Vehicle Latch Cinching Mechanism That Bypasses the Open Claw
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing vehicle latches with cinching mechanisms risk undesired interaction between the cinch drive link and claw when the door is in an open position, potentially causing damage and undesired performance.
Innovation Solution
An internal cinching mechanism with an override clutch link and cinching lever system that prevents contact between the cinch drive link and claw in the open position by using a post and cam interaction to control lever movements, ensuring the latch only cinches from a secondary position.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the cinch drive link is allowed to contact the claw during cinching operation, then the latch can perform the cinching function to draw the door from secondary position to primary closed position, but the cinch drive link may contact the claw when the latch is in the open position causing undesired interaction and potential damage
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an override clutch mechanism as an intermediary component between the cinch drive link and the claw. This override clutch includes a cinch override lever and a cinch override clutch lever that act as mediators to control the interaction between the cinch drive link and claw. When the door is in the open position, the override clutch prevents the cinch drive link from contacting the claw, thereby eliminating the harmful undesired interaction while still allowing the cinching function to operate properly when the door is in the correct position.
2Ease of operation
If the override clutch lever is allowed to move freely during cinching operation, then the cinching mechanism can operate smoothly, but the override clutch lever may contact the override lever when the claw is in the open position causing interference
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the harmful interaction by separating the motion paths of the override clutch lever and override lever through the cinch override link mechanism. The cinch override link includes a lateral tab that interacts with the door ajar cam to limit the movement of the override clutch lever when the claw is in the open position. This extraction of the problematic contact through geometric constraints allows the cinching operation to proceed smoothly without interference between components.
Data Source
AI summary
A vehicle latch (10), including: a cinching mechanism (40) internal to the vehicle latch (10), the cinching mechanism including: a cinching lever (18) operably coupled to an actuator (20) via a cable (30), the cinching lever (18) being rotatably mounted to the latch (10) for movement about a pivot (16), the cinching lever (18) being secured to a cinch blank lever (48), the cinch blank lever (48) being pivotally mounted to a cinch drive link (14) via a pivot (26); a claw (22) pivotally mounted to the latch for movement between an open position and a primary position, the cinch drive link (14) being configured to contact a claw blank (41) of the claw (22) in order to move the claw (22) into the primary position during a cinching operation of the latch (10); a bearing (24) secured to the cinch drive link (14) via a pivot (27), the bearing (24) travels through a canal (9) of an override lever (8) during interaction between the claw blank (41) and the cinch drive link (14); an override clutch lever (12); a pawl release lever (4) operably coupled to a pawl; and an override clutch link (2) pivotally secured to the override clutch lever (12) and the pawl release lever (4), wherein the override clutch link (2) includes a lateral tab (72) that interacts with a door ajar cam (6) operably coupled to the claw (22) of the latch (10) in order to limit movement of the override clutch lever (12) when the claw (22) the latch (10) is in the open position.