Information
-
Patent Grant
-
6382686
-
Patent Number
6,382,686
-
Date Filed
Friday, July 7, 200024 years ago
-
Date Issued
Tuesday, May 7, 200222 years ago
-
Inventors
-
Original Assignees
-
Examiners
- Johnson; Brian L.
- Fischmann; Bryan
Agents
-
CPC
-
US Classifications
Field of Search
US
- 292 216
- 292 201
- 292 DIG 23
- 292 DIG 43
- 292 DIG 42
-
International Classifications
-
Abstract
A vehicle door latch device has a child-proof mechanism provided between an inner lever and an open lever, a powered closing mechanism arranged to rotate a latch toward a full-latched position from a half-latched position by motor power, and a safety mechanism arranged to urgently stop actuation of the powered closing mechanism in response to rotation of the open lever. The child-proof mechanism has a transmitting device which transmits the rotation of the inner lever to the safety mechanism to actuate the safety mechanism, without rotating the open lever in the child-proof state.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a child-proof mechanism for a vehicle door latch device.
2. Prior Art
A prior art vehicle door latch device has a striker fixed to a vehicle body, a latch engageable with the striker, a ratchet engageable with the latch to keep the engagement between the latch and the striker, and an open lever connected to outside and inside open handles of a vehicle door to release the ratchet from the latch by opening actuation of the open handles.
Furthermore, the door latch device for rear doors mostly has a child-proof mechanism provided between the open lever and the inside open handle of the door. The child-proof mechanism is displaceable between a non-child-proof state of transmitting the opening actuation of the inside open handle to the open lever and a child-proof state of transmitting no opening actuation of the inside open handle to the open lever.
Furthermore, U.S. Pat. No. 5,520,425 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,618,068 disclose a powered closing mechanism which displaces the door to a full-closed position from an initially-closed position by moving the latch to a full-latched position from a half-latched position by using a motor power. The powered closing mechanism has a safety mechanism which is actuated in response to the rotation of the open lever. The safety mechanism urgently stops the actuation of the powered closing mechanism when the open lever is rotated by the opening actuation of the outside or inside open handle.
The prior art child-proof mechanism is uncongenial with the safety mechanism of the powered closing mechanism. That is, when the child-proof mechanism is in the child-proof state, the opening actuation of the inside open handle is not transmitted to the open lever, and therefore, it becomes impossible to actuate the safety mechanism by the opening actuation of the inside open handle.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved child-proof mechanism which is congenial with a safety mechanism of a powered closing mechanism.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1
is a front view of a latch unit according to the present invention;
FIG. 2
is a rear view of the latch unit;
FIG. 3
is a rear view of an open lever of the latch unit;
FIG. 4
is a rear view showing a child-proof mechanism of the latch unit;
FIG. 5
is a side view showing the child-proof mechanism;
FIG. 6
is a cross sectional view of line X—X in
FIG. 4
;
FIG. 7
is a rear view showing a child-proof mechanism of a second embodiment according to the present invention;
FIG. 8
is a side view showing the child-proof mechanism of the second embodiment in the non-child-proof state;
FIG. 9
is a side view showing the child-proof mechanism of the second embodiment in the child-proof state; and
FIG. 10
is a rear view showing a child-proof mechanism of a third embodiment according to the present invention.
PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION
Preferred embodiments of a vehicle door latch device according to the present invention will be described by referring to the accompanying drawings. The vehicle door latch device
1
has a striker
2
fixed to a vehicle body (not shown) and a latch unit
3
attached to a door for a vehicle rear seat (not shown).
The latch unit
3
has a latch
6
which is engaged with the striker
2
when the door is closed, and a ratchet
7
which keeps engagement between the latch
6
and the striker
2
. The latch
6
is rotatably contained in a recess
5
formed in the front surface of a synthetic resin latch body
4
by a latch shaft
8
, and the ratchet
7
is rotatably contained in the recess
5
by a ratchet shaft
9
. The latch
6
is urged in the clockwise direction in
FIG. 1
by the elasticity of a latch spring
10
, and further, the ratchet
7
is urged in the counterclockwise direction by the elasticity of a ratchet spring
11
.
