Door stop with infinite holding positions

Abstract

The invention relates to a door stop device, comprising a link arm (1) and a locking mechanism (2), one rigidly connected to a door leaf and the other rigidly connected to a door frame, the link arm (1) comprising at least one face (11) intended to engage with a brake element (21) resting on the face (11) of the link arm (1), the brake element (21) being controlled by a blocking element (23) resting in a recess (212) provided on the brake element (21), the blocking element (23) engaging with an elastic return member (24) intended to exert the pressure of the blocking element (23) on the brake element (21), thereby allowing the door to be relatively held in an open position in any given position between the closed position and the fully open position. The device according to the invention is particularly suitable for motor vehicle doors.

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a door stop device, which includes a locking mechanism and a linkage arm, one of which is connected to a door leaf and the other to a door frame, wherein the linkage arm has at least one surface intended to cooperate with a braking element, the braking element being pressed against the surface of the linkage arm, the braking element being controlled by a blocking element engaged in a recess provided on the braking element, the blocking element cooperating with an elastic return member, the elastic return member being intended to be used to exert the pressure of the blocking element on the braking element, thereby allowing the door to be relatively held in an open position at any given position between a closed position and a fully open position.

[0002] The invention belongs to the field of door stop devices, and more particularly to the fields of motor vehicle doors, the construction industry and household appliances.

[0003] From document FR 3 046 193 filed by the applicant, we already know a door stop device which allows a pivoting or sliding door to be stopped and held in one of several positions defined by a holding recess situated on a connecting arm, as soon as the force required to open or close the door is interrupted, and which may be particularly suitable for use in the doors of motor vehicles.

[0004] Thus, the door stop device with multiple holding positions described in FR 3 046 193 consists essentially of:

[0005] a connecting arm having a plurality of recesses which can each retain a blocking element and thus ensure locking of the door stop in a plurality of positions;

[0006] - a moving carriage which, when a relative movement occurs between the connecting arm and the blocking means, slides along the connecting arm on which it is mounted while providing some resistance to movement, thereby allowing the blocking element to remain in the unlocked position while pressing against some inclined ramps that are part of the moving carriage, in which case the door stop is in unlocked mode. The relative resistance to movement between the connecting arm and the moving carriage can be obtained by simply generating some friction between two contact surfaces belonging to each of these two elements, but can also be obtained by adding a braking device, which can consist of a brake pad connected to the moving carriage and pressed against a surface belonging to the connecting arm by an elastic member;

[0007] - a blocking element pressed by some elastic restoring means arranged in any one of the notches on the connecting arm, said blocking element itself being mounted on the blocking mechanism in a direction having a weight generally perpendicular to the connecting arm, with relative mobility, in such a way that it can be removed from the notch of said connecting arm in order to release this blocking element;

[0008] - an elastic restoring member, which is mounted on the blocking mechanism and cooperates directly or indirectly with the blocking element in a direction generally perpendicular to the connecting arm, including a component. The elastic restoring member can be composed of a metal or plastic device, or a mixture of these materials (for example, a device including a helical spring or an elastic leaf), or a deformable element (such as an elastomer block).

[0009] However, such door stops are known to utilize multiple but still predetermined holding positions, so that the door cannot be held in any position but only in one of the predetermined positions, thus limiting the use of the total travel that can actually be used to open and hold the door.

[0010] The present invention proposes a solution to overcome this disadvantage while making the design of the door stop device more robust: the present invention provides that the blocking element acts indirectly via a brake element, which rests with some friction against at least one surface of a linkage arm designed for this purpose, while the mobile slide, which can be longitudinally translated relative to the linkage arm on which the mobile slide is mounted and slides with a limited stroke relative to the body of the locking mechanism, is provided with an inclined ramp, which is designed to ensure that the blocking element is retained when the door stop device is in the unlocked position, and the blocking element then no longer acts on the brake element.

[0011] To this end, the invention relates to a door stop device comprising a locking mechanism and a link arm, one connected to the door leaf and the other to the door frame, the connection to the door frame and the door leaf preferably being articulated. The link arm comprises at least one face intended to cooperate with the locking mechanism, for which purpose the locking mechanism comprises a braking element pressed against the face of the link arm, the braking element being controlled by a blocking element, the blocking element itself being mounted on the locking mechanism in a direction generally perpendicular to the link arm, with relative mobility, and the blocking element engaging in a recess provided on the braking element, while the blocking element cooperates with an elastic return member acting directly or indirectly on the blocking element, so as to exert some pressure on the braking element through the blocking element, thereby allowing the door to remain relatively open in any position between the closed position and the fully open position, which is remarkable in that:

[0012] - said linkage arm has at least one face intended to cooperate with a brake element described below, said brake element being pressed against said face of the linkage arm, said face of the linkage arm having a surface roughness, the characteristics of said surface roughness allowing a good friction grip between said brake element and said face of the linkage arm, thus ensuring that the door stop device is locked in any position between the closed position and the fully opened position of the door;

[0013] - The locking mechanism comprises:

[0014] at least one brake element having a face which can be pressed with good grip against the face of the linkage arm facing the brake element, and at the same time the brake element having at least one recess which is intended to receive a blocking element described below and which applies some pressure to the brake element when the door stop is in the locked mode, and at the same time the brake element is movably mounted relative to the locking mechanism, in a direction parallel to the linkage arm and whose travel is limited by an elastic restoring member which cooperates with the locking mechanism in order to return the brake element to the position in which the recess of the brake element faces the locking element, as soon as the blocking element no longer applies pressure to the brake element, when the door stop is in the unlocked mode;

