Vehicle door latch

Claim 1

In a latch for a vehicle door, the combination of, a support adapted to be housed entirely within the door and comprising front and rear horizontally spaced upright plates, a latching element journaled on said support between said plates to turn between latched and unlatched positions about a horizontal axis extending transversely of the plates, a pawl disposed between said plates above said latching element and journaled to turn about a second axis spaced vertically from and paralleling said one axis between a holding position preventing turning of said latching element to said unlatched position and a release position permitting turning of the latching element, an actuator adapted to be operated manually from a side of the door and journaled on said support between said plates and in side-by-side relation with said pawl to turn about said second axis between normal and operated positions, said actuator being operable when turned to said operated position to engage said pawl to force the latter to said release position, a locking lever journaled on said support between said plates and in side-by-side relation with said pawl and said actuator to turn between locked and unlocked positions about an axis paralleling said first and second axes, and means on said locking lever directly and physically engageable with said actuator when said locking lever is in said locked position and operable to prevent movement of the actuator to said operated position.