US3305258A

US3305258A - Automotive door latch

Info

Publication number: US3305258A
Application number: US416512A
Authority: US
Inventors: Robbert N Peters
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1964-12-07
Filing date: 1964-12-07
Publication date: 1967-02-21
Anticipated expiration: 1984-02-21
Also published as: GB1079714A; DE1996862U; FR1434873A

Description

Feb. 21, 1967 R. N. PETERS 3,305,258

AUTOMOTIVE DOOR LATCH Filed Dec. 7, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 yQobbemnv 06 (A wommsyi/ Feb. 21, 1967 PETERS AUTOMOTIVE DOOR LATCH 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. '7, 1964 VIII/(1111111011..

\ NVEAJTOM v new CRTTQRNEX/ The present invention relates to a latch of the type commonly used for the doors of an automotive vehicle and, more particularly, to a latch which may be released from the inside as by the conventional remote control handle or from the outside by a push button or a handle. In some instances, latches of this type have been made with a free-wheeling locking arrangement. In other words, the latch is locked by disconnecting the parts of the latch so that the push button will make an idle motion and cannot damage the latch when forced.

The general object of the invention is to provide a latch of the above character with a new and improved freewheeling locking arrangement which is comparatively simple and inexpensive in construction but which effectively locks and unlocks the latch.

A more detailed object is to connect the parts by a pin and a slot and to arrange the parts so that the pin may selectively be set to follow the slot whereby the pin makes an idle motion and the latch is locked.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of an automobile door utilizing a latch constructed in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line 2-2 in FIG. 1, the parts being in the unlocked position.

FIG. 3 is a section view taken along the line 33 in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary view similar to FIG. 2 but shows the parts in the unlatching position.

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 3 but with the parts in the locked position.

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 4 but with the parts in the locked position.

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary perspective view of parts of the latch.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along the line S8 in FIG. 2.

As shown in the drawings for purposes of illustration, the invention is embodied in a latch of the type commonly used for the door it of a vehicle such as an automobile. In general, the catch is mounted interiorly of the door with a shaft 11 projecting through the end wall 12 of the door and carrying a latching member 13. The latter, in the present instance, is a rotary member keyed to the shaft 11 and formed with gear teeth 14 (FIG. 8) which coact with a suitable striker (not shown) mounted on the vehicle frame. Herein, the shaft 11 is journaled on one leg 15 of an L-shaped support or bracket 16, the leg 15 being secured to the inside of the wall 12 while the other leg 17 of the bracket extends alongside the inner wall of the door. A pawl 18 in the form of a bell crank lever is fulcrumed by a stub shaft 19 to turn about an axis paralleling the axis of the shaft 11 and includes a tooth 2t integral with one arm 21 of the bell crank lever to engage one or the other of the

teeth

22 and 23 of a ratchet 24 which is fast on the shaft 11. When the pawl tooth 21 engages the ratchet tooth 22, the door is in the fully latched position and the door is latched in the usual safety position when the pawl tooth 20 engages the tooth 23 on the ratchet.

tes Patent 0 33%,258 Patented Feb. 21, 1967 The pawl 18 is biased into engagement with the ratchet 24 by a contractile spring 25 which acts between a circular flange 26 on the ratchet and a flange 27 on the pawl lever. The latch may be released from outside the vehicle by the conventional push button 28 (FIGS. 1 and 2) WhlCh abuts a flange 29 on an operating or contactor lever 30 fulcrumed on the stub shaft 19. When the latch is unlocked, the turning of the contactor 30 is transmitted to the pawl 18 to swing the tooth 20 away from the

teeth

22 and 23 as shown in FIG. 4. The contactor is urged toward the latching or upright position (FIG. 2) by a torsion spring 31 which is anchored at One end to the stub shaft 19, the other end bearing against the flange 29 of the contactor. The latch also may be released from the inside by the usual remote control lever 32 which is connected by a link 33 to a remote control handle (not shown). When turned clockwise, the remote control lever engages an offset portion 34 of the second arm 35 of the pawl lever 18 and turns the latter downwardly to swing the pawl tooth 20 out of engagement with the ratchet 24.