[0015] - at least one blocking element which controls the brake element by exerting some pressure in a recess provided for this purpose on the brake element under the action of an elastic return member described below, while the blocking element itself is movably mounted on the locking mechanism in a direction generally perpendicular to the linkage arm, so that the blocking element can be removed from the recess of the brake element in order to release the brake element;

[0016] - an elastic return member connected to the locking mechanism or to the blocking element, said elastic return member acting directly or indirectly between said locking mechanism and said blocking element in a direction generally perpendicular to said link arm. The elastic return member may consist of a metal or plastic device, or also of a mixture of these materials (for example a device comprising a helical spring or an elastic blade), or also of a deformable element (such as an elastomer block);

[0017] - a moving carriage which can slide with a limited stroke along the link arm on which it is mounted and relative to the body of the locking mechanism, while providing some resistance to movement by leaning on an inclined ramp provided on the moving carriage when relative movement occurs between the link arm and the locking mechanism, thereby allowing the blocking element to remain outside the recess provided on the braking element, and the door stop device is then in unlocking mode. The relative sliding resistance between the link arm and the moving carriage can be achieved by simple friction between two contact surfaces belonging to each of these two elements, but can also be achieved by adding a braking device, which can be constituted by a braking pad fixed to the moving carriage and pushed by an elastic member against a surface belonging to the link arm.

[0018] Variant of brake element and mobile carriage: In a preferred embodiment, the brake element and the mobile carriage can be fixed together to form a single part. The recess provided on the brake element and intended to receive the blocking element will then be extended on each side by inclined ramps, the inclination of which is preferably less than the inclination of the walls of the recess provided on the brake element. The inclined ramps will rest on a surface belonging to the linkage arm so as to react the force exerted by the blocking element when the door stop is in unlocked mode. The device obtained by combining the brake element with the mobile carriage will be able to slide with limited travel along the linkage arm on which it is mounted and relative to the body of the locking mechanism, while providing some resistance to movement by resting on the inclined ramps provided on the device composed of the brake element combined with the mobile carriage when relative movement occurs between the linkage arm and the locking mechanism, thus allowing the blocking element to be kept outside the recess provided on the device composed of the brake element combined with the mobile carriage, and the door stop is then in unlocked mode. The relative sliding resistance between the linkage arm and the means composed of the braking element and the moving carriage is obtained by simple friction between two contact surfaces belonging respectively to each of these two elements.

[0019] Variant of elastic return member: In a preferred embodiment, a variant of the elastic return member can be formed by adding a transmission member arranged between the elastic return members on the one hand and between the blocking element or the locking mechanism on the other hand, the transmission member being formed by at least two surface elements, at least one of which has a curved shape, which cooperate with each other in a relative movement in two directions generally perpendicular to each other. The surface elements cooperate in such a way as to facilitate the transmission of the load provided by the elastic return member in such a way that the direction of the contact force transmitted at the contact point between the surface elements changes while compressing the elastic return member. Thus, when the direction of the contact force transmitted at the contact point is small relative to the angle defined by the compression direction of the elastic return member, the vertical component acting on the blocking element is small, which has an advantage in the unlocking mode. On the contrary, when the direction of the contact force transmitted at the contact point is close to 90 degrees relative to the angle defined by the compression direction of the elastic return member, the vertical component acting on the blocking element is large, which has an advantage in the locking mode. The intended purpose is to obtain a large holding force in the locked mode and, when the door stop is in the unlocked mode, to reduce the load of the blocking element on the inclined ramp of the moving slide, thereby allowing to reduce the relative sliding resistance between the linkage arm and the moving slide, which is required to balance the forces to which the moving slide is subjected in the unlocked mode. Less force is required to move the door in the unlocked mode.

[0020] Another variant of the elastic return member: According to the invention, the elastic return member is fixed to the locking mechanism or to the blocking element and acts directly or indirectly between the locking mechanism and the blocking element in a direction generally perpendicular to the link arm. According to one of the embodiments of the elastic return member, the invention proposes to adjust the value of the force provided by the elastic return member according to the inclination of the locking mechanism, so as to allow the holding force to be adjusted in the locking mode according to the inclination of the locking mechanism. To this end, the invention proposes to form the elastic return member by superimposing the action of at least two different elastic return members, the at least two different elastic return members being arranged so that when the mechanical linkage described below is simply inserted under the action of gravity between the different elastic return members or between one of the different elastic return members and the locking mechanism, the loads they provide can be accumulated in the same direction. The mechanical link acting under the simple action of gravity can advantageously be formed by a spherical ball housed in an abutment conical surface, fixed to one of the different elastic return members or to the locking mechanism, said abutment conical surface also being centered relative to a rigid surface situated on another different elastic return member or relative to a rigid surface situated on the locking mechanism, said rigid surface comprising in its center a cavity which can receive the spherical ball when the abutment conical surface and the rigid surface move towards each other due to the movement of the blocking element, while the spherical ball remains in the center of the abutment conical surface under the action of gravity, when the door stop does not tilt. In this case, those of the different elastic return members which do not participate during the movement of the blocking element are not compressed and therefore do not contribute to the load transmitted to the blocking element. On the contrary, when the spherical ball moves away from the center of the stop cone surface under the action of gravity, the spherical ball inserts itself between the stop cone surface and the rigid surface as the inclination of the door stop exceeds a predetermined threshold, thereby constituting a mechanical link that allows the corresponding elastic return member to be compressed by the movement of the blocking element, resulting in a cumulative load provided by two different elastic return members. Therefore, when the inclination of the door stop remains below a certain predetermined threshold, one of the elastic return members is not affected by the movement of the blocking element and the final load on the blocking element is low. On the contrary, when the inclination of the door stop exceeds a predetermined threshold, different elastic return members are operated simultaneously by the movement of the blocking element and the final load on the blocking element is large.

