US3843175A

US3843175A - Spring actuated lock for use with motor vehicle door

Info

Publication number: US3843175A
Authority: US
Inventors: H Klebba
Original assignee: Volkswagen AG
Current assignee: Volkswagen AG
Priority date: 1970-03-21
Filing date: 1973-01-19
Publication date: 1974-10-22
Anticipated expiration: 1991-10-22

Abstract

A spring actuated lock for use with a motor vehicle door assembly. The lock includes a trap lever disposed in the edge of the vehicle door in a position for cooperation with a bolt mounted in the door frame. When the bolt and the trap lever are moved relatively, for example by closing the door, the trap lever is rotated to release a spring loaded mechanism whereby the latter shifts into a locking position for holding the trap lever in a door locking disposition relative to the bolt. Movement of the operator mechanism of the door resets the spring loaded locking mechanism and opening of the door operates to swivel the trap lever about the bolt whereby to lock the mechanism in its reset or cocked position until once again the trap lever and the bolt are moved into interengagement.

Description

O United States Patent 1191 1111 3,843,175 Klebba Oct. 22, 1974 [5 SPRING ACTUATED LOCK FOR USE WITH 2,569,047 9/1951 {a /mm 292/34115 x 00 2,647,003 7 1953 ay 292/34l.l5 X MOTOR VEHICLE R 2,849,250 8/1958 Williamson 292/216 X Inventor: Horst Klebba, W y n, 3,606,428 9/1971 Erch et al. 292/153 x Germany [73] Assignee: Volkswagenwerk Akt., Wolfsburg, Primary Examiner-Richard Moore Germany Attorney, Agent, or FzrmWatson, Cole, Grmdle & Watson [22] Filed: Jan. 19, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 325,041 [57] ABSTRACT Remed 5. A n fi Data A spring actuated lock for use with a motor vehicle [631 Continuation-impart of Ser. No. 270,288, July 10, Floor assembly The 9 mcludqs a dlsposed l972, abandoned, Continuation of Ser. No. 125,963, In the edge of the vehlcle door m a posmon for coop- March 19, 1971 abandoned. eration with a bolt mounted in the door frame. When the bolt and the trap lever are moved relatively, for 30 Foreign Application p i i Data example by closing the door, the trap lever is rotated Mar 21 1970 German 2013690 to release a spring loaded mechanism whereby the laty ter shifts into a locking position for holding the trap lever in a door locking disposition relative to the bolt. (gl. Movement of the operator mechanism of the door [58] Fieid 216 336 sets the spring loaded locking mechanism and opening [336 3 of the door operates to swivel the trap lever about the bolt whereby to lock the mechanism in its reset or [56] References Cited cocked position until once again the trap lever and the bolt are moved into interengagement. UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,218,183 10/1940 Springer 292/341.1s x 8 Chums 9 Draw PATENTED OCT 2 2 I974 SHEET 2 0f 3 PATENTEDBBI 22 I974 4 i SHEET 3 OF 3 H6. 4c F/a 45 76. 44

n CLOSE DOOR OPENDOOQ no H6 54 LOCK DOOR I'll SPRING ACTUATED LOCK FOR USE WITH MOTOR VEHICLE DOOR CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS:

This is a continuation-in-part application of copending US. Pat. application Ser. No. 270,288, filed July 10, 1972, now abandoned, which in turn is a continuation application of US. Pat. application Ser. No. 125,963, filed Mar. I9, 1971, now abandoned. Applicant claims priority from corresponding German Pat. application Ser. No. P 13 690.7, filed Mar. 21, 1970.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to spring actuated locks for use with motor,vehicle doors, and particularly to such locks which are particularly adapted for use with sliding motor vehicle doors.

2. Description of the Prior Art Spring loaded, automatically actuated locks for automobile doors have been used in the past in connection with hinged doors. For cocking purposes, elements of the mechanism have frequently been disposed in the hinge area and the spring mechanism is cocked by swinging the door about the hinge. Such principle of construction is not applicable, however, to sliding doors such as those which might perhaps be utilized in connection with small trucks.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A very important object of the present invention is to provide a spring actuated lock mechanism capable of performing an automatic locking operation in connection with sliding doors and which also is capable of utilization in connection with hinged doors.

