Actuating device for an access system of a vehicle, for actuating a movable part of the vehicle.

Abstract

Actuating device (1) for an access system of a vehicle, for actuating a movable part (2) of the vehicle, in particular in the form of a door or a flap of the vehicle, comprising: - a housing (20) made of a non-conductive material, - at least one sensor arrangement (4) arranged within the housing (20), wherein the housing (20) has at least one actuating region (3) which is formed at least partially from a conductive material by means of an injection molding process, wherein the actuating region (3) cooperates with the sensor arrangement in order to detect an actuation of a user.

Description

The invention relates to an actuating device for an access system of a vehicle, for actuating a movable part of the vehicle, in particular in the form of a door or a flap of the vehicle, having the features specified in the preamble of claim 1. The invention further relates to an external door handle with such an actuating device.It is known from the prior art that actuating devices in the form of external door handles of vehicles are used to activate an electric lock of the vehicle. The electric lock is, for example, an electrically actuatable door lock. The unlocking of the lock can be triggered, for example, by an ID transmitter (identification transmitter), which for this purpose transmits a code to a security system of the vehicle, for example, for authentication. It may also be possible for the activation of the electrical lock, such as waking up the ID transmitter and / or unlocking or opening the lock to take place only upon or after approach of the operator, or a hand of the operator, and / or upon exertion of force by the operator on a door handle body of the door outer handle upon or after authentication has taken place. The approach or exertion of force is detected by sensors of the door outer handle. It has proven to be a disadvantage that the detection by the sensors is often error- and / or fault-prone. Thus, for example, capacitive sensors can be used to detect the approach, wherein external influences such as moisture or rain often lead to an erroneous detection. The sensitivity for the detection can also be insufficient, whereby the comfort for an operator when activating the electrical lock is correspondingly reduced. Furthermore, the arrangement of the corresponding sensors can only be adapted insufficiently to a given configuration of the door handle body.As a sensor arrangement with an alternative detection concept, inductive sensors are known, which are increasingly used in the field of vehicle technology and vehicle door handles. Such inductive sensors usually rely on the movement of a conductive, in particular metallic object being detected. With regard to such movements, these inductive sensors are very sensitive and accurate. Metallic components are therefore often arranged in the door handle, which are moved by user intervention with respect to a sensor, which has an induction coil, for example. These movements can be extremely small, for example relate to the deformation of the door handle by a mechanical pull. At present, more and more electronics are installed in the cavity of the vehicle door handle, wherein the installation space in the cavity of the vehicle door handle is limited.The object of the invention is to create a solution which makes optimum use of a predetermined installation space of an actuating device and at the same time minimizes the outlay on the device.The object according to the invention is achieved by the characterizing part of claim 1. Further features and details of the invention are evident from the dependent claims, the description and the drawings.According to the invention, it is provided that the housing has a wall, wherein the wall has at least one actuation region which is at least partially formed from a conductive material by means of an injection molding method, wherein the actuation region interacts with the sensor arrangement in order to detect an actuation of a user. The essential advantage of this actuating device according to the invention is that no separate target element, such as a metallic foil for example, is required for the sensor arrangement, which has to be attached to the wall of the housing. Furthermore, the mounting of the actuating device is shortened by the integration of the target in the housing. Furthermore, the implementation of the target by injection molding can be automated better, which leads to reproducible results with fewer errors during assembly.Advantageously, the sensor arrangement can have an inductive sensor, wherein the actuation region serves as a target for the inductive sensor. The inductive sensor serves to detect at least one change in an inductance with respect to a target. For this purpose, various components and / or circuits are normally necessary, which are combined on a chip or in an integrated circuit in the inductive sensor. The inductive sensor is designed, for example, to measure simultaneously the impedance and the resonant frequency of an LC slewing circuit. In this case, the sensor arrangement is preferably insensitive to external influences such as moisture or contamination in the region of the door