Electrically operated car door lock

p0001The invention relates to an electric lock for motor vehicle door, and in particular for a motor vehicle door.

p0002It is known that motor vehicle openable locks frequently include a rotary catch fork-shaped and a pawl subjected to an elastic return which pushes it towards the bolt, said pawl being engageable with at least one notch of the bolt to prevent rotation said bolt, the bolt of the said lock cooperating with a keeper fixed to the bodywork, the fork of the bolt being positioned on the relative path of the keeper when the door is brought into the closed position so that the catch pivots the bolt until to a position in which the catch prevents a reverse pivoting of the bolt, the waste then being positioned in the fork of the bolt. This type of lock can be manually controlled by a linkage system which connects a lever of the lock, for example the pawl, to an internal or external operating handle.

p0003However, in a more elaborate version, it is envisaged, firstly, avoid orders linkage which remain a problem during assembly and, secondly, to remove the lock operating handles in the replacing it with a simple electrical switch which is capable of causing the supply of an electric motor associated with the lock. Such an electric lock, for example, been described in the patent DE-3 242 527. Among the previously described locks, it has been proposed the use of an electric motor which drives a rotary element carrying at least one crank pin, from said crank directly or indirectly cooperate with the pawl of a lock comprising a fork bolt. Such a device has already been described in DE-A-4 patent application 015 522. But, to date, the electric locks of this type are relatively complicated and expensive and their operation was not reliable satisfactory.

p0004The present invention therefore relates to an electric lock of the type defined above, characterized in that the (or one of) the pin (s) carried (s) by the rotary member driven by the electric motor can may cooperate with a coach, in a movement performed against an elastic return, to rotate the pawl to release the latch to open the lock, the rotary element continuing its rotation at least until that the coach escapes the action of the crank pin and being associated with a means for stopping the engine, which stops its rotation when the coach has escaped the action of the pin, with coach said in his area cooperation with the (or) pin (s), a recess in a V-shape wherein the (or one of) the pin (s) can penetrate to generate a pivot about a fixed axis of the coach, who himself Also in this movement made counter to its elastic return, pawl clears its bolt retention position.

p0005Preferably, the rotatable member is driven by a motor in one direction of rotation and carries two crank pins symmetrical with respect to its axis.

p0006In a first embodiment of the lock according to the invention, the trainer and the pawl are integral with each other. In a second embodiment, the driver is constituted by two levers integral in rotation, one constituting an opening lever which can act on the pawl for causing it to pivot, while the other constitutes a control lever which carries the recess cooperating with the (or one of) the pin (s).

p0007In the first embodiment, the coach can be a lever having, in plan view, the shape of a boot, the recess corresponding to the hollow between the sole and the heel part of the boot, the pivoting articulation of the said lever taking place at its end opposite to that which carries the sole and the boot heel portions; the motor stopping means may be constituted, first, by putting in mechanical abutment, against the sole part of the driver, which of the two crank pins of the rotating member which has not, during the lock opening which has just been performed, caused the pivoting of the driver and, secondly, by an interruption of the motor power, which is effected after the mechanical abutment of the crank pin against the driver . Advantageously, in the opening position of the lock, the catch bears against a rim of the bolt and, when the lock arrives in the closed position, the catch cooperating with a notch of the bolt under the action of its elastic return the coach and the pawl pivot a sufficient angle to the pin, which was in line with the sole part of the coach, is the right of the recess; in the opening of the lock position, an edge of the coach can come to bear against the edge of the bolt. It is preferred that the shape of the sole portion of the driver and of its connection to the area where is the pivot axis of said driver, is conferred to said sole part an elasticity generating a slight bounce of the crank pin, which bears on said sole portion, the heel portion of the coach being at the time of the said support, the right of the other pin to limit the rebound. When the (or one of) the pin (s) is (are) in abutment against the driver, switching off the motor power can be performed by a timer.

p0008In the second embodiment of the lock according to the invention, the rotary element, which door (s) pin (s), has a cam which cooperates with the control element of a switch, said switch constituting the single stopping means of the motor. Preferably, when the rotatable member carries two crank pins symmetrical with respect to the axis of said rotary member, the edge of the cam comprises two recesses symmetrical to each other relative to the axis of the rotary member, the control element not being, when it is in line with a recess, in a position in which the motor is powered so that it allows the motor power supply, when it supports on the edge the cam in the circular area provided between the two recesses. The elastic return of the pawl can advantageously cause said pawl, when the lock is in the closed position, bearing against a fixed catch stop.

p0009To better understand the object of the invention, we now cover will be described, by way of purely illustrative and non-limiting, two embodiments shown in the accompanying drawing.

