CA1279080C - Actuator for locking a motor vehicle door latch - Google Patents

Abstract

A B S T R A C T

The actuator locks a motor vehicle door latch by means of a pin which is capable of assuming an un-locked position and a locked position, and comprises in combination a rotary disc in which is provided a profiled opening capable of shifting the pin, the rotation of the disc being brought about by an electric circuit, a cam pivotally mounted on a se-cond cam which is pivotally mounted on the disc, and a hook for bolting the pin whose pivoting to its bolting position may be brought about electrically by rotation of the disc through the cam which has a lug sliding in a slot of the hook When the pin is thus in the locked position bolted by the hook, the unbolting thereof can only be achie-ved by means of a new electric instruction, which increa-ses the safety of the vehicle against theft after a breaking of the window glass.

Description

'3~0 Actuator for locking a motor vehicle door latch - The present invention relates to an actuator for locking a motor vehicle door latch which is cooperable with a pin for locking this door latch capable of assum-ing in this actuator an unlocked position and a locked position.
French patent 81 04172 discloses a rotary locking - actuator comprising a cam whose rotation shifts the lock-ing pin to its locked position by means of a linkage system and which is associated with an electric circuit ` whereby the pin can be bolted in its locked position.
French patent application 85 11189 in the name of the Applicant concerns a locking actuator of the type comprising abolting slidable cam for preventing any fraudulent manual unlocking of the latch after a window glass of the vehicle has been broken.
The present invention therefore relates to an ac-tuator of the first type mentioned hereinbefore and has for object to provide a device of simpler construc-tion which requires no conversion of the electric circuit existing on the vehicle.
According to the invention, the actuator comprises ` in combination the following elements ~
; 25 a) a rotary disc in which is formed an opening for receiving the locking pin and so shaped that, "' ` ' - .
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'3()~0 with the pin bearing against the edge of said opening, the rotation of the disc in one direction shlfts the - p i n from its unlocked position to its locked position and inversely in the opposite direction of rotation of the disc ;
b) a first cam rotatively mounted on a second cam which is pivotally mounted on the disc, the first cam having such position and such profile as to bear against the locking pin when the locking pin is in the locked position and to be capable of driving in rotation the second cam when the disc is driven in rotation in a given direction from said locked position ;
c) and a hook pivotally mounted on a case connec-ted to the disc and cooperable with the second cam in lS such manner as to be driven by the second cam in ro-tation when the disc is rotated by an electric instruc-: tion in said given direction until said hook bolts the the pin in its locked position, the unbolting of the pin by rotation of the disc in the opposite direction being obtained an inverse new electric instruction.
The actuation of the bolting hook can be achievedby means of the electric circuit existing on the vehicle without conversion of this circuit and therefore with only two electric wires, and this hook can only be un-bolted by an electric instruction for rotating the disc, which increases the anti-theft safety of the vehicle.
Further, the actuator according to the invention can '' :
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~:75()~() be brought into action by "on-off" electric instructions, which constitutes a further advantage.
According to a feature of the invention, the second cam and the bolting hook are each provide with a ~istable resiliently yieldable element capable of automatically returning these elements to their initial angular posi-tions of rest after rotation through a given angle of the disc by an electric unlocking instruction from the locked and bolted position of the pin, the disc being also pro-10 vided with a return spring for returning it to its initialposition of rest,from the non-bolted locking position or bolted locked position.
The presence of bistable resiliently yieldable re-turn elements contributes to the possibility of actuating the actuator by "on-off" electric instructions.
Further features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description with -~ reference to the accompanying drawings which illustrate '~ ~ an embodiment thereof by way of a non-limiting example.
20 In the drawings :
Fig. 1 is a top plan view of an embodiment of the locking actuator for a motor vehicle door latch accord-ing to the invention, this actuator being shown in its - position of rest ;
Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken on line II-II
of Fig.- 1 ;
Fig. 3 is a plan view similar to Fig. 1 of the actuator . l ~ . , : .

