Abstract:
A device for actuating a lock on a vehicle door has a support mounted on a vehicle door. A lock cylinder mount, or a decoy, is mounted on the support. A screw secures the mount when mounted on the support. The mount has a shoulder engaging a counter shoulder of the support at least partially in the mounting position of the mount. The screw has an actuating end for moving the screw into a release position and a locking position. In the release position, the mount is removable from and mountable on the support. In the locking position, the mount is secured. The mount has a threaded receptacle for the screw so that the screw is part of the mount. The support has a screw support surface against which the actuating end of the screw rests in the locking position of the screw for securing the mount.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0002]     The invention relates to a device for actuating a lock on a vehicle door, wherein the term vehicle door includes any type of lid, hatch, flap, hood and the like on a vehicle. The device comprises: a support to be stationarily mounted on the door; a mount mountable on the support and configured either as a lock cylinder mount or as a lock cylinder-free mount (decoy); a shoulder on the mount that engages at least partially in the secured mounting position of the mount a counter shoulder provided on the support; a screw for securing the mounting position of the mount on the support; and an actuating end on the screw for a screwing adjustment of two end positions, i.e., a release position in which the mount can be mounted on or demounted from the support and a locking position in which the mount is secured in its mounting position on the support. In this configuration, the support to be mounted on the door not only supports the handle but also receives a lock cylinder mount or a lock cylinder decoy. The handle upon actuation acts on a lock in the door or the flap etc.; this holds true also for a lock cylinder when it is actuated by a matching key. These two alternatives, i.e., the lock cylinder mount and the lock cylinder decoy, will be referred to in the following simply as “mount”.  
         [0003]     2. Description of the Related Art  
         [0004]     The devices of this kind are designed to enable, on the one hand, an easy and reliable mounting of the mount within the receptacle of the support and, on the other hand, to secure the mount after having been mounted properly on the support in a reliable way. For this purpose, the mount of the device has a shoulder that, at least in the secured mounting position of the mount, engages at least partially a counter shoulder provided on the support. For securing the mounting position in the mount, a screw is used whose actuating end is accessible from the narrow side of the door.  
         [0005]     In a known device of the aforementioned kind, disclosed in German patent DE 30 30 519 C, the screw is a component of the support. The support has a threaded receptacle in which the screw is received. The inner end of the screw serves for securing the mount. Before mounting, the support is already stationarily secured on the inner side of the door and the mount is inserted from the exterior through an opening provided in the outer door panel of the door and is then mounted on the support by a mounting movement. During this mounting process, the screw is unscrewed out of the threaded receptacle to such an extent that the mounting movement for mounting the mount can be carried out; this mounting movement is comprised of an insertion phase and a subsequent displacement phase that is parallel to the insertion position. During this displacement phase of the mounting movement, the shoulder of the mount moves into a position behind the aforementioned counter shoulder on the support. This engaged position of the shoulder and counter shoulder is secured by the screw in that the screw is threaded into the threaded receptacle to such an extent that its inner end is supported on the sidewall of the mount. In this way, a movement reversing the mounting movement for demounting the mount is blocked. The movement of the mount in a reverse movement relative to the mounting movement is prevented by the tightened screw.  
         [0006]     There are also devices where the securing action for the mounted mount on the support is not a direct action but is achieved indirectly, as disclosed in German patent application DE 199 50 172 A1. In this case, a slide is slidably received in guides of the support so as to be slidable in parallel. The slide has a threaded receptacle for a screw that is rotatably supported with its actuating end in an axially fixed position within the support. Before beginning the mounting process of the mount, the screw with its threaded inner end is screwed as far as possible into the threaded receptacle of the slide so that the slide is initially in a position remote from the mount. Then, the mount is inserted from the exterior side of the door into the support provided on the inner side of the door. When the screw is turned such that its threaded inner end is moved out of the threaded receptacle of the slide, the slide, because of the axially fixed rotational support of the screw, is moved more and more against the mount and the mount is parallel displaced within the support. This movement of the slide causes not only the mount to be displaced; moreover, the shoulders on the mount are moved behind the counter shoulders of the support and noses provided on the slide are moved into notches provided on the mount. The securing action is realized by the slide moved against the mount.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0007]     It is an object of the present invention to provide a reliable and space-saving device of the aforementioned kind that can be handled comfortably and quickly for mounting and demounting of the mount and that ensures a reliable securing action of the mounted position of the mount on the support.  