handle body. Consequently, erroneous detection due to influences such as rain, which lead to interference in capacitive sensors, for example, can be reliably avoided. False detection due to external influences which cause a force to be exerted on the door handle body can be avoided, for example, by exclusively a partial region of the door handle body having the actuation region and using corresponding threshold values which are specific to the respective activation action. The inductive sensor has the further advantages that it is very sensitive to deformations and can thus serve for detecting the activation action very quickly and reliably. The sensor arrangement has a resolution of, for example, less than one micrometer with, for example, a bit depth for quantizing the measured inductance values of at least 16 bits or at least 24 bits. It is further conceivable that at least two or at least three or at least four sensor devices are arranged within the door handle body, i.e. in an interior of the door handle body, which are arranged distributed, for example, along the inner side of the door handle body. The sensors can be arranged on at least one circuit board and / or electrically connected to (control electronics in the interior of the door handle body. The electronics of the door outer handle can be arranged on the circuit board together with the sensor, for example. The inductive sensor is preferably arranged on the side of the circuit board facing the actuation region. Further electronics can be arranged on the same side or on the opposite side. The sensor arrangement can have, for example, at least one integrated circuit and / or at least one microprocessor and / or at least one coil and / or at least one nonvolatile data memory. In this case, the sensors can be assigned to different actuation regions of the door handle body, for example. As a result, one or more activation actions can be reliably detected at different regions of the door handle body.The construction is very cost-effective and simple if the actuation region comprises conductive particles, in particular in the form of carbon black, graphite, carbon nanotubes, graphene; silver, copper, nickel, tin, aluminum and stainless steel. It has been found that the materials listed have led to improved triggering of the sensor arrangement.A measure which improves the invention provides that the housing forms a door handle body. The apparatus complexity can thus be further minimized.It can further be provided that the door handle body is fixed and can be attached in particular immovably to the vehicle, in particular to a movable part of the vehicle. As a fixed outer door handle, the outer door handle preferably does not have any movable individual parts, such as buttons or the like, which can serve, for example, for detecting the exertion of force. The expression "movable" is to be defined here with respect to "deformable", wherein in particular the deformation, in contrast to the movement of the movable individual parts, takes place monolithically and / or as a length change and / or on the one-piece component, in particular the wall. In the case of buttons, on the other hand, a relative movement takes place between separate individual parts. In particular, the detection of the deformation on the basis of the activation action is therefore effected by the sensor arrangement. The expression "fixed outer door handle" also refers in particular to the fact that the outer door handle with the door handle body is not deflectable or pivotable with respect to the movable part, in particular a door and / or tailgate. In this case, a force application for activating the electrical lock, or the activation action, has to be exerted only in a partial region of the door handle body designed as an actuation region, and not the entire door handle body has to be moved relative to the movable part. This has the advantage that a very comfortable and secure opening of the movable part and / or activation of the lock can take place.A measure improving the invention provides that at least one first actuation region is provided on the side facing the vehicle on the door handle body, and at least one second actuation region is provided on the side facing away from the vehicle on the door handle body. A first actuation region may be configured to receive a tensile load of a first activation action and a second actuation region may be configured to receive a compressive load of a second activation action. The first actuation range can preferably be assigned to the first activation action and the second actuation range can be assigned to the second activation action. In this case, the first activation action is assigned, for example, a first function, such as the unlocking or opening of the electrical lock, and the second activation action is assigned a second function, such as the locking or closing of the lock. This achieves the advantage that flexible operation of the outer door handle can take place.It can furthermore be provided that a first sensor device and a second sensor device are provided within the door handle body, wherein in particular the first sensor device is designed for inductance measurement at the first actuation region and the second sensor device is designed