Vehicle handle

Abstract

To provide a handle for a vehicle that allows a cylinder lock to be arranged close to a surface of a handle main body.SOLUTION: The handle for a vehicle attached to a vehicle door so as to be drawn out comprises: a handle main body having an operation opening 2 to a cylinder lock installed in the door; and a cap 4 that blocks the operation opening 2. An elastic engaging part 6 that translates along a door surface accompanying an attachment / detachment of the cap 4 to the operation opening 2, and elastically engages / disengages with an engaged part 5 mounted on the other side, is provided on either the cap 4 or the handle main body.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a steering wheel for a vehicle. [Background technology]

[0002] BACKGROUND ART A vehicle handle used to open and close a vehicle door is known from Patent Document 1.

[0003] As shown in FIG. 7, this conventional handle has a handle body 3' equipped with a key access opening 2' that communicates with a key operating portion of a cylinder lock to be used for unlocking in an emergency or the like.

[0004] The key access opening 2' in the handle body 3' is normally closed by a removably operable cap 4' to prevent the cylinder lock from being exposed to the outside, and is removed when access to the cylinder lock is required.

[0005] The cap 4' has a tubular portion 4b' that protrudes from the cap body 4a' toward the rear surface, and a portion of the tubular portion 4b' is separated through a slit 4c' to form an elastically deformable locking leg 4d'. A locking projection 4e' is protruded from the tip of the locking leg 4d'. When the cap 4 is pushed into the key access opening 2', the locking projection 4e' interferes with the peripheral wall of the fitting tubular portion 3a' that protrudes from the key access opening 2' toward the rear surface, causing the locking leg 4d' to elastically deform. After returning to its original position, the locking projection 4e' resiliently engages with the fitting tubular portion 3a', completing the cap 4 attachment operation.

[0006] When the tip of the cylindrical portion 4b' of the cap 4 is pushed out toward the surface from the attached state, the locking legs 4d' are temporarily elastically deformed, and the locking of the locking projections 4e' is released, allowing the cap 4' to be removed. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0007] [Patent Document 1] European Patent No. EP2853664 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0008] However, in the conventional example described above, since attaching and detaching the cap 4' involves elastic deformation of the locking leg 4d', it is necessary to ensure the arm length of the locking leg 4d' in order to prevent the operating force required for attaching and detaching the cap 4, particularly the removal operation, from becoming excessive and causing a decrease in operability.

[0009] However, as the arm length increases, the length from the cap main body 4a' to the tip of the tubular portion also increases, resulting in a longer distance between the cylinder lock (not shown) located at the rear and the surface of the handle main body 3', which results in a problem of poor operability of the cylinder lock.

[0010] SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and has as its object to provide a vehicle handle that allows a cylinder lock to be disposed near the surface of the handle body. [Means for solving the problem]

[0011] According to the present invention, the above object is achieved by A vehicle handle that is attached to a vehicle door so as to be operable to be pulled out, A handle body 3 having an opening 2 for operating a cylinder lock 1 attached to the door; a cap 4 for closing the operation opening 2, The handle body 3 has: When the cap 4 is attached to or detached from the operation opening 2, it moves in translation along the door surface. The cap 4 is provided with A resilient engaging portion 6 is provided to resiliently engage and disengage with the engaged portion 5, The spring engaging portion 6 is held at both ends by the handle body 3, and the middle portion is a spring that moves forward and backward along the path for attaching and detaching the cap. This is accomplished by providing a steering wheel for a vehicle.

[0012] The vehicle handle has a handle main body 3 in which an operating opening 2 for accessing the cylinder lock 1 is opened, and a cap 4 which can be attached and detached to the operating opening 2 and which, when attached, closes the operating opening 2 to prevent the cylinder lock 1 from being exposed to the outside.One of the handle main body 3 and the cap 4 has an engaging portion 5, and the other has a resilient engaging portion 6 which moves in a translational manner along the surface of the door on which the cylinder lock 1 is placed as the cap 4 is attached and detached to and from the operating opening 2, thereby elastically engaging and disengaging with the engaging portion 5.

