Interior door opener arrangement for a vehicle door

Abstract

Interior door opener assembly (99) for a vehicle door, comprising a housing (5) in which a lever (3) pivotable about an axis (4) is arranged, which can be connected to a door lock, wherein the housing (5) has on the one hand a first fastening element (6) for fastening the housing (5) to a door panel (1) and on the other hand a second fastening element (9) for fastening the housing (5) to a door structure (11), characterized in that a sleeve (13) is provided for the door-specific bridging of the gap between the second fastening element (9) and the door structure (11), which is connected to the housing (5) in the area of ​​the second fastening element (9).

Description

The invention relates to an interior door opener arrangement for a door of a motor vehicle. Interior door opening arrangements are widely known in motor vehicles, for example through KR 10 2001 0 059 809 A, WO 2014 / 122835 A1 or US 9 248 722 B2 . DE 196 11 752 A1 discloses a locking device for flaps or doors of motor vehicles, wherein a housing having a front plate is provided, wherein the front plate has a trough-shaped recess, wherein a handle is arranged in the recess for unlocking a locking device. DE 101 52 953 C1 discloses a tolerance compensation device for connecting two components, comprising a housing that can be attached to the first component, an elastic ring element that can be attached to the housing and inserted into an opening in the second component, and wherein a clamping element mounted on the housing is provided. Such interior door opener devices allow the vehicle door to be opened manually from inside the vehicle by manually operating a lever on the device. This lever then typically uses a Bowden cable or linkage to operate and unlock the vehicle door lock, allowing the door to be opened. This section considers an interior door opener assembly that is attached to both the door panel and the door structure. The distance between the attachment points on the door panel and the door structure must correspond to the distance between the attachment points on the interior door opener assembly. To enable the use of a uniform interior door opener assembly even with different vehicle door designs, the attachment to the door structure, with its varying spacing, must be adapted for each door. This allows for a parts-standardization strategy, resulting in higher production volumes and fewer variants, thus reducing overall costs. It is therefore the object of the present invention to create an interior door opener arrangement which allows an interior door opener arrangement to be used in different vehicle doors in order to reduce costs. This problem is solved using the features of claim 1. One embodiment of the invention relates to an interior door opener assembly for a vehicle door, comprising a housing in which a lever pivotable about an axis is arranged and which can be connected to a door lock. The housing has, on the one hand, a first fastening element for attaching the housing to a door panel and, on the other hand, a second fastening element for attaching the housing to a door structure. To bridge the door-specific gap between the second fastening element and the door structure, a sleeve is provided, which is connected to the housing in the area of ​​the second fastening element. This enables door-specific use of an otherwise identical interior door opener assembly, whereby only the sleeve needs to be adapted or selected for the respective vehicle door. In one embodiment, it is advantageous if the second fastening element is a dome-shaped receptacle for a screw. It is advantageous if the sleeve is connected to the second fastening element, such as the dome-shaped receptacle, by a force-fit and / or form-fit connection. This allows the sleeve to be securely positioned on the receptacle so that it cannot be lost. It is also advantageous if the sleeve has a cavity for inserting a screw. In this way, the sleeve serves as a holder and channel for the screw. It is particularly advantageous if the sleeve has projections extending into the cavity to prevent the screw from being lost. This ensures that the screw cannot be lost, which makes handling easier. It is also advantageous if the protrusions are shaped like flaps or pyramids. This allows for a simple and reliable way to prevent loss. It is also advantageous if the sleeve has an additional projection to ensure a rotationally secure fit against a projection on the housing. This prevents rotational movement of the sleeve when the screw is tightened. It is also advantageous if the additional projection is finger-like and / or if the housing projection is rib-like. This makes it easier to design the anti-rotation device. It is particularly advantageous if the sleeve has at least one projection that engages in a corresponding recess of the dome-shaped receptacle. This achieves a simple, positive-locking connection between the receptacle and the sleeve. It is particularly advantageous if the receptacle is designed like a pocket or groove. This allows for easy sliding or locking into place. The invention is explained in detail below using an exemplary embodiment with reference to the drawing. The drawing shows: Fig. 1 a schematic sectional view of an internal door opener arrangement along line AA of Fig. 2, Fig. 2 a further view of an internal door opener arrangement according to the invention, Fig. 3 a schematic view of an internal door opener arrangement according to the invention, Fig. 4 a detail of the view according to Fig. 3, Fig. 5 a schematic sectional view along line BB of Fig. 4, and Fig. 6 a schematic partial sectional view of a sleeve. Fig. 1 shows a section through an interior door opener arrangement 99 and Fig. 2 shows a top view of such an interior door opener arrangement 99. Figures 1 and 2 show a mechanically operated interior door opener assembly 99, installed in a door panel 1, with a lever 3. The lever 3 can be deflected rotationally about the axis 4, so that when it is deflected rotationally about the axis 4, a cable or linkage or similar attached to it is actuated, thereby unlocking a door lock of the vehicle door, so that the vehicle door can be opened. The lever 3 and other mechanical components, such as the axle 4 or a return spring for the lever 3 not shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, are usually arranged in a housing 5 as a central component of the door opener assembly 99. In order to enable the interior door opener assembly 99 to be attached to the door panel 1, a flange 6 of the housing 5 has openings 7 which accommodate weld domes, screw domes or other pin-like projections 98 of the door panel 1. The screw 8 in the dome-shaped receptacle 9 on the housing 5 engages in an internal thread 10 in the door structure 11 and ensures that the forces acting on the vehicle door and on the interior door opener assembly 99 when the lever 3 is actuated and also in the event of a side impact are not exclusively introduced into the flat and therefore relatively flexible door panel 1, but are also distributed to the more stable door structure 11. It can be seen that the door interior opener assembly 99 has a compact design, characterized by the smallest possible installation dimension a between the surfaces of the door panel 1 and the door structure 11. The small installation dimension a results in a low weight of the door interior opener assembly 99 and also promotes a comfortable interior dimension in the shoulder area between the driver's and passenger's door trim. The slim design, achieved through the small installation dimensions, should also ensure compatibility of the door opener arrangement across vehicle projects, even with limited installation space within the vehicle door. If, in another vehicle door, the distance between the surfaces of the door panel 1 and the door structure 11 is greater than the installation dimension a of the interior door opener assembly 99 according to Fig. 1, further measures are necessary to be able to use the interior door opener assembly 99 of Fig. 1 in other such