Hidden handle driving transmission and locking system

Abstract

The invention discloses a hidden handle driving transmission and locking system. The system comprises a mounting base, a handling handle, a pressing pop-up assembly and a clutch transmission assembly. And the handling handle can be switched between a storage state and a working position. The clutch transmission assembly comprises a first clutch part moving along with the handle and a second clutch part connected with the locking mechanism. When the handling handle is in a storage state, the first clutch part and the second clutch part are axially separated, and transmission is disconnected; when the handle is switched to the working position, the handle pops up and displaces to drive the first clutch part and the second clutch part to be meshed and in transmission communication. Through linkage of the handle position and the clutch state, transmission is physically disconnected during storage, and the anti-theft performance is improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of building door and window hardware technology, and more specifically, to a concealed handle drive transmission and locking system, which is particularly suitable for narrow frame curtain wall windows or minimalist aluminum alloy door and window systems. Background Technology

[0002] In modern architectural design, especially in high-end and minimalist buildings, the aesthetic requirements for doors and windows are increasing. Door and window hardware, especially handles, are required to be "invisible" when not in use, meaning that their outer surface should smoothly transition with the surface of the door and window profiles to form a continuous plane, in order to maintain the simplicity of the overall design.

[0003] To meet this need, various concealed handle designs have emerged in the existing technology. However, these designs face a series of severe technical challenges when applied to narrow or extremely narrow frame doors and windows with extremely limited profile cavity space (e.g., cavity depth less than 30mm).

[0004] Inefficient force transmission. To be housed within narrow profiles, concealed handles typically have short lever arms. Driving a multi-point locking mechanism by rotating such a short-lever handle requires significant operating force, resulting in a heavy feel and poor user experience. Under prolonged or high-intensity use, excessive stress can also cause fatigue fracture of the handle's mounting base (usually made of zinc alloy).

[0005] There is a lack of effective protection against accidental operation and theft. Many existing concealed handles, such as simple flip-type or spring-loaded hinged handles, maintain a rigid connection between their internal drive shaft and the locking mechanism at the rear. This means that even when the handle is retracted, if the handle cover is forcibly pried open and rotated by an external tool, the drive shaft will rotate accordingly, directly driving the locking mechanism to unlock, which constitutes a serious security vulnerability.

[0006] The user experience is poor. Some retractable handles are difficult to pry out easily when the door and window weatherstripping provides significant resistance. Furthermore, these designs often lack clear force feedback when fully open or closed, resulting in a less than ideal user experience.

[0007] Therefore, how to design a concealed handle system that can meet the requirements of "invisible" aesthetics, provide sufficient operating torque, and have high security and anti-theft performance within extremely limited installation space is a technical problem that urgently needs to be solved in this field. Summary of the Invention

[0008] The main objective of this invention is to provide a concealed handle drive transmission and locking system to solve the problem that concealed handles in the prior art cannot simultaneously achieve high torque output, anti-theft security and ease of operation within a limited space.

[0009] To achieve the above objectives, a first aspect of the present invention provides a concealed handle drive transmission and locking system, comprising: a mounting base; a handle movably mounted on the mounting base and capable of switching between a retracted state flush with the top surface of the mounting base and a working position popped out from the top surface of the mounting base; a press-to-pop assembly disposed within the mounting base and connected to the handle, for driving the handle to perform a bistable switching between the retracted state and the working position in response to a press operation; and a clutch transmission assembly including a first clutch part linked to the handle and a second clutch part for connection to a locking mechanism. The switching action of the handle is forcibly linked to the engagement state of the clutch transmission assembly, such that: when the handle is in the retracted state, the first clutch and the second clutch are axially separated, forming a disconnected transmission path; when the handle is switched to the working position, the pop-out displacement of the handle drives the first clutch to move axially and engage with the second clutch, forming a connected transmission path, so as to allow the locking mechanism to be driven by rotating the handle.

