Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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~ is invention rel2tes to an automobile door lockinc,
~ec..a~lsms, and more particularly a child loc'~ device thereof.
There is provided to an interior part of an automobile
door a locking knob which does not allow the door to be opened
by the manipulation of an interior door handle when it is
pressed to a locking position.
However, children play with the locking ~nob, resulting
in releasing its locking, and in addition the~ sometimes
pull the interior door handle. This means that the locking
knob is not absolutely safe for securing the locking of door, 1Q
when children are involved. In order to prevent the above,
a device which is commonly called as a child lock device is
known. When the automobile door locking mechanisms is incor-
porated with such chilid lock device, they can't be unlocked
even when the locking knob is played by children and released.
This invention employs structures common to conventional
child locking device, while it is characterized in the pro-
vision of connector means wi,th,an idle device which are located
between the interior door handle and an open or actuator plate.
To the automobile body there is provided an engaging part 2C
which is called as a striker, while to the door there is pro-
vided a latch which meshes and engages with the said striker.
Said latch rotates when the door is closed and the striker
ensages with the latch. As the latch which has engaged with
the striker and has rotated is kept at its position by a ratchet,
the door is ke~t locked. ~en a button fitted to the door
handle or handle itself is actuated, the open or actuator lever
is rotated to release the engagement o~ ratch,et with the latch
and to allow the door open. However, when the locking mecha-
nis~ is locked by the operation of a key or locking knob, the
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door cannot be opened by pressing the button or the door
handle. This is because when the button or handle is
operated, the actuator lever can still move, but the rat-
chet is not released from the latch on account of the dis-
engagement of the actuator lever from the ratchet. Such a
mechanism which makes the ratchet immovable even when the
open lever is operated is called as idle mechanism in this
specification. This idle mechanism is effective to prevent
breakage of the locking mechanisms. If the locking mecha-
nism is made with such a construction that when it is loc-
ked, its handle or button remains immovable, excessive
force applied to the button or handle by a passenger would
break the locking mechanism.
This invention is, therefore, to provide an auto-
mobile door locking mechanism incorporating a child lock
device which is connected to an actuator lever of the loc-
king mechanism through an idle means and is operable to
keep the locking mechanism in a locking condition even when
a locking knob is released and a door handle or button is
manipulated and which allows the door handle or button to
to move idly.
The invention seeks to provide a child lock de-
vice which has a lesser number of parts than conventional
devices of the kind.
According to the invention there is provided an
automobile door locking mechanism comprising a latch rota-
table upon engagement with a striker, a ratchet for preven-
ting the rotation of the latch in the direction for relea-
sing its engagement with the striker, an actuator plate
for releasing the engagement of the ratchet with the latch,
connecting means for effecting and releasing the engagement
of the actuator plate with the ratchet, and a rotary lever
operable to actuate the actuator plate in response to
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operation of an interior door handle, to which another
lever is pivotally fitted to a shaft which pivotally loca-
tes the rotary lever, one of said levers being formed with
a slot opening which extends radially with respect to the
shaft and the other being formed with a slot opening having
an idle opening which extends circumferentially with res-
pect to the shaft, and a connector means having a part `-
which passes through the slot openings at a right angle to
the plane of rotation of the levers, said connector means
being connected to a child lock change lever so as to
slidingly change its location within the slot openings and
said another lever being connected to the interior door
handle, whereby to determine whether actuation of the ac-
tuator plate is possible in response to operation of said
handle.
In the accompanying drawings:
Fig. 1 is a front view of the automobile door
locking mechanism of this invention;
Fig. 2 is a plan view of a latch, ratchet and
actuator plate;
Fig. 3 is a plan view of a locking lever and the
ratchet;
E'ig. 4A is a side view of a connecting lever;
Fig. 4B is a side view of the said connecting
lever and a rotary lever;
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a perspective view of a chi3d lock change lever;
Fig. 6 is a sectional view of said change lever;
Fig. 7 is a view showing the fitting of the change lever
to a base plate;
Fig. 8 is a side vlew of an arm of the ch~nge lever; and
Fig. 9 is a view showing a way how the arm and the change
lever are connected.
