Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
1 AGENTS RE~: 2877 PCT ~ ~
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DOOR ~OCKING SYSTEMS ~OR MOTOR V~IC~ES
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This invention relates to door locking sy3tems for motor '~,' '"
vehicles.
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Central locking systems .are known in which all the doors of a
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vehicle can be locked and unlocked simultaneously by a single ,~
locking or unlocking operation, usually carried out on a lock ~-, ''
fitted to the outside of the driver's door of the vehicle. Some
sgstems lock each door of the vehicle by immobilising the actual , , --
; latch mechanism fitted on each door.
~ It is known from EP-A-142~19 (the disclosure of which is
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incorporated merely by this reference) to provide such a door
lo~cklng~apparatus~ comprlsing an outermost handle operatively ~,
conneoted~to the~latoh me~ohanism of the door, and electrically
operable drive means for engaging and di~engaging the outer ~'~' "
handle from the latch mechanism.
In~thi~s way~the~door,~oannot be opened from the outside when the, ~,, ',''. ,
car~is~looked~beoause the handle is disengaged from the latch. A ,',~
prob~lem~àrises in that unauthorized entry can still be made to
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2 AGENTS REF: 2877 PCT
the vehicle by breaking a window and operating the handle on the
inside of the door.
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It is one object of the invention to provide a system which
overcomes these disadvantages. Accordingly the invention as
defined above includes an inside door handle operatively
connected to the latch mechanism and is characterised by further
electrically operable drive means for engaging and disengaging
the innermost handle from the latch mechanism.
Preferably the apparatus includes first electrical switch means
operable from the outside of the door, whereby a user can render
the inside and the outside door handles operative and
inoperative, and further electrical switch means locatable in the
vehicle whereby the outside handle and/or the inside handle can
be rendered operative ana inoperative. Most preferably the
further electrical switch means are arranged whereby the outside
handle can be rendered operative and inoperative while the inside
handle remains operative. The locking system can be arranged so
that the locking systems on all the doors can be actuated
simultaneously by the first and further electrical switch means.
In a preferred aspect of the invention there is provided, for
each door of the vehicle, apparatus comprising a pair of links,
one connected to the outside handle of the door and one to a
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~ AGENTS REP: 2877 PCT
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latch pawl forming part of the latching mechanism; a member
movable into and out of engagement with the two links to connect
them together or to leave them free for relative movement; first
electrical drive means comprising a motor or solenoid for
actuating said connecting member characterised by a second pair
of links, a second connecting member and second electrical drive
means for controlling the connection between the inside handle of
the door and the latch pawl; and an electrical circuit arranged
to energise all the electrical drive means from a switch operable
from outside the door to immobilise the inner and outer handles,
the circuit including an inside switch which immobilises only the
outer handle without energising the electrical drive means which
controls the second pair of links of the inside handle.
Preferably one or both sets of links comprise elongate bar-like
members arranged side-by~-side and each displaceable in the
direction of: their length, holes extending transversely across
each member, the connecting member comprising a pin which in the
disengaged oondition is arranged to be withdrawn from one or both
of the holes, whereby the bar members are free for relative
movement, and in the engaged~condition is arranged to engage both
of the holes whereby both of the members move together.
In order: that the invention may be more readily understood, it
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~ will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to
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4 AGE~TS REF: 2877 PCT ;~
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the accompanying drawings, in which: .
Figure 1 is an electrical circuit diagram;
Figure 2 illustrates schematically a part of a known type of door
latch mechanism for a motor vehicle;
Figure 3 is a view of a part of a door latch assembly in
accordance with the present invention;
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Figure 4 is a view on the line 4-4 of Pigure 3; and ::
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Figure 5 is a view in the direction of the arrow 5 in Figure 3.
Referring to Figures 2 and 5, a latching mechanism for the door
44 of a motor vehicle includes a door latch cam 1 with its ~ -
làtching~pawl 2. The latching pawl is operated both by way of a ~... ;.:.
lever 3:5 ~whloh~ ~is conneoted to a handle on the outside of the .-`.
door and~by~an additional lever which is connected to a handle on .`;-~m
the inside of the door 44.
