US3591220A

US3591220A - Closure latch

Info

Publication number: US3591220A
Authority: US
Inventors: Bela Sandor
Original assignee: General Motors Corp
Current assignee: Motors Liquidation Co
Priority date: 1969-07-09
Filing date: 1969-07-09
Publication date: 1971-07-06
Anticipated expiration: 1988-07-06

Abstract

A detent and detent release lever of a door lock are coaxially pivoted and provided with spaced opposed edge portions. A pin of an intermittent member supported on a locking lever is movable between the opposed edge portions to couple the levers or is movable out of engagement with one edge portion to uncouple the levers when the locking lever is respectively moved between unlocked and locked positions. The detent release lever is coupled to inside and outside operating means to release the detent when the levers are coupled. If the levers are uncoupled when the bolt is in unlatched position, they will remain uncoupled when the bolt is in unlatched position, they will remain uncoupled when the bolt moves to latched position to thereby provide a set and slam feature.

Description

United States Patent 172] Inventor Bela Sandor Primary Examiner-Marvin A. Champion Detroit, Mich. Assistant Examiner ----Rbert L Wolfe [211 App! No. 840,400 A1mrneysW. E, Finken and Herbert Furman [22] Filed July 9, I969 [45] Patented July 6, I971 [73] Asslgnee General Motors (.orporatw ABSTRACT: A detent and detent release lever of a door lock Damn are coaxially pivoted and provided with spaced opposed edge portions. A pin of an intermittent -member supported on a [54] CLOSURE LATCH lockingllever Iis movable betwebtlen the opposed edge portions 4 Claims, 5 Drawing Figs. to coup e the evers or mova e out o engagement wit one edge portion to uncouple the levers when the locking lever IS U-Sa Cl... respectively moved beween unlocked a d locked positions "0' E056 The detent release lever is coupled to inside and outside [5 Flfld Search 292/216 operating means to release the detent when the levers are cou- 336-3, 210 pled. lfthe levers are uncoupled when the bolt is in unlatched position, they will remain uncoupled when the bolt is in un- [561 References cued latched position, they will remain uncoupled when the bolt- UNITED STATES PATENTS movesto latched position to thereby provide a set and slam 2,658,781 ll/l953 Allen 292/216 feature.

73 I ii i 66 "11: 6U

i l L i E t ,16 i? '3; v 66' PATENTEU JUL 6 I97! SHEET 1 BF 2 w 0 8 6 lll====il WW w n w 9m m a d 0 PATENIED JUL 6 '97:

SHEET 2 0F 2 CLOSURE LATCH This invention relates to closure latches and more particularly to vehicle body door locks of the set and slam type.

Set and slam type vehicle body door locks can be placed in a locked condition when the door is in open position and will remain in this condition when the door is thereafter closed.

The lock of this invention, in its preferred embodiment, includes coaxial detent and detent release levers which are selectively coupled and uncoupled by an abutment member which is either positioned between and in engagement with opposed edge portions of the levers or positioned out of engagement with one of the edge portions depending on the position of a locking means controllable from both inside and outside the body. If the levers are uncoupled when the door is in an open position and the door is thereafter closed, the levers remain uncoupled to thereby provide the set and slam feature.

Therefore, a primary feature of this invention is that it provides a vehicle body door lock wherein the detent means and the release means for the detent are selectively coupled and uncoupled by coupling means which are movable with respect to opposed abutment portions of the release means and detent means.

The detent release lever, in the preferred embodiment, additionally includes an extension which is located juxtaposed to an extension of the bolt when the bolt is in latched position so that any movement of the detent with respect to the bolt will not release the bolt due to the engagement of the release lever extension and bolt extension.

Therefore, another feature of this invention is that it provides a vehicle body door lock wherein selectively coupled detent and detent release levers also additionally function as primary and secondary detents.

