US2407999A - Vehicle door latch - Google Patents

Description

p 24, 1946. H. w. RIGHTMYER 2,407,99

' VEHICLE DOOR LATCH Filed, April 30, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR ATTORNEY 2 Sheets-Sheet v 2 H. w. RIGHTMYER VEHICLE DOOR LATCH Filed April 50, 1942 Sept. 24, 1946;

Ha en INVENTOR AITORNEY Patented Sept. 24, 1946 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE VEHICLE DOOR LATCH Holden W. Rightmyer, Toledo, Ohio, assignor to The American Swiss Company, Toledo, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application April 30, 1942, Serial No. 441,108

3 Claims.

the .door is in closed position, thereby obviating the action usually necessary in latches of this character in which in the slamming of the .door, the latch bolt is moved in a retracting direction during its movement over the keeper.

A further object is to produce a latch of the above character with which is associated the dovetail structure, the releasing element for the sliding latch bolt being associated with one of the dovetail members and operatively engaging the other dovetail member for releasing the latch bolt.

A still further object is to produce a new and improved door handle mechanism. in which the handle occupies a minimum amount of space, is free from dangerous outwardly projecting parts and operates in a simple manner to retract the latch bolt by movement of the handle outwardly away from the door.

For purposes of illustration but vnot of limitation, embodiments of the invention are shown in the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of the door latch mechanism and showing also the inside operated remote control structure it being noted that the cover plate for the outside operated dogging mechanism is removed, legs therefore being shown in section;

Figure 2 is a front edge elevation partly in section of the latch mechanism shown in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a transverse sectional view of a portion of the latch mechanism showing the same in relation to the dovetail keeper, some parts being removed for the sake of clarity;

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the latch bolt catch lever;

Figure 5 is an elevational view of the female dovetail keeper structure;

Figure 6 is a fragmentary elevation somewhat diagrammatic of an alternate form of latch mechanism in which the dovetail structure is omitted;

Figure 7 is a front edge view of the latch shown in Figure 6;

Figure 8 is a perspective view of the catch lever employed in the latch shown in Figures 6 and '7;

Figure 9 is a sectional view showing the outside operated door handle and associated door structure;

Figure 10 is an enlarged sectional View of the door handle assembly;

Figure 11 is an elevation of the door handle assembly as viewed from the outside of the door; an

Figure 12 is an enlarged sectional view of the door handle assembly taken approximately through the central portion.

The illustrated embodiment of the invention comprises a vehicle door latch having a case plate l0, one edge portion of which is bent upwardly.

to provide a flange or selvage plate ll. Slidable over the case plate it is a bolt plate [2 to which is riveted a bolt nose l3, .the latter sliding through an opening in the selvage plate H to and from latching position. A spiral spring M has one end anchored to the case plate It) and its opposite end engages the rear face of the bolt nose l3 for normally urging the latter to latching position. At the rear end of the bolt plate 12 is a downturned flange hi which is adapted to engage a rubber bumper 85 carried by the case plate thereby to cushion the latching movement of the bolt plate.

From the outside of the door, the latch bolt is retracted by a roll back lfi which in this instance is of a two-part or scissors cam construction, a spring 17 urging these parts relative to each other in order to snugly grip th operating spindle which fits into the square hole I8. The scissors cam construction is Well-known to those skilled in this art and since it forms no part of the present invention, detail description and illustration is not considered necessary. The latch bolt is retracted from the inside of the door by a remote control unit designated generally at lathe same having an actuating arm Ell to which is pivoted a link .24. The forward end of the link: 2i is pivoted. to a slide 22 which has an elongate slot 23 through which extends a rivet 24. At the forward end of the slide 22 is an extension 25 which when the slide is moved forwardly relative to the bolt plate l2, the same may be disposed in blocking relation to the outside operated roll back cam l5 thereby blocking the bolt retracting movement of the roll back.

Projecting from the upper edge of the slide 22 is a flange 26 which is adapted to abut against an ear ,2! struck outwardly from the bolt plate l2. Thus when the slide 22 is moved forwardly to dog the roll back. I6, the flange 26 abuts against the ear 2'! so that upon retracting movedirection or the other. By upward sliding of the dogging slide 29, the outside operated roll baclr- I 6 is blocked against movement. l

Pivoted to the inner side of the selvage plate II and disposed in a plane at substantially right angles to the plane of movement of the bolt plate I2 is a catch lever 3!. The catch lever 3i is pivotally mounted upon a rivet 32 and has an extension 33 which is adapted to abut against the case plate IQ for limiting swinging movement in one direction. A leg 34 depends from the lever 3| and has an inwardly bent arm 55 disposed at approximately right angles to the body of the lever 3!. A spiral spring 36 has one end anchored to the case plate It) and the opposite end engages in a notch portion 3'! of the'cat ch lever 3i and urges the catch lever 3 [in a counterclockwise direction (Figure 1), thereby urging the arm toward the case plate It) and in this manner it will be manifest that when the bolt plate I2 is retracted a sufficient distance to move the bolt nose l3 away from its keeper, the free end of the arm 35 snaps into place and serves as a stop to block latching movement of the bolt plate. In

this manner the bolt plate I2 is retained in its retracted position with the bolt nose is out of latching relation to its keeper.

