The invention relates to vehicle handles.
The travel of certain components inside a vehicle handle means that volumes need to be left free within this handle. Moreover, the handles are often provided with electronic devices that control the unlocking of the handle. Document WO 2009/019221 for example discloses a handle of this type. For example, a sensor detects contact of a hand with the handle and then another sensor of the vehicle detects the presence, in close proximity of the vehicle, of a characteristic element such as a key comprising radiofrequency antenna, thus identifying the driver. Once this identification has been made, these members command the unlocking of the vehicle so that the driver can enter the vehicle. Certain electrical and electronic elements have to be positioned in the handle with due consideration to the aforementioned volumes that have to be left free. This is why attempts are made to make such members as compact as possible.
It is one object of the invention to make it easier for the electrical and electronic elements to be integrated into the handle.
To this end, the invention provides a device for controlling the unlocking of a motor vehicle, which comprises:
Thus, the receiver member can be positioned at will with respect to the unit and separate from the latter to which it is connected at the very most by flexible electrical connection leads. The spatial configuration of the device can thus be adapted to suit that of the handle so as not to encroach upon the volumes that have to be left free in order to allow certain handle components to move.
The device according to the invention may further exhibit at least any one of the following features:
In the latter instance, the unit thus constitutes a member which illuminates the handle during unlocking for example.
The invention also provides a vehicle handle which comprises a device according to the invention, the receiver member being arranged in such a way as to be actuated from outside the handle and preferably extending some distance from the processing unit.
For preference, the handle comprises:
For preference, the second part is mounted such that it can move toward the first part.
In one embodiment, provision may be made that the receiver member and the processing unit are mounted without the ability to move one relative to the other.
In another embodiment, provision may be made that the receiver member and the processing unit are fixed to components of the handle that are mounted with the ability to move one relative to the other.
For preference, the handle comprises a lock operated by a key.
Finally, the invention provides a vehicle door leaf which comprises a handle according to the invention, the receiver member preferably being fixed rigidly to a component of the handle, itself rigidly fixed to a main external panel of the door leaf.
Further features and advantages of the invention will become further apparent from the following description of some embodiments given by way of nonlimiting examples with reference to the attached drawings in which:
The handle comprises a fixed part 12 formed, in this instance, by a component such as a cover. The cover 12 is rigidly fixed to the panel 8 opposite the external face 10.
The handle comprises a moving part 14 notably comprising a lever or trigger 16 mounted so that it can rotate with respect to the cover 12 about a vertical axis 18.
The handle comprises a main return spring 24 which, on completion of the maneuver, returns the lever 16 to the rest position. The handle comprises a cable 26 with one end 28 attached to the lever 16 so that the movement of the latter causes the cable to move over a travel c indicated in
The handle unlocking control device 6 comprises a member 30 extending partially through a through-opening 32 in the cover 12. The member 30 is rigidly fixed to the latter.
The control device also comprises an electronic processing unit 34 connected to the member 30 by flexible leads or wires 36. The device also comprises leads 38, in this instance three of them, connecting the unit 34 to the vehicle locking members or to a centralized control device therefor. Unit 34 here is rigidly fixed to the cover 12 extending opposite an internal face of the latter that faces toward the panel 8.
The member 30 in this particular instance comprises a capacitive sensor comprising two electrodes 40 that form a capacitor made up of the majority of the member 30. The member is designed so that contact of a finger belonging to the user with an external face 42 of the sensor that emerges through the opening 32 alters the capacitance of the capacitor, which alteration is detected by the unit 34 and interpreted to command the locking or unlocking depending on whether the vehicle is respectively already unlocked or locked at that moment in time.
Thus, the unit 34 receives a signal from the capacitive sensor, it interprets this signal through electronic processing and delivers an on/off signal indicating whether the vehicle is locked or unlocked. The unit 34 before sending this on/off signal encodes it with an encoding that is decrypted downstream by a vehicle central locking/unlocking unit.
In a way well known to those skilled in the art, the interpretation of the output signal performed by the unit 34 may be a comparison against a threshold, sinusoid-amplitude measurement, a measurement of the number of pulses needed to charge a downstream capacitor, a measurement of variation in frequency, etc.
To do that, the electrodes of the sensor may be powered with the DC voltage of the vehicle battery or with a sinusoidal voltage or current delivered by a system central to the vehicle or delivered by the unit 34 itself.
