Lock construction

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to an electrical lock, and more particularly to an ignition lock for use in automotive vehicles and the like. Generally speaking, electrical ignition locks are composed of a housing provided with a bore or other recess in which a lock cylinder is turnably mounted, the lock cylinder being provided with a key hole into which a key is inserted so that, upon proper insertion of the key and turning thereof, the lock cylinder will turn between two positions in which it respectively breaks and makes an electrical connection. In many instances where such ignition locks are used, this basic type of lock construction is entirely satisfactory. However, there are a great many automotive vehicles— particularly those used in industrial, agricultural and military applications—where the vehicle either has no cab or where the cab is open so that the ignition lock is exposed to the elements, with a resultant danger of the entry of contaminants into the key hole or into the gap between the lock cylinder and the housing. This can cause “freezing” of the lock cylinder, that is make the latter immovable, it can cause shorting of the ignition circuit, or it can result in other problems all of which should of course be avoided if possible.

Naturally, attempts have been made to provide suitable protection. However, they have either been rather complicated, not entirely satisfactory in their protective action, or they have been difficult to install and to remove when it was desired to insert the key into the key hole. Whatever the particular drawback of the constructions known from the prior art, the fact is that no entirely satisfactory arrangement for protecting ignition locks against the entry of contaminants has heretofore become known.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is, accordingly, an object of the present invention to provide such an improved and satisfactory construction.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide such a construction which is simple and inexpensive.

An additional object of the invention is to provide such a construction which can be readily mounted on an igni2 tion lock and which can subsequently be used without danger of loss or malfunction under any normal operating circumstances.

A concomitant object of the invention is to provide such a construction which will under all circumstances provide reliable protection against the entry of contaminants such as dirt and moisture into the ignition lock.

In pursuance of the above objects, and other which will become apparent hereafter, one feature of the invention resides an electrical lock, particularly an ignition lock for automotive vehicles, which briefly stated comprises a housing having a surface provided with a recess extending inwardly therefrom. A key-operated lock cylinder is received in this recess and turnable between at least two positions in which it respectively makes and breaks an electrical circuit. The lock cylinder defines with the housing an annular gap adjacent the surface thereof and is provided with an exposed face located exteriorly of the recess and formed with a keyhole. Cover means covers the gap and the keyhole against the entry of contaminants while permitting the insertion of a key into and withdrawal thereof from the keyhole.

The novel features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 is a partial axial section through an ignition look embodying the present invention; and

FIG. 2 is an end view of the cover means shown in FIG. 1, seen from the left-hand side of FIG. 1 looking towards the right.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Discussing now the drawing in detail it will be seen that reference numeral 1 identifies a cylindrical housing of an ignition lock for use in automotive vehicles. The housing 1 is provided with a neck portion 3 formed with external screw threads 2. The neck portion 3 is provided with a bore or recess 4 in an exposed surface thereof, and a lock cylinder 5 is turnably mounted in the bore 4. Thus far, ignition locks of the type described are well known. Conventionally, the dash of the automotive vehicle is provided with a suitable aperture into which the portion 3 of the housing 1 is inserted, with the major part of the housing being located rearwardly or inwardly of the dash so as to be concealed thereby, and a suitable nut means engaging the threads 2 of the neck portion 3 at the other or exposed side of the vehicle dash. Thus, the lock is mounted in place. Also in known manner wires of the ignition circuit for the automotive vehicle are connected with the lock construction in such a manner that, when the lock cylinder 5 is turned between its at least two operating positions subsequent to insertion of a key into a keyhole provided in the lock cylinder 5, an electrical circuit will be either completed or interrupted. As already mentioned, all of this is well known from the art and is not believed to require detailed discussion.

FIG. 1 shows that between the outer circumferential surface of an extension 6 of the lock cylinder 5 and the inner circumferential surface bounding the bore 4 in the neck 3 of the housing 1, there remains an annular gap 7 which diverges inwardly into an annular chamber 8. Concentric with the bore 4 the exposed surface or endface of the neck 3 of the housing 1 has formed therein an annular groove 9 as shown in FIG. 1.

