ES2207773T3 - LOCK FOR THE DOOR OF A MOTOR VEHICLE. - Google Patents

Abstract

A LOCK (1) FOR THE DOOR OF A VEHICLE UNDERSTANDING A CLOSING MECHANISM (8) THAT HAS A FORK (9) AND A RETAINING (10), AND A DRIVING MECHANISM (13) PROVIDED IN A MODE THAT INTERACTES WITH THE MECHANISM OF CLOSURE (8) AND THAT INCLUDES A PLURALITY OF LEVERS (15,1 6, 75) OPERATED BY MANUAL CONTROL ELEMENTS ASSOCIATED WITH THE DOOR AND AT LEAST A RELEASE DEVICE (14) ABLE TO COOPERATE WITH THE RETEN (10) TO RELEASE THE FORK (9); UNDERSTANDING ALSO THE LOCK A FIRST SUPPORT AND ACCOMMODATION HOUSING (6) OF THE CLOSURE MECHANISM (8), A SECOND SUPPORT AND HOUSING HOUSING (11) OF THE DRIVE MECHANISM (13) AND A RELATIVE ASSEMBLY (100) HOUSES (6, 11), HAVING THESE CORRESPONDING OPENINGS (46, 59) TO ALLOW THE INTERACTION OF THE RELEASE DEVICE (14) OF THE OPERATING MECHANISM (13) WITH THE RETEN (10).

Description

Lock for the door of a vehicle car.

This invention is related to a lock. for the door of a motor vehicle.

It is stressed that the term "door" is used in this description and in the claims in its sense broader, to indicate any of the components that are move from an open position and a closed position through a process of opening access to the compartment vehicle interior Consequently, with the terms above, in addition to the side doors of the vehicles cars, reference will be made from now on without the loss of a sense of generality, to the front gates and Rear and tops.

As is already known, closure systems for the doors of motor vehicles essentially comprise a lock and a latch, respectively mounted on the door and to a fixed part of the body in a place near the door real (or vice versa, rarely). The lock comprises a latch of such that a relative closure is achieved between the lock and the latch when closing the door.

Known locks also comprise closing mechanism, a drive mechanism together with the closing mechanism, and comprising a plurality of levers capable of achieving the opening and functions of security.

In the case of a lock for a door, the drive mechanism comprises a lever to open from the interior, capable of being connected with an internal handle in the door, and an opening lever from the outside, capable of being connected with an external door handle and a device kinetic safety operated by means of a key from the outside the door, and by the means of a control and / or the handle internal from inside the door, and able to assume a connected safety position, in which the opening from the outside is not effective, and consequently being disabled the opening by the means of the external lever, and a position of safety of disconnection in which the opening is enabled by The means of the outer handle.

On vehicles equipped with a lock centralized, the drive mechanism also comprises a door lock actuator, and eventually a signaling and control components.

Locks of the type described are known, in which the closing mechanism and the control mechanism are integrated and assembled in sequence on a support body common.

This solution that can be defined as integrated, it presents several drawbacks from the points of view of the manufacturing and its operation.

First, the manufacturing cycles are rarely flexible; the locks have to be manufactured in several versions (for doors of various natures such as the front, rear, with mechanical or electrical drive) and for several applications: an integrated and sequential set does not allow flexible transition from one version to another type of lock, or  to easily vary the design according to the needs of the market.

Additionally, the mechanisms that make up the lock can operate and consequently be inspected, only upon completion of assembly, so in the case of a Inspection record of an anomaly is not an easy task Identify the causes immediately.

Locks are also known in which the body comprises a plurality of shells, in which each supports a given number of components of the lock and mounted in an essentially modular way; more particularly; more particularly, known locks comprise a support and storage shell for the closing mechanism, and a support and storage shell for the mechanism of drive

Such functions of the capable operate as brackets during assembly of the respective components, but the mechanisms are only able to operate once the lock It is completely in its entirety. Additionally, the support provided by the shells of the respective components it is enough during assembly, because the shells advance along the line with a predefined configuration; do not However, the components of the lock are not locked and they hold the shells in a stable way respective, and the different modules cannot be treated by as much as free components. In particular, they cannot be manufactured on separate lines, inspected separately nor that they move freely.

In addition, the modules are subject to complex functional inter-relationships for impart a complex theme to the whole.

The document US-A-4647092 exposes a lock for the door of a vehicle according to the preamble of the claim 1.

The purpose of the present invention is get a lock for the door of a vehicle, which allows the elimination of inconveniences associated with locks known described above.

