Vehicle door handle control device

Abstract

To provide a door handle control device of a vehicle capable of suppressing a production cost while improving opening / closing operability of a side door.SOLUTION: The control device comprises: a lever 20 capable of emerging from a storage position flush with a surface of a door outer panel 11, towards the outside in a vehicle width direction; a position switch 70a that detects a movement position of the lever 20; a latch mechanism 14 having a latch capable of engaging with a striker in conjunction with the lever 20; a latch switch 14a that detects whether or not the latch is in a full-latched state; a driving device 40 capable of changing a position of the lever 20 between the storage position and a gripping position; and a CPU 80 capable of controlling the driving device 40. When the latch is in a half-latched state and the lever 20 is in the storage position, the CPU 80 forces the lever 20 to change its position to the gripping position via a motor 42.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 9

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a vehicle door handle control device, and more particularly to a vehicle door handle control device equipped with a handle lever that can be extended and retracted outward in the vehicle width direction from a storage position where it is flush with the surface of the door panel, and a position change means that can change the movable position of the handle lever from the storage position. [Background technology]

[0002] In order to improve the design of vehicle side doors and reduce air resistance during driving, technologies have been proposed to make the outer surface of the door panel flush with the outer surface of the handle lever (flush surface).The handle lever of this flush surface door can be moved between a storage position that prioritizes design, where it is housed in a recess formed toward the inside of the door panel so that it is flush with the outer surface of the door outer panel, and a grip position that prioritizes operability, where it protrudes outward in the vehicle width direction from this storage position and can be manually opened by an occupant, as required.

[0003] Typically, a vehicle latch mechanism has a striker installed at the rear of the door opening on the vehicle body side and a latch that can engage with the striker. The engagement state of the latch in this latch mechanism is classified into three states: an unlatched state in which the striker and latch are completely disengaged, a half-latched state in which the striker and latch are slightly engaged, and a fully latched state in which the striker and latch are completely engaged.

[0004] When an occupant gets out of the vehicle, depending on the force used by the occupant to close the side door, the latch mechanism may enter a half-latched state in which it is only partially engaged with the striker, i.e., the side door may be left half-open. Furthermore, vehicles with their doors half-open pose a high security risk, and there is also a risk of damage if the open side door comes into contact with parking equipment when vehicles are circulating in a multi-story parking garage.

[0005] The alarm device of Patent Document 1 includes an interior light that allows part of the emitted light to pass through the side door window, a detection unit that detects whether the side door is open, closed, or ajar, and a control unit that controls the interior light based on the detection results of the detection unit, and the control unit changes the lighting mode of the interior light depending on the detected open, closed, or ajar state. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0006] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2018-002027 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0007] The warning device of Patent Document 1 can notify the occupant of the open / closed state of the side door (latch engagement state) by emitted light transmitted through the window when the occupant closes the side door and leaves the vehicle, and when the occupant gets out of the vehicle, the occupant can visually recognize the open / closed state of the side door through the emitted light. However, the warning device of Patent Document 1 requires a change in the lighting mode of the interior lights, which means that a lighting mechanism dedicated to door ajar warnings must be prepared, which may complicate the overall structure of the device and increase production costs.

[0008] To prevent tampering, flush surface doors have an auto-close mechanism that automatically returns the handle lever from the grip position to the storage position after the door is opened or closed. When this auto-closure mechanism is adopted, the latch mechanism may be in a half-latched state (half-closed door) even when the handle lever is in the stored position. To change the latch mechanism from a half-latched state to a fully latched state in which the striker and latch are fully engaged, the occupant must again press the request switch on the side door to change the handle lever position from the stored position to the grip position, and then manually open and close the door again, which could complicate the process of reclosing the door. That is, it is not easy to improve the operability of opening and closing a side door while suppressing production costs.

