EP1004731A1 - Motor vehicle door lock - Google Patents

Abstract

The lock assembly comprises a twin lever assembly's (20) that are connected to two separate motor drives (26,27). Actuation of the motors such as from a control unit controlled by key operation causes the motors to turn lifting levers and operating the lock mechanism.

Description

The present invention relates to a door lock for motor vehicle, with locking / unlocking control mechanical or electrical.

The object of the invention is to propose a new lock, opening and locking control mechanisms interior and the opening and closing control mechanisms external condemnation are simplified.

To this end, the invention relates to a door lock for motor vehicle, comprising a lock housing with at least two compartments, of which a so-called retention compartment contains a bolt suitable for retaining a strike and a ratchet capable of locking the latch in position keeper, and a second compartment of which says kinematic contains an operating rod able to move the ratchet to its bolt release position, an opening lever interior capable of cooperating with said operating rod under the action of an internal control member, for example a cable or a rod connected to an interior door handle, a lever external opening capable of cooperating with said connecting rod maneuver under the action of an external control member, by example a cable or a rod connected to an external handle of door, and a means of locking / unlocking, characterized by the fact that the interior opening lever is a part identical to the external opening lever, said part being mounted in the housing by its front or back, depending on whether it is used as a lever inside opening or as outside opening lever.

In a particular embodiment, said part has an opening for its articulation on a pin carried by the link of maneuver, so that the interior opening lever and the lever of the external opening are articulated on the same pin of the rod maneuver. Said part may include a fork between the branches of which is intended to engage a locking pin the aforementioned locking / unlocking means, to rotate said part between a locked and unlocked position. Said part may also have a tab extending laterally by relative to the body of said part, said tab being able to cooperate with one of the aforementioned control means.

Advantageously, the interior opening lever and the lever opening are mounted in the housing symmetrically by relation to a plane of symmetry perpendicular to their plane of pose and passing through their common axis of articulation. In this case, the means interior and exterior control can be arranged parallel in the housing and symmetrically with respect to said plane of symmetry.

According to another characteristic, the tabs of the opening lever inside and the external opening lever intersect at said level plane of symmetry, so that the interior control means is located on the side opposite the fork of the interior opening lever, with respect to said plane of symmetry.

According to yet another characteristic, the means of locking / unlocking has two locking wheels, each wheel having a radially locking lug eccentric and perpendicularly projecting from the plane of said wheel, said wheels being arranged so that the lug of a first wheel engages in the range of the external opening lever, and the second wheel locking tab engages in the fork of the interior opening lever, each wheel being capable of be rotated to tilt the associated lever towards a disengaged position, in which its tab no longer cooperates with the means corresponding command. Advantageously, each wheel is driven by a separate electric motor, said first wheel and its associated drive motor being mounted in the housing symmetrically to said second wheel and its drive motor associated, with respect to said plane of symmetry.

According to another characteristic, each condemnation pawn has at its base a boss of upper section, against which the fork of said part is likely to bear. In that case, we can provide in the kinematics compartment of the housing lock, an interior locking detection switch, suitable to cooperate with the boss of said second wheel, when said second wheel turns to its inner locked position.

Advantageously, the lock includes a detection switch opening of the lock, this contactor being placed in the kinematics compartment along a deformable partition separating the kinematics compartment of the retention compartment, so that when pivoting the bolt to its open position, a portion of the bolt comes into contact with said partition and deforms it to activate said contactor.

In a first embodiment, the operating rod is pivotally mounted on a hinge pin which is integral in rotation of an arm located in the retention compartment of the case, said arm being able to cooperate with the pawl, to bring it into its bolt release position.

In another embodiment, the operating rod has a lug which projects from the plane of the rod and crosses a oblong opening in the bottom of the case to cooperate with the pawl in the retention compartment, said link being substantially linearly movable under the action of the levers opening hours.

Advantageously, the operating rod comprises a stud which is sandwiched between the branches of a spring, to remind said rod in its inactive position, a boss being formed in the kinematics compartment to come between the branches of the spring, so that the movement of the rod only causes the displacement of one of the two branches of the spring.

According to yet another characteristic, each wheel of locking is secured to its axis of rotation, one end of which has a slot accessible outside the housing, for example at the door edge level, to allow emergency locking mechanical, in the event of an electrical engine failure.

Advantageously, the kinematics compartment of the case extends on one side of the retention compartment.

