Patents Assigned to Kiekert GmbH & Co. KG
  • Patent number: 5505506
    Abstract: A motor-vehicle door latch has a molded synthetic-resin housing having a floor side plate, a perimeter wall projecting laterally from an inside face of the plate, and a cover plate. The housing is unitarily formed with a plurality of pivots. Mechanism inside the housing includes a latching fork, a latching pawl, and operating levers mounted on respective pivots. A metal reinforcing plate is imbedded in the floor side plate only in the region of the fork and pawl and is unitarily formed with upstanding tabs extending into and imbedded in the pivots of the fork and pawl only. The pivots of the operating levers are substantially wholly formed of the plastic of the housing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 18, 1994
    Date of Patent: April 9, 1996
    Assignee: Kiekert GmbH & Co. KG
    Inventor: Frank Kleefeldt
  • Patent number: 5494324
    Abstract: The instant invention is used in combination with a door-post surface and a motor-vehicle door latch having a pivotable latch element. It is a bolt assembly having a metal plate unitarily formed with a pair of flat coplanar flanges each formed with a mounting hole and a holding portion projecting laterally from the flanges. A mass of a durable plastic material generally covers at least the flanges of the plate and forms an outside surface engaging the door-post surface and an inside surface turned away from the door-post surface. The bolt is formed at the holding portion with a transversely open recess adapted to receive the latch element. The flanges have raised portions extending to and exposed at the outside surface for direct contact with the door-post surface but otherwise are wholly imbedded beneath the inside and outside surfaces of the mass at the flanges.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 18, 1994
    Date of Patent: February 27, 1996
    Assignee: Kiekert GmbH & Co. KG
    Inventor: Frank Kleefeldt
  • Patent number: 5494322
    Abstract: A motor-vehicle door latch has a lock fork engageable with a door bolt and a release pawl engageable with the fork. A lever mechanism connected to the release pawl can operate the release pawl. A locking element pivoted on the housing about an element axis and operatively connected to the lever mechanism is formed with an outwardly open notch and is displaceable for decoupling the lever mechanism from the release pawl in the locked position of the locking element and for coupling the lever mechanism to the release pawl in the unlocked position of the locking element. A cutout lever is pivotable on the housing about a cutout axis and a drive body rotatable about a drive axis parallel to the element and cutout axes has an eccentric pin extending parallel to the axes. The pin is engaged in the notch and is engageable with the cutout lever.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 18, 1994
    Date of Patent: February 27, 1996
    Assignee: Kiekert GmbH & Co. KG
    Inventor: Hans Menke
  • Patent number: 5476294
    Abstract: A motor-vehicle door latch has a pivotal lock fork housing engageable with a door bolt and a release pawl engageable with the fork to retain it in a locked position. A lever mechanism connected to the release pawl can displace the release pawl into a bolt-freeing position. A child-safety lever having a pair of arms is pivotal between a child-safety position and a normal position. An actuating pawl on the housing engages one of the arms of the child-safety lever and is displaceable between an on position holding the child-safety lever in the child-safety position and an off position with the child-safety lever in the normal position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 18, 1994
    Date of Patent: December 19, 1995
    Assignee: Kiekert GmbH & Co. KG
    Inventor: Hans Menke
  • Patent number: 5477214
    Abstract: A remote control lock system for a vehicle has a coder of the transmitter and the decoder of the receiver designed to receive either a radio frequency or light frequency oscillator and detector, respectively, so that for a given coding system, different modes of wave transmission between the receiver and the transmitter can be effected.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 23, 1995
    Date of Patent: December 19, 1995
    Assignee: Kiekert GmbH & Co. KG
    Inventor: Peter Bartel
  • Patent number: 5474338
    Abstract: A motor-vehicle door latch has a latching element movable between a latched position and an unlatched position, and a locking pawl engageable with the element and displaceable between a locked position retaining it in the latched position and an unlocked position allowing it to move into the unlatched position. Power actuation is effected by a planetary-gear drive and including a reversible electric motor, a sun gear rotatable by the motor about the planetary axis, at least one planet gear meshing with the sun gear, a planet carrier carrying the planet gear, and a ring gear meshing with the planet gear.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 29, 1994
    Date of Patent: December 12, 1995
    Assignee: Kiekert GmbH & Co. KG
    Inventor: Hans-Joachim Buscher
  • Patent number: 5474340