[0021] Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear from the following description, which relates to embodiments of the device proposed by the invention, which are considered as non-limiting examples and which can be more easily understood on the basis of the accompanying drawings, which constitute a schematic representation of the device proposed by the invention:

[0022] - Figure 1: Illustration of a door stop device when the door stop device is in a locked mode, the door stop device comprising a linkage arm (1) and a locking mechanism (2).

[0023] - Figure 2 : Illustration of a door stop device when the door stop device is in unlocked mode, the door stop device comprising a linkage arm (1) and a locking mechanism (2).

[0024] - Figure 3 : The link arm (1), the locking mechanism (2) and the moving carriage (3) when the door stop is in the locked mode.

[0025] - Figure 4 : The link arm (1), the locking mechanism (2) and the moving carriage (3) when the door stop is unlocked.

[0026] - Figure 5 : The linkage arm (1), locking mechanism (2) and moving carriage (3) when the door stop is in unlocked mode.

[0027] - Figure 6 : A variation of the elastic return member (24) in the locking mode.

[0028] - Figure 7 : A variation of the elastic return member (24) in unlocking mode.

[0029] - Figure 8 : Another variation of the elastic return member (24), which shows two different elastic return members (24) and (29) when the door stop device is in the locking mode.

[0030] - Fig. 9 : Another variation of the elastic return member (24), which shows two different elastic return members (24) and (29) when the door stop device is in unlocking mode, not in a tilted position, and without accumulated load.

[0031] - Fig.10 : Another variation of the elastic return member (24), which shows the door stop device in unlocked mode, in a tilted position, with two different elastic return members (24) and (29) when the accumulated load is applied.

[0032] - Fig.11 : Another variation of the elastic return member (24), showing two different elastic return members (24) and (29) when the door stop device is in the locking mode, wherein the stop conical surface (292) is fixed to the locking mechanism (2).

[0033] - Fig.12: Another variation of the elastic return member (24), showing two different elastic return members (24) and (29) when the door stop device is in unlocked mode, not in a tilted position, and without accumulated load, wherein the stop conical surface (292) is fixed to the locking mechanism (2).

[0034] - Fig.13 : Another variation of the elastic return member (24), showing the door stop device in unlocked mode, in an inclined position, with two different elastic return members (24) and (29) when there is an accumulated load, wherein the stop conical surface (292) is fixed to the locking mechanism (2).

[0035] - Fig.14 : A variation of the link arm (1) comprising a cylindrical portion (15).

[0036] - Fig.15 : A variant in which the brake element (21) is combined with the movable carriage (3) into a single component.

[0037] An example of an embodiment of the door stop device proposed by the present invention is formed by the following elements ( Figure 1 ):

[0038] - a linkage arm (1), preferably hinged at one end, said linkage arm being connectable to a door frame or a door leaf, advantageously formed by an elongated and preferably straight rod, made of a wear-resistant material such as metal or plastic for mechanical component design, said linkage arm comprising at least one face (11) intended to cooperate with a brake element (21) described below and to press against said face (11) of the linkage arm (1), said face (11) of the linkage arm (1) having a surface roughness, the characteristics of which allow a good friction grip between the brake element (21) and said face (11) of the linkage arm (1), thereby ensuring that the door stop device is locked in any position between the closed position and the fully opened position of the door. The linkage arm (1) may have at least one or preferably two grooves (12) on one or more of its faces ( Figure 3 ) in order to receive at least one or preferably two ribs (33) belonging to the mobile slide (3) described below, thereby allowing the mobile slide (3) to be held relative to the linkage arm (1) while allowing the mobile slide (3) to slide longitudinally relative to the linkage arm (1). If the arrangement of the grooves and ribs between the linkage arm (1) and the mobile slide (3) is reversed, the invention will not be changed, as is obvious to a person skilled in the art. Finally, the invention provides that, in a preferred embodiment, the linkage arm (1) movable relative to the locking mechanism (2) described below can be connected to the mobile slide (3) ( Figure 4) in contact and slide with a load-bearing area (34) of the connecting rod arm (1) so as to react the load indirectly applied to the connecting rod arm (1) by the blocking element (23) described below. The load-bearing area (34) can be composed of an elastomeric portion of flat shape, and when a load is applied due to the force indirectly transmitted by the blocking element (23) on the connecting rod arm (1), the surface roughness of the elastomeric portion in the area in contact with the connecting rod arm (1) will allow relative friction braking between the connecting rod arm (1) and the moving slide (3). The present invention also provides that when the locking mechanism (2) is in a locked or unlocked mode, the connecting rod arm (1) will be able to slide in contact with at least one load-bearing area (25) connected to the locking mechanism (2), and the load-bearing area preferably has a straight shape ( Figure 1 ) in order to counteract the load indirectly applied to the linkage arm (1) by the blocking element (23), thereby allowing relative guidance of the linkage arm (1) with respect to the locking mechanism (2). The load-bearing area (25) can simply consist of one or more ribs connected to the wall of the locking mechanism (2), which can be realized without difficulty by a person skilled in the art.