[0009] An object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle door handle control device and the like that can improve the operability of opening and closing a side door while suppressing production costs. [Means for solving the problem]

[0010] The vehicle door handle control device of claim 1 comprises a handle lever that can extend and retract from a storage position where it is flush with the surface of a door panel to the outside in the vehicle width direction, a handle lever position detection means that detects the movement position of the handle lever, a latch mechanism that is linked to the handle lever and has a latch that can engage with a striker provided on the vehicle body, a latch state detection means that detects whether the latch is in a fully latched state, a position change means that can change the position of the handle lever between the storage position and a grip position where the engagement between the striker and the latch can be released, and a control means that can control the position change means, and a request switch that is provided on the door panel and that is operated by an occupant when opening the closed door panel, and the handle lever Lever support The door panel has an outer cover and an inner cover that are swingably attached to the door panel, and the request switch is operated by pressing the rear end portions of the outer cover and the inner cover. When the door panel is not in the fully latched state and the handle lever is in the stored position, the control means causes the handle lever to protrude from the surface of the door panel via the position changing means, and changes the position of the handle lever to the gripping position where it can be gripped by an occupant.

[0011] The vehicle door handle control device has a handle lever that can be extended and retracted outward in the vehicle width direction from a stored position where it is flush with the surface of the door panel, thereby improving the design of the side door. When the handle lever is not in the fully latched state and is in the stored position, the control device causes the handle lever to protrude from the surface of the door panel via the position change device to change its position to a gripping position where it can be gripped by an occupant. This allows occupants who have exited the vehicle to visually recognize that the latch mechanism is in the half-latched state without requiring a new dedicated notification mechanism. The door panel has a request switch that is provided on the door panel and is operated when the occupant opens the closed door panel, and the handle lever has an outer cover and an inner cover that are attached to the handle lever so that they can swing freely, and the request switch is operated by pressing the rear ends of the outer cover and inner cover, so that the request switch can be operated using the outer cover and inner cover.

[0012] The invention of claim 2 is characterized in that, in the invention of claim 1, when the handle lever is in the fully latched state and in the stored position, the control means changes the position of the handle lever to the grip position via the position change means based on operation of the request switch. This configuration allows for both design (flush surface) and ease of opening and closing the side door, and allows for the use of existing mechanisms.

[0013] The invention of claim 3 is characterized in that, in the invention of claim 1, the control means changes the handle lever to the storage position after a predetermined time has elapsed since the handle lever was changed to the gripping position via the position change means. According to this configuration, it is possible to restrict the operation of the handle lever under predetermined conditions, thereby providing a crime prevention measure.

[0014] The invention of claim 4 is characterized in that, in the invention of any one of claims 1 to 3, the control means stops the position movement of the handle lever by the position change means when the handle lever position detection means detects the grip position of the handle lever. According to this configuration, it is possible to suppress excessive loads being applied to the position changing means, and to avoid damage to the position changing means. [Effects of the Invention]

[0015] According to the vehicle door handle control device of the present invention, when the latch and striker are not fully engaged, the handle lever is forcibly moved to the gripping position, thereby improving the operability of the side door while reducing production costs. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0016] [Figure 1] 1 is a side view of a vehicle equipped with a vehicle door handle control device according to a first embodiment. [Figure 2] FIG. 1 is a side view of a side door with the lever in the retracted position. [Figure 3] FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line III-III in FIG. 2. [Figure 4] FIG. [Figure 5] FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the relationship between the door handle structure and the latch mechanism. [Figure 6] FIG. 4 is a view corresponding to FIG. 3 with the lever in the gripping position. [Figure 7] FIG. 4 is a view corresponding to FIG. 3 with the lever in the open position. [Figure 8] FIG. 2 is a control block diagram of the door handle control device. [Figure 9] 10 is a flowchart showing a door handle control process procedure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0017] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The following description of preferred embodiments is merely exemplary in nature and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention, its applications, or uses. [Example]

[0018] A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIG. 1, a vehicle V includes a hinge pillar 1 extending in the vertical direction of the vehicle body in the front part of the passenger compartment, a side sill 2 extending in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body in the lower part of the vehicle body, a front pillar 3 extending diagonally rearward and upward from the upper end of the hinge pillar 1, a roof side rail 4 extending rearward from the rear end of the front pillar 3, and a rear pillar 5 connecting the roof side rail 4 and the side sill 2 in the approximately vertical direction of the vehicle body. In the drawings, the arrow F direction indicates the forward direction, the arrow OUT direction indicates the outward direction in the vehicle width direction, and the arrow U direction indicates the upward direction.

