WO2006072523A1

WO2006072523A1 - Electric lock comprising a coupling means for the kinematic chain

Info

Publication number: WO2006072523A1
Application number: PCT/EP2005/056540
Authority: WO
Inventors: Anthony Aubry; Jean-Christophe Pecoul
Original assignee: Valeo Securite Habitacle (Sas)
Priority date: 2005-01-04
Filing date: 2005-12-06
Publication date: 2006-07-13
Also published as: FR2880377B1; FR2880377A1

Abstract

The invention relates to an electric lock, for carrying out an action, such as assistance for the opening/closing of an associated opening, comprising a motor (1) with a drive shaft (2) to operate an operating kinematic chain (6), said drive shaft (2) directly cooperating with a drive means (5) for transmission of the rotation thereof to the kinematic chain (6), characterized in that the drive means (5) is arranged essentially perpendicular to the axis XX' of the drive shaft (2) and comprises at least two sections (5' and 5''). One (5') of the two sections is mobile with the mechanical action of the drive shaft (2) such that said mobile section (5') may be engaged or disengaged to or from the second section (5''). The invention further relates to a vehicle provide with said electric lock.

Description

ELECTRICAL LOCK HAVING A COUPLING MEANS OF THE CINEMARY CHAIN

The invention relates to an electric lock, or electrically actuated, for performing an action, such as assisting the opening / closing on an associated opening. It relates in particular to locks of motor vehicles.

In the following, the electric lock according to the invention will be described in connection with an opening of a motor vehicle.

Vehicle locks are already known in which one or more electric actuators actuate appropriate kinematic mechanisms to move the lock from a partial closure position, obtained by manually pressing the door, to a fully closed position. , and to cause the opening following a given order, for example by means of a handle or a push-button.

These electric locks must allow manual emergency operation, in case of failure of the electrical installation of the vehicle; this implies the use of additional kinematic mechanisms that are able to exclude at the desired time the electric actuators and their kinematic chains of the closure members, namely the bolt and the pawl.

It has been proposed in WO 0049252 to use electromagnetic clutches to enable the coupling / decoupling of the electric drive train to allow manual actuation.

However, these electromagnetic clutches have several disadvantages, namely the need for additional connections, relatively bulky and expensive, and an additional power consumption.

Thus, at present, there is no simple and inexpensive system on the market allowing the coupling / decoupling of the electrical kinematic chain of the closing members.

The invention aims to solve the disadvantages of the systems of the prior art by providing a simple means of coupling / decoupling the electrical kinematic chain, requiring no or few additional parts, so both inexpensive and little large.

The invention relates more particularly to an electric lock for executing an action, such as assisting the opening / closing of an associated leaf, comprising a motor having a motor shaft for actuating a actuating kinematic chain, said motor shaft cooperating directly with a means driving device adapted to communicate its rotation to the drive train, characterized in that the drive means is located substantially perpendicular to the axis XX 'of the drive shaft and comprises at least two portions, one of the two portions is movable under the mechanical action of the motor shaft so that the movable portion is adapted to engage / disengage the second portion.

The term "directly" means that the motor shaft is in contact with the drive means without any intermediate element.

Furthermore, the invention is characterized in the substantially perpendicular or perpendicular placement of the motor abre relative to the drive means, or conversely, which saves space in the lock and makes it reliable. actually the operation of the device of the invention.

Preferably, the second portion is in permanent contact, or integral with the kinematic chain.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the drive shaft, or a screw-end-end attached to the motor shaft, and the movable portion have on their external faces inclined toothing so that the rotation of the motor shaft drives the movable portion in displacement.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the drive means will consist of two portions.

Advantageously, the movable portion of the drive means comprises an engaging means with the second portion of said means.

The invention is described below in more detail, using figures representing only preferred embodiments of the invention.

Figure 1 is a schematic perspective view of an assembly comprising the means specific to the invention,

Figure 2 is a schematic representation of the motor return electronic means adapted to change the direction of rotation of the motor.

As shown in Figure 1, the electric lock according to the invention comprises a motor 1 adapted to rotate a motor shaft 2. The motor 1, when active, does not rotate the motor shaft 2 only in a first and only direction of rotation, also called "active sense" SA. The motor shaft is constituted by a screw-end-end or this endless screw is fixed on the drive shaft 2. According to the embodiment chosen to illustrate the invention, the outer face, or outer, of this Endless screw 2 comprises an inclined toothing 3, that is to say that the teeth, or grooves, of this endless screw 2 extend conventionally obliquely with respect to the longitudinal axis X'X of the motor shaft 2.

