Roof handle for a vehicle

Abstract

A roof handle for a vehicle has two bearing elements which can be fixed to a roof of a vehicle and on which a handle body is mounted so as to be pivotable between a raised position and a lowered holding position. A line for the power supply is provided on at least one bearing element, which line, in a raised position of the handle body, is connected via contacts to an illuminating means on the handle body. Light can be irradiated via the illuminating means into an optical waveguide. This makes the handle body more visible in poor lighting conditions.

Claims

1. A roof handle for a vehicle, comprising: two bearing elements which are configured to be fixed to a roof of a vehicle, a handle body mounted on the bearing elements such that the handle body can be pivoted between a raised position and a lowered holding position, a line for a power supply provided on at least one of the bearing elements, an illuminating means on the handle body; and an optical waveguide, wherein the line, in a folded-up position of the handle body, is connected via contacts to the illuminating means and wherein the illuminating means is configured for irradiating light into the optical waveguide.

2. The roof handle according to claim 1, wherein the optical waveguide is arranged in a receptacle of the handle body.

3. The roof handle according to claim 1, wherein the optical waveguide is made of a transparent or translucent material.

4. The roof handle according to claim 1, wherein at least one sliding contact is provided on the at least one bearing element and bears against a movable contact which is fixed to the handle body.

5. The roof handle according to claim 4, wherein the movable contact is arranged on a printed circuit board to which an illuminating means is fixed.

6. The roof handle according to claim 5, wherein the printed circuit board is inserted in a receptacle on the handle body.

7. The roof handle according to claim 1, wherein a cable bushing is provided on the at least one bearing element and the line for the power supply is connected to a printed circuit board on the handle body via a contact element.

8. The roof handle according to claim 1, wherein the illuminating means is configured to be switched off by folding down the handle body.

9. The roof handle according to claim 1, wherein the optical waveguide is circular in cross-section.

10. The roof handle according to claim 1, wherein the optical waveguide is arranged in the form of a bow.

11. The roof handle according to claim 1, wherein the handle body has a groove-shaped receptacle into which the optical waveguide is inserted and is arranged substantially flush with a surface of the handle body.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The invention is explained in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings by way of an example of an embodiment.

(2) FIG. 1 shows a view of a roof handle in the raised position;

(3) FIG. 2 shows a view of the roof handle of FIG. 1 in a folded down position;

(4) FIG. 3 shows an exploded view of the roof handle of FIG. 1;

(5) FIGS. 4A and 4B show two views of the roof handle of FIG. 1;

(6) FIGS. 5A and 5B show two views of a bearing element of the roof handle prior to assembly;

(7) FIG. 6 shows a detailed view of the printed circuit board with the illuminating means;

(8) FIG. 7 shows a view of the printed circuit board with the optical waveguide, and

(9) FIG. 8 shows a view of the roof handle with the handle body partially folded down.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

(10) A roof handle 1 is mounted on a roof 2 of a vehicle, wherein the roof handle 1 has two bearing elements 3 which are fixed to the roof 2. A bow-shaped handle body 4 is held on the two bearing elements 3.

(11) The handle body 4 is biased by a spring into a raised position as shown in FIG. 1. When gripped by the user, the handle body 4 can be pivoted, as shown in FIG. 2. For this purpose, the handle body 4 is rotatably mounted on the bearing elements 3.

(12) In FIG. 3, the roof handle 1 is shown without the roof. A bearing element 3 is shown spaced from the handle body 4. Each bearing element 3 comprises a plug-in part 30 which can be inserted into the roof 2 and on which a latching means 32, in particular a flexible spring bar, is provided, by means of which the bearing element 3 can be mounted without tools. The bearing element 3 can also be fixed to the roof 2 by other fixing means. The bearing element 3 further comprises a flange 31 abutting the surface of the roof 2, from which a bearing block 33 projecting into the interior of the vehicle is arranged. An axis 5 is provided on the bearing block 33, on which the handle body 4 is rotatably mounted. In the region of the bearing block 33, at least in the case of one bearing element 3, there are two sliding contacts 14 which are used for the electrical power supply.