In the spring actuated lock constructed in accordance with the present invention, a trap lever is utilized in connection with a bolt element. The trap lever and the bolt element are relatively movable and disposed for interengagement. Upon interengagement of the bolt and the trap lever, such as, for example, during closing of the door, the trap element is rotated by the bolt into a position where at least a portion of the trap element is disposed, relative to the bolt, to prevent opening of the door. The rotation of the trap releases a spring loaded mechanism which is moved, by virtue of its spring, into a position for positively preventing the counter-rotation of the trap. Accordingly, the door is locked.

To open the door, an operator handle is provided to shift the lock mechanism against the bias of its springs and into a trap lever releasing position. Movement of the door during the opening thereof will cause the trap to rotate about the bolt and such movement of the trap lever will also operate to lock the lock mechanism in its spring loaded, cocked condition ready to automatically operate the next time the trap lever is rotated by interengagement with the bolt during closing of the door.

In accordance with the present invention, a spring actuated lock for use with a motor vehicle door assembly including a frame structure and a door structure is provided. The lock comprises a trap lever mounted on one of the structures for movement between first and second positions. A bolt element is mounted on the other of these structures and the bolt element and the trap' element are relatively shiftable along a predetermined path of travel. The bolt element and the trap lever are also disposed for interengagement during such relative shifting. The bolt element is disposed relative to the trap lever for contacting the latter and moving the trap lever from its first position and into its second position during such relative shifting. The lock also includes an operating lever carried by the trap lever for movement therewith between said first and second positions. A control lever mounted for movement between primary and secondary dispositions is also provided as are means coupled with the control lever for yieldably biasing the latter toward its secondary disposition and away from its primary disposition.

The spring actuated lock also comprises a locking mechanism including a shiftable member operably coupled to the operating lever means for shifting by the latter when the operating lever means moves between its said positions, said mechanism including respective cooperable parts on the member and on the control lever means, which parts are disposed in interengagement when the trap lever and therefor the operating lever are in said first position and the control lever means is in its primary disposition, for holding the control lever means in said primary disposition against the bias of the yieldably biasing means. The parts of the locking mechanism are disposed in disengagement when the operating lever means is in its second position whereby the control lever means is released to permit movement of the latter from its primary disposition to its secondary position under the influence of the yieldably biasing means.

The trap lever is disposed in blocking relationship relative to the path of relative shifting of the trap lever and the bolt element when the trap lever is in its second position. The locking mechanism includes means for preventing movement of the operating lever means from said second position to said first position when the control lever means is in its secondary disposition whereby the relative shifting of the bolt element and the trap lever is prevented. An operator mechanism is provided for shifting the control lever means from its secondary disposition to its primary disposition to thereby release the operating lever means for movement from its second position to its first position whereby to release the trap lever and the bolt element for said relative shifting. Upon opening of the door the trap element and thereby the operating lever means are moved into their first position by virtue of the interengagement between the trap lever and the bolt element whereby the control lever and locking mechanism are held in their cocked position while the door is open.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a view, in perspective, of a portion of a motor vehicle door assembly with certain parts broken away to illustrate the spring actuated lock of the present invention in its cocked condition with the door partially opened;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the spring actuated lock with its various elements in their actuated condition with the door locked;

FIG. 3 is yet another perspective view of the spring actuated lock with the various elements thereof disposed in their positions while the door is closed but with the operating handle turned into a position to release the door for opening;

FIGS. 4 A, 48 and 4 C are cross-sectional views to illustrate the sequence of operations involved when the trap lever and the bolt element become interengaged during door closing operations and in this connection FIG. 4 A is taken along line 4 A 4 A of FIG. 1 while FIG. 4 C is taken along line 4 C 4 C of FIG. 3; and

