GB2344612A

GB2344612A - Sleeve retainer for hand grip

Info

Publication number: GB2344612A
Application number: GB0001090A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Donald John Byron
Original assignee: Dura Automotive Ltd
Current assignee: Dura Automotive Ltd
Priority date: 2000-01-19
Filing date: 2000-01-19
Publication date: 2000-06-14
Anticipated expiration: 2020-01-19
Also published as: GB0001090D0; GB2344612B

Abstract

A sleeve retainer 2 is provided for removably securing a hand grip onto a lever 4 such as a brake lever of an automobile. The sleeve retainer 2 has two cusp members which in use closely embrace a portion of the lever 4. Detent means 5,6 such as an inturned flange portion at each end of the cusp portions engage profiled portions 11,12 such as recesses in the lever 4 to retain the sleeve retainer in a fixed position on the lever 4. A resiliently deflectable portion 7 such as a spring tongue extending at a shallow angle from the body of the resilient member engages in use with an internal shoulder of the hand grip to retain the hand grip when the hand grip is sleeved onto the lever 4 and over the retainer 2. The resiliently deflectable portion 7 may be depressed to disengage it from the internal shoulder in order to release the hand grip for removal.

Description

TITLE A Sleeve Retainer DESCRIPTION Technical Field The present invention relates to a sleeve retainer for the releasable securement of a hand grip upon a lever such as a gear stick or hand brake lever.

Background Art The hand brake assembly of a motor vehicle is usually one of the first components to be fitted on a production line.

At present, the hand grip for a vehicle brake lever is directly secured by means of a strong adhesive (eg an epoxy resin) after the brake assembly has been installed.

The hand grip is therefore a permanent cladding which cannot be easily removed to allow access to the underlying lever portion or to enable substitution of hand grips customised to the needs or desires of the driver. For example, it may be desired to substitute an occupational or ergonomic hand grip or a grip having an aesthetically pleasing colour and/or shape that co-ordinates with the interior or exterior vehicular trim. Consequently, an entire new brake assembly tends to be installed either in the event of lever failure or in the event of a need to replace the hand grip cladding.

Hand grips in the form of knobs provided with a cover plate received as a snap fit onto a body having a central securement member (typically a locking screw) are known.

The locking screw secures the body onto the lever on which the hand grip is moounted. The cover plate is generally not easy to remove and re-install. Further, repetitive removal tends to weaken the interlocking snap fit securements of the cover plate and/or knob body such that the cover plate works loose with vibrational movement and can be easily lost. Loss of the cover plate detracts from the aesthetic appeal of the hand grip and can be dangerous if the cover plate carries important operational markings such as"on"and"off", or gear ratio directional positions. It will also be appreciated that the range of hand grips is restricted to those grips carrying an identical securement member to that of the"old model".

Often the knobs have a limited production run related to the manufacturing time period for each vehicle model or series of models.

Summary of Invention It is an object of the present invention to provide a sleeve retainer that enables the releasable securement of a range of interchangeable hand grips to a lever. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a sleeve retainer that is easy to install.

The present invention provides a sleeve retainer for removably securing a hand grip on a lever, comprising a resilient member having two cusp portions for closely embracing a portion of the lever, detent means formed on the cusp portions for engaging profiled portions of the lever to retain the sleeve retainer in a fixed position on the lever, and a resiliently deflectable portion of the resilient member for cooperating with an internal shoulder of the hand grip to retain the hand grip on the lever when the hand grip is longitudinally sleeved onto the lever and over the sleeve member.

Preferably the detent means comprise an inturned flange portion at the end of each of the cusp portions of the resilient member. Each flange portion advantageously engages in use in a recess in the lever. Preferably the flange portions are of different axial lengths, for engaging in correspondingly different length recesses so that the sleeve retainer can fit onto the lever only one way round. If it is sleeved onto the lever the opposite way round, then the flanges do not fit into the recesses and the sleeve retainer cannot be anchored onto the lever.

The resilient member is fitted onto the lever by sleeving it on from one end of the lever or radially clipping it onto a circumferential portion of the lever and if necessary sliding it into a final position. When the inturned flanges overlie the recesses into which they fit, the resilience of the cusp portions of the resilient member causes the projections to enter their recesses as a snap fit, with the remainder of the cusp portions lying closely against the outer periphery of the lever.

Preferably each of the inturned flange portions has a tapered end which rides up over the surface of the lever as the sleeve retainer is sleeved onto the lever from one end. The riding up of the tapered ends causes resilient expansion of the cusps of the resilient member so that the inturned flanges can ride up and over the outer surface of the lever in the manner described.

