US3388940A - Closure latch - Google Patents

Description

W. DALE CLOSURE LATCH June 18, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. 8, 1966 INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY June 18, 1968 w. DALE 3,388,940

CLOSURE LATCH Filed Nov. 8, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet z y Z v g 76 g .70 7 2 "TEL 1 I:

' I N VENTOR.

Y .Y ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,388,?49 CLOSURE LATCH Walter Dale, Utira, Mich, assignor to General Motors Qorporation, Detroit, Mich, a corporation ot Delaware Filed Nov. 8, 1966, Ser. No. 592,854 3 filaims. (Cl. 292216) This invention relates to closure latches and more particularly to vehicle body door locks.

A primary feature of this invention is that it provides an improved vehicle body door lock including latch means, detent means for the latch means and means including a transmitting member coupled at all times to the detent means for movement of one upon movement of the other and being independently movable to locked and unlocked positions wherein the transmitting member selectively and alternately disconnects and connects operator controlled actuating means and the detent means. Another feature of the invention is that the transmitting member is bodily movable independently of the detent means and pivotally movable with the detent means in locked and unlocked positions to either move the detent means or be moved by the detent means. A further feature of the invention is that the means coupling the transmitting member to the detent means furnish the connecting means between the operator controlled actuating means and the transmitting member when the transmitting member is in unlocked position. Yet another feature of this invention is that the transmitting member is bodily movable between its positions by a locking lever which is movable between locked and unlocked positions, with the locking lever pivotally supporting the transmitting member.

These and other features of the door lock of this invention will be readily apparent from the following specification and drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a partial side elevational view of a vehicle body embodying a door lock according to this invention;

FIGURE 2 is a partially broken away perspective view of the lock showing the locking lever and transmitting member in unlocked position;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged partially broken away view of a portion of FIGURE 1 showing the locking lever and transmitting member in locked position and the detent means in released position;

FIGURE 4 is a partially broken away view taken generally along the plane indicated by line 44 of FIG- URE 3;

FIGURE 5 is a view taken generally along the plane indicated by line 55 of FIGURE 3; and

FIGURE 6 is a view similar to FIGURE 3 showing the transmitting member and locking member in locked position and the detent means in holding position.

Referring now particularly to FIGURE 1 of the drawings, a vehicle body designated generally 16 includes a front door 12 mounted adjacent its forward edge 14 on body It) for movement between a closed position, as shown, and an open position, not shown. The door 12 is held in closed position by a closure latch 16 according to this invention.

As shown in FIGURES 2 through 6, the closure latch 16 includes a main frame or plate 18 having a lateral side flange 2a. The plate 18 engages the inner surface of the lock pillar or end wall 22 of door 12, as shown in FIG- URES 3 through 6, and is secured thereto by a number of bolts which extend through the wall 22 into nuts 24 welded or clinched to the plate 18. The flange is disposed adjacent the inner surface of the inner panel 26 of door 12. As best shown in FIGURES 2 and 4, the plate 18 includes an inner annular housing 23 which is formed integral with the plate. An outer housing 30 is formed separately from the plate 18 and is secured thereto by a number of lateral flanges 32 which are riveted to the plate. The outer housing 30 extends outwardly of the wall 22 through a suitable opening 34 provided therein. The housing 30 includes a cap 36 on the end wall thereof.

A latch means designated generally 38 is pivotally mounted at 4-0 on the end wall and plate 36 of the outer housing 30 and on the end wall of the inner housing 28. The latch means include an outer gear type bolt portion 42 which is adapted to cooperate with a toothed portion of a conventional striker, not shown, mounted on the body pillar wall to hold the door 12 in closed position. The latch means further include a disc or plate portion 44 and an inner toothed ratchet portion 46.

