MOTOR VEHICLE DOOR LOCK, MORE PARTICULARLY HOOD LOCK

Abstract

A motor vehicle door lock, more particularly a hood lock. The basic structure of the hood lock is composed of a raising mechanism, for a locking bolt or another stop part, on a hood. An actuating spring acting on the raising mechanism is also provided, in addition to a sensor for sensing the position of the hood. According to the invention, an additional spring is provided which raises the hood if the actuating spring breaks down and/or malfunctions.

Claims

1. A motor vehicle door lock, particularly a hood lock, with a raising mechanism for a locking bolt or another stop part on a hood, and also with at least one actuating spring acting on the raising mechanism and with a sensor for position sensing of the hood, characterized by the provision of an additional spring, which raises the hood in the event of break down and/or a malfunction of the actuating spring.

2. The motor vehicle door lock according to claim 1, wherein the actuating spring is designed as a tension spring and has one end connected in a fixed manner to a lock housing and its other end connected to an actuator.

3. The motor vehicle door lock according to claim 2, wherein the raising mechanism also has a position element in addition to the actuator.

4. The motor vehicle door lock according to claim 3, wherein the actuator and the position element are flexibly interconnected.

5. The motor vehicle door lock according to claim 1, wherein the additional spring is designed as a leg spring.

6. The motor vehicle door lock according to claim 5, wherein the additional spring, which is designed as a leg spring, is connected with one spring leg to the actuator and impinges on the position element with its other spring leg.

7. The motor vehicle door lock according to claim 1, wherein the locking bolt or the other stop part on the hood directly or indirectly interacts with the actuator and/or the position element.

8. The motor vehicle door lock according to claim 3, wherein the position element interacts with the sensor.

9. The motor vehicle door lock according to claim 8, wherein the 10 position element has an actuating nose, which impinges on the sensor at least in the closed state of the hood.

10. The motor vehicle door lock according to claim 1, wherein the sensor is designed as a switch, particularly a microswitch.

Description

[0020] The invention is explained in further detail hereafter on the basis of a drawing which only constitutes an exemplary embodiment. The following are shown:

[0021] FIGS. 1 and 2 the inventive motor vehicle door lock in different views or functional positions.

[0022] The figures show a motor vehicle door lock and particularly a hood lock. The relevant lock actually serves to define a hood or front hood 1 on a body that is not shown in more detail in the exemplary embodiment. The hood 1 has a locking bolt 2. The locking bolt 2 interacts with a locking mechanism not shown in more detail in the figures, which consists of a catch designed as a fork latch and at least one pawl. There is also a snap hook or catch hook which holds the hood 1 in the raised position. The snap hook or catch hook is not shown, like the locking mechanism, but it engages the locking bolt 2.

[0023] In addition, there is an explicitly drawn raising mechanism 3, 4, 5 in the figures. The raising mechanism 3, 4, 5 ensures that the locking bolt 2 and the hood 1 are raised in relation to the body if, for example, the locking mechanism that is not explicitly shown is opened by means of a handle provided inside the motor vehicle or the like. This does not apply to the catch hook engaging in this case, which the locking bolt 2 secures in the position represented by a continuous line in FIG. 1.

[0024] The catch hook is not shown, like the locking mechanism. As usual, this catch hook must be manually removed by a driver in order to be able to open the hood or front hood 1 in its entirety. Furthermore, a sensor is provided for the position sensing of the hood 1. Sensor 6 enables the determination of whether the hood 1 is in its closed position in relation to the body. The closed position is usually also implemented by a driver by manually pressing down the hood 1.

[0025] For this purpose, the driver may press down the hood 1 to such an extent that it assumes its completely closed position in relation to the body, as shown by the dotted lines in the figures. In principle, however, it is also possible for the hood 1 to be dropped from its open position, for example, and reach its closed position via gravity. In both cases, the sensor 6 reports a corresponding closing signal to a control unit that is not explicitly shown, but which is connected to the sensor 6.

[0026] The raising mechanism 3, 4, 5 for the locking bolt 2 or another stop part on the hood 1 consists of a position element 3 and an actuator 4 in the exemplary embodiment. The two aforementioned elements 3, 4 are flexibly interconnected. A common axis or rotary axis 7 is provided for this purpose. The axis or rotary axis is defined by the strong bolt of one of the two elements 3, 4, which is set in a lock housing 8 or in an otherwise fixed manner.

