Vehicle door or hatch and method for operating a vehicle door or hatch

Abstract

Vehicle door (1) or lid with at least one outer panel (2) and at least one sensor (6) for collision monitoring, wherein the sensor for collision monitoring with objects external to the vehicle is arranged on the outer panel (2), at least in the event of a door or lid movement, characterized in that the sensor (6) has a paintable sensor cover (10), wherein the sensor (6) is arranged in an opening in the outer panel (2), which opening is covered by a sensor frame (13) in which the sensor (6) is accommodated, and wherein a lighting means is arranged between the sensor (6) and the outer panel (2).

Description

The invention relates to a vehicle door or flap with at least one exterior panel. The invention also relates to a method for operating a vehicle door or flap.Vehicle doors or vehicle flaps, such as tailgates or trunk lids, for example, are known from the general prior art. They bear on their outer side at least one outer panel, which usually consists of sheet metal or another material delimiting the vehicle from the outside.It is known from the general prior art to automatically open and close tailgates and increasingly also vehicle doors, that is to say to open or close them by means of a corresponding, for example motorized, drive. In this case, there is basically the risk that the vehicle door or flap collides with an object external to the vehicle, for example an adjacent parked vehicle, the ceiling of a garage or the like.It is also known from the general prior art that, for example, the manufacturer Tesla of vehicles with automatic vehicle doors adheres ultrasonic sensors to the inside of the vehicle door in the rear region of the vehicle, which ultrasonic sensors are invisible when the vehicle door is closed. These ultrasonic sensors provide a sensor for detecting a potential collision of the vehicle door with an external object. However, the sensors are correspondingly limited in their detection range on account of their arrangement, and therefore a very high safety distance from the external object, with respect to which a potential risk of collision has been detected, has to be maintained. In the closed state of the door, the sensors are invisible, but in the open state they oppose a high-quality impression of the vehicle.DE 10 2004 040 399 A1 describes a door system for a vehicle having an environmental sensor for detecting an obstacle in the environment and a door sensor for a signal initiating the opening. Furthermore, a controller for collision monitoring is provided, which can warn of a collision in two warning stages as a function of the signals of the surrounding sensor.DE 10 2015 114 014 A1 describes a device for actuating a vehicle door or flap. A proximity sensor is provided in this case in order to detect the approach of a person. By means of an additionally provided n actuating mechanism, a signal for opening or closing the vehicle door or door can then be triggered by means of a touch. The device is integrated into the vehicle body in a planar and large-area manner.DE 10 2015 214 793 A1 shows an operating device for a motor-adjustable side door of a vehicle. The control thereof is effected on the basis of a detected actuating command on the one hand and on the basis of a detected boundary condition on the other hand. The boundary condition can also include, among other things, a risk of collision detected via a detection unit.EP 1 816 037 A1 discloses a sensor for vehicles which can be designed, for example, as a supersonic sensor. It is accommodated together with a housing in a bore in a vehicle exterior part and fastened by means of a clamp.With respect to the further prior art, reference may also be made to DE 20 2013 005 022 U1. This shows a vehicle door for manual actuation, which is provided with an electric lock, however. The door handle can be backlit in order to become more visible or to indicate states depending on the access control.In the same context, reference may also be made to DE 20 2016 100 239 U1. This shows a system for indicating the locking status of the entire vehicle in the case of a vehicle door. For this purpose, fields of view with corresponding pictograms are arranged in the region of the door handle, which depending on the state are backlit with different colors, for example green, red and orange, in order to inform the user whether the doors are fully opened, fully locked or only partially locked.The object of the present invention is to specify an improved vehicle door or flap with a sensor for collision monitoring and a method for operating such a vehicle door or flap.According to the invention, this object is achieved by a vehicle door or flap having the features in claim 1, and here in particular in the characterizing part of claim 1. Advantageous embodiments and refinements are specified in the dependent claims dependent thereon. Claim 10 also specifies a method for operating a specific embodiment of such a vehicle door or flap according to the invention.The vehicle door or flap according to the invention provides that the sensor for collision monitoring is arranged in the region of the exterior panelling. By virtue of such an arrangement of the sensor on the exterior panelling of the door or in an opening in the exterior panelling of the door, it becomes possible to position the sensor in regions in which it enables a very good "overview" of the environment of the vehicle and thus can detect objects external to the vehicle in a simple, positionally accurate and efficient manner. The detection is very reliable, so that the vehicle door or flap can be moved very close to the vehicle-external objects and can thus be opened very far depending on the situation, which represents a decisive advantage with regard to the comfortable use of the vehicle.The invention provides that the sensor has a paintable sensor cover. Such a paintable sensor cover makes it possible to integrate the sensor very easily into the design concept of the vehicle. The sensor cover can be painted, for example, in the color of a car, or if the sensor is formed on the vehicle door or door panel independently of a door handle but is positioned in the vicinity thereof, it can also be painted in the color of this door handle. By means of such a paintable sensor cover, different design requirements can be implemented in an extraordinarily cost-effective, quick and effective manner, which is a decisive advantage.Furthermore, the sensor is arranged in an opening of the exterior panel, which is covered by a sensor frame, in which the sensor is in turn accommodated. This arrangement is ideal with regard to installation and, if necessary, also permits simple replacement of the sensor if this sensor should be defective. The sensor frame can likewise be painted, in particular painted in car paint, so that the entire structure is very easily integrated into the vehicle design.A lighting means is arranged between the sensor and