KR102315330B1 - Block type latch for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention applies a combination of a vertical channel where a sliding block and a striker are moved to a stopper connected to a door handle to switch an opened state of a door into a semi-opened state and a closed state and switch and fixate the state into one state by the linear movement principle using compressive force and elastic force. The present invention can remove components required for rotation and economically realize a latch mechanism through the simple component.

Description

Block type latch for vehicle

The present invention relates to an automobile-type block-type latch.

In automobiles, a latch mechanism that performs locking and unlocking functions by operation of a striker installed on a vehicle body and a lacquer installed on an opening means is used. They are installed on the driver's door, the hood at the front of the vehicle, the trunk at the rear, or the tailgate of an SUV.

There are many types of latch mechanisms installed on the driver's door.

For example, in Patent No. 10-1255562, a claw and a pawl limiting the rotational movement of the claw are installed, and when the door is closed, the striker's leg is caught by the claw, and when the door is released, the leg is separated. Disclosed is a door latch integrated link device of the structure.

Patent No. 10-0339103 discloses a door lock for a vehicle, in which the cable 4' of the door handle, the unlocking drive lever 40' and the latch connection lever 20' connected thereto are installed as shown in FIG. When the undoed striker pulls the door handle in the locked state caught in the engaging groove 11' of the latch 10', the unlocking drive lever 40' moves downward so that the striker is separated from the engaging groove 11'. A structure is disclosed.

Patent Laid-Open No. 10-2016-0049686 discloses an improved structure of a link and a lever disposed operably between a door handle lever and a pawl lever to prevent the door from being opened while the door handle is pulled in the opening direction by an inertial force in the event of a side collision, have.

However, the currently used latch mechanism and prior patents adopt the principle that the latch and related parts rotate or pivot around the striker. That is, the latch mechanism includes parts such as a stopper or a detent for restricting or releasing the movement or rotation of the related parts, and a shaft is essential for the rotation of these parts. To manufacture the shaft, it is costly and requires rivets or bolts to fix the shaft, and there is a gap due to the tolerance between the shaft support shafts, which causes noise and vibration problems.

The present invention has been devised to solve the above-described problem of the latch mechanism, and by applying a novel block-type latch, a novel structure has been developed that can reliably perform locking and unlocking functions of a door and reducing costs.

An object of the present invention is to provide a latch assembly using a slidable block to securely maintain the locked, half-open and open states of a door and to efficiently switch each state, and to provide an economical and durable latch assembly by providing a latch mechanism using a slidable block. do.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a latch assembly installed on a car door, the latch assembly having an external appearance defined by a housing, and forming a vertical channel through which a striker installed on a vehicle body reciprocates from an upper surface of the housing down to, Provided is a latch assembly in which a stopper connected to a cable of a door handle is installed, which faces the inside of the housing through a through hole installed through a lower surface of the housing opposite to this.

The housing includes a sliding block therein, the sliding block provides an inclined channel formed by the first and second boundary surfaces, and the sliding block is installed to be movable across the vertical channel so that the striker moves the vertical channel and the inclined channel inside the housing. By locating in this intersecting space, the sliding block linearly moves left and right by reciprocating movement along the vertical channel of the striker.

The lower surface of the sliding block sequentially includes a locking part, an intermediate locking part including an inclined tip protruding downward, and an unlocking part. The locking part and the locking part contact the stopper in order.

A side surface of the sliding block is supported by an elastic member having one end fixed to the housing.

The present invention also provides a latch assembly installed on a car door, the latch assembly having an external appearance defined by a housing, wherein the housing includes a sliding block that is linearly movable from side to side in the inside, the sliding block facing the door handle. A latch assembly which forms a locking part, an intermediate locking part, and an unlocking part on the surface, and faces the inside of the housing so that the stopper connected to the cable of the door handle comes into contact with any one of the locking part, the intermediate locking part, and the unlocking part; to provide.

The present invention organically and closely applies the combination of the sliding block and the vertical channel in which the striker moves to the stopper connected to the door handle, and naturally converts the door from the open state to the semi-open and closed state. Since it is switched and fixed in any one state by the principle of movement, it is possible to eliminate the parts necessary for rotational motion, and it has the effect that the latch mechanism can be implemented economically with simple parts.

1 is a view showing the configuration of a latch assembly of the present invention, and at the same time showing an open state;
FIG. 2 is a view showing moving to a half-open (half-closed) state in FIG. 1;
Fig. 3 is a view showing the movement to the closed state in Fig. 2; and
4 is a diagram illustrating a prior art automobile latch mechanism.