FIGS. 5 A, 5 B and 5 C are cross-sectional views similar to FIGS. 4 A, 4 B and 4 C to illustrate sequentially the movement of the trap lever in another embodiment of the invention wherein relative movement between the trap and the bolt element result from a sliding of the latter on its mounting structure.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to FIG. 1 of the drawings, a motor vehicle door assembly is broadly designated by the numeral 10. Assembly includes a frame structure 12 and a door structure 14, the latter being movable relative to frame structure 12 along a predetermined path of travel indicated by the double headed arrow designated by the reference numeral 16. Preferably, the door structure is of the type disclosed in United States Letters Patent No. 3, l 00,667; however, it is to be understood, and will be apparent to those skilled in this art, that door structure 14 might also be a hinged door of the type conventionally utilized in connection with automobiles. The preferred door structure, as is fully set forth in the patent referred to above, is a sliding door which is first withdrawn from its opening in a direction generally perpendicular to the major plane of the door and then the entire door is moved in a plane which is generally parallel to the side of the vehicle.

A spring actuated lock constructed in accordance with the present invention is mounted in door assembly 10 and is broadly designated by the reference numeral 18. Lock 18 includes a rotatable trap lever 20 and a bolt element 22, the latter being disposed behind lever 20 in FIG. 1 and is therefore illustrated in dotted lines. Rotatable trap20 is mounted on door structure 14 while bolt element 22 is mounted on frame structure 12. Accordingly, when door 14 is moved along its predetermined path of travel relative to frame 12, as illus-' trated by the arrow 16, trap lever 20 likewise moves along a parallel predetermined path of travel relative to bolt element 22. Bolt element 22 and trap lever 20 are disposed for interengagement during the relative shifting thereof along their predetermined path of travel. As can best be seen viewing FIGS. 4 A, 4 B and 4 C, as door 14 closes, leg 20 a of lever 20 contacts bolt element 22 (FIG. 4 A) and as lever 20 continues to move toward bolt element 22 (FIG. 4 B), trap lever 20 is rotated about the axis of shaft 24 until it reaches the position relative to bolt element 22 illustrated in FIG. 4 C.

Of course, as would be understood by one skilled in the art to which this invention pertains, while relative movement is required between trap lever 20 and bolt element 22, it does not make any critical difference which one is mounted in the door structure 14. For purposes of the present invention, it is manifest that structure 12 could comprise a movable door structure while structure 14 constitutes a relatively stationary frame structure. In this event the path of relative movement would still be along the arrow 16.

As can be seen viewing FIGS. 4A, 4B and 4C, trap lever 20 and bolt element 22 move relatively along their predetermined path of travel during the closing of door structure 14 relative to frame structure 12 and 7 during such movement, trap lever 22 is rotated from its first position illustrated in FIGS. 1 and4A and into its second position illustrated in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4C. Also it should be noted that when trap lever 20 and bolt element 22 are disposed relative to one another as illustrated in FIG. 4C, the legs 20a and 20b of the trap lever are disposed to prevent relative movement of trap lever 20 and bolt element 22 along their predetermined path of travel unless trap lever 20 is free to rotate about the axis of shaft 24. Thus, when trap lever 20 and bolt element 22 are disposed as shown in FIG. 4C, legs 20a and 20b of trap lever 20 are disposed in blocking relationship relative to the path of relative shifting of trap lever 20 and bolt element 22.

Trap lever 20 is mounted at one end of shaft 24 and an operating lever means in the nature of a wheel 26 is mounted at the other end of shaft 24. Both lever 20 and wheel 26 are rigid with shaft 24 and therefor wheel 26 rotates with lever 20 about the axis of shaft 24 between the first position illustrated in FIG. 1 and its second position illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3. A projection 28 on wheel 26 cooperates with the

legs

30 and 32 of a shiftable fork member 34 for the purpose of rotating the latter about the axis of pivot 36. Thus, as can be seen from FIGS. 1 and 2, when wheel 26 moves from its first position illustrated in FIG. 1 and into its second position illustrated in FIG. 2, projection 28 contacts leg 32 and moves member 34 clockwise about pivot 36. Thus, member 34 constitutes a shiftable member operably coupled to wheel 26 for shifting by the latter during movement of wheel 26 between its first and second positions.

