EP0711891A2 - Motor vehicle door lock with centrally controlled locking mechanism - Google Patents

Abstract

The central locking system (1, 2) operates on a tilting lever (3) which has a shaped recess (8) at the top end and wider opening (12) under a set radius from the tilt axis (7). A drive peg (5) is mounted eccentrically on a rotating support (4) and is moved inside the outer recess to tilt the lever. It is moved through the lower recess to free the lever, for central locking action. The locked position is defined by one stop (E) while the unlocked position is defined by a stop (10) in the other direction. The peg is driven in either direction. The two recesses form a closed area in the tilt lever.

Description

The invention relates to a motor vehicle door lock with a central locking drive with the features of the preamble of claim 1.

A conventional motor vehicle door lock regularly has locking elements such as a rotary latch and pawl and a lock mechanism arranged on a support element with various levers which are used for actuation. In this regard, reference is made to the general state of the art, which need not be specified here in detail. Motor vehicle door locks with central locking drives are widespread these days. A central locking drive works regularly on a central locking lever driven by it, which then in turn engages in the lock mechanism, either directly or via further levers arranged in between. All of this is not important in the present case for the teaching of the invention, the teaching of the invention only deals with the connection of the central locking drive to the central locking lever.

It is known from the prior art (DE-A-42 19 211) to implement a central locking drive electromechanically and to make it work reversibly, that is to say in both directions of rotation. For this purpose, a drive element with an eccentrically arranged driver pin is provided, which is driven by the electric motor of the central locking drive, for example via a spindle. Depending on the direction of rotation of the motor, the direction of rotation of the drive element also differs. When the drive element, which forms a kind of crank drive, is rotated, the driver pin moves on a rotating arc in the respective direction of rotation.

In the prior art explained above, the central locking lever can be pivoted about a pivot axis parallel to the axis of rotation of the drive element and projects with its free end into the orbit of the driving pin on the drive element. If the drive element is rotated from the central locking drive, the driver pin takes the end of the central locking lever with it until it reaches its unlocked position or its locked position. After the end of this driving movement for the central locking lever, the driving pin does not stop, rather it is moved further in the same direction on its orbital curve. This is possible without excessive effort by the fact that in the circular arc of the driver pin projecting area of the central locking lever is elastic. He thus avoids the further rotating driver pin and finally comes out of engagement with the driver pin, springing back into its starting position. The driver pin continues to run in its rest position, which is outside the range of movement of the central locking lever. It is thus easily possible to pivot the central locking lever back and forth by hand, that is to say purely mechanically, when the central locking drive is blocked.

From another prior art, a motor vehicle door lock of a similar type is known (DE-A-43 43 340), in which the central locking lever has a fork-shaped receptacle for the driving pin at its end projecting into the movement path of the driving pin, which is considerably wider than that Driver pin itself. The diameter of the drive element or the complete circulation bend of the driver pin corresponds approximately to the depth of the fork-shaped receptacle, the driver pin therefore always lies against a side wall of the fork-shaped receptacle. The fork-shaped receptacle is so wide that the central locking lever can be moved mechanically between the unlocking position and the locking position purely mechanically and independently of the driving pin regardless of the permanent position of the driving pin in the fork-shaped recording. This is of course a general requirement for motor vehicle door locks of the type in question, which must be unlocked or locked with the driver pin in the rest position when the central locking drive is blocked.

In the first-mentioned motor vehicle door lock, the spring construction of the central locking lever has not proven to be very wear-resistant in practice. In contrast, there is a permanent engagement of the driver pin with the start, the fork-shaped receptacle central locking lever in the second-described motor vehicle door lock, but here again there is a problem that the starting of the electric motor of the central locking drive must take place against the spring force that the central locking lever loaded in one of its two end positions (toggle spring). This results in high starting currents for the central locking drive. In both cases, it is expensive that the control of the central locking drive must take place via microswitches that detect the position of the central locking lever and the drive element.

