ELECTRICALLY ACTUATABLE MOTOR VEHICLE LOCK

Abstract

An electrically actuatable motor vehicle lock comprising: a locking mechanism with a rotary latch and at least one pawl, a release lever, the release lever interacting with the locking mechanism in such a way that a locked locking mechanism can be unlocked, an electric drive unit, the release lever being actuatable at least by means of the drive unit and the drive unit having at least one control element for actuating the release lever, and the motor vehicle lock having a means for manually resetting the actuated release lever.

Claims

1. An electrically actuatable motor vehicle lock comprising: a locking mechanism having a rotary latch and at least one pawl, a release lever, the release lever interacting with the locking mechanism in such a way that the locking mechanism can be locked or unlocked, an electric drive unit, the release lever being actuatable by the electric drive unit, and the electric drive unit having a control element for actuating the release lever, and a means for resetting the release lever after the release lever has been actuated.

2. The motor vehicle lock according to claim 1, wherein the control element is actuated, by the means for resetting pivoting the control element.

3. The motor vehicle lock according to claim 1, wherein the release lever is actuated, by the means for resetting pivoting the release lever.

4. The motor vehicle lock according to claim 1, wherein the means for actuating includes an actuating nut.

5. The motor vehicle lock according to claim 4, wherein the actuating nut is arranged in a region of an inlet mouth of the motor vehicle lock.

6. The motor vehicle lock according to claim 1, wherein the means for resetting includes a lever extension on the control element or on the release lever.

7. The motor vehicle lock according to claim 6, wherein the lever extension has an engagement contour.

8. The motor vehicle lock according to claim 1, wherein the means for resetting is indirectly actuatable by a flexible actuation element.

9. The motor vehicle lock according to claim 1, wherein the control element engages with the release lever in a form-fitting manner.

10. The motor vehicle lock according to claim 1, wherein the control element is designed as a separate component in the motor vehicle lock.

11. The motor vehicle lock according to claim 1, wherein the electric drive unit includes a gear stage that drives the control element.

12. The motor vehicle lock according to claim 11, wherein the gear stage includes an output wheel having toothing that engages with toothing of the control element.

13. The motor vehicle lock according to claim 8, wherein the flexible actuation element is a Bowden cable.

14. The motor vehicle lock according to claim 1, further comprising a housing having an opening, and the means for resetting the release lever extends through the opening of the housing.

15. The motor vehicle lock according to claim 1, wherein the means for resetting the release lever is configured to manually reset the release lever in the event of failure of the electric drive unit.

Description

[0022] In the drawings:

[0023] FIG. 1 is a three-dimensional view of a motor vehicle lock, only the components that are essential for explaining the invention being shown; and

[0024] FIG. 2 is a side view of the drive unit, the actuation mechanism and the release lever.

[0025] FIG. 1 is a three-dimensional view of a motor vehicle lock 1, only the components necessary for explaining the invention being shown. A locking mechanism 2 having a rotary latch 3 and a pawl 4 that are accommodated, for example, pivotably in a lock plate (not shown) of the motor vehicle lock 1 is shown. The locking mechanism 2 is shown in a main ratchet position, in which the pawl 4 blocks the rotational movement of the rotary latch, such that a lock holder (also not shown) can be fixed.

[0026] The pawl 4 can interact with the pawl 4 by means of a release lever 5 and, in particular, by means of a pivoting movement of the release lever 5 in the direction of the arrow P1, and can release the pawl 4 from engagement with the rotary latch 3.

[0027] For this purpose, the release lever 5 is accommodated in the motor vehicle lock 1 such that it can pivot about the axis 6. A control element 7 interacts with the release lever 5, the control element 7 being part of a drive unit 8 for actuating the release lever 5. The drive unit 8 has an electric motor 9, a drive wheel 10, an output wheel 11 and the control element 7. A first gear stage is formed by the drive wheel 10 and the output wheel 11 and a second gear stage is formed by the output wheel 11 and the control element 7. The first gear stage 10, 11 can be driven by means of the electric motor 9, as a result of which the control element 7 can in turn be pivoted about the axis 12.

