Door handle device for vehicle

Abstract

To realize, in an unconventional form, a structure in which a handle member does not transmit an external force to an output shaft of a rotary drive unit when a door opening operation to the handle member at a protruding position is released and the handle member is returned to an original protruding position in a door handle device electrically popped up from an accommodation position to the protruding position.SOLUTION: A handle drive mechanism 9 that electrically pops up a handle member 2 has: a rotary drive unit 10; a first crank 4 that rotates in unison with an output shaft 14; and a second crank 5 that is pushed by the rotation of the first crank 4 to rotate around a rotation axis R5. The second crank 5 pushes out the handle member 2 to hold it in a pop-up position by rotating around the rotation axis R5, while it does not rotate around the rotation axis R5 by being pushed toward its own rotation axis R5 when it receives an external force inward from the handle member 2 toward a vehicle in its pop-up holding state.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 7

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a door handle device for a vehicle. [Background technology]

[0002] A vehicle door handle device generally has a structure that includes a base member that is attached to the vehicle's door outer panel from inside the vehicle, and a handle member that is attached to the base member from outside the vehicle so that the door outer panel is sandwiched between the base member and that uses a first side in the handle's longitudinal direction as a fulcrum and enables the door to be opened by lifting the opposite second side outward from the vehicle.

[0003] Incidentally, some recent vehicle door handle devices have a structure in which the handle member is electrically reciprocated between a stored position where it is positioned flat against the outer surface of the door outer panel and a protruding position where it protrudes (pops up) outward from the vehicle so that the door can be opened (see Patent Document 1). In this case, the operating portion of the handle member that can be hooked by hand is exposed only when the handle member is in the protruding position, allowing the door to be opened by pulling it outward from the vehicle. In addition, having the handle member in the stored position while the vehicle is moving also contributes to reducing air resistance. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 3165570 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] However, when attempting to realize such an electrically operated pop-up door handle device, a conceivable structure is one in which a crank is attached to the output shaft of a motor that constitutes a rotary drive unit, and the crank is rotated by the rotation of the output shaft to cause the handle member to protrude (pop up) outward from the vehicle. However, when the handle member in the protruding position is pulled outward from the vehicle by a door-opening operation and then released, the handle member is pulled inward from the vehicle by the biasing force of a biasing means such as a torsion coil spring and accelerates back to its original protruding position. When the handle member reaches its original protruding position, it comes into contact with the crank, and a force (external force) is directly transmitted to the output shaft of the motor, raising concerns about placing an unnecessary load on the motor.

[0006] The object of the present invention is to realize a door handle device that electrically pops up from a storage position to a protruding position, in a manner not previously seen, in which the handle member does not transmit an external force to the output shaft of a rotation drive unit when the door opening operation to the handle member in the protruding position is released and the handle member returns to its original protruding position.

[0007] In order to solve the above problems, the vehicle door handle device of the present invention comprises: an elongated handle member; a base member that is attached to a door outer panel of a vehicle from the inside of the vehicle, and to which the handle member is attached so as to be capable of performing a door opening operation by using a first side in the handle longitudinal direction as a fulcrum and lifting a second side opposite to the first side toward the outside of the vehicle; a handle drive mechanism that reciprocates the handle member between a protruding position where a second side in the handle longitudinal direction protrudes toward the vehicle outside beyond the outer surface of the door outer panel and a stored position where the second side does not protrude beyond the protruding position, The handle drive mechanism includes: a rotation drive unit that rotates the output shaft in a first rotation direction and a second rotation direction opposite to the first rotation direction within a predetermined rotation angle range; a first crank mounted to the output shaft so as to be integrally rotatable with the output shaft; a second crank that is rotatable about a predetermined rotation axis and has a protruding portion that protrudes radially outward relative to the rotation axis, the protruding portion being pushed by the first crank that rotates in the first rotation direction to rotate about the rotation axis, and that pushes the handle member outward from the vehicle by this rotation to rotate it to the protruding position and presses and holds it at the protruding position; When the second crank receives an external force inward of the vehicle from the handle member while in the pressed and held state, the second crank is pressed toward the rotation axis via the push-out portion, and is therefore not rotated around the rotation axis by the external force.

