Door latch device

1 . A door latch device comprising:

an open link that shifts between an unlocked state and a locked state and operates when a door handle is opened; and

a ratchet lever that releases an engagement state of a ratchet with respect to a latch when an operation force is applied via the open link,

so that, in the door latch device, the open link is capable of transmitting an operation force to the ratchet lever when the door handle is opened in the unlocked state,

wherein the open link includes:

a lever body that is displaced to an unlocked position corresponding to the unlocked state and a locked position corresponding to the locked state and moves with an opening operation of the door handle;

an inertia lever that is movable to an operating position, a shift position, and an intermediate position that allows for movement between the operating position and the shift position, the inertia lever being movable to the intermediate position by relatively rotating with respect to the lever body about an axis; and

at least one biasing member that biases the inertia lever in a rotation direction such that the inertia lever is maintained at the operating position with respect to the lever body, wherein

the inertia lever is capable of transmitting an operating force to the ratchet lever only when the door handle is opened in a state where the lever body is disposed at the unlocked position and disposed at the operating position, and

between the lever body and the inertia lever, the at least one biasing member shifts the inertia lever to a shift position with respect to the lever body in a movement mode different from and in a different plane than rotation that takes place when the inertia lever rotates to the intermediate position against a biasing force of the at least one biasing member, wherein regulating members prevent the inertia lever from moving from the shift position to the operating position without rotating to the intermediate position by facing to each other along the axis when the inertia lever is shifted to the shift position by the at least one biasing member.

2 . The door latch device according to claim 1 , wherein, between the lever body and the inertia lever, there are included block portions that are included side by side along the axis when the inertia lever is disposed at the operating position, the block portions facing each other in a circumferential direction around the axis when the inertia lever is shifted to the shift position by the at least one biasing member.

3 . The door latch device according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one biasing member biases the inertia lever in a tilting direction with respect to the lever body.

4 . The door latch device according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one biasing member is a torsion spring centered at the axis, the at least one biasing member is a single biasing member configured to both bias the inertia lever in the rotation direction and shift the inertia lever to the shift position with respect to the lever body in the movement mode different from the rotation.

5 . The door latch device according to claim 1 , wherein the inertia lever and a housing accommodating the inertia lever include an inertia lever return unit and a housing return unit respectively, wherein the inertia lever return unit and the housing return unit come into contact with each other and return the inertia lever to the operating position when the door handle is opened with a preset stroke amount for returning in a state where the inertia lever is shifted to the shift position.