VEHICLE SIDE DOOR LATCH APPARATUS
20190024420 ยท 2019-01-24
Inventors
Cpc classification
E05B77/40
FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
E05B81/25
FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
International classification
E05B81/14
FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
Abstract
A compact vehicle side door latch apparatus has a latch that is rotated from an unlatched position to a fully-latched position, a ratchet that engages the latch in order to prevent the latch from being rotated in a releasing direction, a door opening link that is moved in a door opening direction in order to allow the ratchet to be disengaged from the latch, a motor that moves the door opening link in the door opening direction by motor power, and a door key lever that moves the door opening link in the door opening direction by an operation of a key plate. The door key lever is connected to the door opening link with play, and the motor power is transmitted to the door opening link without passing through disconnecting means of the power transmission path.
Claims
1. A vehicle side door latch apparatus comprising: a latch that has a half-latching step that defines a half-latched position and a fully-latching step that defines a fully-latched position and that is rotated from an unlatched position toward the fully-latched position by engaging a striker; a ratchet that engages the half-latching step and the fully-latching step in order to prevent the latch from being rotated in a releasing direction; a door opening link that is moved in a door opening direction from a waiting position in order to abut against the ratchet in order to allow the ratchet to be disengaged from the latch; a motor that moves the door opening link in the door opening direction from the waiting position; a door key lever that is connected to the door opening link with play in the door opening direction, wherein the door key lever moves the door opening link in the door opening direction from the waiting position by being rotated in a door opening direction by a key plate; and a power transmission path that does not have disconnecting means thereof and that always transmits power of the motor to the door opening link.
2. The vehicle side door latch apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an inner lever that is rotated in a door opening direction by a door opening operation of an inside door opening handle of a vehicle door, wherein the inner lever abuts against the door opening link by being rotated in the door opening direction and moves the door opening link in the door opening direction.
3. The vehicle side door latch apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a first cinching lever that moves the latch from the half-latched position to the fully-latched position; and a power unit that rotates the first cinching lever.
4. The vehicle side door latch apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising: a clutch lever that supports the first cinching lever; an emergency lever having one end that is connected to the door opening link and another end that is opposite to the clutch lever, wherein the first cinching lever has a central movable shaft, and the clutch lever has a bearing surface that only abuts against a lower surface of the movable shaft in order to support the movable shaft, and the first cinching lever is vertically supported only by the bearing surface, wherein the emergency lever is rotated by the door opening link being moved in the door opening direction, whereby said another end abuts against and rotates the clutch lever and moves the bearing surface downward away from the movable shaft.
5. The vehicle side door latch apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the first cinching lever is located apart from the bearing surface and is supported by the bearing surface when the first cinching lever is rotated by the power unit and abuts against the bearing surface.
6. The vehicle side door latch apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the power unit is arranged on an outer side of a metal inside door panel of a vehicle door such that the power unit overlaps a service hole of the inside door panel, as seen in a door width direction, wherein the service hole is covered with a sound insulating and absorbing cover.
7. The vehicle side door latch apparatus according to claim 6, further comprising a soundproofing closed housing that houses the power unit.
