JP5729586B2 - Door handle device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a door handle device for an automobile equipped with a smart key system.

Some recent automobiles are equipped with a smart key system that allows the user to unlock and lock the door lock simply by carrying the smart key.
The door handle used in the smart key system includes an antenna used for communication with the smart key and a capacitance sensor that detects a touch by a user based on a change in capacitance.
The device body (on-vehicle device) of the smart key system recognizes the approach of the user to the vehicle by collating the ID code between the antenna and the smart key, and then the user touches the capacitive sensor. Recognize the user's intention to unlock / lock and unlock / lock the door lock.

  In many cases, the handle body and the cover member of the door handle device are made of a resin material in terms of mass productivity, weight reduction, cost reduction, and the like. Therefore, when it is desired to have a metallic luster as the appearance of the door handle device, the metal thin film layer has been formed by attaching metal particles to the surface of the cover member by plating or vapor deposition (see Patent Document 1). .

JP 2007-142784 A

In the case of the door handle device of Patent Document 1, since the metal thin film layer is formed, there is a problem that the loss of antenna output is increased and the communication area is narrowed. Furthermore, there is a problem that the capacitive sensor malfunctions or does not work due to conduction or capacitive coupling between the capacitive sensor and the metal thin film layer.
An object of the present invention is to provide a metal-type door handle device that does not malfunction or inactivate the system in a vehicle equipped with a system that unlocks and locks the door by receiving a command signal from the outside. It is in.

A first characteristic configuration of a door handle device according to the present invention is provided in a space between a handle main body attached to a door, a cover member attached to the handle main body, the handle main body and the cover member, A signal receiving unit that receives a lock / unlock command signal for the door; a capacitance sensor that is provided in the space and detects a touch of a user by a change in capacitance; and on an outer surface side of the cover member A multi-layer optical interference film in which a low refractive index layer made of an insulating oxide having a low refractive index and a high refractive index layer made of an insulating oxide having a high refractive index are alternately laminated , The outer surface of the cover member is insulated by the multilayer optical interference film .

[Action and effect]
As in this configuration, if the cover member has a multilayer optical interference film formed by alternately laminating low refractive index layers and high refractive index layers on the outer surface side, the number of layers and the thickness of these layers are set. By making an appropriate selection, it becomes possible to selectively transmit and reflect light in a desired wavelength range by utilizing interference of light. As a result, the appearance of the resin cover member can be configured to exhibit a metallic luster without using metal particles.
Furthermore, according to this configuration, since an insulating oxide is used, for example, even when the smart key system is built in the door handle device, the antenna (an example of the signal receiving unit) Output loss can be reduced, and conduction or capacitive coupling does not occur with a capacitive sensor (an example of a signal receiving unit). As a result, the communication area of the antenna is not reduced, and malfunctions and malfunctions of the capacitive sensor are prevented, and the performance of the signal receiving unit such as the antenna or the capacitive sensor is adversely affected. Nor.

  The second characteristic configuration is that the low refractive index layer has a refractive index of 1.3 to 1.5, and the high refractive index layer has a refractive index of 1.7 to 2.5.

[Action and effect]
According to this configuration, the multilayer optical interference film can be configured to exhibit a metallic luster.

  The third characteristic configuration is that a protective film is provided on the multilayer optical interference film.

[Action and effect]
According to this configuration, the weather resistance and corrosion resistance of the multilayer optical interference film are improved by the presence of the protective film, so that the appearance design of the door handle device is maintained for a long time.

  A fourth characteristic configuration is that the thickness of the protective film is 10 μm to 40 μm.

[Action and effect]
With this film thickness, it can be formed in a single coating operation without causing dripping of the paint during coating, so the coating workability when forming the protective film is also good, and as a protective film Since the film thickness is the minimum necessary for maintaining durability, the multilayer optical interference film can be effectively protected.

  The fifth characteristic configuration is that a smoothing film is provided between the cover member and the multilayer optical interference film.

[Action and effect]
According to this structure, the fine unevenness | corrugation in the outer surface of a cover member can be planarized with a smooth film. Thereby, since irregular reflection of the light in the outer surface of a cover member is suppressed, more metallic luster can be obtained.

  A sixth characteristic configuration is that the thickness of the smooth film is 10 μm to 40 μm.

[Action and effect]
With the film thickness of this configuration, it can be formed by a single coating operation without causing dripping of the paint during coating, so the coating workability when forming a smooth film is also good, and as a smooth film Since it is the minimum film thickness necessary for maintaining durability, it is possible to efficiently eliminate fine irregularities on the outer surface of the cover member.

It is a front view of the door handle device of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a transverse sectional view taken along line II-II in FIG. 1. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the arrow line III-III in FIG. It is the flowchart which showed the formation method of the design film | membrane of a cover member. It is the figure which showed typically the cross section of the outer surface of a cover member. It is the figure which showed typically the cross section (different form) of the outer surface of a cover member.

