Latch For Vehicle Doors

Abstract

A free-wheeling, dual preset vehicle door latch with a force transmitting pin mounted for controlled floating within slots formed in a side-by-side contactor and locking lever. The latch is of the "impulse" type in that the second preset operation may be performed completely while the door is open so that the door may be closed and locked simply by being swung shut in a normal fashion. The latch is disposed within the door in a so-called "upside-down" manner in that the contactor and locking lever are disposed below the latching element to facilitate connecting the contactor and locking lever to the inside and outside release members and the inside and outside locking members of the door.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates generally to a latch for use on the door of an automotive vehicle and, more particularly, the invention constitutes an improvement over the comparatively simple and compact latch disclosed in my copending U.S. application Ser. No. 850,524 filed Aug. 15, 1969, and now U.S. Pat. No. 3,614,146. The latch disclosed in said application is of the dual preset type in that the latch automatically is placed in an unlocked condition when the door is swung closed unless two separate manual operations are performed prior to closing of the door to preset the latch for keyless locking. The latch disclosed in my copending application also is of the so-called "impulse" type. That is to say, the latch may be preset for keyless locking by first shifting an inside operated member to a locked position while the door is open and then by only momentarily actuating or "impulsing" an outside operated member. Thereafter, the door may be swung closed in a normal manner and without need of holding the outside member in an operated position during such swinging to effect locking of the door.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The primary aim of the present invention is to provide a new and improved free wheeling, dual preset latch of the impulse type which possesses the basic simplicity and compactness of by abovementioned latch but which is constructed in such a manner that, during closing of the door after the latch has been impulsed, the inside operated member remains at all times in a stationary position without shifting from the locked to the unlocked position and back as in the case of my previous latch. As a result, the motion of the inside operated member conforms to that of most latches which are used commercially and, in addition, the parts of the latch are subjected to less wear than those of my previous latch and are less likely to jam or hang up on one another.

The invention also resides in the provision of a latch of the above type having a force transmitting connector which floats in slots formed in the inside and outside operated members, the slots being uniquely shaped to avoid the need of physically blocking the connector with a separate part when the latch is impulsed. Accordingly, the connector and slots of the present latch wear less, may be manufactured to wider tolerances, and malfunction less frequently than the similar elements of my previous latch.

A further object of the invention is to position the inside and outside operated members of the latch in a novel manner and below the latching element of the latch to provide increased clearance facilitating the connection of linkages between the inside and outside operated members on the one hand and the inside locking and outside release members on the other hand of a door in which the latch must be mounted in the upper portion of the door and closely adjacent the outside release member.

These and other objects of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary vertical cross-section taken transversely through a door equipped with a new and improved latch embodying the novel features of the present invention and showing the latch in a locked and latched condition.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary cross-section taken substantially along the line 2--2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary cross-section taken substantially along the line 3--3 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary cross-section taken substantially along the line 4--4 of FIG. 3 and showing the latch in a locked and latched condition.

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 4 but showing the latch in a free-wheeling condition.

FIG. 6 is a view of parts illustrated in FIG. 4 but showing the latch in an unlocked condition.

FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIG. 4 but showing the latch unlocked and being unlatched.

FIG. 8 is a view similar to FIG. 4 but showing the latch in an unlocked and unlatched condition.

FIG. 9 is a view similar to FIG. 8 but showing the latch in a locked condition before impulsing.

FIG. 10 is a view similar to FIG. 9 but showing the latch in an impulsed condition.

FIG. 11 is a fragmentary side elevation of the latch taken substantially along the line 11--11 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 12 is an enlarged fragmentary cross-section taken substantially along the line 12--12 of FIG. 13.

FIG. 13 is an enlarged view of parts of the latch and showing the parts in a locked condition in full and in an unlocked condition in phantom.

FIG. 14 is a view similar to FIG. 13 but showing the position of the parts during impulsing in full and showing the parts in a locked condition in phantom.

