Exterior door handle arrangement for motor vehicle door of a motor vehicle

Abstract

An exterior door handle arrangement for a motor vehicle door of a motor vehicle includes a door handle a bearing bracket, and a hinge assembly having a pivot pin and a guide groove receiving the pivot pin for the pivotable connection of the door handle to the bearing bracket, wherein for pivoting the door handle from a resting position into a swivel-out position the pivot pin located in the guide groove forms a pivot axis of the door handle. The contour surfaces of the pivot pin and the guide groove which are in operative connection and which determine the pivot movement of the door handle are designed with a fit, such that the door handle has in the swivel-out position a clearance fit which transitions via a transitional fit into a positive fit when a pivoting movement into to a resting position is made.

Claims

1. An exterior door handle arrangement for a vehicle door of a vehicle, comprising: a door handle, a bearing bracket, and a hinge assembly comprising a pivot pin having an outer surface forming a first contour surface and a guide groove having second contour surfaces, with the guide groove operatively connected with the pivot pin and accommodating the pivot pin for pivotable connection of the door handle with the bearing bracket, wherein the pivot pin in the guide groove forms a pivot axis of the door handle when the door handle is pivoted from a resting position into a swivel-out position and the pivot pin has an elliptical cross-section with a minor diameter and a major diameter, wherein the first contour surface is operatively connected with the second contour surfaces of the guide groove, wherein the first contour surface of the pivot pin and the second contour surfaces of the guide groove are formed with a fit such that a clearance fit is produced in the swivel-out position of the door handle, with the clearance fit transitioning via a transitional fit into an interference fit, when the door handle is pivoted from the swivel-out position into a resting position.

2. The exterior door handle arrangement of claim 1, wherein for generating the clearance fit, the transitional fit and the interference fit, the pivot pin is arranged in a way that [when the door handle is pivoted from cross-section of the pivot pin increases between contact regions of the first and second contour surfaces.

3. The exterior door handle arrangement of claim 1, wherein the parallel contour surfaces of the guide groove are flat and extend in a longitudinal direction of the vehicle (x-direction of the vehicle), when the door handle is in its resting position.

4. The exterior door handle arrangement of claim 1, wherein the pivot pin is connected to the door handle.

5. The exterior door handle arrangement of claim 1, wherein the pivot pin is connected to the bearing bracket and an end of the door handle comprises a bearing fork forming the guide groove with flat contour surfaces.

6. The exterior door handle arrangement of claim 1, wherein the pivot pin is formed with a polygonal cross-section, with the first contour surface of the pivot pin being operatively connected with the parallel contour surfaces of the guide groove.

7. The exterior door handle arrangement of claim 6, wherein the pivot pin is arranged in a way that [when the door handle is pivoted from the swivel-out position into the resting position a length of a chord of the polygonal cross-section of the pivot pin increases between contact regions of the first and second contour surfaces starting from a chord length of the clearance fit to a chord length of the interference fit.

8. The exterior door handle arrangement of claim 7, wherein the pivot pin is connected to the bearing bracket and on one end of the door handle a bearing fork is located forming the guide groove with flat contour surfaces, said bearing fork and said pivot pin being oriented with respect to one another in a way that the chord length between the contact regions of the first and second contour surfaces producing the interference fit is established in the resting position of the door handle.

9. The exterior door handle arrangement of claim 8, wherein the pivot pin and the second contour surfaces are oriented with respect to each other in a way that in the swivel-out position of the door handle the second contour surfaces of the bearing fork extend in a longitudinal direction (x-direction) of the vehicle and the chord generating the clearance fit is established between the contact regions of the first and second contour surfaces.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

(1) The invention will be described below in detail in connection with exemplary embodiments and with reference to the attached figures, which show in:

(2) FIG. 1 a schematic perspective view of an exterior door handle arrangement according to the invention,

(3) FIG. 2 a schematic perspective sectional view of the exterior door handle arrangement along section A-A of FIG. 1, with a door handle in extended position as an exemplary embodiment of the invention,

(4) FIG. 2a a schematic representation of the detail B of FIG. 2,

(5) FIG. 3 a schematic sectional view of the exterior door handle arrangement according to FIG. 2 with a door handle in the resting position,

