Electricity: motive power systems – Automatic and/or with time-delay means – Movement – position – or limit-of-travel
Reexamination Certificate
1999-06-22
2001-03-27
Nappi, Robert E. (Department: 2837)
Electricity: motive power systems
Automatic and/or with time-delay means
Movement, position, or limit-of-travel
C292S245000, C070S192000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06208103
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an electric motor-operated actuator for a motor vehicle lock, e.g. door lock, rear hatch lock, hood lock.
2. Discussion of Related Art
A conventional electric motor-operated actuator for a motor vehicle lock is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,518,181 in conjunction with a comprehensive description of a motor vehicle side door lock. This patent points out that an actuator pulley is any functional component which has a corresponding actuator function. This also applies in the present case. In the prior art, as alternatives, there is one actuator pulley on the one hand for radial movements and one actuator cylinder with the cylinder axis as the axis of rotation for axial movements.
The known electric motor-operated actuator for a motor vehicle lock includes a control crank which runs in a spiral in the actuator pulley, by a notably small drive output of the electric drive motor. In end positions, which correspond to the inner stop or the outer stop of the control crank, manual switching between the operating states “unlocked” and “locked” can be done without hindrance. The number of components is small, both in radial and axial movement of the control lever by the control crank. The stop running against the guide element journal) can trigger the shutoff of the electric drive motor (block mode).
Because the control crank extends between the inner stop and the outer stop via a guide channel which is closed at a minimum of more than 360° for the journal of the control lever and is closed only in the overlap between the inner stop and outer stop with a transverse channel which extends radially or axially, to enable manual switching, the actuator itself does not require a tilt spring which loads the control lever. In this way, motor output becomes especially low. In any case, in this prior art, a tilt spring, which is designed at least as a weak spring, is feasible for the control lever in order to achieve defined operating states.
The closed guide channel, which is formed by the control crank over the latter's entire length, disadvantageously only permits manual switching in the end position, and precludes manual switching in between. When the electric drive motor fails, the control lever is blocked. Since the rise of the control crank over 360° is relatively low, when a conventional small diameter of the actuator pulley of a few centimeters must be accepted, in conventional overall gearing down, the actuator is self-locking and therefore cannot be turned back by hand.
The above described problem has already been recognized in the above explained prior art. A second embodiment includes a construction in which the control crank extends between the inner stop and the outer stop likewise again over a minimum of more than 360°. However, the control crank is no longer made as a closed guide channel for the journal of the control lever, but as the outer and inner guide cams. The choice of radii of the outer and inner guide cams is made such that only an angular area of roughly 180° each has a changing radius with which the journal is then displaced radially to the inside or to the outside. These areas on the outer guide cam and on the inner guide cam do not overlap one another. By means of the respective guide cam on which the journal is held in a defined manner by a tilt spring, the journal is moved to the inside or outside by turning the actuator pulley until the tilt spring turns over and shifts the control lever into the respective other operating state. This shifting movement, not the journal striking the inner stop or the outer stop, shuts off the drive motor by means of a switching contact. Afterwards, a reset spring takes effect by acting in both directions and always returning the actuator pulley with the control crank to a middle position in which the journal on the control lever is located in the widest section of the control crank. In the middle position, manual switching between the operating states “unlocked” and “locked” is easily possible.
In a second embodiment of the above-described prior art, the actuator is not self-locking, but can be reset. The reset spring which is present for resetting, however, requires a significantly increased drive output of the electric drive motor. Turning the actuator pulley back by hand when the electrical drive motor fails is not described, but is generally not necessary either due to the reset spring. This second prior art embodiment, in addition to the high drive output of the electric drive motor, has the further disadvantage that the control lever actually turns over under the action of the tilt spring. Therefore, the control lever is not guided beyond the tilt point of the tilt spring by the control crank which is made as a closed guide channel. The noise generated is thus higher than in the first prior art embodiment.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object of the invention is to combine a drive output of the electric drive motor in as compact a manner as possible with an area of manual switchability as wide as possible in an emergency, but in doing so to keep the design of the actuator as simple as possible. The aforementioned object is achieved by providing an electric motor-operated actuator for a motor vehicle lock, the motor vehicle lock having a lock mechanism which can be switched between operating states of at least one of “unlocked” and “locked”; “unlocked” and “locked-antitheft”; and “unlocked”, “locked” and “locked-antitheft”, comprising a drive motor, an actuator pulley rotary driven by the drive motor, and a control lever loaded with a tilt spring and dynamically coupled to the actuator pulley for switching the lock mechanism into the various operating states. The actuator pulley has a control crank which extends in a curve around an axis of rotation of the actuator pulley. The control crank includes a closed inner guide cam and a closed outer guide cam with changing radii of a guide channel. The control crank also includes on one end an inner stop near the axis of rotation and on another end an outer stop away from the axis of rotation. The control lever has a guide element which fits into the control crank. In addition, the control lever is adapted to be switched via the guide element by the control crank into the operating states which are attained when one of the inner stop and the outer stop touch the guide element. The control lever is capable of being manually switched back and forth between two operating states at least in one end position of the actuator pulley with the guide element on at least one of the inner stop and the outer stop. The drive motor is adapted to be turned off when at least one of the inner stop and the outer stop contacts the guide element. Moreover, the guide element and the corresponding stop as adapted to pause in the attained end position after the drive motor is turned off. The guide channel, in only a partial angular range, forms the control crank for displacing the control lever. Another partial angular range of the guide channel and the control crank forms the inner and outer guide cam having a radial distance from one another which corresponds roughly to the radial distance from the inner stop and the outer stop to allow free manual switching of the control lever between the two operating states. Preferably, the actuator is totally self-locking. This approach relates to radial movements with the implementation of an actuator pulley. However, axial movements in an otherwise equivalent actuator cylinder may also be used using an actuator cylinder.
The arc length of the closed guide channel is largely shortened as a section of the control crank to an amount which implements the desired stops, but which allows the switching function for manual switching over an angular range as large as possible. In this case, pretensioning of the spring for the actuator pulley is not necessary in spite of the wide range of manual shifting capacity. In a simple manner, a relatively weak tilt spring can be provided for the contr
Duda Rina I.
Nappi Robert E.
Nixon & Peabody LLP
Robert & Bosch GmbH
Safran David S.
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