    Abstract: A motor-vehicle door latch has a latch fork pivotal on a housing between a holding position in which it is adapted to retain a door of the vehicle closed and a releasing position in which it allows the vehicle door to be opened. A latch pawl is pivotal on the housing between a retaining position engaging the fork and retaining it in the holding position and a freeing position out of engagement with the fork and permitting it to move into the releasing position. A door handle and lock mechanism in the housing are connected to the pawl for moving the pawl into the freeing position on actuation of the handle. A locking lever connected to the mechanism is displaceable between a locked position in which it disconnects the mechanism from the pawl and prevents the mechanism from moving the pawl into the freeing position and an unlocked position in which it permits the mechanism to move the pawl into the freeing position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 16, 1993
    Date of Patent: December 12, 1995
    Assignee: Kiekert GmbH & Co. KG
    Inventors: Horst Brackmann, Rainer Kipka
  • Patent number: 5464260
    Abstract: A motor-vehicle door latch has a drive having a housing formed with an inner surface formed relative to a main axis traversing the housing with two angularly offset and radially inwardly open notches, a shaft rotatable in the housing about the main axis and having a radially outwardly projecting bump, and a wheel rotatable in the housing about the main axis, surrounding the shaft in the housing, and connected to the input member of the latch to rotate jointly with the input member between locked and unlocked positions of the latch. A lobe on the wheel projects radially outward into one of the notches. A radially outwardly deflectable abutment on the wheel is angularly engageable with the bump of the shaft and is urged by a spring radially inward on the wheel so that the bump can angularly engage the abutment and angularly displace the wheel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 23, 1993
    Date of Patent: November 7, 1995
    Assignee: Kiekert GmbH & Co. KG
    Inventors: Peter Bartel, Hans-Joachim Buscher
  • Patent number: 5441315
    Abstract: A power actuator used in combination with a motor-vehicle door latch movable between a locked and unlocked position has a housing, a reversible electric motor in the housing having a rotatable output shaft defining an axis, and an input gear on the shaft. A threaded output spindle spaced from the shaft in the housing carries an output gear out of mesh and out of engagement with the input gear. A nut is threaded on the spindle. An actuating element couples the nut with the latch to switch it between its positions. A support pivotal in the housing about the axis carries a pair of coupling gears in mesh with and flanking the input gear. The support is rockable about the axis from a central position in which neither of the coupling gears meshes with the output gear into a pair of end positions in each of which a respective one of the coupling gears meshes with the output gear and couples same to the input gear.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 26, 1993
    Date of Patent: August 15, 1995
    Assignee: Kiekert GmbH & Co. KG
    Inventors: Frank Kleefeldt, Rolf Schuler
  • Patent number: 5433496
    Abstract: A motor-vehicle door latch bolt has a housing in which a door bolt is receivable and a latch fork formed with a seat and with at least one detent and pivotal on the housing between a locked position engaged around the bolt and holding it deep in the recess and an unlocked position permitting the bolt to move into and out of the recess. A support link pivotal on the housing carries a latch pawl pivotal into and out of a holding position engaging the detent and preventing pivoting of the fork into the unlocked position. A motor-driven crank rotatable adjacent the fork is coupled to the support link for pivoting the support link and retaining pawl as the crank rotates. An inner lever pivoted on an assembly pivot has an abutment and a detent, and is coupled to the latch pawl, and an outer lever pivoted on the assembly pivot has an abutment engageable with the inner-lever abutment, and is operable from outside the door.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 14, 1994
    Date of Patent: July 18, 1995
    Assignee: Kiekert GmbH & Co. KG
    Inventor: Gerhard Zimmermann
  • Patent number: 5423582
    Abstract: A motor-vehicle door latch for use in combination with a door bolt has a housing formed with a laterally open recess in which the bolt is receivable and a pivotal latch fork formed with a fork seat and with at least one detent and pivotal on the housing between locked, semilocked, and unlocked positions. A support link pivotal on the housing carries a latch pawl pivotal in the locked and semilocked positions of the fork into and out of a holding position engaging the detent and preventing pivoting of the fork into the unlocked position. A crank is rotatable adjacent the fork between an outer position relatively far from the fork and an inner position relatively close to the fork and through an open-ready intermediate position between the inner and outer positions and close to the outer position. This crank is connected by a link to the support link for pivoting the support link and retaining pawl as the crank rotates.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 8, 1994
    Date of Patent: June 13, 1995
    Assignee: Kiekert GmbH & Co. KG
    Inventor: Frank Kleefeldt
  • Patent number: 5419597
