US3128113A - Rotary bolt door latch - Google Patents

Abstract

939,838. Vehicle door latches. GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION. May 22, 1962 [May 26, 1961], No. 19575/62. Class 44. A vehicle door latch having a rotatable bolt with a detent lever for holding the bolt against unlatching has an actuator lever for releasing the detent lever, and an operator lever for moving said actuator lever via an intermittent lever thereon, the intermittent lever being movable to a position in which it is out of the path of said operator lever. The bolt 38 is held in latched position by the detent lever 46, Fig. 6, under the influence of the clockwise spring loading of actuator lever 70, Fig. 7, which is pivoted about axis 72, Fig. 3, and whose forked end 76 embraces the end 52 of the detent lever 46. Pivoted on actuator lever 70 at 78 is the intermittent lever 80 which may take up one or other of two over-centre positions under the control of a spring 96 and a lug 92 bent up from actuator lever 70 into an aperture 94 in the intermittent lever 80. In the normal (counterclockwise) position of the intermittent lever, the position of the parts is as in Fig. 3. Manual pressure on a push-rod 22, Fig. 2, moves a spring-loaded operator lever 60 so that a tongue 64 thereon, Figs. 3 and 6, engages a projection 90 on the intermittent lever 80 and moves the actuator lever 70 to unlatch the detent lever 46. When a vehicle is locked by a lock 24, Fig. 1, a link 26 trips the intermittent lever 80 into the downward position, as shown in Fig. 4, so that the projection 90 is out of the path of the lug 64 on the operator lever 60 and therefore cannot be unlatched by push-rod 22. The intermittent lever 80 may also be tripped into such position from inside the vehicle by a remote control bar 30 under the influence of a handle 28, whereby the end of the bar 30 engages an arm 84 on said intermittent lever 80 to trip it to unlocked position. In the event of the door being inadvertently locked while the door is open, either by key or operation of handle 28, the closing of the door causes the detent 50 to be lifted over one of .the teeth of wheel 44 whereby the actuator lever is moved temporarily to the position shown in Fig. 5 and causes a lug 68 on the operator lever 60 to engage a projection 91 on the intermittent lever and trip same to the unlocked position. The door may be opened at all times by the indoor lever 28 by an upward movement which rotates the actuator lever counterclockwise, as shown in Fig. 5, to release detent lever 46. The door may be locked without a key by operating handle 28 and then pressing push-rod 22 during closing, whereby the lug 68 is moved temporarily out of the path of projection 91 on the intermittent lever.

Description

April 7, 1964 c. H. LEE

ROTARY BOLT DOOR LATCH 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 26, 1961 uvmvrox. (Zarles Mz/vla Bee ATTORNEY April 7, 1964 6:. H. LEE

ROTARY BOLT DOOR LATCH Filed May 26, 1961 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. Charles Mrrold fee ATTORNEY April 7, 1964 c. H. LEE

ROTARY BOLT DOOR LATCH 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed May 26, 1961 INVENTOR. (fidrles Harold fee ATTORNEY United States Patent Ofi 3,128,113 Patented Apr. 7, 1964 3,128,113 ROTARY BOLT DOOR LATCH Charles Harold Lee, Tayior, Mich, assiguor to General Motors Corporation, Detroit, Mich, a corporation of Delaware Filed May 26, I961, Ser. No. 12,859 8 Claims. (Cl. 292280) This invention relates to a vehicle door latch, and more particularly to an improved door latch for an automobile.

One feature of the invention is that it provides an improved vehicle door latch. Another feature of the invention is that it provides a detented door latch having outside latch operating means, inside latch operating means, and an intermittent member mounted on the inside latch operating means for movement between an unlocked position wherein it couples the outside latch operating means to the detent through said inside latch operating means, and a locked position wherein the outside latch operating means is uncoupled from the detent. A further feature of the invention is that it provides a door latch having a rotary gear type bolt with a detent for holding the bolt against rotation in an unlatching direction, outside latch operating means including a push bu ton lever, inside latch operating means including a remote control lever, and an intermittent member pivotally mounted on the remote control lever for movement between an unlocked position wherein it couples said push button lever to said detent through the remote control lever and a locked position wherein said push button lever is uncoupled from said detent. Still another feature of the invention is that it provides a novel automatic unlocking means comprising a first abutment on the outside latch operating means and a second abutment on the intermittent member adapted to engage the first abutment upon movement of the detent from latched position to unlatched position to move the intermittent member from locked position to unlocked position.

Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description, having reference to the drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary side elevational view of an automobile having the improved door latch mounted in the automobile door, parts which underlie the door outer panel being shown in broken lines.

FIGURE 2 is an isometric view of the door latch removed from the door.

FIGURE 3 is a vertical section through the door latch taken along the line 33 of FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 4 is a section similar to FIGURE 3 but showing the parts in another position.

FIGURE 5 is a section similar to FIGURE 3 but showing the parts in still another position.

FIGURE 6 is a vertical section taken on the line 6-6 of FIGURE 3; and

FIGURE 7 is a vertical section taken along the line 77 of FIGURE 5.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, an automobile designated generally as 10 has a body which is shown only fragmentarily in FIGURE 1 at 12, and a door 14 is hingedly mounted on the body in conventional manner as is well understood in the art. Inside the door and adjacent the free swinging edge thereof there is mounted a door latch designated generally as 16. The door outer panel carries a fixedly mounted outside gripping handle 18 which slidably mounts an outside push button 20 which is connected to a push button rod 22 for outside operation of the door latch. A conventional key cylinder 24 is mounted on the door and is connected to the latch by a connecting rod 26 for locking and unlocking the door from outside the automobile. On the door inner panel inside the passenger compartment of the car there is a conventional type of remote control turn handle 28 which is connected by a rod 30 to the door latch for controlling operation of the door latch from inside the car.

FIGURES 2-7 show the detailed construction of the latch 16. The latch frame includes a body portion 32 which is mounted in conventional manner on the inner surface of the jamb wall of the automobile door by bolts which extend through bolt mounting openings 34 formed in the frame body 32. A right angular flange portion 36 is bent from the frame body 32 and extends parallel to the door inner panel inside the door. Latching means include a gear type bolt 38 (see FIGS. 6 and 7) which is rotatably journaled between the frame body 32 and the outer wall of a bolt housing 4t) which projects out through an opening in the jamb wall of the door for engagement with a conventional toothed striker which is mounted on the vehicle body 12. The striker and its manner of engagement with the bolt form no part of this invention and the striker is not illustrated in the drawings. For a complete disclosure of a suitable striker and the manner in which it engages the bolt, reference may be made to Cockburn et al. Patent No. 2,871,049, entitled Rotary Gear Bolt Door Latch. The bolt 38 is fixedly mounted on a bolt shaft 42 which is rotatable on the latch frame and which also fixedly mounts a cam or ratchet member 44 which lies along the inner surface of the frame body 32. The bolt 33 and cam 44 which comprise the latching means rotate as a unit.

In order to hold the latching means against movement in an unlatching direction so that the door will remain latched, there is a detent designated generally as 46 and pivotally mounted on a stud 48 which projects from the frame body 32. The detent has a hook shaped foot 50 adapted to engage the cam 44 as shown in FIGURES 2 and 6 to hold the latch means against rotation in an un latching or door opening direction. It should be noted that the teeth of the cam 44 are so shaped that upon rotation of the latching means in a latching or door closing direction, the detent will be cammed out of the way by the sloping back surface of the ratchet teeth. At its other end the detent is formed with an actuating arm 52 which projects inwardly through a slot formed in the flange portion 36 of the latch frame.

Outside latch operating means comprises a push button lever designated generally at 54 pivotally mounted on the stud 4S coaxially with the detent 46, and a spring 56 is coiled about the mounting stud 48 and has one arm anchored in a bent tab 58 on the latching frame and the other arm hooked into the push button lever 54 so that the spring yieldably urges the push button lever in a counterclockwise direction to an operative position as the parts appear in FIGURES 2 and 6. The push button lever has an upstanding arm 60 terminating in a right angular flange 62 which is located opposite and adjacent the free end of the push button rod 22 so that upon depression of the push button 2i) the push button lever will be swung from the operative position of FIGURES 2 and 6 to the operated position of FIGURE 7. Near the lower end of the upstanding arm 60 the push button lever is formed with an actuating shoulder 64 (see FIGS. 6 and 7) for engagement with an intermittent member in a manner later to be described, and the push button lever is also formed with a horizontally extending arm 66 terminating in a downwardly projecting undogging abutment 68.

