MOTOR VEHICLE LOCK

Abstract

A motor vehicle lock, in particular a motor vehicle door lock is provided with an actuation lever chain for a locking mechanism. The actuation lever chain has at least one actuation lever and a coupling element. A mass inertia element is also produced, which acts on the coupling element at least in the event of a crash. As well as a spring acting on the mass inertia element. According to the invention, the spring is designed to be double-acting, with a crash spring part and an engaging spring part.

Claims

1. A motor vehicle lock comprising: a locking mechanism, an actuation lever chain for the locking mechanism, the actuation lever chain having at least one actuation lever and a coupling element, a mass inertia element which acts on the coupling element at least in the event of a crash, and a spring acting on the mass inertia element, wherein the spring is double-acting that comprises a crash spring part that holds the mass inertia element in a predetermined position relative to the actuation lever and an engaging spring part that preloads the mass inertia element toward a locking position.

2. The motor vehicle lock according to claim 1, wherein the mass inertia element is rotatably connected to the actuation lever with the interposition of the spring.

3. The motor vehicle lock according to claim 2, further comprising a bearing pin passing through the actuation lever for the rotatable connection of the mass inertia element.

4. The motor vehicle lock according to claim 3, wherein the crash spring part of the spring engages around the bearing pin with a first winding portion.

5. The motor vehicle lock according to claim 1, wherein the crash spring part holds the mass inertia element in the predetermined position relative to the actuation lever during a normal operation, and the crash spring part is deformed in the event of a crash.

6. The motor vehicle lock according to claim 1, wherein the engaging spring part is preloaded in a direction of a locking position of the mass inertia element.

7. The motor vehicle lock according to claim 1, wherein spring forces built up by the crash spring part and the engaging spring part act in different planes.

8. The motor vehicle lock according to claim 1, wherein the crash spring part provides spring forces in a crash plane and the engaging spring part provides spring forces in a locking plane which runs perpendicularly relative to the crash plane.

9. The motor vehicle lock according to claim 1, wherein the mass inertia element comprises a mass inertia lever with a passage opening for receiving a U-shaped spring arm as the engaging spring part.

10. The motor vehicle lock according to claim 1, wherein the mass inertia element has a first mass inertia lever and a second mass inertia lever, wherein the second mass inertia lever is rotatably connected to the actuation lever, and wherein the first mass inertia lever is equipped with a winding portion as the engaging spring part.

11. The motor vehicle lock according to claim 1, wherein the crash spring part comprises a first winding portion and the engaging spring part comprises a second winding portion.

12. The motor vehicle lock according to claim 1, wherein during a crash the engaging spring part temporarily locks the mass inertia element to the coupling element.

13. The motor vehicle lock according to claim 1, wherein the mass inertia element is connected to an arm of the actuation lever.

14. The motor vehicle lock according to claim 9, wherein the crash spring part comprises a wind portion for rotatably connecting the mass inertia element to the actuation lever.

15. The motor vehicle lock according to claim 1, wherein the coupling element comprises a locking region for a temporary coupling of the mass inertia element during a crash, and a pin receptable for receiving a locking lever of the actuation lever chain.

Description

[0026] In the following, the invention is explained in more detail with the aid of a drawing showing only an exemplary embodiment; in the figures:

[0027] FIG. 1 shows a basic overview of the motor vehicle lock according to the invention,

[0028] FIGS. 2A and 2B show the actuation lever in a first variant (FIG. 2A) and a second variant (FIG. 2B),

[0029] FIG. 3 shows the mass inertia element in the first variant, partly in exploded view,

[0030] FIGS. 4A and 4B show the event of a crash, illustrating the mass inertia element of the first variant,

[0031] FIG. 5 shows the mass inertia element in a further second variant, partially in exploded view, and

[0032] FIGS. 6A and 6B show the event of a crash, illustrating the mass inertia element according to the second variant.

[0033] The drawings show a motor vehicle lock which is not limited to a motor vehicle door lock. It has a locking mechanism 1, 2, which is only indicated in FIG. 1, consisting substantially of a rotary latch 1 and a pawl 2. It can be seen from FIG. 1 that the locking mechanism 1, 2 is arranged substantially perpendicular to the drawing plane shown in the figures. The drawing plane coincides with a plane E spanned by a housing or lock housing 3, which is a crash plane E to be described below.

[0034] The basic structure includes at least one actuation lever chain 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 for the locking mechanism 1, 2. The actuation lever chain 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 is equipped with at least one actuation lever 5 and one coupling element 7. According to the exemplary embodiment, without indicating a limitation, the actuation lever 5 is an external actuation lever 5. In addition, the actuation lever chain 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 also has a release lever 4. Furthermore, it has a locking lever 8. Furthermore, the locking lever 8 may be associated with an electric motor drive A, which is not expressly shown and is merely indicated, with the aid of which the locking lever 8 can perform the pivoting movements indicated in FIG. 1 about its axis in the counterclockwise and clockwise directions. In the embodiment, the coupling element 7 functions as a transmission lever. Namely, it ensures a mechanical coupling between the locking lever 8 and a coupling lever 6 as a further component of the actuation lever chain 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. In fact, the coupling lever 6 in question is rotatably mounted on the release lever 4 and is interposed between the actuation lever 5 and the release lever 4.