for inductance measurement at the second actuation region. Here, too, the first sensor arrangement can be assigned to a first activation action with a first function, and the second sensor arrangement can be assigned to a second activation action with a second function. The first activation action comprises, for example, a tensile load and the second activation action comprises, for example, a compressive load on the door handle body. The first activation action is preferably carried out in the first deformation region and the second activation action is preferably carried out in the second deformation region. The first and second sensor devices can be electrically connected to one another, for example, or can be embodied independently of one another and / or galvanically separated from one another. Alternatively or additionally, it is conceivable that the second sensor arrangement or a further sensor arrangement is designed to assume the function of the first sensor arrangement in the event of a fault in the first sensor arrangement and to monitor the first activation means in the first deformation region. This can ensure improved reliability.A measure improving the invention provides that at least one mounting point of the actuating device is provided, at which in particular the door handle body is mounted on the vehicle, and the sensor device is preferably mounted at the mounting point. For example, a first mounting point and a second mounting point are provided in order to mount the outer door handle, in particular the door handle body, on the vehicle. The mounting of the sensor arrangement is preferably effected on the mounting of the outer door handle, in particular of the door handle body, i.e. in the region of the mounting points of the outer door handle. In this case, it is possible in particular for the sensor mounting point to be provided at the mounting point and / or to be arranged identically to the mounting point.Expediently, at least the mounting point of the actuating device can be designed as a fixed bearing. In other words, the sensor mounting point and / or the mounting point in particular provides fixed mounting points which substantially or completely prevent all translation movements of the mounted body (i.e. for example of the sensor device or of the door outer handle or door handle body). This results in a very reliable mounting independent of movements of the actuating region, which mounting is provided by the outer wall of the actuating device in the outer door handle.A measure improving the invention provides that the sensor arrangement is arranged on a printed circuit board, wherein a communication module is provided on the printed circuit board, which communication module communicates according to an NFC standard and / or BLE standard and / or UWB standard, wherein the actuation region is arranged offset with respect to the communication module in such a way that the communication takes place without interference. This prevents the communication from being shielded by the conductive operation portion.The present invention likewise relates to an external door handle for actuating a movable part of the vehicle, in particular in the form of a door or a flap of the vehicle, having at least one actuating device according to the invention, wherein the actuating device is arranged in the cavity of the external door handle. Thus, an outer door handle according to the invention brings with it the same advantages as have been explained in detail with reference to the actuating device according to the invention.The construction is very cost-effective and simple if the outer door handle is designed as a fixed outer door handle, and can be attached in particular immovably to the vehicle, in particular to a movable part of the vehicle.A measure improving the invention provides that the outer door handle has an outer door handle wall, wherein the outer door handle wall interacts with the actuation region in such a way that an opening signal or locking signal for a lock can be triggered by the deformation of the outer door handle wall with a force F.It is understood that the features mentioned above and still to be explained below can be used not only in the respectively specified combination, but also in other combinations or alone, without departing from the scope of the present invention. The scope of the invention is defined only by the claims.Further details, features and advantages of the subject matter of the invention are evident from the following description in conjunction with the figures, in which exemplary preferred exemplary embodiments of the invention are shown. The figures show: FIG. 1a is a front view of an actuating device according to the invention, FIG. 1 shows a schematic sectional view (according to the sectional plane B-B in FIG. 1 a) of an actuating device according to the invention, FIG. 2 shows further schematic sectional views of an actuating device according to the invention, FIG. 3 shows further schematic sectional views of an actuating device (module) according to the invention, FIG. 4 shows further schematic sectional views of an actuating device (module) according to the invention,FIG. 1 ashows the front view of an actuating device for an access system of a vehicle, for