[0008] With this configuration, when a force acts inward of the vehicle on the handle member in the extended position, the handle member transmits the force to the second crank, but the force is supported by the second crank and is not transmitted to the output shaft of the rotation drive unit at all, so that no extra load is placed on the motor.

[0009] The output shaft can be positioned further outward from the rotational axis of the second crank. Many electrically operated door handle devices have a large width (thickness) in the vehicle's interior and exterior directions because they incorporate a rotary drive unit (e.g., a motor). Instead of a structure in which the rotational force of the output shaft is directly transmitted to the handle member, as in the above configuration, a structure in which the second crank is located further outward from the output shaft and the force is transmitted to the handle member via this second crank increases the degree of freedom in the positioning of the output shaft of the rotary drive unit (e.g., a motor). As a result, the rotary drive unit (e.g., a motor), which is a relatively large part, can be positioned closer to the outer panel, which was previously not possible, thereby reducing the vehicle's width (thickness) in the interior and exterior directions. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] 1 is a side view showing a vehicle equipped with a vehicle door handle device according to the present invention; [Figure 2] FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective view showing the door handle in the stowed position. [Figure 3] FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective view showing the door handle in the extended position. [Figure 4] Plan view of Figure 2. [Figure 5] Plan view of Figure 3. [Figure 6] Enlarged view of part A in Figure 4. [Figure 7] Enlarged view of part B in Figure 5. [Figure 8] 8A and 8B are diagrams illustrating an operation of returning from the state of FIG. 7 to the state of FIG. 6. [Figure 9] 3 is a horizontal cross-sectional view of the vehicle door handle device of FIG. 2. FIG. [Figure 10] Enlarged view of part C in Figure 9. [Figure 11] FIG. 11 is an enlarged view of the door handle of FIG. 10 when moved to a protruding position. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0011] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0012] As shown in Fig. 1, a vehicle door handle device 1 of this embodiment is attached to a door 101 on the left, right, or rear side of a vehicle 100 (here, an automobile). The vehicle door handle device 1 includes a handle member 2, a base member 3, and a handle drive mechanism 9 (see Figs. 4 and 5). As shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the handle member 2 is reciprocable between a protruding position (see Fig. 3) where a second side (the right side in Figs. 2 and 3) in the handle longitudinal direction Y protrudes outward from the outer surface of a door outer panel 101A so that a hand can be inserted inside the vehicle to open the door, and a retracted position (see Fig. 2) where the handle member 2 does not protrude beyond the protruding position so that a hand cannot be inserted inside the vehicle.

[0013] The base member 3 (frame member) is attached to the door outer panel 101A of the vehicle 100 from the inside of the vehicle by, for example, bolting. As shown in Figures 4 and 5, the base member 3 has a rotation support portion 3A that rotatably supports a first side (left side in Figures 4 and 5) of the handle member 2 in the handle longitudinal direction Y. A rotation shaft 32 (see Figures 10 and 11) is inserted and held in the rotation support portion 3A. The inserted and held rotation shaft 32 has a rotation axis R2 in the vehicle up-down direction (depth direction in Figures 4 and 5).

[0014] The handle member 2 has a rotation fulcrum portion 2A on a first side in the handle longitudinal direction Y (left side in FIGS. 4 and 5), and an arm portion 2B on the opposite second side (right side in FIGS. 4 and 5).

[0015] The rotation fulcrum portion 2A is assembled to the rotation support portion 3A of the base member 3 so as to be rotatable back and forth about the rotation axis R2, so that when the handle member 2 is in the protruding position (see FIG. 5), it serves as a fulcrum on a first side (the left side in FIGS. 4 and 5) in the handle longitudinal direction Y, and enables the door to be opened by lifting the opposite second side outward from the vehicle. In FIG. 5, the handle member 2 in the protruding position is shown by a solid line, and the handle member 2 during the door-opening operation is shown by a dashed line. The rotation fulcrum portion 2A here is assembled by inserting a rotation shaft 32 (see FIGS. 10 and 11) of the rotation support portion 3A through it.

