Locking arrangement

Abstract

 A locking arrangement (10, 11) including a manually actuatable element (12, 160) connected via a transmission path to a latch assembly (13, 113), the latch assembly having unlocked locked and superlocked conditions, the latch assembly being moveable between the unlocked locked and superlocked conditions by operation of an actuator (42, 142), the latch assembly being moveable between the unlocked and locked conditions by operation of the manually actuatable element, the transmission path including resilient means (38, 138) to limit the force applied by the manually actuatable element when the manually actuatable element is operated to attempt to move the latch assembly from its superlocked condition (Figure 7).

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to locking arrangements and in particular to locking arrangements on vehicle doors.

[0002] It is known to provide locking arrangements on vehicles which can be in an unlocked condition i.e. allowing opening of an associated door from the outside and from the inside, a locked condition where opening of the door from the outside is prevented but opening of the door from the inside is possible, and a superlocked condition whereby opening of the door from the inside or the outside is prevented.

[0003] Superlocking thus prevents opening of the door by an unauthorised person, such as a thief, by the breaking a door window, and reaching inside to open the door. However, once the window has been broken, the thief has access to the inside handle and inside lock button (sill button) and by forcing one of these, as appropriate, the thief can break a part of the locking arrangement such that the locking arrangement can be moved from the superlocked condition to the locked condition thereby allowing the thief to open the door using the inside door handle.

[0004] An object of the present invention is to provide a more secure form of locking arrangement.

[0005] Thus according to the present invention there is provided a locking arrangement included a manually actuatable element connected via a transmission path to a latch assembly, the latch assembly having unlocked locked and superlocked conditions, the latch assembly being moveable between the unlocked locked and superlocked conditions by operation of an actuator, the latch assembly being moveable between the unlocked and locked conditions by operation of the manually actuatable element, the transmission path including resilient means to limit the force applied by the manually actuatable element when the manually actuatable element is operated to attempt to move the latch assembly from its superlocked condition

[0006] The invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figures 1 to 3 show a first embodiment of a locking arrangement according to the present invention, in schematic form, in a unlocked locked, and superlocked condition;

Figure 4 shows the locking arrangement of figure 1 in a superlocked condition with the sill button having been raised;

Figure 5 shows a second embodiment of a locking arrangement according to the present invention, in schematic form, with the locking arrangement in a released position; and

Figures 6 to 9 show the locking arrangement of figure 5 in positions corresponding to figures 1 to 4.

[0007] With reference to figures 1 to 4 there is shown schematically a locking arrangement 10 having a manually actuatable element in the form of a sill button 12 connected by a transmission path 14 to a lock lever in the form of a lock gear 16.

[0008] The sill button includes a manually engagable portion 18 for being gripped between a thumb and forefinger of a driver or the like. Manually engagable portion 18 is mounted on a stem 20 slidably mounted in a sill 22 of an associated door. At the lower end of the stem is a transmission path stop in the form an abutment 24. The beneath abutment 24 is a pin 25.

[0009] Sill button 12 has an unlocked, locked and superlocked position as shown in figures 1 to 3 respectively.

[0010] The latch assembly 13 includes lock gear 16, gear pinion 36 and associated motor 42 (positioned behind the lock gear 16 and shown in figure 2 for clarity), solenoid pin 34 and associated solenoid (not shown), and further elements, such as a rotating claw, and pawl, that enable the latch assembly to secure an associated door in a closed position.

[0011] In this case tension spring 38 is included in the latch assembly, though in further embodiments this need not be the case.

[0012] Lock gear 16 is rotable about axis A and is connected to further elements (not shown) of the latch assembly which are capable of providing an unlocked, locked, and superlocked condition of the locking arrangement.

[0013] The lock gear 16 includes an array of gear teeth 26 on a part of its periphery.

[0014] The lock gear further includes a recess 28 having stop surfaces 30 and 32. A solenoid (not shown) includes a solenoid pin 34 which is movable into the recess 28 (see figures 1 and 2) and can be withdrawn (see figures 3 and 4) allowing stop surface 30 of lock gear 16 to pass over the pin. A gear pin 36 is driven by a motor (not shown).

[0015] Lock gear 16 further includes a pin 33.

[0016] Mounted between pins 33 and 26 is a tension spring 38. In this case the tension spring is such as to be coil bound state when in a free condition. Such a spring is capable of acting in a non resilient manner under compressive loads and under tensile loads up to a predetermined load. Above the predetermined load the tension spring acts in a resilient manner as will be further described below.