8. A vehicle side door latch apparatus comprising: a housing that includes a side housing portion and a front housing portion that is bent from the side housing portion, wherein the housing is formed in an L-shape, as seen from above; a latch that is housed in the front housing portion, that has a half-latching step that defines a half-latched position and a fully-latching step that defines a fully-latched position and that is rotated from an unlatched position toward the fully-latched position by engaging a striker; a ratchet that is housed in the front housing portion, that engages the half-latching step and the fully-latching step in order to prevent the latch from being rotated in a releasing direction and that is rotated about a ratchet shaft that extends in a vehicle front-rear direction of a vehicle; a door opening link that is housed in the side housing portion, that is moved upward in a door opening direction from a waiting position below in order to abut against the ratchet to allow the ratchet to be disengaged from the latch; a door opening lever that is housed in the side housing portion and that is rotated in a door opening direction about a door opening shaft that extends in a door width direction in order to move the door opening link that is in the waiting position in the door opening direction; a motor that is housed in the side housing portion and that moves the door opening lever in the door opening direction; a power unit that is arranged apart from the housing; a first cinching lever that is housed in the front housing portion and that is rotated about a movable shaft that extends in the vehicle front-rear direction by power of the motor in order to move the latch from the half-latched position to the fully-latched position; a door key lever that is housed in the side housing portion and that moves the door opening link in the door opening direction from the waiting position by being rotated in a door opening direction by a key plate; a casing cover that is attached to the side housing portion and that isolates the motor, the door opening lever and the door opening link from outside of the casing cover; and a power transmission path that does not have disconnecting means thereof and that always transmits power of the motor to the door opening link via the door opening lever, wherein the door opening lever is arranged between the door opening link and the motor, as seen in the vehicle front-rear direction, the door key lever is arranged above the door opening link, and the ratchet shaft is arranged between the latch shaft and the movable shaft in a vertical direction.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENT
[0034] An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the following drawings. The present invention can be applied to a normal swing type vehicle door, but the present invention can also be applied to a sliding type vehicle door.
[0035] Vehicle door latch apparatus 10 has latch unit 12, operation unit 13 and power unit 14. Latch unit 12 is fixed to the rear end of the vehicle door (inside door panel 11). Operation unit 13 is arranged on the rear side of and adjacent to latch unit 12. Power unit 14 supplies door cinching power to operation unit 13 in order to fully latch the vehicle door. It should be noted that latch unit 12 and operation unit 13 are not strictly differentiated or separated and that these can also be understood, as a whole, to represent a latch assembly.
[0036] Latch unit 12 is arranged at the rear end of a vehicle door, which is the part that is farthest from the rotational shaft of the vehicle door, such that the front side illustrated in
[0037] When the vehicle door is moved in the door closing direction by a sufficient manual door closing force, striker 15 goes into striker passage 18a that is formed in latch body 18. Striker 15 then abuts against striker engaging groove 16a of latch 16 in the unlatched position, that is depicted by the imaginary line in
[0038] As shown in
[0039] As shown in
[0040] First cinching lever 25 (
[0041] As shown in
[0042] Clutch lever 30 is provided with generally horizontal bearing surface 30a, which supports movable shaft 29 of first cinching lever 25 from below. Movable shaft 29 is only placed on bearing surface 30a and is not rotatably supported by any immobile element, such as latch body 18 or bracket 23. First cinching lever 25 works based on the principle of leverage, in which follower pin 28 is the point of effort, connecting pin 26 is the point of load and movable shaft 29 (bearing surface 30a) is the fulcrum. When the driving force of power unit 14 pushes down follower pin 28, which is the point of effort, first cinching lever 25 is rotated about the fulcrum in the anticlockwise direction and raises second cinching lever 27.
[0043] Guide pin 33 is provided in the upper part of second cinching lever 27. Guide pin 33 slidably engages vertical guide groove 18b that is formed on the front surface of latch body 18. Latch pushing end 27a is provided at the top end of second cinching lever 27. Latch pushing end 27a can abut against latch arm 16d of latch 16 in the half-latched position when latch pushing end 27a is raised, and thus latch pushing end 27a can rotate latch 16 to the fully-latched position.