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~:7~()~() with its pin in an intermediate position between its unlocked position and its locked position, after rotation of the disc and the elements carried by the disc in the 5 counter-clockwise direction ;
Fig. 4 is a plan view of the pin in its locked po-sition and the corresponding angular position of the disc, of the two cams and of the hook, beore the return of these elements to their initial angular position ;
Fig. 5 is a plan view of the actuator in a reversi-ble locked position of the locking pin upon the return of the disc, the cams and the hook to their initial angu-lar positions ofrest ;
Fig. 6 is a top plan view of the actuator showing the pin shifted from its locked position of Fig. 4 to ; its unlocked position by rotation of the disc in the direction opposed to the movement of Figs. 1 to 4 ;
Fig. 7 is a top plan view of the position of the elements of the actuator after the beginning of the ope-20 ration for bolting by means of the hook of the reversi-ble locked position of Fig. 5 ;
Fig. 8 shows the angular position of the elements of the actuator after continuation of the rotation of disc in the counter-clockwisedirection beyond the posi-tion of Fig. 7 toward the bolted locking position ;
Fig. 9 shows the actuator in the locking position of the pin bolted by the hook ;
Fig. 10 shows the angular position of the elements ., : " , .
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of the actuator at the beginnlng of the unbolting af-ter rotation of the disc through a certain angle from the position of Fig. 9 toward the unlocked position of the pin.
The actuator shown in the drawings in adapted to lock a motor vehicle door latch ~y means of a pin 1 of a locking lever 10 which may assume two positions, na-mely a first unlocked position shown in full lines (Fig. 1) and a second locked position shown in dot-dash lines, the latch, which is known per se, not being shown.
This actuator comprises the combination of the fol-lowing elements :
a rotary disc 2 in which is provided an open-ing 3 for receiving the pin 1 and having a profile appro-ximately in the shape of a snail shell with a first edge 3a which extends in the immediate vicinity of the peri-phery of the disc 2 through a little less than a semi-circumference and to the two ends of which is connected ; a second edge 3b which is distinctly closer to the axis 20 X-X of rotation of the disc 2, the ends of the edges 3a and 3b being interconnected and forming rounded recesses 3c and 3d , the edge 3a is connected to the recess 3d by an edge 3e , in its unlocked position, the pin 1 bears against the outer edge 3a of the opening 3 tFig.l);

a first cam Cl rotatively mounted on a shaft 4 mounted on a second cam C2 which is pivotally mounted on the disc 2 by a pivot pin 5 having an axis X-X and . , , . - - . -: .

~.'7'3()~0 being part of the cam C2 ;
a hook 6 pivotally mounted by a pivot pin 8 on a case 7 connected to the disc 2 by a lateral extension 7a ; this hook is provided with a curved end nose por-tion 9 and an elongated slot 11 which extends from apoint in the vicinity of the pivot 8 to the vicinity of the end nose portion 9, the whole of the hook 6 being contained in a plane located above the second cam C2 the latter is provided with a lug 12 which extends into 10 the slot 11.
The pin 1 is connected to the latch by an element 10 in the known manner while the two cams cl and C2 and the hook 6 are provided with bistable return elements 13, 14 respectively formed by springs adapted to automa-15 tically return the two cams to one of two stable posi-tions from given angular positions. One of these two stable angular positions, namely the position of rest of the cams Cl, C2 and the hook 6, is represented in Fig. 1, the second locked and bolted position being shown 20 in Fig. 9.
Further, means are provided for interconnecting the two cams Cl, C2 in one direction, namely in the clockwise direction as viewed in the drawings. In the presently-described embodiment, these means comprise a boss 15 25 formed on the second cam C2 and a corresponding flat sur-face 116 formed on the first cam Cl, the boss 15 being applied against the flat surface 16 and pivoting the cam ~' ' : `: ' ' ' ' , .

