Handle housing with snap lock reference point stop for a vehicle door arrangement

Abstract

Handle housing (18) for a door assembly (12) of a motor vehicle, wherein the door assembly (12) comprises a door handle (14) and a support structure (16) with a housing opening (20) and at least one ramped tab (22, 24), wherein the housing opening (20) has a receiving end (21) and a fastening end (23) with at least one locking slot (30, 32) near the fastening end (23), wherein the handle housing (18) comprises: a rigid housing body (34) with a handle opening (28) configured to receive a section of the door handle (14) therein, such that the door handle (14) is secured to the housing body (34); and at least one flexible hook (38, 40) projecting from the housing body (34), wherein the at least one flexible hook (38, 40) is configured to be inserted into the receiving end (21) of the housing opening (20);characterized in that the at least one flexible hook (38, 40) is further configured to bend in a first direction as it moves over the at least one ramped tab (22, 24) to the fastening end (23), and then to bend in a second direction into the at least one locking slot (30, 32) in order to connect the housing body (34) to the support structure (16).

Description

TECHNICAL AREA The present invention relates generally to a handle housing according to the preamble of claim 1 for a door arrangement of a motor vehicle. A generic handle housing is essentially derived from US 2014 0 041 310 A1. BACKGROUND Current production motor vehicles, such as the modern automobile, are originally equipped with driver-side and passenger-side door assemblies that are movably attached to the vehicle body to provide access for entering and exiting the vehicle. Many conventional door assemblies are designed with an armrest that extends from the interior of the door assembly into the passenger compartment. The armrest is partly intended to provide a surface on which a passenger seated next to the door can rest the lower extremities of their arm. The armrest, usually part of a decorative interior trim assembly that defines the inner surface of the door assembly, is often incorporated with a door lock release lever and a pull handle or recessed grip used to open and close the door assembly.Most conventional armrest arrangements are independent units that are positively attached to the inner wall of the door or to other structural components of the vehicle, for example by screws, bolts, push pins or heat-contact rivets. A vehicle door handle is also provided along an outer door panel and is used to pull the vehicle door assembly from a closed position to an open position, allowing the passenger to enter the vehicle, and vice versa after the passenger has exited. The exterior door handle typically works in conjunction with, or operates, a release lever of a door lock to selectively disengage the door lock, allowing the vehicle door assembly to be moved to an open position. A conventional exterior door handle includes a grip section that pivots relative to a bracket or housing attached to the outer door panel. The pivoting motion of the grip section applies tension to a cable that moves a locking device to disengage the lock and open the door.Locking devices may also be provided to prevent the various vehicle door configurations from being opened unintentionally. SUMMARY This document discloses a handle housing for vehicle door assemblies, methods for manufacturing and using a vehicle door handle housing, and motor vehicles with a door handle housing. As a non-limiting example, an improved door handle housing is disclosed, comprising a six-way positioning snap-lock reference point stop that connects the handle housing to the door's supporting structure, such as the outer door panel. In at least some configurations, the snap-lock reference point stop comprises a pair of laterally spaced flexible hooks that are inserted into a receiving (wide) end of an opening in the outer door panel. The housing is then linearly translated to move the hooks from the receiving end to a securing (narrow) end of the opening in the outer door panel.The hooks slide against inwardly projecting, ramped tabs on the outer door panel; these tabs force the hooks toward each other. Once moved over the ramped tabs, the hooks elastically return to their original positions to sit within their respective locking slots near the mounting end of the door panel opening. Opposing faces of each locking slot interface are equipped with opposite sides of each hook to prevent any additional displacement or rotation. A threaded fastener can then be used to rigidly lock the vehicle handle housing to the outer door panel. For at least some embodiments, the snap-lock housing design incorporates multi-axis reference point positioning and secure mechanical engagement, contributing to accurate, time-saving, and efficient installation of the door handle assembly. The handle housing design can also facilitate easy operation of the door handle's connected moving components and allows for simplified removal during maintenance. A further advantage may be the elimination of a dedicated hand tool required to install previous poke-yoke (also known as "poka-yoke") housing mounting designs. According to the invention, in particular a handle housing is presented which is characterized by the features of claim 1. Further aspects of the present invention relate to motor vehicles with vehicle door assemblies. A “motor vehicle,” as used herein, can refer to any relevant vehicle platform, such as passenger cars (internal combustion engine (ICE), hybrids, etc.), industrial vehicles, buses, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), motorcycles, agricultural equipment, boats, aircraft, etc. In one example, a motor vehicle comprises a vehicle body with a door frame and a door assembly with a door retaining device. The door panel includes first and second laterally spaced ramped tabs projecting from an extended housing opening. This housing opening has laterally spaced receiving and securing ends. First and second laterally spaced retaining slots are located adjacent to the first and second ramped tabs, for example, between the longitudinal ends of the opening. The door assembly also includes a handle housing with a rigid body defined by a handle opening. Part of the door handle passes through the housing opening in the door panel, into the handle opening in the handle housing, and is secured at a pivot-arm interface on an inner surface of the housing. The handle housing incorporates first and second substantially parallel flexible hooks projecting into the handle opening. These flexible hooks