Door lock assembly for automotive vehicles

Abstract: A door lock assembly includes a door lock operating unit having a locking arm (4), and an actuator for driving the locking arm to a locked position and unlocked position. The actuator has an operating lever (14) which rocks together with the locking arm, a neutral position restoration lever (13) which, when in a neutral position, is in a state non-engagable with the operating lever and, when displaced from the neutral position, drives the operating lever to the locked position and unlocked position, an output member which makes contact with an separates from the neutral position restoration lever for driving the neutral position restoration lever to the locked position and unlocked position, and a motor (11) for driving the output member.

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to an automotive vehicle door lock assembly for automatically locking and unlocking a door manually as well as electrically using a miniature motor. A door lock assembly according to the preamble of claim 1 is known from FR-A-24 52 641. In the case of this known door lock assembly an intermediate member is provided between the operating lever and the locking element. The intermediate member is rotatably connected to the operating lever and may rotate relative to the operating lever within a certain rotational range limited by stoppers provided on the operating lever. Neutral position restoration members constituted by springs restore the operating lever to its original neutral position after the movement of the operating lever either to the unlocked or to the locked position. The known door lock assembly has the advantage that, with the aid of the actuator as well as manually, the locking element may be driven into the locked position and into the unlocked position. It is the object of the invention to further develop the known door lock assembly in which the locked and unlocked states can be attained both automatically and manually such that it is more compact. According to the invention this object is achieved by the door lock assembly according to claim 1. In the case of the door lock assembly according to the invention a neutral position restoration member is provided for restoring the output member to the original position. This allows the locking element constituted by a locking arm to co-rotatingly rock together with the operating lever, thus avoiding an intermediate member between the locking element and the operating lever. In this way the design of the door lock assembly according to the invention is simplified. Moreover, it is guaranteed that the door lock assembly can always be actuated manually, even if the motor is no longer operable. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. 1 is a perspective view illustrating another embodiment of an door lock assembly according to the invention; Fig. 2 is an exploded perspective view of an actuator included in the door lock assembly of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a view showing the actuator of Fig. 2 in the assembled state; and Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken along line XIII-XIII of Fig. 12. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT An embodiment of a door lock assembly according to the invention will now be described. This embodiment of the door lock assembly, designated at numeral 101 in Fig. 1, includes an actuator 110 and a door lock operating unit 120. The actuator 110 is accommodated in a housing 102. The door lock operating unit 120 is operated to actuate a well-known door lock actuating unit (not shown) accommodated in the housing 102, whereby the door (not shown) is locked and unlocked. The actuator 110 will now be described with reference to Figs. 2 through 4. The actuator 110 is received in a space 103 formed in the housing 102 by an inner wall 102a and bottom wall 102b. Secured in the space 103 is a reversible motor 111 having a rotary shaft 111a to which a worm gear 112 is secured so as to be capable of rotating together with the shaft. Formed on the bottom wall 102b in space 103 is an outer protuberance 102c and an inner protuberance 102d situated inside the outer protuberance 102c. Rotatably supported on the outer protuberance 102c and inner protuberance 102d by a pin 114 is a locking element 113 retained in the inner protuberance 102d by a flange 113a. Formed on the outer circumferential portion of the locking element 113 are teeth 113b having a lead angle. The locking element is formed by a worm wheel 13 and is in mesh with the worm gear 112. The lead angle of the worm gear 112 is set to be larger than the frictional angle between the worm gear 112 and the rotational body 113. (By way of example, if the worm gear 112 and worm wheel 113 are made of cast iron, the coefficient of friction would be µ = 0.1 - 0.15. Therefore, from µ = tanϑ , the frictional angle would be ϑ = 6.34 o - 9.48 o . Accordingly, the lead angle would be set to no less than 9.48 o .) The worm gear 112 can be rotated from the worm wheel 113. Disposed between the outer protuberance 102c and inner protuberance 102d is a spring 116 having its one end secured to the housing 102 and its other end tied to a projection 113c provided on the bottom surface of the worm wheel 113. The worm wheel 113 is constantly biased by the spring 116 so as to be restored to a predetermined original position. Therefore, the spring 116 constitutes a neutral position restoration member Projections 113d are provided on the top surface of the rotational body 113. An operating lever 115 is integrally formed to include a boss 115a projecting toward the bottom wall 102b and is