MOTOR VEHICLE WITH A DOOR HANDLE SUPPORT BONDED BY A THERMOPLASTIC FASTENING ELEMENT

Abstract

MOTOR VEHICLE WITH A DOOR HANDLE SUPPORT BONDED BY A THERMOPLASTIC FASTENING ELEMENT The present invention relates to a fixing element (8) for a part (16) on a surface, comprising: a base with a front face (10.1) for bonding to the surface and a rear face (10.2) for connection to the part; and connection means (12) to the part, on the rear connection face of the base; remarkable in that the connection means to the part are located at a periphery of the base and at least a central part of the base is translucent or transparent. (Figure to be published with the abstract: Figure 3)

Description

Title of the invention: MOTOR VEHICLE WITH A DOOR HANDLE SUPPORT BONDED BY A THERMOPLASTIC FASTENING ELEMENT Technical field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of mechanical fixings by gluing, more particularly the field of fixings by gluing of door handle supports of motor vehicles. Prior art

[0002] Each of the doors of a motor vehicle is equipped with an exterior handle allowing a user of the vehicle to unlock the door and interact with it from outside the vehicle. Conventionally, the exterior handle permanently protrudes from the exterior door panel and is hinged to a support inside the door via one or more holes made in the exterior panel. Such a support is conventionally fixed to the door lining. For several years, exterior handles integrated into the door have been developed. They are arranged in an opening in the exterior panel and are flush with said panel. This flushness requires precise positioning of the support relative to said panel. For this purpose, the support is then advantageously fixed to the exterior panel, on the inner face of said exterior panel.Such fixing is carried out without drilling the outer panel and must therefore be carried out by gluing, welding or other means.

[0003] For example, published patent document FR 3 060 468 A1 discloses a motor vehicle door having a handle support rigidly attached to an outer wall of the door by means of several studs. The document also discloses a method of mounting the handle support, in which each stud comprises an overmolded plastic base on which a polymerizable glue is deposited, the base is then pressed against the wall of the door and flashed by a UV lamp in order to crosslink the glue, the handle support is then placed on the stud and locked by means of a nut.

[0004] However, the solution proposed by document FR 3 060 468 A1 is expensive, because each stud has a considerable cost, and the glue is used inefficiently and in large quantities. Indeed, the UV rays pass through a circumferential end of the base, and only the glue located directly below this end can polymerize, while the rest of the glue located below the metal part of the stud is unable to polymerize, which corresponds to approximately half of the glue used remaining in the liquid state. In addition, The installation of each stud on the door wall is complex and requires the use of a robotic arm with a high purchase cost and slow handling during the handle bracket assembly process. Statement of the invention

[0005] The present invention aims to overcome at least one of the drawbacks of the aforementioned state of the art. More particularly, the invention aims to propose a solution allowing the fixing of a door handle support of a motor vehicle so as to ensure rapid and economical assembly.

[0006] To this end, the invention relates to an element for fixing a part to a surface, comprising: - a base with a front face for bonding to the surface and a rear face for bonding to the part; and - means of connection to the part, on the rear connection face of the base; remarkable in that the means for connecting to the part are located at a periphery of the base and at least a central portion of the base is translucent or transparent.

[0007] According to one embodiment, the connecting means comprise at least three arms projecting from the base and distributed homogeneously around the periphery.

[0008] According to one embodiment, each of the at least three arms forms a hook capable of engaging by elastic deformation with a corresponding opening in the part.

[0009] According to one embodiment, the connecting means and the base are integrally formed from a plastic material.

[0010] According to one embodiment, the base comprises on the front face at least three pads intended to directly contact the surface and form between said surface and said front face a space for the glue.

[0011] The invention also relates to an assembly comprising: - a surface; - a part fixed to said surface via a fixing element; remarkable in that the fixing element is according to the invention, the front face being glued to the surface and the connecting means engaging with the part.

[0012] According to one embodiment, the part comprises an opening with which the at least three hooks are engaged.

[0013] According to one embodiment, the surface is an inner face of an outer wall of a motor vehicle door and the part is a support for an opening handle of said door, intended to be embedded in said door and flush with the outer wall.

[0014] The invention also relates to a motor vehicle comprising an assembly, remarkable in that the assembly is according to the invention.

