Patent ID: 8196975
Filing Date: 2012-06-12
Classification: E05B,Y10S,Y10T

Abstract:
1. A door latch assembly for selectively retaining a striker disposed along a motor vehicle body, said door latch assembly comprising: a housing adapted to be fixedly secured to a motor vehicle door; a ratchet rotatably mounted to the housing for movement between a latched position retaining the striker and an unlatched position; a pawl rotatably mounted to the housing for movement in and out of a pawl engagement position in which said pawl engages said ratchet to maintain said ratchet in said latched position; and a motion restriction device disposed along said housing and abutting against said pawl, said motion restriction device including a container at least partially filled with a velocity-dependent material that transitions between a first state, in which said container permits said pawl to move out of said pawl engagement position, and a second state, in which said container prevents movement of said pawl out of said pawl engagement position to maintain said ratchet in said latched position, wherein said velocity-dependent material transitions from said first state to said second state in response to a compressive force applied at a rate that is beyond a predetermined threshold to said velocity-dependent material.