Abstract:
A mechanism for controlling a vehicle door includes upper and lower striker pins secured to a door opening, an upper latch assembly pivotably connectable to the door, including inboard and outboard latches, and a slotted hole extending between the latches and into which the upper striker pin is fitted, and a lower latch assembly pivotably connectable to the door, including inboard and outboard latches, a second slotted hole extending between the latches and into which the lower striker pin is fitted, and a second hinge pin secured to the lower latch assembly.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION 
       [0001]    The present invention relates generally to an apparatus for opening and closing the doors of a vehicle, particularly the rear cargo doors of a van. 
         [0002]    The rear cargo doors of a van conventionally open by rotating on their hinges 180 degrees to a fully open position, allowing unobstructed access to the interior compartment. When the doors are in the 180 degree open position they extend laterally further than the widest part of the vehicle, potentially interfering with other vehicles and pedestrian traffic. 
         [0003]    A need exists in the industry for the open rear cargo doors to be located parallel and close the sides of the vehicle. A mechanism is desired that permits the door hinge pivot points to move outboard enough to allow the door to rotate further than through an angle of 180 degrees, preferably to about 360 degrees. 
       SUMMARY OF INVENTION 
       [0004]    A mechanism for controlling a vehicle door includes upper and lower striker pins secured to a door opening, an upper latch assembly pivotably connectable to the door, including inboard and outboard latches, and a slotted hole extending between the latches and into which the upper striker pin is fitted, and a lower latch assembly pivotably connectable to the door, including inboard and outboard latches, a second slotted hole extending between the latches and into which the lower striker pin is fitted, and a second hinge pin secured to the lower latch assembly. 
         [0005]    The mechanism allows the doors to pivot open more than the conventional 180 degrees such that the doors pivot around the side of the vehicle allowing added clearance for other vehicles and pedestrians. The door has releasing and engaging latches that allow the door to pivot to an extended position in order to change the location of the hinge pivot point, thereby allowing for the additional rotation of the door. 
         [0006]    The latches control the sequence for pivoting the door to either its normal or additional extended positions. These latches would be controlled by release handles located nearest the ends of the door furthest from the vehicle. The mechanism has curved slots, which provide smooth motion while repositioning of the doors. 
         [0007]    The inboard and outboard latches are self-engaging such that upon being delatched and the door pivoted to the required position, the latches automatically relatch. 
         [0008]    To accommodate the multi-positioning of the door, a retractable stop strap limits pivoting of the door until the strap is released to extend further allowing the door to extend to the fully opened position. 
         [0009]    This invention will allow more utility usage of vehicle by both commercial and non-commercial customers thus enhancing the marketing prospects of the current cargo van. 
         [0010]    The scope of applicability of the preferred embodiment will become apparent from the following detailed description, claims and drawings. It should be understood, that the description and specific examples, although indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only. Various changes and modifications to the described embodiments and examples will become apparent to those skilled in the art. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
         [0011]      FIGS. 1A-1C  show progressive movement of a left rear cargo door when supported on latching mechanisms; 
           [0012]      FIG. 2  is a front view of the upper latch mechanism shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0013]      FIG. 3  is a front view of the upper latch mechanism showing inboard and outboard latches at the extremities of the slotted hole; 
           [0014]      FIG. 4  is a perspective view showing the door having been pivoted outward and limited by a stop strap; and 
           [0015]      FIG. 5  is a top view showing the door in its fully opened position. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0016]    Referring now to the drawings,  FIG. 1A  shows a left rear cargo door  10  having been opened by pivoting on its hinges through an angle of about 180 degrees. The door  10  is supported on an upper hinge bracket  12 , which is secured to the door and to an upper latch assembly  14 . The door is supported also on a lower hinge bracket  16 , which is secured to the door and to a lower latch assembly  18 . The door opening  20  is enclosed by a frame  22 , which supports the left body side panel  24 . The upper and lower latch assemblies  14 ,  18  are secured to the frame  22  by bolted connections to upper and lower straps  26 ,  28 , which are secured to brackets  12 ,  16 , respectively. 