supported by the boss 115a so as to be rotatable back and forth on the bottom wall 102b of space 103. The operating lever 115 is integrally formed to include a shaft 115b on the side opposite the boss 115a and coaxial therewith. The operating lever is further formed to include an arm 115c capable of bring brought into engagement with the fingers 113d on the worm wheel 113. A stopper 117 is provided on the inner wall 102a of space 103 for limiting the range of rotation of operating lever 115. The actuator 110 having the above-described construction is covered by a base portion 105. The shaft 115b serves as the output shaft of the actuator 110 and projects to the exterior through an insertion hole 105a provided in the base portion 105. The door lock operating unit 120 will now be described. As shown in Fig. 1, a locking arm 104 is fixedly caulked on the shaft 115b and is supported so as to be co-rotatable with the operating lever 115. One end 128b of an opening lever 128 is freely rockably retained on one end 104b of the locking arm 104 via an oblong hole 128. Connected to the other end 104c of the locking arm 104 via a rod 126a is a locking button 126 for locking and unlocking the door by means of a manual operation. The opening lever 128 has another end 128d freely rockably engaged with an oblong hole 127a formed in a rod 127 and connected to an inside handle (not shown) and an outside handle (not shown) via the rod 127. Also arranged in the housing 102 is a release lever 129 pivotally supported in coaxial relation with a pawl (not shown) in the well-known door lock actuating unit. The release lever 129, which is for actuating the pawl to lock and unlock the door, is freely rockable arranged in intersecting relation with respect to the opening lever 128. The opening lever 128 is formed to include a butting contact portion 128e bent at substantially right angles toward the base portion 103. The release lever 129 is formed to include a butting contact portion 129a bent at substantially right angles away from the base portion 103. The butting contact portion 128e of opening lever 128 and the butting contact portion 129a of release lever 129 come into butting contact with each other at a connection point P and are capable of being mechanically connected at this point. Pivotally supported on the shaft 115b is a key operating lever 124. A cut-out 104a formed in the locking arm 104 and an engagement portion 124a formed on the key operating lever 124 mate with each other. Thus, the locking arm 104 is operated by operating the key operating lever 124. The key operating lever 124 is connected to a key cylinder (not shown) via a rod 125. The locking arm 104 is held on the base portion 105 by a spring (Fig. 2) and is thus capable of being held in an unlocked position A and a locked position B for placing the door in the unlocked and locked states. The operation of this embodiment will now be described with reference to Figs. 1 through 4. Fig. 1 shows the door lock assembly 101 in a state capable of locking a vehicle door. By operating the outside handle or inside handle, the rod 127 is pushed to bring the butting contact portion 128e of opening lever 128 and the butting contact portion 129a of release lever 129 into contact at the connection point P, whereby the release lever 129 is turned to take the pawl of the door lock actuating unit out of engagement with the latch, as a result of which the door is placed in the unlocked state. If the motor 111 is operated to turn the rotary shaft 111a starting from the state shown in Fig. 1, then the rotational worm wheel 113 is rotated in the direction C in Fig. 2 due to the meshing engagement between the worm gear 112 and the worm wheel 113. Owing to this rotation of the worm wheel 113, the projection 113d on the worm wheel 113 comes into butting contact with the arm 115c of operating lever 115, so that the latter is turned about the shaft 115b from the neutral position to until the stopper 117 is contacted. The excitation time of the motor 111 is controlled. The operating lever 115 is turned for a period of time necessary for it to contact the stopper 117, after which the rotation is stopped. Since the setting is such that the lead angle of the worm gear 112 will be larger than the frictional angle between the worm gear 112 and the worm wheel 113, at this time the worm wheel 113 is rotated in the direction E in Fig. 2 by the biasing force of the spring 116 and is thus returned to the neutral position. Owing to the turning motion of the operating lever 115, the locking arm 104, which is supported on the shaft 115b of the operating lever 115 so as to be capable of freely co-rotating therewith, is turned from the unlocked position A to the locked position B. As a result, the opening lever 128 is rocked in the direction D in Fig. 1, so that the butting contact portion 128e moves from the connection point P. In consequence, the butting contact portion 128e of opening lever 128 and the butting contact portion 129a of release lever 129 break contact. Therefore, the door assumes the locked state without turning of the release lever 129, even if the inside handle and outside handle are operated. By rotating the motor 111 from this state in a direction opposite to that above, the door can be unlocked. The door can be unlocked and locked by a manual operation as well. If the user presses the locking button 126 by hand in the direction F shown in Fig. 1 starting from the unlocked state of Fig. 1, the locking arm 104 will turn from the unlocked position A to the locked position B together with the operating lever 115. At this time the worm wheel 113 will have been restored to