Claims
- 1. A vehicle latch assembly for holding a closure member in a closed position with respect to a vehicle opening defined by a vehicle body member, and the latch assembly being actuatable to permit movement of the closure member from the closed position to an open position so as to allow access through the vehicle opening, the latch assembly comprising:
a housing mountable on one of the members; a catch pivotally mounted on the housing for movement between: a latched position for securing a striker mounted on the other member to hold the closure member in the closed position with respect to the vehicle opening, and an unlatched position that releases the striker and permits the closure member to move from the closed position to the open position, and the catch having a pawl engagement portion; a pawl pivotally mounted on the housing for movement between: a blocking position where the pawl engages the catch to hold the catch in its latched position and thereby maintain the closure member in the closed position, and a released position where the pawl is disengaged from the catch to permit movement of the catch to the unlatched position and thereby permit movement of the closure member from the closed position to the open position; a release member that has an actuating portion and is pivotally mounted on the housing for actuatable movement from: a start position where the catch is held in the latched position by the pawl in its blocking position, to a released position where the actuating portion of the release member engages and moves the pawl to its released position to permit movement of the catch to its unlatched position, the pawl engagement portion of the catch engaging the pawl as the catch moves from its latched position to its unlatched position as the striker is released from the catch concomitant with movement of the closure member from the closed position to the open position, and the actuating portion of the release member engaging the pawl to maintain the pawl in its released position when the catch does not move to its unlatched position because the closure member does not move from the closed position to the open position; and an actuator for actuating movement of the release member from its start position to its released position to provide the pawl movement from its blocking position to its released position.
- 2. A latch assembly as in claim 1 further including a spring that biases the catch toward its unlatched position and that biases the pawl toward its blocking position.
- 3. A latch assembly as in claim 1 further including a spring that biases the release member toward its start position.
- 4. A latch assembly as in claim 1 further including a sensor that senses the location of the release member.
- 5. A latch assembly as in claim 1 wherein the actuator comprises an electric motor and worm gear drive that selectively moves the release member from the start position to its released position.
- 6. A latch assembly as in claim 5 wherein the worm gear drive includes an output gear that is rotatively driven by the electric motor, the output gear having a drive portion, and the release member having a driven surface that is engaged by the drive portion of the output gear to move the release member from its start position to its released position.
- 7. A latch assembly as in claim 1 wherein the actuator includes a key nut that selectively moves the release member from its start position to its released position.
- 8. A latch assembly as in claim 7 wherein the key nut includes an actuating portion, and the release member having an opening that receives the actuating portion of the key nut and has a cam surface that is moved by the actuating portion of the key nut to move the release member from its start position to its released position.
- 9. A latch assembly as in claim 1 wherein the actuator includes a remote cable release that is connected to the release member and is selectively actuable to move the release member from its start position to its released position.
- 10. A latch assembly as in claim 1 wherein the actuator includes: an electric motor and a worm gear drive that selectively move the release member from its start position to its released position, and a key nut that also selectively moves the release member from its start position to its released position.
- 11. A latch assembly as in claim 1 wherein the actuator also includes a remote cable release that is connected to the release member and is selectively actuable to move the release member from its start position to its released position.
- 12. A latch assembly as in claim 1 wherein the actuator includes an electric motor driven output gear having a drive portion that engages and moves the release member to move the release member from its start position to its released position, a positioning member that is moved from a start position to a blocking position when the pawl is moved from its blocking position to its released position with respect to the catch regardless of whether or not the catch moves from its latched position to its unlatched position, and the positioning member in its blocking position engaging the drive portion of the output gear to position the output gear in a start position thereof in preparation for another cycle for actuating the release member for movement from its start position to its released position.
- 13. A latch assembly as in claim 12 further including a spring that extends between the catch and the positioning member to bias the catch toward its unlatched position, to bias the positioning member toward its start position, and to bias the pawl toward its blocking position by engagement of positioning member with the pawl.
- 14. A latch assembly as in claim 13 wherein the positioning member has a first arm including a blocking portion that engages the drive portion of the output gear to position the output gear in its start position, and the position member having a second arm connected to the spring which is also connected to the catch.
- 15. A latch assembly as in claim 1 further including a sensor that senses the location of the positioning member.
- 16. A latch assembly as in claim 1 further including: a first sensor that senses the location of the release member, and a second sensor that senses the location of the positioning member.
