Patent Application
20090206615
The present invention pertains to the field of automotive door latches, and more particularly to clam shell style doors latches.
In vehicles with short cabs and multiple rows of seats, such as some extended cab pickup trucks, the cabs are often not long enough for two sets of traditional doors. Clam shell style doors are frequently used because they are capable of providing a door allowing ingress and egress to a back seat even when space is limited. Clam shell style doors include a traditionally hinged front door for ingress and egress to the front seats, as well as a coach door (hereinafter referred to as the access door) to provide ingress and egress to the back seats. Clam shell style doors are used in vehicle openings without a pillar, so the latches for the traditionally hinged door are positioned on an end panel on the access door. As a result, the access door must be closed in order to properly close the front door. The access door can include a cancel lever that prevents operation of the door handle on the inside of the access door in order to prevent the access door from being opened while the front door is in a closed position, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,803,516, which is hereby incorporated by reference.
In one disclosed embodiment, a door assembly is provided for a vehicle body. A portal on the vehicle body includes a first end and a second end. A first door is pivotably coupled to the first end of the portal, and the first door includes an end panel opposite the first end of the portal. A second door is pivotably coupled to the second end of the portal. A pivot is fixed to the end panel of the first door, and a cancel lever is rotatably fixed to the pivot. The cancel lever is arranged to be contacted by the second door at any location within a zone of contact determined by the relative positions of the first and second doors such that a force applied to the cancel lever by the second door includes a component perpendicular to a radius of the cancel lever at the point of contact.
In another embodiment, a door assembly is provided for a vehicle. A portal on the vehicle includes a first end and a second end. A first door is pivotably fixed to the first end of the portal, and the first door has at least one longitudinal face and at least one lateral face. A second door is pivotably fixed to the second end of the portal. A cancel lever is fixed to the lateral face of the first door.
In an additional embodiment, a door assembly is provided for a vehicle. A portal on the vehicle includes a front end and a rear end. An access door is hinged to the rear end of the portal. The access door includes an end panel with at least one forward facing surface and at least one outboard facing surface. The outboard facing surface of the access door has an aperture, and a pivot is fixed to the access door at a location adjacent to the end of the aperture nearest to the front end of the portal. A front door is hinged to the front of the portal. A cancel lever is pivotably coupled to the pivot and includes a portion that extends through the aperture. The cancel lever is shaped so that the portion extending through the aperture is further toward the rear end of the portal than the pivot when the cancel lever is not contacted by the front door. A linkage is pivotably coupled to the cancel lever and is in communication with a mechanism for preventing operation of a door handle on the interior of the access door.
The description herein makes reference to the accompanying drawings wherein like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout the several views, and wherein:
However, occasionally the access door 10 is not in a completely closed position when the traditionally hinged door 12 is urged toward a closed position. As a result, the traditionally hinged door 12 can contact an un intended portion of the cancel lever 32, such as one of the round corners adjacent the contact portion intended to be contacted.
Such jamming can rotate the cancel lever 32 to unintended positions relative to the aperture 40, causing the cancel lever 32 to become stuck in the aperture 40. The jamming can even break the cancel lever 32, or cause the doors 10, 12 to become stuck in partially closed position. The jamming can damage the traditionally hinged door 12. For example, the door 12 can be scratched by the cancel lever 32, making the door prone to rust, or the door 12 can be dented by the cancel lever 32 such that the door 12 no longer properly contacts the cancel lever 32.
Additionally, conventional cancel levers 32 have a small stroke due to spacing limitations as a result of the position of the cancel levers 32 on longitudinal facing portions 26a of end panels 26. A consequence of the small stroke is that the traditionally hinged door 12 should be in a completely closed position in order for the cancel lever 32 to effectively prevent operation of the door handle 30. However, the latch 22 can be “half-latched”, meaning the latch 22 is not fully engaged. Due to the small stroke of the cancel lever 32, a half-latched traditionally hinged door 12 may not actuate the cancel lever 32 to prevent operation of the door handle 30 on the interior of the access door 10. Additionally, when the traditionally hinged door 12 is half-latched, the driver may be under the impression that the traditionally hinged door 12 is fully closed and is actuating the cancel lever 32 because, for example, the dome light does not remain on and the dash does not indicate that a door is ajar. Even if the driver is alerted that the door 12 is not latched, the driver may not recognize that the cancel lever 32 is not actuated to prevent operation of the door handle 30. As a result, the door handle 30 may be actuated to unlatch the access door 10 from latches 22b. If this occurs, the traditionally hinged door 12 and the access door 10 are only prevented from opening by the half-latched latch 22a.
Moreover, the small stroke of the cancel lever 32 can prevent the cancel lever 32 from being actuated if build variations occur. Even a small variation in position of, for example, the placement of the cancel lever 32, the traditionally hinged door 12, or the access door 10 can prevent the cancel lever 32 from being actuated.
Also as illustrated, the portion 24b (hereinafter referred to as the “communicating portion”) of the cancel lever 24 in communication with the mechanism 28 for preventing operation of the inside handle 30 of the access door 10 occupies a second corner of the relatively triangular shaped cancel lever 24. The communicating portion 24b of the cancel lever 24 can include a second aperture 44 configured to accept the end of the linkage 46, which communicates the rotation of the cancel lever 24 to the mechanism 28 for preventing operation of the handle 30 on the interior of the access door 10. The linkage 46 can be rotatably fixed to the cancel lever 24. For example, the linkage 46 can include a hook that is inserted through the aperture 44, or the cancel lever 24 can include a pivot that is attached to the linkage 46, such as the illustrated bolt 48. Alternatively, the coupling between the cancel lever 24 and the linkage 46 can take any other formed recognized as suitable by one of skill in the art having knowledge of the present application. For example, the rotation of the cancel lever 24 can generate an electronic signal, which is then relayed to a motor in order to actuate the mechanism 28 for preventing the operation of the door handle 30.
