EP0989266B1 - Lock with automatic unlocking on opening - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a door lock for motor vehicle, in particular a lock for unlocking automatic opening, and more particularly a lock electric assistance with opening and / or assistance to the conviction.

For safety reasons, the front door locks and sometimes back are usually equipped with a mechanism of automatic unlocking on opening, when the user operates the interior door handle. Indeed, if a user rolls in a condemned position, for example, so as not to risk being assaulted when it stops at the traffic lights, it is important that accident, he can easily get out of his vehicle without having to first unlock the door before you can open it.

Another advantage is that the user, by operating the handle inside door, causes in one maneuver, both the unlocking and opening, while it would be pretty unpleasant, for a user, to be forced to unlock the door before to be able to open it.

In addition, in the case where the driver of the vehicle, after out, close the door leaving the keys inside, it can to enter the vehicle again because the door has been automatically unlocked on opening, which would not have been the case if the door could be opened from the inside, without decondamn the lock.

However, this function of automatic unlocking at the opening, also known as the "override", is energy consumer because the energy needed for unlocking is in addition to the energy required for the opening of the lock. This energy can be provided by a manual effort of the user for a fully mechanical lock, or by electric assistance mechanisms for opening and unlocking, for an electric lock.

DE-A-24 42 797 discloses a lock according to the preamble of claim 1.

The object of the invention is to propose a lock for automatic unlocking at the opening which reduces the energy to provide to perform such a function and whose arrangement of mechanisms is perfected.

To achieve the above purpose, the invention aims to object a lock for a motor vehicle door, as defined in claim 1.

Advantageously, in the open position of the bolt, the support portion of the automatic unlocking means to the opening blocks the stop of the locking lever, which prohibits the locking the lock in the open position of the door.

Advantageously, the cam follower pin of the first lever is able to cooperate with an open door switch at the end of the race of rotation of the bolt towards its open position, said contactor of open door intended to emit a signal corresponding to door opening information to a central processing unit, to activate, in a manner known per se, for example, a light light on the dashboard of the vehicle or a light from ceiling lamp in the cockpit.

Advantageously, the means of automatic unlocking to the opening brings the locking lever to the unlocked position, before the end of opening stroke of the bolt.

In a particular embodiment, the mechanism of condemnation includes a reversible electric motor to drive the lever of condemnation between his doomed positions and unlocked during centralized conviction or unlocking ordered from outside or inside.

It can also be provided that the lock of the invention is associated with a shock sensor for, during the detection of a shock, send a command signal to the electric motor of the mechanism of condemnation to drive the judgment lever to its position unlocked. Thus, if due to a shock, the door can not open enough, so that the bolt does not rotate enough to actuate the automatic unlocking means at the opening, the lock will still be unlocked.

According to another particular characteristic, the actuating means mentioned above comprises a mechanical means of connection, such as a cable or a rod, connecting the pawl to an internal control means, by example a door handle or inner pallet.

According to yet another particular characteristic, the actuating means has an external opening lever adapted to cooperate with the ratchet to bring it into the bolt release position, said lever external opening being adapted to be driven by an engine electrical assistance for opening assistance, in response to a signal from command issued by an external opening contactor, when external control means is operated by the user.

In this case, the lock may comprise a mechanical means of external connection of which an outer portion is intended to be connected by means of external control and of which another inner portion extends into the second sealed compartment of the lock, said external opening contactor being disposed in said second sealed compartment on the path of said inner portion of the means external link mechanism, so as to emit a signal of external opening control, when the connecting means mechanics is moved on a determined opening stroke when actuation of the external control means.

The description given below, purely illustrative and not of one embodiment, with reference to the drawings annexed, to better understand the invention.

• la figure 1 est une vue en perspective éclatée de la serrure conforme à l'invention, du côté de son compartiment de rétention ;
• la figure 2 est une vue analogue à la figure 1, mais partiellement assemblée ;
• la figure 3 est une vue de dessus de la figure 2, en position complètement assemblée de la serrure ;
• la figure 4 est une vue analogue à la figure 3, la contre-plaque étant omise ;
• la figure 5 est une vue en perspective éclatée de la serrure de l'invention, du côté de son compartiment de cinématique ;
• la figure 6 est une vue de dessus de la figure 5, le couvercle du compartiment de cinématique étant omis, et la serrure étant dans une position fermée et décondamnée ;
• la figure 7 est une vue analogue à la figure 6, mais représentant la serrure dans une position fermée et condamnée ;
• la figure 8 est une vue analogue à la figure 6, mais représentant la serrure dans une position ouverte et décondamnée, sous l'action du dispositif électrique d'assistance à l'ouverture ; et
• la figure 9 est une vue analogue à la figure 8, la serrure étant également en position ouverture et décondamnée, sous l'action du moyen mécanique de secours à l'ouverture.

