US2148361A - Automobile door lock - Google Patents

Description

Feb. 21,1939. A. J. LEONARD 2,148,361

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Patented Feb. 21, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE AUTOMOBILE DOOR LOCK Albert J. Leonard, La Canada, Calif.

Original application April 21, 1936, Serial No. 75,615. Divided and this application January 31, 1938, Serial No. 187,950

Fig. is a detail view of one of the locking dogs.

Locks of this general type with which I am familiar have proven deficient in that the operating handles lend themselves to being acted upon by an additional leverage force to be in some 5 instances twisted off and in others breaking the lock mechanism, thereby permitting unauthorized access to the car and necessitating a new handle and lock structure, it also requiring manipulation of a key to gain access to the car and again to lock the car, and it was to overcome such deficiencies and to provide means, without departing materially from the conventional handle design, to substantially conceal the operating handles so as to eliminate protuberances and accentuate the streamlining idea, and without disturbing the key locking handle mechanism, except by manipulation of the key to gain entrance to the car from the outside in the first instance, and which I have accomplished by the unique and simplified lock construction forming the subject matter of this invention.

In the illustrated embodiment characterizing this invention there is shown, in the present instance, an automobile door I in which is provided a cut out portion A formed at the inner surface of the door with a countersunk portion 2 communicating with an enlarged cylindrical bore 3, a reduced bore 4, and terminating at the outer surface of the door in a recess 5 substantially conforming to and constituting a seat adapted to receive the door operating handle 6, as will be well 3 Claims.

Generically this invention relates to door looks, but it more especially is directed to the type particularly applicable to the doors of the closed bodies of motor vehicles and constitutes a division 5 of my pending application, Serial No. 75,615, filed April 21, 1936, entitled Automobile door lock, and is an improvement on my Patent No. 2,104,838, issued January 11, 1938, for Automobile door lock. One of the principal objects of this invention is the provision of a lock of this character having an outside actuating handle which when in latch operating and non-locking position is spaced from the outer surface of the door, and H adapted to be pushed against spring tension into a complemental recess in said door surface, such improvement effecting automatic locking of the door in closed position and the handle in said recess.

Another important object of this invention is 2 the provision of a lock of this character wherein the handle in non-locking position rests in a plane spaced from the surface of the door and compressible against the action of a spring into a complemental recess in said door surface to effect automatic locking of the door and the handle in the recess, thereby preventing access to said handle by unauthorized persons and eliminating the employment by such persons of leverage force to damage the locking mechanism or breaking the handle in, gaining access to the interior of vehicle and eliminating the use of a key except when it is desired to unlock the door, however, insertion and manipulation of the key in the lock releases the locking mechanism and the handle is restored to its initial position by said spring and the action of effecting withdrawal of the key from the lock restores the locking means to operative locking position.

With these and other objects in View, which 6 will become apparent as the description proceeds,

the invention resides in the construction, combination and arrangement of parts, hereinafter more fully described and claimed, and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which like characters of reference indicate like parts throughout the several figures, of which:

Fig. 1 is a horizontal section through the lock and portion of automobile door showing the handle in plan and in extended position.

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1 with the handle in retracted and locked position.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1.

Spaced inwardly from the inner surface of the door is a plate I secured by screws 8 or in any Operating handle 6 is formed with a cylindrical shank 9, the inner end of which is adapted to be welded, screwed or otherwise suitably connected to plate 9 adapted to seat against the end wall of bore 3 when the handle 6 is in extended position. Mounted in said shank and extending to the surface of said handle is a lock structure B operable by key It). connected to the key operating mechanism of lock B is a cylindrical member H extending through shank 9 and plate 9 and within enlarged bore 3 a and mounted on said member H adjacent its free end is a rectangular latch plate I2 formed with a beveled edge l3 swedged, welded or other- Said cylindrical member is formed with a longitudinal bore l4 preferably square in cross section. and adapted to telescopically receive the similarly shaped end of shaft IS. The free end of shaft I5 is cylindrical and extends through opening IS in plate 1.

suitable manner.

wise secured thereto.

is formed at its free end with a threaded nut or head I! adapted to rest in a plane substantially co-incident with the inner surface of the door I. On opposite sides of shaft [.5 plate 1 is formed with upstanding ears [8 to which are pivotally mounted at their upper ends dogs l9, each of which is formed at its upper end with an oppositely projecting latch tooth 20 and a beveled surface 2| adapted to engage the beveled surface l3 of latch plate l2, as will hereinafter more fully appear. In order to limit the movement of the dogs in meeting direction plate 1 is formed adjacent each dog with an upstanding lug 22. Each of said dogs at its upper end is formed with a rearwardly projecting lug 23 and suitably connected to which and preferably seating on plate I or in a seat 23' formed therein, is spring 24 adapted to resiliently maintain the dog in a perpendicular and latch engaging position, but permitting sufficient spread of the dogs to permit passage of latch plate l2 therebetween when handle 6 is depressed, as will hereinafter be mor fully apparent.