The known motor vehicle door lock from which the invention is based (US Pat. No. 5,240,296) has a driver pin which only remains in a corresponding receptacle of a central locking lever when a special anti-theft position is reached. In this anti-theft position, the central locking lever should be blocked in its movement (column 2, lines 34 to 36, column 7, lines 66 to column 8, line 12). An anti-theft device is not provided at the starting point for the present invention, at least not the subject of the discussion.

The driver pin of the prior art which forms the starting point assumes its high position outside the recording, namely at the lower edge of the movement recording (column 5, lines 37 to 43 and lines 58 to 64). The boundary surfaces of the receptacle and movement receptacle do not come into contact with the driver pin. This motor vehicle door lock is controlled via slip ring switches (column 6). In terms of circuitry, slip ring switches are as complex as other microswitches and are susceptible to many functions due to the wear options.

The teaching is based on the task of simplifying the known motor vehicle door lock with a central locking drive in terms of circuitry or control technology.

The above problem is solved in a motor vehicle door lock with the features of the preamble of claim 1 by the features of the characterizing part of claim 1. The block operation of the electric motor implemented in the teaching of the invention leads to the elimination of many electronic components, in particular the slip ring switches implemented in the prior art. Block operation is achieved according to the invention by a very simple design of the central locking lever. The edges of the movement recording are in fact used as stop surfaces against which the driver pin runs into its respective rest position.

Preferred refinements and developments are the subject of the dependent claims.

Fig. 1

Zentralverriegelungsantrieb und Zentralverriegelungshebel des erfindungsgemäßen Kraftfahrzeug-Türverschlusses in Entriegelungslage, den Motor des Zentralverriegelungsantriebs stehend,

Fig. 2

den Kraftfahrzeug-Türverschluß aus Fig. 1 bei laufendem Motor mit dem Mitnehmerzapfen gerade zum Schwenken des Zentralverriegelungshebels in die Verriegelungslage an die Seitenwand der Aufnahme anlaufend,

Fig. 3

den Kraftfahrzeug-Türverschluß aus Fig. 2, jetzt mit dem Zentralverriegelungshebel in die Verriegelungslage V geschaltet, den Mitnehmerzapfen gerade an der Anschlagfläche anlaufend,

Fig. 4

den Kraftfahrzeug-Türverschluß aus Fig. 3, Motor des Zentralverriegelungsantriebs stehend, Zentralverriegelungshebel von Hand wieder in die Entriegelungslage umgelegt,

Fig. 5

den Kraftfahrzeug-Türverschluß aus Fig. 3 im Begriffe, daß der Zentralverriegelungshebel vom Zentralverriegelungsantrieb wieder in die Entriegelungslage umgelegt wird,

Fig. 6

den Kraftfahrzeug-Türverschluß aus Fig. 5 nach Erreichen der Entriegelungslage und Erreichen der Ruhelage des Mitnehmerzapfens,

Fig. 7

den Kraftfahrzeug-Türverschluß aus Fig. 6 nach Umlegen des Zentralverriegelungshebels von Hand in die Verriegelungslage.

In the following, the invention will be explained in more detail with reference to a drawing showing only one exemplary embodiment. In the drawing shows

Fig. 1

Central locking drive and central locking lever of the motor vehicle door lock according to the invention in the unlocked position, the motor of the central locking drive standing,

Fig. 2

1 while the engine is running with the driver pin just for pivoting the central locking lever into the locking position against the side wall of the receptacle,

Fig. 3

2, now switched to the locking position V with the central locking lever, the driver pin just starting at the stop surface,

Fig. 4

3, motor of the central locking drive standing, central locking lever folded back into the unlocking position by hand,

Fig. 5

3 in the sense that the central locking lever is folded back into the unlocking position by the central locking drive,

Fig. 6

5 after reaching the unlocking position and reaching the rest position of the driver pin,

Fig. 7

the motor vehicle door lock from Fig. 6 after turning the central locking lever by hand in the locking position.

