This invention relates generally to a vehicle door handle assembly and more particularly to a vehicle door handle assembly that includes a door handle and a lock button for operating a vehicle door latch from inside the vehicle.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,838,590 granted to Yukio Isomura Jun. 13, 1989 discloses an inside handle device that comprises a bezel that acts as a bracket, a D-shaped handle pivotally mounted on the bezel, and a lock button disposed inside the D-shaped handle, and pivotally mounted on the D-shaped handle at one end. The inside handle device also includes a separate hinge pin or pins for pivotally mounting the handle and the lock button for pivotal movement about the same axis. The handle is connected to a latch mechanism of a door latch (not shown) by a control rod. The lock button is connected to a lock mechanism of the door latch by a second control rod. A coil spring biases the door handle to the latched position.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,011,202 granted to Yuichi Kato and Masazumi Miyagawa Apr. 30, 1991 discloses a similar arrangement. The handle devices disclosed in these two patents provide the advantage of a D-shaped handle for unlatching a vehicle door that is strong and easy to operate while also providing a lock button for locking the vehicle door. However, the handle devices comprise many parts and are difficult to assemble.
This invention provides a vehicle door handle assembly that may have the advantages of a D-shaped door handle and a lock button that is easy to assemble, particularly with respect to assembly of the lock button to the door handle. The door handle has a pivot pin for pivotally mounting the lock button on the door handle. The pivot pin is shaped to facilitate lateral insertion of the pivot pin into a socket of the lock button via a loading slot. The pivot pin is turned when fully inserted into the socket and captured in the socket by positioning the loading slot outside the range of operational movement of the door handle and the lock button.
The pivot pin is preferably an integral part of the door handle. The door handle also preferably has trunnions for pivotally mounting the door handle on a support panel. The trunnions are also preferably an integral part of the door handle.
Thus it is possible for the door handle assembly to consist simply of a door handle, adapted for connection to a support panel, a lock button and a spring.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the description below, which is given by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Referring now to
Door handle assembly 10 includes a D-shaped door handle 20 that is preferably of molded one-piece construction as best shown in
Upper trunnion 30, boss 32 and lower trunnion 34 are concentric about an axis 35 that coincides with pivot axis 18 when the door handle assembly 10 is attached to support panel 12. Lower trunnion 34 includes a lateral stop tab 36 that cooperates with slot 17 at the front end of tab 15 to limit the pivotal movement of the D-shaped handle 20 with respect to the support panel 12. See
Door handle 20 is pivotally mounted on support panel 12 by inserting upper trunnion 30 through the hole in upper tab 14 and then swinging the mounting structure 24 toward support panel 12 until lower trunnion 34 snaps through slot 17 and into the hole in lower tab 15. Handle axis 35 now coincides with pivot axis 18 with handle 20 being pivotally attached to support panel 12 for pivotal movement between a latched position shown in
Boss 32 is spaced inside a C-shaped shroud that provides a partial cover 38 for a coil spring 40 that surrounds the upper portion of boss 32. Cover 38 hides coil spring 40 when viewed from inside the vehicle. Coil spring 40 engages lower tab 28 of handle 20 at one end and lower tab 15 of support panel 12 at the opposite end and biases door handle 20 to the latched position shown in
The mounting structure 24 of the D-shaped door handle 20 includes a concentric integral pivot pin 42 that extends between upper and lower tabs 26 and 28. Pivot pin 42 is non-circular in cross section preferably having two flat parallel surfaces 44 and 46 that are equidistant from axis 35 so that the pivot pin 42 is like a flat rectangular board of a given thickness with round edges 47 along the longer sides of the rectangle.
Door handle assembly 10 includes a lock button 48 that has a part cylindrical socket 50, an open ended loading slot 52 that leads into the part cylindrical socket 50 and a lever 54 as best shown in
Lock button 48 may be pivotally attached to door handle 20 either before or after door handle 20 is pivotally attached to support panel 12. In either event, once the lock button 48 is pivotally attached to door handle 20, lock button 48 it is held in a position where the thickness of pivot pin 42 does not align with slot 52.
When lock button 48 is pivotally attached to door handle 20 and door handle 20 is pivotally attached to support panel 12, door handle 20 and lock button 28 are connected to door latch 11 via control rods 55 and 56. Control rod 55 is connected to lever 33 of door handle 20 at one end and to an unlatching lever 11A of the door latch 11 at the other end so that door latch 11 is latched when door handle 20 is in the latched position shown in
Control rod 56 is attached to lever 54 of lock button 48 at one end and to a lock lever 11B of the door latch at the other end so that the door latch is locked when the lock button 48 is in the locked position shown in
Once the door handle 20 and the lock button 48 are attached to the door latch by control rods 55 and 56, the pivot pin 42 of the door handle 20 is captured in the part cylindrical socket 50 of the lock button 48 in all operating positions of the door handle 20 and the lock button 48 as demonstrated in
More specifically,
Slot 52 is also positioned so that it is not visible in any operating position of the door handle 20 or the lock button 48 as can be seen in
Thus the invention provides a vehicle door handle assembly that has a D-shaped door handle and a lock button that has few parts and that is easy to assemble.
While, the preferred embodiment of invention has the advantages of a D-shaped door handle and a lock button, other shapes of the door handle are also possible even though some advantage may be lost. In other words, many modifications and variations of the present invention in light of the above teachings may be made. It is, therefore, to be understood that, within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
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4838590 | Isomura | Jun 1989 | A |
4993763 | Tanimoto et al. | Feb 1991 | A |
5005885 | Kobayashi et al. | Apr 1991 | A |
5011202 | Kato et al. | Apr 1991 | A |
5535553 | Staser et al. | Jul 1996 | A |
5794994 | Miyagawa et al. | Aug 1998 | A |
5895081 | Tanimoto et al. | Apr 1999 | A |
6036244 | Tyves et al. | Mar 2000 | A |
6406075 | Rice et al. | Jun 2002 | B1 |
6539670 | Haag et al. | Apr 2003 | B2 |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20040155472 A1 | Aug 2004 | US |