EP0694665B1 - Arrangement comprising an electric door lock for a motor vehicle and its associated control and supply means - Google Patents

Description

The invention relates to the assembly consisting of a lock electric motor vehicle door and its means of control and supply.

We know that, in the state of the art, the locks of motor vehicle door were originally ordered mechanically both by action of the outer and inner handles of the door only by action of the frieze zipper, which allows a locking from inside the vehicle. Such an organization requires to connect the lock to its control elements by linkages which have two drawbacks: on the one hand, they hinder the standardization because they depend on the architecture of the vehicle and, on the other hand, they allow relatively easy break-in of vehicle doors coming to aggravate the linkages, which control the lock, by a hook slid into the door by the glass seal. It has therefore been proposed to use door locks of vehicle, which are electrically operated by an actuator, the different control elements acting simply on switches which themselves determine the power supply of the lock actuator: such an electric lock has been described in patent FR-A-2,534,303.

Unfortunately, such an electric lock requires for its opening or closing an important energy, which one must draw from the vehicle's electric battery. It follows that if the power supplied by the battery has a malfunction, either because the battery is discharged, or because a power wire is cut or disconnected, the lock is blocked, which cannot be tolerated for security reasons. It was therefore necessary to provide a backup device allowing the unlocking and opening the lock in the event of a power failure: first, we proposed a unlocking system mechanical, but we found the above drawbacks mentioned for locks operated by linkages. So we have also proposed, for example in patent FR-A-2,580,321, a emergency device implementing the safety barrel associated with the lock mechanism, but again there are drawbacks mentioned above in terms of security and standardization.

We therefore proposed an electrical backup device, in which a centralized backup battery was likely to provide the energy of opening the lock in the event that the vehicle battery was no longer in a position to do so. The downside of such solution stems from the fact that in the event that the vehicle is in an accident it it is entirely possible that the backup battery will be put out of operate at the same time as the vehicle battery, in which case all locks remain locked. Furthermore, in such a device, each vehicle lock is connected to a centralized box, which receives the energy to be distributed to the locks, and returns it to the locks in based on the information it receives itself from the different locks. However, a lock is controlled by a plurality of organs, which go each supply, depending on the position of the switch which is associated, electrical information that must be brought back to the box centralized electronics: the lock is controlled by the pallet or outer handle, by the pallet or inner handle, by the barrel for the front doors and by the "child lock" devices for the rear doors. As a result, a beam of wires between the centralized electronic unit and each lock, two of these wires transporting the energy intended for the operation opening or closing the lock.

We know from document WO-A-93/25786, a vehicle automobile according to the preamble of claim 1.

The object of the invention is to reduce the transport links of energy between a lock and a centralized unit.

Another object of the invention is to propose a set of control and supply of an electric vehicle lock automobile, which considerably reduces the bundle of wires connected to each electric lock on the vehicle. To do this, we feed each electric lock in energy directly from the wires which located in the door and which are connected to the vehicle battery, by example for powering an electric window regulator. In this way, we removes the power link which existed in the prior art between each lock and the centralized electronic unit; this implies, of course, that we associate with each lock a module electronic, which manages the information coming from the organs of lock control and determines the power supply mode of the lock based on this information. Simultaneously, each electronic module associated with a lock is connected to the modules electronics associated with other door locks of the same vehicle, so that an instruction given on one of the locks is affects other locks; but we see that with this system, it is sufficient to establish a connection between the vehicle locks by a connector, which carries information but does not carry no energy. We therefore see that, in this way, we simplify considerably the bundles of wires associated with each lock electric vehicle, which results in a cost price considerably decreased.

The invention therefore relates to a motor vehicle comprising a plurality of electric door locks associated with their respective control and supply means, the opening of each lock being electrically secured by the operation of a actuator powered by vehicle battery, power supply of each lock is controlled by an electronic module installed in the door to which the lock is associated, said module receiving on the one hand, the electrical energy of the vehicle battery and, on the other hand, the instructions provided by the control bodies associated with the lock controlled by said module, and being connected to at least one other electric door lock of the vehicle by a connector for transmit only information signals relating to the state of condemnation or unlocking of the lock towards said other electric door lock, characterized in that it comprises, preferably in the vicinity of its dashboard, a central box intended to receive condemnation / unlocking instructions locks by remote control, said housing being connected directly to the vehicle battery by connections for its supply of energy and connected by the aforementioned connector to the door locks for the transmission of these instructions to the associated electronic modules.

