JPH0346127Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a door outer handle device for an automobile, particularly a flat surface type in which the outer surface of the outer handle and the outer surface of the door outer panel can be substantially flush with each other. relating to things.

(Prior Art) Generally, in an automobile, an outer handle used for opening and closing the door is disposed in a recess provided in the outer panel of the door. Since it is necessary to operate the outer handle, a recess is formed in the door outer plate below the outer handle, and the outer handle slightly protrudes from the door outer plate.

(Problem to be solved by the invention) Therefore, in the above-mentioned conventional type, air resistance increases due to the recess on the lower side of the outer handle and the protrusion of the outer handle from the door outer panel, which is disadvantageous in terms of aerodynamics. It was hot.

Incidentally, as a device that prevents the outer handle from protruding from the door outer panel, for example,
There is No. 9442. However, in this case, since it was necessary to form a space in the door outer panel for pulling out the iron band corresponding to the outer handle, there was still a problem in terms of air resistance.

In view of this, the present invention stores the outer handle so that its outer surface is substantially flush with the outer surface of the door outer panel during driving when air resistance is a problem,
On the other hand, when opening and closing the door, the outer handle protrudes outward from the door outer panel to reduce air resistance during driving, which is advantageous for aerodynamics, as well as providing good operability and good appearance. The purpose is to provide a good door outer handle device.

(Means for Solving the Problem) In order to achieve the above object, the solution of the present invention includes a fork lever that can engage with a striker provided on the vehicle body, and a fork lever that engages with the striker when the fork lever is not activated. The object of the present invention is an automobile in which a door lock means is provided on the door, and includes a claw lever that locks the fork lever and releases the engagement of the fork lever with the striker when activated. The bracket is rotatably supported by a bracket attached to the door outer panel of the door in a direction protruding outward from the door outer panel from a storage position substantially flush with the door outer panel, and is supported by a return spring. The outer handle includes an outer handle that is biased to rotate in the direction of the storage position, and a locking portion provided on either one of the outer handle and the door, and a locking portion provided on the other side so that the outer handle is rotated on the outer surface of the door outer panel. and an engaging portion that can engage with the locking portion when the outer handle is rotated by a predetermined angle, and the engagement force in the engaged state of the locking portion and the engaging portion is applied to the return spring of the outer handle. A holding mechanism is provided for holding the outer handle at a predetermined angle in which the outer handle is rotated to protrude from the outer surface of the door outer panel against the return spring force. Further, a bracket provided adjacent to the outer handle and attached to the door outer panel has a position between a normal position where it is substantially flush with the door outer panel and a pressed position where it is recessed inward from the door outer panel. The push lever is rotatably supported by the push lever and is rotatably biased toward the normal position by a return spring. Furthermore, one end is connected to the outer handle and the other end is connected to the push lever, and the push lever is configured to include a long hole and a protrusion that slidably engages with the long hole, and is configured to press the push lever to the pressing position. It has a relief part that prevents the movement of the push lever to return to its normal position due to the return spring force from being transmitted to the outer handle when the operation is released, and the outer handle is connected to the push lever so that the push lever resists the return spring force. When the push lever is pressed to the pressing position, the lever is rotated protrudingly to the predetermined angular state held by the holding mechanism, while when the push lever is released from the pressing operation, it remains in the predetermined angular state without interlocking. A link mechanism is provided that links the outer handle and the push lever so that only the push lever returns to its normal position where it is substantially flush with the door outer panel due to its return spring force.
In addition, the outer handle is connected at one end to the claw lever of the door locking means and at the other end to the outer handle, and includes a long hole and a protrusion that slidably engages with the long hole. has a relief part that prevents the movement of the outer handle from being transmitted to the claw lever when the outer handle protrudes and rotates to a predetermined angle state, and the outer handle is moved to the predetermined angle by pressing the push lever with respect to the claw lever relative to the outer handle. When the outer handle protrudes and rotates to a predetermined angle, the outer handle is not operated and becomes inoperable, but when the outer handle is protruded and rotated beyond a predetermined angle, the fork lever is operated in conjunction to release the locking engagement with the striker of the fork lever. shall be equipped with a connection mechanism that links the outer handle and the claw lever.