The previous scope is achieved through present invention, because it is related to a lock for a door of a vehicle, of the type comprising a mechanism of closure capable of cooperating with a latch and provided with a fork and a stop that cooperates with the fork to block it from a releasable form in a liberalizable closing position on the aforementioned latch, in which the aforementioned fork and the mentioned butt are hinged around pins respective, and a drive mechanism capable of interacting with the closing mechanism and comprising a plurality of levers actuated by means of control components manual associated with the mentioned door, and at least one component releasable able to cooperate with the aforementioned cap to release the mentioned fork, characterized by the fact that It includes;

a first support and a housing to house the mentioned closing mechanism, the mentioned ones being supported pins exclusively through said first housing;

a second support and housing to store the mentioned drive mechanism;

respective fixing means between the said first housing and said second housing;

in which the first and second mentioned housings have respective openings to allow interaction between the mentioned output component and the mentioned top.

For a better understanding of this invention, several preferred forms of drive, as a non-limiting example, and with reference to attached drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a modular lock with a mechanical drive designed according with the present invention;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the lock of figure 1, with a closing module and some modules drive and its detailed exploded view;

Figure 3 is a plan and sectional view of the lock module for the lock of figure 1;

Figures 4 and 5 are partial sections with the design plans IV-IV and V-V respectively in figure 3;

Figure 6 is a plan view of the lock of figure 1 of a section corresponding to the module drive;

Figures 7, 8 and 9 are side views and schematic of the lock of figure 1, with the components disassembled for clarity, showing the different states lock operative;

Figure 10 is a partial view, corresponding to figure 8, showing a variation in the design of the lock;

Figure 11 is a view corresponding to the Figure 7 of a second form of actuation of the present invention, in particular for a rear door of a vehicle car, provided with a safety-proof device children;

Figures 12 and 13 show a series of states operational, with variation in the design of the security device childproof of figure 9;

Figures 14 and 15 show respectively according to a perspective and schematic side view of a full lock with a door lock actuator electrically operated with a third way of driving the present invention;

Figures 16 and 17 show respectively with a perspective and schematic side view a lock that It has a door lock actuator and drive electrical, and with a signaling module according to a fourth drive form of the present invention;

Figure 18 is a perspective view that shows the interchangeability of the drive modules of the locks, according to figures 1 and 14.

With reference to figures 1 to 4, it is shown a lock with a set with reference 1 for a vehicle car (not shown).

Lock 1 is modular and comprises essentially a closure module 2 and a drive module 3 able to be assembled together to form a unit integrated.

The closing module 2 is configured to be fixed to a part of the body 4 of a door (figure 7) and cooperate with a fixed latch 5, integral with the vertical upright of the door profile, schematically represented by the dotted lines in figure 3.

More particularly, with reference to the figures 1 to 5, the closing mechanism 2 essentially comprises a housing 6 capable of being fixed to said body part 4, and internally defining an opening 7 and a closing mechanism 8, housed inside the opening 7 and in turn comprising a fork 9, which moves between an operating position of opening and a fully closed operating position (figure 3) of the latch 5, and a stop 10 capable of achieving a spring connection on the fork 9 to lock it in a releasable way respectively in the full closing position and in the position partial closure, also known as "first connection of hit "(not shown), as an intermediate between the positions of opening and closing completely.

With particular reference to figures 1 and 5, the housing 6 of the closure module 2 has a prismatic shape, and being of reduced thickness in relation to other dimensions. The housing 6 has a "sandwich" structure, and is constituted by an intermediate shell 20 made of material plastic and by a pair of metal base plates 21, 22 of form polygonal, mounted on opposite parts of shell 20 and defining therefore the opening 7.

The housing 6 has a flat vertical side 23, defining the largest dimension of the shell and placed vertically in service, and an opposite side 24 with a profile essentially cut isosceles trapezoidal.

The housing 7 also has a side opening 27 capable of allowing the latch 5 to enter the opening 7, split in particular in shell 20 and plate 21 corresponding to the side 23 of the housing 6.

The fork 9 and the stop 10 are hinged around the respective fixed pins 28, 29 that extend between plates 21, 22 and rigidly supported by these, and having the respective access A, B parallel to each other and orthogonal in relation to plates 21, 22.

