FIELD OF INVENTION:
[001] The present subject matter described herein, relates to a key cylinder for selectively locking or unlocking a door panel of a vehicle, and, in particular, to a key cylinder having cable type arrangement. More particularly, the present subject matter relates to a key cylinder having cable type arrangement which can be arranged from outer panel of the door, specifically, back door of the vehicle.
BACKGROUND AND PRIOR ART:
[002] Key cylinders are provided in the vehicle to actuate lock and unlock mechanism through authentic key. Generally, there are two types of key cylinders, such as cable type key cylinders and rod type key cylinders. Both of the key cylinders have opening for receiving the key which can be rotated clockwise or anti-clockwise to activate a lock mechanism. The cable type key cylinders are quite bulky and assembled from inner panel of the vehicle and it needs reinforcement or other means for assembly on vehicle. The rod type key cylinders are generally assembled from outer panel. The rod type key cylinders may or may not require reinforcement.
[003] Figure 1 illustrates the structure of the cable type key cylinders as known in the art. The cable type key cylinder 101 has two lever one to hold the cable and another is to pull the cable. The lever which holds the cable is mounted on the cylinder of the key cylinder. Therefore, the size of cable type key cylinder is quite big due to lever for cable mounted on the cylinder. Figure 2 illustrates the assembly of cable type key cylinder from the inner side of the inner panel of the door. The cable type key cylinder 101 is assembled from the inner panel 105 and follows the assembly path 102 as shown in the figure. The cable type key cylinder 101 needs reinforcement 103 for assembly on outer panel 104 from inside. If the cable type key cylinder is mounted directly on the outer panel 104, mounting marks of the cable type key cylinder can affect the aesthetic appearance of the

door panel. However, if fitment/mounting of key cylinder happens through inner panel, there are issues related to key cylinder fitment at center of outer panel hole. Sometimes key cylinder fitment is not in center but slightly offset which creates aesthetic problem. Further, the cable operated key cylinders are big in size.
[004] Figure 3 illustrates structure of rod type key cylinders. The rod type key cylinder 300 has a integrally fitted lever plate 301 which moves the rod upon rotation of rotor by the key. Figure 4 illustrates assembly of the rod type key cylinder 300 from the outer panel of the door. The rod type cylinder 300 with lever plate 301 follows the assembly path from outer panel 302. The rod type key cylinder fitted in the mounting hole present on the outer panel completely. Fitment from the outer panel overcomes the problem of slight offset of the key cylinder from the center of the mounting hole. In the existing rod type key cylinder, size of key cylinder is small and hence it can easily be fitted from the outer panel hole. However, in the present rod type key cylinder assembly and fitment from outer panel, there is no provision for the cable to operate the locking and unlocking mechanism. Due to rod type arrangement, in the rear impact test, key cylinder moves towards cabin which sometimes leads to actuation of the latch and opening of the back door. Further, opening of the rear door is not accepted during the rear impact test of the vehicle. Further, the cable type key cylinder cannot be mounted from outer panel of the vehicle due to its big size and integrated lever on the cylinder.
[005] In order to overcome the above mentioned technical problems related to cable type key cylinder and rod type key cylinder an efficient cable type key cylinder is required which can satisfy the rear impact test and which can be mounted from the outer panel to avoid fitment issues.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION:
[006] The principal objective of the present invention is to provide a cable type key cylinder.

[007] Another object of the present subject matter is to provide a cable type key cylinder which can be mounted on the panel of the door from outer panel.
[008] Another object of the present subject matter is to provide a cable operated key cylinder which has a L-shape lever which can be attached and de-attached during assembly and dis-assembly of the key cylinder.
[009] Yet another object of the present subject matter is to use rod type key cylinder as cable type key cylinder using L shaped lever.
[0010] Yet another object of the present subject matter is to use existing rod type key cylinder as cable type key cylinder.
[0011] Yet another object of the present subject matter is to provide a simple and cost efficient cable type key cylinder which can be mounted on the existing mounting hole from outer panel.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION:
[0012] The subject matter disclosed herein relates to a key cylinder which is cable type and which can be mounted from outer panel of the door. The key cylinder can be rod type or plate lever type key cylinder. The key cylinder has a rotor which is rotated by a key. The rotor has several key combinations for authentic locking and unlocking of lock mechanism. The rotor is positioned inside the key cylinder. The key cylinder has a L-shaped lever which is provided on basal end. The L-shaped lever is attached with lugs of the key cylinder. The lugs of the key cylinder prevent rotation or movement of the L-shaped Lever along with the rotor. The L-shaped lever can be detached from the cylinder during assembly and dis-assembly of the key cylinder. The key cylinder has a plate lever which is fixed on basal end of the rotor. The plate lever is fixed with the rotor via E-ring which moves the plate lever integrally with the rotor. Therefore, when rotor moves by the key, the plate lever moves in tandem with the rotor. The L-shaped lever has opening at free end to lock outer hollow cable. The plate lever has a keyhole shaped cut to receive nipple of inner wire end of the cable to actuate locking and unlocking mechanism. When the key rotates the rotor, the rotor in tandem rotates

