GB2275962A

GB2275962A - Vehicle door arrangement

Info

Publication number: GB2275962A
Application number: GB9305009A
Authority: GB
Inventors: David Huw Davies; Graham John Crawley
Original assignee: Ford Motor Co
Current assignee: Ford Motor Co
Priority date: 1993-03-11
Filing date: 1993-03-11
Publication date: 1994-09-14
Also published as: GB9305009D0

Abstract

A vehicle door arrangement includes a door latch comprising a striker bar 5, a retaining mechanism 9 and a cable operated latch release means whereby the retaining mechanism is enclosed within a housing. The housing comprises cooperating parts 10, 11 fitting together about the mechanism and about a cable sleeve terminal 26 associated with the release means such as to secure the terminal against withdrawal from the housing. Further, the housing is such that open access to the mechanism is provided only in a region allowing access by the striker bar and its engagement with the mechanism. The cable sleeve terminal 26 preferably comprises an integrally moulded end portion of the sleeve of the cable and is provided with a circumferential groove or slot into which the housing having a corresponding aperture locates. The aperture preferably lies on a line along which cooperating parts of the housing fit, the line lying in the region of a central plane of the housing but not necessarily in a single plane. <IMAGE>

Description

Vehicle Door Arrangement This invention relates to a vehicle door arrangement and particularly but not exclusively to a rear door or tailgate sarrangement of a motor vehicle.

The rear doors of vehicles and especially the rear doors of commercial vehicles having an isolated rear compartment for goods are susceptible to break-in in a variety of ways.

These include forcing flexible or weak components of the latch; accessing the latch mechanism by means of probes and freeing cable release sleeves to permit operation of the release cable by pulling on the freed sleeve.

While it is known to enclose lock mechanisms in housings to reduce the risk of tampering as disclosed in French Patent Specification 2 512 097 and 2 656 030 also in US Patent Specification 3 971 239; door latches comprising a striker bar, a retaining mechanism and a cable operated latch release means, present a combination of problems in combatting break-ins as indicated above.

According to the present invention there is provided a vehicle door arrangement comprising a door, a door frame and a latch the latch comprising a striker bar, a retaining mechanism and a cable operated latch release means wherein the retaining mechanism is enclosed within a housing comprising cooperating housing parts fitting together about the mechanism and about a cable sleeve terminal associated with the latch release means such as to secure the sleeve terminal against withdrawal from the housing and wherein when fitted to a vehicle, open access to the mechanism is provided in the housing only in a region allowing access by the striker bar and its engagement with the mechanism.

By means of this invention, access to the retaining mechanism by probes in attempts to overcome the latch is severely reduced as also particularly are the chances of violating a cable operated latch release means. The ,invention also permits sturdy construction whereby forcing of the latch can be severely reduced.

The striker bar employed in the vehicle door arrangement of the present invention may be of known type and may comprise a metal bar mounted to, in operation, present a central portion along its length to the retaining mechanism. It is preferred that the striker bar is mounted so as to be supported at each end. Preferably, the striker bar is mounted on the door frame and the retaining mechanism is mounted on the door. Preferably also the striker bar is mounted so that its central portion is transverse to the closing direction of the latch.

The retaining mechanism preferably comprises a rotary latching plate rotatable about an axis substantially parallel with a portion of, the striker bar on which it locates when the latch is closed. The latching plate is provided with a slot in its periphery dimensioned to accept the striker bar and so positioned and profiled as to cause the plate to rotate to a point where a sprung pawl locates a cam surface or notch on the periphery of the plate to prevent counter-rotation of the plate until the pawl is released. In this way the latching plate can capture and engage with the striker bar to close the latch. The latching plate is preferably provided with spring biassing means and stop means to ensure that on its release it is always positioned correctly to accept the striker bar.

The cable operated latch release means comprises a cable which operates within a sleeve having a sleeve terminal and preferably comprises a Bowden cable. It is preferred that the release means is operable to release a pawl of the retaining mechanism. The sleeve terminal may take any form comprising an end of the sleeve and about which the housing can be fitted to secure it. Accordingly, the sleeve terminal may take the form of an integrally moulded end portion of the sleeve. The sleeve terminal preferably has the housing for the retaining means surrounding a peripheral portion so as to prevent the withdrawal of the sleeve from the housing. Accordingly, it is preferred that the sleeve terminal is provided with a circumferential groove or slot into which the housing locates.

The housing which encloses the retaining mechanism can comprise any number of cooperating housing parts fitting together but preferably comprises only two. It is further preferred that the parts cooperate and fit together in the region of a centre plane of the housing, however, for reasons of ensuring simple accurate location of cooperating parts the line along which the parts fit may not be in a single plane.

The housing is provided with an aperture into which the cable sleeve terminal locates to close it and such aperture is preferably positioned on the line along which cooperating parts fit to facilitate ease of assembly of the housing and sleeve together.