[0013] In the present invention, the resilient locking portion 6 moves in a linear motion along the surface of the door when engaging or disengaging the locked portion 5, so there is no need to set up a movement space for the resilient locking portion 6 in the height direction of the handle main body 3, and the cylinder lock 1 can be positioned close to the surface of the handle main body 3, improving operability of the cylinder lock 1.

[0014] The spring engaging portion 6 is configured as a spring whose both ends are held by the handle body 3 and whose middle portion moves forward and backward along the attachment and detachment operation path of the cap 4. but, In this case, the resilient locking portion 6 can be formed from an elastic material and configured so that locking bends 8 formed on both ends of the arc-shaped main body 7 are locked and held by spring locking portions 9 formed on the handle main body 3.

[0015] moreover, The engaging surface 10 of the engaged portion 5 is formed by a sloped surface that slopes downward toward the free end, When the resilient locking portion 6 is configured to be pressed against the locking surface 10 when locked to the locked portion 5, the elasticity of the resilient locking portion 6 acts on the cap 4 in the mounting direction, thereby preventing rattling when attached. [Effects of the Invention]

[0016] According to the present invention, the cylinder lock can be disposed close to the surface of the handle body, thereby improving the operability of the cylinder lock. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0017] [Figure 1] 1A and 1B are diagrams showing the present invention, in which (a) is a front view and (b) is a cross-sectional view taken along line 1B-1B of (a). [Figure 2] 2A and 2B are diagrams showing a cover handle, in which (a) is a front view and (b) is a cross-sectional view taken along line 2B-2B in (a). [Figure 3] 10A and 10B are diagrams showing the resilient locking part, in which FIG. 10A shows the attachment operation to the cover handle, and FIG. 10B shows the state fixed to the cover handle. [Figure 4] 1A and 1B are diagrams showing the cap, in which (a) is a front view, (b) is a view seen from the arrow 4B in (a), (c) is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 4C-4C in (a), (d) is a view seen from the arrow 4D in (b), and (e) is a perspective view seen from the back. [Figure 5] These are diagrams showing the cap installation operation, where (a) shows the state before installation, (b) shows the start of the installation operation, (c) shows the state where the cap is being rotated, (d) shows the state where installation is complete, and (e) is an enlarged view of the main part of (d). [Figure 6] 10A and 10B are diagrams showing how to remove the cap. [Figure 7] 2A and 2B are diagrams showing a conventional example, in which (a) is a perspective view shown in FIG. 2 of Patent Document 1, and (b) is a cross-sectional view shown in FIG. 6 of Patent Document 1. FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0018] FIG. 1 shows a handle device to which the present invention is applied.

[0019] The handle device (A) has a vehicle handle of the present invention and a handle base 11 for fixing the vehicle handle to the door, and when attached to the handle base 11, the vehicle handle can be rotated around the center of rotation (CH).

[0020] When the vehicle handle is rotated around the center of rotation (CH) so that the tip of the rotation is pulled out from the door surface, the operating leg 12a moves toward the door surface and the lever 12b connected to the handle base 11 rotates around the rotation axis 12c, which is transmitted as an unlatching operating force to the door latch device (not shown).

[0021] The door latch device can be operated to transition between locked and unlocked states by an electronic control device (not shown), and when in the unlocked state, applying a latch release force releases the latch that holds the door closed, allowing the door to be opened. On the other hand, when in the locked state, applying a latch release force, i.e., turning the vehicle handle, does not release the latch, and the door remains closed.

[0022] In addition, a cylinder lock 1 is fixed to the handle base 11 as an auxiliary locking / unlocking means for the door latch device by the electronic control device, and even if the door latch device is in a locked state, the user can switch the door latch device to an unlocked state by operating the cylinder lock 1, thereby performing the latch release operation.

[0023] The vehicle handle has a handle main body 3 in which an operating opening 2 is opened to allow access to the cylinder lock 1, and a cap 4 for normally closing the operating opening 2 of the handle main body 3. In this example, the handle main body 3 is formed by connecting a cover handle 13, which forms the exterior of the vehicle handle, to a base handle 12 on which the operating leg portion 12a etc. is formed, using a bolt 14 etc.

