Door handle arrangement for a motor vehicle

Abstract

Door handle arrangement for a motor vehicle with a door handle (10) which can be moved from a rest position to an end position to open a door, wherein the movement of the door handle (10) from its rest position to its end position is contrary to the restoring force of a return spring (20), characterized in that an additional spring (22) is provided which exerts a higher restoring force on the door handle (10) during a first phase of the movement of the door handle (10) from its rest position to its end position than during a subsequent second phase of the movement of the door handle (10).

Description

[0001] The invention relates to a door handle arrangement for a motor vehicle with a door handle which can be moved from a rest position to an end position for opening a door, wherein the movement of the door handle from its rest position to its end position takes place against the restoring force of a return spring.

[0002] Door handle designs of this type are generally known and are primarily used on the exterior of vehicle doors. To prevent the door from opening automatically in the event of a side impact, for example, legislation stipulates that the door handle must be able to move from its resting position to its end position only by overcoming a certain force. Thus, for instance, side-impact accelerations of up to 30 g must not cause the door to open.

[0003] In door handle arrangements of the type mentioned above, the door handle is therefore coupled to a return spring, which counteracts the movement of the door handle from its rest position to its end position. In order to effectively counteract even high acceleration forces, the return spring must be sufficiently strong, which, however, has the disadvantage that an operator of the door handle arrangement must exert a comparatively high force to move the door handle from its rest position to its end position, even when the door is intended to be opened.

[0004] The invention is based on the objective of creating a door handle arrangement that is more comfortable to use.

[0005] The problem is solved by a door handle arrangement having the features of claim 1 and in particular by providing an additional spring which exerts a higher restoring force on the door handle during a first phase of the movement of the door handle from its rest position to its end position than during a subsequent second phase.

[0006] The invention is based on the general idea of ​​not providing the return force required by law for the door handle with a single spring element, but instead distributing it between two separate spring elements: the return spring and the auxiliary spring. One of these springs, in this case the auxiliary spring, contributes a significant force only while the door handle is in its rest position. Through the interaction of the return spring and the auxiliary spring, the return spring can be designed to be weaker than in conventional door handle arrangements, while still providing the required total return force.Since the auxiliary spring disengages once the door handle leaves its rest position, the operator of the door handle assembly only needs to exert a reduced force on the handle to open the door and move it to its end position—namely, to overcome the restoring force exerted by the return spring. After overcoming an initial force threshold, which results from the sum of the restoring forces of the return spring and the auxiliary spring, the door handle can therefore be operated relatively easily, as only the restoring force of the return spring needs to be overcome. The result is significantly more comfortable handling of the door handle assembly.

[0007] Advantageous embodiments of the invention can be found in the dependent claims, the description and the drawing.

[0008] According to one embodiment, the door handle is connected to a deflection lever such that the deflection lever itself moves from a rest position to an end position during the movement of the door handle. In this way, the deflection lever provides a degree of mass balance for the door handle. Advantageously, the movement of the deflection lever from its rest position to its end position is a rotational movement. In this context, the axis of rotation of the deflection lever forms the reference axis for the "radial" and "tangential" orientations.

[0009] According to another embodiment, the return spring and the auxiliary spring engage with the deflection lever. Thus, the return spring and the auxiliary spring do not act directly on the door handle, but rather interact indirectly with it via the deflection lever.

[0010] The auxiliary spring can act on the bell crank at a first angle when the bell crank is in its rest position, and act on the bell crank at a second angle when the bell crank has left its rest position, whereby the force required to move the bell crank is less when the auxiliary spring acts at the second angle than when it acts at the first angle.

[0011] The application of the auxiliary spring to the deflection lever at different angles can be achieved in a particularly simple way by having the auxiliary spring act at least approximately tangentially to the deflection lever at the first angle and / or essentially radially to the deflection lever at the second angle.

[0012] The deflection lever can have a first contact surface oriented at least approximately radially, which engages with the auxiliary spring when the deflection lever is in its rest position. Furthermore, the deflection lever can have a second contact surface curved at least approximately cylindrically around the pivot axis of the deflection lever, which engages with the auxiliary spring when the deflection lever has left its rest position.