(Function) As a result, in the present invention, during normal driving when the push lever is not pressed, the outer handle is in the retracted position due to its return spring force, and the outer surface of the outer handle and the outer surface of the door outer panel are approximately flush with each other. be. Further, the push lever is also in its normal position due to its return spring force, and similarly, its outer surface is substantially flush with the outer surface of the door outer panel.

On the other hand, when the push lever is pressed to open or close the door, the push lever rotates to the pressed position against the return spring force, and the outer handle is interlocked with the link mechanism to push the outer panel of the door away from the vehicle body. The outer handle is held at a predetermined angle by projecting and rotating outward and engaging the locking part and the engaging part of the holding mechanism with an engagement force greater than the return spring force of the outer handle. At this time, the protruding rotation of the outer handle is not linked to the claw lever of the door locking means due to the relief part of the coupling mechanism, and the claw lever remains in an inoperative state. After that, when the pressing operation of the push lever is released, the push lever rotates and returns to its normal position due to the return spring force, but this return rotation is not linked to the outer handle due to the relief part of the link mechanism, and the outer handle is The predetermined angular state is maintained.

Therefore, it is possible to grasp the outer handle held at the predetermined angle, and when the outer handle is grasped and rotated to protrude beyond the predetermined angle, the claw lever is operated in conjunction with the coupling mechanism to release the fork. The lever is released from locking engagement with the striker, thereby opening the door.

After the door is opened, the outer handle that has been rotated beyond the predetermined angle is caused by the action of the return spring, which exerts a large spring force, to cause the outer handle to engage the locking part and the engaging part of the holding mechanism in the middle of the movement. It returns to the storage position at once against the engagement force.

In this case, the outer handle is held at a predetermined angle simply by pressing the push lever, so all operations can be performed by removing the hand that was pressing the push lever and pulling the outer handle with that hand. It can be easily done with one hand and has good operability.After the outer handle is rotated to a predetermined angle by pressing the push lever, when the push lever is released, the outer handle will be at the predetermined angle. The push lever will return to its original position and be flush with the outer panel of the door, giving it a good appearance and preventing rainwater from entering.

Further, in this case, the door lock means is not unlocked while the push lever is pressed to rotate the outer handle to a predetermined angle. This is because the outer handle originally functions as a handle, so if the lock is released before the specified angle is reached, space for operating the outer handle (space for putting your hand in) will be obtained. This is because the lock will be released without being able to hold the outer handle, and the outer handle will have to be operated without the hand being in the operating space, and the operability of using the outer handle as a hand will be significantly deteriorated. Further, there is an advantage that unlocking by pulling the outer handle requires a smaller operating force than unlocking by pressing the push lever.

(Example) Examples of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

<Example 1> In FIGS. 1 to 6, 1 is an outer handle of an automobile door 2;
consists of a rectangular gripping portion 1a that is gripped when the door 2 is opened and closed; a connecting lever portion 1b extending inward from one end of the gripping portion 1a toward the inside of the vehicle; The engagement lever portion 1c extends in the opposite direction. This outer handle 1 is connected to a recess 3a of the door outer panel 3 together with a push lever 7, which will be described later.
When the door 2 is not opened or closed, such as when driving, the outer surface 1d of the gripping portion 1a is substantially flush with the outer surface 3b of the door outer panel 3.

4 is a fixed bracket;
The base plate portion 4a and the pair of side plate portions 4b and 4 provided upright on the inside of the vehicle body at both ends of the base plate portion 4a.
The base plate portion 4a is attached and fixed to the door outer panel 3. The lever portions 1b and 1c of the outer handle 1 are attached to the rotation shafts 5 and 6 on both side plate portions 4b and 4c.
The outer handle 1 is rotatably supported via the door outer panel 3, and the outer handle 1 is rotatably provided in a direction projecting outward from the door outer panel 3 from a storage position where it is substantially flush with the door outer panel 3. Moreover, it is rotationally biased toward the storage position by a return spring 24. Note that both rotation axes 5 and 6 are coaxial.