p0010On this drawing :<ul><li>1 shows schematically in plan, an overview of a first embodiment of the lock according to the invention in closed position; </li><li>Figures 2 to 7 show, schematically, for the lock of Figure 1, the rotary member, the driver, the latch and the bolt of the lock in different positions corresponding to different phases of the kinematic opening and closing said lock;</li><li>8 shows schematically as a whole, a lock according to a second variant of the invention in plan view in the open position;</li><li>Figures 9 to 14 show, diagrammatically, the rotary member, the driver, the latch and the bolt of the lock in different positions corresponding to different kinematics phase of the opening and closing of the lock of Figure 8 .</li></ul>

p0011Referring to the drawing and more particularly to Figures 1 to 7 shows that has been designated by 25 as a whole the lock corresponding to the first embodiment of the invention. The lock 25 comprises an electric motor 9; on the motor shaft 9 is fixed a pinion 9<u>at</u>Which meshes with a gear train 9<u>b</u> whose output pinion 9<u>c</u> cooperates with a toothed wheel 27 which constitutes the rotary member controlling the actuation of the lock. The rotary element 27 is a disk which carries two crank pins 28, 29 diametrically opposite the crank pins being next to a driver 32, which has the shape of a boot. The end of the driver 32, which cooperates with the crank pins 28, 29, has the shape of a boot, the sole portion has been designated by 32<u>at</u> and the heel part 32<u>b</u> ; between these two parts is a recess 34 V-shaped; the end of the driver 32, which is opposite to the portions 32a, 32b, is connected to a pivot pin 37, the driver 32 being capable of pivoting movement about said axis 37.

p0012The lock comprises a forked latch 30, including the fork defines a housing 38 which is intended to receive the striker 4 which cooperates with the lock. In known manner, the striker 4 is a stud which projects on the door jamb in vis-a-vis of the lock, the relative movement of the door relative to the door post, in the direction of closing of the door , corresponding to the striking plate 4 relative movement according to arrow F1 of Figure 6, and in the opening direction of the door, a striker of relative movement 4 in the direction of the arrow F2 of Figure 5 . the latch 30 is pivotable about an axis 39 and cooperates with a pawl 31 which is pivotable about the axis 37. the pawl 31 is subjected to an elastic restoring force which pushes it towards the bolt 30.

p0013When, on closing the door, the bolt 30 is pushed, against a resilient restoring force which acts on it in the position where it is in Figure 2, the pawl 31 comes to bear by its end spout 31<u>at</u> against a notch 36 defined by the bolt 30. In this way, the bolt 30 is retained in the position it occupies in Figure 2 and the striker 4 is trapped in the recess 38, which holds the door in a state of closing.

p0014If it supplies the motor 9, the rotary member 27 is rotated and the pin 29 engages in the V-shaped recess 34 of the driver 32 due to the rest position said driver had 32 at the time of closing of the lock, this position corresponding to a support of a curved edge 32<u>c</u> the driver 32 against the correspondingly shaped edge 35 provided on the latch 30. The beginning of the rotation of the rotary element 27 is shown in Figure 3.

p0015When this rotation continues, the pin 29 comes into contact with the heel portion 32<u>b</u> the free end of the driver 32 and therefore any further rotation of the disc 27 causes a pivoting of the driver 32 around the axis 37: This step of the kinematics is shown in Figure 4.

p0016The pawl 31 and the driver 32 are integral with one another in rotation about the axis 37: it follows that, when rotation of the disc 27 continues, the pawl 31 is pivoted to allow the exhaust of the notch 36 of the bolt 30 in which case the bolt is pivoted in the direction of the arrow F3, as shown in Figure 5. the spout 31<u>at</u> of the pawl 31 remains in abutment against an edge 35 of the bolt 30. This stage of operation is shown in Figure 5.

p0017When the rotation of the disc 27 continues, the heel portion 32<u>b</u> escapes to the crank pin 29 and the position of the driver 32 and the pawl 31 is maintained by the support of the spout 31<u>at</u> against the edge 35 of the bolt 30. A further rotation of the disc 27 causes the pin 28 to abut against the flange portion of the driver 32. The motor 9 is thus blocked but its power supply is maintained until the end of a time delay.

p0018When the door is again in the closed position, the striker 4 moves bolt 30 along arrow F1 and pushes said bolt 30 according to arrow F4 in Figure 6 until the notch 36 of the latch 30 comes into -delà spout 31<u>at</u> of the pawl 31; at this time, the pawl 31 pivots under the effect of its elastic return according to arrow F5 in Figure 6 to block off the bolt in the position shown in Figure 7, which brings the various elements of the lock in their position of Figure 2: the striker 4 is trapped in the recess 38 of the fork of the bolt 30, which ensures the closure of the lock status. In this ratchet displacement movement 31 according to arrow F5, the sole portion 32<u>at</u> manager 32 moves so that the crank pin 28 is located vis-a-vis of the V-shaped recess 34, which allows, when a new operation, to start the opening process was previously described.

p0019It is found that, when the pin 28 abuts against the flange portion 32<u>at</u> of the driver 32, the shape adopted for the free end of the driver 32 allows sufficient elasticity so that there is a slight bounce of the crank pin 28 causing a reverse rotation of the disc 27 but this is reverse rotation angle limited because the pin 29 is located vis-a-vis the end of the heel portion 32<u>b</u> Coach 32. This elastic function of the free end of the driver 32 can significantly reduce operating shock.

