GB2058200A

GB2058200A - Door Locking Installation

Info

Publication number: GB2058200A
Application number: GB8029084A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: SWF Spezialfabrik fuer Autozubehoer Gustav Rau GmbH
Current assignee: SWF Auto Electric GmbH
Priority date: 1979-09-15
Filing date: 1980-09-09
Publication date: 1981-04-08
Also published as: DE2937372A1; DE2937372C2; GB2058200B

Abstract

In a central door locking system for a vehicle such as a car, operation of a central switch (32) by a knob (36) or a key (37) energises electric motors (10) to operate the door-locking mechanism of the vehicle doors and, simultaneously energises electromagnets (11 or 12) for moving catches into or out of the path of other members to be locked such as luggage boot covers or bonnet flaps. The motors are provided with limit switches (13) and the magnets with limit switches (53). <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Door Locking Installation -The present invention concerns a central door locking installation, especially in motor vehicles, comprising several electrically-driven adjusting units connected in parallel and at least one operating switch through which the adjusting units are controllable.

Locks on doors of motor vehicles can generally be locked from outside and from inside. From outside this is effected by turning the lock cylinder with a key. In the interior there is a locking button which may be pulled and pressed. The same parts of the lock are adjusted via the lock cylinder and via the locking button. The locking button simultaneously serves to indicate whether a door is locked or not.

In their respective locking or unlocking operations the adjusting units of central door locking installations, which mostly consist of electric motors or electromagnets, move the same parts as are adjusted upon actuation of the lock cylinder or of the locking button. Thus the locking button indicates, whether the door is locked or unlocked, though it is no longer absolutely necessary to operate it to open the door. Such a central door locking installation with electric motors is known from the British Patent 1,292,123, and another one comprising electromagnets from the German petty patent 1836130.

In these installations the adjusting units move several parts of the lock, so that they have to be very efficient because of the forces of inertia and friction and they are therefore very expensive and relatively heavy.

It is an object of the present invention to improve a central door locking installation in such a way that its weight is reduced and it can be produced more economically without losing its functional efficiency.

According to the present invention in its broadest aspect there is provided central door locking installation particularly for a motor vehicle, comprising several electrically-driven adjusting units connected in parallel, and at least one operating switch through which all the adjusting units can be controlled, characterised by the provision of two categories of adjusting units arranged to be operated under the control of the same operating switch, the stronger and more efficient ones being used to operate complete locking mechanisms (as for example, in a vehicle door) and the weaker and less efficient ones being used to move a catch into or out of engagement with the item to be locked (for example), a bonnet flap).

The basic idea of the invention is thereby to be seen in the fact that in those places in which one can forgo having to move parts of the lock during a locking or unlocking operation one can provide less efficient adjusting units which only move a catch into the path of motion of a part of the lock to be removed, when the respective door or flap has to be opened. This can be effected with less energy than the adjustment of several parts of a lock, so that the less efficient adjusting units which have a smaller weight and can be produced cheaper are sufficient.

The less efficient adjusting units will primarily be used for locking the lid of the boot, the fuel tank cover and the bonnet. They can, of course, also be used on motor vehicle doors, insofar as one wishes to do without the possibility of moving the locking button through the adjusting unit on the respective doors or does not provide a locking button at all. For instance this could be the case for rear doors of a passenger car.

In principle both the less efficient and the more efficient adjusting units can be operated in the same way, thus for instance they may take the form of electric motors or electromagnets. It is however most economical, if the stronger adjusting units are electric motors and the weaker ones electromagnets.

When electromagnets are used the door locking installation according to the invention is advantageously developed to ensure that the catch occupies stable positions, when the doors are locked or unlocked, and cannot be moved from its end positions by vibration of the vehicle or by attempts to force the lock.

According to a feature of the invention the electric motors and the electromagnets are controllable from the operating switch in the same manner. It is indeed possible to control the electromagnets through a pulse generator and the electric motors through limit switches or vice versa, but this makes the entire installation more complicated.