The fork 9 consists of a metal plate molded cover with plastic material and essentially parallel with plates 21, 22 and hinged to match a part intermediate around pin 28 and a peripheral seat 30 in C defined by a pair of teeth 31, 32 and capable of receiving the latch 5. The fork 9 also has an edge along peripheral 33 and on the opposite side of the seat 30, a pair of highlights 34, 35 capable of cooperating in a manner similar to a spring with the stop, as will be explained in more detail ahead.

The fork 9 rotates around the A axis through of an opening position (not shown), in which the seat 30 is turned towards the opening 27 of the housing 6, and thus allowing the release of latch 5 of the closing mechanism 2, and the full closing position (figure 3), in which latch 5 is locked in the seat 30, and in which the tooth 31 intercepts with opening 27, preventing its escape; the fork 9 is also pressed in a known way to the position of opening by means of a spring 36 wound around a pin 28, and fixed to the fork 9 and a part 37 of the housing 6, indicated with dotted line in figure 3.

The stop 10 comprises a coupling component metallic 38, hinged around pin 29 and configured to cooperate for a pressure connection with projections 34, 35 of the fork 9, and an extended drive arm 39 made of plastic material, also hinged around pin 29 and angularly coupled with coupling component 38 by the means of a pair of wedge components 40, 41. The stop 10 is also pressed towards the fork 9 by a spring 42 wound around pin 9, and fixed to stop 10 itself and to a part 43 of the housing 6, indicated by a dotted line in Figure 3

In particular, the coupling component 38 is consisting of an essentially coplanar plate with the fork 9 and it has an L-shaped end piece 44 capable of attaching to pressure with the projections 34, 35 to block the fork 9 of a releasable form in full closed position and in position partial closure, respectively.

The drive arm 39 has a shape extended in a transverse direction with respect to the B axis of pin 29 and with side 24 of shell 20, and being located in shape superimposed on coupling component 38, and extending to across the entire width of the housing 6. The arm of drive 39 is hinged around pin 29 to make match its end and supports outstandingly, corresponding with an opposite end 24, a shoulder 45 that defines a control part of the stop that aims at the interact with drive module 3. For this purpose, the plate 22 has an opening 46 at the projection point 45, in the shape of an essentially parallel opening with the side 23 of the housing 6.

The drive module 3 comprises essentially a housing 11 coupled with the housing 6 and defining internally an opening 12 and the drive mechanism 13 housed inside the opening 12. The drive mechanism 13 it has a transmission lever 14 that defines a lever of drive for the mechanism, and able to cooperate with the closing mechanism 8, and in particular with the shoulder 45 of the stop 10, to determine the disconnection of the stop 10 of the fork 9 and with the opening of the lock 1.

The drive mechanism 13 further comprises an internal control lever 15 (figure 7) and a lever external control 16 (figure 8) cooperating with lever 14 and configured to connect respectively with an internal handle and a external handle on the door (not shown).

With reference to figures 1 and 6 to 9, the housing 11 of drive module 3 has a structure essentially prismatic and similar to housing 6, with a reduced section with respect to all other dimensions. The housing 11, advantageously manufactured with plastic material, it comprises a hollow body 50 that houses the drive mechanism 13, and having an essentially flat base wall 51 and a wall side 52, and an essentially flat lid 53. The side wall 52 it has an essentially flat face 54, defining the dimension larger housing 11.

When lock 1 is assembled, housing 11 it is mounted with the knife edge on the housing 6, with the face 54 placed in contact with the plate 22, in a position adjacent to the side 23 of the housing 6.

With reference to figures 7 to 9, the lever transmission 14 has an elongated and essentially flat shape, and It is advantageously made of plastic material.

Lever 14 has an intermediate groove longitudinal 55 closed inside an edge 57 in the form of relief in relation to the face of the lever 14 turned towards the cover 53. Slot 55 is coupled by a fixed pin 56, supported between the walls 51 of the body 50 and the cover 53 of the housing 11, and having the orthogonal axis G in relation to the wall 51 and cover 53.

The lever 14 is mounted on the pin 51 of essentially transverse to the face 54 of the housing 11 and it has an end portion 58 that engages an opening 59 split into the face 54 of the housing 11, extending in a parallel direction with the wall 51 of the body 50 and the cover 53 of the housing 11, and facing in a respective position of the set of modules 2 and 3, to the opening 46 of the plate 22 of the housing 6. The part 58 of the lever 14 is designed to cooperate with a shape of a spring with the shoulder 45 to move along of the opening stroke C (figure 7).