On this drawing :

• Figure 1 is an exploded perspective view of the lock according to the invention, on the side of its retention compartment;
• Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1, but partially assembled;
• Figure 3 is a top view of Figure 2, in the fully assembled position of the lock;
• Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 3, the against-plate being omitted;
• Figure 5 is an exploded perspective view of the lock of the invention, on the side of its kinematic compartment;
• Figure 6 is a top view of Figure 5, the cover of the kinematic compartment being omitted, and the lock being in a closed position and unlocked;
• Figure 7 is a view similar to Figure 6, but showing the lock in a closed position and locked;
• Figure 8 is a view similar to Figure 6, but showing the lock in an open position and unlocked under the action of the electric device for assistance in the opening; and
• Figure 9 is a view similar to Figure 8, the lock is also in the open position and unlocked, under the action of the mechanical means at the opening.

Referring to Figure 1, the lock of the invention comprises a lock housing B, for example, made of plastic and a metal counter-plate 1 substantially square and having an opening 2 for the passage of a keeper (not shown) which is fixed, in a manner known per se, to a vertical upright of the chassis of a motor vehicle. Against the plate 1 has a substantially L profile with the longer wing 1a extending in the transverse direction of the vehicle, door closed position, and whose smallest cross 1b extends in the direction longitudinal of the vehicle.

As shown in Figure 1, the housing B has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape whose largest dimension extends substantially in the vertical direction of the door. The housing B has a first compartment 3 called retention, because it contains a bolt fork 4 adapted to retain the striker and a pawl 5 to lock the bolt 4 in the retaining position of the striker. The retention compartment 3 has a recess 6 forming the drain of the lock, to accommodate the striker, in the closed position of the door. The compartment 3 is closed by the counter-plate 1 which is the part of the lock which is flush with the level of the door edge. The bolt 4 and the pawl 5 are respectively hinged to the ends of shaft 7 and 8 which are interposed between the bottom of the compartment 3 and the part 1a of the plate 1 against.

The retention compartment 3 further comprises a lever external opening 9 which is hinged to a cylindrical sleeve 10 on the bottom of the compartment 3, the external opening lever 9 having an arm 9a extending substantially radially to to cooperate with a finger 5a of the pawl 5. the external opening lever 9 comprises a square section passage 9 b in alignment with the axis of the cylindrical sleeve 10, to make it rotate with a lever command 11 which will be described in more detail with reference to FIG.

The pawl 5 further comprises a protruding pin 5b intended to be connected to a rod or a cable (not shown) for its connection to a door handle or inner pallet.

As best seen in Figures 1 and 4, a slot 12 is formed through the bottom of the compartment 3 in the vicinity of the periphery of the bolt 4. Inside this light 12, is pivotable a lever 13 provided with its free end with a projecting pin 13a which forms a cam follower element in contact with a peripheral portion 4a on the circumference of the bolt, said peripheral portion 4a forming a cam profile whose radius of curvature is adapted to cause the displacement of the pin 13a, upon rotation of the bolt 4 between its closed position illustrated in figures 1 to 4 and its open position (not shown) rotates in a counterclockwise direction.

A door open switch 14 is mounted on the compartment of the base 3 near the projecting piece 13 a of the lever 13 so that at the end of pivoting travel of the bolt 4 into its open position, the pin 13 has come a push button 14a of the switch 14 for initiating the transmission of a door open signal.

Manner known per se, the hood 6 has an elastic leg 6a which is intended to cushion the entry of the striker plate in the hood.

We will now refer to Figure 5 to describe the components of a second compartment 15 called kinematic of the lock housing B. This second compartment 15 is separated from sealed way of the compartment 3 by a partition which forms the bottom common to both compartments.

The control lever 11 includes a stub shaft 11a which perpendicularly projecting towards the bottom of compartment 15 and which is inserted through the cylindrical sleeve 10 of the first compartment 3, the stub shaft 11 has provided at its free end a square section to fit into the opening corresponding square section 9b of the outer opening lever 9, for their rotational connection.

