Latch with spring for bell crank lever

• US 10,641,018 B2
• Filed: 05/28/2015
• Issued: 05/05/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 05/30/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Inteva Products LLC (Renco Group Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Inteva Products LLC (Renco Group Incorporated)
• Inventors: Dow, Ian, Rice, John R., Perkins, Donald M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Lugo, Carlos
• Assistant Examiner(s): Ahmad, Faria F
• Application Number:
  US14/724,167
• Publication Number:
  US 20150345189A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,804 Days
• Field of Search: 292201, 292210, 292216, 292DIG 23
• CPC Class Codes: E05B 2015/0403 Wound springs
• CPC Class Codes: E05B 2015/0493 Overcenter springs
• CPC Class Codes: E05B 81/06 using rotary motors
• CPC Class Codes: E05B 81/15 with means preventing the detent to return to its latching position before the bolt has moved to the unlatched position
• CPC Class Codes: E05B 81/34 of geared transmissions
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49828 Progressively advancing of work assembly station or assembled portion of work
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 292/1047 Closure
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 292/108 Lever
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 292/1082 Motor
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 292/1092 Swinging catch

Abstract

A latch having: a fork bolt; a detent lever; and a bell crank lever, wherein the bell crank lever moves the detent lever from a latched position to a released position as the bell crank lever moves from a first position to a second position; and an over center spring secured to the bell crank lever at one end and a portion of a housing of the latch at another end, wherein the over center spring is configured to provide a biasing force to the bell crank lever in a first direction towards first position when the bell crank lever is in the first position and the over center spring is configured to provide a biasing force to the bell crank lever in a second direction towards the second position when the bell crank lever is in the second position.

Claims

1. A latch, comprising:

a fork bolt movably mounted to the latch for movement between an open position and a closed position;

a detent lever movably mounted to the latch for movement between a latched position and a released position, wherein the detent lever prevents the fork bolt from moving from the closed position to the open position when the detent lever is in the latched position;

a bell crank lever movably mounted to the latch for movement between a first position and a second position, wherein the bell crank lever moves the detent lever from the latched position to the released position as the bell crank lever moves from the first position to the second position;

a worm gear having a plurality of gears meshingly engaged with a plurality of gears of the bell crank lever; and

an over center spring directly secured to the bell crank lever at one end and a portion of a housing of the latch at another end, wherein the over center spring provides a biasing force to the bell crank lever in a first direction creating a rotational force towards the first position when the bell crank lever is in the first position and the over center spring provides a biasing force to the bell crank lever in a second direction creating a rotational force towards the second position when the bell crank lever is in the second position, wherein the over center spring holds the bell crank lever in place in order to prevent it from bouncing around as it moves between its corresponding first and second positions and wherein the over center spring returns the bell crank lever to the first position, which is different from a position of the bell crank lever if the bell crank lever was only directly driven by the detent lever, wherein the biasing force of the over center spring in the second direction is applied below an axis of rotation of the bell crank lever.

2. The latch as in claim 1, wherein the over center spring comprises an elongated member constructed out of a resilient material which extends along an arc from its point of securement to the bell crank lever and its point of securement to the portion of the housing.

3. The latch as in claim 1, wherein the bell crank lever moves from the first position to the second position when acted upon by a gear.

4. The latch as in claim 1, wherein the bell crank lever is driven from its first position to its second position by a motor operatively coupled to the worm gear and wherein an axis of rotation of the bell crank lever is offset from an axis of rotation of the worm gear.

5. The latch as in claim 1, wherein the bell crank lever is not fixedly secured to the detent lever.

6. The latch as in claim 5, wherein the latch is configured so that the detent lever is capable of being pushed by the bell crank lever but it cannot be pulled by it.

7. The latch as in claim 5, wherein the latch is configured so that the bell crank lever is capable of being pushed by the detent lever but it cannot be pulled by it.

8. The latch as in claim 1, wherein the bell crank lever has a contact portion configured to engage a contact portion of the detent lever.

9. The latch as in claim 1, wherein a contact portion of the bell crank lever has a curved portion configured to engage a curved receiving contact portion of the detent lever.

10. The latch as in claim 1, wherein the biasing force of the over center spring in the first direction is applied above an axis of rotation of the bell crank lever.

11. The latch as in claim 10, wherein the over center spring comprises an elongated member constructed out of a resilient material which extends along an arc from its point of securement to the bell crank lever and its point of securement to the portion of the housing.

12. The latch as in claim 1, wherein the over center spring comprises an elongated member constructed out of a resilient material which extends along an arc from its point of securement to the bell crank lever and its point of securement to the portion of the housing and wherein the over center spring is pivotally secured to the bell crank lever and the housing.

13. The latch as in claim 12, wherein the biasing force of the over center spring in the first direction is applied above an axis of rotation of the bell crank lever.

14. The latch as in claim 1, wherein the bell crank lever moves from the first position to the second position when the worm gear is rotated a motor and at least a portion of the bell crank lever moves adjacent to the worm gear and about an axis of the worm gear, and wherein the bell crank lever is not fixedly secured to the detent lever so that the detent lever is capable of being pushed by the bell crank lever but it cannot be pulled by it and wherein a contact portion of the bell crank lever has a curved portion configured to engage a curved receiving contact portion of the detent lever.

15. The latch as in claim 1, further comprising:

a hold open lever configured for movement between a first position and a second position wherein the hold open lever has a feature configured to engage a feature of the detent lever such that the detent lever is retained in the released position by the hold open lever when it is in the first position.

16. The latch as in claim 15, wherein the folk bolt is configured to move the hold open lever from the first position to the second position when the fork bolt moves from the closed position to the open position and wherein movement of the hold open lever is in a direction angularly orientated with respect to direction movement of the fork bolt between the open position and a closed position.

17. A method of disengaging a detent lever from engagement with a fork bolt a latch, comprising:

pivotally mounting a fork bolt to the latch for movement between an open position and a closed position;

pivotally mounting the detent lever to the latch for movement between a latched position and a released position, wherein the detent lever engages the fork bolt and prevents the fork bolt from moving from the closed position to the open position when the detent lever is in the latched position;

movably mounting a bell crank lever to the latch for movement between a first position and a second position, wherein the bell crank lever is configured to engage and move the detent lever from the latched position to the released position as it moves from the first position to the second position;

meshingly engaging a plurality of gears of the bell crank lever with a plurality of gears of a worm gear;

biasing the bell crank lever in a first direction to create a rotational force towards the first position when the bell crank lever is in the first position with an over center spring directly secured to the bell crank lever at one end and a portion of a housing of the latch at another end; and

biasing the bell crank lever in a second direction to create a rotational force towards the second position with the over center spring when the bell crank lever is in the second position, wherein the biasing force of the over center spring in the second direction is applied below an axis of rotation of the bell crank lever and the over center spring holds the bell crank lever in place in order to prevent it from bouncing around as it moves between its corresponding first and second positions, and wherein the over center spring returns the bell crank lever to the first position, which is different from a position of the bell crank lever if the bell crank lever was only directly driven by the detent lever.