It is also advantageous to develop the operating switch and the limit switches as twoway switches, whereby the limit switches are being changed over by the adjusting unit towards the end of the movement. Also with the electromagnets of which two each belong to one adjusting unit the respective limit switch can be easily changed over in that the one magnet moves the contact bridge of the limit switch in one direction and the other magnet moves it the other direction. Thereby the changeover operation is effected after about two-thirds of the stroke, so that a faulty control due to a limit switch which is not changed over is avoided in a reliable manner.

Other advantageous developments of the central door locking installation according to the present invention provide in a simple manner a monitoring of all flaps and doors of a vehicle for which a monitoring is deemed to be necessary.

Among these doors there can of course be doors which have a locking button as well. Such monitoring is especially suitable for the luggage compartment lids of a bus. The monitoring according to the invention will be adapted to the respective requirements in dependence on whether only the locking or unlocking operation or both are to be controlled.

Embodiments of the central door locking installation according to the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 shows a central locking installation with three efficient and four less efficient electromagnets and limit switches; Fig. 2 shows a second embodiment with strong and weak electromagnets which are excited by a pulse generator and Fig. 3 shows an electromagnet with a limit switch.

In the central door locking installation according to Fig. 1 the efficient adjusting units are constituted by electric motors 10, the less efficient adjusting units by one locking magnet 11 and one unlocking magnet 12 each. The electric motors have a limit switch 13 with a bridging contact 14. This bridging contact is constantly connected to the stationary contact point 1 5 to which also one side of the motor 10 is connected.

It can be changed over by the motor (as is indicated by the lines 16) between two make contacts 1 7 and 18 which are located at the input connections 19 and 20 of the motor unit 21. The other side of the motor 10 is connected to the negative pole 24 of a voltage source via the output terminal 22 and a lead 23.

The respective input terminal 1 9 of the motor units are connected to an output 30, the input terminal 20 to an output 31 of the operating switch 32. To the output terminals 30 and 31 of the operating switch 32 are connected to the make contacts 33 and 34 between which the bridging contact 35 may be changed over which can be operated by means of the button 36 or by means of the key 37. The bridging contact 35 is supplied with positive potential in each position via the lead 39 and the stationary contact 40 which is connected by said bridging contact to one of the make contacts 33 or 34.

The less efficient adjusting units 501 are formed by two electromagnets having windings 11 and 12 each. One end of each of the windings 11 is connected to the output terminal 31 of the operating switch 32 in parallel with the make contacts of the motor units 21. Similarly one end of each of the windings 12 is connected to the output terminal 30 of the operating switch 32 in parallel with the make contacts 18 of the motor units 21. The other end of each winding 11 is connected to the make contact 51 and the other end of the winding of each winding 12 is connected to the stationary contact 52 of a limit switch 53 assigned to the respective adjusting unit.In addition, each limit switch 53 has a stationary contact 54 and a bridging contact 55 which can be changed over between the make contacts 51 and 52 by the electromagnets of windings 11 and 12 as indicated in the drawing by the dotted line 56. The stationary contacts 54 are connected to the negative pole 24. If it is assumed that the doors and flaps are unlocked, the limit switches and the operating switch occupy the positions shown in Fig. 1. If the operating switch 32 is operated via the button 36 or the key 37, the bridging contact 35 makes a conductive connection between the stationary contact 40 and the make contact 33 of the operating switch.Positive potential is now available at the output terminal 30, so that the respective limit switch 13 connects voltage to the motors 10 via the make contact 18, the contact bridge 14 and the stationary contact 1 5 so that the motors 10 begin to rotate. The electromagnets 12 are also energised because on the one hand they are connected to the positive output 30 of the operating switch 32 and on the other hand to the negative pole 24 of the voltage source via the make contact 52, the bridging contact 55 and the stationary contact 54. After about two-thirds of the stroke of the electromagnet core the bridging contact 55 is changed over to the make contact 51. In most cases this will not be effected simultaneously.

After the changeover operation the electromagnets are separated from the negative pole and are de-energised. The catches moved by these electromagnets are nevertheless brought into their end positions either because of their inertia preferably aided, by a snap-action spring.