The housing is further provided with an opening in a peripheral wall to permit access of the striker bar to the retaining mechanism with which it engages on closing the latch. The opening way extend the full width of the housing and may extend into the two walls flanking the peripheral walls. The opening preferably comprises one or more holes, more preferably of elongated shape, in the peripheral wall of the housing and preferably employed in a re-entrant portion of the peripheral wall of the housing. It will be appreciated that when the retaining mechanism includes a rotary latching plate, the position of the opening will correspond with the position of the peripheral slot in the latching plate when it is in its correct position for receiving and for engaging with the striker bar.The size of the opening in the wall or walls of the housing may be determined to some extent by the size and required mounting of the striker bar to gain desirable strength of structure.

The size of the opening may also be determined to some extent by the size and nature of the retaining mechanism with which the striker bar engages on closing the latch.

However, it is preferred that the opening in the housing shall be substantially no larger than is necessary to provide adequate access of the striker bar to and engagement with the retaining mechanism.

Clearly, the components of the retaining mechanism may be fixed to the inner surfaces- of the housing. Pivots for rotatable components may extend through opposite walls of the housing comprising different cooperating housing parts.

Accordingly, the ends of the pivots may be burred over on the outside of the housing parts to secure them together in rivetted fashion. Other methods of fixing cooperating parts together will be evident to the skilled addressee but fixing is preferably of a permanent or semi-permanent nature to maximise the security of the housing.

While holes may be provided in the housing for fixing latch components to it or for fixing the housing to a vehicle door or door frame for example, the means for fixing such components or the housing preferably, at least substantially, closes off those holes.

The invention will now be described by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein: Figure 1 illustrates part of the rear of a commercial motor vehicle showing a vehicle door arrangement according to this invention.

Figure 2 illustrates in enlarged form, the upper striker bars shown in Figure 1.

Figure 3 illustrates in enlarged form, the lower striker bars shown in Figure 1.

Figure 4 illustrates in enlarged but open side elevation, part of the upper housed latch retaining mechanism shown in Figure 1 but also showing the position of the relevant striker bar with the latch closed.

Figure 5 illustrates in enlarged front elevation, the upper housed latch retaining mechanism shown in Figure 1 but also showing the position of the relevant striker bar with the latch closed.

Figure 6 illustrates further, in a sketched perspective view, part of the housed latch retaining mechanism and striker bar of Figure 5.

In the drawings in which like numbers correspond, 1 indicates generally a vehicle door arrangement according to this invention. The arrangement comprises the vehicle door 2 hinged to the door frame 3 by the hinges 4. To the door frame 3 are bolted, as better seen in Figures 2 and 3, two pairs of striker bars 5, 6 and 7, 8, one pair to each of the upper and the lower parts of the frame. It will be appreciated that only the striker bars 5 and 7 apply to the door 2 shown in Figure 1.

In Figure 1 the housed latch retaining mechanisms 9 and 9a sare shown attached to the inner skin of the door 2 and in Figures 4 and 5 the housed latch retaining mechanism 9 is shown in detail but it will be appreciated that the description which follows for the housed mechanism 9 will be the same for the housed mechanism 9a although the mechanism 9a is turned through 180- for convenience in fitting to the door 2.

In Figure 4 the housed latch mechanism 9 is generally indicated since it is shown in open side elevation and in part only. The housing of the housed mechanism 9 comprises two cooperating housing parts 10 and 11 of which only part 10 is shown in Figure 4. The part 10 has the fitting bracket 12 welded to it to enable the housing to be fitted by means of bolts to the vehicle door.

The rearward extending portion of the whole housing ie to the right of bracket 12 as shown in Figure 4, extends through a hole in the inner skin of the vehicle door (not shown in Figure 4) on which bracket 12 is mounted.

With reference to Figures 4, 5 and 6; the housing part 10 and likewise the housing part 11, is a pressed steel moulding having a flat base 13 and an upturned peripheral edge 14. The upturned peripheral edges 14 of the housing parts 10 and 11 cooperate and fit together to form the peripheral wall of the housing and their mating surfaces are provided with a stepped profile 31 to assist correct and positive positioning of the parts in assembly of the housing. The housing parts 10 and 11 are shaped such that on assembly, the peripheral wall of the housing is provided with a re-entrant portion 35. The up-turned peripheral edges 14 of the housing parts 10 and 11 are cut to provide the opening 15 in the re-entrant portion 35 of the peripheral wall of the housing. The opening 15 is an elongated hole extending around part of the re-entrant portion 35.The sizes and shapes of the re-entrant portion 35 and of the opening 15 are such that the striker bar 5 has access to the latching plate 16 to thereby engage with the retaining mechanism on closing the latch as described below but such sizes and shapes being consistent with minimising unnecessary accessibility to the retaining mechanism.

The retaining mechanism within the housing comprises the latching plate 16 arranged to rotate about the axle pin 17.

The torsion spring 18, located on the axle pin 17 has one end fitted in a hole in the latching plate 16 and the other end 19 positioned to act against housing part 11 (shown in Figure 5) adjacent opening 15. The latching plate 16 is profiled to provide on its periphery, a slot 19 to accept the striker bar 5 such that the striker bar 5 will cause the plate 16 to rotate about the axle pin 17 against the torsion spring 18 and pass round the bar 5 thereby closing the latch. Passage of the plate 16 around the bar 5 is such that withdrawal of the bar 5 from the retaining mechanism is only possible if the latching plate 16 is counter-rotated.