are configured to insert into the receiving end of the chassis opening, move toward the attachment end, and flex toward each other as they slide against the first and second ramped tabs, and then flex away from each other into the first and second retaining slots, respectively, thereby connecting the housing body to the door panel. According to further aspects of the present invention, methods for manufacturing and methods for using the vehicle door handle housing are presented. For example, a method for manufacturing a handle housing for a motor vehicle door assembly is disclosed. The door assembly comprises a door handle and a support structure with a housing opening and at least one ramped tab. The housing opening has receiving and securing ends with at least one securing slot near the fastening end.The method comprises: forming a rigid housing body with a handle opening configured to receive a section of a door handle, such that the door handle is secured to the housing body; and forming at least one flexible hook projecting from the housing body, wherein the at least one flexible hook is configured to insert into the receiving end of the housing opening, to bend in a first direction as it moves over the at least one ramped tab to the fastening end, and then to bend in a second direction into the at least one locking slot to connect the housing body to the support structure. The summary described above is not intended to represent every embodiment or aspect of the present invention. Rather, the preceding summary merely illustrates some of the novel aspects and features set forth herein. The features and advantages listed above, as well as other features and advantages of the present invention, will become readily apparent from the following detailed description of the embodiments and methods of carrying out the present invention, in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the attached claims. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a representative vehicle door assembly of a motorized vehicle with a door handle according to aspects of the present invention. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a section of the vehicle door assembly from Fig. 1, showing a section of a representative handle housing according to aspects of the present invention. Fig. 3 is an alternative perspective interior view of the vehicle door assembly from Fig. 1, showing a flexible hook of the handle housing seated within a retaining slot of a door panel. Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the handle housing from Figs. 2 and 3. Fig. 5 is a top view of the door panel and the handle housing, showing the flexible hook of the handle housing inserted into a receiving end of a housing opening in the door panel. Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the door panel and the handle housing from Fig. 1.5, showing each of the flexible hooks of the handle housing that sit within the respective locking slots of the door panel. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATED EXECUTION FORMS With reference to the drawings, in which the same reference numerals refer to the same features in the different views, Fig. 1 shows a perspective view of a representative automobile, generally designated 10, with an arrangement of vehicle doors, which are collectively represented in the drawings by a passenger-side vehicle door arrangement 12. Attached to a side section of the automobile 10, e.g., to a door frame, which is partially defined by adjacent support pillars of the vehicle body, the vehicle door arrangement 12 is provided with an external door handle 14, which is movably attached to an external door panel 16. The automobile 10 – also referred to here as a “motor vehicle” or simply “vehicle” – is merely an exemplary application with which aspects of this invention can be applied.Similarly, the implementation of the present concepts in an exterior door handle attached to an exterior door panel should also be considered an exemplary application of the novel concepts disclosed herein. Accordingly, it is understood that the aspects and features of the present invention can be integrated into other handle arrangements and used for any type of motor vehicle. Finally, the drawings shown herein are not necessarily to scale and are for guidance only. Thus, the specific and relative dimensions of the drawings are not to be interpreted as limitations. The vehicle door assembly 12 of Fig. 1 can be pivotally mounted, for example, via a multi-stage control spring door hinge on the door frame of the vehicle body, to provide access to a section of the passenger compartment and to close it securely. The door assembly 12 has a door locking system (not shown) for securing the door assembly 12 to the door frame in a closed position. The external door handle 14 is, for example, pulled, pivoted, or otherwise moved, e.g., away from the door panel 16, to exert a tensile force on an internal cable of the door locking system, thereby activating a spring-loaded lock. This allows the door assembly 12 to be moved into an open position.After the door handle 14 is released, the internal cable, which may be a type of Bowden cable, is pre-tensioned back to its original position by the spring-loaded locking mechanism, so that the locking device can re-engage a complementary locking plate on the door frame when the vehicle door assembly 12 is moved back into the closed position. An optional locking device (not visible in the drawings) may be provided to prevent unintentional activation of the door locking system. With reference to Fig. 2, a handle housing 18 is shown along an inner surface of the door panel 16, providing a lower support for the operation of the door handle 14. The handle housing 18, which may be made of a molded plastic, is arranged to align a handle opening 28 of the housing 18 over an extended housing opening 20 that extends through the door panel 16. The housing opening 20, best seen in Figs. 5 and 6, has a first (receiving) end 21 spaced longitudinally from a second (attaching) end 23. While a range of sizes, orientations, and geometries are provided, the receiving end 21 has a polygonal shape with a wider lateral dimension (e.g., from left to right in Fig. 5) than the attaching end 23, which is generally rectangular. One or more ramped tabs—e.g., the first and second triangular ramped tabs 22 and 24 of Figs. 5 and 6, respectively—are arranged between the first and second longitudinal ends 21, 23 of the extended housing opening 20. The tabs 22, 24 are "ramped" by having a respective sliding surface 25 and 27 of each tab 22, 24 angled obliquely with respect to an adjacent, congruent