Adjustable hood latch assembly

Abstract

A latching mechanism for a closure of a motor vehicle compartment includes a housing forming a vertically extending groove for receiving a striker bar secured to the closure, first and second hollow rivets located on opposite sides of the groove, a striker spring located at the groove for upwardly biasing the striker bar out of the groove, a pawl pivotable about the first hollow rivet and defining a notch, and a ratchet pivotable about the second hollow rivet and defining a protrusion adapted to cooperate with the notch of the pawl to selectively retain the ratchet in a locked position. the ratchet also defines pocket for receiving the striker bar and retaining the striker bar in the groove when the ratchet is in the locked position. Fasteners extend though passageways in the hollow rivets to secure the latching mechanism to the motor vehicle. The striker spring is positioned to directly engage the striker bar when the striker bar is in the groove to bias the striker bar in a direction out of the groove. Adjustment means are preferably provided to adjust the position of the striker spring and therefore the force applied to the striker bar by the striker spring. The latching mechanism preferably further includes a hook pivotable about the first hollow rivet and defining a secondary catch for receiving the striker bar to retain the striker bar in the groove when exiting the ratchet pocket. A paddle is preferably provided to manually pivot the hook and release the striker bar from the secondary catch and the groove. The pawl preferably forms an internal stop which limits rotation of the ratchet when the striker is moving downward to directly transfer over slam forces to the vehicle structure through the hollow rivets and mounting fasteners.