Abstract
A vehicle door handle is formed with a multi-part housing, with at least one cavity for receiving an electronic component being formed in a first housing part. An insert part for the first housing part has holding elements for holding the electronic component and the insert part is fitted in its shape into a portion of the cavity of the first housing part in such a way that, together with the first housing part, it delimits a portion of the cavity of the first housing part so that a potting trough is formed for receiving a potting agent. This formed potting trough has a base which is formed partly from the insert part and partly by the first housing part. The holding elements for holding the electronic component are placed inside the formed potting trough.
Claims
1. Vehicle door handle comprising a multi-part housing, with at least one first cavity for receiving at least one electronic component being formed in at least one first housing part, wherein an insert part is formed for the first housing part and has holding means for holding the at least one electronic component, wherein the insert part is fitted in its shape into a portion of the cavity of the first housing part in such a way that the insert part together with the first housing part delimits a portion of the cavity of the first housing part so that a potting trough for receiving a potting agent is formed in the delimited region, the formed potting trough having a base which is formed partly from the insert part and partly by the first housing part and the holding means for holding the at least one electronic component being placed inside the formed potting trough.
2. Vehicle door handle according to claim 1, wherein holding means for fixing the position of the insert part in the first housing part are formed between the insert part and the first housing part.
3. Vehicle door handle according to claim 1, wherein the insert part is designed partly in a trough-like manner with lateral trough walls and an insert-part trough base connected thereto, wherein the insert-part trough base has at least one recess which, when the insert part and the first housing part are connected, is closed by the first housing part so that the potting trough is formed.
4. Vehicle door handle according to claim 1, wherein the insert part is placed over a cavity in the first housing part and said cavity is closed off by the insert part so as to be inaccessible with respect to the potting agent introduced into the potting trough.
5. Vehicle door handle according to claim 1, wherein the holding means on the insert part are at least partly designed as strips under which the at least one electronic component can be inserted in the insert part so that the electronic component is prevented from floating on a potting agent introduced into the potting trough.
6. Vehicle door handle according to claim 1, wherein the insert part is formed partly with a soft material which is arranged on the insert part in such a way that it seals the transition between the insert part and the first housing part in the base of the formed potting trough.
Description
[0022] The invention will now be explained in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
[0023] FIG. 1 a shows a vehicle door handle according to a first embodiment of the invention in a side view;
[0024] FIG. 1b shows the vehicle door handle from FIG. 1a in an oblique view;
[0025] FIG. 2a shows the vehicle door handle according to the first embodiment, with a cover removed;
[0026] FIG. 2b shows the arrangement from FIG. 2a in a plan view;
[0027] FIG. 3a shows the vehicle door handle according to the first embodiment, without a cover and without potting material in the potting trough;
[0028] FIG. 3b shows the arrangement from FIG. 3a in a top view;
[0029] FIG. 4a shows the first handle part of the first embodiment with the insert part inserted;
[0030] FIG. 4b shows the arrangement from FIG. 4a in an oblique view;
[0031] FIG. 5 shows the first housing part of the vehicle door handle according to the first embodiment;
[0032] FIG. 6 shows the first housing part and the insert part of the vehicle door handle according to the first embodiment in a further view;
[0033] FIG. 7 is a partial sectional view of the vehicle door handle according to the first embodiment without a cover;
[0034] A vehicle door handle 1 is shown in FIGS. 1a and 1b. The vehicle door handle 1 has a first housing part 2 which is coupled to a cover 3. A cavity in which components can be received is formed between the cover 3 and the first housing part 2.
[0035] In FIG. 2a, the cover 3 has been removed from the housing part 2 so that the interior of the first housing part 2 can be viewed. An insert part 4 is located in the first housing part 2. This insert part 4 forms a potting trough together with the first housing part 2, as will be explained in more detail below. A potting material 5 is poured into the potting trough. Electronic components are embedded in the potting material 5, of which only the supply lines 6a and 6b are visible in this view, since the remaining electronic components are covered by the potting compound 5. A strip 4a spans the insert part 4 and prevents the electronic components from floating on the potting material 5.
[0036] On its side facing the vehicle, the first housing part 2 has mechanical coupling means, which, however, need not be explained further in the context of this invention and are also known from the prior art.
[0037] FIG. 2b shows the component parts from FIG. 2a in a top view.
[0038] FIGS. 3a and 3b show numerous components that have already been shown in FIGS. 2a and 2b, but here the potting compound 5 is hidden. It can thus be seen that a circuit board 7 is located in the insert part 4 as an electronic component and is received there. The supply lines 6a and 6b are galvanically coupled to the components on the circuit board 7. The electronic components on the circuit board 7 can in particular contain antenna arrangements, capacitive sensors or other control and sensing means.
[0039] In FIGS. 4a and 4b, the vehicle door handle is shown with an inserted insert part 4, which is fitted into the first housing part 2. The detailed enlargement in FIG. 4b also shows the transition from the insert part 4 to the wall material of the housing part 2. It can be clearly seen here that the base of the potting trough, which is formed in the side frame of the insert part 4, is formed partly from the first housing part 2 and partly from the insert part 4. Below the insert part 4, in the right end portion of the first housing part 2 shown in FIGS. 4a and 4b, a cavity 2a is formed which is covered by the insert part 4 to prevent the potting compound 5 from penetrating into the underlying cavity 2a, thus saving material and making the handle lighter.
[0040] In addition, it can be seen in FIGS. 4a and 4b that supports 4b, 4c on which the circuit board 7 can be placed are formed as holding means in the insert part 4. The potting trough formed from the insert part 4 and the first housing part 2 is designed to be impermeable with respect to filling only when the insert part 4 is placed in the housing part 2 so that a closed base of a potting trough is formed.
[0041] FIG. 5 shows the first housing part 2 in a perspective view without the insert part 4 received therein. It can be seen there that there is a cavity 2a in the right end portion of the first housing part 2, which cavity is covered by the insert part 4 to form an intermediate base.
[0042] In FIG. 6, the first housing part 2 and the insert part 4 are shown side by side. It is clear that squeezing ribs 4d are formed on the insert part 4 which, when the insert part 4 is inserted into the first housing part 2, allow the first insert part 4 to be held firmly in the first housing part 2. In addition, it becomes clear here that the first insert part 4 is designed partly without a base surface; a base surface is only formed in the right end portion in order to cover the cavity in the first housing part 2 with an intermediate base and to form the potting trough.
[0043] FIG. 7 is a partial sectional view of the vehicle door handle. This view shows that the merely partial formation of the base of the potting trough by the insert part 4 allows for improved use of the potting space. In the portion of the potting trough in which the base is formed by the first housing part 2, the electronic component 7 can be sunk further into the potting trough due to the lack of base wall. If the insert part 4 had a continuous base surface, less installation space would be available in terms of height for the arrangement of the electronic components.
[0044] At the same time, the insert part 4 prevents the cavity 2a from being filled with potting material 5, which would lead to the vehicle door handle being weighed down and to unnecessary material consumption. It can also be seen that, in this embodiment, the lateral boundaries of the insert part 4 protrude beyond the lateral boundaries of the first housing component 2. This makes it possible to realize an optimized overall height design while maintaining the contour of the vehicle door handle and at the same time optimizing the consumption of potting material 5.
