Vehicle door locking system

Details Vehicle door locking system Vehicle door locking system

1987-03-05

1988-08-30

Wolfe, Robert L.

Locks

Systems

Operation and control

70277, E05B 5300

Patent

active

047667478

DESCRIPTION:

BRIEF SUMMARY
This invention relates to locking systems for vehicle doors of the kind in which a central control unit is connected to the individual locks for electrical actuation of the latter whereby locking or unlocking of all the doors can be effected from a single control station actuated from within or outside the vehicle, e.g. by the use of a key and/or some kind of remote control such as a radio or infra-red emitter and systems of this kind are hereinafter referred to as "central locking systems".
A disadvantage of many known types of vehicle lock including those actuated by or forming part of a central locking system is that there is no dead-locking facility, i.e. there is nothing positively retaining the lock mechanism at the secure position and it can be freed quite readily for example by operating manual actuating means on the inside of the door such as the internal door handle or sill release button. This may be done by forcing a window and operating the button or the like using wire or some similar tool to unlock the door and gain unauthorised access to the vehicle interior.
Central locking systems with a dead-locking feature have been proposed but these have hitherto involved special forms of lock mechanism and lock actuators which are complex and costly to provide and which have therefore hitherto only been available on more expensive types of vehicle.
The object of the present invention is to provide a simple and economical central locking system having a low cost and effective dead-locking facility which is easy to operate, reliable in use, and makes use of a known type and size of actuator so that it can readily be provided as a modification of existing central locking systems without any substantial redesign or increase in tooling costs.
According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided a power actuated unit for a central locking system including a lock actuating formation shiftable between locked and unlocked positions; a motor driven rotary cam having a snail formation co-acting with said actuating formation for selective movement thereof in response to operation of a central control unit of the system in use, said snail formation being shaped to prevent displacement of the actuating formation from the locked position at a first angular position of the cam whereby the lock is held in a dead-locked condition but to permit unrestricted movement of the lock actuating formation between the locked and unlockd positions at a second angular position of the cam remote from the first position, and to positively displace the actuating formation to the unlocked position at a third angular position of the cam remote from the second position and on the opposite side thereof to the first position; and resilient means urging the cam in one direction of rotation only away from the third position towards the second angular position whereby once driven to the first angular position the cam will remain at that position to retain the actuating formation in the dead-locked condition until movement to the second or third angular position is effected by a further operation of the central control unit.
The invention further resides in a central locking system including one or more power actuated units as defined by the last preceding paragraph and a central control unit.
Preferably said last mentioned central locking system includes a subsidiary or overriding control circuit whereby the motor or motors of the actuating unit or units or a preselected proportion thereof can be operated at reduced power in response to a signal to the central control unit derived from actuation of manual internal release means, e.g. a sill button or handle on the interior of one or more of the vehicle doors, said power being sufficient to displace the cams of the actuating units to the second position while not overcoming the force of the resilient means resisting movement beyond that position whereby the associated door or doors can then be selectively unlocked by the use of said internal means, e.g. for emergency escape from th

REFERENCES:
patent: 4290634 (1981-09-01), Gelhard
patent: 4518181 (1985-05-01), Yamada

Affiliated with

Also associated with

Rating

Vehicle door locking system does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.

If you have personal experience with Vehicle door locking system, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Vehicle door locking system will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2081092