Patent ID: 7441814

Claim:
A lock assembly which prevents a vehicle door from being opened by securing a vehicle door element, the lock assembly comprising: a movable bolt, wherein the bolt secures the vehicle door element to prevent the door from being opened when the bolt is in a locked position and wherein the bolt allows the vehicle door element to be removed from the lock assembly, thereby enabling the vehicle door to be opened, when the bolt is in an unlocked position; a catch that moves relative to the bolt, wherein the catch prevents the bolt from moving from the bolt's locked position to the bolt's unlocked position when the catch is in a locked position and wherein the catch allows the bolt to move from the bolt's locked position to the bolt's unlocked position when the catch is in an unlocked position; a cable seat operatively connected to the catch, the cable seat being configured to transmit force applied to it to the catch so as to move the catch from its locked position to its unlocked position; a cable having a free end and supported in a manner which permits the free end to move generally toward the cable seat; and a cable-positioning operating device having a locked position and an unlocked position; wherein the cable seat, the cable, and the cable-positioning operating device are mutually arranged and configured such that 1) when the cable-positioning operating device is in its unlocked position, longitudinal movement of the cable toward the cable seat brings the free end of the cable into engagement with the cable seat, whereby the catch is caused to move from its locked position to its unlocked position so that the bolt can be moved from its locked position to its unlocked position; and 2) when the cable-positioning operating device is in its locked position, the free end of the cable does not engage the cable seat upon longitudinal movement of the cable generally toward the cable seat.