EP0989265B1 - Simplified lock for a motor vehicle door - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a door lock for motor vehicle, in particular an unlocking lock automatic upon opening, and more particularly a lock electric opening assistance and / or opening assistance conviction.

Usually locks, both electric and mechanical, have a plurality of levers: an opening lever exterior, interior opening lever, locking lever inside, an external locking lever, and one or more intermediate levers. In addition, these levers are connected by connecting means, for example, rods, cables and sheaths cables to control means, such as the lock cylinder and interior and exterior handles or paddles.

In particular, we already know from document DE 196 00 524 a lock for a motor vehicle door, comprising a bolt capable of retain a keeper, a bolt locking pawl in the retaining position of the keeper, an external opening mechanism to activate the ratchet to its bolt release position, a mechanical means of external connection consisting of a flexible cable, a portion of which external is intended to be connected to an external control means, such as an exterior door handle or pallet, and a portion of which interior extends inside the lock housing and is provided with a tip suitable for actuating the external opening mechanism for cause the lock to open, in response to actuation of the external control means, and a locking mechanism with a bi-stable locking lever for setting the lock in a condemned or unlocked position. In this lock known, the end of the flexible cable is permanently linked to a slide which is slidably mounted on an interior lever. This inner lever is fitted with a spout and is itself slidably mounted on an auxiliary part able to pivot around an axis between a first position in which the beak of the inner lever is separated from one arm of the locking pawl (this first position corresponding to a locked state of the lock), and a second position corresponding to a unlocked state of the lock. In this second position, the beak of the inner lever is able to act on the arm of the locking pawl to actuate the pawl towards its position release of the bolt when the cable exerts, via its end cap and slide, pulling on the inner lever in response to actuation of the exterior door handle or pallet by a user. The locking lever has an arm which acts on the inner lever or on the pivoting auxiliary part so as to make pivot said auxiliary part from its second position to its first position when the locking lever is brought into a position conviction. A first spring is provided to stress the part auxiliary to its second position when the locking lever is brought into a unlocked position. A second spring is designed to urge the slide to its rest position. Such mechanism is relatively complex and includes a large number of detached pieces.

The object of the invention is to propose a simplified lock for vehicle door, which minimizes the number of levers and means of link to perform the various functions of the lock.

To achieve the above object, the invention relates to a lock for a motor vehicle door, comprising a bolt capable of retaining a keeper, a latch for locking the bolt in the retaining position of the keeper, an external opening mechanism to activate the ratchet towards its bolt release position, a mechanical connection means outer consisting of a flexible cable of which an outer portion is intended to be connected to an external control means, such as a door handle or exterior pallet, including an interior portion extends inside the lock housing and is provided at the free end with a tip capable of operate the exterior opening mechanism to cause the opening of the lock, in response to the actuation of the means of external control, and a locking mechanism comprising a bi-stable locking lever to put the lock in a position condemned or unlocked, characterized in that the end piece is arranged to be movable by an arm of the lever condemnation in a direction substantially perpendicular to the direction of movement of the cable, for, in the position of locking the lock, make the tip escape from the mechanism opening and in the unlocking position of the lock, put the tip in a position of cooperation with the external opening mechanism, the inherent flexibility of the link being used to disengage the link between the means external control and the opening mechanism for the condemnation of the lock, and the inherent elasticity of the connecting cable recalling the end piece in its rest position for the unlocked position of the lock.

The external opening mechanism may include a lever actuator provided at one end with a fork between the branches from which the inner portion of the cable passes, in the position unlocking the lock, the spacing of the branches being smaller than the size of said tip so that it can drive said actuation lever, the inner portion of the cable and its tip escaping from said fork in the locked position of the lock. Thus, the flexibility inherent in the connecting cable is used for disengage the connection between the external control means and the external opening mechanism, for locking the lock. When the locking lever is returned from its position condemned to its unlocked position, the cable returns, due to its own elasticity, in its engaged position with the fork of the actuation lever.

In this case, the branches of the fork may include, at their free end, a guide ramp to guide the tip of the cable in its locked out position, when the cable undergoes traction under the action of the external control means.

