Motor Vehicle Lock Opening Lever Reduces Force
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing motor vehicle locks with rotary latches and pawls often produce noise and require high opening forces, making them uncomfortable to use and difficult to open, especially under high loads, and their complex manufacturing processes are cost-intensive.
Innovation Solution
A motor vehicle lock design featuring a locking device with a rotary latch, a pawl, and an opening lever that pivots on an elongated hole bearing point, allowing for low-force, quiet operation by rolling on the rotary latch and pawl, and incorporating a spring preload for secure positioning and reduced noise.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If a guide cage is used to guide the locking element in the engagement area, then the locking element can be guided precisely, but the manufacturing process becomes complex and cost-intensive
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the guide cage component entirely and extracts only the essential guiding function by designing the bearing point as an elongated hole directly in the pawl. This eliminates the separate guide cage structure while maintaining the necessary guidance of the locking element through the engagement area.
Solution Approach 2:
The guiding function previously performed by a separate guide cage is merged into the pawl structure itself by forming the bearing point as an elongated hole. This integration eliminates the need for a separate guiding component and simplifies the overall manufacturing process while maintaining precise guidance of the locking element.
2Reliability
If multiple pawls are used to control opening behavior, then the locking mechanism can be secured in detent position, but the structure becomes more complex and requires higher opening forces
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a locking element that can pivot between locked and unlocked positions, creating a dynamic mechanism that replaces the need for multiple static pawls. The locking element works in conjunction with a single pawl to provide both detent position securing and controlled opening behavior through its ability to pivot about the bearing point.
Solution Approach 2:
The locking element acts as an intermediary between the pawl and the rotary latch, mediating the interaction between these components. This intermediary element enables the system to achieve reliable detent position securing with a single pawl by allowing the locking element to pivot and engage/disengage as needed.
3Reliability
If the locking mechanism is designed for secure locking under high loads, then reliability is improved, but opening forces become too high for comfortable operation
Solution Approach 1:
The locking element's ability to pivot creates a dynamic opening mechanism that reduces the force required to initiate opening. When opening force is applied, the locking element pivots about the bearing point in the elongated hole, allowing the pawl to be gradually disengaged from the rotary latch in a controlled manner rather than requiring high force to overcome static friction and engagement directly.
Solution Approach 2:
The locking element serves as a mechanical intermediary that translates small opening forces into the motion needed to disengage the pawl from the rotary latch. By pivoting about the bearing point, the locking element amplifies the effect of small opening forces, making the locking mechanism easy to open while maintaining secure locking capability under high loads.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The design enables easy and quiet operation of the locking mechanism with reduced forces, ensuring secure locking and unlocking, even under high loads, while simplifying manufacturing and reducing noise and frictional issues.
Implementation Method 1
the opening lever has at least one radius contour so that rolling of the opening lever on the rotary latch and/or the pawl is possible
Implementation Method 2
incorporating a spring preload for secure positioning and reduced noise
Data Source
Figure 1~3
AI summary
The invention relates to a motor vehicle lock (1) comprising a locking mechanism (2) having a rotary latch (3) and at least one pawl (4), wherein the rotary latch (3) can be latched in at least one latching position by means of the pawl, and having a separate latching element (14) arranged in the engagement region between rotary latch (3) and pawl (4), wherein the latching element (14) is pivotally mounted in a bearing point (8) of the pawl (4) and the latching element (14) is in the form of an opening lever.