Patent ID: 6971667

Claim:
A latching assembly for a door of a glove compartment assembly of a vehicle, the door comprising a rear door cover movably coupled to an instrument panel of the vehicle, the rear door cover having at least one lateral recess, an airbag module coupled to the rear door cover, the airbag module having a cushion configured to inflate, and a front door cover attached to the cushion to extend toward knees of a user of the vehicle during inflation of the cushion, the latching assembly comprising: a user control disposed on the front door cover to permit a user to actuate the latching assembly from a latched configuration to an unlatched configuration, thereby permitting motion of the rear door cover with respect to the instrument panel; a restraint member coupled to the instrument panel; and a locking mechanism configured to interlock with the restraint member to provide the latched configuration, wherein the locking mechanism is configured to withdraw from interlocking with the restraint member in response to activation of the user control to provide the unlatched configuration; wherein the user control comprises an electric switch configured to transmit an electric unlatching signal via a switch wire to induce the locking mechanism to withdraw from interlocking with the restraint member and wherein the user control is extensible from the rear door cover in response to inflation of the cushion to permit separation of the front and rear door covers.