An outside operating lever or member 48 is pivotally mounted at St} on the plate 18 and is biased clockwise by a tension spring 52 which is hooked between an arm 54 of lever 48 and the upper edge of the plate 18. The lever 48 is located against the action of the spring 52 by the engagement of an edge of the lever with a lateral tab 56 of,

the plate, as shown in FIGURE 6. The lever includes a lateral tab 58 which is engageable by a push rod 60, FIG- URE 3, of a conventional push button assembly mounted in an outside door handle 62, FIGURE 1, secured to the outer panel of the door 12. When the push button assembly is depressed, the rod 6t! is shifted inwardly of the body or to the left, as viewed in FIGURE 3, to swing the lever 48 counterclockwise about the pivot 50 to its position shown therein.

The lever 48 is also movable from its position of FIG URE 6 to its position of FIGURE 3 by an inside operating lever 64 pivotally mounted at 66 on the flange 20 of plate 18. The lever 64 includes a lateral extension 68 which overlies a lateral tab 70 of arm 54. A shiftable rod 72 interconnects the lever 64 and a conventional inside remote handle 74, FIGURE 1, mounted on the inner panel of door 12. Forward shitting movement of the rod 72 swings the lever 64 clockwise, as viewed in FIGURE 3, to move the lever 48 to its position shown therein.

As best shown in FIGURE 6, a detent member 76 is also pivotally mounted on the pivot 50. The detent member is biased in a clockwise direction by a coil torsion spring 78 which surrounds the pivot 50 and has one end thereof engaging a notched lateral tab 80 of plate 18 and the other end thereof engaging a lateral tab 82 of the detent member. The detent member includes a holding foot 84 which extends through an opening in housing 28 into engagement with one of the tooth edges 86 of the ratchet .portion 46 under the action of the spring 78 to block clockwise movement of the latch means 38 and thereby prevent the bolt portion from moving relative to the toothed portion of the striker and retain the door in closed position.

A locking lever 88 is pivotally mounted adjacent its inner end on the pivot 40 of the latch means 38 on the end wall of the inner housing 28. A washer 90 is interposed between the locking lever and the end wall. A tab or flange 92 is struck from the end wall of the inner housing 28 and extends outwardly through a notch in the washer 90 between upper and lower legs 94 and 96 at the inner end of the locking lever. When the leg 96 engages the tab 92, as shown in FIGURE 6, the locking lever is in locked position, and when the leg 94 engages the tab 2, as shown in FIGURES 2 and 3, the locking lever is in unlocked position.

The outer end of the locking lever includes a pair of laterally extending legs 98 which are separated by a laterally extending apertured tab 100. As best shown in FIG- URES 2 and 5, a coil tension spring 102 interconnects the tab and an apertured lateral tab 104 of the flange 20. When the locking lever is in unlocked position as 3 shown in FIGURES 2 and 3, the line of action of the spring 102 is located above the pivot 40 to thereby locate the locking lever in this position by biasing the leg 94 thereof into engagement with the tab 92. Likewise, when the locking lever is in locked position as shown in FIG- URE 6, the line of action of the spring 102 is below the pivot 40 to locate the locking lever in this position by biasing the leg 96 thereof into engagement with the tab 92.

The locking lever may be moved between its locked and unlocked positions from both the inside and outside of the body 10. A conventional garnish button 106, FIGURE 1, is connected by a rod 108 to an apertured tab 110 of the locking lever to provide the inside operating means for moving the locking lever between its positions. The locking lever is moved between its positions from the outside of the body by a conventional key cylinder assembly, not shown, which includes a rotatable rod received between the legs 98 of the locking lever in a known manner.

A transmitting member 112 is pivotally mounted at 114 to the locking lever adjacent the outer end thereof. The transmitting member interconnects or couples the detent member 76 and the outside operating lever 48 when the locking lever is in unlocked position and disconnects or uncouples the detent member and outside operating lever when the locking lever is in locked position. The detent member 76 includes an arcuate slot 116 which is generated about the pivot 40 for a purpose to be hereinafter described. A pin 118 extends laterally of the member 112 through the slot 116. A lateral tab 120 of the transmitting member overlies the upper edge of the locking lever to locate the transmitting member counterclockwise of the locking lever.

When the locking lever is in both locked and unlocked positions, the bias of the spring 78 on the detent member 76 tending to swing this member counterclockwise of the pivot 50 acts to hold the tab 120 into engagement with the upper edge of the locking lever by continously biasing the transmitting member counterclockwise of the locking lever.

