ITAN20100156A1 - LOCK PERFECTED FOR THE REAR DOOR OF CARS. - Google Patents

Description

DESCRIPTION

a in support of a patent application for industrial invention, entitled:

“PERFECTED LOCK FOR THE REAR DOOR OF CARS”.

TEXT OF THE DESCRIPTION

The present patent application for industrial invention relates to an improved lock, having its main application in the automotive sector, in particular for closing the rear doors of automobiles.

This is a type of lock known per se, which adopts a stop ratchet mechanism designed to prevent the lock from opening until an opening command intervenes.

More precisely, the lock in question is of the type comprising a rotating disk around a support pin and equipped with a hooked nose, having the task of hooking, during the closing phase of the rear door of the vehicle, an abutment projection, to the This is provided on the inner side of the edge of the compartment against which the hatch comes into contact at the closing stroke end.

Along the outer edge of said disc there is at least one retaining tooth adapted to cooperate with a stop pawl, consisting of a rocker lever, pivoted, at one of its ends, to a fixed pin, provided on the frame of the lock. .

Said stop pawl is subject to the action of a return spring which constantly pushes it against the edge of the disc, which in turn is subject to the action of a spring which tends to drag it into rotation in the direction to which the release of the its hooked nose with the aforementioned striking ridge, with consequent opening of the lock and lifting of the hatch.

The free end of said pawl is coupled to the door opening device, which is entrusted with the task of moving said pawl - overcoming the resistance offered by its return spring - in such a way as to make it oscillate in the direction to which it corresponds. away from the disc. If a manual door opening device is provided, the free end of said harpoon is hooked to an actuation cable which can be put into traction by acting on a special door opening lever located inside the passenger compartment of the door. car.

If an automatic door opening device is provided, the free end of said harpoon is associated with a slide moved by an electric motor, with the interposition of a reduction unit, whose starting is determined by acting on a push button. command, located inside the passenger compartment of the car.

More precisely, by starting said electric motor the automatic opening of the lock is determined, since said slide is made to move in such a direction as to move said pawl away from said disk, causing disengagement between said retaining tooth and said stop pawl, with consequent release of the disc towards its end position, which corresponds to the opening of the lock.

A lock of this type is illustrated and described in the Italian patent applications AN2005A000012 and MC2007A00038 of the same applicant.

This kind of locks for automotive use are affected by a drawback that inevitably occurs every time that - after having activated the tailgate opening device - said disc, despite being released from the respective stop pawl, fails to snap towards its limit switch position, which corresponds to the opening of the lock.

A similar occurrence occurs when the door is burdened by accidental external loads, such as a layer of snow, the weight of which contrasts the opening action exerted by the lifting pushers with which said doors are normally equipped.

In these cases, when the stop pawl, under the thrust of its return spring, interferes with the disc in front, the normal closing condition is automatically restored which sees the pawl itself hooked to a retaining tooth. of the disc, which has never abandoned its position corresponding to the closing position of the lock.

The effort of the user would be useless if - after operating the door opening device - he should decide to manually lift the tailgate trying to overcome the weight of the snow; well, such an attempt would still be destined to fail, since the manual opening of the door itself would be hindered, not so much by the weight of the snow, but by the automatic restoration of the lock closing condition.

The purpose of the present invention is to find a solution to the drawback described above.

A further purpose of the invention is to find a remedy for the problem by introducing simple improvements, which leave the basic structural configuration and the operating principle of this type of locks unchanged.

Not least object is that of adopting improvement modifications which are reliable, simple and economical to make.

All these objectives have been achieved by the invention which is the subject of this patent application, the main features of which are pointed out in the first of the attached claims.

The lock in question is characterized by the fact that it comprises a memory lever, free to oscillate around a pivot pin, so as to be able to oscillate between two end-of-stroke positions, in which it assumes an almost sub-horizontal and substantially orthogonal position. to the longitudinal axis of the harpoon. The free end of said memory interfaces with the free end of the harpoon, affecting or not the stopping position during its approach stroke to the disc.

About half of its length, said memory lever has a lower leg whose rounded foot is able to interact with the edge of the underlying disk, which bears a cam profile, able to cause the oscillation of the operating lever. during the rotation of the disc around its fulcrum pin, so it can be said that the position assumed from time to time by the memory lever is in turn conditioned by the position assumed by the aforementioned disc with hooked nose. For greater clarity of explanation, the description of the improved lock according to the invention continues with reference to the attached drawing tables, having only an illustrative and certainly not limiting value, in which:

- fig. 1 shows the main components of the lock according to the invention, seen from a direction parallel to the axis of rotation of the aforementioned disc with hooked nose, which is hooked to the relative grip, according to the configuration assumed by the lock in the closed position;

- Figures 2 to 4 are equivalent to Figure 1, but show a sequence of different positions assumed by the various kinematic members of the lock, following the actuation of the door opening device, in the event that said disc does not snap into its end position due to obstacles that prevent the normal opening of the tailgate. - fig. 5 is equivalent to fig. 1, but shows the lock in the open condition.