[0010] A second aspect of the present invention provides a concealed handle drive transmission, comprising: a mounting base; a handle configured to switch between a retracted state of the mounting base and a working position popped out of the mounting base; a press-to-pop assembly for controlling the handle to switch between the retracted state and the working position in response to a pressing operation on the handle; and a clutch transmission assembly including a first clutch portion associated with the movement of the handle and a second clutch portion for connecting to an external transmission mechanism. The switching action of the handle is linked to the engagement state of the clutch transmission assembly, such that: when the handle is in the retracted state, the first clutch portion and the second clutch portion are physically separated, thereby disengaging the transmission connection; when the handle is switched to the working position, the first clutch portion is driven to engage with the second clutch portion, thereby establishing a transmission connection.

[0011] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following beneficial effects:

[0012] By setting up a clutch transmission component and forcibly linking its state with the retracted / extended state of the handle, the internal transmission path is physically disconnected when the handle is in the retracted state. At this time, even if the outer handle cover is violently rotated, it cannot transmit torque to the locking mechanism at the rear, fundamentally eliminating related safety hazards and significantly improving anti-theft performance.

[0013] In a preferred embodiment, the system integrates a planetary gear reduction and torque amplification module. This module can effectively amplify the input torque within a compact base space, thereby significantly reducing the force required to operate the handle, solving the problem of heavy handling for short lever arms, and easily completing the operation even when driving multiple locking points.

[0014] Employing a press-to-pop bistable switching mechanism, the handle can be fully retracted when not in use, with its exposed top surface forming a continuous coplanar plane with the top surface of the mounting base, meeting the aesthetic requirements of modern architecture for "invisible" hardware. At the same time, the press-type operation is intuitive and convenient, providing clear force feedback. Attached Figure Description

[0015] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention or the prior art, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present invention. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative effort.

[0016] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of a concealed handle drive transmission and locking system provided in an embodiment of the present invention.

[0017] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the system in the storage state (clutch disconnected) provided in the embodiment of the present invention.

[0018] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the system in the working position (clutch engaged) provided in the embodiment of the present invention.

[0019] In the figure, 101: mounting base; 102: handle; 103: push-to-pop assembly; 104: clutch transmission assembly; 105: planetary gear reduction and torque increase module; 1041: first clutch part; 1042: second clutch part. Detailed Implementation

[0020] To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of this invention clearer, the specific embodiments of this invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are merely some embodiments of this invention, and not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of this invention, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of this invention.

[0021] Example 1

[0022] This embodiment provides a concealed handle drive transmission and locking system. The system is designed to be installed in the limited cavity of door and window profiles (such as European standard C grooves or other non-standard ultra-narrow profile grooves), and is particularly suitable for occasions where the cavity depth is less than 30mm.

[0023] Reference Figure 1 The system mainly includes a mounting base 101, a handle 102, a push-to-pop assembly 103, a clutch transmission assembly 104, and a preferred planetary gear reduction and torque amplification module 105. These components are compactly integrated into the cavity of the mounting base 101 and fixed to the door and window profiles by necessary fasteners (screws not shown in the figure).

[0024] The mounting base 101 has a hollow shell structure, such as a cuboid shell, and is preferably made of high-strength zinc-aluminum alloy through die casting to ensure sufficient structural strength and installation accuracy. Its interior houses the push-to-pop assembly 103, the clutch transmission assembly 104, and the planetary gear reduction and torque amplification module 105.

[0025] The handle 102 is movably mounted on the mounting base 101. It can switch between two clearly defined states: one is... Figure 2 In the retracted state shown, the exposed top surface of the handle 102 and the top surface of the mounting base 101 form a continuous, smooth coplanar plane, achieving a visual "hidden" effect; another is in Figure 3 The working position shown is such that the handle 102 pops out from the top surface of the mounting base 101, exposing the grippable portion. The handle 102 includes a handle body and a central drive shaft fixed to the handle body. The central drive shaft passes through the push-out assembly 103 and transmits its pop-out displacement and rotational motion to subsequent mechanisms.