the plate lever coupled with inner wire of the cable. The plate lever pulls the inner wire form the outer hollow wire which is fixed at the L-shaped lever and actuates the locking and unlocking mechanism. The present key cylinder is mounted from the outer panel. In another embodiment of the present subject matter, the plate lever and L shaped lever are mounted on key cylinder and then key cylinder is inserted from outer panel.
[0013] In order to further understand the characteristics and technical contents of the present subject matter, a description relating thereto will be made with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the drawings are illustrative only but not used to limit scope of the present subject matter.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0014] It is to be noted, however, that the appended drawings illustrate only typical embodiments of the present subject matter and are therefore not to be considered for limiting of its scope, for the invention may admit to other equally effective embodiments. The detailed description is described with reference to the accompanying figures. In the figures, the left-most digit(s) of a reference number identifies the figure in which the reference number first appears. The same numbers are used throughout the figures to reference like features and components. Some embodiments of system or methods in accordance with embodiments of the present subject matter are now described, by way of example, and with reference to the accompanying figures, in which:
[0015] Fig. 1 illustrates structure of the cable type key cylinder as known in the art;
[0016] Fig. 2 illustrates assembly of the cable type key cylinder from inner panel of the door with reinforcement as known in the art;
[0017] Fig. 3 illustrates structure of rod type key cylinder as known in the art;
[0018] Fig. 4 illustrates assembly of rod type key cylinder from outer panel of the door as known in the art;

[0019] Fig. 5 illustrates of cable type key cylinder with L-shaped detachable lever, in accordance with an embodiment of the present subject matter;
[0020] Fig. 6 illustrates rear view of the cable type key cylinder with two levers, in accordance with an embodiment of the present subject matter;
[0021] Fig. 7 illustrates isometric view of the L-shaped lever, in accordance with an embodiment of the present subject matter;
[0022] Fig. 8 illustrates dis-assembled view of the cable type key cylinder, in accordance with an embodiment of the present subject matter;
[0023] Fig. 9 illustrates another dis-assembled view of the cable type key cylinder, in accordance with an embodiment of the present subject matter;
[0024] Fig. 10 illustrate structure of cable, in accordance with an embodiment of the present subject matter; and
[0025] Fig. 11 illustrates assembly/mounting of cable type key cylinder with L-shaped lever from outer panel of the door, in accordance with an embodiment of the present subject matter.
[0026] The figures depict embodiments of the present subject matter for the purposes of illustration only. A person skilled in the art will easily recognize from the following description that alternative embodiments of the structures and methods illustrated herein may be employed without departing from the principles of the disclosure described herein.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS:
[0027] The subject matter disclosed herein relates to a key cylinder which is operated by cable and which can be mounted from outer panel of the door. The key cylinder can be rod type or plate lever type key cylinder. The key cylinder has a rotor which is rotated by a key. The rotor has several key combinations for authentic locking and unlocking of lock mechanism. The rotor is positioned inside the key cylinder. The key cylinder has a L-shaped lever which is provided on basal end. The L-shaped lever is attached with lugs of the key cylinder. The lugs

of the key cylinder prevent rotation or movement of the L-shaped Lever along with the rotor. The L-shaped lever can be detached from the cylinder during assembly and dis-assembly of the key cylinder. The key cylinder has a plate lever which is fixed on basal end of the rotor. The plate lever is fixed with the rotor via E-ring which moves the plate lever integrally with the rotor. Therefore, when rotor moves by the key, the plate lever moves in tandem with the rotor. The L-shaped lever has opening at free end to lock outer hollow cable. The plate lever has a keyhole shaped cut to receive nipple of inner wire end of the cable to actuate locking and unlocking mechanism. When the key rotates the rotor, the rotor in tandem rotates the plate lever coupled with inner wire of the cable. The plate lever pulls the inner wire form the outer hollow wire which is fixed at the L-shaped lever and actuates the locking and unlocking mechanism. The present key cylinder is mounted from the outer panel. In another embodiment of the present subject matter, the plate lever and L shaped lever are mounted on key cylinder and then key cylinder is inserted from outer panel.
[0028] It should be noted that the description and figures merely illustrate the principles of the present subject matter. It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that conception and specific embodiment disclosed may be readily utilized as a basis for modifying or designing other structures for carrying out the same purposes of the present subject matter. It should also be appreciated by those skilled in the art that by devising various assembly that, although not explicitly described or shown herein, embody the principles of the present subject matter and are included within its spirit and scope. Furthermore, all examples recited herein are principally intended expressly to be for pedagogical purposes to aid the reader in understanding the principles of the present subject matter and the concepts contributed by the inventor(s) to furthering the art, and are to be construed as being without limitation to such specifically recited examples and conditions. The novel features which are believed to be characteristic of the present subject matter, both as to its organization and method of operation, together with further objects and advantages will be better understood from the