vehicle doors. Figures 3, 4, 5 to 6 show embodiments of an interior door opener arrangement according to the invention and details thereof, in which the interior door opener arrangement 99 is to be used in a vehicle door whose distance between the surfaces of the door panel 1 and the door structure 11 is the value a + c. In Figs. 3, 4, 5 to 6 it becomes clear that a sleeve 13 is used to bridge the additional distance c, the length of which corresponds at least substantially to the distance c shown and which is characterized along the axis of the screw 8 with a cavity 14, e.g. cylindrically shaped, for receiving the screw 8. The sleeve 13 is a component of the door opener assembly 99 that is attached to the free end of the receptacle 9 on the housing 5 by means of a force-fit and / or form-fit connection and is used when the dimension c cannot be bridged on the door structure side due to the maximum material forming limits of the door structure 11 being reached. Thus, the advantage of the invention is to adapt the geometrically, manufacturing and tolerance-technically undemanding sleeve 13 to the distance c to be bridged between the end face of the receptacle 9 on the predetermined housing 5 of the door interior opener arrangement 99 and the internal thread 10 of the door structure 11, which may potentially vary between the driver's and rear doors in different vehicle projects and also between the driver's and rear doors in a single vehicle project, by fundamentally cost-effective modification of its length. This ensures that, by using the sleeve 13 as an adapter part designed to bridge the distance c, the aforementioned modular or identical part strategy of the housing 5 of the door opener assembly 99 with its predefined dimensions is maintained, particularly in the area of ​​the receptacle 9 for the screw 8, and that, on the other hand, the design and dimensioning of the door structure 11 can be carried out without regard to its distance to the front face of the receptacle 9 for the screw 8 on the housing 5 of the door opener assembly 99. In an alternative further development, the sleeve 13, as shown in Fig. 4, Fig. 5 to Fig. 6, is equipped with a loss-prevention function for the screw 8. The following descriptions refer to a sleeve 13 that is attached not only by friction, but also by positive locking and, if necessary, by friction locking to the end face of the receptacle 9 for the screw 8 on the housing 5 of the door opener assembly 99. This can be achieved, for example, by providing at least one projection 16 within the space of the sleeve 13, which, in the assembled state, is occupied by the receptacle 9 on the housing 5 of the door opener assembly 99 and which points towards the cavity 15 of the receptacle 9, and which engages in at least one pocket- or groove-like recess 17, geometrically corresponding to this projection 16, as a receptacle in one of the outer lateral surfaces of the receptacle 9 on the housing 5 of the door opener assembly 99. This ensures that the sleeve 13 is reliably attached to the receptacle 9 on the housing 5 of the door opener assembly 99, even without the screw 8. Alternatively, the sleeve 13 can also be attached to the receptacle 9 by frictional connection only. The exemplary embodiment further shows an optional locking device for the screw 8. A characteristic of the locking device in the illustrated exemplary embodiment is that at least two projections 18 are provided, which are located in the cavity 14 of the sleeve 13 intended for receiving the screw 8 and can be shaped like flaps or, as shown in Fig. 6, like pyramids. These projections 18, or their tips or the centers of their tips, lie regularly within a plane perpendicular to the axis of the screw 8 and optionally have the same distance from each other and from the axis of the screw 8. Because the distance of the tips of the projections 18 to the axis of the screw 8 is less than half the outer diameter of the threaded shank of the screw 8, an overlap is created between the projections 18 of the sleeve 13 and the screw 8. When the screw 8 is screwed into the sleeve 13 fixed on the receptacle 9 on the housing 5, the overlap due to the plastic deformation at the tips of the projections 18 ensures a clamping between the threaded shank of the screw 8 and the sleeve 13. After the material-displacing engagement of the threaded shank of the screw 8 with the projections 18 of the sleeve 13, the pre-assembly can end, irrespective of the fact that the head of the screw 8 has not yet been seated in the cavity 15 of the receptacle 9, with the result that the screw 8 screwed into the sleeve 13 and the receptacle 9 is secured in a force-fit and form-fit pre-assembly position within the door opener assembly 99. The projection 19 on the sleeve 13, which points towards one of the outer surfaces of the receptacle 9 and is designed, for example, in a finger-like manner, forms, for example, a positive locking connection with a projection on the housing 5 of the door opener assembly, wherein the projection can, for example, be a rib 20, and prevents the frictional torque caused by the plastic displacement of material at the tips of the projections 18 during the assembly of the screw 8 from leading to a rotational relative movement between the receptacle 9 on the housing 5 and the sleeve 13 that would prevent the screw from being inserted. The symmetry of the sleeve 13 shown in Fig. 6 is a feature of an embodiment, wherein all segments of the sleeve 13, including its outer contour and the cavity 14, can also be designed asymmetrically while retaining all functions. The design according to the invention allows the door panel 1 to be equipped with a screw 8, which is captive and pre-fixed in the door opener assembly 99 of the door panel 1, before it is mounted on the door structure 11. The first resulting advantage is that the screw 8 is not a single part that is expensive to procure and provide on the vehicle production line, but rather a clearly assigned and inextricably integrated component of an assembly, namely the interior door opener assembly 99 of the door panel 1. As a result, logistics processes for small parts on the vehicle production line are simplified and quality risks are eliminated in the form of employees forgetting, losing, confusing, or damaging the sensitive surfaces of door panel 1 or door opener assembly 99 with screw 8. A further advantage is the simplified ergonomics during the assembly of the screw 8. Only a single step is required to attach the door panel 1 to the door structure 11 via the door opener assembly 99: inserting a rotating, preferably machine-driven, screwdriver into the cavity 15 of the receptacle 9 on the housing 5 of the door opener assembly 99, in which the head of the screw 8, fixed in the pre-assembly position, is located. This eliminates the need for the preceding step of threading the screw 8, either individually or, in the worst case, together with the screwdriver onto which the head of the screw 8 has previously been placed, into the barely visible and ergonomically inaccessible cavity 15 of the receptacle 9.This is particularly helpful when the receptacle 9 on the housing 5 of the door opener assembly is covered by the lever 3 in its rest position, as sketched in the figures, because this allows the employee on the vehicle production line to attach the door panel 1 to the door structure 11 via the door opener assembly 99 in a simultaneous work step, by deflecting the lever 3, which is under tension due to the return spring, with one hand, while simultaneously inserting the rotating screw tool into the receptacle 9 on the housing 5 of the door opener assembly 99, which is thereby made accessible, for the final fastening of the screw 8 which is already pre-installed there. Reference symbol list 1 Door panel 3 Lever 4 Axle 5 Housing 6 Mounting element, receptacle 7 Opening 8 Screw 9 Mounting element, receptacle 10 Internal thread 11 Door structure 13 Sleeve 14 Cavity 15 Cavity 16 Projection 17 Receptacle, recess 18 Projection 19 Projection 20 Projection, rib 98 Projection 99 Door interior opener assembly

