FIELD OF INVENTION:
[001] The present subject matter described herein, relates to a back door opening lever in vehicles, and, in particular, a locking mechanism for restricting free 5 operation of the back door opening lever. More particularly, the present subject matter relates to a pull lock mechanism which locks and unlocks movement of the back door opening lever for latching and unlatching the back door.
BACKGROUND AND PRIOR ART:
[002] Generally, a back door or rear door has two points for unlatching. One is 10 manually by key or by remote key and other is by an opening lever which is provided inside the vehicle cabin. Generally, the back door opening lever is provided beneath driver seat for easy access by the driver to open the back door along with the fuel tank lid. The back door opening lever is mounted on floor panel of the vehicle. The back door opening lever is generally a metal part. 15
[003] Fig. 1 illustrates the structure of the back door opening lever 100. The back door opening lever 100 has a lever 102 which is pivoted with a pin 103. The lever 102 rotates about the pin for unlatching the back door upon pull force. Front portion of the lever 102 comprises a handle portion 101, the user holds the handle portion 101 to pull the lever 102 in upward direction F1. On the handle portion 20 101, a plastic cover is provided for aesthetic appearance and efficient grip of the handle. Further, the latch cable 104 is coupled with other end after the pivot pin 103 of the lever 103. To unlatch the lever or open the back door, the user holds the handle portion 101 and pulls up the lever 102 by Force F1. Upon applying the upward force F1, the lever 102 rotates about the pivot point 103 and pulls the 25 latch cable 104 with force F2 and releases the back door latch. This is general mechanism to open the back door by back door opening lever 100.
[004] Japanese Patent Publication JP 2000103245 (A) discloses a lid opener for the vehicle. The opener lever part is installed in the front wall part of a floor cross
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member on the driver's seat side of an underbody. The opener lever part has a fuel lid opener lever and a back door opener lever. A fuel lid opener cable is connected to the fuel lid opener lever, and a back door opener cable is connected to the back door opener lever. These cables are wired to rearward of a vehicle in a centre side position of the under body. This present Japanese patent publication discloses 5 general presence of the fuel lid opener and the back door opener at the under body of the vehicle which is generally under the seat of the driver. Further, this provides a mechanism to solve technical problem to avoid damage of the lever by the driver’s feet.
[005] Technical problem associated with the existing back door lever opener is 10 that the lever does not have any locking mechanism to avoid accidental opening of the back door. For example, while refueling the fuel tank, the driver accidently pulls the back door opening lever which opens the back door. Further, there are safety regulations, for example, ECE R 11 which make it necessary to have a lock which should be unlocked before pulling the lever. It is two step process, i.e., 15 unlock and pull for opening the back door. This makes the vehicle safer.
[006] The present invention has been conceived in view of the aforementioned circumstances. It is an object of the present invention to provide a locking mechanism for back door opening lever.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION: 20
[007] The principal objective of the present invention is to provide a back door opening lever with a locking mechanism.
[008] Another object of the present subject matter is to provide a back door opening lever with a flip buckle type locking device which needs to be unlocked first by opening the flip buckle. 25
[009] Yet another object of the present subject matter is to provide a simple, effective, and cost efficient back door opening lever with a locking mechanism.