[0017] Operation of the locking arrangement is a follows:-

[0018] With the locking arrangement positioned as shown in figure 1 the sill button is in its raised unlocked position and the lock gear 16 is therefore also in its unlocked condition. Solenoid pin 34 is projecting such that it is abutted by stop surface 32. Abutment 24 is in contact with the under surface 33 of sill 22 (though in further embodiments this need not be the case). Spring 38 is in a coil bound condition and has length L1.

[0019] The locking arrangement can be power locked by operation of the motor causing pinion 36 and hence lock gear 16 to rotate anticlockwise such that stop 30 abuts against the projecting solenoid pin 34.

[0020] Alternatively the locking arrangement can be locked by an operative depressing the sill button wherein the tension springs 38 acts under compression in a non resilient manner until such time as stop surface 30 abuts projecting solenoid pin 34.

[0021] The vehicle arrangement can be unlocked either by power operation of the motor or by manual lifting of the sill button.

[0022] To move from a locked position to a superlocked position it is necessary to actuate the solenoid to withdraw the pin 34 and then actuate the motor to rotate pinion 36 such that the lock gear rotates to the position as shown in figure 3. Under these circumstances the sill button is pulled downward when viewing the figures by tension spring 38 acting in tension though in a non resilient manner. It will noted that the manually engageable portion 18 is substantially positioned within recess 40 of sill 22, providing for further security.

[0023] In the event that an unauthorised person gains access to the interior the vehicle, it is possible for the sill button to be levered out of the recess 40, by a screwdriver or the like, and then raised to the position as shown in figure 4. However, under these circumstances all that happens is that tension spring 38 extends in length until such time as abutment 24 contacts the under surface 23 of the sill. Thus the force applied the lock gear is limited to that force in tension spring 38 when it has been extended to length L2 as shown in figure 4.

[0024] Thus when designing the locking arrangement 10 the components needs only be designed to withstand a predetermined force and this has benefits both in terms of security and in terms of minimising cost and weight of the assembly. It should be noted that the transmission path connecting the manually engageable portion 18 within the lock gear 16 includes stem 20, pin 25, tension spring 38 and pin 33.

[0025] The transmission path 14 further includes a transmission path stop provided by abutment 24 when in contact with the under surface 23 of sill 22.

[0026] With reference to figures 5 to 9 there is shown a second embodiment of a locking arrangement 110 wherein components performing substantially the same function as those in locking arrangement 10 are labelled 100 greater.

[0027] In this case tension spring 138, and release lever 152 are included in the latch assembly, though in further embodiments this need not be the case.

[0028] The upper end of tension spring 138 is connected to a pin 150 mounted on an arm 154 of the release lever 152. A further arm 156 of the release lever 152 is connected via push/pull cable inner 158A of push/pull cable 158 to an inside release door handle 160.

[0029] Push/pull cable 158 further includes a cable sheath 158B within which cable inner 158A can reciprocate. In this case cable inner 158A is sufficiently rigid to be able to act in compression without buckling in this particular installation.

[0030] The release lever is pivotally mounted about axis B and is connected to further mechanisms of the latch assembly and acts to move the pawl (not shown) to the released position and hence allow the latch claw (not shown) to open. In particular with the lock gear 116 in the superlocked position as shown in figures 8 and 9, the release lever 152 is not connected to the pawl and hence movement of this release lever does not unlatch the latch.

[0031] The release handle 160, push/pull cable 158 and release lever 152 have a release position as shown as shown in figure 5, a unlocked position as shown in figure 6 and locked position as shown in figure 7.

[0032] Starting at the position as shown in figure 6 it is possible to release the latch by manually moving the release handle to its released position as shown in figure 5. Such movement causes the spring 158 to act in a resilient manner (compare the lengths M1 and M3).

[0033] The locking arrangement can also be moved from the unlocked position as shown in figure 6 to a locked position as shown in figure 7 by manually moving the release handle 160 to its locked position wherein push/pull cable inner 158A acts in compression to rotate release lever 152 anticlockwise about axis B further causing spring 138 to act in compression rotating lock gear 116 anticlockwise.

[0034] Locking arrangement can be moved from the locked position as shown in figure 7 to the unlocked position as shown in figure 6 by manually moving the release handle 160 to its unlocked position causing the push/pull cable inner 158A to act in tension and rotate release lever 152 clockwise which results in spring 138 also acting in tension and causing lock gear 116 to rotate clockwise. It should be noted that spring 138 has been manufactured in a pretensioned condition to be coil bound. The tensile load applied to spring 138 by the moving of inside door release hand to its unlocked position is less than the in built pretension in the spring, thus the spring acts, in tension as a solid link of length M1 as the locking arrangement is moved to the unlocked position.

