Patent Application
20200181946
This invention relates to a door lock or other lock control mechanism that is operable to lock and unlock a door or similar structure.
Electronic door lock actuators, including so-called smart locks that are used to actuate existing door lock mechanisms, are known, e.g., as described in US Patent Application Publication US20170037937. Such door lock arrangements can allow a user to both operate the door lock manually, e.g., by operating a thumb turn, and electronically, e.g., by interacting with the door lock via an electronic device such as a smartphone.
Some door lock arrangements that permit manual operation of the lock require that a user not only rotate or otherwise move the lock mechanism, but also components of a motor drive system such as a motor shaft and drive gears. This can make manual operation of the door lock more difficult than necessary for the user, e.g., because friction in the motor drive system must be overcome by the user to operate the lock. Aspects of the invention provide for a motor drive system for a door lock that includes a clutch which may disengage at least the drive motor from a thumb turn of the door lock so that a user can manually operate the door lock without having to rotate or otherwise move the drive shaft or other portions of a drive motor. Also provided is a position sensing arrangement for determining a position of a lock drive and corresponding lock mechanism that is not dependent on movement of drive train components to determine the position of the lock drive and lock mechanism.
In one aspect of the invention, a door lock includes a body adapted to be mounted to a door or other structure that has a component which can be opened and closed, such as a window. Typically, the body is mounted to a movable part of the door, but may be mountable to a door jamb or other stationary element of the door. A lock drive may be movably mounted to the body and adapted to move a lock mechanism between locked and unlocked positions. The lock mechanism may include a slidable lock bolt, movable latch or other lock element that, when in a locked position, can prevent or otherwise resist movement of the door from a closed position to an open position. The lock drive may be coupled to the lock mechanism to actuate the lock mechanism based on movement of the lock drive. For example, the lock drive may be coupled to the lock mechanism by a tailpiece or coupling element so that rotation of the lock drive moves the tailpiece and thus the lock mechanism between lock and unlock positions. A thumb turn may be movably mounted to the body and adapted for manual movement between at least two positions, such as open and closed positions. The thumb turn may be coupled to the lock drive such that movement of the thumb turn moves the lock drive, e.g., so that a user can move the thumb turn to move the lock mechanism between lock and unlock positions. While the lock drive can be moved manually via the thumb turn, the lock drive can be moved by a motorized or other automated drive train arrangement. Thus, the lock may include a drive train, which may include a drive motor mounted to the body and a transmission coupled between the drive motor and the lock drive to move the lock drive in response to movement of the drive motor. A position sensor may be coupled to the lock drive to detect a position of the lock drive in response to movement of the lock drive, with the position sensor being adapted to detect a position of the lock drive independent of movement of the drive motor, transmission or any other drive train component. While the position sensor may be coupled to the lock drive so the position sensor moves in response to movement of the lock drive, the position sensor may be separate from the lock drive. For example, the position sensor may be coupled to a position gear that is coupled to the lock drive and rotates in response to movement of the lock drive. The position gear may be independent of any drive train component, i.e., the position gear does not function to transmit drive energy to the lock drive. Instead, the position gear may rotate passively in response to movement of the lock drive.
In one embodiment, the door lock includes a clutch mechanically arranged between the drive motor and the lock drive, with the clutch being adapted to selectively couple and uncouple the drive motor from the lock drive, e.g., based on movement of the drive motor. For example, the clutch may include a clutch gear that is movable between engaged and disengaged positions based on movement of the drive motor. In some cases, the clutch includes a clutch gear having a pivot axis movably mounted to the body such that the clutch gear can move relative to the body along a two dimensional pathway between engaged and disengaged positions. The clutch gear may be mounted to the body to be rotatable about the pivot axis and the two dimensional pathway may be arranged in a plane that is perpendicular to the pivot axis. Since the position sensor may be independent of any drive train component, the position sensor may detect a position of the lock drive independent of whether the clutch couples or uncouples the drive motor from the lock drive.
