VEHICLE DOOR LATCH WITH CINCHING MECHANISM

摘要

A vehicle door latch has a rotatable forkbolt (30) that is latched by a detent (32) in a primary or an intermediate secondary latch position. The detent is operated via an intermittent lever (34) that is operated by a transfer lever (44) that is actuated by inside and outside door handles via suitable mechanical linkage. The door latch (10) includes a locking lever that disables the door handles from operating the intermittent lever (34) when it is in the locked position. The door latch (10) also includes a cinching mechanism (80) that automatically engages the forkbolt (30) in the primary latch position when the intermediate secondary latch position is reached. The cinching mechanism (80) includes a link (106) that has one end connected to a cinch pawl (86) and another end connected to the latch assembly. The link (106) pulls on the pawl (86) to disengage it from a cinching gear (82) to allow the cinching gear to return to the standby or home position during an unlatching operation.