INERTIA CATCH FOR A VEHICLE LATCH

摘要

A latch mechanism (20) for selectively latching a door (10) to an automotive vehicle. The latch mechanism includes a latch hook (22) movable between locked and unlocked positions relative to a striker bar (24) fixedly secured to the vehicle. A release lever (30) is operatively coupled between the latch hook (22) and the latch mechanism for selectively actuating the latch hook between the locked and unlocked positions. An inertia lever (50) is engagable with the release lever (30) to prevent movement of the latch hook (22) between the unlocked and locked positions. The inertia lever (50) is movably coupled to the latch mechanism for movement in and out of engagement with the release lever (30) in response to a threshold acceleration of the vehicle. A slot (42) is formed in the release lever (30) presenting sides (44, 46) engagable with the inertia lever (50) to automatically rock the inertia lever in response to movement of the release lever (30) to prevent seizing of the inertia lever within the latch mechanism due to lack of use.