EP1503012B1 - Motor vehicle door lock - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a motor vehicle door lock, with a locking mechanism, and with a drive which is adapted to open the locking mechanism.

Such motor vehicle door locks with the described function for the so-called "electric opening" are widely used in practice and are incidentally known from DE 101 40 957 A1. A comparable embodiment is described in the context of EP 0 589 158 B1. Before the electrical opening of the locking is initiated, takes place at this point an authorization check of an operator willing to enter. This can be done wirelessly or wired.

The known motor vehicle door locks with drive to open the locking mechanism have basically proven. However, it can not be ruled out with complete certainty that the motor drive starts uncontrolled without a prior authorization check.

The invention is based on the technical problem of increasing the safety of a generic motor vehicle door closure insofar as unintentional locking openings are reliably excluded.

To solve this technical problem, a generic motor vehicle door lock in the invention is characterized in that a blocking agent is provided for the drive, which only after manual Initiated taking its release position allows the opening of the locking mechanism by means of the drive.

The blocking means thus ensures that the drive is reliably blocked during its blocking position. Only when the blocking means assumes its release position, the drive is able to open the locking mechanism. The release position is initiated purely manually within the scope of the invention. That is, the blocking means is transferred from its blocking position to the release position only when an operator manifests his access intention by manual intervention on the motor vehicle or motor vehicle door lock.

This can be done in the simplest case so that the blocking agent is mechanically coupled to an actuating lever. So far as this operating lever is the external operating lever, manual loading of, for example, an outer door handle via the outer operating lever causes the connected blocking means to assume its release position as a result of this manual operation.

In principle, however, it is also possible to proceed at this point such that an operator willing to enter manually actuates a button, a sensor, etc., which in turn, for example via its own motor control, ensures that the blocking agent is transferred from the blocking position to the release position. Also in this case, the release position is taken manually initiated.

In any case, both processes require manual manipulation of the relevant lever, switch, etc. In addition, and to increase the safety, a query interposed in such a way that, for example, at a motor-induced transfer of the blocking agent from the blockage position to the release position previously a speed sensor of the motor vehicle is queried. Only when the motor vehicle is at a standstill, one will allow the transition from the blockage position to the release position in such a case.

Such requirements do not arise in the case of a mechanical connection chain from an operator's hand over, for example, the outside door handle, the outside operating lever and finally the blocking means. Because it is assumed that the motor vehicle is in any case at rest in such a process. In any case, the invention reliably excludes unintentional or uncontrolled activations of the drive with the consequence of a locking opening.

Even if such operating conditions should occur, the blocking agent reliably ensures that they can not act on the locking mechanism for its opening. Because the blocking agent is the drive - as I said - only and only free if previously described the manual intervention has taken place. Here are the main benefits.

Further advantageous embodiments suggest that the blocking means has a stop which cooperates with a contour on the drive. In fact, the stop in the blockage position of the blocking means ensures that the drive is blocked. For this purpose, the stop may be formed on the blocking means or otherwise connected to this, while the contour is arranged on a gear member of the drive. In this case, the invention is based on the recognition that the drive regularly has an electric motor, which is followed by a reduction gear with the relevant gear member and the contour arranged thereon.

In the release position of the blocking agent, however, the stop allows movement of the drive, namely an unimpeded movement, which ultimately leads to the desired opening of the locking mechanism. When this opening operation is completed, the drive returns to its initial position, because insofar as the associated motor is configured reversing and operated. This return movement corresponds to the stop resuming its blocking position in order to be able to block inadvertent startup of the motor or drive.

It has proven useful if the blocking agent is designed as a blocking lever. The blocking agent or the blocking lever can be pivoted to take the blocking position and the release position regularly about its housing-fixed axis, and usually manually. To accomplish this in detail, the blocking agent is largely mechanical with the operating lever coupled, which is in particular an external operating lever. In addition, between the blocking means and the actuating lever, one or more transmission levers may be realized as a transmission member.

In order to start the drive, the blocking means actuates at least in its release position a sensor driving the drive. That is, only when the blocking means is in its release position, the sensor in question is actuated, so that the drive can start to open the locking mechanism. In the blocking position, however, the sensor is not actuated.