Regarding the basic structure of motor vehicle door locks with central locking drives, to which the teaching of the present invention relates, there are some explanations in the general part of the description, to which reference may be made here. The following explanations relate to the part of a motor vehicle door lock that is important for the teaching of the invention, namely to the central locking drive 1, 2 and the central locking lever 3, which is driven thereby.

Fig. 1 shows the central locking drive 1, 2 with the driving electric motor 1 and the spindle 2 driven by this, which is shown here partially broken away to reveal the central locking lever 3 below. A drive element 4, embodied here as a disk, with an eccentrically arranged driver pin 5 is provided for driving the central locking lever 3. It is only indicated that the disk-shaped drive element 4 has a toothing on the outer edge with which the spindle 2 of the central locking drive 1, 2 meshes. This is a well-known drive technology.

The driver pin 5 can be moved on its orbital arc in both directions of rotation. Together with the drive element 4, it forms a type of crank mechanism. The axis of rotation 6 of the drive element 4, which may be physically present in the exemplary embodiment shown, but may also only be present virtually, is indicated as the intersection of two hidden lines. The central locking lever 3 can be pivoted about a pivot axis 7 parallel to the axis of rotation 6. This pivoting movement is the actuating movement that can be used in the lock mechanism, which is not further shown, for unlocking or locking the motor vehicle door lock (releasability of the pawl).

The central locking lever 3 has a fork-shaped receptacle 8 for the driver pin 5, which is considerably wider than the driver pin 5. As will be explained further below, the central locking lever 3 can be swiveled mechanically into an unlocking position E, in FIG. 1, and a locking position V, in FIG. 3, both by means of the driver pin 5 and independently and unhindered therefrom.

In the illustrated and preferred embodiment, stops 9, 10 for the unlocking position E and the locking position V are realized.

Fig. 1 now makes it immediately clear that the circulating arc of the driving pin 5 only runs approximately to the (upper or lower) half in the fork-shaped receptacle 8 and the other half outside the receptacle 8 The axis of rotation 6 of the drive element 4 thus lies approximately at the level of the open end of the receptacle 8, and the driver pin 5 assumes its rest position or rest positions outside the receptacle 8 and enters the receptacle 8 only for the movement of the central locking lever 3. This has the advantages already mentioned in the general part of the description.

Fig. 1 shows that in the illustrated and in this respect preferred embodiment, the unlocking position (E) and the locking position (V) of the central locking lever (3) are each defined by a stop (9, 10). While the stops 9, 10 are somehow arranged outside the central locking lever 3 in the exemplary embodiment according to FIG. 1 and the central locking lever 3 with its outer surface runs against a stop 9 or 10, an internal realization of the stops 9, 10 can also be provided , namely in that the axis of rotation 6 of the drive element 4 is physically present and at the same time forms the stops 9, 10. It is easy to imagine.

The elimination of as many electronic components as possible is essential for the circuitry-simple construction of the motor vehicle door lock with a central locking drive 1, 2. For this purpose, a block operation of the electric motor 1, d. H. monitoring the current consumption of the electric motor 1 and switching off when a certain limit value is exceeded for a certain time, which means that the motor is blocked by the central locking lever 3. Microswitches can thus largely be dispensed with.

The above-mentioned block operation can be realized, for example, in that the central locking drive 1, 2 is controlled by pressing the central locking lever 3 against the respective stop 9, 10 by means of the driving pin 5. However, this is not realized in the exemplary embodiment shown here. Nevertheless, a block operation of the electric motor 1 is also realized in the exemplary embodiment shown here, but in a different manner, which will be explained further below.

First of all, it should be further explained that the exemplary embodiment shown is further characterized in that the receptacle 8 of the central locking lever 3 converts into a movement receptacle 11 in the central locking lever 3 at the open end with a considerably larger width than the receptacle 8 opens and the driver pin 5 assumes its rest position or rest positions in the movement receptacle 11. The receptacle 8 could open radially outwards with respect to the central locking lever 3, then the movement receptacle 11 would adjoin the receptacle 8 radially outwards. In the illustrated embodiment, an inverted arrangement is selected, namely it is provided that the open end of the receptacle 8 faces the pivot axis 7 of the central locking lever 3. Of course, this should not be understood as limiting.