- 17. A vehicle latch assembly for holding a closure member in a closed position with respect to a vehicle opening defined by a vehicle body member, and the latch assembly being actuable to permit movement of the closure member from the closed position to an open position so as to allow access through the vehicle opening, the latch assembly comprising:
a housing mountable on one of the members; a catch pivotally mounted on the housing for movement between: a latched position for securing a striker mounted on the other member to hold the closure member in the closed position with respect to the vehicle opening, and an unlatched position that releases the striker and permits the closure member to move from the closed position to the open position, and the catch having a pawl engagement portion; a pawl pivotally mounted on the housing for movement between: a blocking position where the pawl engages the catch to hold the catch in its latched position and thereby maintain the closure member in the closed position, and a released position where the pawl is disengaged from the catch to permit movement of the catch to the unlatched position and thereby permit movement of the closure member from the closed position to the open position; a release member that has an actuating portion and is pivotally mounted on the housing for actuatable movement from: a start position where the catch is held in the latched position by the pawl in its blocking position, to a released position where the actuating portion of the release member engages and moves the pawl to its released position to permit movement of the catch to its unlatched position, the pawl engagement portion of the catch engaging the pawl as the catch moves from its latched position to its unlatched position as the striker is released from the catch concomitant with movement of the closure member from the closed position to the open position, and the actuating portion of the release member engaging the pawl to maintain the pawl in its released position when the catch does not move to its unlatched position because the closure member does not move from the closed position to the open position; an actuator including an electric motor driven output gear having a drive portion that engages and moves the release member to move the release member from its start position to its released position to provide the pawl movement from its blocking position to its released position; and a positioning member that is moved from a start position to a blocking position when the pawl is moved from its blocking position to its released position with respect to the catch regardless of whether or not the catch moves from its latched position to its unlatched position, and the positioning member in its blocking position engaging the drive portion of the output gear to position the output gear in a start position thereof in preparation for another cycle for actuating the release member for movement from its start position to its released position.
- 18. A vehicle latch assembly for holding a closure member in a closed position with respect to a vehicle opening defined by a vehicle body member, and the latch assembly being actuable to permit movement of the closure member from the closed position to an open position so as to allow access through the vehicle opening, the latch assembly comprising:
a housing mountable on one of the members; a catch pivotally mounted on the housing for movement between: a latched position for securing a striker mounted on the other member to hold the closure member in the closed position with respect to the vehicle opening, and an unlatched position that releases the striker and permits the closure member to move from the closed position to the open position, and the catch having a pawl engagement portion; a pawl pivotally mounted on the housing for movement between: a blocking position where the pawl engages the catch to hold the catch in its latched position and thereby maintain the closure member in the closed position, and a released position where the pawl is disengaged from the catch to permit movement of the catch to the unlatched position and thereby permit movement of the closure member from the closed position to the open position; a release member that has an actuating portion and is pivotally mounted on the housing for actuatable movement from: a start position where the catch is held in the latched position by the pawl in its blocking position, to a released position where the actuating portion of the release member engages and moves the pawl to its released position to permit movement of the catch to its unlatched position, the pawl engagement portion of the catch engaging the pawl as the catch moves from its latched position to its unlatched position as the striker is released from the catch concomitant with movement of the closure member from the closed position to the open position, and the actuating portion of the release member engaging the pawl to maintain the pawl in its released position when the catch does not move to its unlatched position because the closure member does not move from the closed position to the open position; a spring that biases the release member to is start position; a sensor that senses the position of the release member; an actuator including an electric motor driven output gear having a drive portion that engages and moves the release member to move the release member from its start position to its released position to provide the pawl movement from its blocking position to its released position, and the actuator also including a key nut and a remote cable release that each selectively moves the release member to move the release member from its start position to its released position to provide the pawl movement from its blocking position to its released position; a positioning member that is moved from a start position to a blocking position when the pawl is moved from its blocking position to its released position with respect to the catch regardless of whether or not the catch moves from its latched position to its unlatched position, and the positioning member in its blocking position engaging the drive portion of the output gear to position the output gear in a start position thereof in preparation for another cycle for actuating the release member for movement from its start position to its released position; another spring that extends between the catch and the positioning member to bias the catch toward its unlatched position, to bias the positioning member toward its start position, and to bias the pawl toward its blocking position by engagement of positioning member with the pawl; and another sensor that senses the location of the positioning member.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional application Serial No. 60/314,192 filed Aug. 22, 2001.
Provisional Applications (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60314192 |
Aug 2001 |
US |