Hoop Lock

Abstract

The invention relates to a hoop lock having a lock body and a hoop which is movable relative to the lock body between an open position and a closed position, wherein a latch is arranged in the lock body that is selectively movable into an unlocked position or into a locked position, with the latch locking the hoop at the lock body when the hoop is in the closed position and the latch is in the locked position. The latch is fastened to a pivot lever pivotable about a pivot axle and is movable between the unlocked position and the locked position by a pivot movement of the pivot lever.

Claims

1. A hoop lock having a lock body and a hoop that is movable relative to the lock body between an open position and a closed position, wherein a latch is arranged in the interior of the lock body that is selectively movable into an unlocked position or into a locked position, with the latch locking the hoop at the lock body when the hoop is in the closed position and the latch is in the locked position, wherein the latch is fastened to a pivot lever pivotable about a pivot axle and is movable between the unlocked position and the locked position by a pivot movement of the pivot lever.

2. A hoop lock in accordance with claim 1, wherein the pivot lever, including the latch, has a mass distribution with respect to the pivot axle that is selected such that an impulse acting on the hoop lock transversely to the pivot axle at least substantially does not cause a pivot movement of the pivot lever.

3. A hoop lock in accordance with claim 1, wherein the pivot lever comprises a first lever arm and a second lever arm, with the latch being fastened to the first lever arm.

4. A hoop lock in accordance with claim 3, wherein the latch is preloaded in the direction of the locked position.

5. A hoop lock in accordance with claim 4, wherein an actuation device is arranged in the lock body and cooperates with the pivot lever to move the latch against its preload from the locked position into the unlocked position.

6. A hoop lock in accordance with claim 5, wherein the actuation device cooperates with the second lever arm.

7. A hoop lock in accordance with claim 5, wherein the actuation device comprises a cam disk rotatable about a rotatable axle and having a cam section; and wherein the cam section pivots the pivot lever from the locked position into the unlocked position when the cam disk is in a predetermined unlocked position.

8. A hoop lock in accordance with claim 7, wherein the actuation device comprises an electric motor for driving the cam disk and a control unit connected to the electric motor; and wherein the control unit is configured to actuate the electric motor after reception of a transmitted unlocking command such that the cam section at least temporarily pivots the pivot lever into the unlocked position.

9. A hoop lock in accordance with claim 8, wherein the control unit is configured to actuate the electric motor after reception of a transmitted unlocking command such that the cam disk is rotated by exactly one revolution or a whole-number multiple of one revolution.

10. A hoop lock in accordance with claim 3, wherein the hoop and/or an inner housing of the lock body has a respective slit-shaped cutout; and wherein the first lever arm extends into the cutout.

11. A hoop lock in accordance with claim 1, wherein the hoop is preloaded in the direction of the open position; and wherein the hoop is moved from the closed position into the open position by the preload when the latch is moved into the unlocked position.

12. A hoop lock in accordance with claim 1, wherein the latch is preloaded in the direction of the locked position; wherein the hoop has a locking section with which the latch is in engagement when the hoop is in the closed position and the latch is in the locked position, and with the hoop having a slot section that cooperates with the latch such that the latch is temporarily moved into the locked position against its preload by a movement of the hoop from the open position into the closed position and being moved back due to its preload into the locked position and entering into engagement with the locking section of the hoop, on reaching the closed position.

13. A hoop lock in accordance with claim 1, wherein the latch comprises two ends that are opposite one another and that are arranged on sides of the pivot lever opposite one another, with the hoop having two locking sections and with each of the two ends of the latch being in engagement with one of the two locking sections of the hoop when the hoop is in the closed position and the latch is in the locked position.

14. A hoop lock in accordance with claim 1, wherein the lock body comprises a blocking section with which the latch is in engagement or that is arranged directly adjacent to the latch when the latch is in the locked position.

15. A hoop lock in accordance with claim 1, wherein the hoop is linearly movable in a direction of movement .

16. A hoop lock in accordance with claim 15, wherein the hoop lock is configured as a brake disk lock having a receiving gap for a brake disk, with the hoop being substantially L-shaped in the open position outside the lock body and having an elongate securing section and an elongate connection section, with the securing section extending transversely to the direction of movement of the hoop and having a free end, with the connection section substantially extending in parallel with the direction of movement of the hoop and connecting the securing section to the lock body, and with the hoop bounding the receiving gap together with the lock body in the closed position.

