Patent GB-693880-A (GB)
Title: Remote control mechanism for vehicle door locks or latches
IPC: E05B65/32
Filed: 1951-11-02
Abstract: 693,880. Remote control mechanism for doorlatches. SCHONITZER, R. I. Nov. 2, 1951 [Jan. 6, 1951], No. 25644/51. Class 44 A remote control mechanism for a vehicle door latch comprises in the form of Fig. 5 a base plate 12 secured to the inside panel of the door, an actuating lever A pivotally mounted on a spindle 16 having bearings in the base plate and an inside operating handle 22, the lever A having a cam shaped lower part 26 against which abuts a shallow V-shaped spring S having a domed part 27 and a pair of diverging arms 28, 29 the ends of which are supported on the base plate. A link 9 attached to the actuating lever is connected to a bell-crank lever 5 by a pin 7 and slot 8 providing lost motion, the lever 5 being adapted to be displaced by anticlockwise rotation of the lever A to bear down on a lever 34 to open the latch as shown in Fig. 5. Clockwise rotation of the lever projects the end of the link under the arm 34 which is thereby blocked against movement to the release position, e.g. by the outside operating means. Rotation of the lever from the normal position, in which the dome engages in the recess 26a of the cam 26, causes deformation of the spring, the arms 28, 29 tending to spread but being prevented by their engagement with supporting lugs 30, 31, 32, 33. The upward force on the arms 28, 29 causes them to bow downwardly and also tends to close the sharply bent dome portion 27 which is protected thereby from excessive bending in the opening sense. The pressure of the dome on the cam portion 26b tends to return the actuating lever from the unlatching position to the normal position. When the lever A is turned clockwise to the locking position the nose 26c of the cam snaps past the dome to retain the lever in this position until it is manually returned to the normal position. In the form of Fig. 7 which shows the actuating lever A in the normal position, the cam 47 is formed with similar side parts 47b symmetrical about the central recess 47a so that the lever A is returned from displacement in either direction to the normal position by the action of the spring S. The link 9 in this form is connected to a lever 50 adapted to engage a locking lever M having an over-centre control spring 46. Anticlockwise movement of the lever A turns the lever 50 so that its nose 55 first displaces the locking lever M to the inoperative position then bears downwardly on the arm 34 to release the latch. Clockwise movement of the lever displaces the lever 50 so that a lower end lug 58 bears on the locking lever M to move it to the locking position where a shoulder 53 prevents release movement of the arm 34. In the form of Fig. 10 the lever A is prevented from clockwise rotation by a stop shoulder 60 engaging a part 20 of the base plate 12, the dome of the spring S being arranged to bear on the cam portion 59 to one side of the central recess 59a so that it constantly urges the lever against the stop. Movement in the anticlockwise direction to release the latch is resisted by the spring which returns the lever to the position shown when the handle is released. The locking lever is moved to the locking position in this form by a rod operable from the inside of the door. In another spring arrangement the ends of the spring arms are curled to form loops engaged over lugs projecting from the base plate. Alternatively as shown in Fig. 15, the ends of the spring arms may be supported by single lugs 78, part of the spring end 80 being bent over to engage the top edge of the lug. In the form of Fig. 17 the spring is supported by lugs 88, 89 the ends 81, 82 being arranged outside the lugs 85, 86. In this form the tendency of the spring legs to spread when the lever A is displaced is not resisted. Specification 669, 792 is referred to.