Hereinafter, as an embodiment of the present invention, a door handle device 1 attached to a driver's seat door for an automobile will be described based on the drawings.
Embodiment
As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the door handle device 1 includes a handle main body 2 that forms an inner portion thereof, and a cover member 3 that forms an outer portion. As shown in FIG. 2, a gripping space 15 into which a user's hand can be inserted is formed between the cover member 3 and the door body 8.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, in the door handle device 1, a signal receiving unit that receives a lock / unlock command signal for the driver's seat door (an ID code transmitted from a smart key, a user contact input, etc.) The antenna 4, the lock sensor 5, the unlock sensor 6, and the circuit board 7 that controls these signal receivers are incorporated.

  The antenna 4 is used for communication with a smart key carried by the user, and the lock sensor 5 and the unlock sensor 6 are capacitive sensors that detect a touch by the user based on a change in capacitance. It is.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the cover member 3 has first and second engaging portions 3 a and 3 b that can be engaged with the door body 8, and can be attached to the handle body 2 by bolting. By attaching the cover member 3 to the handle body 2, a first accommodation space 9 and a second accommodation space 10 are formed between the cover member 3 and the handle body 2.

  The first housing space 9 houses the lock sensor 5 attached to the circuit board 7, and the second housing space 10 houses the antenna 4 and the unlock sensor 6. As shown in FIG. 2, one end of the antenna 4 is connected to the circuit board 7, and the unlock sensor 6 is installed in close contact between the antenna 4 and the handle body 2. Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the lock sensor 5 is installed with one end connected to the circuit board 7 while being bent in an inverted V shape and the other end in close contact with the inner surface of the cover member 3. The

  The handle main body 2 and the cover member 3 are configured as injection-molded products having a resin as a base material such as polycarbonate (PC), polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), polycarbonate / polybutylene terephthalate (PC / PBT), for example.

  As shown in FIG. 5, a design film 11 in which a smooth film 12, a multilayer optical interference film 13, and a protective film 14 are sequentially laminated is provided on the outer surface of the cover member 3.

  The smooth film 12 suppresses irregular reflection of light by filling the unevenness with the smooth film 12 and flattening when irregular reflection of light occurs due to the presence of fine irregularities on the outer surface of the cover member 3. is there. Examples of the material used for forming the smooth film 12 include acrylic paints and acrylic urethane paints. The thickness of the smooth film 12 is preferably 10 μm to 40 μm in terms of functionality and painting workability. In other words, if the film thickness is within this range, it can be formed by a single coating operation without causing dripping of the paint during coating, so the coating workability when forming the smooth film 12 is also good. Since the smooth film 12 has the minimum necessary film thickness for maintaining durability, the fine irregularities on the outer surface of the cover member 3 can be eliminated efficiently.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 6, the outer surface of the cover member 3 is not provided with a smooth film 12 and is not provided on the outer surface of the cover member 3 as long as there is no unevenness that causes a particular problem and no irregular reflection of light occurs. The multilayer optical interference film 13 may be formed directly.

  The multilayer optical interference film 13 is applied to improve the appearance design of the cover member 3. The multilayer optical interference film 13 is formed by alternately laminating a low refractive index layer 13a made of an insulating oxide having a low refractive index and a high refractive index layer 13b made of an insulating oxide having a high refractive index. By appropriately selecting the number of layers and the thickness of the layers, light in a desired wavelength range is selectively transmitted and reflected by utilizing light interference.

As the insulating oxide having a low refractive index, an insulating oxide having a refractive index of 1.3 to 1.5 is desirable. Examples thereof include silicon oxide (SiO ₂ ) and magnesium fluoride (MgF ₂ ).
As the insulating oxide having a high refractive index, an oxide having a refractive index of 1.7 to 2.5 is desirable. For example, titanium oxide (TiO ₂ ), zirconium dioxide (ZrO ₂ ), tantalum pentoxide (Ta ₂ O). ₅ ), niobium pentoxide (Nb ₂ O ₅ ) and the like.

In particular, when the multilayer optical interference film 13 is configured to exhibit a metallic luster, the thickness of the low refractive index layer 13a is 30 μm to 90 μm, the thickness of the high refractive index layer 13b is 70 μm to 180 μm, and the number of layers is 25 layers. It is preferable to have ~ 35 layers.
Further, in order to correct or adjust the reflectance of the multilayer optical interference film 13 to a desired value, an intermediate refractive index layer having a refractive index of 1.5 to 1.7, for example, an aluminum oxide (Al ₂ O ₃ ) layer or the like is used. It may be included in the multilayer optical interference film 13.

  The protective film 14 is a transparent film that is applied to protect the multilayer optical interference film 13. Examples of the material used for forming the protective film 14 include acrylic paints and acrylic urethane paints. The thickness of the protective film 14 is preferably 10 μm to 40 μm from the viewpoint of functionality and painting workability. In other words, if the film thickness is within this range, it can be formed by a single coating operation without causing dripping of the paint during coating, and therefore, the coating workability when forming the protective film 14 is good. Since the protective film 14 has a minimum film thickness necessary for maintaining durability, the multilayer optical interference film 13 can be effectively protected.

