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:
Jun. 05, 2012
Filed:
Jul. 02, 2010
Scott Simon, Shelby Township, MI (US);
Raymond A. Oldani, Canton, MI (US);
Scott Simon, Shelby Township, MI (US);
Raymond A. Oldani, Canton, MI (US);
Ford Global Technologies, LLC, Dearborn, MI (US);
Abstract
A vehicular console storage system has a pivotable lid and a striker movable with the lid. A pawl is mounted in a fixed location for selectably receiving the striker, wherein the pawl is movable between a latching position and a release position. The pawl holds the striker so that the lid is held closed when in the latching position, and the pawl has a cam surface. A spring-loaded cam follower is at least in partial contact with the cam surface and is movable between an extended position and a retracted position to provide a first resistance to motion of the pawl from the latching position to the release position. The first resistance is easily overcome by manual manipulation by a user. A movable lever has an activated position and a deactivated position, wherein the activated position interferes with movement of the pawl from the latching position to the release position. An inertial sensor is provided for moving the movable lever to the activated position in response to a predetermined acceleration. Thus, an integrated mechanism provides both hard locking during a crash event and soft latching for easy user access without requiring a manually operated button or latch.