For both variants, it is possible for the central locking lever 3 to be closed all around, so that the receptacle 8 and the movement receptacle 11 are closed in the central locking lever 3. The movement receptacle 11 provides the movement space for the driver pin 5 which it needs to return to its respective rest position, which is shown for example in the unlocking position in FIG. 1. At the same time, the movement pickup 11 ensures that the central locking lever 3 can be swiveled freely when the central locking drive 1, 2 is stationary.

It has previously been explained what advantages block operation of the central locking drive 1, 2 has for the simplification of the overall arrangement in terms of circuitry. This is now realized in the illustrated embodiment by a very simple concept of the central locking lever 3. As can be seen from Fig. 1, it is provided that the movement receptacle 11 to the side of the receptacle 8 preferably has a circular arc shape with the pivot axis 7 as the center of the circle extending stop surfaces 12 against which the driver pin 5 runs into its respective rest position. These stop surfaces 12 on the side of the receptacle 8 can also be realized with the receptacle 8 opening radially outwards and inwards. They gain particular importance in that the central locking drive 1, 2 is controlled by the driving pin 5 starting against the respective stop surface 12 (block operation).

In the exemplary embodiment shown, it is also realized that the receptacle 8 of the central locking lever 3 is at least slightly wider at the open end than the outer radius of the circumferential arc of the driving pin 5.

The mode of operation of the motor vehicle door lock according to the invention will become clear from the following explanation of the functional sequence in the motor vehicle door lock according to the invention using the sequence of figures.

In Fig. 1, the central locking lever 3 is in the unlocked position, the motor 1 of the central locking drive 1, 2 is. If the central locking lever 3 is now to be moved into the locking position V, the electric motor 1 of the central locking drive 1, 2 is switched on. The motor 1 starts up and the drive element 4 begins to turn clockwise, as shown by the arrow in FIG. 2. The driver pin 5 runs clockwise on its orbital curve. Since the axis of rotation 6 of the drive element 4 is located approximately at the right edge of the receptacle 8 and the receptacle 8 is just a little wider at its open end than the radius of the drive element 4, the driver pin 5 can initially enter the receptacle 8 unhindered at the open end . When it continues to move clockwise, it then hits the right side wall of the receptacle 8 on the orbital arc (FIG. 2). The driver pin 5 was able to carry out this entire movement over an arc of almost 270 ° with practically no force, so the electric motor 1 could start without resistance.

The driver pin 5 then pushes the central locking lever 3 clockwise from the unlocking position E in FIG. 2 in front of itself until the central locking lever 3 has reached the locking position V in FIG. 3. Now the receptacle 8 has shifted so far clockwise that the driver pin 5 can easily emerge again from the receptacle 8 during its further movement on the circulation sheet. The motor 1 continues to run unchanged, so that no switching operations or the like have taken place in the meantime. Microswitches are not required.

Since the stop surface 12 to the left of the receptacle 8 in the movement receptacle 11 lies in the further movement path of the driver pin 5 on its circulating arc, the driver pin 5 strikes this stop surface 12 after a further path of 160 ° Pivot axis 7 lying circle center point, the force exerted by the driver pin 5 on the stop surface 12 is directed radially with respect to the pivot axis, so does not lead to any displacement of the central locking lever 3, which would also not be desirable. By starting the driver pin 5 against the stop surface 12, however, the drive movement of the motor 1 is opposed to a considerable resistance, the motor current increases suddenly, this is evaluated in terms of circuitry, the motor is switched off and is de-energized.

Because of the clever design of the central locking lever 3 in the motor vehicle door lock according to the invention, the central locking lever 3 can be easily (mechanically) pivoted back and forth by hand with the engine stopped and the driving pin 5 standing on the stop surface 12. For this purpose, it is particularly expedient if the stop surfaces 12 run in the shape of a circular arc in accordance with the previously explained concept. It can be seen in FIG. 4 how the central locking lever 3 has been manually pivoted back into the unlocking position E from the locking position V shown in FIG. 3 with the driver pin 5 at a standstill. This may be necessary, for example, in the event of an emergency opening of a motor vehicle door lock.

