Abstract: A vehicle passive entry side door latch release system engageable with a release cable connected a door latch includes a moveable linkage assembly engageable with the cable, and a motor including an output shaft engaged with a tensioning gear for driving a ratcheting gearwheel rotatably affixed to a coil spring, with the gearwheel including external teeth engageable with a rack affixed to the linkage to move the cable to unlatch the door latch. A pivotable ratcheting pawl may be engageable with the gearwheel to allow or prevent rotation of the gearwheel. Operation of the motor may drive the gear to drive the gearwheel in a rotary direction to energize the spring, and disengagement of the pawl from the gearwheel may allow stored energy in the spring to drive the gearwheel in an opposite rotary direction to thereby drive the rack to move the cable to unlatch the door latch.
Type:
Application
Filed:
April 11, 2007
Publication date:
October 16, 2008
Inventors:
Kosta Papanikolaou, James Loschiavo, Venky Krishnan, Marcus Edward Merideth, Bhupendra Patel
Abstract: A latch device for a vehicle tailgate comprises a latch/ratchet mechanism, an open mechanism, a lock mechanism, and, an actuator for switching the lock mechanism to an unlocked state and a locked state. The lock mechanism includes a lock lever turning about a lock shaft. The actuator includes an output shaft which turns the lock lever through the lock shaft. The lock shaft is structured so that manual operational access is possible through a service hole in the tailgate or the vehicle body for turning the lock lever. One end of the output shaft penetrates a housing of the actuator to be connected to the lock shaft, and the other end of the output shaft is exposed to the outside through a shaft hole of the housing, and the manual access is applied to the other end of the output shaft.
Abstract: A vehicle door closing apparatus includes a latch mechanism adapted to be mounted on a side of a vehicle door to hold the vehicle door in a half closed state and a completely closed state through engagement with a striker, and a closing mechanism that operates the latch mechanism for bringing the vehicle door in the half closed state into the completely closed state. The closing mechanism includes a pivotable active lever connected to a drive source, a passive lever engaged with the active lever and capable of being engaged with the latch mechanism, and a cancel lever connected to an operation source and capable of being engaged with and disengaged from the passive lever above a pivoting center of the active lever for effecting engagement and disengagement between the passive lever and the active lever.