17. A hoop lock in accordance with claim 1, wherein the hoop spans a plane of extent of the hoop; and wherein the pivot axle of the pivot lever extends perpendicular to the plane of extent of the hoop.

18. A hoop lock in accordance with claim 7, wherein the hoop spans a plane of extent of the hoop, wherein the pivot axle of the pivot lever extends perpendicular to the plane of extent of the hoop; wherein the rotatable axle of the cam disk extends in the plane of extent of the hoop or offset in parallel therewith; and wherein the cam section is arranged at a peripheral side of the cam disk.

Description

FIGURES

[0032] There are shown:

[0033] FIGS. 1 and 2 show perspective views of a brake disk lock in an open position and in a closed position respectively of the hoop;

[0034] FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of parts of the brake disk lock of FIG. 2 with a removed housing;

[0035] FIG. 4 shows a longitudinal section of the brake disk lock of FIG. 1 in the closed position of the hoop and in a locked position of the latch;

[0036] FIG. 5 shows a longitudinal section of the brake disk lock of FIG. 1 along a plane perpendicular to the sectional plane in accordance with FIG. 4;

[0037] FIG. 6 shows a further longitudinal section of the brake disk lock of FIG. 1 along a plane that extends in parallel with the sectional plane in accordance with FIG. 4;

[0038] FIG. 7 shows a longitudinal section of the brake disk lock of FIG. 1 in accordance with FIG. 4 with a removed inner housing;

[0039] FIG. 8 shows a cross-section of the brake disk lock of FIG. 1 (locked position of the latch);

[0040] FIG. 9 shows a longitudinal section of the brake disk lock of FIG. 1 in an unlocked position of the latch;

[0041] FIG. 10 shows a longitudinal section of the brake disk lock in accordance with

[0042] FIG. 9 with a removed inner housing;

[0043] FIG. 11 shows a cross-section of the brake disk lock in accordance with FIGS. 9 and 10 (unlocked position of the latch);

[0044] FIGS. 12 and 13 show a longitudinal section or a cross-section of the brake disk lock in an intermediate position of the hoop; and

[0045] FIGS. 14 and 15 show a longitudinal section or a cross-section of the brake disk lock in the open position of the hoop.

DESCRIPTION

[0046] FIGS. 1 and 2 show a hoop lock which is configured as a brake disk lock and has a lock body 11 and a hoop 21. The hoop 21 is translatorily, i.e. linearly, movably supported in a direction of movement X at the lock body 11. FIG. 1 shows the hoop 21 in a closed position, whereas FIG. 2 shows the hoop 21 in an open position.

[0047] The lock body 11 has an outer housing 13 that is formed by a tubular section having a substantially rectangular cross-section and rounded edges. The longitudinal axis of the outer housing 13 corresponds to the direction of movement X of the hoop 21. The outer housing 12 has a receiving gap 14 at the end provided for the moving out of the hoop 21.

[0048] With respect to the open position in accordance with FIG. 2, in which the hoop 21 is moved out of the lock body 11, the hoop substantially has an L shape outside the lock body 11. The one limb of this L shape is formed by an elongate securing section 22 in the form of a hardened pin that extends perpendicular to the direction of movement X of the hoop 21. The other limb of the L shape is formed by an elongate connection section 23 that extends in parallel with the direction of movement X. The connection section 23 merges into a holding section 29 within the lock body 11. The securing section 22, the connection section 23, and the holding section 29 can be formed by a single casting.

[0049] The brake disk lock shown serves for the securing of a motorcycle or the like against an unauthorized use. For this purpose, the free end of the securing section 22 is introduced into an opening of a brake disk of the respective vehicle in the open position of the hoop 21 in accordance with FIG. 2. Subsequently, the lock body 11 is placed onto the brake disk such that the brake disk engages into the receiving gap 14 and the hoop 21 adopts the closed position in accordance with FIG. 1 in which the securing section 22 of the hoop 21 closes the receiving gap 14.

