Motor vehicle door actuation device

Abstract

The invention relates to an actuation device (1) for a motor vehicle door, the actuation device (1) comprising a handle rotatably mounted relative to a support (11), an actuating lever (10) coupled to the handle and enabling the actuating of a door locking mechanism, a counterweight (13) rotatably movable and coupled to the actuating lever (10), a counterweight (14) rotation stop, the rotation stop (14) being rotatably mounted and enabling, through its rotational movement, the counterweight (13) to be stopped in a predetermined angular configuration, and a rotation stop (16) for the rotation stop (14) fixed to the support (11) and preventing the rotation of the rotation stop (14) in a predetermined angular configuration in which said rotation stop (14) prevents the rotation of said counterweight (13).Figure to be published with the abbreviation: Fig. 3.

Description

Title of the invention: Motor vehicle door actuation device

[0001] The technical context of the present invention is that of passive safety in motor vehicles, and in particular the protection of occupants in the event of a side impact. More generally, the technical context of the present invention is that of doors for motor vehicles. More specifically, the invention relates to a device for operating a door of a motor vehicle.

[0002] During side impacts, particularly those performed during automotive qualification tests involving a barrier impact against a side door of a motor vehicle, or during a side impact between two motor vehicles, it is imperative that the side doors do not open. Indeed, if a side door were to open spontaneously during or following such a side impact, there would be a major risk of occupants being ejected from the passenger compartment, or a risk of objects entering the passenger compartment. These situations are undesirable and lead to penalties on the scores obtained during these qualification tests.

[0003] To this end, systems designed to prevent accidental opening are known, that is, opening not resulting from human intervention but solely from a force or acceleration exerted on the door handle during a side impact. In particular, external opening controls equipped with systems called "anti-G systems" are known, which lock the door handle during a side impact and thus prevent the handle from moving due to inertial forces caused by the impact itself.

[0004] Generally, known door actuation devices comprise:

[0005] - a gripping handle mounted to rotate about an axis and relative to a support for the actuation device;

[0006] - an actuating lever coupled to one end of the gripping handle opposite the axis, the actuating lever is configured to operate a door locking mechanism;

[0007] - a counterweight coupled to a portion of the distal actuating lever of the handle gripping - called coupling part, the counterweight being mobile in rotation relative to the coupling part;

[0008] - a rotational stopping device for the counterweight, the rotational stopping device being mounted rotatably relative to the support and configured, through its rotational movement, to stop the rotation of the counterweight in a predetermined angular configuration.

[0009] The rotation stop member of the counterweight is often associated with a locking blade in the form of a flexible blade which is pre-stressed in the locked position of the actuation devices, corresponding to the situation of a closed door.

[0010] In the event of a side impact against a motor vehicle door equipped with such a known actuation device, the support of the actuation device follows a lateral movement induced by the side impact itself. Due to inertial resistance, the actuation device does not directly follow the movement of the support, ultimately leading to an "inertial pull" of the actuation lever and finally causing the door handle to be actuated.

[0011] Indeed, during a lateral impact, that is to say at the beginning of the sequence following the lateral impact, the counterweight's rotational locking device pivots around its axis of rotation. Due to the dimensions of the rotational locking device and that of the counterweight, as well as their balancing, the rotational locking device pivots before the counterweight rotates, thus allowing said rotational locking device to perform its function with respect to said counterweight and to block its rotation: the known actuation device is therefore, for the moment, blocked and the door handle is not pulled.

[0012] However, during this rotational movement, the counterweight's rotational stop released the locking blade. Having been previously deformed due to pre-stressing against the rotational stop, the blade can now move freely, freed from the constraint imposed by the initial position of the rotational stop. It then moves downwards and again comes to rest against the rotational stop. The drawback of this new configuration lies in the low rigidity of the locking blade, which is no longer constrained: it cannot prevent the rotational stop from being held in place during high acceleration.However, in a side impact, there is significant lateral acceleration at the actuation mechanism, and the locking blade of known actuation devices can no longer properly perform its restraining function: the rotating locking element, under the effect of the lateral acceleration, can pivot and detach from the counterweight, which can, in turn, pivot again. This situation is undesirable because it ultimately allows the actuation lever to be released and thus the inertial pull of the door handle to occur.