When the locking lever is in unlocked position as shown in FIGURE 3, the pin 118 is located adjacent the upper end of the slot 116 and in the path of movement of the lower leg 122 of the outside operating lever 48. Thus when the lever 48 is moved from its position shown in FIGURE 6 to its position shown in FIGURE 3, the leg 122 will pick up the pin 118 to swing the transmitting member 112 clockwise of the locking lever and in turn swing the detent 76 counterclockwise of the pin 50 from its holding position, shown in FIGURE 6, to its released position, shown in FIGURE 3, to thereby release the latch means 38 and permit the door to be opened. This movement of the transmitting member occurs without movement of the locking lever and against the bias of the spring 78.

When the locking lever is in its locked position shown in FIGURE 6, the pin 118 is located adjacent the lower end of the slot 116. When the pin is in this position, it is located out of the path of movement of the leg 122 of lever 48 so that counterclockwise swinging movement of the lever either from the inside or the outside of the body will have no efiect on the transmitting member or the detent member.

By generating the slot 116 about the pivot 40, it can be seen that the transmitting member 112 is bodily shiftable from its position of FIGURE 3 to its position of FIGURE 6 upon movement of the locking lever from unlocked to locked positions without moving the detent member 76.

The closure latch of this invention also includes the feature of keyless locking. Assume that the door is in an open position and that the operator pushes the garnish button or operates the key cylinder assembly to move the locking lever from its unlocked position of FIGURE 2 to its locked position of FIGURE 6. If the door is thereafter closed, the latch means 38 will rotate counterclockwise as viewed in FIGURE 6. During this movement of the latch means, the back or cam edges 124 of the teeth of the ratchet portion will cam the detent member 76 counterclockwise about the pivot 50. The transmitting member will, of course, move clockwise about the pivot 114 on the locking lever and as soon as movement of the latch means has ceased, the spring 78 will return the detent member to its holding position, as shown in FIGURE 6, and return the transmitting member to its normal position with respect to the locking lever. Both the inside operating means and the outside operating means will remain uncoupled from the detent means during this movement of the door.

Thus, this invention provides an improved vehicle body door lock.

I claim:

1. A closure latch comprising, in combination, support means, latch means mounted on the support means for movement between latched and unlatched positions, a detent member pivotally mounted on the support means for movement between holding and released positions with respect to the latch means, movement of the latch means from unlatched to latched position moving the detent means to released position, means biasing said detent means to holding position, detent-operating means movably mounted on the support means, a motion transmitting member, means mounting said transmitting member on said support means for bodily movement relative thereto between locked and unlocked positions and pivotal movement relative thereto in each of said positions, means on said transmitting member located in the path of movement of said operating means to couple said transmitting mem ber and operating means when said transmitting member is in unlocked position and being located out of the path of movement of said operating means to uncouple said transmitting member and operating means when said transmitting member is in locked position, and means coupling said transmitting member and said detent means for pivotal movement of one upon pivotal movement of the other, movement of said transmitting member by said detent-operating means moving said detent means to released position, said coupling means including means permitting bodily movement of the transmitting member to locked position without movement of the detent means to thereby uncouple the operating means and the transmitting member and retain the detent means in holding position, movement of said detent means by said latch means pivotally moving said transmitting member relative to said mounting means, said biasing means returning said detent means to holding position upon cessation of movement of said detent means by said latch means.

2. The combination recited in claim 1 wherein the mounting means bodily shifts the transmitting member about a fixed axis on the support means and the coupling means includes a portion on one member receivable in an arcuate slot on the other member generated about said fixed axis.

3. The combination recited in claim 2 wherein the portion is mounted on the transmitting member and provides the coupling means between the transmitting member and the detent operating means.

4. The combination recited in claim 1 wherein the mounting means for the transmitting member includes a locking lever rotatably mounted on the support means for movement between locked and unlocked positions and rotatably supporting the transmitting member.