[0050] FIG. 3 shows the hoop 21 in the open position, with the outer housing 13 and an inner housing 12 of the lock body 11 being omitted. In addition to the securing section 22, the connection section 23, and the holding section 29 of the hoop 21, a pivot lever 31 can thus be recognized that has a first lever arm 34A and a second lever arm 34B. A pin-shaped latch 33 having a cylindrical cross-section is arranged at the free end of the first lever arm 34A. An actuation device for the pivot lever 31 is furthermore shown and will be described in more detail in the following. Finally, a rocker 71 is also shown whose function will likewise be explained below.

[0051] Further details of the brake disk lock are shown in FIGS. 4 to 15 that show the brake disk lock with different positions of the hoop 21 or of the latch 33. The pivot lever 31 is pivotably supported at the outer housing 13 about a pivot axle 32. The pivot axle 32 extends perpendicular to the planes of the drawings of FIGS. 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 12 and 14. The pin-shaped latch 33 extends at both sides of the first lever arm 34A and its longitudinal axis extends in parallel with the pivot axle 32.

[0052] A slit-shaped cutout 28 within which the pivot lever 31 or the first lever arm 34A can move extends in parallel with the longitudinal axis of the outer housing 13 and is introduced in a part section of the inner housing 12.

[0053] The holding section 29 of the hoop 21 has a corresponding slit-shaped cutout so that the holding section 29 is divided into two mutually oppositely disposed limbs 29A, 29B. The holding section 29 generally has a locking section 25 extending transversely to the direction of movement X of the hoop 21 and a slot section 24 extending obliquely to the direction of movement X, with the locking section 25 and the slot section 24 being divided by the cutout in the holding section 29 such that a respective part section of the locking section 25 and a part section of the slot section 24 are formed at each limb 29A, 29B. The pivot lever 31 or the first lever arm 34A extends between the two limbs 29A, 29B, with a respective axial end of the latch 33 cooperating with a respective part section of the locking section 25 or of the slot section 24. The hoop 21 thus effectively comprises two locking sections 25 and two slot sections 24 in a center-symmetrical arrangement (cf. FIGS. 3 and 5) that each cooperate with an associated end of the latch 33, with in the following reference only being made for reasons of simplicity to one locking section 25 or slot section 24.

[0054] A blocking section 15 is formed at the outer housing 13 and is disposed opposite the locking section 25 in the closed position of the hoop 21 so that the locking section 25 and the blocking section 15 form a receiver for the latch 33 in the closed position. The blocking section 15 is likewise divided.

[0055] The hoop 21 is preloaded in the direction of the open position by means of a hoop preloading spring 26, with the hoop preloading spring 26 being supported at the inner housing 12, on the one hand, and at a centering section 27 of the hoop 21, on the other hand. In the drawings, the hoop preloading spring 26 is always shown in a compressed state, even when the hoop 21 is in an intermediate position or in the open position.

[0056] The pivot lever 31 is preloaded in the direction of its locked position (FIGS. 4 to 8) by means of a pivot lever preloading spring 35.

[0057] An actuation device is provided in the interior of the lock body 11 and comprises an electric motor 51 that can rotatably drive a cam disk 41 whose rotatable axle 42 extends in parallel with the direction of movement X of the hoop 21. A cam section 43 that cooperates with the second lever arm 34B of the pivot lever 31 is formed at the peripheral side of the cam disk 41. An elevated portion 65 that actuates a position switch 61 via a ball 63 is formed at the front side of the cam disk 41 facing the electric motor 51. The electric motor 51 and the position switch 61 are connected to a control unit (not shown).

[0058] The rocker 71 projecting into the receiving gap 14 is connected to a further position switch (not shown) that is configured to detect the position of the rocker 71. When an object, in particular a brake disk of a vehicle, is located in the receiving gap 14, this is signaled to the control unit. An alarm mode of the brake disk lock can hereby be activated in which manipulations and/or movements of the brake disk lock can be detected by suitable sensors. In such a case, the control unit can control an alarm signal output device (not shown) to output an acoustic and/or visual alarm signal and/or to initiate the transmission of corresponding alarm reports by radio.

[0059] The operation of the brake disk lock will be explained in more detail in the following.