The lock 18 also comprises an irregularly shaped control lever 38. Lever 38 is mounted for rotation about the axis of an elongated shaft 40 which extends through the outer panel 14a of door 14, and an operator mechanism in the nature of a door handle 42 is provided at the outer end of shaft 40. Means, in the nature of a spring 44 is provided for yieldably biasing lever 38 in a clockwise direction (FIG. 1) about the axis of shaft 40. Handle 42 and lever 38 are rigidly affixed to shaft 40 so that handle 42 presents external means for shifting lever 38 against the bias of spring 44 from its secondary disposition as illustrated in FIG. 2 and toward its primary disposition as illustrated in FIG. 3. Conversely, spring 44 constitutes means for yieldably biasing lever 38 away from its primary disposition (FIGS. 1 and 3) and toward its secondary disposition (FIG. 2).

Fork member 34 is provided with a projection 46 disposed to cooperate with an abutment 48 on control lever 38 for the purpose of preventing the movement of the latter under the influence of spring 44 when the parts of the lock are conditioned as shown in FIG. 1 with wheel 26 in its first position and with lever 38 in its primary disposition. Projection 46 is also disposed for engagement with a second abutment 50 of lever 38 for limiting the movement of the latter under the influence of spring 44 after fork member 34 has been shifted by wheel 26 into its disposition illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3. Thus, projection 46 and abutment 48 comprise cooperable parts on member 34 and lever 38 which are disposed in interengagement to prevent rota-, tion of lever 38 under the influence of spring 44 when lever and wheel 26 are in their first position and lever 38 is in its primary disposition. Also, projection 46 and abutment 48 present parts which are disengaged when wheel 26 and lever 20 are in their second position to permit lever 38 to move in a clockwise direction (FIGS. 1 and 2) under the influence of spring 44.

An extension 52 on lever 38 is disposed to contact one end 54 of a pawl 56 when lever 38 is in its primary disposition as is illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 3. A coil spring 58 is mounted about one end of shaft 24 in position to yieldably urge pawl 56 to rotate in a counterclockwise direction (FIGS. 1 through 3) about the axis of pivot 60. The other end 62 of pawl 56 is disposed to cooperate with a pair of circumferentially spaced ratchet stops 64 and 66 on wheel 26. The generally circumferentially extending surface 68 on wheel 26 which leads up to stop 66 is disposed at a lesser radius with respect to the axis of shaft 24, than the circumferentially extending surface 70 which leads up to stop 64. Spring 58 urges end 62 of pawl 56 against surface 68 when the lock is conditioned as shown in FIG. 2. However, when lever 38 is rotated to bring extension 52 into contact with end 54 of pawl 56 the latter is rotated in a clockwise direction against the bias of spring 58 whereby end 62 thereof is lifted away from surface 68 and into a position (see FIG. 3) where end 62 clears surface 70 of wheel 26. When pawl 56 is in its position illustrated in FIG. 2, movement of wheel 26 in a clockwise direction is prevented by the interengagement of end 62 of pawl 56 and stop 66 of wheel 26. Thus, when pawl 56 is in its FIG. 2 position, the same may be said to be in its movement preventing position. On the other hand, when pawl 56 is in the position illustrated in FIG. 3, and 62 thereof will be out of alignment with stop 66 and rotation of wheel 26 in a clockwise direction will not be interferred with. Thus, when pawl 56 is in its position illustrated in FIG. 3, it can be said that pawl 56 is out of a movement prevention position relative to wheel 26. Thus, pawl 56 and stops 64 and 66 present a pawl and ratchet mechanism for preventing movement of wheel 26 when lever 38 is in its secondary disposition.

