Closure fasteners – Bolts – Swinging
Patent
1991-09-09
1994-07-12
Moore, Richard E.
Closure fasteners
Bolts
Swinging
2923363, E05C 2100, F16H 5702
Patent
active
053282183
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to an electric lock actuator device, and in particular to such a device of the type in which a DC electric motor drives, in a known way, by means of a recirculating ball worm screw unit, the rectilinear movement of an element displaceable with respect to the frame of the device, and a displacement actuator for a member for locking and releasing the lock, conveniently this member can act to restrain or release a lock opening actuation lever which can be a door lock, a boot lock or a fuel filler closure flap of a vehicle.
BACKGROUND ART
As is known, currently for the drive and control of such actuator devices fitted on motor vehicles, use is made in practice of a wiring system dedicated to electrical supply for the motor, which leads from a common central control unit for various actuator devices, which include relay units, limiter circuits etc. This wiring system involves various disadvantages, including: the complexity and difficulty of fitting bundles of wires, the high number of electrical connections, the difficulty of identification in the case of breakdowns, and the complexity of testing the operation of the system during and/or after assembly on the vehicle.
From EP-A-77 254 and FR-A-2 600 366 electric lock actuator devices are known, comprising an electric motor and a displacement actuator element displaceable with respect to a frame of said device under the action of said motor, for locking and releasing a lock in a vehicle, including a specific electronic unit for controlling said electric motor, said electronic unit comprising a plurality of components connected to a printed circuit and housed in a portion of said frame which is integral with a portion of the frame housing said electric motor.
In said EP document, the frame has a substantially parallelepipedal flat shape, with the printed circuit housed parallel to the bigger bases of the frame and fixed thereto by virtue of screws. This arrangement is disadvantageous since the resulting lock actuator is bulky and securing of the printed circuit requires additional operations involving manufacturing costs. In said FR document, on the contrary, no indication is given on the exact arrangement of the printed circuit within the frame, whereas the electronic unit accommodated on the printed circuit only comprises a pair of diodes.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
The object of the present invention is to provide an actuator device of the general type disclosed in said EP and FR documents, designed to overcome the above drawbacks, i.e. which is very simple to produce and to assemble, has a small bulk and is also suitable for a drive and control system of the type described in Italian Patent application entitled "A drive and control system for a plurality of electrical devices in a vehicle" filed on th same date and corresponding to International Patent Application PCT/IT90/00023.
According to the present invention, there is provided an electric lock actuator device of the general type disclosed in said EP and FR documents, which is characterized in that said frame has a pair of mutually facing grooves formed therein and in that said printed circuit has its lateral edges engaged within said facing grooves.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
For a better understanding of the present invention a particular embodiment thereof will now be described, by way of non-limitative example, with reference to the attached drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is a partially sectioned side view of an electric lock actuator device formed according to the principles of the present invention; and
FIG. 2 is a partially sectioned front view of the actuator device of FIG. 1 .
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
With reference to FIG. 1, the reference numeral 201 generally indicates an electric lock actuator device which includes, in a substantially known way, a main frame 202 in the form of a shaped container, conveniently made of plastics material, having a substantially tubular main portion 207 with flattened diametral sections
REFERENCES:
patent: 4106359 (1978-08-01), Wolfe et al.
patent: 4654522 (1987-03-01), Gornick et al.
patent: 4679451 (1987-07-01), Nakamura
patent: 4729544 (1988-03-01), Baumann
patent: 5072973 (1991-12-01), Gudgel et al.
patent: 5086900 (1992-02-01), Kikuta et al.
patent: 5129273 (1992-07-01), Fukui et al.
Boero Giuseppe
Brusasco Enzo
Moore Richard E.
Roltra-Morse, S.P.A.
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