Abstract
A motor vehicle locking device is equipped with a coupling arrangement consisting essentially of an actuating lever and a release lever that can be coupled releasably thereto. The actuating lever and the release lever can be coupled to one another starting from an uncoupled basic position by a two-stroke actuation of the actuating lever. An accumulator lever storing the first stroke of the operating lever is additionally provided so that, during its second stroke, the operating lever can act upon the release lever that follows the accumulator lever. According to the invention, a safety lever is provided as a complement, which suppresses in its secured position a subsequent movement of the release lever during the second stroke of the actuating lever and permits said movement in its unsecured position.
Claims
1. A motor vehicle locking device comprising: a clutch arrangement including an actuating lever and a release lever which are coupled to each other in a releasable manner, wherein the actuating lever and the release lever, starting from a disengaged basic position, become coupled to one another by a two-stroke action upon the actuating lever, an accumulator lever storing a first stroke of the two-stroke action of the actuating lever, so that the actuating lever acts upon the release lever following the accumulator lever during a second stroke of the two-stroke action, and a safety lever which in a secured position prevents a subsequent movement of the release lever during the second stroke of the actuating lever, and in an unlocked position permits movement of the release lever during the second stroke of the actuating lever.
2. The motor vehicle locking device according to claim 1, further comprising a latching element, wherein the safety lever interacts with the latching element to realize a releasable storage position of the accumulator lever.
3. The motor vehicle locking device according to claim 2, wherein the safety lever has a driving contour for acting on the latching element.
4. The motor vehicle locking device according to claim 3, wherein the locking lever transfers the latching element via the driving contour from a latching position permitting the storage position of the accumulator lever into a release position preventing the storage position, and vice versa.
5. The motor vehicle locking device according to claim 1, wherein the safety lever has a stop contour for interaction with a handle and/or an electromotive drive.
6. The motor vehicle locking device according to claim 1, further comprising a sensor which senses a position of the safety lever.
7. The motor vehicle locking device according to claim 1, further comprising a shift lever is coupled between the accumulator lever and the release lever.
8. The motor vehicle locking device according to claim 7, wherein the shift lever is coupled to the accumulator lever via a spring.
9. The motor vehicle locking device according to claim 7, wherein the shift lever has at least one stop contour interacting with the release lever.
10. The motor vehicle locking device according to claim 7, wherein the shift lever, the accumulator lever and the release lever are rotatably mounted on a same axis as one another.
11. The motor vehicle locking device according to claim 6, wherein the sensor comprises a switch that is acted upon by a contour of the safety lever.
12. The motor vehicle locking device according to claim 2, wherein the accumulator lever and the latching element have interlocking elements that interact in the storage position and release from the storage position.
13. The motor vehicle locking device according to claim 7, wherein the shift lever includes a stop contour that comes into engagement with the release lever.
Description
[0019] The invention is explained in greater detail below with reference to drawings which show only one exemplary embodiment. In the drawings:
[0020] FIGS. 1 to 6 show the motor vehicle locking device according to the invention with the safety lever moved to its secured position and
[0021] FIGS. 7 to 14 show the relevant vehicle locking device with the safety lever remaining in the unlocked position.
[0022] The figures show a motor vehicle locking device which first of all has a locking mechanism 1 consisting essentially of a catch and pawl. In FIG. 1, the locking mechanism 1 is in a closed state, in which the pawl engages in the catch. In contrast, FIG. 14 shows an opening process of the locking mechanism 1, which corresponds to the fact that the locking mechanism 1 is acted upon with the aid of a release lever 2. This requires the release lever 2 to perform a clockwise swivel movement around its axis 3 as can be seen by comparing FIGS. 1 and 14.
