FR2579656A1 - Combined electronic and mechanical door lock with digital dial - Google Patents

Abstract

The lock has an external opening or actuating system and an inner actuating mechanism, with a mechanical lock, which fits on the usual door edge. The outer fitting includes a digital block, with keys, and there is the code which has to be set in order to activate the electronics or switch in the outer actuating mechanism. The switch comprises an electromagnetic piston and it shifts a mechanical part up or down, so that a knob, provided on the outside of the door, can be rotated to move the bolt back again, once it is free to slide, in the inner mechanism. Another switch is provided to be pressed so that the door can be closed and locked by rotating the knob without recourse to a digital setting. A Yale or cylinder locking device is also part of the design, in case digital dialling is not wanted or for some other reason, and this activates the electromagnetic piston as before.

Description

ELECTRONIC DOOR LOCK ASSEMBLY
The present invention relates generally to improvements made and relating to electronic door locking assemblies. More specifically, it relates to electronic door locking assemblies for use on motor vehicles.

 Quite recently, such associated devices for locking and unlocking doors have been marketed on the market, comprising a conventional mechanical cylinder lock associated with an electronically controlled locking and unlocking mechanism.

However, associated conventional devices like the above devices have the main defect of a fairly complex structure.

 Thus, the object of the invention is to propose an improved locking part with a mechanical cylinder associated with a locking and unlocking mechanism part with electronic control of simplified trek construction, by providing that these two parts will have as many elements in common. as possible, but without reducing functional security or stability.

 To satisfy the preceding objects as well as other objects, the invention resides in a door locking assembly, both electronic and mechanical comprising: a part operating externally, a part operating internally and a mechanical locking, all being fixed from removably on a door which can be opened and closed, in which said part operating externally comprises: a network of touch switches capable of delivering an excitation current in the unlocking direction when one presses correctly and sequentially on the touch switches of said network in correspondence with a specifically chosen reference number; an electromagnetic plunger capable of being operated by the reception of said excitation current deduced from said network of key switches; a hollow fixed part t a mechanical on-off control element mounted on said fixed and hollow element which is brought into its stopped position by actuating said electromagnetic plunger and a means comprising a button which can be turned by hand installed by said fixed element and capable of being released from its fixed mechanical locking position and passing into its manual rotation position by suppressing the action of said mechanical element with on-off operation when the latter is brought into its stopped position; and said mechanical locking comprising a sliding dead bolt capable of releasing said door for opening by manually turning said button after having positioned said mechanical part with on-off operation in its off position.

 In the following, a substantially preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

 However, it should be noted that the invention is not limited to this single embodiment. Anyone skilled in the art can easily make any modification and improvement if the opportunity arises. Therefore, the scope of the invention should only be limited by the appended claims.

Figure 1 is a front view of the door locking assembly both mechanical and electronic according to the invention
Figure 2 is a front view of the part operating externally and forming part of said assembly;
Figure 3 is a front view of the internally operating part which is part of said assembly
Figure 4 is a longitudinal section of the part operating externally
Figure 5 is a rear view of this part
Figure 6 is an enlarged view of a main component of the part operating externally and shown in Figure 4
Figures 7A, 7B and 7C are respectively a plan view, a longitudinal section and a cross section of a rotary regulator or limiter employed in the assembly of the invention;
Figure 8 is a longitudinal section of the part operating internally
FIG. 9 is a rear view of this same part and
Figure 10 is an interior view of a mechanical locking mechanism used throughout the invention.

 Referring now to the accompanying drawings, Figures 1 to 10, we will describe more precisely preferred embodiments.

 In all of these drawings, "A" represents an externally operating part; "B" a part working internally; "C" part of the locking mechanism; and "D" a door to which the lock according to the invention applies.

 The externally operating part "A" comprises a housing 1 on which are fixed keys "1", "2", 3, Il 4 Il, 5, 6, 7,, 9, "9", Il, 11011 and ST " as shown in Figure 2 at 2, the last number 2 representing a switch panel, below there is a cylinder lock 3 operating with a key, Figures 1, 2, 4 and 5. Still below , there is provided a button 4 operating a deadbolt, Figures 1, 2, 4 and 6, a deadbolt locking lever 5, Figures 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6 and a handle part 6, Figures 1, 2 , 4 and 5, the latter constituting practically an extension of the housing 1. The fixed combination of a housing 1 and a handle part 6 - is fixed to the door "D" as seen at 30 in FIGS. 1, 4 and 5. The door "D" is only partially represented and its general configuration imagined by dashed lines.