According to another characteristic, the lock comprises a means of automatic unlocking on opening comprising, on the one hand, a cam follower element cooperating with a cam profile provided on the bolt and, on the other hand, a support portion capable of cooperating with a stop provided on the locking lever, so that when rotation of the bolt to its open position, the cam profile drives a displacement of the cam follower element and, consequently, of said support portion so as to automatically bring the lever condemnation in its unlocked position.

In a particular embodiment, the interior portion of the mechanical connection means is secured to a cursor which is guided by a slide inside a sealed compartment of the lock, along the opening stroke of the mechanical connection means, and which is able to cooperate at the end of the opening stroke with a contactor external opening, to trigger the emission of a signal command to open to an electric motor for assistance with the opening, which electric motor is capable of driving a lever opening to activate the ratchet.

According to another characteristic of the invention, said lever actuation is an emergency opening lever, in case of failure electric or depletion of the vehicle battery, suitable for moved by the connecting means, under the action of the control means outside, on an overtravel beyond the opening stroke necessary to actuate the switch, said emergency lever being able to move, during said overtravel, the opening lever exterior, for the release of the bolt.

Advantageously, the emergency lever is subjected to a spring of high stiffness return to its rest position, so that the user has to force on the external control means in order to activate the emergency lever, so that the user does not operate unnecessarily the emergency lever when the electric assistance when opening works.

In a particular embodiment, the mechanism of conviction includes a reversible electric motor to drive the locking lever between its locked positions and unlocked.

The description given below, purely by way of illustration and not limiting, of an embodiment will allow, with reference to the drawings appended, to better understand the invention.

• la figure 1 est une vue en perspective éclatée de la serrure conforme à l'invention, du côté de son compartiment de rétention ;
• la figure 2 est une vue analogue à la figure 1, mais partiellement assemblée ;
• la figure 3 est une vue de dessus de la figure 2, en position complètement assemblée de la serrure ;
• la figure 4 est une vue analogue à la figure 3, la contre-plaque étant omise ;
• la figure 5 est une vue en perspective éclatée de la serrure de l'invention, du côté de son compartiment de cinématique ;
• la figure 6 est une vue de dessus de la figure 5, le couvercle du compartiment de cinématique étant omis, et la serrure étant dans une position fermée et décondamnée ;
• la figure 7 est une vue analogue à la figure 6, mais représentant la serrure dans une position fermée et condamnée ;
• la figure 8 est une vue analogue à la figure 6, mais représentant la serrure dans une position ouverte et décondamnée, sous l'action du dispositif électrique d'assistance à l'ouverture ; et
• la figure 9 est une vue analogue à la figure 8, la serrure étant également en position ouverture et décondamnée, sous l'action du moyen mécanique de secours à l'ouverture.

On this drawing :

• Figure 1 is an exploded perspective view of the lock according to the invention, from the side of its retention compartment;
• Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1, but partially assembled;
• Figure 3 is a top view of Figure 2, in the fully assembled position of the lock;
• Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 3, the counter plate being omitted;
• Figure 5 is an exploded perspective view of the lock of the invention, from the side of its kinematics compartment;
• Figure 6 is a top view of Figure 5, the cover of the kinematics compartment being omitted, and the lock being in a closed and unlocked position;
• Figure 7 is a view similar to Figure 6, but showing the lock in a closed and locked position;
• Figure 8 is a view similar to Figure 6, but showing the lock in an open and unlocked position, under the action of the electric device for assisting the opening; and
• FIG. 9 is a view similar to FIG. 8, the lock also being in the open and unlocked position, under the action of the mechanical means for emergency opening.

Referring to Figure 1, the lock of the invention comprises a lock housing B, for example, of plastic and a metal counter plate 1 substantially square-shaped and having an opening 2 for the passage of a keeper (not shown) which is fixed, in a manner known per se, to a vertical upright of the chassis of a motor vehicle. Against the plate 1 has a substantially L profile with the longer wing 1a extending in the transverse direction of the vehicle, door closed position, and whose smallest cross 1b extends in the direction longitudinal of the vehicle.

