Vehicle door latch
First Claim
1. A vehicle door latch assembly, comprising:
- a fork bolt movably secured to the latch assembly for movement between a latched position and an unlatched position;
a detent lever movably secured to the latch assembly for 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 an engagement surface of the detent lever contacts an engagement surface of the fork bolt; and
an L shaped spring member integrally formed with a component of the detent lever, the spring member having a contact portion that is in a facing spaced relationship with respect to two peripheral edge surfaces of the component of the detent lever that is at least partially covered by the spring member and, the two peripheral edge surfaces are adjacent to each other and extend from one side of the component of detent lever to another opposite side of the component of the detent lever such that the contact portion of the spring member is parallel to and in a facing spaced relationship with respect to the two peripheral edge surfaces of the component of the detent lever when the detent lever is in the disengaged position, wherein the contact portion of the spring member is deflected by a bumper secured to the latch assembly when the detent lever is moved to the engaged position such that a portion of contact portion of the spring member contacts at least one of the peripheral edge surfaces, and wherein one of the two peripheral edge surfaces is located at a distal end of the component of the detent lever and an opposite distal end of the component of the detent lever has the engagement surface that contacts the engagement surface of the fork bolt when the detent lever is in the engaged position and wherein the detent lever is movably mounted to the latch assembly via a pivot pin located between the distal ends of the detent lever.
6 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A vehicle door latch assembly is provided, the 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 a spring member integrally formed with the detent lever, the spring member being deflected by a bumper secured to the latch assembly when the detent lever is moved to the engaged position.
19 Citations
18 Claims
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1. A vehicle door latch assembly, comprising:
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a fork bolt movably secured to the latch assembly for movement between a latched position and an unlatched position; a detent lever movably secured to the latch assembly for 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 an engagement surface of the detent lever contacts an engagement surface of the fork bolt; and an L shaped spring member integrally formed with a component of the detent lever, the spring member having a contact portion that is in a facing spaced relationship with respect to two peripheral edge surfaces of the component of the detent lever that is at least partially covered by the spring member and, the two peripheral edge surfaces are adjacent to each other and extend from one side of the component of detent lever to another opposite side of the component of the detent lever such that the contact portion of the spring member is parallel to and in a facing spaced relationship with respect to the two peripheral edge surfaces of the component of the detent lever when the detent lever is in the disengaged position, wherein the contact portion of the spring member is deflected by a bumper secured to the latch assembly when the detent lever is moved to the engaged position such that a portion of contact portion of the spring member contacts at least one of the peripheral edge surfaces, and wherein one of the two peripheral edge surfaces is located at a distal end of the component of the detent lever and an opposite distal end of the component of the detent lever has the engagement surface that contacts the engagement surface of the fork bolt when the detent lever is in the engaged position and wherein the detent lever is movably mounted to the latch assembly via a pivot pin located between the distal ends of the detent lever. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A method for absorbing stopping forces in a latch assembly, the method comprising:
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pivotally securing a forkbolt to the latch assembly for movement in a first plane between an unlatched position and a latched position; pivotally securing a detent lever to the latch assembly for movement in the first plane between an engaged position and a disengaged position wherein a contact surface of the detent lever engages a contact surface of the forkbolt when the detent lever is in the engaged position and the forkbolt is in the latched position; and adsorbing a stopping force of the detent lever by integrally molding an L shaped spring member to a component of the detent lever such that the spring member has a contact portion that is in a facing spaced relationship with respect to two peripheral edge surfaces of the component of the detent lever that are adjacent to each other and the two peripheral edge surfaces extend from one side of the component of the detent lever to another opposite side of the component of the detent lever, the contact portion of the spring member being deflected into contact with one of the two peripheral edge surfaces when the detent lever is in the engaged position and the spring member contacts an elastomeric bumper secured to the latch assembly and wherein the contact portion of the spring member is parallel to and in a facing spaced relationship with respect to the two peripheral edge surfaces when the detent lever is in the disengaged position, wherein one of the two peripheral edge surfaces is located at a distal end of the component of the detent lever and an opposite distal end of the component of the detent lever has the engagement surface that contacts the engagement surface of the fork bolt when the detent lever is in the engaged position and wherein the detent lever is movably mounted to the latch assembly via a pivot pin located between the distal ends of the detent lever. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18)
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Specification