(6) FIG. 4 a schematic perspective sectional view of the exterior door handle arrangement along section A-A of FIG. 1, with a door handle in extended position as another exemplary embodiment of the invention,

(7) FIG. 4a a schematic representation of the detail C of FIG. 4,

(8) FIG. 5 a schematic sectional view of the exterior door handle arrangement according to FIG. 4 with a door handle in the resting position,

(9) FIG. 6 a schematic perspective sectional view of the exterior door handle arrangement along section A-A of FIG. 1, with a door handle in extended position as another exemplary embodiment of the invention,

(10) FIG. 6a a schematic representation of the detail D of FIG. 6, and

(11) FIG. 7 a schematic sectional view of the exterior door handle arrangement according to FIG. 6, with a door handle in the resting position.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

(12) The exterior door handle arrangement 1 shown in FIG. 1 includes a door handle 10 and a bearing bracket 20 with which the door handle 10 is pivotally connected. FIG. 1 shows the door handle 10 in a resting position I, i.e. in its stored position.

(13) In the partial cross-sectional view of FIG. 2 along section A-A of FIG. 1, the door handle 10 is in a swivel-out position II, i.e. in its extended position.

(14) According to FIG. 2, the bearing bracket 20 composed of a plastic material includes a central part 21 shaped like a recessed grip, which has at one end a bearing portion 22 and at the opposite end an end portion 23. The bearing portion 22 forms in conjunction with a pivot pin 31, which is connected to the door handle 10, a hinge assembly 30.

(15) This hinge assembly 30 includes in addition to the pivot pin 31 a guide groove 32 which is formed in the bearing portion 22 of the bearing bracket 20 and receives the pivot pin 31 so that the pivot pin 31 forms a pivot axis of the door handle 10 for pivoting from its resting position I (see FIG. 1) into its swivel-out position II and vice versa.

(16) The door handle 10 which is manufactured also from plastic is formed at one end with a bearing arm 11 and at the other end with a draw hook 13. The support arm 11 carries at the end the pivot pin 31 oriented in the z-direction of the vehicle, wherein the bearing arm 11 is guided through a bearing opening 25 of the bearing bracket 20. The draw hook 13 engages through an operational opening 24 in the end portion 23 of the bearing bracket 20 and is connected to an unillustrated drawbar.

(17) The circumferential surface 31a of the pivot pin 31 is operatively connected as a contour surface with the two parallel and flat contour surfaces 32a and 32b forming the guide groove 32, so that the pivot pin 31 is guided and rotatably supported by these two contour surfaces 32a and 32b.

(18) The cross-section of the pivot pin 31 has an elliptical shape with a minor diameter d1 and a major diameter d2. This elliptical shape of the pivot pin 31 is oriented such that it generates in the swivel-out position II of the door handle 10 according to the diagram of FIGS. 2 and 2a a clearance fit by way of the contour surface 31a of the pivot pin 31 and the contour of surfaces 32a and 32b of the guide groove 32 and that this clearance fit transitions, when the door handle 10 is pivoted into its resting position I, via a transitional fit into an interference fit, as shown schematically in FIG. 3. During this movement, the pivot pin 31 rotates between the two contour surfaces 32a and 32b such that the length of the chord S1 connecting the contact regions K1a and K1b of the contour surface 31a of the pivot pin 31 and the contact portions 32a and 32b in the swivel-out position II increases up to the length of the chord S2 between the contact regions K2a and K2b of the contour surface 31a of the pivot pin 31 and the contour of surfaces 32a and 32b of the guide groove 32.

(19) The chord is S1 between the contact regions K1a and K1b is here selected so that a clearance fit is realized in conjunction with the distance a between the two contour surfaces 32a and 32a, while the length of the chord S2 between the contact regions K2a and K2b has a larger value, thus forming in conjunction with the distance a between the two contour surfaces 32a and 32b an interference fit in the resting position I of the door handle 10. Thus, the length of the chord S between the contact regions of the contour surface 31a of the pivot pin 31 and contour surfaces 32a and 32b of the guide groove 32 continuously increases during the pivoting movement of the door handle 10 from the swivel-out position II into its resting position I, i.e. from a length of the chord S1 to the length of the chord S2.

