Vehicle latch assembly for slinding door
A latch assembly includes a latch, a latch bar, an inside handle, an outside handle, and a handle shaft. The housing is coupled to a rear support bracket. A U-shaped brace is mounted to the support bracket. The inside handle is coupled to the brace for reciprocal, pivotal movement and operation of the latch assembly. The inside handle is coupled to a first link which is coupled to an offset link. The first link is mounted to the shaft of the latch assembly through a mounting barrel or fitting having a shaft hole that is configured to receive and hold the exposed end of the shaft. The movement of the handle moves the first link which pivots the second link so as to rotate the handle shaft.
1 . A vehicle latch assembly for a sliding door comprising:
a support bracket mounted to the sliding door;
a U-shaped bracket separate from said support bracket and coupled to said support bracket, said U-shaped bracket having two oppositely disposed end portions and a middle portion spanning said end portions, said end portions being mounted directly to said support bracket, said middle portion having a handle hole extending therethorough;
a latch separate from both sai ppor t bracket and said U-shaped bracket, said latch having a latch housing, a movable latch bar coupled to said latch housing with at least one end having a catch, and a rotatable handle shaft coupled to said latch housing for movement of said catch, said latch being positioned between said support bracket and said U-shaped bracket, and said latch housing being coupled to said support bracket;
said support bracket structurally supports the latch when mounted to the sliding door;
a first link having a shaft end coupled to an interior end of said handle shaft, said first link also having a link end distal said interior end;
a second link having a lower end pivotally coupled to said link end of said first link, said second link having an upper end distal said lower end, and
and an interior handle pivotally coupled to said U-shaped bracket through handle fitting extending through said handle hole of said U-shaped bracket for pivotal movement therebetween, said interior handle also being pivotally coupled to said upper end of said second link,
whereby pivotal movement of the interior handle causes movement of the second link which in turn causes pivotal movement of the first link to rotate the handle shaft resulting in a lifting motion of the latch bar to unlatch the latch assembly.
2 . The vehicle latch assembly of claim 1 further comprising an exterior handle coupled to said handle shaft.
3 . A vehicle latch assembly for a sliding door comprising:
a support bracket mounted to the sliding door;
a U-shaped bracket separate from said support bracket, said U-shaped bracket being coupled to said support bracket, said U-shaped bracket having two oppositely disposed end portions and a middle portion spanning said end portions, said end portions being mounted directly to said support bracket said middle portioning a hand extending therethrough;
a latch separate from both sald support bracket and said 1 U-shaped bracket, said latch having a latch housing positioned between said support bracket and said U-shaped bracket and coupled to said support bracket, a movable latch bar coupled to said latch housing with at least one end having a catch, and a rotatable handle shaft coupled to said latch housing for movement of said catch,
said support bracket structurally supports the latch when mounted to the sliding door, and
an extender assembly coupled to said latch, said extender assembly including a first link coupled to said handle shaft, a second link pivotally coupled to said first link distally from said handle shaft, and a first handle pivotally coupled to said U-shaped bracket through a handle fitting extending through aid handle hole of said U-shaped bracket for pivotal movement therebetween and pivotally coupled to said second link distally from said first link.
4 . The vehicle latch assembly of claim 3 further comprising a second handle coupled to said handle shaft.