[0026] The press-to-eject assembly 103 controls the switching of the handle 102 between the two states described above. Specifically, this assembly is a bistable locking mechanism, similar in structure to the locking and releasing mechanism of a common push-button ballpoint pen. In this embodiment, it includes a guide (fixed within the mounting base 101) with a heart-shaped closed track groove and a driven pin linked to the central drive shaft. Each press operation applied to the top surface of the handle 102 drives the driven pin to move a quarter turn along the heart-shaped closed track groove, thereby alternately locking the handle 102 in the pressed-down retracted state or releasing it to the ejected working position. To provide the ejection force, the press-to-eject assembly 103 also includes a pre-compressed elastic element, such as a compression spring. The elastic element stores elastic potential energy when the handle 102 is in the retracted state (for example, its preload can be set to 15N, which is sufficient to resist environmental vibrations such as vibrations with a frequency of 50Hz and an amplitude of 2mm), and releases this potential energy when the driven pin is released to drive the handle 102 to pop out a linear displacement of about 15mm in a direction perpendicular to the base surface to reach the working position.

[0027] The clutch transmission assembly 104 is the core component for achieving the high safety of this invention. It includes a first clutch portion 1041 linked to the central drive shaft of the handle 102 and a second clutch portion 1042 for connection to a downstream locking mechanism (or planetary gear module). The opposing surfaces of the first clutch portion 1041 and the second clutch portion 1042 are respectively provided with matching clutch teeth, such as end-face ratchet teeth, rectangular splines, or triangular saw teeth, to achieve torque transmission without relative slippage in the engaged state. In a specific example, the end-face ratchet parameters of the first clutch portion 1041 can be a module of 1.5 and 12 teeth.

[0028] The key to this invention is that the switching action of the handle and the state of the clutch transmission component 104 are designed to be forcibly linked.

[0029] Reference Figure 2 When the handle 102 is in the retracted state, it is locked deep within the base by the push-out component 103. In this position, the first clutch 1041 and the second clutch 1042 are axially separated, with a defined physical gap between them, such as 3mm to 5mm. At this time, the transmission path is completely disconnected. Even if an external force forcibly rotates the handle 102 or its external bushing, because the clutch is disengaged, torque cannot be transmitted to the second clutch 1042, thus preventing the locking mechanism from being driven and ensuring the safety of the door and window locking. Experiments have shown that even when a forced rotational torque of up to 60Nm is applied to the handle in this state, the internal locking mechanism remains unaffected.

[0030] Reference Figure 3When the handle 102 is pressed, the pop-out assembly 103 is pressed to release it, and the handle 102 pops out under the action of the elastic element. This pop-out linear displacement (approximately 15mm) directly drives the first clutch part 1041 to move axially via the central drive shaft, eliminating the aforementioned axial clearance and causing its clutch teeth to mesh with the clutch teeth of the second clutch part 1042. At this time, the transmission path is connected. The popped-out handle 102 can then be rotated, and the rotational torque is transmitted through the engaged clutch transmission assembly 104.

[0031] To further optimize the user experience, this system preferably integrates a planetary gear reduction and torque amplification module 105, which is connected in series between the clutch transmission assembly 104 and the locking mechanism's transmission path. This module includes a sun gear coaxially connected to the second clutch part 1042, at least one (typically three) planet gears meshing with and revolving around the sun gear, and an internal gear ring meshing with the outer sides of the planet gears. The internal gear ring is fixed to the inner wall of the mounting base 101, while the planet carriers of the planet gears, serving as the final torque output end, are connected to a standard output shaft (e.g., a 7mm or 8mm square shaft). This output shaft is preferably made of hardened 45# steel with a hardness of HRC45-50 to withstand high torque.