following description when considered in connection with the accompanying figures.
[0029] These and other advantages of the present subject matter would be described in greater detail with reference to the following figures. It should be noted that the description merely illustrates the principles of the present subject matter. It will thus be appreciated that those skilled in the art will be able to devise various arrangements that, although not explicitly described herein, embody the principles of the present subject matter and are included within its scope.
[0030] Fig. 3 illustrates structure of key cylinder, in accordance with an embodiment of the present subject matter. The key cylinder 500 has a rotor 502, outer circular flange 501, L-shaped lever 503, and plate lever 504. The rotor 502 is positioned inside the key cylinder 500. The rotor 502 is capable of being rotated by a key. The rotor 502 has several key combinations for authentic locking and unlocking of lock mechanism. The L-shaped lever 503 is provided on basal end of the key cylinder 500. The L-shaped lever 500 is fixed by lugs of the key cylinder 500 which are provided at the basal end. The lugs of the key cylinder 500 prevent rotation or movement of the L-shaped Lever 503 along with the rotor 501. In another embodiment of the present subject matter, the L-shaped lever 503 can be attached and detached from the key cylinder 500 during assembly and dis-assembly of the key cylinder 500, respectively.
[0031] The plate lever 504 is fixed on basal end of the rotor 502. The plate lever 504 is fixed with the rotor 502 via E-ring 505 (as shown in figure 6) due to profile on rotor, it allows movement of the plate lever 504 integrally with the rotor 502. Therefore, when the rotor 502 rotates by the key, the plate lever 504 moves in tandem with the rotor 502. Referring to fig. 6, placement of the L-shaped lever 503, plate lever 503, and the E-ring 505 is illustrated.
[0032] Referring to figure 7, the L-shaped lever 503 has opening 503a at free end to lock outer hollow cable (as shown in figure 10). One end of the L-shaped lever 503 is fixed with the key cylinder through extending lugs of the key cylinder. The L-shaped lever 503 can be easily assembled and dis-assembled from the key

cylinder 500. The other end is perpendicularly bent and the bent portion has a cut/opening 503a to receive or lock outer hollow cable at locking position.
[0033] Figure 8 and 9 illustrate exploded views of the key cylinder 500. Figure 8 shows front view of all the parts of the key cylinder 500. The key cylinder 500 has a circular extended flange 501 which covers mounting hole provided on the door panel. The circular extended flange 501 has a key opening 501a to receive the key. The circular flange 501 remains outside on the door panel and avoids any offset of the key cylinder 500 from the opening in the door panel. The plate lever 504 has a keyhole shaped cut 504a to receive nipple of inner wire end (as shown in figure 10) of the cable. When the key rotates the rotor 502, the rotor 502 in tandem rotates the plate lever 504 coupled with inner wire of the cable. The plate lever 504 pulls the inner wire form the outer hollow wire which is fixed at the re¬shaped lever 503 and actuates the locking and unlocking mechanism. At the end the E-ring 505 is provided the fixed the plate lever 504 with the rotor and allow integral rotation along with the rotor 504. Referring to fig. 9, the plate lever 504 is fixed with basal end 502a of the rotor via the E-ring 505. The L-shaped lever 504 is fixed with key cylinder and the plate lever fix with the rotor 502 and rotates along with the rotor 502.
[0034] Figure 10 illustrates the cable, in accordance with the present subject matter. The cable 1000 is a Bowden type cable. The cable is flexible cable where inner cable moves (indecently) from the outer hollow cable. The inner cable transmits the pulling force on thee coupled parts. The cable 1000 has inner cable 1002 and an outer cable 1004. The inner cable 1002 has a small spherical or cylindrical shaped metal piece known as nipple 1001 which fits into the keyhole shaped cut 504a of the plate lever 504. The other end of the inner wire is coupled with the locking and unlocking mechanism. The outer hollow cable 1003 has locking means 1003 at one end which locks with the opening 503a of the re¬shaped lever 503. Once the outer hollow cable 1004 is locked with the L-shaped lever 503, the outer hollow cable 1004 does not rotate with rotation of the inner cable 1002. The L-shaped lever 503 directs the inner cable 1002 towards the plate

