Power striker mechanism with backdrive prevention

The subject invention relates to a power striker mechanism for use with a closure panel of a motor vehicle. A power striker mechanism () has a housing (). A striker () is mounted on a striker plate () that is mounted on the housing for sliding movement between an inboard and an outboard position. A driver plate () is mounted to the housing for sliding movement in a direction orthogonal to the movement of the striker plate (). An actuator () effects movement of the driver plate () to thereby effect movement of the striker plate () between the inboard and outboard positions. The striker plate () has a pin () and the driver plate has an S-shaped slot (). The pin slidably engages the S-shaped slot. The S-shaped slot has end regions extending generally parallel to each other and in the orthogonal direction and is interconnected by a diagonally extending section. When the pin () is in the end regions of the S-shaped slot, forces imparted on the striker plate () are transmitted to the housing () and thereby preventing backlash of the actuator (). When the pin (36) is in the diagonally extending section, movement of the drive plate () effects movement of the striker plate ().