WO2008102979A1

WO2008102979A1 - Latch assembly

Info

Publication number: WO2008102979A1
Application number: PCT/KR2008/000989
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jong-Chan Lee
Original assignee: Km & I.Co., Ltd
Priority date: 2007-02-23
Filing date: 2008-02-20
Publication date: 2008-08-28
Also published as: KR100753889B1

Abstract

The latch assembly according to the present invention includes a locking plate (10); a latch plate (20) formed with a hooking part (24) which is locked in the locking pin (1), and operationally engaged with the locking plate (10) so as to operate depending on the pivoting of the locking plate (10); front and rear base plates (30) and (40) coupled to the locking plate (10) and the latch plate (20) at the front and rear of the locking plate (10) and the latch plate (20) with the locking plate (10) and the latch plate (20) being received therebetween; a spring (50) for elastically connecting the locking plate (10) and the latch plate (20); and a connecting rod (60) operationally coupled to the locking plate (10) to pivot the locking plate (10) so that the locking pin (1) is hooked to and released from the hooking part (24) of the latch plate (20).

Description

[DESCRIPTION]

[invention Title]

LATCH ASSEMBLY

[Technical Field]

The present invention relates to a latch assembly, and more particularly, to a latch assembly for reclining and folding the seat back of an automobile seat.

[Background Art]

A latch assembly is a device installed at the front or the trunk of an automobile and locking or unlocking a bonnet or a trunk door, etc. An example of a conventional latch assembly is disclosed in Korean Patent No. 10-0184356 (title: a locking device), which is shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

As shown in drawings, the latch is provided with at least a pair of rotational shaft members 110, each having a screw part formed at one end thereof; a lower plate 120 formed with screw holes to which the rotational shaft members 110 are screwed, respectively; an upper plate 130 formed with through holes to which the rotational shaft members 110 are coupled, respectively; a latch member 140 and a pole 150 rotationally mounted onto the rotational shaft members 110 so as to be engaged with each other and locking/unlocking a locking pin fixedly mounted onto a predetermined fixing member; and a releasing means 160 for unlocking the locking pin 160, and is characterized in that each rotational shaft members 110 is screwed to the fixing member and the other end thereof is riveted to the upper plate 30.

Also, washers 170 are respectively inserted between lower plate 120 placed at the lower part of the latch member 140 and the pole 150 and the upper plate 130 placed at the upper part of the latch member 140 and the pole 150 to prevent a gap from being generated. Accordingly, when the inserted washer wears down or becomes loose, there has a problem that the latch 140 and the pole 150 are engaged with each other in such a state that they are deviated from each other in the direction of the shaft and thus a frictional noise is generated. Also, since the rotational shaft members 110 are insertedly coupled to the latch member 140 and the pole 150 respectively, there is another problem that abrasion is generated due to the pivoting of the latch member 140 and the pole 150 and gaps are generated at the latch member 140 and the pole 150. Further, since the rotational shaft 110 should be riveted to the upper plated 130, there is further another disadvantage that a working man hour is increased.

Also, since the lower plate 120 and the upper plate 130 are coupled to each other by riveting of the rotational shaft member so that they are coupled with the latch member 140 and the pole 150 being received therebetween, there is yet another problem that it is not easy to couple the lower plate 120 and the upper plate 130.

[Disclosure] [Technical Problem]

The present invention is intended to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a latch assembly in which a latch member and a pole are not deviated from each other and thus a smooth operation can be ensured.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a latch assembly in which the number of parts is reduced and coupling and assembling of the latch member and the pole is facilitated to reduce a working man hour.

Further another object of the present invention is to provide a latch assembly in which coupling of a lower plate and an upper plate is facilitated.

