Patent ID: 8544901

Claim:
A latch system for a door of a vehicle comprising: a latch assembly for maintaining the door in a closed location, the latch assembly including a catch and a pawl, the catch having a closed position wherein the catch is configured to grasp a portion of the vehicle to maintain the door in the closed location and an open position wherein the catch is configured to release the portion of the vehicle to allow the door to move to an open location, the pawl being configured to maintain the catch in the closed position; an actuatable inside handle; a powered actuator engaged with the latch assembly, the powered actuator being configured to be activated by actuation of the inside handle; an emergency release lever being movable between an on position and an off position, the emergency release lever being engaged with the actuatable inside handle, wherein the emergency release lever can be manually actuated from within an interior of a vehicle when the door is in a closed position; wherein the catch is configured to be moved to the open position after actuation of the inside handle by activating the powered actuator to thereby cause powered movement of the pawl to stop the pawl from maintaining the catch in the closed position when the vehicle has power; wherein the catch is configured to be moved to the open position after actuation of the inside handle by moving the emergency release lever to the on position to mechanically interconnect the inside handle with the pawl to stop the pawl from maintaining the catch in the closed position to permit the door to be opened, and wherein the emergency release lever resets to the off position when the door is closed; and wherein the inside handle is not mechanically interconnected to the pawl when the emergency release lever is in the off position such that actuation of the inside handle will not mechanically move the pawl when the emergency release lever is in the off position.