FIG. 15 is a view similar to FIG. 13 but showing the position of the parts after impulsing.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

As shown in the drawings for purposes of illustration, the invention is embodied in a latch 20 particularly adapted for use with the door 21 of an automotive vehicle and including a pivoted latching element 23 (FIGS. 1 and 4) carried by the door and coacting with a cylindrical striker pin 24 mounted on a post 25 (FIG. 3) of the vehicle frame to hold the door in a tightly closed position. In this instance, the latching element is a fork-like member formed with a recess 26 (FIG. 4) for receiving the striker. As the door is swung closed, contact of an edge 27 of the recess with the striker rotates the latching element clockwise from an unlatched position shown in FIG. 7 to a secondary latched position (not shown) and then to a fully latched position shown in FIG. 4 to prevent separation of the latching element from the striker and thus hold the door closed.

Herein, the latching element 23 is journaled for rotation intermediate the ends of a fixed horizontal pin 29 (FIG. 4) which is anchored at its ends to a pair of vertically extending metal base plates 31 and 32 (FIGS. 1 and 3) spaced from and fastened to each other and housed within the door 21. The base plate 31 is attached to the end wall 33 of the door and is formed with an inner flange 35 (FIGS. 3 and 4) extending between the two plates and along the inner side wall 36 of the door. Most of the parts of the latch are encased within the enclosure formed by the plates and the flange, and the entire latch is housed within the door such that the latch is concealed without any parts thereof projecting beyond the end wall of the door. A recess 30 (FIG. 11) formed in the flange 35, a recess 40 (FIG. 1) formed in the base plate 31 and a recess (not shown) aligned with the recess 40 and formed in the door end wall 33 expose the recess 26 of the latching element for latching with the striker 24 when the door is swung to the closed position.

Referring now to FIG. 4, it will be seen that an arcuate peripheral edge of the latching element 23 constitutes a ratchet and is formed with a pair of angularly spaced teeth 41 and 43 adapted to be engaged by a blocking-type pawl member 44. The pawl 44 is fulcrumed to pivot on a fixed horizontal shaft 45 extending between the base plates 31 and 32 and is formed with a projecting tooth 46 extending toward the latching element and engageable sequentially with the teeth 41 and 43 as the latching element is rotated clockwise. The pawl is urged into engagement with the ratchet by contractile spring 47 (FIG. 7) stretched between and anchored to the pawl and the latching element. When the pawl engages the ratchet tooth 41, the latching element 23 is held in its secondary or safety latched position (not shown) and, when the pawl engages the tooth 43, the latching element is held in its fully latched position (FIG. 4). Counterclockwise turning (FIG. 4) of the pawl 44 about the shaft 45 releases the pawl tooth 46 from the latching element 23 and enables the latter to turn counterclockwise from the latched position shown in FIG. 4 to the unlatched position shown in FIG. 7 to release the striker 24 and permit opening of the door 21. The contractile spring 47 continuously urges the latching element toward the unlatched position so that the latching element automatically turns to such position upon release of the pawl.

To release the pawl 44 from the latching element 23 to unlatch the door 21, an actuator member or contactor lever 50 (FIGS. 4 and 13) is pivoted on the shaft 45 in side-by-side relation with the pawl and is adapted, when swung counterclockwise about the shaft from a normal position (FIG. 4) to an operated position (FIG. 7), to cause shifting of the pawl away from the latching element to release the latter for turning to its unlatched position under the urging of the spring 47. Counterclockwise swinging of the contactor 50 about the shaft 45 may be effected from the outside of the vehicle by lifting up on a manually operable outside release lever 51 (FIG. 1) mounted on the outside of the door. Lifting of the release lever rocks a shaft 53 (FIGS. 1 and 2) in a clockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 1 and, by means of a crank 54 fast on the shaft and a link 55 connected between the crank and the contactor 50, causes counterclockwise swinging of the contactor to trip the pawl 44 and release the latching element 23. To return the contactor to its normal unoperated position, a torsion spring 56 (FIG. 4) surrounds the shaft 45 and is anchored at its ends to the flange 35 and to the contactor to swing the latter clockwise when the outside release lever 51 is manually released. Instead of being operated from the outside of the door by the lever 51, the contactor may be actuated by a push button or the like operably connected to the link 55.