[0039] - Locking mechanism (2) ( Figure 1 ), which is movable relative to the link arm (1) and is designed to be connected to the door leaf or door frame by a preferably hinged connection, the link having an axis perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the link arm (1), here schematically represented by a bracket (28) ( Figure 1 ), the locking mechanism (2) is intended to cooperate with the linkage arm (1) to keep the linkage arm (1) locked in any position as long as the door is not subjected to a force greater than a predetermined unlocking force.

[0040] The locking mechanism (2) comprises ( Figure 3 ):

[0041] - a brake element (21) having a surface (211) which can be pressed with good grip against a surface (11) of the linkage arm (1) facing the surface (211) of the brake element (21), and the brake element (21) having a recess (212) ( Figure 5 ), the recess is intended to receive a blocking element (23) described below that applies some pressure to the braking element (21) when the door stop device is in the locked mode. The braking element (21) is also movably mounted relative to the locking mechanism (2), its direction is parallel to the linkage arm (1) and its travel is limited by an elastic restoring member (22), which cooperates with the locking mechanism (2) so that once the blocking element (23) no longer applies pressure to the braking element (21), the braking element (21) is returned to the center position where the recess (212) of the braking element (21) faces the blocking element (23), which occurs when the door stop device is in the unlocked mode ( Figure 5). The brake element (21) may consist of an elastomeric block of parallelepiped shape, for example, rigid enough to enable the realization of the notch (212), which in the embodiment presented in this non-limiting example will be arranged in a V-shape. Moreover, the elastomeric material of the brake element (21) allows a good grip with the material used for the connecting rod arm (1), which in this example is itself made of metal or plastic. Moreover, without changing the invention, as a non-limiting example, the grip between the connecting rod arm (1) and the brake element (21) can also be obtained by any solution known to a person skilled in the art, such as adding barbs, notches, stripes or grooves on the contact surface. Finally, in this example, the elastic recovery member (22) will consist of a wall pressed against the locking mechanism (2) and symmetrically arranged on the brake element (21) ( Figure 3 ) consists of a simple coil spring on either side of the

[0042] - blocking element (23) ( Figure 3 ), under the action of the elastic return member (24) described below, the blocking element can apply some pressure in the recess (212) provided on the brake element (21), and the blocking element (23) itself is movably mounted on the locking mechanism (2) along a direction generally perpendicular to the connecting rod arm (1), so that the blocking element (23) can be removed from the recess (212) provided on the brake element (21) to release the blocking element ( Figure 4 In the present example of embodiment proposed by the present invention, the blocking element (23) will be provided with a triangular end (231) intended to fit the V-shaped cross section (212) provided on the braking element (21). Figure 5 );

[0043] - an elastic return member (24) connected to the locking mechanism (2) or to the blocking element (23) by being pressed or anchored on a fixed part of the body of the locking mechanism (2) or by being pressed or anchored on the blocking element (23), such as in the form of a simple helical spring schematically illustrated in Figure 1 This can be easily realized by a person skilled in the art. The present invention provides that the elastic reset member (24) can act directly or indirectly between the locking mechanism (2) and the blocking element (23) in a direction generally perpendicular to the link arm (1);

[0044] -Moving carriage (3) ( Figure 3), which can slide with a limited stroke along the link arm (1) on which the moving slide is mounted and relative to the body of the locking mechanism (2), while the longitudinal translation guidance of the moving slide (3) can be obtained by at least one but preferably two ribs (33), which are suitable for sliding into at least one but preferably two grooves (12) provided on the link arm (1) and at the same time provide some resistance to the relative movement between the moving slide (3) and the link arm (1), so that when relative movement occurs between the link arm (1) and the locking mechanism (2), the blocking element (23) is allowed to remain outside the recess (212) provided on the braking element (21) by making the blocking element (23) lean against the inclined ramp (32) provided on the moving slide (3) described below. Figure 4 ), the door stop device is in unlocking mode. The relative sliding resistance between the link arm (1) and the mobile carriage (3) can be achieved by simple friction between two contact surfaces belonging to each of the two elements, but can also be achieved by adding a braking device not described here, which can be composed of at least one braking pad fixed to the mobile carriage (3) and pushed back to the surface belonging to the link arm (1) by elastic members, which can be implemented by a technician in the field without difficulty. In addition, the relative sliding resistance between the link arm (1) and the mobile carriage (3) can be achieved by deforming a deformable portion not described here, which is located on one of the faces of the link arm (1) and is pressed against a protrusion belonging to the mobile carriage (3) or against a cylindrical roller, which can rotate freely when located in a semi-cylindrical cavity on the part of the mobile carriage (3) that will face the deformable portion. The deformable portion can be made of an elastomeric material, for example. The above-described modes for obtaining the relative sliding resistance between the link arm (1) and the mobile carriage (3) are not exhaustive and a person skilled in the art will be able to use other solutions from the prior art without altering the present invention.

