Dana Corporation

Midway Products Group, Inc.

Stoneridge, Inc.

Kiekert Ag

Dennis D Schwaiger

Kurt R Baer

George A Willford

John M Loeffler

Thomas Lee Rorabacher

Hans-Joachim Buscher

David L Westerdale

Kenneth B Yant

Robert J Bridges, Jr

Curt Douglas Campbell

A vehicle hinge and counterbalance assembly ( ) for pivotally mounting a lateral end of a vehicle tailgate ( ) at a lower extremity thereof for movement of the tailgate on an associated vehicle between an upper closed position and a lower opened position and for also providing counterbalancing of the tailgate.

Vehicle tailgate hinge and counterbalance assembly

A secondary latch ( ) for a vehicle hood ( ) includes a secondary latch member ( ) that is mounted on the vehicle body ( ) by a pin and slot mounting connection ( ) for pivotal movement between latched and unlatched positions with respect to an associated striker ( ) on the hood and for translational movement between a lower retracted position and an upper extended position.

Latch assembly for vehicle hood

A latch ( ) for a vehicle body closure member ( ) includes a release lever ( ) supported by a pin and slot mounting connection ( ) on a housing ( ) for translational movement between freewheeling and operating positions. The release lever ( ) through a pin and slot control connection ( ) with a latching pawl ( ) and its positioning in either the freewheeling or operating position prevents or permits unlatching of the closure member.

Latch for vehicle closure member

An adjunct actuator including an electric actuator motor and associated gear train providing motive power for remotely operating an output arm of the adjunct actuator. A lost motion clutch mechanism is provided between the gear train and the output arm. The lost motion clutch mechanism includes a floating sector gear driven by the gear train. The sector gear rides upon an arcuate rail formed on the actuator frame. The sector gear is driven to a neutral position by a spring when the electric motor is deenergized. The spring of the adjunct actuator is not preloaded during assembly of the adjunct actuator. The sector gear is disposed to drive an arcuate carriage which is pivotally mounted on the actuator frame to move about a common rotational axis with the sector gear. A pair of driving faces of the sector gear are interposed between a pair of driven faces on the carriage in a manner providing lost motion between the sector gear and the carriage. The output arm of the adjunct actuator is operatively connected to the carriage for rotation therewith.

Adjunct actuator for vehicle door lock

A power actuator is used with a door latch having a threaded spindle, a nut axially displaceable by the spindle, and a coupling element connected to the nut and displaceable thereby to lock and unlock the latch. The actuator has a reversible electric motor having an output shaft defining a main axis and rotatable in either direction thereabout, an input wheel fixed on the shaft and provided with an eccentric coupling pin, and an intermediate wheel rotatable about the main axis and provided with an eccentric pivot. An output wheel rotatable about the main axis has a gear meshing with a gear of the threaded spindle and is provided with a pair of angularly offset abutments defining an orbit on rotation of the output wheel. A coupling element mounted on the intermediate-wheel pivot is provided with respective angularly offset coupling formations engageable with the output-wheel abutments and has a formation angularly engaging the input-wheel coupling pin. A spring urges the coupling element into a position with the coupling formations inside the orbit and the input wheel decoupled from the output wheel. The coupling element is movable angularly against the force of the spring about the eccentric pivot on rotation of the input wheel to end coupling positions in each of which a respective one of the coupling formations engages the respective abutment and couples the input wheel to the output wheel for joint rotation about the axis.

Motor actuator for centrally operated vehicular door latch

A transmission includes a plurality of shift rails, each of which is axially movable forwardly and rearwardly from a center neutral position to respective gear engaging positions. The lower shift rails are provided for manual shifting among the lower gear ratios of the transmission. The highest shift rail is provided for selective manual or automatic shifting among the highest two gear ratios of the transmission. An idler rail is disposed adjacent to the highest shift rail. For manual shifting, the idler rail is connected to the highest shift rail, and a manually operable shift lever is used to move both the idler rail and the highest shift rail. For automatic shifting, the idler rail is disconnected from the highest shift rail, and an automatic shift member is moved into cooperation with the highest shift rail. Rotation of the automatic shift shaft causes corresponding movement of the automatic shift member. An electronic controller is provided for controlling the automatic shifting of the transmission in response to sensed operating conditions of the vehicle. A circuit is provided for sensing the rotational position of the automatic shift shaft and for generating an electrical signal which is representative of the actual position thereof, which is also representative of the actual position of the highest shift rail, to the electronic controller.

