Vehicle latch with secondary engagement between cam and auxiliary pawl

摘要

In a first aspect, the invention is directed to a vehicle latch including a ratchet, a main pawl, a cam, and at least one auxiliary pawl, wherein a secondary engagement is provided between the cam and the at least one auxiliary pawl in case a primary engagement between the cam and at least one auxiliary pawl is missed. In a particular embodiment of the first aspect, the ratchet is movable between a ratchet open position wherein the ratchet is positioned to receive a striker and a ratchet locking position wherein the ratchet is positioned to retain the striker. The ratchet is biased towards the ratchet open position. The main pawl is movable between a main pawl locking position wherein the main pawl is positioned to hold the ratchet in the ratchet locking position and a main pawl release position wherein the main pawl permits the movement of the ratchet out of the ratchet locking position. The main pawl is biased towards the main pawl locking position. The cam is operatively connected to the main pawl. The cam is movable between at least two main pawl enabling positions in which the main pawl is enabled to move to the main pawl locking position, and a main pawl disabling position in which the cam positions the main pawl in the main pawl release position. The cam is biased towards the main pawl disabling position. The at least one auxiliary pawl is movable to hold the cam in each of the at least two main pawl enabling positions and movable to permit the cam to move to the main pawl disabling position.