EP1155208A1

EP1155208A1 - Door lock, especially for motor vehicles

Info

Publication number: EP1155208A1
Application number: EP00912472A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Piotr Szablewski; Erik Kiehl
Original assignee: Huf Huelsbeck and Fuerst GmbH and Co KG
Current assignee: Huf Huelsbeck and Fuerst GmbH and Co KG
Priority date: 1999-02-17
Filing date: 2000-02-17
Publication date: 2001-11-21
Anticipated expiration: 2020-02-17
Also published as: ATE282754T1; US6648380B1; BR0008279A; EP1155208B1; AU757846B2; JP2002537507A; AU3423000A; WO2000049253A1; ES2226796T3; CN1340126A

Abstract

A rotary latch (11) of a door lock is retained in a detent position by a spring-mounted retainer (20). A motor-driven working member (47) is provided for lifting said retainer (20). An energy-storing device (30) subjects a storing member (22) to a force and hereby serves to lift the retainer (20) out of its detent position in the rotary latch (11). To this end, the storing member (22) has a control surface against which the working member (47) travels in a first motor phase in order to load the energy-storing device (30). A counter-control surface (29) against which the working member (47) travels when lifting the retainer (20) in a staggered second motor phase is also provided. The aim of the invention is to provide a reliable door lock which will also function in the event of an accident. To this end, both the control surface (23) and the counter-control surface (29) are located on the storing member (22). The additional force required for lifting the retainer (20) acts on said retainer indirectly through the storing member (22). As a result, the quantities of energy produced one after the other in the two motor drive phases can be transmitted spontaneously from the shoulder (32) of the storing member (22) to the counter-shoulder (33) of the retainer (20).

Description

Door lock, in particular for motor vehicles

The invention is directed to a door lock of the type specified in the preamble of claim 1. The rotary latch, in its one rotary end position, namely its detent position, receives a closing member which engages there in a main catch and locks the latch against its spring loading. In order to move the catch in its open position, the pawl is unlocked. A motorized working link is used to unlock the pawl. The motor is activated if - in the case of user access authorization - e.g. a handle belonging to the door lock is actuated directly or indirectly.

In the known door lock of this type (DE 197 25 416 Cl), an energy accumulator loads the arm of a memory element, which is supported on the motor-driven working element and thus defines the state of charge of the energy accumulator. This storage member has a shoulder which, to lift the pawl, abuts a counter-shoulder on an arm of the pawl, in order to lift the pawl from its rest position in the rotary latch by unloading the energy accumulator both in the normal case and in a special case, for example in the event of a crash. The storage member has a control surface on which the motor-driven working member is supported. The pawl has a long arm, in the end region of which a counter-control surface is provided, against which the working member moves when the pawl is lifted out of the catch in a second phase which is offset in time from the first motor drive phase. This door lock has been retained because, in a special case, the energy amounts of the motor applied in succession in the first and second motor drive phases are simultaneously transferred from the shoulder to the counter shoulder, but there are production-related and operational disadvantages.The arm provided on the latch must be one because of the counter control surface have a large length, which means that the center of gravity of the pawl is at a large distance from its fulcrum.This requires complex manufacturing processes.Safety regulations require that the door lock has to withstand high inertia forces in the event of a crash, e.g. inertia forces which reach 30 times the acceleration due to gravity To avoid opening the door lock, the return springs had to be strong in the known lock. As a result, the actuation required to lift the latch out of the rotary latch was high. The opening of the known T rschlosses was schwergangig

The invention has for its object to develop a door lock of the type mentioned in the preamble of claim 1, which avoids the aforementioned disadvantages. This is achieved according to the invention by the measures specified in the characterizing part of claim 1, which have the following special meaning

In the invention, both the control surface and the counter-control surface are provided on the storage lever.Therefore, the arm on the pawl, which is to absorb the released lifting force for the pawl when the energy accumulator is unloaded, can be very short, so that the center of gravity of the pawl is very close to it Pivotal point The additional motor lifting energy required in a special case to lift the pawl is also transferred from the working link to the storage link These points can also be very close to the pivot point of the jack Latch-acting return spring can be designed weaker, which enables easy opening.