[0028] In addition, FIG. 1 shows an actuating lever 13, which is an external actuating lever 13, for example. The release lever 5 can also be pivoted in the direction of the arrow P1 by means of the actuating lever 13 and in particular by means of a coupling element 14, such that the locking mechanism 2 can be unlocked. The illustrated exemplary embodiment shows an actuating lever 14 that actuates the release lever 5 by means of a coupling lever 14 and with the help of a control lever 15. The locking mechanism 2 can be unlocked manually by means of the external actuating lever 13. In a motor vehicle lock 1 that can be actuated purely electrically, manual unlocking of the locking mechanism 2 is only necessary if mechanical unlocking of the locking mechanism 2 is required.

[0029] If the drive unit 8 and, in particular, the electric motor 9 is now energized, the control element 7 is pivoted in the direction of the arrow P2 by means of the first and second gear stages. A control cam 16 engages in the release lever 5 and pivots the release lever in the direction of the arrow P1. An actuation end 17 of the release lever 5 thus comes into engagement with the pawl 4, the pawl 4 being pivoted in the direction of the arrow P3. The pawl 4 disengages from the rotary latch 3, such that a lock holder held by means of the rotary latch 3 is released. The motor vehicle lock is now open. If, in this state of the motor vehicle lock 1, the electrical power supply fails, the locking mechanism 2 cannot be locked again. Electromechanical resetting of the drive unit 8 cannot be carried out. In this case, means for resetting 18 are provided in the motor vehicle lock 1, an extension 18 on the control element 7 being shown as an example. By means of the extension 18, the control element 7 can be manually pivoted in a clockwise direction about the axis 12. For this purpose, for example, a Bowden cable can engage in an engagement contour 19 of the extension 18 and pivot the control element 7 or reset it manually.

[0030] FIG. 2 is a view of the drive unit 8, the actuating lever 13 and the release lever 5, the position of the release lever 5 being shown in which the release lever 5 has unlocked the locking mechanism 2. To unlock the locking mechanism 2, the release lever 5 was pivoted from a starting position A into an actuation position B by the angle α. The extension 20 formed on the release lever 5 preferably protrudes from the housing 21 of the motor vehicle lock 1, such that the extension 2 can be gripped manually. For this purpose, the housing 21 can have an opening 22 through which the means for resetting 20 extends. The extension 20 is connected to and shown on the release lever 5 only by way of example; the connection of an extension 18 to the control element 7 is also conceivable and shown in FIG. 2. The state in which the motor vehicle lock 1 is unlocked is shown. If there is a power failure in this state, the locking mechanism 2 cannot be locked again. By means of the extensions 18, 20, the control element 7 and the release lever 5 can now be manually returned to the starting position A after the release lever 5 has been actuated. For this purpose, the extension 18, 20 can either be gripped manually or pulling or actuating means are present in order to return the extension 18 back into the starting position. The extensions 18, 20 pass through an opening 22, 23, the ends of the openings 22, 23 serving as stops 24 for the extension 18, 20. For the sake of clarity in FIG. 2, only one stop 24 is provided with a reference sign.

[0031] If the control element 7 is returned to the starting position by means of the extension 18, a form-fitting engagement between the control element 7 and the release lever 5 can be provided, such that the release lever 5 is returned mechanically and in a forcibly guided manner. However, it is also conceivable that, after the control element 7 has been reset, the release lever 5 and the pawl 4 are reset by means of a spring provided on the release lever and/or on the pawl. After the release lever 5 has been reset manually, the locking mechanism 2 can be locked, such that the motor vehicle lock can be locked even in the event of a power failure.

LIST OF REFERENCE SIGNS

[0032] 1 motor vehicle lock

[0033] 2 locking mechanism

[0034] 3 rotary latch

[0035] 4 pawl

[0036] 5 release lever

[0037] 6, 12 axis

[0038] 7 control element

[0039] 8 drive unit

[0040] 9 electric motor

[0041] 10 drive wheel

[0042] 11 output wheel

[0043] 13 actuating lever

[0044] 14 coupling lever

[0045] 15 control lever

[0046] 16 control cam

[0047] 17 actuation end

[0048] 18, 20 means for resetting, extension

[0049] 19 engagement contour

[0050] 21 housing

[0051] 22, 23 opening

[0052] 24 stop

[0053] P1, P2, P3, P4 arrow

[0054] A starting position

[0055] B actuation position

[0056] α angle