[0019] The area surrounded by the hinge pillar 1, the side sill 2, the front pillar 3, the roof side rail 4, and the rear pillar 5 forms a door opening 6. A side door 8 is attached to the hinge pillar 1 via a pair of upper and lower door hinges 7, 7 so as to be able to open and close, and is configured to open and close the door opening 6.

[0020] 1 and 2, the side door 8 has a door main body 9 and a door window glass 10 as a door window member. The door main body 9 also has a door outer panel 11, a door inner panel (not shown), and a reinforcement 12 (see FIG. 3) provided on the inner side and rear side of the door outer panel 11 in the vehicle width direction.

[0021] As shown in Figure 3, the door handle structure for opening and closing the side door 8 includes a door handle lever 20 (hereinafter referred to as lever) that can be extended and retracted in the vehicle width direction from an opening 13 in a door outer panel 11 serving as an outer door panel, a hinge arm 30 with a curved swan-neck structure that has this lever 20, and a drive device 40 that transmits power to the hinge arm 30 so that the lever 20 protrudes from the door outer panel 11. The door also includes a metal bracket 16 that houses the lever 20 and is fixed to a reinforcement 12 provided on the door panel.

[0022] The lever 20 has an outer cover 21 and an inner cover 22 shown in FIG. 3, and the peripheral edges of the outer cover 21 and the inner cover 22 are joined and fixed by recessed and protruding engagement. The lever 20 and the opening 13 of the door outer panel 11 are formed in an elliptical shape that is long in the front-rear direction when viewed from the side.

[0023] As shown in FIG. 3, an opening 23 is formed on the front side of the inner cover 22, through which the hinge arm 30 is inserted during assembly. The hinge arm 30 has the lever 20 at one end (rear end) and a hinge pin 31 at the other end (front end) as a pivot shaft that rotates the lever 20 so that it protrudes outward in the vehicle width direction from the door outer panel 11. The hinge pin 31 is fixed to the bracket 16 and extends in the vertical direction.

[0024] 3, the hinge arm 30 integrally includes a pivot portion 32 that pivotally supports the hinge pin 31, a lever support portion 34 that extends rearward from the pivot portion 32 via a swan-neck-shaped neck portion 33, and an extension portion 35 that extends forward from the pivot portion 32 on the opposite side of the neck portion 33. The lever support portion 34 is disposed inside the lever 20, which is made up of the outer cover 21 and the inner cover 22.

[0025] As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a motor base 41 for assembling a drive unit 40 is attached to the extension 35 of the hinge arm 30. A crank plate 50 is provided coaxially with the hinge pin 31. A vertical wall 51 is integrally formed on the rear side of the crank plate 50 and on the outer side in the vehicle width direction. When the lever 20 and the hinge arm 30 are rotated to near the grip position (see FIG. 6), the vertical wall 51 comes into contact with and engages with the neck portion 33 of the hinge arm 30.

[0026] As shown in Figures 3 and 5, a release wire 52 is fixed to the inner end of the crank plate 50 in the vehicle width direction, and can release a latch (not shown) rotatably provided on the latch mechanism 14 from a striker (not shown) installed on the vehicle body. The crank plate 50 is constantly biased in the anti-release direction by a coil spring 37 with a large spring force.

[0027] The latch mechanism 14 is disposed inside the rear side of the door body 9. The latch mechanism 14 is equipped with a latch switch 14a (latch state detection means) that can detect whether the latch is in a fully latched state. The latch switch 14a is configured to be able to determine the engagement state of the latch with the striker based on the rotational position of the latch. Specifically, the latch switch 14a detects each of the fully latched state, half latched state, and unlatched state.