When the door is open, as shown in
FIG. 1
, the latch
6
is kept in an unlatched position or open position by the elasticity of the latch spring
10
. When the door is moved toward a closed position, the striker
2
enters a horizontal passage
12
formed in the latch body
4
to come into contact with a U-shaped groove
13
of the latch
6
, thereby the latch
6
is turned counterclockwise against the elasticity of the latch spring
10
. When the latch
6
is rotated up to a half-latched position, the ratchet
7
is engaged with a first step
14
of the latch
6
and the door is shifted to a half-closed state. Furthermore, when the latch
6
reaches a full-latched position, the ratchet
7
is engaged with a second step
15
of the latch
6
and the door is kept in a full-closed state.
The ratchet
7
has a ratchet pin
17
which projects to a rear side of the latch body
4
through an opening
16
of the latch body
4
. A metal cover plate
18
for substantially shutting the recess
5
is fixed to the front surface of the latch body
4
. The cover plate
18
is partially indicated in FIG.
1
. To the rear side of the latch body
4
, as shown in
FIG. 2
, a metal back plate
19
is fixed. The back plate
19
is formed integrally with a bent plate
19
A which is angled to extend backward from an interior side portion of the back plate
19
.
As shown in
FIG. 2
, the latch unit
3
has an open lever
20
for opening the door by releasing the ratchet
7
from the latch
6
, and a lock lever
21
for changing over the latch unit
3
between a locked state and an unlocked state. The open lever
20
is rotatably attached on the rear side of the latch body
4
by the ratchet shaft
9
. An exterior side end of the open lever
20
is connected to an outside open handle
22
of the door with a lost motion (not shown) through a rod
23
. The lock lever
21
is rotatably attached to the latch body
4
or the back plate
19
by a lock shaft
24
. An interior side end of the lock lever
21
is connected to an inside lock button
25
of the door.
To the bent plate
19
A, a motorized actuator
26
is fixed, if desired. An output lever (not shown) of the actuator
26
is engaged with a connection hole
27
formed in the interior side end of the lock lever
21
, so that the lock lever
21
can be displaced between an unlocked position U and a locked position L by the actuation of the actuator
26
.
Between the lock lever
21
and the open lever
20
, a lock link
28
is provided. The lock link
28
has a lock pin
30
which is slidably engaged with an elongated hole
29
formed in the open lever
20
. The lock link
28
is connected to the lock lever
21
by a shaft
31
.
To the ratchet shaft
9
, a ratchet lever
32
is pivotally supported. The ratchet lever
32
is provided between the latch body
4
and the open lever
20
. An outer arm
32
A of the ratchet lever
32
extending to the exterior side is engaged with the ratchet pin
17
extending backward from the ratchet
7
, so that the ratchet lever
32
can be rotated integrally with the ratchet
7
.
The lock lever
21
is switched between the unlocked position U and the locked position L by the actuation of the lock button
25
or the actuator
26
, as is well known. When the lock lever
21
is rotated counterclockwise from the position in
FIG. 2
to be displaced to the unlocked position U, the lock pin
30
is moved downward within the elongated hole
29
to be engageably opposed to a contact arm
32
B of the ratchet lever
32
. In this unlocked state, when the open lever
20
is rotated counterclockwise by the opening actuation of the outside open handle
22
, the lock pin
30
is brought into contact with the contact arm
32
B to rotate the ratchet lever
32
counterclockwise. Thereby, the latch
6
is released from the ratchet
7
, and the door is then opened.
On the contrary, when the lock lever
21
exists in the locked position L in
FIG. 2
, the engageable state between the lock pin
30
and the contact arm
32
B is released. Therefore, in the locked state, even if the open lever
20
is rotated counterclockwise by the outside open handle
22
, the ratchet lever
32
is not rotated, so that the door cannot be opened.
To the ratchet shaft
9
, as shown in
FIG. 4
, a safety lever
33
overlapped with the open lever
20
is rotatably attached. The safety lever
33
is omitted in FIG.
