Closure fasteners – Bolts – Swinging
Reexamination Certificate
1999-11-24
2001-12-11
Estremsky, Gary (Department: 3627)
Closure fasteners
Bolts
Swinging
C292S116000, C292S213000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06328354
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention concerns an automobile vehicle door lock using an electrical or mechanical control for opening and locking/unlocking.
FIG. 1
shows an automobile vehicle V whose longitudinal direction is labeled X, the transverse direction Y and the vertical direction Z. The lock is generally mounted in the rear edge of a door, the edge lying in a plane substantially parallel to the vertical transverse plane YZ of the vehicle, when the door is closed.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
Vehicle door locks generally include a lock casing with at least two compartments. One is the so-called retention compartment containing retention parts, such as a latch-bolt intended to engage and hold a striker, and a pawl used to block the latch-bolt in its striker-holding position. Another compartment is the so-called kinematic compartment containing parts that control the inside and outside opening and locking/unlocking of the lock. The compartments define, for said parts, mounting planes parallel to the plane YZ. The retention compartment includes a tapered striker slot opening notably in the Y direction towards the inside of the vehicle; as the door closes this slot receives a striker fixed to the structure of the vehicle, notably to a door pillar.
It is then necessary to manufacture lock casings and parts that are different for left doors and right doors, which increases the total number of parts necessary to make all the locks of a vehicle, and thereby the overall cost of the locks.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object of the invention is to propose a lock for automobile vehicle doors that can be used for both left doors and right doors.
For this purpose, the object of the invention is a lock for the door of an automobile vehicle, including a lock casing with at least two compartments, the first being a so-called retention compartment containing retention parts, such as a latch-bolt intended to engage and hold a striker, and a pawl intended to block said latch-bolt in its striker-holding position, and the second being a so-called kinematic compartment containing parts used to control the inside and outside opening and locking/unlocking of the lock, said compartments providing, for said retention and control parts, mounting planes parallel to the vertical transverse plane YZ of the vehicle, said retention compartment including a striker slot opening in the transverse direction Y and receiving a striker during door closing, wherein said casing has a plane of symmetry parallel to the longitudinal vertical plane XZ or to the longitudinal horizontal plane XY of the vehicle, to enable use of the same casing for either a left door or a right door.
It is advantageous that most of the parts of the lock, or even all the parts, have a plane of symmetry parallel or perpendicular to their mounting plane, to enable use of the same parts in either a left door or a right door.
In a first embodiment, the lock casing has a plane of symmetry in XY that passes through the axis of the striker slot which enables use of the same casing for a left door or a right door, by rotating the casing through 180° about an axis parallel to the longitudinal direction X of the vehicle.
In this case, the articulation axes of the latch-bolt and the pawl in the retention compartment of the casing can be made symmetrical with respect to the axis of the striker slot so that they can be inverted with respect to said axes and therefore be fitted in a left or right door lock.
It is also possible to provide articulation axes and apertures in the casing allowing displacement of control parts that are symmetrical with respect to the plane of symmetry XY of the casing, since this enables said parts to be mounted on either side of said plane of symmetry, depending on whether the lock is intended for a left door or a right door.
In another embodiment, the lock casing has a plane of symmetry in XZ, the striker slot opening in the Y direction towards the two opposite sides of the casing, to enable the casing to be mounted in the same position, whether the lock is intended for a left door or a right door.
In this case, the articulation axes of the latch-bolt and the pawl in the retention compartment of the casing can lie in the plane of symmetry of the casing, enabling the latch-bolt and the pawl to remain mounted on their respective axes, whether the lock is intended for a left door or a right door.
According to another characteristic of the invention, at least one of said parts, for example the latch-bolt, the pawl or a lock actuator, has a plane of symmetry perpendicular to its mounting plane, to enable use of the same part in a left door lock or a right door lock, by rotating the part through an angle between 0° and 180° about an axis parallel to the X direction.
In this case, the latch-bolt can be fork-shaped with two branches symmetrical with respect to its plane of symmetry that passes through the axis of rotation of the latch-bolt. The pawl can be anchor-shaped with two lateral notches symmetrical with respect to its plane of symmetry that passes through the axis of rotation of the pawl. The lock actuator can have two arms that extend substantially perpendicularly and symmetrically with respect to the plane of symmetry of the casing, this plane passing through the axis of rotation of the lock actuator.
Another characteristic of the invention is that at least one of the parts, for example the latch-bolt, the pawl, an outside opening lever, a lock actuator, an outside locking lever or a pawl maneuvering part, has a plane of symmetry parallel to its mounting plane, to enable use of the same part in a left door lock or a right door lock, by rotating said part through an angle of 180° about an axis parallel to the Y or Z direction.
It is advantageous that the casing be mounted on an L-section metal backplate whose large face lies substantially in a plane parallel to the mounting plane YZ mentioned previously and whose small face lies substantially in a plane parallel to the longitudinal vertical plane XZ of the vehicle, at the end of the striker slot, said backplate having the same plane of symmetry as the casing.
REFERENCES:
patent: 2795448 (1957-06-01), Johnson
patent: 3858916 (1975-01-01), Torii
patent: 4679836 (1987-07-01), Pulillo et al.
patent: 4835997 (1989-06-01), Akright
patent: 4838588 (1989-06-01), Hayakawa
patent: 5221115 (1993-06-01), Takimoto
patent: 5618069 (1997-04-01), Konchan et al.
patent: 5746457 (1998-05-01), Kim
patent: 6012747 (2000-01-01), Takamura
patent: 195 45 722 (1997-04-01), None
patent: 1 411 469 (1975-10-01), None
French Search Report dated Jul. 28, 1999.
Dejean Philippe
Dupont Patrick
Roncin Jean-Michel
Estremsky Gary
Morgan & Finnegan , LLP
Valeo Securite Habitacle
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