actuating a movable part 2 of the vehicle, in particular in the form of a door or a flap of the vehicle.FIG. 1 shows the actuating device 1 according to the invention in the present exemplary embodiment, which is embodied as an outer door handle 1. The outer door handle has an elongate region which runs substantially straight or is at least slightly curved. On both sides of the elongate region there extends in each case one leg via which the outer door handle 1 is fastened on the door panel at a distance from the latter, wherein a handle depression is formed for engaging a hand.The outer door handle 1 according to the invention is designed as a fixed outer door handle 1. The outer door handle 1 has a door handle body with a wall 22, wherein according to FIG. 1 a a part of the wall 22 facing away from the vehicle is shown in order to be able to view an outer side 20.1 of the door handle body 20. The wall 22, i.e. both a vehicle-side part of the wall 22 and the vehicle-averted part of the wall 22, which can be seen e.g. in FIG. 1, forms an (at least partially closed) interior space (cavity) 20.3.The door outer handle 1 shown can be fastened and / or supported by a fastening device 80, in particular in the region of a first bearing point 81 aand / or a second bearing point 81 b, on a movable part 1 of the vehicle in a releasable or non-releasable manner, in particular in a movable or non-movable manner.On the vehicle-facing inner side 20.2 of the wall 22, an actuation region 3 is provided, which is at least partially formed from a conductive material by means of an injection molding method, wherein the actuation region 3 interacts with a sensor arrangement 4 arranged in the interior 20.3 of the door handle body 20 in order to detect an actuation of a user, which can be monitored by the sensor arrangement 4. The actuation region 3 comprises conductive particles, in particular in the form of carbon black, graphite, carbon nanotubes, graphene; silver, copper, nickel, tin, aluminum and stainless steel. As an injection molding method, for example, sandwich injection molding can be used.FIG. 1 shows a sectional view (according to the sectional plane B-B in FIG. 1 a) of an actuating device 1 according to the invention. In addition, the fastening device 80 can be seen with corresponding bearing means at bearing points 81, which can be inserted, for example, in a respective receptacle of the movable part 2. The outer door handle 1 shown in FIG. 2 is mounted immovably on the movable part 2 and is thus designed as a fixed outer door handle 1. At least one or two or all bearing means of the fastening device 80 at the at least one bearing point 81 a, 81 bmay be designed as fixed bearings. The at least one bearing point 81 a, 81 bthus forms a fixed bearing point.It can further be seen in FIG. 1 that the mounting of the sensor arrangement 4 in the interior 20.3 of the door handle body 20 is preferably implemented independently of the actuation region 3 and / or the wall 22. Thus, the sensor arrangement 4 can be fastened to the wall 22, for example, in such a way that a deformation or movement in the actuation region 3 does not (substantially or in the same way) affect the position of the sensor arrangement 4.Additionally or simultaneously, the exertion of force, i.e. the activation action, in the actuation region 3 can be detected by the sensor arrangement 4. It is conceivable, for example, for an activation of a function of the vehicle 3, for example, to bring about an opening or a locking / unlocking of the electric lock.According to FIG. 2, a sectional view through the sectional plane B-B identified in FIG. 1 ais shown. It can be seen that the actuation region 3 forms a closed surface on the outside on the outer side 20.1 of the door handle body 20 and on the inside on the inner side 20.2. Thus, the actuation region 3 cannot be seen from the outside by the operator.The sensor device 30 is arranged at a distance from the actuation region 3. Furthermore, it can be provided that the sensor arrangement 4 is arranged on a printed circuit board 5 and / or electrically connected to further electronics (if applicable on the same printed circuit board 5). The sensor arrangement 4 is fastened to a circuit board 5 and serves for holding the sensor arrangement 4 on the door handle body 20, so that a deformation of the actuation region 3 by an activation action substantially does not affect the position of the sensor arrangement 4 in the interior 20.3. In other words, the deformation has a significant and specific effect on the distance between the sensor arrangement 4 and the actuation region 3, as a result of which the degree of deformation can be measured on the basis of the distance and / or the inductance change.According to FIG. 2, the actuating device 1 can be provided with an outer side actuating region 3 on at least one outer side 20.1 of a wall 22 of a door handle body 20 of the outer door handle 1 according to the invention. This has the advantage that the actuating region 3, on which in particular an activation action is carried out by an operator, can be recognized by the operator. At this actuation region 3, for example, a force can be exerted on the wall 22, which force causes a deformation of the wall 22 in the actuation