(20) The value of the length of the chord S1 is hereby in the range of the value of the minor diameter d1 of the elliptical shape of the pivot pin cross-section, whereas the value of the length of the chord S2 is in the range of the value of the major diameter d2.

(21) The exterior door handle arrangement 1 according to FIGS. 4, 4a and 5 differs from that according to FIGS. 2, 2a and 3 only by the hinge assembly 30, while the other components are identical.

(22) This hinge assembly 30 according to FIGS. 4, 4a and 5 also includes a pivot pin 31 with an elliptical cross-section arranged in the region of the bearing portion 22, at which a ridge 31b is formed on the side facing away from the door handle. The associated guide groove 32 with parallel and flat contour surfaces 32a and 32b is formed of a bearing fork 12, which supports the end of the bearing arm 11 of the door handle 10.

(23) The elliptical shape of the cross-section of the pivot pin 31 has also a minor diameter d1 and a major diameter d2, wherein in this exemplary embodiment the pivot pin 31 and the guide groove 32 are also oriented with respect to one another such that the outer surface 31a as a contour surface of the pivot pin 31 in conjunction with the contour surfaces 32a and 32b of the guide groove 32 form a clearance fit when the door handle is in the swivel-out position II shown in FIGS. 4 and 4a. When the door handle 10 is pivoted back from this swivel-out position II into its resting position I, this clearance fit merges transitions via a transitional fit into an interference fit.

(24) To achieve this effect, the pivot pin 31 is disposed with its elliptical cross-sectional shape on the bearing portion 22 of the bearing bracket 20 in such a way that the direction of the major diameter d2 forms an acute angle to the x-direction of the vehicle. In this way, in the swivel-out position II of the door handle 10, the chord S1 connecting the contact regions K1a and K1b of the contour surface 31a of the pivot pin 31 with the contour surfaces 32a and 32b has a value which realizes a clearance fit in conjunction with the distance a of the two contour surfaces 32a and 32b of the bearing fork 12. The length of this chord S1 increases continuously to the length of the chord S2 between the contact regions K2a and K2b when the door handle 10 is pivoted back into its resting position I, wherein the length of this chord S2 has a value which forms an interference fit in conjunction with the two contour surfaces 32a and 32b of the guide groove 32. In this resting position I, the two contour surfaces 32a and 32b extend in the x-direction of the vehicle.

(25) The last exemplary embodiment according to FIGS. 6, 6a and 7 also differs from the previous embodiments only by the joint assembly 30.

(26) The pivot pin 31 of this hinge assembly according to the FIGS. 6, 6a and 7 is arranged on the bearing portion 22 of the bearing bracket 20 of the exterior door handle arrangement 1 and has a polygonal, i.e. a five-cornered cross-section, wherein a ridge 31b is formed on the side facing away from the door handle. The door handle 10 has a support arm 11 with an end-side bearing bracket 12, with encompasses the pivot pin 31 as a guide groove 32 with two parallel and flat contour surfaces 32a and 32b.

(27) The outer surface 31a of the pivot pin 31 forms a clearance fit in conjunction with the contour surfaces 32a and 32b of the bearing fork 12 in the swivel-out position II of the door handle 10 illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 6a, which transitions via a transitional fit into an interference fit when the door handle 10 is pivoted back into its resting position I shown in FIG. 7.

(28) To achieve this effect, the contour of surfaces 32a and 32b of the bearing fork 12 are oriented such that the chord S1 connecting the contact regions K2a and K2b of the contour surfaces 31a, 32a and 32b in the resting position I of the door handle 10 has a length that produces a clearance fit in conjunction with the distance a between the two contour surfaces 32a and 32b of the bearing fork 12. When the door handle 10 is pivoted back into the resting position I shown in FIG. 7, the length of this chord increases up to the chord S2 between the contact regions K2a and K2b that corresponds to the distance between two opposite corners of the pentagonal cross-sectional shape of the pivot pin 31. In this resting position I, the contour surfaces 32a and 32b are oriented at an acute angle with respect to the x-direction of the vehicle and caused tilting of the pivot 31 in the guide groove 32 and thus an interference fit due to the pivoting back from the swivel-out position II.