Further measures and Norteile of the invention emerge from the subclaims, the following description and the drawings. In the drawing, the invention is shown in one embodiment. Show it:

1 is a plan view of the essential components of the door lock according to the invention when the latch is engaged in the catch and the catch locks in its locked position,

2 and 3 the same door lock in two further positions of its components, which in the normal case arise in an open position (Fig. 2) of the lock and (Fig. 3) again when reset to the locking position,

Fig. 4 and 5 shows the situation in a special case, where the lifting of the pawl is only possible through a joint effort of both an energy accumulator and a motor.

Fig. 1 shows the initial situation where a rotary latch 11 is locked by a locking arm 21 of a pawl 20 in a latched position. The pawl 20 is loaded in the direction of the force arrow 28 by a return spring 24. As a result, the locking arm 21 is held in a main catch 17 of the rotary latch 11 in the case shown. The rotary latch 11 can also have a norra 16 engaging in a corresponding manner with the pawl 20. The rotary latch 11 has a receptacle 14 for a locking part 10, which is designed here merely as a bolt. The pawl 20 has a fixed pivot point 15, while the rotary latch 11 sits on a bearing journal 13. The catch 1 1 is in turn in the direction of arrow 12 from a return spring 18th charged, which tends to catch 1 1 in an apparent from Fig. 2 Offenla * ge> e ^"to transfer.

The door lock further comprises a link 22, which is loaded in the direction of arrow 25 by an energy store 30 and should therefore be called a "storage link". This storage link 22 could be a slide. In the present case, the storage link consists of a lever 22 which is open is pivotally mounted at the same pivot point 15 as the pawl 20. This link 22 is always to be referred to below as the “storage lever”, but it goes without saying that a link that is movable in the other sense could be acted upon by the energy store 30. The storage lever 22 strives to reach a pivot position shown in FIG. 2 or 3 in accordance with the spring force 25. In the starting position of Fig. 1, the storage lever 22 is prevented from doing so because it is supported by a control surface 23 provided there on a working member 47, which e.g. is driven by an electric motor 40.

The working member is designed as a cam, which has a special outline profile 45 and is arranged at a distance from an axis of rotation 46, about which it can be rotated by a motor 40 and a gear in the direction of arrow 27. This cam 47 holds the storage lever 22 in the starting position of FIG. 1 in a rotational position ensuring the full charge state of the energy accumulator 30. The auxiliary line 22.1 of FIG. 1 characterizes the resulting rotational position, which results from the effective profile parts 31 on the cam outline 45. This profile point 31 should have the maximum radial distance from the cam axis of rotation 46. 1 the door is closed. In order to open it, an outside and / or inside handle, not shown in more detail, must be actuated or a signal receiving point must be triggered by remote actuation. This can be done mechanically or electrically in the present case. These handles or signal receiving points are connected to control means which comprise two sensors and control logic. One sensor attacks the rotary latch, for example at the point marked 51, while the other sensor the angular position of the Rotary latch 1 1 is monitored and positioned, for example, at the point marked 22 in FIG. 1. When the motor 40 is energized, this leads to a rotary movement of the control cam 47, indicated in the direction of arrow 27 in FIG. 1. The storage lever 22 is increasingly released because the cam slides along the control surface 23 and with different further profile points of its outline profile 45 is supportive. The cam rotation axis 46 comes to support radially closer profile parts of the outline profile. The energy store 30 is increasingly discharged.

