Patent ID: 8172283

Claim:
A door latch device in a motor vehicle, comprising: an engagement portion that includes a latch which engages with a striker of a vehicle body of the motor vehicle, a ratchet which engages with the latch, and an opening lever which is rotatable with the ratchet; an operating lever operated with an operating handle on a door to open the door; a locking lever moving with a locking knob on the door inside the vehicle between an unlocking position where the engagement portion can be disengaged from the striker and a locked position where the engagement portion cannot be disengaged from the striker; a first subsidiary lever moving with the locking lever between the unlocking position and the locked position; a second subsidiary lever connected to the operating lever and moving with the first subsidiary lever between the unlocking position and the locked position, the second subsidiary lever having a releasing-contact portion which comes in contact with the opening lever of the engagement portion when the second subsidiary lever is in the unlocking position, the releasing-contact portion not coming in contact with the opening lever when the second subsidiary lever is in the locked position, wherein the operating lever, the locking lever, the first subsidiary lever and the second subsidiary lever are disposed in the same plane parallel with a longitudinal axis of the motor vehicle; a spring exerting a force to the first subsidiary lever and the second subsidiary lever so that the second subsidiary lever follows the first subsidiary lever; a blocking member moving between a blocking position where the blocking member comes in a track of the second subsidiary lever so that the second subsidiary lever is prevented from moving from the locked position to the unlocking position and an unblocking position where the blocking member goes out of the track to allow the blocking member to move to the unlocking position; and a blocking motor moving the blocking member between the blocking position and the unblocking position, enabling the locking lever and the first subsidiary lever to move from the locked position to the unlocking position against the force of the spring while the second subsidiary lever is still held in the locked position when the blocking member is in the blocking position.