The pawl 44 may be released from the latching element 23 from the inside of the vehicle by pushing downwardly on an inside remote release lever 57 (FIG. 2) mounted on the inside of the door 21. The remote lever is connected by a crank 59 and a link 60 to a lever 61 (FIGS. 2 and 11) which is pivoted on the flange 35. When the remote lever 57 is pivoted downwardly, the lever 61 is swung clockwise (FIG. 11) to cause a lug 63 on the lever to move beneath a finger 64 projecting from the inner end of the contactor 50, thus swinging the latter counterclockwise about the shaft 45.

Coupling of the contactor 50 to the pawl 44 to trip the latch in response to operation of the contactor is effected by a force transmitting connector 65 (FIGS. 4, 12 and 13) which moves with the contactor and which normally (FIGS. 6 to 8) transfers the counterclockwise motion of the contactor to the pawl to swing the latter away from the latching element 23. To lock the latch and prevent unauthorized opening of the door 21, the transmitting connector 65 is shifted to a position (FIGS. 4, 5 and 13) uncoupling the contactor from the pawl so that the contactor, when actuated, simply makes an idle motion or free-wheels with respect to the pawl and thus is ineffective to move the pawl out of engagement with the latching element. The transmitting connector is shifted from its coupling position to its uncoupling position (shown in phantom and full, respectively, in FIG. 13) in response to the turning of an inside manually operable member in the form of a locking lever 66 (FIGS. 4 and 13) from an unlocked position to a locked position. The locking lever is journaled on a stud 67 anchored to the base plate 32 and paralleling the shaft 70, and includes an arm 69 disposed side-by-side with the pawl 44 and the contactor 50. To turn the locking lever 66 between its locked and unlocked positions shown in FIGS. 4 and 6, respectively, a garnish button 70 (FIG. 1) or other suitable member accessible from the inside of the door is attached to the locking lever by a vertical link 71. Up and down movement of the garnish button turns the locking lever back and forth between the unlocked and locked positions. In addition, the latch may be unlocked from the outside of the vehicle by a key 73 (FIG. 1) which, upon being inserted into a key cylinder 74 and turned, operates to move the locking lever to the unlocking position in a manner to be described subsequently. A toggle spring 75 (FIG. 6) anchored between the locking lever 66 and the base plate 32 snaps back and forth overcenter as the locking lever is turned between its positions and serves to urge the lever toward and hold the lever yieldably in each of its positions.

As mentioned above, the force transmitting connector 65 moves with the contactor 50 when the latter is actuated and serves to release the pawl 44 from the latching element 23. In addition, the transmitting connector is moved between its coupling and uncoupling positions as the locking lever 66 is shifted between its unlocked and locked positions. Advantageously, the force transmitting connector 65 simply floats in slots 76 and 77 (FIGS. 13 to 15) formed in the contactor 50 and the locking lever 66, respectively, so as to be movable both with and relative to the contactor and the locking lever, portions of the two slots registering with one another in all positions of the contactor and the locking lever. When the contactor 50 is actuated, the upper edge of the slot 76 in the contactor shifts the transmitting connector 65 within the slot 77 and into engagement with the pawl 44, (see FIG. 7). When the locking lever 66 is shifted, the edges of the slot 77 move the transmitting connector to either its coupling or uncoupling position, the connector floating within the slot 76 and relative to the contactor during such movement. As a result of the slots, the transmitting connector may be moved by either the contactor or the locking lever and may move relative to both the contactor and the locking lever without requiring additional mounting elements for producing and accommodating the movements. Accordingly, the cost, complexity and size of the latch are reduced.

As shown most clearly in FIGS. 12 and 13, the force transmitting connector 65 herein is simply a small cylindrical pin which is projected slidably through the slots 76 and 77 in closely spaced relation with the edges of the slots. A washer 79 (FIG. 12) on one end of the connector pin 65 prevents the latter from slipping endwise out of the slot 76 and a similar washer 80 on the other end of the pin retains the pin in the slot 77. In the unlocked position of the locking lever 66 (shown in FIG. 6 and in phantom in FIG. 13) the pin 65 is disposed in its coupling position in the upper portion of the slot 77 and in the extreme left end of the slot 76 in overlying relation with a lug 81 (FIGS. 6 and 13) formed integrally with and projecting from one side of the pawl 44. Thus, when the contactor 50 is actuated and swung counterclockwise about the shaft 45, the upper edge of the slot 76 engages the pin 65 to shift the latter into contact with the upper side of the lug 81 thereby to swing the pawl 44 downwardly away from the latching element 23 (as shown in FIG. 7) to release the latching element from the striker 24. Thus, as long as the locking lever 66 is in its unlocked position, the pin couples the contactor to the pawl and transmits the motion of the contactor to the pawl to release the latter when the contactor is actuated. As the pin is shifted by the contactor, it simply floats in the slot 77 in the locking lever without binding in the slot nor disturbing the position of the locking lever.

