Motor vehicle door lock

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10280655-B2
Application number	US-201515516200-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 4, 2015
Priority date	Oct 2, 2014
Publication date	May 7, 2019
Grant date	May 7, 2019

Abstract

The invention relates to a motor vehicle door lock comprising a locking mechanism consisting essentially of a rotary latch and a pawl, further comprising an actuation lever mechanism ( 2 a, 2 b ) that acts on the pawl, and a child safety device ( 3 ) that includes a child safety lever ( 4 ) to which the force of a spring ( 5 ) is applied. According to the invention, the child safety lever ( 4 ) and the spring ( 5 ) are designed as a subassembly ( 4, 5 ).

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A motor vehicle door latch with a locking mechanism comprising:
an activation lever mechanism that opens the locking mechanism from inside the motor vehicle; and
a child lock device moveable between an activated position in which the activation lever mechanism is disconnected from the locking mechanism and a deactivated position in which the activation lever mechanism is connected to the locking mechanism, the child lock device including:
a child lock lever that is rotatable and engageable with the activation lever mechanism to block the activation lever mechanism from being connected with the locking mechanism when the child lock device is in the activated position; and
a spring connected to the child lock lever, wherein the child lock lever and the spring are integrally formed as a single element, and the spring is deformable to force the child lock device toward the activated position when the child lock lever is in a first intermediate position in which a first pivot angle between the child lock lever and the activated position is less than a second pivot angle between the child lock lever and the deactivated position, and toward the deactivated position when the child lock lever is in a second intermediate position in which the second pivot angle is less than the first pivot angle.

2. The motor vehicle door latch according to claim 1 , wherein the child lock lever and the spring are formed from a uniform material.

3. The motor vehicle door latch according to claim 2 , wherein the uniform material is plastic.

4. The motor vehicle door latch according to claim 1 , wherein the child lock lever includes a guide nut that is arranged between the child lock lever and the spring, and receives a pin.

5. The motor vehicle door latch according to claim 4 , wherein the pin is formed as a guiding pin connected to a housing.

6. The motor vehicle door latch according to claim 4 , wherein the guide nut has a first end and a second end and the guiding pin is moveable between the first end and the second end, and wherein the child lock device is in the activated position when the guiding pin is at the first end and in the deactivated position when the guiding pin is at the second end.

7. The motor vehicle door latch according to claim 6 , wherein the guide nut includes a transition area between the first end and the second end, the transition area having a smaller cross-section than the guiding pin guided therein, the spring being deformable in the transition area when the child lock device is in the intermediate position.

8. The motor vehicle door latch according to claim 7 , wherein the spring generates a resetting force on the child lock lever in the transition area, whereby the guiding pin is moved into a closer end of the first end or the second end according to an angular position of the guiding pin.

9. The motor vehicle door latch according to claim 6 , wherein the first end and the second end are cross-sectionally enlarged relative to an area of the guide nut between the first end and the second end.

10. The motor vehicle door latch according to claim 4 , wherein the guide nut is limited in a lengthwise extension both by a radially internal stop wall in relation to a rotational axis of the child lock lever and a radially external spring wall of the spring.

11. The motor vehicle door latch according to claim 10 , wherein the stop wall is formed as a circle center in an arc shape compared to the rotational axis.

12. The motor vehicle door latch according to claim 10 , wherein the spring wall is formed as an elastic bridge between the guide nut and a radially external recess.

13. The motor vehicle door latch according to claim 1 , wherein the activation lever mechanism includes an internal activation lever that opens the locking mechanism from inside the motor vehicle, and an external activation lever that opens the locking mechanism from outside the motor vehicle, wherein the child lock is engageable with the internal activation lever.

14. The motor vehicle door latch according to claim 1 , wherein the child lock device includes an activation nut that is formed integrally with the child lock lever.

Assignees

• Kiekert Ag

Inventors

• Dragon Marek
• Grossmann Alexander

Classifications

• E05B77/26 Primary

  specially adapted for child safety · CPC title

• E05B77/265 Primary

  hand actuated, e.g. by a lever at the edge of the door · CPC title

• E05B2015/0468

  made of one piece with a lock part · CPC title

• E05B15/04

  Spring arrangements in locks {(E05B3/065, E05B15/101, E05B15/143, E05C19/06 take precedence)} · CPC title