Furthermore, a locking hole 4d serving as a locking portion is bored in one side plate portion 4b of the fixed bracket 4.
On the other hand, the connecting lever portion 1b of the outer handle 1 is provided with an engaging protrusion 1e as an engaging portion, and the outer handle 1 is connected to the return spring 24.
A holding mechanism in which the engaging protrusion 1e engages with the locking hole 4d to hold the outer handle 1 at a predetermined angle when the outer handle protrudes from the door outer panel 3 and rotates against the spring force of the outer handle 1. It consists of In this case, when the engagement protrusion 1e and the locking hole 4d are in the engaged state, they are engaged with each other with an engagement force greater than the spring force of the return spring 24 of the outer handle 1.

A push lever 7 is disposed adjacent to the side of the outer handle 1 so as to be substantially flush with the outer surface 3b of the door outer panel 3. The push lever 7 includes a pressing portion 7a and support portions 7b and 7c connected to both sides of the lower end of the pressing portion 7a.

Reference numeral 8 denotes a support bracket, which is attached and fixed to the door outer panel 3. This support bracket 8 rotatably supports the push lever 7 by a pivot 9 at both support portions 7b and 7c, and the push lever 7 is placed in a normal position where it is substantially flush with the door outer panel 3, and in a normal position where it is substantially flush with the door outer panel 3. 3 and a pressed position recessed inwardly from the outer surface 3b of No. 3, and is rotatably biased toward the normal position by a return spring 25.

10 is a connecting link whose lower end is connected to the support part 7b of the push lever 7, and its upper end is connected to the engagement lever part 1c of the outer handle 1. A relief portion 29 is provided to prevent the movement of the push lever 7 from returning to the normal position by the spring force of the return spring 25 to the outer handle 1 when the pressing operation to the pressed position is released. The relief portion 29 is connected to the engagement lever portion 1c.
It is constituted by a long hole 1f provided in the connecting link 10, and a protrusion 10a provided at the upper end of the connecting link 10 and slidably engaged with the long hole 1f. As a result, when the push lever 7 is pressed to the pressing position against the spring force of the return spring 25, the outer handle 1 is caused to protrude from the outer surface 3b of the door outer panel 3, thereby engaging the holding mechanism. The protrusion 10a is rotated to a predetermined angle state maintained by the engagement between the mating protrusion 1e and the locking hole 4d, and when the push lever 7 is released, the protrusion 10a slides inside the long hole 1f in the relief portion 29. By simply doing this, both 1 and 7 are linked in such a way that only the push lever 7 returns to its normal position with the spring force of its return spring 25 with respect to the outer handle 1 which remains in the predetermined angle state without interlocking with each other. This constitutes a link mechanism.

Reference numeral 11 denotes a connecting mechanism in which an upper rod 12 and a lower rod 13 are connected via a buffer means 14. This buffering means 14, as shown in FIG.
A spring 17 is interposed between a cylindrical upper member 15 and a cylindrical lower member 16 that are screwed together, and the lower end of the upper rod 12 is slidably inserted into the upper member 15. The upper end of the lower rod 16 is fixed to the side member 16, and the lower end of the upper rod 12 is provided with a locking flange 12a to prevent it from coming off from the upper member 15. This is to reduce the impact when the device is suddenly returned to the storage position from the protruding rotational position by more than an angle due to the large spring force of the return spring 24.

