VEHICLE DOOR LATCH

• US 20110204659A1
• Filed: 02/17/2011
• Published: 08/25/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 02/18/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Inteva Products LLC (Renco Group Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Inteva Products LLC (Renco Group Incorporated)
• Inventors: Estrada, Eduardo, Parks, David R., Rodriguez, Jorge J., Vazquez, Francisco J.
• Granted Patent: US 8,967,679 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 292/200
• CPC Class Codes: E05B 81/14 operating on bolt detents, e.g. for unlatching the bolt
• 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: Y10T 292/108 Lever

Abstract

A vehicle door latch assembly is disclosed herein, the vehicle door latch assembly having: a fork bolt movably secured to the latch assembly, the fork bolt being capable of movement between a latched position and an unlatched position; a detent lever movably secured to the latch assembly, the detent lever being capable of movement between an engaged position and a disengaged position, the detent lever retains the fork bolt in the latched position when the detent lever is in the engaged position and a engagement surface of the detent lever contacts an engagement surface of the fork bolt; and an actuator for moving the detent lever into the disengaged position from the engaged position, the actuator being configured to prevent the detent lever from moving back to the engaged position until the fork bolt has been moved to the unlatched position.

Claims

1. A vehicle door latch assembly, comprising:

a fork bolt movably secured to the latch assembly, the fork bolt being capable of movement between a latched position and an unlatched position;

a detent lever movably secured to the latch assembly, the detent lever being capable of movement between an engaged position and a disengaged position, the detent lever retains the fork bolt in the latched position when the detent lever is in the engaged position and a engagement surface of the detent lever contacts an engagement surface of the fork bolt; and

a remotely activated actuator for moving the detent lever into the disengaged position from the engaged position, the actuator being configured to prevent the detent lever from moving back to the engaged position until the fork bolt has been moved to the unlatched position.

2. The vehicle door latch assembly as in claim 1, wherein the actuator further comprises:

a slider configured to engage the detent lever; and

a hold open lever rotatably secured to the latch assembly for movement between a first position wherein a portion of the hold open lever engages a feature of the slider and a second position wherein the hold open lever does not engage the feature of the slider and wherein the portion of the hold open lever engages the feature of the slider and restricts movement of the slider when the slider has moved the detent lever to the disengaged position.

3. The vehicle door latch assembly as in claim 2, wherein the hold open lever is spring biased towards the first position.

4. The vehicle door latch assembly as in claim 3, wherein the hold open lever is moved from the first position to the second position by the fork bolt as it rotates from the latched position to the unlatched position.

5. The vehicle door latch assembly as in claim 2, wherein the slider has a pair of slotted openings configured to slidably receive a pair of pins one of which is mounted upon the fork bolt and the other is mounted to the latch assembly remote from the fork bolt.

6. The vehicle door latch assembly as in claim 5, wherein a distal end of the slider is configured to engage a feature of the detent lever in order to rotate the detent lever into the disengaged position when the slider moves with respect to the fork bolt.

7. The vehicle door latch assembly as in claim 2, wherein the fork bolt is configured to have a cam surface configured to engage a complimentary surface of the hold open lever and rotate the hold open lever from the first position to the second position as the fork bolt moves from the latched position to the unlatched position.

8. The vehicle door latch assembly as in claim 7, wherein the hold open lever is spring biased towards the first position.

9. The vehicle door latch assembly as in claim 8, wherein the slider has a pair of slotted openings configured to slidably receive a pair of pins one of which is mounted upon the fork bolt and the other is mounted to the latch assembly remote from the fork bolt.

11. The vehicle door latch assembly as in claim 7, wherein a distal end of the slider is configured to engage a feature of the detent lever in order to rotate the detent lever into the disengaged position when the slider moves with respect to the fork bolt.

12. The vehicle door latch assembly as in claim 2, further comprising a motor configured to move the slider in an unlatching direction to move the detent lever to the disengaged position.

13. The vehicle door latch assembly as in claim 12, wherein the slider has a pair of slotted openings configured to slidably receive a pair of pins one of which is mounted upon the fork bolt and the other is mounted to the latch assembly remote from the fork bolt.

14. The vehicle door latch assembly as in claim 13, wherein a distal end of the slider is configured to engage a feature of the detent lever in order to rotate the detent lever into the disengaged position when the slider moves with respect to the fork bolt.

15. The vehicle door latch assembly as in claim 14, wherein the fork bolt is configured to have a cam surface configured to engage a complimentary surface of the hold open lever and rotate the hold open lever from the first position to the second position as the fork bolt moves from the latched position to the unlatched position.

16. The vehicle door latch assembly as in claim 15, wherein the hold open lever is spring biased towards the first position and wherein the feature of the slider is remote from the distal end of the hold open lever.

17. The vehicle door latch assembly as in claim 2, further comprising a motor configured to move the slider in an unlatching direction to move the detent lever to the disengaged position and wherein the detent lever is maintained in the disengaged position until the fork bolt is rotated to the unlatched position.

18. The vehicle door latch assembly as in claim 17, wherein the fork bolt is configured to have a cam surface configured to engage a complimentary surface of the hold open lever and rotate the hold open lever from the first position to the second position as the fork bolt moves from the latched position to the unlatched position.

19. A method of preventing a detent lever of a vehicle door latch assembly from moving to an engaged position when the detent lever has been moved to a disengaged position by a remotely activated actuator, the method comprising:

pivotally securing a fork bolt to the vehicle door latch assembly for movement between an unlatched position and a latched position;

pivotally securing the detent lever to the vehicle door latch assembly for movement between the engaged position and a disengaged position wherein a contact surface of the detent lever engages a contact surface of the fork bolt when the detent lever is in the engaged position and the fork bolt is in the latched position; and

preventing the detent lever from moving to the engaged position from the disengaged position by restricting the movement of the remotely activated actuator until the fork bolt has been moved to the unlatched position.

20. The method as in claim 19, wherein the remotely activated actuator further comprises:

a slider configured to engage the detent lever;

a hold open lever rotatably secured to the latch assembly for movement between a first position wherein a portion of the hold open lever engages a feature of the slider and a second position wherein the hold open lever does not engage the feature of the slider and wherein the portion of the hold open lever engages the feature of the slider and restricts movement of the slider when the slider has moved the detent lever to the disengaged position;

a motor configured to move the slider in an unlatching direction to move the detent lever to the disengaged position and wherein the detent lever is maintained in the disengaged position until the fork bolt is rotated to the unlatched position; and

wherein the fork bolt is configured to have a cam surface configured to engage a complimentary surface of the hold open lever and rotate the hold open lever from the first position to the second position as the fork bolt moves from the latched position to the unlatched position.