Advantageously, each module is supplied directly in energy from the wires that are already in the door and that are connected to the vehicle battery, for example the wires that power the electric window motor incorporated in the door.

Advantageously, the lock according to the invention is associated with two door handles, one inside and the other outside, the lock control elements comprising two switches each associated with one of said handles for generate the power supply for the lock actuator in order to cause the opening of said lock. For the front doors of vehicle, the lock controls also include a two-position switch associated with a lock cylinder: this allows control with the key, which operates the barrel, the condemnation or unlocking of the lock; when the lock is condemned, the opening can no longer be caused by the operation of the exterior handle but only for questions safety, by the operation of the interior handle. The switch associated with the interior operating handle can be in series with a switch to inhibit the opening of the door by the interior door handle: this prevents occupants of the passenger compartment, especially children, can open inside the rear doors of the vehicle.

We can also provide for a "super-condemnation" of doors: for this purpose, the switches associated with the two handles operation of the lock are in series with a contactor arranged in a central box receiving instructions by remote control operation of said contactor, this contactor making it possible to inhibit the opening of the vehicle door by the interior handle of said door: a vehicle break-in is thus avoided by a simple breakage of glass allowing access to the interior handle, which remains active in simple conviction. The central box receives by remote control of the locking or unlocking instructions of the lock, in which case it transmits the information on the connector of the lock for operation by the electronic module of said lock ; of course, said connector passes this information on all the locks, which are linked to it.

Advantageously, the connector which is associated with each vehicle door lock consists of a wire carrying condemnation order information, a second thread carrying the unlocking control information and, if applicable if necessary, a third thread carrying the super-conviction information.

The connector can be connected to an annex box supplying at least one auxiliary actuator associated with a vehicle lock other than a door lock, for example a trunk lock or a fuel door lock; the unlocking wire of the connector can be linked to a shock detector so that in case of shock the whole door locks be unlocked. We can predict that the central box associated with a remote control and the annex box are united in a single centralized unit, said centralized unit being able to receive alarm information and provide their operation on the connector.

To better understand the object of the invention, we will describe them now, by way of purely illustrative examples and not restrictive, several embodiments shown in the drawing Annex.

• la figure 1 représente schématiquement les connexions d'une serrure, ladite serrure étant reliée à un boítier centralisé de l'état de la technique ;
• la figure 2 représente schématiquement une autre serrure, ladite serrure étant associée à un dispositif de secours de type quelconque non représenté ;
• la figure 3 représente schématiquement un ensemble de quatre serrures de portière selon la figure 2 reliées entre elles par leur connecteur et associées à un boítier annexe qui permet la commande de deux actionneurs complémentaires ;
• la figure 4 représente un ensemble selon l'objet de l'invention associé à une télécommande, qui peut agir par l'intermédiaire d'une unité centralisée sur les quatre serrures de portière et sur les deux actionneurs annexes du véhicule, les deux portières arrière étant équipées de "condamnation-enfant" ;
• la figure 5 représente un schéma détaillé d'un ensemble correspondant à la figure 4 et pourvu d'une batterie de secours, qui comporte, en outre, une télécommande permettant de commander à distance la condamnation ou la décondamnation des serrures ainsi que la super-condamnation ;
• la figure 6 représente le schéma électronique d'un module associé à l'une des serrures de l'ensemble représenté sur la figure 5.

On this drawing :

• Figure 1 schematically shows the connections of a lock, said lock being connected to a centralized housing of the prior art;
• FIG. 2 schematically represents another lock, said lock being associated with an emergency device of any type not shown;
• Figure 3 schematically shows a set of four door locks according to Figure 2 interconnected by their connector and associated with an annex housing which allows the control of two complementary actuators;
• FIG. 4 represents an assembly according to the subject of the invention associated with a remote control, which can act via a centralized unit on the four door locks and on the two auxiliary actuators of the vehicle, the two rear doors being equipped with "child conviction";
• FIG. 5 represents a detailed diagram of an assembly corresponding to FIG. 4 and provided with a backup battery, which furthermore comprises a remote control making it possible to remotely control the locking or unlocking of the locks as well as the super- conviction;
• FIG. 6 represents the electronic diagram of a module associated with one of the locks of the assembly represented in FIG. 5.