[0045] Furthermore, according to the invention, the mobile carriage (3) comprises: at least one but preferably two recesses (31) whose shape is completely or partially similar to the recesses (212) provided on the brake element (21); and at least two inclined ramps (32) located on either side of each of the recesses (31) ( Figure 4The invention also provides that the inclined surface (32) belonging to the mobile carriage (3) has an inclination relative to the longitudinal axis of the connecting arm (1), which is preferably less than the inclination of the wall of the recess (31) of the mobile carriage (3), so as to limit the component of force parallel to the longitudinal axis of the connecting arm (1) generated by the load transmitted by the blocking element (23) on the inclined surface (32). According to the present invention, the recess (31) of the movable carriage (3) is designed to receive a portion of the end (231) of the blocking element (23), and for this purpose, the recess (31) will preferably be arranged side by side with the recess (212) of the brake element (21), in such a way that when the blocking element (23) is fully pressed into the recess (212) in the locked position, due to the load applied by the blocking element (23) simultaneously on the recess (212) of the brake element (21) and the recess (31) of the movable carriage (3), the recess (31) of the movable carriage (3) will be juxtaposed and aligned with the recess (212).

[0046] When in the locked position, whenever a force exceeding a predetermined threshold value occurs on the linkage arm (1), the blocking element (23) is moved away from the arrangement formed by the notch (212) and the notch (31) until a point at which the blocking element (23) is no longer in contact with the notch (212) of the brake element (21), the blocking element (23) therefore being held from this point only by the parts of the end (231) of the blocking element (23) facing the notch (31) of the moving carriage (3) and from now on these parts rest on the inclined ramp (32) of the moving carriage (3) ( Figure 4 and 5). In this position, the linkage arm (1) is no longer blocked from translation by the braking element (21) and the door stop is in unlocked mode. In this phase, the moving carriage (3) is mainly subjected to two opposite forces, which are in a direction parallel to the longitudinal axis of the linkage arm (1) and are balanced. One of these forces is generated by the load applied by the blocking element (23) on the inclined ramp (32) of the moving carriage (3), the component of which parallel to the longitudinal axis of the linkage arm (1) is balanced by the sliding resistance occurring between the moving carriage (3) and the linkage arm (1), which is caused by the friction forces applied to the moving carriage during the relative movement of the moving carriage (3) relative to the linkage arm (1). As soon as the movement of the linkage arm (1) relative to the locking mechanism (2) stops, whenever the door is held open in any position, the sliding resistance disappears, thereby breaking the balance of forces and the blocking element (23), under the action of the elastic return member (24), forces the notch (31) of the moving carriage (3) to align with the notch (212) of the braking element (21), while the end (231) of the blocking element (23) is pressed into the notch (212). The door stop is then in the locked position again. It should be noted that the notch (31) of the moving carriage (3) can be placed not only next to the notch (212) of the braking element (21), but in a slightly different position due to, for example, limited available space, without changing the invention. In this case, it is then necessary to adapt the blocking element (23) accordingly by providing an element that can replace the end (231) of the blocking element (23) and that can cooperate with the notch (31) of the moving carriage (3). Finally, the present invention provides that, in a preferred embodiment, in the locked or unlocked mode of the locking mechanism (2), the movable carriage (3) can lean against or slide in contact with at least one preferably straight ( Figure 2 ) in order to react the loads exerted directly or indirectly by the moving carriage (3) on the blocking element (23). The bearing area (26) can simply consist of one or more ribs provided on the wall of the locking mechanism (2), which can be realized without difficulty by a person skilled in the art.

[0047] Variations of the brake element (21) and the movable carriage (3) Fig.15): In a preferred embodiment, the brake element (21) and the mobile carriage (3) can be fixed together so as to form a single component. The recess (212) provided on the brake element (21) and intended to receive the blocking element (23) will then be extended on each side by an inclined ramp (32), the inclination of which is preferably less than the inclination of the walls of the recess (212) provided on the brake element (21). The inclined ramp (32) will rest on a surface (111) belonging to the linkage arm (1) so as to react the force exerted by the blocking element (23) when the door stop device is in unlocking mode. The device obtained by combining the braking element (21) with the moving carriage (3) will be able to slide with a limited stroke along the link arm (1) on which the device is mounted and relative to the body of the locking mechanism (2), while providing some resistance to movement by leaning against the inclined ramp (32) provided on the device composed of the braking element (21) and the moving carriage (3), when relative movement occurs between the link arm (1) and the locking mechanism (2), thereby allowing the blocking element (23) to be kept outside the recess (212) of the device composed of the braking element (21) and the moving carriage (3), and the door stop device is in the unlocking mode. The relative sliding resistance between the link arm (1) and the device composed of the braking element (21) and the moving carriage (3) can be achieved by simple friction between two contact surfaces belonging to each of the two elements. In the non-limiting example given here, the surface (2111) belonging to the device composed of the brake element (21) and the mobile carriage (3) is advantageously located below the inclined ramp (32), in contact with the portion of the surface (111) remaining for this purpose on the linkage arm (1), thereby generating a resistance to displacement caused by the friction generated between the surface (2111) and the surface (111). The device composed of the brake element (21) and the mobile carriage (3) can be made of an elastomeric material, which is rigid enough to realize the notch (212) and the inclined ramp (32). In addition, the elastomeric material chosen will have a good grip on the material constituting the linkage arm (1), which will be made of metal or plastic, for example.