         [0008]     In accordance with the present invention, this is achieved in that the mount has a threaded receptacle for the screw and the screw is a component of the mount, in that the actuating end of the screw has correlated therewith a stationary support surface on the support, and in that, in the securing position, the actuating end of the screw is supported on the support surface of the support and secures the mounted position of the mount on the support.  
         [0009]     The special feature of the invention resides in that the threaded receptacle of the screw provided for securing the mount is not located within the support or in a slide mounted on the support but is provided within the mount itself. According to the invention, the mount and the screw for securing the mount form of pre-assembled module. The support itself only must provide a stationary screw support surface on which, in the locking position, the actuating end of the screw is supported. During mounting, the screw is screwed into the mount as far as possible until the shoulder on the mount engages behind the counter shoulder provided on the support. Subsequently, for securing this mounting position of the mount on the support, the screw is unscrewed from the mount to such an extent that, as mentioned above, its actuating end rests against the screw support surface on the support. Not the inner end of the screw, as in the aforementioned prior art devices, but the opposed actuating end of the screw secures the engagement of the mount shoulder at the counter shoulder on the support.  
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING  
       [0010]     In the drawing:  
         [0011]      FIG. 1  shows a side view of a first embodiment of the mount of the device according to the invention before being mounted on the support, wherein the mount does not have a lock cylinder to be actuated by a key and is only a mount decoy without lock cylinder;  
         [0012]      FIG. 2  shows the bottom side of the mount illustrated in  FIG. 1 ;  
         [0013]      FIG. 3  is a support on which the mount according to  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2  is mounted but not yet secured by the screw;  
         [0014]      FIG. 4  shows, in a view analog to  FIG. 2 , a second embodiment of the mount of the device according to the invention;  
         [0015]      FIG. 5  shows in a view analog to the illustration of  FIG. 1 a  side view of the mount of  FIG. 4 ;  
         [0016]      FIG. 6  is a longitudinal section of the mount of  FIG. 4  along section line VI-VI;  
         [0017]      FIG. 7  shows a stabilization member of the mount illustrated in  FIGS. 4 through 6  in a plan view;  
         [0018]      FIG. 8  is an end view of the stabilization member of  FIG. 7  in the direction of arrow VIII;  
         [0019]      FIG. 9  is a side view of the stabilization member illustrated in  FIGS. 7 and 8  in the direction of arrow IX of  FIG. 7 ;  
         [0020]      FIG. 10  shows a screw used in both embodiments for securing the mounted position of the mount on the support;  
         [0021]      FIG. 11  shows in a view analog to  FIG. 3  the yet unsecured position of the mount on the support where the screw is still in the release position so that the mount can still be inserted into and removed from the support; and  
         [0022]      FIG. 12  shows in an illustration corresponding to  FIG. 11  the securing position where the screw has been turned within the mount to such an extent by a screwing tool (not illustrated) that its actuating end is supported on the support surface provided on the support.  
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0023]     Only one end of the support  10  of the device is shown in  FIG. 3  and  FIGS. 11, 12 , respectively, for both embodiments. In both embodiments, the supports  10  are identical; the backside  11  of the support  10  mounted on the inner side of a door, not shown, is illustrated in the drawings. The fastening locations  13  for fastening means for fastening the door and the support  10  to one another are illustrated. The handle  15  for actuating a lock provided on the door is illustrated in dash-dotted lines only in  FIG. 5 . The handle  15  is provided at the front side of the support  10  and is not illustrated in more detail; it is accessible from the exterior of the door for manual actuation. The elements that upon actuation of the handle  15  act on the lock pass through a cutout  18  provided within the support  10 . These elements of the handle  15  are not illustrated in  FIGS. 3, 11 , and  12 .  