When the locking lever 66 is swung clockwise to its locked position (shown in FIG. 4 and in full in FIG. 13) to lock the door 21, the left edge of the slot 77 engages the connector pin 65 and slides the latter from left to right within the slot 76 to its upcoupling position adjacent the right end of the slot 76 as shown in full in FIG. 13. In the uncoupling position, the pin is spaced laterally from the lug 81 on the pawl 44 and no longer underlies the lug. Accordingly, when the contactor 50 is actuated to swing the upper edge of the slot 76 downwardly into engagement with the pin 65, the latter simply moves downwardly within the slot 77 and passes by the lug 81 (as shown in FIG. 5 and in full in FIG. 14) without engaging the lug to trip the pawl and release the latching element 23. The contactor thus makes an idle motion or free-wheels with respect to the pawl and is ineffective to trip the latch and open the door. The door therefore is locked and, until unlocked by either the garnish button 70 or the key 73, cannot be opened from either the inside or the outside of the vehicle.

As described thus far, the latch 20 is substantially identical to the latch disclosed in my aforementioned application and is comparable in compactness and simplicity to such latch. Like my previous latch, the present latch is of the self-cancelling, dual preset type capable of keyless locking from the outside of the vehicle if and only if two separate operations are performed in proper sequence to preset the latch prior to closing of the door 21. That is, the locking action of the latch is cancelled and the latch is restored automatically to an unlocked condition as the door is closed if only one preset operation has been performed. The chances of accidentally and unintentionally locking the door thus are reduced. If, however, both preset operations are performed before closing the door, the latch will be in a locked condition after the door has been closed, thus permitting keyless locking. As in the case of my previous latch, the present latch is of the "impulse" type. That is, the first preset operation of such a latch is performed in normal fashion by shifting the locking lever 66 to a locked position by depressing the inside garnish button 70 while the door 21 is open. The second preset operation then is performed simply by momentarily actuating or "impulsing" the outside release lever 51 (or other outside release member) by first lifting and then releasing the lever 51 while the door is open. As a result of the impulsing, there is no need of manually holding the outside release in an actuated condition as the door is swung closed. Accordingly, both preset operations may be fully performed while the door is open and then the door may be closed and locked simply be swinging the door shut in a normal fashion.

In accordance with the primary aspect of the invention, the basic simplicity and compactness of my previous impulse latch are maintained in the present impulse latch 20 and yet the present latch is constructed so that, during closing of the door 21 after the latch has been impulsed, the locking lever 66 (and thus the garnish button 70) simply remains stationary and does not shift from a locked position to an unlocked position and then back to a locked position during such closing. The garnish button 70 thus does not abnormally shift up and down as the door is closed, the locking lever experiences less wear, and the parts of the latch operate in a smoother and less jerky manner to reduce hang-ups and jamming.

The foregoing ends are achieved in part by providing improved means for canceling the locking action of the latch 20, that is, for restoring the latch to an unlocked condition if the door 21 is closed after only a single preset operation has been performed on the latch. Herein, these means comprise a cancelling lever 83 (FIG. 4) which is mounted on the base plate 32 to pivot on a stud 84 and which is connected to the locking lever 66 by an elongated link 85 extending between the two levers. When the locking lever is turned clockwise from its unlocked position (FIG. 8) to its locked position (FIG. 9), the link 85 causes clockwise turning of the cancelling lever 83 about the stud 84 to swing an ear 86 on the cancelling lever into an active position shown in FIG. 9. In the active position, the ear 86 projects into the path followed by a kick-out lug 87 (FIG. 9) on the side of the latching element 27 as the latter is turned clockwise from its unlatched position to its latched position.