surface of the inner circumference of the opening 20. As shown, the first and second ramped tabs 22, 24 are laterally spaced apart, e.g., on the left and right sides of the handle housing 18 in Fig. 5, and project into the housing opening 20. Depending on the number of ramped tabs, one or more locking slots—e.g., the first and second triangular ramped tabs 22, 24—are provided. B. first and second rectangular locking slots 30 and 32 of Fig. 5 and Fig. 6 - arranged within or otherwise near the fastening end 23 of the housing opening 20.In the example shown, the first and second locking slots 30, 32 are spaced laterally apart from each other, e.g. on the left and right sides of the handle housing 18 in Fig. 5, each being arranged immediately adjacent to one of the ramped tabs 22, 24. The handle housing 18 is shown in Fig. 3 with a rigid housing body 34 to which many of the movable components of an external door handle device are attached, such as a cable holder, a pulley, a deflection lever, etc. These components are not necessary to convey an understanding of the features of the present invention and are therefore not shown in the drawings. The extended handle opening 28 extends through the top of the handle housing 18 and is configured to receive a section of the door handle 14. In particular, Figs. 2 and 3 show a pivot arm section 15 of the door handle 14, which passes through the housing opening 20 of the door panel 16 into the handle housing 18 through the handle opening 28 and is attached to a pivot arm interface 36 of the housing 18. The door handle 14 pivots about the pivot arm section 15 to actuate the door locking system described above.An optional handle stop (not shown), located at the opposite end of the door handle 14, limits the pivoting movement of the handle. A six-way position snap-lock reference point stop is provided to operatively connect the handle housing 18 to the door panel support structure 16 of the vehicle 10. The snap-lock reference point stop comprises one or more flexible hooks, e.g., a first and a second cantilevered flexible hook 38 and 40, respectively, of Figures 5 and 6, projecting from the housing body 34, as shown in Figure 4. According to the illustrated example, the pair of flexible hooks 38, 40 are substantially parallel to each other and extend longitudinally along the length of the handle housing 18. For at least some embodiments, it is desirable that the flexible hooks 38, 40 project into opposite sides of the handle opening 28 and are spaced apart on these sides.The rigid housing body 34 and the flexible hooks 38, 40 can be formed holistically as a single, unified structure or alternatively as separate parts that are subsequently assembled to form the handle housing 18. The flexible hooks 38, 40 are shown as mirror images of each other; thus, for the sake of brevity, structural features of both hooks can be described with reference to the first hook 38. Each flexible hook 38 includes a curved head 33 formed integrally with a shank 35 that connects the curved head 33 to the housing body 34. To attach the housing body 18 to the door panel 16, the flexible hooks 38, 40 are first inserted into the receiving end 21 of the housing opening 20. To facilitate easy insertion, the lateral width of the receiving end 21 shown is at least as wide (if not wider) as the distance between the outermost side faces of the flexible hooks 38, 40. This allows for some additional flexibility to accommodate, for example, manufacturing tolerance variations and minor errors during manual assembly. As a further optional structural feature to facilitate insertion of the flexible hooks 38, 40 into the housing opening 20, the curved head 33 of each hook 38 can include a ramped side face 37 (Figs. 4 and 5) configured to engage with the inner circumference of the housing opening 20, thereby aligning the flexible hooks 38, 40 and thus the handle housing 18 during insertion. After the flexible hooks 38, 40 are inserted into the housing opening 20, the handle housing 18 then moves in a straight line, e.g., from bottom to top in Fig. 5, to move the hooks 38, 40 from the receiving end 21 to the fastening end 23 of the housing opening 20 of the door panel 16. During this movement, the flexible hooks 38, 40 are forced to slide against and pass through the ramped tabs 22, 24. The ramped tabs 22, 24 then push the flexible hooks 38, 40 in a first direction, e.g., towards each other. To facilitate the joining of the flexible hooks 38, 40 with the ramped tabs 22, 24, the curved head 33 can be provided with a ramped front surface 39 (Fig. 4 and Fig. 6) configured to engage with the sliding surface 25 of the ramped tab 22 and thus align the handle housing 18 as it moves towards the fastening end 23.As soon as the flexible hooks 38, 40 release the ramped tabs 22, 24, the torque applied by the tabs 22, 24 is eliminated, allowing the hooks 38, 40 to bend elastically in a second direction, e.g., away from each other, into the locking slots 30, 32, as shown in Fig. 6. Once properly seated in the locking slots 30, 32, the flexible hooks 38, 40 are actuated to securely connect the housing body 34 to the door panel 16. An optional threaded fastener 26 can then be used to rigidly lock the vehicle handle housing 18 to the door panel 16. The snap-lock design provides multi-axis reference point positioning and a secure mechanical connection of the handle housing 18 during door assembly 12. As a non-restrictive example, the front and rear faces of the curved head 33 are configured to engage (e.g., press against) the first and second opposing projections 41 and 43 of the locking slot 30, respectively, thereby preventing significant rotation about the transverse axis (tilt) and significant longitudinal (forward and backward) displacement of the handle housing 18. Furthermore, one side face of each curved head 33 is configured to engage with the inner circumference 45 of the locking slot 30, thereby preventing significant rotation about the vertical axes (yaw) and significant lateral (port and starboard) displacement of the handle housing 18.A channel 31 of the curved head 33 is configured to engage with a projection 41 of the locking slot 30, thus preventing significant rotation about the longitudinal axis (rolling) and significant normal displacement (vertical displacement) of the handle housing 18. In other words, the snap-lock design can allow a small amount of play between the flexible hooks 38, 40 and the locking slots 30, 32, but would otherwise prevent additional displacement and rotation of the handle housing 18, which could otherwise cause the handle housing to be displaced from the door panel 16.

