Patent ID: 7070216

Claim:
A door handle assembly for a vehicle door that resists opening of a latch mechanism of the door under inertial forces, the door handle assembly comprising: a handle movable from a door latched position to a door unlatched position; a bell crank operatively connected to the handle so that movement of the handle rotates the bell crank about a bell crank axis, the bell crank having a first lever arm adapted for attachment to the latch mechanism of the door, and a cam; a counterweight mounted for pivoting about a counterweight axis space from the bell crank axis, the counterweight being positioned for engagement with the cam such that when the handle is pulled from the door latched position to the door unlatched position, the bell crank rotates and the cam pushes the counterweight in a first direction about the counterweight axis, but upon acceleration of the handle assembly tending to cause the handle to move by its own inertia from the door latched to the door unlatched position thereby urging the bell crank to rotate, the inertia of the counterweight urges it to pivot in a second direction about the counterweight axis opposite the first direction and bear against the cam for inhibiting rotation of the bell crank and movement of the handle to the door unlatched position.