Patent Application
20190376321
The subject matter disclosed herein relates to vehicle door latches.
Vehicle door latches must meet strength and sound requirements for various markets. Rubber or bumper components are highly sensitive to the ambient temperature and humidity. The sensitivity to temperature and humidity generates dimensional variations directly proportional to the volume used in the component. The components must maintain operating requirements over a wide range of temperatures to meet customer and/or regulatory standards. For example, the components must operate between −40 degrees Celsius and 80 degrees Celsius. At the low temperatures, the rubber components are too hard for desired operation. Conversely, the rubber components are too soft at high temperatures for desired operation. Either extreme adversely may affect the sound performance considerably and directly affect latch bite control as well.
Disclosed is a vehicle latch assembly including a housing. Also included is a pawl disposed within the housing, the pawl rotatable between a first angular position and a second angular position. Further included is a bumper operatively coupled to the housing, the bumper having a conical head portion positioned for engagement with the pawl in the second angular position of the pawl.
Also disclosed is a vehicle latch assembly including a housing. Also included is a bumper operatively coupled to the housing, the bumper having a conical head portion positioned for engagement with a latch component. Further included is a plurality of heat stake posts formed on the housing to operatively couple components of the vehicle latch assembly.
The subject matter, which is regarded as the invention, is particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the claims at the conclusion of the specification. The foregoing and other features, and advantages of the invention are apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing in which:
The detailed description explains embodiments of the invention, together with advantages and features, by way of example with reference to the drawing.
Referring to
The vehicle latch assembly 10 includes a housing 12 that helps protect the vehicle latch assembly 10 from damage, as well as dirt and debris. The housing 12 is mounted to the vehicle door, such as with a plurality of mechanical fasteners or welding, for example.
The pawl 16 is at least partially disposed within the housing. The pawl 16 is pivotable about an axis 18 and rotatable between different operating positions. As the pawl 16 is rotated toward the second position, the pawl 16 comes into close proximity with one or more components and contact may occur. If the pawl 16 contacts the component, an audible sound may be generated which is likely to be unpleasant to a user.
Referring now to
The bumper component 20 also includes a main body portion 24 that is separated from the head portion 22 with a necked portion 26 of the bumper component 20.
Referring again to
While the invention has been described in detail in connection with only a limited number of embodiments, it should be readily understood that the invention is not limited to such disclosed embodiments. Rather, the invention can be modified to incorporate any number of variations, alterations, substitutions or equivalent arrangements not heretofore described, but which are commensurate with the spirit and scope of the invention. Additionally, while various embodiments of the invention have been described, it is to be understood that aspects of the invention may include only some of the described embodiments. Accordingly, the invention is not to be seen as limited by the foregoing description, but is only limited by the scope of the appended claims.