In operation, starting at a point when door 14 is open relative to frame structure 12, the various elements of lock 18 are disposed as is indicated in FIG. 1. As door 14 is moved toward structure 12 along the path of travel designated by arrow 16, leg 20a of trap 20 will come'into contact with bolt element 22 and as door 14 continues to move toward frame structure 12 (FIG. 4B), trap lever 20 will be rotated about the axis of shaft 24 until trap 20 and element 22 assume relative positions such as are shown in FIG. 4C. Simultaneously with the rotation of trap 20, shaft 24 and wheel 26 will also be rotated and projection 28 on wheel 26 will contact leg 32 of fork member 34 whereby the latter will be rotated about pivot 36 in a clockwise direction (FIG. 1) to lift projection 46 out of engagement with abutment 48 of lever 38. lnstantaneously, therefor, the elements of lock 18 will be conditioned as is shown in FIG. 3 where spring 44 is free to act on lever 38 to rotate the latter clockwise about the axis of shaft 40 so that lever 38 moves into its disposition illustrated in FIG. 2. As lever 38 moves clockwise, extension 52 comes out of engagement with end 54 of pawl 56 whereby the latter is rotated by spring 58 in a counterclockwise direction about pivot 60 and end 62 thereof drops into abutting relationship with surface 68 and stop 66 of wheel 26. Thus, springs 58 and 44 have automatically moved lever 38 and pawl 56 into a position whereby movement of wheel 26 and trap lever 20 is prevented.

Pawl 56 will positively prevent the rotation of wheel 26 in a clockwise direction and therefor the clockwise rotation of trap 20 will also be positively prevented by the interengagement of end 62 of pawl 56 with stop 66. Thus, the legs 20a and 20b of trap 20 are disposed to prevent relative movement between trap 20 and bolt element 22 in a direction to open door 14.

When it is desired to open door 14, handle 42 may be grasped manually and rotated in a counterclockwise direction about the axis of shaft 40. Lever 38 is therefor also caused to rotate in a counterclockwise direction against the bias of spring 44 until such time as extension 52 has contacted end 54 of pawl 56 to lift end 62 thereof out of engagement with stop 66. At the same time, abutment 48 of lever 38 will have been brought into alignment with projection 46 of fork member 34. Thus, so long as handle 42 is manually held, the lock elements will be positioned as is illustrated in FIG. 3. Since end 62 of pawl 56 has been lifted out of engagement with stop 66, wheel 26 and lever 20 are free to rotate in a clockwise direction. Accordingly, door 14 may be pulled away from frame 12 in a direction along arrow 16 and as the door 14 moves away from frame 12 the interaction between bolt element 22 and trap lever 20 will cause the latter to be rotated about the axis of shaft 24 until it reaches a position approximately as illustrated in FIG. 4B. Thus, door 14 will be free to open. Spring 58 operates to exert a clockwise twist on shaft 24 such that trap 20 is fully rotated into the position thereof illustrated in FIG. 4A and at the same time projection 28 moves out of engagement with leg 32 of fork member 34 and the latter is rotated in a counterclockwise direction about the axis of pivot 36 by the action of a spring 72. Thus, all of the various elements of lock 18 have once again moved into the positions illustrated in FIG. 1.

As is manifest from the foregoing description, member 34 and pawl 56 comprise a locking mechanism for preventing movement of the operating lever means 26 from its second position (FIG. 2) to its first position (FIG. 1) when the control lever means 38 is in its secondary disposition (FIG. 2) whereby relative shifting of bolt element 22 and trap lever 20 is prevented. The locking mechanism presented by fork member 34 and pawl 56 also operates to hold control lever means 38 in its primary disposition (FIG. 1) against the bias of yieldable biasing means 44 when trap lever 20 and operating lever means 26 are in their first position (FIG.

l) and control lever means 38 is in its primary disposition (FIG. 1).

As an alternate embodiment the invention contemplates a spring actuated lock such as the lock 18 wherein a pawl and ratchet mechanism is not required for preventing movement of operating lever means 26 when control lever 38 is in its secondary disposition. In accordance with this embodiment,

legs

30 and 32 of fork member 34 may be shaped such that each is in continual contact with projection 28 of wheel 26. Thus, any movement of wheel 26 immediately results in a corresponding movement of fork member 34. Also, the surface 74 on the periphery of lever 38 is shaped such that projection 46 of member 34 is in continual contact with surface 74 during the movement of lever 38 between its primary and secondary dispositions. Also, when lever 38 is in its secondary disposition as shown in FIG. 2, projection 46 remains in engagement with surface 74. The operation of this embodiment of the lock is similar to the operation of the first embodiment. As door 14 is moved toward frame [2, leg 20a of trap 20 contacts bolt element 22 and trap lever 20 is therefore rotated about the axis of shaft 24. As shaft 24 is ro tated by trap 20, wheel 26 is also rotated about the axis of shaft 24. Since