The second compartment 15 contains a first electric motor 16 on the motor shaft which is coaxially mounted a first pinion 17 which meshes with a pinion of larger diameter 18 which is coaxially fixed in rotation with a worm 19. The assembly 16 to 19 form a geared motor group which is carried by support bearings 20, 21, which are anchored on the bottom of the compartment 15. The worm 19 meshes with the circumference of a toothed wheel 22 which comprises on its an upper side shaft end 22 is designed to be inserted in a suitable housing in the cover (not shown) for closing the second compartment 15. in its underside, the toothed wheel 22 is connected 23 to a wafer, by two crankpins 24, 25 diametrically opposed with respect to the axis of rotation of the wheel 22. the plate 23 further comprises a finger 23a projecting perpendicularly with respect to its plane and coming to be recessed in the underside of the a wheel 22. This finger 23 a is radially further out than the crank pins 24 and 25. Although this is not visible in Figure 5, the plate 23 comprises on its lower face a stub axis aligned with the tip of 22 a axis of the wheel 22, and intended to be inserted into a suitable housing 26 in the bottom of the compartment 15.

One of said two crank pins, namely the pin 24 furthest from the finger 23a of the wafer 23 is intended to cooperate with an arm 11b of the control lever 11 for rotating at the rotation of the wheel 22. The rotation of the control lever 11 simultaneously causes the rotation of the outer opening lever 9 in the retention compartment 3, to move the pawl 5 to the release position of the bolt. Rotation of the wheel 22 continues until the finger 23a of the wafer 23 comes into contact with an elastic stop limit switch 27 provided on the bottom of the compartment 15. This stop 27 is advantageously made of rubber, for damping the setting in support of the finger 23 has against this stop 27, because the drive by the motor 16 is relatively powerful.

Although not shown, the control lever 11 is subjected to a return spring, to return the lever of control 11 to its initial position, once the geared motor assembly has himself returned to his original position as he will explained further. A rubber stop 28 can also be provided in the compartment 15 to cushion the return of the lever of control 11 to its rest position, as shown in FIGS. to 9.

The control lever 11 comprises at the free end of another arm, extending substantially in the opposite direction to the arm 11b , a pin 30 for cooperating with a downward curved tab 31 provided at the free end of an arm of an emergency lever 32. The emergency lever 32 is pivotally mounted on a shaft end 33 projecting from the bottom of the compartment 15 and comprises at the free end of another arm 34, arranged substantially in a direction opposite to the arm carrying the folded tab 31, a fork 35 whose two branches are provided at their free end with a guide ramp 35 a .

As shown in FIG. 6, a cable C passes between the branches of the fork 35 and has at its free end a tip 36 which has a substantially spherical shape whose diameter is greater than the spacing of the branches of the fork 35, so as to be able to cause the pivoting of the emergency lever 32 around its axis 33, by pulling on the cable C, from a means external control, for example an external handle or pallet door. The cable C is secured to a slider 37 arranged on the other side of the fork 35, relative to the tip 36. The cursor 37 can advantageously overmolded on the cable C. Two guide rails parallel 38, 39 are arranged on the bottom of the compartment 15 for used to guide the cursor 37 when moving the cable C. cable C extends outside the housing B, crossing, so waterproof, a sleeve 40.

The kinematics compartment 15 further comprises a locking lever 41 which is articulated on a shaft end 42 projecting from the bottom of the compartment 15. The locking lever 41 comprises a first arm 43 provided at its free end with a pin 43a which engages in a helical groove 44a formed on a rotary drum 44. This rotary drum 44 is intended to be connected to a lock cylinder for a front door. The locking lever 41 comprises a second arm 45 extending substantially radially outwardly of the housing B, through an opening 46.

The locking lever 41 has a third arm 47 which is intended to cooperate with the tip 36 of the cable C, to do so escape from the range 35, as shown in Figure 7. In the rest position of the cable C, the tip 36 is located in a recess of the locking lever 41 defined between the first arm 43 and the third arm 47.

The locking lever 41 further comprises a sector toothed 48 which is extended at one end by a protruding stop 49. The toothed sector 48 meshes with a pinion 50 carried by the drive shaft 51 a second electric motor 52 for electrical assistance to the locking / unlocking. The second electric motor 52 is carried by a support piece 53 substantially C-shaped profile, which is mounted on the bottom of the compartment 15.

