Locking device for a door or flap

Abstract

A locking device for a door or flap having a cylinder lock that has a cylinder bush and a cylinder core rotatably supported in the cylinder bush. A bearing bracket is fastenable to the door or flap and has a receptacle for the cylinder lock. A screw is also provided that establishes a mechanical connection of the cylinder bush to a trim element for the door or flap. The screw interacts with a threaded hole of a bow element in order to move the bow element. The cylinder bush has a radial recess, which forms a pressure tip at the end of the screw facing the cylinder bush, which pressure tip, while inserted in the radial recess, interacts with the pressure surface in order to axially and radially support the screw.

Claims

1. A locking device for a door or flap of a vehicle, the locking device comprising: a cylinder lock that has a cylinder bushing and has a cylinder core that is rotatably supported in the cylinder bushing; a bearing bracket fastenable to the door or flap and has a receptacle for the cylinder lock; a screw that establishes a mechanical connection of the cylinder bushing to a trim element, wherein the trim element is an inner door panel; and a bracket element that radially surrounds the cylinder bushing at least in part and is movably supported on the bearing bracket and has at least one engagement for engaging a recess of the cylinder bushing, wherein the screw interacts with a threaded bore of the bracket element for the displacement thereof, wherein the cylinder bushing has a radial indentation that forms a pressure surface, wherein the screw has a pressure tip at an end facing the cylinder bushing that, when introduced into the radial indentation, interacts with the pressure surface to axially and radially support the screw, wherein the pressure surface of the radial indentation is conical in design, wherein the pressure tip of the screw is complementary to the pressure surface, wherein the trim element has an opening through which the screw is passed, and wherein the screw has a screw head whose diameter is larger than a diameter of the opening of the trim element, such that the screw head engages with the trim element.

2. The locking device according to claim 1, wherein the bracket element is at least substantially annular in design and completely surrounds the cylinder bushing radially.

3. The locking device according to claim 1, wherein the bracket element has a cross-rib as the engagement on the side opposite the threaded bore.

4. The locking device according to claim 1, wherein the cylinder bushing has the recess on its side opposite the radial indentation.

5. The locking device according to claim 1, wherein the recess is a receiving groove in the cylinder bushing.

6. The locking device according to claim 1, wherein the bracket element has a first section surrounding the cylinder bushing and a second section having the threaded bore, and wherein the two sections are substantially perpendicular to one another.

7. The locking device according to claim 1, wherein the bearing bracket has a slide guide for locating the bracket element to be displaceable primarily only radially with respect to the cylinder bushing.

8. The locking device according to claim 1, wherein the screw head directly contacts an outer surface of the trim element to positively engage with the trim element when the pressure tip of the screw interacts with the pressure surface of the radial indentation of the cylinder bushing.

9. The locking device according to claim 1, wherein the bracket element is annular such that it extends continuously around an outer surface of the cylinder bushing.

10. The locking device according to claim 1, wherein, in a fully assembled state of the locking device, the trim element is discrete from and spaced apart from the bracket element and the bearing bracket, such that any contact between the trim element and the bracket element and between the trim element and the bearing bracket is an indirect contact.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given hereinbelow and the accompanying drawings which are given by way of illustration only, and thus, are not limitive of the present invention, and wherein:

(2) FIG. 1 shows a locking device of a door of a motor vehicle,

(3) FIG. 2 shows an enlarged detail view of the locking device,

(4) FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of a cylinder lock and of a bracket element of the locking device,

(5) FIG. 4 shows a perspective view of the bracket element, and

(6) FIG. 5 shows a top view of the arrangement from FIG. 3 to illustrate the mode of operation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(7) FIG. 1 shows a cross-sectional view of sections of a door 1 of a motor vehicle that is not shown in detail, which door has a locking device 2. Fixed in place on the door 1 is a bearing bracket 3 of the locking device 2, which bracket also carries a door handle that can be operated. The bearing bracket 3 also has a receptacle 5 in which a cylinder lock 6 is located.

(8) The cylinder lock 6 has a cylinder bushing 7 and a cylinder core 8 that is rotatably supported in the cylinder bushing. The rotation of the cylinder core 8 can only be initiated with a matching key inserted into the core. The basic design of a cylinder lock is known from the prior art and thus will not be explained in detail here. The cylinder bushing 7 is inserted axially into the receptacle 5, and is held by at least radial positive engagement with the receptacle 5.

(9) Also associated with the cylinder lock 6 is a bracket element 9, which serves the purpose of axial guidance of the cylinder bushing 7 and thus of the cylinder lock 6 in the receptacle 5 or on the bearing bracket 3. In addition, the locking device 2 has a screw 10 that interacts with the bracket element 9 as described below.

(10) To this end, FIG. 2 shows an enlarged detail view of the locking device 2 in another cross-sectional representation. At one end, the screw has a screw head 11 that is adjoined by a threaded shank 12, which at the other end terminates in a pressure tip 13. The threaded shank 12 has an external thread 14 that interacts with an internal thread 15 of a threaded bore 16 of the bracket element 9. The pressure tip 13 has a conical contour, and is designed to interact with pressure surface 17 formed by a radial indentation 18 in the cylinder bushing 7. The pressure surface 17 has a conicity complementary to the pressure tip 13 so that the pressure tip 13 makes full-area contact with the pressure surface 17 so that forces can be transmitted both axially and radially with respect to the screw 10.