legs

30 and 32 of fork member 34 are in continual contact with projection 28 in this embodiment, fork member 34 immediately begins to rotate in a clockwise direction about pivot 36 when wheel 26 begins to rotate during the rotation of trap 20. When wheel 26 and fork member 34 reach the positions thereof indicated in FIG. 3, lever 38 will be free to rotate into its second disposition under the influence of spring 44. This rotation of lever 38 will move surface 68 under projection 46 of member 34 whereby movement of the latter in a counterclockwise direction about pivot 36 is positively prevented. Since in this embodiment, leg 30 of member 34 is in continual contact with projection 28, the prevention of counterclockwise rotation of member 34 will positively prevent clockwise rotation of wheel 26 and thereby also rotaton of trap lever 20 is prevented. When handle 42 and thereby lever 38 are moved in a counterclockwise direction against the bias of spring 44, projection 46 is brought into alignment with abutment 48 whereby member 34, wheel 26 and trap 20 will be free to rotate in directions necessary to bring trap lever 20 out of blocking relationship with respect to bolt element 22. In this embodiment, the member 34, including its

legs

30 and 32 and its projection 46, and the surface 74 and abutment 48 of lever 38 present a locking mechanism which is operable to perform the same functions as the locking mechanism presented by member 34 and pawl 56 in the first embodiment.

Another embodiment of the invention is illustrated in FIGS. A, 5B and 5C. In this embodiment trap 120 is similar to trap and bolt 122 is similar to bolt 22 except that relative movement between trap 120 and bolt element 122 does not result from the closing of door 14. Rather, assuming that trap 120 is carried by a door such as the door 14 and bolt element 122 is mounted on a frame such as the frame structure 12, movement of the door and the trap 120 to the right in FIGS. 5A, 5B and 5C will open the door and correspondingly,

movement of the door and trap 120 to the left relative to element 122 will close the door. Viewing FIG. 5A, bolt element 122 and trap 120 are disposed such that horizontal movement of the trap 120 relative to the element 122 is not prevented. FIG. 5A therefore represents the disposition of element 122 and trap 120 after the door has been fully closed but before the lock mechanism has been actuated.

In this embodiment, element 122 is preferably mounted for vertical shifting on frame 12 along the relative path of travel indicated by the arrow designated by reference numeral 116. To operate the lock, element 122 is shifted vertically relative to trap 120 along path 116 and the trap is contacted by element 122 and is rotated (FIG. 5B) until it assumes the position indicated in FIG. SC. With trap lever 120 and bolt element 122 disposed as indicated in FIG. 5C, it will not be possible to open the door.

All of the other relative movements of the lock mechanism are as described above in connection with the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 3. That is to say, rotation of trap results in rotation of wheel 26 which lifts projection 46 of member 34 out of engagement with abutment 48. Thus, member 38 rotates under the influence of spring 44 to remove extension 52 from contact with end 54 of pawl 56 whereby end 62 of pawl 56 is dropped into engagement with stop 66 of wheel 26. Accordingly, rotation of wheel 26 in a direction to unlock the door is positively prevented until such time as handle 42 is rotated.

As another alternative structure, an operating rod 76 may be provided for remote operation of lever 38. Thus, one desiring to open the door would pull rod 76 whereby lever 38 would be rotated in a counterclockwise direction against the bias of spring 44. This is fully analogous to the operation of the lock by rotating lever 38 with handle 42.

I claim:

