MOTOR VEHICLE LOCK, IN PARTICULAR MOTOR VEHICLE DOOR LOCK

Abstract

A motor vehicle lock, in particular a motor vehicle door lock, preferably an electric lock, which is equipped with an electromotive drive and a locking mechanism that can be actuated by the drive and consists substantially of a rotary latch and a pawl. The drive is provided with at least one evoloid gear stage. According to the invention, a latching element, which is mounted on the rotary latch and/or the pawl so as to be pivotable primarily in a locking mechanism plane, is arranged in the engagement region between the rotary latch and the pawl.

Claims

1. A motor vehicle lock comprising: an electromotive drive, a locking mechanism which is actuated by the electromotive drive, the locking mechanism including a rotary latch and a pawl, wherein the electromotive drive has at least one evoloid gear stage, and a latching element arranged in an engagement region between the rotary latch and the pawl, and the latching element is pivotably mounted on the rotary latch and/or the pawl at least in part in a plane of the locking mechanism.

2. The motor vehicle lock according to claim 1, wherein the electromotive drive has an electric motor and an output pulley, and wherein the evoloid gear stage comprises a worm on an output shaft of the electric motor and an outer portion of the output pulley.

3. The motor vehicle lock according to claim 2, wherein the output pulley has an outer circumference with evoloid teeth that are inclined with respect to an axis of rotation of the output pulley.

4. The motor vehicle lock according to claim 2, further comprising an actuating lever, wherein the output pulley has an actuating contour for the actuating the actuating lever on an end face facing an actuating lever.

5. The motor vehicle lock according to claim 4, wherein the actuating contour is helical with a helical axis.

6. The motor vehicle lock according to claim 5, wherein the helical axis of the actuating contour coincides with an axis of rotation of the output pulley.

7. The motor vehicle lock according to claim 2, wherein the worm has a plurality of evoloid teeth on the output shaft of the electric motor which are beveled in such a way that at least one evoloid tooth engages in outer circumferential evoloid toothing of the output pulley.

8. The motor vehicle door lock according to claim 4, further comprising a release lever that interacts with the actuating lever and acts on the pawl.

9. The motor vehicle lock according to claim 8, wherein the actuating lever and the release lever are mounted coaxially on a common axis.

10. (canceled)

11. The motor vehicle lock according to claim 2, wherein evoloid teeth are located along an entire outer circumference and over an entire length of the worm, and evoloid teeth are arranged on the outer circumference on the output pulley.

12. The motor vehicle lock according to claim 1, wherein the latching element has a pivot bearing head that engages in a recess of the rotary latch.

13. The motor vehicle lock according to claim 1, wherein the latching element has a guide extension that projects relative to the plane of the locking mechanism to provide radial and/or axial guidance of movement of the latching element.

14. The motor vehicle lock according to claim 13, wherein the guide extension is an embossing on a surface of the latching element.

Description

[0023] In the drawings:

[0024] FIG. 1 shows a perspective overview of the motor vehicle lock according to the invention; and

[0025] FIG. 2 shows a detailed view of the locking mechanism.

[0026] In the figures, a motor vehicle lock and in particular a motor vehicle door lock is shown, which is a so-called electric lock, i.e. one in which an associated locking mechanism 1, 2 consisting of rotary latch 1 and pawl 2 is opened electrically. Furthermore, an electromotive drive 3, 4, 5 is implemented. The electromotive drive 3, 4, 5 operates on an actuating lever mechanism 6, 7 in order to use it to lift the pawl 2 from its latching engagement shown in FIG. 1 with the rotary latch 1, as will be explained in more detail below.

[0027] For this purpose, the electromotive drive 3, 4, 5 is equipped with at least one evoloid gear stage 4a, 5a. In the context of the exemplary embodiment, a single evoloid gear stage 4a, 5a is realized. This is found between a worm 4 on an output shaft of an electric motor 3 as a component of the electromotive drive 3, 4, 5 on the one hand, and an output pulley 5 as an additional component of the electromotive drive 3, 4, 5 on the other hand. In fact, both said worm 4 and the output pulley 5 are each equipped with evoloid teeth 4a, 5a, which together define the single evoloid gear stage 4a, 5a within the scope of the embodiment.