[0060] When the hoop 21 is in the closed position and the latch 33 is in the locked position (FIGS. 4 to 8), the hoop 21 is blocked at the respective locking section 25 by means of the latch 33 in the closed position and an opening of the hoop 21 is not possible. Any forces acting on the hoop 21 on a forcible opening attempt are transmitted from the locking section 25 via the latch 33 onto the blocking section 15 and thus onto the outer housing 13. Such opening forces thus at least do not act only on the rotatable axle 32 of the pivot lever 31 so that an unauthorized opening of the brake disk lock is not even possible on a possible breaking of the pivot axle 32.

[0061] For an authorized opening of the brake disk lock, a corresponding control command can be transmitted to the control unit, with this preferably taking place wirelessly, in particular by means of an associated remote control unit or of a correspondingly authorized end device of the user (e.g. a smartphone, a smart watch, a tablet, or the like). The control of the electric motor 51 takes place such that the cam disk 41 is driven by exactly one revolution in a direction of rotation D running clockwise (FIGS. 8, 11, 13, and 15). Once the cam disk 41 has made exactly one revolution, the electric motor 51 is deactivated again, which is controlled by means of the elevated portion 65 and of the position switch 61.

[0062] FIGS. 9 to 11 show an intermediate position of the brake disk lock with the rotated cam disk 41 in the unlocked position in which the cam section 43, due to the spacing of the cam section 43 from the rotatable axle 42 first increasing in the direction of rotation D pivots the second lever arm 34B of the pivot lever 31 in the direction of the adjacent wall of the outer housing 13. The latch 33 is pivoted from its locked position (FIGS. 4 to 8) into its unlocked position (FIGS. 9 and 10) by this pivot movement so that the latch 33 is now out of engagement with the blocking section 15 and the respective locking section 25.

[0063] Due to the preload of the hoop 21, it now moves in the direction of its open position since the blocking by the latch 33 is canceled. This procedure is shown in FIG. 12 that shows the hoop 21 in an intermediate position. As the associated FIG. 13 shows, the cam disk 41 has in the meantime already returned into its base position in accordance with FIGS. 4 to 8. Since the second lever arm 34A is now no longer in engagement with the cam section 43, the pivot lever 31 can be urged back in the direction of its locked position by the pivot lever preloading spring 35. In this process, the latch 33 first slides along the wall of the holding section 29 exactly perpendicular to the respective locking section 25 or in parallel with the direction of movement X and finally returns to the locked position along the obliquely extending respective slot section 24.

[0064] Alternatively, the cam disk 41 can also be rotated about a plurality (e.g. two) revolutions so that an unlocking can also take place when the hoop 21 is temporarily blocked and does not immediately jump into its open position.

[0065] FIGS. 14 and 15 show the brake disk lock with the hoop 21 in its open position and with the latch 33 in its locked position.

[0066] The brake disk lock can now be fixed at a brake disk or the like and can then be moved into the closed position. To close the hoop 21, a force must be exerted on it that again compresses the hoop preloading spring 26. During the closing procedure, the latch 33 slides along the respective slot section 24 and is hereby moved from the locked position into the unlocked position (similar to FIG. 12). The latch 33 in turn slides along the lateral wall of the respective holding section 29 until the hoop 21 has reached the closed position. Due to the preload of the pivot lever preloading spring 35, the latch 33 springs from the unlocked position back into the locked position and moves into engagement with the blocking section 15 of the outer housing 13 and the locking section 25 of the hoop 21.

[0067] The brake disk lock hereby has an automatic function that makes an actuation of the electric motor 51 for locking the brake disk lock or the closed hoop 21 superfluous.

[0068] As is shown in FIG. 3, the first lever arm 34A and the second lever arm 34B are disposed opposite one another. A certain mass balancing is thereby achieved between the first lever arm 34A having the latch 33, 34B and the second lever arm 34B. The moment of inertia of the pivot lever 31, including the latch 33, is hereby very small with respect to impulses acting on the brake disk lock from the outside and transversely to the pivot axle 32. An unauthorized opening of the brake disk lock by the so-called hammer blow method in which a moment of inertia of the latch 33 should be utilized to temporarily move it into the unlocked position is largely precluded. It is generally not necessary to bring about a complete mass balancing at the pivot lever 31 for this purpose. Any remaining small moment of inertia with respect to the pivot axle 32 that could result in a rotational movement of the pivot lever 31 due to a translatory impulse acting transversely to the pivot axle 32 can be compensated by the pivot lever preloading spring 35.