(11) FIG. 3 shows the cylinder lock 6 together with the bracket element 9 and the screw 10 in a perspective view. It can be seen there that the bracket element 9 has a first section 19 that includes the threaded bore 16 for the screw 10, and a second section 20 that radially surrounds the cylinder bushing 7 of the cylinder lock 6.

(12) To this end, FIG. 4 shows the bracket element 9 together with the screw 10 in another perspective view, where it can be seen that the bracket element 9 is essentially annular in design with a rectangular contour. As a result of this ring shape, the bracket element 9 has, in the section 20, starting from the section 19, two mutually parallel and spaced-apart legs 20 and 20 that are connected to one another at their free ends by a cross-rib 20. The bracket element 9 is designed as a single piece and especially preferably is produced as a bent sheet metal part. The first section 19 in this design is substantially perpendicular to the second section 20, wherein the threaded bore 16, through which the threaded shank 12 of the screw 10 is passed, is located at the level of the cross-rib 20 so that the axis of rotation of the screw 10 lies in the plane of the section 20, with the pressure tip 13 of the screw 10 oriented such that it points toward the cross-rib 20. The two legs 20 and 20, and the cross-rib 20 and the section 19, are each located sufficiently distant from one another in forming an opening of the bracket element that the cylinder bushing 7 can be pushed through, or into, the opening of the bracket element 9 as indicated by arrow 21 in FIG. 3.

(13) On its side opposite the radial indentation 18, the cylinder bushing 7 has a recess 22 in the form of a receiving groove 23, as can best be seen in FIG. 1. The receiving groove 23 has a height or clear opening that corresponds essentially to the height of the cross-rib 20 so that said cross-rib can be inserted into the receiving groove 23 without play, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3. The receiving groove 23 preferably extends only across the back, or the side of the cylinder bushing 7 opposite the radial indentation 18, in this design.

(14) Now the attachment of the cylinder lock 6 to the bearing bracket 3 by means of the bracket element 9 shall be explained on the basis of FIG. 5. FIG. 5 shows a top view of the assembly from FIG. 3 having a cylinder lock 6, bracket element 9, and screw 10, in the fully assembled state. First the bracket element 9 is positioned in the bearing bracket 3. For this purpose, the bearing bracket 3 has a slide guide 24 through which the bracket element 9 is mounted such that it is displaceable radially with respect to the cylinder bushing 7 in the plane of the section 20. Then the cylinder lock 6 is pushed into the receptacle 5 and through the opening in the pre-assembled bracket element 9, in accordance with the arrow 21. Then the screw 10 is actuated, namely such that it is screwed in toward the cross-rib 20. As soon as the pressure tip makes contact with the back surface 17, an axial force is exerted that causes the bracket element 9 to be pulled in the manner of a spindle toward the screw head 11 on the threaded shank 12. As a result, the cross-rib 20 is pushed into the receiving groove 23 of the cylinder bushing 7. Preferably, the cross-rib 20 is pulled all the way in to the receiving groove 23 so that it essentially fills the receiving groove 23 completely. Doing so brings about a positive engagement between bracket element 9 and cylinder bushing 7in the axial direction when viewed with respect to the cylinder bushing 7which reliably prevents the cylinder lock 6 from being simply pulled out of the receptacle 5 of the bearing bracket 3. By this means, the cylinder lock 6 is attached to the bearing bracket 3, or the door 1, in a simple way.

(15) As is evident from FIGS. 1 and 2, provision is additionally made that the threaded shank 12 of the screw 10 is passed through an opening 25 in a trim element 26 of the door 1, which in particular is implemented as an inner panel, so that the screw head 11 is located outside of the trim element 26, while the rest of the locking device 2 is located inside the trim element 26. The screw head 11 has an outer diameter that is larger than the opening 25. During assembly, the screw 10 is thus supplied from outside through the opening 25 in the trim element 26 of the threaded bore 16 of the bracket element 9. The locking device 2 is designed such that the screw head 11 is even located outside the trim element 26 when the screw 10 has been screwed to the maximum extent into the threaded bore 16. As a result, in addition to attachment of the cylinder lock 6 to the bearing bracket 3, additional securing against unauthorized opening of the door is ensured. If the cylinder lock 6 were pulled out of the receptacle 5 by the application of force, then the radial transmission of force to the screw 10 by the conical pressure surface would cause the cylinder bushing 7 or the cylinder lock 6 to catch on the trim element 26 because of the mechanical connection with the trim element 26. As a result, simple removal of the cylinder lock 6 from the bearing bracket 3 is prevented even if the attachment of the cylinder lock 6 has been forcibly opened.

(16) The screw 10 thus fulfills two functions at once, firstly attachment of the cylinder lock 6 and secondly securing of the cylinder lock 6 in the event of forcible opening of the locking device 2.

(17) While the present exemplary embodiment relates to a vehicle door, provision can be made according to another exemplary embodiment for the described locking device 2 to be located on a vehicle flap such as, e.g., a trunk lid or the like.

(18) The invention being thus described, it will be obvious that the same may be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all such modifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are to be included within the scope of the following claims.