[0013] The first and second contact surfaces of the bell crank essentially form a shoulder or cam, respectively, by which the auxiliary spring is compressed as soon as the bell crank leaves its rest position. When the bell crank is in its rest position, the auxiliary spring engages the first contact surface and opposes the rotation of the bell crank tangentially, i.e., directly. As soon as the bell crank leaves its rest position, the auxiliary spring is compressed by the shoulder or cam and released from the first contact surface to slide along the second contact surface, so that for any further rotation of the bell crank, only a frictional force exerted radially by the auxiliary spring on the second contact surface needs to be overcome.

[0014] According to another particularly simple design, the auxiliary spring is a torsion spring. A first leg of the torsion spring can be fixed, while a second leg can engage the bell crank. The axis of rotation of the torsion spring preferably runs parallel to the axis of rotation of the bell crank.

[0015] According to another embodiment, the deflection lever is rotatably connected to a rear handle extension of the door handle. The additional spring can be mounted on a frame structure of the assembly.

[0016] The invention is described below by way of example with reference to one possible embodiment and the accompanying drawing. The drawing shows: Fig. 1 Partial views of a door handle arrangement according to the invention with a door handle (a) in a rest position, (b) in an intermediate position and (c) in a final position; Fig. 2 a perspective view of the door handle arrangement of Fig. 1 with the door handle in its resting position; and Fig. 3 perspective views of the door handle arrangement of Fig. 1 (a) with the door handle in its resting position and (b) with the door handle in its end position.

[0017] Fig. Figure 1 shows a door handle arrangement for a motor vehicle with a door handle 10, which is used to open a vehicle door (not shown) from a rest position ( Fig. 1 a) via an intermediate layer ( Fig. 1 b) into a final position ( Fig. 1c) is movable. In the present embodiment, the door handle arrangement is an external door handle arrangement and the door handle 10 is accordingly an external door handle.

[0018] The door handle 10 has a handle extension 12 at one end, usually at its rear end as viewed in the direction of travel. This extension is coupled to the locking mechanism of a door lock (not shown) of the vehicle door and serves to actuate, for example, a rotary latch of the door lock. The end of the handle extension 12 facing away from the door handle 10 is rigidly connected to an intermediate element 14, which in turn is articulated to a rotatably mounted deflection lever 16. The door handle 10 is thus articulated to the deflection lever 16 via the handle extension 12 and the intermediate element 14, so that a movement of the door handle 10 from its rest position to its end position results in a corresponding rotation of the deflection lever 16 from a rest position ( Fig. 1a) causes to be in a final position ( Fig. 1c).

[0019] The deflection lever 16 is rotatably mounted on a frame structure 18 fixedly installed in the vehicle door, the axis of rotation of the deflection lever 16 extending perpendicularly to a plane in which the movement of the door handle 10 takes place. Fig. 1 perpendicular to the plane of the sheet.

[0020] The rotation of the deflection lever 16 from the rest position to the end position occurs against the restoring force of a return spring 20 that interacts with the deflection lever 16. The return spring 20 is a coiled cylindrical torsion spring that is arranged inside the deflection lever 16 and whose axis essentially coincides with the axis of rotation of the deflection lever 16.

[0021] Additionally, the deflection lever 16 interacts with an auxiliary spring 22, the restoring force of which must be overcome to rotate the deflection lever 16 from its rest position. The auxiliary spring 22 is a torsion spring mounted on a cylindrical pin 24, which protrudes from the frame structure 18. The auxiliary spring 22 has a first leg 26 fixed to the frame structure 18 and a pivotable second leg 28, which engages with the deflection lever 16.

[0022] The deflection lever 16 has on its side facing the auxiliary spring 22 a first attack surface 30 extending at least approximately radially, to which a second attack surface 32, curved at least approximately in a circular cylinder around the axis of rotation of the deflection lever 16, is attached facing away from the door handle 10, so that the first and second attack surfaces 30, 32 form a shoulder or a cam of the deflection lever 16.

[0023] The position of the first contact surface 30 is adapted to the auxiliary spring 22 such that an end section of the second leg 28 of the auxiliary spring 22 rests at least approximately flush against the first contact surface 30 when the bell crank 16 is in its rest position. The auxiliary spring 22 is designed such that a certain preload is already present in the rest position of the bell crank 16; that is, the auxiliary spring 22 exerts a restoring force on the bell crank 16 in a tangential direction.

