Vehicle Door Latch Layout for Thin Independent Release
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing vehicle door latches with both electrical and mechanical release mechanisms face challenges due to their combined axial superimposition, leading to increased thickness and installation difficulties within the door body, and require independent activation to prevent mechanical lever displacement from affecting the electrical mechanism.
Innovation Solution
A vehicle door latch design featuring a central opening lever that rotates around a first shaft and is displaced by an electric gear wheel, with a mechanical lever arranged on a separate second shaft, allowing for independent operation and reduced thickness through a rotatable arrangement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If both electrical and mechanical release mechanisms are packed in a reduced space with axial superimposition of levers, then space utilization is improved, but thickness increases leading to installation difficulties
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from axial superimposition (one-dimensional stacking) to a configuration where the mechanical lever and electrical gear wheel operate on different rotational axes. The mechanical lever rotates around a first axis while the electrical gear wheel rotates around a second, parallel axis, creating a two-dimensional arrangement that reduces thickness while maintaining compact space utilization.
2Volume of moving object
If mechanical and electrical mechanisms are combined with axial superimposition, then compactness is improved, but the mechanisms cannot act independently leading to unwanted lever displacement
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the control mechanisms by providing separate operational paths: the mechanical lever connects to the central opening lever through a first cable, while the electrical gear wheel connects through a second cable. This segmentation allows independent activation of either mechanism without interfering with the other, ensuring reliable independent operation while maintaining compactness.
3Device complexity
If multiple levers are axially superimposed to combine mechanisms, then integration is improved, but thickness increases making installation difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent resolves the thickness issue by arranging the mechanical lever and electrical gear wheel on different rotational axes rather than superimposing them axially. This dimensional change allows both mechanisms to be integrated into a compact assembly that fits within the door body thickness constraints.
Data Source
AI summary
A vehicle door latch includes a retention unit to engage with a striker in a closed position and to release the striker in an open position, a central opening lever to rotate around a first shaft between a rest position and an active position, an electric releasing mechanism including an electric gear wheel to be moved by electric releasing motor from a rest position to an active position, the electrical gear wheel displacing the central opening lever, a mechanical release mechanism including a mechanical lever to be displaced between a rest position and an active position. The mechanical lever displaces the central opening lever towards its active position when the mechanical lever is displaced towards its active position. The mechanical lever is rotatably arranged to the central opening lever via a second shaft of the central opening lever different than the first shaft.