[0015] The invention also relates to a method of assembling a part, such as a motor vehicle door opening handle support, to a surface, such as an inner face of an outer wall of said door; comprising the use of a fixing element; remarkable in that the fixing element is according to the invention, and the method comprises the following steps: - engagement of the connecting means of the fixing element with the part; - application of glue on the front face of the fixing element; - positioning the part so as to place the front face with the glue on the surface; - application of light, preferably UV, to the glue through the base.

[0016] Advantageously, the fixing element of the present invention makes it possible to effectively fix the opening handle to the exterior wall of the door of the motor vehicle while achieving a significant saving in glue, i.e. a saving of 35% compared to the quantity of glue used to fix the handle of the prior art.

[0017] In addition, the opening handle assembly method does not require the use of expensive robots and allows the assembly time of motor vehicles to be reduced, thus allowing considerable savings in terms of production costs. Brief description of the drawings

[0018] [Fig-1] is an illustration of a motor vehicle comprising a handle door opening flush with an exterior wall of the door of said motor vehicle;

[0019] [Fig.2] represents a perspective view of an element for fixing a part to a surface, said fixing element being according to the invention;

[0020] [Fig.3] schematically illustrates an engagement of the fixing element of [Fig.2] in a support of the door opening handle of the vehicle of [Fig.l], said engagement corresponds to a first step of the assembly method of the invention;

[0021] [Fig.4] illustrates a second step of the method of the invention;

[0022] [Fig.5] illustrates a third step of the method of the invention;

[0023] [Fig.6] illustrates a fourth step of the method of the invention. Detailed description

[0024] The figures of the present application show the elements schematically and are not shown to scale. In particular, certain dimensions are enlarged to facilitate reading.

[0025] [Fig.l] is an illustration of a motor vehicle 2 comprising an opening handle 4 for a door 6 flush with an outer wall 6.1 of the door 6 of said motor vehicle 2.

[0026] In this configuration, the flush opening handle 4 is fixed to an inner face (not shown) of the outer wall 6.1, this fixing is carried out by means of a fixing element according to the invention and will be fully detailed in the present description.

[0027] [Fig.2] represents a perspective view of the fixing element 8, the latter making it possible to fix a part to a surface, in particular the door handle support on the inner face of the door of the motor vehicle.

[0028] With reference to [Fig.2], the fixing element 8 comprises a base 10 with a front face 10.1 for bonding to the surface and a rear face 10.2 for connection to the part. Preferably, the base 10 has a diameter of between 5 mm and 40 mm, and is more preferably equal to 20 mm.

[0029] The rear face 10.2 is provided with connecting means 12 to the part, the latter being distributed in a periphery of the base 10,

[0030] The connecting means 12 preferably correspond to at least three arms 12 projecting from the base 10, the latter being preferably distributed homogeneously with an identical distance between each arm 12. Alternatively, the arms 12 may be numerous on the rear face 10.2, or even form a single circumferentially closed arm.

[0031] Preferably, the arms 12 correspond to plastic hooks 12 capable of deforming elastically when inserted into an opening in the part. In this respect, the fixing element 8 is a single-piece plastic part obtained by molding or by an additive manufacturing technique such as 3D printing.

[0032] Preferably, the fixing element 8 is formed by a thermoplastic material, and more preferably formed by a polyamide of the PACM12 type.

[0033] Advantageously, the polyamide (PA PACM12) corresponds to a thermoplastic material allowing the fixing element 8 to have high resistance to chemicals, cracks and makes molding easier.

[0034] In this configuration, the rear face 10.2 has a central part 10.3 delimited by the arms 12, the latter being transparent or translucent in order to allow the polymerization of an adhesive deposited on the front face 10.1.

[0035] For this purpose, said front face 10.1 comprises at least three pads 14 intended to directly contact the surface on which the part will be fixed so as to form between this surface and the front face 10.1 a space for the glue. Alternatively, the pads 14 can be numerous on the rear face 10.2, or even form a single one circumferentially closed ring. The polymerization of the glue will be described later in this description.

[0036] Advantageously, the pads 14 make it possible to prevent the glue 18 from being crushed in a non-uniform manner, which could cause the part to tilt relative to the surface.

[0037] Figures 3 to 6 schematically illustrate different steps of a method of assembling the fixing element 8 of [Fig.2] in a support of the opening handle 4 of the door 6 of the motor vehicle 2 of [Fig.l].

