Patent Publication Number: US-10323445-B2

Title: Vehicle liftgate striker and latch construction

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/702,772 titled “VEHICLE LIFTGATE STRIKER AND LATCH CONSTRUCTION,” filed on Jun. 6, 2013 and issued Jul. 28, 2015 as U.S. Pat. No. 9,091,101 which is a national stage filing of International Patent Application No. PCT/US2011/039455 titled “VEHICLE LIFTGATE STRIKER AND LATCH CONSTRUCTION.” filed Jun. 7, 2011, which further claims the benefit of and priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/397,111, titled “VEHICLE LIFTGATE STRIKER AND LATCH CONSTRUCTION,” filed Jun. 7, 2010, each of which are hereby incorporated in their entirety. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention relates to locking mechanisms, particularly for vehicle liftgates, and further in particular to striker and latch structures, as opposed to actual lock mechanisms. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is directed to vehicle liftgate striker and latch constructions, used to hold a vehicle liftgate in, and release it from, a closed and locked position. 
     In particular, the present invention is directed to a vehicle liftgate striker and latch construction which is configured to control lateral movement of the liftgate, relative to the striker, and to provide assistance in pushing the liftgate away from the striker, when the latch is unlocked, by advantageously configuring the latch cover with a tapered profile, in combination with resilient latch reaction assemblies associated with the striker assembly. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Any indicia shown herein are for illustrative purposes only, and the scope of the invention is not to be construed to be limited thereto. Any numerical values appearing herein are provided solely as examples of an embodiment or embodiments of the invention, and the scope of the invention is not limited by them. 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of the striker assembly according to an embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a front view of the striker assembly of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  is a top view of the striker assembly of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 4  is an end view of the striker assembly of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 5  is a perspective view of the striker assembly of  FIG. 1 , with the overtravel bumper omitted. 
         FIG. 6  is a another perspective view of the striker assembly of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 7  is still another perspective view thereof. 
         FIG. 8  is a plan view of the striker base, prior to forming. 
         FIG. 9  is a side elevation in section of a roller for the striker assembly. 
         FIG. 10  is a side elevation of the roller of  FIG. 9 . 
         FIG. 11  is a top view thereof. 
         FIG. 12  is a perspective view thereof. 
         FIG. 13  is a side elevation, in section, of a roller pin for the striker assembly of the present invention. 
         FIG. 14  is a side elevation thereof. 
         FIG. 15  is an end view thereof. 
         FIG. 16  is a perspective view thereof. 
         FIG. 17  is a side elevation of the wire form (or striker pin) for the striker assembly according to an embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 18  is a top view thereof. 
         FIG. 19  is an end view thereof. 
         FIG. 20  is a perspective view of the roller support structure for the striker assembly according to an embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 21  is an end view thereof. 
         FIG. 22  is a front view thereof. 
         FIG. 23  is a bottom view thereof. 
         FIG. 24  is a top view thereof. 
         FIG. 25  is a side elevation of a roller sleeve for the striker assembly according to an embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 26  is a side elevation in section thereof. 
         FIG. 27  is a top perspective view thereof. 
         FIG. 28  is an end view thereof. 
         FIG. 29  is a top view of the overtravel bumper for the striker assembly according to an embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 30  is a front view thereof. 
         FIG. 31  is an end view thereof. 
         FIG. 32  is a sectional view thereof. 
         FIG. 33  is a perspective view thereof. 
         FIG. 34  is a top perspective view of a liftgate latch cover for use with the striker assembly according to an embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 35  is a top view of the latch of  FIG. 34 , shown in engagement with a striker assembly according to an embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 36 . is a schematic illustration of a latch cover for use with the present invention, showing several alternative configurations. 
         FIG. 37  is a perspective view of a striker configuration according to an alternative embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 38  is a further perspective view thereof. 
         FIG. 39  is a reverse perspective view thereof, showing the interaction between the striker configuration of  FIG. 37  and a vehicle liftgate latch. 
         FIG. 40  is a top view of the striker configuration of  FIG. 37 , in cooperation with a vehicle liftgate latch. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION 
     While this invention is susceptible of embodiment in many different forms, there are shown in the drawings and will herein be described in detail, several embodiments with the understanding that the present disclosure should be considered as an exemplification of the principles of the invention and is not intended to limit the invention to the embodiments so illustrated. Further, to the extend that any numerical values or other specifics of materials, etc., are provided herein, they are to be construed as exemplifications of the inventions herein, and the inventions are not to be considered as limited thereby. 