[0028] 4, a torsion spring 36 serving as a biasing means is wound around the hinge pin 31. One end 36a of this torsion spring 36 is engaged with the crank plate 50, and the other end (not shown) of the torsion spring 36 is engaged with the extension 35 of the hinge arm 30. As a result, the torsion spring 36 constantly biases the lever 20 in the retracting direction. The spring force of this torsion spring 36 is set smaller than the spring force of the coil spring 37 (see FIG. 5) that biases the crank plate 50 in the anti-release direction.

[0029] Next, the configuration of the drive unit 40 that transmits power to the other end of the hinge arm 30 will be described with reference to Figure 4. The drive unit 40 has a sector gear G1 (sector gear) fixed coaxially with the hinge pin 31. This sector gear G1 is fitted onto the hinge pin 31 and is attached to the bracket 16, so that its position is fixed. In other words, this sector gear G1 is configured not to rotate.

[0030] A reversible motor 42 (position changing means) is attached to the motor base 41. An output gear G2 is fitted to the rotary shaft 43 of this motor 42. An idle gear G4 equipped with a pinion gear G3 is provided on a shaft 44 attached to the motor base 41. In addition, a driven gear G6 equipped with a pinion gear G5 is provided on another shaft 45 attached to the motor base 41.

[0031] As shown in Fig. 4, the output gear G2 meshes with the idle gear G4. The pinion gear G3 meshes with the driven gear G6. The pinion gear G5 meshes with the sector gear G1. As a result, when the motor 42 is driven in the direction in which the lever 20 protrudes (forward rotation) and the rotating shaft 43 and the output gear G2 are rotated counterclockwise in Fig. 4, the pinion gear G5 rotates counterclockwise in Fig. 7 via the gears G2, G4, G3, and G6 in this order.

[0032] When the pinion gear G5 rotates counterclockwise in Figure 4, the position of the sector gear G1 remains unchanged, so the gear train 46 consisting of elements G2 to G6, the motor 42, and the motor base 41 move the lever 20 in the protruding direction along the fan shape of the sector gear G1, causing the lever 20 to protrude via the hinge arm 30.

[0033] The lever 20 is configured to be rotatable between a storage position (see Figure 3) in which its outer cover 21 is flush with the door outer panel 11, a gripping position (pop-up position) (see Figure 6) in which the entire design surface that is flush with the storage position of the lever 20 protrudes (pops up) from the door outer panel 11 by the drive unit 40 so that it can be gripped by an occupant, and an open position (see Figure 7) in which it protrudes further outward in the vehicle width direction than the gripping position. In this embodiment, the gripping position corresponds to a position where the engagement between the striker and the latch can be released.

[0034] The drive unit 40 can rotate the lever 20 from the storage position to the grip position. Furthermore, while the hinge arm 30 moves from the storage position shown in Fig. 3 to the grip position shown in Fig. 6, the crank plate 50 does not rotate around the hinge pin 31 and is biased in the anti-release direction by the coil spring 37, which has a strong spring force.

[0035] In the gripping position shown in FIG. 6, the lever 20 protrudes outward in the vehicle width direction from the door outer panel 11 by a predetermined amount, so that the occupant can grip the lever 20 with their fingertips. Furthermore, the position can be moved from the grip position to the release position (see FIG. 7) by the passenger manually releasing the lever 20.

[0036] As shown in FIG. 6, when the hinge arm 30 reaches the gripping position, the neck portion 33 of the hinge arm 30 approaches the vertical wall 51 of the crank plate 50 . Furthermore, when the lever 20 is rotated in the release direction against the spring force of the coil spring 37, the neck portion 33 and the vertical wall 51 come into contact with each other, causing the crank plate 50 to rotate in the release direction. Finally, the engagement of the latch with the striker is released via the release wire 52. The neck portion 33 and the vertical wall 51 may come into contact with each other at the timing of the gripping position or at a timing after the gripping position.