In accordance with the present invention, the latch is locked by a novel free-wheeling arrangement, that is, the contactor lever 30 turns the pawl 18 when the latch is unlocked but the contactor lever makes an idle motion without turning the pawl when the latch is locked so that the latch is not damaged if the push button 28 is forced when the latch is locked. To this end, the contactor is coupled to the pawl by a pin 36 and a slot 37 which is eccentric relative to the stub shaft 19 and the contactor is shiftable on this shaft. Thus, when the contactor is unrestrained, it will shift relative to the stub shaft and the pin 36 will follow the slot 37 without turning the pawl. On the other hand, if the contactor is held against shifting, the pin 36 cannot travel along the slot as the contactor turns and, as a result, the pin transmits the turning of the contactor to the pawl so that the latter turns to release the latch.

Herein, the pin 36 projects laterally from the contactor and into a curved slot 37 which is in the other arm 35 of the pawl lever and which is eccentric relative to the stub shaft 19. The fulcruming of the contactor 30 on the shaft 19 is accomplished by means of a slot 38 (FIG. 7) formed in the contactor and receiving the stub shaft. Thus, when the contactor is turned by depressing the push button 28, the pin 36 follows the slot 37 and the contactor shifts to the left as viewed in FIG. 6. As a result, the contactor makes an idle motion and the pawl 18 remains in engagement with the ratchet 24. When, however, the contactor is restrained against such shifting, the pin 36 transmits the turning motion of the contactor to the pawl and this swings the pawl out of engagement with the ratchet to permit opening of the door.

In order to restrain and release the contactor 30 selectively, an upright locking lever 39 is fulcrumed intermediate its ends on the leg 17 of the bracket 16 by means of a stud 40- to swing about an axis which is at right angles to the axis of the pawl 18. In its unlocked position as illustrated in FIG. 3, the upper arm 41 of the locking lever is disposed adjacent the bracket leg 15 and directly in front of the end of an arm 42 (FIG. 7) on the contactor 30 and, in this position, the locking lever covers a slot 43 (FIG. 5) in the bracket leg 17. As a result, the arm 42 engages an arcuate surface 44 on the locking lever as the contactor is turned by the push button 28 and this prevents the contactor from shifting forward as permitted by the slot 38. The pin 36, therefore, transmits the turning motion to the pawl 18 which swings out of engagement with the ratchet 24. When the locking lever is turned counterclockwise to the locked position as shown in FIG. 5, the arm 42 may project through the slot 43 whereby the contactor, when turned, slides forward on the stub shaft 19 and makes an idle motion without turning the pawl.

The locking lever 39 is 'biased toward the locked and unlocked positions by an over-center spring 45 which acts between the bracket 16 and the locking lever. Herein, the spring 45 is a coiled torsion spring disposed between the locking lever and the leg 17 of the bracket and the ends of the spring are anchored by projecting the end 46 through a hole 47 in the locking lever arm 48 and the end 49 through a hole 50 in the bracket leg 35. Thus, as the locking lever is turned away from the unlocked position (FIG. 3) toward the locked position (FIG. the end 46 of the spring 45 moves from the left to right until it crosses the center line which extends between the spring end 49 and the center of the stud 40. As the spring crosses center, it snaps the locking lever to the locked position. The same snap action is obtained when the lever is turned in the opposite direction.

As is customary with latches of this type, the locking lever 39 may be turned back and forth from outside the door by a key and from inside either by a garnish molding button 51 (FIG. 1) or the remote control handle (not shown). Thus, a square shaft 52 (FIGS. 2 and 6) which may be turned by a key carries an arm 53 (FIG. 3) projecting into a notch 54 in the locking lever arm 48 so that the locking lever is turned back and forth by the arm 53 by turning the shaft 52. Additionally, the locking lever may be turned by lifting or depressing the garnish molding button 51 which is connected to the lower arm 48 of the locking lever by a link 55.

The remote control handle is connected by the link 33 (FIG. 3) to the lower arm 56 of the remote control lever 32 and an abutment 57 on this arm engages the arm 48 of the locking lever 39 when the latter is in the unlocked position and the remote control lever 32 is turned counterclockwise as viewed in FIG. 3. This swings the locking lever to the locked position. If the lever 32 is turned in the opposite direction when the locking lever is in the locked position, the upper arm 58 of the lever 32 abuts the upper arm 41 of the locking lever and swings the latter toward the unlocked position. Upon continued turning of the lever 32, the arm 58 engages the laterally otfset extension 34 of the arm 35 of the pawl 18 so that the pawl is swung out of engagement with the ratchet 24 and the latch is released, the extension 34 being guided by a slot 59 in the bracket wall 17.