[0023] The basic structure of the vehicle locking device includes a clutch arrangement 2, 4, which consists of the aforementioned release lever 2 on the one hand and an actuating lever 4 on the other. For this purpose, the actuating lever 4 is mounted so that it can rotate about a further axis of rotation 5 that is separate from the axis 3. In addition, and importantly, a safety lever 6 is also provided, which is rotatably mounted about an axis 7 and can be acted upon by means of an electric motor drive 8. Rotational movements of the locking lever 6 about its axis 7 in a clockwise direction correspond to this, as can be seen by comparing FIGS. 1 and 2. This is accompanied by a change in the functional position of the locking lever 6. In FIGS. 1 and 7 and the subsequent FIGS. 8 to 14 (in which the safety lever 6 is not shown), this is in its unlocked position, whereas in FIGS. 2 to 6 the safety lever 6 is in its secured position.
[0024] For this purpose, the locking lever 6 is equipped with a stop contour 6a, which interacts with the electric motor drive 8 or is acted upon by it. In fact, the transition from the unlocked position of the locking lever 6 according to FIG. 1 to the secured position as shown in FIG. 2 corresponds to the fact that the electric motor drive 8 performs a more or less pronounced linear movement and thus swivels the locking lever 6 clockwise about its axis 7 as desired via the stop contour 6a. As an alternative to the electromotive drive 8, the described pivoting movement of the locking lever 6 can also be performed manually via a handle by means of a corresponding interaction with the stop contour 6a, although this is not shown in detail.
[0025] In addition, a accumulator lever 9 can be seen, which can interact with an additional latching element 10. For this purpose, the accumulator lever 9 and the latching element 10 have corresponding and interlocking latching elements 9a, 10a. The latching elements 9a, 10a only interact in the event that the latching element 10 assumes its latching position shown in FIG. 1, so that the two latching elements 9a, 10a can interact with each other when the accumulator lever 9 is acted upon with the aid of the actuating lever 4, as can be seen in the transition from FIG. 1 to FIG. 9. This corresponds to the storage position of the accumulator lever 9 shown in FIG. 9.
[0026] If, on the other hand, the latching element 10 assumes its release position, as shown in FIG. 2, there is no latching interaction between the two latching elements 9a, 10a. In order to move the latching element 10 from its latching position as shown in FIG. 1 to the release position, for example as shown in FIG. 2, the latching element 10 is acted upon with the aid of the locking lever 6. For this purpose, the locking lever 6 has a driving contour 6b, which is used to act upon the latching element 10.
[0027] Finally, the figures also show a sensor 11 which, according to the exemplary embodiment and not in a restrictive sense, is a switch. The sensor 11 or switch may be connected to a control unit, not shown, which is not only set up to query the position of the locking lever 6 via the sensor 11, but also serves to control the electric motor drive 8. The position sensing of the safety lever 6 with the aid of the sensor or switch 11 is carried out in such a way that the safety lever 6 has a switching contour 6c shown in the section of FIG. 1, which acts on a spring belonging to the sensor or switch 11 and thus on the sensor or switch 11 when the safety lever 6 moves from its unlocked position as shown in FIG. 1 to the secured position as shown in FIG. 2, as can be seen from the respective sections there.
[0028] Of particular importance for the invention is the fact that the actuating lever 4 and the release lever 2 not only define the already described clutch arrangement 2, 4, but that the actuating lever 4 and the release lever 2, starting from a disengaged basic position shown in FIG. 1, can be coupled together by a two-stroke actuation of the actuating lever 2 to be described in detail below, as can be seen from FIGS. 13 and 14. The procedure is such that the accumulator lever 9, which stores the first stroke of the actuating lever 4, is provided first. In other words, the first stroke of the actuating lever 4 ensures that the accumulator lever 9 moves to its storage position, as shown in FIGS. 10 to 13. In this way, the actuating lever 4 can act upon the release lever 2 following the accumulator lever 9 during its second stroke, as can be seen in FIG. 14.
