Patent ID: 9441402
Filing Date: 2016-09-13
CPC Classification: E05B,Y10T

Claim Text:
1. A power actuator for a door latch, the power actuator comprising: a reversible motor mounted to a housing and operable to drive a worm; a worm gear rotatably mounted to the housing and driven by the worm, the worm gear being rotatable between a first angular position and a second angular position upon actuation of the motor, and the worm gear including a pair of transfer lobes; a biasing spring mounted to the housing for urging the worm gear to a neutral angular position located intermediate to the first and second angular positions when the motor is disengaged; a transfer lever pivotally mounted to the housing by an axial post and movable between a first position and a second position, the transfer lever being coupled to the worm gear via a lost motion connection to enable the transfer lever to be moved between the first and second positions without driving the worm gear when the worm gear is in the neutral angular position; a toggle mechanism mounted to the housing, the toggle mechanism operable to urge the transfer lever to the nearest of the first and second positions when the transfer lever is between the first and second positions; wherein the transfer lever is rotatable by the transfer lobes of the worm gear around the axial post in a first direction and a second direction opposite the first direction, the transfer lever includes a first arm extending toward the worm gear and a second arm extending away from the first arm and the worm gear, and the second arm includes a key hole; and wherein a locking lever acts as the toggle mechanism, the locking lever is mounted to the housing by a guide post that is offset from a key post mounted in the key hole in the second arm of the transfer lever, the locking lever is rotatable around the guide post in the first direction and the second direction, and the key post on the locking lever surrounds the key hole such that rotation of the transfer lever in the first direction rotates the locking lever in the opposite second direction.