 As can be seen from Figures 4 and 6, the button 4 is an integral part of a sleeve 4a which is concentric and removably connected to a rotation limiter 7, Figures 4, 6 and 7. The limiter 7 comprises a blind lateral opening 7a, FIGS. 4, 6 and 7, near the outer end of the limiter, a steel ball 9 mounted so that it can slide in the opening 7a and pushed to move radially towards the outside, thanks to a push spring 8.

When the ball is normally placed, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 6, and kept in contact under pressure with a reception housing opening downwards 4b formed on a sleeve 4a, the mechanical connection between the button 4 and the limiter 7 is established and maintained and thus these two parts can rotate in unison.

 A deep lateral recess 7b formed in the limiter 7 receives a stop pin 10 which is pushed to move towards the outside by a spiral return spring 11.

 The limiter 7 is mounted so as to be able to rotate in a sleeve portion which projects inwards 12 and forms an integral part of the housing 1. When the head 10a, pointed at 10b, of the spindle 10 is held in engagement with a receiving opening 12a formed through the wall of the hollow cylindrical extension 12, the spindle cannot exit from the opening 12a, and in fact, taking into account the inclined surface, it is in contact between 10b and 12a.

 A spiral spring 13 serving as a return spring for the limiter 7 and having upward bent ends 13a and 13b is mounted in an annular housing 7d which is concentric with the opposite end of the limiter 7. At the opposite end of the rotation limiter 7 is a blind axial bore 7f which can be slightly pointed if desired, and a concentric ring-shaped recess 7d, a hollow cylindrical extension 7c thus being formed between them, as can be seen more clearly in FIG. 7. Since the outermost cylindrical part is formed to define the surface of the external wall of the annular recess 7d, an arc-shaped extension 7e extends longitudinally and towards the outside of the limiter 7.

 The number 13 designates a spiral spring introduced into the recess 7d, said spring being formed with portions of ends bent towards the outside and engaging 13a and 13b as shown in FIG. 5. These end portions of the spring are held in pressure contact with extension 7e.

 In correspondence and substantially concentric with the engaging extension 7e, an extension 12b is formed on the cylindrical portion 12, as shown in FIG. 5.

 With this construction, it will be seen that the spiral spring 13 acts effectively as a return return for the limiter 7.

 The number 14, in FIGS. 4, 5 and 6 represents a control rod for a conventional dead bolt 33 appearing in the upper part of FIG. 10, said rod 14 having a substantially square cross section as well as a longitudinal groove in " V "14b to guide it better. The rod 14 is further formed with a lateral extension 14a to effect contact-making-out of mechanical contact with said engaging extension 7e of the limiter 7.

 The number 15, figure 5, represents a pair of locking plates which can pivot in 15a and which are normally pushed by a spring, not shown, to come into contact with each other and limit the direction of rotation of the rod 14 in one direction only.

 If the door concerned is placed on the opposite side of the motor vehicle, for example, the rotation admitted by the rod 14 will be a reverse rotation.

 A solenoid 16 comprising a movable plunger 16a is installed above the element 12, said plunger cooperating with a drive part 16b having a generally angular configuration in elevation when viewed in FIG. 4. The upper end is laterally extending from the drive part 16b is fixed to the upper end of the plunger, while the lower end of the drive part is kept in pressure contact with the pin 10. When the excitation of the solenoid 16 is cut, the plunger is kept in its high position under the influence of the spindle preventing rotation 10 and through the drive part 16b.

 The solenoid 16 is excited by a battery 23 housed in the interior operating section B shown in FIG. 8, the electrical connection between the solenoid and the battery has been eliminated to avoid excessively complicating the drawing.

 When the plunger is excited by the battery, the plunger 16a is pulled down in FIG. 5, so that the drive element 16 will press on the pin 10 until the latter is released from the receiving opening 12a of the cylindrical part 12.

 In this position, the operator can rotate the rod 14 by turning the knob 4, FIGS. 1, 2 3 and 6 by hand, to lock and unlock the deadbolt 33 appearing in FIG. 10.

 A conventional mechanical cylinder lock 3, FIGS. 1, -2, 4 and 5, is installed at a level slightly lower than that of the array of keys and directly above the solenoid 16 in FIG. 4.

 When a mechanical key 100, FIG. 4, is introduced into the keyhole 3c, FIG. 2, of the cylinder lock 3 and the operator turns the key to rotate the rotor 3a comprising a cam 3b analogous to a sector represented on Figures 4 and 5, the cam 3b presses on the drive element 16b at the same time as the plunger 16a. In this position, the operator can also turn the operating rod 14 of the dead bolt by manipulating the manual button 4 as desired.

