GB2336400A

GB2336400A - Vehicle door latch with electrically driven lock and antitheft lever

Info

Publication number: GB2336400A
Application number: GB9908775A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Tsuguo Hoshikawa; Yoshihiko Fujihara
Original assignee: Mitsui Mining and Smelting Co Ltd
Current assignee: Mitsui Mining and Smelting Co Ltd
Priority date: 1998-04-17
Filing date: 1999-04-16
Publication date: 1999-10-20
Anticipated expiration: 2019-04-16
Also published as: GB9908775D0; DE19917094B4; DE19917094A1; GB2336400B

Abstract

A vehicle door latch comprising a key operated outside lock lever (6), an inside lock lever (7) and a lock motor (13) linked by a reduction gear mechanism (16) to the inside lock lever (7). An antitheft lever (46) is moved between an antitheft postion (G) and an antitheft cancelled position (H) by a separate antitheft motor (42). The antitheft motor and the reduction gear mechanism are arranged side-by-side, with the space between them occupied by the antitheft lever. In the antitheft postion, the antitheft lever is engaged with gear member (24) of the gear reduction mechanism, so preventing unlocking of the lock.

Description

2336400 VEHICLE DOOR LATCH DEVICE WITH ANTITHEFT MECHANISM The present

invention relates to a vehicle door latch device which is equipped with an antitheft mechanism for disabling an unlocking operation of an inside lock button installed on a door interior surface. The antitheft mechanism is also called a double lock mechanism or dead lock mechanism.

Two types of vehicle door latch device with an antitheft mechanism are known. One of the known types has one electric motor which is used to displace a lock lever of the latch device between a locked position and an unlocked position, and is also used to displace an antitheft member between an antitheft position and an antitheft cancelled position. The other type has two electric motors. that is, a lock motor for displacing the lock lever and an antitheft motor for displacing the antitheft member.

The first eeneration latch device with the antitheft mechanism has generally included two electric motors while the second generation latch device has generally included one electric motor. It has hitherto been considered that the second generation latch device is more economical to manufacture since an expensive motor is omitted. However, in fact, an expensive switch or sensor is required in order to avoid the need for the expensive motor, so that the price advantage of the latch device is not fully realised. Further, in order to control the motor with the use of the switch, skilled design is required, and in addition, the assembly of various components is complicated. Under such circumstances, it is difficult to judge whether the latch device having one motor or the latch device having two motors is to be preferred.

The present invention relates to a door latch device with an antitheft mechanism having two motors.

A door latch device having two motors is relatively easy to design because each motor is used for a single purpose. However, because design is easy, there is a disadvantage that components of the device are not rationally arranged and positioned in hitherto known devices. In other words, since it is possible to design such a latch device in a relatively short time, hitherto known designs have proved an imperfect compromise.

2 Accordmigly, an object of the present invention is to provide a two-motor type door latch device with an antitheft mechanism, which is of simplified and compact construction.

The invention provides a vehicle door latch device comprising: an opening lever adapted to be connected to an opening handle of a vehicle door., an outside lock lever adapted to be connected to a door kev unit of the vehicle door; an inside lock lever adapted to be connected to an inside lock button of the vehicle door; connecting means for connecting the outside lock lever and the inside lock lever; a lock motor operatively connected to the inside lock lever by way of a reduction gear mechanism for displacing the inside lock lever between a locked position and an unlocked position; an antitheft member displaceable between an antitheft position for disabling a movement of the inside lock lever from the locked position to the unlocked position and an antitheft cancelled position for enabling the movement of the inside lock lever from the locked position to the unlocked position; an antitheft motor for displacing the antitheft lever between the antitheft position and the antitheft cancelled positiona cancel lever connected to the outside lock lever and being capable of returning the antitheft lever from the antitheft position to the antitheft cancelled position by a rotation of the outside lock lever; and a latch body provided with the above components. wherein said antitheft motor and said reduction gear mechanism are arranged side by side in a given direction leaving a space therebetween. and said antitheft lever is provided in the space between the antitheft motor and the reduction gear mechanism, and wherein said antitheft lever is engaged with a gear member of the reduction gear mechanism so as to disable the movement of the inside lock lever from the locked position to the unlocked position when the antitheft lever is displaced to the antitheft position.

