Claims
- 1. A cinching door latch having a fork bolt that pivots between a primary latched position and an unlatched position; a detent lever that pivots between an engaged position and a disengaged position; the detent lever holding the fork bolt in the latched position when in the engaged position and releasing the fork bolt for movement to the unlatched position when in the disengaged position; a transfer lever that pivots between a latch position and an unlatch position, the transfer lever being operatively connected to the detent lever for pivoting the detent lever to the disengaged position; and a cinching mechanism for pivoting the fork bolt to the primary latched position characterized in that the cinching mechanism comprises:
a cinching gear drivingly connected to the fork bolt, a power driven planetary gear set for driving the cinching gear, and a one-way device for limiting rotation of an element of the planetary gear set to one direction.
- 2. The cinching door latch of claim 1 characterized in that the cinching mechanism includes a release mechanism for disabling the one-way device so that the element of the gear set rotates in either direction.
- 3. A cinching door latch having a fork bolt that pivots between a primary latched position and an unlatched position; a detent lever that pivots between an engaged position and a disengaged position; the detent lever holding the fork bolt in the latched position when in the disengaged position and releasing the fork bolt for movement to the unlatched position when in the release position; a transfer lever that pivots between a latch position and an unlatch position, the transfer lever being operatively connected to the detent lever for pivoting the detent lever to the disengaged position; and a cinching mechanism for pivoting the fork bolt to the primary latched position characterized in that the cinching mechanism comprises,
a cinching gear drivingly connected to the fork bolt, a planetary gear set having a sun gear, a ring gear and planet gears that are rotatably mounted on a planet carrier and that mesh with the sun gear and the ring gear; the planet carrier being drivingly connected to the cinching gear, a motor for driving the sun gear, and a one-way device for limiting rotation of the ring gear to one direction.
- 4. The cinching door latch of claim 3 characterized in that the cinching mechanism includes a release mechanism for disabling the one way device so that the ring gear rotates in either direction.
- 5. The cinching door latch of claim 4 characterized in that the release mechanism is operated by the transfer lever so that the release mechanism is disabled when the transfer lever is pivoted to the unlatch position to avoid back driving the motor.
- 6. A cinching door latch having a fork bolt that pivots between a primary latched position and an unlatched position; a detent lever that pivots between an engaged position and a disengaged position; the detent lever holding the fork bolt in the latched position when in the engaged position and releasing the fork bolt for movement to the unlatched position when in the disengaged position; a transfer lever that pivots between a latch position and an unlatch position, the transfer lever being operatively connected to the detent lever for pivoting the detent lever to the disengaged position; and a cinching mechanism for pivoting the fork bolt to the primary latched position characterized in that the cinching mechanism comprises;
a cinching gear meshing with teeth of the fork bolt, a planetary gear set having a sun gear, and internal ring gear and planet gears that are rotatably mounted on a planet carrier and that mesh with the sun gear and the internal ring gear, the planet carrier being concentric with and drivingly connected to the cinching gear, an electric motor drivingly connected to the sun gear via a gear train, a one-way device having a pivotally mounted pawl that drivingly engages an outer periphery of the internal ring gear to limit rotation of the internal ring gear to one direction, and a release mechanism having an unlatch link that pivots the pawl out of driving engagement with the periphery of the internal ring gear to disable the one-way device so that the internal ring gear rotates in either direction, the unlatch link being operatively connected to the transfer lever so that the one-way device is disabled when the transfer lever is pivoted to the unlatch position to avoid back driving the electric motor.
- 7. The cinching door latch of claim 6 characterized in that the one-way device comprises a second pivotally mounted pawl that drivingly engages the periphery of the internal ring gear to limit rotation of the internal ring gear to the one direction and a pawl link that connects the second pivotally mounted pawl to the first pivotally mounted pawl so that the second pivotally mounted pawl moves out of driving engagement with the periphery of the internal ring gear when the first pivotally mounted pawl is moved away from the periphery of the internal ring gear by the unlatch link.
- 8. The cinching door latch of claim 6 characterized in that the planet carrier is drivingly connected to the cinching gear with a lost motion connection to accommodate over slam of the fork bolt responsive to a manual closing.
- 9. The cinching door latch of claim 6 characterized in that the unlatch link is operatively connected to the transfer lever with a lost motion connection so that the transfer lever is undisturbed responsive to a manual closing.
- 10. The cinching door latch of claim 9 characterized in that the unlatch link is pivotally mounted to the pawl at one end and operatively connected to the transfer lever at an opposite end by a tab of the transfer lever being disposed in an oversize slot of the unlatch link to provide the lost motion connection.
RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This patent application claims priority of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/209,615 filed Jun. 6, 2000.
Provisional Applications (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
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60209615 |
Jun 2000 |
US |