The stop 49 of the locking lever 41 is intended to cooperate with a second lever having a bearing portion 54 extending radially from a shaft 55 which is mounted in a tubular sleeve 56 which protrudes from the bottom of the compartment 15. The shaft 55 passes through sealed manner, the bottom of the compartment 15 and present to its lower end a square section to be secured in rotation lever 13 mentioned above.

Along the rail 39, is arranged an external opening contactor 60 which comprises a button 60 is adapted to be pushed by an inclined portion 37 a of the slider 37, during the traction of the cable C, for sending a control signal to opening to the first motor 16, by an electrical connection not shown.

We could alternatively provide an outer door handle linked by a rod to an articulated link in the watertight compartment of the lock, the external opening contactor being arranged to detect the pivoting of this link.

We could foresee, for a lock with mechanical opening, replace the emergency lever by an external opening lever acting directly or indirectly on the ratchet.

We will now describe the operation of the lock of the invention with reference to Figures 4 to 9.

In the position illustrated in Figure 6, the lock is in its closed state and mechanically unlocked. Indeed, the lever of condemnation 41 is in a position where his arm 47 has placed the mouthpiece 36 of the cable C in front of the fork 35 of the emergency lever 32, this which allows a mechanical opening, by pulling on the cable C, as explained later.

In this closing position of the lock, we see on the 4 that one of the branches of the fork of the bolt 4 is blocked by a pawl spout 5, to retain a striker not shown.

• soit il se trouve à l'intérieur de l'habitacle du véhicule et il actionne un organe de manoeuvre situé sur l'intérieur de la portière pour commander le déplacement du bras 45 du levier de condamnation 41 ;
• soit l'utilisateur se trouve à l'extérieur du véhicule et il condamne la serrure avec sa clé en l'introduisant dans le barillet de serrure d'une portière avant pour entraíner, par l'intermédiaire du tonneau 44, le déplacement du bras 43 du levier de condamnation ;
• soit, enfin, de l'extérieur du véhicule, il actionne un boítier de télécommande portatif pour envoyer un signal de commande de condamnation au moteur électrique 52 d'assistance à la condamnation, lequel moteur 52 entraíne le pivotement du levier de condamnation 41, en agissant sur le secteur denté 48.

From the position shown in Figure 6, when the user wishes to condemn the lock, several possibilities are available to him:

• either it is inside the passenger compartment of the vehicle and it actuates an operating member located on the inside of the door to control the movement of the arm 45 of the locking lever 41;
• either the user is outside the vehicle and he condemns the lock with his key by introducing it into the lock cylinder of a front door to drive, through the barrel 44, the movement of the arm 43 the judgment lever;
• or, finally, from the outside of the vehicle, it actuates a portable remote control unit to send a control command signal to the electric motor 52 assistance to the conviction, which motor 52 causes the pivoting of the locking lever 41, in acting on the toothed sector 48.

Whatever the means for controlling the locking of the lock, the locking lever 41 pivots in the counter-clockwise direction, as illustrated in FIG. 7. In this figure, the lock is in its closed and mechanically condemned state, since the arm 47 of the locking lever 41 pushed the end piece 36 of the cable C in a direction substantially perpendicular to the actuating stroke of the cable C, so as to escape the endpiece 36 to the fork 35 of the emergency lever 32 . Thus, if an unauthorized person actuates the bottom external handle for driving the cable C, the flange 36 will slide along the arm 47 and the guide rail 35a of the fork 35, without driving the lever emergency 32, the lock can not be mechanically unlocked from the outside. When moving the cable C under the action of the outer door handle, the slider 37 connected to the cable C will move along the guide rails 38 and 39 and will come by its inclined portion 37 to push the switch button 60 a of the external opening contactor 60, but as the general power supply of the vehicle has not been activated, the electric motor 16 for opening assistance will remain inactive, thus also prohibiting the electric opening.

It can be seen in Figure 7 that in the condemned position of the lock, the stop pin 49 of the locking lever 41 comes into contact with the support portion 54 of the automatic unlocking means to the opening.

When the user wishes to return to the position of FIG. it actuates one of the aforementioned control means to rotate the locking lever 41 in the clockwise direction of Figure 7 in the figure 6. In this case, the end piece 36 of the cable C follows the pivoting of the arm 47 of the locking lever 41, because it is recalled by the own elasticity cable C in its rest position shown in FIG.