For this purpose, the blocking means has an actuating arm and a sensor arm, wherein the actuating arm is coupled, for example, with the external actuating lever, while the sensor arm operates on the addressed sensor. For a particularly compact construction succeeds, the blocking agent is usually arranged in plan view above or below the drive, so that the length of the motor vehicle door lock according to the invention does not change compared to a version without this blocking means and only with a slight increase in width is expected.

As a result, the motor vehicle door lock described substantially increases security. For a lock opening, for example, while driving is reliably suppressed. This is ensured by the blocking agent, which is consistently in its blocking position and blocks the drive in this position.

Only when an operator manually announces his will to access, the blocking agent is even able to take its release position can. This is usually done by the operator willing to enter operating an external operating lever, an outside door handle or an otherwise arranged release lever, button, switch, etc. For cost reasons, the application of the outer door handle has proven itself here, wherein such pulling movements are transmitted by a mechanical connection chain directly to the blocking agent in the sense that this passes from the blocking position to the release position. In this process, the motor vehicle is of course at rest and there is an authorization check of the respective operator either parallel or upstream instead.

Only when this authorization check has led to a positive result, the drive is acted upon in the sense that it opens the locking mechanism, wherein the blocking means must of course be in its release position as a mandatory condition in this process. The described authorization check can be carried out wirelessly in the sense of a so-called "keyless entry" query. Just as well, such an authorization check may be carried out in the sense that the operator inserts a key into a key slot and tries to unlock the lock or the motor vehicle door lock by turning a lock cylinder. Likewise, the authorization check can be done by wire, in which, for example, the outside door handle is connected to a switch which starts the authorization check. An additional one Sensor on the motor vehicle may in this case determine the authorization of the operator, for example by fingerprint, eye iris test, etc.

In any case, the authorization check runs upstream or simultaneously with the manually initiated receipt of the release position for the blocking agent. Because only when the blocking agent is in the release position, the drive (after positive authorization check) in a position to be able to open the locking (electric) can.

In addition to this safety gain over the prior art, the invention is characterized by a generally low weight of the motor vehicle door lock and few components. In fact, the security gain is achieved in the core by the small-sized and lightweight blocking agent, which needs to transmit virtually no forces. Here are the main benefits.

Fig. 1a und 1b

den erfindungsgemäßen Kraftfahrzeugtürverschluss in Frontansicht mit dem Blockiermittel in der Blockadeposition (Fig. 1a) und der Freigabeposition (Fig. 1b);

Fig. 2a und 2b

einen vergrößerten Ausschnitt aus den Fig. 1a, 1b in Rückansicht und

Fig. 3a und 3b

eine Rückansicht des beschriebenen Kraftfahrzeugtürverschlusses nach den Fig. 1a, 1b bei in Freigabeposition befindlichem Blockiermittel zu Beginn des elektrischen Öffnens (Fig. 3a) und nach Beendigung des Öffnungsvorganges (Fig. 3b).

In the following the invention will be explained in more detail with reference to a drawing showing only one exemplary embodiment; show it:

Fig. 1a and 1b

the motor vehicle door lock according to the invention in front view with the blocking means in the blocking position (Figure 1a) and the release position (Figure 1b).

Fig. 2a and 2b

an enlarged section of Figs. 1a, 1b in rear view and

Fig. 3a and 3b

a rear view of the described motor vehicle door lock according to FIGS. 1a, 1b with blocking means located in the release position at the beginning of the electrical opening (FIG. 3a) and after the end of the opening process (FIG. 3b).

In the figures, a motor vehicle door lock is shown, which has a locking mechanism 1, 2 of rotary latch 1 and pawl 2. The locking mechanism 1, 2 cooperates in a known manner with a locking pin not explicitly shown. In addition to the locking mechanism 1, 2, a drive 3, 4, 5 is realized, which is arranged to open the locking mechanism 1, 2, d. H. the locking mechanism 1, 2 can open as described below.

According to the invention, the motor vehicle door lock still has a blocking means 6, which is formed in the context of the embodiment and not limiting as a blocking lever 6 with actuating arm 6a and sensor arm 6b. The blocking means or the blocking lever 6 rotates about its housing-fixed axis 7 and can basically occupy at least two positions, namely a blocking position, as shown in Figs. 1a, 2a and a release position corresponding to Figs. 1b, 2b. During the transition from the blocking position to the release position, the blocking means 6 performs a pivotal movement about its axis 7 in the indicated clockwise direction.