Referri~ng partioularly to Figure 3, lever 35 is pivotally mounted
on~ the~ lock assembly and is connected to a first flat slide or
elongat~e ba~r-like memb~er 37 which lies in parallel against a . ,
aeooni flat slide 38. Fach of the slides has an opening therein
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AGE~TS RE~: 2877 PC~
and, when the openings are aligned, a pin 40 can be introduced
into the openings to connect the two slides together. When that
occurs, operation of the lever 35 is transmitted to the slide 38
which brings about operation of the latching pawl 2 of the
latching mechanism. However, when the pin 40 is removed from the
openings, relative movement can take place between slides 37, 38
and, in this way, the handle on the outside of the door is
inoperative because movement of the handle transmitted to the
lever 35 is not transmitted to the pawl via the slide 38. The
pin 40 is carried on a slidable elongate rack 41 which is engaged
by a pinion 42 on the spindle of motor 23. Operation of the
motor drives the rack in the direction of its length to introduce
the pin into the openings in the slides 37, 38 or to withdraw the
pin from the openings in the slides 37, 38. The head 100 of the
pin 40 is received within an enclosed slot 101 at one end of the
rack 42. ~he slot 101 is open at one side so that when the pin
41 ls engaged with both openings, as shown in Figure 3, operation
of the~lever 35 will cause slides 37 and 38 to move together in
the direotion of the arrow and thus the head 100 of the pin moves
out of the slot 101 in the direction of the arrow along a track
102. The pinl will returln to the slot under the bias of springs
associated with the latch assembly (not sho-n).
In a simllar manner, a pivoted lever 36 is connected to the
handle on the inside of the door and this lever is connected to a
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flat slide 46 which lies against a second flat side 47. Openings
are provided in these slides and a pin 48 can be introduced into
the openings to connect the slides together. ~he pin 48 is
mounted on an elongate rack 49 which is engaged by a pinion 50 on
the spindle of an electric drive motor 28. ~y actuation of the
motor, the pin 48 can be introduced into, or withdrawn from, the
openings in the slides 46, 47 to connect or to disconnect the
lever 36 from the slide 47. The slide 38 and the slide 47 are ~-
connected to the same latch pawl 2. Extra rods or levers (not ~ -
shown) may be present to connect the slides to the latch pawl 2. ~ :
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Referring now to Figure l, a switch forming part of the lock on
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the vehicle door includes a movable member 10 which is moved by
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the action of turning a key introduced into the lock. Contacts
11 r 12 engageable with the member 10 are connected to the
positive and negative sides of the vehicle battery, respectively.
A further switch mounted inside the vehicle, conveniently on the `
dash board, has a movable member 16 which is engageable with ~ ; ~
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contacts 17, 18 connected to the positive and negative terminals
of the vehicle battery, respectively. ~he movable member 10 is
connected by a conneci~ion 20 including a diode 21 to the motor 23
which has a capacitor 22 in series with it. Connection 20 is ; ;~
connected to the motor 28 which also has a capacitor 27 in series
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~ with it.~ Thus, operation of the contact 10 on the switch on the ~
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outside of the door brings about operation of both motors 23, 28. -~
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Member 16 of the switch which is within the vehicle is connected
through a diode 29 to the motor 23 and its capacitor only.
Connection of member 10 to contact 11 drives the motors from the
battery to the positions where the pins 40, 48 are withdrawn from
the slides and the handles are disconnected from the latching
mechani~ms. Connection of member 16 to contact 17 drives motor
2~. ~he connection of the motors to the battery 15 stores charge
in the capacitors. Connection of the members 10, 16 to contacts
12, 18, respectively, cause the capacitors to be discharged
through the motors to drive them in the opposite direction to
introduce the pins into the holes in order to connect the
respective slides together. Because the door is unlocked by the
discharge of a capacitor, the mechanism requires no power from
the vehicle battery for unIocking, so that if electrical
connection is broken, e.g in an accldent, the doors may still be
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opened.
It wlll be appreciated that the two motors of the lock assembly
on each door ofithe vbhicle~'ca`n be ope~rated simultaneously~from
the two~swltches.
On~leaving a motor vehicle fitted with the above described door
look~ing~system, the user turns a key to operate member 10 causing
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the two motors on each door to operate to disengage the latching
mechanism from both the inside and the outside handles. If a
person is in the vehicle and operates the member 16 of the
internal switch, the outside handle is disengaged from the -;~
latching mechanism but the inside handle remains operative so
that the person can leave the vehicle without difficulty.
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The apparatus according to the invention is suitable for use both
with a direct action latch, where one or both of the handles
operates the latch directly, or with an indirect type where the
handles are connected by rods or cables to the latch. The
apparatus may be integrally provided as part of the latch
mechanism or may be present as an add-on accessory with the
majority of known types of latch mechanisms requiring little
modification.
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~he invention is not limited to the embodiment shown. For
example, the motors may be replaced with a bi-stable solenoid.
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' The circuit may be arranged so that the inside switch is capable ~-
of operating both the inside and outside handles. The lock may
include a mechanical override, e.g for the driver's door. The
~pparatus may include only one motor with the two racks being
sandwiched about the pinion so that rotation of the pinion causes
; the racks to be driven in opposing directions.
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