A remote control lever designated generally as 70 is pivotally mounted on a stud '72 projecting from the flange portion 36 of the latch frame. The remote control lever 7 has an integral rearwardly projecting arm 74 terminating in bifurcated fingers 76 which straddle the free end of the detent actuating arm 52 to provide an operative connection from the remote control lever directly to the detent. Near its lower rear corner the remote control lever mounts a stud 78 which pivotally supports an intermittent member designated generally as 80 having a downwardly projecting arm 82 formed at its lower end with a bent inside locking tab 84. A generally horizontally extending arm 86 provides a mounting near its forward end for an outside locking pin 88 and the intermittent member is formed with an upwardly extending arm 9% which terminates below and closely adjacent the actuating shoulder 64 of the push button lever. The intermittent member is swingable relative to the remote control lever upon which it is mounted from the unlocked position of FIGURE 3 to the locked position of FIGURE 4, movement between these two positions being limited by a tab 92 which projects from the remote control lever through a slot R4 which is formed in the intermittent member. An over center spring 96 is connected between the remote control lever and the intermittent member to yieldably hold the intermittent member either in locked or unlocked position as selected.

The remote control lever is slidably connected near its lower forward corner to the rod 30 which extends from remote handle 28. This slidable connection is made by a pin 93 which extends through a slot 109 in the rod 30. In order to open the door from the outside, the push button 20 is depressed, moving the push rod 22 against the actuating flange 62 of the push button lever so that push button lever 54 is swung from the operative position of FIG- URES 2 and 6 to the operated position of FIGURE 7. During this movement of the push button lever its actuating shoulder 64 picks up the upstanding arm 90 of the intermittent member Bil. As will be apparent from examination of FIGURE 3, force against the intermittent member is substantially in the direction of the pivot stud 78 so that the intermittent member is not caused to swing relative to the remote control lever upon which it is mounted. Instead, the intermittent member and the remote control lever swing as a unit about the axis of the stud 72 so that the remote control lever 70 moves to the operated position of FIGURE 5, and swings the detent from its latched position as illustrated in FIGURES 2 and 6 to its unlatched position, as illustrated in FIGURE 7, where the detent foot 50 is out of engagement with the ratchet 44. With the parts in this position the latching means is freely rotatable and the door may be opened.

When finger pressure on the push button 20 is released the parts are returned to their original position by means of a spring 102 which is coiled about the stud 78 and has one end anchored against the latch frame and the other end bearing against a tab 104 which is bent from the remote control lever. The spring 102 biases the remote control lever toward its operative position and also biases the detent toward its latched position. As the detent approaches that position, it will bear against an adjacent tooth of the ratchet 44 to turn the latching means to a proper position where the detent foot seats against the ratchet in the manner shown in FIGURES 2 and 6. During the above described outside latch operation, the slidable connection between the pin 98 on remote control lever 70 and the slot 100 in the remote connecting rod 30 permits the unlatching operation to occur without disturbing the position of the rod 30 or the remote handle 2%. If it is required to open the door from inside the car, the remote handle 28 is turned in a direction to pull on the rod 30. The rod 30 will swing the remote lever 70 in a counterclockwise direction in FIGURE 3 from its operative position to its operated position, thus moving the detent from latched position to unlatched position.

Locking from outside the car may be accomplished by turning a proper key in the key cylinder 24 to pull down on the locking rod 26 which connects the key cylinder 24 with the outside locking pin 88. This operation swings the intermittent member relative to the remote control lever from the unlocked position of FIGURE 3 to the locked position of FIGURE 4. With the intermittent member in its locked position, its upwardly extending arm 96 is out of the path of movement of the actuating shoulder 64 of the push button lever, so that the door is locked against outside actuation and when the push button 20 is depressed the push button lever 54 merely free wheels without picking up the intermittent member. It should be noted that even though the door is locked against outside actuation it can be opened from the inside, since the remote rod 34 is connected directly to the remote control lever 70 and does not operate through the intermittent member In order to lock the door from the inside, the remote handle 28 is turned in a direction to push on the rod 30 so that the rod moves from the position of FIGURE 3 to the position of FIGURE 4. During this movement the end of the rod picks up the inside locking tab 84 on the intermittent member and swings the intermittent member to locked position.

