JP2006249821A - Door handle structure - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable a door to be surely and instantaneously unlocked by using an inexpensive constitution, only when a user desires to unlock the door, in terms of a door handle structure suitable for use in the door to which a passive entry system is applied. <P>SOLUTION: This door handle structure 1 comprises a door lever 1, a displacement member 6 which is displaced in such a manner as to be interlocked with the operation of the door lever 1, and a distortion sensor 5. A compressive load, which is applied to the distortion sensor 5 in the nonoperation of the door lever, becomes smaller in the operation of the door lever 1 than in the nonoperation of the door lever. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a door handle structure suitable for use in a door to which a passive entry system is applied.

In recent years, in entry systems for vehicles, etc., a two-way communication is carried out between a portable device carried by a vehicle user and a main body mounted on the vehicle, and after confirming necessary verification, the door is locked (locked). )-Devices that can be unlocked (unlocked) have been proposed and partially put into practical use.
For example, when a user carrying a portable device approaches a door of a vehicle equipped with the corresponding main unit, two-way communication is performed between the portable unit and the main unit, and after a necessary verification check, the locked state is established. An unlocking command is automatically output to the door locking device, and the vehicle door is unlocked.

In this way, a highly convenient entry system that realizes unlocking or locking operation of a vehicle door without requiring user's conscious operation basically is a passive entry system, etc. as an advanced type of keyless entry system. It is called, and the market needs are increasing as an item that increases the commercial value of vehicles.
By the way, as described above, the passive entry system originally locks and unlocks the door without requiring the user's conscious operation. In such a system, the passive entry system has a portable device. When the user approaches the vehicle, unlocking may be performed against the user's will.

  Therefore, a system has been developed in which communication work is not performed and unlocking is not performed unless the user approaches the vehicle and the user performs a door unlock request operation. Thus, the communication operation is performed only when the user performs the unlocking request operation, and the door is unlocked, so that the door can be reliably unlocked only when necessary. As an unlocking request operation, for example, an operation of touching an electrostatic switch provided near the door handle or pressing a button provided near the door handle is already known.

  However, in these techniques, when opening the door, there is a need for two operations, that is, an unlock request operation and an operation of pulling the door handle to open the door. In particular, the passive entry system is characterized in that the user's conscious door lock / unlock operation is omitted as much as possible to improve convenience, and such a request operation impairs the original advantage of the passive entry system. It might be.

Therefore, it is conceivable that the above-described electrostatic sensor is provided on the back side of the door handle, and when the user touches the door handle to open the door, the electrostatic sensor detects this and performs communication work. If comprised in this way, since a door lock is cancelled | released just before a user opens a door, a door unlocking and door opening operation | movement can be completed substantially by one operation | movement. In addition to the electrostatic sensor, an optical sensor or a mechanical switch (so-called micro switch or the like) may be applied. The conventional technique as described above is disclosed in, for example, the following Patent Document 1.
JP 2004-226089 A

  However, at present, the electrostatic sensor has a size of about 5 to 6 mm in width, 12 to 13 mm in height, and 80 mm in depth in the assembled state. It is difficult. In particular, in small cars, the shape of the door handle has a large effect on the overall width of the vehicle, and thus such electrostatic sensors are difficult to apply in small cars. Moreover, it is not preferable in terms of design that the size of the handle is limited.

Furthermore, the electrostatic sensor is susceptible to noise in principle and has a problem that it malfunctions due to the presence of a dielectric such as raindrops.
The present invention was devised in view of such problems, and has a low-cost configuration, and the door can be unlocked reliably and instantaneously only when the user desires to unlock the door. An object is to provide a handle structure.

  For this reason, the door handle structure of the present invention includes a door lever, a displacement member whose position is displaced in conjunction with the operation of the door lever, and a strain sensor, and the displacement member is provided when the door lever is not operated. A compression load is applied to the door lever, and the compression load is smaller when the door lever is operated than when the door lever is not operated (claim 1).

In addition, you may integrally form this door lever and this displacement member.
Further, a flexible cover member may be disposed between the displacement member and the strain sensor.
In addition, the strain sensor is formed as a cable-shaped sensor, and the displacement member is configured so that a compressive load is applied in a cross-sectional radial direction of the cable-shaped strain sensor when the door lever is not operated. Preferred (claim 4).