the exterior panel, or according to an advantageous development of the invention between the sensor frame and the sensor, or according to an alternative embodiment between the sensor frame and the exterior panel. Such a lighting means can be illuminated with different colors, for example, and can ideally visualize a state detected by the sensor or a movement state of the vehicle door or tailgate. The structure can be realized in an extraordinarily simple and robust manner, in particular if, according to an advantageous development of the concept, the lighting means consists of at least one light source and a light guide and / or an outlet opening for the light. The light can be coupled out indirectly via the outlet opening or directly via the light guide. In the case of a round sensor or a round sensor cover, for example, an annular light guide element can be provided, so that a luminous ring around the sensor is impinged with the corresponding light. Light emitting diodes can be used as the light source, in particular, which are available on the market easily and economically in different colors or with adjustable colors.A decoupling element can be arranged between the sensor frame and the sensor, in particular the sensor cover, in order to decouple the sensor from the door and thus, for example, to achieve a better measurement result when using an ultrasonic sensor as a sensor.According to an advantageous embodiment, the sensor is arranged on the exterior panel on the side of the door facing away from a pivot axis, so that when the door is opened it is close to the maximum extent of the door when it is opened, i.e. the maximum radius which the door describes, and thus enables a good "overview" of vehicle-external objects. A very advantageous development also provides that the arrangement is at the height of the handle and in particular in an outwardly curved region of the exterior panel. Such an outwardly curved region of the exterior panel, which is usually present at the height of or just below the door or flap handle, represents an ideal position for the sensor, since it is then located in the maximum outer region of the vehicle door or flap, in which a collision with vehicle-external objects is most likely to be feared.The configuration with the lighting means can be operated according to a method according to the invention in such a way that the vehicle door or flap is actuated automatically, wherein during the actuation a first lighting color and in the case of an imminent collision with an object outside the vehicle detected by the sensor a different second lighting color is emitted via the lighting means. It is thus extremely simple and efficient to indicate to a user of the vehicle that the vehicle door or flap moves in the desired manner, for example, and that an obstacle located in the vicinity has been detected by the sensor. The user standing, for example, next to the vehicle, who has likewise detected the obstacle, can thus detect that the sensor system has detected the obstacle. Manual intervention is thus unnecessary. The person using the vehicle is visualized very easily and efficiently in such a way that the corresponding control of the vehicle or of its vehicle door or door functions efficiently and the person does not have to become active in an emergency. The customer benefit of such information forwarded to the person using the vehicle is then obvious.Further advantageous embodiments of the vehicle door or door according to the invention and of the method also result from the exemplary embodiment which is illustrated in more detail below with reference to the figures.The following are shown: FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a vehicle door in a possible embodiment according to the invention; and FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a sensor in the vehicle door according to the invention.In the illustration of FIG. 1, a vehicle door denoted in its entirety by 1, for example the front door of a vehicle, can be seen. This comprises an outer panel 2 and a window 3 in a manner known per se. The outer paneling 2 is usually designed as a sheet metal paneling. The vehicle door 1 also comprises an indicated handle 4 for opening and closing the vehicle door, which is arranged in an optimum recessed grip denoted by 5 or in the region thereof. Further, an external object detection sensor 6 is provided for preventing the vehicle door 1 from colliding with these external objects in the case of automatically operating the vehicle door 1. The sensor 6 is arranged independently of the recessed grip 5 and the door handle 4 but approximately at its height. The outer panel 2 is typically slightly curved outwards in this region, which is intended to be the case above a light edge denoted by 7 in the illustration of FIG. 1. Two indicated hinges 8 indicate approximately the axis 9 about which the vehicle door 1 moves during opening. The sensor 6 is mounted on the exterior panel 2 on the side of the vehicle door facing away from the hinges 8 or this movement axis 9.The illustration in FIG. 2 shows an enlarged view of the sensor 6 on the outer panel 2. The actual sensor 6 is arranged hidden under a paintable sensor cover 10 in an invisible manner. The sensor cover 10 with the sensor accommodated therein is then mounted in a sensor frame 13 via a decoupling element 11 and a lighting means 12. Both the sensor frame 13 and the sensor cover 10 and the decoupling element 11 can be painted in car color in order to meet the design requirements of the vehicle as simply and efficiently as possible.The lighting means 12, which is also shown here in a ring shape, can comprise, for example, a ring of a light-conducting material that is painted semitransparent in the color of the car and forms the region of the lighting means visible in FIG. 2. Below this, the light required for this purpose can be generated for coupling out light via the light guide of the lighting means via one or more light sources. These light sources can be light-emitting diodes, for example. Different colors may be provided. If the door 1 opens, for example, a green light can be emitted via the lighting means 12, so that it can be seen that an opening operation is in progress. As long as no vehicle-external objects are detected with which a potential collision is to be feared, the light remains green and can be emitted, for example, continuously or flashing, if appropriate, also depending on the degree of opening of the door 1 achieved. If objects come into the area of the door 1, with which a potential collision would be feared, the light color can change, for example to red or first to orange and then to red, in order to indicate that the corresponding objects have been detected by the sensor 6. The controller of the door 1 may then stop opening the door and limit the opening degree to avoid collision and continuously inform a user located near the vehicle of the status of the door 1 during the opening or closing operation.