FIG. 5 shows the motor-driven drive movement for the central locking lever 3 starting from FIG. 3. The driver pin 5 on the drive element 4 is now moved counterclockwise on its orbital arc and pivots the central locking lever 3 also counterclockwise about the pivot axis 7 from the locking position V back to the unlocking position E.

Fig. 6 shows the further movement of the driving pin 5 after pivoting of the central locking lever 3, the driving pin 5 now comes to rest on the right of the receptacle 8 stop surface 12 of the movement receptacle 11, so that the motor 1 is then switched off. Fig. 7 then shows that even in this position of the driver pin 5 an unimpeded mechanical pivoting of the central locking lever 3 is possible.

The construction shown is particularly interesting because the central locking lever 3 remains practically force-free with regard to its movement between the unlocked position and the locked position, although considerable forces occur in order to allow the shutdown of the electric motor 1 of the central locking drive 1, 2 in block operation.

The motor vehicle door lock according to the invention is characterized by a few components, a very high driving force and a flat design. The motor 1 can be designed to be relatively poor in performance, since it can start up in any case before forces occur on the driving pin 5. The possibility of block operation of the central locking drive 1, 2, which allows the omission of microswitches for switching off the electric motor 1, is particularly significant. Every position of the central locking lever 3 can be controlled both electromechanically and manually without any problems.

Claims (10)

Motor vehicle door lock with a central locking drive (1, 2) and a central locking lever (3) driven thereby, the central locking drive (1, 2) being electromechanical and reversible and having a drive element (4) with an eccentrically arranged driver pin (5), which can be moved in both directions on its orbital arc, the central locking lever (3) can be pivoted about a pivot axis (7) parallel to the axis of rotation (6) of the drive element (4) and has a fork-shaped receptacle (8) for the driver pin (5) which is considerably wider than the driver pin (5), and the central locking lever (3) can be pivoted purely mechanically into an unlocking position (E) and a locking position (V) both by means of the driver pin (5) and independently and unimpeded thereof, characterized in that the circulation curve of the driving pin (5) only about half (upper or lower) in the fork Migen receptacle (8) and the other half outside the receptacle (8), the axis of rotation (6) of the drive element (4) is approximately at the level of the open end of the receptacle (8), and that the driver pin (5) is in its rest position or rest positions outside the receptacle (8) and enters the receptacle (8) only for moving the central locking lever (3). Motor vehicle door lock according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the unlocking position (E) and the locking position (V) of the central locking lever (3) are each defined by a stop (9, 10). Motor vehicle door lock according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the axis of rotation (6) of the drive element (4) is physically present and at the same time forms the stops (9, 10). Motor vehicle door lock according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the control of the central locking drive (1, 2) takes place by pressing the central locking lever (3) against the respective stop (9, 10) by means of the driver pin (5). Motor vehicle door lock according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the receptacle (8) of the central locking lever (3) per se the open end in a movement holder (11) in the central locking lever (3) with a considerably larger width than the holder (8) opens and the driver pin (5) assumes its rest position or positions in the movement holder (11). Motor vehicle door lock according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the central locking lever (3) is closed all around, the receptacle (8) and the movement receptacle (11) thus lie closed in the central locking lever (3). Motor vehicle door lock according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the open end of the receptacle (8) faces the pivot axis (7) of the central locking lever (3). Motor vehicle door lock according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the movement receptacle (11) to the side of the receptacle (8) preferably has arc-shaped stop faces (12) with the pivot axis (7) as the center of the circle, against which the driver pin (5) fits into its respective rest position starts. Motor vehicle door lock according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the control of the central locking drive (1, 2) takes place by the run-up of the driver pin (5) on the respective stop surface (12) (block operation). Motor vehicle door lock according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the receptacle (8) of the central locking lever (3) at the open end is at least slightly wider than the outer radius of the peripheral arc of the driver pin (5).

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