[0038] With reference to [Fig. 3], a first step of the assembly method of the invention corresponds to the engagement of the hooks 12 of the fixing element 8 with the opening 16.1 of the part 16, the latter corresponding to the support 16 of the door opening handle. Such an engagement is advantageously easy to carry out and can be carried out manually.

[0039] [Fig.4] illustrates a second step of the method of the invention comprising an application of the glue 18 on the front face 10.1 of the fixing element 8.

[0040] The glue 18 preferably corresponds to a photopolymerizable glue capable of crosslinking following irradiation.

[0041] The application of the glue 18 is carried out by a gluing nozzle 20 manually or automatically.

[0042] Preferably, the glue 18 is applied to a total surface area of ​​the front face 10.1 corresponding to approximately 314 mm2 (here the term “approximately” corresponds to ±20% of the nominal value).

[0043] Figures 5 and 6 illustrate a third and fourth step of the method of the invention comprising positioning the support 16 so as to directly press the front face 10.1 of the fixing element 8 with the glue 18 onto the inner face 6.2 of the outer wall 6.1 of the door 6 of the motor vehicle.

[0044] In this configuration, the glue 18 can polymerize upon application of UV light 22 by a corresponding light source 24, this corresponds to the crosslinking of the glue 18.

[0045] Advantageously, the translucency of the central part 10.3 of the fixing element 8 allows the rapid crosslinking of the glue 18 (approximately 30 seconds), after which the maintenance of the support 16 in the third step of the method can be interrupted.

[0046] Advantageously, the crosslinked glue 18 makes it possible to obtain an assembly 26 capable of maintaining effective support for the support 16 of the door opening handle of the motor vehicle. Thus, the fixing element of the present invention makes it possible to save glue, while ensuring rapid and efficient fixing.

Claims

Claims

1. Element (8) for fixing a part (16) to a surface (6.2), comprising: - a base (10) with a front face (10.1) for bonding to the surface (6.2) and a rear face (10.2) for connection to the part (6); and - means (12) for connection to the part (16), on the rear face (10.2) for connection of the base (10); the connecting means (12) to the part (16) being located at a periphery of the base (10) and at least one central part (10.3) of the base (10) is translucent or transparent, characterized in that the base (10) comprises on the front face (10.1) at least three pads (14) intended to directly contact the surface (6.2) and form between said surface (6.2) and said front face (10.1) a space for the glue (18).

2. Fastening element (8) according to claim 1, in which the connecting means (12) comprise at least three arms (12) projecting from the base (10) and distributed homogeneously around the periphery.

3. Fastening element (8) according to claim 2, in which each of the at least three arms (12) forms a hook (12) capable of engaging by elastic deformation with a corresponding opening (16.1) in the part (16).

4. Fastening element (8) according to one of claims 1 to 3, in which the connecting means (12) and the base (10) are integrally formed from a plastic material.

5. Assembly (26) comprising: - a surface (6.2); - a part (16) fixed to said surface (6.2) via a fixing element (8); characterized in that the fixing element (8) is according to one of claims 1 to 4, the front face (10.1) being glued to the surface (6.2) and the connecting means (12) engaging with the part (16).

6. An assembly (26) according to claim 5, wherein the fixing element (8) is according to claim 3 and the part (16) comprises an opening (16.1) with which the at least three hooks (12) are engaged.

7. Assembly (26) according to one of claims 5 and 6, in which the surface (6.2) is an inner face of an outer wall (6.1) of door (6) of a motor vehicle (2) and the part (16) is a support for the opening handle (4) of said door (6), intended to be embedded in said door (6) and flush with the exterior wall (6.1).

8. A motor vehicle (2) comprises an assembly (26), characterized in that the assembly (26) is according to one of claims 5 to 7.

9. Method for assembling a part (16), such as an opening handle support (4) for a door (6) of a motor vehicle (2), to a surface (6.2), such as an inner face of an outer wall (6.1) of said door (6); comprising the use of a fixing element (8); characterized in that the fixing element (8) is according to one of claims 1 to 4, and the method comprises the following steps: - engagement of the connecting means (12) of the fixing element (8) with the part (16); - application of glue (18) on the front face (10.1) of the fixing element (8); - positioning of the part (16) so as to press the front face (10.1) with the glue (18) on the surface (6.2); - application of light (21), preferably UV, to the glue (18) through the base (10).

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