[0024] A handhold recess 12d is formed in the center of the base handle 12 to serve as a handle when operating the vehicle handle, and a hinge protrusion 12e is provided at the front end (in this specification, the left side in Figure 1 is referred to as the "front", the right side as the "rear", the upper side in Figure 1(b) as the "front side", and the opposite side as the "back side") to provide a center of rotation (CH) of the vehicle handle.

[0025] The cover handle 13 is formed in a tray shape with its peripheral edge raised toward the rear side, and has an operation opening 2 at its rear end.

[0026] 2 and 3, the operation opening 2 has a fitting recess 2a into which a design forming portion 4a of the cap 4 (described later) fits, and a through-hole 2c that penetrates a bulge 2b that protrudes from the center of the fitting recess 2a toward the back surface. At the rear end of the bulge 2b, a flat cap locking surface 2d is formed on the back surface end face, continuing to the through-hole 2c.

[0027] In this example, the through-hole portion 2c is formed as a circular hole, and the bulge portion 2b is formed in a cylindrical shape.

[0028] As shown in Fig. 2(b), the bottom surface of the bulging portion 2b is formed with a pushing recess 2e, which is an inclined surface that gradually becomes thinner from the rear to the front. As will be described later, this pushing recess 2e provides a space for the fingers to escape when removing the attached cap 4.

[0029] As shown in Figures 2 and 3, a spring locking portion 9 and a spring retainer 13a are protruded from the back surface of the cover handle 13, and a slit 13b having a height slightly larger than the wire diameter of the spring 6 (described later) is formed in an opposing position between the spring retainer 13a and the protruding portion 2b.

[0030] Furthermore, a resilient locking portion 6 is formed near the operation opening 2. In this example, the resilient locking portion is a spring formed by bending a spring wire rod with a circular cross section, and has a main body portion 7 bent into a substantially circular shape, and both free ends of the main body portion 7 are folded back to form locking bent portions 8 that can be locked to the spring locking portion 9.

[0031] As shown in Figure 3(b), the spring 6 and the spring locking portion 9 are positioned such that, when the locking bend portion 8 is locked to the spring locking portion 9, a portion of the main body portion 7 protrudes from the slit 13b formed in the bulge portion 2b into the through-hole portion 2c, and further, the portion opposite the entry portion into the operating opening 2 enters the slit 13b of the spring retainer 13a.

[0032] The cap 4, which closes the operation opening 2 and prevents the cylinder lock 1 from being exposed to the outside, has a design forming portion 4a that is similar in shape to the front view shape of the fitting recess 2a of the operation opening 2 and can fit into the fitting recess 2a, as shown in Fig. 4, and a fitting protrusion 4b is protruded from the back surface of the design forming portion 4a. The fitting protrusion 4b can be fitted into the through-hole portion 2c of the operation opening 2 in an oblique position as shown in Fig. 5(c), and by making a cut 4c in the side wall portion that faces the slit 13b of the bulge portion 2b when attached to the operation opening 2, an engaged portion 5 is formed from the cut 4c to the back surface side.

[0033] The front wall surface of the locked portion 5 is formed with a locking surface 10, which is an inclined surface that gradually slopes toward the front as it approaches the center of the fitting protrusion 4b, and the rear end surface of the fitting protrusion 4b is formed with a mounting inclined surface 4d at a position that overlaps in a plan view with the locking surface 10. While the locking surface 10 is formed with an inclined surface that slopes downward toward the front toward the free end, the mounting inclined surface 4d is an inclined surface that gradually slopes toward the back as it approaches the center of the fitting protrusion 4b, i.e., an inclined surface that slopes upward toward the front toward the free end.

[0034] Further, a locking step 4e is provided on the rear end side wall of the fitting projection 4b, and is engaged with the cap locking surface 2d when the cap 4 is attached to the operation opening 2.