Claims

Vehicle door (1) or door with at least one exterior panelling (2) and at least one sensor (6) for collision monitoring, wherein the sensor for collision monitoring with vehicle-external objects is arranged on the exterior panelling (2) at least in the case of a door or door movement, characterized in that the sensor (6) has a paintable sensor cover (10), wherein the sensor (6) is arranged in an opening of the exterior panelling (2), which is covered by a sensor frame (13) in which the sensor (6) is accommodated, and wherein a lighting means is arranged between the sensor (6) and the exterior panelling (2).Vehicle door (1) or flap according to Claim 1, characterized in that the lighting means is arranged between the sensor frame (13) and the outer panel (2).Vehicle door (1) or flap according to Claim 1, characterized in that the lighting means is arranged between the sensor frame (13) and the sensor (6).Vehicle door (1) or door according to Claim 1, 2 or 3, characterized in that the sensor (6) is designed independently of a handle (4) of the vehicle door (1) or door.Vehicle door (1) or flap according to Claim 1, 2, 3 or 4, characterized in that the sensor (6) is arranged on the side of the outer panel (2) facing away from a pivot axis (9).Vehicle door (1) or flap according to one of Claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the sensor (6) is arranged in an outwardly curved region of the exterior panel (2) and in particular at the height of a handle (4) of the vehicle door (1) or flap.Vehicle door (1) or flap according to one of Claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the sensor (6), with its sensor cover (10), is accommodated in the opening of the exterior panel (2).Vehicle door (1) or flap according to Claim 7, characterized in that a decoupling element (11) is arranged between the sensor frame (13) and the sensor (6).Vehicle door (1) or flap according to one of Claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the lighting means (12) comprises at least one light source and a light guide and / or an outlet opening for the light.Method for operating a vehicle door (1) or flap having at least one exterior panelling (2) and at least one sensor (6) for collision monitoring, wherein the sensor for collision monitoring with vehicle-external objects is arranged on the exterior panelling (2) at least in the case of a door or flap movement, characterized in that a lighting means is arranged between the sensor (6) and the exterior panelling (2), wherein the vehicle door (1) or flap is automatically opened or closed, wherein during the actuation at least one first light colour is emitted via the lighting means (12), and in that in the case of a imminent collision the vehicle door (1) or flap is stopped, wherein at least one other second light colour is emitted via the lighting means (12) starting from the detected risk of a collision.

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