Referring to FIG. 1, it can be seen that an electrically controlled door lock for an automotive vehicle has been designated by 1. The lock 1 is associated with a backup battery 2 and an electronic interface 3. The battery 2 and the interface 3 are linked to the lock which is placed inside the vehicle door with which said lock is associated. The energy for controlling the lock 1 comes from a centralized housing 4 which is itself connected to the battery 4 a of the vehicle. The control members of the lock 1 consist of an exterior door handle 5, an interior door handle 6 and a lock cylinder 7: the presence of the cylinder 7 shows that the lock of FIG. 1 is a vehicle door lock. The members 5, 6 and 7 are in fact switches, the opening or closing states of which are transmitted to the centralized box 4 and to the electronic interface 3.

If, following an accident or any malfunction, the centralized box 4 is no longer able to provide the lock with the energy it needs to control it opening or closing, interface 3 detects the absence and replaces the energy of the vehicle battery with the energy of the backup battery 2, which is associated with the lock. This provision is particularly advantageous in the event of an accident because the four doors of the vehicle are generally not damaged simultaneously, so that there is always at least one lock 1 capable of being opened by means of the battery energy of rescue 2.

FIG. 2 represents an electric lock 10 on the door of a motor vehicle. The emergency device, which is associated with this lock can be any and is not shown. The lock 10 is associated with control members 15, 16, 17 which are respectively analogous to the members 5, 6, and 7 of the lock of FIG. 1. The lock 10 is associated with an electronic module 13 which directly receives the energy required for the opening or closing operation of the lock, this energy being taken from the door of the motor vehicle with which the lock 10 is associated, for example on the driver supplying the motor of the electric window regulator. The lock 10 is connected by the two wires 18 a , 18 b of a connector 18 to the other electric locks of the vehicle.

We see that a lock of this type avoids the wire harness, which connected the centralized box, associated with the lock of Figure 1, to the door where the lock 1 was and its control means 5, 6 and 7. In the present case, the role of the centralized box 4 is held by the module 13 and, alone, the connector 18 leaves from the lock 10 in the direction other doors of the vehicle to transmit to the locks of these information on the state of conviction or unlocking of lock 10, information which will enable modules associated with said other locks, to put said other locks in the same state of conviction or unlocking as the lock 10 itself. This considerable simplification of the beam of wires from each lock beneficially affects the price of returns from the assembly, all the more so since the wires of connector 18 do not carry no energy and can therefore be children of low section.

In Figure 3, there is shown schematically all of the four door locks 20 a , 20 b , 20 c , 20 d of a vehicle, each of these locks being of the type shown in Figure 2. On the wire 28 a connector which connects the four locks, it transits information about the locks while sentence, on wire 28b, is made to transit information for unlocking the locks. The connector (28, 28b) is also connected to an attached housing 29, which receives a power supply from the vehicle battery and which supplies two actuators 27 a, 27 b, for the first to the locking / unlocking the boot and the second on opening / closing the fuel door.

In Figure 4, there is shown an implementation of the invention in the context of the embodiment of Figure 3, in which the four electric locks of the four doors of a vehicle can be controlled by a remote control transmitter unit 32 As in the embodiments of FIGS. 2 and 3, each of the locks is supplied directly by the vehicle battery. The transmitter unit 32 is associated with a receiver unit 33 powered by the vehicle battery. The transmitter box 32 includes a transmission control (locking / unlocking) and a "super-locking" transmission control, which, in known manner, prevents, when it is in place, any operation of opening the locks of the vehicle by the interior handles. The information relating to the locking or unlocking is provided to the locks by the central box 33, respectively on the wires 38 a and 38 b of the connector, while the information relating to the super locking is supplied on the wire 38 c . On the two rear doors of the vehicle, the locks 31 c and 31 d include “child lock” switches designated by 34 c and 34 d respectively, these switches making it possible to inhibit any opening of the lock by the interior handle of the door. The switches 34 c , 34 d can be controlled by a push button arranged in the door edge or by a button arranged on the dashboard.

The son 38 a and 38 b of the central housing 33 are also used for controlling an attached housing 39 similar to the housing 29 of the embodiment of Figure 3, the attached housing 39 supplying Annexes actuators 37 a, 37 b identical to the actuators 27a , 27 b of the embodiment of FIG. 3.

We see that the advantages of the device, which has just been described, are the same as those indicated for the realization in Figure 3, these advantages come mainly from the fact that the door locks are supplied directly with energy from the door where they are and that the interconnection between the locks is ensured by a connector whose wires only carry no energy but only information.