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

FIG. 1 is a partial side elevational view of a vehicle body having a door mounted thereon for movement between open and closed positions and held in closed position by a door lock according to this invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view taken generally along the plane indicated by line 2-2 of FIG. 1 and showing the bolt in latched position and the detent lever and detent release lever in coupled position;

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2 showing the bolt in unlatched position and the detent lever and detent release lever in uncoupled position;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view taken generally along the plane indicated by line 4-4 of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken generally along the plane indicated by line 55 of FIG. 2.

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

As best shown in FIGS. 2, 3 and 5, the lock 16 includes a main frame or support plate 18 which abuts against the rear or lock pillar wall, not shown, of door 12 and is bolted thereto by a number of bolts extending through this wall into a series of tapped embossments 20 of the frame 18. A fork-type bolt 22 is pivoted at 24 to the frame 18 for movement between a locked position shown in FIG. 2 and an unlocked position shown in FIG. 3. As will be described, the throat of the bolt receives the shank of a headed striker pin when the door 12 is in closed position, with this striker pin being mounted on the forward or lock pillar wall of the rear quarter portion 26 of the body 10. The frame 18 is cut away at 28 and the rear wall of door 12 is similarly cut away to provide for entrance of the striker pin into the lock 16.

A detent lever 32 and a detent release lever 34 are coaxially pivoted at 36 to the frame 18. The detent lever 32 includes a foot 38 which engages a shoulder 40 of the bolt 22 when the bolt is in latched position to maintain the bolt in this position. The detent release lever 34 includes an arm or extension hav ing a lateral tab or foot 42 which is laterally juxtaposed to another shoulder 44 of bolt 22 for engagement thereby to provide a secondary detent should the detent lever 32 move out of engagement with the shoulder 40 for any reason when the bolt is in latched position. A tension spring 46 interconnects a notched lateral tab of an arm 48 of the detent lever 32 and a notched lateral tab of bolt 22 to continually bias the bolt in a clockwise direction to unlatched position and bias the lever 32 in a counterclockwise direction toward detented position. When the bolt moves to unlatched position, shown in FIG. 3, under the action of spring 46, a shoulder 52 of the bolt engages a lanced lateral tab 54 of the frame 18 to locate the bolt against the action of spring 46.

A tension spring 56 interconnects an apertured arm or extension of the release lever 34 and a notched lateral tab 58 of frame 18 to continually bias the lever 34 counterclockwise of the pivot 36. A rod 59 pivotally interconnects the release lever 34 and the outside operating lever 60. Lever 60 is pivoted at 62 to an embossment of a bracket 64 which is riveted at 66 to an extension 68 of the frame 18. A lateral tab 70 of the bracket 64 is engaged by the lever 60 to locate this lever and in turn locate the lever 34 against the biasing action of the spring 56.

The extension 68 may be of any length and may be provided with a number of successive series of openings to receive the rivets 66 so that one basic lock may satisfy a number of body styles by merely changing the position of the bracket 64 along the extension 68 of the frame 18 and in turn, of course, using different lengths of rods 59.

The outside operating lever 60 includes a lateral flange 72 which is engageable by the push rod 74, FIG. 2, of a conventional outside pushbutton assembly 76 incorporated in a conventional handle 78 mounted on the outer panel of door 12.

A locking lever 80 is pivoted at 82 to the frame 18 and an overcenter-type coil spring 84 interconnects the frame and the locking lever for selectively and alternately biasing the locking lever to an unlocked position, as shown in FIG. 2, or a locked position, shown in FIG. 3. Lanced

lateral tabs

86 and 88 of frame 18 are engageable with the lower and upper sides of the locking lever in the unlocked and locked positions thereof, respectively, to locate the lever in each position under the action of the spring 84. The locking lever 80 is conventionally moved between its locked and unlocked positions by either an inside garnish button 90 or an outside key cylinder assembly 92, respectively, connected to the right-hand and left-hand ends of the lever in a conventional manner.

