초록 ▼

A latch has a unidirectional power release mechanism. The mechanism has a rotatable gear with a boss on the gear, a motor for rotating the gear to orbit the gear boss through an operating cycle of the mechanism, a ratchet movable from a latched position to an unlatched position, a pawl lever, a pawl

A latch has a unidirectional power release mechanism. The mechanism has a rotatable gear with a boss on the gear, a motor for rotating the gear to orbit the gear boss through an operating cycle of the mechanism, a ratchet movable from a latched position to an unlatched position, a pawl lever, a pawl, and a toggle which moves between a first toggle position and a second toggle position to set the limits of the operating cycle of the mechanism. The toggle pivots in response to the orbiting gear boss and presents a stop for the gear boss at the end of the operating cycle. The gear boss effects movement of the pawl lever to effect unlatching and stops the orbiting gear boss when it encounters the stop. The toggle is pivoted back removing the stop in response to the ratchet rotating to the latched position.

대표청구항 ▼

What is claimed is: 1. A latch having a unidirectional power release mechanism comprising: a rotatable gear with a gear boss thereon, a motor drivingly engaging said gear to orbit the gear boss through an operating cycle of the power release mechanism, a ratchet pivotally movable between a latched

What is claimed is: 1. A latch having a unidirectional power release mechanism comprising: a rotatable gear with a gear boss thereon, a motor drivingly engaging said gear to orbit the gear boss through an operating cycle of the power release mechanism, a ratchet pivotally movable between a latched position and an unlatched position, said ratchet being biased to the unlatched position, a pawl pivotally movable between a ratchet engaged position to hold the ratchet in said latched position and a disengaged position allowing free rotation of said ratchet, said pawl being biased to said ratchet engaged position, a pawl lever pivotally mounted to engage said gear boss and pivot in response to engagement therewith and thereby responsively pivot said pawl away from said ratchet engaged position, allowing free rotation of said ratchet, a toggle pivotally movable between a first toggle position and a second toggle position, said toggle being biased to either the first toggle position or the second toggle position, said orbiting gear boss encountering said toggle and pivoting the toggle from the first toggle position to the second toggle position, said toggle presenting a stop to said orbiting gear boss terminating said operating cycle when said toggle is in said second position, and a slapper movable to pivot the toggle from the second toggle position to the first toggle position in response to the ratchet moving from the unlatched position to the latched position. 2. A latch as claimed in claim 1 wherein said bias of said toggle allows over-rotation of said toggle beyond said second position. 3. A latch as claimed in claim 2 wherein said operating cycle of the mechanism comprises a start of release phase, a priming phase, a release phase, an end of release phase and a closing phase; in the start of release phase the toggle being in the first toggle position where the gear boss is free to orbit and the motor starts to rotate the gear to the priming phase in which the gear boss pushes the toggle to the second toggle position, the motor continuing to rotate the gear to the release phase in which gear boss pushes on the pawl lever which in turn pushes the pawl away from the ratchet engaged position whereby the ratchet moves away from the latched to the unlatched position, the motor continuing to rotate the gear to orbit the gear boss to the end of release phase where the gear boss is blocked by the toggle in the second toggle position to stop rotation of the gear and to stall the motor which is then ready for the closing phase in which the ratchet is moved, upon impact with the striker back to the latched position, pushing the toggle back to the first toggle position to enable a further operating cycle of the mechanism. 4. A latch as claimed in claim 2 wherein said pawl lever and said pawl are mounted on a common pivot. 5. A latch as claimed in claim 4 wherein said latch further comprises housing comprising a base plate and a cover. 6. A latch as claimed in claim 5 wherein said pawl lever has an arm configured to extend out of the housing enabling manual operation of said latch. 7. A latch as claimed in claim 1 wherein said toggle has a one way lost motion connection to said slapper, said lost motion allowing said ratchet to rotate from the latched position to the unlatched position. 8. A latch (1) having a unidirectional power release mechanism, said latch comprising: a rotatable gear (7) with a boss (9), a motor (3) operative engaging the gear effecting an orbital path of the gear boss through an operating cycle of the mechanism, a ratchet (29) movable from a latched position to an unlatched position and biased to the unlatched position, a pawl (22) operatively engaging the ratchet and biased to retain the ratchet in the latched position, a pawl lever (21) pivotally movable to engage the pawl and the orbiting gear boss, and a toggle (11) pivotally movable between a first toggle position and a second toggle position to set the limits of the operating cycle of the mechanism, the toggle (11) being biased to either the first toggle position or the second toggle position, the orbiting gear boss encountering the toggle and pivoting the toggle from the first toggle position to the second tongle position, wherein said second position presents a stop for the gear boss (9) at the end of the operating cycle, the gear boss (9) effecting movement of the pawl lever (21) to effect unlatching of said ratchet and stopping upon encountering the stop, the toggle (11) being pivoted back to the first toggle position removing the stop in response to the ratchet ( 29) rotating to the latched position. 9. A latch as claimed in claim 8 wherein said toggle has a slapper having a one way lost motion connection with said toggle, said slapper positioned to engage said ratchet as said ratchet rotates between said latched and unlatched positions, said lost motion connection enabling said pivoting movement of said toggle from the second toggle position to the first toggle position upon rotation of the ratchet from the unlatched position to the latched position and disabling movement of the toggle upon rotation of the ratchet from the latched position to the unlatched position. 10. A latch as claimed in claim 9 wherein said pawl lever and said pawl are mounted on a common pivot. 11. A latch as claimed in claim 10 wherein said latch further comprises housing comprising a base plate and a cover. 12. A latch as claimed in claim 11 wherein said pawl lever has an arm configured to extend out of the housing enabling manual operation of said latch.