CLOSING DEVICE FOR A MOTOR VEHICLE LOCK

Abstract

A closing device for a motor vehicle lock, in particular to a closing aid for a motor vehicle door lock. According to its basic design, said closing aid has a locking mechanism substantially consisting of a rotary latch and a pawl. Furthermore, an electric motor and a transmission downstream of the electric motor are implemented. The transmission operates preferably on the rotary latch at least during a closing operation. According to the invention, a handle is provided, which is mounted at a lock housing for mechanically interrupting the closing operation, said handle impinging a force flux element, which can be selectively engaged and disengaged, as a component of the transmission.

Claims

1. A closing device for a motor vehicle lock comprising: a locking mechanism including a rotary latch and a pawl, an electric motor, a transmission following the electric motor and including a force flux element, this is selectively engaged and disengaged, wherein the transmission operates at least during a closing operation on the rotary latch, a lock housing, and a handle which is mounted at the lock housing for mechanically interrupting the closing operation, the handle impinging the force flux element to disengage the force flux element to mechanically interrupt the closing operation.

2. The closing device according to claim 1, wherein the handle impinges directly or indirectly on the pawl during the mechanical interruption of the closing operation.

3. The closing device according to claim 1, wherein the handle has multiple arms including at least an element arm that impinges the force flux element and a pawl arm that impinges the pawl.

4. The closing device according to claim 3, wherein the multiple arms further include an impinging arm that is operable by an operator.

5. The closing device according to claim 1, wherein the handle has a one-piece design.

6. The closing device according to claim 1, wherein the handle linearly impinges on the force flux element.

7. The closing device according to claim 1, further comprising a spring, wherein the force flux element is pretensioned in an engaged position by the spring.

8. The closing device according to claim 7, wherein the spring impinges on both the force flux element and the handle.

9. The closing device according to claim 7, wherein the spring is a spiral spring or a leaf spring.

10. The closing device according to claim 1, wherein the force flux element is a toothed wheel element and/or a coupling element positioned between gears of the transmission.

11. A motor vehicle lock comprising a closing bolt and a closing device according to claim 1.

12. The closing device according to claim 1, wherein the handle has a multipart design whereby arms of the handle are rotatably coupled to each other by a pin.

13. The closing device according to claim 1, wherein the handle is rotatably mounted on the locking housing.

14. The closing device according to claim 1, wherein the handle and the locking housing both are made of plastic.

15. The closing device according to claim 1, wherein: the transmission includes a first transmission element that meshes with an output shaft of the motor, a second transmission element that engages with the first transmission element, and an output side transmission element that acts on the rotary latch, and in an engaged position the force flux element couples the first and second transmission elements with the output side transmission element, and in a disengaged position the force flux element decouples the first and second transmission elements from the output side transmission element.

16. The closing device according to claim 15, wherein the first transmission element, the second transmission element, and the output side transmission element are gears.

Description

[0025] In the following, the invention is explained in more detail with the aid of a drawing showing only an exemplary embodiment; in the figures:

[0026] FIG. 1 shows an overview of the latching device according to the invention,

[0027] FIGS. 2 and 3 show the closing device according to FIG. 1 with opened housing, in two different embodiments, and

[0028] FIG. 4 shows the closing device with opened housing, again in a modified embodiment.

[0029] In the figures, a closing device is shown for a motor vehicle lock, or motor vehicle door lock, that is only partially shown. This is advantageously a trunk lid lock. Accordingly, a motor vehicle door lock closing aid is described in more detail and is shown in the figure. For this purpose, the basic design of the vehicle door lock has a locking mechanism 1, 2 consisting essentially of a rotary latch 1 and a pawl 2, which can be seen only in rudimentary form in FIG. 1. The locking mechanism 1, 2 is rotatably mounted in a metal lock case 3. A lock housing 4 made of plastic provides the housing of the illustrated motor vehicle lock, or motor vehicle door lock.

