Patent Abstract:
A vehicle closure has a compartment latch that includes a safety device that is automatically engaged to disable the compartment latch when the compartment latch is unlatched. The safety device must be reset manually to restore normal operation of the compartment latch. Manual resetting requires repeated manipulation of a pawl lever to avoid inadvertent disengagement of the safety device, particularly by children.

Full Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
     This invention relates to a vehicle compartment latch and more particularly to a vehicle compartment latch for latching a vehicle compartment closure, such as a trunk deck lid in the closed position to secure the vehicle compartment. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Passenger vehicles are normally equipped with a rear vehicle compartment for storing a spare tire and transporting items such as groceries and luggage. The compartment, conventionally known as a trunk is closed by a deck lid that is hinged to the vehicle body and swings open to provide access to the compartment. The closure or deck lid is equipped with a compartment latch that cooperates with a striker attached to the vehicle body to latch the closure in the closed position automatically when the deck lid is closed. 
     In order to open the deck lid, the compartment latch is usually designed to be unlatched or opened from a position outside the compartment because the compartment is not designed to hold passengers. This compartment latch characteristic results in a possibility of a child (or older person) being trapped inside the trunk without any way for the trapped child to unlatch and open the deck lid. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The object of the invention is to provide a vehicle compartment latch that does not automatically latch when deck lid is closed against the striker. 
     A feature of the invention is that the vehicle compartment latch is equipped with a safety device that disables the detent lever when the compartment latch is unlatched thus preventing an inadvertent automatic latching of the vehicle compartment latch when the deck lid is closed subsequently. 
     Another feature of the invention is that the vehicle compartment latch is equipped with a safety device that must be reset manually after the compartment latch is unlatched in order to arm the compartment latch for a subsequent latching operation. 
     Another feature of the invention is that the vehicle compartment latch is equipped with a safety device that is automatically engaged but difficult to reset. 
     Still another feature of the invention is that the vehicle compartment latch is equipped with a safety device that disables the latch detent in response to an unlatching operation. 
     These and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become more apparent from the following description of a preferred embodiment taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The presently preferred embodiment of the invention is disclosed in the following description and in the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
     FIG. 1 is a fragmentary rear view of a vehicle compartment latch of the invention showing internal parts of the vehicle compartment latch in the open or unlatched position and armed (i.e. with the safety device reset); 
     FIG. 2 is a fragmentary rear view of the vehicle compartment latch of FIG. 1 showing the internal parts of the vehicle compartment latch in the latched position; 
     FIG. 3 is a fragmentary rear view of the vehicle compartment latch shown of FIG. 1 showing the internal parts of the vehicle compartment latch in the open or unlatched position and disarmed (i.e. with the safety device engaged); 
     FIG. 4 is fragmentary rear view of the vehicle compartment latch of FIG. 1 showing the internal parts of the vehicle compartment latch in the open or unlatched position and partially rearmed (i.e. with the safety device partially reset in response to a first disengagement manipulation). 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Vehicle compartment latch  10  comprises a housing or support  11  that is adapted for fastening to a vehicle compartment closure, such as a trunk compartment deck lid  50  and a fork bolt  12 . Fork bolt  12  pivots on support  11  about pivot pin  13  between an open or unlatched position shown in FIG. 1 and a closed or latched position shown in FIG.  2 . Vehicle compartment latch  10  is attached to the deck lid  50  so that fork bolt  12  is moved from the open position shown in FIG. 1 to the closed position shown in FIG. 2 when deck lid  50  is closed and fork bolt  12  engages a striker  52  that is attached to the vehicle body  54  at the deck lid opening. The cooperation of a fork bolt and striker is well known and need not be described in detail. 
     Vehicle compartment latch  10  further comprises a pawl lever  14  that pivots on support  11  about pivot pin  15  and cooperates with fork bolt  12  in a well known manner to retain fork bolt  12  in the closed position shown in FIG. 2 or release the fork bolt  12  for return to the open position shown in FIG.  1 . That is, pawl lever  14  pivots between a detent position shown in FIG. 2 and a release position shown in FIG.  1 . Pawl lever  14  also pivots to two successive disarmed positions as explained below. 
     Fork bolt  12  is spring biased counterclockwise to the open position shown in FIG. 1 by a coil spring  17  that surrounds pivot pin  13  with an extension at one end engaging ear  19  of fork bolt  12 . An extension at the other end of coil spring  17  engages an abutment of support  11 . Pawl lever  14  is spring biased clockwise by a second coil spring  21  that surrounds pivot pin  15  with an extension at one end engaging pawl lever  14  and an extension at the other end engaging another abutment of support  11 . Coil spring  21  biases pawl lever  14  clockwise to the detent position shown in FIG. 2 where pawl lever  14  engages a release lever  56 . Release lever  56  is pivotally mounted on pivot pin  15  behind pawl lever  14  and is spring biased by a third coil spring  58  counterclockwise against a stop  60  of support  11 . Thus pawl lever  14  rides on portion  22  of fork bolt  12  and then pivots clockwise with respect to release lever  56  to engage latch shoulder  23  of fork bolt  12  when fork bolt  12  is moved to the closed position by the closing deck lid  50 . 