To better understand the object of the invention, we will now describe as purely illustrative examples and not restrictive, several embodiments shown in the drawing Annex.

• la figure 1 est une vue en perspective d'un mode de réalisation de la serrure de l'invention, le capotage du compartiment de cinématique ayant été omis ;
• la figure 2 est une vue de dessus de la figure 1 ;
• la figure 3 est une vue en perspective, partiellement éclatée d'une variante de réalisation de la serrure de l'invention ;
• la figure 4 est une vue en perspective de dessous du boítier de la figure 3 ;
• la figure 4A est une vue schématique partielle et en coupe de la figure 4 ;
• la figure 5 est une vue partiellement arrachée et en élévation latérale, suivant la flèche V sur la figure 1 ;
• la figure 6 est une vue schématique partielle et en coupe suivant la ligne VI de la figure 7 ; et
• la figure 7 est une vue agrandie de la figure 2, dont certains éléments ont été omis.

On this drawing :

• Figure 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the lock of the invention, the cover of the kinematics compartment having been omitted;
• Figure 2 is a top view of Figure 1;
• Figure 3 is a perspective view, partially exploded of an alternative embodiment of the lock of the invention;
• Figure 4 is a perspective view from below of the housing of Figure 3;
• FIG. 4A is a partial schematic view in section of FIG. 4;
• Figure 5 is a partially broken away view in side elevation, along arrow V in Figure 1;
• Figure 6 is a partial schematic view in section along line VI of Figure 7; and
• Figure 7 is an enlarged view of Figure 2, some elements have been omitted.

The lock of the invention comprises a plastic casing 1 of substantially parallelepiped shape, a metal counter plate 2 having a substantially U-shaped profile and a plastic casing 3 illustrated only in FIG. 3. The metal counter plate 2 is mounted on the underside of the housing 1, to define the retention compartment of the lock, the two lateral wings 2 a and 2 b of the counter plate 2 extending in a recess 1 has formed on the longitudinal walls of the housing 1.

The wing 2 b is flush with the upper surface 1 b of the housing 1, while the wing 2 a extends beyond the upper surface 1 b of the housing 1. A cutout 4 is formed in the wing 2 a of the counter plate 2 and extends at 4 a partially on the bottom 2 c of the counter plate 2, this cutout 4 defining the inlet of the dump of the lock. In line with this cutout 4, a recess 5 is formed in the housing 1 for the passage of the catch, the recess 5 is provided with an elastically deformable lug 5a, to cushion the entry of the striker plate G in the drain. As best seen in Figure 4, the recesses 1 a of the housing 1 are extended to the left by a thicker portion 6 whose lower surface is in the extension of the bottom 2 c of the counter plate 2. The retention compartment is thus defined between the bottom 2 c of the counter plate 2 and the lower surface 1 c of the housing 1. The thicker portion 6 defines, for its part, the kinematics and motorization compartment of the lock.

The lock retention compartment contains a fork bolt 7 which is rotatably mounted on an axis 8, so as to retain a keeper G, when the lock is in the closed position. The retention compartment also contains a pawl 9 which is articulated on an axis 10 and capable of locking the bolt 7 in its position for retaining the keeper G. The pawl 9 comprises a pin 9 a for its operation by an opening mechanism of the lock.

In a first embodiment represented in FIGS. 1, 2, 6 and 7, the kinematics compartment of the lock contains an operating rod 11, which has at one end a hinge pin 12 which passes through the bottom of the compartment kinematics and enters the retention compartment, as illustrated in FIG. 6. The axis of rotation 12 is integral in rotation with an arm 15, which is capable of cooperating with the lug 9 a of the pawl 9. At its other end, the operating rod 11 comprises a hinge pin 13 and a boss 14 whose functions will be explained below.

In another embodiment shown in Figures 3, 4 and 4A, the operating rod 111 has on its upper face an articulation pin 113 and a boss 114 which extend in the kinematics compartment of the housing, and which have the same functions as the aforementioned articulation pin 13 and the boss 14. The actuating rod 111 further comprises, on its lower face a lug 112 which passes through an oblong slot 115 of the bottom 1c of the housing in order to cooperate with the lug 9a of the pawl 9 in the holding compartment. The link 111 is movable linearly in the direction of arrow F in FIG. 4A, unlike the aforementioned link 11 which pivots around the hinge axis 12.