3,625,035

In accordance with the present invention a cap-shaped cover member C consisting of elastically or resiliently deflectable material, for instance an elastomer such as rubber or synthetic plastic, is provided. A portion 10 of this cap C is pushed onto the flange-shaped extension 6 of the lock cylinder 5, and FIG. 1 shows that the outer diameter of the tubular portion 10 is just slightly smaller than the diameter of the bore 4. The open end of the tubular portion 10 is provided with a radially inwardly extending circumferential bead 11 which snaps behind the projection or extension 6 of the lock cylinder 5, as shown in FIG. 1. This reliably connects the cap C with the lock cylinder 5.

A portion 12 of the cap C is located outwardly adjacent the endface of the extension 6 of the look cylinder 5 and formed in its interior with a space 13 of substantially rectangular cross-section. As shown in FIG. 2, the long axis of the rectangle defined by the cross-section of the space 13 corresponds with the long axis of the cross section of a keyhole provided in the look cylinder 5. At the side of the space 13 which is remote from the lock cylinder 5 there is provided a slot-shaped opening .14 (see FIG. 2 in broken lines) through which the key is inserted. This slot-shaped opening 14 is bounded at the outer side, that is the side facing the person inserting the key, by two abutting sealing lips 15 as shown in FIG. 1 and also illustrated in broken lines in FIG. 2.

A protective cover 16 is provided which overlies the end face of the portion 12 and which is connected with the remainder of the cap C by a reinforcing rib 17. The cap C and the cover 16 may be of unitary construction, or the cover 16 may be a separate element and the reinforcing rib 17 be unitary with the remainder of the cap C. In any case, the reinforcing rib 17 constitutes an integral hinge and of course also consists of the elastically deflectable material of which the cap C is made, so that the protective cover 16 may be deflected out of the position shown in FIG. 1 in which it covers the aperture 14 whenever it is desired to insert a key through the aperture into the keyhole provided in the look cylinder 5 to operate the latter. On the other hand, the rib 17 provides a biasing action which urges the cover 16 to return to the position illustrated in FIG. 1 whenever any deflecting force on the cover 16 is released. When the key is inserted through the aperture 14, the cover 16 rests on the upper edge face of the key, and when the latter is withdrawn the cover 16 is urged by the reinforcing rib 17 to return to the position illustrated in FIG. 1. It thus closes and protectively overlies the sealing lips 15.

It should be noted in FIG. 1 that the configuration and position of the reinforcing rib 17 on the cover 16 is so chosen that it overlies a projection of the aperture 14 when the cover 16 is in the illustrated position of FIG. 1. The cross-section of the rib 17 increases in direction towards the outer circumference of the protective cover 16—that is upwardly as seen in FIG. 1—and the actual integral hinge is formed by a portion 18 in the illustrated embodiment, which is located between the portion of the reinforcing rib 17 provided on the portion 12 of the cap C and the portion of the reinforcing rib 17 which is associated with the protective cover 16.

A tubular portion 19 surrounds the portion 10 of the cap C, projecting towards the open end of the portion 10 but terminating short thereof, with a bead-shaped marginal section—having increased thickness— of the tubular portion 19 being received in the groove 9. The opposite end of the tubular portion is of one piece with the remainder of the cap C, or more particularly with the portion 12 thereof.

It will be appreciated that modifications may be made in the illustrated embodiment without departing from the inventive concept. Thus, the protective cover 16 may be connected with the portion 12 of the cap C in a manner different from that illustrated, for instance with a conventional hinge rather than with the integral hinge constituted by the portion 18. Also, while it has been emphasized already that the cap C may be made of an elastomeric material, such as synthetic plastic material or rubber, it should be pointed out that the same is true of the protective cover 16, but that in both cases other materials may also be found to be suitable for the intended purposes.

The construction according to the present invention is very simple as is clearly evident and can thus be inexpensively manufactured at little cost. At the same time it provides a multi-stage protection against the intrusion of contaminants, such protection being provided via the cover 16, the sealing lips 15, the free space 13, the portion 19 and the portion 10. Furthermore, the construction according to the present invention allows ready mounting of the cap C and assures that the same will remain in place subsequently during any ordinary use without necessitating demounting every time the key is to be introduced and remounting every time the key is removed with consequent danger of losing the protective cap C.

It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together, may also find a ueful application in other types of construction differing from the types described above.

While the invention has been illustrated and described as embodied in an ignition lock, it is not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention.