Flush door handle
The flush door handle design addresses the risk of penetration into the passenger compartment by incorporating aligned bending points to concentrate stress and facilitate controlled breakage during a side impact, enhancing safety by preventing intrusion.
Patent Information
- Authority / Receiving Office
- JP · JP
- Patent Type
- Applications
- Current Assignee / Owner
- TOYOTA JIDOSHA KK
- Filing Date
- 2024-11-20
- Publication Date
- 2026-06-01
AI Technical Summary
Existing flush door handles do not adequately address the risk of penetration into the passenger compartment during a side collision, particularly due to their large size and proximity to the compartment.
The flush door handle design includes an inner and outer panel unit with reduced strength at specific bending points, aligned to concentrate stress and facilitate controlled breakage during a side impact, preventing significant intrusion into the passenger compartment.
The design effectively prevents the flush door handle from penetrating into the passenger compartment during a side collision by allowing controlled breakage at designated points, enhancing safety and reducing potential injury.
Smart Images
Figure 2026089489000001_ABST
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] This specification discloses a flush door handle provided on a side door of a vehicle.
Background Art
[0002] As is well known, a door handle that is operated when opening and closing the side door is disposed on the outer surface of the side door of a vehicle. Conventionally, many door handles are of a grip type having a grip portion that is gripped by a user. In the case of a grip-type door handle, the grip portion often protrudes outward from the outer surface of the side door. In this case, the design of the vehicle is impaired and the aerodynamic resistance increases.
[0003] Therefore, in recent years, a flush door handle has been proposed for the purpose of improving the design, reducing the aerodynamic resistance, or both. In the case of a flush door handle, a recess is formed in the side door. The occupant inserts a finger into the recess to operate the flush door handle. In the case of such a flush door handle, almost all of its components are housed inside the side door. Therefore, in the case of a flush door handle, the components hardly protrude outside the outer surface of the side door. As a result, the design is improved and the aerodynamic resistance is reduced.
[0004] Here, since the door handle is located on the side door, when a side impact occurs, the door handle is subjected to the side impact load and can deform or be displaced. Technologies to solve problems caused by such deformation or displacement of the door handle have been proposed in the past. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a grip-type door handle that can prevent the side door from opening unintentionally during a side impact. That is, when a side impact occurs, the door handle swings, which can cause the side door to open unintentionally. In Patent Document 1, in order to prevent such unintentional opening of the side door, a certain gap is provided between the door handle and the outer surface of the side door, so that the door handle does not swing during a side impact, and consequently, the side door does not open. [Prior art documents] [Patent Documents]
[0005] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2020-66318 [Overview of the project] [Problems that the invention aims to solve]
[0006] However, Patent Document 1 does not adequately consider the movement of the door handle toward the passenger compartment during a side collision. In other words, during a side collision, a part of the door handle may move significantly toward the passenger compartment. In particular, flush door handles are large because their components are embedded inside the side door, and they are also close to the passenger compartment. Therefore, during a side collision, there is a risk that the flush door handle may penetrate significantly into the passenger compartment. The prior art, including Patent Document 1, has not considered this penetration of flush door handles into the passenger compartment.
[0007] Therefore, this specification discloses a flush door handle that can prevent intrusion into the passenger compartment during a side collision. [Means for solving the problem]
[0008] The flush door handle disclosed herein comprises an inner panel unit that defines a workspace for receiving fingers inside a side door, and an outer panel unit that defines a handle opening communicating with the workspace on the outer surface of the side door, wherein both the inner panel unit and the outer panel unit have a bending point near the front end of the workspace where the strength is reduced compared to the surrounding area.
[0009] In this case, the inner panel unit includes a handle case and a switch cover that covers at least a portion of the handle case from the inside in the vehicle width direction, wherein the handle case has a groove that is recessed outward in the vehicle width direction and extends in the vehicle vertical direction at a position forward of the workspace, and the groove may function as the bending point.
[0010] Furthermore, the outer panel unit includes a garnish fixed to the outer surface of the side door and an extension positioned on the back side of the garnish, wherein the extension has a front flange portion located in front of the vehicle beyond the handle opening, and the front flange portion includes a plurality of projections protruding toward the handle case and a plurality of thin plate portions without the projections, wherein the first thin plate portion adjacent to the handle opening among the plurality of thin plate portions may function as the bending point.
[0011] Furthermore, the switch cover has a bent portion that bends outward in the vehicle width direction at a position in front of the workspace, and the bent portion functions as the starting point for the bend, and the groove, the bent portion, and the first thin plate portion may be aligned in a straight line.
