The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Mar. 17, 2026
Filed:
Jan. 25, 2024
Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc., Plano, TX (US);
James D. Cunningham, Clarkston, MI (US);
Justin B. Norris, Brighton, MI (US);
Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc., Plano, TX (US);
Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha, Toyota, JP;
Abstract
A vehicle inside door lever assembly includes a frame, a lever rotatably mounted on the frame so as to be rotatable with respect to the frame, and a torsion spring structured and operably connected to the lever and the frame so as to rotationally bias the lever in a first rotational direction, toward a closed and latched condition of the lever. An extension spring is structured and operably connected to the lever and the frame so as to rotationally bias the lever in the first rotational direction when the spring is in tension. In a lever where a side impact force acting on the lever would tend to rotate the lever in a second rotational direction opposite the first rotational direction, the arrangement described may prevent the lever from swinging inwardly in the second rotational direction toward an unlatched condition and releasing the door latch.