MOTOR VEHICLE LOCK, IN PARTICULAR MOTOR VEHICLE DOOR LOCK

Abstract

A motor vehicle lock, in particular a motor vehicle door lock, which is equipped with an electromotive drive for an actuation lever chain and in particular locking lever chain. An emergency energy store for providing electrical power to the drive in the event of emergency activation and in particular emergency unlocking is also provided. In accordance with the invention, the drive, for emergency actuation and in particular emergency unlocking, acts on the actuation lever chain or locking lever chain against the force of a restoring spring.

Claims

1. A motor vehicle lock comprising: an electromotive drive for an actuation lever chain; a restoring spring; and an emergency energy store for providing electrical power to the electromotive drive in the event of an emergency actuation for emergency unlocking, wherein the electromotive drive for emergency actuation for emergency unlocking acts on the actuation lever chain against a force of the restoring spring.

2. The motor vehicle lock according to claim 1, wherein the electromotive drive is equipped with a high-ratio gear.

3. The motor vehicle lock according to claim 2, wherein the high-ratio gear works via a flexible connector on a lever of the actuation lever chain.

4. The motor vehicle lock according to claim 1, wherein the electromotive drive is unidirectional.

5. The motor vehicle lock according to claim 1, wherein the actuation lever chain is equipped with a freewheel.

6. The motor vehicle lock according to claim 1, wherein the electromotive drive acts on the actuation lever chain for emergency unlocking, while a return of the actuation lever chain takes place without force from the electromotive drive.

7. The motor vehicle lock according to claim 1, further comprising a lock housing, wherein the electromotive drive is part of an attachment module attached to the lock housing.

8. The motor vehicle lock according to claim 1, further comprising a control unit, wherein the control unit makes an authentication check in response to an operator input before the emergency actuation for the emergency unlocking.

9. The motor vehicle lock according to claim 8, wherein the emergency energy store supplies the control unit with electrical energy for the authentication check.

10. The motor vehicle lock according to claim 9, wherein the control unit communicates with a key used by the operator to provide the operator input.

11. The motor vehicle lock according to claim 10, wherein communication between the control unit and the key is wireless.

13. The motor vehicle lock according to claim 1, wherein the actuation lever chain is a locking lever chain.

13. The motor vehicle lock according to claim 2, wherein the high-ratio gear is a thread gear.

14. The motor vehicle lock according to claim 7, wherein the attachment module further includes the emergency energy store.

15. The motor vehicle lock according to claim 7, wherein the attachment module is detachable from the lock housing.

15. The motor vehicle lock according to claim 1, wherein the restoring spring is initially tensioned by actuation of the actuation lever chain, and then after the electromotive drive has been switched off, the return spring returns the electromotive drive and the actuation lever chain back to their initial position.

16. The motor vehicle lock according to claim 1, wherein for the emergency unlocking, the electromotive drive acts on a lever of the actuation lever chain via a downstream gear.

17. The motor vehicle lock according to claim 1, wherein the restoring spring is a spiral spring which is connected at one end to a rear extension of an output shaft of the electromotive drive, and connected at another end to a housing of the motor vehicle door lock.

18. The motor vehicle lock according to claim 1, further comprising a mechanical actuation element for manually operating the actuation lever chain.

19. The motor vehicle lock according to claim 18, wherein the mechanical actuation element is an actuation nut that is manually operable by a tool.

Description

[0021] The invention is explained in greater detail below with reference to drawings which show only one exemplary embodiment. In the drawings:

[0022] FIG. 1 shows the motor vehicle lock according to the invention in the form of a motor vehicle lock in a schematic overview,

[0023] FIG. 2 shows the electromotive drive in detail, and

[0024] FIG. 3 shows a further detail from the object of FIG. 2.

[0025] In the drawings, a motor vehicle lock is shown, which is a motor vehicle door lock 1 within the scope of the exemplary embodiment and is not limited to this. For this purpose, the motor vehicle door lock 1 has a lock housing 2, inside which, for example and without limitation, a locking mechanism consisting of a catch and a pawl with the usual functionality is arranged. In addition, inside the housing 2 or the motor vehicle door lock 1, there is an actuation lever chain 3, which is indicated only schematically according to the exemplary embodiment in FIG. 1. The actuation lever chain 3 is designed in the exemplary embodiment and not restrictively as a locking lever chain and in particular a central locking chain.

[0026] In the overview according to FIG. 1, a motor vehicle-side control device or control unit 4 can also be seen. In addition, an emergency energy store 5 for providing electrical power to a drive 6 for the actuation lever chain or locking lever chain 3. The drive 6 acts on the locking lever chain 3 against the force of a restoring spring 7 in the event of an emergency unlocking to be described in more detail below.

[0027] However, before such an emergency unlocking occurs, an authentication check is carried out for an operator wishing to gain access. For this purpose, the operator wishing to gain access has a key 8 on the operator side. In the event of an emergency operation or emergency unlocking, the energy store 5 ensures that the control device or the control unit 4 is supplied with the required electrical energy, so that a preferably wireless (and indicated in FIG. 1) communication between the control unit 4 and the operator-side key 8 can take place.

[0028] In the event of this wireless or wired communication between the key 8 on the operator's side and the control unit 4 supplied with the aid of the emergency energy store 5, data are exchanged, by virtue of which the authorization of the operator carrying the key 8 on the operator's side is checked. If this authentication check of the operator is completed positively, the energy store 5 then ensures that the electromotive drive 6 is energized by virtue of the energy store 5 in order to transfer the locking lever chain 3 from its assumed “locked” position to the “unlocked” position.