[0013] Additionally, during such a sequence following the lateral impact, an oscillation phenomenon of the locking blade can also be observed, which leads to a situation where, when the counterweight's rotational stopping member returns to its locking angular configuration—for example, through a rebound phenomenon due to the resulting energy of the lateral impact—the locking blade is not in its configuration for blocking said rotational stopping member. This situation arises by For example, when, due to a lateral impact, the locking blade begins to oscillate: the oscillations of the locking blade prevent its coupling with the rotating stop and, ultimately, prevent the rotation of the counterweight's rotating stop from being blocked. Consequently, the counterweight is not blocked from rotating by the rotating stop, and the known actuation mechanism is therefore not blocked: the door can thus open during the lateral impact.

[0014] The present invention aims to provide a new door actuation device, in order to address at least largely the previous problems and to lead to other advantages.

[0015] Another object of the invention is to improve the performance of such a motor vehicle door actuation device, particularly during a side impact.

[0016] Another object of the invention is to reduce the internal mobilities of the actuation device, in order to prevent the door handle from being actuated by simple inertial effect.

[0017] According to a first aspect of the invention, at least one of the aforementioned objectives is achieved with a device for actuating a motor vehicle door, the actuating device comprising:

[0018] - a gripping handle mounted to rotate about an axis and relative to a support for the actuation device;

[0019] - an actuating lever coupled to one end of the gripping handle opposite the axis, the actuating lever is configured to operate a door locking mechanism;

[0020] - a counterweight coupled to a portion of the distal actuation lever of the handle gripping - called coupling part, the counterweight being mobile in rotation relative to the coupling part;

[0021] - a rotational stopping device for the counterweight, the rotational stopping device being mounted rotatably relative to the support and configured, through its rotational movement, to stop the rotation of the counterweight in a predetermined angular configuration.

[0022] In the actuation device according to the first aspect of the invention, the actuation device includes a rotation stop for the rotation stop member, so as to limit the amplitude of rotation of said rotation stop member.

[0023] In the context of the present invention, the rotation stop is configured to prevent the rotation stop from pivoting beyond a predetermined angular configuration. According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the rotation stop is configured to simply stop the rotation stop, and in particular its rotation about its axis of rotation. In other words, the rotation stop takes the form of a support stop against which the The rotation stop comes into contact during its rotational movement, preventing it from going beyond and allowing it to "bounce back" more quickly and remain within an angular range of rotation in which it can continue to stop the counterweight in rotation, in order to block the internal mobility of the actuation device.

[0024] Thus, the actuation device conforming to the first aspect of the invention solves the aforementioned technical problem.

[0025] The actuation device according to the first aspect of the invention advantageously comprises at least one of the improvements below, the technical characteristics forming these improvements being able to be taken alone or in combination:

[0026] - according to a first embodiment, the rotation stop is derived from material with the support of the actuation device. In the context of the present invention, “made of material” means that the rotation stop and the support of the actuation device are made from the same manufacturing process and that they cannot be separated from each other without one and / or the other being totally or partially damaged or destroyed;

[0027] - according to a second embodiment, the rotation stop is reported on the support of the actuation device and fixed securely to said support by any means, and in particular by gluing, welding or screwing;

[0028] - the stop takes the form of a bearing that extends projecting from the support of the actuation device, parallel or substantially parallel to the axis of rotation of the rotating stopping member. The bearing surface forming the stopping stop takes, for example, the form of a prismatic bearing surface, with rectilinear or curvilinear elongation depending on the available space at the level of the support of the actuation device according to the invention;

[0029] - the stop is located in an intermediate position between the stopping member in rotation and the counterweight. More generally, the stop is located in an intermediate position between the rotational stopping member and the actuating lever.

[0030] According to a second aspect of the invention, a motor vehicle is proposed comprising at least one side door operated by an actuation device conforming to the first aspect of the invention or to any of its improvements.

[0031] Various embodiments of the invention are provided, incorporating, according to all their possible combinations, the different optional features set out here.