region 3 to reduce a distance between the actuation region 3 and the sensor arrangement 4. According to FIG. 3, both a first actuation region 3 and a second actuation region 3 acan be provided, which is designed to be conductive.Both actuating regions 3, 3 aare at least partially formed from a conductive material by means of an injection molding method. The actuation regions 3, 3 acomprise conductive particles, in particular in the form of carbon black, graphite, carbon nanotubes, graphene; silver, copper, nickel, tin, aluminum and stainless steel.In the region of the first actuation region 3, a first activation action, for example, and a second activation action, for example, can be carried out by the operator 5 at the second actuation region 3 a, which activation action in each case bring about the activation of different functions of the vehicle 3. Thus, for example, a tensile load by the first activation action can cause the electrical lock 2 to be opened and a compressive load in the second actuation region 3 aby the second activation action can cause the electrical lock 2 to be closed. Accordingly, a first sensor arrangement 4 for monitoring the first actuation region 3 and a second sensor arrangement 4 afor monitoring the second actuation region 3 are also provided. Furthermore, a capacitive sensor, not shown, can also be provided in order to detect further actions of the operator. In this way, for example, an approach can be detected by the operator in order to activate further functions of the vehicle or of a safety system of the vehicle. The safety system of a vehicle is detected by a capacitive sensor by an approach of an operator 5. It can then be provided that a wake-up signal is transmitted to an ID transmitter in order to initiate an authentication process. In this case, it can be provided that an electrical lock can only be opened after successful authentication by the activation action which is detected by a sensor arrangement 4.FIG. 3 shows a schematic sectional view of an actuating device 1 according to the invention, which is designed as an individually manageable module, which is provided for arrangement in an outer door handle 40. The module has a housing 20. The housing 20 has a wall 22, wherein the wall 22 comprises an outer side 20.1 and an inner side 20.2. The outer side 20.1 and the inner side 20.2 thereby form an (at least partially closed) inner space (cavity) 20.3.Electronics are arranged in the cavity 20.3 of the housing. The electronics can be embedded in a potting compound 7. The electronics also comprise a printed circuit board 5 with a sensor arrangement 4 arranged thereon in the form of an inductive sensor, a communication module 60 and evaluation electronics. The sensor arrangement 4 is arranged on a printed circuit board 5, wherein a communication module 60 is provided on the printed circuit board 5, which communication module communicates according to an NFC standard and / or BLE standard and / or UWB standard. These interfaces are used for communication with an ID transmitter or a smartphone. The actuation region 3 is arranged offset to the communication module 60 in such a way that the communication takes place without disturbances.FIG. 4 shows a schematic sectional view of an actuating device 1 (module) according to the invention. A module according to FIG. 3 can be seen which is arranged in the cavity 20.3 of an outer door handle 40. The cavity 20.3 is formed by the door outer handle wall 41 which comprises an inner side 20.2 and an outer side 20.1. The door outer handle wall (41) interacts with the actuating region (3) in such a way that an opening signal or locking signal for a lock can be triggered by the deformation of the door outer handle wall with a force FThe door outer handle 40 shown can be fastened and / or supported by a fastening device 80, in particular in the region of a first support point 81 aand / or a second support point 81 b, on a movable part 1 of the vehicle in a releasable or non-releasable manner, in particular in a movable or non-movable manner. The outer door handle 40 shown is mounted immovably on the movable part 2 and is thus designed as a fixed outer door handle 40. At least one or two or all bearing means of the fastening device 80 at the at least one bearing point 81 a, 81 bmay be designed as fixed bearings. The at least one bearing point 81 thus forms a fixed bearing point. The inner side 20.2 and / or an outer side 20.1 can have a plunger which interacts with the actuation region 3. By applying a force F to the inner side 20.2 and / or an outer side 20.1, a deformation occurs which leads by means of the plunger to the triggering of an opening signal or a closing signal in the actuating device 1. The signals are transmitted to a vehicle-internal control device.An arrangement of at least one actuation region 3 with the complementary sensor arrangements 4, both on the outer side 20.1 and on the inner side 20.1 according to FIG. 2, can be used in all exemplary embodiments. The offset arrangement of the sensor arrangement 4 with respect to the communication module 60 can also be implemented in all exemplary embodiments. For protection against moisture, the electronics in the cavity 20.3 can be used with potting compound 7 in all exemplary