The lever 14 moves in parallel with the wall 51 of the housing 11; more precisely lever 14 is configured to rotate around the G axis within the limits imposed by the dimensions of the opening 59 coupled by the part 58, and layer move longitudinally between the boundaries imposed by the length of the button hole 55, between a advanced position shown in figures 7 and 8 and in the lines of points in figure 9, in which it is configured with part 58 protruding from the housing 11 into the housing 6 and adjacent to projection 45, and in the extracted position, in which the part 58 is not projected into the housing 6 and therefore being out of alignment with the shoulder 45.

The lever 14 is maintained by a spring of traction 61, anchored to the housing 11, in a rest position angular (figures 7, 8, in a solid line) in which its part 58 is placed against an integral stopper component 62 with the housing 11, and extending transversely to the side 53 towards the inside the housing 11 from a lower longitudinal end of the opening 59.

The lever 14 finally presents a part opposite 58 of control arm 64, and configured to cooperate with levers 15, 16, respectively, for internal control and external, as will be discussed in detail below.

The internal control lever 15, made advantageously of plastic material, it is essentially flat and hinged around pin 56.

The lever 15 has a control arm 66 that is project externally from housing 11 through a slot upper 67 (figures 1 and 6) cleft on side 54a, and configured to fix a tie rod (known and not shown) connected with the internal handle of the door.

The lever 15 is maintained by a spring of the standard type, not shown, in a resting position, which shown in figure 7 (solid line) in which arm 66 cooperates with one end of slot 67 turned towards the module closure 2. The arm 68 has one of its edges opposite the closing module 2, a projection 65 configured to cooperate by press with arm 54 of lever 14 to rotate the last inside pin 56.

Finally, lever 15 has an extreme piece cam 53 opposite arm 66, essentially trapezoidal, whose end is set forth below.

External control lever 16 is advantageously made of cut-out and stamped metal steel, and comprises a main flat part 68 that extends to along a plane parallel to levers 14 and 15, on the side opposite of lever 15 with respect to lever 14 (figure 6).

The lever 16 is hinged in the housing 11, at one end 69 of the main part 68, by means of a pin 70 with the M axis supported on a boss 71 of the housing 11 opposite face 54.

The lever 16 extends transversely to the housing 21 and has an extreme control piece 72 that extends from an opposite end of the main part 68, and projecting out of the housing 11 through an opening 73 in the wall of base 51 (figures 1, 2 and 6).

The aforementioned appendix 72 is designed to be attached to a strut (known and not shown) connected to the handle external door, and configured to transmit to the lever 16th a force of "pressure" down. The lever 16 has a rounded boss 74 arranged to cooperate by pushing with the arm 64 of lever 14 to rotate the last around the axis G.

The lever 16 is normally held by a spring of known type and not shown in an elevated position of rest, shown in figure 2 and figure 8 (dashed line continuous), in which Appendix 72 cooperates with an upper edge of the opening 73 of the housing 11.

The actuation mechanism 13 also includes a safety lever 75, which is hinged around a pin 75 fixed to the housing 11, having a parallel N axis with the G axis of pin 56, and being placed in a plane parallel to the face 54 of the housing 11 and containing the G axis. The lever 75 is extends on a plane parallel to the remaining planes of the levers 14 and 15, and located on the opposite side of lever 14 in relationship with lever 15 (figure 6).

Lever 75 is made of blade trim metallic and essentially has a cruciform shape, with a part intermediate 77 hinged pin 76, a first pair of arms 76, 79 extending from the opposite part of part 77 in essentially a vertical direction, respectively upwards and down, and a second pair of control arms 80, 81, extending from opposite parts of part 77 in a essentially horizontal direction, respectively towards the module of closing 2 and the opposite part of the module 2 itself.

The upper arm 78 has a rounded shape and it has a through hole 84 that couples with a clearance from the 57 and raised edge of the button hole 55 of the lever 14. The lower arm 79 is fixed to the housing 11 by a spring two-way 82, of the known type, capable of having two positions angles other than stable lever 7, shown in the figure 10 respectively in dotted lines and dashed lines continuous, and respectively corresponding to the states of the connected security (i.e. the inhibition of the opening of the lock 1 from the outside), and the safety disconnected (it is that is, allowing the opening of lock 1 from the Exterior). The connected safety position is obtained with with respect to the safety position disconnected by means of a counterclockwise rotation of lever 75, with reference to figure 10.

Consequently, in the security position disconnected, upper arm 78 of lever 75 is offset towards the closing module 2 and retains the lever 14 in the position advanced, by means of the coupling of the edge 57 in the hole 84. The angular lock of the lever 75 is determined by the contact with edge 57, supporting itself against pin 56 which occupies an extreme part of the button hole 55.