[0032] Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description on the one hand, and from several embodiments given as examples. indicative and not exhaustive, with reference to the attached schematic drawings, on which:

[0033] [Fig.1] illustrates a three-dimensional view of an actuation device known from the prior art;

[0034] [Fig.2] illustrates a partial cross-sectional view of the actuation device known illustrated on the [Fig.l];

[0035] [Fig.3] illustrates a schematic partial cross-sectional view of the device actuation conforming to the first aspect of the invention;

[0036] [Fig.4] illustrates a partial three-dimensional view of an example embodiment of the actuation device conforming to the first aspect of the invention.

[0037] Of course, the features, variants, and different embodiments of the invention can be combined in various ways, provided they are not incompatible or mutually exclusive. In particular, variants of the invention may be conceived comprising only a selection of features, described hereafter in isolation from the other described features, if this selection of features is sufficient to confer a technical advantage or to differentiate the invention from the prior art.

[0038] In particular, all the variants and all the embodiments described are combinable with each other if nothing prevents this combination from a technical point of view.

[0039] In the figures, the elements common to several figures retain the same reference.

[0040] In the FIGURES illustrated and described below, FIGURES 1 and 2 illustrate actuation devices 1 as known in the art prior to the present invention, while FIGURES 3 and 4 illustrate the technical contribution of the present invention, illustrated schematically from the known actuation devices 1 as described in FIGURES 1 and 2.

[0041] With reference to FIGURES 1 and 2, an actuation device 1 for a motor vehicle door is known, the actuation device 1 comprising:

[0042] - a gripping handle 12 mounted rotatably about an axis and relative to a support 11 of the actuation device 1;

[0043] - an actuating lever 10 coupled to one end of the gripping handle 12 opposite the axis, the actuating lever 10 being configured to actuate a door locking mechanism;

[0044] - a counterweight 13 coupled to a distal part of the actuating lever 10 of the gripping handle 12 - called coupling part, the counterweight 13 being mobile in rotation relative to the coupling part;

[0045] - a rotational stopping member 14 of the counterweight 13, the rotational stopping member 14 being mounted rotatably relative to the support 11 and being configured, through its rotational movement, to stop the rotation of the counterweight 13 in a predetermined angular configuration.

[0046] Such a rotation stop member 14 is associated with a locking blade 15 taking the form of a flexible blade and configured to block the rotation stop member 14 in an angular locking configuration through a mechanical coupling between a free end of the locking blade 15 and the rotation stop member 14. In this blocked configuration, the rotation stop member 14 in turn blocks the counterweight 13 in an angular configuration such that it prevents the rotation of the gripping handle 12.

[0047] However, in known actuation devices 1, the rigidity of the locking blade 15 is insufficient, and the masses and balances of the counterweight 13, the rotation stop member 14 and the locking blade 15 are made in such a way that the rotation stop member 14 sometimes bounces back; or that the movement of the free end of the locking blade 15 and the said rotation stop member 14 are not synchronized, leading to the rotation stop member 14 not being or no longer being blocked in rotation in the aforementioned angular configuration.

[0048] To prevent such internal mobility and reduce the risks of synchronism failure between the locking blade 15 and the rotation stop member 14, the invention cleverly proposes to reduce the amplitude of rotation achievable by the rotation stop member 14 by incorporating into the known actuation devices 1 a rotation stop 16 of the rotation stop member 14.

[0049] Such an actuation device 1 according to the invention is illustrated schematically in FIGURES 3 and 4.

[0050] Such an actuation device 1 according to the invention comprises:

[0051] - the gripping handle 12 mounted rotatably about an axis and relative to a support 11 of the actuation device 1;

[0052] - the actuating lever 10 coupled to one end of the gripping handle 12 opposite the axis, the actuating lever 10 being configured to actuate a door locking mechanism;

[0053] - the counterweight 13 coupled to a distal part of the actuating lever 10 of the gripping handle 12 - called coupling part, the counterweight 13 being mobile in rotation around a first axis of rotation 130;

[0054] - the rotation stop member 14 of the counterweight 13, the rotation stop member 14 being mounted rotatably relative to the support 11 and being configured, through its rotational movement around a second axis of rotation 140, to stop the rotation of the counterweight 13 in a predetermined angular configuration;

[0055] - the rotation stop 16 of the rotation stop member 14, so as to limit an amplitude of rotation of said rotating stopping device 14.