The boss 14 or 114 is sandwiched between two branches a pin spring 16 which is mounted on a projecting lug 17 of the case 1. Between the lug 17 of the case and the boss 14 or 114 of the operating rod 11 or 111, the two branches of the spring 16 are cross and are arranged on either side of a protruding lug 18 provided on the housing. Thus, when moving the operating rod 11 or 111, one of the branches of the spring 16 remains in abutment against the lug 18 of the housing, while the other branch of the spring 16 is driven by the boss 14, 114 of the link 11, 111, said branch thus elastically deforming to ensure the elastic return of the operating rod in its rest position.

On the hinge pin 13, 113, are mounted superimposed, an external opening lever 20 and an internal opening lever 21. The external opening lever 20 is a part identical to the internal opening lever 21 , but mounted face down with respect to the other lever. Each lever 20, 21 has at its end, opposite the hinge pin 13, a fork 20 a , 21 a , and in the vicinity of said fork, a tab 20 b , 21 b extending laterally. The side tabs 21 a , 21 b intersect, at a plane of symmetry P for mounting the two levers 20 and 21, as visible in Figure 2. This plane of symmetry P is perpendicular to the plane of the housing 1 and to the axis of bagging.

The portion 6 of the housing 1 has at one end two connections 22 through which the sheath 23 of a cable 24 for opening the interior control passes and the sheath 25 of a cable 26 for controlling the opening of the exterior. Each cable 24, 26 comprises at its end located in a projecting pin kinematic compartment 24, 26a carried by an elongate slider 24 b, 26 b. The slide 24 b , 26 b is intended to hold the pin 24 a , 26 a projecting upwards, so that the latter can cooperate with, respectively, the tab 21 b of the interior opening lever 21 and the tab 20 b of the exterior opening lever 20. The cables 24, 26 are intended to be connected to an interior door handle and an exterior door handle respectively (not shown). Under the action of a traction generated by a handle on the associated cable, the protruding pin 24 a or 26 a causes a linear displacement of the tab 21 b or 20 b of the associated opening lever, and consequently a pivoting of the operating rod 11 or a linear translation of the operating rod 111, to act on the pawl 9.

The lock shown in the drawings being with electric locking / unlocking control, it comprises in the kinematics compartment two electric motors 27, 28. In FIG. 5, it can be seen that the motor shaft 28 has the electric motor 28 protruding towards bottom and is integral in rotation with a pinion 29, said pinion 29 meshing peripherally with a toothed wheel 30 integral in rotation with a rotation shaft 31 which is mounted in a bearing 32. The rotation shaft 31 of the wheel 30 is accessible outside the housing, as shown in Figure 4, and has on its external face has a diametrical slot 31 to allow the user to rotate the wheel 30, by inserting the tip of the key in the slot 31 a , to carry out an emergency locking of the rear doors, in the event of an electrical failure.

As can be seen in FIG. 5, the wheel 30 has on its upper face a boss 33 radially eccentric and perpendicularly projecting with respect to its plane, the boss 33 comprising at its top a locking pin 34 of lower section. The locking pin 34 is intended to engage between the branches of the fork 21 a of the interior opening lever 21. To lock the lock vis-à-vis the inside, the wheel 30 pivots clockwise on FIG. 2, to tilt the interior opening lever 21 anti-clockwise, until its lateral tab 21 b escapes the pin 24 a of the interior opening control cable 24.

In the kinematics compartment of the lock, there is also provided with a contactor 35 for detecting the locked position interior, this contactor 35 comprising a flexible blade 36 carrying its free end a roller 37 which is able to come into contact with the boss 33 of the locking wheel 30. When the locking wheel locking 30 pivots towards its locked position, the boss 33 pushes the contactor roller 37 in order to close a switch on the contactor 35, which can thus signal on the dashboard of the vehicle, the locked interior condition of the lock.

Similarly, the electric motor 27 is capable of rotating a locking wheel 40 which is integral with its axis of rotation 41, one end of which is accessible outside the housing and has a slot 41 a for its direct operation by the user. The locking wheel 40 also includes a boss 43 of oblong cross-section, provided at its top with a locking pin 44. The locking pin 44 engages in the fork 20 has external opening lever 20. The fork 20 a of the external opening lever 20 can come to bear on the boss 43 of the locking wheel 40.