[0024] When the door handle 10 is moved from its rest position to its end position to open the door, this causes, as already mentioned, a simultaneous rotation of the deflection lever 16, in Fig.1 clockwise. This rotation of the deflection lever 16 not only occurs against the restoring force of the return spring 20, but also causes a further compression of the auxiliary spring 22, during which the second leg 28 of the auxiliary spring 22 detaches from the first contact surface 30 of the deflection lever 16 and the shoulder of the deflection lever 16 formed by the first and second contact surfaces 30, 32 rolls on the second leg 28 of the auxiliary spring 22 until the second leg 28 rests against the second contact surface 32 of the deflection lever 16.

[0025] As soon as the second leg 28 is in contact with the second contact surface 32 and the auxiliary spring 22 exerts its force radially on the deflection lever 16, only a certain frictional force between the auxiliary spring 22 and the deflection lever 16 needs to be overcome in addition to the restoring force of the return spring 20 in order to rotate the deflection lever 16.

[0026] In contrast, the initial rotation of the deflection lever 16 from the rest position requires a significantly higher force, since not only the restoring force of the return spring 20 has to be overcome, but also the auxiliary spring 22 directly counteracts the rotational movement of the deflection lever 16 by exerting its restoring force at least approximately tangentially on the deflection lever 16 via the first contact surface 30.

[0027] The initial actuation of the door handle 10 thus requires overcoming an increased force threshold, which is dimensioned to comply with legal regulations. After overcoming this force threshold, the auxiliary spring 22 is, in effect, disengaged, and the remaining movement of the door handle 10—relative to the door handle arrangement—essentially occurs only against the restoring force of the return spring 20. It is understood that, considering the entire door lock system, additional force components may arise from the movement of other system components, such as Bowden cables or lock components, which must be overcome in addition to the restoring force of the return spring 20. Reference symbol list 10 Door handle 12 handle extensions 14 Intermediate element 16 deflection levers 18 Framework structure 20 Return spring 22 Additional spring 24 cones 26 first thigh 28 second thigh 30 first attack surface 32 second attack surface

Claims

[1] Door handle arrangement for a motor vehicle with a door handle (10) which can be moved from a rest position to an end position to open a door, wherein the movement of the door handle (10) from its rest position to its end position is against the restoring force of a return spring (20), characterized by , that an additional spring (22) is provided which exerts a higher restoring force on the door handle (10) during a first phase of the movement of the door handle (10) from its rest position to its end position than during a subsequent second phase of the movement of the door handle (10). [2] Arrangement according to claim 1, characterized by , that the door handle (10) is connected to a deflection lever (16) such that the deflection lever (16) moves from a rest position to an end position during the movement of the door handle (10). [3] Arrangement according to claim 2, characterized by, that the movement of the deflection lever (16) from its rest position to its end position is a rotational movement. [4] Arrangement according to claim 2 or 3, characterized by , that the return spring (20) and the auxiliary spring (22) are engaged with the deflection lever (16). [5] Arrangement according to at least one of claims 2 to 4, characterized by , that the auxiliary spring (22) acts on the deflection lever (16) at a first angle when the deflection lever (16) is in its rest position, and acts on the deflection lever (16) at a second angle when the deflection lever (16) has left its rest position, wherein the force required to move the deflection lever (16) is less when the auxiliary spring (22) acts at the second angle than when it acts at the first angle. [6] Arrangement according to at least one of claims 2 to 5, characterized by, that the additional spring (22) acts at least approximately tangentially on the deflection lever (16) at the first angle and / or acts substantially radially on the deflection lever (16) at the second angle. [7] Arrangement according to at least one of claims 2 to 6, characterized by , that the deflection lever (16) has a first contact surface (30) oriented at least approximately radially, which engages with the auxiliary spring (22) when the deflection lever (16) is in its rest position. [8] Arrangement according to at least one of claims 2 to 7, characterized by , that the deflection lever (16) has a second contact surface (32) curved at least approximately in a circular cylinder around an axis of rotation of the deflection lever (16), which engages with the auxiliary spring (22) when the deflection lever (16) has left its rest position. [9] Arrangement according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized by , that the additional spring (22) is a torsion spring. [10] Arrangement according to claim 9, characterized by , that a first leg (26) of the leg spring (22) is fixed and a second leg (28) of the leg spring (22) engages a deflection lever (16) connected to the door handle (10). [11] Arrangement according to claim 9 or 10, characterized by , that an axis of rotation of the torsion spring (22) runs parallel to an axis of rotation of the deflection lever (16).

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