The magnet field becoming steadily weaker assists this movement. The electric motors 10 too switch the bridges 14 onto the make contacts 17, sa that they are separated from the supply voltage and come to a standstill. Now ail doors are locked.

But a further circuit for all the adjusting units has been prepared by the limit switches.

The adjusting units are re-activated upon an unlocking command, specifically the changing over the bridging contact 35 of the operating switch 32 back into the position shown in Fig. 1.

Because the bridging contacts 14 of the limit switches 1 3 are resting on the make contacts 17 and the bridging contacts 55 of the limit switches 53 are resting on the make contacts 51, the circuits for the electric motors 10 and the magnets 11 of the adjusting units are closed. The doors are therefore unlocked. Finally the bridging contacts 14 and 55 of the limit switches 13 and 53 respectively move onto the make contacts 18 and 52 respectively. Thus the motor 10 and the magnets 11 are separated from the network. The central door locking installation again has the conditions shown in Fig. 1.

In the embodiment according to Fig. 2, both the more efficient adjusting units 21 and the less efficient adjusting units 50 are in the form of electromagnets. These magnets are operated by pulses There are no limit switches provided The operating switch 60 of this version has a bridging contact 62 which can be tilted from a central position into two self-resetting lateral positions via the handle 61. In these lateral positions the bridging contact 62 which is constantly connected to the stationary contact 63 connects either of the make contacts 64 or 65 with the stationary contact 63, to which earth potential is conducted via the lead 66. The make contacts 64 and 65 are connected to the input terminals 73 and 74 of a pulse generator 75 via the output terminals 67 and 68 of the operating switch, the leads 69 and 70 and the leads 71 and 72.

Upon a signal being conducted to the input terminals 73 and 74, a current pulse of a given duration for the relays 81 or 82 is created by an electronic circuit which is indicated by the transistor 80. The relay 81 is energised via the input terminal 73 when switch 60 is operated to connect contacts 62 and 64 and the relay 82 is energised when contacts 62 and 65 are connected, due to earth potential appearing at terminal 73 or 74. The relays 81 and 82 each have one bridging contact 83, which is permanently connected to the positive pole of the voltage source, and one operating contact 84.

Positive potential can be switched onto the output terminals 85, 86 or 87 and 88 of the pulse generator 75 via the bridging contacts 83 and the make contacts 84. The output terminal 85 is connected to the input terminal 90 of the adjusting units 21 via the leads 89, the output terminal 86 is connected to the input terminal of the adjusting units 50 via the leads 91, the output terminal 87 to the input terminal 93 of the adjusting units 50 via the leads 92 and the output terminal 88 to the input terminal 93 of the adjusting units 21 via the leads 94.

If one neglects the fact that the electromagnets of the adjusting units 50 are less efficient than those of the adjusting units 21, all adjusting units are built up in the same manner. They have an unlocking magnet 100 and a locking magnet 101, one end of their windings being connected to the input 90 and input 93 respectively. The other end of each winding is connected to the negative pole 24 of the voltage source via the output terminal 102.

To each adjusting unit is assigned a switch 103 with two switching positions. The bridging contact 104 of each switch 103 acts upon the contact 105 in the one position and upon the.

contact 106 in the other position. These two contacts are connected to the external connections 107 and 108 in an electrically conductive manner, the bridging contact 104 being connected to the external connection 109.

The relay 100 moves the bridging contact 104 in one direction, the relay 101 in the other direction.

Only one of the adjusting units 21 and 50 is provided with reference numerals because the other ones are exactly similar.

Looking from left to the right, earth potential is conducted to the terminal 109 of the first adjusting unit 21. The terminal 107 is connected to the lead 71 via the lead 110, the terminal 108 to the lead 72 via the lead 111. The terminal 108 is connected to the terminal 109 of the next adjusting unit via a lead 112 as are all the other adjusting units 21 and 50. The bridging contact 104 of the first adjusting unit can also be changed over by the key 113. In this manner a signal can be transmitted to one of the inputs of the pulse generator 75.

