Patent ID: 7635151

Claim:
An inertia locking mechanism, the inertia locking mechanism coupled to a handle of a door handle assembly in a door of a vehicle, comprising: a housing defining an opening; a weight component mounted to the housing, that is displaced when a crash force is applied to the weight component, and that returns to a home position when the crash force is removed, wherein the crash force results from a crash of the vehicle; a locking tab that defines a lever arm; a cable that attaches to the weight component at one end and to the locking tab at the other end and that causes movement of the locking tab when the weight component is displaced; a spring positioned in the housing that retrains the weight component from moving when the crash force is not applied; and a locking arm operatively connected to the lever arm, wherein the weight component will be moved by the crash force, thereby moving the lever arm to cause the locking arm to move through the opening in the housing to extend outside the housing, so that when the handle is moved to a certain point by the crash force, the locking arm will engage a non-movable member of the door handle assembly to prevent the handle from further opening to therefore prevent inadvertent opening of the door during the crash.