         [0017]      FIG. 1B  shows the upper latch assembly  14  having been delatched and relatched at another lateral position on latch assembly  14  such that the door  10  pivots downward or counterclockwise while being supported on the frame  22  by the upper and lower latch assemblies  14 ,  18 . Both the upper and lower latch assemblies  14 ,  18  have pivoted counterclockwise, but only the upper latch assembly  14  has been displaced outboard from the position shown in  FIG. 1A . 
         [0018]      FIG. 1C  shows the lower latch assembly  18  having been delatched and relatched at another lateral position on latch assembly  18  such that the door  10  can be lifted upward or clockwise while being supported on the frame  22  by the upper and lower latch assemblies  14 ,  18 . Both the upper and lower latch assemblies  14 ,  18  have pivoted clockwise, but only the lower latch assembly  18  has been displaced outboard from the position shown in  FIG. 1B . 
         [0019]    The door  10  is continually supported on frame  22  due to its being secured to brackets  12 ,  16 , which are pivotally supported on the upper and lower latch assemblies  14 ,  18 . The door  10  is then pivoted further on its hinges through an angle of about 180 degrees to the position shown in  FIG. 5 . 
         [0020]    Referring to  FIG. 2 , the upper hinge bracket  12  is welded to a strap  30 , which is bolted to a surface of the door  10  (shown in  FIG. 1A ), the hinge bracket  12  being bolted to another surface of the door substantially normal to the surface of strap  30 . The upper hinge pin  33  is fixed to upper hinge bracket  12  providing a pivot about which door  10  swings. 
         [0021]    The upper and lower latch assemblies  14 ,  18  are each formed with an arcuate slotted hole  32 , which extends laterally between an inboard latch  34  and an outboard latch  36 . The arcuate slotted hole  32  of the upper latch assembly  14  has its center located below the hole. The arcuate slotted hole of the hole of the lower latch assembly  18  has its center located above the hole. 
         [0022]    As  FIGS. 2 and 3  show, the outboard latch  36  of the upper latch assembly  14  comprises a pivoting fork bolt  38  (shown in two different positions in  FIG. 3 ); a striker pin  40  secured to upper strap  26 ; a detent lever  42  for holding fork bolt  38  latched to the striker pin  40 ; an actuator  44  such as a cable that controls the latched and delatched state of the striker pin  40  produced by the fork bolt  38 ; and a torsion spring (not shown) centered at pivot pin  46  for biasing the fork bolt  38  to disengage the striker pin  40  when the detent lever  42  pivots counterclockwise when tension is applied by the actuator  44 . 
         [0023]    Similarly, the inboard latch  34  of the upper latch assembly  14  comprises a pivoting fork bolt  48  (shown in two different positions in  FIGS. 2 and 3 ); a striker pin  40  secured to lower strap  26 ; a detent lever  52  for holding fork bolt  48  latched to the striker pin  40 ; an actuator  54  such as a cable that controls the latched and delatched state of the striker pin  40  produced by the fork bolt  48 ; and a torsion spring (not shown) centered at pivot pin  47  for biasing the fork bolt  48  to disengage the striker pin  40  when the detent lever  52  pivots counterclockwise when tension is applied by the actuator  54 . 
         [0024]    Each striker pin  40  is formed with a circular flange  56 , which overlaps the upper and lower surfaces of each slotted hole  32  as movement of the door  10  causes displacement of the upper and lower latch assemblies  14 ,  18  relative to their respective striker pins  40 . 
         [0025]    The lower latch assembly  18 , lower strap  28  and lower hinge bracket  16  are arranged, connected and supported as described with respect to the upper latch assembly  14 , upper strap  26  and upper hinge bracket  12 . The right-hand and left-hand rear cargo doors of the vehicle are both equipped with upper and lower hinge brackets  12 ,  16  and upper and lower latch assemblies  14 ,  18 . 