[0035] The basic structure also includes a mass inertia element 9, 10 which acts on the coupling element 7 at least in the event of a crash. For this purpose and according to the embodiment, the mass inertia element 9, 10 performs a combined pivoting/lifting movement and thereby engages in a locking manner in the coupling element 7, specifically in a locking region 7a there. The combined pivoting/lifting movement of the mass inertia element 9, 10 manifests itself in such a way that the mass inertia element 9, 10 according to the embodiment not only performs or can perform movements in the plane or crash plane E spanned by the lock housing 3 (and coinciding with the plane of the drawing), but also perpendicularly thereto in a locking plane R.

[0036] For this purpose, the mass inertia element 9, 10 is connected to an arm 5A of the actuation lever 5. In addition, it can be seen that a spring 11 acting on the mass inertia element 9, 10 is included. The actuation lever or external actuation lever 5 is shown together with the mass inertia element 9, 10 in FIGS. 2A and 2B in two different variants, which will be discussed in more detail below. In addition, the spring 11 can be seen in the figures in question.

[0037] According to the invention, the spring 11 for acting on the mass inertia element 9, 10 is designed to be double-acting with a crash spring part 11a and an engaging spring part 11b. The two variants according to FIGS. 2A and 2B make it clear that the mass inertia element 9, 10 is rotatably connected to the actuation lever 5 in question with the spring 11 interposed. For this purpose, a bearing pin 12 is provided which passes through the actuation lever 5. It can be seen that the spring 11 acting on the mass inertia element 9, 10 surrounds or encircles the bearing pin 12 in question with a first winding portion 11a as a crash spring part 11a. In the variant according to FIG. 2A or 3, the spring 11 is further equipped with a second winding portion 11b as an engaging spring part 11b. This includes the first embodiment with a first mass inertia lever 9 and a further second mass inertia lever 10.

[0038] In the further second variant according to the illustration in FIGS. 2B and 5, the first winding portion or the crash spring part 11a is again included. In contrast, in this variant the engaging spring part 11b of the spring 11 is designed as a U-shaped spring arm 11b. In this case, a two-part but one-piece mass inertia lever 9, 10 is realized. This has a front lever arm 9 with a passage opening 13 for the U-shaped spring arm 11b and a further lever arm 10 for the rotatable mounting of the mass inertia element or mass inertia lever 9, 10 on the associated bearing pin 12 in the second variant.

[0039] In both design variants, the crash spring part 11a ensures that the mass inertia element 9, 10 maintains a predetermined position relative to the actuation lever 5 during normal operation, and is deformed in the event of a crash. For example, this normal operation is shown in solid lines in FIG. 4A for the first embodiment and in FIG. 6A for the second embodiment, whereas the event of a crash corresponds to the dash-dotted and deflected position of the associated mass inertia element 9, 10. It can be seen that the crash spring part 11a holds the mass inertia element 9, 10 in the predetermined position relative to the actuation lever 5 in the solid-line normal operation.

[0040] This predetermined position of the mass inertia element 9, 10 relative to the actuation lever 5 corresponds to the fact that the mass inertia element 9, 10 cannot interact with the locking region 7a of the coupling element 7. In fact, the coupling element 7 not only has the locking region 7a in question for a temporary coupling with the mass inertia element 9, 10, but also, a pin receptacle 7b of the coupling element 7 is realized, into which the locking lever 8 engages or can engage with a pin 8a. The pin receptacle 7b is arranged adjacent to the locking region 7a of the coupling element 7 (see FIG. 1).

[0041] In this way, actuation of the locking lever 8 by means of the drive A, starting from a locked position indicated in FIG. 1, in a clockwise direction of the coupling element 7, results in the coupling lever 6 being transferred from its raised position belonging to the unlocked position into the coupled position according to FIG. 1.

[0042] Either way, the transition of the mass inertia element 9, 10 from its position shown in solid lines in FIGS. 4A and 6A to the crash position shown in dash-dotted lines corresponds to the mass inertia element 9, 10 being temporarily coupled to the coupling element 7, namely to the locking region 7a of the coupling element 7. For this purpose, the already mentioned engaging spring part 11b, as a further component of the double-acting spring 11, ensures that the mass inertia element 9, 10 is acted upon in the direction of the locking positions 7a of the mass inertia element 9, 10 with respect to the coupling element 7. In order to achieve this, the spring forces generated by the crash spring part 11a on the one hand and the engaging spring part 11b on the other hand act in different planes. In fact, the crash spring part 11a predominantly builds up spring forces in the drawing plane or the plane coinciding with the lock housing 3 or crash plane E. In contrast, forces generated by the engaging spring part 11b correspond to those which run perpendicularly thereto. The spring forces built up by the crash spring part 11a therefore run in the crash plane E, which coincides with the plane E, while the engaging spring part 11b provides spring forces in the locking plane R, which runs predominantly vertically.

