Electrical transmission or interconnection systems – Vehicle mounted systems – Automobile
Reexamination Certificate
1999-05-21
2001-10-16
Paladini, Albert W. (Department: 2841)
Electrical transmission or interconnection systems
Vehicle mounted systems
Automobile
C307S010200, C049S118000, C070S204000, C180S287000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06304003
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a locking device, in particular for a door or the like of a vehicle, according to the features of the preamble of patent claim
1
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DE 197 39 340.3 discloses a locking device which is used, in particular, for a door, a trunk lid or a tailgate or the like of a vehicle. Here, an actuating drive is provided, which transmits its movement, via a transmission element, to an element of the locking device, various functional positions of the locking device, such as a theft protection position, central locking position, etc., being set, depending on the movement of the actuating drive. Although DE 197 39 340.3 describes the operative connection of the actuating drive to the element of the locking device via the transmission element, no indications as to the activation of the actuating drive or transmission element and as to the detection of their positions can be gathered from this patent application.
The object on which the invention is based, therefore, is to provide a locking device which specifies not only the implementation of the functional positions, but also the activation of the actuating drive and the execution of activation.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to the invention, therefore, means are provided which detect the continuous movement and the functional positions (if appropriate, also the assumption of the functional positions) of the actuating drive or of the transmission element. This ensures that the actuating drive is activated from one functional position so as to assume a further functional position, for which purpose the continuous movement and the assumption of a subsequent functional position are detected, in order then to activate the actuating drive in such a way that the subsequent desired functional position is assumed and maintained. An initial position may, for example, be the theft protection position which was assumed after the vehicle was parked and secured. If, then, the vehicle is to be operated, it is necessary to change the locking device from the theft protection position to the central unlocking position by the activation of the actuating drive, so that the side door can be opened from outside. In this case, the actuating drive may also be activated in such a way that one functional position or a plurality of functional positions are skipped. Furthermore, the advantage of detecting the continuous movement is that it is possible, at any time, to have evidence as to the functional position and also the intermediate position which the actuating drive or the transmission element has assumed, so that a plausibility check can be conducted on the basis of the detected position.
In a development of the invention, the detection means comprise a potentiometer having a slider which is connected to the actuating drive or the transmission element and which travels along a resistance track, depending on the movement of the actuating drive or transmission element, the potentiometer being electrically connected in such a way that it generates a signal representing the continuous movement. The use of a potentiometer makes it possible to detect the continuous movement in a simple way, such a potentiometer emitting an essentially linear output signal, so that, in any functional position or else in any intermediate position, there are signals different from one another, which can be used for position detection or else for a plausibility check.
In a development of the invention, the means have a switching device possessing a slider which is connected to the actuating drive or the transmission element and which travels over a plurality of contact faces, depending on the movement of the actuating drive or transmission element, the switching device being electrically connected in such a way that it emits a signal whenever a functional position (or a functional position range) of the locking device is assumed. Whilst, in this case, there is provision for a signal to be emitted whenever a functional position of the locking device is assumed and for no signal to be emitted in the positions between the functional positions, the opposite procedure may also be envisaged. That is to say, no signal is emitted whenever a functional position is assumed and a signal is emitted in an intermediate position. By means of the output signal from the switching device, it can thus be detected reliably when a functional position has been assumed after the activation of the actuating drive, in order than to interrupt the activation of the actuating drive.
It is particularly advantageous to combine the output signal from the potentiometer with the output signal from the switching device, so that, at any time while the actuating drive is activated or is in a functional position, it is possible to have evidence as to the range in which the actuating drive or the transmission element is located (as a result of the evaluation of the output signal from the switching device) and whether a movement of the actuating drive or transmission element takes place during activation or not (as a result of the evaluation of the output signal from the potentiometer). If there is a signal for activation and the output signal from the potentiometer does not change, with the result that either the output signal itself or its time change is evaluated, a defect is to be inferred, which may be caused, for example, by an electrical interruption in activation or else jamming of the element of the locking device. Furthermore, it is possible to conduct a plausibility check on the basis of the at least two output signals capable of being evaluated separately from one another, an emergency operation possibly being carried out, depending on predeterminable variables (for example, deviations).
Likewise, by virtue of a development of the invention, it is particularly advantageous that, for the superposed activation of the actuating drive, the signal from the potentiometer can be evaluated when, after the actuating drive is activated for the assumption of a functional position, it is just before the latter is assumed. This means that, starting from a first functional position, the actuating drive is activated in order to assume the subsequent functional position. This takes place, for example, by means of a signal which causes rotational movements of the actuating drive. When it is established by means of the switching device, then, that it is just before the assumption of the functional position to be assumed or the latter is already assumed, the activation of the actuating drive is superposed, by the evaluation of the output signal from the potentiometer, in such a way that the activating signal for the actuating drive is not cut off abruptly, but is cut back to a minimum value or to zero within a predetermined timespan, in order thereby to avoid overshooting which could even result in the activated functional position being relinquished. It must be remembered, where appropriate, that, after the output signal from the potentiometer has been evaluated, the sign of the activating signal for the actuating drive is reversed, thus resulting in a polarity reversal of the actuating drive, in order to allow very rapid braking and, consequently, a reliable assumption of the desired functional position.
Conversely to this, it is also possible to evaluate the output signal from the potentiometer in order to detect the assumption of a functional position when the output signal from the potentiometer is within predetermined value ranges. At the commencement of the assumption of such a value range, the activating signal for the actuating drive can be reduced, for example in order to reduce the rotational speed of the actuating drive; if it has then been detected by means of the switching device that the desired functional position has been assumed, the activating signal for the actuating drive can be further reduced or cut off, thus likewise avoiding overshoots and the resulting repositioning or reactivation.
In a development of the invention, a communal slider is provided f
Franz Erhard
Kleinmichel Peter
Rathmann Klaus-Peter
Schafer Axel
Depke Robert J.
Mannesmann VDO AG
Mayer Brown & Platt
Paladini Albert W.
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