The improved latch includes the features of automatic undogging and keyless locking. Automatic undogging means that when the latch parts are placed in locked position while the door is open, subsequent closing of the door will cause the latch parts to move back to unlocked posi* tion so that the operator will not be locked out of the car. Whenever the door is closed the latching means turns in a latching direction as the teeth of the bolt 38 ride over the striker as shown in Patent 2,871,049. As the latching means turns in this manner, the sloping back side of one or more of the teeth of the ratchet 44 cams the detent so that the detent swings in a clockwise direction from the position of FIGURE 6 to the position of FIGURE 7. Since the arm 52 of the detent is connected to the remote control lever 70, the remote control lever and the intermittent member 86 will be swung about the axis of the mounting stud 72 so that the undogging abutment 91 on the intermittent member engages the complementary undogging abutment 68 on the push button lever, causing the intermittent member to swing from locked position to unlocked position.

If desired, the operator can lock the door without use of the key merely by depressing the push button 20 during the time the door is being closed. This operation swings the push button lever 54- to its operated position (FIG. 7) where the undogging abutment 68 is out of the path of movement of the undogging member 91 on the intermittent member.

While I have shown and described one embodiment of my invention, it is capable of many modifications. Changes, therefore, in the construction and arrangement may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A vehicle door latch of the character described, including: a latch frame; latching means movably mounted on said frame; detent means mounted for movement between latched position in engagement with said latching means to hold the latching means against movement in an unlatching direction, and unlatched position out of holding engagement with said latching means; outside latch operating means; inside latch operating means coupled directly to said detent means; and means for coupling said outside latch operating means to said detent means, including an intermittent member mounted on said inside latch operating means for movement between an unlocked position wherein it couples said outside latch operating means to said detent means through said inside latch operating means, and a locked position wherein said outside latch operating means is uncoupled from said detent means.

2. A vehicle door latch of the character described, including: a latch frame; latching means movably mounted on said frame; detent means mounted for movement between latched position in engagement with said latching means to hold the latching means against movement in an unlatching direction, and unlatched position out of holding engagement with said latching means; outside latch operating means comprising a push button lever; inside latch operating means comprising a remote control lever coupled directly to said detent means; and means for coupling said push button lever to said detent means, including an intermittent member mounted on said remote control lever for movement between an unlocked position wherein it couples said push button lever to said detent means through said remote control lever, and a locked position wherein said push button lever is uncoupled from said detent means.

3. A vehicle door latch of the character described, including: a latch frame; latching means movably mounted on said frame; detent means pivotally mounted on said frame for movement between latched position in engagement with said latching means to hold the latching means against movement in an unlatching direction, and unlatched position out of holding engagement with said latching means; outside latch operating means comprising a push button lever mounted on said frame for movement between operative and operated positions; inside latch operating means comprising a remote control lever mounted on said frame for movement between operative and operated positions; means operatively connecting said remote control lever directly to said detent means; and an intermittent member mounted on said remote control lever for movement between an unlocked position wherein it couples said push button lever to said detent means through said remote control lever, and a locked position wherein said push button lever is uncoupled from said detent means.

4. A vehicle door latch of the character described, including: a latch frame; latching means rotatably mounted on said frame; a detent pivotally mounted on said frame for movement between latched position in engagement with said latching means to hold the latching means against rotation in an unlatching direction, and unlatched position out of holding engagement with said latching means; outside latch operating means comprising a push button lever pivotally mounted on said frame for movement between operative and operated positions; inside latch operating means comprising a remote control lever pivotally mounted on said frame for movement between operative and operated positions; means operatively connecting said remote control lever directly to said detent; and an intermittent member pivotally mounted on said remote control lever for movement between an unlocked position wherein it couples said push button lever to said detent through said remote control lever, and a locked position wherein said push button lever is uncoupled from said detent.

5. A vehicle door latch of the character described, including: a latch frame; latching means movably mounted on said frame; detent means mounted for movement between latched position in engagement with said latching means to hold the latching means against movement in an unlatching direction, and unlatched position out of holding engagement with said latching means; outside latch operating means; inside latch operating means connected directly to said detent means, means for coupling said outside latch operating means to said detent means, including an intermittent member mounted on said inside latch operating means for movement between an unlocked position wherein it couples said outside latch operating means to said detent means, and a locked position wherein said outside latch operating means is uncoupled from said detent means; and automatic unlocking means comprising a first abutment on said outside latch operating means and a second abutment on said intermittent member adapted to engage said first abutment upon movement of said detent means from latched position to unlatched position to move said intermittent member from locked position to unlocked position.

6. A vehicle door latch of the character described including: a latch frame; latching means movably mounted on said frame; detent means mounted for movement between latched position in engagement with said latching means to hold the latching means against movement in an unlatching direction, and unlatched position out of holding engagement with said latching means; outside latch operating means; inside latch operating means; means coupling said inside latch operating means directly to said detent means; means for coupling said outside i'atch operating means to said detent means, including an intermittent member mounted on said inside latch operating means for movement between an unlocked position wherein it couples said outside latch operating means to said detent means, and a locked position wherein said outside latch operating means is uncoupled from said detent means; and automatic unlocking means comprising a first abutment on said outside latch operating means and a second abutment on said intermittent member adapted to engage said first abutment upon movement of said detent means from latched position to unlatched position to move said intermittent member from locked position to unlocked position, said first abutment being moved out of the path of movement of said second abutment upon operation of said outside latch operating means to prevent automatic unlocking.

7. A vehicle door latch of the character described, including: a latch frame; latch means movably mounted on said frame; detent means pivotally mounted on said frame for movement between latched position in engagement with said latching means to hold the latching means against movement in an unlatching direction, and unlatched position out of holding engagement with said latching means; outside latch operating means comprising a push button lever mounted on said frame for movement between operative and operated positions; inside latch operating means comprising a remote control lever mounted on said frame for movement between operative and operated positions; means operatively connecting said remote control lever directly to said detent means; an intermittent member mounted on said remote control lever for movement between an unlocked position wherein it couples said push button lever to said detent means through said remote control lever, and a locked position wherein said push button lever is uncoupled from said detent means; and automatic locking means comprising a first abutment on said push button lever and a second abutment on said intermittent member adapted to engage said first abutment upon movement of said detent means from latched position to unlatched position to move said intermittent member from locked position to unlocked position.

8. A vehicle door latch of the character described, including: a latch frame; latching means rotatably mounted on said frame; a detent pivotally mounted on said frame for movement between latched position in engagement with said latching means to hold the latching means against rotation in an unlatching direction, and unlatched position out of holding engagement with said latching means; outside latch operating means comprising a push button lever pivotally mounted on said frame for movement between operative and operated positions; inside latch operating means comprising a remote control lever pivotally mounted on said frame for movement between operative and operated positions; means operatively con necting said remote control lever directly to said detent; an intermittent member pivotally mounted on said remote control lever for movement between an unlocked position wherein it couples said push button lever to said detent through said remote control lever, and a locked '1 position wherein said push button lever is uncoupled from said detent; and automatic unlocking means comprising a first abutment on said push button lever and a second abutment on said intermittent member adapted to engage said first abutment upon movement of said detent means from latched position to unlatched position to move said intermittent member from locked position to unlocked position, said first abutment being moved out of the path References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Dingman et a1. Nov. 8, 1955 Cockburn et a1. Sept. 15, 1959 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3,128,113 April 7, 1964 Charles Harold Lee It is hereby certified that error appears in the above numbered patent requiring correction and that the said Letters Patent should read as corrected below.

Column 6, line 51, for locking" read unlocking Signed and sealed this 13th day of October 1964.

(SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD J. BRENNER Commissioner of Patents ERNEST W. SWIDER Attestin-g Officer

Claims (1)

1. A VEHICLE DOOR LATCH OF THE CHARACTER DESCRIBED, INCLUDING: A LATCH FRAME; LATCHING MEANS MOVABLY MOUNTED ON SAID FRAME; DETENT MEANS MOUNTED FOR MOVEMENT BETWEEN LATCHED POSITION IN ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID LATCHING MEANS TO HOLD THE LATCHING MEANS AGAINST MOVEMENT IN AN UNLATCHING DIRECTION, AND UNLATCHED POSITION OUT OF HOLDING ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID LATCHING MEANS; OUTSIDE LATCH OPERATING MEANS; INSIDE LATCH OPERATING MEANS COUPLED DIRECTLY TO SAID DETENT MEANS; AND MEANS FOR COUPLING SAID OUTSIDE LATCH OPERATING MEANS TO SAID DETENT MEANS, INCLUDING AN INTERMITTENT MEMBER MOUNTED ON SAID INSIDE LATCH OPERATING MEANS FOR MOVEMENT BETWEEN AN UNLOCKED POSITION WHEREIN IT COUPLES SAID OUTSIDE LATCH OPERATING MEANS TO SAID DETENT MEANS THROUGH SAID INSIDE LATCH OPERATING MEANS, AND A LOCKED POSITION WHEREIN SAID OUTSIDE LATCH OPERATING MEANS IS UNCOUPLED FROM SAID DETENT MEANS.

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