In FIGS. 2 and 7, a contactor 50 can be seen for detecting the open position of the lock. This contactor 50 is placed in a housing 51 of the kinematics compartment of the lock, since the latter is provided sealed. The contactor 50 comprises a flexible contact blade 52, which extends in the vicinity of a deformable wall 51 a separating the housing 51 from the lock retention compartment. This wall 51a is able to be deformed by a projection 8a of the bolt 8, when the latter pivots to its open position. The deformation of the wall 51 has resulted in the closure by the contact blade 52 of the switch of the contactor 50, which thus signals the opening of the lock.

It is advantageous to use the link 11, instead of the link 111, as it is easier to seal the compartment kinematics at the level of the hinge pin 12, that to make it watertight the oblong slot 115 in the case of the link 111.

Note that to reduce the costs of the lock and simplify its assembly, the electric motor, the locking wheel, the opening lever and the opening control cable are identical for the interior as for the exterior. In addition, elements provided for the interior are arranged symmetrically by compared to the aforementioned plan P, to the elements provided for outside.

The cowling 3 comprises two hollow projecting portions 3 a intended to cover the electric motors 27 and 28 and a projecting tubular portion 3 b intended to contain electrical connection tabs 3 c .

The operation of the lock will now be briefly described.

In the position illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 7, the lock is in its closed state and unlocked from the inside and from the outside. When a user actuates the exterior door handle, traction is generated on the exterior opening control cable 26, which drives by its pin 26 to the tab 20 b of the exterior opening lever 20. The opening lever outer 20 moves linearly, being guided in translation by its fork 20 a which slides on the locking pin 44. The linear movement of the outer opening lever 20 causes the movement of the hinge pin 13 of the operating rod 11 which rotates counterclockwise. Simultaneously, the arm 15 illustrated in FIG. 6 pivots counterclockwise and pushes back the pin 9 a from the pawl 9, to release the bolt 8. The pivoting of the link 11, simultaneously causes the linear movement of the lever internal opening 21, which slides by its fork 21 a on the locking pin 33. The tab 21 b of the internal opening lever 21 thus departs from the pin 24 a of the internal opening control cable 24, without however move the latter so that the interior door handle remains stationary. The slide 26 b of the external opening control cable 26 has the purpose of preventing a rotation of the pin 26 a around the axis of the cable 26, to prevent this pin 26 a from escaping any cooperation with the tab 20 b of the external opening lever. The operation of the interior door handle has an effect similar to that of the exterior door handle.

When the user wishes to lock the lock vis-à-vis the outside, he can activate the motor 27, for example using a button on a remote control unit, so as to drive the locking wheel 40 counterclockwise. The rotation of the locking wheel 40, causes the rotation of the locking pin 44, which rotates the outer opening lever 20 clockwise around the hinge pin 13, so that the tab 20 b escapes any cooperation with the external opening control cable 26. A lock has thus been obtained vis-à-vis the outside, without affecting the opening from the inside.

Of course, the locking wheel 40 could also be mechanically driven by a lock cylinder, for a front door, or by a frieze zipper, for a rear door. We could also provide that the motor 27 is activated by a on-board identifier that detects the remoteness of a identifier worn by a badge on the user, in the case of a system says "hands-free".

When the user also wishes to lock the lock vis-à-vis the interior, in the case of a super conviction, or when the user wishes to lock the lock only vis-à-vis from the inside, in the case of a child conviction for the doors rear, it activates the motor 28 to drive the opening lever interior towards its condemned position. The contactor 35 will then indicate the locked position from inside the lock, for example at vehicle dashboard level.

Although the invention has been described in connection with several particular embodiments, it is obvious that it is not there in no way limited and that it includes all technical equivalents means described as well as their combinations if these enter in the context of the invention.

Claims (16)