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SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION:
[0010] The subject matter disclosed herein relates to a back door opening lever assembly with a locking mechanism. The back door opening lever assembly comprises a lever arm pivoted with a pin on body of vehicle. The lever arm rotates about the pin while applying pull force. The lever arm has a knob portion at front 5 end which is held by user to open the back door. At distal end of the lever arm, a cutout portion is provided to couple with back door opener cable. The assembly has a flip buckle type locking device which is pivotally mounted on the knob portion for locking and unlocking the lever arm. The flip buckle type locking device has a base and two side walls spaced apart on the base to define U shaped 10 channel or buckle. Further, the flip buckle type locking device has a locking pin which is provided on the base. The locking pin engages with slot of bracket mounted on vehicle floor to lock the lever arm. To unlock the lever arm and to open the back door, the user has to open the flip buckle type locking device in unlock condition or flip the base in upper direction and pull the lever arm. 15
[0011] 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 20
[0012] 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 25 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: 30
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[0013] Fig. 1 illustrates structure of back door opening lever as known in the art;
[0014] Fig. 2 illustrates assembly of the back door opening lever with flip buckle type locking device, in accordance with an embodiment of the present subject matter;
[0015] Fig. 3 illustrates side view of the assembly of the back door opening lever 5 with flip buckle type locking device in locked condition, in accordance with an embodiment of the present subject matter; and
[0016] Fig. 4 illustrates perspective view of the assembly of the back door opening lever with flip buckle type locking device in unlocked condition, in accordance with an embodiment of the present subject matter. 10
[0017] 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. 15
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS:
[0018] The subject matter disclosed herein relates to a back door opening lever assembly with a locking mechanism. The back door opening lever assembly comprises a lever arm pivoted with a pin on body of vehicle. The lever arm rotates about the pin while applying pull force. The lever arm has a knob portion at front 20 end which is held by user to open the back door. At distal end of the lever arm, a cutout portion is provided to couple with back door opener cable. The assembly has a flip buckle type locking device which is pivotally mounted on the knob portion for locking and unlocking the lever arm. The flip buckle type locking device has a base and two side walls spaced apart on the base to define U shaped 25 channel or buckle. Further, the flip buckle type locking device has a locking pin which is provided on the base. The locking pin engages with slot of bracket mounted on vehicle floor to lock the lever arm. To unlock the lever arm and to
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open the back door, the user has to open the flip buckle type locking device in unlock condition or flip the base in upper direction and pull the lever arm.
[0019] In another embodiment of the present subject matter, a rectangular bracket is mounted on floor of the vehicle. The rectangular bracket is in L shape where horizontal portion is welded with the floor of the vehicle. The rectangular bracket 5 has a slot to receive the locking pin of the locking device. In the lock condition, the locking pin engages with the slot of the rectangular bracket and locks the back door opening lever.
[0020] 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 10 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 15 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 20 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. 25
[0021] 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
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various arrangements that, although not explicitly described herein, embody the principles of the present subject matter and are included within its scope.
[0022] Fig. 2, 3, and 4 illustrates various views of the back door opening lever assembly with locking mechanism, in accordance with an embodiment of the present subject matter. Referring to figure 2, the back door opening lever 5 assembly 200 comprises a lever arm 202, a knob portion 201, a pivot joint 203, and a cutout portion 204. The back door opening lever is an integrated device. Further, the back door opening lever can be bended as per requirements of the vehicle design. Generally, the knob portion 201 and the pivot joint 203 are perpendicular to each other. Further, angular dimensions of the lever can be 10 optimized based on the force requirement and design of the vehicle floor.
[0023] The lever arm 202 is pivoted with a pin 203 on the vehicle structure. The pivot joint with pin 203 allows rotation of the lever arm upon application of force in upward direction and free fall. Further, the back opening lever assembly 200 has a spring which allows rotation of the lever arm 202 upon application of force 15 and regaining its original position. Further, the lever arm 202 has a knob portion 201 at front end and a cutout portion 204 at distal end. The knob portion 201 is used by the user to hold and pull the lever arm 202 in upward direction. The knob portion 201 is covered by a plastic layer to increase the holding area and grip. The cutout portion 204 is configured to connect with the back door opener cable 208. 20 When pulling force applied on the lever arm 202, the lever arm transfers the force on the back door opener cable to open the back door.