[0032] In this embodiment, the sun gear has 16 teeth and a module of 1; the planet gears have 16 teeth and a module of 1; and the internal gear ring has 48 teeth and a module of 1. When the second clutch 1042 drives the sun gear to rotate, the planet carrier acts as the output end, and its output torque... With input torque The relationship between them satisfies Specifically, the reduction ratio 1: ,in It is a real number greater than 1. According to the principle of planetary gear transmission, the torque amplification factor... The calculation logic can be expressed by the following formula:

[0033]

[0034] in, This represents the number of teeth on the internal gear ring. This represents the number of teeth on the sun gear. Substituting the data from this embodiment, This means the output torque is amplified by four times, resulting in a reduction ratio of 1:4. This amplification factor is preferably set in the range of 3 to 5. Through this design, the operating force required to drive a conventional transmission equipped with four locking points can be significantly reduced from approximately 15N to approximately 4.5N, significantly improving the user experience.

[0035] In addition, to prevent the handle 102 from rotating accidentally when it is retracted, a rectangular limiting recess can be provided at the panel opening of the mounting base 101. When the handle 102 is retracted into the recess, its side wall is physically blocked by the inner wall of the recess and cannot rotate. Only when the handle is extended and completely removed from the height of the recess does it have room to rotate.

[0036] In summary, this embodiment constructs a physical safety barrier by interlocking the ejection displacement of the handle with the engagement state of the clutch. Simultaneously, combined with planetary gear torque-enhancing technology, it achieves a unified approach of safety, labor-saving, and aesthetics within a minimal space. Testing showed that after completing 50,000 cycles of "press to eject - rotate to lock - rotate to open - press to retract," the wear of the critical clutch teeth was less than 0.1mm, and the bistable locking mechanism did not fail. The system demonstrates stable and reliable performance, meeting the requirements of relevant standards such as JG / T 124-2017 "Handles for Transmission Mechanisms of Building Door and Window Hardware."

[0037] Example 2

[0038] This embodiment provides a concealed handle drive transmission, which is the core drive component of the system described in Embodiment 1. It can be used as an independent modular product to connect various external transmission mechanisms, such as door and window locks, wind braces, etc.

[0039] The actuator includes a mounting base, a handle, a press-to-release assembly, and a clutch transmission assembly. Its structure and working principle are basically the same as the corresponding parts described in Embodiment 1.

[0040] Specifically, the handle is configured to switch between a retracted state with the mounting base in place and a working position where it is extended from the mounting base. In the retracted state, the outer surface of the handle smoothly transitions to the outer surface of the mounting base.

[0041] A press-to-eject component is used to control the bistable switching of the handle between a retracted state and a working position in response to a press operation on the handle. The component may include a guide with a cardioid groove, a driven member linked to the handle, and a compression spring for providing the ejection force.

[0042] The clutch transmission assembly includes a first clutch portion associated with the movement of a handle and a second clutch portion for connecting to an external transmission mechanism. The first clutch portion is driven by the handle and performs reciprocating linear motion along a central axis. The first and second clutch portions each have axially opposing meshing end faces, and the end faces are provided with meshing structures for transmitting torque, such as teeth or splines distributed circumferentially on the meshing end faces.

[0043] The core feature of this transmission is that the switching action of the handle is linked to the engagement state of the clutch transmission assembly. When the handle is in the retracted state, the first clutch and the second clutch are physically separated, thus disengaging the transmission connection. When the handle is switched to the working position, its linear displacement is converted into axial displacement of the first clutch via a transmission mechanism (e.g., a central shaft integrally formed with the handle), driving the first clutch and the second clutch to engage, thereby establishing the transmission connection.

[0044] As a preferred embodiment, the transmission can also incorporate a planetary gear reduction and torque amplification module, housed within the cavity of the mounting base and coaxially mounted with the clutch transmission assembly. This module is connected in series between the second clutch and the external transmission mechanism to amplify and output the rotational torque input from the handle. The second clutch can be integrally formed with or fixedly connected to the sun gear of the planetary gear reduction and torque amplification module, while the planet carrier serves as the torque output end.