         [0024]     Such a handle  15  can also be mounted on the support  10  at a later time, i.e., after the support  10  has been mounted on the door, from the outer side of the door through openings in the outer door panel. In this connection, one end of the handle is coupled with a bearing provided on the support while the other end of the handle has the aforementioned elements that are to be positioned in the cutout  18  of the support  10 . he cutout  18  has a sufficiently large size so that in addition to the mounted elements of the handle a mount  20  can be mounted. It will suffice to explain the configuration and the function of the mount with the aid of the second embodiment of  FIGS. 4 through 10  because this second embodiment differs from the embodiment of  FIGS. 1 and 2  only in that the mount has a separate stabilization member  26  on the mount housing  21 ; this area is of a monolithic configuration in the first embodiment of the mount. The stabilization member  26  reinforces the mount.  
         [0025]     As can be seen best in  FIG. 6 , the mount (decoy)  20 , as already mentioned, is comprised of a stabilization member  26  that is produced separately and receives the screw  30  illustrated in  FIG. 10  and is inserted into a bore of the separately produced mount housing  21 . The mount  20  has a threaded receptacle  25  for the screw  30  illustrated in  FIG. 10 . While in the first embodiment of  FIGS. 1 and 2  this threaded receptacle is a component of the mount housing  21 , in the second embodiment, illustrated in  FIGS. 7 through 9 , it is arranged in a bushing  28  of the stabilization member  26 .  
         [0026]     The stabilization member  26  has the following configuration. At the outer end of the bushing  28  an end member  35  that is all around widened like a flange is provided that, upon insertion of the stabilization member  26  into a bore  43  of the mount housing  21  for forming a preassembled unit, will abut by means of an inner profile  29  according to  FIG. 9 a  counter profile  23  on the mount housing  21 . This bore  43  is illustrated in dashed lines in the section view of  FIG. 6 . In the insertion position of the stabilization member  26 , the stabilization member  26  projects with projections  46 , illustrated in  FIG. 7 , from the end member  35  on opposed sides of the mount housing  21 . This is also illustrated in  FIG. 4 . Slanted surfaces  24  that can be seen particularly well in  FIG. 7  are provided at this location; as will be explained in more detail in the following, these slanted surfaces  24  cooperate with slanted counter surfaces  34  of the support  10  in the securing position.  
         [0027]     The module  21 ,  26 ,  30  of the second embodiment of  FIG. 6  and the module  21 ,  30  of the first embodiment according to  FIG. 1  are mounted from the exterior side of the door through an opening in the outer door panel in the cutout  18  of the support  10 . This can be realized by an assembling movement  40  that has two movement phases illustrated by arrows  41 ,  42  in  FIG. 6 . In the first movement phase  41 , the mount is inserted substantially perpendicularly to the door plane; subsequently, a movement phase  42  moves the inserted mount  28  within the support  10  in a direction perpendicular to the first movement phase  41 . During this assembling movement  40 , the shoulders  22  provided on the mount  20  engage counter shoulders  12  on the support  10 ; the counter shoulders  12  are only schematically illustrated in  FIGS. 3 and 11 . While the shoulders  22  are formed by a groove  27  in the mount housing  21  provided with inner surfaces, as illustrated in  FIG. 6 , the counter shoulders  12  are in the form of ribs  17  formed on the support  10 .  FIG. 3  and  FIG. 11 , respectively, show the end position of the mount  20  after completion of mounting within the support  10 . The head  36  of the housing illustrated in  FIG. 5  and  FIG. 6  is now positioned on the exterior side of the door in front of the door panel  38  illustrated in  FIG. 5  in dashed lines. Adjacent to the housing head  36  of the mounted mount  20 , a portion of the lock of the handle  15  is positioned as illustrated in  FIG. 5  in dashed lines. In  FIG. 5 , the position of the support  10  is not shown.  
