Keyless Door Locking Method And Apparatus

Abstract

A door locking mechanism relates to a keyless locking method particularly designed for motor vehicles, wherein an opened door is to be shut and automatically locked, and is characterized in that after operating a handle of the door, a latch and a striker bite together as a result of the action of closing the door, and the latch is moved to a closed position, whereby a locking lever of the door lock mechanism is moved from a released or non-locking position to a locked position to put the door in its locking state.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present invention relates generally to door locking mechanisms for motor vehicles and more particularly to an improved keyless locking method and mechanism wherein keyless door locking is simplified.

Heretofore, keyless locking methods have required two operational steps, first the operation of a locking button on the inside of a car door while the door is open, and then the operation of an outside door handle, in order to lock the door when it is subsequently closed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore a principal object of the present invention to provide a method wherein an outside or an inside door handle is operable, without first operating a locking buttom inside the car as is presently required, to cause the door to be locked when it is closed, whereby keyless locking can be achieved by carrying out a one-step operation.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved mechanism for locking an automotive vehicle door by merely operating a door handle thereof, so that closing the door will thereby result in automatic locking thereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various other objects, features and attendant advantages of the present invention will be more fully appreciated as the same becomes better understood from the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals designate like or corresponding parts throughout the several views and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of one embodiment of a door lock mechanism constructed according to the present invention kept in its open and unlocked position;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the mechanism of FIG. 1, when viewed from the left hand side thereof;

FIG.3 is a sectional view of a part of the mechanism of FIG. 1, taken along the plane of line A--A therein;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to the mechanism of FIG. 1, but shown in its open and locked position; and

FIG. 5 is a view similar to the mechanism of FIG. 1, but shown in its fully closed and unlocked position.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring now to the drawings, the numeral 10 designates a base plate of an L-shaped configuration being formed with a plurality of bolt holes 11, shown herein as being four in number, for insertion of screw bolts, not shown, and thus being detachably fixed to the conventional side panel of an automotive vehicle door by means thereof. The numeral 12 designates an open lever being pivotally mounted about a pin 13 integral with the base plate 10 and being urged resiliently to turn in the counter-clockwise direction by a coil spring 14 tensioned between the open lever 12 and the pin 13. One end of the open lever 12 is linked with an outside door handle, not shown, at a hole 151, and the other end thereof is extended into an elongated slot 15 formed in side wall 16 of the base plate 10 where it is engageable with one end of an L-shaped inside lever 18 being pivotally supported by pin 17 on the side wall 16 and having a hole 19 through which the inside lever 18 is linked with an inside door handle, not shown.

Further, one end of an intermediate lever 20 is pivoted by a pivot pin 21 on the open lever 12, and the other end thereof is provided with an elongated slot 22 for linkage by a pivot pin 24 with one arm of a substantially cross-shaped locking lever 23 so that it moves together with the locking lever 23 and the pivot pin 24. Intermediate lever 20 is also provided with substantially horizontal surface 25 which is to engage or disengage with an upright flange 27 of a detent 26 and another surface 28 which is to engage or disengage with a upright flange 29 of the same detent. The intermediate lever 20 is further provided with an open slot 31 in which a keyless locking lever, generally designated by reference numeral 30, is disposed, having a downward projection 53 which is to engage or disengage with an upright flange 52 of a wheel 47. The keyless locking lever 30 is supported by a pin 32 between upright flanges 33 and 34 of the intermediate lever 20 and is rotatable only in the counter-clockwise direction in FIG. 3 against the urging force of a spring 35, each end of which is so resiliently and fixedly connected with each prolonged portion of the pin 32, respectively, as to urge the keyless locking lever 30 in the clockwise direction.

The locking lever 23 has holes 36 and 37 at each end of arms thereof, which are, respectively, used for coupling with an inside locking button, not shown, and an outside key means, not shown, and the locking lever 23 is so pivoted on the base plate 10 by a pin 39 that the nodal degree thereof is to be kept tensioned by a turn-over spring 38 between an arm of the locking lever 23 and the base plate 10. Also, the rotating angle thereof is controlled by upright projections 40 and 41 of the base plate 10.

In addition, the L-shaped detent 26 pivoted on the base plate 10 by a pin 42 is urged toward the counter-clockwise direction by a coil spring 43 disposed between the upright flange 29 of the detent 26 and the pin 42, and is provided with a pawl 44 which gears with teeth 45 and 46 of the wheel 47. The wheel 47 is fixed to latch 48 by a rotatable shaft 49 rotatably pivoted on the base plate 10 and is urged toward the clockwise direction by a coil spring 50 tensioned between an upright projection 51 of the base plate 10 and the rotatable shaft 49. The latch 48 is formed to cooperate with a conventional striker, not shown, fixed to a stationary pillar or the like of the auto when the door is being closed.

In describing the operation of the present device, FIG. 1, shows a door in its open position and the lock in its released or unlocked state, and if the door is closed with the lock in this state, the striker, not shown, and the latch 48 will gear with each other, the wheel 47 thereby being moved rotatively in the counter-clockwise direction against the biasing force of spring 50, and the teeth 45 and 46 thereof gear with the pawl 44 of the detent 26, being checked thereby to reposition instead at 45a and 46a as shown in phantom. The operation of then opening the door from this closed condition, while the lock is still in its released or unlocked state, is explained hereunder according to FIG. 5. When the open lever 12 is moved rotatively in the clockwise direction against the normal biasing force of spring 14 by means of operating outside or inside door handles, not shown, the intermediate lever 20 moves slidably along the pivot pin 24 by the elongated slot 22, whereby the upright flange 27 of the detent 26 is pushed downward by the face 25 of the intermediate lever 20, so that the gearing of pawl 44 of the detent 26 and the tooth 45 of the wheel 47 is released, and the wheel 47 then moves rotatively in the clockwise direction under the normal biasing force of spring 50, whereby the door may be reopened. In this instance, the keyless locking lever 30 connected to the intermediate lever 20 falls within the rotative range of the upright flange 52 of the wheel 47, but since the keyless locking lever 30 is capable of moving rotatively in this direction, the wheel 47 moves rotatively without encountering any resistance from the keyless locking lever 30.