Claims

Handle housing (18) for a door assembly (12) of a motor vehicle, wherein the door assembly (12) comprises a door handle (14) and a support structure (16) with a housing opening (20) and at least one ramped tab (22, 24), wherein the housing opening (20) has a receiving end (21) and a fastening end (23) with at least one locking slot (30, 32) near the fastening end (23), wherein the handle housing (18) comprises: a rigid housing body (34) with a handle opening (28) configured to receive a section of the door handle (14) therein, such that the door handle (14) is secured to the housing body (34); and at least one flexible hook (38, 40) projecting from the housing body (34), wherein the at least one flexible hook (38, 40) is configured to be inserted into the receiving end (21) of the housing opening (20);characterized in that the at least one flexible hook (38, 40) is further configured to bend in a first direction as it moves over the at least one ramped tab (22, 24) to the fastening end (23), and then to bend in a second direction into the at least one locking slot (30, 32) in order to connect the housing body (34) to the support structure (16). Handle housing (18) according to claim 1, wherein the at least one flexible hook (38, 40) has a first and a second flexible hook (38, 40), wherein the at least one ramped tab (22, 24) has first and second ramped tabs (22, 24) and the at least one locking slot (30, 32) has first and second locking slots (30, 32) and wherein the first and the second flexible hook (38, 40) are configured to be inserted into the receiving end (21) of the housing opening (20), to bend towards each other while moving over the first and second ramped tabs (22, 24) and then to bend away from each other into the respective first and second locking slots (30, 32). Handle housing (18) according to claim 2, wherein the first and second flexible hooks (38, 40) are parallel to each other. Handle housing (18) according to claim 2, wherein the first and second flexible hooks (38, 40) project into the handle opening (28) and are located on opposite sides of the same. Handle housing (18) according to claim 1, wherein the at least one flexible hook (38, 40) includes a curved head (33) formed integrally with a shaft connecting the curved head (33) to the housing body (34). Handle housing (18) according to claim 5, wherein the curved head (33) includes a ramped side surface (37) configured to engage with the inner circumference of the housing opening (20) and thus align the handle housing (18) when inserted into the housing opening (20). Handle housing (18) according to claim 5, wherein the curved head (33) has a ramped front surface (39) configured to engage with a sliding surface (25, 27) of the at least one ramped tab (22, 24) and thus align the handle housing (18) when moving from the receiving end (21) to the fastening end (23). Handle housing (18) according to claim 5, wherein the front and rear sides of the curved head (33) are configured to engage with first and second opposing projections (41, 43) of the at least one locking slot (30, 32) in order to prevent significant tilting and significant longitudinal displacement of the handle housing (18). Handle housing (18) according to claim 5, wherein a side surface (37) of the curved head (33) is configured to engage with the inner circumference of the at least one locking slot (30, 32) in order to prevent significant yaw and lateral displacement of the handle housing (18). Handle housing (18) according to claim 5, wherein a channel (31) of the curved head (33) is configured to engage with a projection (41, 43) of the at least one locking slot (30, 32) in order to prevent significant rolling and significant normal displacement of the handle housing (18).

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