[0030] The closing device has, in detail, an electric motor 5 and a transmission 6, 7, 8, 9 following the electric motor 5. For this purpose, the transmission 6, 7, 8, 9 consists of a first transmission element 6, which meshes with the output shaft of the electric motor 5, and a second transmission element 7. The two transmission elements 6, 7 can be gears which are arranged offset to one another according to the exemplary embodiment. Here a force flux element 8 is of particular importance, which is a gear element in the context of the illustration according to FIGS. 1 to 3. In contrast, the force flux element 8 is designed as a coupling element in the variant according to FIG. 4.

[0031] The force flux element 8 is a component of the transmission 6, 7, 8, 9 and couples the first and second transmission elements 6, 7 with an output-side transmission element 9, which, according to the exemplary embodiment, is a drive pawl operating directly or indirectly on the rotary latch 1. That is, rotary movements of the output-side gear element side or the drive pawl 9 ensure that starting from for example a pre-latching position the rotary latch 1 is pivoted into the main latching position, and consequently a motor vehicle door (not shown) is closed. For this purpose, the gear mechanism 6, 7, 8, 9 operates on the rotary latch 1 at least during such a closing process. In addition, here a continuous flow of force is observed from the electric motor 5 via the transmission 6, 7, 8, 9 to the rotary latch 1. In principle, however, the closing device or the transmission 6, 7, 8, 9 could also operate on a locking bolt (not shown).

[0032] In fact, the motor vehicle door in question, which is not explicitly shown, is equipped with the closing bolt fixed to the door, which is caught by the rotary latch 1 (in the pre-latching position) and follows the described closing movement of the rotary latch 1 from the pre-latching position to the main latching position. The corresponding motor vehicle door is thereby closed and a gap between the motor vehicle door and a motor vehicle body is closed. Should it be necessary and the relevant motor vehicle lock and in particular the trunk lid lock have to be unlocked in an emergency and thus the associated trunk lid opened, the invention provides for an emergency unlocking described below.

[0033] According to the invention, a handle 10 mounted on the lock housing 4 is provided for mechanically interrupting the closing process. The handle 10 acts on the force flux element 8, which can be selectively engaged and disengaged and is described above, as a component of the transmission 6, 7, 8, 9. In fact, the handle 10 generally operates linearly on the force flux element 8 and ensures that, in the disengaged state shown by a dash-dotted line, a mechanical connection between the force flux element 8 or the upstream transmission elements 6, 7 on the one hand and the drive pawl 9 on the other hand is interrupted. For this purpose, the handle 10 is actuated counterclockwise about its axle 11 relative to the lock housing 4, as shown in FIG. 2. In fact, a bolt or pin is provided in or on the lock housing 4, which bolt or pin defines the axle 11 for the rotatable mounting of the handle 10 on the lock housing 4. The bolt or pin can here represent a component of the lock housing 4, designed as a plastic injection-molded part.

[0034] In this way, the force flux element 8 is transferred from its typically assumed engaged state, shown as a solid line, to the disengaged state, shown as a dotted line. In the disengaged state of the force flux element 8, the flow of force from the electric motor 5 via the transmission 6, 7, 8, 9 to the rotary latch 1 is interrupted. As a result, the rotary latch 1 and with it the locking bolt caught by the rotary latch 1, and as a result the vehicle door, can be moved back and forth and thereby unlocked and opened in an emergency.

[0035] To ensure that the pawl 2 does not inadvertently engage with the rotary latch 1 during this process, in the exemplary embodiment the handle 10 not only ensures that the force flux element 8 is disengaged as described. Rather, the handle 10 is additionally set up to indirectly or directly impinge on the pawl 2. Here the pawl 2 is lifted off from the rotary latch 1.

[0036] For this reason, the handle 10 according to the exemplary embodiment is equipped with multiple arms, with at least one element arm 10a and one pawl arm 10b. An impinging arm 10c can also be seen. An operator's hand usually grips the impinging arm 10c and ensures that the handle 10 performs the counter-clockwise movement shown in FIG. 2 about its axle 11 with respect to the lock housing 4. On the one hand, the force flux element 8 is thereby disengaged and, on the other hand, the pawl 2 is lifted off from the rotary latch 1. As a result, in this described mechanical interruption of the closing process, the rotary latch 1 and with it the locking bolt which is caught by it, and as a result the associated motor vehicle door, can then be moved back and forth without force, and in particular opened.