[0012] Furthermore, the flush door handle may be positioned at an angle with respect to the vehicle's longitudinal direction such that its front end is located inward in the vehicle width direction compared to its rear end. [Effects of the Invention]
[0013] According to the technology disclosed herein, flush door handles are prone to breaking during side collisions. As a result, the intrusion of the flush door handle into the passenger compartment can be effectively prevented. [Brief explanation of the drawing]
[0014] [Figure 1] This is a side view of the vehicle. [Figure 2] This is an exploded perspective view of the main components of a flush door handle. [Figure 3] This is a schematic diagram of a flush door handle as seen from the passenger compartment side. [Figure 4] This is a cross-sectional view AA in Figure 1. [Figure 5] This is a cross-sectional view of BB in Figure 1. [Figure 6] This diagram shows the appearance of a flush door handle during a side collision. [Modes for carrying out the invention]
[0015] The configuration of the flush door handle 14 will be described below with reference to the drawings. Figure 1 is a side view of the vehicle. Figure 2 is an exploded perspective view of the main elements of the flush door handle 14, and Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of the flush door handle 14 as seen from the passenger compartment side. Furthermore, Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view of AA in Figure 1, and Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view of BB in Figure 1.
[0016] This flush door handle 14 is a door handle that is attached to the side door 10. The user operates the flush door handle 14 when opening the side door 10 from the outside of the vehicle. As shown in Figure 4, most of the components of the flush door handle 14 are housed inside the side door 10, and there are no parts that protrude outward from the outer panel 12 of the side door 10. This configuration makes the flush door handle 14 less conspicuous and improves the design of the side door 10. In addition, because there are no parts that protrude from the outer panel 12, the air resistance of the vehicle is reduced.
[0017] As shown in FIG. 4, in the case of the flush door handle 14, a handle opening 42 is formed on the outer surface of the side door 10, and a recess connected to the handle opening 42, that is, a workspace 44, is formed inside the side door 10. Inside the workspace 44, a handle lever 32 for operating a latch (not shown) of the side door 10 is arranged. When the user opens the side door 10, the user inserts a hand into the workspace 44 from the handle opening 42 and pulls the handle lever 32 toward the front side (i.e., the direction approaching the user's body). As a result, the handle lever 32 is rotationally operated, and the latch of the side door 10 is released. Then, in this state, by further pulling the hand toward the front side, the side door 10 with the released latch is opened.
[0018] As shown in FIGS. 2, 4, and 5, the flush door handle 14 has an outer panel unit 16, an inner panel unit 26, and a handle lever 32 (see FIG. 4). The outer panel unit 16 is fixed to the outer panel 12 and defines the handle opening 42. The outer panel unit 16 is roughly classified into a garnish 18 and an extension 20.
[0019] The garnish 18 is a design panel arranged on the outer surface of the side door 10. The outer surface of this garnish 18 is smoothly continuous with the outer surface of the outer panel 12. As shown in FIG. 2, the garnish 18 is in the shape of an elongated plate in the vehicle front-rear direction. In this garnish 18, a handle opening 42 elongated in the front-rear direction is formed in an arrangement biased toward the rear side of the vehicle. The portion of the garnish 18 on the front side of the vehicle with respect to the handle opening 42 functions as a touch portion 43. The flush door handle 14 further has a switch sensor 38 (see FIG. 2) that detects contact of a finger with the touch portion 43. When this switch sensor 38 detects contact of a finger, the side door 10 is unlocked or locked. A pattern (in the example of FIG. 2, three vertical lines) indicating the contact position of the finger is attached to the touch portion 43 of the garnish 18.
[0020] The extension 20 is disposed on the back side of the garnish 18. The extension 20 is a resin part interposed between the garnish 18 and the handle case 28. Similar to the garnish 18, the handle opening 20a of this extension 20 is formed in a biased arrangement toward the rear side of the vehicle. Further, a guide portion 20c extending inward in the vehicle width direction is formed near the lower edge of the handle opening 20a (see FIGS. 2 and 4). This guide portion 20c has a curved shape that slopes upward diagonally from the lower edge of the handle opening 20a. As shown in FIG. 4, the user inserts a hand into the workspace 44 along this guide portion 20c.
[0021] Also, in the extension 20, the front side portion of the handle opening 20a, that is, the portion overlapping with the touch portion 43 of the garnish 18 in the vehicle width direction functions as the front flange portion 21. A substantially rectangular sensor opening 20b is formed in this front flange portion 21. And a switch sensor 38 is attached to this sensor opening 20b. The switch sensor 38 detects that a finger has touched the touch portion 43.