The invention is illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a rear view of a vehicle door latch device with an antitheft mechanism according to the present invention, and showing an unlocked state of the latch device., FIG. 2 is a view showing an antitheft state of the latch device., FIG. 3 is a view showing a state that an outside lock lever of the latch device is rotated to an antitheft cancelling position to cancel the antitheft state.

FIG. 4 is a view showing a state that the outside lock lever is rotated to an unlocked position to return an inside lock lever to an unlocked position..

3 FIG. 5 is a view showing a relationship between an antitheft lever positioned in an antitheft cancelled position and a cancel protrusion of a cancel lever; FIG. 6 is a view showing a relationship between the antitheft lever positioned in an antitheft position and the cancel protrusion of the cancel lever; FIG. 7 is a rear view of a gear member of a reduction gear mechanism; FIG. 8 is a rear view of a final gear of the reduction gear mechanism; FIG. 9 is a rear view of a sector gear of the latch device; FIG. 10 is a rear view of the cancel lever; FIG. 11 is a rear view of the antitheft lever; FIG. 12 is a view showing a state that a substrate is attached onto a rear side of the latch device; and FIG. 1 ') is a rear view of the substrate.

One preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. A vehicle door latch device with an antitheft mechanism of the present invention has a latch'body 1, an opening lever 3 mounted on a lower portion of a rear side of the latch body 1 by means of a shaft 2, and lock levers 6 and 7 mounted on the rear side of the body 1 by means of shafts 4 and 5 at the substantially central portion in a vertical or lonRitudinal direction of the body 1. The opening lever 3 is operatively connected to well-known opening handles 8 and 8 of a vehicle door. The lock lever 6 is connected to a wellknown door kev unit 9 of the vehicle door via a connecting means 10 such as a rod or the like, 1 and the lock lever 7 is connected to a well-known inside lock button 11 of the vehicle door via a connecting means 12 such as a rod or the like.

The upper portion of the rear side of the latch body 1 is attached with a first motor or a lock motor 1 ') such a manner that an output shaft 14 of the motor 13 extends in a horizontal or transverse direction of the latch body 1. A worm 15 is fixed to the output shaft 14. A reduction gear mechanism 16 with a one-way clutch mechanism (not shown) is interposed between the worm 15 and the inside lock lever 7. The reduction gear mechanism 16 has a first gear 18 which is mounted on the latch body 1 by means of a 17 and is meshed with the worm 15, a second gear 19 which is coaxially pivoted with the frst gear 18 on the shaft 17, a third gear 21 which is mounted on the latch body 1 by means of a shaft 20 and is meshed with the second gear 19, and a fourth gear 22 which is coaxially pivoted with the third gear 21 on the shaft 20. The reduction gear mechanism 16 further has a sector-shaped gear member 24 (FIG. 7) which is mounted on the 4 latch body 1 by means of a shaft 23 and is meshed with the fourth gear 22, and a final gear 25 (see FIG. 8) which is coaxially pivoted with the gear member 24 on the shaft 23. In general, the one-way clutch of the reduction gear mechanism 16 is relevantly interposed between the third gear 21 and the fourth gear 22.

The final gear 25 is meshed with a gear portion 27 formed on an upwardly extending arm 26 of the inside lock lever 7. A reverse L-shaped intermediate lever 28 is mounted on the shaft 5 so as to be rotated integrally with the inside lock lever 7. A tip end of the intermediate lever 28 is connected to an upper end of a lock link 29 by means of a pin 30, and a pin 31 formed on a lower end of the lock pin 29 is slidably fitted into a slot 32 of the opening lever 3.