1~7~()~() Cl in the clockwise direction when the cam C2 turn.s in this direction.
The disc 2 is provided on the side thereof opposed - Lto the cams Cl and C2 with a central projection 116 form-ing a pivot and received in a cavity of a support 117 around which is disposed a return spring 118 for return-ing the disc 2 to its angular position of rest illustra-ted in Fig. 1. The disc 2 may be rotated in either di-rection by an electric motor M of the electric circuit 10 of the vehicle to which it is connected in the known manner by a connection 118, the driving in rotation being achieved by a gear pinion 121 which cooperates with a ring gear 120 fixed under the disc 2.
The actuator just described operates in the follow-15 ing manner :
1) The actuator is at rest (Figs. 1 and 2) and the pin 1 is in the unlocked position bearing against the outer edge 3a of the shaped opening 3. The cams C
and C2 are in one of their stable positions in which 20 they are placed by their respective return spring 13,14, the boss 15 and the flat surface 16 bearing against each other and the lug 12 being engaged in the end of the slot 11 which is the closest to the pivot pin 8.

2) The electric motor M i5 actuated in such manner as to 25 drive the disc 2 in rotation in the counter-clockwise direction AR

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'-(Fig. 3). Consequently, the pin 1 is urged toward the centre ofthe disc 2 by the profiled edge 3e of the opening 3 between the outer edge 3a and the end recess 3d. After rotation of the disc 2 and the elements C1, C2, carried by the latter through a given angular sector (the cam C2driving the cam Cl in rotation by its boss 15), the pin 1 is substantially in the mid-way position (Fig. 3) between its initial unlocked position and its locked position.

3) As the rotation of the disc 2 in the counter-10 clockwise direction AR continues (Fig. 4), the pin 1 rea-ches the locked position of abutment against the end of the recess 3d. Meanwhile, the relative angular positions of the cams Cl, c2 and the hook 6 have not changed. Then the spring 118 returns the disc 2 (Fig. 5) to its posi-tion of rest (Fig. 1) together with the elements Cl, C2and 6, the cam Cl urged by the pin 1 having pivoted so as to bear against the latter by its concave part 21.
The pin 1 is thén in its locked position, termed "reversible" position lA (non-bolted), i.e. it is possi-20 ble to achieve manually the return of this pin 1 by ma-nually acting on the window surround button (not shown) of the latch.

4) In the non-bolted locked position lA of Fig. 1 it is possible to electrically unlock the pin 1 by actua-ting the motor M in such manner as to rotate the disc 2in the clockwise direction AR ~Fig. 6). The disc 2 then returns the pin 1 to its unlocked position by :,' ~ ~. ` - ., ` . .
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1~:'7~()~i() urging it to the latter by the inner edge 3b of the open-ing 3, the elements Cl and C2 and 6 still remaining in their respective angular positions, the cam Cl remaining applied against the boss 15 by its spring 13 and there-S fore driving the cam C2 in rotation while being itselfdriven in rotation by the disc 2 on which the spring 13 is anchored.
The spring 118 then returns the disc 2 to its posi-tion of rest of Fig. 1.

5) In starting at the locked position lA of Fig. 1, it is possible to bring, by means of a new electric instruction given to the motor M, the actuator to a posi-tion in which the hook 6 bolts the pin 1 by its end nose portion 9 in the locked position. For this purpose, an electric instruction is given which causes the disc 2 to : rotate in the counter-clockwise direction AR (Fig. 7).
As it rotates in the direction AR, the disc 2 drives in rotation in this direction the cam C2 which pivots by its boss 15 the cam Cl while its lug 12 slides in the slot 11 and consequently the hook 6 starts to pivot in the clockwise direction of arrow R
(Fig. 7) so that its nose portion 9 moves toward the pin 1.

6) As the rotation in the direction AR of the disc ~; 2 continues, the pin 1, still bearing against the concave 25 portion 21 of the cam Cl, approaches the end recess 3d of the opening 3 (Fig. 8) while the lug 12 abuts against ~: the end of the slot 11 remote from the pivot pin 8 (the -' ~ .: ~ ' 30~) end of the slot 11 being slightly curved).