[0022] Furthermore, a plurality of protrusions, ribs 46, projecting toward the handle case 28 (that is, inward in the vehicle width direction) are formed around the sensor opening 20b. As shown in FIG. 5, an antenna 40 is held in the space between this rib 46 and the handle case 28. The antenna 40 performs short-range wireless communication with the vehicle's smart key. And based on the communication result of this antenna 40, the presence or absence of a user around the side door 10 is determined.
[0023] Here, as is clear from FIG. 5, the front flange portion 21 is roughly divided into a portion where the rib 46 projects and a thin plate portion 50 where the rib 46 does not exist. Hereinafter, among the plurality of thin plate portions 50, the thin plate portion 50 adjacent to the handle opening 42 will be referred to as the "first thin plate portion 50f".
[0024] The inner panel unit 26 is broadly divided into a handle case 28 and a switch cover 30. As shown in Figure 4, the handle case 28 and the switch cover 30 define a workspace 44 inside the side door 10. More specifically, as shown in Figure 4, the handle case 28 has a wall 28a that extends inward and upward in the vehicle width direction from the upper edge of the handle opening 20a, and a wall 28b that extends inward in the vehicle width direction from the lower edge of the handle opening 42. These two walls 28a and 28b function as the bottom wall, top wall, and outer wall in the vehicle width direction of the workspace 44. The switch cover 30 covers a part of the handle case 28 from the inside in the vehicle width direction. As a result, a part of the switch cover 30 functions as the inner wall in the vehicle width direction of the workspace 44. As described above, the handle lever 32 is located inside the workspace 44. When this handle lever 32 is operated, the latch of the side door 10 is released.
[0025] As shown in Figure 5, the handle case 28 extends both to the rear and front of the workspace 44. A key cylinder 36 is mounted on the part of the handle case 28 that is rear of the workspace 44. If the keyless entry function is unavailable for any reason, the user can unlock the side door 10 by rotating the key cylinder 36 with a physical key.
[0026] The portion of the handle case 28 in front of the workspace 44 functions as a front flange portion 29 facing the front flange portion 21 of the extension 20. The antenna 40 is held in the space between this front flange portion 29 and the rib 46. More precisely, an antenna case 34 is positioned between the front flange portion 29 and the antenna 40, and the antenna 40 is held in place by this antenna case 34.
[0027] As shown in Figure 5, a boundary groove 48 is formed at the boundary between the front flange portion 29 and the workspace 44, recessed outward in the vehicle width direction. The approximate shape of the boundary groove 48 is shown by a dashed line in Figure 3. As shown in Figure 3, the boundary groove 48 extends in the vertical direction of the vehicle. The reason for providing such a boundary groove 48 will be explained later.
[0028] The switch cover 30 is a resin component that covers at least a portion of the handle case 28 from the inside in the vehicle width direction. As shown in Figures 3 and 5, the switch cover 30 is provided with a bent portion 52 that protrudes outward in the vehicle width direction at the location facing the boundary groove 48 in the vehicle width direction.
[0029] Here, these bent sections 52 become points where stress concentrates and breakage is likely to occur. Similarly, the boundary groove 48 provided in the handle case 28 and the first thin plate section 50f provided in the extension 20 also become points where stress concentrates and breakage is likely to occur. In this example, these three breakage points 48, 50f, and 52 are arranged to be almost in a straight line. Furthermore, the antenna case 34 is positioned and shaped so as not to interfere with the straight line L passing through these three breakage points 48, 50f, and 52. The reason for this configuration will be explained with reference to Figure 6.
[0030] Figure 6 shows the appearance of flush door handles 14 and 14* when a side collision occurs in which an obstacle collides with the side of the vehicle. The upper part of Figure 6 shows the flush door handle 14 of this example, and the lower part of Figure 6 shows the flush door handle 14* of a comparative example. In Figure 6, the dashed line indicates the approximate position and shape of the flush door handles 14 and 14* before the side collision.
[0031] As repeatedly stated, the flush door handles 14, 14* are attached to the side doors 10 of the vehicle. Furthermore, as shown in Figure 6, the outer panel 12 of the side door 10 is inclined with respect to the vehicle's longitudinal direction so that it moves outward in the vehicle width direction as it moves towards the rear of the vehicle. As a result, the flush door handles 14, 14* themselves are also inclined with respect to the vehicle's longitudinal direction.