[Technical Solution]

A latch assembly according to the present invention includes a locking plate in which a coupling hole is formed at the middle of the locking plate, a projected guide and a recessed guide groove are formed around the coupling hole at one and the other sides of the locking plate so as to pivot with respect to the coupling hole, and an inserting hole is formed at a side of the locking plate; a latch plate which is operationally engaged with the locking plate so as to operate depending on the pivoting of the locking plate, and in which a coupling hole is formed at the middle of the latch plate, a projected guide and a recessed guide groove are formed around the coupling hole at one and the other sides of the latch plate, a hooking part locked in a locking pin is formed at a side of the latch plate; front and rear base plates which are coupled to the locking plate and the latch plate at the front and rear of the locking plate and the latch plate with the locking plate and the latch plate being received therebetween and are respectively formed with a guide coupling holes to which the guide of the locking plate and the guide of the latch plate are coupled and projected guides to which the guide groove of the locking plate and the guide groove of the latch plate are coupled; a spring which connects elastically the locking plate and the latch plate; and a connecting rod which is operationally coupled to the locking plate and pivots the locking plate so that the locking pin is hooked to and released from the hooking part of the latch plate.

Also, the latch assembly may further include receiving plates which are respectively placed between the front and rear base plates and the latch plate to receive the latch plate .

Preferably, projection parts having the same thickness as the receiving plate are formed on the front and rear faces of the locking plate. The front or rear base plate is provided with an arc shaped guiding groove in which an end of the connecting rod is inserted and guided.

One of the front and rear base plates is provided with a coupling projection and the other of the front and rear base plates is provided with a coupling groove to which the coupling projection is coupled, thereby coupling the front base plate and the rear base plate.

The latch assembly may further include mounting members which are coupled to the coupling holes of the locking plate and the latch plate to fix the latch assembly to an automobile body.

[Description of Drawings]

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of preferred embodiments given in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figs. 1 and 2 are views illustrating a conventional latch assembly. Figs. 3 and 4 are perspective views illustrating a latch assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Figs. 5 and 6 are exploded perspective views illustrating the latch assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A of Fig. 3.

Fig. 8 is an operational view of the latch assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig.9 and Fig.10 are exploded perspective views illustrating by mounting of the latch assembly.

[Detailed Description of Main Elements]

1: locking pin

10: locking plate

20: latch plate 30, 40: front and rear base plates

50: spring

60: connecting rod

[Best Mode] Hereinafter, the embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to accompanying drawings .

Figs. 3 and 4 are perspective views illustrating a latch assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention; Figs. 5 and 6 are exploded perspective views illustrating the latch assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A of Fig. 3; and Fig. 8 is an operational view of the latch assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown, the latch assembly according to the present invention includes a locking plate 10; a latch plate 20 formed with a hooking part 24 which is locked in the locking pin 10, and operationally engaged with the locking plate 10 so as to operate depending on the pivoting of the locking plate 10; front and rear base plates 30 and 40 coupled to the locking plate 10 and the latch plate 20 at the front and rear of the locking plate 10 and the latch plate 20 with the locking plate 10 and the latch plate 20 being received therebetween; a spring 50 for elastically connecting the locking plate 10 and the latch plate 20; and a connecting rod 60 operationally coupled to the locking plate 10 to pivot the locking plate 10 so that the locking pin 1 is hooked to and released from the hooking part 24 of the latch plate 20.

The locking plate 10 has a coupling hole 11 formed at the middle of the locking plate 10, a guide 12 projected around the coupling hole 11 at one side of the locking plate 10 and a guide groove 13 recessed around the coupling hole 11 at the other side of the locking plate ^'10. Also, the locking plate 10 is further formed with an inserting hole 14 at a side thereof, into which the connecting rod 60 for pivoting the locking plate 10 is fixedly inserted.

The latch plate 20 has, like the locking plate 10, a coupling hole 21 formed at the middle of the latch plate 20, a guide 22 projected around the coupling hole 21 at one side of the latch plate 20 and a guide groove 23 recessed around the coupling hole 21 at the other side of the latch plate 20. Also, the latch plate 20 is further formed at a side thereof with a hooking part 24 which is locked in the locking pin 1 provided in a door of a trunk or a side door, etc., and engaged with the locking plate 10 so as to operate depending on the pivoting of the locking plate 10.

The front and rear base plates 30 and 40 are respectively coupled to the locking plate 10 and the latch plate 20 at the front and rear of the locking plate 10 and the latch plate 20 with the locking plate 10 and the latch plate 20 being received therebetween. The front base plate 30 is formed with guide coupling holes 31 to which the guide 12 of the locking plate 10 and the guide 22 of the latch plate 20 are coupled. The rear base plate 40 is formed with projected guides 41 which are coupled to the guide groove 13 of the locking plate 10 and the guide groove 23 of the latch plate 20.

