MOTOR VEHICLE DOOR LOCK

Abstract

The invention relates to a motor vehicle door lock which is equipped with a locking mechanism (1, 2) that consists essentially of a rotary latch (1) and a pawl (2). Furthermore, an electrical drive (3, 4) for the locking mechanism (1, 2) is provided. Moreover, an actuating lever chain (5, 6, 7) is implemented between the electrical drive (3, 4) and the locking mechanism (1, 2), wherein a coupling element (7) of the actuating lever chain (5, 6, 7) can at least be decoupled with the aid of an emergency actuating element (9, 10) that can be acted on manually. According to the invention, the emergency actuating element (9, 10) acts on the coupling element (7) predominantly in a linear manner in relation to a link (8).

Claims

1. A motor vehicle door lock comprising: a locking mechanism that includes a rotary latch and a pawl, an electric drive for operating the locking mechanism, and an actuating lever chain that is implemented between the electric drive and the locking mechanism, wherein the actuating lever chain includes a coupling element and a link through which the coupling element is moveable from a consistently assumed coupled position to a decoupled position with the aid of a manually actuatable emergency actuating element, wherein the emergency actuating element acts on the coupling element by moving the coupling element through the link.

2. The motor vehicle door lock according to claim 1, wherein, by pulling or pushing, the emergency actuating element transfers the coupling element from thes consistently assumed coupled position to the decoupled position.

3. The motor vehicle door lock according to claim 1, wherein the coupling element includes a pin, and the emergency actuating element engages the pin of the coupling element and guides the pin through the link.

4. The motor vehicle door lock according to claim 3, wherein the locking mechanism includes a release lever, and the link is provided on thea release lever.

5. The motor vehicle door lock according to claim 1, wherein the locking mechanism includes first and second release levers that are mechanically connected to one another by the coupling element in the coupled position and separated from one another in the decoupled position.

6. The motor vehicle door lock according to claim 5, wherein the first and second release levers are mounted on a same axis, wherein the link is provided on the second release lever.

7. The motor vehicle door lock according to claim 1 further comprising a lock housing that houses at least a portion of the locking mechanism, wherein the emergency actuating element passes through a separable opening in the lock housing for interaction with the coupling element.

8. The motor vehicle door lock according to claim 7, wherein the emergency actuating element is a component part of a vehicle that includes the motor vehicle door lock.

9. The motor vehicle door lock according to claim 1 further comprising a lock housing that houses at least a portion of the locking mechanism, wherein the emergency actuating element includes a closure covering an opening in the lock housing and includes an attached flexible actuating element.

10. The motor vehicle door lock according to claim 9, wherein the lock and the actuating element are formed in one piece.

11. The motor vehicle door lock according to claim 10, wherein the lock and the actuating element are formed in one piece as a single plastic molded part.

12. The motor vehicle door lock according to claim 9, wherein the attached flexible actuating element includes a plastic cable mounted onto a closing plug.

13. The motor vehicle door lock according to claim 12, wherein attached flexible actuating element furthers includes a spring that acts on the closing plug.

14. The motor vehicle door lock according to claim 12, wherein the plastic cable engages a pin of the coupling element that is guided in the link.

15. The motor vehicle door lock according to claim 1, wherein the emergency actuating element acts on the coupling element by moving the coupling element linearly with respect to the link.

Description

[0022] The invention is explained in greater detail below with reference to drawings, which show only one exemplary embodiment. The single figure shows the motor vehicle door lock according to the invention schematically and in perspective, reduced to the components which are essential for the invention.

[0023] The single figure shows a motor vehicle door lock which, in its basic structure, has a locking mechanism 1, 2 consisting essentially of a rotary latch 1 and a pawl 2. The locking mechanism 1, 2 is only indicated in the figure. This also applies to an electromotive drive 3, 4 for the locking mechanism 1, 2, of which only an output-side gear 3 with a cam 4 can be seen in the figure. The gear 3 with the cam 4 is driven by an electric motor, not shown.

[0024] The electric or electromotive drive 3, 4 works to open the locking mechanism 1, 2 on two release levers 5, 6, which are mounted coaxially with one another in a lock housing G made of plastics material, which is not specified in more detail. Moreover, a coupling element 7 is implemented, by which the two release levers 5, 6, of which essentially a pin engaging in a link 8 of the second release lever 6 can be seen, are mechanically connected to one another and separated.