In some embodiments, the position sensor is coupled to the lock drive to rotate in response to movement of the thumb turn. For example, the lock drive may include a drive wheel mounted to the body and the position sensor may be rotatably coupled to the drive wheel. The thumb turn may be coupled for movement with the drive wheel such that movement of the thumb turn moves the drive wheel, and movement of the drive wheel moves the thumb turn. The position sensor may include a potentiometer coupled to a position gear, and the position gear may be rotatably coupled to the thumb turn. For example, the lock drive may include a drive wheel mounted to the body and the position gear may be coupled to the drive wheel, e.g., by an intermediate gear that is coupled between the position gear and the drive wheel.
Other advantages and novel features of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of various non-limiting embodiments when considered in conjunction with the accompanying figures and claims.
Aspects of the invention are described with reference to the following drawings in which numerals reference like elements, and wherein:
Aspects of the invention are described below by way of one or more illustrative embodiments. It should be understood that the illustrative embodiments described are not intended to limit the aspects of the invention, but rather to help show how one or more aspects of the invention may be implemented in a particular example. Also, aspects of the invention may be implemented alone and/or in combination with other aspects of the invention. For example, a clutch arrangement is described below in which the clutch can be engaged/disengaged based on motor movement. This aspect of the invention may be employed with an aspect of the invention that a clutch gear can be moved along a two dimensional path to engage/disengage the clutch gear, or can be used with other clutch configurations. As another example, the aspect of the invention that a clutch gear can be moved along a two dimensional path can be used with an arrangement that employs an actuator to move the clutch gear along the two dimensional path, or in other arrangements such as those that allow a user to manually move the clutch gear along the path.
As is common with many fully manual door locks, the door lock 1 includes a thumb turn 13 that allows a user to manually rotate or otherwise actuate the lock mechanism to move a bolt, latch or other lock element between lock and unlock positions. In this embodiment, the thumb turn 13 may be coupled with a lock tailpiece 22 (either pre-existing or provided with the door lock 1) so that the thumb turn 13 can rotate the tailpiece 22, and thereby move the lock mechanism between lock and unlock positions. Use of a lock tailpiece 22 with the door lock 1 will typically be done when a thumb turn of an existing lock is removed and the door lock 1 is mounted in its place. Where the door lock 1 is mounted over an existing lock thumb turn, the thumb turn 13 of the door lock 1 may be coupled with the existing lock thumb turn, e.g., by providing the door lock 1 with a coupling device that fits over and has a recess to receive the existing thumb turn, as discussed more below.
While the door lock 1 in this embodiment allows a user to manually move a lock mechanism between lock and unlock positions using the thumb turn 13, the door lock 1 also includes a drive train with a motor drive function that allows the lock mechanism to be moved automatically between lock and unlock positions, e.g., in response to wireless signals from a user device such as a smartphone.
As mentioned above, the door lock 1 in this embodiment includes a drive train to move the lock drive 2, and thus a coupled tailpiece 22 and lock mechanism, between lock and unlock positions. In some cases, a motor drive of a drive train can make manual rotation of a thumb turn 13 difficult, e.g., because of friction in a motor drive train. However, in accordance with an aspect of the invention, a clutch 5 is provided to selectively decouple a drive motor 3 from the lock drive 2 to allow for easier rotation of the thumb turn 13. In this embodiment, the drive motor 3 is arranged to rotate the lock drive 2 by way of a transmission 4, and the clutch 5 can decouple the transmission 4 from the lock drive 2 as well. This can allow for easier turning of the thumb turn 13 by a user, e.g., because the drive motor 3 and transmission 4 need not be rotated when the thumb turn 13 is rotated by hand. Although the transmission 4 can be arranged in a variety of different ways, in this embodiment the transmission 4 includes a first bevel gear 41 that is mounted to the drive shaft of the motor 3, and a second bevel gear 42 that is coupled to the first bevel gear 41. The second bevel gear 42 is coupled to an idler gear 43. In this embodiment, the clutch 5 includes a clutch gear 51 that is engaged with the idler gear 43, and forward and reverse drive gears 54, 53 that are engaged with gear teeth on the drive wheel 21. As is discussed in more detail below, the clutch gear 51 can move along a two dimensional pathway 52, e.g., a slot 52 formed in the base 17. Movement along the two dimensional pathway 52 allows the clutch gear 51 to be selectively engaged with either the forward drive gear 54 or the reverse drive gear 53, or disengaged from both gears 54, 53.