The inside lock lever 7 is displaceable between a locked position A and an unlocked position B by a power of the lock motor 13). When the inside lock lever 7 is in the unlocked position B as shown in FIG. 1, the pin 311 of the lock link 29 is positioned at an upper portion of the slot 32, and thereby, a door opening operation by the opening lever 3 becomes valid. On the contrary.

when the inside lock lever 7 is shifted from the unlocked position B to the locked position A by the power of the lock motor 13 (see FIG. 3), the pin 3 1 of the lock link 29 is moved to a lower portion of the slot 32. and thereby the door opening operation by the opening lever 3 becomes invalid.

The inside lock lever 7 is connected to one end of a connector 34 by means of a pin 33, and a pin 35 of the other end of the connector 34 is slidably fitted into a circular arc slot 36 of the outside lock lever 6. The outside lock lever 6 is rotatable between a locked position C and an unlocked position F by an operation of the door key unit 9, and a neutral position D and an antitheft cancelling position E are set between the locked position C and the unlocked position F.

The outside lock lever 6 is usuall-v held in the neutral position D by means of the door key unit 9.

When the outside lock lever 6 is in the neutral position D, the inside lock lever 7 is capable of shiftina between the locked position A and the unlocked position B without moving the outside lock lever 6 by a lost-motion defined by the slot 3 6 and the pin 3) 5.

An upper arm 37 of the outside lock lever 6 has a gear portion 38 which is meshed with a sector gear 40 (FIG. 9) which is mounted on the latch body 1 by means of a cancel shaft 39. A cancel lever 41 (FIG. 10) is mounted on the shaft 3 9 so as to be rotated integrally with the sector gear 40. The cancel shaft 39 is supported onto a back plate (not shown) attached to the rear side of the latch body 1.

An antitheft motor 42 is attached to an upper left side on the rear side of the latch body 1 such a manner that an output shaft 43 of the motor 42 extends in the vertical direction of the latch body 1. A worm 44 is fixed to the output shaft 43. A longitudinally elongated antitheft lever 46 (FIG. 11) is located in a space 45 between the antitheft motor 42 and the reduction gear mechanism 16. The antitheft lever 46 is mounted on the latch body 1 by means of an antitheft shaft 48 and has a gear portion 47 which is meshed with the worm 44. The antitheft shaft 48 and the cancel shaft 39 are not coaxial with each other, but are arranged side by side along the transverse direction of the latch body 1 leaving a predetermined distance.

The antitheft lever 46 is displaceable between an antitheft position G and an antitheft cancelled position H by a power of the antitheft motor 42. Moreover.. the worm 44 and the gear portion 47 are set so that the antitheft lever 46 can be returned from the antitheft position G to the antitheft cancelled position H by a relatively weak external force applied to the antitheft lever 46.

The antitheft lever 46 further has a pawl 50 which can be engaged with a stepped portion 49 formed in the gear member 24. The stepped portion 49 is in a substantially horizontal state as shown in FIG. 1 when the inside lock lever 7 is in the unlocked position B, and the stepped portion 49 is inclined at an angle of about 45 degrees as shown in FIG. 3 when the inside lock lever 7 is shifted to the locked position A. When the inside lock lever 7 is situated in the unlocked position B, as shown in FIG. 1, the antitheft lever 46 cannot be shifted from the antitheft cancelled position H to the antitheft position G by the contact with an abutting face 51 of the gear member 24. However, when the inside lock lever 7 is situated in the locked position A. the antitheft lever 46 can be shifted to the antitheft position G by the power of the motor 42. As shown, in FIG. 2, the pawl 50 of the antitheft lever 46 which is situated in the antitheft position G, is opposed to the stepped portion 49 of the gear member 24 so as to disable a counterclockwise rotation of the gear member 24, and thereby, it is possible to disable a shift of the inside lock lever 7 to the unlocked position B. Therefore, when the antitheft lever 46 is shifted to the antitheft position G, it is impossible to return the inside lock lever 7 from the locked position A to the unlocked position B by an operating force of the inside lock button 11. This state is an antitheft state of the door latch device.