As describe above, the present invention has an advantage that it is not necessary to insert separate washer when coupling the latch plate 20 and the locking plate 10 to the front and rear base plates 30 and 40. Since the latch plate 20 and the locking plate 10 are coupled to the front and rear base plates 30 and 40 by the guide coupling hole 31 and the projection guide 41, generation of gaps between the latch plate 20 and the locking plate 10 and the front and rear base plates 30 can be prevented.

Also, since the locking plate 10 and the latch plate 20 are respectively pivoted around the coupling hole 11 of the locking plate 10 and the coupling hole 21 of the latch plate 20 and thus the locking plate 10 and the latch plate 20 are pivoted in such a state that the locking plate 10 and the latch plate 20 are not deviated from each other, there is further advantages that it is possible to prevent failure due to the deviation and reduce the frictional noise between the locking plate 10 and the latch plate 20. Preferably, one of the front and rear base plates 30 and 40 are provided with a coupling projection 33 and the other of the front and rear base plates 30 and 40 is provided with a coupling groove 43 to which the coupling projection 33 is coupled, thereby coupling the front base plate 30 and the rear base plate 40.

As described above, since the front and rear base plates 30 and 40 are coupled to each other not by separate screw or so on, but by the their coupling projection 33 and the coupling groove 43, the coupling is facilitated and the coupling force can be increased. The spring 50 connects elastically the locking plate 10 and the latch plate 20 and serves to perform elastically locking and unlocking by the pivoting of the locking plate 10 and the latch plate 20. The spring 50 is coupled to the latch plate 20. Specifically, the spring 50 is coupled to a hook shaped coupler 26 formed at a side of the coupling hole 21 of the latch plate 20.

The connecting rod 60 is operationally coupled to the inserting hole 14 of the locking plate 10 and serves to pivot the locking plate 10 to lock and unlock the locking pin 1 to the hooking part 24 of the latch plate 20 pivotally engaged with the locking plate 10.

Also, the front or rear base plate 30 or 40 is preferably provided with an arc shaped guiding groove 32 so that an end of the connecting rod 60 is inserted into guiding groove 32 and thus the locking plate 10 and the latch plate 20 are guided in an arc shape.

Preferably, the latch assembly according to the present invention further includes receiving plates 25 which are respectively placed between the front and rear base plates 30 and 40 and the latch plate 20 to receive the latch plate 20. With these receiving plates 25, since the latch plate 20 is pivoted in such a state that it is not in direct contact with the front and rear base plates 30 and 40, abrasion and friction are reduced and thus it is possible to extend the life span of the latch plate 20.

When the latch plate 20 is received in the receiving plate 25, since a height difference corresponding to the thickness of the receiving plate 25 is generated between the locking plate 10 and the latch plate 20 and the height difference causes a movement of the locking plate 10 in the forward and rearward direction, it is preferable that projection parts 15 having the same thickness as the receiving plate 25 are formed on the front and rear faces of the locking plate 10

An operation of the latch assembly according to the present invention as described above is as follows.

Pull of the connecting rod 60 pivots the locking plate 10 coupled with the connecting rod 60 toward the left side. The pivoting of the locking plate 10 results in the pivoting of the latch plate 20 engaged with the locking plate 10 toward the opposite direction, and thus the hooking part 24 of the latch plate 20 is hooked to the locking pin 1, thereby locking the latch plate 20. This state is shown in Fig. 8 (a) . On the contrary, push of the connecting rod 60 pivots the locking plate 10 coupled with the connecting rod 60 toward the right side. The pivoting of the locking plate 10 results in the pivoting of the latch plate 20 engaged with the locking plate 10 toward the opposite direction, and thus the hooking part 24 of the latch plate 20 is released from the locking pin 1, thereby unlocking the latch plate 20 (see Fig. 8 (b) ) . At this time, since the locking plate 10 and the latch plate 20 are coupled to the guide coupling hole 31 and the projected guide 41 of the front or rear base plate 30 or 40, a breakaway does not occur while pivoting and a stable pivoting is enabled and the operation becomes smooth. Also, since the locking plate 10 and the latch plate 20 have no gaps between them and the front or rear base plate 30 or 40 and thus the locking plate 10 and the latch plate 20 are pivoted in such a state that they are engaged without deviation from each other, it is possible to prevent the failure due to the deviation and reduce the frictional noise between the locking plate 10 and the latch plate 20. Further, since the locking plate 10 and the latch plate 20 are not coupled to the front or rear base plate 30 and 40by the rotational shaft member, as is the prior art, but by the guide and the guide groove, there is an advantage that the number of parts are reduced and the coupling and assembling are facilitated.