- figs. 6 and 7 show, with an axonometric and exploded view, the improved lock according to the invention seen from two different angles.

With reference to the aforementioned figures, the lock in question comprises - according to a constructive setting known per se - a retaining ratchet mechanism (A), contained within a box (S) closed by a lid (B).

Said retaining ratchet mechanism (A) uses a harpoon (1), in the jargon called "saltarello", consisting of a lever which is pivoted, at one (la) of its ends, on a fixed pin (2), while at its other end (1b) said lever (1) is associated with the door opening device, not shown in the figure.

Said retaining ratchet mechanism (A) also includes

a disk (4), idle rotatable around a support pin (5) parallel to the aforementioned fixed pin (2).

Said disk (4) has a hooked nib (6), having the task of hooking, during the closing phase of the lock, an abutment projection (7), so-called in the jargon "receipt".

Along the outer edge of said disc (4) there is at least one tooth (8) able to cooperate with a counter-tooth (9) obtained on the pawl (1), which is subject to the action of a return spring, which is not shown in the figure, which pushes it constantly against the edge of the disc (4), which in turn is subject to the action of its own return spring, which tends to drag it in rotation around its pin (5) in the direction - indicated from the arrow (F) in fig. 1- which corresponds to the release of its hooked nose (6) from the aforementioned "receipt" (7), with consequent opening of the lock and automatic lifting of the door due to the conventional pushers designed to facilitate the opening of the door itself. The lock in question is characterized by the fact that it includes a memory lever (10), free to swing around a pivot pin (11), located at one (10a) of the two ends (10a and 10b) of the lever (10 ).

Said pin (11) is parallel to the other two aforesaid pins (2 and 5); all three pins (2,5 and 1) are fixed immovably to the inside of the aforementioned box (S), as shown in figs. 6 and 7.

Said memory lever (10) oscillates between two end-of-stroke positions, in which it assumes an almost sub-horizontal position and substantially orthogonal to the longitudinal axis of the harpoon (1), as can be seen from the comparative examination between the figures from 1 to 5,

The other end (10b) of said memory (10) interfaces with the free end (lb) of the harpoon (1), affecting or not the stopping position during its approach stroke to the disc (4).

Said memory lever (10) has, at about half of its length, a lower leg (10c), whose rounded foot (10d) interacts with the edge of the underlying disk (4), which bears a cam profile (4a ), designed to cause the upward oscillation and facilitate the downward oscillation of the operating lever (10) during the rotation of the disc (4) around its pivot pin (5).

It should be noted that the memory lever (10) is also subject to the action of its own return spring, not shown in the figure, which constantly pushes it against the disk (4).

Figure 1 shows the position assumed by all the kinematic members of the lock in question, when the door is closed and the lock is in the closed position.

The opening rotation of the disc (4) is hindered by the fact that its tooth (8) is hooked to the counter-tooth (9) of the "pop-up" (1), which is pressed against the disc (4) by the return spring which acts on the "saltarello" (1).

The memory lever (10) is inactive in relation to the "pop-up" (1), since its end (10b) surmounts and rests on Γ end (lb) of the "pop-up" itself, without being able to hinder the oscillation of the “Saltarello”, away from the disc (4).

It should be noted that in this condition it is the latch (1) itself that holds the lever (10) raised and away from the underlying disk (4).

Let's assume, starting from this condition, that the door opening device is activated, with consequent application of a force (FI) on the "pop-up" (1) which causes it to oscillate away from the disk (4), as shown in fig. 2 .

If there are no obstacles to lifting the tailgate, the disc (4) would oscillate until it reaches its end-of-stroke position, which corresponds to the complete release of the "ticket" (7) from the hooked nose (6), as shown in fig. 5.

In this figure 5 it can be seen how the lock has moved away from the receipt (7), which is fixed to the luggage compartment, while the lock follows the opening movement of the door, being mounted on the door itself.

If, on the other hand, there are obstacles to lifting the hatch, the disc (4) is unable to swing, so it remains in its initial position, as shown in fig. 2, despite the "pop" (1) - following the actuation of the door opening device - has assumed its position of maximum distance from the disc (4).