In the connected safety position, the arm upper 78 of lever 75 retains lever 14 in position extraction, still by means of edge coupling 57 in hole 84. The angular lock of lever 75 is also determined in this case by contact with edge 57, leaning in turn against pin 56 which occupies one end opposite of button hole 55.

The control arm 80 has an extreme part 90 bent backwards to 90º and protruding from the housing 11 a through the passage opening 91 split into the base wall 51 of the body 50, and provided with a spherical head 92 for the ball joint connection to a wedge control outside the door.

The arm 81 projects from the housing 11 to through an opening 93 with an end 94 that connects with a command (not shown) to connect the associated security means With the door A lateral appendix 95 on arm 79, essentially parallel with arm 81 is projected from the housing 11 through a respective opening 96. The aforementioned appendix it is used instead of arm 81 to connect to the remote, in the case of a rear block; both possibilities are provided connection with a view to using the same lever 75 to the front and rear versions of the lock, for the purposes save costs

Finally, lever 75 has a tooth 91 that it is projected protruding from the intermediate part 77 in proximity to arm 78 and able to cooperate with the cam appendix 83 of the lever 15.

The position of tooth 91 is such that it intercepts the end piece 83 during the lever opening stroke 15, when the safety lever 75 is located in the connected safety position, as will be better exposed ahead.

The lock 1 finally comprises means quick fixing between the closing module 2 and the module drive 3, indicated as a set under reference 100 in figure 2.

The fixing means 100 comprise essentially a pair of L 101-shaped hooks that protrude of the plate 22 of the housing 6, in the proximity of one side upper plate, and cooperating with the respective projections 102  split into the corresponding positions of wall 51 and of the cover 53 of the housing 11.

The hooks 101 define a lateral place for the module 3, and cooperate with projections 102 to define a point of support in the vertical direction and a preliminary safety point essentially hinged between the two modules 2, 3.

The security means 100 also comprise a pair of small plates 104 parallel to each other and extending protruding from plate 23 in close proximity to one side bottom of the plate itself. The housing 11 has its designed part to stand between the two small plates 104, corresponding to the lateral projections 105 cleft respectively on wall 51 and cover 53 and configured for cooperate with small plates 104 to block module 3 sideways.

The small plates 104 and the projections 105 have the respective holes 106, 107 for pressure mounting the respective locking pins 108.

From the above it is clear how that modules 2 and 3 can be manufactured independently and inspected and eventually assembled as autonomous units on separate mounting paths to define lock 1; the mentioned lock, once assembled, forms a unit integrated.

The operation of lock 1 is described based on the closed configuration with a security disconnected, corresponding to the position of the closing module 2 shown in figure 3, and the position of the drive module shown in figure 7.

In the closed position of module 2, of a known way, latch 5 locks in seat 30 of the fork 9, and is prevented from turning by stopper 10. This position is achieved in a normal way, by simple door movement. In the safety position disconnected of drive module 3, as discussed above, the Transmission lever is projected inside the closing module 2, in close proximity to shoulder 45 of stop 10.

The opening of lock 1 from the outside of the vehicle is achieved by operating lever 16 external control, by means of the external handle on the door, as shown in figure 8. The rotation clockwise of the lever 16 around the M axis defines a pushing action of the boss 74 against the appendix 64 on the lever 14, which spins counterclockwise around pin 56; during rotation of lever 14, part 58 cooperates by thrust with the shoulder 45 of the actuator arm 39 of the stopper 10, moving it along the opening stroke C, and thus defining a rotation of the stop 10 around the axis B in counterclockwise direction as in figure 3. This rotation defines the decoupling of coupling component 38 from projections 34 of the fork 9, which is therefore released to rotate towards the opening position under the pressure of spring 36 that releases the latch 5.

The safety device connection can be carried out from the outside by means of a key, or from the interior by the means of a command. In the first case the control reacts on the ball joint 92 of the lever safety 75, and defines the rotation of the lever around the N axis counterclockwise (figure 9), from the position of enable (dotted line) to the disabled position (solid line). Said rotation makes the lever move 14 from the advanced position to the extraction position, making it move along with the stopper component 62; said movement causes the misalignment of part 58 of the lever 14 with respect to shoulder 45; accordingly, through the actuation on the external control lever 16, a free movement on lever 14, which cannot cooperate with the top 10.