The electric lock also comprises a motor return means 4 acting on the motor 1 to allow it to rotate in the opposite direction, or reverse, to its first sense, also called "inactive sense" SI. This motor return means 4 may be mechanical or consist of an electronic circuit for rotating the motor in the other direction of rotation.

The main feature of the invention lies in the clutch means, or drive 5, the actuating kinematic chain 6. In the example chosen to illustrate the invention, the driving means is essentially consisting of two portions 5 'and 5 "capable of cooperating with each other so that the portion 5' in contact with the drive shaft 2 can communicate its rotation to the portion 5" of the drive means 5 in contact with the driveline 6. Note that here the kinematic chain is represented by a single gear wheel 6 for reasons of clarity while the kinematic chain comprises a plurality of meshing pinions.

Of course, the clutch 5 or drive means may be made in addition to two portions 5 ', 5 ".In fact, it is only essential that the drive means 5 can be split into two and thus stop acting, or to communicate its rotation, on the kinematic chain 6. Thus, in the example illustrated in the accompanying figures, a first portion 5 'is in contact with the endless screw of the motor shaft 2 so that the latter 2 communicates its rotation to this portion 5 'This first portion 5' is able to move under the action of the drive shaft 2. Here, the displacement means consists of the cooperation of endless screw 2 and this first portion 5 '.

Indeed, the outer face of the first portion 5 ', said movable portion, has an inclined toothing 7 adapted to cooperate with the oblique toothing 3, or inclined, of the screw-endless 2 so that when the motor 1 rotates in its active direction, the movable portion 5 'moves towards the other portion 5 "of the drive means 5, according to the arrow F, in order to cooperate or to mesh with the latter 5" to activate the drive train 6 and perform the function of actuating the electric lock. This active direction of rotation of the motor shaft 2 thus enables coupling, automatically and without additional part, the kinematic chain 6 to the motor 1, or to the motor shaft 2.

When the motor shaft 2 rotates in the inactive direction, that is to say under the action of the motor return means 4, the movable portion 5 'of the drive means 5 moves in the opposite direction , or contrary to the arrow F to disengage the portion 5 "in order to decouple the drive shaft 2 of the drive train 6. This disengaging phenomenon of the drive train 6 takes place at the end of each electrical actuation so that, at any time, in particular when a fault appears in the electrical installation of the lock, the door or even the vehicle, all the functions of the lock, namely the opening / closing and / or the locking / unlocking, remain executable by manual control or with a key.

The movable portion 5 'of the drive means 5 comprises a plurality of protuberances 8, or jaw, extending in the longitudinal axis Y' Y of said portion 5 '. These two protuberances 8 are here of substantially rectangular or square shape but they can be of any shape provided to be projecting and that the portion 5 "of the drive means 5 has housings, or cavities, able to accommodate said protuberances 8 so that the latter 8 communicate the rotation of the movable portion 5 ', and therefore of the drive shaft 2, to the portion 5 "of the drive means 5. In this way, the coupling is simple and effective of the two portions 5 'and 5 "of the drive means 5.

It may also be envisaged to replace the protuberances 8 of the portion 5 'and the housing of the portion 5 "by cooperating friction means present on the respective contact surfaces of the portions 5' and 5". Thus, the movable portion 5 'of the drive means 5 comprises a friction means cooperating with a friction means present on the second portion 5 "of said means 5. For example, these friction means may consist of a layer of material of friction fixed on each of the two respective surfaces in contact If necessary, this solution may have the advantage of allowing the removal of this layer when it is used for its replacement with a new layer.

The second portion 5 "of the drive means 5 here consists of a fixed element whose toothed wheel 9 is in permanent contact with a toothed wheel of the drive train 6.

Thus, when the movable portion 5 'is in cooperation with the fixed portion 5 ", the kinematic chain 6 is actuated by the motor 1 to perform a function and when the movable portion 5' is disengaged from the fixed portion 5" , the kinematic chain 6 is inoperative and the user can still activate the lock manually.

The mechanical motor return means 4, not shown in the accompanying figures, may consist of a spiral spring capable of compressing when the motor shaft 2 rotates in the active direction. Thus, when the motor 1 has finished turning to achieve the desired actuation, the spiral spring will, thanks to the energy accumulated during the actuation phase, to turn the motor 1 in the opposite direction, that is to say that is to say in the inactive direction, so that the motor shaft 2 recesses the movable portion 5 'of the drive means 5 to decouple or disengage the kinematic chain 6.