The resiliently deflectable portion of the resilient member is preferably a spring tongue which normally extends at a shallow angle from the body of the resilient member. The spring tongue preferably extends from a flat portion of the resilient member, for optimum control of the resiliency of the tongue during manufacture. As the hand grip is sleeved on to the lever it passes over the sleeve retainer and depresses the spring tongue. When the hand grip is fully in place, the spring tongue springs up behind an internal shoulder of the hand grip to prevent withdrawal of the hand grip. Advantageously the hand grip includes other key means for cooperating with the lever to prevent angular rotation of the hand grip on the lever.

Removal of the hand grip is preferably accomplished by depression of the above tongue using a suitable access tool, until the tongue is disengaged from the internal shoulder of the hand grip, permitting axial sliding of the hand grip to remove it.

Best Mode of Invention By way of example only a preferred embodiment of the present invention is described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a sleeve retainer in accordance with the present invention; Figure 2 is a perspective view from below of a hand brake lever; Figure 3 is a perspective view from below showing the sleeve retainer of Figure 1 secured to the lever of Figure 2; and Figure 4 is a perspective view from above of Figure 3 showing the spring tongue of the sleeve retainer.

Referring to the drawings, a retainer 2 (Figures 1,3 and 4) incorporating a flat 3 is rigidly securable to a hand brake lever 4 (Figures 2-4). In use, the retainer 2 forms a peripheral sleeve having two cusp portions 2a and 2b which embrace a portion of the lever 4 in close contact with the lever outer surface as illustrated in Figures 3 and 4. By suitably shaping the cusp portions 2A, 2b, the retainer 2 can be fitted to a tubular lever of any cross sectional shape such as circular (as shown), rectangular, triangular, or a"U"channel design. The retainer 2 is of a substantially symmetrical shape formed with a central aperture and a longitudinal splice to permit resilient expansion of the cusp portions 2A, 2B which depend one on each side of the flat 3. Each cusp portion 2A, 2B terminates in an inturned flange portion 5,6. The flange portions 5,6 act as detent means which engage in recesses 11,12 (Figure 2) in the outer periphery of the hand brake lever to retain the retainer in a fixed position on the lever. The flange portions are mutually parallel, one portion 6 being of a shorter length than the other and locking into a shorter length recess 12. This asymmetrical arrangement of detent means ensures that the retainer is in a given functional orientation when the retainer 2 is secured on the lever 4 as described in detail below.

Extending outwardly from the flat 3 at a shallow angle is a resilient tongue portion 7 of the retainer as seen in Figure 4.

The retainer 2 may be made from a suitable spring steel and if so could be formed from a sheet of material on a progression tool in known manner utilizing positional reference guides 8. Alternatively it could be made from other materials such as hard plastic. The inventors have found that forming the tongue 7 integrally with the flat 3 increases manufacturing control over the flexibility of the tongue 7.

The retainer 2 is mounted on the hand brake lever 4 by sliding the retainer over the hand brake release button 9 onto the lever body 10. Alternatively, the retainer 2 may be mounted on the hand brake lever 4 by radially clipping it to a circumferential portion of the lever body and then, if necessary, manually sliding it into a final position. The leading edge of each inturned flange portion 5,6 is inclined so as to cam the flange portions outwardly, causing the cusps 2A and 2B to flex outwardly as the retainer is slid axially onto the lever. In this way the cusps 2A and 2B of the retainer expand to accommodate the peripheral dimensions of the hand brake lever 4.

The retainer 2 is secured to the hand brake lever 4 by the user sliding the retainer onto the lever 4 to a position where the radial inturned flange portions 5,6 are in alignment with the lever recesses 11 and 12 respectively, in which position they snap into their associated recesses. The differential length of the two flange portions 5,6 and complementary recesses 11,12 ensures that the retainer 2 can only be secured in one specific orientation such that the tongue 7 is at a functional inclination to prevent release of the hand grip (not shown) when fitted.

A pre-selected hand grip can be releasably secured to the hand brake lever 4 via the rigidly secured retainer 2 in the following manner: 1. The hand grip is slid over the release button 9 and onto the lever body 10.

2. The hand grip is moved towards the base of the lever 4 and over the retainer 2 until the grip contacts and depresses the tongue 7. When the hand grip is sleeved further over the retainer 2 the tongue 7 springs up inside the hand grip and engages an internal shoulder of the hand grip to prevent removal of the hand grip.