[0044] When the door is open, first cinching lever 25 is biased in the clockwise direction in
[0045] As descried above, movable shaft 29 of first cinching lever 25 is only supported by bearing surface 30a of clutch lever 30 from below. This feature largely contributes to disconnecting the power transmission path between power unit 14 and second cinching lever 27. Specifically, the power transmission path can be disconnected by depriving movable shaft 29 (bearing surface 30a), which is the fulcrum of lever, from functioning as a fulcrum. The power transmission path can be quite easily disconnected by rotating clutch lever 30 in the anticlockwise direction in
[0046] Emergency lever 35 is rotatably supported by an immobile element, such as latch body 18, via shaft 36 that extends in the vehicle front-rear direction above another end 25b of first cinching lever 25. Emergency lever 35 is arranged on the rear side of latch body 18. Bent portion 35a of emergency lever 35 is opposite to abutting part 30b of clutch lever 30. Emergency lever 35 is biased in the anticlockwise direction in
[0047] As shown in
[0048] Clutch lever 30 is rotated in the clockwise direction by the elastic force of clutch spring 32 when it is disconnected from emergency lever 35. Bearing surface 30a returns to the waiting position shown in
[0049] As shown in
[0050] Side housing portion 24b houses motor 40 that opens the door and that is much smaller than power unit 14. Cylindrical worm gear 41 of motor 40 engages worm wheel gear 42, which is rotatably supported by main casing 24a via wheel shaft 42b that extends in the door width direction. Cam groove 42a is formed on the wheel surface. Worm wheel gear 42 is housed in side housing portion 24b.
[0051] In the vicinity of worm wheel gear 42, door opening lever 43 is rotatably supported by main casing 24a via door opening shaft 44 that extends in the door width direction. Follower pin 45 is formed on cam arm 43a of door opening lever 43 that extends leftward in
[0052] Worm wheel gear 42 is usually kept at the position illustrated in
[0053] Vertical door opening link 47 (
[0054] Bent abutting part 47b is provided at or near the center of door opening link 47 in the vertical direction. The end of abutting arm 43b of door opening lever 43 that extends rightward in
[0055] Ratchet pin 17b that is positioned at the end of ratchet 17 is opposite to the upper surface of bent abutting part 47b of door opening link 47 such that ratchet 17 is rotated in the clockwise direction in
[0056] Since motor 40 that disengages ratchet 17 from latch 16 by motor power is housed in side housing portion 24b of housing 24 that is covered with casing cover 24c, the operation noise is shielded and sound pressure is limited within an appropriate range. The driving force of motor 40 is transmitted through cam groove 42a that is formed on wheel gear 42 and follower pin 45 that is formed on door opening lever 43. This achieves proper sound pressure and sound quality.
[0057] In principal, door opening lever 43 (door opening link 47) of the present invention is rotated in the opening direction (moved in the opening direction) by the driving force of motor 40. Motor 40 is activated by a detection signal from sensor 48 that is provided on a door grip of a vehicle door or the like or by an opening signal from remote transmitter 49 that is held by a driver. Accordingly, the present invention provides vehicle door latch apparatus 10 in which a so-called locking mechanism that is used to shift between the locked state and the unlocked state and that is essential in the conventional vehicle door latch apparatus is omitted and whose structure is quite simple. In other words, disconnecting means to disconnect the power transmission path, such as locking mechanism can be omitted. This is because motor 40 can only be activated by a specific person.
[0058] In order to cope with malfunction of motor 40 or of the related power transmission path, two safety measures are adopted. The first measure is achieved by door key cylinder 50 (
[0059] Due to this arrangement, by rotating door key cylinder 50 by means of a proper key plate, it is possible for door opening link 47 to be raised under unexpected circumstances via connecting rod 52, to disengage ratchet 17 from latch 16 and thereby to place the door in the openable state.
[0060] The second measure is achieved by providing inside door opening handle 53 on the inner side of a vehicle door and by connecting inner lever 54 that is provided in side housing portion 24b of housing 24 to inside door opening handle 53 via cable 64. Inner lever 54 is rotated in the clockwise direction about inner shaft 55 in
[0061] In the arrangement described above, the structure in which the bottom part of door opening link 47 is supported by connecting arm 35b of emergency lever 35 is also advantageous. In daily operation, door opening link 47 that is only raised by the power of motor 40 activates clutch lever 30 via emergency lever 35 in order to inactivate the fulcrum of first cinching lever 25 each time door opening link 47 is raised. Accordingly, even when second cinching lever 27 is stopped at the upper fully-latched position due to a malfunction of power unit 14, second cinching lever 27 quickly returns to the lower waiting position due to the elastic force of return spring 39 in order to allow latch 16 to rotate in the releasing direction without any interference from second cinching lever 27 because when motor 40 is activated by an operation signal, the fulcrum of first cinching lever 25 is simultaneously inactivated.