We will now describe the passage of the lock from its unlocked closed position shown in Figure 6 to its open position, thanks to the electrical device for opening assistance, in Figure 8. Thus, when the user grasps the handle outer door and actuates slightly, the cable C moves on a short stroke, as illustrated between Figures 6 and 8. At the end of the actuating stroke of the cable C, the tip 36 of the cable comes at most in contact with the fork 35 of the emergency lever, without actuating the latter. The slider 37 which is secured to the cable C moves from a corresponding stroke and the retract button 60 has a contactor 60. As the general power supply of the vehicle has been previously energized by the recognition system, the contactor 60 can send an opening control signal to the electric motor 16 which causes the rotation of the wheel 22 in the clockwise direction. During the rotation of the wheel 22, the crankpin 24 abuts against the arm 11b of the control lever 11 and pushes it back, so as to pivot the control lever 11 in the counter-clockwise direction in FIG. . the crank pin 24 pushes the arm 11b of the control lever 11 until the pin 23 has come into abutment against the resilient abutment limit switch 27.

The pivoting of the control lever 11 causes the outer opening lever 9 to pivot in the retention compartment 3, in the clockwise direction in FIG. 4. When it is pivoted, the outer opening lever 9 pushes back by its arm 9 has the finger 5a of the pawl 5 to pivot in the anticlockwise direction the pawl 5, which thus frees the bolt 4 which can rotate, in turn, in the anti-clockwise to release the striker.

When the finger 23 has bears against the stop 27, the pawl 5 has released the bolt 4.

The drive torque exerted by motor 16 will be maintained for a period of time determined by a time delay, to ensure that the crank pin 24 causes the pivoting of the control lever 11. As soon as the drive by the motor 16 stops, the worm 19 will be rotated in the opposite direction by a spiral spring (no shown), to bring back the wheel 22 and thus, the crank pins 24 and 25 in their initial positions, to allow a subsequent opening. The spiral spring is connected to the worm 19 and wraps when the drive by the motor 16. Advantageously, the return spring spiral for the worm 19 is arranged in the bearing 20. In this configuration, the control lever 11 returns to its position rest under the action of a return spring not shown.

Referring again to Figure 4, when the bolt 4 is pivoted in the counterclockwise direction to release the latch, the cam follower pin 13a of the lever 13 follows the cam profile 4a of the bolt 4, which causes pivoting the lever 13 clockwise in Figure 4. Substantially at the end of pivoting travel of the bolt 4, the pin 13a of the lever 13 pushes back the button 14a of the switch 14 to signal door open to a central unit of treatment the opening of the door. The pivoting of the lever 13 causes simultaneous pivoting of the bearing portion 54 in the kinematic compartment 15 in the counterclockwise direction, as shown in FIG. 8, to bring the arm 54 of this lever into contact with the stop 49 the locking lever 41.

Thus, it is not possible to condemn the lock, while the door is open, because any pivoting of the locking lever 41 in the counterclockwise direction is prevented by the support portion 54 which is locked in position by the lever 13, the cam follower pin 13a abuts against the cam 4a of the bolt 4.

The electrical assistance device for opening functions in the same way from the position of FIG. 7, in which the lock is in its closed and mechanically condemned state. For this purpose, the authorized user wearing a badge equipped with a transmitter to emit a given coded signal, approaches the vehicle which is equipped with a recognition system comprising a receiver capable of decoding the signal and powering on. the power supply to the vehicle, where the authorized user has been duly identified. When the user pulls on the cable C on a short stroke to trigger the emission of an opening command signal by the contactor 60, the electric motor 16 causes the opening of the lock, and the bolt 4 by its cam 4a causes pivoting in the anti-clockwise direction of the arm 54 to push the abutment piece 49 of the locking lever 41, rotating it clockwise, to bring it into an unlocked position. In other words, from FIG. 6 or FIG. 7, the same position shown in FIG. 8 is reached when the assistance device for opening is activated. This results in automatic unlocking on opening when the external control means are actuated. This is made possible by the fact that the two kinematic chains of the opening mechanism and the locking mechanism have been dissociated.

The contactor 60 sends a control signal simultaneously to the motor 16 and the motor 52, to cause simultaneously assistance in opening the door and unlocking others doors.

