Switch within a motor vehicle door lock mechanism

Claim 1

A switch device incorporated in a motor vehicle door latch mechanism, the latch mechanism comprising a latch plate having a horizontal flange, and a locking wedge supported on the latch plate beneath the flange, the locking wedge being substantially immovable in door closing movement direction and yieldable in a direction transversely of door closing movement direction upon being engaged by a latching element as the latter moves into latched condition of the latch mechanism, characterized in that the locking wedge is made of resilient material and has a chamber therein disposed perpendicularly to the door closing movement direction and underlying the support plate horizontal flange, a ground lead extending through the wedge and having one end projecting into the chamber, a switch contact component housed in the chamber and positioned in juxtaposition to the ground lead one end, the contact component being adapted to ground the ground lead to the support plate of the latch mechanism when the latch is in unlatched condition, and plunger means coupled to the switch component responsive to yieldable movement of the wedge in the direction transversely of the door closing movement, the plunger means upon movement toward the horizontal flange of the latch plate causing disengagement of the switch component from the ground lead upon the latch mechanism becoming latched.