Patent ID: 6880866

Claim:
A vehicle door latch comprising: a housing having a mouth for receiving a striker; a ratchet pivotally mounted to said housing for rotation between a latched and unlatched conditions, said ratchet cooperating with said mouth for selectively retaining a striker; a pawl mounted to said housing for releasably engaging said ratchet, said pawl being moveable relative to said ratchet between a rest position engaging said ratchet to block movement of said ratchet toward said unlatched condition and a released position disengaging said ratchet to allow movement of said ratchet toward said unlatched condition; a release lever mounted to said housing, said release lever being operably connectable to said pawl by a clutch member extending therebetween, said clutch lever being moveable between an engaged position operably connecting said release lever to said pawl effecting movement of said pawl toward said released condition and a disengaged position operably disconnecting said release lever from said pawl; and, a locking lever mounted to said housing for moving said clutch lever between said engaged and said disengaged positions; wherein said clutch lever moves in a first plane to effect movement of the pawl and said locking lever moves a portion of said clutch lever out the first plane to effect movement between said engaged and said disengaged positions.