Spring actuated lock for use with motor vehicle door

Claim 1

A spring actuated lock for use with a motor vehicle door assembly including a frame structure and a door structure comprising: a trap lever mounted on one of said structures for movement between first and second positions; a bolt element mounted on the other of said structures, said bolt element and said trap lever being relatively shiftable along a predetermined path of travel and being disposed for interengagement during said relative shifting, said bolt element being disposed relative to the trap lever for contacting the latter and moving the trap lever from its first position and into its second position during said relative shifting; operating lever means carried by the trap lever for movement therewith between said first and second positions; control lever means mounted for movement between primary and secondary dispositions; means coupled with the control lever for yieldably biasing the latter toward its secondary disposition and away from its primary disposition; a locking mechanism including a shiftable member operably coupled to the operating lever means for shifting by the latter when the operating lever means moves between its said positions, said mechanism including respective cooperable parts on said member and on said control lever means, which parts are disposed in interengagement when the trap lever and therefore the operating lever means are in said first position and the control lever means is in its primary disposition for holding the control lever means in said primary disposition against the bias of the yieldably biasing means, said parts being disposed in disengagement when the operating lever means is in said second position whereby the control lever means is released to permit movement of the latter from its primary disposition to its secondary disposition under the influence of the yieldably biasing means, said trap lever being disposed in blocking relationship relative to the path of relative shifting of the trap lever and the bolt element when the trap lever is in its second position, said locking mechanism including means for preventing movement of the operating lever means from said second position to said first position when the control lever means is in its secondary disposition whereby the relative shifting of the bolt element and the trap lever is prevented; and an operator mechanism for shifting said control lever means from its secondary dispostion to its primary disposition to release the operating lever means for movement from its second position to its first position whereby to release the trap lever and the bolt element for said relative shifting.