[0056] The rotation stop 16 is formed from the material with the support 11 of the actuation device 1. The stop 16 takes the form of a bearing which extends projecting from the support 11 of the actuation device 1, parallel or substantially parallel to the axis of rotation of the rotational stop member 14. The bearing forming the stop 16 takes, for example, the form of a prismatic bearing, with straight or curvilinear elongation depending on the available space at the level of the support 11 of the actuation device 1 according to the invention.

[0057] Generally, the stop 16 is located in an intermediate position between the rotation stop member 14 and the counterweight 13, or even between the rotation stop member 14 and the actuating lever 10.

[0058] Thus, thanks to the addition of the stop 16, the rotational stop 14 has its amplitude of rotation around its second axis of rotation 140 reduced. Figure 3 shows:

[0059] - by the angle Al the maximum angular position accessible by the stopping member in rotation 14 on a known actuation device 1, that is, in the absence of the stop 16; and

[0060] - by angle A2 the maximum angular position now accessible by the organ rotation stop 14 on an actuation device 1 according to the invention, i.e. in the presence of the stop stop 16.

[0061] The angle A2 is less than the angle Al: the angular amplitude available by the rotating stop member 14 around its second axis of rotation 140 is reduced compared to that of known actuation devices 1.

[0062] In summary, the invention relates to an actuation device 1 for a motor vehicle door, the actuation device 1 comprising a handle 12 rotatably mounted relative to a support 11, an actuating lever 10 coupled to the handle 12 and enabling the actuating of a door locking mechanism, a counterweight 13 rotatably coupled to the actuating lever 10, a rotation stop 14 for the counterweight 13, the rotation stop 14 being rotatably mounted and enabling, through its rotational movement, the counterweight 13 to be stopped in a predetermined angular configuration, and a rotation stop 16 for the rotation stop 14 attached to the support 11 and preventing the rotation of the rotation stop 14 in a predetermined angular configuration in which said rotation stop 14 prevents the rotation of said counterweight 13.

[0063] Of course, the invention is not limited to the examples just described, and many modifications can be made to these examples without departing from the scope of The invention. In particular, the various features, forms, variants, and embodiments of the invention can be combined with one another in various ways, provided they are not incompatible or mutually exclusive. Specifically, all the variants and embodiments described above are combinable.

Claims

Demands

1. Actuating device (1) for a motor vehicle door, the actuating device (1) comprising: - a gripping handle (12) rotatably mounted about an axis and relative to a support (11) of the actuating device (1); - an actuating lever (10) coupled to one end of the gripping handle (12) opposite the axis, the actuating lever (10) being configured to actuate a door locking mechanism; - a counterweight (13) coupled to a portion of the actuating lever (10) distal to the gripping handle (12) - referred to as the coupling portion, the counterweight (13) being rotationally movable relative to the coupling portion; - a rotation stop member (14) of the counterweight (13), the rotation stop member (14) being mounted rotatably relative to the support (11) and being configured, through its rotational movement, to stop the rotation of the counterweight (13) in a predetermined angular configuration;the actuation device (1) comprising a rotation stop (16) of the rotation stop member (14), so as to limit an amplitude of rotation of said rotation stop member (14), characterized in that the rotation stop (16) is formed from material with the support (11) of the actuation device (1).;

2. Actuating device (1) according to claim 1, wherein the stop (16) takes the form of a bearing which extends projecting from the support (11) of the actuating device (1), parallel or substantially parallel to the axis of rotation of the rotating stop member (14).

3. Actuating device (1) according to any one of claims 1 or 2, wherein the stop (16) is located in an intermediate position between the rotating stop member (14) and the counterweight (13).

4. Motor vehicle comprising at least one side door operated by an actuation device (1), according to any one of the preceding claims.

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