3. Rotation of the hand grip in use is prevented by cooperating internal key or spline portions (not shown) at one end of the hand grip engaging with axial end recesses 13,14 of the lever 2.

4. Optionally a removable locking screw can be utilized as a secondary releasable securement, to prevent rotation of the hand grip in use.

The hand grip may be removed after depression of the tongue 7 through a window formed in the hand grip for that purpose. A tool such as a fine tipped screwdriver may be used to contact and depress the tongue 7. With the tongue depressed, the hand grip may be pulled towards and over the release button 9.

Locating the retainer 2 adjacent the end of the hand grip remote from the distal end of the lever 2 facilitates easy and economic modification of the basal end of a ccmmercially available hand grip, without alteration to the hand hold front piece of the grip. However it will be appreciated that the retainer 2 can be secured at any position along the length of the lever body 10 as described to enable releasable engagement with a complementary internal shoulder of a hand grip.

Further, the resiliently deflectable tongue 7 need not be formed integrally with the flat 3. It will also be appreciated that a series of adjacent co-axial resiliently deflectable tongues located on the cusp portions of the retainer may be provided in addition to or instead of the single tongue 7.

Claims

CLAIMS: 1. A sleeve retainer for removably securing a hand grip on a lever, comprising a resilient member having two cusp portions for closely embracing a portion of the lever, detent means formed on the cusp portions for engaging profiled portions of the lever to retain the sleeve member in a fixed position on the lever, and a resiliently deflectable portion of the resilient member for cooperating with an internal shoulder of the hand grip to retain the hand grip on the lever when the hand grip is longitudinally sleeved onto the lever and over the sleeve retainer.
2. A retainer according to claim 1, wherein the detent means comprises an inturned flange portion at the end of each of the cusp portions of the resilient member, for engaging in recesses in the lever to retain the resilient member in a fixed position on the lever.
3. A sleeve retainer according to claim 2, wherein the flange portions are of different axial lengths, for engaging in correspondingly different length recesses so that the sleeve retainer can fit onto the lever only one way round.
4. A sleeve member according to claim 2 or claim 3, wherein each of the inturned flange portions has a tapered end which rides up over the surface of the lever as the sleeve retainer is sleeved onto the lever from one end, the riding up of the tapered ends causing resilient expansion of the cusp portions of the resilient member so that the inturned flanges can slide over the outer surface of the lever.
5. A sleeve member according to any preceding claim, wherein the resiliently deflectable portion of the resilient member is a spring tongue which normally extends at a shallow angle from the body of the resilient member.
6. A sleeve retainer according to claim 5, wherein the spring tongue extends from a flat portion of the resilient member.
7. A sleeve retainer according to claim 1, substantially as described herein with reference to the drawings.

7. A sleeve retainer according to claim 1, substantially as described herein with reference to the drawings.

Amendments to crie claims have been filed as follows CLAIMS: 1. A sleeve retainer for removably securing a hand grip on a lever, comprising a resilient member having two arm portions extending resiliently in cantilever from a central portion for closely embracing a portion of the lever, detent means formed on the arm portions for engaging profiled portions of the lever to retain the sleeve retainer in a fixed position on the lever, and a resiliently deflectable portion of the resilient member for cooperating with an internal shoulder of the hand grip to retain the hand grip on the lever when the hand grip is longitudinally sleeved onto the lever and over the sleeve retainer.

2. A retainer according to claim 1, wherein the detent means comprises an inturned flange portion at the end of each of the arm portions of the resilient member, for engaging in recesses in the lever to retain the resilient member in a fixed position on the lever.

3. A sleeve retainer according to claim 2, wherein the flange portions are of different axial lengths, for engaging in correspondingly different length recesses so that the sleeve retainer can fit onto the lever only one way round.

4. A sleeve member according to claim 2 or claim 3, wherein each of the inturned flange portions has a tapered end which rides up over the surface of the lever as the sleeve retainer is sleeved onto the lever from one end, the riding up of the tapered ends causing resilient mutual separation of the arm portions of the resilient member so that the inturned flanges can slide over the outer surface of the lever.

5. A sleeve member according to any preceding claim, wherein the resiliently deflectable portion of the resilient member is a spring tongue which normally extends at a shallow angle from the central portion of the resilient member.

6. A sleeve retainer according to claim 5, wherein the spring tongue extends from a flat zone of the central portion of the resilient member.