Abstract
The invention relates to a door handle for a car, wherein the door handle has a handle section to be gripped manually and a pivoting bearing section, by way of which the door handle can be mounted on a car door such that it can be pivoted about a pivot axis between a closed position and an open position which unlocks the car door, wherein a metal ball, in particular a steel ball, or a metal cylinder, in particular a steel cylinder, is fastened to the door handle, wherein, if a predefined transverse acceleration which acts on the door handle occurs, the metal ball or the metal cylinder counteracts, as a counterweight, an opening force which acts on the handle section on account of the transverse acceleration. Moreover, the invention relates to a corresponding method for producing a door handle.
Claims
1. A door handle for a car, wherein the door handle has a handle section to be gripped manually and a pivoting bearing section, by way of which the door handle can be mounted on a car door such that it can be pivoted about a pivot axis between a closed position and an open position which unlocks the car door, wherein a metal ball, in particular a steel ball, or a metal cylinder, in particular a steel cylinder, is fastened to the door handle, wherein, if a predefined transverse acceleration which acts on the door handle occurs, the metal ball or the steel cylinder counteracts, as a counterweight, an opening force which acts on the handle section on account of the transverse acceleration.
2. The door handle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the center of mass of the door handle with the metal ball which is fastened thereto or the metal cylinder which is fastened thereto lies in the region of the pivoting bearing section, in particular substantially in the pivot axis of the door handle.
3. The door handle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the metal ball or the metal cylinder is molded at least in sections into the door handle in the context of a plastic injection molding process for producing the door handle.
4. The door handle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the metal ball or the metal cylinder is held in a latching manner in a latching receptacle of the door handle.
5. The door handle as claimed in claim 4, wherein the latching receptacle has a plurality of elastic latching arms which hold the metal ball or the metal cylinder.
6. The door handle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the metal ball or the metal cylinder is held by way of a force fit in a force-fit receptacle of the door handle.
7. The door handle as claimed in claim 1, wherein after the fastening of the metal ball or the metal cylinder, the door handle with the metal ball fastened thereto or the metal cylinder fastened thereto has been coated, in particular has been coated galvanically, furthermore has been chrome-plated, in particular.
8. A car door, comprising a door handle as claimed in claim 1 which is mounted pivotably thereon.
9. A method for producing a door handle as claimed in claim 1, comprising the steps: provision of a plastic injection mould with a mould cavity which represents the door handle, automatic feeding and holding of a metal ball or a metal cylinder in a predefined position in the mould cavity, injection of a plasticized plastic into the mould cavity, wherein the plasticized plastic flows at least in sections around the metal ball which is held in the predefined position or around the metal cylinder which is held in the predefined position, opening of the plastic injection mould after a curing time and removal of the door handle with the metal ball which is molded at least in sections into said door handle or the metal cylinder which is molded at least in sections into said door handle.
10. The method as claimed in claim 9, wherein the plastic injection mould has a slide which delimits the mould cavity in sections and can be moved in the longitudinal direction within a cavity, wherein the metal ball or the metal cylinder falls into the cavity when the slide is withdrawn from the mould cavity, and wherein the metal ball or the metal cylinder is subsequently conveyed by a movement of the slide in the longitudinal direction within the cavity along a conveying path into the predefined position in the mould cavity.
11. The method as claimed in claim 10, wherein the cavity is formed by a hollow slide which surrounds the slide at least in sections and can be moved in the longitudinal direction independently of the slide, wherein the metal ball or the metal cylinder falls into the cavity when the slide is withdrawn from the hollow slide, wherein the metal ball or the metal cylinder is subsequently conveyed by a movement of the slide in the longitudinal direction within the hollow slide along the conveying path into the predefined position in the mould cavity.
12. The method as claimed in claim 10, wherein a further slide which can be moved in the longitudinal direction is provided, which slide, in a position which is moved into the mould cavity, forms a stop for holding the metal ball or the metal cylinder in the predefined position.
13. The method as claimed in claim 9, wherein a blocking pin which is mounted such that it can be displaced in its longitudinal direction is provided, which blocking pin is prestressed into a blocking position which protrudes in sections into the conveying path of the metal ball or the metal cylinder, wherein the metal ball or the metal cylinder presses the blocking pin, during the conveying along its conveying path into its predefined position in the mould cavity, out of its blocking position into a release position which releases the conveying path of the metal ball or the metal cylinder.
