Patent ID: 6131965
Filing Date: 2000-10-17
Classification: E05B,Y10S,Y10T

Abstract:
A child-safety door locking system mounted on an automobile door, said locking system comprising:a latch;a handle operatively connected to the latch for latching and unlatching the door;a locking mechanism operable to lock and unlock the latch, the handle being incapable of operating to unlatch the door when the locking mechanism locks the latch, the child-safety door locking system being capable of being selectively switched between a normal lock mode in which the door can be manually locked and unlocked, and a guard lock mode in which the door cannot be manually unlocked;an interior door panel having an inner surface and an outer surface;a manual lock actuator operatively connected to the locking mechanism of the door and disposed at least partially outside the outer surface of the door panel, the manual lock actuator being manually movable in the normal lock mode relative to the interior door panel from a location outside the outer surface of the door panel between a locked position in which the latch on the door is locked and an unlocked position in which the latch on the door is unlocked;a shield movable relative to the interior door panel and the manual lock actuator between a retracted inoperative position corresponding to the normal lock mode and an extended operative position corresponding to the guard lock mode, in the inoperative position the shield being withdrawn from the manual lock actuator whereby in the locked position the manual lock actuator may be manually grasped and moved to its unlocked position, and in the operative position the shield occupying a position relative to the door panel and manual lock actuator on the outside surface of the door panel so that the manual lock actuator is shielded in its locked position to block access to the manual lock actuator for manual movement to its unlocked position, the shield and the lock actuator being arranged relative to each other in the operative position for movement of the lock actuator relative to the shield to its unlocked position when the shield is in its operative position corresponding to the guard lock mode of the locking system;a key lock adapted to receive a key therein to permit movement of the key lock between a first position corresponding to the normal lock mode and a second position corresponding to the guard lock mode; andthe key lock being operatively connected to the shield such that turning of the key in the lock moves the shield relative to the manual lock actuator between the normal lock mode and the guard lock mode of the locking system.