In Figure 5, there is shown in more detail an assembly according to the invention of the type which has been roughly defined on the Figure 4. However, in this embodiment, the four locks electric vehicle doors are each associated with a backup battery like the locks shown in the Figure 1. The device of Figure 5 has a remote control and it is therefore provided with a central box associated with a receiver decoder of remote control; in addition, it includes auxiliary actuators intended in particular to the lock of the vehicle trunk and to the lock of the petrol door, these auxiliary actuators being associated with a housing annex, which is incorporated in the central box to constitute with it a single centralized unit.

FIG. 5 therefore represents an assembly, which comprises four electric locks 131 a , 131 b , 131 c , 131 d intended for the four doors of a motor vehicle; the locks 131 a and 131 b are intended for the two front doors and the locks 131 c and 131 d are intended for the two rear doors. Each of these locks incorporates a backup battery and an electronic circuit, which combines the electronic interface associated with the backup battery and the electronic module due to the direct connection of each lock to the electrical supply of the vehicle battery; this electronic circuit is, in the drawing, shown diagrammatically, for each lock, by a rectangle and designated respectively by 103 a , 103 b , 103 c , 103 d ; it is shown in detail in Figure 6. Each of the locks is connected directly to the vehicle battery by connection to the wire which feeds the window regulator incorporated in the door; this connection has been schematized by the connections 150 a , 150 b , 150 c , 150 d in the direction of earth and 151 a , 151 b , 151 c , 151 d in the direction of the positive pole of the battery.

The two locks 131 a and 131 b are each associated with three control members, namely a switch 105 a , 105 b respectively, corresponding to the external handle, a switch 106 a , 106 b respectively, corresponding to the internal handle of the door and a switch 107 a , 107 b respectively, corresponding to the door barrel, that is to say the safety barrel which is capable of being operated by the user with a key for opening the door. The barrel switch is a two-position switch which therefore allows the locking or unlocking of the lock to be controlled, depending on the direction of rotation of the key. The electric locks 131 c and 131 d are associated with two control members, namely, on the one hand, the switch 105 c , 105 d respectively, corresponding to the exterior door handle and, on the other hand, the switch 106 c , 106 d respectively, corresponding to the interior door handle; in addition, these locks are associated with a switch 134 c , 134 d respectively, which can be operated independently of the other two and which is in series with the switch 106 c , 106 d respectively: this switch 134 c , 134 d corresponds to the "child condemnation", that is to say a ban on opening the rear doors from the interior handle; the "child lock" switch can be a manual push button located in the door edge or a control button brought back to the dashboard.

As explained above, the four locks of the vehicle are interconnected by a connector capable of transporting information relating to the state of locking, unlocking or super-locking of the locks. In the particular case, the connector comprises three wires 138 a , 138 b , 138 c : the wire 138 a carries information relating to the conviction; wire 138 b carries the information relating to the unlocking; wire 138 c carries information relating to the super-conviction. The super-condemnation is shown diagrammatically in the drawing in FIG. 5 by a switch 152, which is in series with the switches 105 a , 105 b , 105 c and 105 d and 106 a , 106 b , 106 c , 106 d associated with the interior and exterior door handles. When this switch 152 is open, the door handles cannot give the electric locks, which correspond to them, any opening instruction. The deadlocking switch 152 is disposed within the central unit 133, which receives the two connections 153, 154, remote control commands provided by a receiver-decoder 133 associated with the central unit 133 and possibly integrated with it. The receiver 133 a receives its instructions from a remote control unit 132, which is operated remotely by the user. These instructions are of two types: on the one hand, the locking / unlocking instructions, which pass through the connection 154, and, on the other hand, the super-condemnation instructions which pass through the connection 153, which is connected to the switch 152 to cause it to open or close. The centralized unit 133 is connected directly to the vehicle battery by the connections 155, 156. Furthermore, a shock detector 140 is capable of sending unlocking information by the connection 157 on the wire 138 b .

The centralized unit 133 is, moreover, connected by the connections 158, 159 to two auxiliary actuators 137 a , 137 b associated respectively with the electric locks of the boot and of the fuel door of the vehicle. Finally, the centralized unit 133 can receive additional information such as, for example, that shown by the connection 141 coming from alarm circuits or presence detectors. Of course, the centralized unit 133 can control a light-emitting diode to signal the state of the switch 152 and, consequently, the state of super-locking of the vehicle locks.

