Closure fasteners – Bolts – Swinging
Reexamination Certificate
1999-09-02
2002-05-21
Estremsky, Gary (Department: 3627)
Closure fasteners
Bolts
Swinging
C292S216000, C049S280000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06390516
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a door lock unit of a vehicular door closure system, and particularly, to a door lock unit of a power-assisted door closure system for vehicles.
2. Description of Related Art
In some vehicles, there are hinged or sliding side doors and/or rear doors that are provided with a door closure system, whereby by just closing the door to a half-closed condition, drive power of an incorporated motor brings the door to a fully closed condition. (For similar technology, refer to Nissan Motor Corporation's new vehicle manual W30-1, pages D-31 to D-35.)
This type of door closure system is constituted with a drive unit and a door lock unit both disposed within a vehicular door. The drive unit and the door lock unit are linked with each other through an actuation wire, and drive power of an electric motor that is provided in the drive unit is transmitted to the door lock unit via the wire.
The door lock unit includes a latching plate that engages with a striker that is provided on the vehicle side, a closing lever which engages with the latching plate and causes it to rotate in an engagement direction, and an actuation wire that is linked to the closing lever and which transmits drive power. From the standpoint of ease of assembly, the latching plate, closing lever, and wire are generally assembled in a mutually overlapping manner.
The latching plate of the door lock unit can rotate reciprocally about a shaft, from a released position, through a half-latched position, up to a fully latched position. When the latching plate reaches the half-latched position, a half-latched switch detects this condition, the wire is pulled by the drive unit so as to move the closing lever that is linked to the wire, so that part of the closing lever engages with the latching part of the latching plate, the latching plate being forcibly rotated from the half-latched position up to the fully latched position. By doing this, the latching plate, which was in the half-latched position, is brought to the fully latched position, at which it engages fully with the striker.
When the fully latched position is reached, the fully latched switch detects this condition, the motor being rotated in the reverse direction so as to push the wire. When this is done, the engagement between the closing lever and the latching plate is released, the closing lever returning to a position that is further to the outside of the rotational path of the engaging part from the fully latched position up to the half-latched position. That is, the closing lever is not allowed to be positioned at a point between the fully latched position and the half-latched position. The reason for this is that, if the latching plate that rotated in the reverse direction should for some reason come into contact with the closing lever and stop at an intermediate position, a false locked condition would occur, which neither the fully latched switch nor the half-latched switch would be able to detect. For this reason, to prevent this situation, the latching plate is not allowed to engage with the closing lever until it reaches at least the half-latched position. By doing this, even if something should cause the latching plate to rotate in the reverse direction, the latching plate will return as far as the half-latched position. Once it returns to the half-latched position, the half-latched switch will detect it once again, enabling the latching plate to be swung up to the fully latched position once again, so that the intermediate condition does not occur.
In the above-noted technology, however, because the latching plate, the closing lever, and the wire are assembled so as to be mutually overlapping, there is an increase in the thickness of the door in the longitudinal direction thereof, this causing a critical reduction in installation space for a rollup/rolldown window that is provided within the door.
In the technology of the past, because the construction was such that the closing lever was caused to move in a straight line along the direction of the pulling of the wire, and such that, after the reaching the fully latched position, the closing plate was returned to a position that is outside the limitation of swinging motion of the engaging part up until the latching plate half-latched position, the stroke of the wire was large. Therefore, there was an increase in the amount of slack, between the time the drive unit motor starts rotating, until the latching plate actually starts swinging, resulting in a long time required to reach the fully latched position from the half-latched position.
The fact that the wire stroke was large makes the drive unit for the purpose of pulling the wire large, this not only leading to an increase in weight, but also a worsening of the efficient use of space within the door.
Accordingly, the invention was in consideration of the related art as noted above, and has as an object the provision of a door lock unit of a vehicular door closure system, which is capable of providing a reduction in the thickness of the door in the longitudinal direction.
It is another object of the invention to provide a door lock unit of a vehicular door closure system, which is capable of providing a shortening of the drive wire stroke.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A first aspect of the invention is a door lock unit of a vehicular door closure system, this door lock unit having a latching plate, which is free to reciprocally swing about an axis from a released position, through a half-latched position, to a fully latched position, a closing lever, which is provided so as to extend in the up/down direction, and which, when it rises to an engaging part formed on an edge of the latching plate, engages therewith and causes the latching plate to swing toward the fully latched position, and a wire, which is linked to the lower end of the closing lever, and which transmits driving force for the purpose of raising the closing lever, the closing lever and the outer peripheral part of the latching plate being disposed on substantially the same plane, and the wire passing the upper part of the latching plate, after which it is bent downward and linked to the lower end of the closing lever.
According to the first aspect of the invention, because the closing lever and the outer periphery of the latching plate are disposed on substantially the same plane, it is possible to reduce the, thickness of the door lock unit. There is therefore no problem with achieving sufficient space within the door, thereby facilitating the layout of a rollup/rolldown glass within the door. Additionally, because the closing lever is provided in the up/down direction and the wire passes the upper part of the latching plate and is then bent downward, corresponding parts of the closing lever and the wire are each in the vertical direction, thereby enabling a reduction in the width size (size in the direction perpendicular to the width) of the door lock unit. It is therefore possible to reduce the thickness of the door itself, thereby enabling an expansion of the space within the vehicle and an improvement in appearance. Additionally, because the wire is linked to the lower end of the closing lever, the driving force of the wire makes a U-turn via the closing lever, and then is transmitted to the latching plate, the result being that it is possible to reduce the vertical size of the door lock unit. Therefore, layout of other components in the vertical space of the door lock unit is facilitated.
The second aspect of the invention is a door lock unit of a vehicular door closure system as in the first aspect, this door lock unit further having a cover that covers the latching plate and the closing lever, the lower edge of the cover being formed with a step towards the closing lever, the lower end of the closing lever being mounted to the lower end of the cover so as to be freely movable upward and downward.
According to the second aspect of the invention, because the rigidity of the cover is raised by formi
Estremsky Gary
Kilpatrick & Stockton LLP
Ohi Seisakusho Co. Ltd.
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