[0035] Therefore, in this example, as shown in Figure 5(a), when the spring 6 is attached to the cover handle 13, it is held in a position approximately parallel to the back surface of the cover handle 13, and two opposing points of the main body 7 are inserted into the bulge 2b and the slit 13b of the spring retainer 13a, thereby preventing it from falling off the cover handle 13.

[0036] From this state, as shown in Fig. 5(b), the rear surface of the rear end of the design-forming portion 4a of the cap 4 is placed on the bottom wall of the fitting recess 2a, and then, using this abutment portion as a fulcrum, the front end of the design-forming portion 4a is pressed against the bottom wall of the fitting recess 2a and rotated counterclockwise in Fig. 5(b), and as shown in Fig. 5(c), the mounting inclined surface 4d abuts against the protruding portion of the spring 6 into the through-hole 2c. If a pushing force is further applied to the cap 4 from this state, the spring 6 is pushed toward the center by the mounting inclined surface 4d of the cap 4, and the main body portion 7 elastically deforms in a direction that reduces the diameter, allowing the locked portion 5 to pass, and then the spring 6 elastically returns to its original position and resiliently engages with the locked portion 5 of the cap 4, as shown in Fig. 5(d).

[0037] In the locked state, the locking step 4e of the cap 4 locks onto the cap locking surface 2d of the cover handle 13, and furthermore, the spring 6 restricts the movement of the locked portion 5 toward the surface side, thereby restricting the cap 4 from being removed from the operation opening 2.

[0038] Furthermore, when the cap 4 is attached, the spring 6 is slightly bent, and as shown in Figure 5(e), its elastic restoring force presses it against the locking surface 10 of the cap 4. As a result, a component force acts on the locking surface 10 of the cap 4 toward the back side, and the back surface of the peripheral edge of the design forming portion 4a of the cap 4 is pressed against the surface wall of the fitting recess 2a, preventing rattling.

[0039] To remove the cap 4 from this state, first rotate the entire vehicle handle around the center of rotation (CH) as shown in Figure 6. If the door latch device is not in the unlocked state, this operation will not unlatch the door latch, and in this state the space formed between the cylinder lock 1 and the cap 4, large enough for a finger to fit through, can be used to remove the cap 4.

[0040] The cap 4 can be removed by pushing up the rear end surface of the fitting protrusion 4b of the cap 4 with a finger toward the front surface, as shown by the arrow in Fig. 5(e). By pushing up the cap 4, a counterclockwise rotational force is generated in the cap 4 as shown in Fig. 5(e), with the contact point between the locking step 4e and the cap locking surface 2d of the cover handle 13 as the fulcrum, and the locking surface 10 applies a pushing force to the spring 6 toward the center.

[0041] As a result, the spring 6 moves back in the direction of releasing the engagement with the engaged portion 5, allowing the cap 4 to rotate, and further, the extrusion recess 2e formed in the mating protrusion 4b provides an operating space for the cap 4, allowing the cap 4 to be removed from the operating opening 2. [Explanation of symbols]

[0042] 1 cylinder lock 2 Operation opening 3 Handle body 4 Cap 5 Locked part 6. Spring locking part 7 Main part 8 Locking bend 9 Spring locking part 10 Locking surface

Claims

1. A vehicle handle that is attached to a vehicle door so as to be operable to be pulled out, a handle body portion having an opening for operating a cylinder lock attached to the door; a cap that closes the operation opening, The handle body is provided with a resilient locking portion that moves translationally along the door surface as the cap is attached to or detached from the operation opening, and resiliently engages with or disengages from a locking portion provided on the cap, The spring engaging portion is a spring whose both ends are held by the handle body and whose middle portion moves forward and backward along the path for attaching and detaching the cap.

2. 2. The vehicle handle according to claim 1, wherein the resilient engaging portion is formed of an elastic material, and is held by engaging bent engaging portions formed on both ends of an arc-shaped main body portion with spring engaging portions formed on the handle body portion.

3. The engaging surface of the engaging portion is formed by a sloped surface that slopes downward toward the free end, 3. The vehicle handle according to claim 1, wherein the resilient engaging portion presses against the engaging surface when engaged with the engaged portion.

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