As shown in Figure 1, the housing B has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape whose largest dimension extends substantially in the vertical direction of the door. The housing B has a first compartment 3 called retention, because it contains a fork bolt 4 capable of retaining the keeper and a pawl 5 to lock the bolt 4 in the keeper position of the keeper. The retention compartment 3 has a recess 6 forming the opening of the lock, to accommodate the keeper there, in the closed position of the door. The compartment 3 is closed by the counter plate 1 which is the part of the lock which is flush with the edge of the door. The bolt 4 and the pawl 5 are respectively articulated on the ends of the shaft 7 and 8 which are interposed between the bottom of the compartment 3 and the part 1 a of the counterplate 1.

The retention compartment 3 further comprises an external opening lever 9 which is articulated on a cylindrical sleeve 10 on the bottom of the compartment 3, the external opening lever 9 comprising an arm 9 a extending substantially radially for cooperate with a finger 5 a of the pawl 5. The external opening lever 9 has a passage of square section 9 b in alignment with the axis of the cylindrical sleeve 10, to make it integral in rotation with a lever command 11 which will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. 5.

The pawl 5 further comprises a protruding pin 5 b intended to be connected to a rod or a cable (not shown) for its connection to an interior door handle or pallet.

As best seen in Figures 1 and 4, a light 12 is formed through the bottom of the compartment 3 in the vicinity of the periphery of the bolt 4. Inside this light 12, is able to pivot a lever 13 provided at its free end of a protruding pin 13 a which forms a cam follower element in contact with a peripheral portion 4 a on the periphery of the bolt, this peripheral portion 4 a forming a cam profile whose radius of curvature is adapted to cause the displacement of the pin 13 a , during the rotation of the bolt 4 between its closed position illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 4 and its open position (not shown) pivoted anti-clockwise.

An open door switch 14 is mounted on the bottom of the compartment 3 near the protruding pin 13 a of the lever 13, so that at the end of the pivoting stroke of the bolt 4 towards its open position, the pin 13 has come a push button 14a of the switch 14 for initiating the transmission of a door open signal.

In a manner known per se, the drain 6 has an elastic tab 6 a which is intended to dampen the entry of the keeper in the drain.

We will now refer to FIG. 5, to describe the components of a second compartment 15 called kinematics of the lock housing B. This second compartment 15 is separated from sealed compartment 3 by a partition which forms the bottom common to both compartments.

The control lever 11 has an end of axis 11 a which projects perpendicularly towards the bottom of compartment 15 and which is inserted through the cylindrical sleeve 10 of first compartment 3, this end of axis 11 a comprising at its free end a square section to fit into the corresponding square section opening 9b of the external opening lever 9, for their fastening in rotation.

The second compartment 15 contains a first electric motor 16 on the motor shaft of which is coaxially mounted a first pinion 17 which meshes with a pinion of larger diameter 18 which is coaxially integral in rotation with an endless screw 19. The assembly 16 to 19 forms a geared motor group which is carried by support bearings 20, 21, which are anchored on the bottom of the compartment 15. The worm 19 meshes with the circumference of a toothed wheel 22 which has on its upper face a stub shaft 22 is intended to be inserted in a suitable housing in the cover (not shown) for closing the second compartment 15. in its underside, the gear 22 is connected to a plate 23 by two crank pins 24, 25 diametrically opposite with respect to the axis of rotation of the wheel 22. The plate 23 further comprises a finger 23 a perpendicularly projecting from its plane and coming to be embedded in the underside of the a wheel 22. This finger 23 a is radially more eccentric than the crank pins 24 and 25. Although this is not visible in FIG. 5, the plate 23 has on its underside an end of an axis aligned with the end of axle 22 a of the wheel 22, and intended to be inserted in a suitable housing 26 in the bottom of the compartment 15.

