Patent ID: 8215684

Claim:
A vehicle stowage assembly comprising: a storage compartment comprising an opening to permit access to the compartment; a door pivotally mounted to the compartment proximate the opening; a ferrous member positioned on one of the storage compartment and the door; one or more magnets positioned on the other one of the storage compartment and the door, the one or more magnets being magnetically coupled to the ferrous member to apply a closure force when the door is closed; a coil electromagnetically coupled to the ferrous member; a user input operatively coupled to the magnetic coupling between the one or more magnets and the ferrous member and adapted to disengage the magnetic coupling and open the door; and a detector to detect an event so that the coil is electrically energized to create a polarity on the ferrous member to apply an increased closure force to the door to maintain the door closed during the event.