Patent Publication Number: US-2003227178-A1

Title: Safety unlocking device of a door lock of a motor vehicle

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001] The present application claims priority to Application No. 102 14 377.3, filed in the Federal Republic of Germany on Mar. 30, 2002, which is expressly incorporated herein in its entirety by reference thereto.  
       FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002] The invention relates to a safety unlocking device of a door lock of a motor vehicle.  
       BACKGROUND INFORMATION  
       [0003] In the case of safety unlocking devices of door locks of a motor vehicle, described, for example, in German Published Patent Application No. 100 45 026, opening of the door lock by the inside door handle can be prevented by a blocking device. These blocking devices can be shifted by hand between an active blocking position and a non-locking function with each shifting position being permanent until a next shifting operation, that is to say, the two different shifting positions may not and do not have to be permanently held by hand, since the blocking element is not acted upon in the various shifting functions by any forces effecting shifting. If the blocking action is cancelled by an appropriate shifting position of the blocking element, then the door lock can be opened from all of the locking states by simple actuation of the inside door handle. In the situation in which there are small children in the vicinity of the inside door handle in the vehicle, if the blocking element for the door lock is in a non-blocking shifting position there is no child-proof lock against inadvertent opening of the door lock. If the blocking element is in a blocking shifting position, a child-proof lock of this type is provided, but opening of the door lock by the inside door handle without problem is not possible, even in an emergency.  
       [0004] German Published Utility Model No. 299 22 605 describes a luggage-compartment lock for a vehicle, which can readily be opened, even when locked, by a person inadvertently trapped in a luggage compartment. However, this lock in the interior of the luggage compartment is not secured against unintentional, inadvertent opening by, in particular, a person in the luggage compartment. Thus, for a vehicle tailgate which bounds a passenger compartment adjacent to the tailgate in the vehicle rear, this lock does not constitute any safeguard against inadvertent opening by one of the people.  
       [0005] It is an object of the present invention to provide, for an inside door handle of the generic type, a safety unlocking device which, on the one hand, may prevent accidental, inadvertent opening of the door lock by small children, for example, and, on the other hand, may permit a desired, for example in an emergency, or required and intentional opening of the door lock by the inside door handle without any problem.  
       SUMMARY  
       [0006] The above and other beneficial objects of the present invention may be achieved by providing a safety unlocking device as described herein.  
       [0007] A device according to an example embodiment of the present invention may be suitable for a passenger vehicle in which the door lock is arranged for actuation by an electric motor and for central locking which may be controlled remotely.  
       [0008] Further aspects and example embodiments of the present invention are described below.  
       [0009] The present invention is based on providing an inside door handle with a safety unlocking device which, in the case of a specifically intended opening of the door lock, may be actuated together with the inside door handle. In this case, the safety device is compelled to take up a basic position in which opening of the door lock by the inside door handle may be impossible if the safety device is not displaced at the same time temporarily away from its blocking function counter to a force, for example, a spring force. The device for temporarily displacing the unlocking device may be configured such that, in particular, a small child may not actuate it. Moreover, a configuration of this type may reliably ensure that the inside door handle may be inadvertently opened by accidentally touching the door lock with no intention of opening the door lock.  
       [0010] In an example embodiment of a device according to the present invention, the inside door handle may make opening of the door lock possible only from its basic position.  
       [0011] The unlocking device may be formed by the spring which secures the basic position of the slide of the safety unlocking device being arranged as a helical spring which is mounted directly on the coupling region of the lever, which actuates the Bowden cable from the unlocking device.  
       [0012] An example embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in the drawing. 
     
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING  
     [0013]FIG. 1 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view through a safety unlocking device in a schematic illustration. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
     [0014] The safety unlocking device is integrated in an inside door handle  1  which is fitted, within a shell  2 , to, for example, a rear door of a vehicle.  
     [0015] The inside door handle  1  is used to actuate a Bowden cable  3  for unlocking a door lock.  
     [0016] In detail, the inside door handle  1  includes a basic door handle body  5  which is mounted in an axis of rotation  4 , a slide  6  which is mounted displaceably on the basic body  5 , and a lever  7  which acts directly on the Bowden cable  3  and is mounted in the axis of rotation  4  of the basic body for pivoting independently of the basic body  5 .  
     [0017] A basic-body spring  8  keeps the basic body  5  in a basic position, in which the door handle  1  is in the unactuated normal state. A slide spring  9  keeps the slide  6  in a basic position which is to be provided with the non-actuated inside door handle  1  in its normal position.  
     [0018] The slide  6  has a longitudinal strut  10  having a coupling element  11  which is provided as a socket in the longitudinal strut  10 . The coupling element  11  is suitable and intended for receiving a region of the lever  7  in such a manner that, when the basic body  5  is pivoted about the axis of rotation  4 , the basic body  5  and the lever  7  may be pivoted only together with each other. The displaceable mounting of the slide  6  on the basic body  5  is used for the coupling element  11  to grasp the lever  7  so as to obtain a closed coupling.  
     [0019] The spring  9 , which may ensure the basic position of the slide  6  on the basic body  5 , is mounted on the lever  7  and is supported on a slideably designed region of the longitudinal strut  10  of the slide  6  via an intermediate body  12 , which is mounted displaceably on the lever  7 . The correspondence between the lever  7  and the coupling element  11 , i.e., the socket in the longitudinal strut  10 , is such that, when the slide  6  is displaced by hand counter to the pressure of the spring  9 , closing of the coupling is possible exclusively in the basic position of the basic body  5 .  
     [0020] The inside door handle with an integrated safety unlocking device functions as follows.  
     [0021] Starting from the basic position (illustrated in the drawing) of the door handle  1 , the latter firstly may have to be pivoted via its basic body  5  about the axis of rotation  4  in order to open the door lock. Furthermore, the slide  6  may have to be displaced at the same time counter to the pressure of the spring  9  by an operator&#39;s hand grasping the basic body  5 . Displacing the slide  6  in this manner in the basic position of the basic body  5  causes the coupling to close, by the coupling element  11  being pushed onto the lever  7 , in which case the lever  7  moves through the intermediate body  12 . With the coupling closed and the slide  6  held counter to the force of the spring  9 , the inside door handle  1  is able, in the case of a coupling closed in such a manner, to open the door lock if the handle is pivoted about the axis of rotation  4 .  
     [0022] As soon as the inside door handle  1  is not being actuated by an operator&#39;s hand, it slips into its basic position, with both the basic body  5  and the slide  6  being in their respective basic positions. If, in this state, the door handle  1  is actuated without the slide  6  being displaced counter to the pressure of the spring  9 , then only the basic body  5  pivots about the axis of rotation  4 , with, at the same time, the longitudinal strut  10  sliding along the intermediate body  12  under the pressure of the spring  9  without a coupling connection taking place.  
     [0023] The position of the slide  6  on the basic body  5  of the inside door handle  1 , on the one hand, and the setting of the spring force  9  to a relatively large actuating force, on the other hand, may be selected in such a manner that unintentional opening of the door lock may be reliably prevented with the inside door handle  1  according to an example embodiment of the present invention.