It can be seen that, in an assembly of the type which has just been described, there are two essential advantages: on the one hand, the backup battery intended for each of the locks is integrated inside the lock, this which is particularly advantageous in the event of a vehicle accident since the four doors of the vehicle are generally not simultaneously damaged, so that at least one of the locks is capable of operating with its backup battery, even if the battery of the vehicle is out of service; on the other hand, since the energy required to operate an electric lock is taken inside the door with which said lock is associated, there is no energy transport link between a lock and the centralized unit 133, which may be in the vicinity of the dashboard and is itself connected for its operation to the vehicle battery. The only existing connections, between the centralized unit 133 and the four electric locks of the vehicle, are constituted by the three wires 138 a , 138 b , 138 c which form a three-wire connector; said wires carry only information signals and can therefore be very fine; it follows that the cost price of such a connector, as well as its connection cost, is extremely reduced compared to what it was necessary to achieve when, as in the prior art, the supply of all the vehicle locks were carried out by a centralized unit, which provided only the energy necessary to open all the locks.

In Figure 6, there is shown the detailed diagram of the electronic circuit, which is associated with each of the locks 131 a , 131 b , 131 c , 131 d of the assembly of Figure 5. This electronic circuit includes a switch 134 associated to the "condemnation-child" and barrel controls 161, 162 acting, the first in the sense of unlocking and the second in the direction of the condemnation; in this way, this circuit can be used both for the front doors and for the rear doors, it being understood that the functions associated with these elements will be used one or the other, that which is not used does not interfere for the operation of the assembly.

The electronic circuit shown in Figure 6 is connected to the positive pole of the vehicle battery via terminal 200 and to the pole negative, that is to say to ground, via terminal 201. All masses, which are shown in the circuit, are therefore connected to terminal 201 of the printed card carrying the circuit. The backup battery associated with the card is shown in 202: it is a 9 volt battery which is connected by a diode 205 at point 203 of the circuit, a capacitor 204 being provided in parallel for interference suppression. Point 203 of the circuit is also connected to terminal 200 via a diode 206 and of a resistance 207. It can therefore be seen that with this mounting the battery of backup 202 will supply its energy if the voltage on terminal 200 becomes below a threshold of approximately 9 volts. The tension at point 203 of circuit enables the elements 208 which are supplied by terminal 208 described below and which ensure the operation of the lock electric in case of power supply failure due to the battery. But he is necessary to power the various electronic components of the card, to have a stabilized voltage protected against surges, ripples and noise. This protection is obtained thanks to the subset designated by 209, which subset provides a stabilized voltage on terminal 210; the subset 209 includes, in particular, a Zener diode 211, which avoids overvoltages, and a transistor-ballast 212.

A "NAND" door 213 has its entry 214 connected to the terminal 210 and its input 215 connected to the power supply 200 by through a diode 216 and a resistor 217. The same input 215 is connected to point 218 itself connected to ground by the intermediary of two branches in parallel: the first comprises a resistor 219 and the second has a resistor 220 and a capacitor 221 of about 5 mF. The tension at point 218, through play of the ratio of resistors 219 and 220, is approximately one third of the voltage across capacitor 221. If the voltage on input 215 is below a threshold, entry 215 is considered to be at level low and, since entry 214 is always high, the exit from door 213 is high. So we see that, if the output 222 of door 213 is high, this means that the voltage of the capacitor 221 is less than a given value which is set, for example 20 volts, and that the power supplied by the battery of the vehicle is out of order.

When output 222 is high, a multivibrator 223, operating with a Schmitt trigger, controls the conduction of transistor 224 by a base voltage in slots and, as soon as the transistor 224 opens, the coil 225, being always connected to the terminal 208, allows charging of the capacitor 221 via the diode 226. This charging is carried out according to the modality detailed below, as long as the capacitor 221 has not reached the voltage that we have fixed, namely 20 volts. When this voltage is reached, input 215 from door 213 goes high, so that outlet 222 goes at the low level, which blocks the transisor 224 and stops the charging of the capacitor 221. When the output 222 is high level, the sub-assembly 227 comes into operation to trigger an audible alarm produced by a quartz 228. In fact, the charge of the capacitor 221 by the coil 225 is carried out by limiting the current in the coil to avoid over-discharging the backup battery 202 which supplies the energy. When the base of transistor 224 is high, the current settles in coil 225 until it reaches a value considered as the maximum tolerable. At this time, the base of transistor 229 is brought to a sufficient voltage for transistor 229 to become passing and this change of state is reflected on input 230 of the multivibrator 223 so that the output of this multivibrator goes to low level, which blocks transistor 224. The coil 225 being charged then discharges through diode 226 to the capacitor 221 and the subsequent charging phase occurs when the output of the multivibrator 223 returns to high level. This succession of load sequences are carried out as long as output 222 remains at level high. In this way, the voltage is brought to the terminals of the capacitor 221 at the value of 20 volts while limiting the charging current.

