Door lock lighting system

Abstract

A motor vehicle door lock lighting system wherein actuation of the door opening mechanism momentarily activates the passenger compartment courtesy lights and supplemental lights on the doors for illuminating the door lock key slots, thereby permitting visual inspection of the inside of the car without opening the door, illuminating the key slot for easy key insertion, and preventing battery run down due to jamming of the door opening mechanism.

Description

The present invention relates to door lock lights and, in particular, to a door lock lighting system wherein actuation of the vehicle door opening mechanism illuminates the vehicle interior and the door locks.

Door lock lights for motor vehicles have been previously proposed for providing illumination of the door lock key slot to facilitate key insertion during darkness. These arrangements have taken the form of a light, generally housed in the door handle, which is energized when the door opening mechanism is actuated and illuminates the door lock key slots as long as the mechanism is activated.

The present invention improves upon these basic systems by providing a lighted door lock system which, in addition to illuminating the door lock key slots, also activates vehicle interior lights for a predetermined period after actuating the door opening mechanism. The system enables the driver to activate the interior lights and lights on the door locks without entering the car by merely depressing the pushbutton or lifting the handle. This permits visual inspection of the inside of the car without opening the door. By having the system energized for only a momentary period, jamming the door handles open will not keep the lights on and cause the battery to run down.

More particularly, the door lock light bulbs are housed interior of the vehicle door and illuminate an exterior lens which focuses illumination on the key slot. The door lock bulbs are connected in parallel with the vehicle courtesy lights. In operation, a control circuit energizes a relay which completes the circuit to the lights as the handle is lifted or the button depressed. The circuit maintains energization of the relay for a predetermined period of time after which the relay is automatically deenergized regardless of the condition of the door lock opening mechanism. In this manner, the interior and key slot lighting modes are maintained a sufficient period of time to inspect the vehicle interior prior entering and to permit insertion of the key into the slot for unlatching the door locking mechanism.

The above and other features of the present invention will be apparent to one skilled in the art upon reading the following detailed description, reference being made to the accompanying drawings illustrating embodiments of the present invention in which:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary side perspective view of a vehicle door incorporating a door lock lighting system in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view showing the interior components of the door lock lighting system; and

FIG. 3 is a schematic electrical diagram of the control circuit for the subject door lock lighting system.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a door lock lighting system in accordance with the present invention provides interior vehicle lighting and door lock key slot lighting for a momentary period after actuation of the door opening mechanism. More particularly, the vehicle door 10 is provided with a door opening mechanism 12 comprising a handle 14 and a pushbutton actuator 16. The locking mechanism for unlatching the door opening mechanism is controlled by a lock cylinder 18 operated by a key 20 inserted through a key slot 22.

The mechanism for controlling opening movement of the door 10 is conventional in construction and is partially illustrated in FIG. 2 with only those components necessary for the understanding of the present invention being illustrated, it being kept in mind that any suitable mechanism may be substituted for this purpose. Herein the actuator 16 includes an interiorly disposed piston 24 which engages a lever 26 for pivoting the upper end thereof between the solid line position and the dotted line position. The lever 26 includes a lower actuating finger 28 which engages the intermittent lever of the door opening mechanism (not shown) to actuate the remaining components of the mechanism to unlock the door for opening movement. The lock cylinder 18 is supported by a bracket 30 attached to the interior surface of the door 10. The cylinder 18 has an inner actuating lever 32 pivotally connected thereto. The lever 32 has an arm 34 which passes through a rectangular slot 36 in a latching lever 38. Upon rotation of the key 20, the lever 32 pivots thereby pivoting the lever 38 which also cooperates with the intermittent lever (not shown) to disable the opening mechanism from control by the actuator 16.

The door lock lighting system includes an exteriorly disposed clear plastic lens 40 positioned adjacent the lock cylinder 18 and vertically therebelow. The lens 40 is illuminated by a light 42 positioned interior of the door 10. The light 42 is mounted on an arm 44 depending from the bracket 30. A Hall Effect microswitch 46 is mounted interior of the door 10 on a bracket 48. A small permanent magnet 49 is secured to switch actuating arm 50 which is engaged by the side of the upper end of the lever 26. By depressing the button 16, the piston 24 engages the lever 26 to pivot the latter to the dotted line position thereby pivoting the arm 50 inwardly to close the switch contacts. The switch 46 includes a plurality of leads 51 which are electrically connected with the vehicle courtesy lamps in the passenger compartment. The courtesy lamps illuminate the interior of the passenger compartment. As hereinafter described, momentary depression of the actuator 16 closes the switch 46 to (1) illuminate the light 42 to project light onto the lens for illuminating the key slot 22 and (2) illuminate the courtesy lights for passenger compartment lighting to permit visual inspection of the vehicle interior. By the control circuit described below, the lights are energized only for a predetermined time during depression of the actuator 16.

The control circuit for the lighting system is shown in FIG. 3. The components within the dashed lines are housed in the control unit 52. More particularly, the vehicle battery 60 is connected in series on the positive (B+) side thereof with the switch 46 on the left side door and the switch 46' on the right side door. The switches 46 and 46' are connected in parallel and are connected with resistors 66 and 68. The resistor 66 is connected to the base electrode 70 of a npn transistor 72 and with a capacitor 74. The resistor 66 is connected to the base electrode 70 of a npn transistor 72 and with a capacitor 74. The resistor 68 is connected to the collector 76 of the transistor 72 and a diode 78. The diode 78 is connected in series with a capacitor 80, a resistor 82, and a resistor 84. The resistor 84 is connected to the base electrode 86 of a Darlington amplifier 88. The collectors of amplifier 88 are connected to a coil 89 of a relay 90. The capacitor 74, the emitter of the transistor 72, the capacitor 80, the resistor 82 and the emitter of the amplifier 88 are connected to lead 92. A relay contact 94 operated by the relay 90 is closed in accordance with energization thereof. The left-hand door light 42 and the right-hand door light 42' are connected in series with relay contact 94. The lights 42 and 42' are connected in parallel with the vehicle courtesy light 100 which is connected to the positive or B+ side of the battery 60. The light 100 is connected in a parallel circuit with the positive or B+ side of the battery 60 and is independently controlled by the headlight switch 102. The operation of the light 100 may also be controlled by door jam switches 103 and 103'.