[0037] 3, the switch unit 60 is disposed at the rear end of the lever 20, specifically, at the inner side in the vehicle width direction of the rear end of the bracket 16 that faces the rear end of the inner cover 22. The switch unit 60 includes a request switch 60a therein. When the rear end of the lever 20 is pressed, the request switch 60a is turned on via the lever 20, and the motor 42 is energized.

[0038] Additionally, the key cylinder 15 is disposed on the bracket 16 near the front side of the switch unit 60. Furthermore, as shown in Figure 3, when the lever 20 is in the stored position, a temporary holding mechanism 70 is disposed at a predetermined position on the bracket 16 between the neck portion 33 of the hinge arm 30 and the key cylinder 15, which temporarily holds the hinge arm 30 in the gripping position.

[0039] The temporary holding mechanism 70 mechanically holds the hinge arm 30 against the biasing force of the torsion spring 36 serving as a biasing means. The temporary holding mechanism 70 holds the hinge arm 30 in a position where the lever 20 is in the gripping position, and also allows the occupant to manually move the lever 20 in the retracting or opening direction.

[0040] The lever 20 is pivotally mounted relative to the lever support portion 34 of the hinge arm 30. Therefore, when the rear end portion of the lever 20 in the storage position is pressed from the outside in the vehicle width direction, the rear end portion of the lever 20 pivots inward in the vehicle width direction and assumes a switch pressing position that turns on the request switch 60a in the switch unit 60.

[0041] The temporary holding mechanism 70 is a mechanism for temporarily holding the stop position of the hinge arm 30 at the grip position of the lever 20. This temporary holding mechanism 70 includes a roller 75 as a hinge arm locking part that locks the hinge arm 30 at the grip position using a pressing force, and a position switch 70a (handle lever position detection means) that can detect that the lever 20 is at the grip position. By providing such a temporary holding mechanism 70, the hinge arm 30 can be mechanically temporarily held at the grip position shown in FIG. 6 even if the motor 42 is not electrically driven continuously.

[0042] Next, the configuration of the vehicle door handle control device will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 8 is a control block diagram of a vehicle door handle control device. A CPU 80 is provided as control means connected to the position switch 70a and the motor 42 of the drive unit 40. The input side of this CPU 80 is connected to the latch switch 14a, the request switch 60a, and the position switch 70a, and the output side of the CPU 80 is connected to the motor 42.

[0043] The CPU 80 controls the driving of the motor 42 based on input signals from the latch switch 14a, the request switch 60a, and the position switch 70a in accordance with a program stored in the ROM 81. The RAM 82 also stores necessary data in a readable manner. The CPU 80 includes a timer means (not shown) for measuring the elapsed time from the time when the lever 20 is moved to the grip position.

[0044] The CPU 80 is configured to move the lever 20 to the grip position via the drive device 40 (motor 42) based on the pressing operation of the request switch 60a when the latch is in the fully latched state and the lever 20 is in the storage position. After the lever 20 starts to move in the release direction, when the position switch 70a detects that the lever 20 is in the grip position, the CPU 80 stops the change in position of the lever 20 by the drive device 40.

[0045] The CPU 80 is configured to change the position of the lever 20 from the grip position to the storage position when a predetermined time (e.g., 5 minutes) has elapsed since the lever 20 was changed to the grip position via the drive device 40 (motor 42). Furthermore, when the latch is not in the fully latched state and the lever 20 is in the storage position, the CPU 80 moves the lever 20 via the drive device 40 (motor 42) to the grip position where the lever 20 protrudes from the surface of the outer panel 11 and can be gripped by the occupant's fingertips.

[0046] Next, the door handle control process will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Incidentally, Si (i=1, 2, . . . ) indicates a step for each process. First, as shown in FIG. 9, the CPU 80 reads various information such as detection signals from the switches 14a, 60a, 70a, etc. and measurement values ​​from the timer means (S1), and then proceeds to S2. In S2, it is determined whether the request switch 60a has been pressed to turn it ON. If the result of the determination in S2 is that the request switch 60a has been turned ON, there is a request from the occupant to open the side door 8, and the process proceeds to S3.

[0047] In S3, it is determined whether the lever 20 is in the retracted position. If the result of the determination in S3 is that the lever 20 is in the storage position, the motor 42 is energized in the forward direction (S4) to change the position of the lever 20 to the grip position, and then the process proceeds to S5. If the result of the determination in S3 is that the lever 20 is not in the stored position, the lever 20 protrudes at least outward in the vehicle width direction beyond the door outer panel 11, and the process returns to S1.

[0048] In S5, it is determined whether the lever 20 is in the grip position. If the result of the determination in S5 is that the lever 20 rotated in the forward direction is in the gripping position, the occupant can operate the lever 20 with their fingertips, so the flow goes to S7 after cutting off the power supply to the motor 42 (S6). If the result of the determination in S5 is that the lever 20 rotated in the forward direction is not in the gripping position, the occupant cannot grip the lever 20, so the flow returns to S4 to further protrude the lever 20 outward in the vehicle width direction.

[0049] In S7, it is determined whether a set time, for example, five minutes, has elapsed since the lever 20 was changed to the grip position. If the result of the determination in S7 is that the set time has elapsed since the lever 20 was changed to the grip position, it is necessary to return the lever 20 to the storage position to prevent tampering, so the process proceeds to S11 after energizing the motor 42 in the reverse direction (S10).If the result of the determination in S7 is that the set time has not elapsed since the lever 20 was changed to the grip position, there is a possibility that the occupant is still operating the lever 20, so the process returns to S1.

[0050] In S11, it is determined whether the lever 20 is in the storage position. If the result of the determination in S11 is that the lever 20 rotated in the reverse direction is at the storage position, the control process ends after cutting off the power supply to the motor 42 (S12) in order to stop the position movement of the lever 20. If the result of the determination in S11 is that the lever 20 rotated in the reverse direction is not at the storage position, the process returns to S10 in order to continue the position movement of the lever 20.

[0051] If it is determined in S2 that the request switch 60a has not been turned ON, there is no request from the passenger to open the side door 8, and the process proceeds to S8. In S8, it is determined whether the latch is fully engaged with the striker, i.e., whether it is in a fully latched state. If the result of the determination in S8 is that the latch is in a fully latched state, it is assumed that the occupant has performed an operation to close the side door 8, and the process proceeds to S9.

[0052] In S9, it is determined whether the lever 20 is in the storage position. If the determination result of S9 is that the lever 20 is in the storage position, there is no need to move the position of the lever 20, and the control process is terminated. If the determination result of S9 is that the lever 20 is not in the storage position, the lever 20 protrudes outward in the vehicle width direction beyond the surface of the door outer panel 11, and the process proceeds to S10, where the lever 20 is moved to the storage position.

[0053] If the result of the determination in S8 is that the latch is not in a fully latched state, i.e., the door is in a half-latched state, the process proceeds to S3 to determine the position of the lever 20. In the case of a vehicle V equipped with an auto-closure mechanism in which the lever 20 automatically returns from the gripping position to the storage position, as in this embodiment, the latch mechanism may be in a half-latched state even if the lever 20 is in the storage position. Therefore, when the side door 8 is in the half-latched state and in the storage position, the motor 42 is energized in the forward direction (S4) to forcibly change the position of the lever 20 to the grip position, thereby allowing the passenger who has exited the vehicle to visually recognize that the side door 8 is in the half-latched state.

[0054] That is, when the normally closed side door 8 is opened, the following steps are executed in order: check the request switch 60a (S2), check the storage position (S3), and energize the motor 42 in the normal direction (S4). On the other hand, when an alarm is issued to indicate that the side door 8 is half-open, assuming that the request switch 60a has not been turned on, the following steps are executed in order: determine the fully latched state (S8), determine the stored position (S3), and energize the motor 42 in the forward direction (S4). This allows the occupant to be aware of the half-latched state without the need for a dedicated alarm mechanism.