One of the two aforementioned crank pins, namely the crank pin 24 furthest from the finger 23 a of the plate 23, is intended to cooperate with an arm 11 b of the control lever 11, to cause it to rotate, during the rotation of the wheel 22. The rotation of the control lever 11 simultaneously causes the rotation of the external opening lever 9 in the retention compartment 3, to move the pawl 5 to the bolt release position. The rotation of the wheel 22 continues until the finger 23 a of the plate 23 comes into contact with an elastic end-of-travel stop 27 provided on the bottom of the compartment 15. This stop 27 is advantageously made of rubber, for dampen the pressing of the finger 23 a against this stop 27, because the drive by the motor 16 is relatively powerful.

Although not shown, the control lever 11 is subjected to a return spring, to return the lever control 11 to its initial position, once the gear motor assembly has returned to its original position as it will explained further. A rubber stop 28 can also be provided in compartment 15 to dampen the return of the control 11 towards its rest position, as visible in FIGS. 6 at 9.

The control lever 11 comprises at the free end of another arm, extending substantially in the direction opposite to the arm 11b , a pin 30 intended to cooperate with a downwardly curved tab 31 provided at the free end d 'an arm of an emergency lever 32. The emergency lever 32 is pivotally mounted on a shaft end 33 projecting from the bottom of the compartment 15 and comprises at the free end of another arm 34, arranged substantially in a direction opposite to the arm carrying the folded tab 31, a fork 35, the two branches of which are provided at their free end with a guide ramp 35 a .

As shown in Figure 6, a cable C passes between the branches of the fork 35 and has at its free end a end piece 36 which has a substantially spherical shape, the diameter is greater than the spacing of the branches of the fork 35, so as to be able to cause the pivoting of the emergency lever 32 around its axis 33, by pulling on the cable C, from a means external control, for example an external handle or pallet door. Cable C is integral with a slider 37 arranged on the other side of the fork 35, relative to the end piece 36. The cursor 37 can advantageously be molded onto cable C. Two guide rails parallel 38, 39 are arranged on the bottom of compartment 15 for used to guide the cursor 37 when moving the cable C. The cable C extends outside the housing B, crossing, so waterproof, a sleeve 40.

The kinematics compartment 15 further comprises a locking lever 41 which is articulated on a shaft end 42 projecting from the bottom of the compartment 15. The locking lever 41 comprises a first arm 43 provided at its free end with a pin 43a which engages in a helical groove 44a formed on a rotary drum 44. This rotary drum 44 is intended to be connected to a lock cylinder for a front door. The locking lever 41 includes a second arm 45 extending substantially radially outward from the housing B, through an opening 46.

The locking lever 41 has a third arm 47 which is intended to cooperate with the end piece 36 of the cable C, to do so escape the fork 35, as visible in FIG. 7. In the cable rest position C, the end piece 36 is located in a recess of the locking lever 41 defined between the first arm 43 and the third arm 47.

The locking lever 41 further comprises a sector toothed 48 which is extended at one end by a projecting stop 49. The toothed sector 48 meshes with a pinion 50 carried by the motor shaft 51 a second electric motor 52 for electric assistance to the locking / unlocking. The second electric motor 52 is carried by a support piece 53 having a substantially C-shaped profile, which is mounted on the bottom of compartment 15.

The stop 49 of the locking lever 41 is intended to cooperate with a second lever comprising an arm 54 extending radially from a shaft 55 which is mounted in a tubular sleeve 56 which protrudes from the bottom of compartment 15. The shaft 55 crosses, from tightly, the bottom of compartment 15 and presents at its lower end a square section to be secured in rotation lever 13 above.

Along the rail 39, is arranged an external opening contactor 60 which comprises a button 60 is adapted to be pushed by an inclined portion 37 a of the slider 37, during the traction of the cable C, for sending a control signal to opening to the first motor 16, by an electrical connection not shown.

We could plan, for a mechanical opening lock, to replace the emergency lever by an external opening lever acting directly or indirectly on the ratchet.

We will now describe the operation of the lock the invention with reference to Figures 4 to 9.

In the position illustrated in Figure 6, the lock is in its closed state and mechanically unlocked. Indeed, the lever of condemnation 41 is in a position where his arm 47 has placed the endpiece 36 of the cable C opposite the fork 35 of the emergency lever 32, this which allows a mechanical opening, by pulling on the cable C, as explained further.