[0062] In addition, the arrangement in which door opening link 47 is supported by emergency lever 35 simplifies the structure and enables rational design.
[0063] As shown in
[0064] Power lever 57 is connected to power unit 14 via cable 58. Power lever 57 is provided with abutting pin 59 that extends in the door width direction. Abutting pin 59 engageably faces follower pin 28 of first cinching lever 25. When power lever 57 is rotated due to the power of power unit 14, abutting pin 59 pushes down follower pin 28, rotates first cinching lever 25 in the anticlockwise direction in
[0065] As shown
[0066] Power unit 14 is a sound proofing closed unit having housing 63 that houses motor 40 and a reduction gear unit. As compared to an arrangement in which power unit 14 is arranged on the back side of a metal surface of inside door panel 11 and in which power unit 14 overlaps the metal surface of inside door panel 11 in the door width direction, excellent sound pressure and sound quality can be obtained due to the synergy of the sound isolating and absorbing effect of housing 63 and sound insulating and absorbing cover 62.
[0067] Although certain preferred embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described in detail, it should be understood that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the appended claims.
LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS
[0068] 10 vehicle door latch apparatus [0069] 11 inside door panel [0070] 12 latch unit [0071] 13 operation unit [0072] 14 power unit [0073] 15 striker [0074] 16 latch [0075] 16a striker engaging groove [0076] 16b half-latching step [0077] 16c full-latching step [0078] 16d latch arm [0079] 17 ratchet [0080] 17a engaging end [0081] 17b ratchet pin [0082] 18 latch body [0083] 18a striker passage [0084] 18b guide groove [0085] 19 latch shaft [0086] 20 ratchet shaft [0087] 21 cover plate [0088] 21a notched passage [0089] 22 back plate [0090] 23 bracket [0091] 23a fixed lateral plate [0092] 23b fixed vertical plate [0093] 24 housing [0094] 24a main casing [0095] 24b side housing portion [0096] 24c casing cover [0097] 24d front housing portion [0098] 24e gap [0099] 25 first cinching lever [0100] 25a one end [0101] 25b another end [0102] 26 connecting pin [0103] 27 second cinching lever [0104] 27a latch pushing end [0105] 28 follower pin [0106] 29 movable shaft [0107] 30 clutch lever [0108] 30a bearing surface [0109] 31 shaft [0110] 32 clutch spring [0111] 33 guide pin [0112] 34 cinching spring [0113] 35 emergency lever [0114] 35a bent portion [0115] 35b connecting arm [0116] 36 shaft [0117] 37 return lever [0118] 38 shaft [0119] 39 return spring [0120] 40 motor [0121] 41 worm gear [0122] 42 wheel gear [0123] 42a cam groove [0124] 42a wheel shaft [0125] 43 door opening lever [0126] 43a cam arm [0127] 44 door opening shaft [0128] 45 follower pin [0129] 46 opening spring [0130] 47 door opening link [0131] 47a connecting hole [0132] 48 sensor [0133] 49 remote transmitter [0134] 50 door key cylinder [0135] 51 door key lever [0136] 52 connecting rod [0137] 52a bottom end [0138] 53 inside door opening handle [0139] 54 inner lever [0140] 54a abutting end [0141] 54b cable connection [0142] 55 inner shaft [0143] 56 shaft [0144] 57 power lever [0145] 58 cable [0146] 59 abutting pin [0147] 60 service hole [0148] 61 attachment plate [0149] 62 sound insulating and absorbing cover [0150] 63 housing [0151] 64 cable