14. The method as claimed in claim 9, wherein the door handle with the metal ball which is molded at least in sections into said door handle or the metal cylinder which is molded at least in sections into said door handle is coated galvanically, in particular is chrome-plated, after the removal from the plastic injection mould.
15. The method as claimed in claim 9, wherein, after the removal from the plastic injection mould and optionally after coating, in particular galvanic coating, furthermore chrome-plating, in particular, the door handle with the metal ball which is molded at least in sections into said door handle or the metal cylinder which is molded at least in sections into said door handle is mounted pivotably by way of its pivoting bearing section on a car door.
Description
In the following text, exemplary embodiments of the invention will be explained in greater detail using figures, in which, diagrammatically:
[0026] FIG. 1 shows a door handle according to the invention according to a first exemplary embodiment in a first perspective view,
[0027] FIG. 2 shows the door handle from FIG. 1 in a second perspective view,
[0028] FIG. 3 shows a door handle according to the invention according to a second exemplary embodiment in a perspective view,
[0029] FIG. 4 shows a door handle according to the invention according to a third exemplary embodiment in a perspective view,
[0030] FIG. 5 shows part of a plastic injection mold for producing a door handle according to the invention in a first operating position in a sectional view,
[0031] FIG. 6 shows the illustration from FIG. 5 in a second operating position,
[0032] FIG. 7 shows the illustration from FIG. 5 in a third operating position,
[0033] FIG. 8 shows the illustration from FIG. 5 in a fourth operating position,
[0034] FIG. 9 shows a further sectional view of the plastic injection mold in the operating position which is shown in FIG. 6,
[0035] FIG. 10 shows the illustration from FIG. 9 in the operating position which is shown in FIG. 7, and
[0036] FIG. 11 shows the illustration from FIG. 9 in the operating position which is shown in FIG. 8.
[0037] Insofar as nothing else is specified, identical designations denote identical objects in the figures. The door handle according to the invention which is shown in FIG. 1 is an internal door handle of a car. It has a handle section 10 (elongate in the example which is shown) which can be gripped manually and has a free end 12. At its opposite end, the door handle has a pivoting bearing section 14, by way of which the door handle can be mounted pivotably on a car door (not shown), in the present case about a vertical pivot axis 24. By way of an unlocking section 16 of the door handle, said door handle can be coupled to the door lock of the car door, for example via a Bowden cable (not shown), in such a way that the door lock is unlocked into an open position by way of pivoting of the door handle. The door handle is prestressed in a suitable way into its closed position. This is known per se. A metal ball 18 is incorporated into the door handle on that side of the pivoting section 14 which lies opposite the handle section 10. Although a metal ball 18 which is incorporated into the door handle is shown in the figures, it might also be a metal cylinder which is incorporated into the door handle. In the example which is shown, the door handle is composed in one piece of a plastic and was produced in a plastic injection molding process. In the context of this plastic injection molding process, the metal ball 18 was molded into the door handle, in particular into a plastic section 20 which partially encloses the metal ball 18. Furthermore, the plastic section 20 has a holding bracket 22 which partially covers the metal ball 18 and is likewise produced during the plastic injection molding process. It can be seen, in particular, in FIG. 2 that there is a spacing 23 between the plastic section 20 which holds the metal ball 18 and the handle section 10 which forms a visible surface of the door handle. This spacing 23 ensures that shrinkages which possibly occur during the molding of the metal ball 18 do not lead to visual impairments, for example sunk points, on the handle section 10 and the visible surface. As a result of the metal ball 18, the center of mass of the door handle is moved substantially into the pivot axis 24 which is defined by the pivoting bearing section 14. The metal ball 18 therefore acts as a counterweight, with the result that a high transverse acceleration which is produced as a result of a side impact on the vehicle cannot lead to undesired pivoting of the door handle into the open position and therefore opening of the car door.
[0038] The door handle which is shown in FIG. 3 corresponds as far as possible to the door handle which is shown in FIG. 1. It differs merely with regard to the fastening of the metal ball 18 to the door handle. Unlike in the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 1, the metal ball 18 in the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 3 is held on the door handle by way of a latching connection. In particular, a latching receptacle is formed by in this case three elastic latching arms 28 which hold the metal ball 18 in a latching manner. The function of the metal ball 18 is as was explained with respect to FIG. 1.