[0035] Alternatively powered operation of the motor can drive the lock gear 116 to the position shown in figure 6 from the position shown in figure 7.

[0036] When the locking arrangement is in the position in figure 7 it can be moved to the superlocked condition as shown in figure 8 by powered operation of the motor. Under these circumstances the release handle 160, push/pull cable 158 and release lever 152 remain in a position as shown in figure 7 whilst the lock gear 116 rotates thus causing the tension spring 138 to extend from length M1 as shown in figure 7 to length M2 as shown in figure 8.

[0037] In the event that an unauthorised person gains access to the interior of the vehicle any forcing of the release handle 160 will simply move the release lever 152 to the position as shown in figure 9 further extending the tension spring 158 to length M4. It will be noted that a transmission path stop in the form of an abutment 62 (only shown on figure 9) prevents the release lever 152 from rotating in a clockwise direction any further than as shown in figure 9.

[0038] Thus the forces acting on the lock gear 116 are limited by the tension in the spring 138 when extended to length M4.

[0039] It will noted from figures 3 and 4 that pin 25, pin 33 and axis A are substantially in line with the sill button in its lowered and raised position. Thus there is substantially no turning moment applied to lock gear 16. Similarly it will be noted from figures 8 and 9 that pin 150, pin 133 and axis B of lock gear 116 are also substantially in line with the release handle 160 in its unlocked and released positions.

[0040] It should be noted that the transmission path between release handle 160 and lock gear 116 includes bowden cable 158, release lever 152, and tension spring 138.

Claims

1. A locking arrangement included a manually actuatable element connected via a transmission path to a latch assembly, the latch assembly having unlocked locked and superlocked conditions, the latch assembly being moveable between the unlocked locked and superlocked conditions by operation of an actuator, the latch assembly being moveable between the unlocked and locked conditions by operation of the manually actuatable element, the transmission path including resilient means to limit the force applied by the manually actuatable element when the manually actuatable element is operated to attempt to move the latch assembly from its superlocked condition.

2. A locking arrangement as defined in Claim 1 in which the resilient means acts in a non resilient manner when the latch assembly is moved by the manually actuatable element from the unlocked to the locked conditions and/or from the locked to unlocked conditions.

3. A locking arrangement as defined in Claims 1 or 2 in which the resilient means acts in a non resilient manner when the latch assembly is moved by the actuator from the unlocked to the locked conditions and/or from the locked to unlocked conditions and/or from the locked to the superlocked conditions and/or the superlocked to the unlocked conditions

4. A locking arrangement as defined in any preceding claim in which the resilient means acts in a resilient manner then the latch assembly is moved by the actuator from the locked to the superlocked condition and/or from the superlocked to the locked condition.

5. A locking arrangement as defined in any preceding claim in which the resilient means is helical spring.

6. A locking arrangement as defined in Claim 5 in which the spring is coil bound in a free state.

7. A locking arrangement as defined in Claim 5 or 6 in which the spring is a tension spring.

8. A locking arrangement as defined in any preceding claim in which the transmission path includes a transmission path stop to limit movement of that part of the transmission path operably between the manually actuatable element and resilient means.

9. A locking arrangement as defined in any preceding claim in which the manually actuatable element remains in a locked position when the latch assembly is moved by the actuator to the superlocked condition.

10. A locking arrangement as defined in any preceding claim in which the manually actuatable element is a sill button.

11. A locking arrangement as defined in Claim 10 in which the sill button is moveable between an unlocked, locked and superlocked position.

12. A locking arrangement as defined in Claim 11 in which the sill button is contained within a recess when in its superlocked position.

13. A locking arrangement as defined in any one of Claims 10 to 12 when the dependent upon Claim 8 in which the transmission path stop is provided by an abutment on the sill button.

14. A locking arrangement as defined in any one of Claims 1 to 9 in which the manually actuatable element is an inside release handle, being moveable between a released, locked and unlocked position and the transmission path includes a release lever operable to release the latch assembly.

15. A locking arrangement as defined in Claim 14 in the resilient means is operably situated in the transmission path between the release lever and the actuator.

16. A locking arrangement as defined in Claim 14 or 15 in which the resilient means operates in a resilient manner when the release handle is moved to its released position.

17. A locking arrangement as defined in any one of Claim 14 to 16 when dependent upon Claim 8 in which the transmission path stop is provided by an abutment of the release lever.

Drawing