The upper end of the upper rod 12 is connected to the connecting lever bar 1b of the outer handle 1, and the lower end of the lower rod 13 is connected to the claw lever 18.
A relief portion 30 is provided that prevents the movement of the outer handle 1 from being transmitted to the claw lever 18 when the outer handle 1 projects and rotates to a predetermined angle state. The escape portion 30 is constituted by a long hole 18a provided in the claw lever 18 and a protrusion 13a provided at the lower end of the lower rod 13 and slidably engaged with the long hole 18b. There is. With these, by pressing the push lever 7, the outer handle 1
When the fork lever 18 protrudes and rotates to the above-mentioned predetermined angle state, the protrusion 13a in the relief section 30 simply slides within the elongated hole 18a, and the two do not interlock, making the claw lever 18 inoperable.
On the other hand, when the outer handle 1 is rotated to protrude beyond the predetermined angle, the claw lever 18 is operated in conjunction with this, and the striker 23 of the fork lever 20 is engaged with the striker 23. Both 1 and 18 are configured to be linked so as to release the locking engagement with the. The claw lever 18 is rotatable around a rotation shaft 19 and has a return spring 28.
It is urged to rotate counterclockwise in the figure.

Reference numeral 20 denotes a fork lever that can be engaged with a striker 23 provided on the vehicle body, which together with the claw lever 18 constitutes door locking means, and which is always rotated clockwise in the figure by a spring 22 so as to rotate around a rotation shaft 21. It is rotationally biased. The fork lever 20 has an engaging portion 20a that removably engages with the engaging portion 18b of the claw lever 18. Thus, the rotation of the fork lever 20 is restricted by the engagement of both parts 18a and 20a, and while the engagement of the fork lever 20 with the striker 23 is kept locked,
In the diagram of the claw lever 18, the striker 23 of the fork lever 20 rotates clockwise.
It is designed to release the locking engagement.

Incidentally, reference numerals 26 and 27 are mounting screws for mounting the fixing bracket 4 and the support bracket 8 to the door outer panel 3, respectively.

With the above configuration, during normal driving when the push lever 7 is not pressed, the return spring 24 of the outer handle 1 stores the gripping portion 1a in the recess 3a of the door outer panel 3, and the outer handle 1 (gripping portion 1a ) outer surface 1
d and the outer surface 3b of the door outer panel 3 are substantially flush (see FIG. 2). Similarly, the push lever 7 is in its normal position due to its return spring 25, with its outer surface 7d being substantially flush with the outer surface 3b of the door outer panel 3. In this case, connecting link 1
The protrusion 10a at the upper end is located below the elongated hole 1f in the engagement lever portion 1c.

On the other hand, when the push lever 7 is pressed,
As shown in FIG. 3, as the push lever 7 rotates counterclockwise against the spring force of the return spring 25, the connecting link 10
, the engagement lever part 1c is rotated counterclockwise around the rotation axis 6, and as a result, the outer handle 1 is rotationally displaced and the door outer panel 3 is pulled.
The engagement protrusion 1e of the holding mechanism and the locking hole 4d protrude outward from the recess 3a of the outer handle 1.
The predetermined angular state is maintained by engaging with an engagement force greater than the spring force of the return spring 24. At this time, the upper and lower rods 12 and 13 of the coupling mechanism 11 are also displaced, but the protrusion 13a at the lower end of the lower rod 13 is displaced from the lower position of the long hole 18a in the claw lever 18 to the upper position at the relief portion 30. Just click the claw lever 1 to make the movement.
It doesn't get through to 8. Then, press the push lever 7.
When the pressing operation is released, the push lever 7 returns to a position substantially flush with the door outer panel 3 by the spring force of the return spring 25. At that time, the connecting link 10 is also displaced, but the protrusion 10a at the upper end of the connecting link 10 is only displaced upward from the lower end position in the elongated hole 1f of the outer handle 1 in the relief portion 29, and the movement is caused by the outer handle 1. The outer handle 1 remains held at the predetermined angle.

Therefore, it becomes possible to grip the gripping portion 1a of the outer handle 1, and as shown in FIG. , the claw lever 18 is rotated clockwise via the coupling mechanism 11.