[0043] From the illustration in FIGS. 3 and 4A, 4B it can be seen that the mass inertia element 9, 10 in the first variant is designed as a first mass inertia lever 9 and a second mass inertia lever 10 rotatably connected to the actuation lever 5. The first mass inertia lever 9 is equipped with the second winding portion 11b and/or the engaging spring part 11b. It can be seen that the first mass inertia lever 9 is connected to the second mass inertia lever 10 via an axis 13 which is arranged predominantly in the crash plane or plane E. In fact, this axis 13 is provided by a bearing pin or dowel pin running in the crash plane or plane E in question. In contrast, the second mass inertia lever 10 ensures the mounting of the mass inertia element 9, 10 in this first variant perpendicular to the crash plane in question or plane E.

[0044] In the second variant according to FIGS. 5 and 6A, 6B, however, the first or front-end lever arm 9 ensures the pivoting movements in the crash plane or plane E, namely about the axis defined by the bearing pin 12. For this purpose, the second lever arm 10 provides a corresponding bearing aperture for the passage of the bearing pin 12.

[0045] When comparing FIGS. 4A and 4B or 6A and 6B, it can be seen that in the event of a crash, the mass inertia element 9, 10 not only predominantly performs a pivoting movement in the crash plane or plane E. Rather, the engaging spring part 11b of the double-acting spring 11 ensures during this pivoting process or subsequently thereto that the mass inertia element 9, 10 also performs a lifting or lowering movement in the locking plane R. In fact, the mass inertia element 9, 10 is preloaded by means of the engaging spring part 11b in the direction of the locking positions 7a on the coupling element 7. As a result, the mass inertia element 9, 10 or the first mass inertia lever 9 in the first variant or the front-end lever arm 9 in the second variant each perform a lowering movement in the direction of the locking position 7a of the coupling element 7, which can be understood in particular from FIGS. 4B and 6B. Following this, the mass inertia element 9, 10 has assumed a temporary locking position with respect to the coupling element 7.

[0046] As a result, the actuation lever 5 is coupled to the coupling element 7 in a detachable, locking mannerand temporarily. In this case, the coupling element 7 typically assumes its disengaged position and the motor vehicle lock according to the invention remains unchanged in its locked position. If the actuation lever 5 is then actuated clockwise from this locking position and in accordance with the illustration in FIGS. 2A and 2B and 1, this actuation of the actuation lever 5 during a first movement leads to the coupling element 7 being pivoted clockwise about its axis by this first movement due to the locking coupling of the actuation lever 5 with the coupling element 7. This clockwise movement of the coupling element 7 results in the coupling element 7 being engaged and thereby moving the coupling lever 6 into the engaged position. Now the actuation lever 5 and the release lever 4 are mechanically connected to one another by the engaged coupling lever 6, so that a further second movement of the actuation lever 5 in a clockwise direction results in the locking mechanism 1, 2 being able to be opened.

[0047] Instead of a two-movement operation of the actuation lever 5 to the effect of first unlocking and then opening, it is of course also conceivable and within the scope of the invention to be able to realize and implement a combined unlocking and opening with one movement of the actuation lever 5 in one go. In general, there is also the possibility that the mass inertia element 9, 10 acts directly on the locking lever 8 and does not act indirectly on the locking lever 8 via the coupling element 7. In this case, no locking positions 7a are provided on the coupling element 7; rather, a locking position 7a is provided directly on the locking lever 8, which is then, however, unlocked again before the locking mechanism 1, 2 can be opened.

LIST OF REFERENCE SIGNS

[0048] Locking mechanism 1, 2 [0049] Rotary latch 1 [0050] Pawl 2 [0051] Lock housing 3 [0052] Actuation lever chain 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 [0053] Release lever 4 [0054] Actuation lever 5 [0055] Extension 5a [0056] Coupling lever 6 [0057] Coupling element 7 [0058] Locking region 7a [0059] Pin receptacle 7b [0060] Locking lever 8 [0061] Pin 8a [0062] Mass inertia element 9, 10 [0063] Mass inertia lever 9, 10 [0064] Spring 11 [0065] Winding portion 11a [0066] Crash spring part 11a [0067] Engaging spring part 11b [0068] Spring arm 11a, 11b [0069] Winding portion 11b [0070] Bearing pin 12 [0071] Axis 13 [0072] Drive A [0073] Plane E