         [0028]     Upon completion of assembly according to  FIGS. 3 and 11 , the screw  30  is screwed into the threaded receptacle  25  in the mount housing  21  or in the stabilization member  26  to the maximum extent. This is indicated in  FIG. 3  and  FIG. 11  by the auxiliary line  30 . 1 ; this is referred to as the release position of the screw  30 . As shown in  FIG. 10 , the screw  30  is provided with a flange  32  in the area of its actuation end  31 . The release position  30 . 1  can be secured in that the flange  32  is moved into a flange receptacle  39  in the widened end member  25  of the stabilization member  26  or the mount housing  21  and rest against the receptacle  39 .  
         [0029]     In the mounted position of the mount  20 , the actuation end  31  of the screw  30  that is in the release position  30 . 1  is aligned with a cutout  37  provided within the support end  14  ( FIG. 3 ) and providing an access to the actuation end  31 . From the narrow side of the door where a hole is provided, a screwing tool can be inserted into the tool receptacle in the actuation end  31  of the screw  30 . By means of the screwing tool, the screw  30  is then moved out of the mount  20  in the direction toward the support end  14 . On the support  10 , a stationary screw support surface  16  is provided that faces the screw  30 . The movement of the screw  30  in the outward direction will end when the screw  30  abuts the screw support surface  16  as shown in  FIG. 12 . The unscrewed screw  30  is now in the locking position for securing the mount in the securing position; the locking position of the screw  30  is indicated by the auxiliary line  30 . 2 . In the present configuration, the stop function is realized in that the actuation end  31  itself will come to rest against the screw support surface  16 . The afore described flange  32  rests annularly against the surface  16 . This flange  32  is provided with a lock toothing  33  illustrated in  FIG. 10  that digs or penetrates into the support surface  16  of the support  10  in the locking position  30 . 2  shown in  FIG. 12 . Since the lock toothing  33  has a sawtooth profile, the return movement of the screw  30  out of its securing position  30 . 2  is made significantly more difficult. In this way, a particularly reliable locking of the mount  20  in its mounting position in the support  10  is provided.  
         [0030]     According to the prior art, a worker who must mount such devices on doors or flaps of vehicles, is used to rotate the tool in the clockwise direction in order to transfer the screw for securing the mounted mount  20  in the securing position. However, according to the invention, the screw, as described above, is moved out of the mount  20  with its actuating end  31  during this securing action. In the case of a conventional right-handed thread of the prior art, the screw  30  therefore would have to be rotated in the counter-clockwise direction. The worker therefore would be required to retrain mounting of the device according to the invention and rotate the screwing tool in the opposite direction. This would be confusing to a worker when, at times, he would have to mount also prior art devices in between. For this reason, it is proposed to provide the screw  30  and the threaded receptacle within the mount as so-called left-handed threads. In this case, the worker can actuate the screwing tool in the clockwise direction as usual because the screw will then be axially moved out of the mount  20 . This has the advantage that the worker must not pay attention whether the device to be mounted is configured according to the invention or according to the prior art.  
         [0031]     When the mount  20  is mounted, the slanted surface  24  shown in  FIGS. 7 and 9  of the end member  35  of the stabilization member  26  and the slanted counter surface  34  of the support  10  cooperate. In the securing position  30 . 2 , there is not only the tightening action of the stabilization member  26  on the counter surface and of the flange  32  of the actuating end  31  on the support surface  16  but, in addition, a tightening or pulling action will result that is illustrated in  FIG. 5  by arrow  19 . In  FIG. 5 , the position of the slanted counter surface  34  is indicated in dashed lines. Upon tightening, the slanted surface  24  moves against the stationary slanted counter surface  34  of the support  10  and generates a torque causing the aforementioned pulling action  19  that pulls the mount  20  toward the support  10  and against the outer door panel  38  that is illustrated in  FIG. 5  in dash-dotted lines. The screw axis  44  of the screw  30 , illustrated in  FIG. 5  by a dashed line, has an angled position  45  relative to the support  10  that extends in this area substantially parallel to the outer door panel  38  (illustrated in  FIG. 5  in dash-dotted lines).  
         [0032]     While specific embodiments of the invention have been shown and described in detail to illustrate the inventive principles, it will be understood that the invention may be embodied otherwise without departing from such principles.