  According to the door handle structure of the present invention, the sensor can be disposed even in a limited space, and it becomes easy to mount a passive entry in a small vehicle. In addition, since the compressive load applied to the strain sensor during operation of the door lever is reduced, the strain is reliably detected from the strain sensor without being affected by the magnitude of the acting force during operation of the door lever or the operation speed. Stable detection sensitivity can be realized, and the operation and non-operation of the door lever can be reliably determined (Claim 1).

Further, by integrally forming the door lever and the displacement member, the number of parts is reduced, and the cost can be reduced and the assemblability can be improved.
Further, by disposing a flexible cover member between the displacement member and the strain sensor, the durability of the strain sensor can be improved and the dustproof property can be enhanced.
Further, since the strain sensor can be disposed in a small space between the door lever and the base, there is an advantage that the degree of freedom in layout is high.

Hereinafter, a door lever structure according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the configuration of the main part, FIG. FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the configuration, and is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view showing the configuration of the main part, and FIG. .
FIG. 4 shows a door handle applied to a door of an automobile equipped with a passive entry system. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a door lever, and reference numeral 2 denotes a base provided around the door lever 1.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 3, an arm portion 1 a formed integrally with the door lever 1 extends on the back side of the base 2, and this arm portion 1 a swings on a convex portion 2 a formed integrally with the base 2. They are connected by a pin 3 as possible. As a result, when the door lever 1 is pulled, the door lever 1 rotates about the pin 3. Further, when the door lock is released, the latch (not shown) is released and the door is opened as the door lever 1 rotates.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the base 2 is formed with openings 4 a and 4 b that are opened at portions facing the door lever 1. A piezo cable sensor (strain sensor) 5 is inserted through these openings 4a and 4b, so that the piezo cable sensor 5 is a base between the two openings 4a and 4b as shown in FIG. 2 and the door lever 1 so as to be sandwiched between them.

Here, the piezo cable sensor 5 is a cable-shaped sensor as shown in FIG. 2, and when the cable is distorted, the potential difference in the cable changes and the distortion can be detected. ing. Since such a sensor is already known, a description of the sensor structure is omitted.
The sensor 5 is connected to a passive entry ECU (controller) (not shown) via a circuit board 5b shown in FIGS. As described above, in the passive entry, for example, when a user carrying a portable device approaches a door of a vehicle equipped with the corresponding main device, two-way communication is performed between the portable device and the main device. It is a system that enables unlocking the door.

  In this embodiment, when the door lever 1 is operated from the normal state where the door lever 1 is not operated, the cross section of the sensor 5 is deformed, resulting in distortion of the sensor 5 and the unlock request operation being performed. It comes to judge that it was broken. That is, when the operation of the door lever 1 is used as a trigger, two-way communication is performed between the portable device and the main unit, a necessary verification check is performed, and when a certain condition is satisfied, the ECU unlocks the door unlock signal. Is transmitted to release the door lock.

  More specifically, as shown in FIG. 1, a displacement member 6 that is displaced in association with the operation of the door lever 1 is provided at a portion of the door lever 1 that faces the base 2 side. Here, the displacement member 6 is formed integrally with the door lever 1, and by pulling the door lever 1 in the right direction in FIG. 1, the door lever 1 and the displacement member 6 are integrated with the rotation axis O (pin 3). It is designed to open around the center.

Further, a groove 2b is formed in a portion of the base 2 facing the door lever 1 and between the two openings 4a and 4b substantially in parallel with the rotation axis O, and a piezo cable is formed in the groove 2b. A sensor 5 is provided.
A flexible cover member 7 is disposed between the piezo cable sensor 5 and the displacement member 6. The cover member 7 has a function of preventing the displacement member 6 from directly contacting the sensor 5 and deteriorating the outer surface of the cable, and a function of a dust-proof cover for preventing dust and the like from entering the door (not shown). Have.

Further, when the door lever 1 is not operated as shown in FIG. 1, the depth of the groove 2 b is set so that a compressive load acts in the cross-sectional radial direction of the piezo cable sensor 5 by the displacement member 6 of the door lever 1.
With such a configuration, when the door lever 1 is not operated, the sectional shape of the piezo cable sensor 5 is crushed and deformed by the pressing force (compression load) of the door lever 1.

