Patent ID: 6811193
Filing Date: 2004-11-02
Classification: E05B,Y10S,Y10T

Abstract:
A vehicle door latch having a forkbolt that has a movement between a latched position and an unlatched position, a detent that has a movement between a release position and a detent position, the detent engaging and holding the forkbolt in the latched position when the detent is in the detent position, the detent releasing the forkbolt for movement to the unlatched position when the detent is in the release position, a detent spring biasing the detent toward the detent position, and a release mechanism for moving the detent against the bias of the detent spring to the release position to release the forkbolt, characterized in that:the vehicle door latch includes an auxiliary spring that acts on the detent for a greater portion of the movement of the detent between the release position and the detent position to produce a torque on the detent that diminishes at different rates as the detent moves from the release position to the detent position, the auxiliary spring being a counter spring that biases the detent toward the release position and away from the detent position after an initial portion of the movement of the detent between the release position and the detent position.