the neutral position, so that the projection 113d on the worm wheel 113 will be outside the turning range of the operating lever 115. Thus, turning of the operating lever 115 is unimpeded. As a result, since the opening lever 128 is rocked in the direction D in Fig. 1, the door is locked just as when the motor 111 was rotated. At this time the operating lever 115 turns in unison with the locking arm 104. If the user rotates the key cylinder manually by a key starting from the unlocked state of Fig. 1, the rod 125 is pushed in the direction G shown in Fig. 1, thereby rotating the key operating lever 124 to bring the engagement portion 124a of key operating lever 124 and the side wall of the cut-out 104a of locking arm 104 into contact. This causes the locking arm 104 to turn from the unlocked position A to the locked position B. As a result, the opening lever 128 is rocked in the direction D in Fig. 1, so that the door is locked just as when the motor 111 was rotated. At this time, the operating lever 124 turns in unison with the locking arm 104, as set forth above. If the rod 125 operated by the locking button 126 and the rotation of the key cylinder is pulled starting from the aforementioned locked state, the locking arm 104 is turned from the locked position B to the unlocked position A, so that the door is unlocked. Note that when the door is unlocked and locked manually, the motor 111 is not driven, so that the worm wheel 113 is in the neutral position at all times. If locking arm 104 is turned manually to lock and unlock the door in a case where the worm wheel 113 does not return to the neutral position because of damage to the spring 116, frictional resistance caused by aging, etc. when the door is unlocked and locked by driving the motor, the arm 115c of operating lever 115 and the projection 113d on worm wheel 113 come into contact since the length of the operating lever 104 from its rotational center to the action point at which it contacts the projection 113d on the worm wheel 113 is great. This causes the worm wheel 113 to turn at the same time as the locking arm 104. Accordingly, even if the worm wheel 113 is not restored to the neutral position, the locking arm 104 is rotated to enable the door to be unlocked and locked. By forming the stopper 117 from a resilient body, the stopper will absorb the energy produced when the operating lever 115 strikes it, and the operating lever 115 is be restored to the neutral position by the reaction force of the stopper 117. Thus, even if the worm wheel 113 is not restored to the neutral position, the projection 113d on the worm wheel 113 will not interfere with the turning motion of the operating lever 115. Thus, the door will be capable of being locked and unlocked. By adopting the above-described arrangement, the spring 116 can be imparted with a biasing force sufficient for turning the worm wheel 113 smoothly.

Claims: A door lock assembly comprising: a door lock operating unit (120) having a locking element and an actuator (110) for driving said locking element to a locked position and an unlocked position, said actuator including: an operating lever (115) which moves in association with said locking element, an output member (113) movable from an original position for making contact with and separating from said operating lever (115) for driving said operating lever to the locked position and unlocked position, and a motor (111) for driving said output member (113), characterized by said locking element being a locking arm (104) which co-rotatingly rocks together with said operating lever (115) and further by a neutral position restoration member (116) for restoring the output member (113) to the original position after movement of said operating lever (115) either to the locked or unlocked position. A door lock assembly according to claim 1, wherein said output member is a worm wheel (113), and the assembly includes a worm gear (112) fixed on said motor (111) in rotatable engagement with said worm wheel and driven by an external force from said motor, and said worm wheel (113) includes a projection (113d) being brought into contact with said operating lever (115) during operation of the motor, the projection (113d) being spaced from said operating lever at times when said operating lever is in either the locked or unlocked position. A door lock assembly according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising a base portion (105) carrying said door lock operating unit (120), and a housing (102) internally accommodating said actuator (110), said base portion (105) being integrally molded from a synthetic resin, and said housing (102) being sealingly secured to said base portion. A door lock assembly according to claim 3, wherein a door lock mechanism associated with said door lock operating unit (120) is located on said base portion (105) in parallel with said actuator (110). A door lock assembly according to claim 3 or 4, wherein said door lock operating unit (120) includes a key operating lever (124) rotatably supported on said housing in cooperation with said locking arm (104), said locking arm and said key operating lever having axially aligned rotational axes. A door lock assembly according to one of claims 3 to 5, further comprising a pair of stoppers (117) for limiting the range of rotation of said operating lever (115), each of said stoppers being secured internally of said housing (102).

Inventors: FUKUMOTO RYOICHI, HAYAKAWA SHIGERU, TORII NOZOMU, FUKUMOTO, RYOICHI, HAYAKAWA, SHIGERU, TORII, NOZOMU
Applicants: AISIN SEIKI, AISIN SEIKI KABUSHIKI KAISHA
Application year: 1987
Main classification: E05B47
IPC codes: E05B65