[0048] Modification of the elastic reset member (24) Figure 6 and Figure 7): In a preferred embodiment, a variation of the elastic reset member (24) can be formed by adding a transmission member (241) which is arranged between the elastic reset members (24) on the one hand and between the blocking element (23) or the locking mechanism (2) on the other hand, wherein the transmission member (241) is formed by at least two surface elements (2411) and (2412), at least one of the at least two surface elements having a curved shape, the surface elements (2411) and (2412) cooperating with each other in relative movement in two directions generally perpendicular to each other, one of the surface elements (2411) and (2412) being connected to the blocking element (23), and the other of these surface elements (2411) or (2412) being connected to the locking mechanism (2) via the elastic reset member (24) to which it obeys. The surface elements (2411) and (2412) cooperate to transmit the load provided by the elastic return member (24) in such a way that while compressing the elastic return member (24), the load transmitted at the contact point between the surface elements (2411) and (2412) Figure 6 and 7 The direction of the force F(a) shown can vary. Therefore, when the direction of the force F(a) transmitted at the contact point between the surface elements (2411) and (2412) is small relative to the angle defined by the compression direction of the elastic reset member (24), Figure 6 and 7 The vertical component F(p) acting on the blocking element (23) shown in FIG. 2 is small, which has an advantage in the unlocking mode ( Figure 7 On the contrary, when the direction of the force F(a) transmitted at the above-mentioned contact point is close to 90 degrees relative to the angle defined by the compression direction of the elastic reset member (24), the vertical component F(p) acting on the blocking element (23) is large, which has an advantage in the locking mode ( Figure 6 ). The purpose here is to reduce the load of the blocking element (23) on the inclined ramp (32) of the moving slide (3) whenever the door stop device is in the unlocked mode, thereby allowing to reduce the relative sliding resistance between the linkage arm (1) and the moving slide (3) required to balance the forces applied to the moving slide (3) in the unlocked mode. When the door is in the unlocked mode, less force is required to move the door. It should be noted that in a preferred embodiment and without changing the invention, the surface elements (2411) and (2412) can be integrated into the blocking element (23), respectively, in the case of the surface element (2411) as a protrusion, and in the case of the surface element (2412) into the elastic return member (24), for example, when the elastic return member (24) is made of an elastic blade with a curved end, which is known in the prior art.

[0049] Another variation of the elastic reset member (24))-( Figures 8 to 13 ):

[0050] According to the present invention, an elastic reset member (24) is fixed to the locking mechanism (2) or to the blocking element (23) and acts directly or indirectly between the locking mechanism (2) and the blocking element (23) in a direction generally perpendicular to the link arm (1). According to one embodiment of the elastic reset member (24), the present invention proposes to adjust the load value provided by the elastic reset member (24) according to the inclination of the locking mechanism (2) so as to allow the holding force to be adjusted in the locking mode according to the inclination of the locking mechanism (2). To this end, the present invention proposes to superimpose at least two different elastic reset members (24) and (29) ( Figure 8 ) to replace the elastic reset member (24), and the at least two different elastic reset members are arranged so that when the mechanical link (291) described below is inserted between the different elastic reset members (24) and (29) under the action of simple gravity, or between one of the different elastic reset members (24) or (29) and the locking mechanism (2), the loads they provide can be accumulated in the same direction. In the present embodiment example proposed by the present invention, we will choose to insert the mechanical link (291) between the elastic reset member (29) manufactured according to the above-mentioned first variant and the locking mechanism (2). The mechanical link (291) that acts under the action of simple gravity can advantageously be formed by a spherical ball (291) accommodated in a stop conical surface (292) ( Figure 8 ), the stop conical surface (292) is mechanically connected to the elastic reset member (29) by any means known in the prior art ( Figure 8 ), or without changing the invention, the stop conical surface (292) is connected to the locking mechanism (2) ( Fig.11 ), in which case the door stop is mounted relative to Figure 8 When the stop conical surface (292) itself is connected to the locking mechanism (2), the stop conical surface (292) is also centered relative to the rigid surface (293) located on the locking mechanism 2 ( Figure 8 ), or located on the portion connected to the elastic reset member (29) ( Fig.11 The rigid surface (293) comprises a cavity (2931) at its center, which is formed when the stop cone surface (292) and the rigid surface (293) move toward each other due to the movement of the blocking element (23). Fig. 9 and Fig.12), which can receive the spherical ball (291) while the spherical ball (291) is maintained in the center of the stop conical surface (292) under the action of gravity. In this case, the elastic reset member (29) will not be compressed by the movement of the blocking element (23) and therefore will not have any effect on the load applied to the blocking element (23). On the contrary, when the spherical ball (291) leaves the center of the stop conical surface (292) under the action of gravity, due to the inclination of the door stop device exceeding a predetermined threshold value of the angle of the cone formed by the stop conical surface (292), the spherical ball (291) will insert itself between the stop conical surface (292) and the rigid surface (293), thereby forming a mechanical connection, allowing the elastic reset member (29) to be compressed by the movement of the blocking element (23), thereby resulting in a cumulative load ( Fig.10 and Fig.13 ). Therefore, when the inclination of the door stop device remains below a certain predetermined threshold, the elastic return member (29) is not affected by the movement of the blocking element (23) and the final load on the blocking element (23) is small. On the contrary, when the inclination of the door stop device exceeds a certain predetermined threshold, the elastic return member (29) and the elastic return member (24) are operated simultaneously by the displacement of the blocking element (23) and the final load on the blocking element (23) is large.