[0024] Referring to figure 3, a flip buckle type locking device 205 is pivotally mounted with distal end of the knob portion 201 for locking and unlocking the lever arm 202. The flip buckle type locking device 205 has a base 205a and two 25 opposite side walls 205b spaced apart from the base 205a. The two opposite side walls 205b are connected with the base 205a to define a U shaped channel. The two opposite side walls 205b are spaced apart by a distance which is slightly greater than the width of the knob portion 201. The base and the two opposite side walls define the buckle body of the flip buckle type locking device 205. The 30
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buckle body of the flip buckle type locking device 205 is pivotally mounted on the knob portion 201 by a pin 205c which extends through the knob portion 201 and the side walls 205b. The flip buckle type locking device 205 is movable from open position which is unlocked position as shown in figure 4 and close position which is locked position as shown in the figure 3. The flip buckle type locking 5 device 205 rotates about the pivoted pin 205c. The base 205a has a locking pin 205d which engages with slot of bracket mounted on vehicle floor to lock and unlock the lever arm. Further, shape of the locking pin 205d can be any shape, such as cylindrical, rectangular, square, and triangular. The locking pin 205d is positioned in middle of longer side of the base 205a towards edge. 10
[0025] In another embodiment of the present subject matter as illustrated in the figure 3 and 4, the rectangular bracket 206 is mounted on floor of the vehicle. The rectangular bracket 206 is in L shape where horizontal portion is welded with the floor of the vehicle. The rectangular bracket 206 has a slot 206 corresponding to shape of the locking pin 205d. In the lock condition, the locking pin 205d engages 15 with the slot 206a of the rectangular bracket 206 and locks the back door opening lever as shown in the figure 3.
[0026] Referring to figure 3, the locking pin 205d of the flip buckle type locking device 205 is engaged with the slot 206a of the bracket 206 to lock the lever arm 201 for any movement. 20
[0027] Referring to figure 4, the locking pin 205d of the flip buckle type locking device 205 is dis-engaged with the slot 206a of the bracket 206 to unlock the lever arm 201 for movement.
[0028] In the back door opening lever assembly 200, the buckle body of the flip buckle type locking device 205 is opened to dis-engage the locking pin 205d from 25 the slot 206a to unlocked the knob portion 201 from the rectangular bracket 206. By opening the buckle body, the locking pin 205d comes out from the slot 206a of the bracket 206. After disengagement of the locking pin 205d with the slot 206a, the knob portion 201 is pulled up by force F1. The lever arm 202 pulls the cable 208 with force F2 and releases the back door latch. 30
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[0029] The present back door opening lever assembly with locking mechanism compiles with the ECE R11 requirements. Further, the present back door opening lever assembly eliminates accidental opening of the back door by the driver. The back door opening lever assembly is simple to manufacture and effective in use.
[0030] The term “vehicle” as used throughout this detailed description and in the 5 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.
[0031] It will be further appreciated that functions or structures of a plurality of 10 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 15 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 20 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. 25
[0032] 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 30
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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 back door opening lever assembly (200) with a locking mechanism comprising:
a lever arm (202) pivoted with a pin (203) which allows rotation of the lever arm (202); 5
a knob portion (201) provided at front end of the lever arm (202) to apply pull force;
a cutout portion (204) provided at distal end of the lever arm (202) to couple with back door opener cable (208);
characterized in that 10
a flip buckle type locking device (205) pivotally mounted to the knob portion (201) at one end for locking and unlocking the lever arm (202), the flip buckle type locking device (205) comprises:
a base (205a);
two side walls (205b) spaced apart on the base (205a); 15
a locking pin (205d) provided on the base (205a) which engages with a slot (206a) of a bracket (206) mounted on vehicle floor to lock the lever arm (202).
2. The back door opening lever assembly (200) as claimed in claim 1, wherein 20 the flip buckle type locking device (205) comprises a pivotable pin (205c) which mounts the flip buckle type locking device (205) with the knob portion (201) for moving the flip buckle type locking device (205) in lock position and unlock position.
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3. The back door opening lever assembly (200) as claimed in claim 1, wherein shape of the locking pin (205d) is selected from cylindrical, rectangular, square, and triangular.
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4. The back door opening lever assembly (200) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the bracket (206) is in L shape where horizontal portion is welded with the vehicle floor.
5. The back door opening lever assembly (200) as claimed in claim 1, wherein 5 the bracket (206) has the slot (206a) at upper side to receive the locking pin (205d) of the flip buckle type locking device (205) in locked portion.
6. The back door opening lever assembly (200) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the flip buckle type locking device (205) rotates about a pivotable pin (205c) 10 on the knob portion (201).
7. The back door opening lever assembly (200) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the flip buckle type locking device (205) is pivoted with distal end of the knob portion (201). 15
8. The back door opening lever assembly (200) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the locking pin (205d) is positioned in middle of longer side of the base (205a) towards end.