[0055] Next, the operation and effect of the door handle control device for vehicle V will be described. This door handle control device improves the design of the side door 8 by having the lever 20 that can extend and retract outward in the vehicle width direction from a storage position where it is flush with the surface of the door outer panel 11. When the latch is in a half-latched state and the lever 20 is in a storage position, the CPU 80 causes the lever 20 to protrude from the surface of the door outer panel 11 via the drive unit 40, changing the position to a gripping position where the occupant can grip it. This allows the occupant who has exited the vehicle to visually recognize the half-latched state without the need for a new dedicated notification mechanism.

[0056] The door outer panel 11 has a request switch 60a that is operated by an occupant when opening the closed door outer panel 11, and when the latch is in a fully latched state and the lever 20 is in a stored position, the CPU 80 changes the position of the lever 20 to the grip position via the drive unit 40 based on the operation of the request switch 60a. This makes it possible to achieve both the design of the side door 8, particularly the flush surface, and the operability of opening and closing the side door 8, and allows the use of an existing mechanism.

[0057] The CPU 80 changes the position of the lever 20 to the holding position via the drive device 40, and after a predetermined time has elapsed, changes the position of the lever 20 to the storage position, thereby restricting the operation of the lever 20 under predetermined conditions and providing a crime prevention measure.

[0058] When the position switch 70a detects the grip position of the lever 20, the CPU 80 stops the drive unit 40 from moving the position of the lever 20, thereby suppressing excessive load applied to the drive unit 40 and avoiding damage to the position changing means.

[0059] Next, a modified example in which the above embodiment is partially modified will be described. 1) In the above embodiment, the latch switch 14a is capable of detecting three states: fully latched, half latched, and unlatched. However, the latch switch 14a may be configured to detect only the fully latched state and another state, or only the fully latched state and the unlatched state. This makes it possible to detect at least the state in which the side door 8 is ajar.

[0060] 2) In the above embodiment, the position where the engagement between the striker and the latch can be released is the same as the gripping position, but the position where the engagement between the striker and the latch can be released may be set further outward in the vehicle width direction (toward the opening direction) than the gripping position, thereby enabling a wider range of control variations.

[0061] 3) In addition, a person skilled in the art may implement the present invention in various forms by adding various modifications to the above-mentioned embodiments or by combining the various embodiments without departing from the spirit of the present invention, and the present invention also includes such modifications. [Explanation of symbols]

[0062] 8 Side Door 11 Door outer panel 14 Latch mechanism 14a Latching switch 20 Lever 21 Outer cover 22 Inner cover 40 Drive unit 60a Request Switch 70a position switch 80 CPU V vehicle

Claims

1. a handle lever that can extend and retract from a storage position where it is flush with the surface of a door panel to the outside in the vehicle width direction; a handle lever position detection means that detects the movement position of the handle lever; a latch mechanism that has a latch that can be engaged with a striker provided on the vehicle body in conjunction with the handle lever; a latch state detection means that detects whether the latch is in a fully latched state; a position change means that can change the position of the handle lever between the storage position and a grip position where the engagement between the striker and the latch can be released; and a control means that can control the position change means, a request switch provided on the door panel and operated by an occupant when the occupant attempts to open the closed door panel; The handle lever has an outer cover and an inner cover swingably attached to a lever support portion, and the request switch is operated by pressing rear ends of the outer cover and the inner cover, The control means, when the handle lever is not in the fully latched state and is in the stored position, causes the handle lever to protrude from the surface of the door panel via the position change means and change its position to the gripping position where it can be gripped by an occupant.

2. 2. The vehicle door handle control device according to claim 1, wherein the control means changes the position of the handle lever to the grip position via the position change means based on operation of the request switch when the handle lever is in the fully latched state and in the storage position.

3. 2. The vehicle door handle control device according to claim 1, wherein the control means changes the position of the handle lever to the storage position after a predetermined time has elapsed since the handle lever was changed to the grip position via the position change means.

4. A vehicle door handle control device as described in any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the control means stops the position movement of the handle lever by the position change means when the handle lever position detection means detects the grip position of the handle lever.

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