Vehicle transmission having manually shifted lower gears and

A transmission includes a plurality of shift rails, each of which is axially movable forwardly and rearwardly from a center neutral position to respective gear engaging positions. The lower shift rails are provided for manual shifting among the lower gear ratios of the transmission. The highest shift rail is provided for selective manual or automatic shifting among the highest two gear ratios of the transmission. An electronic controller is provided for controlling the automatic shifting of the transmission in response to sensed operating conditions of the vehicle. A circuit is provided for sensing the rotational position of the automatic shift shaft and for generating an electrical signal which is representative of the actual position thereof, which is also representative of the actual position of the highest shift rail, to the electronic controller. The transmission also includes a shift lever having an end which extends through an opening formed in a case. The end of the shift lever is movable in a first direction which is generally perpendicular to the shift rail so as to selectively cooperate with the shift rail. The shift lever is also movable in a second direction which is generally parallel to the shift rail so as to cause movement of the shift rail between first and second shift rail positions. A restraining plate is mounted on the case adjacent to the opening. The restraining plate has a portion formed thereon which limits movement of the end of the shift lever in the first direction. An interlock bracket is connected to the shift lever for movement therewith in the first direction. The interlock bracket engages the portion of the restraining plate to limit movement of the shift lever in the first direction.

Restraining plate and interlock bracket for vehicle transmission

An improved structure for an actuator for the lock mechanism of a latch assembly, such as a vehicle door latch assembly. The actuator includes a housing having an output arm moveable relative thereto between a lock position and an unlock position, to lock and unlock, respectively, the latch mechanism. An output gear having a pawl formed thereon is rotatably mounted adjacent the output arm. The output gear is adapted to rotate about an axis to cause the pawl to engage a first one of the pair of drive surfaces to urge the output arm toward the lock position. The output gear may be rotated in a second direction to cause the pawl to engage the other of the pair of drive surfaces to urge the output arm toward the unlock position. The output arm is coupled to a blocking member adapted for movement relative thereto. The blocking member may be moved to a blocking position when the output arm is in the lock position. In the blocking position, the blocking member is adapted to engage the housing to prevent the output arm from moving from the lock position. A cam fixed to the output gear is adapted to urge the blocking member into the blocking position when the output gear is rotated into a double lock position. Additionally, the actuator incorporates switches for both latch mechanism position indication and lock mechanism position indication in a single assembly.

Double locking lock actuator

A vehicle mechanical transmission includes a conventional shift lever which enables the vehicle driver to manually select lower gear ratios, and an automatic shifting mechanism which provides automatic shifting between selected higher ratios once the driver has moved the shift lever to an 'automatic' position. The transmission includes a plurality of shift rails which are individually and selectively moveable from a neutral position to two different gear positions. In accordance with the present invention, the shift lever is only coupled to mechanically shift a portion of the shift rails, typically those shift rails corresponding to the lower gear ratios. Once all the lower ratios have been selected, the driver can move the shift lever to an 'automatic' position. When in this position, the shift lever actuates an electronic control, which in turn automatically controls the shifting of at least one shift rail in accordance with the status of various monitored vehicle operating parameters. In addition to a conventional interlock between each of the shift rails, an auxiliary interlock system is provided to prevent the shift lever from being moved to the automatic position simultaneously with the shifting of a manually actuated shift rail. Further, the transmission includes a driver actuated manual override valve to cause the automatically shifted rail to return to its neutral position in the event of failure of the automatic shifting mechanism.

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Whitmore Lake, MI, United States of America

Dennis D Schwaiger