It will be observed that, with a latch constructed according to the invention, the latch is locked with a freewheeling action but, at the same time, the construction of the latch is comparatively simple and inexpensive. Thus, this action is achieved simply by the use of the pin 36 and the eccentric slot 37 and by mounting the contactor 30 on the stub shaft 19 by means of the slot 38 which normally permits the contactor to shift. In this way, the usual locking lever 39 may be used selectively either to block the contactor against shifting or to release the cont-actor. Such releasing and blocking locks and unlocks the latch.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a latch, the combination of, a latching element, a shaft laterally spaced from said latching element, a pawl lever fulcrumed on said shaft to turn into and out of engagement with said latching element thereby selectively to hold and release the latching element, an operating lever having an elongated slot which receives said shaft whereby the operating lever may turn about the shaft and shift transversely of the shaft, a curved slot formed in said pawl lever eccentrically relative to said shaft, a pin rigid with said operating lever and projecting into said curved slot whereby the operating lever when turned shifts on said shaft and the pin follows the curved slot while said pawl lever remains in engagement with said latching element, and a locking member movable into and out of a position in which it blocks the shifting of said operating lever whereby said pin transmits the turning of the operating lever to said pawl lever to release said latching element.

2. In a latch, the combination of, a latching element, a shaft laterally spaced from said latching element, a pawl lever fulcrumed on said shaft to turn into and out of engagement with said latching element thereby selectively to hold and release the latching element, an operating lever having a first slot which receives said shaft whereby the operating lever may turn about the shaft and shift transversely of the shaft, a second slot formed in one of said levers eccentrically relative to said shaft, a pin rigid with the other of said levers and projecting into said second slot whereby the operating lever when turned shifts on said shaft and the pin follows the second slot while said pawl lever remains in engagement with said latching element, and a locking member movable into and out of a position in which it blocks the shifting of said operating lever whereby said pin transmits the turning of the operating lever to said pawl lever to release said latching element.

3. In a latch, the combination of, a latching element, a first member mounted to turn about a predetermined axis selectively to hold and release said latching element, a second member mounted to turn about said axis, means supporting said second member for bodily shifting transversely of said axis, a slot formed in one of said members eccentrically of said axis, a pin rigid with the other of said members and projecting into said slot whereby said second member shifts and the pin follows said slot upon turning of the second member, and a locking element movable into and out of a position in which it blocks shifting of said second member whereby said pin transmits turning of the second member to said first member to release said latching element.

4. In a latch, the combination of, a latching element, a first member mounted to turn about a predetermined axis selectively to hold and release said latching element, a second member mounted to turn about said axis, means supporting one of said members for bodily shifting transversely of said axis, a slot formed in one of said members eccentrically of said axis and a pin rigid with the other of said members and projecting into said slot whereby the shiftable member shifts and the pin follows said sl'ot upon turning of said second member, and a locking element movable into and out of a position in which it blocks shifting of the shiftable member whereby said pin transmits turning of said second member to said first member to release said latching element.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,728,214 12/ 1955 Craig.

2,916,318 12/1959 Van Voorhees 292280 2,987,907 6/1961 Cockburn et al.

3,027,185 3/1962 Allen et al. 292-280 3,121,580 2/1964 Di Salvo et al.

EDWARD C. ALLEN, Primary Examinr.

RICHARD E. MOORE, Assistant Examiner.

Claims

4. IN A LATCH, THE COMBINATION OF, A LATCHING ELEMENT, A FIRST MEMBER MOUNTED TO TURN ABOUT A PREDETERMINED AXIS SELECTIVELY TO HOLD AND RELEASE SAID LATCHING ELEMENT, A SECOND MEMBER MOUNTED TO TURN ABOUT SAID AXIS, MEANS SUPPORTING ONE OF SAID MEMBERS FOR BODILY SHIFTING TRANSVERSELY OF SAID AXIS, A SLOT FORMED IN ONE OF SAID MEMBERS ECCENTRICALLY OF SAID AXIS AND A PIN RIGID WITH THE OTHER OF SAID MEMBERS AND PROJECTING INTO SAID SLOT WHEREBY THE SHIFTABLE MEMBER SHIFTS AND THE PIN FOLLOWS SAID SLOT UPON TURNING OF SAID SECOND MEMBER, AND A LOCKING ELEMENT MOVABLE INTO AND OUT OF A POSITION IN WHICH IT BLOCKS SHIFTING OF THE SHIFTABLE MEMBER WHEREBY SAID PIN TRANSMITS TURNING OF SAID SECOND MEMBER TO SAID FIRST MEMBER TO RELEASE SAID LATCHING ELEMENT.