[0039] FIG. 4 shows a further exemplary embodiment of a door handle according to the invention which once again corresponds as far as possible to the exemplary embodiment according to FIG. 1. In contrast to the exemplary embodiment according to FIG. 1, in the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 4 the metal ball 18 is held by way of a force fit in a force-fit receptacle 30 of the door handle. The function of the metal ball 18 is once again as was explained above with respect to the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 1.
[0040] In all of the exemplary embodiments which are shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, it is possible that the door handle with the metal ball 18 which is inserted into it is subjected to a galvanic coating, for example chrome-plating. This leads to an increased retaining force precisely in the case of the metal ball being fastened in a latching receptacle or in a force-fit receptacle according to FIGS. 3 and 4.
[0041] In relation to the production of the door handle according to the invention which is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the automatic feeding of a metal ball 18 into a predefined position in a plastic injection mold and the automatic holding of the metal ball 18 in said predefined position for the plastic injection molding process are to be explained using FIGS. 5 to 8. FIGS. 5 to 8 show details of a plastic injection mold at the designation 32. In the example which is shown, a cavity 34 is formed in the plastic injection mold 32, in which cavity 34 a slide 36 is guided such that it can be moved in the longitudinal direction, from left to right and vice versa in FIGS. 5 to 8. For this purpose, a suitable drive can be provided, for example a hydraulic drive. A feed channel 38 is formed in the plastic injection mold 32, in which feed channel 38 metal balls 18 are fed in from a metal ball reservoir (not shown in greater detail). In the operating position which is shown in FIG. 5, the slide 36 closes the access for the metal balls 18 from the feed channel 38 into the cavity 34 on account of the longitudinal position of said slide 36. The cavity 34 opens into a mold cavity 40 for producing a door handle according to the invention. Here, by way of its end side 42, the slide 36 forms part of the boundary of the mold cavity. The cavity 34 also in sections forms a boundary of the mold cavity.
[0042] Moreover, FIGS. 5 to 8 show a second slide 44 which is likewise guided such that it can be moved in the longitudinal direction, in the present case transversely with respect to the movement direction of the slide 36, and likewise delimits the mold cavity. If the first slide 36 is withdrawn out of the cavity 34 from the position which is shown in FIG. 5, that is to say moved to the right in FIG. 5, into the position which is shown in FIG. 6, a metal ball 18 can fall from the feed channel 38 into the cavity 34. In the example which is shown, the metal ball 18 falls into the cavity 34 solely as a result of gravity. A blocking pin 46 protrudes in sections into the conveying path of the metal ball 18, which conveying path is formed by the cavity 34. The blocking pin 46 prevents it being possible for the metal ball 18 to roll into the mold cavity 40 in the operating position which is shown in FIG. 6. If the slide 36 is then displaced from the operating position which is shown in FIG. 6 in the direction of the mold cavity 40, that is to say to the left in FIG. 6, the metal ball 18 which is conveyed by the slide 36 along the cavity 34 presses the blocking pin 46 inward counter to a spring prestress, with the result that the metal ball 18 can be pushed past the blocking pin 46. This can be seen, in particular, in FIGS. 9 to 11, in which a cross section in this regard is shown. The spring which prestresses the blocking pin 46 into its blocking position which protrudes into the cavity 34 is shown at the designation 48. It can also be seen here that the tip of the blocking pin 46 which protrudes into the cavity 34 is rounded.
[0043] In the further course, the metal ball 18 is moved by the slide 36 into the predefined position which is shown in FIG. 8. Parallel to this, the second slide 44 is moved in the longitudinal direction, downward in FIG. 7 into the position which is shown in FIG. 8 and in which the second slide 44 forms a stop for the metal ball 18, with the result that the latter is held in the predefined position by the slides 36 and 44. A further part 50 of the plastic injection mold closes the mold cavity 40. In the position which is shown in FIG. 8, plasticized plastic can be introduced into the mold cavity 40, which plastic partially flows around the metal ball 18, with the result that, in the cured state, the metal ball 18 is molded at least in sections into the door handle which is displayed in the mold cavity 40, as is shown in FIG. 1, for example. After a sufficient dimensional stability is achieved, the door handle together with the molded metal ball 18 is removed from the injection mold 32. The door handle can then be subjected together with the metal ball 18 to a galvanic coating, for example chrome-plating.
