Patent application number | Description | Published |
20080224482 | Electrical Door Latch - A latching apparatus may have a normal mode of operation in which a mechanical signal is employed to actuate a door pawl, and hence to release a door latch ratchet. An electrical actuator may be employed to send that mechanical signal, and operation of the actuator may be governed by an electronic control unit (ECU). The latch apparatus may also have a second, or emergency, mode of operation in which a second mechanical signal path is employed either to cause an augmented force to be employed to release the pawl, or to cause a sudden impulse to urge the pawl to release, the sudden impulse being driven by a release of energy from an energy storage device, in particular a mechanical energy storage device. The apparatus may include either an electrical or a mechanical door handle interrupt to prevent unwanted activation. The device may also include an auxiliary electrical back-up power source in the event of a main power source failure. | 09-18-2008 |
20100283268 | Closure Latch with Inertia Member - In one aspect, the invention is directed to a closure latch for a vehicle door, wherein during a crash event, the closure latch has an inertia member that prevents the vehicle door from opening. The inertia member may only temporarily prevent the vehicle door from opening, or alternatively it may cause a lock lever to move to a locked position, so that the vehicle door remains locked even after the inertia member is no longer actuated. | 11-11-2010 |
20120181798 | DOOR LATCH WITH OPENING MEMORY FEATURE - A closure latch for a vehicle door is provided. The closure latch includes an emergency lock actuator to permit a person to lock the door in the event that the power lock actuator is unusable. The latch also includes an ‘impatient passenger’ feature, which permits the doors to be unlocked using the remote keyless-entry feature on the key fob even in a situation where an ‘impatient passenger’ had prematurely lifted the door handle of the vehicle. In some prior art latches, such an action by an ‘impatient passenger’ would prevent the drive motor on the latch from unlocking the latch, thereby necessitating the owner to press the unlock button on the key fob a second time. There is some overlap in the components that used for the ‘impatient passenger’ feature and the components used for the emergency lock actuator, thereby reducing cost and complexity of the latch. | 07-19-2012 |
20120313384 | VEHICULAR LATCH WITH DOUBLE PAWL ARRANGEMENT - A low release effort eccentric double pawl vehicle latch includes a ratchet, primary pawl, auxiliary ratchet and secondary pawl in combination with a secure lock lever. The secure lock lever selectively inhibits movement of the secondary pawl to prevent premature or unintended opening of the latch. A drive mechanism sequences movement of the secure lock lever and secondary pawl to open the latch. Upon reset, the drive mechanism drives the auxiliary ratchet back to its closed state and in the process the auxiliary ratchet can engage and return the secondary pawl back to a closed state in the event of an insufficient bias force thereon. | 12-13-2012 |
20140175813 | ELECTRICAL VEHICLE LATCH - An electrical vehicle latch including a support assembly, a releasable closure mechanism carried by the support assembly and adapted to releasably engage a striker, an electrically-operated actuator assembly carried by the support assembly and which can be selectively activated to release the closure mechanism from the striker or to lock the closure mechanism in a condition of engagement with the striker, and an electrical control unit having a printed circuit board for controlling operation of the actuator assembly. The support assembly including a first support body carrying at least a ratchet of the closure mechanism in a position parallel to a first plane (P | 06-26-2014 |
Patent application number | Description | Published |
20100171320 | Decklid Latch with Electromechanically Actuated Snowload Lever - A latch comprises a ratchet moveable between a latched position and a released position with the ratchet being biased to the released position. A pawl is moveable between a ratchet-engaged position in which the pawl checks the movement of the ratchet and a ratchet-disengaged position with the pawl being biased to the ratchet-engaged position. An electromechanical actuator has an output member for moving the pawl to the ratchet-disengaged position with the actuator output member moving between a start position and an end position and vice versa. A snowload lever is moveable between a pawl-disengaged position and a pawl-engaged position, wherein, in the pawl-engaged position, the snowload lever blocks the actuator output member from returning to the start position. | 07-08-2010 |
20100207400 | Door Latch with Fast Unlock - In one aspect, the invention is directed to a closure latch for a vehicle door. The closure latch includes a ratchet movable between an open position and a closed position, a first door release lever operatively connected to the ratchet, a second door release lever, and a lock lever movable along a lock lever path including a first lock lever position wherein the second door release lever is operatively disconnected from the first door release lever, a second lock lever position wherein the lock lever operatively connects the second door release lever to the first door release lever, and a third lock lever position wherein the lock lever carries out an additional function. | 08-19-2010 |
20110204660 | VEHICULAR LATCH WITH SINGLE NOTCH RATCHET - A double pawl latch having a ratchet ( | 08-25-2011 |
20110204673 | DOOR LATCH WITH EMERGENCY LOCK ACTUATOR AND 'IMPATIENT PASSENGER' FEATURE - In one aspect, the invention is directed to a closure latch for a vehicle door. The closure latch includes an emergency lock actuator to permit a person to lock the door in the event that the power lock actuator is unusable. The latch also includes an ‘impatient passenger’ feature, which permits the doors to be unlocked using the remote keyless-entry feature on the key fob even in a situation where an ‘impatient passenger’ had prematurely lifted the door handle of the vehicle. In some prior art latches, such an action by an ‘impatient passenger’ would prevent the drive motor on the latch from unlocking the latch, thereby necessitating the owner to press the unlock button on the key fob a second time. There is some overlap in the components that used for the ‘impatient passenger’ feature and the components used for the emergency lock actuator, thereby reducing cost and complexity of the latch. | 08-25-2011 |
20140091581 | DOUBLE RATCHET, DOUBLE PAWL VEHICULAR LATCH WITH SOFT STOP ON RESET - A low release effort eccentric double ratchet, double pawl vehicle latch includes a ratchet, a primary pawl, an auxiliary ratchet and a secondary pawl. A drive mechanism including a gear cam wheel sequences movement of the secondary pawl to open and reset the latch. Upon reset, the drive mechanism actuates the auxiliary ratchet back to a closed state in a soft manner without using a hard stop; instead the latch has a cushioning spring that is used to softly stop the gear train during the reset absorbing motor energy and thus eliminating impact noise. | 04-03-2014 |