Now, if the garnish button 70 is depressed accidentally when the door 21 is open, the ear 86 on the cancelling lever 83 will be turned to its active position shown in FIG. 9. As the door 21 is closed and the latching element 23 turned to its latched position, the kick-out lug 87 engages the ear 86 to turn the cancelling lever 83 counterclockwise about the stud 84 and, through the link 85, to turn the locking lever 66 counterclockwise from its locked position (FIG. 9) to its unlocked position (FIG. 4). Accordingly, the cancelling lever automatically unlocks the latch when the door is closed with only a single preset operation first having been effected by depressing the garnish button while the door was open.

The slots 76 and 77 are shaped in a novel manner not only to enable keyless locking of the door 21 by performing two preset operations on the latch 20 but also to enable the locking lever 66 to remain in a stationary position as the door is closed after the latch has been impulsed. As shown most clearly in FIGS. 13 to 15, the slot 76 in the contactor 50 is straight and elongated and extends generally lengthwise of the contactor. At its right end portion, the elongated slot 76 is formed with an upwardly opening U-shaped pocket 89. The slot 77 in the locking lever 66 is generally arcuate and is shaped to allow the connector pin 65 to move downwardly and upwardly when the contactor 50 is pivoted about the shaft 45.

When the locking lever 66 is in its unlocked position (as shown in phantom in FIG. 13) and the pin 65 is in its coupling position overlying the lug 81 on the pawl 44, the pin engages the left end of the elongated slot 76 and prevents the locking lever from turning counterclockwise past its unlocked position under the biasing force of the overcenter toggle spring 75. When the locking lever 66 is turned to its locked position (as shown in full in FIG. 13), the pin 65 bears against the right end of the elongated slot 76 and prevents the locking lever from turning clockwise beyond its locked position. When the locking lever is in its locked position, the pin 65 is captivated within the straight portion of the elongated slot 76 and is prevented from dropping downwardly into the pocket 89 by a projecting edge portion 90 formed intermediate the ends of the curved slot 77 and by an opposing projecting edge portion 91 formed at the junction of the right hand edge of the pocket 89 and the right end of the straight portion of the elongated slot 76. The edge portion 90 also presses the pin against the right end of the elongated slot when the locking lever is in its locked position and prevents the edges of the curved slot from sliding past the pin and allowing the locking lever to turn clockwise past its locked position.

To lock the latch 20 without the use of the key 73, the locking lever 66 first is turned to its locked position, by depressing the garnish button 70 while the door 21 is open, thereby to shift the pin 65 to its uncoupling position in the right end portion of the elongated slot 76 as shown in full in FIG. 13. The latch then is impulsed by lifting upwardly on the outside release lever 51 to swing the contactor 50 counterclockwise or downwardly to the position shown in full in FIG. 14. As the contactor is swung downwardly, the upper edge of the elongated slot 76 engages the pin 65 and slides the latter downwardly within the curved slot 77, the projecting edge 91 moving away from the edge 90 during swinging of the contactor so as to allow such movement of the pin. As soon as the pin 65 is slid downwardly past the projecting edge 90, the locking lever 66 is freed to turn clockwise beyond its locked position under the urging of the toggle spring 75. Accordingly, the locking lever turns clockwise from the locked position show in phantom in FIG. 14 to an impulsed position shown in full, the curved slot 77 moving along the pin during such swinging until the left or lower end of the slot engages the pin to stop further movement of the locking lever.

The motion undertaken by the locking lever 66 in swinging from the locked position to the impulsed position is translated through the link 85 to the cancelling lever 83 to turn the latter just slightly in a clockwise direction from the active position shown in FIG. 9 to an inactive position shown in FIG. 10. In the inactive position of the cancelling lever, the ear 86 is disposed outside of the path followed by the kick-out lug 87. Accordingly, when the door 21 is subsequently closed and the latching element 23 turned to its latched position, the kick-out lug 87 simply moves past the ear 86 without engaging the latter and disturbing the position of the locking lever 66. Thus, the pin 65 is kept in its uncoupling position so that the latch 20, upon closure of the door, remains in a locked condition to prevent unauthorized opening of the door.