5. The combination recited in claim 4 wherein the locking lever and the transmitting member includes means engageable with each other to limit pivotal movement of the transmitting member relative to the locking lever and the biasing means normally holding the engageable means in engagement with each other.

6. The combination recited in claim 4 wherein the latch means and the detent-operating means are rotatably mounted on the support means, the detent member being coaxially mounted with the detent operating means and the locking lever being coaxially mounted with the latch means for bodily movement between locked and unlocked positions.

7. The combination recited in claim 4 wherein the latch means and the detent-operating means are rotatably mounted on the support means, the detent member being coaxially mounted with the detent Operating means and the locking lever bein coaxially mounted With the latch means.

8. The combination recited in claim 4 wherein the latch means is rotatably mounted on the support means, the locking lever includes means engageable with the support meansto locate the locking lever in locked and the locking lever and the support means and exerting a line of force on opposite sides of an axis of the latch means to selectively locate the locking lever in locked and unlocked positions.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS unlocked positions, and resilient means interconnecting 15 RICHARD E. MOORE, Primary Examiner.

Claims (1)

1. A CLOSURE LATCH COMPRISING, IN COMBINATION, SUPPORT MEANS, LATCH MEANS MOUNTED ON THE SUPPORT MEANS FOR MOVEMENT BETWEEN LATCHED AND UNLATCHED POSITIONS, A DETENT MEMBER PIVOTALLY MOUNTED ON THE SUPPORT MEANS FOR MOVEMENT BETWEEN HOLDING AND RELEASED POSITIONS WITH RESPECT TO THE LATCH MEANS, MOVEMENT OF THE LATCH MEANS FROM UNLATCHED TO LATCHED POSITION MOVING THE DETENT MEANS TO RELEASED POSITION, MEANS BIASING SAID DETENT MEANS TO HOLDING POSITION, DETENT-OPERATING MEANS MOVABLY MOUNTED ON THE SUPPORT MEANS, A MOTION TRANSMITTING MEMBER, MEANS MOUNTING SAID TRANSMITTING MEMBER ON SAID SUPPORT MEANS FOR BODILY MOVEMENT RELATIVE THERETO BETWEEN LOCKED AND UNLOCKED POSITIONS AND PIVOTAL MOVEMENT RELATIVE THERETO IN EACH OF SAID POSITIONS, MEANS ON SAID TRANSMITTING MEMBER LOCATED IN THE PATH OF MOVEMENT OF SAID OPERATING MEANS TO COUPLE SAID TRANSMITTING MEMBER AND OPERATING MEANS TO COUPLE SAID TRANSMITTING MEMBER IS IN UNLOCKED POSITION AND BEING LOCATED OUT OF THE PATH OF MOVEMENT OF SAID OPERATING MEANS TO UNCOUPLE SAID TRANSMITTING MEMBER AND OPERATING MEANS WHEN SAID TRANSMITTING MEMBER IS IN LOCKED POSITION, AND MEANS COUPLING SAID TRANSMITTING MEMBER AND SAID DETENT MEANS FOR PIVOTAL MOVEMENT OF ONE UPON PIVOTAL MOVEMENT OF THE OTHER, MOVEMENT OF SAID TRANSMITTING MEMBER BY SAID DETENT-OPERATING MEANS MOVING SAID DETENT MEANS TO RELEASED POSITION, SAID COUPLING MEANS INCLUDING MEANS PERMITTING BODILY MOVEMENT OF THE TRANSMITTING MEMBER TO LOCKED POSITION WITHOUT MOVEMENT OF THE DETENT MEANS TO THEREBY UNCOUPLE THE OPERATING MEANS AND THE TRANSMITTING MEMBER AND RETAIN THE DETENT MEANS IN HOLDING POSITION, MOVEMENT OF SAID DETENT MEANS BY SAID LATCH MEANS PIVOTALLY MOVING SAID TRANSMITTING MEMBER RELATIVE TO SAID MOUNTING MEANS, SAID BIASING MEANS RETURNING SAID DETENT MEANS TO HOLDING POSITION UPON CESSATION OF MOVEMENT OF SAID DETENT MEANS BY SAID LATCH MEANS.

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