Hereinafter, a method for forming the design film 11 will be described with reference to FIG.
(1) Smooth coating A resin paint (acrylic urethane paint or the like) is applied to the outer surface of the cover member 3 using a spray or the like.
(2) Baking treatment Next, the smooth paint 12 is formed on the outer surface of the cover member 3 by thermosetting the smooth-coated resin paint by a heat drying method. When the applied resin paint is a UV curable resin, it may be cured by UV irradiation.
(3) Vapor deposition treatment Next, a low refractive index layer 13a made of an insulating oxide having a low refractive index and a high refractive index layer 13b made of an insulating oxide having a high refractive index are alternately formed by a known vapor deposition method. To form a multilayer optical interference film 13. In order to form the multilayer optical interference film 13, a known sputtering method or ion plating method may be used in addition to the vapor deposition method.
(4) Protective coating Next, a transparent resin paint (acrylic urethane paint or the like) is applied onto the multilayer optical interference film 13 using a spray or the like.
(5) Baking treatment Finally, the protective coating resin paint is thermally cured by a thermal drying method to form a protective film 14 on the multilayer optical interference film 13. If the applied resin paint is a UV curable resin, it may be cured by UV irradiation.
The above-described method is an example of a design film forming method. If the outer surface of the cover member 3 has no particularly uneven surface and does not cause irregular reflection of light, the above (1) smooth coating And (2) It is not necessary to carry out the baking process.

Example 1
A cover member made of polycarbonate / polybutylene terephthalate (PC / PBT) as a base material was coated with an acrylic urethane paint and then thermally cured by a heat drying method to form a smooth film (film thickness 20 μm).
Next, silicon oxide (SiO ₂ ) having a refractive index of 1.46 is used as an insulating oxide having a low refractive index, and titanium oxide (TiO ₂ ) having a refractive index of 2.4 is used as an insulating oxide having a high refractive index. The multilayer optical interference film (28 layers) in which the low refractive index layer (14 layers) and the high refractive index layer (14 layers) are alternately laminated is formed by alternately depositing these oxides using Formed.
Finally, an acrylic urethane paint was applied and then thermally cured by a heat drying method to form a protective film (film thickness 30 μm).

(Comparative Example 1)
Comparative Example 1 having the same configuration as Example 1 was prepared except that a metal film (thickness 10 nm) made of aluminum (Al) was formed between the smooth film and the protective film.

(Comparative Example 2)
Comparative Example 2 having the same configuration as that of Example 1 was prepared except that a metal film (thickness 50 nm) made of aluminum (Al) was formed between the smooth film and the protective film.

  About the said Example 1 and Comparative Examples 1 and 2, the performance comparison test was implemented. The results are shown in Table 1 below.

As shown in the surface resistance of Table 1, the insulating properties of Example 1 were confirmed.
As for the antenna performance, any sample of Example 1, Comparative Example 1 and Comparative Example 2 has no particular effect if it is set sufficiently thin with respect to the skin depth of the transmission frequency of 134.2 kHz, and the antenna output Loss was reduced and a stable communication area could be secured.
Regarding the sensor performance, in Example 1, the handle device could be operated normally, but in Comparative Examples 1 and 2, the lock sensor or the unlock sensor responded regardless of where on the outer surface of the cover member was touched. Malfunction occurred. Further, in Comparative Examples 1 and 2, for example, when the outer surface of the cover member comes into contact with another vehicle door that is grounded, the lock sensor or the unlock sensor may be inactivated. .

  The door handle device according to the present invention can be used not only for passenger cars but also for various vehicles such as freight vehicles and special work vehicles.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Door handle apparatus 2 Handle body 3 Cover member 4 Antenna (signal receiving part)
5 Lock sensor (signal receiver)
6 Unlock sensor (signal receiver)
12 smooth film 13 multilayer optical interference film 13a low refractive index layer 13b high refractive index layer 14 protective film

Claims (7)

A handle body attached to the door;
A cover member attached to the handle body;
A signal receiving unit that is provided in a space between the handle body and the cover member and receives a lock / unlock command signal of the door;
A capacitance-type sensor that is provided in the space and detects that the user has touched by a change in capacitance;
A multilayer formed by alternately laminating a low refractive index layer made of an insulating oxide having a low refractive index and a high refractive index layer made of an insulating oxide having a high refractive index on the outer surface side of the cover member. An optical interference film;
With
A door handle device in which an outer surface of the cover member is insulated by the multilayer optical interference film.   The door handle device according to claim 1, wherein a refractive index of the low refractive index layer is 1.3 to 1.5, and a refractive index of the high refractive index layer is 1.7 to 2.5.   The door handle device according to claim 1, wherein a protective film is provided on the multilayer optical interference film.   The door handle device according to claim 3, wherein the protective film has a thickness of 10 μm to 40 μm.   The door handle device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein a smooth film is provided between the cover member and the multilayer optical interference film.   The door handle apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the smooth film has a thickness of 10 μm to 40 μm. The thickness of the low refractive index layer is 30Myuemu～90myuemu, in thickness 70Myuemu～ 1 80 [mu] m of the high refractive index layer, the number of layers according to any one of claims 1 to 6, a 25-layer 35-layer Door handle device.

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