2
. An upper end of a wire link
35
is connected to the exterior side end of the safety lever
33
by a connection pin
34
which is slidably engaged with a circular arc slot
36
formed in the exterior side end of the open lever
20
. When the open lever
20
is rotated by the opening actuation of the outside open handle
22
, the safety lever
33
is pressed by the connection pin
34
so as to be rotated. However, even when the safety lever
33
is rotated, the open lever
20
is not rotated because of the lost motion defined between the slot
36
and the pin
34
.
As shown in
FIG. 1
, the latch device
1
has a powered closing mechanism
37
which moves the door to the full-latched state from the half-latched state. The motor power of the closing mechanism
37
is transmitted to the latch
6
of the latch unit
3
through a flexible power wire
38
. When the door is moved to the half-latched state from the open state by the manual power, the closing mechanism
37
is actuated to rotate the latch
6
toward the full-latched position from the half-latched position through the power wire
38
.
The powered closing mechanism
37
has a safety mechanism
39
. The safety mechanism
39
is connected to the wire link
35
through a flexible safety wire
40
and, if necessary, a clank lever (not shown). The safety mechanism
39
is actuated, in response to the rotation of the safety lever
33
, to stop a motor of the closing mechanism
37
, and at the same time, it releases the power wire
38
. Accordingly, in order to stop the actuation of the closing mechanism
37
urgently, the safety lever
33
should be rotated through the open lever
20
by the opening actuation of the outside open handle
22
.
To the bent plate
19
A, an L-shaped inner lever
42
is pivotally supported by a shaft
41
. A first arm
42
A of the inner lever
42
is connected to an inside open handle
43
of the door through a wire or rod
44
.
As shown in
FIGS. 4 and 5
, a child-proof mechanism
45
is provided between the inner lever
42
and the open lever
20
. The child-proof mechanism
45
includes a longitudinal child-link
46
which has an upper end connected to a second arm
42
B of the inner lever
42
by a pin
47
. The child-link
46
is formed at the lower part thereof with a longitudinal slot
48
with which a pin
50
of a child-proof operating lever
49
is slidably engaged. The child-link
46
is swung around the pin
47
in response to the actuation of the operating lever
49
to be displaced between a child-proof position and a non-child-proof position.
An engaging piece
51
is provided at the lower part of the child-link
46
. As shown in
FIG. 5
, the engaging piece
51
is engageably opposed to the interior side end
20
A of the open lever
20
when the child-link
46
is being in, the non-child-proof position. In this non-child-proof state, when rotating the inner lever
42
by the inside open handle
43
, the child-link
46
is moved upward, and the engaging piece
51
is then brought into contact with the open lever
20
to rotate the open lever
20
. Thereby, the door is opened if the lock lever
21
is being in the unlocked position U.
The engaging piece
51
cannot be engaged with the interior side end
20
A of the open lever
20
when the child-link
46
is displaced to the child-proof position. In this child-proof state, even when moving the child-link
46
upward by the opening actuation of the inside open handle
43
, the engaging piece
51
is not brought into contact with the open lever
20
, and therefore, the door is not opened.
The child-proof mechanism
45
includes a longitudinal release link
52
which has an upper end connected to the second arm
42
B of the inner lever
42
by the pin
47
. The release link
52
has at the lower part thereof a pin
53
which is slidably engaged with a circular arc slot
54
formed in an interior side end
33
A of the safety lever
33
. The release link
52
transmits the opening actuation of the inside open handle
43
to the safety lever
33
without rotating the open lever
20
, even if the child-proof mechanism
45
is in the child-proof state. Therefore, it is possible to actuate the safety mechanism
39
of the powered closing mechanism
37
by the opening actuation of the inside open handle
43
, without damaging the original function of the child-proof mechanism
45
of preventing the door from being unexpectedly opened by an accidental operation of a child.
In
FIGS. 7-9
, a child-proof mechanism
45
′ of another embodiment of the present invention is illustrated., The child-proof mechanism
45
′ includes a longitudinal child-link
46
′ which has an upper end connected to the second arm
42
B of the inner lever
42
by the pin
47
. The child-link
46
′ is formed at the lower part thereof with a longitudinal slot
48
′ with which the pin
50
of the child-proof operating lever
49
is slidably engaged. The child-link
46
′ is swung around the pin
47
in response to the actuation of the operating lever
49
to be displaced between the child-proof position and the non-child-proof position.