The cancel lever 41 is integrally formed with a cancel protrusion 52 at a front side or hidden side thereof which is bulged into the latch body 1. A rear side of the antitheft lever 46 is integrally formed with an engaging portion 53 Which is engageable with the cancel protrusion 52. When the outside lock lever 6 is in the neutral position D, the cancel protrusion 52 is situated in a position shown by phantom line in FIGS. 5 and 6 and thus, does not interfere with a rotation of the antitheft lever 46.

6 As shown in FIGS. 2 and 6, the engaging portion 53 of the antitheft lever 46 which is situated on the antitheft position G, is engageably opposed to the cancel protrusion 52. In this antitheft state, when the outside lock lever 6 is shifted from the neutral position D to the antitheft cancelling position E by means of the door key unit 9, the cancel lever 41 is rotated counterclock'wise, and the cancel protrusion 52 is then brought into contact with the engaging portion 5-31 to displace the antitheft lever 46 into the antitheft cancelled position H from the antitheft position G, and thereby the antitheft state is canceled. The engagement between the cancel protrusion 52 and the engaging portion 53) is released as shown in FIG. 3 when the antitheft lever 46 is returned to the antitheft cancelled position H because the rotation center of the cancel protrusion 52 is deviated from that of the engaging portion 53. It will be noted that the inside lock lever 7 remains in the locked position A by the lost-motion between the pin 35 and the slot 36, even when the outside lock lever 6 is shifted to the cancelling position E. As described above, it is possible to cancel the antitheft state of the door latch device of the present invention by means of the door key.

Wlien rotatine, the outside lock lever 6, in FIG. 3, to the unlocked position F. the inside lock lever 7 is displaced from the locked position A to the unlocked position B by way of the connector 34. At this moment. as the cancel protrusion 52 is not engaged with the engaging portion 53) of the antitheft lever 46, the antitheft lever 46 is not rotated. This decreases the rotational ranee of the antitheft lever 46 relative to that of the outside lock lever 6. Thus, the space 45 which is formed between the reduction gear mechanism 16 and the antitheft motor 42 for accommodatinú the antitheft lever 46, can be made small, and therefore, the door latch device of the present invention can be compact in construction.

As shown in FIG. 12, the upper portion of the rear side of the latch body 1 is attached with a substrate 54 which substantially covers the antitheft motor 42 and the reduction gear mechanism 16. The substrate 54 is provided with a key switch 55 for detectin a key operation, a lock 9 switch 56 for detecting whether the door latch device is in the locked state or the unlocked state, a door switch 57 for detecting whether the door is in the open state or the closed state, and an antitheft switch 58 for detectine whether the door latch device is in the antitheft state or the antitheft cancelled state. These switches 55 to 58 are previously assembled to the substrate 54.

The key switch 55 includes a switch terminal 60 which is fitted into a forked portion 59 of the cancel lever 41. The terminal 60 is rotatable by a rotation of the cancel lever 41. A switch terminal 61 of the lock switch 56 is pressed by the abutting portion 51 of the gear member 24 7 when the inside lock lever 7 is displaced into the unlocked position B, thereby the lock switch 56 detects the unlocked state of the door latch device.

A switch terminal 62 of the door switch 57 is shifted by abutting against a well-known latch member 63. A switch terminal 64 of the antitheft switch 58 is pressed by the antitheft lever 46 when the antitheft lever 46 is shifted to the antitheft position G. The substrate 54 has a motor holding portion 65 which holds both sides of the lock motor 13 so that the lock motor 13 is not shifted in the transverse direction.

As mentioned above, according to the present invention, since the antitheft lever 46 of the door latch device is arranged in the space 45 formed between the antitheft motor 42 and the reduction gear mechanism 16, a rational design can be made.