    Abstract: A motor-vehicle door latch has inside and outside locking elements and an actuator having an electric motor having a threaded output spindle and a drive nut threaded directly on the spindle and displaceable by the motor between unlocked, locked, and antitheft positions. An inside lever assembly includes a first inside lever pivoted on the housing and connected directly to the inside locking element for displacement jointly with the inside locking element between locked and unlocked positions and a second inside lever pivoted on the first inside lever and coupled to the actuator drive nut for pivotal displacement jointly therewith between unlocked, locked, and antitheft positions. A spring braced between the first and second levers urges abutments on them into engagement with each other so that when the abutments are spaced apart the spring is loaded.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 11, 1994
    Date of Patent: May 30, 1995
    Assignee: Kiekert GmbH & Co. KG
    Inventors: Horst Brackmann, Peter Bartel, Frank Kleefeldt
  • Patent number: 5382062
    Abstract: A motor-vehicle latch mounted on a door has a front end pivoted about an upright axis, a rear end with a rearwardly directed end face, and an inside face immediately adjacent the rear end face, the door being movable relative to a frame member having a forwardly directed front face confronting the rear end face of the door in a fully closed position of the door. A holding element fixed to the front face of the frame member has a part projecting inward past the inside face of the door in the fully closed position of the door and having a support face facing forward toward the rear end face of the door. A retaining member, for example a bolt or wedge, is fixed in the holding element and a retaining element on the rear end face of the door is engageable with the retaining member to latch the door in the fully closed position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 24, 1993
    Date of Patent: January 17, 1995
    Assignee: Kiekert GmbH & Co. KG
    Inventor: Ulrich Kostler
  • Patent number: 5373752
    Abstract: A motor-vehicle power actuator has a housing, an electric motor in the housing having an output shaft, an input gear fixed on the shaft, a threaded spindle extending along and rotatable about a spindle axis in the housing, an output gear fixed on the spindle adjacent and out of contact with the input gear, and a nut threaded on the spindle and nonrotatable relative thereto. Thus rotation of the spindle in one rotational sense displaces the nut axially relative to the spindle axis in a release direction. A rocker pivotal in the housing on the shaft axis carries an intermediate gear meshing with the input gear, and also meshable with the output gear. The rocker is pivotal between an end position in which the intermediate gear meshes with the output gear and through an intermediate position in which the intermediate gear does not mesh with the output gear. The rocker and intermediate gear are so positioned that, on normal forward rotation of the motor shaft, the rocker moves into its end position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 28, 1993
    Date of Patent: December 20, 1994
    Assignee: Kiekert GmbH & Co. KG
    Inventor: Ulrich Schlagwein
  • Patent number: 5273325
    Abstract: A motor-vehicle door latch has a bolt projecting from a support and movable by an actuator between an advanced and a retracted position, and a housing movable between an open, a partially closed, and a fully closed position. A latch fork can engage the door bolt to retain same and lock the door. The servoactuator can, when the bolt is engaged with the fork, move the housing between the partially and fully closed positions. A pawl pivots on the housing between a holding position retaining the fork in the latched position and a freeing position permitting the fork to move out of the latched position. A release lever on the housing displaces the pawl from the holding to the freeing position. A opening lever on the housing operatively engageable with the support is coupled to the pawl for moving it from its locked to its unlocked position on movement of the opening lever from a cocked to a rest position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 22, 1993
    Date of Patent: December 28, 1993
    Assignee: Kiekert GmbH & Co. KG
    Inventor: Gerhard Zimmermann
  • Patent number: 5074603
    Abstract: A motor-vehicle door latch for securing together two relatively movable body parts has a housing mounted on one of the parts, a bolt mounted on the other part and engageable in the housing, a fork pivotal in the housing between a locked position engaging around the bolt when therein and an unlocked position permitting the bolt to enter and exit the housing, a pawl pivotal in the housing between a holding position retaining the fork in the locked position and a freeing position permitting the fork to move between its positions, and an actuating lever engageable with the pawl and pivotal in the housing between a holding position holding the pawl in its freeing position and a freeing position in which it does not impede movement of the pawl between its position. A position-holding element engageable in the housing with the lever is movable between a blocking position preventing movement of the lever of the freeing position and an unblocking position permitting movement of the lever between its positions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 21, 1990
    Date of Patent: December 24, 1991
    Assignee: Kiekert GmbH & Co. KG
    Inventor: Horst Brackmann