         [0026]    In operation, when door  10  is opened to the 180 degree position shown in  FIG. 1A , the outboard latch  36  of the upper latch assembly  14  is delatched from its striker pin  40  using actuator  44  and detent lever  42 , thereby allowing fork bolt  38  to pivot clockwise and allowing door  10  to pivot downward and outboard as the upper latch assembly  14  travels laterally outboard with the slotted hole  32  moving relative to the upper striker pin  40 . The door  10  is relatched when striker pin  40  forces fork bolt  48  of the upper latch assembly  14  to pivot counterclockwise into engagement with the striker pin and detent pin  52  to engage the fork bolt  48  at the inboard latch  34 , as shown in  FIG. 3 . As this movement occurs, the door  10  pivots in the hole  32  of the lower latch assembly  18 , as  FIG. 1B  shows. 
         [0027]    Then the outboard latch  36  of the lower latch assembly  18  is delatched from its striker pin  40  using an actuator such as cable  44  and detent lever  42 , thereby allowing the door  10  to be lifted upward or clockwise while being supported on the frame  22  by the upper and lower latch assemblies  14 ,  18 . The door  10  is relatched when striker pin  40  forces fork bolt  48  of the lower latch assembly  18  to pivot counterclockwise into engagement with the striker pin at the inboard latch  34 , shown in  FIG. 3 . As this movement occurs, the door  10  pivots in the hole  32  of the upper latch assembly  18 , as  FIG. 10  shows. The door  10  is then pivoted on its hinge pins  33  to the fully open position through an angle of about 180 degrees shown in  FIG. 5 . 
         [0028]    The door  10  is closed by being pivoted on its hinges through an angle of about 180 degrees to the position shown in  FIG. 10 . Then the inboard latch  34  of the lower latch assembly  18  is delatched from its striker pin  40  using an actuator such as cable  54  and detent lever  52 , thereby allowing the door  10  to pivot downward while being supported on the frame  22  by the upper and lower latch assemblies  14 ,  18 . The door  10  is relatched when fork bolt  38  of the lower latch assembly  18  engages the striker pin  40  at the outboard latch  36 . As this movement occurs, the door  10  pivots to the position shown in  FIG. 1B . 
         [0029]    The inboard latch  34  of the upper latch assembly  14  is then delatched from its striker pin  40  using actuator  54  and detent lever  52 , thereby allowing door  10  to be lifted upward and inboard as the upper latch assembly  14  travels laterally inboard with the slotted hole  32  moving relative to the upper striker pin  40 . The door  10  is relatched when fork bolt  38  of the upper latch assembly  14  engages the striker pin  40  at the outboard latch  36 . As this movement occurs, the door  10  pivots to the position shown in  FIG. 1A . Then the door is pivoted on its hinge pins  33  to the fully closed position. 
         [0030]      FIG. 4  shows a retractable, flexible stop strap  60  secured to the door  10  at one end and secured to a retractor at its inboard end, the retractor limiting the extent to which the strap  60  can extend. When either the upper or lower latch assembly  14 ,  18  is delatched, strap  60  extends to a first limit position (shown in  FIG. 4 ) where the strap supports the door in the position shown in  FIG. 1B . The strap  10  operates similar to a seat belt but has several length limits. 
         [0031]    Before the door  10  moves to the position shown in  FIG. 10 , a limit pin that controls the strap retractor is actuated, thereby allowing strap  60  to extend further and door  10  to extend outboard to the position shown in  FIG. 10  where the strap retractor limits movement of the door. 
         [0032]    Then the limit pin is actuated again, allowing strap  60  to extend further such that the door  10  can be folded forward about the upper and lower hinge pins  33  to the fully open position shown in  FIG. 5  where door  10  is substantially parallel to the side body panel  24 . The stop strap retractor applies to the strap a force generally referred to as a check load. 
         [0033]    As an alternative to the retractable stop strap  60 , a two-position stop feature can be provided in the door hinge to position the door for both the intermediate and final stop positions. This alternative mechanism would also operate with the same inboard and outboard latches  34 ,  36 , but would provide two stop positions to control the door movement. 
         [0034]    While certain embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail, those familiar with the art to which this invention relates will recognize various alternative designs and embodiments for practicing the invention as defined by the following claims.