The pocket 89 of the elongated slot 76 is used to advantage to prevent the pin 65 from returning the locking lever 66 counterclockwise from its impulsed position back to its locked position when the outside lever 51 is manually released to allow the contactor 50 to swing clockwise back to its normal position (shown in full in FIG. 15). That is, the pocket registers and alines with the pin in the impulsed position of the locking lever (see FIG. 14) when the pin is in engagement with the left end of the curved slot 77. Thus, the edges of the pocket simply slide upwardly past the pin as the contactor is swung clockwise to its normal position, the pin ultimately resting in the bottom of the pocket as shown in FIGS. 10 and 15 when the contactor reaches its full normal position. As a result, the pin 65 does not return upwardly with the contactor 50 and does not bear against the upper edge of the curved slot 77 to cause the locking lever 66 to turn from its impulsed position to its locked position. Accordingly, the locking lever remains in its impulsed position to keep the cancelling lever 83 in its inactive position so as to enable the door 21 to be closed and locked without need of keeping the outside lever 51 lifted upwardly and the contactor 50 in its operated position during such closing. Instead, the outside lever need only be momentarily lifted and then released to impulse the latch before closing of the door. If desired, the latch may be impulsed and the contactor swung to its operated position by actuating the inside remote lever 57 instead of the outside lever 51 when the door is opened.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that the present invention brings to the art a new and improved free wheeling, dual preset latch 20 of the impulse type in which the locking lever 66 simply remains stationary as the door 21 is closed after the latch has been impulsed. Unlike the connector pin of my previous latch, the pin 65 of the present latch floats to positions within the slots 76 and 77 determined solely by the shape of the slots themselves, and never need be physically blocked by any other part of the latch. The tolerances to which the slots and pin are manufactured thus are less critical than in my previous latch, less wear occurs, and hang ups and jamming are reduced.

According to another aspect of the invention, the contactor 50 is positioned below the latching element 23 to increase the vertical spacing between the contactor and the outside release lever 51. Thus, when the latch 20 need be installed in the extreme upper portion of the door 21, as is the case when the vertical space within the door is limited as a result of the door being formed with a curved member 93 (FIG. 1) defining a wheel well, greater vertical spacing is established between the contactor and the release lever to facilitate connecting these elements in an operative manner.

More specifically and as shown most clearly in FIGS. 1 and 2, the shaft 45 which mounts the contactor 50 is spaced well below the pin 29 supporting the latching element 23. As a result, the contactor is located below instead of above the latching element to increase the vertical spacing between the contactor and the crank 54 connected to the outside release lever 51 which is positioned directly alongside the latch. As a result of the greater vertical spacing between the crank and the contactor, the link 55 can be lengthened and inclined at a lesser angle so as to reduce binding in the pivotal connections at the ends of the link. In addition, the length and inclination of the link 55 enable the motion of the outside release lever 51 to be sufficiently amplified so as to be effective to swing the contactor through its full operating range. Although the contactor 50 is positioned at about the same elevation as the inside remote lever 57, the two are spaced from one another considerable distance lengthwise of the door and the vehicle as to enable the use of a link 60 which is sufficiently long to swing the contactor to its operated position in response to actuation of the remote lever.

The locking lever 66 also in position well below the latching element 23 as shown in FIG. 1 and the link 71 between the locking lever and the garnish button 70 can be made longer than otherwise would be the case if the locking lever were disposed above the latching element. Accordingly, the link may be relatively straight and free of sharp bends. The positioning of the locking lever also facilitates connecting such lever to the key cylinder 74. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the key cylinder includes a crank 94 which turns about the axis of the cylinder when the key 73 is turned. The crank 94 is connected to the cancelling lever 83 by a link 95 so that the cancelling lever is turned counterclockwise when the key is turned in a direction to unlock the latch. Such turning of the cancelling lever is transmitted to the locking lever 66 through the link 85 and thus the locking lever is swung to its unlocked position when the key is turned.