In operation, if the operator desires to unlock the door to gain access to the interior, depression of the button 16 closes either switch 46 or 46' depending on the door through which access is being gained. For instance, the closure of the switch 46 applies B+ voltage to the resistors 66, and 68. Inasmuch as transistor 72 is initially non-conducting, current flows through resistor 68 and diode 78 to charge capacitor 80. This biases amplifier 88 on, thereby energizing the coil 89 and closing the relay contact 94. This illuminates lights 42 and 42' as well as the courtesy light 100. The lights 42 and 42' provide illumination of the respective door locks while the courtesy light 100 illuminates the interior of the passenger compartment. This permits the operator to insert the key into the slot 22 to unlock the latter and condition the door for opening movement as well as inspect the interior of the vehicle without opening the door.

During this time, the capacitor 74 is being charged through resistor 66, thereby raising the base voltage of the transistor 72. The transistor 72 turns "on" and further current flow through diode 78 to the amplifier 88 is stopped because the collector 76 of transistor 72 is lowered to nearly ground potential. The capacitor 80 will then gradually discharge. The time constant of the R-C circuit of resistor 82 and the capacitor 80 will determine the length of time the amplifier 88 is conductive and thus the length of time the relay 90 is energized. Thereafter, amplifier 88 will go non-conductive deenergizing the relay 90 and opening relay contact 94 to deenergize the lights 42, 42' and 100. Because of the action of the first stage transistor 72, the light cannot be energized indefinitely by jamming the actuator 16 thereby causing the battery to run down. With this system it will also be apparent that during the energized time period the key can be inserted into the slot to enable unlocking of the latter and to further inspect vehicle interior prior to proceeding with entry into the passenger compartment.

A door lock lighting system in accordance with the above was successfully built and tested with a control unit 52 having the following specifications:

Resistor 66 68 K .OMEGA. Resistor 68 1 K .OMEGA. Capacitor 74 45 uf at 15V Capacitor 80 45 uf at 15V Diode 78 IN 4001 Resistor 82 330 K .OMEGA. Resistor 84 82 K .OMEGA. Relay 90 8 Amp - SPST Transistor 72 5958866 Amplifier 88 G.E. 2N5307

While the embodiments of the present invention, as herein disclosed, constitute a preferred form, it is to be understood that other forms might be adopted.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. In a vehicle having a door movable between a closed and an open position and further having an electrical power source and a lighting system of the type including a lock light for illuminating an exteriorly mounted key operated vehicle door lock and an interior passenger compartment courtesy lamp the improvement comprising: a door opening mechanism operable to latch and unlatch the door, first switch means operable by said door opening mechanism into first and second operating modes in accordance with door latch and unlatch respectively, circuit means including second switch means responsive to said first switch means being in its second operating mode to concurrently energize the lock light and the courtesy lamp across the electrical power source, said circuit means further including means for conditioning said second switch means to de-energize the lock light and the courtesy lamp a predetermined time period subsequent to and independently of operation of said first switch means by said door opening mechanism.

2. In a motor vehicle having a door movable between a closed position and an open position for providing access to a passenger compartment, a door opening mechanism operable to latch and unlatch the door to allow movement between the closed and open positions, a key operated door lock on said door for conditioning actuability of the opening mechanism, a courtesy light in the passenger compartment for illuminating the latter and an electrical power source, the improvement comprising: a light opening in the door adjacent the door lock, a light distributing lens member mounted exteriorly of the door at said opening, a lighting unit positioned interior of the door adjacent said lens for directing illumination when energized outwardly through said opening onto said lens for distribution onto the door lock, circuit means for connecting said lighting unit in series with the courtesy light including first switch means operatively associated with the door opening mechanism and momentarily conductive upon actuation of the door opening mechanism, said circuit means including second switch means responsive to conductivity of said first switch means to connect said lighting unit and the courtesy light in series with the power source whereby the lighting unit is energized for illuminating said lens and door lock and the courtesy light illuminates the passenger compartment upon actuation of the opening mechanism, said circuit means including means for conditioning said second switch means to de-energize said lighting unit and the courtesy lamp a predetermined period subsequent to and independently of operation of said first switch means by the door opening mechanism.

3. A light assembly for illuminating the door lock of a motor vehicle having a door, a door opening mechanism having a push button and linkage means operable to latch and unlatch the door, the door lock conditioning door opening actuatability of the linkage means of the door opening mechanism comprising: a light opening in the door adjacent the door lock, a lighting unit including a light distributing lens member mounted on the door adjacent the door lock, said lighting unit when energized directly illumination outwardly through said lens to illuminate the door lock, first switch means operably associated with the door opening mechanism conditioned momentarily conductive upon actuation of the door opening mechanism push button, circuit means including second switch means being adapted to be connected between an electrical power source and said lighting unit and responsive to conduction by said first switch means to energize said lighting unit thereby to illuminate said lens and the door lock upon actuation of the opening mechanism, said circuit means including means for conditioning said second switch means to de-energize said lighting unit a predetermined period subsequent to and independently of operation of said first switch means by the door opening mechanism push button.