| CPC E05B 81/34 (2013.01) [B60R 7/06 (2013.01); E05B 81/06 (2013.01); E05B 81/14 (2013.01); E05B 81/30 (2013.01); E05B 81/42 (2013.01); E05B 81/64 (2013.01); E05B 83/30 (2013.01)] | 22 Claims |

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1. An electronic latch comprising:
a housing;
a motor having an output shaft;
a gear arrangement comprising at least one gear that is configured to be driven by the output shaft of the motor;
a rack coupled to the gear arrangement and configured to move in response to motion of the gear arrangement;
at least one pawl or pawl connector that is connected to the rack such that motion of the rack causes the at least one pawl or pawl connector to move to (i) a withdrawn position from (ii) a deployed position in which the pawl or pawl connector is extended further from the housing as compared with the withdrawn position;
wherein the at least one gear comprises two cam lobes that are configured to sequentially engage two separate cam followers on the rack, such that only one pair of the cam lobe and the cam follower is in contact relative to each other at a time; and
wherein interaction between one of the two cam lobes with one of the two cam followers permits the pawl or pawl connector to move toward the deployed position in a controlled manner, and interaction between the other of the two cam lobes with the other of the two cam followers causes the pawl or pawl connector to move toward the withdrawn position.
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