1. A spring actuated lock for use with a motor vehicle door assembly including a frame structure and a door structure comprising:

a trap lever mounted on one of said structures for movement between first and second positions;

a bolt element mounted on the other of said structures, said bolt element and said trap lever being relatively shiftable along a predetermined path of travel and being disposed for interengagement during said relative shifting,

said bolt element being disposed relative to the trap lever for contacting the latter and moving the trap lever from its first position and into its second position during said relative shifting;

operating lever means carried by the trap lever for movement therewith between said first and second positions;

control lever means mounted for movement between primary and secondary dispositions;

means coupled with the control lever for yieldably biasing the latter toward its secondary disposition and away from its primary disposition;

a locking mechanism including a shiftable member operably coupled to the operating lever means for shifting by the latter when the operating lever means moves between its said positions, said mechanism including respective cooperable parts on said member and on said control lever means, which parts are disposed in interengagement when the trap lever and therefore the operating lever means are in said first position and the control lever means is in its primary disposition for holding the control lever means in said primary disposition against the bias of the yieldably biasing means,

said parts being disposed in disengagement when the operating lever means is in said second position whereby the control lever means is released to permit movement of the latter from its primary disposition to its secondary disposition under the influence of the yieldably biasing means,

said trap lever being disposed in blocking relationship relative to the path of relative shifting of the trap lever and the bolt element when the trap lever is in its second position,

said locking mechanism including means for preventing movement of the operating lever means from said second position to said first position when the control lever means is in its secondary disposition whereby the relative shifting of the bolt element and the trap lever is prevented; and

an operator mechanism for shifting said control lever means from its secondary dispostion to its primary disposition to release the operating lever means for movement from its second position to its first position whereby to release the trap lever and the bolt element for said relative shifting.

2. A lock as set forth in claim 1 wherein said means for preventing movement of the operating lever means comprises a pawl and ratchet mechanism, said pawl being spring biased into a movement preventing position and being disposed for engagement by an element of the control lever means when the latter is moved toward its primary disposition for moving the pawl out of said movement preventing position.

3. A lock as set forth in claim 1 wherein said means for preventing movement of the operating lever means comprises abutting surfaces on the shiftable member and on the control lever means.

4. A lock as set forth in claim 1 wherein said parts of the locking mechanism include a projection on the shiftable member and an abutment on the control lever.

5. A lock as set forth in claim 4 wherein said means for preventing movement of the operating lever comprises a surface on said control lever means disposed to abut said projection when the control lever means is in its second disposition.

6. A lock as set forth in claim 1 wherein said bolt element is mounted on said frame structure and said trap lever is mounted on said door structure.

7. A lock as set forth in claim 1 wherein said door structure and said frame structure are relatively shiftable along said predetermined path of travel whereby relative shifting of said door structure and said frame structure results in said relative shifting of the bolt element and the trap lever.

8. A lock as set forth in claim 1 wherein said bolt element is shiftable on its structure whereby shifting of the element on its structure results in said relative shifting of the bolt element and the trap lever.

Claims

1. A spring actuated lock for use with a motor vehicle door assembly including a frame structure and a door structure comprising: a trap lever mounted on one of said structures for movement between first and second positions; a bolt element mounted on the other of said structures, said bolt element and said trap lever being relatively shiftable along a predetermined path of travel and being disposed for interengagement during said relative shifting, said bolt element being disposed relative to the trap lever for contacting the latter and moving the trap lever from its first position and into its second position during said relative shifting; operating lever means carried by the trap lever for movement therewith between said first and second positions; control lever means mounted for movement between primary and secondary dispositions; means coupled with the control lever for yieldably biasing the latter toward its secondary disposition and away from its primary disposition; a locking mechanism including a shiftable member operably coupled to the operating lever means for shifting by the latter when the operating lever means moves between its said positions, said mechanism including respective cooperable parts on said member and on said control lever means, which parts are disposed in interengagement when the trap lever and therefore the operating lever means are in said first position and the control lever means is in its primary disposition for holding the control lever means in said primary disposition against the bias of the yieldably biasing means, said parts being disposed in disengagement when the operating lever means is in said second position whereby the control lever means is released to permit movement of the latter from its primary disposition to its secondary disposition under the influence of the yieldably biasing means, said trap lever being disposed in blocking relationship relative to the path of relative shifting of the trap lever and the bolt element when the trap lever is in its second position, said locking mechanism including means for preventing movement of the operating lever means from said second position to said first position when the control lever means is in its secondary disposition whereby the relative shifting of the bolt element and the trap lever is prevented; and an operator mechanism for shifting said control lever means from its secondary dispostion to its primary disposition to release the operating lever means for movement from its second position to its first position whereby to release the trap lever and the bolt element for said relative shifting.