In this closed position of the lock, we see on the Figure 4 that one of the branches of the fork of the bolt 4 is blocked by a spout of the pawl 5, for retaining a keeper not shown.

• soit il se trouve à l'intérieur de l'habitacle du véhicule et il actionne un organe de manoeuvre situé sur l'intérieur de la portière pour commander le déplacement du bras 45 du levier de condamnation 41 ;
• soit l'utilisateur se trouve à l'extérieur du véhicule et il condamne la serrure avec sa clé en l'introduisant dans le barillet de serrure d'une portière avant pour entraíner, par l'intermédiaire du tonneau 44, le déplacement du bras 43 du levier de condamnation ;
• soit, enfin, de l'extérieur du véhicule, il actionne un boítier de télécommande portatif pour envoyer un signal de commande de condamnation au moteur électrique 52 d'assistance à la condamnation, lequel moteur 52 entraíne le pivotement du levier de condamnation 41, en agissant sur le secteur denté 48.

From the position illustrated in Figure 6, when the user wishes to lock the lock, there are several possibilities:

• either it is inside the passenger compartment of the vehicle and it actuates an operating member located on the inside of the door to control the movement of the arm 45 of the locking lever 41;
• either the user is outside the vehicle and he locks the lock with his key by introducing it into the lock cylinder of a front door to cause, through the barrel 44, the movement of the arm 43 locking lever;
• or, finally, from outside the vehicle, it actuates a portable remote control unit to send a condemnation control signal to the electric motor 52 for assisting with locking, which motor 52 causes the pivoting of the locking lever 41, acting on the toothed sector 48.

Whatever the means for controlling the locking of the lock, the locking lever 41 pivots counterclockwise, as illustrated in FIG. 7. In this figure, the lock is in its closed state and mechanically locked, because the arm 47 of the locking lever 41 has pushed the end piece 36 of the cable C in a direction substantially perpendicular to the actuating stroke of the cable C, so as to make the end piece 36 escape from the fork 35 of the emergency lever 32 Thus, if an unauthorized person fully actuates the exterior door handle, to drive the cable C, the end piece 36 will slide along the arm 47 and the guide ramp 35 a of the fork 35, without driving the lever emergency 32, the lock can not be mechanically unlocked from the outside. When moving the cable C under the action of the exterior door handle, the cursor 37 linked to the cable C will move along the guide rails 38 and 39 and will come by its inclined face 37 to push the switch button 60 a of the external opening switch 60, but since the general power supply of the vehicle has not been activated, the electric motor 16 for assistance with the opening will remain inactive, thus also prohibiting electric opening.

It can be seen, in FIG. 7, that in the locked position of the lock, the stop pin 49 of the locking lever 41 comes into contact with the arm 54 of the automatic unlocking means at the opening.

When the user wishes to return to the position of FIG. 6, it activates one of the aforementioned control means to rotate the locking lever 41 clockwise from Figure 7 to Figure 6. In this case, the end piece 36 of the cable C follows the pivoting of the arm 47 of the locking lever 41, because it is recalled by the own elasticity of the cable C in its rest position illustrated in FIG. 6.

We will now describe the passage of the lock from its unlocked closed position illustrated in FIG. 6 to its open position, thanks to the electric device for assisting the opening, in FIG. 8. Thus, when the user grasps the handle outside of the door and actuates it slightly, the cable C moves over a short stroke, as illustrated between FIGS. 6 and 8. At the end of the actuation stroke of the cable C, the end piece 36 of the cable comes into contact at most with the fork 35 of the emergency lever, without actuating the latter. The cursor 37 which is integral with the cable C moves with a corresponding stroke and retracts the button 60 a of the contactor 60. Since the general power supply of the vehicle will have been previously energized by the recognition system, the contactor 60 can send an opening control signal to the electric motor 16 which causes the rotation of the wheel 22 clockwise. During the rotation of the wheel 22, the crank pin 24 bears against the arm 11b of the control lever 11 and pushes it back, so as to rotate the control lever 11 counterclockwise in FIG. 5 The crank pin 24 pushes the arm 11 b of the control lever 11 until the finger 23 a comes to bear against the elastic end-of-travel stop 27.