Further, since the shifted rate of the antitheft lever 46 is less than that of the outside lock lever 6, the space 45 for accommodating the antitheft lever 46 can be made small, and therefore. the door latch device of the present invention can be compact in construction.

Further, the reduction gear mechanism 16, the antitheft motor 42 and the antitheft lever 46 are arranaed between the lock motor 13 and the paired lock levers 6 and 7, so that these components can be rationally arranged. Therefore, the door latch device can be made into a small size.

Further. since the antitheft lever 46 is engageable with the gear member 24 of the reduction gear mechanism 16, the space 45 for housing the antitheft lever 46 can be further made small.

8

Claims

CLAIMS:

1 A vehicle door latch device comprising: an opening lever adapted to be connected to an opening handle of a vehicle door; an outside lock lever adapted to be connected to a door key unit of the vehicle door; an inside lock lever adapted to be connected to an inside lock button of the vehicle door; connecting means for connecting the outside lock lever and the inside lock lever; a lock motor operatively connected to the inside lock lever by way of a reduction gear mechanism for displacing the inside lock lever between a locked position and an unlocked position; an antitheft member displaceable between an antitheft position for disabling a movement of the inside lock lever from the locked position to the unlocked position and an antitheft cancelled position for enabling the movement of the inside lock lever ftom the locked position to the unlocked position.. an antitheft motor for displacing the antitheft lever between the antitheft position and the antitheft cancelled position. a cancel lever connected to the outside lock lever and beLing capable of returning the antitheft lever from the antitheft position to the antitheft cancelled position by a rotation of the outside lock lever; and a latch body provided with the above components- wherein said antitheft motor and said reduction gear mechanism are arran ed ?:z 9 side by side in a given direction leaving a space therebetween, and said antitheft lever is provided in the space between the antitheft motor and the reduction gear mechanism; and wherein said antitheft lever is engaged with a gear member.of the reduction gear mechanism so as to disable W -- the movement of the inside lock lever from the locked position to the unlocked position when the antitheft lever is displaced to the antitheft position.

2. A vehicle door latch device according to claim 1, wherein said lock motor and said two lock levers are arranaed side by side in a direction perpendicular to the given direction leaving a space therebet-ween, and said antitheft motor and said reduction ear mechanism are provided in the 9 space between the lock motor and the lock levers.

A vehicle door latch device accordinc, to claim 1 or 2. wherein said outside lock lever is displaceable between a locked position and an unlocked position and is usually held at a neutral position defined between the locked position and the unlocked position; said antitheft lever having an engaging portion; said cancel lever having a cancel protrusion which is engaged with c Z_ - -- the en-a2ing portion to return the antitheft lever from the antitheft position to the antitheft 9 cancelled position when the outside lock lever is displaced toward the unlocked position from the neutral position; and an engagement between said cancel protrusion and said engaging portion is released when the outside lock lever is displaced to an antitheft cancelling position defined between the neutral position and the unlocked position.

4. A vehicle door latch device according to claim 3, wherein a cancel shaft for attaching the cancel lever to the latch body and an antitheft shaft for attaching the antitheft lever to the latch body are arranged side by side so that the cancel shaft and the antitheft shaft are not coaxial with each other.

5. A vehicle door latch device according to claim 4, wherein said cancel shaft and said antitheft shaft are arranged along the given direction.

6. A vehicle door latch device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further corn rising at least p 1.

one switch selected from a key switch for detecting a position of the outside lock lever by monitorimi a rotation of the cancel lever, a lock switch for detecting a position of the inside lock lever, an antitheft switch for detecting a position of the antitheft lever, and a door switch for detecting a position of a latch member of said latch device; wherein said latch body is provided with an attached substrate which covers the antitheft motor, the antitheft lever and the reduction gear mechanism, and said at least one switch is pre-mounted to the substrate.

7. A vehicle door latch device subsstantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings.

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