An intermittent member or lever 94 is pivoted at 96 to the locking lever and a coil tension spring 98 interconnects notched lateral tabs of the intermittent member and of the locking lever to continually bias the member 94 clockwise of the pivot 96. The lower end of the member 94 includes a laterally extending stud or abutment 100 which is engaged on diametrically opposite sidesthereof by edges or abutment portions 102 and 104 of the detent release lever 34 and detent lever 32, respectively, when the locking lever 80 is in unlocked position, as shown in FIG. 2, to couple these levers for unitary or simultaneous clockwise movement. When the locking lever moves from unlocked position to locked position, shown in FIG. 3, the clockwise movement of the locking lever shifts the member 94 upwardly and in turn shifts abutment 100 upwardly so that it moves out of engagement with edge 104 but remains in engagement with edge 102 under the action of the spring 98. This uncouples the

levers

32 and 34.

The frame 18 includes a lateral extension 106 and a bellcrank inside release lever 108 is pivoted at 110 to this extension. As best shown in FIG. 4, one leg 112 of the lever overlies an extension 114 of the release lever 34 so that upon counterclockwise movement of the leg 112 the lever 34 will be swung clockwise of the pivot 36, FIG. 2, and in turn move the detent 32 in this same direction to release the bolt 22 if the

levers

32 and 34 are coupled. A conventional rod 116, FIG. 1, connects the other leg of lever 108 and an inside release or remote handle 118 to provide for manual operation of the lock 16 from inside the body.

A rubber bumper 120 is mounted on the frame 18 and extension 106 at their juncture as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. This bumper is adapted to be engaged by a flanged foot 122 of a shoe 124 which is pivoted at 126 to the frame 18 to limit the clockwise swinging movement of the shoe. The shank 128 ofa headed striker pin is received within the throat of bolt 22 when the bolt is in latched position, as shown in FIG. 2, to hold door 12 in closed position. The striker pin is conventional and is conventionally mounted on the lock pillar wall of the rear quarter portion 26 of the body. The head 130 of the pin engages a flange 132 of the shoe 124 when the shank of the striker pin is received within the throat of the bolt 22, as shown in FIG. 2, to thereby limit relative vertical movement between the door 12 and the portion 26 of the body. Additionally the engagement of the head 130 with the flange 132 of the shoe, of course, forces the shank 128 tightly into engagement with the base of the bolt throat.

It is believed clear from the foregoing description that when the intermittent member 94 is in its position shown in FIG. 2, movement of the pushbutton assembly 76 or of the remote handle 118 will swing the lever 34 clockwise of the pivot 36 and the engagement of the abutment 100 with edges I02 and 104 will simultaneously swing the detent lever 32 in this same direction to move the foot 38 out of engagement with the shoulder 40 and release the bolt for movement to unlatched position. In this position of the bolt, the detent lever 32 engages the shoulder 44 of the bolt so as to be located against the action of spring 46 and the lever 34 is, of course, located by the engagement of lever 60 with tab 70 when the pushbutton assembly 76 is released.

When the door 12 is in an open position and either the garnish button 90 or key cylinder 92 is operated to move the locking lever 80 from its unlocked position of FIG. 2 to its locked position of FIG. 3, the intermittent member 94 will be shifted upwardly as the abutment 100 rides along the edge 102 of the lever 34. It will be noted that the abutment 100 is now located above and out of the path of movement of the edge 104 of the detent 32. If the door is thereafter closed, the coun terclockwise movement of the bolt 22 will intermittently ratchet the detent lever 32 clockwise of the pivot 36. While the edge 134 of arm 48 might swing the intermittent member 94 slightly counterclockwise by engagement with the abutment 100 during ratcheting of the detent lever 32, the spring 88 will immediately return the intermittent member to its position shown in FIG. 3 in engagement with edge 102. When the detent foot 38 finally engages the shoulder 40, any movement thereafter of the lever 34 will, of course, have no effect on the detent lever so that the lock will remain in locked condition.

It will be noted that the spring 88 at all times maintains the abutment 100 in engagement with the edge 102 so that this edge provides a guide for vertical shifting movement of the intermittent member 94! when the locking lever 80 is moved between its locked and unlocked positions.

