Automobile door locking device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10358845-B2
Application number	US-201516065025-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 22, 2015
Priority date	Dec 22, 2015
Publication date	Jul 23, 2019
Grant date	Jul 23, 2019

Abstract

A motor vehicle door lock apparatus includes a meshing mechanism with a striker, a control unit authenticating a transmitter and switching an operation of an outside electric operation element to be enabled and disabled, a locking and unlocking mechanism being switched to an unlocking state where a meshing of the meshing mechanism can be released and a locking state where the meshing cannot be released by an operation of an inside mechanical operation element or a driving of a locking and unlocking motor, and an electric releasing mechanism releasing the meshing by a driving of a releasing motor to activate a releasing operation based on a valid operation of the outside electric operation element, and after a predetermined length of time has elapsed since collision detecting means detect a collision of the motor vehicle, the control unit drives the locking and unlocking motor to activate an unlocking operation.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A motor vehicle door lock apparatus comprising:
a meshing mechanism configured to mesh with a striker to hold a door in a closed state;
an outside electric operation element provided on an outer-vehicle side of the door;
a control unit configured to authenticate a transmitter based on a signal transmitted by the transmitter and to switch selectively an operation of the outside electric operation element to be enabled and disabled according to an authenticated state of the transmitter;
a locking and unlocking mechanism configured to be selectively switched to an unlocking state where a meshing of the meshing mechanism can be released and a locking state where the meshing of the meshing mechanism cannot be released by a driving of a locking and unlocking motor by the control unit; and
an electric releasing mechanism configured to release the meshing of the meshing mechanism by a driving of a releasing motor to activate a releasing operation based on a valid operation of the outside electric operation element,
wherein when the control unit authenticates the transmitter inside the vehicle, the control unit is configured to:
enable an operation of the outside electric operation element when the locking and unlocking mechanism is in the unlocking state; and
disable the operation of the outside electric operation element when the locking and unlocking mechanism is in the locking state, and

wherein the control unit is configured to, after a predetermined length of time has elapsed since a collision detector configured to detect a collision of the motor vehicle detects the collision of the motor vehicle, drive the locking and unlocking motor to activate an unlocking operation to switch the locking and unlocking mechanism to the unlocking state.

2. The motor vehicle door lock apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein the control unit is configured to drive the locking and unlocking motor to activate the unlocking operation when the predetermined length of time has elapsed since the collision is detected by the collision detector and a sitting detector configured to detect a presence of a sitting occupant detects the presence of the sitting occupant.

3. The motor vehicle door lock apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein the control unit is configured to drive the locking and unlocking motor to activate the unlocking operation using electric power supplied from a battery power supply that is mounted on the motor vehicle.

4. The motor vehicle door lock apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising:
an auxiliary power supply configured to supply electric power to the locking and unlocking motor,
wherein the control unit is configured to drive the locking and unlocking motor to activate the unlocking operation using the electric power supplied from the auxiliary power supply.

5. The motor vehicle door lock apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising:
an auxiliary power supply configured to supply electric power to the locking and unlocking motor,
wherein after having driven the locking and unlocking motor to activate the unlocking operation using electric power supplied from a battery power supply that is mounted on the motor vehicle, in a case where a locking and unlocking state detector configured to detect a state of the locking and unlocking mechanism detects that there exists a door of which the locking and unlocking mechanism remains locked, the control unit is configured to drive the locking and unlocking motor of at least the detected door to activate the unlocking operation to switch the locking and unlocking mechanism of the detected door using the electric power supplied from the auxiliary power supply.

6. The motor vehicle door lock apparatus according to claim 4 ,
wherein the auxiliary power supply is configured to supply the electric power to both the locking and unlocking motor and the releasing motor.

7. A motor vehicle door lock apparatus comprising:
a meshing mechanism configured to mesh with a striker to hold a door in a closed state;
an outside electric operation element provided on an outer-vehicle side of the door;
a control unit configured to authenticate a transmitter based on a signal transmitted by the transmitter and to switch selectively an operation of the outside electric operation element to be enabled and disabled according to an authenticated state of the transmitter; and
an electric releasing mechanism configured to release a meshing of the meshing mechanism by a driving of a releasing motor to activate a releasing operation based on a valid operation of the outside electric operation element,
wherein in a case where the control unit authenticates the transmitter situated within the motor vehicle and a collision detector configured to detect a collision of the motor vehicle detects the collision, the control unit is configured to enable the operation of the outside electric operation element.

8. The motor vehicle door lock apparatus according to claim 7 ,
wherein the control unit is configured to drive the releasing motor to activate the releasing operation using electric power supplied from a battery power supply that is mounted on the motor vehicle.

9. The motor vehicle door lock apparatus according to claim 7 , further comprising:
an auxiliary power supply configured to supply electric power to the releasing motor,
wherein the control unit is configured to drive the releasing motor to activate the releasing operation using the electric power supplied from the auxiliary power supply.

10. The motor vehicle door lock apparatus according to claim 4 ,
wherein the auxiliary power supply is provided for each of the doors.

11. The motor vehicle door lock apparatus according to claim 9 ,
wherein the auxiliary power supply is provided for each of the doors.

12. The motor vehicle door lock apparatus according to claim 4 ,
wherein the auxiliary power supply is configured to supply the electric power to both the locking and unlocking motor and the releasing motor.

13. The motor vehicle door lock apparatus according to claim 5 ,
wherein the auxiliary power supply is provided for each of the doors.

14. The motor vehicle door lock apparatus according to claim 11 ,
wherein the auxiliary power supply is charged by a battery power supply that is mounted on the motor vehicle during a period while a starter switch remains on.

15. The motor vehicle door lock apparatus according to claim 5 ,
wherein the auxiliary power supply is charged by a battery power supply that is mounted on the motor vehicle during a period while a starter switch remains on.

16. The motor vehicle door lock apparatus according to claim 9 ,
wherein the auxiliary power supply is charged by a battery power supply that is mounted on the motor vehicle during a period while a starter switch remains on.

Assignees

• Mitsui Kinzoku Act Corp

Inventors

• Yokomori Kazuhito
• Kojima Ayahito

Classifications

• E05B81/80

  characterised by the power supply; Emergency power operation · CPC title

• E05B81/58

  including time control, e.g. for controlling run-time of electric motors · CPC title

• B60R16/02

  electric {constitutive elements} · CPC title

• E05B81/76

  Detection of handle operation; Detection of a user approaching a handle; Electrical switching actions performed by door handles · CPC title

• E05B81/16

  operating on locking elements for locking or unlocking action · CPC title