Claims
- 1. In a vehicle body having a closure swingably mounted thereon for movement between open and closed positions and a support strut means for holding said closure in its open position, said support strut means comprising a pair of telescoping members, one of which has one end pivotally connected to said closure and the other of which has one end pivotally connected to said vehicle body, said telescoping members having their adjacently located end portions slidably connected together so that the strut means can be collapsed when the closure is moved toward its closed position and can be extended when the closure is moved toward its open position, and a releasable latch means carried by one of said telescoping members and cooperably engageable with the other of said telescoping members to hold the closure in its open position when moved thereto,
- the improvement being that said releasable latch means comprises
- a latch member pivotally supported by one of said telescoping members for movement between a latched position in which a first pawl thereof extends through an opening in said one member and engages a catch surface on the other of said members to hold said closure in its open position and an unlatched position in which the first pawl is out of engagement with said catch surface to allow said strut means to be collapsed and said closure to be moved to its closed position,
- first spring biasing means for biasing said latch member toward its latched position,
- a release member cooperably engageable with a second pawl of said latch member and slidably supported on said one telescoping member for limited movement relative thereto, second spring biasing means operatively connected with said one telescoping member and said release member for biasing said release member toward a first position in which it does not interfere with movement of said latch member between its latched and unlatched positions,
- said release member being movable relative to said one telescoping member in opposition to the biasing force of said second biasing means from its first position toward a second position and engaging a cam surface on said second pawl to effect movement of said latch member from its latched to its unlatched position to allow said strut means to collapse when solely a downward force in excess of a given magnitude is exerted on the closure when the latter is initially being moved from its open position toward its closed position.
- 2. In a vehicle, as defined in claim 1, and wherein said one telescoping member is hollow, said latch member comprises a rod located within said one telescoping member and pivotally connected thereto intermediate its ends and said first and second pawls are located at opposite ends of said rod.
- 3. In a vehicle, as defined in claim 2, and wherein said first spring biasing means comprises a leaf spring having one end, adapted to be connected to said one telescoping member and its other end connected to said latch member.
- 4. In a vehicle, as defined in claim 2, and wherein said second pawl has a tapered cam surface which is engageable by said release member when the latter is moved from its first position toward its second position.
Parent Case Info
This is a division of application Ser. No. 213,795 filed on June 27, 1988.
US Referenced Citations (14)
Foreign Referenced Citations (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
2826002 |
Dec 1979 |
DEX |
Divisions (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
213795 |
Jun 1988 |
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