[0029] For this purpose, the energy store 5 is connected to the control unit 4, and the control unit 4 in turn ensures that the electromotive drive 6 is acted upon if the authentication check has been completed positively. In the event of this emergency unlocking, the unidirectional drive 6 acts on the actuation lever chain or locking lever chain 3 against the force of the restoring spring 7. In detail, the drive 6 works on a lever 3a as part of the locking lever chain 3 via a downstream gear 9, 10 shown in detail in FIG. 2.

[0030] The gear 9, 10 is a high-ratio gear 9, 10, i.e. one that directly transmits rotations of an output shaft 9 of the electromotive drive 6 or an electric motor 6 implemented at this point to the lever 3a according to the exemplary embodiment, because the gear 9, 10 is a thread gear. This has a thread 10 wound on the output shaft 9, which thread converts the rotations of the output shaft 9 and consequently of the electric motor 6 directly into a shortening of the thread 10 indicated in FIG. 3. The shortening of the end of the thread 10 acting on the pivotable lever 3a with each revolution of the output shaft 9 results, as shown in the detail view in FIG. 3, in the lever or locking lever 3a ultimately being transferred from its “locked” position shown in dashed lines to the “unlocked” position shown in solid lines. This process may take several seconds due to the number of revolutions of the electric motor 6 corresponding to the pivoting path in question, but this is acceptable for the emergency operation or emergency unlocking described here. This is because the implemented high transmission ratio of the gear 9, 10 or the thread gear 9, 10 implemented by way of example corresponds to the fact that the drive 6 or electric motor can work with low currents. As a result, the emergency energy store 5 is only slightly loaded or an emergency energy store 5 with a small capacity can be used.

[0031] As a result, there is also the possibility that the electric motor 6 and the restoring spring 7 together with the energy store 5 define, as a whole, an attachment module 5, 6, 7 or 6, 7 indicated in FIG. 1, which energy store can be attached as a structural unit to the lock housing present there. However, the attachment module 5, 6, 7 in question can also only comprise the electric motor 6 and the associated restoring spring 7.

[0032] A comparison of FIGS. 2 and 3 also reveals that the gear 9, 10 works via a flexible connecting means 10 on the lever 3a as part of the locking chain 3. According to the exemplary embodiment, the flexible connecting means 10 and the thread 10 as part of the thread gear 9, 10 coincide, so that the structural design is particularly simple.

[0033] The fact that the drive 6 works unidirectionally also contributes to this, i.e. it can transfer the lever 3a from its “locked” position shown in dashed lines into the “unlocked” position shown in solid lines only in the direction indicated in FIG. 3, as an additional arrow drawn there makes clear.

[0034] In contrast, the return movement of the lever 3a and also of the drive 6 or the electric motor takes place by virtue of the restoring spring 7. For this purpose, the restoring spring 7 may be in the form of a spiral spring which is connected at one end to a rear extension of the output shaft 9 of the electric motor 6, whereas the other end of the restoring spring 7 or the spiral spring implemented in this context may be connected in a stationary manner, for example to the housing 2 of the motor vehicle door lock 1.

[0035] A comparison of FIGS. 2 and 3 also shows that the lever 3a is equipped with a freewheel. This means that it is only possible to act on the lever 3a so as to pull it from its position shown in dashed lines to the position shown in solid lines. The reverse movement of the lever 3a, on the other hand, may be ensured by an indicated spring associated with the lever 3a. On the other hand, after the described emergency unlocking, the restoring spring 7 ensures that the thread 10 previously wound up on the output shaft 9 during this process is unwound again. This means that the drive 6 acts on the lever 3a for emergency unlocking, while its return takes place without force, namely while being acted upon by the previously tensioned restoring spring 7 which can relax after the end of the emergency unlocking and thereby resets the motor and specifically unwinds the thread 10 from the output shaft 9.

[0036] In addition, an actuation element 11 is also shown in FIG. 1. The actuation element 11 may be a mechanical actuation element 11 and specifically an actuation nut 11 that can be acted upon, for example, with a tool, a key, a screwdriver, etc. According to the exemplary embodiment, the actuation nut 11 is located in the inlet region of the motor vehicle door lock 1. As a result, the actuation nut 11 is accessible when the motor vehicle door is open. If the motor vehicle lock 1 assumes the “unlocked” state of the locking lever chain 3 because the electromotive drive 6 is faulty, emergency locking can be ensured in this case and additionally by virtue of the mechanical actuation element or the actuation nut 11. For this purpose, the mechanical actuation element or the actuation nut 11 works on the lever 3a in such a way that it is transferred from the assumed “unlocked” position shown in solid lines to the “locked” position shown in dashed lines. At the same time, a locking button 12 may be moved accordingly, which is only shown for the sake of a simpler illustration. The actuation nut 11 is of course not necessary for the functionality described above in the event of the emergency unlocking.

LIST OF REFERENCE SIGNS

[0037] 1 Motor vehicle door lock

[0038] 2 Lock housing

[0039] 3 Actuation lever chain

[0040] 3a Lever

[0041] 4 Control unit

[0042] 5 Emergency energy store

[0043] 6 Drive

[0044] 7 Restoring spring

[0045] 8 Key

[0046] 9 Thread

[0047] 10 Output shaft

[0048] 11 Actuation nut