Lock for a flap or door

• US 9,752,357 B2
• Filed: 04/18/2013
• Issued: 09/05/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 05/04/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kiekert AG (Lingyun Industrial Corporation Limited)
• Original Assignee: Kiekert AG (Lingyun Industrial Corporation Limited)
• Inventors: Scholz, Michael, Handke, Armin
• Primary Examiner(s): Lugo, Carlos
• Assistant Examiner(s): Mills, Christine M
• Application Number:
  US14/398,856
• Publication Number:
  US 20150084351A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,601 Days
• Field of Search: 292200, 292201, 292216, 292DIG 23
• CPC Class Codes: E05B 2015/0431 Modifying spring characteristic or tension E05B2015/0441 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: E05B 85/00 Details of vehicle locks not provided for in groups E05B77/00 - E05B83/00
• CPC Class Codes: E05B 85/26 Cooperation between bolts and detents
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 292/23 Vehicle door latches
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 292/108 Lever

Abstract

The aim of the invention is to design a door lock or flap lock which can be easily and reliably opened with little effort. Said aim is achieved by a door lock or flap lock comprising a locking mechanism that consists of a latch and at least one pawl for locking the latch. The lock further comprises a triggering lever which, upon being actuated allows the locked locking mechanism to be unlocked. The lock also comprises a spring for moving the pawl in the direction of the locking position. When the triggering lever is actuated, the triggering lever rests against the spring to push the spring away from the pawl and decrease or cancel the spring force. Using the triggering lever, functions, the number of parts can be kept to a minimum. Advantageously, the lock therefore is not complex to produce and is compact and lightweight.

Claims

1. A lock for a door or flap comprising:

a locking mechanism having a locked state and an unlocked state, the locking mechanism comprising;

a rotary latch;

at least one pawl for locking the rotary latch, the pawl being pivotable between a locking position in which the pawl acts against the rotary latch and an unlocking position in which the pawl disengages from the rotary latch;

a spring that rests against the pawl to bias the pawl in the locking position; and

a triggering lever that is pivotable to rest against the spring and push the spring away from the pawl enabling the rotary latch to initiate a torque into the pawl to pivot the pawl toward the unlocking position for moving the locking mechanism from the locked state to the unlocked state.

2. The lock according to claim 1, wherein the pawl and the triggering lever are rotatably mounted on a common axis.

3. The lock according to claim 1, wherein the spring can rest against a lever arm of the pawl for moving the pawl in the direction of the locking position and/or against a lever arm of the triggering lever to reduce or cancel out the spring force acting on the pawl.

4. The lock according to claim 3, wherein the lever arm of the pawl and the lever arm of the triggering lever are arranged above each other in the locked state of the locking mechanism.

5. The lock according to claim 1, wherein the rotary latch can initiate an opening moment in the pawl in order to move the pawl out of its locking position.

6. The lock according to claim 1 further comprising a tappet arranged on the triggering lever that can also move the pawl out of the locking position after a delay.

7. The lock according to claim 1 further comprising a blocking lever having a blocking position in which the blocking lever blocks the pawl to prevent the pawl from moving out of the locking position.

8. The lock according to claim 7, wherein the triggering lever can move the blocking lever out of the blocking position.

9. The lock according to claim 7 further comprising a spring for moving the blocking lever into the blocking position.

10. The lock according to claim 1 further comprising a spring for moving the rotary latch into an opening position.

11. The lock according to claim 1, wherein the triggering lever contains three lever arms.

12. The lock according to claim 1, wherein the pawl contains two lever arms.

13. The lock according to claim 1 further comprising a blocking lever with two lever arms.