It should be noted that, if the capacitor 221 loses its charge gradually over time, nothing happens as long as the tension of the vehicle battery remains normal on terminal 200. However, if this voltage drops or disappears, the input 215 goes to a low level, which results in additional charge of the capacitor 221 and, simultaneously activating the horn 227. the driver of the vehicle is immediately warned of a malfunction of its battery, which allows it to ensure the repair faster. Furthermore, if the battery voltage on the terminal 200 is normal, the capacitor 221 is charged directly by the coil 225, the diode 226 and the resistor 280 and the voltage across capacitor 221 is 12 volts. In others terms, the voltage of capacitor 221 is only increased to 20 volts in the event of a battery failure. When the battery voltage is normal, the voltage across capacitor 221 is 12 volts or returns to 12 volts by progressive loss if it had been increased to 20 volts following a malfunction; this precaution allows extend the life of capacitor 221.

The electric lock actuator with which it is associated the circuit of FIG. 6 is a direct current motor 231, the control is carried out by transistor 232 associated with its terminal negative; transistor 232 is a MOS transistor. When the tension battery power is normal, motor power takes place through diode 233; on the contrary, when the tension of the battery has disappeared, power to the 231 motor is through the diode 234 by discharging the capacitor 221. The Zener diode 235, connected between earth and point 236 located between the motor 231 and the transistor 232, is only intended to protect transistor 232 against overvoltages inherent in the operation of the motor 231.

On the basis of transistor 232, a circuit 237 has been provided comprising a resistor and a capacitor, circuit which allows a time delay for motor supply 231. This precaution avoids powering the motor 231 for a very long time, the latter remaining blocked at the end of the race, which would cause the deterioration of the engine 231; this could happen if, for example, we acted for a long time on the handle of door by closing the corresponding switch. For control the power supply to the 231 motor, so act on the basis of transistor 232 to bring this base to the high level. This base is connected by line 238 to the exit of a "NON OR" door 239, of which one of the inputs is connected to line 222 while the other input is connected to the switches of the interior and exterior handles of door; we have designated by 240 the terminal of the circuit on which arrives the interior handle switch and by 241 the terminal on which comes the switch on the outside handle. Switch 134 of the safety "child conviction" is serial on the line from the terminal 240. The operation of a handle switch causes the setting to the ground of the corresponding terminal 240, 241. If terminal 240 is grounded, switch 134 being assumed to be closed, input 242 of door 239 is at a low level. If the other entrance to door 239 is at high level, that means, according to the explanations above data, that the capacitor 221 is being charged and, in this case, the output 238 of the gate 239 is at the low level, so that the 231 motor cannot be powered. This precaution prevents not power the motor until the capacitor 221 is not sufficiently charged. If, on the contrary, line 222 is at the low level, this means that either the battery voltage is normal or the capacitor 221 is fully charged and, in both cases, therefore that the input 242 is at the low level, the output 238 is at the high level what which supplies power to the motor 231.