[0051] Variant of the link arm (1) Fig.14 ):

[0052] When the locking mechanism (2) is mounted on the door leaf, the above-mentioned linkage arm (1) provides the connection between the door frame and said locking mechanism. If, on the contrary, the locking mechanism (2) is designed to be mounted on the door frame, the linkage arm (1) provides the connection between the door leaf and the locking mechanism (2). In either case, during the opening or closing of the door, the linkage arm (1) transmits the force generated by the relative movement of the door, and the locking mechanism (2) is then in the unlocking mode. Moreover, when the locking mechanism (2) is in the locked position, the linkage arm (1) transmits the holding force required to keep the door open in a fixed position. In addition, when the door reaches its fully open position, as is the case with most door stop devices known in the prior art, it may be interesting to provide a so-called "end stop" device, which is designed to ensure that the linkage arm (1) will stop the door so that it cannot exceed its fully open point, otherwise damaging the door or the body of the motor vehicle. The end stops known in the prior art are usually designed as hard stops, sometimes equipped with pads made of elastic material in order to reduce the impact whenever the door is opened too roughly. In addition, the invention provides that the linkage arm (1) can include a cylindrical portion (15) at its free end, which is placed beside the linkage arm (1), preferably opposite the face (11), which face (11) is intended to cooperate with the braking element (21), the axis of the cylindrical portion (15) preferably being parallel to the longitudinal axis of the linkage arm (1). The cylindrical portion (15) will be designed to penetrate a cylindrical cavity (27) mounted on the locking mechanism (2), the cylindrical cavity (27) itself being designed with a cross-sectional dimension only slightly larger than the cross-sectional dimension of the cylindrical portion (15), so that whenever the door is fully opened, this cylindrical portion (15) penetrates the cylindrical cavity (27), and the gap between the walls of these two parts is reduced. The aim is to trap a certain volume of compressed air in the cylindrical cavity (27) due to the penetration of the cylindrical part (15), which then acts like a piston, thereby damping the end of the stroke of the connecting rod arm (1). In addition, a possible leakage between the wall of the cylindrical part (15) and the wall of the cylindrical cavity (27) immediately after the connecting rod arm (1) is fixed in its end-of-stroke position will quickly lead to a pressure drop of the air trapped in the cylindrical cavity (27). The invention also provides that the cylindrical cavity (27) can be made of some elastomeric material in such a way that the cross-sectional dimensions of the cylindrical cavity (27) are slightly smaller than the cross-sectional dimensions of the cylindrical part (15), so that a braking effect is generated when the cylindrical part (15) penetrates the cylindrical cavity (27) due to the deformation of the elastomeric material forming the cylindrical cavity (27) during the penetration of the cylindrical part (15).Finally, the invention provides that an elastic element (271) can be placed inside the cylindrical cavity (27) so that when this cylindrical portion (15) penetrates the cylindrical cavity (27), it helps to damp the end of the stroke of the connecting rod arm (1) thanks to the compression of the elastic element (271) by the cylindrical portion. The elastic element (271) will not be explained here, but as a non-limiting example, the elastic element can be composed of a coil spring, an elastomer block or any other elastically deformable element known in the prior art.

Claims

1. A door stop device, comprising a link arm (1) and a locking mechanism (2), one connected to a door leaf and the other connected to a door frame, the link arm (1) having at least one face (11) intended to cooperate with the locking mechanism (2), for which purpose the locking mechanism has a braking element (21) pressed against the face (11) of the link arm (1), the braking element (21) being controlled by a blocking element (23) mounted movably on the locking mechanism (2) in a direction generally perpendicular to the link arm (1), the blocking element (23) engaging in a recess (212) provided on the braking element (21), and the blocking element (23) cooperating with an elastic return member (24) acting directly or indirectly on the blocking element (23) to apply pressure to the braking element (21) via the blocking element (23), thereby allowing the door leaf to be relatively held in any open position between a closed position and a fully open position, characterized in that: The face (11) of the linkage arm (1) has a surface roughness, the characteristics of which allow a good friction grip between the brake element (21) and the face (11) of the linkage arm (1); The brake element (21) has a surface (211) that can be pressed against the surface (11) of the linkage arm (1) by a certain gripping force; The brake element (21) is movably mounted relative to the locking mechanism (2), its direction is parallel to the link arm (1) and its travel is limited by an elastic restoring member (22), the elastic restoring member cooperates with the locking mechanism (2) so that when the door stop device is in the unlocking mode, once the blocking element (23) no longer applies pressure to the brake element (21), the brake element (21) is returned to the position where the recess (212) of the brake element (21) faces the blocking element (23); The blocking element (23) can be removed from the recess (212) provided on the braking element (21) in order to release the braking element (21); The elastic return member (24) connected to the locking mechanism (2) or connected to the blocking element (23) acts directly or indirectly between the locking mechanism (2) and the blocking element (23) along a direction generally perpendicular to the link arm (1); a moving carriage (3) which slides with limited travel along the link arm (1) on which it is mounted and relative to the body of the locking mechanism (2) while providing some resistance to relative movement between the moving carriage (3) and the link arm (1); The moving carriage (3) comprises: at least one notch (31) whose shape is completely or partially similar to the notch (212) provided on the braking element (21); and at least two inclined ramps (32) located on either side of the notch (31) of the moving carriage (3) and intended to hold the blocking element (23) whenever the door stop device is in the unlocked position, while the notch (31) of the moving carriage (3) is designed to receive a portion of the end (231) of the blocking element (23) and the notch (31) of the moving carriage (3) is positioned side by side with the notch (212) of the braking element (21) in such a way that when the blocking element (23) is fully pressed into the notch (212) in the locked position, due to the load applied by the blocking element (23), the notch (31) of the moving carriage (3) is juxtaposed and aligned with the notch (212) of the braking element (21); Whenever a force greater than a predetermined threshold value occurs on the linkage arm (1), the blocking element (23) moves away from the device formed by the recess of the brake element (21) and the recess of the moving carriage (3) until the point at which the blocking element (23) is no longer in contact with the recess (212) of the brake element (21), the blocking element (23) being therefore held from this point on only by the portion of the end (231) of the blocking element (23), which portion faces the recess (31) of the moving carriage (3) and from now on rests on the inclined ramp (32) of the moving carriage (3), the linkage arm (1) is no longer blocked from translation by the brake element (21) and the door stop device is then in unlocked mode.

