Patent ID: 9631404
Date: 2017-04-25
CPC Classifications: E05B,Y10T

Claim:
1. A vehicle door lock apparatus comprising: a housing provided in a door for opening and closing an opening of a vehicle body and including an entry opening that a striker fixed to the vehicle body enters; a fork pivotably provided in the housing and switchable between a latched state for locking the striker in the entry opening and an unlatched state for unlocking the striker in the entry opening; a pawl pivotably provided in the housing and configured to selectively prevent and allow pivoting movement of the fork; a first lever pivotably provided in the housing, one end side of which is coupled to a door handle, and configured to pivot by an opening operation of the door handle; a second lever pivotably supported on the other end side of the first lever around a pivot extending in a direction orthogonal to a direction of advancing to and retracting from the opening, enabled to pivot from a first position to a second position by application of inertial force greater than a preset value, and configured to, when the first lever pivots and the second lever is in the first position, come into contact with the pawl and release the pivoting movement of the fork and when the first lever pivots and the second lever is in the second position, move independently of the pawl; a biasing member configured to bias the second lever to the first position; a third lever provided in the housing, displaceable between a third position for allowing the second lever to be disposed in the first position and the second position and a fourth position for retaining the second lever in the second position, and configured to, in the third position, switch the vehicle door lock apparatus to an unlocked state in which the fork in the latched state can be switched to the unlatched state and in the fourth position, switch the vehicle door lock apparatus to a locked state in which the fork in the latched state cannot be switched to the unlatched state; and a retention device provided in the housing and configured to, when the first lever pivots and the second lever is disposed in the second position, allow the pivoting movement of the first lever while retaining the second lever in the second position irrespective of the position of the third lever.