In accordance with an aspect of the invention, the clutch 5 can selectively engage and disengage from the lock drive 2 based on movement of the drive motor 3.
Control of the drive motor 3 to position the clutch gear 51 in a disengaged position may be done in a variety of different ways. In some embodiments, the motor 3 may be operated to move the clutch gear 51 to a disengaged position after each time the drive motor 3 is used to move the lock drive 2. For example, the motor 3 may be rotated in the forward direction to move the lock drive 2 and a coupled lock mechanism to a lock position. Upon arrival of the lock drive 21 at the lock position, the motor 3 may be driven in the rearward direction sufficiently to disengage the clutch gear 51 from the forward drive gear 54. To effect disengagement of the clutch gear 51, the motor 3 may be energized for a period of time in the reverse direction to disengage the clutch gear 51 from the forward drive gear 54. In other embodiments, the motor 3 may be a stepper motor or motor with a position sensing capability so that the motor 3 can be driven a particular number of full or partial revolutions to achieve clutch gear disengagement. In other cases, a sensor may be employed to detect when the clutch gear 51 is at a disengaged position and the motor 3 stopped to leave the clutch gear 51 at the disengaged position. Similar is true for movement of the lock drive 2 in the reverse direction. That is, the clutch gear 51 can be moved from a position in which the clutch gear 51 is engaged with the reverse drive gear 53 to a disengaged position along the pathway 52 in similar ways, e.g., the motor 3 moved in a rearward direction until the lock drive 2 is suitably positioned, and then the motor 3 reverses direction to move the clutch gear 51 to a disengaged position. By having the clutch gear 51 in a disengaged position after each time the motor drive is used to move the lock drive, a user may be able to manually move the thumb turn 13 without having the thumb turn 13 engaged with the motor 3.
In another aspect of the invention, the clutch may include a gear that moves between engaged and disengaged positions, and such movement may be independent of motor movement. For example, the clutch gear 51 in the embodiments of
In another aspect of the invention, the door lock may include a position sensor that can determine a position of the lock drive independent of movement of a transmission or motor or any other drive train component that operates to move the lock drive. As an example, a position sensor may be coupled to the lock drive at a location of the system such that a clutch is positioned between the position sensor and the motor and transmission. Such an arrangement may allow the door lock to detect position of the lock drive whether the lock drive is moved by a motor or by hand because the clutch can disengage the motor from the lock drive, and yet the position sensor can determine the lock drive position. This is in contrast to arrangements that have a position sensor integrated with a motor, transmission or other drive train component that automatically moves the lock drive. Such systems must have the transmission or other motor drive components remain coupled to the lock drive because otherwise the position sensor will not be able to continuously track the position of the lock drive. As a result, such systems cannot have a clutch that enables disengagement of the motor from the lock drive.
In another aspect of the invention, a position sensor may be mounted to a gear that is not part of a drive train that functions to move the lock drive. For example, a position sensor may be mounted to a gear that does not function to transmit energy to move the lock drive, but instead moves passively based on movement of the lock drive. This may allow the position sensor to be isolated from stresses and other physical disruptions that may be experienced by a gear or other drive train component that transmits energy to move the lock drive. As a result, the position sensor may operate more reliably and provide a position signal that is not influenced by mechanical disruptions.