[0016] In this embodiment, the stored position is set so that the outer surface of the handle member 2 is flush with the outer surface of the door outer panel 101A (see FIG. 2). Therefore, when the handle member 2 is in the stored position, the door cannot be opened, and only when the handle member 2 is in the protruding position does the operating portion 2C (here, the operating portion that is hooked by inserting a hand from below: see FIG. 3) for opening the door become exposed, and the door can be opened by pulling it outward from the vehicle.

[0017] Furthermore, the handle member 2 is positioned in the storage position so as to come into contact with the base member 3. The handle member 2 is constantly urged by urging means 8 (see FIG. 9) so as to move from the extended position toward the storage position. The urging means 8 here is a torsion coil spring having a coil portion between one end and the other end, and the coil portion is disposed so as to surround the rotation shaft 32 (see FIGS. 10 and 11), with one end supported by the base member 3 and the other end supported by an interlocking body (such as a bell crank) that interlocks with the handle member 2 or its operation (door opening operation and its release operation).

[0018] 4 and 5, the handle drive mechanism 9 is assembled to the base member 3 on the vehicle inner side of the door outer panel 101A, and rotates the handle member 2 back and forth between a stored position (see FIG. 2) and a protruding position (see FIG. 3). Here, the handle drive mechanism 9 has a rotation drive unit 10, a first crank 4, and a second crank 5, as shown in FIGS. 6 to 8.

[0019] The rotational drive unit 10 is an electric motor that serves as a drive source for rotating the output shaft 14 in a first rotational direction RA (see FIG. 6) and an opposite second rotational direction RB (see FIG. 8) within a predetermined rotational angle range. The base member 3 has a base main part 30A to which the handle member 2 is attached, and a drive unit housing 30B (unit case, housing part) that houses (encloses) the rotational drive unit 10. The drive unit housing 30B houses (encloses) the rotational drive unit 10 to form a drive unit (motor unit), and the drive unit housing 30B is fixed to the base main part 30A by bolting or the like.

[0020] The first crank 4 is assembled to be rotatable integrally with the output shaft 14 of the motor that constitutes the rotation drive unit 10. The first crank 4 protrudes radially outward relative to the axis R4 (output axis) of the output shaft 14 and has a pressing portion 41 (first lever portion) that presses the second crank 5 by the rotation of the first crank 4. The pressing portion 41 here is rotatable around the axis R4 of the output shaft 14 between a first crank initial position (see FIG. 6) and a first crank pressing position (see FIG. 7).

[0021] The second crank 5 is provided so as to be rotatable about a predetermined rotation axis R5. The second crank 5 here is rotatably assembled to a shaft portion 35 protruding from the base member 3. The second crank 5 also has a protruding portion 51 (first lever portion) that protrudes radially outward relative to the rotation axis R5.

[0022] The pushing portion 51 here has a bent shape (L-shaped), and is pushed by the rotation of the first crank 4 in the first rotation direction RA (see FIG. 6) by the rotation drive unit 10 to rotate about the rotation axis R5 (FIG. 6 → FIG. 7), and this rotation presses the handle member 2 toward the outside of the vehicle, rotating it to the protruding position and holding it in the protruding position (see FIG. 7). Furthermore, in this pressing and holding state (see FIG. 7), the pushing portion 51 is pushed by the rotation of the first crank 4 in the second rotation direction RB to rotate about the rotation axis R5 (FIG. 7 → FIG. 8 → FIG. 6), and releases the pressing and holding state.

[0023] The second crank 5 here is rotatable about the rotation axis R5 between a second crank initial position (see FIG. 6: initial position) and a second crank pushing position (see FIG. 7: pushing position). When the first crank 4 rotates in a first rotation direction RA from the first crank initial position (see FIG. 6) toward the first crank pushing position (see FIG. 7), the pushing portion 51 of the second crank 5 is pushed by the pushing portion 41 (the tip end of the pushing portion 41), and the second crank 5 rotates (rotation direction RC: see FIG. 6) toward the second crank pushing position (see FIG. 7). This rotation causes the pushing portion 51 to push the arm portion 2B of the handle member 2 (specifically, the bulging portion 2B1 that bulges from the tip end side of the arm portion 2B toward the rotation shaft 32 side (fulcrum side)) outward from the vehicle. As a result, the handle member 2 rotates to the protruding position (see FIGS. 3 and 5) against the biasing force of the biasing means 8 (see FIG. 9), and is pressed and held at this protruding position by the pushing portion 51.