embodiments.The invention described above is of course not limited to the embodiments described and illustrated. It is obvious that numerous modifications can be made to the embodiments shown in the figure, which are obvious to the person skilled in the art according to the intended application, without thereby departing from the scope of the invention. The invention includes all that is contained in the description and / or illustrated in the drawing, including what is obvious to the person skilled in the art, deviating from the specific exemplary embodiments.List of reference characters1 Actuating device 2 movable part of the vehicle, in particular in the form of a door or a flap 3 actuating region 3 asecond actuating region 4 sensor arrangement 5 printed circuit board 6 control device 7 potting compound 20 door handle body / housing 20.1 outer side 20.2 inner side 20.3 interior space (cavity) 22 wall 30 motor vehicle flaps 40 door outer handle 41 door outer handle wall 42 plunger 60 communication module 80 fastening device 81 afirst mounting point 81 bsecond mounting point

Claims

Actuating device (1) for an access system of a vehicle, for actuating a movable part (2) of the vehicle, in particular in the form of a door or a flap of the vehicle, having: - a housing (20) formed from a non-conductive material, - at least one sensor arrangement (4) arranged within the housing (20), characterized in that the housing (20) has a wall (20), wherein the wall (20) has at least one actuating region (3) which is formed at least partially from a conductive material by means of an injection molding method, wherein the actuating region (3) interacts with the sensor arrangement (4) in order to detect an actuation of a user.Actuating device (1) according to Claim 1, characterized in that the sensor arrangement (4) has an inductive sensor, wherein the actuating region (3) serves as a target for the inductive sensor.Actuating device (1) according to Claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the actuating region (3) has conductive particles, in particular in the form of carbon black, graphite, carbon nanotubes, graphene; silver, copper, nickel, tin, aluminium and stainless steel.Actuating device (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the housing (20) forms a door handle body.Actuating device (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the door handle body (20) is of fixed design and can be attached in particular immovably to the vehicle, in particular to a movable part (2) of the vehicle.Actuating device (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least one first actuating region (3) is provided on the side facing the vehicle on the door handle body, and at least one second actuating region (3a) is provided on the side facing away from the vehicle on the door handle body.Actuating device (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a first sensor arrangement (4) and a second sensor arrangement (4a) are provided within the door handle body (20), wherein in particular the first sensor arrangement (4) is designed for inductance measurement at the first actuating region (3) and the second sensor arrangement (4a) is designed for inductance measurement at the second actuating region (3a).Actuating device (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least one mounting point (81a, b) of the actuating device (1) is provided, at which in particular the door handle body (20) is mounted on the vehicle, and the sensor arrangement (3, 3a) is preferably mounted on the mounting point (81a, b).Actuating device (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the at least one bearing point (81a, b) of the actuating device (1) is designed as a fixed bearing.Actuating device (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the sensor arrangement (4) is arranged on a printed circuit board (5), wherein a communication module (60) is provided on the printed circuit board (5), which communication module communicates according to an NFC standard and / or BLE standard and / or UWB standard, wherein the actuating region (3) is arranged offset with respect to the communication module (60) in such a way that the communication takes place without faults.Exterior door handle (40) for actuating a movable part (2) of the vehicle, in particular in the form of a door or a flap of the vehicle, having at least one actuating device (1) according to Claim 1, wherein the actuating device (1) is arranged in the cavity (20.3) of the exterior door handle (40).Exterior door handle (40) according to claim 11, characterised in that the exterior door handle is designed as a fixed exterior door handle (40), and can be attached in particular immovably to the vehicle, in particular to a movable part (2) of the vehicle.Exterior door handle (40) according to claim 11 or 12, characterised in that the exterior door handle has an exterior door handle wall (41), wherein the exterior door handle wall (41) interacts with the actuation region (3) in such a way that a signal for a vehicle function, in particular in the form of an opening signal or locking signal for a lock, can be triggered by the deformation of the exterior door handle wall with a force F.

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