lever 504 without any angle deflection for smooth and easy rotation of the rotor via key. Due to no angle deflection in the inner wire 1002 from the L-shaped lever 503 to the plate lever 504, less force is applied on the key for rotation of the plate lever 504.
[0035] Fig. 11 illustrates mounting of the key cylinder from outer panel of the door, in accordance with the present subject matter. The present key cylinder 1100 (300 in previous figures) is mounted on the door panel from outer side. In other words, the key cylinder 1100 is mounted or fitted on outer panel 1101 of the door. The key cylinder 1100 has L-shaped lever and plate lever which can be detached and attached on the key cylinder 1100. In another embodiment of the present subject matter, the plate lever and L shaped lever are mounted on key cylinder and then key cylinder is inserted from outer panel.
[0036] It is easy to manufacture the present key cylinder with L-shaped lever. The present key cylinder is existing rod type key cylinder. The present rod type key cylinder is converted in to cable type key cylinder using L-shaped lever without disturbing the structure and dimensions of the existing key cylinder. Further, the present key cylinder is mounted from the outer panel and also satisfies the rear impact requirements. During rear impact test, the back door does not open due to present key cylinder which is operated by the cable. Therefore, the present key cylinder meets all requirements of the rear side impact test. Therefore, for the present key cylinder no separate or new mold is required for structure of the key cylinder. The present key cylinder is cost efficient and capable to be operated by cable. The present key cylinder can be mounted in any existing vehicles having provision for the rod type key cylinder.
[0037] The term "vehicle" as used throughout this detailed description and in the claims refers to any moving vehicle that is capable of carrying one or more human occupants and is powered by any form of energy. The term "vehicle" is a motor vehicle which includes, but is not limited to: cars, trucks, vans, minivans, hatchback, sedan, MUVs, and SUVs.

[0038] It will be further appreciated that functions or structures of a plurality of components or steps may be combined into a single component or step, or the functions or structures of one-step or component may be split among plural steps or components. The present invention contemplates all of these combinations. Unless stated otherwise, dimensions and geometries of the various structures depicted herein are not intended to be restrictive of the invention, and other dimensions or geometries are possible. In addition, while a feature of the present invention may have been described in the context of only one of the illustrated embodiments, such feature may be combined with one or more other features of other embodiments, for any given application. It will also be appreciated from the above that the fabrication of the unique structures herein and the operation thereof also constitute methods in accordance with the present invention. The present invention also encompasses intermediate and end products resulting from the practice of the methods herein. The use of "comprising" or "including" also contemplates embodiments that "consist essentially of or "consist of the recited feature.
[0039] Although embodiments for the present subject matter have been described in language specific to structural features, it is to be understood that the present subject matter is not necessarily limited to the specific features described. Rather, the specific features and methods are disclosed as embodiments for the present subject matter. Numerous modifications and adaptations of the system/component of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and thus it is intended by the appended claims to cover all such modifications and adaptations which fall within the scope of the present subject matter.

We claim:
1. A key cylinder (300, 1100) operated by a cable, the key cylinder (300, 1100)
comprising:
a rotor (502) capable of being rotated by a key, wherein the rotor (502) is positioned inside the key cylinder (300, 1100);
a L-shaped lever (503) is provided at basal end of the key cylinder (300, 1100); and
a plate lever (503) is fixed with basal end of the rotor (502) via E ring (505) and integrally rotated along with the rotor (502);
wherein the L shaped lever (504) has an opening (504a) to lock outer hollow cable (1004) of the cable (1000);
wherein the plate lever (503) has a keyhole cut (503a) receives nipple (1001) of inner wire (1002) of the cable (1000) to actuate locking and unlocking mechanism;
wherein the plate lever (503) pulls the inner wire (1002) of the cable (1000) from the outer hollow cable (1004) fixed with L-shaped lever (504) upon rotation of the rotor (502) to actuate the locking and unlocking mechanism.
2. The key cylinder (300, 1100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the rotor (502) has an opening (501a) to receive key for actuating the locking and unlocking mechanism.
3. The key cylinder (300, 1100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the L shaped lever (503) fixes the outer hollow cable (1004) at locking position (1003) and restrict movement of the outer hollow cable (1004) during locking and unlocking mechanism.
4. The key cylinder (300, 1100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the key cylinder (300, 1100) is mounted on outer panel (1101) of door .

The key cylinder (300, 1100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the L-shaped lever (503) is fixed with the basal end of the key cylinder (300, 1100) by extending lugs.
The key cylinder (300, 1100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the L-shaped lever (503) prevent rotation of the cable (1000).
The key cylinder (300, 1100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the cable (1000) is Bowden type cable having the inner wire (1002) and the outer hollow cable (1004).
The key cylinder (300, 1100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the key cylinder (300, 1100) is rod type key cylinder.
The key cylinder (300, 1100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the L-shaped lever (503) and the plate lever (504) is detachably mounted on the key cylinder (300, 1100), wherein the L-shaped lever (503) and the plate lever (504) is mounted on the key cylinder (300, 1100).
The key cylinder (300, 1100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the key cylinder (300, 1100) is actuated by the cable (1000) to avoid actuation of unlocking mechanism during rear door impact.