Constructions of the locking apparatus in accordance with
this invention are explained in the fol~owin~ with referance
to the accompanying drawing. 10
A metallic base plate 1 which is fixed to an automobile
door and by means of which various component parts of the locking
apparatus are assembled at their places, has a slot opening 3.
This opening slidably engages with a striker 2 which is fixedly
fitted to the automobile body. A latch 5 which is pivotally
fitted to the base plate 1 by an axis 4 l`aces, at its part, to
the slot opening, as best shown in ~ig. 2. Said latch has at
its circumferential part a should~r 6 which is engageable with
a pawl 8 of a ratchet 7 so at to prevent the disengagement of
the latch from the striker. Said ratchet 7 is pivotally fitted 20
to the b~se plate 1 by an axis 9 which fixes also an actuator
plate 10 pivotally to the base plate. This actuator plate has
an opening 11. To this openin~ and at its part which is remote
from the axis 9, there is provided an abutment 12 so as to make
said openin~ in the rotary direction of the plate 10 have a
marrow width T, and at its part adjacent to the axis 9, a~ idle
openin6 13. The ratchet 7 and actuator plate 10 are pivoted
to the com on axis 9 so as to be one above another, and~the
part of ratchet which faces to the opening 11, has a slot 14
which extends in a radial direction of the axis 9. A connecting
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rod 15 which projects at a right angle to the slot 14 and open-
ing 11, is inserteàly and movably fitted to them. Said rod is
changeable of its location to positions a and b (~ig. 2), when
a locking lever 16 is actuated.
The operative relation of the connecting rod 15 with the
locking lever 16 is illustrated in ~ig. 3 in which the locking
lever 16 is pivotally fitted to the base plate by an axis 17
and rotatable to directions W to assume a location of solid
lines or another location of dotted lines, when actuated by
pressing or pulling a locking knob which is provided to the 10
inside of automobile door or by operating a key. A rod 18 which
engages at its end the locking lever 16 and which is fitted
at its another end to the connectin~ rod 15, connects them.
With reference to Figs. 1 and 2, the actuator plate 10
is connected at its left end L to an exterior door handle by
suitabe connecting means, while its right end R engages a rotary
lever 19 which is operative by an interior door handle. Const-
ructions of the rotary lever 19 are illustrated in detail in
Figs. 4A and 4B. The central portion of rotary lever 19 is
pivotally fitted to the base plate 10 by an axis 20, and its 20
lower end 21 engages with the right end R of the actuator
plate 10 and its upper part has a slot 22 which extends radia-
lly to the axis 20~ A lever 23 is also pivotally fitted to the
axis 20 so ;dS to be one over another. To a ?art of the lever
23 which lies over the rotary lever 19, there is pro~ided an
elon~ated slot 24 which is corresponsent to the slot 23. A
half portion of said slot 24 which locates adjacent to the axis
20 projects laterally and froms an idle siot 25. Numeral 26
indicates a connecting pin which projects at a right an~le fro~
the to? end of an arm 34 and which engages both the slots 22
A: )
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anà 2L~. 'he lower end of the arm 34 is connected to a child
10CK change lever 27 (~ig. 5). When the said lever 27 is opera-
ted by a àri~er and rotated to the direction P, the pin 26
slidingly moves between the usper ends and lower ends of the
slots 22, 24.
The interior door handle is connected, through rod means,
not ~o the rotary lever 19, but to an opening 28 of the lever
23.
In ~ig. 6, fixtures of the child lock change lever 27
are shown. Said lever 27 is made of plastics having slight 10
resiliency, and to the side of its rotary end 30, there is
formed a projection 29 which faces to the metallic base plate.