The connection of security means from the interior is obtained by the reaction with the control on the arm 81, in the case of the front door, or on an extreme piece 95, in the case of the back door; lever displacement 75 is induced in both cases in an identical manner to that observed in the case of the connection of the security means using a key.

The opening from the inside is achieved by reacting with the internal handle on the control lever internal 15, and producing a counterclockwise rotation around pin 56, as shown in figures 7 and 9.

If the safety means are connected (figure 9, solid line) during a first part of the movement angle of lever 15 around the G axis, cam part 92 of the lever 15 cooperates by pushing with the tooth 91 of the lever 75 until lever 75 is brought to the enable position; the initial and final positions of lever 15 in this phase of operations are those shown in figure 9, respectively with a solid line and a dotted line. Since said forward point, the projection 65 on the lever 15 cooperates with the arm 64 of lever 14 defining, just as above shown with reference to the opening from the outside, the movement of the shoulder 45 along the opening stroke C and decoupling the coupling element 38 from the stop 10 from the fork 9.

The opening takes place in a similar way when the security means are not connected (figure 7); in in this case, there is a first free rotation section for the lever 15 until the projection 65 makes contact with the piece extreme 64 of the lever 14.

Figure 10 shows a variation in the design of drive module 3, in which the opening operation from the outside it is of the "traction" type instead of the type of "thrust" as discussed above.

In this case, the lever 16 shown in the figure 8 is replaced by a 16 'lever complete with an extreme piece of control 72 'and a side tooth 74', extending in the proximity of the extreme piece 72 ', and arranged to cooperate from the bottom with lever 14, in close proximity to part 58 of said lever 14, to raise the stop 10.

Figure 11 shows a second form of drive of the present invention indicated as a set with reference 110 and described below using the same reference numbers, to define the same components as the exposed in lock 1 already described.

Lock 110 in Figure 8 is suitable for its use in a back door and differs from the lock only in the fact that it comprises a drive module 3a provided with a configuration 111, which selectively inhibits the opening of lock 1 by means of the internal handle (generally described as "childproof security"). The closing module 2 is identical to that of lock 1.

The configuration 111 comprises a small axis 112 rotatably supported but axially fixed in one piece tubular end 113 of body 50 of housing 11, extending and protruding from the upper end of face 54 and in a orthogonal direction to the face itself; the length of the small shaft 112  it is such that it protrudes with one of its ends 114 from the plate 21 of closing module 2, so that it excels in service from the body part 4 and therefore accessible. The extreme 114 presents in a known way a slot 115 for rotation manual by means of a configuration (for example, the tip of the key opening the lock).

At the other opposite end, the small shaft 112 it has an integral radial tooth that extends towards lever 15 in relation to the safety-proof connection position of children shown in figure 11. The lever 15 has a piece extreme 117 able to interact with tooth 116 in the first phase of the opening race (that is, before the outgoing 65 reach the control arm 64 of the transmission lever 14), preventing any action of the top 10. The internal handle of the door is thus locked.

Figures 12 and 13 show a variant in the configuration of the device 111 shown in its assembled with reference 120. According to said variation, the internal handle of the door is free, unlike being locked when childproof security is connected.

This is achieved by the fact that the lever 15 is replaced by two levers 121, 122 overlapping each other and both hinged to pin 56; as it looks more clearly in figure 12, in which part of the components are removed for clarity, lever 121 has an arm 123 capable of being connected to the internal handle, and an extreme piece 124 adjacent to arm 23 and defining with it a radial seat 125. Lever 122 has an arm 126 complete with a groove radial 127 slidably coupled by movable pin 128. Slot 127 has an internal end with a profile that can overlap on seat 125, and extending towards the end free of lever 122. Said lever also has a projection lateral 65 and a cam boss 83 similar to that described for the lever 15 of the lock 1.

The configuration 120 comprises a small axis 122 'similar to the small shaft 112 described with reference to the figure 11, but provided with an eccentric 133 instead of the tooth 116, and a control lever 135 hinged to a pin 131 fixed to the housing 11, and having a first arm 136 fixed to the eccentric 133 by the means of a small connecting rod 37. The second arm 138 of lever 134 has an end of fork 139, which interacts with pin 128 and that is able to move it along of slot 127.

Levers 121, 122 are under load at from the flexible means not shown here in the position of rest shown by a solid line in the figure 13.

The operation of configuration 120 is like follow next.

Figure 12 shows the position of the 120 configuration with childproof lock in state of disconnection Levers 121 and 122 are overlapping and being integral with each other by pin 128, which is retained by lever 134 at the inner end of slot 127 of the lever 122 and inside seat 125 of lever 121. The result is that when the internal handle is operated, the lever will rotates counterclockwise and operates lever 122 by means of pin 128, as shown in figure 12. The projection 65 cooperates well with the control arm (partially shown in figure 12) and rotate the lever 14, defining the stop opening 10.

When turning the small shaft 112 ', the lever 134 is taken to the position shown in figure 13, in which the fork end 139 retains pin 128 at the end top of button hole 127.

In that state, the internal handle of the door is the actuated lever 121 which rotates as in figure 12, but the movement is not transmitted to lever 122 since the pin 128 is located on the outside of seat 125 and is not operated by lever 121.

Figures 14 and 15 show a lock of according to a third form of action of the invention, shown as a set with reference 140.

The lock 140 comprises a lock module 2 identical to that of lock 1, and a drive module 3b that it has a door lock actuator 144 that acts electrically

Drive module 3b is fully similar to module 3 described here as far as the mechanical part, and in particular is provided with levers 14, 15 16 and 75 identical to those described above.

The actuator 144 of a known type is housed within a lower part 145 of the housing 11, and comprises an electric motor with rotation direction reversal 146, a gearbox 147 with gears that has as output component a toothed segment 148, and a component of fork drive 149 which is integral with the segment toothed 148, and hinged with the latter from a pin common 150. Drive component 149 cooperates with a bar 151 supported by arm 79 of safety lever 75 to move the latter, according to the motor drive 146, from the safety position connected to the position of security disconnected

The electrical connector 152 in which the body Insulator 153 is integral with housing 11, it is the connection of the motor with the electrical installation mounted on the vehicle.

The operation of lock 140 and the global set is similar to lock 1 from the point of view mechanical. The actuator 144 reacts on the safety lever 75 to move between the two operating positions described, in response to the electric drive of the motor 146, producing functional effects totally similar to those described with reference to manual actuation of lever 75 of the lock one.

Figures 16 and 17 show a final form of drive of the present invention, indicated in its assembly with reference 140.

The lock 160 comprises a lock module 2 essentially identical to that of locks 1, 110 and 140 as already described, and a drive module 3c provided in addition to levers 14, 15 and 75, as already described, and actuator 144 as in lock 140, with a module of signaling 161.

The signaling module 161 comprises a body similar to a box 162 housed inside the housing 11 and that retains a plurality of microswitches 163, 164 (of the which two are visible in figure 17) to visualize the position  of the mechanical components of lock 1, as described later. Microswitches 163, 164 are supported mechanically by a printed circuit board 165 located in the box-shaped body 162, and are electrically connected to the own printed circuit (not shown).

For each microswitch 163, 164 is located associated a respective control lever, cooperating with the mechanical component from which the position has to be detected.

More particularly, microswitch 163 is associated with a small lever 166 hinged on the body similar to a box 162, and having a fork arm 167 fixed to a bar 168 supported by arm 79 of the lever of safety 75 and a control arm 169 for the own microswitch The microswitch 163 thus detects the position of the safety lever 75, and during the lever stroke 75 switches between the connected safety positions and the security disconnected, in order to generate a signal of drive for central locking of all locks vehicle.

The microswitch 164 has associated with the same a lever 170, also hinged to the body in the form of box 162, and provided with a molded arm 171 protruding from the drive module 3 to an opening 172 on face 54 and penetrating into the closure module 2, to interact with a bar 174 supported by the fork 9, and a control arm 177 for microswitch 164. The latter therefore detects the fork position 9 and switches to the proximity of the position of complete closing of the fork, in order to generate a signal that serve as a signal for a door that is not closed and / or for inhibit central locking when a lock is missing in a completely closed position.

The signaling module 161 also includes a electrical connector 178 to connect the printed circuit to the electrical installation of the vehicle. Said connector comprises a insulating body 179 that extends integrally from the box-shaped body 162, and projecting out of the housing 11, in an essentially parallel position with the connector 152 of actuator 114, through an opening 179 in the own housing 11.

From the examination of the characteristics of the locks 1, 110, 140, 160, are therefore obvious the advantages presented.

Above all, by forming a integral unit, lock 1 has a modular structure, what which allows manufacturing and inspection independently of closing module 2 (the same for all versions of the lock) and drive module 3 (3a, 3b, 3c).

The closing module is the same for all versions of the lock. It allows a remarkable economy of the production to be achieved, since with a single assembly cycle It is possible to manufacture the closing modules for all versions of the lock.