 In the internally operating part B, there is a housing 17 which is fixed, but which can however be fixed to the door D, as in 17a and 17b. In this housing 17, is housed a mechanical cylinder lock 18, a key switch 19 and a button 20 provided with a handle 21. As will be seen below in more detail, the cylindrical lock 18 serves as on-off operation for a reset switch for the code number. The switch 19 is adapted to be used before positioning the code number. The button 20 is used for operation inside and outside of the dead bolt 33. The handle 21 is pivotable and used to operate the locking slope 31. As shown more precisely in FIG. 8, inside the housing 17 are still mounted an electronic control circuit 22 as well as a battery 23.

 On the inner end of the handle 21 is mounted an element transmitting the movement 21a appearing on. FIG. 9, and maintained in contact with one of the movable lower parts mounted with a spring 24a which are fixedly mounted on a sliding plate 24 while the other parts mounted with a spring 24a are fixedly mounted on the housing 17. The springs thus mounted so as to extend and contract are designated by the number 25 as shown in FIG. 9. The sliding plate 24 is thus elastically pushed down in FIG. 9.

 By manipulating the handle 21 to rotate in a first specially defined direction, the movement will be transmitted through a centering element 24a to the movable plates 24 in the upward direction.

When the operator's hand is released from the handle 21, this handle as well as the movable plates will automatically return to their respective original position under the pushing action of a spiral spring 25.

 The movable plate at the top and bottom 24 includes in extension a locking piece maneuvering the bolt 24 which projects through and from the opening window 27a formed through the guide plate 27 fixedly attached to a housing 17 by screws as in 26.

 The button 20 comprises in its lower extreme portion a coaxial square orifice 20a, FIG. 9, receiving the corresponding end portion of the rod 14 operating the dead bolt. As can also be seen in Figure 9, the button 20 is further formed with an axial projection receiving the movement 20b which is placed near the upper end of the movable plate 24 when the deadbolt 33 is placed in its lockable service position.

 When the handle 21 is turned by hand to this position to mount the plate 24, the button 20 is forcibly turned thanks to the cooperation of a semi-rounded opening 27a with said extension 20b, therefore, the deadbolt is instantaneously rotated in the unlocking direction. This unlocking mechanism 20 thus serves as a type of emergency unlocking means.

 Now, referring to Figure 10, we can see the mechanical locking part C, the number 28 represents a housing 28 in which is mounted a plate 29 which is movable in the two directions up and down in the figure. The plate 29 is equipped with a stop 29a for the spiral spring 30 which is kept under compression between a fixed stop 28 on the housing and said stop 29a, consequently, the plate 29 being pushed in an elastic manner can move towards the bottom in figure 10.

 The reception and movement stop plate 29a has free access from the outside through a side opening 28b of the housing 28i The plate 29 is designed to cooperate with a lever 5 actuating the locking pin provided in the functional part outside A and the part operating the locking bolt 24b provided in the inner operational part B.

 The locking pin 31 is formed with an internal opening 31a in which the engaging part 28a appears. A spiral spring 32 is held under compression between a stop 31c formed on the locking pin 31 and said stop 28c, so that the locking pin is pushed elastically to move in the locking direction. The bolt 31 is equipped, near its inner end with a pin 31b which is kept in contact with a conical drive portion 29b formed on the movable plate 29. Consequently, when the plate 29 is moved in the ascending direction, the bolt 31 will retreat.

 The dead bolt 33 is designed to be guided in its locking advance movement or in its unlocking withdrawal movement by a longitudinal slot 33a formed in the bolt and by a fixed guide pin 34 formed on the housing 28. The housing 28 receives by a mounting rotating the functional end 35a of a deadbolt drive arm 35. The arm 35 has at its free end, engaging shoulders 35b; 35c. At an extension 133 of the deadbolt 33, as can be seen in FIG. 10, two shoulders 33b, 33c appear separated from each other and receiving the command of the movement. These two shoulders are alternately contacted by said shoulders 35b, 35c, due to the rotary movement of the drive arm 35. The deadbolt 33 is thus thus forced to advance or withdraw, as the case may be, relative to the box 28 in order to execute the locking or unlocking of the doors at will and in accordance with the direction of rotation of the drive arm 35. At the functional end 35a appearing in FIG. 10, is formed a substantially square axial bore 35d which receives the functional end, appearing in FIG. 10, of the operating bar 14 of the deadbolt.