2. The door stop device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The elastic return member (24) is formed by adding a transmission member (241) which is arranged between the elastic return members (24) on the one hand and between the blocking element (23) or the locking mechanism (2) on the other hand, and the transmission member (241) is formed by at least two surface elements (2411, 2412), at least one of the at least two surface elements has a curved shape, and the surface elements (2411, 2412) cooperate with each other in relative movement in two directions that are generally perpendicular to each other, and the surface elements (2411, 2412) cooperate in a way that facilitates the transmission of the load provided by the elastic return member (24) in a way that the direction of the force transmitted at the contact point between the surface elements (2411, 2412) can change while compressing the elastic return member (24).

3. The door stop device according to claim 1, characterized in that: When a mechanical linkage, advantageously consisting of a spherical ball (291), is inserted under simple gravity between at least two different elastic return members (24, 29) or between the elastic return member (29) and the locking mechanism (2), the superposition of the effects of the different elastic return members (24, 29) allows the loads they provide to be accumulated in the same direction, while the spherical ball (291) is accommodated in a stop conical surface (292) mechanically connected to the elastic return member (29) or to the locking mechanism (2), the stop conical surface (292) is also centered relative to a rigid surface (293) located on the locking mechanism (2) or connected to the elastic return member (29), the rigid surface (293) comprising a cavity (2931) in its center, when the stop conical surface (292) and the rigid surface (293) are in contact with each other. When the rigid surfaces (293) move toward each other due to the movement of the blocking element (23), the cavity is able to receive the spherical ball (291), and at the same time, the spherical ball (291) is maintained in the center of the stop conical surface (292) under the action of gravity, and the elastic reset member (29) is therefore not compressed by the movement of the blocking element (23). On the contrary, when the spherical ball (291) leaves the center of the stop conical surface (292) due to the inclination of the door stop device, the spherical ball (291) will insert itself between the stop conical surface (292) and the rigid surface (293), thereby allowing the elastic reset member (29) to be compressed by the movement of the blocking element (23), thereby allowing the cumulative load to be provided by the different elastic reset members (24, 29).

4. The door stop device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that: The brake element (21) is fixed together with the mobile carriage (3) to form a single part, while the recess (212) provided on the brake element (21) is extended on each side by an inclined ramp (32) resting on a surface (111) belonging to the linkage arm (1) so as to react the load applied by the blocking element (23) when the door stop device is in unlocking mode; the device obtained by combining the brake element (21) with the mobile carriage (3) is then able to be moved along the linkage arm (1) on which it is mounted and relative to the locking mechanism. The body of the mechanism (2) slides with a limited stroke, while providing some movement resistance by leaning on the inclined ramp (32) when relative movement occurs between the link arm (1) and the locking mechanism (2), thereby allowing the blocking element (23) to be kept outside the recess (212), and the door stop device is then in unlocking mode, while the relative sliding resistance between the link arm (1) and the device composed of the braking element (21) and the moving slide (3) can be achieved by simple friction between two contact surfaces belonging to each of these two elements.

5. The door stop device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: The link arm (1) includes a cylindrical portion (15) at its free end, which is placed next to the link arm (1) and is designed to penetrate a cylindrical cavity (27) mounted on the locking mechanism (2), and the cross-sectional size of the cylindrical cavity (27) is larger than the cross-sectional size of the cylindrical portion (15), so that whenever the door leaf is fully opened, this cylindrical portion (15) penetrates the cylindrical cavity (27) and the gap between the walls of the two portions is reduced, and an elastic element (271) can be placed in the cylindrical cavity (27) so that when this cylindrical portion (15) penetrates the cylindrical cavity (27), the compression of the elastic element (271) by the cylindrical portion (15) helps to damp the end of the stroke of the link arm (1).

6. The door stop device according to claim 5, characterized in that: The cylindrical cavity (27) is made of some elastomeric material in such a way that the cross-sectional dimensions of the cylindrical cavity (27) are smaller than the cross-sectional dimensions of the cylindrical portion (15), so that the penetration of the cylindrical portion (15) within the cylindrical cavity (27) causes a braking effect due to the deformation of the elastomeric material forming the cylindrical cavity (27) during the penetration of the cylindrical portion (15).

7. A door of a motor vehicle, characterized in that: Comprising a door stop device according to any one of claims 1 to 6.

8. A building door, characterized in that: Comprising a door stop device according to any one of claims 1 to 6.

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