From the terminal 108 of the last adjusting unit a lead 114 runs to one end of the winding of a relay 115. The other end of the winding can be connected to the positive pole of a voltage source via an ignition switch. This is also valid for the changeover contact 11 6 of the relay 11 5. If the relay 11 5 is energised, the changeover contact is located on the contact 11 8, otherwise on the contact 11 7. The contact 11 7 is connected to a pilot lamp 22 via a lead 119 and the contact 118 to a pilot lamp 123 via a lead 120. A timing element 121 is inserted into each of the leads 119 and 120.

When the bridging contacts 104 and the changeover contact 11 6 occupy the positions shown in Fig. 2, all doors or flaps are unlocked. If now the bridging contact 104 of the first adjusting unit is swivelled via the key 113 onto the contact 106, or the contact bridge 62 of the operating switch 60 onto the contact 65, there appears an earth signal at the input 74 of the pulse generator 75. The relay 82 energises and puts its switching contact 83 onto the make contact 84. Now the circuit is closed for all locking relays 101, so that these are energised.

They lock the flaps and thereby change over all contact bridges 104. It is important that the bridging contacts 104 are only changed over, when the locking operation has been effected.

After changing over of all bridging contacts 104 the relay 1 55 becomes energised and places the changeover contact 11 6 onto the contact 118.

Thereafter the pilot lamp is lighted for a given time which is determined by the timing element 121 in the lead 120.

If however the pilot lamp 123 is not lighted, at least one of the bridging contacts 104 has not been adjusted, because the respective flap has not been locked. Thus the proper functioning of the door locking installation during the locking operation can easily be checked by watching the pilot lamp.

If now an unlocking command follows via the key 113 or the handle 61 of the operating switch 60 firstly the relay 81 becomes energised, so that the unlocking magnets 100 are supplied with current. The unlocking magnets unlock the locks and change over the bridging contacts 104 into the position shown. As soon as only one bridging contact has been swivelled, the relay 11 5 releases, the changeover contact 11 6 acts upon the contact 117 and the lamp 122 is illuminated for a given time. It thereby indicates that the pulse generator is functioning and at least one flap is unlocked.

Aithough it is not so important to supervise the unlocking operation as it is to supervise the locking operation, if it is required that a pilot lamp for unlocking is only lighted when all flaps are unlocked, a second switch can be additionally provided in each case. These switches are seriesconnected to one another. The relay 11 5 could be saved and the series connections of the two groups of switches could be directly connected to the leads 119 or 120.

In Fig. 3 is shown an adjusting unit 50 according to the invention comprising two electromagnets 11 and 1 2 and a limit switch 53.

The electromagnets 11 and 12 are arranged in a common housing 1 30. Into this housing is inserted a coil form 131 on which the windings of the magnets are accommodated, separated from each other by a flange 132. The magnet core 134 is displaceable in an axial direction in a central recess 133 of the coil form 131. To the core 134 is fastened a rocl 135 which extends through an opening 136 between the housing 130 and the adjacent housing 1 38. It leaves the housing 138 through an opening 139. Within the housing 1 38 the rod 135 is provided with a plastics member 140 which is shorter than the housing 138.The plastics member 140 has two annular grooves 141 and 142 which are located axially behind each other and with which co-operates a locking spring 143 fastened to the housing 1 38 and initially tensioned in the upwards direction.

Behind the annular groove 142 the plastic member 140 is continued in a portion 144 of full diameter. Thereafter follows a short section 145 with reduced diameter.

The bridging contact 53 is formed by a leaf spring 55, which is fastened to the contact 54 at one end. The leaf spring 55 is intially tensioned towards the plastics member 140 and rests against it with an arc 146. The other end 147 of the spring 55 is S-shaped and is located between the two make contacts 51 and 52.

As shown in Fig. 3, the arc 146 of the leaf spring 55 rests on the portion 144 of the plastics member 140. The locking spring 143 engages into the groove 141 and secures the movable parts in the position shown.