An engaging piece
51
′ is provided at the lower part of the child-link
46
′. As shown in
FIG. 8
, the engaging piece
51
′ is engageably opposed to the interior side end
20
A of the open lever
20
when the child-link
46
′ is being in the non-child-proof position. In this non-child-proof state, when rotating the inner lever
42
by the inside open handle
43
, the child-link
46
′ is moved upward, and the engaging piece
51
′ is then brought into contact with the open lever
20
to rotate the open lever
20
. Thereby, the door is opened if the lock lever
21
exists in the unlocked position U.
When the child-link
46
′ is displaced to the child-proof position as shown in
FIG. 9
, the engaging piece
51
′ is separated from the interior side end
20
A of the open lever
20
, and instead of that, it is engageably opposed to the interior side end
33
A of the safety lever
33
. In this child-proof state, when the child-link
46
′ is moved upward by the opening actuation of the inside open handle
43
, the engaging piece
51
′ is not brought into contact with the open lever
20
, and therefore, the door is not opened, but the safety lever
33
can be rotated. Therefore, it is possible to actuate the safety mechanism
39
of the powered closing mechanism
37
by the opening actuation of the inside open handle
43
, without damaging the original function of the child-proof mechanism
45
′ of preventing the door from being unexpectedly opened by an accidental operation of a child.
In
FIG. 10
, a child-proof mechanism
45
″ of still another embodiment is shown. A child-link
46
″ of the child-proof mechanism
45
″ has engaging pieces
51
″A and
51
″B as a pair. When the child-link
46
″ exists in the non-child-proof position, the engaging piece
51
″A is engageably opposed to the interior side end
20
A of the open lever
20
, but the engaging piece
51
″B cannot be engaged with any member. Further, when the child-link
46
″ exists in the child-proof position, the engaging piece
51
″A cannot be engaged with any member, but the engaging piece
51
″B is engageably opposed to the interior side end
33
A of the safety lever
33
. Consequently, it is possible to actuate the safety mechanism
39
of the powered closing mechanism
37
by the opening actuation of the inside open handle
43
, without damaging the original function of the child-proof mechanism
45
″ of preventing the door from being unexpectedly opened by an accidental operation of a child.
Claims
- 1. A vehicle door latch device comprising:a latch engageable with a striker fixed to a vehicle body; a ratchet engageable with the latch to keep engagement between the latch and the striker; an open lever for connection to an outside open handle of a door and arranged to release the ratchet from the latch when rotated; an inner lever for connection to an inside open handle of the door; a child-proof mechanism provided between the inner lever and the open lever, said child-proof mechanism being displaceable between a non-child-proof state where rotation of the inner lever is transmitted to the open lever and a child-proof state where the rotation of the inner lever is not transmitted to the open lever; a powered closing mechanism arranged to rotate the latch toward a full-latched position from a half-latched position by motor power thereof; and a safety mechanism arranged to urgently stop actuation of the powered closing mechanism in response to rotation of the open lever; wherein said child-proof mechanism has a transmitting means which transmits the rotation of the inner lever to the safety mechanism to actuate the safety mechanism in the child-proof state, without rotating the open lever.
- 2. The vehicle door latch device according to claim 1, wherein said safety mechanism comprises a safety lever connected to the open lever through a first lost-motion which transmits the rotation of the open lever to the safety lever, but which does not transmit rotation of the safety lever to the open lever.
- 3. The vehicle door latch device according to claim 2, wherein said transmitting means comprises a release link which connects the safety lever and the inner lever.
- 4. The vehicle door latch device according to claim 2, wherein said transmitting means comprises a child-link having one end connected to the inner lever, and wherein the other end of the child-link is engageably opposed to the open lever in the non-child-proof state, and is engageably opposed to the safety lever in the child-proof state.
- 5. The vehicle door latch device according to claim 2, wherein said safety lever and said open lever are supported by a common shaft.
Priority Claims (2)
Number |
Date |
Country |
Kind |
11-192915 |
Jul 1999 |
JP |
|
11-192916 |
Jul 1999 |
JP |
|
US Referenced Citations (12)