The storage lever 22 has a shoulder 32 which is assigned a counter shoulder 33 on an actuating arm 26 belonging to the pawl 20. The spring force 25 released when the energy accumulator 30 is unloaded presses the storage lever 22 with its shoulder 32 against the counter shoulder 33 on the pawl 20 and lifts it out of the main catch 17 of the rotary latch 11. Then the rotary latch 11 can be released under the effect of the restoring force 12 acting on it up to an open position shown in FIG. 2. The catch 1 1 has pivoted from the latched position indicated there by dash-dotted lines into the open position drawn in solid lines by the angle 19. The locking part is extended from the receptacle 14 of the rotary latch 11 and reaches its release position 10 'of FIG. 2 drawn in solid lines. The mentioned counter shoulder 33 on the pawl 20 can be reinforced by an insert made of harder material.

In addition to the control surface 23, the storage lever 22 also has a counter control surface 29. This comes about because the control lever 22 is provided in its end region 34 with a cutout 35 which allows a division into two legs 36, 37. Although it is not necessary, the two leg ends are connected to one another by a web 38, as a result of which the cutout 35 here has the appearance of an “eyelet”. The eyelet 35 has an elongated, kidney-shaped profile 35 form the control or counter-control surfaces 23, 29 cooperating with the cam 47. FIG. 2 shows the normal case where the rotation 27 of the control cam 47 already ends before the control cam has reached the counter control surface 29. Then the motor stops the rotation in the direction of rotation 27. In FIG. 2, the raised locking arm 21 of the pawl 20 is supported on a designated contact surface of the rotary latch 11; the pawl 20 is held in a standby position. The cam 47 comes with a second profile point 39 in another area of the control surface 23 for support. The auxiliary line 22.2 identifies the open position of the case 1 1 at the same mark as in FIG. 1. In this normal case, the cam 47 has moved in an angular range 41 in the direction of rotation 27 relative to FIG. 1. This movement only came about by unloading the energy accumulator 30.

In the event of a crash, however, or in the event of other malfunctions, the conditions which can be seen in FIG. The pawl locking arm 21 sits so firmly in the main catch 17 of the rotary latch 11 that the spring force 25 exerted by the energy accumulator 30 is not yet sufficient to release the pawl 20. This is determined by the sensors mentioned at 51, 52. The motor 40 then continues beyond the rotational position shown in FIG. 2 in the direction of the arrow 27 and first reaches an intermediate position shown in FIG. 4, where the cam 47 just touches the counter control surface 29 with a third profile point 42. With this touch, this profile point is very close to the axis of rotation 46. The cam 47 has left the control surface 23 and assumes the intermediate rotary position illustrated by the auxiliary line 22.4. In FIG. 4, the cam 47 has not yet completely completed the angle shown in FIG. 2 and designated 41, but has only passed through the partial angle labeled 43. Although the energy charged in the energy store 80 was used, this, as said, is not sufficient to lift the pawl 20 in the event of a crash.

The motor 40 continues to run in the direction of rotation 27, which is why the cam 47 slides along changing regions of the counter control surface 29 on its further path with changing profile points in the eyelet 35. Finally, the position shown in FIG. 5 is reached, where the control cam 27 passes through the auxiliary line 22.5 marked end position reached. On the path between FIGS. 4 and 5 there is an angular range 44 where the cam 47 was driven directly by the motor 40. With this residual rotation, the spring force of the energy accumulator 30 is added to the driving force of the motor 20. This is sufficient to release the pawl locking arm 21, as shown in FIG. 5, from the main catch 17 of the rotary latch 11. This could then, as has already been explained with reference to FIG. 2, reach its rotational stop under the effect of its restoring force 12. The locking part is in its release position 10 '.

After lifting the pawl 20 in the event of a malfunction according to FIG. 5 or in the normal case according to FIG. 2, the cam 47 in the interior of the eyelet 35 could continue in the same direction of rotation 27 until the starting situation of FIG. 1, but in this exemplary embodiment the motor 40 is over the control logic mentioned stopped, which in turn by means of the sensors, for example at 51, 52. Then the motor 40 changes its direction of rotation in the direction of the counter-rotation arrow 48. For this, it is sufficient to counter-current the motor 40. During this return rotation 48, the cam 47 abuts the control surface 23 opposite in the eyelet or in the cutout 35 and moves the storage lever 22 back into the starting position shown in FIG. 1.