     Pawl lever  14  has an arm  25  at one end that has a plastic end cap  26  secured to it. End cap  26  engages release lever  56  when pawl lever  14  is in the detent position shown in FIG.  2 . Pawl lever  14  is moved from the detent position shown in FIG. 2 to a release position shown in FIG. 1 by pivoting release lever  56  counterclockwise so that pawl lever  14  is pivoted counterclockwise to the release position. Release lever  56  is pivoted by a pull cable that is attached to an upper end of release lever  56  and that is operated by a conventional key lock cylinder (not shown) to move pawl lever  14  o the release position allowing the deck lid  50  to open. Alternatively release lever  56  can be pivoted by an electrically driven cam lever (not shown) that is remotely controlled. 
     Pawl lever  14  has a second arm  27  at the opposite end that is equipped with a stop pin  20  and a cable attachment  28 . Stop pin  20  and cable attachment  28  are part of a safety device  29  that disarms or disables vehicle compartment latch  10 . Safety device  29  further comprises a rotary cam  16  that is attached to support  11  by a pivot pin  30 . Cam  16  is spring biased to the armed position shown in FIG. 1 by a spring centering arrangement indicated generally at  32 . This arrangement comprises a coil spring  34  that surrounds pivot pin  30  with radial end extensions  35  that engage opposite sides of a stop tab  36  of support  11 . Cam  16  has a projection  38  on one end portion that fits between the two radial end extensions  35  so that cam  16  is always spring biased to the armed position of FIG. 1 whether cam  16  is pivoted from this position in the clockwise direction or in the counterclockwise direction. 
     Cam  16  has circumferentially spaced abutments  40  and  42 , an upper guard rib  44  and a cam surface  46  on the opposite end portion that cooperate with stop pin  20  to prevent inadvertent latching of vehicle closure latch  10 . 
     Vehicle compartment latch  10  operates in the following manner. When the deck lid  50  is closed, striker  52  engages fork bolt  12  pivoting fork bolt  12  clockwise from the open or unlatched position shown in FIG. 1 to the closed or latched position and trapping striker  52  in the compartment latch  10  as shown in FIG.  2 . As fork bolt  12  pivots to the closed position of FIG. 2, pawl lever  14  being spring biased clockwise, rides on portion  22  of fork bolt  12  and then pivots clockwise to engage latch shoulder  23  as shown in FIG.  2 . 
     As pawl lever  14  pivots clockwise, stop pin  20  pivots rotary cam  16  clockwise slightly via cam surface  45  and moves to a position engaging cam surface  46  on the bottom of cam  16  as shown in FIG.  2 . Deck lid  50  is now latched closed securely by vehicle compartment latch  10  which is now cocked for automatic actuation of safety device  29  when fork bolt  12  of vehicle compartment latch  10  is released and deck lid  10  is opened. 
     Fork bolt  12  is released by pivoting release lever  56  counterclockwise which pivots pawl lever  14  counterclockwise raising arm  27  away from latch shoulder  23 . As pawl lever  14  pivots counterclockwise, stop pin  20  pivots rotary cam  16  counterclockwise until stop pin  20  engages the first abutment  40  of cam  16  as shown in FIG.  3 . For such engagement cam  16  returns clockwise a small distance under the bias of coil spring  34 . Vehicle compartment latch  10  is now disarmed or disabled and cannot be latched. When deck lid  50  is subsequently closed, fork bolt  12  pivots to the latched position as shown in dashed line in FIG.  3 . However pawl lever  14  does not engage latch shoulder  23  and hence striker  52  can be withdrawn freely. Thus whenever deck lid  50  is closed with safety device  29  engaged, the deck lid  50  can be reopened from the interior of the trunk or other closure simply by lifting the deck lid. 
     In order to latch the deck lid  50  in the closed position, safety device  29  must be disengaged or reset before the deck lid  50  is closed. Safety device  29  is disengaged or reset in two stages by moving pawl lever  14  counterclockwise against the bias of coil spring  21  twice. This can be done by lifting cable attachment  28  up twice which returns cam  16  to the disengaged or reset position shown in FIG.  1 . In response to the double lift, cam  16  is pivoted clockwise with respect to support  11  from the engaged position shown in FIG. 3 to the interim, partially reset position shown in FIG. 4 to the reset position shown in FIG. 1 under the bias of spring  34 . 
     To move cam  16  clockwise to the interim partially reset position of FIG. 4, cable attachment  28  is lifted until stop pin  20  clears the first abutment  40  whereupon cam  16  pivots clockwise under the bias of spring  34  until stop pin  20  engages abutment  42  as shown in FIG.  4 . Cam  16  preferably includes guard rib  44  to prevent stop pin  20  being lifted long enough to overshoot the second abutment  42 . 
     Cam  16  is then fully reset by lifting cable attachment  28  a second time so that stop pin  20  clears the second abutment  42  whereupon cam  16  pivots clockwise to the fully reset position shown in FIG. 1 where stop pin  20  engages cam surface  45  of cam  16 . Vehicle closure latch  20  is now fully reset for latching engagement with striker  52  when deck lid  50  is subsequently closed. 
     It should be noted that the disengagement or resetting operation of safety device  29  requires two distinct manipulations of the pawl lever  14 . The resetting operation is purposely made difficult in order to further avoid inadvertent resetting of the safety device  29  particularly by a child who must be able to Figure out the requirement for the repeated manipulation of pawl lever  14 . 
     While the compartment latch of our invention has been described in connection with deck lid  50 , the compartment latch  10  can be used with other compartment closures where unintentional latching is not desirable. Moreover, the pawl lever  14  can be manipulated by a pull cable or other suitable device rather than lifted directly. In other words, many modifications and variations of the present invention in light of the above teachings may be made. It is, therefore, to be understood that, within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.

Technology Classification (CPC): 8