[0028] For this purpose, the evoloid teeth 4a are located along the entire outer circumference and over the entire length of the worm 4 on the output shaft of the electric motor 3. In contrast, the evoloid teeth 5a are provided and arranged on the outer circumference on the output pulley 5, specifically inclined in comparison with an axis of rotation 8 of the output pulley 5. The output pulley 5 is also equipped with an actuating contour 5b, namely on its end face facing an actuating lever mechanism 6, 7. The actuating contour 5b is one that is helical in nature and with an associated helical axis 8 which, according to the exemplary embodiment, coincides with the axis of rotation 8 of the output pulley 5. In fact, the design is such that the helical actuating contour 5b in relation to the helical axis or axis of rotation 8 of the output pulley 5 overall describes a three-dimensional helical line.

[0029] The actuating lever mechanism 6, 7 is composed substantially of an actuating lever 6 and a release lever 7 interacting with the pawl 2 and acting on it. The actuating lever 6 is equipped with a front-side cam 6a, which slides along the helical actuating contour 5b or is acted upon by means of the helical actuating contour 5b. As a result of this, and with a clockwise movement of the output pulley 5 about the axis of rotation 8 indicated in FIG. 1, the cam 6a consequently moves along the three-dimensional helical line or the actuating contour 5b, and the actuating lever 6 is thereby pivoted clockwise about its axis 9. Since the actuating lever 6 and the release lever 7 are mounted coaxially to one another and with respect to the common axis 9, the actuating lever 7 follows the clockwise movement of the actuating lever 6 and ensures overall that the pawl 2 is also pivoted in the clockwise direction indicated in FIG. 1. This is because the release lever 7 is non-rotatably coupled to the actuating lever 6.

[0030] As a result, the pawl 2 is lifted by the rotary latch 1 from its latching engagement shown in FIG. 1 in the closed state of the locking mechanism 1, 2. The pawl 2 moves about the common axis 9 together with the release lever 7 and the actuating lever 6. Then the rotary latch 1 opens in a spring-assisted manner, and releases a previously caught locking pin (not expressly shown). The associated motor vehicle door is opened.

[0031] The worm 4 on the output shaft of the electric motor 3 has a plurality of evoloid teeth 4a on its outer circumference and along its extension. The evoloid teeth 4a are beveled in such a way that at least one of these evoloid teeth 4a always engages in the outer circumferential evoloid toothing of the output pulley 5 or the evoloid teeth 5a there. According to the exemplary embodiment, the worm 4 has a maximum of three evoloid teeth 4a on the output shaft of the electric motor 3. Of course, this only applies as an example. The reduction ratio achieved at this point can be values of generally more than 10:1, in particular even 20:1 or even preferably 30:1 and more.

[0032] According to the invention, the design is such that, according to the representation in FIG. 2, a latching element 11 is arranged in the engagement region 10 between the rotary latch 1 and the pawl 2. According to the exemplary embodiment, the latching element 11 is pivotably mounted on the rotary latch 1, namely largely in a locking mechanism plane spanned by the rotary latch 1 and the pawl 2. It can be seen from the illustration in FIG. 2 that, for this purpose, the latching element 11 plunges with a pivot bearing head 11a into a recess 1a of the rotary latch 1 and can thus perform the corresponding pivoting movements. Consequently, if the pawl 2 is lifted from its latching engagement with the rotary latch 1, this means that the latching element 11 performs the pivoting movement indicated in FIGS. 1 and 2, so that the pawl 2 can thereby be lifted from its engagement with the rotary latch 1 in a particularly low-friction manner.

[0033] For this purpose, the latching element 11 may have a guide extension 11b which projects relative to the locking mechanism plane and which ensures the additionally axial and/or radial guidance of the latching element 11. The relevant guide extension 11b can be designed as an embossing, for example. In addition, a casing or a component of the rotary latch 1 may provide axial securing of the pivotable latching element 11, but this is not shown in detail.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

[0034] Locking mechanism 1, 2 [0035] Rotary latch 1 [0036] Recess 1a [0037] Pawl 2 [0038] Drive 3, 4, 5 [0039] Electric motor 3 [0040] Worm 4 [0041] Driven pulley 5 [0042] Evoloid gear stage 4a, 5a [0043] Actuating contour 5b [0044] Operating lever mechanism 6, 7 [0045] Actuation lever 6 [0046] Cam 6a [0047] Release lever 7 [0048] Axis of rotation 8 [0049] Axis 9 [0050] Engagement region 10 [0051] Detent element 11 [0052] Pivot bearing head 11a [0053] Guide extension 11b