The pivoting of the control lever 11 causes the pivoting of the external opening lever 9 in the retention compartment 3, clockwise in FIG. 4. When it is pivoted, the external opening lever 9 is pushed back by its arm 9 has the finger 5 has the pawl 5 to rotate anti-clockwise the pawl 5 which thus releases the bolt 4 which can pivot, in turn, anti-clockwise to release the keeper.

When the finger 23 a comes to bear against the stop 27, the pawl 5 will have released the bolt 4.

The drive torque exerted by motor 16 will be maintained for a period of time determined by a time delay, to ensure that the crank pin 24 causes the pivoting of the control lever 11. As soon as the drive by the motor 16 stops, the worm 19 will be returned in opposite direction by a spiral spring (not shown), to bring back the wheel 22 and therefore, the crankpins 24 and 25 in their initial positions, to allow later opening. The spiral spring is linked to the worm 19 and is wound up during driven by the motor 16. Advantageously, the return spring in spiral for the worm 19 is arranged in the bearing 20. In this configuration, the control lever 11 returns to its position rest under the action of a return spring not shown.

Referring again to Figure 4, when the bolt 4 is pivoted in the counterclockwise direction to release the latch, the cam follower pin 13a of the lever 13 follows the cam profile 4a of the bolt 4, which causes the pivoting of the lever 13 clockwise in FIG. 4. Noticeably at the end of the pivoting stroke of the bolt 4, the pin 13 a of the lever 13 pushes the button 14 a of the open door switch 14 to signal to a central unit door opening treatment. The pivoting of the lever 13 causes the simultaneous pivoting of the arm 54 in the kinematics compartment 15 counterclockwise, as shown in Figure 8, to bring the arm 54 of this lever in contact with the stop 49 of the locking lever 41.

Thus, it is not possible to lock the lock, while the door is open, because any pivoting of the locking lever 41 in the counterclockwise direction is prevented by the arm 54 which is locked in position by the lever 13 whose the cam follower pin 13 a bears against the cam profile 4 a of the bolt 4.

The electric opening assistance device works in the same way from the position of FIG. 7, in which the lock is in its closed state and mechanically locked. To this end, the authorized user wearing a badge provided with a transmitter for transmitting a determined coded signal, approaches the vehicle which is provided with a recognition system comprising a receiver capable of decoding the signal and turning on the power the vehicle's power supply, when the authorized user has been duly identified. When the user pulls on the cable C over a short stroke to trigger the emission of an opening control signal by the contactor 60, the electric motor 16 causes the lock to open, and the bolt 4 by its cam profile 4 a causes the arm 54 to pivot anti-clockwise to push the stop pin 49 of the locking lever 41, by pivoting the latter clockwise, to bring it into a unlocked position. In other words, from FIG. 6 or from FIG. 7, one arrives at the same position shown in FIG. 8, when the opening assistance device is activated. An automatic unlocking is thus obtained on opening, when the external control means are actuated. This is made possible by the fact that we have separated the two kinematic chains of the opening mechanism and the locking mechanism.

Contactor 60 sends a control signal simultaneously to the motor 16 and to the motor 52, to cause simultaneously assistance in opening the door and unlocking others doors.

Finally, if the opening assistance device does not work, due to an electrical failure or insufficient supply of the vehicle battery, the user can mechanically open the lock after having unlocked it mechanically, for example, by the lock barrel, by pulling on the cable C on an overtravel, to drive through the end piece 36 the fork 35 of the emergency lever 32 which pivots clockwise in Figure 9 and repels by the curved tab 31 of its arm opposite the pin 30 of the control lever 11, to rotate it counterclockwise, which causes the pivoting of the external opening lever 9, and therefore, the release of the bolt. Similarly, the arm 54 comes into contact with the stop 49 of the locking lever 41, due to cooperation between the cam 4a of the bolt 4 and the cam follower pin 13a of the lever 13.

It should be noted that the crank pin 25 shown in Figure 5 does not present no particular utility here.

The electric motor 52 is reversible, in order to rotate the locking lever 41 in both directions, to bring it respectively in its condemned or unlocked position.