Counter-rotation of the latching plate 16 is prevented by the pawl 20 pivoted on the axle pin 21 and sprung biassed towards clock-wise rotation (as viewed in Figure 4) by torsion spring 22 having one end located in a hole in the pawl 20 and the other end located against the inside of the peripheral wall of the housing. The pawl 20 prevents the counter-rotation of plate 16 through its tip 24 acting against the secondary profiled edge of plate 16 at 25.

Counter-rotation of plate 16 to release the striker bar and thereby release or open the latch is made possible by cable operated latch release means comprising the inner cable 24 slidably operable within the cable sleeve 25 having the cable sleeve terminal 26 integrally moulded on its end. The inner cable 24 is hingedly attached to the pawl 20 on the pivot pin 27 via the U-shaped swivel bracket 28 (only one side shown in Figure 4) attached to the end of the cable 24.

It will be appreciated that sliding operation of the cable 24 within the sleeve 25 is in known manner and suitable lengths of cable 24 and sleeve 25 permit operation from the vehicle driving cab.

Cable sleeve terminal 26 has the circular flanges 29 and 30 incorporated in its moulded generally circular crosssectional shape.

As best seen in Figure 5 the housing part 10 and likewise housing part 11 is shaped with a semi-circular hole in its up-turned peripheral edge 14 with its centre positioned substantially in the region of the central plane of the housing. In this way, in fitting together cooperating parts 10 and 11 about the retaining mechanism the combined semicircles form a circular hole to accommodate the prepositioned cable sleeve terminal 26 and particularly the region between the flanges 29 and 30, the dimensions being such that the cable sleeve terminal is firmly gripped by the semi-circular shapes in the up-turned edges 14 of the housing parts 10 and 11.

The housing parts 10 and 11 are each provided with holes corresponding to the positions and sizes of the axle pins 17 and 21 which are arranged to be long enough to extend through the holes respectively and to be burred over in rivetting fashion to secure the housing about the retaining mechanism'and the cable sleeve terminal 26. The housing of housed latch retaining mechanism 9 is secured to the inner skin of the vehicle door 2 by bolts through the holes 33 and 34 provided in the bracket 12 and which do not pass through the housing itself.

Claims

1. A vehicle door arrangement comprising a door, a door frame and a latch, the latch comprising a striker bar, a retaining mechanism and a cable operated latch release means wherein the retaining mechanism is enclosed within a housing comprising cooperating housing parts fitting together about the mechanism and about a cable sleeve terminal associated with the latch release means such as to secure the sleeve terminal against withdrawal from the housing and wherein, when fitted to a vehicle, open access to the mechanism is provided in the housing only in a region allowing access by the striker bar and its engagement with the mechanism.

2. A vehicle door arrangement as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the striker bar is mounted to in operation present a central portion along its length to the retaining mechanism and is supported at each end.

3. A vehicle door arrangement as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2 wherein the striker bar is mounted so that its central portion is transverse to the closing direction of the latch.

4. A vehicle door arrangement as claimed in any one of the preceding Claims wherein the cable sleeve terminal comprises an integrally moulded end portion of the sleeve of the cable.

5. A vehicle door arrangement as claimed in Claim 4 wherein the cable sleeve terminal is provided with a circumferential groove or slot into which the housing locates.

6. A vehicle door arrangement as claimed in anyone of the preceding Claims wherein the housing comprises only two cooperating housing parts fitting together.

7. A vehicle door arrangement as claimed in any one of the preceding Claims wherein the cooperating housing parts fit together in the region of a central plane.

8. A vehicle door arrangement as claimed in Claim 7 wherein the cooperating housing parts fit together along a line which is not in a single plane.

9. A vehicle door arrangement as claimed in any one of the preceding Claims wherein the housing is provided with an aperture into which the cable sleeve terminal locates to close it and wherein the aperture is on a line along which cooperating housing parts fit.

10. A vehicle door arrangement as claimed in any one of the preceding Claims wherein the open access provided in the housing is an opening in a peripheral wall of the housing and extending the full width--of the housing.

11. A vehicle door arrangement as claimed in Claim 10 wherein the opening extends into the two walls flanking the peripheral wall.

12. A vehicle door arrangement as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 9 wherein the open access provided in the housing comprises one or more holes in a re-entrant portion of the peripheral wall of the housing.

13. A vehicle door arrangement as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the open access provided in the housing is an opening substantially no larger than is necessary to provide adequate access of the striker bar to the retaining mechanism and its engagement with the mechanism.

14. A vehicle door arrangement as claimed in any one of the apreceding claims wherein the cooperating housing parts are fitted together and fixed together by means of rivets respectively extending through opposite walls of the housing and intermediately between the walls such rivets providing axles for components of the retaining mechanism.

15. A vehicle door arrangement substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.