The same type of signal processing of the output signal from the member is also performed when the member 30, in other embodiments of the invention, is a mechanical pressure sensor, a piezoelectric member, or even a contact switch, whether this be the interpreting of the output signal and/or the encoding thereof.
The present control device comprises a mounting 46 overmolded over at least part of the member 30. This mounting is made of a rigid material such as a plastic, a resin, etc. The electrodes 40 are at least partially and, in this particular instance fully, embedded within this mounting and are thus protected from external attack (moisture, corrosion, knocks, etc.).
The mounting 46 is independent of the unit 34 and notably able to move with respect to the latter before the unlocking device is mounted in the handle. The unit 34 has its own mounting, separate and distant from the mounting 46. The member 30 can thus be positioned at will with respect to the unit 34 in the handle, the member and the unit being connected to one another only by the leads 36.
Provision may be made for the cover 12 to be covered with an electrically conductive coating such as a chrome plating or a paint. In order not to disrupt the operation of the device, a lead 48 is provided to electrically ground this coat.
As in all the other embodiments described in the present application, the handle is equipped with a mechanical lock 49 and with a key 53. These have been illustrated in the embodiment of
With reference to
The handle works as follows. The user places a finger such as his thumb on the face 42 of the member which thus receives a command from outside the device. That alters the capacitance of the capacitor. This alteration, transmitted along the leads 36, is received in the unit 34 which then via the leads 38 transmits a command to unlock the door. To open the door, the user operates the handle by inserting his fingers 20 into the cavity 19 and pulling the lever 16 closer to the cover 12, more specifically moving the lever 16 toward the internal face of the cover and toward the sensor, and this is what opens the door leaf in order to gain access to the vehicle interior.
The unit 34, placed within the handle in this embodiment, can, thanks to the invention, be sited remotely from the handle and, for example, be mounted on the wiring leaving the handle.
In the second embodiment illustrated in
With reference to
The member 30 in this particular instance comprises a button 54, such as a membrane button, that passes through the opening 32 in the cover 12. A peripheral rim 55 of the button 54 is housed in an upper groove of the mounting 46. The rim 55 of the button 54 is covered at the top of the groove with a coat of a sealing material 56 such as an adhesive or a resin. The attachment of the button 54 to the mounting 46 performed in this way provides a fluidtight joint between these items and protects the upper face of the sensor 52 which is not covered by the material of the mounting 46. Interposed between the button 54 and the sensor 52 is a switch 62 which in this example involves a dished metal element. However, this element is not compulsory. Its function is merely to allow the user to feel a “click” when he presses the button 54. It has no electrical function in this example. The dished element is in the shape of a portion of a sphere of which a lower edge that forms a parallel is in contact with one face of the sensor 52 whereas the pole that forms its vertex bears against the base of the button 54. The ends of the leads 36 are soldered to the sensor 52 or connected thereto by crimping. In addition, the material of the mounting 46 is overmolded so that it fully covers these ends. In this particular instance, the entity may have a thickness e of around 5 mm, this thickness being measured from the internal underside of the cover 12 to the underside of the mounting 46. Naturally, provision could be made for the unit 34 to be produced in accordance with the embodiment of
As also shown in
The fourth embodiment illustrated in
In the two embodiments illustrated in
However, the invention applies to a member dedicated to receiving a locking command only or to receiving an unlocking command only.
The embodiment of
Because the mounting 46 is independent of the unit 34, there is a great deal of choice as to where to site the unlocking control device within the handle. The travel space required for the other components of this handle can therefore be created. The receiver member 30 intended to be in contact with the user can be positioned in the place that is the most comfortable for this user for good ergonomics. The embodiments of
Each of these embodiments is compatible with the further presence of a presence sensor capable of communicating with a radiofrequency antenna worn or carried by the user so as to recognize the latter in order to validate the unlocking. The electronic member or members that carry out this recognition may be fully or partially incorporated into the unit 34.
Of course, numerous modifications may be made to the invention without departing from the scope thereof.
The layout of the handle or its mechanism may differ from those discussed above. The lever may form an external component of the handle. It may be mounted with the ability to move about a horizontal axis of rotation for example.
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MI2009A2045 | Nov 2009 | IT | national |
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PCT/EP2010/067811 | 11/19/2010 | WO | 00 | 3/7/2012 |
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WO2011/061281 | 5/26/2011 | WO | A |
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