[0029] In accordance with the invention, the safety lever 9 is now additionally provided, which in its secured position shown in FIGS. 2 to 6 prevents the previously described subsequent movement of the release lever 2 during the second stroke of the actuating lever 4 and in its unlocked position permits it, as the sequence of figures in FIGS. 10 to 14 makes clear.
[0030] Of particular importance is the fact that in addition to the safety lever 6 and the accumulator lever 9, a shift lever 12 is also provided. The shift lever 12 is coupled to the accumulator lever 9 via a spring 13. In addition, the shift lever 12 has a stop contour 12a that interacts with the release lever 2. In addition, a further stop contour 12b is realized on the shift lever 12, which is described below. As soon as the stop contour 12a of the shift lever 12 comes into engagement with the release lever 2, as shown in the sequence of FIGS. 11 to 14, the release lever 2 can be pivoted clockwise about its axis 3 with the aid of the actuating lever 4 and is able to open the locking mechanism 1. It can be seen that, according to the exemplary embodiment, the shift lever 12, the accumulator lever 9 and finally the release lever 2 are mounted on the same axis as one another and can each be rotated about the common axis 3.
[0031] The mode of operation is as follows. In FIG. 1, the locking mechanism 1 assumes its closed state. The safety lever 6 is in the unlocked position. If, starting from FIG. 1, the electromotive drive 8 is acted upon in such a way that it performs a linear movement from left to right, the electromotive drive 8 ensures via the stop contour 6a on the locking lever 6 that the locking lever 6 is pivoted clockwise about its axis 7 during the transition from FIG. 1 to FIG. 2. As a result, the safety lever 6 actuates the sensor or switch 11 via its switching contour 6c, so that the safety lever 6 transmits the secured position to the control unit, not shown. As the locking lever 6 is pivoted clockwise around the axis 7 during this process, the driving contour 6b on the locking lever 6 also ensures that the locking element 10 also performs a clockwise pivoting movement during the transition from FIG. 1 to FIG. 2. As a result, the latching contour 10a on the latching element 10 cannot subsequently interact with the corresponding latching contour 9a on the accumulator lever 9.
[0032] This becomes clear in the transition from FIG. 2 to FIG. 3. Here, the actuating lever 4 has been acted upon in such a way that it performs a counter-clockwise movement around its axis 5 during the transition from FIG. 2 to FIG. 3. This allows the actuating lever 4 to increasingly act upon the accumulator lever 9, as can be seen as this movement progresses from FIG. 3 to FIG. 4. During this swivel movement of the accumulator lever 9, the latching contours 9a and 10a on the latching element 10 on the one hand, and on the accumulator lever 9 on the other, do not interact with each other in the functional position shown in FIG. 4.
[0033] As a result of this, if the actuating lever 4 is no longer acted upon during the transition from FIG. 4 to FIG. 5 and consequently the actuating lever 4 moves back (usually spring-assisted) clockwise about its axis 5, the accumulator lever 9 follows the actuating lever 4 as it moves back, as can be seen from the further progression of the movement from FIG. 5 to FIG. 6. In FIG. 6, the vehicle locking device has assumed its basic rest position comparable to the functional position in FIG. 1, with the only difference being that the safety lever 6 still assumes its secured position in the functional position of FIG. 6. In this secured position of the locking lever 6, action upon the actuating lever 4 results in an empty movement in relation to the locking mechanism 1. This is therefore not opened.
[0034] During the transition from FIG. 6 to FIG. 7, the electromotive drive 8 has now been acted upon in such a way that it performs a linear movement to the left, so that as a result of this, the locking lever 6 is pivoted back counter-clockwise about its axis 7 via the stop contour 6a on the locking lever 6 and now resumes its unlocked position already assumed in FIG. 1.