A third portion 24c of the cancel lever 24 is configured to be contacted by the traditionally hinged door 12 (hereinafter referred to as the “contact portion”). The contact portion 24c as illustrated occupies the majority of the cancel lever 24. The contact portion 24c can have two curved edges 24d, 24e. As illustrated, the first edge 24d has a convexly curved shape, though the shape of the first curved edge 24d can be based on the geometry of the doors 10, 12 and can therefore have a different shape than illustrated. Specifically, the edge 24d can be based on the position of the cancel lever 24 on the access door 10, the positions of the access door 10 that allow the cancel lever 24 to be contacted by the traditionally hinged door 12, and the geometry of the traditionally hinged door 12. With the cancel lever 24 properly curved, the traditionally hinged door 12 cannot apply force directly parallel to a radius of the cancel lever 24 extending from the point on the cancel lever 24 that force is applied to the pivot 34. Depending on the geometry of the doors 10, 12 and the placement of the cancel lever 24, the edge 24d can be straight or have some other non-curved shape while still permitting the cancel lever 24 to function properly. The second curved edge 24e can be curved such that the cancel lever 24 does not contact the aperture 40 when the cancel lever 24 is pivoted into the aperture 40 by the traditionally hinged door 12. If the aperture 40 is sufficiently large, the aperture 40 need not be a consideration in determining the shape of the cancel lever 24.
As illustrated, the cancel lever 24 has a straight edge 24f connecting the pivoting portion 24a with the communicating portion 24b, and the communicating portion 24b is positioned longitudinally closer to the hinged end of the access door 10 than the pivoting portion 24a. However, the edge 24f need not be straight depending on the shape of the cancel lever 24; the shape of the edge 24f can vary depending on the shape of the cancel lever 24. While the cancel lever 24 is illustrated having a substantially triangular shape, it can also have a rectangular, oval, or other polygonal shape. For example, if the cancel lever 24 has a square shape, the edge 24f connecting the pivoting portion 24a with the communicated portion 24b includes a corner. Moreover, the placement of the various portions 24a, 24b, 24c and edges 24d, 24e, 24f can vary depending on the shape of the cancel lever 24.
The pivot 34 is positioned adjacent to the end panel 26. As illustrated, the pivot 34 is on the interior of the end panel 26. However, the pivot 34 can alternatively be located in line with the end panel 26 or on the exterior of the end panel 26. The pivot 34 should be protected from or strong enough to withstand contact from the traditionally hinged door 12. The pivot 34 can be a rod supported by bushings or bearings, a hinge, or any other pivotable element recognized as suitable by one of skill in the art having knowledge of the present application.
A substantially laterally facing portion 26b of the end panel 26 includes the aperture 40. As illustrated, the cancel lever 24 projects from the interior of the end panel 26, through the aperture 40, and past the end plate 26 when not contacted by the traditionally hinged door 12. The aperture 40 can be located adjacent the pivot 34 in a direction toward the hinged end of the access door 10. The size of the aperture 40 can be such that the aperture 40 permits a portion of the cancel lever 24 to project to outside of the end panel 26, but small enough such that the cancel lever 24 can abut the aperture 40 to prevent further rotation of the lever 24. The aperture 40 need not be small enough to prevent rotation of the cancel lever 24 to the exterior of the end panel 26 if some other structure adequately does so. Alternatively, if the pivot 34 is located on the exterior of the end panel 26, the aperture 40 provides an opening through which the cancel lever 24 can rotate when contacted by the traditionally hinged door 12. The aperture 40 can be configured differently from the slot as illustrated. For example, the aperture 40 can be a recess in the end panel 26 or take another form recognized as suitable by one of skill in the art having knowledge of the present application for permitting the cancel lever 24 to be contacted by the traditionally hinged door 12 and rotated in response to the contact.
The cancel lever 24 can be installed by attaching the cancel lever 24 to the pivot 34 and the linkage 46. As illustrated in
The cancel lever 24 eliminates the jamming problem associated with known cancel levers 32. Jamming occurs when the force applied to a point on the cancel lever 24 is parallel to the radius of the point on the cancel lever 24 extending through the pivot 34. In this case, the cross product of the force vector and the radial vector equals zero, meaning the traditionally hinged door 12 does not apply torque to the cancel lever 24. Jamming can also occur when the cross product is greater than zero, but too small to overcome friction and other forces that must be overcome for the cancel lever 24 to rotate. However, as illustrated in
Additionally, the cancel lever 24 can have a longer stroke than a conventional cancel lever 32 because the placement of the cancel lever 24 on a laterally facing portion 26b of the end panel 26 permits more room for rotation of the cancel lever 24. Even if the traditionally hinged door 12 is half-latched, the cancel lever 24 can be rotated a sufficient amount to actuate the linkage 46 to prevent operation of the door handle 30. The longer stroke also permits the cancel lever 24 to function despite build variations.
While the invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the disclosed embodiments but, on the contrary, is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims, which scope is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent structures as is permitted under the law.