Lock for a motor vehicle door, comprising a lock housing (1) with at least two compartments, one of which said retention compartment contains a bolt (7) capable of retaining a keeper (G) and a pawl (9) able to lock the bolt in the retaining position of the keeper, and including a second compartment called kinematics contains an operating rod (11, 111) capable of moving the pawl towards its bolt release position, an interior opening lever (21) able to cooperate with said operating rod under the action an internal control member (24), an opening lever outer (20) able to cooperate with said operating rod under the action of an external control member (26), said lever external opening being a part identical to the opening lever exterior (20), and a locking / unlocking means (27, 28, 30, 40), characterized in that the interior opening lever (21) and the external opening lever (20) are parts (20, 21) which have an opening for their articulation on a pin (13, 113) carried by the operating rod (11, 111), so that the lever inner opening (21) and the outer opening lever (20) are articulated on the same pin of the operating rod, said parts being mounted in the housing (1) by their front or back, depending on whether they are used as an interior opening lever or as an external opening lever. Lock according to Claim 1, characterized in that said part comprises a fork (20 a, 21 a) between the branches of which is adapted to engage a locking lug (34, 44) of the locking means / unlocking supra , to rotate said part between a locked and unlocked position. Lock according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that said part comprises a lug (20 b , 21 b ) extending laterally relative to the body of said part, said lug being able to cooperate with one of the means of aforementioned command (24, 26). Lock according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized by the fact that the interior opening lever (21) and the opening lever outer (20) are mounted in the housing (1) symmetrically by relation to a plane of symmetry (P) perpendicular to their plane of pose and passing through their common axis of articulation (13). Lock according to claim 4, characterized in that the internal (24) and external (26) control means are arranged parallel in the housing (1) and symmetrically with respect to said plane of symmetry (P). Lock according to claims 3 and 5 taken in combination, characterized in that the tabs (20 b , 21 b ) of the interior opening lever (21) and the exterior opening lever (20) intersect at said plane of symmetry (P), so that the indoor control means (24) is located on the opposite side to the fork (21a) of the internal opening lever (21) relative to said plane of symmetry. Lock according to claim 2 taken alone or in combination with one of claims 3 to 6, characterized in that the locking / unlocking means comprises two locking wheels (30, 40), each wheel comprising a locking lug ( 34, 44) radially eccentric and perpendicularly projecting from the plane of said wheel, said wheels being arranged so that the lug (44) of a first wheel (40) engages in the fork (20 a ) of the lever opening (20), and the locking lug (34) of the second wheel (30) engages in the fork (21 a ) of the internal opening lever (21), each wheel being able to be rotated to tilt the associated lever to a disengaged position, in which its tab ( 20b , 21b ) no longer cooperates with the corresponding control means (24, 26). Lock according to claims 4 and 7 taken in combination, characterized in that each wheel (30, 40) is driven by a separate electric motor (27, 28), said first wheel (40) and its associated drive motor (27) being mounted in the housing (1) symmetrically to said second wheel (30) and its motor associated drive (28), with respect to said plane of symmetry (P). Lock according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that that each condemnation piece (34, 44) has at its base a boss (33, 43) of upper section. Lock according to one of claims 7 to 9, characterized by the fact that the kinematics compartment of the lock box (1) contains a contactor (35) for detecting the interior locking, able to cooperate with the boss (33) of said second wheel (30), when said second wheel turns to its locked position interior. Lock according to one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that it comprises a contactor (50) for detecting the opening of the lock, this contactor being placed in the kinematics compartment along a deformable partition ( 51 a ) separating the kinematics compartment from the retention compartment, so that during the pivoting of the bolt (7) towards its open position, a portion (8 a ) of the bolt comes into contact with said partition (51 a ) and deforms it to activate said contactor (50). Lock according to one of claims 1 to 11, characterized by the fact that the operating rod (11) is pivotally mounted on a hinge pin (12) which is integral in rotation with an arm (15) located in the retention compartment of the housing (1), said arm being able to cooperate with the pawl (9), to bring it into its position release of the bolt (7). Lock according to one of claims 1 to 11, characterized by the fact that the operating rod (111) comprises a lug (12) which projects from the plane of the rod and passes through an oblong opening (15) in the bottom of the housing (1) to cooperate with the pawl (9) in the retention compartment, said link being movable substantially linearly under the action of the opening levers (20, 21). Lock according to one of claims 1 to 13, characterized by the fact that the operating rod (11, 111) has a stud (14, 114) which is sandwiched between the branches of a spring (16), to return said link to its inactive position, a boss (18) being formed in the kinematics compartment to come be inserted between the branches of the spring, so that the displacement of the rod only causes the displacement of one of the two branches of the spring. Lock according to one of claims 7 to 10, characterized in that each locking wheel (30, 40) is integral with its axis of rotation (31, 41), one end of which has a slot (31 a , 41 a ) accessible outside the housing (1), for example at the edge of the door, to allow a mechanical emergency lock in the event of a power failure. Lock according to one of claims 1 to 15, characterized by the fact that the kinematics compartment of the case extends over a side of the retention compartment.

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