In the blocking position corresponding to FIGS. 1a and 2a, the blocking means 6 or the blocking lever 6 ensures that the drive 3, 4, 5 is blocked and the locking mechanism 1, 2 can not open. In contrast, the blocking means 6 allows such opening movements of the drive 3, 4, 5 in its release position corresponding to FIGS. 1b and 2b. This is realized in detail as follows.

The blocking lever 6 has on its back shown in Figs. 2a and 2b via a stop 8, which is not visible in Figs. 1a and 1b. The stop 8 is connected to the blocking means 6 in any conceivable manner. Also, of course, is a one-piece design of the blocking means 6 with the stopper 8 in the context of the invention. With the stop 8 a contour 9 acts on the drive 3, 4, 5 together.

In fact, the drive 3, 4, 5 composed of an electric motor 3 and a downstream reduction gear 4, 5 of two narrow-face spur gears 4, 5 together. It is understood that the stop 8 and the contour 9 are set up so that they can interact with one another in the manner described below.

If the blocking means 6 are in the blocking position according to FIGS. 1 a and 2 a, the contour 9 abuts against the relevant stop 8 in the case of an opening movement initiated by the drive 3 for the locking mechanism 1, 2. Because such an opening movement corresponds to the fact that the output side Gear member 5 rotates in Figs. 1a and 1b in the illustrated clockwise direction. Such a clockwise movement in the front view according to FIGS. 1a and 1b corresponds to a counterclockwise movement in the rear views according to FIGS. 2a and 2b, as will be explained in more detail below.

In any case, potential opening movements of the drive 3, 4, 5 and thus a counterclockwise movement of the output-side gear member 5 are suppressed because the contour 9 abuts the stop 8 of the blocking lever 6 located in the blocking position. The locking mechanism 1, 2 can therefore not be opened in the blocking position of the blocking means 6.

If, on the other hand, the blocking means or blocking lever 6 assumes its release position according to FIGS. 1 b and 2 b, it can be seen that the associated clockwise movement about the axis 7 in FIG. 1 b leads to a counterclockwise movement during the transition from FIG. 2 a to FIG 2b of the blocking lever 6 corresponds. As a result, the stop 8 is pivoted out of the way of the contour 9 on the blocking lever 6, so that the output-side gear member 5 can rotate freely. Now the drive 3, 4, 5 is able to open the locking mechanism 1, 2.

Within the scope of the exemplary embodiment, the stop 8 has a blocking surface 8a for the contour 9. The contour 9 is designed as a curved contour with a length corresponding to an arc angle α of approximately 90 °. This prevents the contour 9, that in the release position after the Fig. 1b and 2b located blocking lever 6 may possibly fall back into its blocking position, thus obstructing the opening process of the locking mechanism 1, 2 in any way.

In order now to transfer the blocking agent or the blocking lever 6 from the blocking position according to FIGS. 1 a, 2 a to the release position corresponding to FIGS. 1 b, 2 b, a manual application is carried out from the outside by an operator willing to enter. This is achieved in the context of the embodiment in such a way that the operator in question pivots an (outer) actuating lever 10 in the clockwise direction according to the Fig. 1a about its axis 11 by means of an indicated outer door handle. As a result, a connected to the operating lever 10 transmission member 12 operates, for example, two levers on the actuating arm 6a of the blocking lever 6 in such a way that it performs a clockwise movement in the transition from Fig. 1a to Fig. 1b about its axis 7. The blocking lever 6 engaging the release position now operates in the release position with its sensor arm 6b a sensor 13, which in turn (via an interposed control unit or the like) starts the drive 3, 4, 5.

The blocking lever 6 is thus pivoted about its axis 7 as a result of a manually initiated operation and is mechanically coupled to the actuating lever or external actuating lever 10, via the intermediate transfer member 12, which is one or more transmission lever. With the help of the transmission member 12 and the transmission lever is achieved that the blocking means 6 in supervision above or below the drive 3, 4, 5 can be arranged so that the latter all elements 3, 4, 5 and 6 can be summarized in its own optional and retrofittable module. That is, the motor vehicle door lock shown together with the locking mechanism 1, 2 and a release lever 14 and possibly other levers in a position to work without the illustrated drive 3, 4, 5 in conjunction with the blocking means 6.