Finally, if the opening assistance device does not work, due to a power failure or insufficient power supply of the vehicle battery, the user can mechanically open the lock after having mechanically unlocked it, for example, by the lock cylinder, pulling on the cable C on an overtravel, to drive through the tip 36 the fork 35 of the emergency lever 32 which pivots clockwise in Figure 9 and pushes back by the curved tab 31 of its arm opposite the pin 30 of the control lever 11, to rotate it in the counterclockwise direction, which causes the pivoting of the outer opening lever 9, and consequently the release of the bolt. Similarly, the arm 54 comes into contact with the stop 49 of the locking lever 41, due to cooperation between the cam 4a of the bolt 4 and the cam follower pin 13a of the lever 13.

It should be noted that the crankpin 25 shown in FIG. not present here particular usefulness.

The electric motor 52 is reversible, in order to rotate the locking lever 41 in both directions, to bring it respectively in his condemned or unconditional position.

The motor shaft 51 of the electric motor 52 has its axis of rotation parallel to the pivot axis of the locking lever 41, while the motor shaft of the electric motor 16 has its axis of rotation perpendicular to the axis of the opening lever 9.

Although the invention has been described in connection with a mode of particular realization, it is obvious that it is not at all limited and that it includes all the technical equivalents of the means described and their combinations if these fall within the scope of the invention.

Claims (9)

1. Lock for automobile vehicle door including a bolt (4) able to hold a door strike-plate, a pawl (5) to block the bolt when the strike-plate is in held position, an opening mechanism including at least one means of actuation (9) able to cooperate with the pawl to move it to a position in which the bolt is freed under the action of interior or exterior control means, and a locking mechanism including a locking lever (41) to put the lock in a locked or unlocked position, and including in addition automatic means of unlocking on opening including, first, a cam follower part (13a) cooperating with a cam profile (4a) provided on the bolt (4) and, secondly, a contact part (54) able to bear against a stop (49) on the locking lever (41), such that during rotation of the bolt towards its opening position the cam profile causes a displacement of the cam follower then of said contact part so as to automatically move the locking lever to its unlocking position, the automatic unlocking means on opening including a first lever (13) equipped with a cam follower stud (13a) cooperating with the cam profile (4a) of the bolt (4), and a second lever rotationally attached to the first lever and equipped with said contact part able to cooperate with a stop lug (49) on the locking lever (41), wherein the lock includes a first compartment (3) housing the first lever (13) and the bolt (4), and a second compartment (15) housing the second lever and the locking lever.
2. Lock according to claim 1, wherein in the opening position of the bolt (4) said contact part (54) of said automatic unlocking means on opening blocks said stop (49) on said locking lever (41), preventing locking of the lock when the door is open.
3. Lock according to claim 2 or 3, wherein said cam follower stud (13a) of said first lever (13) is able to cooperate with an open door contactor (14) at the end of rotational travel of said bolt (4) to its opening position, said open door contactor being intended to emit a "door open" signal to a central processing unit.
4. Lock according to one of claims 1 to 3, wherein said automatic means of unlocking on opening brings said locking lever (41) into its unlocking position before the end of opening travel of said bolt (4).
5. Lock according to one of claims 1 to 4, wherein said locking mechanism includes a reversible electric motor (52) to drive said locking lever (41) between its locking and unlocking positions, during centralised locking or unlocking controlled from the outside or inside of the vehicle.
6. Lock according to claim 5, wherein it is associated with a shock sensor such that, when a shock is detected a control signal is sent to said electric motor (52) of said locking mechanism to move said locking lever (41) to its unlocking position.
7. Lock according to one of claims 1 to 6, wherein said means of actuation includes mechanical linking means, such as a cable or tie-rod, linking said pawl (5) to interior control means, such as a handle or an opening pallet.
8. Lock according to one of claims 1 to 7, wherein said means of actuation includes an exterior opening lever (9) able to cooperate with said pawl (5) to move it to a position in which said bolt is freed, this exterior opening lever being able to be driven by an electric motor (16) to assist the opening in response to a control signal emitted by an exterior opening contactor (60) when an exterior control means is activated by the user.
9. Lock according to claim 8, wherein it includes exterior mechanical linking means (C) of which an exterior section is intended to be connected to the exterior control means and of which an interior section extends into said second sealed compartment (15) of the lock, said exterior opening contactor (60) being mounted in said second sealed compartment on the path of said interior section of said exterior mechanical linking means (C) so as to emit an exterior opening control signal when the mechanical linking means are moved along a predetermined opening path during actuation of the exterior control means.

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