JO/hw/mb

Applicant: SCANIA CV AB

Manoeuyreing device for a locking mechanism

FIELD OF THE INVENTION AND STATE OF THE ART

The present invention relates to a device for operating the lock mechanism of a motor vehicle door between a locked first state in which the door cannot be opened from outside the vehicle, a second state, called neutral state, in which the lock mechanism keeps the door closed but allows it to be opened from outside the door, and an open third state in which the lock mechanism allows movement, e.g. pivoting, of the door relative to the vehicle in other respects, whereby the device comprises a handle which is connected to the lock mechanism and is adapted to being arranged on the inside of the door in such a way as to be grippable by a person who is in the vehicle and close to the door in order to operate the lock mechanism between said three states by moving the handle.

The foregoing may apply to any type of motor vehicle which has a motor vehicle door with a lock mechanism movable between said three states, but the invention is particularly, but not exclusively, intended for passenger vehicles, especially trucks.

It may also be applied to any door in such a vehicle, e.g. in a passenger vehicle such a device may be arranged on the driver's door and/or the passenger doors in the front and/or rear of the vehicle, if the vehicle has

rear seats. Thus one or more doors of the vehicle may be provided with a device of this kind.

An operating device of this kind, i.e. one which allows the lock mechanism to be moved between all three states by operating a single handle, is previously known in the case of trucks. The handle of such previously known operating devices has to be moved in different ways depending on whether, from the neutral state, the door is being opened or locked.

Although such previous known operating devices work well, it is desirable to further increase their user-friendliness and improve said person's experience of operating the lock mechanism.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The object of the present invention is to provide a device of the kind defined in the introduction which meets said desiderata.

This object is achieved according to the invention by such a device being provided in addition with guide means coordinated with the handle and designed to guide the handle in a movement along a substantially rectilinear path in order to shift the lock mechanism between said three states.

Operating the lock mechanism thereby becomes very convenient in that the handle can be gripped and moved along substantially the same rectilinear path irrespective of which of the three states the person concerned wishes to shift the lock mechanism to. The resulting

experience of movement along a substantially linear path is also very agreeable for the user as compared with various types of pivoting movements.

According to an embodiment of the invention, said guide means is designed to guide the handle in a substantially linear movement in a substantially horizontal direction to and fro along the inside of a vehicle door in response to movements of the handle for shifting the lock mechanism between said three states. Operating the handle along a rectilinear movement path to and fro along the inside of the vehicle door has been found to be particularly convenient and easy for a person sitting close to the vehicle door.

According to another embodiment of the invention, the handle is adapted to assuming a said neutral state corresponding to a position along said substantially rectilinear movement path between the position corresponding to the locked state and the position corresponding to the open state of the lock mechanism. It is advantageous that the handle position corresponding to the neutral state be situated between the positions corresponding to the locked and open states, since this will in most cases facilitate the coordination of the handle movement with the various states of the lock mechanism, and the neutral state is the state in which the lock mechanism normally is, so that the handle will be moved from this neutral state along said substantially rectilinear movement path in opposite directions depending on whether the lock mechanism is to be shifted to the locked or the open state.

According to another embodiment of the invention, the handle is adapted to cooperating with the lock mechanism in order to assume the position corresponding to the open third state of the lock mechanism further

forward on said substantially rectilinear movement path than the handle positions corresponding to the first and second states. It has been found convenient and natural in this way to open the motor vehicle door for pivoting of it by pushing the handle forwards.

According to another embodiment of the invention, said handle is designed to constitute, or form part of, a component intended to be grasped by the hand of a person sitting in said vehicle in order to pivot the door to close or open the door aperture. This means that instead of the person concerned having to change his/her hand position when wishing, for example, to open the door from the neutral state, he/she will grip the handle and move it to the position corresponding to the open state of the lock mechanism and can therefore pivot the door without changing grip. In a corresponding manner, the person will grip the handle of the open door in order to pivot the door to a closed state and thereafter shift the lock mechanism to the neutral state or the locked state.

According to another embodiment of the invention, the handle is of a sleevelike character and said guide means is designed to guide the handle for said movement substantially parallel with the geometrical longitudinal axis of the sleeve. This makes the handle convenient to grip and provides the user with an agreeable sensation when shifting the lock mechanism between said three states by moving the handle along said substantially rectilinear movement path. The movement thereby performed by the person will be reminiscent of that performed with a pump-action shotgun.