p0020Figures 8 to 15 show a second embodiment of the lock according to the invention. It is seen that the said lock is designated by 125 in its entirety. The lock 125 comprises an electric motor 109; 109 on the motor shaft is fixed a pinion 109<u>at</u>Which meshes with a gear train 109<u>b</u>, Whose output pinion 109<u>c</u> meshes with a toothed wheel 127 which constitutes the rotary member controlling the actuation of the lock. The rotary member 127 is a disk which carries two crank pins 128, 129 diametrically opposed, said crank pins being provided on a cam 150, which is embossed on the disc 127. The cam 150 is comprised of two circular segments 150<u>at</u>, Symmetrical about the center of the cam, the two circular segments being separated from one another by recesses 150<u>b</u>, Also symmetrical relative to the center of the cam. An electric switch 151 is interposed in the motor 109 of the feed circuit; the control member 152 is a pusher which cooperates with the edge of the cam 150: when the pusher is supported by a circular segment 150<u>at</u>, The switch is in a position which allows the motor power supply 109; On the contrary, when the control member 152 abuts against a recess 150<u>b</u>, The switch is in a position that cuts the power to the motor 109 and that uses short-circuit the rotor of the motor for a given time.

p0021The lock according to this embodiment comprises a forked latch 130 can be pivoted about an axis 139, said bolt cooperating with a striking plate 104 of the same type as the striker 4 described for the first embodiment. The striker 104 can therefore, closure of the door, to move relative to the bolt 130 according to the arrow G1 in Figure 8, for engagement in the recess 138 of the fork bolt; when striker 104 comes into contact with one of the branches of the fork of the bolt 130, said bolt is rotated about its axis 139 against an elastic return means.

p0022The pawl 131 of the lock is pushed by an elastic return against the bolt 130 and, during the pivoting of the bolt, the spout 131<u>at</u> the pawl engages in a notch 136<u>b</u> formed in the edge of the bolt 130. This state of the kinematics is shown in Figure 9: the lock is closed to the first notch.

p0023If the striker 104 continues its movement along the G1 arrow to go to the complete closure of the door, the latch 130 continues to rotate and spout 131<u>at</u> cooperates with the second notch 136<u>at</u> of the bolt 130: This state is shown in Figure 10 and corresponds to the closure of the lock to the second notch. The pawl 131 is pushed by the spring 131<u>b</u> for engagement in the notches of the bolt, as explained above, and when in the engaged position, it bears against a stop pawl 153 provided with elastic damping bodies.

p0024When, from the closed position of the lock shown in Figure 10 is to be ensured electric lock opening, it controls the power to the motor 109, which drives rotation of the cam 150 in the direction of the arrow G2 in Figure 11. the crank pin 129 is initially positioned within a recess 134 in a V-shape formed on the edge of a lever 332 pivotally mounted about an axis 137. This lever control is integral with a lever opening 232 having a nose adapted to cooperate with a finger 131<u>c</u> of the pawl 131. The set of levers 232 and 332 constitute the driver 132. The driver 132 is subject to an elastic restoring force by a spring 132<u>at</u>, So that the driver 132 is pushed constantly in the direction of arrow G3 of Figure 10.

p0025When the motor 109 then rotates the crank pin 129, the latter bears against a branch of the V-shaped recess 134, forcing the lever 332 to pivot against the action of the spring 132<u>at</u>This pivot causing the opening lever 232 which by its beak, pushes the finger 131<u>c</u> the pawl 131 and causes the pivoting of the pawl against the spring force provided by the spring 131<u>b</u>. We thus arrive to clear the pawl 131 of notch 136<u>at</u> which relies on it, this kinematic phase being shown in Figure 12. When the detent is released, the bolt turning under the action of its elastic return in the direction of the arrow G4 in Figure 12, to come into the open position shown in Figure 8.

p0026When the pin 129 continues to rotate, the pivoting of the driver 132 about its axis 137 continues, keeping the catch through the spout 232 open lever to ensure free movement of the bolt to its open position (see Figure 13).

p0027Finally, the pin 129 pursues its course, allows the exhaust spout 332<u>at</u> the control lever 332, so that the driver 132 rotates about its axis 137 in the direction of the arrow G5 of Figure 14 to return to the initial position shown in Figure 8. In all the operating phases previously described, the switch 151 has its control element 152 bears on a circular segment 150a of the cam 150 so that the motor 109 remains energized. When the driver 132 beyond the pin 129, a recess 150b of the cam 150 is to the right of the control element 152, which cuts power to the motor 109. inertia, the disc 127 continues to rotate through a small angle until the control element 152 is adjacent one end of the recess 150<u>b</u> with which it cooperates. When the driver 132 is pivoted according to the arrow G5, the beak of the control lever 332 has pivoted about the axis 137, thereby moving the pawl 131 in the direction of the arrow G6 in Figure 14 under the effect of its elastic return until the pawl 131 abuts against the pawl 153 of elastic stop.

p0028We see that we have thus ensured by a simple and reliable device electrical opening of the lock described.