Hereinafter, some embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to exemplary drawings. It should be noted that in adding reference numerals to the components of each drawing, the same components are given the same reference numerals as much as possible even though they are indicated on different drawings. Also, in the description of the present embodiment, if it is determined that a detailed description of a related known configuration or function may obscure the gist of the present embodiment, the detailed description thereof will be omitted.

In describing the components of the present embodiment, reference numerals such as first, second, iiia), and b) may be used. These signs are only for distinguishing the elements from other elements, and the nature, order, or order of the elements are not limited by the signs. In addition, when a part in the specification 'includes' or 'includes' a certain component, it means that other components may be further included, rather than excluding other components, unless explicitly stated to the contrary. do. Also, in the specification, when 'connection', 'installation' or 'attachment' is used, it does not mean only direct connection or direct installation or attachment between components, but includes connection, installation or attachment through indirect or other components. should be interpreted as broadly as possible.

1 is a view showing the configuration of a latch assembly 1 of the present invention. The latch assembly 1 is defined in appearance by a rectangular housing H. The shape of the housing H, such as an oval, is not limited. The latch assembly 1 is installed on a door portion opposite to the striker 14 installed on the vehicle body. The striker 14 has a “U” shape as is well known, and its closed curved surface is exposed to the outside. 1 illustrates a circular cross-section of a portion exposed to the outside.

A straight vertical channel 204 through which the striker 14 reciprocates from the center of the upper surface of the housing H is formed to be elongated to at least a length of more than half of the inside of the housing H. On the other hand, the column-shaped stopper S is inserted through the through hole 202 provided through the central portion of the lower surface of the housing H to face the inside of the housing H. A cable (C) connected to a door handle (not shown) is connected to the lower surface of the stopper (S), and the lower surface is elastically supported by a stopper spring (16) whose upper portion is fixed to the outer surface of the housing (H). Accordingly, the stopper (S) receives an elastic force to move upward as seen in the drawing.

The sliding block 10, which is a feature of the present invention, is a first block 102 on the left side and a second block 104 on the right side based on the inclined channel 300 formed by the first and second boundary surfaces 106 and 108. is divided into The sliding block 10 of the present invention, in which the first block 102 and the second block 104 are integrated, serves as a “latch” in the latch mechanism together with the stopper S. However, it does not perform a rotational motion as in the prior art and performs a sliding linear motion.

The first block 102 has a first lower left inclined surface 108, a vertical surface 110 vertically downward from the lower end of the first inclined surface 108, and a first lower portion extending from the lower end of the vertical surface 110 to the right. It is a three-dimensional block of a trapezoidal shape as a whole including 130.

The second block 104 includes a second inclined surface 106 also directed downward in parallel to the first inclined surface 108 at a predetermined distance therefrom. On the lower surface of the second block 104, a locking portion 112 made of a flat surface sequentially from the left, an intermediate locking portion 116 including an inclined tip 114 protruding downward in a triangular shape, and a stopper (S) It is a three-dimensional block including an unlocking part 118 that is in contact with the upper surface of the. The locking part 112 is connected to the first lower part 130 with a thin flesh, so that the first block 102 and the second block 104 are integrally manufactured. The right side 120 of the second block 104 is supported by an elastic member 12 such as a spring having one end fixed to the housing (H). Therefore, in order to move the sliding block 10 to the right, a force that overcomes the pressing force of the elastic member 12 must be applied.

1 is a view in which the door is maintained in an open state in which the latch and the striker are not locked or the striker enters the vertical channel 204 in the open state. The upper surface of the stopper (S) is in contact with the unlocking portion (118).

The vertical channel 204 is formed in the front-rear direction of the ground in the drawing, that is, over a considerable width of the housing H, and the sliding block 10 is installed to cross the middle of the space formed in the vertical channel 204 . Accordingly, the sliding block 10 can move left and right inside the housing H without contacting or interfering with the inside of the vertical channel 204 .

The diameter of the inclined channel 300 formed by the first and second boundary surfaces 106 and 108 is designed in consideration of the diameter of the vertical channel 204 . The striker 14 is located in a space where the vertical channel 204 and the inclined channel 300 intersect at the initial entry into the housing (H) ( FIG. 1 ).

In the state of FIG. 1 , when the user starts closing the door, the striker 14 gradually moves downward along the vertical channel 204 . At the same time, the vertical pressing force of the striker 14 is transmitted to the second boundary surface 106 . Since almost the entire height of the sliding block 10 occupies the housing (H), the vertical pressing force is not dispersed and mostly converted into a horizontal force. Accordingly, the sliding block 10 overcomes the force of the elastic member 12 and gradually linearly moves in the horizontal direction to the right of the drawing.