Mounted in bore 3 and seating against plates 1 and 9' is a compression spring 25 which is adapted to normally urge handle 6 outwardly, and when said handle is depressed bringing latch plate l2 beneath teeth 20, said handle will be firmly held in recess and in locked position, as will be apparent. To unlock the door it is only necessary to insert key ID in look B and actuate the same to move latch plate I 2 at right angles to its position when engaged by dogs l9, thereby releasing it from said dogs and permitting the handle to be returned to its initial non-locking When key I0 is and latch operating position. actuated to permit its withdrawal from lock B it returns latch plate l2 to locking position so that to again lock the door it is necessary only to depress handle 6 to its position in recess 5.

While I have not shown a liner mounted in the cut out portion A and conforming to the configuration thereof, it is to be understood that such casing or lining may be employed if desired without affecting the scope of this invention. It will also be noted that countersunk portion 2 is adapted to house a portion of the remote control mechanism C, whereby the latch may be operated from within the car, but as such means forms no part of the present invention it is not herein illustrated or described in detail.

While as above stated the door may be opened from the interior of the car by the remote control mechanism without disturbing the locked arrangement of parts for removing the handle from the recess as above described, the door cannot be opened from the exterior of the car without the use of the key.

In regard to the remote control mechanism, it will be apparent that the operator C may be connected to the latch bolt in any well known manner, as by a lost motion connection or a clutch connection, and since this construction forms no part of applicants invention it is not deemed necessary to illustrate it in detail.

From the above it will be apparent that I have designed a vehicle door lock and handle structure of the character described, comprising few parts, simple in construction, manufacturable at a reasonable cost, and efficient for the purposes intended.

Although in practice I have found that the form of my invention illustrated in the accompanying drawing and referred to in the above description as the preferred embodiment is the most efiicient and practical; yet realizing the conditions concurrent with the adoption of my invention will necessarily vary, I desire to emphasize that various minor changes in details of construction, proportion and arrangement of parts, may be resorted to within the scope of the appended claims without departing from or sacrificing any of the principles of this invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I desire protected by Letters Patent is as set forth in the following claims:

1. In means for operating a door operating mechanism, the combination of a shaft, a handle provided with a hollow shank adapted to slide over said shaft so as to alter its position with respect to said shaft, means to releasably maintain said shaft and shank in relatively contracted position comprising a dog pivotally mounted in spaced parallelism with respect to said shaft, a shoulder associated with the shank and adapted to be engaged by the dog when said shank and shaft are in their relatively contracted position, resilient means normally urging the dog into engagement with said shoulder, and means in connection with the shank and manually operable to disassociate the shoulder and the dog without changing the normal position of the latter.

2. In means for operating a door operating mechanism, the combination of a shaft, a handle provided with a hollow shank adapted to slide over said shaft so as to alter its position with respect to said shaft, means to releasably maintain said shaft and shank in relatively contracted position comprising a pair of pivoted dogs mounted in spaced parallelism with respect to said shaft, a shoulder associated with the shank and adapted to be engaged by the dogs when said shank and shaft are in their relatively contracted position, resilient means normally urging the dogs into engagement with said shoulder, and means in connection with the shank and manually operable to disassociate said shoulder and dogs without changing the normal positions of the latter.

3. In means for operating a door operating mechanism, the combination of a shaft, a handle provided with a hollow shank adapted to slide over said shaft so as to alter its position with respect to said shaft, means to releasably maintain said shaft and shank in relatively contracted position comprising a pair of pivoted dogs mounted on opposite sides of and in spaced relation with respect to said shaft, springs in connection with the respective dogs, a shoulder element associated with the shank and adapted to be engaged by the dogs when said shank and shaft are in their relatively contracted position, said dogs on impact being displaced to permit passage of the shoulder element when the latter is moved to its contracted position, said springs moving the dogs into locking engagement with said element, and means in connection with the shank and manually operable to effect disengagement of the dogs and shoulder element.

ALBERT J. LEONARD.

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