Furthermore, it is preferable that the latch assembly of the present invention further includes mounting members 70 coupled to the coupling holes 11 and 21 of the locking plate 10 and the latch plate 20. The mounting members 70 are for fixing the latch assembly to an automobile body, etc. and an example of the mounting members may include a general bolt, a general nut, a weld bolt, a weld nut and so on. Referring Fig. 9, a weld nut 71 is welded to a bracket 2 and a bolt 72 insertedly coupled to the latch assembly is coupled to the weld nut 71, thereby mounting the latch assembly. Referring Fig. 10, a weld bolt 73 is weldingly inserted into the latch assembly and then inserted into the bracket 2, and a flange nut 74 is coupled to the weld bolt 73, thereby mounting the latch assembly.

The mounting members are coupled to the coupling holes 11 and 21 of the locking plate 10 and the latch plate 20, thereby mounting the latch assembly of the present invention to the automobile body, etc. If the latch assembly is mounted to the automobile body, etc. by the mounting members 70, the locking plate 10 and the latch assembly 20 can be stably pivoted.

Furthermore, the rear base plate 40 is formed with a mounting member coupling holes 42 so that the mounting members 70 can be respectively coupled to the positions corresponding to the coupling holes 11 and 21 of the locking plate 10 and the latch plate 20.

[industrial Applicability]

As described above, the latch assembly according to the present invention has advantages that it has a simple structure and reduced number of parts, no deviation of the locking plate and the latch plate from each other and the resultant failure, no gap, smooth operation and reduced noise. Also, the latch assembly according to the present invention has an advantage that the coupling and assembling of the locking plate and the latch plate and the front and rear base plates are facilitated.

Claims

[CLAIMS]

[Claim l]

A latch assembly, comprising: a locking plate in which a coupling hole is formed at the middle of the locking plate, a projected guide and a recessed guide groove are formed around the coupling hole at one and the other sides of the locking plate so as to pivot with respect to the coupling hole, and an inserting hole is formed at a side of the locking plate; a latch plate which is operationally engaged with the locking plate so as to operate depending on the pivoting of the locking plate, and in which a coupling hole is formed at the middle of the latch plate, a projected guide and a recessed guide groove are formed around the coupling hole at one and the other sides of the latch plate, a hooking part locked in a locking pin is formed at a side of the latch plate; front and rear base plates which are respectively coupled to the locking plate and the latch plate is respectively formed with a guide coupling holes to which the guide of the locking plate and the guide of the latch plate are coupled and projected guides to which the guide groove of the locking plate and the guide groove of the latch plate are coupled; a spring which connects elastically the locking plate and the latch plate; and a connecting rod which is operationally coupled to the locking plate and pivots the locking plate so that the locking pin is hooked to and released from the hooking part of the latch plate. [Claim 2]

The latch assembly as set forth in claim 1, further comprising receiving plates which are respectively placed between the front and rear base plates and the latch plate to receive the latch plate. [Claim 3]

The latch assembly as set forth in claim 2, wherein projection parts having the same thickness as the receiving plate are formed on the front and rear faces of the locking plate. [Claim 4]

The latch assembly as set forth in claim 1, wherein the front or rear base plate is provided with an arc shaped guiding groove in which an end of the connecting rod is inserted and guided. [Claim 5]

The latch assembly as set forth in claim 1, wherein one of the front and rear base plates is provided with a coupling projection and the other of the front and rear base plates is provided with a coupling groove to which the coupling projection is coupled, thereby coupling the front base plate and the rear base plate.

[Claim β]

The latch assembly as set forth in any one of claim 1 through claim 5, further comprising mounting members which are coupled to the coupling holes of the locking plate and the latch plate to fix the latch assembly to an automobile body.