[0024] On the other hand, when the first crank 4 is rotated by the rotation drive unit 10 in the second rotation direction RB from the first crank pressing position (see FIG. 7) toward the first crank initial position (see FIG. 6) (see FIG. 8), the pushing portion 51 of the second crank 5 is pushed by the pushing portion 41 and rotates about the rotation axis R5 (rotation direction RD: see FIG. 8), thereby releasing the pushing and holding of the pushing portion 51. By releasing this pushing and holding state, the handle member 2 can return to the storage position (see FIGS. 2 and 4). In this embodiment, the handle member 2, whose pushing and holding state has been released, returns to the storage position by the biasing force of the biasing means 8 (see FIG. 9) and is biased and held in the storage position.

[0025] 9 to 11, the first crank 4 has a positioning portion 42 (second lever portion) that protrudes from a position different from the pressing portion 41, radially outward with respect to the axis R4 (output axis) of the output shaft 14. The first crank initial position is defined as a position (see FIG. 10) where the positioning portion 42 abuts against a rotation restricting portion 33 (first crank second-side rotation restricting portion) of the base member 3. The first crank pressing position is defined as a position (see FIG. 11) where the pressing portion 41 (a base end portion of the pressing portion 41) abuts against another rotation restricting portion 34 (first crank first-side rotation restricting portion) of the base member 3.

[0026] 9 to 11, the second crank 5 has a pressing / holding release portion 52 (second lever portion) that protrudes radially outward relative to the rotation axis R5 from a position different from the pushing portion 51. The second crank initial position is defined as a position (see FIG. 10) where the pushing portion 51 abuts against the pushing portion 41 (second crank second-side rotation restricting portion) of the first crank 4 that is in the first crank initial position. The second crank 5 is provided with a recess 51B that is continuously open toward the outside of the vehicle and in the circumferential direction from the second crank initial position to the second crank pushing position in the pushing portion 51 in the pressing / holding state. A wall portion 51A (second crank first-side rotation restricting portion) is provided in the recess 51B on the side opposite the circumferential direction, and the opposite side is not open. The second crank pushing position is defined as a position where the wall portion 51A abuts against the protrusion positioning portion 31 that protrudes inward from a portion of the base member 3 located outside the vehicle relative to the rotation shaft portion R5 (see Figure 11).

[0027] The second crank 5 does not necessarily have to be in the second crank initial position (see Figure 6) when the first crank 4 is in the first crank initial position, but may be in a position between the second crank initial position and the second crank extrusion position where it does not push the handle member 2 (arm portion 2B).

[0028] In the door handle device 1 in this embodiment, in which the handle member 2 electrically pops up from the storage position (see FIG. 2) to the protruding position (see FIG. 3), the handle member 2 in the protruding position is pulled outward from the vehicle when the door is opened (see the broken line in FIG. 5), and when the operation is subsequently released, the handle member 2 is pulled inward from the vehicle by the biasing force of the biasing means 8 (see FIG. 9), such as a torsion coil spring, and accelerates toward the original protruding position (see FIG. 3). Then, when the handle member 2 reaches the original protruding position, it comes into contact with the handle drive mechanism 9, and a force F (see FIG. 5) toward the inside of the vehicle is applied to the contact point.

[0029] In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7 , the second crank 5 in the pressed and held state receives this force F (external force) inward of the vehicle. When the second crank 5 receives this force F in the pressed and held state, it is pressed toward the rotation axis R5 via the pushing portion 51. Because it is pressed toward the rotation axis R5, the second crank 5 that receives this force F does not rotate around the rotation axis R5. Therefore, the force F applied inward of the vehicle from the handle member 2 is not transmitted to the rotation drive unit 10 (motor), which is the drive source. Therefore, the force is not transmitted to the output shaft 14 of the rotation drive unit 10 (motor), and there is no need to worry about placing an unnecessary load on the rotation drive unit 10.