[0032] Let's consider what happens when a side impact occurs in this state. In the case of the comparative example flush door handle 14*, there is no point of origin for the break. In this case, when the flush door handle 14* is subjected to a side impact load, stress is less likely to concentrate, and the flush door handle 14* is less likely to break. As a result, the entire flush door handle 14* moves inward in the vehicle width direction. In the example shown in the lower part of Figure 6, the position of the middle part Pc of the flush door handle 14* in the vehicle width direction is a position W1 away from the passenger compartment, and the position of the front part Pf of the flush door handle 14* in the vehicle width direction is a position W2 entering the passenger compartment. In other words, if the flush door handle 14* does not break, the flush door handle 14*, especially the area near the front end of the flush door handle 14*, is more likely to enter the passenger compartment. This problem of some of the handle's components entering the passenger compartment is particularly likely to occur in the case of a flush door handle where many of the components are located inside the side door 10.
[0033] On the other hand, in the case of the flush door handle 14 in this example, there are bending points 50f, 48, and 52 on the extension 20, handle case 28, and switch cover 30, respectively, and these three bending points 50f, 48, and 52 are aligned in a straight line. In this case, when subjected to a side impact load, bending is likely to occur at the bending points 50f, 48, and 52. As a result of bending, the front and rear parts of the flush door handle 14 move independently. Specifically, as shown in the upper part of Figure 6, even when the middle part Pc of the flush door handle 14 moves to position W1 due to a side impact load, the front part Pf of the flush door handle 14 can move independently of this middle part Pc. As a result, the front part Pf can remain at position W0, away from the passenger compartment. This makes it possible to reduce or eliminate the amount of intrusion of the flush door handle 14 into the passenger compartment during a side impact.
[0034] As is clear from the above description, the technology disclosed herein makes the flush door handle 14 more likely to break during a side collision. As a result, the intrusion of the flush door handle 14 into the passenger compartment can be effectively suppressed. The configuration described above is just one example, and other configurations can be changed as long as both the inner panel unit 26 and the outer panel unit 16 have a bending point near the front end of the workspace 44 where the strength is reduced compared to the surrounding area. For example, the configuration of the bending point can be changed as appropriate. For example, the bending point of the handle case 28 may be a thin plate section where the plate thickness is locally smaller than the surrounding area, rather than the boundary groove 48. The shapes of the garnish 18, extension 20, handle case 28, and switch cover 30 can also be changed as appropriate. [Explanation of Symbols]
[0035] 10 Side door, 12 Outer panel, 14,14* Flush door handle, 16 Outer panel unit, 18 Garnish, 20 Extension, 21 Front flange section, 26 Inner panel unit, 28 Handle case, 29 Front flange section, 30 Switch cover, 32 Handle lever, 34 Antenna case, 36 Key cylinder, 38 Switch sensor, 40 Antenna, 42 Handle opening, 43 Touch section, 44 Workspace, 46 Rib (projection), 48 Boundary groove (folding point), 50 Thin plate section, 50f First thin plate section (folding point), 52 Bent section (folding point).
Claims
1. Inside the side door, an inner panel unit defines a workspace for receiving fingers, An outer panel unit defining a handle opening communicating with the workspace is provided on the outer surface of the side door, The inner panel unit and the outer panel unit both have a bending point near the front end of the workspace where the strength is reduced compared to the surrounding area. A flush door handle characterized by the following features.
2. A flush door handle according to claim 1, The aforementioned inner panel unit is Handle case and A switch cover that covers at least a portion of the aforementioned handle case from the inside in the vehicle width direction, The handle case includes a groove that is recessed outward in the vehicle width direction and extends in the vehicle vertical direction at a position forward of the workspace, The groove functions as the starting point for the bend. A flush door handle characterized by the following features.
3. A flush door handle according to claim 2, The aforementioned outer panel unit is A garnish fixed to the outer surface of the side door, An extension positioned on the back of the aforementioned garnish, Includes, The extension has a front flange portion located in front of the vehicle beyond the handle opening, The front flange portion includes a plurality of protrusions projecting toward the handle case and a plurality of thin plate portions without the protrusions. Of the plurality of thin plate portions, the first thin plate portion adjacent to the handle opening functions as the bending point. A flush door handle characterized by the following features.
4. A flush door handle according to claim 3, The switch cover has a bent portion that bends outward in the vehicle width direction at a position in front of the workspace, The aforementioned bent portion functions as the starting point of the bend, The groove, the bent portion, and the first thin plate portion are aligned in a straight line. A flush door handle characterized by the following features.
5. A flush door handle according to any one of claims 1 to 4, The aforementioned flush door handle is positioned at an inclination with respect to the vehicle's longitudinal direction such that its front end is located inward in the vehicle width direction than its rear end. A flush door handle characterized by the following features.