The motor shaft 51 of the electric motor 52 has its axis of rotation parallel to the pivot axis of the locking lever 41, while the motor shaft of the electric motor 16 has its axis of rotation perpendicular to the axis of the opening lever 9.

Although the invention has been described in connection with a mode of particular achievement, it is obvious that it is by no means limited and that it includes all the technical equivalents of the means described as well as their combinations if these fall within the scope of the invention, as defined in the following claims.

Claims (8)

1. Motor vehicle door lock comprising a latch (4) able to retain a striker, a pawl (5) for immobilizing the latch in the position of retaining the striker, a mechanism (32) for opening from the outside to move the pawl into the latch-released position, a mechanical external linkage means (C) consisting of a flexible cable an exterior portion of which is intended to be connected to a means of operation from the outside, such as a door external handle or lever handle, and an interior portion of which extends into the lock case (B) and is equipped at the free end with an end-piece (36) able to actuate the mechanism for opening from the outside so as to open the lock, in response to actuation of the means of operation from the outside, and a locking mechanism comprising a bistable locking lever (41) for placing the lock in a locked or unlocked position, characterized in that the end-piece (36) is arranged in such a way as to be moveable by an arm (47) of the locking lever (41) in a direction roughly perpendicular to the direction of travel of the cable so as, when the lock is in the locked position, to cause the end piece to escape from the mechanism (32) for opening from the outside and, in the unlocked position, to place the end-piece in a position of collaboration with the mechanism for opening from the outside, the inherent flexibility in the linking cable being used to disengage the connection between the means of operation from the outside and the opening mechanism for locking the lock, and the inherent elasticity in the linking cable returning the end-piece to its position of rest when the lock is in the unlocked position.
2. Lock according to Claim 1, characterized in that the mechanism for opening from the outside comprises an actuating lever (32) equipped, at one end, with a fork (35) between the branches of which the interior portion of the cable (C) passes, when the lock is in the unlocked position, the separation of the branches being shorter than the size of the said end-piece (36) so that the latter can drive the said actuating lever, the interior portion of the cable and its end-piece escaping from the said fork when the lock is in the locked position.
3. Lock according to Claim 2, characterized in that the branches of the fork (35) comprise, at their free end, a guide ramp (35a) for guiding the end-piece (36) of the cable (C) in its escaped locking position when the cable experiences pulling under the action of the means of operation from the outside.
4. Lock according to one of Claims 1 to 3, characterized in that it comprises a means of automatic unlocking on opening comprising, on the one hand, a cam follower element (13a) collaborating with a cam profile (4a) provided on the latch (4) and, on the other hand, a bearing portion (54) able to collaborate with a stop (49) provided on the locking lever (41) so that as the latch rotates towards its open position, the cam profile causes the cam follower element and therefore the said bearing portion to move so as automatically to bring the locking lever into its unlocked position.
5. Lock according to one of Claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the interior portion of the mechanical linkage means (C) is secured to a runner (37) which is guided by a slideway (38, 39) inside a sealed compartment (15) of the lock, along the opening travel of the mechanical linkage means, and which is able at the end of opening travel to collaborate with a contact switch (60) for opening from the outside to trigger the emission of an opening command signal to an electric motor (16) to assist with opening, which electric motor is able to drive a lever (9) for opening from the outside to actuate the pawl (5).
6. Lock according to Claims 2 and 5 taken in combination, characterized in that the said actuating lever is a backup opening lever (32), for use in the event of electrical failure or in the event of the vehicle having a flat battery, able to be moved by the linkage means (C) under the action of the means of operation from the outside, over an additional travel beyond the opening travel needed to actuate the contact switch (60), the said backup lever being able, during the said additional travel, to move the lever (9) for opening from the outside with a view to releasing the latch (4).
7. Lock according to Claim 6, characterized in that the backup lever (32) is subject to a return spring of high stiffness returning it towards its rest position.
8. Lock according to one of Claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the locking mechanism comprises a reversible electric motor (52) for driving the locking lever (41) between its locked and unlocked positions.

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