Attention is drawn to the fact that - when the "saltarello" (1) assumes its position of maximum distance from the disk (4) - the support condition of the end (10b) of the memory lever (10) above is no longer Γ end (lb) of the "pop-up" (1), so that the lever itself (10), under the thrust of its own return spring, can lower and approach the underlying disk (4), stopping its descent stroke at the moment in which its foot (10d) abuts against the cam profile (4a) of the disc (4).

This new position assumed by the memory lever (10) prevents a new oscillation stroke of the "pop-up" (1) approaching the disc (4), a stroke that would take place automatically - due to the effect of the said return spring enslaved by the "pop-up" "(1) - as soon as the action exerted on the" pop-up "itself by the tailgate opening device ceases.

As highlighted in fig. 3, in fact, when the lever (10) is in the lowered position, its end (10b) faces the end (lb) of the "saltarello" (1), which therefore cannot approach the disc (4), despite the thrust suffered by its own return spring.

This means that the door can be lifted and opened by hand, only overcoming the load that accidentally weighs on the door itself, since the tooth (8) of the disc (4) and the counter-tooth (9) of the harpoon (1) they are not momentarily hooked together, as shown in fig. 3.

During the lifting of the tailgate by hand, Γ interference between the "receipt" (7) and the hooked nose (6) causes the rotation of the disk (4), which can thus reach its normal limit position, with the lock open, shown in fig. 5.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, during this rotation of the disc (4) - in the direction indicated by the arrow (F) of fig. 1 - the interference between the cam profile (4a) and the foot (10d) causes Γ upward oscillation of the memory lever (10), whose end (10b) returns to assume a position above Γ end (lb ) of the "saltarello" (1), which thus no longer finds an obstacle in making its run towards the disc (4), against which it abuts in a position that corresponds to that of a normal open lock, with a "pop" (1 ) in the return position, ready to engage the tooth (8) of the disc (4) as soon as the latter undergoes a subsequent backwards rotation (in the opposite direction to that indicated by the arrow (F) in fig. 1) during the final stroke of the tailgate closing.

Claims (6)

CLAIMS 1) Lock improved in particular for the rear doors of cars, comprising: - a harpoon or "saltarello" (1), consisting of a lever that is pivoted, at one (la) of its ends, on a fixed pin (2), while at its other end (lb) said lever ( 1) is associated with the door opening device; - a disk (4), oscillating between two end-of-stroke positions, which correspond to the closing and opening of the lock; said disk (4) oscillates around a support pin (5) parallel to the aforesaid fixed pin (2) and has a hooked nose (6) and at least one tooth (8) able to cooperate with a counter-tooth (9) obtained on the pawl (1), which is subject to the action of a return spring, which constantly pushes it against the edge of the disc (4), which in turn is subject to the action of its own return spring, which tends to drag it into rotation around its own pin (5) in the direction to which the opening of the lock corresponds, a lock characterized by the fact that it includes a memory lever (10), free to oscillate - between two end-of-stroke positions corresponding to the closing and opening of the lock - around a pivot pin (11), located at one (10a) of its two ends (10a and 10b), while its other end (10b) interfaces with the free end (lb) of the harpoon (1), affecting or not the stop position during its c bear approaching the disc (4). 2) Lock according to the preceding claim, characterized in that said memory lever (10) has, about half of its length, a leg (10c), whose foot (10d) interacts with a cam profile (4a) obtained on the edge of the disc (4). 3) Lock according to one or more of the preceding claims characterized in that - when the lock is closed - said memory lever (10) assumes a first end-of-stroke position, in correspondence with which its end (10b) rests on the end (lb) of the “pop-up” (1), which hinders the oscillation of the memory lever (10) as it approaches the disc (4). 4) Lock according to one or more of the preceding claims characterized in that - when the lock is open - said memory lever (10) assumes a second end-of-stroke position, in correspondence with which its foot (10d) adheres to the profile cam (4a) and its end (10b) faces the end (lb) of the "saltarello" (1), thus hindering the oscillation of the "saltarello" (1) approaching the disc (4). 5) Lock according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized by the fact that said cam profile (4a) interferes with said foot (10d) - during rotation of the disc (4) towards its end-of-stroke position which corresponds to the opening of the lock - in such a way as to push and return the memory lever (10) to its first end position. 6) Lock according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized by the fact that said memory lever (10) is equipped with its own return spring which tends to push it and bring it to its second end-of-stroke position