[0045] It should be noted that the selection of internal components, specific parameters and working principle of the concealed handle drive transmission provided in this embodiment can be found in the detailed description in Embodiment 1, and will not be repeated here.

[0046] The above description is merely a specific embodiment of the present invention, but the scope of protection of the present invention is not limited thereto. Any variations or substitutions that can be easily conceived by those skilled in the art within the scope of the technology disclosed in the present invention should be included within the scope of protection of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present invention should be determined by the scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A concealed handle drive transmission and locking system, comprising a mounting base, a handle, a press-to-pop assembly, and a clutch transmission assembly, characterized in that: The handle is connected to a central drive shaft, which passes through the mounting base; The push-to-pop component is disposed in the mounting base and cooperates with the central drive shaft, and is used to control the axial extension and retraction of the handle between the storage state and the working position. The clutch transmission assembly includes a first clutch part and a second clutch part; the first clutch part is fixedly disposed at the end of the central transmission shaft and moves axially and rotates synchronously with the handle; the second clutch part is rotatably limited within the mounting base and is located between the handle and the first clutch part; the first clutch part and the second clutch part are configured as follows: When the handle is in the retracted state, the first clutch and the second clutch are axially separated, forming a disconnected transmission path; When the handle is switched to the working position, the pop-out displacement of the handle drives the first clutch to move axially and engage with the second clutch to form a connected transmission path. This transmission path is used to drive the locking mechanism when the handle is rotated.

2. The system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The system also includes a planetary gear reduction and torque amplification module integrated within the mounting base. The planetary gear reduction and torque amplification module is disposed between the clutch transmission assembly and the locking mechanism transmission path. The planetary gear reduction and torque amplification module includes a sun gear coaxially connected to the second clutch, at least one planet gear meshing with and revolving around the sun gear, and a fixed internal gear ring meshing with the outer side of the planet gear. The locking mechanism is connected to the planet carrier of the planet gear and is used to receive the output torque amplified by the planetary gear reduction and torque amplification module when the handle is rotated. The fixed internal gear ring is fixedly connected to the mounting base.

3. The system according to claim 2, characterized in that, The reduction ratio of the planetary gear reduction and torque enhancement module Set to 1: ,in For real numbers greater than 1, preferably, The value range is from 3 to 5.

4. The system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The press-to-eject assembly is a bistable locking mechanism, comprising a driven pin that moves along a predetermined trajectory and a guide with a heart-shaped closed trajectory groove; the driven pin is connected to the handle, and the guide is fixed in the mounting base; each press operation on the handle drives the driven pin to move a quarter turn along the heart-shaped closed trajectory groove, thereby alternately locking the handle in the retracted state or releasing it to the working position.

5. The system according to claim 4, characterized in that, The push-to-pop assembly also includes a pre-compressed elastic element, which stores elastic potential energy when the handle is in the retracted state and releases the elastic potential energy when the follower pin is released to drive the handle to pop out to the working position.

6. The system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The first clutch portion and the second clutch portion are respectively provided with matching clutch teeth on their opposite surfaces; when the handle is in the working position, the clutch teeth of the first clutch portion and the clutch teeth of the second clutch portion engage axially to transmit rotational torque.

7. The system according to claim 6, characterized in that, The clutch teeth have a rectangular spline or triangular sawtooth shape, which is used to achieve torque transmission without relative slippage in the meshing state.

8. The system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The handle includes a handle body and a central drive shaft fixed to the handle body; the central drive shaft passes through the push-out assembly and is connected to the first clutch part, for transmitting the pop-out displacement and rotation of the handle to the first clutch part.

9. The system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The mounting base is a hollow shell, and the push-to-pop assembly and the clutch transmission assembly are both housed within the hollow shell.

10. The system according to claim 1, characterized in that, In the stowed state, the exposed top surface of the handle and the top surface of the mounting base form a continuous coplanar plane.

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