Thus, this invention provides an improved vehicle body door lock of the set and slam type.

I claim:

1. A closure latch comprising, in combination, latch means movable between latched and unlatched positions, detent means movable between detented and undetented positions with respect to the latch means, detent release means, the detent means and the detent release means each including an elongated abutment portion, the abutment portions being spaced from and opposed to each other, one being of greater extent than the other, locking means movable between locked and unlocked positions and including coupling means movable along the one abutment portion into and out of opposition to the other abutment portion to selectively couple and uncouple the detent means and the detent release means, the locking means in unlocked position positioning the coupling means on the one abutment portion in opposition to the other abutment portion to couple the opposed abutment portions for unitary movement of the detent means with the detent release means, the locking means in locked position positioning the coupling means on the one abutment portion out of opposition to the other abutment portion to uncouple the detent means and the detent release means.

2. A closure latch comprising, in combination, latch means movable between latched and unlatched positions, detent means movable between detented and undetented positions with respect to the latch means, detent release means, the detent means and the detent release means each including an elongated abutment portion, the abutment portions being spaced from and opposed to each other, one being of greater extent than the other, locking means movable between locked and unlocked positions, coupling means for selectively coupling and uncoupling the detent means and the detent release means, means mounting the coupling means on the locking means for movement thereby along the one abutment portion, means biasing the coupling means into engagement with the one abutment portion, the locking means in unlocked position positioning the coupling means between the opposed abutment portions to couple the opposed abutment portions for unitary movement of the detent means with the detent release means, the locking means in unlocked position positioning the coupling means on the one abutment portion out of opposition to the other abutment portion to uncouple the detent means and the detent release means.

3. A closure latch comprising, in combination, latch means movable between latched and unlatched positions, a detent lever swingable between detented and undetented positions with respect to the latch means, a swingable detent release lever, means operatively connecting the detent release lever to a release means, locking means movable between locked and unlocked positions, a coupling member swingably supported on the locking means for selectively coupling and uncoupling the detent lever and the detent release lever, the detent lever and the detent release lever each including an elongated edge portion, each edge portion being opposed to the other and the release lever edge portion being of greater extent, means biasing the coupling member into engagement with the release lever edge portion, the locking means in unlocked position locating the coupling member on the release lever edge portion in opposition to the detent lever edge portion to couple the detent lever to the detent release lever for unitary movement, the locking means in unlocked position positioning the coupling member on the release lever edge portion out of opposition to the detent lever edge portion to uncouple the detent lever and the detent release lever.

4. A closure latch comprising, in combination, latch means movable between latched and unlatched positions, a detent lever swingable between detented and undetented positions with respect to the latch means, a detent release lever coaxial with the detent lever, means operatively connecting the detent release lever to a release means, a locking lever movable between locked and unlocked positions, a coupling lever swingable on the locking lever and including an abutment for selectively coupling and uncoupling the detent lever and the detent release lever, the detent lever and the detent release lever each including an elongated edge portion, each edge portion being opposed to the other and the release lever edge portion being of greater extent, resilient means holding the coupling lever abutment in engagement with the release lever edge portion, the locking lever in unlocked position locating the coupling lever abutment on the release lever edge portion in opposition to the detent lever edge portion to couple the levers for unitary movement, the locking lever in unlocked position locating the coupling lever abutment on the release lever edge portion out of opposition to the detent lever edge portion to uncouple the detent lever and the detent release lever.

"H050 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 5 9 CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3, 591, 220 Dated July 6, 197].

Inventor(s) Bela Sandor It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

In the Abstract, lines 11 and 12, the clause "they will remain uncoupled when the bolt is in unlatched position, should be deleted.

Column 2, line 12, the numeral "50" should be inserted after "tab".

Signed and sealed this 21 st day of December 1 971 (SEAL) Atte st:

EDWARD M.FLETCHER,JR. ROBERT GOTTSCHALK Atte sting Officer Acting Commissioner of Patents