If now the electromagnet 12 becomes energised it pulls the core 1 34, the rod 1 35 and the plastics member 140 ,or the length of its stroke in the direction of arrow A. Thereby the locking spring leaves the groove 141 and engages into the groove 142. The arc 146 of the leaf spring 55 comes into the area of the portion 145.

Thus the spring 55 can relax until its end 147 hits the make contact 52. Now the switch 53 occupies its second switching position. By energising the eletromagnets 11 all movable parts can be brought back into the positions they occupy in Fig. 3.

Finally it is pointed out that the rod 135 can be developed as an interlock device and can directly engage into an opening in the frame of the assigned door without afzlecting the lock in any way. Thus the door can be effectively locked in this manner.

Claims

1. Central door locking installation, particularly for a motor vehicle, comprising several electrically-driven adjusting units connected in parallel, and at least one operating switch through which all the adjusting units can be controlled, characterised by the provision of two categories of adjusting units arranged to be operated under the control of the same operating switch, the stronger and more efficient ones being used to operate complete locking mechanisms (as for example, in a vehicle door) and the weaker and less efficient ones being used to move a catch into or out of engagement with the item to be locked (for example, a bonnet flap).

2. Central door locking installation according to claim 1 characterised in that the two categories of adjusting unit operate on different principles.

3. Central door locking installation according to; claim 2, characterised in that the stronger adjusting units use electric motors and the weaker ones use a locking and an unlocking electromagnet.

4. Central door locking installation according to claim 3, characterised in that in its end positions the catch is lockable by locking elements.

5. Central door locking installation according to claim 4, characterised in that a snap-action spring is provided for locking purposes.

6. Central door locking installation according to any one of claims 3 to 5, characterised in that the different categories of adjusting units are controllable by the operating switch in the same manner.

7. Central door locking installation according to claim 6, characterised in that a limit switch is assigned to each adjusting unit which may be operated by the adjusting unit and that by the movement of the limit switch a first circuit is interrupted and a second one is prepared.

8. Central door locking installation according to claim 7, characterised in that the operating switch and the limit switches are two-way switches with two stable switching positions, the bridging contact of which is permamently connected to a stationary contact connectable to one pole of a voltage source and which may be changed over between two make contacts and that the matching make contacts of the limit switches are connected to one make contact each of the operating switch in an electrically conductive manner.

9. Central door locking installation according to claim 8, characterised in that after termination of a locking or unlocking operation and of its changing over, the contact bridge of each limit switch rests on the make contact which is connected to the make contact of the operating switch which is not acted upon by the contact bridge of the operating switch.

10. Central door locking installation according to claim 9, characterised in that the make contacts of the limit switches assigned to the electric motors are directly connected to the make contacts of the operating switch and that the stationary contact of said limit switches is connected to a terminal each of the assigned electric motor the second terminal of which is applied to one pole of a voltage source, in that an electromagnet is inserted in each lead between two matching make contacts of the operating switch and of a limit switch which is assigned to an adjusting unit consisting of electromagnets and that the stationary contacts of said limit switches are each directly connected to the pole of the voltage source to which the second terminal of the electric motors is also applied.

11. Central door locking installation according to any one of claims 6 to 10, characterised in that the bridging contact of the limit switches assigned to the electromagnets may be changed over after about two-thirds of the stroke.

12. Central door locking installation according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that at least to the weaker adjusting units one switch is assigned, by which an indicating means is controllable.

13. Central door locking installation according to claim 12, characterised in that to the seriesconnected switches a relay with a switching contact is connected in series which, when it is changed over, closes a circuit for an element of the indicating means.

14. Central door locking installation according to claim 13, characterised in that the switching contact of the relay is a changeover contact and that there are two elements of the indicating means.

1 5. Central door locking installation according to claims 1 3 or 14, characterised in that at least one timing element is provided which limits the time in which the indicating means gives a signal.

1 6. Central door locking installation according to claim 12, characterised in that at least to each of the weaker adjusting units two switches are assigned, that the respective matching switches of the adjusting units are series-connected and that they each control a control cell through a respective timing element.

1 7. Central door locking installation, particularly for a motor vehicle, substantially as described with reference to the accompanying drawings.