According to another embodiment of the invention, said guide means comprises an elongate and rodlike and/or tubelike element designed to allow movement of the handle in the longitudinal direction along the

element. A sleevelike handle and a guide means with such an elongate element together constitute a simple lock-operating device suited to the inside of motor vehicle doors, particularly truck doors.

According to another embodiment of the invention, the handle has internal means for connecting firmly to the handle a link to said lock mechanism. The link between the handle and the lock mechanism can thus be conveniently concealed, for which said elongate element of the guide means may also be used.

According to another embodiment of the invention, the device comprises means designed to urge the handle to the position corresponding to said neutral state when the handle is in the position corresponding to said open third state. It is advantageous and in most vehicles essential that the lock mechanism should, after closure of the door, automatically change over from said open state to the neutral state, so that the door does not unintentionally open again, and to this end said means may take the form of components which form part of the actual lock mechanism, such as springs or the like, which constantly urge the lock mechanism to shift from the open state to the neutral state.

According to another embodiment of the invention, the device comprises means adapted to keeping the handle in a position corresponding to said neutral state. The result is a latching function whereby the door cannot be opened unintentionally, e.g. by force of gravity, as during sharp braking or a crash, which might otherwise cause the handle to move to said open state. Accordingly the device may comprise blocking means adapted to countering external forces by automatically preventing the handle from continuing to move along said rectilinear movement path upon reaching the position corresponding to said neutral state of the lock mechanism. It

is of course convenient and advantageous from the reliability point of view that the blocking function should take place automatically when the handle reaches the position corresponding to the neutral state of the lock mechanism.

To this end, according to another embodiment of the invention, said blocking means comprises spring means adapted, when the handle is in a position corresponding to said neutral state of the lock mechanism, to act upon means for causing mutual locking engagement between the handle and a component fastened to the vehicle. The component fastened to the vehicle may for example be a component which already forms part of or constitutes said guide means.

According to another embodiment of the invention, the handle exerts manual force on internal portions of the sleeve which are capable of being pressed together, and said means can be released from the blocking engagement state by action of the spring means said pressing together the sleeve portions capable of being pressed together. The handle can thus be conveniently "released" from the blocked position corresponding to the neutral state of the lock mechanism in order to shift the lock mechanism to either of the other two states.

According to another embodiment of the invention, said elongate element comprises a marking, preferably in red, adapted to being concealed by the sleevelike component in said second and third states and to being exposed by the sleevelike handle in the locked first state in order to indicate that the door is locked. This makes it easy for the person concerned to make sure visually that the lock mechanism really is in the locked state, which may be advantageous if, for example, a truck driver

who has gone to bed wonders whether he/she remembered to lock the door.

Further advantages of the invention are indicated by the description set out below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the invention are described below by way of examples with reference to the attached drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a simplified perspective view of part of a driver's space in a truck provided with an operating device according to an embodiment of the present invention for operating the lock mechanism of the vehicle door,

Fig. 2 is an exploded view illustrating the construction of the operating device according to an embodiment of the invention,

Fig. 3 is a partly cutaway sideview of the operating device according to Fig. 2 with certain portions cut away and the handle of the device in a position corresponding to a neutral state of the lock mechanism,

Fig. 4 is a view corresponding to Fig. 3 with the handle in a position corresponding to a locked state of the lock mechanism, and

Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view through an elongate guide element for the handle according to another embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

Fig. 1 illustrates in simplified form part of a driver's space with driving seat 1 and vehicle door 2 of a motor vehicle 3 in the form of a truck. The door is pivotable in a conventional manner about a forward substantially vertical hinge relative to the vehicle, inter alia for opening and closing the door aperture. This pivoting movement is preferably effected by gripping a handle 4 which forms part of a device for operating a conventional lock mechanism incorporated in the door and not further depicted in the drawings.

This operating device is designed to operate the lock mechanism between a locked first state in which the door cannot be opened from outside the vehicle, a second state, called neutral state, in which the lock mechanism keeps the door closed but allows it to be opened from outside the door, and an open third state in which the lock mechanism allows pivoting of the door relative to the vehicle in other respects. The construction of this operating device according to the invention will now be explained with simultaneous reference to Figs. 2-4.

This device comprises a handle 4 of a sleevelike character which is connected to the lock mechanism. This handle is preferably made of a grip-friendly plastic and has in the drawings partly undepicted grip-friendly channels or the like. Other friction-enhancing means may also form part of the handle. The sleevelike handle is connected by a link 5 to the door's lock mechanism by the latter having a recess 6 in a guide shoulder 7 into which an angled portion 8 of the link can be pushed. Other types of connections between the lock mechanism and the handle are also possible, e.g. a wire.