In another aspect of the invention, a position sensor may be arranged to determine position of a lock drive in a way that is independent of motion of drive train components that are operating to move the lock drive. This may allow the position sensor to not only be isolated from mechanical disruptions experienced by drive train components during movement of the lock drive, but also allow the position sensor to identify failure or other faults of the drive train. For example, since the position sensor may be responsive to movement of an element (such as a gear) that moves passively in response to movement of the lock drive rather than components of the drive train, the position sensor may indicate only movement of the lock drive. If the drive train has failed, the lock drive will not move and will be detected by the position sensor. This is in contrast to systems which have a position sensor detect motion responsive to movement of a drive train component. In some of those cases, a drive train component associated with the position sensor may move and thereby move the position sensor, but the lock drive will not move because of failure of another drive train component that is downstream. By arranging the position sensor to determine position of a lock drive independent of motion of drive train components operating to move the lock drive, such drive train failure can be detected by the position sensor.
Although the position gear 62 is coupled to the drive wheel 21 via the reverse drive gear 53 in the
Although the position gear 62 is coupled to the drive wheel 21 via the intermediate gear 63 and the reverse drive gear 53 in this embodiment, the position gear 62 can be directly coupled to the drive wheel 21, or the intermediate gear 63 can be directly coupled to the drive wheel 21. This would make movement of the position sensor 61 completely independent of any drive train component. Therefore, in some embodiments, a position sensor for determining the position of the lock drive may be mounted to a gear that is coupled to the lock drive, but whose movement is not based on movement of any drive train component used to move the lock drive. Such an arrangement can provide resilience to failure, such as when a position sensor is coupled to a drive component. For example, drive gears may have relatively high torques applied to them, and as a result the drive gears may break or “skip” where toothed engagement between adjacent gears temporarily disengages. By having a position sensor on a gear that is not part of a drive train, the position sensor will not be subjected to high torques, skipping or other problems experienced by components of the drive train. Also, such arrangement may allow for repair or replacement of the position sensor without disrupting components of the drive train. Thus, repair or replacement of a faulty position sensor may be performed more easily.
In some embodiments, the reverse drive gear 53 may be used only to move the drive wheel 21 when the lock mechanism is being moved from a lock to an unlocked position. This may put less stress on the reverse drive gear 53 than is put on the forward drive gear 54, e.g., because movement of the lock mechanism from the lock position to the unlock position may require less torque. As an example, movement of a bolt of a lock mechanism from an unlock position (where the bolt is retracted into a door) to a lock position (where the bolt is extended from the door and into a corresponding receiving opening of a door jamb) may be prevented or resisted in some cases such as when a door is not fully closed. This may put high stress on the motor drive system, including the forward drive gear 54, when the bolt of the lock mechanism is physically prevented from moving. However, movement of the lock mechanism from a lock position to an unlock position may typically put less stress on the drive system, and thus on the reverse drive gear 53. This may allow the position sensor 61 to provide more accurate position information, e.g., because the reverse drive gear 53 may be subjected to fewer conditions in which the reverse drive gear 53 may disengage from the drive wheel 21. As a result, the position sensor 61 may be coupled to a component of the drive train that is subjected to lower torques or other forces when moving the lock drive 2.
Electronic control of the door lock 1 components, such as the motor 3 and communication with the position sensor 61, may be performed by any suitable control circuitry, which may include a programmed general purpose computer and/or other data processing device along with suitable software or other operating instructions, one or more memories (including non-transient storage media that may store software and/or other operating instructions), a power supply for the control circuitry and/or other system components, position and other sensors, wireless communication devices to allow the control circuitry to receive and send signals with respect to user devices such as a smartphone or wireless router, input/output interfaces (e.g., such as the user interface to display information to a user and/or receive input from a user), communication buses or other links between components of the door lock 1, a display, switches, relays, triacs, motors, mechanical linkages and/or actuators, or other components necessary to perform desired input/output or other functions.
While aspects of the invention have been described with reference to various illustrative embodiments, such aspects are not limited to the embodiments described. Thus, it is evident that many alternatives, modifications, and variations of the embodiments described will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, embodiments as set forth herein are intended to be illustrative, not limiting. Various changes may be made without departing from the spirit of aspects of the invention.