(13) The electrical sliding contacts 14 are connected via lines in the bearing element 3 to plug-in contacts 13, to which sockets 12 can be plugged, which can be connected to lines 11 for the power supply. The plug-in part 30 thus serves not only to mechanically fix the bearing element 3, but also to supply power, in particular in the low-voltage range.

(14) The handle body 4 has a groove-shaped receptacle 6 on one surface, which is preferably arranged on an edge of the handle body 4. An optical waveguide 7 is inserted into the groove-shaped receptacle 6, which is adapted to the contour of the handle body 4 and is shaped like a bow. Light can be emitted into the optical waveguide 7 by an illuminating means 10 to illuminate it.

(15) The illuminating means 10, for example an LED, is mounted on a holder 8 to which a printed circuit board 9 is fixed.

(16) In FIGS. 4A and 4B, the roof handle is shown in a raised position, with the holder 8 shown in an assembled position in FIG. 4A. The holder 8 has an end face flush with an end face of the handle body 4.

(17) As shown in FIG. 4B, the handle body has a recess 16 in the area of the bearing element 3 with the power supply, in which a receptacle 17 is provided. The printed circuit board 9 and the holder 8 may be inserted into the step-shaped receptacle 17, with the illuminating means 10 arranged so that it is then disposed adjacent to an end face of the optical waveguide 7.

(18) The positioning of the optical waveguide on the illuminating means 10 is shown in detail in FIGS. 5A and 5B. The optical waveguide 7 positioned by the groove-shaped receptacle 6 is positioned with an end face on the illuminating means 10 so that the illuminating means 10, for example as an LED, emits light into the optical waveguide 7, which then emits light over the entire length.

(19) The printed circuit board 9 has two contacts 15 on an upper side, which are movable together with the handle body 4 and the printed circuit board 9. In the raised position, the contacts 15 are in contact with the sliding contacts 14 on the bearing block 33 of the bearing element 3. For this purpose, the contacts 15 and the sliding contacts 14 can be in contact with each other with pretension.

(20) FIG. 6 shows the circuit board 9 with the two contacts 15 in detail. The printed circuit board 9 on the holder 8 is designed with the illuminating means 10 as a ready-to-mount unit which can be inserted into the receptacle 17 on the handle body 4.

(21) FIG. 7 shows the holder 8 with the optical waveguide 7, which is shaped like a bow and thus reproduces the contour of the handle body 4, which is thus more visible.

(22) In FIG. 8, the handle body 4 is shown in a slightly folded down position. It can be seen that by pivoting the handle body 4 about the axes 5 on the bearing elements 3, the movable contacts 15 are pivoted relative to the bearing block 33 with the sliding contacts 14. As a result, the contacts 15 move away from the sliding contacts 14 until the contact is broken, so that the illuminating means 10 are switched off by folding down the handle body 4. When the user releases the handle body 4 again, a spring element raises the handle body 4 upwards so that the sliding contacts 14 contact the contacts 15 again and the illuminating means 10 is switched on again.

(23) In the illustrated embodiment, only one illuminating means 10 is provided on the bearing element 3 for an optical waveguide 7. It is of course also possible to provide two or more illuminating means which radiate light into one or more optical waveguides 7. In addition, an illuminating means 10 can optionally also be provided on both bearing elements 3.

(24) In the illustrated embodiment example, the power supply of the illuminating means 10 is provided via sliding contacts 14. It is also possible to use other contacts, for example plug-in contacts, materially connected contacts or clamping contacts. In that case, preferably only one cable bushing for the line 11 for the power supply is provided on the bearing element 3.

LIST OF REFERENCE SIGNS

(25) 1 Roof handle 2 Roof 3 Bearing element 4 Handle body 5 Axis 6 Groove-shaped receptacle 7 Optical waveguide 8 Holder 9 Printed circuit board 10 Illuminating means 11 Line 12 Socket 13 Plug-in contact 14 Sliding contact 15 Contact 16 Recess 17 Receptacle 30 Plug-in part 31 Flange 32 Latching means 33 Bearing block