[0027] The actuator 4 is applied by means of an actuating spring 9. In the exemplary embodiment, the actuating spring 9 is a coil spring or tension spring. The actuating spring 9 is attached with its one end 9a to the lock housing 8 and is thus attached in a fixed manner. The other end 9b of the actuating spring 9, on the other hand, is fitted to the actuator 4.

[0028] The raising mechanism 3, 4, 5 also has a swivel part 5 in addition to the position element 3 and the actuator 4. The swivel part 5 interacts with the locking bolt 2 on the hood 1. As soon as the hood 1 is pressed down in relation to the motor vehicle body, starting from the continuously drawn and raised position according to the representation in FIG. 1 in the direction of the arrow for closing the hood, this results in the swivel part 5 performing a swivel movement, namely in a clockwise direction around an axis that is not explicitly shown according to the representation in FIG. 1. At the same time, the swivel movement of the swivel part 5 leads to the position element 3 or the position lever 3 realized at this point performing a clockwise movement around the axis 7, which is also indicated in FIG. 1. The position element or the position lever 3 engages with a boom in a guide in the swivel part 5 and is thereby swiveled clockwise.

[0029] The closing movement of the hood 1, which is realized in this manner, results in the actuating nose 3a on the position element or position lever 3 actuating the sensor 6, which is designed as a switch. As soon as the hood 1 has assumed its completely closed position in relation to the car body, this closed state is detected by the sensor or switch 6 and is transmitted to the control unit that is not explicitly shown. At the same time, the swivel movement of the swivel part 5, which takes place during the closing process, ensures that the actuator 4, in comparison to the axis 7 shared with the position element 3, performs the counterclockwise movement that is also indicated in FIG. 1. During this process, the spring end 9b of the actuating spring 9 is driven, so that the actuating spring 9 is tensioned overall.

[0030] If the actuating spring 9 breaks or one of the spring ends 9a or 9b is disconnected, the position element 3 may still be swiveled as described and the actuating nose 3a may impinge on the sensor or switch 6. As a result of this, the sensor 6 may report a wrongly emitted closed signal to the control unit in such a case. The aim of preventing the latter issue resulted in the realization of the additional spring 10 according to the invention, which is particularly evident in FIG. 2 and which assumes the function of the actuating spring 9 in this case. The additional spring 10 is assigned to the raising mechanism 3, 4, 5 or interacts with this, comparable to the actuating spring 9.

[0031] The additional spring 10 actually ensures that the hood 1 is still raised in the event of break down and/or a malfunction of the actuating spring 9. At the same time, the sensor or switch 6 is not wrongly impinged in the event of a break down of the actuating spring 9. For this purpose, the additional spring 10 for the raising mechanism 3, 4, 5 is designed in total as a leg spring. It is evident that the leg spring has two spring legs 10a, 10b, which are connected to a common winding spring section that also connects the two spring legs 10a, 10b to each other. The leg spring is connected with its one spring leg 10a to the actuator 4. On the other hand, the other spring leg 10b of the leg spring impinges on the position element 3.

[0032] If, as previously described in the closing process, the closing bolt 2 impinges on the swivel part 5, thus opening the position element 3 and the actuator 4 with respect to the angle included between them, this results simultaneously in the leg spring intermediated between the two aforementioned elements 3, 4 also being opened in the closed state of the hood 1 in relation to the body and thus being tensioned. If the actuating spring 9 breaks down, the additional spring 10 thus ensures that the position element 3 and the actuator 4 are moved again towards each other by means of the additional spring 10. The additional spring 10 relaxes in the process. This then results directly in the raising of the hood 1 in such a case, and thus also the swiveling of the position element 3 in a counterclockwise direction around the axis 7 that is shared with the actuator 4. As a result, the actuating nose 3a on position element 3 cannot impinge on the sensor or switch 6. This means that the additional spring 10 prevents a signal, indicating a closed position of the hood 1 in relation to the body, from being wrongly transmitted by the sensor or switch 6 to the control unit in the event of break down of the actuating spring 9.

[0033] It is ensured instead in the context of the invention that by the return 5 to the additional spring 10, the sensor or switch 6 correctly assumes the position assumed by the hood 1. In particular, a wrongly indicated closed position of the hood 1 is prevented. These are the fundamental advantages.