7) The electric instruction to rotate the disc 2 in the direction AR ceases, so that the spring 118returns the disc 2 to its initial position of rest in the direc-tion of rotation R (Fig. 90). Consequently, the hook 6accompanies the rotation of the disc 2 while being driven by the lug 12 to a position in which its nose portion 9 bolts the pin 1 in the locked position (Fig. 9). This position is not reversible, i.e. the pin 1 can only be 10 returned to its unlocked position by a new electric instruction to the exclusion of its movement manually or by mechanical means, which increases the anti-theft safety of the vehicle.
If the pin 1 is desired to be electrically unlocked in the position of Fig. 9, an electric instruction is given to the motor M in such manner that the disc 2 ro-tates through a given angle, for example about 30, in the clockwise direction R (Fig. 10). This rotation pi-vots the cams Cl and C2 and consequently causes the lug 20 12 to slide in the slot 11 toward the pivot pin 8, which causes the hook 6 to pivot in the unbolting position so that the nose portion 9 releases the pin 1.
After rotation through the aforementioned angle, the bistable springs 13 and 14 respectively return the second 25 cam C2 and the bolting hook 6 to their initial position of Fig. 1, the pin 1 being returned to its unlocked posi-tion by the edge 3b of the opening 3.

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. -Thus, it can be seen that the rotary actuator accord-ing to the invention can be put into three states : an unlocked position of the pin 1 (Fig. 1), a reversible locked position la of the pin in which the pin is not bolted by the hook 6, and a non-reversible locked posi-tion (Fig. 9) in which the pI~:1 is bolted in the locked position by the hook 6 and can only be unlocked by an electric instruction.
It must be understood that the scope of the inven-10 tion is not intended to be limited to the described em-bodiments and may comprise constructional modifications.
For example, the control connection between the cam 1 and the bolting hook 6 may be replaced by any other like means, for example a gear pinion cooperating with a too-15 thed sector mounted on the hook 6.

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Claims (6)

What is claimed is :

1. An actuator in combination with a locking pin for locking a motor vehicle door latch, said pin being capable of assuming in said actuator an unlocked position and a locked position, said actuator further comprising in combination :
a) a rotary disc, electric driving means for driving the disc in either direction of rotation depending on respec-tive electric instructions given to said electric means, the rotary disc defining an opening in which the lock-ing pin is located and which is so profiled that, with the pin bearing against an edge of said opening, rotation of the disc in one direction causes the displacement of the pin from its unlocked position to its locked position and inversely in an opposite direction of rotation of the disc ;
b) a first cam pivotally mounted on the disc, a second cam rotatively mounted on the first cam, the se-cond cam being so positioned and profiled as to bear against the locking pin when the locking pin is in said locked position and to be capable of driving in rotation the first cam when the disc is rotated in a given direc-tion from a position corresponding to said locked posi-tion of the pin ;
c) a case mounted on the disc, a hook pivotally mounted on the case and cooperative with the first cam so as to be driven in rotation by the first cam when the disc is rotated in said given direction by said electric driving means until said hook bolts the pin in said locked position thereof, the unbolting of said pin by rotation of the disc in the opposite direction being possible only by means of a new reverse electric ins-truction given to said electric driving means.

2. An actuator according to claim 1, comprising a bistable resiliently yieldable element combined with the first cam and a bistable resiliently yieldable ele-ment combined with the bolting hook for automatically biasing the first cam and the bolting hook to their initial angular positions after rotation through a given angle of the disc by said electric driving means as a result of electric unlocking instructions given to said electric driving means from a position corresponding to a locked and bolted position of the pin, a return spring being combined with the disc for returning it to its initial position of rest from a position correspond-ing to a non-bolted locked or unlocked position of the pin.

3. An actuator according to claim 1, wherein the opening of the disc is substantially profiled in the shape of a snail shell which progressively approaches the centre of the disc from the periphery of the disc so as to cause the pin to approach the centre toward the locked position of the pin when the disc rotates in the appropriate direction and to move away therefrom when the disc rotates in the opposite direction.

4. An actuator according to claim 1, comprising an elongate slot in the bolting hook and a lug which is fixed to the first cam and slidably engaged in the slot so that rotation of the first cam, due to an elec-tric bolting instruction, from the locked position of the pin causes the hook to pivot to a position thereof in which it bolts the pin.

5. An actuator according to claim 1, comprising means for interconnecting the two cams in rotation in a given direction.

6. An actuator according to claim 5, wherein said interconnecting means comprise a boss provided on one of the cams and an abutment surface which is pro-vided on the other cam and is capable of encountering said boss.