Claims

I claim as my Invention:

1. A latch having a base, a latching element mounted on said base to move between latched and unlatched positions, a pawl operable to hold said latching element in said latched position and releasable to free the latching element for movement to said unlatched position, a manually operable actuator formed with an elongated slot and mounted on said base for movement from a normal position to an operated position when manually actuated, a locking lever disposed side-by-side with said actuator and mounted on said base for movement between unlocked and locked positions, said locking lever also being formed with a slot with portions of the two slots registering with one another in all positions of said actuator and said locking lever, a connector extending through the two slots and slidable within said elongated slot between positions coupling and uncoupling said actuator with said pawl in response to movement of said locking lever between said unlocked and locked positions, said connector, when said locking lever is in said unlocked position, sliding within said slot in said locking lever in response to movement of said actuator to said operated position and engaging the pawl to release the latter from said latching element, said connector, when said locking lever is in said locked position, sliding within said slot in said locking lever and making an idle movement with respect to said pawl upon movement of said actuator to said operated position whereby the actuator free-wheels without releasing the pawl from the latching element, and cancelling means operable to move said locking lever to said unlocked position when said latching element is moved from said unlatched position to said latched position with said locking lever disposed in said locked position, the improvement in said latch comprising, means acting on said locking lever and serving to move the latter to an impulsed position in response to manual movement of said actuator from said normal position to said operated position but only when said locking lever first has been moved to said locked position, means preventing return of said locking lever from said impulsed position to said locked position when said actuator is thereafter manually released for return from said operated position to said normal position, and said cancelling means being disabled with respect to said locking lever when the latter is in said impulsed position and incapable of moving and returning said locking lever toward said unlocked position during movement of said latching element from said unlatched position to said latched position.

2. A latch having a base, a latching element mounted on said base to move between latched and unlatched positions, a pawl operable to hold said latching element in said latched position and releasable to free the latching element for movement to said unlatched position, a manually operable actuator formed with an elongated slot and mounted on said base for movement from a normal position to an operated position when manually actuated, a locking lever disposed side-by-side with said actuator and mounted on said base for movement between unlocked and locked positions, said locking lever also being formed with a slot with portions of the two slots registering with one another in all positions of said actuator and said locking lever, a connector extending through the two slots and slidable within said elongated slot between positions coupling and uncoupling said actuator with said pawl in response to movement of said locking lever between said unlocked and locked positions, said connector, when in said coupling position, sliding within said slot in said locking lever in response to movement of said actuator to said operated position and engaging the pawl to release the latter from said latching element, said connector, when in said uncoupling position, sliding within said slot in said locking lever and making an idle movement with respect to said pawl upon movement of said actuator to said operated position whereby the actuator free-wheels without releasing the pawl from the latching element, and cancelling means normally operable to move said locking lever to said unlocked position and said connector to said coupling position when said latching element is moved from said unlatched position to said latched position with said locking lever disposed in said locked position, the improvement in said latch comprising, biasing means acting on said locking lever and serving to move the latter to an impulsed position in response to manual movement of said actuator from said normal position to said operated position but only when said locking lever first has been moved to said locked position, means preventing return of said locking lever from said impulsed position to said locked position when said actuator is thereafter manually released for return from said operated position to said normal position, said locking lever, when in said impulsed position, being located to keep said connector in said uncoupling position and to render said cancelling means ineffective to move the locking lever when said latching element is moved from said unlatched position to said latched position.

3. A latch as defined in claim 2 in which said slot in said locking lever is curved and is formed intermediate its ends with an inwardly projecting edge portion which engages said connector when said locking lever is in said locked position and said actuator is in said normal position and prevents movement of said locking lever from said locked position to said impulsed position under the influence of said biasing means, said connector being moved within said curved slot and past said edge portion when said actuator is moved to said operated position thereby to allow said curved slot to ride along said connector and free said locking lever for movement to said impulsed position under the influence of said biasing means.

4. A latch as defined in claim 3 in which said elongated slot includes an elongated portion and also includes a pocket portion located near one end of said elongated portion and opening into the latter portion, said pocket portion being positioned to register with said connector when said actuator is in said operated position and said locking lever in said impulsed position whereby said connector may enter into said pocket portion when said actuator is returned to said normal position and may move relative to said actuator during such return so as to leave said locking lever in said impulsed position.