Also integral with the catch lever 3! is a releasing arm 33 which extends at substantially right angles to the body of the lever 35 in a direction opposite to that of the arm 35. The arm 38 projects through an aperture 39 in the selvage plate II and is disposed inside of the male dovetail member 43 which is rigid with and projects outwardly from the outer side of the selvage plate I I. The dovetail member 40 is open on the inside and has tapered side walls and as indicated on Figure 2, the releasing arm 38 is positioned adja cent one end of the dovetail member 4% so that when the door on which the above described latching mechanism is mounted, is moved to closed position, the releasing arm 38 of the catch lever, 3i abuts against the shoulder 4! of the female dovetail member 42. Opposite sides of the member 42 are correspondingly tapered to receive the male dovetail pair 40, a spring actuated shoe 43 in the dovetail part 42 being spring urged to bind the parts together. As shown, the member 43 slides on a pin 44 and is under yielding pressure from a spring 45 which encircles the pin 44. Forming part of the dovetail s2 is a keeper 46 having bolt engaging ledges 41 and 48, the ledge 41 providing the usual safety stop.

From the above description, it will be apparent that the latch bolt I3 is released by the catch lever 31 substantially when the male dovetail member 40 bottoms upon the female member all. At substantially that time the bolt nose i3 being released by the arm 35, snaps abruptly to latching position as indicated by the broken lines on Figure 5.

The form shown on Figures 6 to Sis similar to that above described except that the dovetail parts are omitted. In this form the catch lever 31a. has an integral releasing arm 38awhich engages in abutment on the door jam for rocking the arm to release the bolt nose I311 as above described. As above described, the catch lever 3ia also has an arm 35a which is adapted to hold the bolt plate lZa in its retracted position. The catch lever 3la is slightly different in form from the catch lever 3| above described but in general the structure and operation are the same. It will be observed that the selvage plate has an arcuately shaped slot 39a to afford the release arm 38a the desired movement.

In'Figure 9, 5i! designates the outside metal panel of an automobile door which is formed with a recess 5!. The outside door handle 52 is curved with the free end abutting against an embossed knob 53 adjacent the recess 5|. In

this manner the handle is brought close to the side wall of the door thereby removing any dangerousprojections and the recess 5! enables the handle 52 to be conveniently grasped. The handle 52 is provided with an enlarged end portion 54 which is mounted on a pivot pin 55. As shown in Figure 12, the handle 54 fits within a casing 56 and a sleeved escutcheon 5i is adapted to be fastened to the door structure. The portion 58 of the handle which projects beyond the pivot pin is somewhat reduced and engages with a cam arm 59 which fits in an extension 69 of the casing 56. The cam. arm 59 has a hub 6! which is provided with a squared opening to receive the spindle G2. The spindle 62 may engage at its oppositeend in the outside operated roll back, as for example, by engaging the in the squared opening E8 of the roll back ld (Figure l).

Formed in the extension iii? is a stop 63 against which a. portion of'the end 58 of the handleis adapted to abut, thereby to limit the rocking movement of the handle 52 in one direction. The handle 52 is normally retained in the position shown in Figure 9 by a spring 56 which choir-- cles the pivot pin 55 and is disposed within an apertured portion of the enlarged portion 54 r 1. In a device of the class described, an automobile door latch having a case plate, a selvage plate at one edge' of said case plate, a spring tensioned latch bolt slidable over said case plate and projectable through said selvage plate when in latching position, a spring tensioncd catch lever pivotally mounted on the inner side of said selvage plate and adapted to block movement of said latch bolt when in retracted position, and hold sameffrorn movement to latching position, a releasing arm on said catch lever projecting through said selvage plate, a male dovetail memher. on the outer side of said selvage plate into the inside of which said releasing arm extends, a female dovetail member with which said male dovetail member cooperates, an abutment on said female dovetail member ehgageable by said releasing arm for rocking said catch lever thereby to release said latch bolt-, keeper means for said latch bolt associated with said female dovetail member and engageable by said latch bolt when the same is released by said catch lever.

2. In a device of the class described, an automobile door latch having a case plate provided with a selvage plate at one edge thereof, a spring tensioned latch bolt slidable over said case plate and projectable through said selvage plate when in latching position, a catch lever pivoted to the inner side of said selvage plate and disposed at one side of said latch bolt, said catch lever being pivoted on an axis substantially parallel to the plane of movement of said latch bolt, an arm on said catch lever, a stop on said latch bolt engageable by said arm when said latch bolt is in retracted position thereby to hold said latch bolt retracted, a releasing arm on said catch lever projecting at right angles therefrom through said selvage plate, a male dovetail member on the outer side of said selvage plate in the region of said second arm, said male dovetail member being hollow and said second arm extending therethrough, a female dovetail member for receiving said male dovetail member, a, stop on said female dovetail member for receiving said male dovetail member, a stop on said female dovetail member engageable by said second arm when said male dovetail member has entered said female dovetail member a substantial distance thereby to rock said catch lever to release said latch bolt, and a keeper associated with said female dovetail member and engageable by said latch bolt upon release thereof.

3. In a device of the class described, an automobile door latch having a case plate, a selvage plate at one edge of said case plate, a spring tensioncd latch bolt slidable over said case plate and projectable through said selvage plate when in latching position, a spring tensioned catch member movably mounted on the inner side of said selvage plate and adapted to block movement of said latch bolt when the latter is moved to its retracted position and retain same from movement to latching position, a releasing element on said catch member projecting through said selvage plate, and a male dovetail member on the outer side of said selvage plate into the inside of which said releasing element extends, whereby upon slamming the door said releasing element is adapted to cooperate with the female dovetail part which receives the male dovetail part for actuating the catch member sufficiently to release the latch bolt to allow the latter to move to keeper-engaging position.

HOLDEN W. RIGHTMYER.

Images