If the spiral spring can not accumulate all of the energy released by the rotation of the motor 1 in the active direction, that is to say that the spiral spring is blocked before the end of the rotation of the motor 1 for performing the actuation, it is possible to provide a reducing means, not shown in the accompanying figures, consisting of example in one or more pinion (s) so that the elastic mechanical means of energy accumulation can accumulate all of the energy released by the rotation of the motor 1 without blocking. Note that typically the engine 1 rotates at most one or two seconds (s) to achieve a usual operation, for example assistance in opening the lock or the opening.

[0031] Figure 2 illustrates an embodiment of an electric or electronic motor return means. This return means is adapted to reverse the polarity across the motor 1 so as to then control the reverse rotation of the motor 1, from the active direction to the inactive direction. In FIG. 2, the electronic circuit comprises a control means 10 connected to four transistors 11, 11 ', 12, 12', functioning as switches, and cooperating two by two in the electric circuit to circulate the current in two directions Thus, when the two transistors 11, 11 'are blocking, or open, the other two transistors 12, 12' are on, or closed, to let the current flow in the direction 1 while when the two transistors 11, 11 'are open, the two transistors 12, 12' are closed and the current flows in the direction 2. The control means 10 controls the open / closed state of the four transistors 11, 11 ', 12, 12' for perform the circulation of the current in both directions 1, 2 and interrupt the flow of current in the electrical circuit. To achieve the same function, it will also be possible to use two double-contact relays in place of the four transistors 11, 11 ', 12, 12'.

It is clear that the drive means 5, comprising at least two portions 5 'and 5 ", is moved by the motor shaft 2 according to the direction of rotation of the latter, a direction being provided for the 5 'clutch and the opposite direction being provided for the disengagement of this portion 5' Nevertheless, it can be provided that the motor shaft 2 rotates in only one direction to achieve the clutch and disengagement of the portion 5 'of the drive means 5, for example using a worm or other mechanical system capable of performing this function.

The invention also relates to a motor vehicle, not shown in the accompanying figures, having at least one electric lock, associated with an opening, as described above.

Claims

claims

Electrical lock for the execution of an action, such as assistance in opening / closing an associated leaf, comprising a motor (1) having a motor shaft (2) for actuating a chain kinematic actuator (6), said drive shaft (2) cooperating directly with a drive means (5) adapted to communicate its rotation to the kinematic chain (6), characterized in that the drive means (5) is located substantially perpendicular to the axis XX 'of the drive shaft (2) and comprises at least two portions (5' and 5 "), one (5 ') of the two portions is movable under the mechanical action of the motor shaft (2) so that this movable portion (5 ') is adapted to engage / disengage the second portion (5 ").

Electrical lock according to claim 1, characterized in that the second portion (5 ") is in permanent contact with the kinematic chain (6).

Electrical lock according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the motor shaft (2), or a screw-endless fixed on the motor shaft (2), and the movable portion (5 '). have on their external faces an inclined toothing so that the rotation of the motor shaft (2) drives the movable portion (5 ') in displacement.

Lock according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the drive means (5) consists of two portions (5 'and 5 ").

Electrical lock according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the movable portion (5 ') of the drive means (5) comprises an engagement means (8) with the second portion (5 ") said means (5).

Electrical lock according to claim 5, characterized in that the engagement means (8) consists of a plurality of protuberances, the protuberances being adapted to be housed in cavities of substantially identical shapes to those of said protuberances, present on the second portion (5 ").

Electrical lock according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the movable portion (5 ') of the drive means (5) comprises a friction means cooperating with a friction means present on the second portion (5 ") of said means (5).

Electrical lock according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises a motor return means (4) adapted to rotate the motor shaft (1) in the opposite direction to the actuating direction of the kinematic chain.

Electrical lock according to claim 8, characterized in that the motor return means (4) consists of a mechanical means.

Electrical lock according to claim 9, characterized in that the means mechanical consists of a spring return means, such as a spiral spring, able to store energy during rotation of the motor (1) in the first direction of rotation. Electrical lock according to claim 10, characterized in that it comprises a reducing means, such as at least one pinion. Electrical lock according to claim 8, characterized in that the motor return means (4) consists of an electronic means for inverting the polarity across the motor (1). Motor vehicle characterized in that it comprises at least one electric lock according to any one of the preceding claims.