As the sliding block 10 gradually moves to the right, the upper surface of the stopper S exits the unlocking portion 118 and faces the intermediate locking portion 116. As shown, it protrudes toward the intermediate locking part 116 and is accommodated therein. And because of the inclined surface of the inclined tip 114, the movement is constrained to achieve a relatively stable state. This state is “half-latching” and corresponds to, for example, the door being slightly closed to become half-open.

One of the other features of the present invention is that the intermediate locking state is maintained in a more stable structure than in the prior art. This can prevent the door from being suddenly closed or opened when applied to the hood or tailgate as well as when the door is half-opened, and helps to improve the strength and durability of parts.

When the door is forcibly closed in the state of FIG. 2 , the striker 14 moves down along the vertical channel 204 and the sliding block 10 overcomes the resistance of the stopper S and moves further to the right. Even without applying a large force due to the inclined surface of the inclined tip 114, the stopper (S) can smoothly pass the intermediate locking portion (116).

3, when the striker 14 reaches the lower end of the vertical channel 204, the sliding block 10 is in a maximum movement state, and the stopper S is completely accommodated in the locking unit 112 and the sliding block The movement of (10) is restricted by the stopper (S). This state is a locked state in which the door is completely locked.

Next, when the door is to be opened in the state of FIG. 3 , a door handle (not shown) is pulled out or rotated. Then, the cable (C) is towed and the stopper (S) is retracted from the inside of the housing (H) to the outside. The sliding block 10, which has no restraint with the stopper S, slides to the left of the drawing by the elastic force of the elastic member 12 and the reaction force of the door (repulsive force such as a weather strip for preventing rainwater inflow and wind noise). 2 The striker 14 receiving the force applied by the boundary surface 106 moves upward along the vertical channel 204 to return to the door open state of FIG. 1 .

The present invention is characterized in that the combination of the sliding block 10 and the vertical channel 204 is organically and closely applied to the stopper S, so that the door is naturally switched from an open state to a semi-open and closed state. . In addition, since the present invention converts and fixes to any one state using the principle of linear movement using a pressing force and an elastic force, it is possible to eliminate the parts necessary for the rotational movement, and to implement the latch mechanism economically with simple parts.

Those skilled in the art will understand that the following modifications are possible with respect to the present invention.

First, if the intermediate locking part on the lower surface of the second block is omitted, it can operate as a two-position switching of open and closed.

Second, although a straight channel is shown in the drawing, the inclined channel can be changed to a curved shape or a combination of straight lines and curves as long as they glide.

Although the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described with reference to the drawings, this is only for illustration, and it is obvious that the scope of the present invention extends to the same or equivalent scope as the claims described below.

Claims (6)

A latch assembly installed on a car door, the latch assembly having an external appearance defined by a housing, forming a vertical channel through which a striker installed on a vehicle body reciprocates from an upper surface of the housing downward, and is installed through a lower surface of the housing opposite to this. Face the inside of the housing through the hole, install the stopper connected to the cable of the door handle,
The housing includes a sliding block therein,
The lower surface of the sliding block sequentially includes a locking part and an unlocking part, and as the striker enters the vertical channel, the sliding convex moves linearly to one side. Latch assembly with variable height distance. The method of claim 1,
The sliding block provides an inclined channel formed by the first and second boundary surfaces, and the sliding block is installed to be movable across the vertical channel so that the striker is located in the space where the vertical channel and the inclined channel intersect in the housing. A latch assembly in which the sliding block linearly moves from side to side with reciprocating movement along the vertical channel of the striker. 3. The method of claim 2,
Between the locking part and the unlocking part of the lower surface of the sliding block, it includes an intermediate locking part including an inclined tip protruding downward, and as the striker enters the vertical channel, the sliding convexity moves linearly to one side, so that the unlocking part, the intermediate locking part and the locking portion abuts against the stopper in order. 3. The method of claim 2,
A side surface of the sliding block is supported by an elastic member having one end fixed to the housing. delete A latch assembly installed on a car door, the latch assembly having an external appearance defined by a housing, the housing including a sliding block that is linearly movable from side to side therein, the sliding block includes a locking part on a surface facing the door handle; A latch assembly which forms an intermediate locking part and an unlocking part, and faces the inside of the housing so that a stopper connected to the cable of the door handle comes into contact with any one of the locking part, the intermediate locking part, and the unlocking part.

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