Claims

Interior door opener assembly (99) for a vehicle door, comprising a housing (5) in which a lever (3) pivotable about an axis (4) is arranged, which can be connected to a door lock, wherein the housing (5) has on the one hand a first fastening element (6) for fastening the housing (5) to a door panel (1) and on the other hand a second fastening element (9) for fastening the housing (5) to a door structure (11), characterized in that a sleeve (13) is provided for the door-specific bridging of the distance between the second fastening element (9) and the door structure (11), which is connected to the housing (5) in the area of ​​the second fastening element (9). Door opener arrangement (99) according to claim 1, characterized in that the second fastening element is a dome-shaped receptacle (9) for a screw (8). Door opener arrangement (99) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the sleeve (13) is connected to the second fastening element (9), in particular to the dome-shaped receptacle, by force and / or form locking. Door opener arrangement (99) according to claim 1, 2 or 3, characterized in that the sleeve (13) has a cavity (14) for inserting a screw (8). Door opener arrangement (99) according to claim 4, characterized in that the sleeve (13) has projections (18) extending into the cavity (14) to prevent the screw (8) from being lost. Door opener arrangement (99) according to claim 5, characterized in that the projections (18) are lobe-shaped or pyramid-shaped. Door opener arrangement (99) according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the sleeve (13) has at least one further projection (19) for rotationally secure contact with at least one projection (20) of the housing (5). Door opener arrangement (99) according to claim 7, characterized in that the further projection (19) is finger-like and / or that the projection (20) of the housing (5) is rib-like. Door opener arrangement (99) according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the sleeve (13) has at least one projection (16) which engages in a corresponding receptacle (17) of the receptacle (9). Door opener arrangement (99) according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the receptacle (17) is designed in a pocket-like or groove-like manner.

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