[0030] In this case, when the second crank 5 is in the pressed and held state and a force is applied inward from the handle member 2, the push-out portion 51 is pressed toward the rotation axis R5. The pressing direction (the direction of arrow F) coincides with the extension direction of a straight line PR that passes through the rotation axis R5 and the pressing position P of the handle member 2 by the push-out portion 51, when viewed from the axial direction of the rotation axis R5.

[0031] Furthermore, the second crank 5 here has a shape in which the pushing portion 51 extends from the rotation axis R5 toward the outside of the vehicle in the pressed and held state, and can more stably support the force acting from the handle member 2 toward the inside of the vehicle.

[0032] In addition, the output shaft 14 here is located on the outer side of the vehicle with respect to the rotation axis R5. Furthermore, the shaft portion 35 is formed with a larger diameter than the output shaft 14 of the motor 10, and can stably support the force acting inward of the vehicle. Note that, although the shaft portion 35 here has a smaller diameter than the rotating shaft 32, it may have the same diameter as or larger than the rotating shaft 32.

[0033] In this embodiment, the pressing position P is located on the vehicle inner side of the rotation axis R2 (fulcrum) (above the two-dot chain line extending to the right from the rotation axis R2 in FIGS. 5 and 7). Therefore, the external force F transmitted to the second crank 5 is not a force directed inwardly toward the vehicle, but rather a force in an oblique direction (see FIG. 7) from the pressing position P toward the turning axis R5, which is located on the vehicle inner side and slightly closer to the rotation axis R2 (fulcrum).

[0034] Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, this is merely an example, and the present invention is not limited to this. For example, various modifications based on the knowledge of those skilled in the art are possible, such as omitting some of the components in the above embodiment or adding other components. [Explanation of symbols]

[0035] 1. Door handle device for vehicle 100 vehicles 101 Door 101A Door outer panel 2 Handle member 2A Rotational fulcrum 2B Arm part 2C Control unit 3 Base material 3A Rotation support part 4 First crank 41 Pressing part 5 Second crank 51 Extrusion section 8. Actuation means 9. Handle drive mechanism 10 Rotation drive unit 14 Output shaft Y Handle longitudinal direction RA First rotation direction RB Second rotation direction R2 Rotation axis (fulcrum) R4 Output axis R5 Rotation axis F external force

Claims

1. an elongated handle member; a base member that is attached to a door outer panel of a vehicle from the inside of the vehicle, and to which the handle member is attached so as to be capable of performing a door opening operation by using a first side in the handle longitudinal direction as a fulcrum and lifting a second side opposite to the first side toward the outside of the vehicle; a handle drive mechanism that reciprocates the handle member between a protruding position where a second side in the handle longitudinal direction protrudes toward the vehicle outside beyond the outer surface of the door outer panel and a stored position where the second side does not protrude beyond the protruding position, The handle drive mechanism includes: a rotation drive unit that rotates the output shaft in a first rotation direction and a second rotation direction opposite to the first rotation direction within a predetermined rotation angle range; a first crank mounted to the output shaft so as to be integrally rotatable with the output shaft; a second crank that is rotatable about a predetermined rotation axis and has a protruding portion that protrudes radially outward relative to the rotation axis, the protruding portion being pushed by the first crank that rotates in the first rotation direction to rotate about the rotation axis, and that pushes the handle member outward from the vehicle by this rotation to rotate it to the protruding position and presses and holds it at the protruding position; and when the second crank receives an external force inward of the vehicle from the handle member in the pressed and held state, the second crank is pressed toward the rotation axis via the push-out portion, thereby preventing the second crank from rotating around the rotation axis due to the external force.

2. The vehicle door handle device according to claim 1, wherein the output shaft is positioned outside the rotation axis of the vehicle.

Images