Motor vehicle door lock with a lock unit and a control unit which are separate from one another

• US 6,779,372 B2
• Filed: 06/28/2002
• Issued: 08/24/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 10/16/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
• Original Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
• Inventors: Lippold, Christian, Berger, Rainer, Kordowski, Bernhard, Bartel, Peter, Budzynski, Edgar, Weyerstall, Bernd, Arlt, Horst
• Primary Examiner(s): Walsh, John B.
• Application Number:
  US10/184,051
• Publication Number:
  US 20030070457A1
• Time in Patent Office: 788 Days
• Field of Search: 702/37, 702/55, 702/56, 292/DIG.23, 292/DIG.25
• US Class Current: 70/237
• CPC Class Codes: E05B 2047/0069 bolt position
• CPC Class Codes: E05B 77/28 for anti-theft purposes, e.g. double-locking or super-locking
• CPC Class Codes: E05B 77/34 Protection against weather or dirt, e.g. against water ingress closures or guards for keyholes E05B17/14
• CPC Class Codes: E05B 79/20 using flexible connections, e.g. Bowden cables
• CPC Class Codes: E05B 81/14 operating on bolt detents, e.g. for unlatching the bolt
• CPC Class Codes: E05B 81/66 the bolt position, i.e. the latching status
• CPC Class Codes: E05B 81/76 Detection of handle operation; Detection of a user approaching a handle; Electrical switching actions performed by door handles
• CPC Class Codes: E05B 85/16 a longitudinal grip part being pivoted at one end about an axis perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the grip part
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 292/23 Vehicle door latches
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 292/25 Remote control
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 70/5889 For automotive vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 70/5973 Remote control

Abstract

A motor vehicle door lock with mechanical lock elements in a lock unit, the door lock includes a lock mechanism with several interacting elements in a control unit which is arranged at a location that is spatially separate from the lock unit in or on a motor vehicle door or hatch. The lock unit is connected to the control unit by a remote power transmission in the form of a Bowden cable, and the lock element in the lock unit can be mechanically actuated from an element of the lock mechanism in the control unit by the remote power transmission. In the lock unit, there is at least one component which is to be supplied with electricity to be triggered and/or to be interrogated, the at least one component is electrically connected by an electrical connecting element to lock electronics in the control unit, and the electrical connecting element is integrated into or combined with the mechanical power transmission.

Claims

1. Motor vehicle door lock comprising:

a lock unit with mechanical lock elements including a lock latch and a detent pawl, and

a lock mechanism with interacting elements in a control unit, said control unit being arranged at a spatially separate location from the lock unit in or on a motor vehicle door or hatch,

wherein the lock unit is arranged on a motor vehicle door or hatch,

wherein the lock unit is connected to the control unit by means of a remote power transmission means,

wherein the detent pawl in the lock unit is mechanically actuated from an element of the lock mechanism in the control unit by means of the remote power transmission means,

wherein an outside door handle arrangement is provided with an outside door handle,

wherein the outside door handle are mechanically connected solely to the control unit by means of a second remote power transmission means so that the locking elements are actuated from the outside door handle only via the control unit, and

wherein the remote power transmission means is a tension/compression power transmission means, wherein the second remote power transmission means comprises a Bowden cable having a core coupled both to the outside door handle and to a lock barrel of the outside door handle arrangement, wherein the core of the Bowden cable is movable from a middle position for an “

unlocked”

function into a position for an “

open”

function by pulling and into a position for a “

locked”

function by pressing, and is movable from the position for the “

locked”

function into the position for the “

unlocked”

function by pulling.

2. The motor vehicle door lock as claimed in claim 1, wherein said outside door handle is adapted to produce said pulling of the core of the Bowden cable movement into the position for the “

open”

function.

3. The motor vehicle door as claimed in claim 1, wherein movement of the Bowden cable into the positions of the “

unlocked” and

“

locked”

positions is producible by actuating either of the lock barrel and the remote power transmission means from the lock mechanism in the control unit.

4. The motor vehicle door as claimed in claim 1, wherein a coupling element for coupling to the core of Bowden cable of the second remote power transmission means, an actuation element for actuation from the outside door handle, and the lock barrel that are coaxially supported on the outside door handle arrangement, and wherein the actuation element is coupled to the coupling element by an ejectable coupler.

5. The motor vehicle door lock as claimed in claim 1, wherein in or on an outside door handle arrangement there is at least one electrical sensor component for determining the position of the outside door handle,

wherein the sensor component is electrically connected by means of an electrical connecting element to lock electronics in the control unit, and

wherein the electrical connecting element is integrated or combined into the mechanical power transmission means.

6. The motor vehicle door lock as claimed in claim 5, wherein the outside door handle is movably supported on the outside door handle arrangement in a manner releasably fixed against movement thereof, wherein the fixing of the outside door handle is releasable by manual manipulation, and wherein the motor vehicle door lock is adapted to be electronically triggered in an open-by-wire manner.