[0037] The handle 10 can be designed in one piece overall, as shown in FIG. 4. In principle, a multipart design corresponding to the exemplary embodiment according to FIGS. 1 to 3 is also conceivable. In this case, a part of the handle is formed jointly by the pawl arm 10b and the impinging arm 10c, while the other part of the multipart, in this case two-part, handle 10 is defined by the element arm 10a. Both parts of the multipart or two-part handle 10 can here be rotationally fixedly coupled to one another during the assembly on the lock housing 4. For this purpose, the pin connected to one component of the handle 10 engages in rotatably fixed fashion with the other component of the handle 10. At the same time, an opening in the lock housing 4 is penetrated to define the shaft 11.

[0038] It can be seen from FIGS. 1 to 3 and 4 that the force flux element 8 is pretensioned in its engaged position, shown in solid lines, by a spring 12, 13. In the exemplary embodiment according to FIG. 2, the spring 12, 13 is a spiral spring 12 which surrounds a guide pin 8a of the force flux element 8. In fact, the design is such that the force flux element 8 is guided in its linear direction via the guide pin 8a and, consequently, in the disengaged state can pass through a corresponding opening 3a provided in the lock casing 3.

[0039] In contrast, the spring 13 according to the variant of FIG. 3 is a leaf spring 13. In both cases, the spring 12, 13 in each case ensures that the force flux element 8 is pretensioned in the direction of its engaged state shown by solid lines. That is, in order to disengage the force flux element 8 into its position shown in dotted lines, the force of the relevant spring 12, 13 must be overcome with the aid of the handle 10.

[0040] In the variant according to FIG. 4, only a single spring 12 in the form of a spiral spring 12 is realized. In this case, the single spring or spiral spring 12 ensures that on the one hand the force flux element 8 is pretensioned in the direction of its engaged position and on the other hand the handle 10 is pretensioned in the direction of its undeflected base position. This provides and realizes a particularly compact and cost-effective design.

[0041] In the exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 4, it is seen that the handle 10 applies a linear force to the force flux element 8, which is designed here as a coupling element, in order to be able to mechanically interrupt the closing process. In FIG. 4, the engaged state is again shown as a solid line and the disengaged state as a dotted line. In this context, the coupling element or force flux element 8 ensures that the second transmission element 7 and the drive pawl 9 are mechanically coupled to each other in its engaged state. The engaged state shown by solid lines belongs to this. As a result of this, the electric motor 5 can operate on the rotary latch 1 via the transmission 6, 7, 8, 9 and impinge on it in a closing sense, as described at the outset.

[0042] For mechanical interruption of the illustrated closing aid and thus for emergency unlocking, the handle 10 on the impinging arm 10c is actuated by an operator (counterclockwise) so that the force flux element 8, or coupling element, is disengaged as a result. Due to this, the flow of force from the electric motor 5 via the transmission 6, 7, 8, 9 to the rotary latch 1 is interrupted and the rotary latch 1 can in turn be pivoted together with the locking bolt caught by it. At the same time, during this process the pawl arm 10b of the handle 10 ensures that the pawl 2 cannot latch with the rotary latch 1 during this process, but rather is lifted off the rotary latch 1.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

[0043] 1 Rotary latch [0044] 2 Pawl [0045] 1, 2 Locking mechanism [0046] 3 Lock case [0047] 4 Lock housing [0048] 5 Electric motor [0049] 6, 7, 8, 9 Transmission [0050] 6, 7 Transmission element [0051] 8 Force flux element [0052] 8a Guide pin [0053] 9 Output-side transmission element [0054] 10 Handle [0055] 11 Axle [0056] 10a Element arm [0057] 10b Pawl arm [0058] 10c Impinging arm [0059] 12, 13 Spring [0060] 12 Spiral spring [0061] 13 Leaf spring