On the contrary, when the locking lever 23 is rotated in the counter-clockwise direction by means of the inside locking button or an outside key means of the door from the state wherein the door is closed and unlocked, as shown in FIG. 5, the intermediate lever 20, being rotatively connected to the locking lever 23 by the pivot pin 24, moves rotatively in the clockwise direction, centering around the pin 21 being fixed to the open lever 12, thus bringing about the relationship between the intermediate lever 20, the locking lever 23 and the detent 26 which is shown in FIG. 4, and even if the open lever 12 is thereafter rotated by the outside door handle or the inside door handle, the surface 25 of the intermediate lever 20 does not connect with the upright flange 27 of the detent 26, and accordingly the door lock remains actuated or in its locked condition.

When the door is to be closed from the position shown in FIG. 4, wherein the door is open and the lock in its locked state, the wheel 47 moves rotatively in the counter-clockwise direction according to the rotative movement of the latch 48, as herein before described, and the tooth 45 is brought into the position 45a in FIG. 1 wherein it gears with the pawl 44 of the detent 26, whereby the door is closed. In this case, the detent 26 is moved rotatively in the clockwise direction instantaneously by means of the teeth 45, 46 of the wheel 47, and thereby the surface 28 of the intermediate lever 20 is pushed by the upright flange 29 of the detent 26. Thus, the intermediate lever 20 and the locking lever 23 are urged to return to the unlocking position, as shown in FIG. 5. effecting a self-cancelling operation.

Referring now back to FIG. 1, when the door is closed, with the outside or the inside door handle being operated, from the door being in its open and unlocked state, the surface 25 of the intermediate lever 20 and the upright flange 27 of the detent 26 operatively connect with each other so that the detent 26 moves rotatively in the clockwise direction, and simultaneously the keyless locking lever 30, being adapted so as to prevent the intermediate lever 20 from moving rotatively in the one direction, comes into the position 30a. Since the upright flange 52 comes to the position 52a by the rotative movement of the wheel 47 thereof, the flange 52 and the keyless locking lever 30 connect with each other, and thereby the keyless locking lever 30 is moved to the position 30b. In this instance, the surface 25 of the intermediate lever 20 and the upright flange 27 of the detent 26 which are in a state of connection become disconnected, whereby the door may be closed. When the door handles are returned to the former position, the intermediate lever 20 and the locking lever 23 remain in the locking position shown in FIG. 4. In this case, by now making the open lever 12 move toward the clockwise direction in opposition to the force of spring 14, in the locking state shown in FIG. 4, the intermediate lever 20 moves downward, so that the surface 28 of the intermediate lever 20 and the upright flange 29 of the detent 26 become free of their connection, and even if the detent 26 works, the intermediate lever 20 does not work, and the locking state is kept. Further, the conventional keyless locking operation is also possible.

Obviously many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of these teachings. It is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described herein.

Claims

What is claimed as new and desired to be secured by letters patent of the United States is:

1. A keyless method for locking a door of a vehicle, comprising the steps of:

operating a handle of the door thereby displacing a latch releasing means to a selected position, adjacent a latch member for engagement thereby;

causing said latch member on the door to engage with a striker on the vehicle body by closing the door;

bringing said latch member to a closed position; and

thereby actuating said means from said selected position to a locked position by the closing movement of said latch member, thereby putting the door in a locked state.

2. A keyless locking mechanism for a vehicle comprising:

a striker fixedly attached to a part of a chassis of a wheeled vehicle;

a latch member movably mounted on a door of said vehicle for engagement with said striker when the door is being closed;

detent means engagable with said latch member for keeping latched position of said latch member when the latter is brought into engagement with the striker;

means being operably connected with said detent means for releasing said engagement between said latch member and said detent means from inside and outside handle means of the vehicle;

locking means for releasing the operative connection between said engagement releasing means and said detent means; and

keyless locking means operatively connectable to said latch member and connected to said engagement releasing means and movable together with said engagement releasing means to said locking position upon movement of said latch member into the latched position through engagement with said striker and thereby releasing the operative connection between said engagement releasing means and said detent means when said handle means is operated and while the door is being closed.

3. A keyless locking mechanism as set forth in claim 2, wherein said latch member comprises flange means formed thereon for operatively contacting said keyless locking means.

4. A keyless locking mechanism as set forth in claim 2, wherein said keyless locking means comprises a lever having a checking member and being pivotably connected to said engagement releasing means by a pin, and being non-rotatable in one direction through said checking member for enabling movement of said latch member into the door locking position, and being rotatable around said pin in the opposite direction so that said latch member can move rotatively without encountering resistance from said keyless locking lever.

5. A keyless locking mechanism as set forth in claim 4, wherein said keyless locking lever is loaded by a spring against rotating movement thereof.

6. A keyless locking mechanism as set forth in claim 4, wherein said keyless locking lever is L-shaped, one arm of which is pressed on said engagement releasing means and the other being a downwardly projecting arm for operatively engaging with said latch member.