With this return 48, the cam 47 comes into the intermediate position shown in FIG. 3, which is marked there by the corresponding auxiliary line 22.3, a fourth profile point 49 of the cam outline coming into contact with the control surface 23 for the first time. During the further backward rotation 48, the storage lever 22 is moved against the spring force 25, as a result of which the energy store 30 is recharged. The energy accumulator 30 is charged in the angular range marked 50 in FIG. 3. The loading at 50 therefore takes place in a different motor drive phase than the unloading of the energy store 30. The latter is normally illustrated by the angular range 41 in FIG. 2. The forces applied successively in both motor drive phases at 41 on the one hand and at 50 on the other hand in the event of a malfunction are at the same points of contact, namely the shoulder 32 and the counter shoulder 33 between the two components 20, 22 transmitted. The storage lever 22 serves as an opening aid for lifting the pawl both in normal cases and in the event of a fault

As already mentioned, in the invention there is a one-piece design of the control surface 23 with the counter control surface 29, both are seated on the storage lever 22. The outline 45 of the control cam is drop-shaped, its profile on the radially outer side with respect to the cam rotation axis 46 being asymmetrical with respect to the opposite side The corresponding edge profiles on the surfaces 23, 29 are counter-profiled because the pawl 20 has only a short actuating arm 26, which does not need to carry the large counter-control surface 29, its center of gravity is very close to its fulcrum 15 inertial forces which are in resulting in a crash are therefore small. There is no longer any undesired automatic lifting of the pawl 20, so that safety up to 30 times the acceleration due to gravity is easily achieved. This short design results because the counter control surface 29 is no longer part of the pawl can fer If necessary, the return spring 24 of the pawl shown in FIG. 1 can be designed to be weaker. This in turn means that the actuating forces required to lift the pawl 20 out of the rotary latch 11 become lower. It is easy to open

Reference symbol list:

10 striker

10 'release position of 10

11 rotary latch

12 arrow of the restoring force of 11

13 journals from 11

14 inclusion in 11 for 10

15 pivot point for 20

16 Norrast from 11

17 main rest of 11

18 return spring for 11

19 swivel angle of 11 (Fig. 2)

20 jack

21 locking arm of 20

21.1 Auxiliary line for 47 in rest position (normal case)

21.2 Auxiliary line for 47 in open position (normal case)

21.3 Auxiliary line for 47 at the start of charging (normal case)

21.4 Auxiliary line for 47 in intermediate turning position (in the event of a crash)

21.5 Auxiliary line for 47 in final rotation position (in the event of a crash)

22 storage link, storage lever

23 control surface on 22

24 return spring for 20

25 arrow of spring force of 30

26 actuator arm of 20

27 Arrow of the rotary movement of 47 when unlocking

28 arrow of spring load of 20

29 counter control surface at 22 for 47 in the event of a crash

30 lift mechanism first profile point of 47 shoulder on 22 counter shoulder on 20 flat end region of 22 cut-out in 22, eyelet first leg at 34 (FIG. 2) second leg at 34 (FIG. 2) connecting web between 36, 37 (FIG. 2) second profile point of 47 motor, possibly with gearbox Angular range when unloading 30 (Fig. 2) third profile point of 47 partial angle of unloading (Fig. 4) Angular range for motorized opening in the event of a crash (Fig. 5) Outline profile of 47 axis of rotation of 47 working member, cam arrow the counter-rotation of 47, reverse rotation (Fig. 3, 5) fourth profile point of 47 angular range for loading (Fig. 3) point of attack of the first sensor at 1 1 point of attack of the second sensor at 20