Therefore, when the door lever 1 is operated, the pressing force that has been acting on the piezo cable sensor 5 until then is reduced and finally removed, and the cross-sectional shape starts to recover due to the elasticity of the piezo cable sensor 5. As a result, the sensor 5 is distorted and the operation of the door lever 1 is detected.
Since the door handle structure according to the embodiment of the present invention is configured as described above, when a user with a portable device approaches the vehicle and a door unlock request operation is detected, the vehicle main unit and the user Communication is performed with the portable device and authentication confirmation is executed. When the portable device is confirmed to be a regular portable device registered in advance in the vehicle main body, a door unlock signal is transmitted and the door is unlocked.

Further, the ECU (not shown) determines that the operation of the door lever 1 is an unlock request operation. That is, when the user pulls the door lever 1, the displacement member 6 formed integrally with the door lever 1 moves to the right side in FIG. At this time, the sectional shape of the piezo cable sensor 5 starts to be restored and distortion is detected.
When the distortion is detected in this manner, the door lever 1 is operated (that is, the unlock request operation is executed), and communication between the vehicle main unit and the user portable device is performed. When a certain verification check is performed and a certain condition is satisfied, a door unlock signal is output from the ECU, and the door is unlocked.

  Thus, according to the door lever structure according to the present embodiment, the sensor can be arranged even in a limited space, and the passive entry to the small car can be easily performed. Further, since the force acting on the piezo cable sensor 5 changes in response to the operation of the door lever 1, even if the user slightly operates the door lever 1, the piezo cable sensor 5 can be surely distorted. One operation can be detected instantaneously. For this reason, the operational stability of the passive entry system can be enhanced, and the quality and reliability can be improved.

Further, the door lever structure according to the present embodiment has an advantage that an increase in cost can be avoided by a very simple configuration in which the piezo cable sensor 5 is disposed between the door lever 1 and the base 2. Furthermore, by integrally forming the door lever 1 and the displacement member 6, the number of parts can be reduced, and the cost can be reduced and the assemblability can be improved.
Further, since the cover member 7 is disposed between the displacement member 6 and the piezo cable sensor 5, there is an advantage that dust resistance can be enhanced and durability of the strain sensor is improved. Further, by using the piezo cable sensor 5 as a strain sensor, the sensor can be disposed in a slight space between the door lever 1 and the base 2.

In addition, this invention is not limited to embodiment mentioned above, A various deformation | transformation is possible in the range which does not deviate from the above-mentioned embodiment. For example, the strain sensor is not limited to the piezo cable sensor as described above, and various other sensors can be applied as long as the sensor can detect the strain. Further, the cover member 7 may be omitted.
Further, the present invention is not only applied to vehicles, but can be widely applied to doors with passive entries such as houses and offices. Needless to say, the shape of the door lever and base can be changed as appropriate.

FIG. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a main configuration of a door handle structure according to an embodiment of the present invention, and is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. 4. It is typical sectional drawing which shows the principal part structure of the door handle structure which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention, Comprising: It is AA sectional drawing in FIG. It is a typical perspective view showing the important section composition of the door handle structure concerning one embodiment of the present invention. It is a front view of the door handle to which the door handle structure concerning one embodiment of the present invention is applied.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Door lever 2 Base 3 Pin 4a, 4b Opening part 5 Piezo cable sensor as a strain sensor 6 Displacement member 7 Cover member

Claims (4)

A door lever,
A displacement member whose position is displaced in conjunction with the operation of the door lever;
With a strain sensor,
The displacement member is configured to apply a compressive load to the strain sensor when the door lever is not operated, and to be smaller when the door lever is operated than when the door lever is not operated. Door handle structure. The door handle structure according to claim 1, wherein the door lever and the displacement member are integrally formed. The door handle structure according to claim 1, wherein a flexible cover member is disposed between the displacement member and the strain sensor. The strain sensor is formed as a cable-shaped sensor,
The displacement member is configured so that a compressive load acts in a cross-sectional radial direction of the cable-shaped strain sensor when the door lever is not operated. Door handle structure.

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