Motor Vehicle Lock Drive Lever Mechanism for Rapid Closure
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing motor vehicle locks face challenges in providing sufficient lift for rapid lowering and sufficient force to close against sealing pressure, while maintaining a structurally simple and cost-effective design.
Innovation Solution
A motor vehicle lock with a rotary latch, pawl, and ejector mechanism, where a drive lever interacts with the ejector and rotary latch to adjust engagement ratios, allowing for rapid movement and high forces during closure, using a separate closure drive and Bowden cable for enhanced force application.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If a single drive mechanism is used for both lowering and closure, then device complexity is reduced, but it cannot provide both rapid movement with low forces and high forces for sealing
Solution Approach 1:
The drive mechanism is segmented into two independent systems: a first drive mechanism (spring-loaded ejector) for rapid lowering with low force, and a second drive mechanism (electric motor with Bowden cable) for high-force closure against sealing pressure. This segmentation allows each mechanism to be optimized for its specific function, resolving the contradiction between simplicity and performance.
Solution Approach 2:
A coupling mechanism acts as an intermediary between the two drive mechanisms, coordinating their actions. The coupling mechanism receives inputs from both the ejector and the electric motor, and orchestrates their combined effect on the locking pin, enabling seamless transition between lowering and closure phases.
2Reliability
If sealing pressure is increased to ensure water or dirt sealing, then sealing performance is improved, but the force required for closure increases
Solution Approach 1:
The force-generating function for high-force closure is extracted from the first drive mechanism and assigned to a second dedicated drive mechanism (electric motor with Bowden cable). This extraction allows the first mechanism to maintain rapid lowering capability while the second mechanism provides the necessary force to overcome increased sealing pressure, resolving the contradiction between sealing performance and closure force requirements.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If the locking pin is held in the lifting-off position during the entire locking process, then safety is improved by preventing fingers from becoming trapped, but the locking speed decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The locking pin position is changed periodically in two distinct phases: first held in the lifting-off position for safety during initial approach, then moved to the locking position for rapid final engagement. This periodic action allows the system to alternate between safety-oriented and speed-oriented states, resolving the contradiction between preventing finger trapping and achieving rapid locking.
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
Enables secure and efficient locking of motor vehicle components like bonnets, hatches, and doors, providing rapid movement with low forces during initial lowering and high forces during closure against sealing pressure, while minimizing structural complexity and costs.
Implementation Method 1
actuation force into the drive lever (5) by means of a Bowden cable (22)
Implementation Method 2
The ejector (6) can be spring-loaded
Data Source
AI summary
A method and a locking device for a motor vehicle, in particular a bonnet lock, having a locking mechanism with a rotary latch and at least one pawl, a locking pin and an ejector interacting with the locking pin, wherein the locking pin can be brought into a lifting-off position by means of the ejector, and with at least one electrically actuable means for moving the lock holder from the lifting-off position into a locking position, wherein a drive lever is provided, and wherein the ejector and, at least indirectly, the rotary latch are actuable by means of the drive lever.