As a result, the engagement between the claw lever 18 and the fork lever 20 is released, and accordingly, the engagement between the fork lever 20 and the striker 23 is also released, thereby opening the door 2. After that, return spring 24
Due to the action of the large spring force, the outer handle 1 returns to the recess 3a of the door outer panel 3 at once against the engagement force between the engagement protrusion 1e and the locking hole 4d. (See Figure 5) In this case, the outer handle 1 can be held at a predetermined angle simply by pressing the push lever 7, so the hand that was pressing the push lever 7 can be removed from the push lever 7 and the outer handle 1 can be held with that hand. By pulling, all operations can be easily performed with one hand, making it easy to operate. Further, when the outer handle 1 is projected and rotated to a predetermined angle state by pressing the push lever 7, and then the push lever 7 is released, the push lever 7 returns and the outer handle 1 remains at the predetermined angle state, allowing the outer handle 1 to move out of the door. Since it is substantially flush with the board 3, it looks good and can prevent rainwater from entering.

Further, in this case, the door lock means is not unlocked while the push lever 7 is pressed to rotate the outer handle 1 to a predetermined angle. This is originally the outer handle 1.
has the function of a handle, so if it is unlocked before reaching the above-mentioned predetermined angle,
The lock will be released before the space for operating the outer handle 1 (space for inserting the hand) is obtained, and the outer handle 1 will be operated without the hand being able to enter the operating space. This is because the operability of using the outer handle 1 as a handle is significantly deteriorated. Further, there is an advantage that unlocking by pulling the outer handle 1 requires a smaller operating force than unlocking by pressing the push lever 7.

In the above embodiment, the push lever 7 is arranged on the side of the outer handle 1, but the push lever can also be arranged on the upper side of the outer handle as shown in the next embodiment.

<Embodiment 2> In FIGS. 7 to 11, 31 is an outer handle, and together with the push lever 32 located adjacent to the upper side of the outer handle, the recess 33 of the door outer panel 33
It is located within a.

The push lever 32 includes a pressing portion 32a and a lever portion 32b extending inward from the lower end of the pressing portion 32a.

Reference numeral 34 denotes a relatively short connecting link as a link mechanism, one end of which is connected to the tip of the lever portion 32b of the push lever 32, and the protrusion 34a of the other end is an engagement lever portion connected to the grip portion 31a of the outer handle 31. The elongated hole 31c in 31b is slidably engaged with the elongated hole 31c.

35 is a return spring of the push lever 32, and 36 is a rotating shaft of the outer handle 31.

Note that other constituent elements are the same as those in Example 1, so detailed explanation thereof will be omitted.

If configured as described above, the push lever 32
For example, during normal driving when the outer handle 31 is not pressed, the grip portion 31a of the outer handle 31 is pressed against the push lever 32.
The recessed portion 33 of the door outer panel 33 together with the pressing portion 32a of
It is stored in a. Therefore, the outer surface 31d of the outer handle 31 (grip portion 31a) and the outer surface 32c of the push lever 32 (pressing portion 32a)
is substantially flush with the outer surface 33b of the door outer panel 33 (see FIGS. 8 and 9).

When the push lever 32 is pressed, the outer handle 31 is rotated counterclockwise via the connecting link 34, as shown in FIG. It is held so that it protrudes from 33b.

In this state, the grip portion 31 of the outer handle 31
If a is held and rotated counterclockwise, the engagement between the fork lever and the striker (not shown) is released, and the door is opened (11th (see figure).

