MOTOR VEHICLE LATCH

Abstract

A motor vehicle latch, in particular a motor vehicle side-door latch, comprising a latch plate and comprising a locking mechanism which is mounted on the latch plate and consists substantially of a catch and pawl. The latch plate has an inlet jaw for a latch holder that enters therein and interacts with the locking mechanism. The inlet jaw is reinforced by a circumferential flange. According to the invention, the flange has at least one interruption which completely or partially reduces its installation height in order to compensate for deformations of the latch plate caused by tensile forces.

Claims

1. A motor vehicle latch for a motor vehicle side-door, the motor vehicle latch comprising: a latch plate; and a locking mechanism mounted on the latch plate, said locking mechanism consisting of a catch and at least one pawl, said latch plate having an inlet jaw for a latch holder that enters therein and interacts with the locking mechanism, and a circumferential flange configured to reinforce the inlet jaw, wherein the flange has at least one interruption portion which completely or partially reduces an installation height of the flange to compensate for deformations of the latch plate caused by tensile forces.

2. The motor vehicle latch of claim 1, wherein the flange has two interruption portions.

3. The motor vehicle latch of claim 2, wherein the two interruption portions are spaced by a distance greater than a penetration depth thereof in the flange.

4. The motor vehicle latch of claim 3, wherein the distance is at least 1.5 times the penetration depth.

5. The motor vehicle latch of claim 1, wherein the at least one interruption portion is formed at an edge of the inlet jaw facing a pawl bearing pin.

6. The motor vehicle latch of claim 1, wherein the flange is U-shaped in cross-section.

7. The motor vehicle latch of claim 1, wherein the flange surrounds the inlet jaw in a U-shape.

8. The motor vehicle latch of claim 1, wherein the flange has an extension in a direction of an edge of the latch plate.

9. The motor vehicle latch of claim 1, wherein the latch plate is largely planar.

10. The motor vehicle latch of claim 1, wherein the at least one interruption portion is formed as a notch.

11. The motor vehicle latch of claim 2, wherein the two interruption portions are formed at an edge of the inlet jaw facing a pawl bearing pin.

12. The motor vehicle latch of claim 2, wherein the flange is U-shaped in cross-section.

13. (canceled)

14. The motor vehicle latch of claim 2, wherein the flange has an extension in a direction of an edge of the latch plate.

15. The motor vehicle latch of claim 3, wherein the flange is U-shaped in cross-section.

16. The motor vehicle latch of claim 3, wherein the flange surrounds the inlet jaw in a U-shape.

17. The motor vehicle latch of claim 6, wherein the flange has an extension in a direction of an edge of the latch plate.

18. The motor vehicle latch of claim 7, wherein the flange has an extension in a direction of an edge of the latch plate.

19. The motor vehicle latch of claim 1, wherein the at least one interruption portion is formed as a wedge-shaped incision.

20. The motor vehicle latch of claim 1 further comprising a latch case connected to the latch plate.

21. A method of forming a motor vehicle latch, the method comprising: punching a latch plate from a sheet steel material; deep-drawing the latch plate, wherein a locking mechanism is mounted on the latch plate and includes a catch and at least one pawl, the latch plate having an inlet jaw for a latch holder that enters therein and interacts with the locking mechanism, and a circumferential flange configured to reinforce the inlet jaw; and notching the latch plate to form at least one interruption portion on the flange which completely or partially reduces an installation height of the flange to compensate for deformations of the latch plate caused by tensile forces.

Description

[0022] The invention will be described in the following on the basis of an exemplary embodiment which simply describes a motor vehicle latch in more detail. In the drawings:

[0023] FIG. 1 is a perspective overview of the motor vehicle latch;

[0024] FIG. 2 is a plan view of the associated latch plate of the motor vehicle latch according to FIG. 1 and

[0025] FIG. 3 is a cross section through the latch plate according to FIG. 2 along the line A-A

[0026] FIG. 4 is a cross section through the latch plate according to FIG. 2 along the line B-B.

[0027] A motor vehicle latch is shown in the drawings. The motor vehicle latch shown is a motor vehicle side door latch, i.e. a motor vehicle latch installed into a motor vehicle side-door or onto such a motor vehicle side-door. The shown use of the motor vehicle latch as a motor vehicle side door latch is intended as an example only, the motor vehicle latch can be used for other motor vehicle doors, for example rear doors, or for motor vehicle hoods, slidings door etc. The motor vehicle latch has a latch case 1 and a latch plate 1′ as essential structural elements. It can be seen from the drawings that the latch case 1 is L-shaped in cross section and has a long L-leg 1a and a short L-leg 1b for this purpose. The latch case 1 is in this case oriented in the motor vehicle in or on the motor vehicle side-door in question such that the long L-leg 1a extends substantially in the transverse or Y-direction of the vehicle indicated in FIG. 1. On the other hand, the short L-leg 1b is oriented in the longitudinal or X-direction of the vehicle. In addition, the vertical axes or Z-direction of the vehicle are also indicated in FIG. 1. The latch plate 1′ extends in parallel with the long L-leg 1a of the latch plate 1 and is joined thereon so as to house a locking mechanism 2, 3.

[0028] The latch case 1 and the latch plate 1′ are used to mount the locking mechanism 2, 3 consisting substantially of a catch 2 and at least one pawl 3. In principle, a multi-pawl locking mechanism could also be mounted in the latch case 1. For this purpose, the catch 2 has a catch bearing pin 4 and the pawl has a pawl bearing pin 5. The catch bearing pin 4 is anchored in an opening 6 in the latch case 1 and the latch plate 1′. In order to anchor the pawl bearing pin 5, a further opening 7 is provided in the latch case 1 and the latch plate 1′ and can be seen in particular in FIGS. 2 and 3. The two pins extend primarily in the X-direction.

[0029] The latch case 1 and the latch plate 1′ are provided with an inlet jaw 8 via which a latch holder 13 can enter and interact with the locking mechanism 2, 3 in a known manner. While the described motor vehicle latch is usually fastened in or on the motor vehicle side-door, the latch holder 13 is often on the vehicle-body side, so that, when the motor vehicle door is closed with respect to the vehicle body, the latch holder 13 automatically enters the locking mechanism 2, 3 via the inlet jaw 8 and is retained by the catch 2, which itself is secured by means of the latching pawl 3.

[0030] A circumferential flange 9 on the latch plate 1′, which reinforces the inlet jaw 8 and is shown in particular in the figures, is of particular significance for the invention. It can in fact be seen from FIG. 2 that the flange 9 is approximately U-shaped in plan view and surrounds the inlet jaw 8. In addition, the flange 9 according to the exemplary embodiment is also provided with an extension 10 in the direction of an edge 11 of the latch plate 1′. The edge 11 of the latch plate 1′ is an edge which faces the pawl bearing pin 5 or the opening 7 in the latch plate 1′ which accommodates said pin, which edge constitutes a lower edge when the motor vehicle latch is installed.

[0031] According to the invention, this flange 9 is provided with at least one interruption 12 which can be seen in plan view in FIG. 2 and can be seen in cross section in FIGS. 3 and 4. In fact, two interruptions 12 are produced at this point, as is made clear in particular by the longitudinal cross section through the flange 9 according to the view in FIG. 3.

[0032] Deformations of the latch plate 1′, and thus also of the latch case 1, caused by tensile forces F are compensated for by means of the one or the two interruptions 12. The tensile forces F are those which act on the motor vehicle latch in the Y or transverse direction of the vehicle according to the view in FIGS. 1 and 2 and which are effective in a direction corresponding to a door being opened. Consequently, the latch holder 13 acts on the catch 2 in the opening sense, which catch is secured by the pawl 3 in the shown closed position of the locking mechanism 2, 3.

[0033] The forces F acting at this point, as already described at the outset, ensure that the latch plate 1′ is deformed by means of the associated catch bearing pin 4 and also the pawl bearing pin 5. In this process, the deformation tends to be greater in the region of the pawl bearing pin 5 than in the region of the catch bearing pin 4, as has already been mentioned at the outset. The invention takes account of this in that the two interruptions 12 are provided at an edge 9c of the circumferential flange 9 facing the pawl bearing pin 5. In fact, the flange 9 has the aforementioned U-shaped nature with an edge 9a facing the catch bearing pin 4 or the opening 6 accommodating said pin, with a further edge 9b which restricts the movement of the latch holder 13 within the inlet jaw 8 and extends perpendicularly thereto, and finally with the aforementioned edge 9c facing the pawl bearing pin 5 or the opening 7 in the latch plate 1′ accommodating said pin.

[0034] It can be seen from FIGS. 3 and 4 that the flange 9 is U-shaped in cross section overall. In addition, the relevant interruption 12 is defined in the flange 9 such that it completely or partially reduces its installation height H shown in FIG. 3. It can be seen from FIG. 3 that the installation height H is fully or completely reduced in the region of the interruption 12, i.e. in the region of the interruption 12 the flange 9 ultimately does not have an installation height H. The interruption 12 in the context of the exemplary embodiment is advantageously a notch, i.e. a largely wedge-shaped incision which is made in the flange 9 by means of a notching tool, whereby in the present case the penetration depth of the notching tool corresponds to the installation height H.

[0035] It can also be seen from FIGS. 3 and 4 that the two interruptions 12 are at a distance A which in the exemplary embodiment is greater than the relevant penetration depth thereof in the flange 9, which presently corresponds to the installation height H. This means that the following applies:

A>H.

[0036] The distance A can in fact often even be at least 1.5 times the relevant penetration depth.

[0037] As explained above, the latch case 1 is L-shaped in cross section or is of a largely planar nature. In addition, the latch case 1 and the latch plate 1′ are usually made from sheet steel, with various established production methods, such as punching, deep-drawing and notching, being combined in this respect. The above-described extension 10 of the flange 9 in the direction of the edge 11 ensures overall that the latch plate 1′ is additionally reinforced in the region of the pawl bearing pin 5 or the opening 7 accommodating said pin. Nevertheless, the interruptions 12 or notches made at this point allow deformations of the latch plate 1′ in this region, so that the high forces F described at the outset can be absorbed in particular in the transverse or Y-direction of the vehicle.