So that the outer handle can bring it to the level down the input 242 of the gate 239, the transistor 243 must be passing, that is to say that its base must be at the high level. The base of transistor 243 is connected to the output of a "RS" type flip-flop 244 the two inputs 245, 246 of which are connected to the terminals respectively unlocking 161 and locking 162 of the switch double position of the lock cylinder. If the switch associated with the terminal 161 was operated to bring the unlocking of the lock, line 245 has been temporarily grounded and, in this case, the output of flip-flop 244 is in the high state, which allows the 231 motor control by the external handle. If, on the contrary, the last action on the barrel was an action causing the release momentary ground, by the corresponding switch, of terminal 162, input 246 has been temporarily grounded and flip-flop 244 has taken the reverse state, i.e. its output is low, which prevents control of motor 231 by the external handle. The information relating to the grounding of the unlocking terminal 161 or the barring terminal 162 of the barrel are transmitted to other vehicle locks via terminals 247 and 248 respectively. The flip-flop 244 therefore plays the role of memory to keep on its exit a state which corresponds to the last order of condemnation or unlocking given on the barrel. In the absence of any update ground on terminals 161 or 162, inputs 245 and 246 are at level high due to the connection of resistors 249 and 250 respectively on the power supply 208. After an action of the barrel for momentary grounding of one or other of the inputs 245 or 246, said entry returns to the high level but this has no influence on the state of the output of flip-flop 244. In the quiescent state of barrel, none of the two switches corresponding to terminals 161 and 162 is not activated; the two lines 245 and 246 are at the high level and the output of flip-flop 244 keeps the memory of the last instruction supplied by the barrel, even in the event of a power failure supplied by the vehicle battery since the resistors 249 and 250 are connected to the backup battery. So we see that the vehicle battery malfunction does not affect the security of closing the passenger compartment of the vehicle.

In the event that, following an accident, the two terminals 161 and 162 would be grounded simultaneously, the output of flip-flop 244 goes high to allow the opening of the door for security purposes.

Claims (12)

1. Motor vehicle having a plurality of electric door locks (10; 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d; 31a, 31b, 31c, 31d; 131a, 131b, 131c, 131d) associated with their respective control and supply means, each lock being opened electrically by operating an actuator (231) supplied by the vehicle battery, the electrical supply of each lock is controlled by an electronic module (13) located in the door with which the lock is associated, the said module (13) receiving on the one hand the electrical energy from the vehicle battery and on the other hand the instructions supplied by the control devices (15, 16, 17) associated with the lock controlled by the said module, and being connected to at least one other electric door lock in the vehicle by a connector (18) for transmitting solely information signals relating to the state of locking or unlocking of the lock to the said other electric door lock, characterised by the fact that it has, preferably close to its fascia, a central box (33) intended to receive instructions relating to the locking/unlocking of the locks by remote control, the said box being connected directly to the vehicle battery by connections (155, 156) for supplying it with power and connected by the aforementioned connector (18) to the door locks for transmitting these instructions to the associated electronic modules.
2. Vehicle according to Claim 1, characterised by the fact that each module is supplied directly with power from the wires which are already situated in the door and which are connected to the vehicle battery, for example the wires which supply the electric window motor incorporated in the door.
3. Vehicle according to Claim 1 or 2, characterised by the fact that the electronic module (13) is located in the lock (10).
4. Vehicle according to one of Claims 1 to 3, characterised by the fact that the lock (10; 131a, 131b, 131c, 131d) is associated with two door handles, one internal (16; 106a, 106b, 106c, 106d) and the other external (15; 105a, 105b, 105c, 105d), the lock control devices including two switches each associated with one of the said handles and inserted on the power supply to the actuator (231).
5. Vehicle according to one of Claims 1 to 4, characterised by the fact that the lock control devices include a two-position switch associated with a lock cylinder (17; 107a, 107b, 107c, 107d).
6. Vehicle according to Claim 4, characterised by the fact that the switch associated with the internal operating handle is in series with a switch (34c, 34d, 134c, 134d; 134) for inhibiting the opening of the door by means of the internal handle of the said door.
7. Vehicle according to Claim 4 or 6, characterised by the fact that the switches associated with the two lock-operating handles are in series with a contactor (152) disposed in a central box (33) receiving the operating instructions for the said contactor by remote control, this contactor make it possible to inhibit the opening of the vehicle door by action on the internal handle in order to establish a super-locking state.
8. Vehicle according to Claims 1 to 7, characterised by the fact that the connector (18), which is associated with each vehicle door lock, consists of a wire (18a, 38a) conveying the locking control information, a second wire (18b, 38b) conveying the unlocking control information and, in the case of a vehicle according to Claim 6, a third wire (38c) conveying the super-locking information.
9. Vehicle according to one of Claims 1 or 8, characterised by the fact that the connector (18) is connected to a related box (39) supplying at least one related actuator (37a, 37b) associated with a vehicle lock other than a door lock.
10. Vehicle according to Claim 8, characterised by the fact that the unlocking wire (138b) of the connector is connected to an impact detector (140).
11. Vehicle according to Claim 9, characterised by the fact that the central box and the related box are joined in a single centralised unit (133).
12. Vehicle according to Claim 11, characterised by the fact that the centralised unit (133) receives alarm information and supplies its use to the connector (18).

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