     An embodiment of the vehicle liftgate striker and latch construction of the present invention is shown in  FIGS. 1-36 . The liftgate striker is intended to reduce door to body vibration and movement. The striker assembly  100  (e.g.,  FIGS. 1-7 ) includes base plate  110  and U-shaped wire form  120  as the primary striker features to engage with a latch  140  ( FIGS. 34-36 ) for retention of a vehicle door, hood, deck lid or other closure. It is to be noted that the present invention concerns itself primarily with the interaction between the latch cover  142  and the structures surrounding the striker pin (wire form  120 ), and not the direct interaction between the latching members and the striker pin (wire form  12 ) themselves. As such a variety of different latching mechanisms may be employed by one of ordinary skill in the art, without departing from the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the latching mechanism is shown in broken lines in  FIGS. 34-35 . 
     The inherent tolerances in a conventional vehicle door/liftgate closure system allow the door to move when closed and the latch is engaged. The internal tolerances of a conventional latch can allow components to move and thus the door which is attached to the latch and or striker is allowed to move and vibrate. 
     According to the present invention, a tensioned roller assembly provides compression against the latch cover  142  and reduces the free lateral movement of the latch-to-striker interface. The amount of movement is controlled by the amount of tension roller support arms  130  apply to the latch cover  142 . The rollers  136  provide minimal friction when engaging with latch  142 , because the rollers  136  roll up the sides of the latch cover  142 . The over-travel bumper  144  extending transversely across the end of striker frame  128  is provided to limit the amount of movement transverse to the latch  140  whereas the rollers  136  limit the amount of orthogonal or side to side movement. The roller support arms  130  may be a sub-assembly of the overall assembly  100 , or a single part formed from the striker base plate  110 . 
     The rollers  136  engage with the latch cover plate  142 . The sides of latch cover plate  142  extend at angles, relative to the plane of the wire form  120 , to provide modified closing and opening forces. Latch cover  142  may be provided with one or more detents  154  ( FIG. 36 ) located at the full closed (engaged) position to provide an at-rest or neutral area which would require a higher force to move away from and thus provide a limiting action of movement in the transverse direction (the direction of opening and closing of the liftgate). In particular, by coordinating the included angle between the lateral sides of the latch cover  142  with the amount of spring force applied by the roller support arms  130  holding the rollers  136 , upon operator release of the latch  140 , the roller support arms  130  holding the rollers  136  “squeeze” the latch cover  142 , tending to push the latch cover  142  (and hence the liftgate) up and away from the striker assembly  100 , thus enabling a lesser strength spring assembly (the springs or torsion arms used to pivotably support the liftgate—not shown) to be used to support for the door. 
     Striker assembly  100  comprises two resilient spring roller support arms  130  to which the polymer or rubber (or other suitable material) rollers  136  are attached. Striker assembly  100  further includes U-shaped wire-form (striker pin)  120  which engages the latch  140 . The elastomer over-travel bumper  144  is provided to protect the latch from damage from excessive door closing forces. In an embodiment of the invention, wire form  120  is formed with preformed faces  148  which engage the front side of the striker base plate  110  (the side that faces the latch). After positioning of the wire-form  120  on base plate  110 , the ends  150  of wire-form  120  may be swaged, to create flattened “buttons” to capture base plate  110  between the buttons and the preformed faces. Other modes of attachment, including welding or brazing, may be employed instead of, or in addition to, swaging, without departing from the scope of the invention. 
       FIGS. 37-40  illustrate a vehicle liftgate striker configuration according to an alternative embodiment of the invention. Striker assembly  200  includes primary roller support spring plate  202 , upon which rollers  204  and  206  are pivotably mounted. Secondary roller support spring arms  208 ,  210 , are mounted on the pins which support rollers  204 ,  206 , respectively. Rollers  212 ,  214  are pivotably mounted on secondary roller support spring arm  208 , and rollers  216 ,  218  are pivotably mounted on secondary roller support spring arm  210 . Striker assembly  200  is configured to accommodate known latch housing  220 , which is known from the 2010 Ford Flex and 2010 Ford Expedition, among other vehicles, for example. By providing a plurality of rollers on each “side” of the liftgate latch housing, it is believed that a higher static loading will be placed on the liftgate, as compared to prior art liftgate striker assemblies, while at the same time reducing the dynamic loading that is encountered or perceived by a user, while in the process of closing the liftgate. Detents are not provided in the existing vehicle liftgate latch covers just mentioned. 
     It is further to be understood that while latching structure details may be shown in  FIGS. 39 and 40 , in association with an alternative embodiment of the invention, it is again the interaction between the striker assembly  200  as a whole, and the latch housing  220 , to which the present invention is primarily focused, and not on the particular details of the latch mechanism itself, and other latching mechanisms other than those shown may be used without departing from the scope of the invention. 
     The foregoing description and drawings merely explain and illustrate the invention, and the invention is not limited thereto, except as those skilled in the art who have the present disclosure before them will be able to make modifications and variations therein without departing from the scope of the invention.