The projection 29 is integral with the lever 27,-anà according,
is also of plastics. ~he lever 27 is pivotally fitted to the
base plate 1 by a pin 31 which passes through a boss 33. ~he
projection 29 projects from the lever 27 slightly larger than
the boss 33. ~his makes the rotary end 30 to flex resiliently
against recesses 32. Said recesses are two as shown in ~ig. 7,
and are located with a distance therebetween. In Fig. 8,
there are shown the connectin~ pin 26, the arm 34, and a projec- 20
tion 35 which engages with the child lock chan~e lever 27.
They are all integral and made of plastics. To the both sides
of head of the proJection 35, there are formed extensions 36, 36
which extend in a longitudinal direction of the arm 34. A~d,
to another rotary piece 37, there is formed a slot 37'. With
these structures, when the arm 34 and the child lock change
lever 27 are brou~ht near, the extensions 36 are insertedly fitted
to the slot 37', and the arm 34 is rotated to the d}rection S, ~-
they are firmly engageà each other ar.d would not be released.
~his locking apparatus operates as fo~low:
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~ en a child accom~znied b~ a driver rides in a vehicle
and the door is closed, the latch 5 of lock device comes to
the engagement with the striker 2. As shown in ~ig. 2, the
latch 5 rotates about the axis 4, and the pawl 8 of ratchet
7 engages with the shoulder 6 of latch 5 for preventing the
reversal rotation of latch 5. On the condition shown by ~
2j when the actuator plate 10 is rotated counter-clockwese
by the operation of exterior or interior door handle, the abut-
ment 12 presses the connecting rod 15 upwardly, resulting in
the pressing of inner wall of the slot 14 and the counter- 10
clockwise rotation of ratchet 7, whereby the pawl 8 is released
from the shoulder 6 and the door opens. However, when a seal
or locking knob provided interiorly to the door is pressed,
the locking lever 16 changes its location from the solid lined
position to the dotted lined position as illustrated in Fig. 3,
whereby the rod 18 is moved, resulting in changing the location
of connecting rod 15 from the position a to the position b.
Under this condition, the counter-clockwise rotation of actua-
tor plate 10 by the operation of a door handle does not produce
any movement of the connectin~ rod 15 and keep it idle, because 20
said rod is in the idle opening 13. Accordingly ratchet 7 does
not move and keeps the device in the locking condition.
Under this condition where the connecting rod in at the
position b, when the child lock change lever 27 is rotated
cou~ter-cloc~wise as shown in Flg. 5, the arm 34 moves down-
wardly, and the connecting pin which is provided to the upper
end of said arm 34 moves also downwardly so as to be at a posi-
tion within the idle slot 25 of the elongated slot 24 of the
lever 23, whereby even when the lever 23 is rotated to the
direction S by the operation of interior door handle, it does
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not engage with ~he connec' ng rod 15 and the rotary lever 19
does not move. This results that even if a child pulls the
seal knob and operates the interior door handle, the door shall
never be open (or the door is child locked). In this inven
tion, as the child lock change lever 27 is made o~ plastics
which have slight resilienc~, and as the rotary end 30 of lever
2~ engages at its projection 29 with the base p~ate 1 flexedly
by said projection, the driver can o~erate said lever with
certain feeling. In addition, as the lever 27 is made of plas-
tics and fitted to the base plate flexedly, the employment of 10
spring washers is eliminated.
As stated above, the child locking mechanisms of this
invention employ the lever 23 provided with the idle slot.
This enables that even when the interior door handle is pulled and
when the door is child locked, the handle keeps its actuation
mechanisms idle without giving u~natural force to them. Also
as stated above, the lever 27 of child locking mechanisms is
made of plastics, as a whle, resulting in the elimination of
spring washers and in making it easy to make. As the connec-
ting pin 26, arm 34, pro~ection 35 and extensions 36, 36 are 20
integrally made of plastics, their manuacture is easy.
In addition, as the projection 32 of the plastic lever 27
resiliently and pressedly engases with either one of recesses
32, and accordingly it can assu~e its selecteà position by
itself, the provision of over-centering spring to the base plate
is also eliminated.
