The present description relates, in general, to vehicle door locks and, more particularly, to apparatus for preventing actuation of the door lock during a side impact.
Vehicle door locks include an outside mounted pivotal handle, which can be moved in a direction to open the vehicle door. A cable or link couples the handle to the door lock so that movement of the handle in an opening direction causes the cable or link to actuate the door lock to unlatch the door lock and enable the vehicle door to be opened.
Governmental safety standards have requirements for latch performance upon impact or forces applied to the vehicle door, such as during a side impact collision. While various mechanisms have been employed to prevent accidental actuation of the door lock causing opening of the door during a side impact, such mechanisms cannot be employed in all vehicle door configurations due to size constraints.
A vehicle door opening prevention apparatus for a vehicle door handle assembly mounted in a door outer panel, with a movable handle accessible exteriorly of the door outer panel. A link is coupled to the handle and is movable with the handle when the handle moves to a door opening position to engage an actuator on a door lock carried by the vehicle door to move the actuator in a direction to unlatch the vehicle door lock. A spacer can be carried on a plate coupled to the door handle assembly extending in a direction toward the door lock to prevent movement of the door handle assembly upon impact or forces applied to the vehicle door, such as during a side impact collision, sufficiently to move the fork in a direction to actuate the door lock actuator, unlatch the door lock, and enable the door to open.
The spacer can be integrally formed with the plate. The spacer extends angularly, and can be substantially perpendicular, from the plate. The spacer has substantially the same thin cross-sectional thickness as the plate.
In another aspect, a door handle apparatus is disclosed for a vehicle door having a door lock assembly for latching and unlatching the vehicle door. The door handle apparatus includes a door handle assembly mounted in a door outer panel of the vehicle door, and carrying a movable handle accessible exteriorly of the vehicle door. The handle is movable relative to the door to a position to open the door. A door lock assembly carried on the door includes an actuator pin movable from a first position in which the door lock is latched to a second position in which the door lock is unlatched to allow opening of the vehicle door. A fork is coupled to the door handle and engaged with the actuator pin for moving the actuator pin to the second position to unlatch the door when the door handle is moved away from the vehicle door. A door operation actuation prevention apparatus is provided on the handle and includes a plate mounted on the handle assembly and a spacer carried on the plate extending toward the door lock within the vehicle door to prevent movement of the door handle assembly toward the door lock assembly upon impact or forces applied to the vehicle door, such as during a side impact collision, a sufficient distance which would cause the fork to move the actuator pin to the second door unlatched position.
In another aspect, a vehicle door includes an outer door panel joined to an inner door panel. A handle frame is mounted in the door outer panel and includes a movable handle. A door lock is mounted to the inner door panel. An actuator pin is coupled to the door lock and is movable from a first position corresponding to a latched position of the door lock and a second position in which the actuator pin unlatches the door lock to allow opening of the vehicle door when the handle is moved relative to the handle frame. A fork carried by the handle is engageable with the actuator pin to move the door lock actuator to the second unlatched position when the handle is moved relative to the vehicle door. A spacer carried on a plate coupled to the handle frame is angularly disposed between the door lock and the plate to limit movement of the handle frame toward the door lock upon impact or forces applied to the vehicle door, such as during a side impact collision, to prevent movement of the door lock actuator pin to the second position thereby preventing unlatching of the door lock.
The various features, advantages and other uses of the present invention will become more apparent by referring to the following detail description and drawing in which:
Referring now to the drawing and to
A link or fork 20 is pivotally coupled to the handle 14 and with movement of the handle 14. The fork 20 moves in a generally vertical up and down direction despite lateral pivotal movement of the handle. The fork 20 includes an open-ended slot 22 at a lower end formed between two spaced legs 24 and 26. As described hereafter, the fork 20 engages a door lock actuator pin 30, shown in
In certain situations, a side impact force may be exerted on the door outer panel, such as from a collision with another object. This lateral force shown by reference number 32 in
In certain vehicle door configurations, space constraints restrict the amount of open space between the door handle assembly 10, a door lock assembly 56, and a rear portion of the vehicle door glass 58 as shown in
A solution to this problem can be found in
The length 72 of the flange 70, which defines the projection or distance that an outer end 74 of the flange 70 extends from a major surface of the plate 60, is chosen so as to limit movement of the plate 50 upon impact or forces applied to the vehicle door, such as during a side impact collision, and the attached handle frame 12 in a direction toward the door lock assembly 56 so as to prevent sufficient movement of the fork 20 which would move the door lock actuator pin 30 toward the second position a sufficient distance to move the door lock to the unlatched position. As shown in
The mounting of the flange 70 and the plate 60 on the frame 12 of the door handle assembly 10 in its spaced relationship from the door lock assembly 56 can be seen in
In one aspect, the thin cross-section spacer 70 carried on the plate 60 forms part of a door handle lock actuation prevention apparatus since the projection or link of the flange 70 from the plate 60 is chosen to minimize the amount of inward movement of the door handle assembly 12 toward the door lock when a sideways impact force is exerted on the door causing the door lock handle assembly 10 to move in an inward direction toward the center of the vehicle. During such movement, an outer edge of the spacer 70 will engage the door lock assembly 56 and stop further lateral inward movement of the door handle assembly 10. This stoppage of inward movement of the door handle assembly 10 by the engagement of the end 74 of the spacer 70 with the door lock assembly 56 occurs before the fork 20 movably coupled to the door handle 14 has moved a sufficient distance downward to move the door lock actuator pin 30 to the second position fully unlatching the door lock. In this manner, the spacer 70 prevents accidental unlatching of the door lock during a side impact on the vehicle door.
In another aspect, the flange 70 carried on the plate 60 forms part of a door handle assembly mountable in a vehicle door. The outer end 74 of the flange 70 extends from the plate 60 mounted on the handle frame 12 a sufficient distance toward the door lock assembly 56 mounted within the interior of the vehicle door to limit the maximum amount of lateral or inward movement of the door handle assembly 10 toward the door lock assembly 56. This maximum amount of inward movement distance is selected through the length of the flange 70 from the plate 60 to prevent movement of the fork 30 coupled to the door handle assembly 10 a sufficient distance so that the door lock assembly 56 is not stroked or actuated or is stroked or actuated insufficiently to not actuate the door lock assembly 56.
The flange 70 carried on the plate 60 also forms part of a vehicle door where the flange 70 and the plate 60 are mounted on the handle frame 12 which is part of the door handle assembly 10 mounted in a vehicle door and laterally spaced from the door lock assembly 56 also mounted within the vehicle door. The fork 20 movably coupled to the door handle 14 engages the door lock actuator pin 30 and is capable of moving the door lock actuator pin 30 to a second position causing an unlatching of the door lock assembly 56 when the door handle 14 is pivoted to an outward position relative to the vehicle door to enable the vehicle door to be opened. The flange 70 carried on the plate 60 attached to the door handle frame 12 limits lateral inward movement of the door handle 14 under a lateral force exerted on the vehicle door, such as during a side collision, to prevent actuation of the door lock assembly 56 to the unlatched position.