5. A latch having a base, a latching element mounted on said base to move between latched and unlatched positions, a pawl operable to hold said latching element in said latched position and releasable to free the latching element for movement to said unlatched position, a manually operable actuator formed with an elongated slot and mounted on said base for movement from a normal position to an operated position when manually actuated, said actuator being biased to return toward said normal position when manually released, a locking lever disposed side-by-side with said actuator and mounted on said base for movement between unlocked and locked positions, said locking lever also being formed with a slot with portions of the two slots registering with one another in all positions of said actuator and said locking lever, a connector extending through the two slots and slidable within said elongated slot between positions coupling and uncoupling said actuator with said pawl in response to movement of said locking lever between said unlocked and locked positions, said connector, when said locking lever is in said unlocked position, sliding within said slot in said locking lever in response to movement of said actuator to said operated position and engaging the pawl to release the latter from said latching element, said connector, when said locking lever is in said locked position, sliding within said slot in said locking lever and making an idle movement with respect to said pawl upon movement of said actuator to said operated position whereby the actuator free-wheels without releasing the pawl from the latching element, the improvement in said latch comprising, a cancelling member connected to said locking lever and movable to an active position when said locking lever is moved to said locked position, kick-out means operable, when said cancelling member is in said active position and as said latching element is turned from said unlatched position to said latched position, to engage and move said cancelling member to cause the latter to return said locking lever to said unlocked position, means biasing said locking lever to turn beyond said locked position to an impulsed position when said actuator is manually moved from said normal position to said operated position after said locking lever has been first moved to said locked position, said slot in said locking lever being shaped to free said locking lever for movement to said impulsed position under the influence of said biasing means and to allow said connector to move with said actuator when the latter is moved to said operated position, said locking lever being connected to said cancelling member to move the latter to an inactive position with respect to said kick-out means as an incident to movement of said locking lever to said impulsed position whereby the kick-out means fails to engage said cancelling member and turn said locking lever to said unlocked position when said latching element is turned to said latched position with said locking lever disposed in said impulsed position, and said slot in said actuator being shaped to allow said connector to move relative to said actuator when the latter is returned from said operated position to said normal position thereby to prevent the connector from shifting the locking lever out of said impulsed position as an incident to the return of the actuator.

6. A latch as defined in claim 5 in which said slot in said locking lever is curved and is formed intermediate its ends with an inwardly projecting edge portion which engages said connector when said locking lever is in said locked position and said actuator is in said normal position and prevents movement of said locking lever from said locked position to said impulsed position under the influence of said biasing means, said connector being moved within said curved slot and past said edge portion when said actuator is moved to said operated position thereby to allow said curved slot to ride along said connector and free said locking lever for movement to said impulsed position under the influence of said biasing means.

7. A latch as defined in claim 6 in which said elongated slot includes an elongated portion and also includes a pocket portion located near one end of said elongated portion and opening into the latter portion, said pocket portion being positioned to register with said connector when said actuator is in said operated position and said locking lever in said impulsed position whereby said connector may enter into said pocket portion when said actuator is returned to said normal position and may move relative to said actuator during such return so as to leave said locking lever in said impulsed position.

8. A latch having a base, a latching element mounted on said base to move between latched and unlatched positions, latching mechanism selectively operable to hold said latching element in said latched position and releasable to free the latching element for movement to said unlatched position, a manually operable actuator formed with an elongated slot and mounted on said base for movement between normal and operated positions, a locking lever disposed side-by-side with said actuator and mounted on said base for movement between unlocked and locked positions, said locking lever also being formed with a slot with portions of the two slots registering with one another in all positions of said actuator and said locking lever, a connector extending through the two slots and slidable within said elongated slot between positions coupling and uncoupling said actuator with said latching mechanism in response to movement of said locking lever between said unlocked and locked positions, said connector, when said locking lever is in said unlocked position, sliding within a first portion of said slot in said locking lever in response to movement of said actuator to said operated position and engaging the latching mechanism to release the latter from said latching element, said connector, when said locking lever is in said locked position, sliding within a second portion of said slot in said locking lever and making an idle movement with respect to said latching mechanism upon movement of said actuator to said operated position whereby the actuator free-wheels without releasing the latching mechanism from the latching element, and cancelling means normally operable to move said locking lever to said unlocked position when said latching element is moved from said unlatched position to said latched position with said locking lever disposed out of said unlocked position, the improvement in said latch comprising, means including said elongated slot and said connector for disabling said cancelling means and preventing said locking lever from moving toward said unlocked position as said latching element is turned from said unlatched position to said latched position with said locking lever disposed out of said unlocked position and with said actuator disposed in said operated position.