Claims

Patent claims

1.) door lock, especially for motor vehicles,

with a rotary latch (1 1) into which a closing part (10) moves when the door is closed and the rotary latch (1 1) is pivoted from an open position into at least one latched position,

with a pawl (20) which is spring-loaded (28) and engages in a catch position in a main catch (17) located on the catch (11),

with a working member (47) indirectly serving to lift the pawl (20), preferably driven by an electric motor (40),

with a storage member (22) loaded by an energy accumulator (30), which abuts a shoulder (32) against a pawl (20) provided counter-shoulder (33) in order to prevent both normal and special cases, e.g. in the event of a crash, the pawl (20) is lifted out of its rest position in the rotary latch (11) by unloading the energy accumulator (80),

with a control surface (23) on the storage member (22) against which the working member (47) moves in a first motor drive phase in order to charge the energy store,

and with a counter control surface (29) against which the working member (47) moves when the pawl (20) is lifted out of the rotary latch (1 1) in a second motor drive phase which is offset in time from the first, in a special case the energy amounts of the motor (80) applied successively in the first and second motor drive phases are used to lift the pawl (20),

characterized ,

that not only the control surface (23) but also the counter control surface (29) are located on the storage element (22),

and that the additional motor force required to lift the pawl (20) in a special case passes indirectly to the pawl (20) via the storage element (22),

and so that the amounts of energy applied in succession in the two motor drive phases are then transmitted simultaneously from the shoulder (32) of the storage member (22) to the counter shoulder (33) of the pawl (20).

2.) Door lock according to claim 1, characterized in that the storage element consists of a storage lever (22) which is pivotally mounted parallel to or axially to the pawl (20)

and that the counter shoulder (33) of the pawl (20) is arranged on an arm of the pawl (20) which is shorter than the arm of the storage lever (22) having the control surface (23).

3.) Door lock according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the storage member or the storage lever (22) have an opening (28) in which the working member (47) of the motor (77) engages.

.) Door lock according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the cutout (78) is located in a substantially flat area (34) of the storage member or storage lever (22)

and that the mutually opposite sides of the cutout (35) form the control surface (23) and the counter control surface (29) for the working member (47) which is rotatable therebetween.

5.) Door lock according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that at least a portion (34) of the storage member or the storage lever (22) is divided into two legs (36, 37) which close the cutout (78) between them.

6.) Door lock according to claim 5, characterized in that the two legs (36, 37) are not connected and give the storage element or the storage lever (22) a fork shape.

7.) Door lock according to claim 5, characterized in that the two legs (36, 37) are connected to one another by a web (38) and give the cutout (35) in the storage lever (22) the shape of an eyelet.

8.) Door lock according to claim 7, characterized in that the eyelet (35) has an approximately oval shape and that the edges of the eyelet (78) lying opposite one another, as seen in the pivoting direction of the storage lever, form the control and counter-control surfaces (23, 29).

9.) Door lock according to one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the working member consists of a profiled elongated cam (47) which is radially offset with respect to the axis of rotation (46).

10.) Door lock according to claim 9, characterized in that the cam (47) has a teardrop-shaped, possibly asymmetrical profile.

1 1.) Door lock according to claim 9 or 10, characterized in that the cam (47) has a profile adapted to the edge profile in the eyelet opening (78) and, depending on the operating state of the lock and angle of rotation of the cam (47) with different, profile points (31, 39, 42, 49) radially offset from the cam rotation axis (46) on the edge profile (23; 29) of the storage element or storage lever (22).

12.) Door lock according to one of claims 1 to 1 1, characterized in that the working member or the cam (47) rotate in the same direction when loading and unloading the energy accumulator (30).

13.) Door lock according to one of claims 1 to 1 1, characterized in that the working member when loading (50) the energy accumulator (30) in a direction opposite to the unloading (41) in opposite directions of rotation (48, 49) between the two profile edges of the cutout or the eyelet (35) is driven in rotation.

14.) Door lock according to claim 12 or 13, characterized in that control means are provided for recognizing the door position, which sensors (51; 52) and control logic connected to the sensors.

15.) Door lock according to claim 14, characterized in that the control means comprise two sensors (51; 52), of which one sensor (52) responds directly or indirectly to a specific position of the rotary latch,

while the other sensor (51) responds to a defined position, such as the engagement of the pawl (20) on the main catch (17) or on the normal catch (16) of the rotary latch (11).