(Effects of the invention) Since the present invention is constructed as described above, it has a relatively simple structure, and unless the push lever is pressed, the outer surface of the door panel and the outer surface of the outer handle and the push lever are substantially separated. Since they are flush, air resistance is reduced during driving, which is advantageous in terms of aerodynamics. Further, since the outer handle can be held at a predetermined angle simply by pressing the push lever, all operations can be easily performed with one hand, improving operability. Furthermore, when you release your hand from the push lever, the push lever returns to its original position while the outer handle remains at a predetermined angle, making it almost flush with the outer panel of the door, giving it a good appearance and preventing the intrusion of rainwater. There are advantages that can be achieved.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawings illustrate the embodiments of the present invention.
The figures to FIG. 6 each show Example 1.
The figure is a perspective view of the main parts of an automobile door outer handle device, Figure 2 is an explanatory diagram with the push lever not pressed, Figure 3 is an explanatory diagram with the push lever pressed, and Figure 4 is the outer handle. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of the state after the door is opened, FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of the main parts of the connection mechanism, and FIGS. 7 to 11 are illustrations of the second embodiment, respectively. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing the relationship between the outer handle and the push lever, and FIGS. 8 and 9 are
10 is an explanatory diagram of the state in which the push lever is not pressed, FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of the door opened by rotating the outer handle. 1... Outer handle, 1e... Engaging protrusion, 1
f...Long hole, 2...Door, 3...Door outer plate, 4d
... Locking hole, 7 ... Push lever, 10 ... Connection link (link mechanism), 10a ... Projection, 11
... Connection mechanism, 13a ... Protrusion, 18 ... Claw lever, 18a ... Long hole, 20 ... Fork lever, 23 ... Striker, 24, 25 ... Return spring, 29, 30 ... Relief part, 31...
Outer handle, 31c...long hole, 32...push lever, 33...door outer plate, 33a...recess, 34...connection link, 34a...protrusion.

Claims (1)

[Claims for Utility Model Registration] A fork lever that can engage with a striker provided on a vehicle body, locks the engagement of the fork lever with the striker when inactive, and locks the engagement of the fork lever with the striker when activated. In an automobile in which a door is provided with a door lock means consisting of a claw lever for releasing the door, the door outer panel is inserted into a bracket attached to the door outer panel of the door from a storage position substantially flush with the door outer panel. An outer handle rotatably supported in a direction protruding further outward and rotatably biased toward the storage position by a return spring; and the outer handle and the door. a locking portion provided on one of the two, and an engaging portion provided on the other side that can engage with the locking portion when the outer handle rotates to protrude from the outer surface of the door outer panel by a predetermined angle. and is set so that the engagement force in the engaged state of the locking part and the engagement part is greater than the return spring force of the outer handle, and the outer handle is made to resist the return spring force. a retaining mechanism for holding the door at a predetermined angle so as to protrude from the outer surface of the door outer panel; and a bracket provided adjacent to the outer handle and attached to the door outer panel, which A push lever is rotatably supported between a normal position where it is substantially flush with the door and a push position where it is recessed inward from the door outer panel, and is biased to rotate in the direction of the normal position by a return spring; The other end of the outer handle is connected to the push lever, and
It is composed of an elongated hole and a protrusion that slidably engages with the elongated hole, and when the pushing operation of the push lever to the push position is released, the push lever is prevented from returning to its normal position by the return spring force. It has a relief part that does not transmit information to the handle, and when the outer handle is pressed against the push lever to the pressing position against the return spring force, the outer handle is moved to a predetermined angular state held by the holding mechanism. Normally, when the push lever is rotated protrudingly, when the push operation of the push lever is released, only the push lever becomes substantially flush with the outer plate due to its return spring force with respect to the outer handle, which is not interlocked and remains positioned at the above-mentioned predetermined angle state. a link mechanism that connects the outer handle and the push lever so as to be rotated to return to the position, and one end of which is connected to the claw lever of the door locking means;
The other end is connected to the outer handle, and is composed of a long hole and a protrusion that slidably engages with the long hole. It has a relief part that does not transmit the movement of the handle to the claw lever, and when the outer handle projects and rotates to the predetermined angle state by pressing the push lever against the outer handle, the claw lever is not interlocked and becomes inoperable. On the other hand, a coupling mechanism is provided which links the outer handle and the claw lever so that when the outer handle is rotated to protrude beyond a predetermined angle, the outer handle is operated in conjunction with the claw lever to release the locking engagement with the striker of the fork lever. An automobile door outer handle device comprising: