate the cam in one direction, the electric motor being operatively connected to the cam by a gear set including a gear wheel that is concentric with the rotary cam member that has a pin engaging a closed end in open ended circumferential slot of the cam to drive the cam in the one direction,
• a rotary block-out lever that rotates between a by-pass position and a block-out position where the block-out lever engages a raised shoulder of the gear wheel to stop rotation of the gear wheel, the rotary block-out lever being drivingly connected to the fork bolt so that the rotary block-out lever is rotated to the by-pass position when the forkbolt is moved to the latched position.

A vehicle door latch having a forkbolt that moves between a latched position and an unlatched position, a detent that moves between a latched position holding the forkbolt in the latched position and a release position allowing the forkbolt to move to the unlatched position, the detent being spring biased to the latched position, and a power operated release mechanism for moving the detent from the latched position to the release position, the power operated release mechanism comprising:

• a slide that engages the detent at one end,
• a rotary cam member having a spiral shaped cam that engages at a lower end that engages an opposite end of the slide so that the slide reciprocates when the rotary cam member is rotated,
• an electric motor that is operatively connected to the cam member to rotate the cam in one direction, the electric motor being operatively connected to the cam by a gear set including a gear wheel that is rotatably mounted on a cylindrical portion of the rotary cam member above the spiral shaped cam, the gear wheel having a depending pin engaging a closed end in an open ended circumferential slot of the spiral shaped cam to drive the rotary cam member in the one direction,
• a sector gear drivingly engaging the forkbolt,
• a rotary block-out lever attached to the sector gear and rotatable therewith between a by-pass position and a block-out position where the block-out lever engages a raised shoulder of the gear wheel to stop rotation of the gear wheel, the rotary block-out lever being rotated to the block-out position by the sector gear when the forkbolt is moved to the unlatched position.