The sleevelike handle is attachable to an elongate rodlike or tubelike element 9 designed to be firmly connected to the inside of the vehicle door and to constitute a means for guiding the handle along a substantially rectilinear movement path by movement of the handle in the direction of the sleeve's geometrical longitudinal axis along the guide means.

The handle has a second guide shoulder 10 and there are in a space formed between the guide shoulders 7 and 10 two plates 12, 13 which are connected by a spring 11 and each have, pointing away from the respective other plate, a protrusion 14 adapted to being accommodated.

In this way, the component comprising the plates pressed together by the spring 11 will accompany the handle 4 in its linear movement along the elongate element 9.

The elongate element has an internal channel 15 for guiding the handle's movement via the guide shoulders 7, 10, and this channel has in mutually opposite sidewalls recesses 16 adapted to accommodating the protrusions 14 when the handle 4 is in a position corresponding to a said neutral state of the lock mechanism. The result is a function which blocks the handle in this neutral state by the spring 11 pressing the protrusions 14 into the recesses 16 to prevent any unintentional shift of the lock mechanism to the open state from the neutral state.

The handle also exerts manual force against inner portions 17 of the sleeve which are capable of being pressed together and are arranged centrally to a thickening 18 of the plates 12, 13 to make it possible to release the protrusions 14 from the blocking engagement state by acting upon the spring means by pressing together the sleeve portions 17

capable of being pressed together. Alternatively, the portions capable of being pressed together might take the form of thickenings which would then protrude relative to the sleeve in other respects, the latter thus being pressed directly onto the thickenings.

The elongate element 9 also has a marking 19, preferably in red, adapted to being concealed by the sleevelike handle in the neutral state and the open state and to being revealed by the sleevelike handle in the locked first state in order to indicate that the door is locked. A further marking in, for example, yellow to indicate the neutral state would also be possible.

The elongate element 9 may for example take the form of a tube of anodised extruded aluminium with necessary recesses formed by subsequent machining. The internal structure of the tube not only has a strengthening effect but is primarily intended to guide and make possible the mechanical function, as described above. As an internal void in an extruded section entails using considerably more than one extrusion tool, it may be desirable instead to use a loose insert in the large recess 20 depicted in Fig. 2 in the element 9 for accommodating internal components of the handle, e.g. the plates 12, 13 and the link 5. The result is a more press-friendly section and a more stable tool. What an element 9 according to such an embodiment might look like is illustrated in Fig. 5.

The function of the operating device according to the invention is likely to be clear from the foregoing description but will now nevertheless be summarised with reference to Figs. 1-4. When the vehicle door 2 is closed, the lock mechanism is normally in the neutral state, which means that the handle 4 will be in the state according to Fig. 3 with the protrusions 14 pressed into the recesses 16 in the element 9. Opening

the door will entail the portions 17 of the sleeve being pressed together and the handle being moved forwards along the element 9, taking with it the link 5 and hence causing the lock mechanism to open and allow the door to be pivoted outwards relative to the vehicle in other respects. As soon as the door is open or the handle is released, the latter will preferably revert automatically to the blocked neutral state as a result of the components of the lock mechanism's system which tend to draw the link 5 and hence the handle towards the position corresponding to the neutral state. If the door is closed and the handle is in the position according to Fig. 3, corresponding to the neutral state of the lock mechanism, the lock mechanism can be shifted to the locked state by pressing in the sleeve's portions 17 which are capable of being pressed together and by moving the handle rearwards to the position depicted in Fig. 4. The red marking 19 will thus preferably be exposed. The lock mechanism comprises in a conventional manner means such as deadpoint passages or the like which will keep the lock mechanism and hence the handle in this state if the person sitting in the vehicle does not actively move the handle away from that state by gripping it and moving it along the element 9 towards the neutral state and, if desired, on to the position corresponding to the open state of the lock mechanism.

Accordingly, the lock mechanism can be operated between the three different states by movement of the sleeve along the elongate element 9 in a substantially linear path, forwards to put the lock mechanism in the open state and rearwards to put it in the locked state. This operation is very easy and convenient. At the same time, the person in the vehicle can use the same handle 4 for opening and closing the door.

The invention is of course in no way limited to the embodiments described above, as a multiplicity of possibilities for modifications thereof

are likely to be obvious to a specialist in the field without thereby having to deviate from the basic concept of the invention as defined in the attached claims.