[0025] If the coupling element 7 is in its “coupled” position, the two release levers 5, 6, i.e. the first release lever 5 and the second release lever 6, are mechanically connected to one another. Normal operation corresponds to this. In this case, acting on the drive 3, 4 leads to the first release lever 5 typically being pivoted in the counterclockwise direction indicated in FIG. 1, and in this case the second coupling lever 6 connected mechanically via the coupling element 7 is likewise entrained. The counterclockwise movement of the two release levers 5, 6 coupled to one another now has the consequence that the pawl 2, which engages in the rotary latch 1 in a latching manner in the closed state of the locking mechanism 1, 2, is lifted from its latching engagement. As a result of this, the rotary latch 1 can open with the assistance of a spring and can release a locking bolt, not shown in detail and described in the introduction to the description, usually with the assistance of a spring. Further details of this are described in the generic DE 10 2017 124 531 A1, which has a similar lock structure.

[0026] If the electric drive 3, 4 does not move, or does not move completely into its basic position or normal position shown in FIG. 1 according to the described opening process, this results in an actuating lever chain 5, 6, 7 formed from the two release levers 5, 6 and the coupling lever 7 remaining closed. In such a case, when normal operation is disrupted, this closed actuating lever chain 5, 6, 7 between the electric drive 3, 4 and the locking mechanism 1, 2 ensures that the pawl 2 is at least partially held or remains held in its lifted position relative to the rotary latch 1. As a result, in a subsequent closing process, the locking bolt can indeed move into an inlet mouth of the rotary latch 1, but in this case the pawl 2 is not able to interact with the rotary latch 1 in a latching manner. In this case the locking mechanism 1, 2 remains open and the associated motor vehicle door cannot be locked (manually).

[0027] In order nevertheless to provide a type of emergency locking or emergency actuation of the locking mechanism 1, 2 or the actuating lever chain 5, 6, 7, according to the exemplary embodiment an emergency actuating element 9, 10 that can be acted on manually is implemented. According to the invention, with the aid of the emergency actuating element 9, 10, the coupling element 7 can be acted on in a predominantly linear manner with respect to the link 8. In contrast, in the generic teaching according to DE 10 2017 124 531 A1, for example, the emergency actuating element is subjected to a rotating action, which works on the coupling element there via the eccentric.

[0028] In detail, according to the invention the emergency actuating element 9, 10 ensures that the coupling element 7 is acted on in a pulling manner. In this case, the coupling element 7 is transferred from its consistently assumed “coupled” position to the “decoupled” state. In addition, the design is such that the emergency actuating element 9, 10 optionally engages the already mentioned pin guided in the link 8 as an essential part of the coupling element 7. The link 8 is provided on a release lever 5, 6, specifically the second release lever 6.

[0029] The possibility of designing the emergency actuating element 9, 10 as an external tool is not shown. With the help of this external tool, a separable opening in the lock housing for interaction with the coupling element 7 can be pierced by an operator. In the exemplary embodiment, a variant is shown in which the emergency actuating element 9, 10 is designed as a closure 9 which covers an opening in the lock housing G and has an attached flexible actuating element 10. In fact, according to the exemplary embodiment, the closure 9 and the actuating element 10 are designed in one piece as a plastics molded part. That is, the closure 9 and the actuating element 10 can be produced and implemented jointly and particularly inexpensively in a plastics injection molding process. The flexible actuating element 10 may be a cable molded onto the closure 9.

[0030] As soon as the closure 9 covering the opening has been removed from the opening by an operator in the event of an emergency actuation, the operator in question can act (by pulling) on the coupling element 7 or the pin thereof via the flexible actuating element 10 connected to the closure 9. For this purpose, the flexible actuating element 10 can additionally be guided via a deflection 11 in the lock housing G, which of course is not mandatory.

TABLE-US-00001 List of reference signs 1, 2 locking mechanism 1 rotary latch 2 locking mechanism 3, 4 electromotive drive 3 gear 4 cam 5, 6, 7 actuating lever chain 5, 6 release lever 5 first release lever 6 second release lever 7 coupling element 8 link  9, 10 emergency actuating element 9 closure 10  actuating element 11  deflection G lock housing