If now the operator ends his pulling movement on the outer door handle, so that the operating lever or external operating lever 10 assumes the position of FIG. 1a again, the blocking means or the blocking lever 6 still maintains (initially) the release position corresponding to FIGS. 1b and 2b , This is ensured by the contour 9, which underlines the stop 8 and prevents during the opening movement for the locking mechanism 1, 2, that the blocking means 6 can take the blocking position according to FIGS. 1a and 2a. A recessed in the gear member 5 and only indicated spring F, which is held by the blocking lever 6 in position, ensures that even in case of failure of the drive 3, 4, 5 whose starting position according to FIGS. 1a, 2a is taken again , Otherwise, the drive 3, 4, 5 is reversed at the end of the opening process.

In the release position of the blocking means 6 and consequently of the drive 3, 4, 5 counterclockwise movements of the output-side gear member 5 are connected to that provided on the to be recognized in Figs. 3a and 3b back of the gear member 5 release cam 15 on the already mentioned trigger lever 14 for the pawl 2 works. In the context of the embodiment, two release cams 15, 15 'realized, although not mandatory. In the release position of the blocking means 6, the output-side gear member 5 - as described - perform a counterclockwise movement in the transition from Fig. 3a to Fig. 3b by an angle of approximately 90 °. As a result, the release cam 15 strikes the release lever 14 and pivots it in the indicated counterclockwise direction about its axis 16, on which the pawl 2 is also mounted. As a result, the pawl 2 leaves its catch on the rotary latch 1, which consequently opens. It is understood that in this process, any existing complementary locking lever or central locking lever from the position "locked" in the "unlocked" position is transferred simultaneously. The rotational movement of the gear member 5 is stopped by the second release cam 15 'which, after the approximately 90 ° rotation, moves against a stop A fixed to the housing (see Fig. 3b).

Because an approximately 90 ° rotation of the output-side gear member 5 is required to open the locking mechanism 1, 2, it is clear from the supplementary view of FIGS. 2a and 2b that during this process the blocking means 6 can not move into the blocking position. For this prevents the contour 9, which also extends over an angle α of approximately 90 °, which underlines the stop 8 (see FIG. Only after the locking mechanism 1, 2 has been opened, the drive 3, 4, 5 applied reversing. This may be due to a switch on the rotary latch. 1 be initiated, which registers the opening of the rotary latch 1 and forwards, for example, to a control unit, which in turn ensures the reversing operation of the drive 3, 4, 5 and the local electric motor 3.

When the drive 3, 4, 5 has assumed its starting position according to FIGS. 1 a and 2 a, the contour 9 no longer undercuts the stop 8 on the blocking lever 6 so that it (spring-assisted) likewise retains the position according to FIGS. 1 a and 2 a can take. Unless the operator is still loading the operating lever 10. Then a reopening process may be initiated.

Claims (10)

1. Motor vehicle door latch comprising a locking mechanism (1, 2) and a drive (3, 4, 5), designed for opening the locking mechanism (1, 2), characterized in that a blocking means (6) is provided for the drive (3, 4, 5), which only permits opening of the locking mechanism (1, 2) through the drive (3, 4, 5) after it has been manually prompted to assume its release position.
2. Motor vehicle door latch according to claim 1, characterized in that the blocking means (6) contains a stop (8) that blocks a profile (9) on the drive (3, 4, 5) in its blocking position.
3. Motor vehicle door latch according to claim 2, characterized in that the profile (9) is arranged on an output-sided gear member (5) of the drive (3, 4, 5).
4. Motor vehicle door latch according to one of the claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the stop (8) on the blocking means (6) permits a movement of the drive (3, 4, 5) in its release position.
5. Motor vehicle door latch according to one of the claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the blocking means (6) is designed as a blocking lever (6) turned about its axis (7) to assume the blocking and the release position.
6. Motor vehicle door latch according to one of the claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the blocking means (6) is mechanically coupled to an operating lever (10), in particular, an external operating lever (10).
7. Motor vehicle door latch according to one of the claims 1 to 6, characterized in that a transfer element (12) is provided between the blocking means (6) and the operating lever (10) .
8. Motor vehicle door latch according to one of the claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the blocking means (6) actuates a sensor (13) triggering the drive (3, 4, 5) at least in its release position.
9. Motor vehicle door latch according to one of the claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the blocking means (6) contains an operating arm (6a) and a sensor arm (6b).
10. Motor vehicle door latch according to one of the claims 1 to 9, characterized in that the blocking means (6) is, in plan view, arranged above or below the drive (3, 4, 5).

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