The drive module 3 (3a, 3b, 3c), in its different versions allow the "custom design" of the lock for various applications: with mechanical drive for the front door (lock 1), with mechanical drive for the rear door (lock 110), with locking device doors (lock 140), and with door block device and signaling functions (lock 160).

Starting from a common module (2), a series of different locks can be obtained for applications that are within the scope of the same module of the vehicle (front or rear door), with several versions of the vehicle ("standard" or "luxury", two or more doors, etc.) or for different vehicles.

The modular nature of the set is shown in Figure 18, in which the closure module 2 and two are shown different versions of the drive module (3 and 3b).

The modular construction also allows a reduction in the weight of the locks; indeed, since the Single closing module is subject to associated loads, its dimensions can be organized in the proper way, and it comprises metal components such as plates 21, 22, the fork 9, the coupling part 38 of the latch 10 and the pins 28, 29. However, since the drive module 3 is subject to reduced mechanical loads, a large part of the components, in which there are several levers, can be made of plastic material.

Finally, since the drive module 3 is mounted on the closure module 2 in close proximity to the side 23 of the last, presenting the opening for the latch (it is say, towards the inside of the door), module 3 extends in service in close proximity to the inner side of the door, and particularly inside the window; this results in a protection against theft, because it is extremely difficult to have access to it by means of a utensil introduced to through the hermetic seal of the window, as is often the case Case in known locks.

Finally, it is clear that locks 1, 110, 140, 160 as described may be the subject of modifications and variations that are not beyond scope of the foregoing in the present invention.

Claims (8)

1. A lock (1, 110, 140, 160) for the Door of a vehicle, of the type comprising:

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a mechanism of closure (8) provided with a fork (9) hinged around a first pin (28) and configured to cooperate with a latch (5) and a stop (10) hinged around a second pin (29) and cooperating with said fork (9) to block it from a releasable form in a closed position on the mentioned latch (5);

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a mechanism of drive (13) capable of interacting with the mentioned closing mechanism (8) and comprising a plurality of levers (15, 16, 75) actuated by means of the control components manuals associated with the mentioned door, and at least one output component (14) capable of cooperating with said stop (10) to release said fork (9);

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a first housing (6) that supports and houses said closing mechanism (8) for define a closing module (2), in which said housing (6) comprises a pair of metal plates (21, 22) that support the mentioned first and second pins (28, 29), and a shell (20) of plastic material interposed between said plates (21, 22);

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a second housing (11) that supports and houses said drive mechanism (13) to define a drive module (3, 3a, 3b, 3c), in the that said second housing (11) has a shape substantially prismatic and a reduced thickness with respect to other dimensions; Y

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security means associated (100) between the mentioned first and second housings (6, 11);

presenting the first and second mentioned housings (6, 11) respective openings (46, 59) to allow the interaction between said output component (14) and the mentioned stop (10); characterized in that said plates (21, 22) of said first housing (6) are flat, and that said drive module (3, 3a, 3b, 3c) is mounted with a knife edge over the first (21) of said plates (21, 22) of said closure module (2). 2. A lock according to claim 1, characterized in that said second housing (11) is made of plastic material. 3. A lock according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the face (4) of said second housing (11) is positioned adjacent to one side (23) of said first housing (6) provided with opening (27 ) for the entrance of the mentioned latch (5). 4. A lock according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that said security means (100) comprise hook-shaped means (101) supported by one of said housings (6), coupling means (102) supported by another of said housings (11) and capable of cooperating with said hook means (101) to define a relative position of the assembly between said first and second housings (6, 11) m, and relative locking means (104, 105, 108) to block said housings (6, 11) in said relative position. 5. A lock according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that said drive module (3b, 3c) comprises a door lock actuator (144). A lock according to claim 5, characterized in that it comprises a signaling module (161) associated with said drive module (3c) and provided with a plurality of microswitches (163, 164) that detect the position of mechanical components (75 , 9) of said lock (160), and circuit means (165) connected to said microswitches (163, 164) and capable of being connected to an electrical installation incorporated in the vehicle. 7. A lock according to claim 6, characterized in that said signaling module (161) comprises a box-shaped body (162) housing all said microswitches (163, 164) and said circuit means (165) and an electrical connector (178) for connecting said circuit means (165) to said electrical installation. 8. A series of locks according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that said locks comprise respective locking modules (2) similar to each other and the respective drive modules (3, 3a, 3b, 3c) adapted to specific applications .