[0035] If now, starting from the unlocked position of the safety lever 6 according to FIG. 7, the actuating lever 4 is again subjected to a first stroke in such a way that the actuating lever 4 performs the previously described counterclockwise movement about its axis 5, then during the transition from FIG. 7 to FIG. 8 and on to FIG. 9, the accumulator lever 9 in the functional position of FIG. 9 is transferred to the storage position already mentioned. In this storage position, the two latching contours 9a, 10a engage with each other on the latching element 10 on the one hand and on the accumulator lever 9 on the other. As a result, the accumulator lever 9 is held in its functional position as shown in FIG. 9, even when the action upon the operating lever 4 ends.
[0036] This corresponds to the actuating lever 4 (spring-supported) being moved back clockwise around its axis 5 from the position in FIG. 9, as can be seen in the transition to FIG. 10. Since the accumulator lever 9 assumes and retains its storage position unchanged during the transition from FIG. 9 to FIG. 10, the spring 13 coupling the shift lever 12 and the accumulator lever 9 ensures that the shift lever 12 follows the accumulator lever 9, so to speak. This becomes clear in the transition from FIG. 10 to FIG. 11. This tracking of the shift lever 12 in relation to the accumulator lever 9 results in the shift lever 12 being pivoted clockwise about the common axis 3 with the aid of the spring 13, as can be seen in the transition from FIG. 10 to FIG. 11. This brings the shift lever 12 into the engagement range of the operating lever 4.
[0037] If, starting from the functional position shown in FIG. 11, the actuating lever 4 is now acted upon with a second stroke about its axis 5 in an anticlockwise direction, it can be seen at the transition from FIG. 11 to FIG. 12 that the actuating lever 4 can interact with the shift lever 12. The interaction of the actuating lever 4 with the shift lever 12 during the transition from FIG. 12 to FIG. 13 now results in the shift lever 12 being pivoted clockwise about its axis 3 and the stop contour 12a on the shift lever 12 working on the release lever 2 and entraining it with respect to the clockwise movement of the shift lever 12 about the common axis 3. This process can be seen in the transition from FIG. 12 to FIG. 13.
[0038] The clockwise movement of the release lever 2 around the axis 3 now has the effect that during the further transition from FIG. 12 via FIG. 13 to FIG. 14, the locking mechanism 1 is acted upon and opened with the aid of the release lever 2, as already described above.
[0039] At the same time, during this process and at the end of the second stroke of the actuating lever 4, during the transition from FIG. 13 to FIG. 14, the shift lever 12 is not only acted upon with the aid of the actuating lever 4, but also the accumulator lever 9. As a result, at the end of this two-stroke action upon, the accumulator lever 9 is released from the latching element 10 by applying pressure to the accumulator lever 9. If the actuating lever 4 is now released and returns (spring-loaded) to its starting position based on the illustration in FIG. 14 and after the two-stroke action upon the actuating lever 4, this results in the functional position according to FIG. 7 being reached again based on the illustration in FIG. 14 and thus the starting position before the two-stroke action upon or the rest position, namely with the safety lever 6 still in its unlocked position.
[0040] The further and already mentioned stop contour 12b on the shift lever 12 may further ensure that the latching contours 9a, 10a are released from each other. This is because a (spring-assisted) reset of the release lever 2 from the open position of the locking mechanism 1 as shown in FIG. 14 results in a counter-clockwise rotation of the release lever 2 about the axis 3. The stop contour 12b may be used to move the shift lever 12 and thus also the accumulator lever 9. The locking contours 9a, 10a become detached.
LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS
[0041] 1 Locking mechanism [0042] 2 Release lever [0043] 3 Axis [0044] 4 Actuating lever [0045] 2, 4 Coupling arrangement [0046] 5 (Rotary) axis [0047] 6 Securing lever [0048] 6a Stop contour [0049] 6b Driving contour [0050] 6c Shift contour [0051] 7 Axis [0052] 8 Electric motor drive [0053] 9 Accumulator lever [0054] 9a Latching contour [0055] 10 Ratchet element [0056] 10a Latching contour [0057] 11 Switch [0058] 12 Shift lever [0059] 12a Stop contour [0060] 13 Spring