 The sections A and B of exterior and interior operation are fixed to the door D, and in reality, in opposition to each other, as shown in FIG. 1. The mechanical locking section C is completely included in L interior of door D as will be easily understood from FIGS. 1 and 10.

 Before describing the operation of the combined door locking and unlocking device according to the present invention, it should be noted that a specially selected reference number, for example, "13568" has been stored in a certain electronic digital memory, not shown, from part 22 of the electronic control circuit, FIG. 8. When the operator manually operates the keys of the network 2 sequentially and correctly, to signify the number "13568" which corresponds to the specified reference number, a current will be applied to the solenoid 16, for example, for a few seconds, in the conventional manner as is well known to those skilled in the art. Thus, the plunger 16a is attracted and the pin preventing rotation 10, FIG. 6, is supported by through the drive element 16b, the rotation limiter 7 being made to rotate. In this position, when the operating knob 4 of the deadbolt is turned by hand, the deadbolt 33 is brought into its position for locking the doors or unlocking the doors, as the case may be, in accordance with the direction of rotation adopted occasionally for button 4, while transmitting the necessary movement to the dead bolt via the operating bar 14.

 The locking or unlocking operation of the doors can be carried out from inside the door D by manipulating the control button 20 of the dead bolt.

In the (door locking) position, the operator can press the operating handle of the locking bolt 21 to open door D almost instantaneously in a one-touch operation.

 If the operator exits, the one-touch interior switch 10 is set to "on, the door locking state can be established by operating the outside operating button 4 of the deadbolt, and in fact, without use the network of keys 2, and therefore there is no need for a work of coincidence of the reference number to be entered.

 By operating the cylinder lock 3, using a mechanical key, as in 100, from the outside of door D, the plunger 16a of the solenoid 16 is pressed under the action of a cam 3b . In this way, the spindle 10 preventing rotation is entrained by the drive element 16b, as before.

Therefore, a door unlocking operation can be obtained in the same manner as above.

 In conclusion, the advantages of the present invention will be presented only briefly.

 The associated assembly for locking and unlocking the doors according to the present invention comprises an exterior operating part, and an interior operating part as well as a mechanical locking mechanism. The external operating part includes a network of keys; a solenoid which is brought into operation by means of the manipulation of said network of keys in order to represent a code number selected in particular; a cylinder lock; and a deadbolt control button. A rotation limiter is arranged to cooperate with the deadbolt operation limiter which comprises a spindle preventing rotation, the latter being designed and arranged so that if the solenoid is excit8, a drive element connected to a plunger drives said spindle to its unlocked position.

A cam is attached to the cylinder lock rotor and said cam can mechanically drive the solenoid plunger. On the other hand, the interior operating part comprises a button for operating the deadbolt which is mechanically connected by means of an operating rod of the deadbolt to the rotation limiter. Thanks to manual rotation of said dead bolt operating rod, the dead bolt fitted with a mechanical locking mechanism is driven.

 In this way, the combined locking and unlocking of the doors can be brought into the unlocking position by means of an electromagnetic mechanism by specifying a specific selected reference number by manipulation of the network of keys. In addition, if desired, and thanks to the use of a mechanical key, the assembly can be brought into the unlocking position via a part of said electromagnetic mechanism. It is possible to perform either the unlocking by mechanical key or the keyless locking operation, and in reality with the use of a greatly simplified mechanism, in spite of the doubly operational modes of execution mentioned above.

Claims (1)

 1. Door lock assembly (D) combined electronic and mechanical comprising: a part (A) for external operation, a part (B) for internal operation and a mechanical key (3), all these parts being detachably fixed on a door which can open and close, this assembly being CHARACTERIZED in that said part (A) for external operation comprises  a network (2) of key switches adapted to deliver an excitation current corresponding to the unlocking direction when the keys of the switches of said network (2) are pressed correctly and sequentially in correspondence with a specifically chosen reference number,  - an electric plunger (16a) capable of being actuated by the reception of said excitation current coming from said network (2) of key switches,  - a fixed hollow element (12),  a mechanical element (16b) with on-off operation mounted on said hollow and fixed element (12) which is brought into its stopped position by the operation of said electromagnetic plunger (16a) and,  - A means comprising a button (4) to be rotated m-anually mounted in said fixed element (12) and adapted to be released from its mechanically locked fixed position to move to its manually rotating position by the release action of said element (16b) mechanically with on-off operation when the latter (16b) is brought into its stop position and,  - Said mechanical lock comprising a sliding deadbolt (33) adapted to release said door (D) and make it open by manually turning said button means (4) after placing said part (16b) with mechanical operation on -stop in its "stop" position.